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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: National Security Agency
  • Location of Service: Long Beach, California;Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: E-3
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/10567

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"[Fear] is something that you bury inside of yourself." (Audio interview, 5:48)

Arriving in Da Nang, Vietnam in 1966, Navy veteran Frederick McElderry was assigned to a four man river boat, a LCM-8 landing craft, and given orders to cover "logistics." He spent his days and nights towing supplies, transporting prisoners of war, and engaging in firefights with the enemy, and was told over and over, "Don't trust anyone." To cope with the overwhelming paranoia and fear, he shut down emotionally, eventually developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite his longtime struggles with PTSD, he has never regretted joining the Navy.

Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection

Names

  • George, Ellen L.
  • McElderry, Frederick Oliver
  • VA Medical Center, Chicago Health Care Systems
  • James, Marie L.

Home State

  • Illinois

Headings

  • -  McElderry, Frederick Oliver
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: National Security Agency
    • Location of Service: Long Beach, California;Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: E-3
    • Dates of Service: 1965-1967
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 2003-11-29; 2009-08-20)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2003-11-29)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [3 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1967)
  • Audio: Microcassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-11-29)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10567

Cite as

  • Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection (AFC/2001/001/10567), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

George, Ellen L, Frederick Oliver McElderry, Chicago Health Care Systems Va Medical Center, and Marie L James. Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection. 1965. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10567/.

APA citation style:

George, E. L., McElderry, F. O., Va Medical Center, C. H. C. S. & James, M. L. (1965) Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10567/.

MLA citation style:

George, Ellen L, et al. Frederick Oliver McElderry Collection. 1965. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10567/>.