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Julius Siefring in uniform

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Company D, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Camp Wolters, Texas; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; New Guinea; Luzon (Philippines); Mindanao Island (Philippines); Mindoro (Philippines); Leyte Island (Philippines)
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/41633

View full service history

Julius J. Siefring, a staff sergeant serving with the 24th Infantry Division, took part in several island landings in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Among them was Leyte Island in the Philippines, where he watched from a distance as U.S. planes bombed and strafed the island before his unit received the go-ahead to invade. Siefring witnessed unimaginable horrors: soldiers under fire jumping from the landing craft only to be weighed down by their heavy packs, some of them drowning before they could reach land; while on land others scratched at trees, the stress finally breaking them. Siefring gave medical aid to those he could, and in the process, he probably saved at least one man's life.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Julius J. Siefring Collection

Names

  • Siefring, Adelma
  • Siefring, Julius J.

Home State

  • Ohio

Headings

  • -  Siefring, Julius J.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Company D, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Camp Wolters, Texas; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; New Guinea; Luzon (Philippines); Mindanao Island (Philippines); Mindoro (Philippines); Leyte Island (Philippines)
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was on six different islands and participated in several beach landings. He also earned an Armed Enemy plaque, which came after he and 12 other men rowed a boat to an island and captured 100 Japanese troops.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2006-11-08; 2006-11-12)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected 1945-08-23)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1945-12-04)
  • Manuscript: Periodicals [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1993)
  • Photograph: Digital print [7 items] -- Photograph (collected 2006-11-29)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 2006-11-29; 2006-11-29)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/41633

Cite as

  • Julius J. Siefring Collection (AFC/2001/001/41633), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Siefring, Adelma, and Julius J Siefring. Julius J. Siefring Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41633/.

APA citation style:

Siefring, A. & Siefring, J. J. (1942) Julius J. Siefring Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41633/.

MLA citation style:

Siefring, Adelma, and Julius J Siefring. Julius J. Siefring Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41633/>.