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Peter Young receiving the Soldier of the Quarter certificate [10/17/1969]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Base Camp, Special Services, 25th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Fort Holabird, Maryland; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Dix, New Jersey; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Ord, California; Alaska; Guam (Northern Mariana Islands); Cu Chi, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/66648

View full service history

"I don't feel scarred, but I feel shaped in a lot of ways." (Video Interview, 1:02:10)

Peter Young was a librarian when he was drafted to serve in Vietnam. He considered deserting the Army for life in Canada but remembered why his immigrant father had come to the U.S. from China in the 1930s and, with the reassurance of fellow soldiers who had served in Vietnam, decided to stay on. He was fortunate to be assigned to a library on a base camp in Cu Chi, though he wasn't totally out of harm's way. Young's reflections on his service--its positive influence on his character and its negative object lesson in the futility of many wars--are thoughtfully expressed in this 2009 interview at the Library of Congress, where he was Chief of the Asian Division.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Peter Robert Young Collection

Names

  • Young, Peter Robert
  • Veterans History Project
  • Library of Congress
  • Trulock, Alison

Home State

  • Maryland

Headings

  • -  Young, Peter Robert
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Asian

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Base Camp, Special Services, 25th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Fort Holabird, Maryland; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Dix, New Jersey; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Fort Ord, California; Alaska; Guam (Northern Mariana Islands); Cu Chi, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Specialist Five
    • Dates of Service: 1968-1970
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran managed one of 32 Special Services Trailer Libraries in Vietnam, used by soldiers for recreation purposes.

Materials

  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2009-07-13)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [25 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1968-09-1970-09)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2009-07-13; 2009-07-13)
  • Photograph: Photographic print [1 item] -- Photograph (collected 1969-10-17)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1978)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [47 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1968-1970)
  • Manuscript: Periodicals [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1970-05-1970-06)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2009-07-07)
  • Photograph: Duplicate [1 item] -- Photograph (collected 1969-10-17)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2009-07-13)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/66648

Cite as

  • Peter Robert Young Collection (AFC/2001/001/66648), 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:

Young, Peter Robert, Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress, and Alison Trulock. Peter Robert Young Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66648/.

APA citation style:

Young, P. R., Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress & Trulock, A. (1968) Peter Robert Young Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66648/.

MLA citation style:

Young, Peter Robert, et al. Peter Robert Young Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66648/>.