Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Cavalry
  • Location of Service: Seoul, Korea
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/4939

View full service history

"I really cried when I left Korea. I missed the Koreans, I missed my friends, I missed the service, I missed everything--not the war, but I missed that whole… experience." (Interview transcript)

Though he trained as a paratrooper after he was drafted out of college, Ric Gleason-Mendoza spent most of his tour in Korea working with ordnance distribution and in clerical positions. While training in the States, he resented the noncoms and officers, but once in country, he felt a real camaraderie with all the men he was serving with. He also had an active social life as a gay man; in contrast to back home, he felt much more relaxed about revealing his sexual preference. In his experience, company commanders looked the other way as long as the soldiers were doing their jobs.

About this Item

Title

  • Ric Gleason-Mendoza Collection

Names

  • American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER)
  • Falecker, Katia Bore
  • Gleason-Mendoza, Ric
  • Ballard, Lara

Home State

  • Washington (D.C.)

Headings

  • -  Gleason-Mendoza, Ric
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Cavalry
    • Location of Service: Seoul, Korea
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1951-1954
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2003-01-22)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-01-22)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/4939

Cite as

  • Ric Gleason-Mendoza Collection (AFC/2001/001/4939), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, Katia Bore Falecker, Ric Gleason-Mendoza, and Lara Ballard. Ric Gleason-Mendoza Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04939/.

APA citation style:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, Falecker, K. B., Gleason-Mendoza, R. & Ballard, L. (1951) Ric Gleason-Mendoza Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04939/.

MLA citation style:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, et al. Ric Gleason-Mendoza Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04939/>.