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Zaragoza aiming a .45 pistol, Ultihi Atoll, Caroline Islands [1945]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Coast Guard
  • Unit of Service: Unit 335, Pacific Fleet III (PACFLEET)
  • Location of Service: Ulithi (Caroline Islands); Yap (Caroline Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Radarman Third Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/32878

View full service history

"And he said to us, 'If anything comes up out of the water walking up the beach, don't \\nask questions; fire first and ask questions later." (Video Interview, 20:25)

During the Depression, Los Angeles teen Jose Zaragoza, the son of Mexican immigrants, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, learning the kind of discipline that would serve him well when he enlisted in the Coast Guard shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to a walking beach patrol along northern California's shore, first on his own, then with dogs he helped train. A stint in radar school and further training in a new tracking system called LORAN got him placed on Ulithi, a tiny atoll just east of the Philippines. He manned a tracking station on that hot and lonely outpost until well after the war ended.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Jose Robert Zaragoza Collection

Names

  • Dreier, David
  • Sleeth, Keith
  • U.S. House of Representatives/David Dreier
  • Zaragoza, Jose Robert

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Zaragoza, Jose Robert
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Coast Guard.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Coast Guard
    • Unit of Service: Unit 335, Pacific Fleet III (PACFLEET)
    • Location of Service: Ulithi (Caroline Islands); Yap (Caroline Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Radarman Third Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 2005-08-05)
  • Video: Hi-8/Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2005-08-05)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942)
  • Photograph: Digital print [16 items] -- Photograph (collected 1944-2005)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 1944-2005; 2005-08-05)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/32878

Cite as

  • Jose Robert Zaragoza Collection (AFC/2001/001/32878), 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:

Dreier, David, Keith Sleeth, U.S. House Of Representatives/David Dreier, and Jose Robert Zaragoza. Jose Robert Zaragoza Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32878/.

APA citation style:

Dreier, D., Sleeth, K., U.S. House Of Representatives/David Dreier & Zaragoza, J. R. (1942) Jose Robert Zaragoza Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32878/.

MLA citation style:

Dreier, David, et al. Jose Robert Zaragoza Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.32878/>.