Korean War series, 1950-2010.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: alphabetical by surname.

Materials housed in the Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Disclaimer on Veterans History Project Collection Materials - (Historical Accuracy and Reliability in Personal Accounts): The Library of Congress and the Nashville Public Library does not verify the accuracy of the accounts described herein by participants in the Veterans History Project. Individual stories are voluntarily submitted to the Veterans History Project and are placed in the Library's permanent collections as received. These histories are the personal recollections and perspectives of participating individuals and are not intended as a substitute for an official record of the federal government or of military service.

Individuals documented in this series (as of January 2012) include: Ben Cooper Alexander; Marion Ray Allen; James P. Atkinson; Samuel D. Barnett; John L. Bell; Robert K. Berg; David Wenning Bessire; Laccie Blevins; Henry Bryan Brackin Jr.; Herman Joseph Brietenmoser; Harrison Briggs; John Pope Brown; Robert E. Burgess; Rodney R. Burns; James Carlew; Thomas M. Caroland; John F. Chilton; Clarence Jackson (Jack) Davis; Mel Dodson; John A. Donofiro; Margaret Gooch Duffy; Carl William Eli; Ernest Farmer; William W. (Bill) Goodman; Charles W. Griffin Jr.; Jack (Harold Parks) Gunter; James C. (Jim) Harris; Wyeth (Slim) Hartwell; Donald D. Henry; John James (Jim) Henry; William Albert Hewgley; George W. Holcomb Jr.; Floyd Melvin Hooper; James A. Hoyal; Leslie Dorris Kelly; Charles Edward Kimbrough; Michael C. Lyle; Franklin Delano McKee; Charles O. McNish; Robert Allen Macon; Paul Madden; Charles J. Miller; John E. Morgan; Richard Norvell Jr.; Vince Patterson; Charles Gordon Peerman, Jr.; Jerry Dean Reagon; Stanley Renas; Henry (Stan) Richards; Thomas Richards; James Wilson Scarlett; G. R. Solomon, Jr.; Thomas William Southall; Enoch Stephenson; James Knox Trigg; Jack D. Walker; William J. Warren; William W. Wells; George Charles Westover; John Whitaker; Malchiga C. Whitworth.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Materials include letters, photographs, oral interviews and transcripts, military records, excerpts from scrapbooks, and one videocassette. These materials include some photocopies. The Korean War Series of the Veterans History Project Collection includes materials relating to Nashville residents and veterans who served in the military during this conflict. Contents are also useful for examination of the Cold War era, as not all individuals who participated in this project served in Korea during active hostilities. Some materials acquired early in the project came from several areas outside of Davidson County, including Winchester, Columbia, and Oak Ridge.

The most extensive materials (as of January 2008) within the Korean War portion of the Veterans History Project Collection include letters sent home almost every day from Jack Davis, who served with the First Regiment, First Marine Division near the "Punchbowl" in Korea. His materials also include transcripts of these letters, as well as others written to his brother which are not included in their original form. A videocassette of footage originally filmed in January 1952 by Davis shows a winter camp, an artillery crew in action, a drive along a twisting road in a convoy, and scenes at a supply depot. Still photographs included on the videotape show images of the countryside, soldiers at rest, a winter camp, a soldier escorting prisoners, infantry moving out single file along a road, and camp scenes.

Another significant collection of letters and related materials are from Granville R. Solomon, Jr.. He was drafted into the Army in early 1951, was temporarily assigned to the 101st Airborne Division during training at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, and then sent overseas to Korea in late August 1951. He was wounded in November 1951 while serving near the 38th Parallel while a member of Company L, 8th Cavalry, 1st Division. He wrote to his mother, Lorraine (Lyle) Solomon in Nashville, Tenn. on a frequent basis. His letters are frequent and detailed. He tells about the routine and hardships of training camp, including discipline, food, weapons training, and living conditions. He describes his duties and responsibilities in Korea, makes frequent requests for items from home, especially food, and tells in some detail about living conditions, supplies, and combat actions. There is a gap in his letters from Jan. through April 1952, but they resume in May 1952, when he was recovering in an Army hospital at Fort Benning, Georgia. His letters are supplemented by 14 photographs, and a videotaped interview about his experiences conducted by his grand-niece, Jennifer Bennett, around Nov. 2000.

A series of 44 photographs taken by Bill Goodman, a combat photographer with the First Marine Division in 1951, is described in more detail in a separate catalog entry.

Cite as: [name of individual, folder no.], Korean War Series, Veterans History Project Collection, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

Some items may be protected by copyright or donor restriction.

Negatives,Staff approval required for access.

Numerous donors contributed to this project.

Related materials: Index to Korean War newspaper articles.

Related materials: The Thomas W. Southall Papers, 1939-1993, are held by the Special Collections Division of the Nashville Public Library and document Southall's experiences building radio transmitters in Germany in the early 1950s, as well as music and entertainment for GIs at the same place and time. The collection also includes audio recordings sent to him from his family and a USO performance in Hue, Vietnam, when he was stationed there during the Vietnam War.

Vast majority of materials are in English. Some individual items may include portions in Chinese or Korean.

Finding aid available in repository and online;,folder level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_VHP_Main_Korea.pdf.

Finding aid: Interview summaries;,item level control.,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_VHP_Summaries.pdf.

Finding aid: List of persons by special interest categories;,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_VHP_Special_Interest.pdf.

Finding aid: Collection at a glance;,https://assets.library.nashville.org/documents/finding-aids/Special_Collections_Division_Finding_Aid_VHP_At_A_Glance.pdf.

Finding aids: List of unprocessed additions.

Collected by the Nashville Room beginning January 2002.

Forms part of the Veterans History Project collection.

No further accruals are expected.

Book jacket image digital identifier: VHP-Korea-Davis, Jack -f9,letter - Oct 18, 1951