Collections

This collection consists of the business records from the Apalachicola Tent and Awning Company once located in Apalachicola, Florida. The company manufactured pyramidal tents under contract from the United States Army from early 1941 to at least October 1942. The records are unclear as to when the company ceased operations.

This collection relates to Staff Sergeant Warren R. MacInnes (part of the 834th) in Italy. The box contains letters and photographs sent to him from his wife while he was stationed on the Italian front in Europe. In addition, there are periodicals and pamphlets related to the reintroduction of soldiers from the Italian front back into civilian life Stateside.  This collection also contains documents related to Private Gerald Greenbaum who served with 1560th Service Unit, Medical Section-Station Complement, Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

Emanuel Lamb served with the Heavy Weapons Company of the 89th Infantry Division. Collection includes letters from Emanuel and his brother Mandy during their time serving overseas, mainly discussing their daily lives, censorship, and treatment of prisoners of war, as well as a complete oral history transcript between Emanuel Lamb and an interviewer discussing his time in combat and his memories of the Battle of the Bulge. There are also newspaper clippings, photocopies of identification cards and ephemera included in the collection.

The collection of Francis I.G. Coleman contains an oral history transcript of an interview conducted by or for the Institute on World War II. Coleman served in the European Theater (ETO).

This collection relates to James J. McGuire who served with the 102nd Infantry Division during World War II and was captured by the Germans in November 1944 near the Roer River. The collection includes documents related to prisoners-of-war, including special postage and protocols for sending letters to American POWs, special postage and protocols that James McGuire had to follow to send letters back to his family, and even an extremely detailed, multi-page set of instructions on how to order tobacco products for American soldiers in German POW camps. It also includes a ration book application, and a ration book itself.  Finally, it includes communications, telegrams, and letters, between the McGuire family and various government agencies and departments as they attempt to gain more information about James McGuire and his fate.

This collection relates to James W. George who served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the 9th U.S Army Air Force. Wilmot R. George was James George's brother and also served in the European Theater. He served as a Tech Sergeant and received a Silver Star. This collection contains a one-page handwritten summary of James George's military service and ten-page memoir of his brother Wilmont's service during the Second World War.

This collection relates to James W. Harrington who served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. This collection includes a manuscript entitled Return to Ville de Bastogne: A Time Remembered, which concerns the Battle for Bastogne, Belgium. This manuscript consists of a 10-page memoir of the Battle of the Bulge following Harrington's return visit to Bastogne 53 years later. He describes his division's encampment prior to the Battle of the Bulge. This manuscript is an exclusive Battle of the Bulge memoir. An additional page entitled "A Trek Remembered" is an account of a specific experience on December 17, 1944. It also includes photocopies of maps, insignia, ephemera, a copy of a certificate of discharge, a photocopy of a picture of Harrington in uniform, and a veteran's questionnaire.

This collection contains two oral histories; one with Dr. Philip Gilman, Jr. and one with James Izumizaki. It also includes the reprint of a letter by Pvt. Lavern Borg, Jr. written on April 2, 1945. The letter tells about his experiences with the 5th Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corp in the battle of Iwo Jima. The next document includes a service record and medallist dated June 1967, January 1969, and August 1973. A pamphlet collected by the Pajaro Valley Arts Council, California entitled Nihen Bunka Japanese Culture: One hundred years in Pajaro Valley is also in the collection.

Leonard J. Travaline (also spelled Traveline in some records) served in the United States Army as an Artilleryman from 1941 to 1945. He served with the 166th Field Artillery Battalion and later the 938th Field Artillery Battallion in the Mediterranean and European Theaters. He served as a front line observer in Oran, North Africa, Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. The collection contains a transcribed daily journal that Travaline kept from the time of his landing in North Africa until the end of the war and his arrival back in the States in September 1945.

The Lloyd M. Hicks Jr. Collection includes personal artifacts such as medals, ribbons, and various pins. The collection also contains scrapbooks containing news clippings and photographs detailing the actions of the 2nd Armored Division and 41st Armored Infantry Regiment in their overseas campaigns, as well as Lloyd Hicks Jr.'s own personal photographs from his time overseas and those taken during periods of leave spent in Florida.