Collections : [FSU Special Collections & Archives]

This collection contains a manuscript memoir of Anthony Catalino's WWII service in the U.S. Army Field Artillery and staff work at Army hospitals and supply depots in North Africa and Italy.

The collection of Arthur W. Card contains an oral history transcript of an interview conducted by or for the Institute on World War II. He discusses bringing US troops to and from Europe, as well as returning German POWs to Germany at the end of the war. He also discusses his work in the engine room (where he felt proud to be "more important" to the soldiers on the ship because they relied on his work to keep them safe) and his time ashore in Naples, Italy.

The papers of Carl Lavin contains a transcript provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Carl Lavin served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 as an infantryman in the European Theatre of Operations with the 69th Infantry Division. He operated a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in the advance across Western Europe in 1944 to 1945, and he relates numerous anecdotes from his combat experiences.

The collection of Carlton K. Smith, who served with the 185th Field Artillery during World War II, contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History.  This collection also contains a World War II history magazine, correspondence with French General Pierre Denis, summaries of unit actions, personal letters to family, newspaper clippings, unit newsletters, a binder with photocopies of newspaper articles, and one copy of Liberty's Victorious Conflict: A Photographic History of the World War I.

Cecil Blumenstein (served 1943-1945) discusses his experiences in the 13th Armored Division in Germany in the winter and spring of 1945. Blumenstein was captured and spent a brief period of time in a POW camp before being liberated and sent back to the front. He fought in several engagements. This collection consists of an interview transcript.

This collection contains an oral history transcript of Staff Sergeant Charles Diedling, a flight engineer on a B-24 with the 460th Bomb Group at Spinazola, Italy. Charles Diedling discusses his training as a flight engineer and waist gunner for the B-24 at Keesler AFB, Mississippi and Loredo AFB, Texas.  In June of 1944, he was assigned to the 460th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force in Spinazola, Italy. Diedling was shot down over Germany becoming a prisoner of war.

Charles Campbell was bombardier on a B-17 who was shot down over Linz, Austria and captured by the Germans. While in captivity, he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp and managed to keep a journal of his experiences there. He served with the 483rd Bombardment Group. Just prior to the war's end, Campbell was transferred to an unidentified Stalag and credits this with saving his life. The collection includes reproductions of 483rd Bomb Group artwork, a statement and picture of the Mauthausen concentration camp from after the war, a World War II memoir with pictures and documents and a copy of his obituary.

Chester W. Bailes served as a 4th Grade technician in the US Army 1st Armored Division during World War II. He was first sent to Ireland, before participating in the North Africa invasion, Sicily, and Anzio during the invasion of Italy, where he spent the rest of the war. His collection includes a few letters, publications relating to his unit written after the war, Time, Stars and Stripes, and Yank Magazines, as well as a number of pamphlets and military-published books relating to World War II.

This collection relates to Private First Class Clarence H. Anderson who served with the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, in the European theater during World War II. The collection contains letters from Anderson to his fiance Eleanor Schumaker. The letters encompass ten months from March 1944-January 1945 in which he writes from England, France, Belgium, and Germany. Clarence was wounded in Germany and sent to a hospital in England to recover. Julius Sleszak was stationed in California in the Transportation Section at Camp Beale. He sent seven letters to his wife during November 1945.