Military

The wide range of activities and responsibilities of the US Armed Forces during the Cold War is documented in the Manuscript Division through the papers of those who served at different levels of different branches. First-hand accounts of key events are recorded in the papers of a Navy officer who observed nuclear weapons testing in Operation Crossroads in 1946 (Ernest Peterkin), and in the papers of an Army officer who conducted Airmobile operations with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam (Roscoe Robinson). Larger organizational developments are documented in the papers of general officers. The Manuscript Division holds the papers of the first five Air Force Chiefs of Staff, in which are recorded the expanding role of air power in the US arsenal. Holdings also include the papers of presidential military advisors (William Odom), a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (William Crowe), and commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Jerauld Wright, Alexander Haig).

The following collection titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content, including finding aids for the collections, are included when available.

Military Collections

Following World War II, the US Air Force (USAF) became a separate branch of the Armed Forces. Its role expanded during the Cold War to encompass air support of the other branches, reconnaissance, global mobility, and global striking power. To fulfill its mission, the Air Force built an arsenal that included strategic bombers, spy planes, and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The papers of USAF officers and service members in the Manuscript Division document the growth of air power in America's strategic arsenal, and its impact on Cold War policy.

Chiefs of Staff of the US Air Force, 1947-1965 The Manuscript Division holds significant collections of the papers of the five USAF Chiefs of Staff who occupied that office from its inception in 1947 through 1965. The division also holds the papers of Henry H. Arnold, who served as the first Chief of the Army Air Forces and Commanding General of the Army Air Forces during World War II. Collections are listed below in order of incumbency.

Henry Harley Arnold papers
Published/Created: 1903-1989 (bulk 1940-1946)
Finding Aid (PDF, 249.567 KB)
Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold (1886-1950) was chief and commanding general of the United States Army Air Corps (1938-1946), and a member of the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff (1941-1945). His papers document the growth of American air power through correspondence, memoranda, journals, notebooks, memoirs, articles, speeches, reports, orders, printed material, and photographs relating chiefly to the development of US military aeronautics and to aeronautical policies and events of World War II.
Carl Spaatz papers
Published/Created: 1910-1981 (bulk 1942-1963)
Finding Aid (PDF, 274.752 KB)
Spaatz (1891-1974) was commanding general of the US Army Air Forces (1946), and chief of staff of the US Air Force (1947-1948). His papers include correspondence, diaries, cables, reports, research notes, typescripts of articles and speeches, flight records, personnel file, and miscellaneous papers spanning from 1910 to 1953 and chiefly for the period 1942 to 1948.
Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg papers
Published/Created: 1942-1954 (bulk 1948-1953)
Finding Aid (PDF, 172.369 KB)
Vandenberg (1899-1954) was USAF chief of staff, 1948-1953. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, diaries, speeches, articles, and reports documenting the growth and development of the Air Force during that period as well as its participation in the Korean War.
Nathan F. Twining papers
Published/Created: 1924-1960 (bulk 1950-1960)
Finding Aid (PDF, 206.842 KB)
Twining (1897-1982) was USAF chief of staff, 1953-1957. His papers include correspondence, diaries, logs, speeches, statements, biographical material, certificates, flight records, newspaper clippings, printed matter, and other papers relating to Twining's role as vice chief and chief of staff of the USAF and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Thomas D. White papers
Published/Created: 1952-1961 (bulk 1957-1961)
Finding Aid (PDF, 162.494 KB)
White (1901-1965) was USAF chief of staff, 1957-1961. His papers contain correspondence, speeches, reports, statements, and other papers relating chiefly to White's oversight of the Air Force. Included are speeches and statements made before congressional committees, especially on the subject of air power needs and capabilities.
Curtis E. LeMay papers
Published/Created: 1918-1969 (bulk 1943-1969)
Finding Aid (PDF, 253.890 KB)
LeMay (1906-1990) was USAF chief of staff, 1961-1965. The collection includes correspondence, diaries, speeches, and other papers primarily concerning LeMay's career as an aviator and officer in the US Army and the USAF. His service in the Army Air Corps is documented, as are his commands in the European and China-Burma-India theaters during World War II. Files pertain to his assignment as special deputy to the Air Matériel Command, Army Air Forces; deputy chief of air staff for research and development, Washington, DC; commander of the USAF in Europe including his role in the Berlin Airlift of 1948; head of the Strategic Air Command, 1948-1957; and chief of staff of the USAF, 1961-1965.

Other US Air Force collections

Samuel C. Phillips papers
Published/Created: 1929-1990 (bulk 1958-1989)
Finding Aid (PDF, 284.085 KB)
Phillips (1921-1990) was a USAF officer, space agency official, intelligence agency director, and defense industry executive. His papers include correspondence, diaries, memoranda, reports, photographs, and other papers documenting Phillips's career in the USAF where he specialized in ballistics and weapons research; as director of Project Apollo, the lunar landing program of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and as an executive with TRW, Inc., and other defense contracting firms. His work as commander of the Space and Missile Systems Organization and USAF Systems Command is also documented. The collection includes material on atomic weapons tests, the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile system, Project Saturn (rocket development), the Strategic Defense Initiative, the Superconducting Super Collider, the Titan III launch system, and other defense and aeronautical projects with which he was involved during the Cold War and the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Elwood R. Quesada papers
Published/Created: 1927-1960
Finding Aid (PDF, 114.117 KB)
Quesada (1904-1993) was a USAF officer and public official. The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, speeches, reports, charts, drawings, and other papers documenting Quesada's career as a USAF officer and as director of the Federal Aviation Administration. Subjects include his service as commanding general of the IX Fighter Command and the IX Tactical Air Command in North Africa and in Europe during World War II; the unification of the armed forces; the B-36 bomber investigation; Quesada's command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Task Force-3 engaged in conducting a series of atomic tests on the Pacific atoll of Eniwetok; and work of the Air Force Board of Review for Tactical Operations.
Bernard A. Schriever papers
Published/Created: 1931-2005 (bulk 1954-2000)
Finding Aid (PDF, 291.838 KB)
Schriever (1910-2005) was a USAF officer, aviator, and aerospace consultant. His papers include correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, reports, subject files, and other papers relating to Schriever's career as a USAF officer responsible for the research and development of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and early military space programs, and to his post-military career as a corporate and government consultant. The collection documents his work as head of the USAF Western Development Division and the Air Research and Development Division, later the Air Force Systems Command. Also documented are Schriever's post-military activities, including his service as an advisor to the USAF and the US Department of Defense; and his work on groups such as the US National Commission on Space and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Subjects include air force planning, management, and organization; air force research, development, and acquisition issues; arms and armaments; ballistic missiles and missile defense; military strategy; national security; reconnaissance satellites; space issues and policy; technology; the Cold War; and following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian-American initiatives including the Russian-American Observational Satellites (RAMOS) project.
Lionel J. Skidmore training manuals
Published/Created: 1960
Skidmore (n.d.) was a scientist. The small collection consists of Ballistic Missiles, Revision I (volumes I-IV; March 1960) manuals used by Skidmore for the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, Space Technology Laboratories, Inc.

After previous conflicts in American history, the US Army shrank to a fraction of its wartime size. However, as tensions between the East and West rose in the years following World War II, Army units remained in Germany and Japan to keep the peace and act as bulwarks against communist expansion. The size and capabilities of the Army continued to expand as it was called upon to fight regional conflicts against communism in Korea and Vietnam,

Julius W. Becton papers
Published/Created: 1780-2008 (bulk 1951-2008)
Finding Aid (PDF, 257.769 KB)
Becton (1926-2023) was a US Army officer, federal agency director, and education administrator. His papers include correspondence, speeches, writings, reports, notebooks, military records, subject files, printed matter, and other papers documenting Becton's service in the US Army as a platoon leader and company commander during the Korean War; commanding officer in the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War; and command of the 7th Corps in Europe (1978-1981). Also documented is Becton’s service as the Director of FEMA from 1985 to 1989. Subjects include the coordination of international civil defense policy with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Omar Nelson Bradley papers
Published/Created: 1948-1953
Finding Aid (PDF, 124.127 KB)
Bradley (1893-1981) was chief of staff of the US Army (1948-1949) and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949-1953). The papers consist of print or near-print copies of his addresses, statements, and articles concerning topics such as the Army budget, the Career Compensation Act of 1949, continuation of the Selective Service Act of 1948 and universal military training, and unification of the armed services. Other subjects include the Korean War, the Military Assistance Program, the Mutual Security Program (1951), the North Atlantic Treaty (1949), and the admission of Greece and Turkey to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Robert R. Furman papers
Published/Created: 1944-1985
Finding Aid (PDF, 101.687 KB)
Furman (1915-2008) was a US Army officer and civil engineer. His papers include correspondence, memoranda, diary notes, interviews, writings, and notebooks concerning Furman's service with the Manhattan Project (US Army Corps of Engineers Manhattan District) during World War II. His role in the transport of the nuclear component of the atomic bomb aboard the USS Indianapolis (Cruiser) to Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands) is documented. The collection also includes material pertaining to Furman's role in the Alsos Mission, an intelligence operation to gather information regarding Germany's nuclear weapons program, seize German strategic materials and resources, and interrogate scientific and research personnel.
William E. Odom papers
Published/Created: 1913-2008 (bulk 1950-2008)
Finding Aid (PDF, 403.484 KB)
Odom (1932–2008) was a US Army officer and director of the National Security Agency. His papers include correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, logbooks, subject files, scrapbooks, printed matter, photographs, and other papers pertaining primarily to Odom's military career, particularly his service as military assistant to the assistant to the president for national security affairs, Zbigniew K. Brzezinski (1977-1981); as US Army assistant chief of staff for intelligence (1981-1985); and as director of the National Security Agency (1985-1988). The collection also documents Odom's work as an authority on national security policy and the Soviet Union in the years following his retirement from the Army.
Paul M. Robinett papers
Published/Created: 1915-1972 (bulk 1943-1957)
Finding Aid (PDF, 108.845 KB)
Robinett (1893-1975) was a US Army officer. The papers include correspondence, a diary, speeches, writings, military orders and training material, and printed matter relating to his career as combat commander, commandant of the Armored Force School, Fort Knox, Kentucky, and chief, Special Studies Section, Office of the Chief of Military History (1948-1957). The collection reflects Robinett’s interest in military history and his thinking on political and military strategy during the middle phases of the Cold War.
Roscoe Robinson, Jr. papers
Published/Created: 1945-1993 (bulk 1951-1993)
Finding Aid (PDF, 158.851 PDF)
Robinson (1928-1993) was a paratrooper and the first African-American four star general. His papers include correspondence, cables, speeches, interviews, reports, briefings, notes and notebooks, subject files, chronological files, office files, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other papers pertaining to Robinson's Army career. Documented is his service in various positions with the 82nd Airborne Division (1959-1979), in the Vietnamese conflict (1967-1968), as commander of US troops stationed in Japan (1973-1976 and 1980-1982) and in Europe (1978-1980), and as US representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1982-1985).

The US Navy continued to grow after World War II, using new types of ships and aircraft to meet new global strategic responsibilities. Nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines joined the fleet and became important elements of nuclear deterrence policy. Aircraft carrier battle groups developed to project American military power around the world.

John J. Ballentine papers
Published/Created: 1913-1973 (bulk 1942-1954)
Finding Aid (PDF, 147.793 KB)
Ballentine (1896-1970) was a US Navy officer and aviator. His papers include correspondence, memoranda, diaries, logbooks, military records, biographical materials, scrapbooks, clippings, and photographs relating primarily to Ballentine's naval career after 1920. Ballentine's training as an air pilot and his service in World War II is documented, as well as his postwar tours of duty in the Mediterranean as commander of Carrier Division One (1947-1949) and as commander of the Sixth Fleet (1949-1951); his tour of duty (1951-1954) as Commander Air Force Atlantic Fleet (COMAIRLANT); and his activities as a member of an armed forces interservice board in Washington, DC (1956-1957). Correspondence received as COMAIRLANT includes reports from commanders in the Mediterranean and information on the Korean War.
William H.P. Blandy papers
Published/Created: 1913-1977
Finding Aid (PDF, 110.700 KB)
Blandy (1890-1954) was a US Navy officer. His papers contain clippings, speeches, reports, and scrapbooks focusing on his leadership of the Naval Bureau of Ordnance in World War II, and on his direction of Operation Crossroads, the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946.
John Lansing Callan papers
Published/Created: 1907-1956
Finding Aid (PDF, 129.346 KB)
Callan (1886-1958) was a US Navy officer, aviator, and aviation executive. His papers include correspondence, diaries, notebooks, orders to duty, a subject file, and printed matter relating to Callan's personal and business interests in aviation, and his activities in both world wars. His service as a naval observer in the 1946 Bikini atomic bomb tests is documented in the Subject File under the code name “Operation Crossroads.”
William J. Crowe papers
Published/Created: 1932-2003 (bulk 1971-2003)
Finding Aid (PDF, 216.553 KB)
Crowe (1925-2007) was a US Navy officer and diplomat. His papers include correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, reports, research material, subject files, naval records, orders for duty, political campaign files, scheduling notebooks, press releases, biographical material, clippings, printed matter, memorabilia, and photographs relating chiefly to Crowe's naval career, his service as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his tenure as ambassador to Great Britain. Documented is Crowe's service as commander in chief of the Allied Forces Southern Europe and his involvement in political affairs including the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.
Edwin Bickford Hooper papers
Published/Created: 1842-1986 (bulk 1931-1986)
Finding Aid (PDF, 153.672 KB)
Hooper (1909-1986) was a US Navy officer and historian. His papers include correspondence, writings, research materials, notes, speeches, articles, book reviews, reports, orders, organizational charts, rosters, printed materials, and photographs primarily pertaining to Hooper's naval career and to his research in US naval history. Documented are studies of ordnance and fire control; his ordnance work on the USS Washington (battleship) during World War II; his work in antiaircraft and nuclear weapons research and development following the war; his work in the Atomic Energy Commission's Military Applications Division which involved planning for nuclear weapons tests at the Eniwetok Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands; the organization and management of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hooper's position at the Bureau as director of research and development; his assignments involving amphibious warfare and logistical operations; his service as commander of the US Pacific Fleet's Service Force prior to and during the Vietnam War; and his work as director of the Naval Historical Center. Included is a draft of Hooper's book United States Naval Power in a Changing World (1988).
Charles Carroll Ijams papers
Published/Created: 1940-1948 (bulk 1945-1946)
(No Finding Aid)
Ijams (1913-2000) was a US Navy officer, chemist, editor, and educator. His papers consist chiefly of letters to his parents chronicling his service in the US Navy Department's Electronics Division at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii, and in Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as a coordinator for electronics in Operation Crossroads. The letters describe the preparation, detonations, and aftermath of Operation Crossroads, and contain eyewitness accounts of the detonations of Tests Able and Baker. Of note are publicity photographs of the detonations. Also includes issues of the newsletter Crossroads Crosstalk and letters concerning his work as editor-in-chief on the USS Avery Island cruise book titled “Operation Crossroads: Bikini 1946.”
Lynde Dupuy McCormick papers
Published/Created: 1909-1959
Finding Aid (PDF, 87.145 KB)
McCormick (1895-1956) was a US Navy officer. His papers include correspondence, reports, notes, scrapbooks, clippings, printed matter, and photographs relating chiefly to McCormick's duty as Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, 1952-1954. Included are trip reports and subject files relating to the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
John Dougall Metcalfe papers
Published/Created: 1931-1992 (bulk 1941-1963)
(Unprocessed)
Metcalfe (1918-2000) was a US Navy officer. His papers contain journals, writings, military personnel records, family papers, and photographs primarily documenting his naval career from 1941 to 1963. Included are Metcalfe’s letters to family members describing his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II; his service on the USS Shangri-La during nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll in 1946; and in Admiral Richard Byrd’s fourth Antarctic expedition of 1946-1947. His service at the Nuclear Weapons Training Center Pacific at Naval Air Station North Island, California, is also documented.
William Sterling Parsons papers
Published/Created: 1943-1953
(No Finding Aid)
Parsons (1901-1953) was a US Navy officer. His papers contain correspondence, articles, and newspaper clippings (mostly postwar) relating to his role in the development and testing of the atomic bomb (Manhattan Project, the bombing of Hiroshima, and Operation Crossroads) and other events in his career. Also included is a journal of Parson's activities as commander of Cruiser Division Six, US Atlantic Fleet (1951-1952).
Ernest W. Peterkin papers
Published/Created: 1946-1992 (bulk 1946)
Finding Aid (PDF, 87.249 KB)
Peterkin (1920-1995) was a US Navy officer and engineer. His papers include correspondence, a journal, writings, a notebook, orders, a photoreproduction of a sketchbook, and other papers kept by Peterkin as a member of the scientific group which photographed the atomic blasts during Operation Crossroads, the nuclear testing on Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, in 1946.
United States Navy 22nd Fighter Squadron, records
Published/Created: 1950-1958
(No Finding Aid)
Also known as "The Fighting Cavaliers," the 22nd Fighter Squadron was commissioned in 1945 as Fighter Bombing Squadron 74, attached primarily to the US Navy Atlantic Fleet. The records include correspondence, memoranda, articles, notes, lists, and charts relating to the squadron's participation in the Korean War and in naval exercises during peacetime.
Jerauld Wright papers
Published/Created: 1853-1960 (bulk 1917-1960)
Finding Aid (PDF, 123.739 KB)
Wright (1898-1995) was a US Navy officer. His papers include correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, printed materials, photographs, and other papers relating to Wright's naval career. His career at sea is documented primarily by daily letters to his wife, Phyllis, and his later career as admiral by extensive newspaper clippings. Documented is his service during World War II, and postwar service as US representative to the Standing Group of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1950-1952); as commander in chief, US Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (1952-1954); and as Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic and commander in chief, US Atlantic Fleet (1954-1960).

Cold War Resources in the Manuscript Division

Manuscripts: Ask a Librarian

Military

Military Collections