William C. Capshaw Papers

The William C. Capshaw Papers document the life and military service of William Cody Capshaw, a United States Marine Corps veteran from Oklahoma who served aboard the USS Nevada (BB-36) before and during World War II. The collection traces Capshaw from his childhood in Oklahoma through his 1940 enlistment, training in San Diego and at sea school, and assignment to the Nevada’s Marine detachment in Hawaii, where he was present during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also covers his later service in the South Pacific, the combat injuries he sustained at the Battle of Eniwetok, his hospitalization and recovery, his honorable discharge, and his postwar education at East Central State College and his dealings with the Veterans’ Administration. Materials include photographs, letters, postcards, notebooks, news clippings, official military and government records, financial documents, and ephemera such as menus, programs, matchbooks, and maps.

Much of the collection consists of correspondence, including Capshaw’s letters to his mother, Eliza-Jane Capshaw, and incoming letters from friends, girlfriends, family, fellow servicemen, church groups, and public officials who expressed concern for his safety and encouraged him during his recovery. Letters from fellow Marines and his platoon commander provide firsthand accounts of his injury. Also included are issues of the USS Nevada’s shipboard newsletter, Nevada Cheer-Up, from the period before the United States entered the war, along with Capshaw’s training notebooks and humorous writings, some of which contain crude or sexually suggestive content. News clippings document his survival of Pearl Harbor and the widely reported “rock grenade” incident on Eniwetok Atoll. Together, these materials offer a detailed personal view of a Marine’s experience from enlistment through recovery and into civilian life.