Skip to main content

Clifford C. Neilson Vietnam War Diary

 Collection
Identifier: SC 00145

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

Diary kept by Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C. Neilson, Commander of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam from May to November 1968.  It was written in the evening and recounts actions of the unit but much of the diary is written in shorthand and acronyms as it was created while engaged in heavy combat by the author in the vicinity of Ton Sonh Nhant Airbase near Saigon and Tay Ninh Province.  Neilson records that they suffered 38 men killed in action, 218 wounded in action, lost over fifty percent of their armored personal carriers to enemy fire and mines.  They inflicted on their enemy 479 killed, unknown wounded, captured 23 prisoners of war and recovered 129 weapons.  A website, tomahawkveterans.com/vietnam_years.htm provides a trasnlation of the shorthand in the diary and an overview of its contents by the creator.

Dates

  • Creation: 1968

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Extent

0.01 Linear Foot

Title
Guide to the Clifford C. Neilson Vietnam War Diary
Date
2017-05-03
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
The collection description/finding aid is written in English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository

Contact: