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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011; Afghan War, 2001-2021
  • Dates of Service: 1991
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG)
  • Battles & Campaigns: Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF); Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)
  • Location of Service: Fort Irwin, California; Kuwait; Iraq
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/63608

View full service history

"The practice of law inside the Army is very different from the outside world." (Audio interview, 8:10)

Born in Taiwan and raised in California, Shannon Morningstar was an accidental recruit to the Army, after stumbling upon a brochure for the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps during law school. As a JAG officer, Morningstar specialized in administrative law rather than litigation. In contrast to common perceptions of the JAG Corps, rather than trying courts-martial, she spent most of her career advising her commanders on a wide range of issues. She deployed to Kuwait in 2006, and while it was a demanding assignment, her experience and the colleagues she worked with deeply enriched her career. In her oral history interview, Morningstar discusses the wide variety of administrative law issues that she worked on, the changes that she observed to the JAG Corps during her time in it, and her memories working at a satellite office of the Pentagon during the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Shannon Morningstar Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Shannon Morningstar Collection

Names

  • Morningstar, Shannon
  • Albanese, Laura Beth
  • American University

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

  • Maryland

Headings

  • -  Morningstar, Shannon
  • -  Afghan War, 2001-2021 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Asian

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Afghan War, 2001-2021

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG)
    • Location of Service: Fort Irwin, California; Kuwait
    • Battles & Campaigns: Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)
    • Dates of Service: 1991
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Location of Service: Iraq
    • Battles & Campaigns: Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2007-11-03; 1994-12-31)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2007-11-03)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2007-11-03; 2010-01-11)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/63608

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Special Format

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Battles & Campaigns

Service Unit/Ship

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Morningstar, Shannon, Laura Beth Albanese, and American University. Shannon Morningstar Collection. 1991. Personal Narrative. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.63608/.

APA citation style:

Morningstar, S., Albanese, L. B. & American University. (1991) Shannon Morningstar Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.63608/.

MLA citation style:

Morningstar, Shannon, Laura Beth Albanese, and American University. Shannon Morningstar Collection. 1991. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/afc2001001.63608/>.