Milton P. Fields Papers, 1941-1995, undated

(Manuscript Collection #754)

Title:	Milton P. Fields Papers
Creator:	Fields, Milton P.
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Abstract:	Papers [1945, 1948] including correspondence, photographs, a map, a phase chart, 2 poems, courts martial, etc.
Extent:	4.5 Cubic feet, 4 boxes, 251 items, containing 240 photographs, a map, a Japanese phrase chart, two poems, courts martial, and other miscellaneous items.

Accessions Information

January 21, 1998, ca. 225 items; Photographs and miscellaneous documents of photographer stationed aboard the USS SARATOGA during World War II. Gift of Mr. Milton P. Fields, Rocky Mount, NC.

February 8, 2000 (unprocessed addition 1), 19 items, 0.022 cubic feet; Correspondence, photographs, prints, clippings, documents and printed materials related to the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA (CV-3) during World War II in the Pacific Ocean, including a copy of an affidavit of Stefan A. Yarady, an airman captured by the Japanese and held as a prisoner of war, 1943-1945; and copies of the " Saratoga Log", Vol. 1, no. 1 - Vol. 4, no. 1, January 1992-January 1995, a newsletter edited and published by John Fry, of San Diego, CA, for veterans of the USS SARATOGA. Gift of Mr. Milton P. Fields.

July 27, 2004 (unprocessed addition 2), 205 items, ca. 1.57 cubic feet; Photographic prints and negatives (1943-1946) taken, developed and printed by the donor during his World War II service as a Photographers Mate (2C) aboard USS SARATOGA (CV 3); and as a student at East Carolina Teachers College, ca. 1946-1950; also ECTC Tecoan volumes, 1946, 1948. Gift of Mr. Milton P. Fields.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Milton P. Fields Papers (#754), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Mr. Milton P. Fields

Processing Information

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

Milton P. Fields was born in Halifax County, NC, in 1926 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a photographer. After the war, he attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and graduated in 1949 with an AB in English. He later attended Emory University and Wake Forest University earning a doctor of laws in 1953. That same year Fields was admitted to the bar in North Carolina. He served as a prosecuting attorney in Rocky Mount, NC, in 1958 and the following year he and partner(s) established Fields and Cooper Law Offices. Fields' practice area is general civil litigation.

The main component of this collection is that of the photographs. Most of the photographs were taken on board the USS SARATOGA (CV-3) aircraft carrier during World War II and contain a wide variety of subjects.

Photographs of high ranking U.S. Naval personnel include familiar names like the former Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Admiral Raymond Spruance, Admiral Sherman, and Admiral William F. Halsey. Senator Margaret Chase Smith and Senator Al Gore, Sr., are pictured as well.

The aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA, where most of Fields' work in this collection was concentrated, is the focus of many photographs which were taken from shore, aboard ship, and from aircraft. Of significant interest are the pictures that were taken on the SARATOGA during a kamikaze attack at Iwo Jima in 1945. Photographs of this event focus on action taking place on the flight deck. There are photographs picturing the damage on other parts of the ship as well. Newspaper articles which report the kamikaze attack at Iwo Jima in February, 1945, and the SARATOGA' s arrival in San Francisco at the end of the war later that year are also included.

Some of the operations of SARATOGA in the Pacific Ocean were photographed from aircraft flying overhead showing beach invasions and bombing raids on Eniwetok Atoll, Tanambogo and Gavutu islands, Florida Island, and others. An assortment of photographs show operations on the flight deck with SARATOGA' s aircraft, other flight deck operations, and shipboard life.

Miscellaneous documents include a map of one of SARATOGA' s voyages in the Pacific Ocean; a cartoon drawing; a copy of a sketch of a battle at sea by Gilbert Bundy; an unsigned artist's rendition of SARATOGA under attack; a Japanese word and phrase list; and a weekly accounting of the cost for the general mess on SARATOGA. A poem about the SARATOGA and a poem titled "My Alma Mater" are included as well. This collection is completed with documents concerning two courts martial for a seaman first class and a photographers mate first class.