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E. Thomas Billard Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: PJM
Date: 13 Dec 2016

Biographical History

E. Thomas Billard (1946- ) is a former American military officer, a native of McLean, New York and a 1981 MBA graduate of Syracuse University.

Frederick L. Billard, E. Thomas' father, was born in 1913 or 1914 to E.N. and Grace Billard. Billard graduated from Cornell and Syracuse Universities, and was a teacher and later educational administrator in the McLean and Dryden schools. He married Veronica Davern, with whom he had three children including E. Thomas (a fourth died in infancy). He was active in numerous professional and civic organizations, including serving on the McLean Fire District Board for twenty years, and was a charter member of the McLean Community Church. He died in 1997.

E. Thomas Billard was born in Catskill, NY, in 1946. He graduated from Cornell University in June 1968 and enlisted in the Army the following month. He attended Basic and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey and then Engineer Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Following completion of the Engineer OCS course in June 1969, he received a commission in Military Intelligence and was assigned to the Army Security Agency. He served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and volunteered to go to Vietnam, where he served from August 1970 to May 1971. While serving in Vietnam, Billard, in addition to writing traditional letters, sent a number of voice tapes recording his observations and travels during his tour of duty. Following the completion of his military service commitment, Billard left the Army in May 1971 for a civilian career.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The E. Thomas Billard Papers includes audio cassette recordings, correspondence, photographs and other memorabilia relating to Billard himself as well as to his father Frederick and mother Veronica Davern.

Correspondence falls into two groups. The first, from the 1930s and 1940s, consists of letters between Frederick L. Billard, his wife Veronica (Ronnie) Davern, and Frederick's parents E.N. and Grace. The second, from 1968-1971, consists of written letters and "audio letters" between E. Thomas Billard and his family in Upstate New York, including his parents Frederick and Ronnie.

Memorabilia includes photographs and slides. Most are from Billard's tour in Vietnam but some are from his trips to Thailand and Germany. The slides were received in two carousel boxes; one of these contained a loaded carousel, the other contained individual slides, some in smaller boxes as they would have come from the developer, others loose in the box. There is also a 25th Infantry military yearbook. There is a small amount of memorabilia relating to his parents Frederick and Ronnie.

Miscellaneous includes military documents relating to Billard's service.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence tapes are arranged chronologically. Other material is alphabetical by type or topic.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed off site and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Many of the audiorecordings have been digitized and are available via our Digital Collections page, in the E. Thomas Billard Papers collection. More detailed contents notes were taken during digitization. In some instances, the audio engineers were able to recover content thought to be deleted, as many of the audio cassettes were used more than once. Tapes are arranged chronologically, as best as possible. Some of the tapes evidently accompany some of the slides (see Memorabilia: Slides) but the connection has been lost as to which slides they go with.

Subject Headings

Persons

Billard, E. Thomas.
Billard, Frederick L.

Corporate Bodies

United States. -- Army. -- Infantry Division, 25th.

Subjects

Teachers -- New York (State)
Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal narratives.
World War, 1939-1945.

Places

Australia, Southeastern.
Germany.
Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
New York (State)
Thailand.
Vietnam.

Genres and Forms

Audiocassettes.
Correspondence.
Photographs.
Slides (photographs)
Sound recordings.
Yearbooks.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

E. Thomas Billard Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of E. Thomas Billard, 2015, 2020, 2022.

Table of Contents

Correspondence 1932-1947

Correspondence 1970-1971

Memorabilia

Inventory

Note on alternate formats:

Many of the audiorecordings have been digitized and are available via our Digital Collections page, in the E. Thomas Billard Papers collection. More detailed contents notes were taken during digitization. In some instances, the audio engineers were able to recover content thought to be deleted, as many of the audio cassettes were used more than once. Tapes are arranged chronologically, as best as possible. Some of the tapes evidently accompany some of the slides (see Memorabilia: Slides) but the connection has been lost as to which slides they go with.