Access

This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Cyrus Aydlett Papers #04907, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from Lydia Aydlett of Carrboro, N.C., in January 1998 (Acc. 98020) and January 1999 (Acc. 98273).

Sensitive Materials Statement

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, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Aydlett, Augusta.
• Aydlett, Cyrus, 1909- .
• Bayfield (Ship).
• Elizabeth City (N.C.)--Social life and customs.
• Family--North Carolina--Social life and customs.
• Iwo Jima, Battle of, 1945.
• Nags Head (N.C.)--History--Photographs.
• School yearbooks--North Carolina--Nags Head.
• United States. Coast Guard--History--World War, 1939-1945.
• United States. Coast Guard--Officers--Correspondence--World War, 1939-1945.
• World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France--Normandy.
• World War, 1939-1945--Destruction and pillage--Europe.
• World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American--Photographs.
• World War, 1939-1945--Naval operations, American.
• World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

Cyrus Aydlett (1909- ) was a native of North Carolina, who enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard as an ensign in 1942. He was a supply and coding officer for the Coast Guard and was sent to England in February 1944 on the U.S.S. Bayfield. He was involved in action at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Normandy, and southern France. Discharged as a lieutenant in January 1946, he returned to his wife Augusta in Elizabeth City, N.C., and established the Elizabeth City Finance Company.

Correspondence, journals, ship documents, military and travel memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to the World War II military career of Cyrus Aydlett; a few photographs from after World War II; photographs, 1918-1932 of Nags Head, N.C.; and yearbooks, 1923 and 1926, from the seventh grade of the Elizabeth City Grammar School, Elizabeth City, N.C. Correspondence is mainly between Aydlett and his wife Augusta and concerns daily life, family news, and Augusta's pregnancy and their new child, as well as Aydlett's travels in Europe and daily military life. Aydlett's journals, 1944-1945, provide information about daily life on his ship, the U.S.S. Bayfield, sailing conditions, his duties as supply officer, preparations for D-Day, and Aydlett's feelings and fears about going into battle.

Documents from the U.S.S. Bayfield include daily plan sheets, the ship's newsletter, duty lists, and other official documents. Also included are photographs of European cities and people and various members of the Bayfield crew. There are several notable images of troops mobilizing at Iwo Jima.