Harry F. Swank, a native of Kansas, was a member of the Marine Corps from December 1941 to December 1945. He served during World War II with the 5th Joint Assault Signal Company of the 5th Marine Division. After recovering from wounds received on the first day of fighting on Iwo Jima in February 1945, Swank was sent to Japan where he served with the occupation forces.

Mary Addie Foster of Corinth, Mississippi, joined the Marine Corps Woman's Reservists in March 1943. She received basic training at Hunter College in New York City and was later stationed in Washington, North Carolina, and California. She was one of only four Woman's Reservists selected to be receptionists to the American delegation at the United Nations conference in San Francisco in 1945. She received her military discharge in December 1945, and in 1946 she and Harry F. Swank were married. They moved to Texas in 1960.

The collection consists of materials relating to the military careers of Harry F. Swank and Mary Foster Swank during World War II.

("Swank Family WWII Collection." Control File, East Texas Research Center. Ralph W. Steen Library. Stephen F. Austin State University).