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- Notes:
- Bea Foster Spivey was on the homefront during the Second World War and worked in a Ford factory in Michigan during the war. She was married and had a baby during the war, and her husband, William Hubert Foster served in the Army as a staff sergeant and saw action on New Guinea and on the Philippines and was wounded twice on the Philippines
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Groggel served during World War II in Germany and France as a Replacement Officer for the 90th Division in 1944. Shortly after arriving, he and his severely shorthanded platoon were captured by a German outfit when defending from a pillbox. Groggel was then registered as a POW on December 9, 1944 and was sent to a camp in Poland. A few weeks later, as the Russians approached, the prisoners marched across Poland to Germany, under grueling conditions, and then had to march south from Hannover to Munich as other Allied forces approached. His liberation by General Patton's forces came on April 29, 1945 in Münchberg, Germany.
- Date Created:
- 2009-10-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Renner was born in Sigourney, Iowa. He enlisted in the Army in 1969 to stay ahead of the draft. After training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent for artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sent to Vietnam in early 1970, he was assigned to Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery, a 155mm howitzer unit in the 101st Airborne Division. He served on several different fire bases in the northern part of South Vietnam, including Ripcord, where he served during the siege that took place in July, 1970. His own gun was destroyed by enemy mortar fire during the siege, but he helped out as best he could until the base was abandoned. He remained with his battery for the rest of his tour, and returned home in 1971.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James VandenBosch, born in Ada, Michigan, enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and trained as a medical corpsman. After a cruise aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La in the Mediterranean, he trained for combat duty with the Marines at Camp Lejeune and was sent to Vietnam in 1968. After a short stint with a Civil Action Patrol working in the villages near Da Nang, he became the senior corpsman for a rifle company of the 26th Marines, and participated with them in a series of combat operations. He spent the last part of his tour at a hospital in Da Nang. After his discharge, he eventually decided to go to nursing school and re-enlist in the Navy, this time as a nurse and officer. He did so, and retired from the Navy in 1989.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Vogel served in the U. S. Navy both stateside and during two tours overseas during the Vietnam War. He joined the Navy immediately after high school to avoid being drafted. Vogel recalls his experiences during basic training, his time spent in Vietnam, and the technology used during the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bill Groom was born on March 10, 1951, in Greenville, Michigan. In 1969 he enlisted in the Air Force and received basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. His first duty station was at Lewistown Air Force Station, Montana, with the 694th Radar Squadron where he maintained and operated vehicles. In 1972 he volunteered for overseas service, and was deployed to Thailand in October 1972. He was stationed at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield where he helped load and unload bombs onto B-52 bombers. He stayed overseas for one year then returned home. He was discharged from active duty in San Francisco in October 1973. In 1975 he joined the Air National Guard at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Michigan. In 1980 he went full-time and served as a technician, working on a variety of vehicles. In the mid-1990s he deployed to Italy during the Kosovo conflict, and later in 2002 he deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to assist with maintenance and supervision of maintenance. He continued to serve in the Air National Guard until he retired in March 2008 with the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.
- Date Created:
- 2016-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Raymond Novakoski was born on January 25, 1951, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy Reserve in August 1970. In the fall of 1970 he reported to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, for two weeks of basic training then received two weeks of Corpsman Training at Great Lakes Naval Station Hospital. He stayed in Grand Rapids for a year then began his active duty service on August 22, 1971. He attended Corps School in San Diego from September 1971 through January 1972. He was stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida where he worked in the naval hospital and also served as a driver for a captain. His active duty ended on August 21, 1973, and his time in the Navy Reserve ended after two years of active reserve service and one year of inactive reserve service.
- Date Created:
- 2015-06-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harriet Sturim was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York in 1943 to German immigrants that had fled the Nazi persecution of Jewish citizens in the 1930s. She met her husband, Rick Sturim, in a Jewish youth group as teenagers and reconnected while in college. They married on June 12, 1965 and moved to Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois the next day (where Rick was receiving Aircraft Maintenance Training). She moved to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico with Rick and worked at the Department of Defense school as a speech therapist and was part of the Wives' Club (extension of the Officers' Club). They stayed at Ramey Air Force Base until August 1968 and then moved to Kincheloe Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she continued to do activities with other officers' wives. Rick was discharged in 1969 and they eventually moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1977. She has been involved with numerous veterans' organizations in the Grand Rapids area including the Cost of Freedom Tribute (Vietnam War memorial movement), the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, the Veterans' Affairs Clinic in Wyoming, Michigan, and the "No Veteran Dies Alone" program at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview with Robert M. Smith by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Smith served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as a Communications Specialist. In this tape, Smith describes the journey overseas with the AVG, his first impressions upon arrival in Rangoon and Toungoo, and his first duties as a radioman for the group.
- Date Created:
- 1991-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Sarah Anderson was born in 1990 in Muskegon, Michigan, and lived in the same house for her entire childhood. Anderson graduated high school in 2009 and immediately joined the Marine Corps since she disliked the mundane environment of the classroom, was energetic, and saw the positive impact the Corps had upon her brother. During the 9/11 attacks, Anderson was in the fifth grade and remembers being sent home early after hearing of the attacks over the radio, later influencing her decision to join the service. She attended Marine Boot Camp in August of 2009 at Parris Island, South Carolina, where male recruits were separated from female recruits, even though training standards were equal between the sexes. In addition to basic training, recruits were instructed on hand-to-hand combat in the Marine Martial Arts Program and Anderson recalled how all training was meant to break down recruits to build them up again as skilled, devoted, proud soldiers. After Boot Camp, Anderson transferred into Marine Combat Training in Fort Johnson, North Carolina, where she chose her career within the Corps, and then to Fort Meade, Maryland, for her Marine Occupational Specialty schooling in public affairs. She then chose her occupation within the Corps as a Combat Correspondent, or Strategic Communications and Mass Communicator, and described her occupational schooling as greatly constructive due to her greater exposure to the experiences of other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Anderson's first base assignment was in Twentynine Palms, California, where she interviewed Marines before they were deployed to Afghanistan, growing attached to her work and to the stories of these men. When her first four years of service ended, Anderson was encouraged to reenlist by her fellow Marines as well as an underlying dread that she had not seen enough of the Corps or the world. Once reenlisted, she opted to be stationed in bases on Oahu Island, Hawaii, where she continued her media work online and through interviews. She became exposed to working with military personnel of all ranks, urging her to quickly develop proper etiquette for addressing high ranking soldiers and commanders. She also acquired opportunities to work with military personnel from other nations from across the globe, allowing her to see into the military cultures of other countries. Anderson concluded that her work on Oahu taught her the values of working individually, thus independently, and problem solving between the needs of various specializations within the military. Later, she transferred to Darwin, Australia, for Marine Rotational Force Darwin, a unit deployment program, and Talus Mu Saber, a two-week training exercise held every other year between the American and Australian militaries. Anderson became more of a 'brand marketer' than a Combat Correspondent, focusing on both media and public relations through working with major media outlets, social media, and other forms of press coverage. With this new focus, she became more integrated with the history of the Corps in the Second World War, Vietnam, as well as current conflicts. After eight years in the service, Anderson made the difficult decision to leave the Corps in 2016 since she never acquired the deployment opportunities she strived for. From there, she attended Grand Valley State University for a degree in PR, advertising, and photography. She commended her recent academic ventures for teaching her the technical skills that the Corps could not provide her while also commending the Corps for teaching her discipline and responsibility. Reflecting upon her service, Anderson believed she grew tremendously as a person through the Corps by doing her best, especially in the face of subtle, underlying sexism or gender stereotypes. Ultimately, these subtle tensions in gender relations remained constant during her service. She also adhered to the moral and ethical teachings of various mentors and instructors who helped her build a stronger character and skills in leadership. Pre-Enlistment: (00:00:52:00) Enlistment/Training: (00:06:30:00) Service: (00:29:48:00) Post-Service Life: (01:07:17:00) Reflections: (01:09:43:00)
- Date Created:
- 2019-04-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)