Kowalewski, Alfred Eugene (Interview outline and video), 2015

Notes:

Alfred Kowalewski was born on Memorial Day, 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In July 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. He went into Chicago for Diesel School then on to Little Creek, Virginia to receive amphibious training. In March 1944 he boarded the USS Cheboygan County (LST-533) and sailed to England. En route he witnessed the sinking of multiple ships in their convoy. He trained in England preparing for the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and on D-Day took part in the invasion. He served aboard a Higgins boat as an engineer and helped land troops at Easy Red Sector at Omaha Beach. He helped with supplies on Omaha Beach after the beachhead was secured and then operated out of England helping transport supplies and troops to mainland Europe and also bringing German prisoners of war, and freed Allied prisoners of war back to England. During the Battle of the Bulge he transported supplies to Allied forces in Belgium. In late May 1945 he returned to the U.S. and prepared for the invasion of Japan. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 he was stationed on the East Coast until he returned to Great Lakes Naval Station in March 1946 and got discharged there.

Date Created:

2005-06-05T00:00:00Z

Data Provider:

Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

Collection:

Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Subject Topic:

Oral history, Veterans History Project (U.S.), United States--History, Military, Veterans, Video recordings, World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American, and United States. Navy

Rights:

<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>

URL:

https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/document/40675