Veterans History Project
1714 items
- Notes:
- Dennis Churchill was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1946. He enlisted in the Air Force in late September, or early October 1965 after graduating from high school in that same year. He received basic training in November 1965 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas and mechanical training at the Technical School at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. He was stationed at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas and did temporary duty assignments at San Isidro Air Base, Dominican Republic and at RAF Mildenhall, England. He was reassigned to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base near Taichung, Taiwan and while there served multiple temporary duties in Vietnam. While in Vietnam he was stationed at Tuy Hoa Air Base and Cam Ranh Bay and made supply runs to the major American bases in the country. After his time in Vietnam and being stationed in Taiwan he received an early discharge from the Air Force, and was discharged at McChord Air Force Base, Washington in 1969.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Diane Brigalia enlisted in the Army after high school because she had always been interested in becoming a doctor, but was not yet ready for college. She went through 9 weeks of basic training and then was sent to Fort San Houston in Texas for EMT training. They mostly focused on field simulations and learned how to put together make shift medical centers and basically work with very few materials. Diane was stationed in Korea after she finished training and worked at the field station with the Second Engineer Battalion. She met her husband in Korea and they later got married when they were both stationed at Fort Riley in Texas.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dale Cooper, born in 1948 in Southern Illinois, served in the U.S. Army from late 1968 through early 1971. After completing basic at Fort Leonard Wood and AIT at Fort Ord, Dale was sent to Vietnam. Here he was assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He went on patrols both in the lowlands near Camp Evans, and in the hills and jungles of the interior. He eventually became a radio operator, working his way up from platoon to company level, and then to the battalion. During the Ripcord campaign in 1970, he was serving in the battalion headquarters until he rotated home on July. He spent the last part of his enlistment as a tank commander at Fort Carson, Colorado.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Croft was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1977 and enlisted in the Navy after high school in 1996. He was assigned to the guided missile destroyer USS Cole and sailed with her to the Mediterranean. The ship then went on to Yemen, and was attacked by Al Qaeda bombers there. He remained assigned to the ship while it was under repair, and completed his enlistment at Norfolk, Virginia.
- Date Created:
- 2012-04-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harold Cavner joined the US Marine Corps in 1943. He was on Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa, and was one of the occupation troops in Nagasaki after the war, after the atomic bomb had been dropped there. Back in the United States, he attended Grand Rapids Junior College (now GRCC) and Michigan State University. His career was in the retail and wholesale lumber business.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bill Koetje served in the Army during World War II. He was drafted in 1942 and initially trained as a paratrooper, but was not yet 21 and was transferred to an infantry unit, where he did well enough to stay on as a trainer rather than ship out with his unit. He was then assigned to Fort Meade, Maryland, to supervise recruits who were about to be sent overseas. He finally shipped out himself in the fall of 1944, and was assigned to the 100th Division in northeastern France. He led a machine gun section and was involved in heavy fighting against German fortifications, and was wounded and evacuated. The aid station that he was sent to was bombed, and he was sent to England. He rejoined his unit in the spring of 1945, and served with the Army of Occupation in Germany until the end of the year.
- Date Created:
- 2010-04-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bernard Kraai was drafted into the US Army in 1944, and served in Europe with the 80th Division in late 1944 and 1945. His unit participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the advance into Germany. He was wounded twice, but rejoined his unit each time, and at the end of the war his unit marched into Austria, to the Yugoslav frontier, and eventually into Czechoslovakia. After the war ended, he joined a choir recruited from his unit and toured the region with them until he was discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bradford Sutherland is an Air Force veteran who entered the military after completing two years at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI as an art student. His introduction to the military was through an officer's training course that was required by the university, causing him to take an interest in having a career with the Air Force. He spent his time in the US Air Force at bases in Texas, Washington, and in England. In this interview, Sutherland describes his experiences in the service, including the time that he spent traveling throughout Europe. Sutherland also describes many of the hardships that veterans endure once their time in the service has expired.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Frank Warner was born in Michigan in 1918 and attended college at Michigan State University before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1942. Frank was sent to a different training base in the United States every 9 weeks before flying to Europe, where he flew combat missions from bases in Italy. Frank trained with B-24s because they could carry quite a few more bombs than the older planes. Frank stated that there was a very high mortality rate for the type of missions he had worked on and that a psychologist had to stay with the men to help their mental health. Frank has many stories from flying over Europe that includes being shot at and planes exploding. Military documents appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2005-09-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Womer, born in 1941 in Niles Michigan, served in the U.S. Army for 26.5 years. During his service, William was stationed in both Germany as well as in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 where he organized ambushes on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. William had the honor of being selected as the 4th Army NCO of the year and spent the later part of his service stateside training solders.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
