Veterans History Project 1714 items

Notes:: Harvey De Vries was born on a farm in Michigan in 1922. He was drafted in 1943 started training as a tank destroyer gunner, but then switched to the paratroops. He arrived in England immediately before D-Day and did not take part in that action, but joined the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division as a replacement. He fought with them in Holland and was wounded in that campaign, but returned to the division in time to participate in the defense of Bastogne and stayed with them through the rest of the war.
Date Created:: 2010-01-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Harold Folkema is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. In this account, Folkema discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S. and England. Assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as a replacement in May 1944, he participated in the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach, and fought through Normandy, northern France, Belgium and into Germany, where he was wounded by a mine.
Date Created:: 2002-08-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Jerry Lyons, born December 20, 1922, was drafted while living in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. He served during World War II as a part of the 32nd Division, 107th Medical Battalion, Company D. His service took him across the South Pacific to Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippine Islands, where his unit supported the division in combat on Leyte and Luzon.
Date Created:: 2005-05-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Len Motyka, born in 1925 in Detroit Michigan, served in the U.S. Army from 1943-1946 in Europe during World War II. Len was trained to be a mortarman. When he arrived in Marce France, he was assigned to a Mortar unit within the 63rd Davison in the 7th Army. He then spent most of his tour traveling across France into Germany taking town after town. He was discharged in 1946.
Date Created:: 2011-05-22T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Joyce Mrozik was born in Ada Michigan in 1935. As a child, Joyce was exposed to rationing of goods and the fears of air raids during World War II. In approximately 1953, Joyce joined the Naval Reserves in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was trained as a typist as well as an office worker. She very much enjoyed her time in the service.
Date Created:: 2011-08-05T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Bob Mueller was born in Chicago in 1921, and at the time of Pearl Harbor was attending college in California and taking aviation classes. He enlisted as a Navy cadet and went through pre-flight and advanced flight training before becoming a flight instructor in New Orleans. He then trained to fly fighters off of aircraft carriers and was expecting to participate in the invasion of Japan when the war ended..
Date Created:: 2008-09-11T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Clare Musgrove served in the Army Air Corps, 1942-1945. He was a B-24 Gunner with the 15th Air Force in Italy, where he flew nine missions. On the last, over Ploesti, his plane was hit and the crew bailed out over Serbia. The rest of the crew were captured, but he was rescued by a local family and smuggled out by the resistance. Upon returning to his base, he was given a training assignment for the rest of the war.
Date Created:: 2005-09-13T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Vern Pouch, born in Fruitport Michigan, enlisted in the Navy in 1944 at the age of seventeen. After training at Great Lakes and in Virginia, he joined the crew of a new LST and sailed with her from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, and then across the Pacific, where he participated in the invasion of the Philippines. Off Mindoro in December, 1944, his ship was badly damaged and abandoned, and the crew were rescued by a destroyer and taken to Australia. He served out the remainder of his enlistment as a cook on Treasure Island in California.
Date Created:: 2010-07-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Charles Weingate was born in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan as a child. He was drafted into the Army in 1944 before finishing high school, but was allowed to finish. He became a radio operator in the Signal Corps. His unit's objective was to create a source of sound to deceive the enemy into thinking that there were more Americans present than there were. He landed in Naples and operated throughout the Italian peninsula. He spent some time in Italy working for the Air Force after the war was over. He was sent home in 1946. After the war, he worked several jobs, most of which were in factories.
Date Created:: 2007-12-13T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Ken Bucy was born in Anderson, Indiana, on April 25, 1947. He enlisted in the Indiana National Guard and was assigned to D Company of the 151st Infantry Regiment of the 38th Infantry Division. Upon completion of basic training and advanced infantry training, the 151st became a Ranger unit. He received more training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was deployed to Vietnam after Christmas 1968. They conducted long-range reconnaissance patrols out of a base north of Long Binh. After returning to the United States, he was placed in the inactive reserve and studied at Arizona State. He joined the Arizona National Guard after graduating from college and served in a National Guard band for a total of 17 years. After 12 years in the National Guard, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and became a chaplain assistant in the 2nd Brigade of the 49th Armored Division. He served with them for 3 1/2 years, then served as an Army Reserve instructor for 12 years. He returned to the National Guard band in Arizona and served with them until he volunteered for service in Iraq in 2003. Ken served in Iraq as a chaplain assistant in a Louisiana infantry brigade. He retired from military service in 2007.
Date Created:: 2016-10-28T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)