Veterans History Project
1714 items
- Notes:
- Willie Saddler is an African American veteran who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the end of World War II where he helped clean up and retrieve casualties from towns in Germany and Italy that were attacked during the war. He also describes early efforts at racial integration in the Air Corps.
- Date Created:
- 2011-08-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Turner was born on March 8, 1940 in Guntown, Mississippi. When he was five years old his family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1960 (approximately) he enlisted in the Air Force. He received basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. After that he served as chaplain's assistant both in the United States and in Turkey where he conducted tours of the Holy Land and holy sites in the area. He went on to receive Officer Training and training from the Police Academy and got into the Military Police of the Air Force. He served in Spain as part of the Military Police and at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany where he dealt with the Baader Meinhof Gang and Red Brigades (terrorist groups). He also served at Stewart Air Force Base, New York and at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana (now Grissom Air Force Base). During his 20 year career in the Air Force he also helped establish human relations courses and race relations courses, specifically with the Department of Defense and President Nixon's Secretary of Defense. He concluded his Air Force career at the University of Michigan where he worked in aerospace studies and recruited minority students.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated November 20, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated November 20, 1944. In the letter, Agnes writes of her journey taking the train to Buffalo, New York, and spending the week in Conewango Valley with Helen and Gaylord while experiencing their first snow fall for the year.
- Date Created:
- 1944-11-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Handwritten V-Mail letter and envelope with transcript by Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, dated November 23, 1943. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated December 14, 1943. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes a brief message to Agnes on a rainy day to let her know he misses her and hopes to receive a letter from her soon.
- Date Created:
- 1943-11-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- David Christian was born in 1946 in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. After completing high school there in 194, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After training in California, David was sent to Chu Lai, Vietnam in 1965. David's first tour was spent at Chu Lai and fixing aircraft at Marble Mountain Air Facility. After returning home and marrying his wife, David reenlisted for a second tour. David was promoted to sergeant and repaired aircraft at Chu Lai until 1970. David also worked at Iwakuni Marine Corps Base for the remaining 6 months of his second tour. David returned to the United States in 1970 where he worked at Camp Lejeune and as a Drill Instructor on Parris Island.
- Date Created:
- 2010-07-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Greg Kiekintveld was born in Holland, Michigan in May 1949. After graduating from high school in 1968, he worked in construction until he was drafted into the Army in March, 1969. Following basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the Army sent Kiekintveld to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for advanced training to be a combat engineer. Once Kiekintveld completed the training at Fort Leonard Wood, Kiekintveld deployed to Vietnam and joined B Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. While with the 326th Engineers, Kiekintveld had two primary assignments. First, he oversaw a small team tasked with creating landing zones in advance of an assault by infantry from other units in the 101st Airborne. Second, as part of a larger unit, either platoon- or company-sized he helped with construction and demolition of hilltop firebases for the division. His unit was based at Camp Evans, and operated in the hills and valleys of the northern part of South Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Al Lust was born in Ohio in 1950 and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1971. Al served in Germany, Thailand, and Korea. While in Thailand, Al worked on flight missions against the Viet Cong. Al stated that he was mortared and shot at many times but never experienced any heavy combat. After his time in the Air Force, Al worked on a mission dealing with the homeless for 16 years. He also was a rescue mission chaplain and a substance abuse counselor.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Baltazar Martinez was born in Plainview, Texas, in 1952. He was one of the last people to be drafted into the Army in 1972. He trained as an armored cavalryman and was deployed to Vietnam toward the end of the year, but stayed only a few days before being sent home. He re-enlisted twice, and served in Korea and in different bases in the US until 1981. He subsequently served in the Marine Corps for three years, and then later joined the Army National Guard, and deployed to Kuwait, and Iraq in 2010. He currently serves with the 507th Engineer Battalion, but did not deploy with them to Afghanistan in 2011 due to his age.
- Date Created:
- 2014-03-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bryan Pogodzinski was born on September 15th 1964. He was active in the military during the Cold War as well as the Iraq War and served as a Master Sargent in the Air Force. During the Cold War he was stationed at Dyess Air Force base where the B1 Bomber was introduced. Later he was part of Operation Desert Shield in Iraq. There he worked for the 555th Military Police Company dealing with security risks. After leaving the military he focused on education and is soon to complete his PhD.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jerry Everitt was born in Big Rapids, Michigan on April 5, 1927. He enlisted in the Navy on March 20, 1945 and received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He served aboard the USS LST-457 in the Philippines, Japan and the Admiralty Islands then transferred to the USS San Clemente (AG-79) around the Philippines and in Shanghai, China. They returned to the U.S. on the San Clemente and was discharged in Chicago on June 5, 1946. He reenlisted in the Navy on August 22, 1947 and went to Electrician School in San Diego. He served on the USS Molala (ATF-106) in the Philippines and in Hong Kong. After towing a dry dock back to the United States from Guam he was discharged from the Navy for his second, and final time on March 23, 1950 at Long Beach, California.
- Date Created:
- 2016-03-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)