Veterans History Project 1714 items

Notes:: Bernard DePrimo was born in 1924 in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and in early 1943 he was drafted. In March 1943 he began training at Camp Davis, North Carolina with the 430th Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion. He received communication training and artillery training at Camp Davis and Fort Fisher until it was time to go overseas. He left the United States on October 22, 1943 bound for England and stayed there with the 430th until June 8, 1944. Over the course of 1944 and into 1945 he and the 430th advanced across France protecting Allied ground forces from the German Luftwaffe. He was also attached to the 110th Field Artillery Battalion driving trucks as part of the Red Ball Express, transporting supplies and later German and Allied prisoners of war and displaced persons. After the war ended on May 8, 1945 he was reassigned to the 203rd (or 207th) Field Artillery Battalion and stayed with them for the rest of his time in Europe. On October 12, 1945 he left Europe and on October 31, 1945 he was discharged from the Army at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.
Date Created:: 2015-05-20T00:00:00Z
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 January 29, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated February 10, 1944. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes to Agnes on a Saturday night while wishing they were together and reminiscing about their previous times going to church together in anticipation for the service in town the following morning.
Date Created:: 1944-01-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: August Edema was born in Byron Center, Michigan in 1920. He was drafted after Pearl Harbor was attacked when he was 20. He went to the west coast and trained in the 96th Division. They made him a staff sergeant and he trained new recruits for 2 years. After that he went to Leyte, Philippines and was a platoon sergeant. August fought in the jungle of the Philippines until he was wounded on November 13, 1944. He spent the rest of the war in hospitals in the Pacific and the US, and was discharged when the war ended.
Date Created:: 2008-02-19T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Glenn Dykstra was born in Oklahoma in 1932. However, because of the effects of the Dust Bowl, his family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dykstra joined the Air Force when he was seventeen and finished his school while in the service. After training at Lackland Air Force base, Dykstra taught at several bases around the country. Eventually, he shipped out to Japan and flew both bombing and cargo missions into Korea during the Korean War. He also flew VIPs around, including Eisenhower, Nixon, Bob Hope and Marilyn Monroe. Dykstra spent a total of four years deployed overseas, including time after the conflict in Korea had concluded.
Date Created:: 2010-03-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: David Good is a World War II veteran who served with in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. In this account, Good discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He discusses his work as an electronic technician aboard the USS Alaska at sea in the Pacific. He also covers the ship's visit to Tsingtao, China, after the Japanese surrender.
Date Created:: 2004-12-09T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Marion Graff, born in Ironwood Michigan in August of 1922, served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 in the Pacific during World War II. During his service, Marion was a Medical Corpsman aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia and provided anything from basic medical care to surgeries for the sailors on aboard. During his time spend on the West Virginia, he participated in several major engagements, including the Surigao Straits, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Date Created:: 2012-01-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Francisco Vega was born in San Antonio, Texas. He tried to enlist in the military immediately after Pearl Harbor, but was initially rejected because of his Mexican ancestry. He eventually did enlist in the Army Air Corps, and began a long process in which he used his talents and persuasive skills to find increasingly interesting assignments, eventually training as a teletype operator with a signals unit that landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day and was eventually part of Eisenhower's headquarters.
Date Created:: 2008-03-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Joe Olexa to Agnes Van Der Weide, dated March 8, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated March 11, 1944. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes from England expressing his love for her and his good mood in knowing she is waiting for him back home in Michigan.
Date Created:: 1944-03-08T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Homer Berry was born in Flint, Michigan on February 13, 1925. Homer decided to enlist in the Navy shortly after his brother had been drafted. After training Homer became a motor machinist mate, 2nd class petty officer. Homer was shipped to the Pacific on a LST and they began traveling all over the Pacific dropping off supplies to other troops.
Date Created:: 2008-03-12T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: William Deary, born in Pontiac, Michigan in July 31st 1925. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943, and was sent first to Miami Beach for basic training, and then to Laredo, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, for training as a gunner. He was sent to Italy in 1944 and joined a B-24 squadron in the 15th Air Force. He flew eight missions late in 1944, and his plane was shot down over Hungary on the final mission. He was captured and moved through an assortment of interrogation centers and camps in Hungary, Austria and Germany before being assigned to a prison camp outside of Berlin. When the Russians who liberated the camp refused to let the men leave, Deary and two other men took off on their own and made their way back to American lines, after which he was sent home.
Date Created:: 2011-08-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)