Veterans History Project
1714 items
- Notes:
- Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of engagements on the Imjin River and in the Punchbowl. He learned to use field radios and transferred to a signal company, and at the end of his tour he served near Panmunjom.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Buteyn served in the US Army from 1942-1945. He served as an infantryman in the 303rd Regiment, and saw action along the Dutch/Belgian frontier early in 1945 and took part in the crossing of the Rhine at Remagen. He later participated in the closing of the Saar pocket and in the capture of Cologne and Dusseldorf. Before being wounded in April, he participated in the liberation of three concentration camps for political prisoners. His wartime experiences helped him to decide to go into the ministry after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Keith Edmondson was born in 1924 in Wheaton, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Glen Ellyn. After graduating from high school, Edmondson began attending Purdue University the following fall, which was where he heard about the Aviation Cadet Program, which offered a deferment from military service until the end of school; however, in February 1943, the government changed the program and Edmondson enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He trained in Texas, Idaho and Nevada and was sent to the Pacific in 1944 as a bombardier on a B-24. After receiving additional training in Hawaii, Edmondson's crew deployed to the island of Kwajalein, located in the Marshall Island chain. While stationed on Kwajalein, Edmondson's B-24 participated in bombing attacks against the Japanese-held island of Truk. Eventually, Edmondson's squadron moved from Kwajalein to Guam, where they began launched bombing attacks against Japanese-held Iwo Jima. From there, he went on to Okinawa, where he completed his requisite forty missions and rotated home.
- Date Created:
- 2011-04-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Marc Skinner was born in 1948 in Richmond, Indiana. He grew up in Richmond and graduated from high school there in 1966, and then went to Ball State University for a year and a half until he dropped out. He was eventually drafted into the Army, and opted for NCO training, which delayed kept him in the US for a full year before he was sent to Vietnam in the spring of 1970. He was assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Camp Evans. His company fought in the battles around Firebase Ripcord, April-July 1970. He later served in the battalion's headquarters company before returning to the US and getting discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Morris Hinken served as a communications technician during World War II. He trained at Camp Crowder, Missouri, and deployed to England with the 32nd Signal Battalion at the end of 1943. He was based near Coventry, and went to Normandy shortly after D-Day. His unit laid and repaired telephone cables across northern Europe. He worked in Bastogne shortly before the Battle of the Bulge, and followed the army into Germany. Shortly after the German surrender, he was sent to Okinawa, arriving just after the Japanese surrender.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Lewis was drafted into the Army at age 26 and served in the Korean War. Upon being drafted, he joined the Army engineers and worked building bridges in Korea near the front lines. He also worked building foxholes and firing positions for the Marines.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tom Bilecki served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did two tours, one in 2004 and another in 2012. He was stationed at Forward Operation Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar. He served as an operations sergeant in the command post helping plan missions and call in air support for units in the field. Once a month he accompanied patrols to nearby villages and helped distribute books and toys to Afghan children and also got an idea of what the Afghan civilians needed in the way of aid or supplies. After 17 and a half years in the Army National Guard he retired with rank of sergeant.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ryan Klingeman was born on November 2, 1981, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2002 he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, and in summer 2003 he went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. He volunteered to be a rifleman and went to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, California. Upon completion of training he joined the 1st Battalion 24th Marines in Saginaw, Michigan and went to Poland for a multinational training exercise. In mid-2005 the unit received orders to deploy to Iraq. They trained at Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms before deploying to Iraq in 2006. Ryan and the rest of his unit was stationed at Camp Baharia near Fallujah, Iraq, and they operated out of a forward operating base north of the city. He spent his nine-month tour in Fallujah. He went on patrols, conducted raids to capture insurgents, and stood watch at outposts in the city. They left Iraq in April 2007 and returned to Michigan. He participated in a joint-training exercise with the Haitians before going inactive reserve in 2009, and in 2011 he was discharged from the Marines.
- Date Created:
- 2016-09-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Joseph Filko was born in 1921 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His military career would span 20 years and three separate wars. The financial climate of the Great Depression drove him to enlist in the Marines in 1939 at age 17. He wound up at Fort Mifflin, Philadelphia where the sight of the USS Washington inspired him to join on for sea duty. In 1942 his aircraft carrier was attacked by kamikaze at Guadalcanal. Initially Joseph left the military in 1945 after WWII ended, however working for the State Police offered little pay and so he re-enlisted in 1948. In Korea he was stationed at the 38th parallel and lasted for 14 months. As if that weren't enough he was also sent to Vietnam in 1961. After a period of some time he was sent with a special unit to Okinawa. Finally he was discharged for the last time in 1962. Joseph was decorated with a variety of 16 medals and ribbons for his career. Later in life he worked for the US Post Office for 20 years before retiring.
- Date Created:
- 2015-03-19T00:00:00Z
- 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 9, 1945. The envelope is sent from 6916 Reinf. Co. (Prov.), 6903 Reinf. Bn. (Prov.), A.P.O.-551, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated circa March 1945. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes sharing the news of his new job and his furlough request for a thirty-day return home to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 1945-03-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)