Veterans History Project
1714 items
- Notes:
- Ken Scott was born in Alma, Michigan in 1937. Ken graduated from Central Michigan University in 1960 and then went into the Army. His first duty was in Korea with the 7th infantry 17th transportation battalion as their platoon leader. In 1962 he came back to the US and then was sent to Germany from 1962 to 1964 where he commanded a heavy truck company. After Germany he activated a transportation company and went with them to Vietnam in March of 1967. He did one tour in Vietnam and then after being home for a short while did another. Ken then went to work as a professor of Military science working in Illinois and then Grand Rapids, Michigan until he retired in 1999. Personal account of military service is appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Elma Weiss was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1923. She attended Ohio State University and then enlisted in the Navy in 1943. She served in Oakland, California during the war and subsequently attended the University of California and was playing in a softball league in the area when she was recruited for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. She played for parts of two seasons with the Peoria Redwings and Rockford Peaches, including a barnstorming tour of the south, and was a reserve outfielder. After her time in the league, she continued her education, received a doctorate and was a Professor of Physical Education at Phoenix College in Arizona.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kent Fisher was born on July 1, 1946 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in the summer of 1968 and was called up for service in December 1968. He received his basic training at Cape May, New Jersey then received further training at Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, North Carolina. From Emerald Isle he went to Governors Island, New York, where he attended Yeoman School. He returned to Emerald Isle and worked on the Coast Guard cutter, USCGC Verbena. He was promoted to the rank of petty officer second class and received orders to join the USCGC Munro. He was selected for Officer Candidate School, graduated with the rank of ensign, and was then promoted to lieutenant. He joined the USCGC Tamaroa in January 1974 and served aboard the ship until he was reassigned to the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Rescue Coordination Center, where he helped plan the search and rescue operations for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. He was then given command of Coast Guard Station Cape May, New Jersey and from there was transferred to the 9th District Commander's Office in Cleveland, Ohio. He also served at Coast Guard Station Muskegon, Michigan, and ended his career at Governors Island, New York, as the Chief of News & Photos. He retired from the Coast Guard on May 1, 1990 after 22 years of service and with the rank of lieutenant commander.
- Date Created:
- 2016-06-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Stoepker was born in 1928 in Holland, Michigan, and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He served as an air raid warden during World War II, and enlisted in the Army in summer 1946. While training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he injured a knee and was sent to Valley Forge General Hospital, Pennsylvania and during recovery there was transferred to the dental clinic at the hospital to work as a dentist's assistant. He specifically aided patients that had suffered severe facial trauma during the war and needed reconstructive surgery as well as physical and psychological rehabilitation.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fidel Angel Vega was born on June 30, 1973 in the Bronx, New York. During his adult life, Fidel worked a number of unsatisfying jobs that led him to enlist in the Army. In the army, Fidel served first as a combat engineer in the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division. Fidel was later transferred to the 82nd Engineer Battalion with whom he saw service in Germany as well as in Kosovo as a part of the peace keeping mission there following the Kosovo War. Leaving the army in October of 2001, Fidel's last month in the service was shaped by the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
- Date Created:
- 2014-11-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cornelius "Casey" De Jonge was born in the Netherlands, became a US citizen in 1935, and served in the Merchant Marines between 1943 and 1943. He tells of a series of voyages in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, including some difficult trips to Russia via the Arctic route.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard De Young was born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan. He volunteered for the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general and De Young assumed that that fact would somehow benefit him. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, De Young received computer training in Amarillo, Texas. Once his training was complete, he served at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, home of Strategic Air Command. Although he twice requested permission to go to Vietnam, the Air Force denied both requests, partly because De Young had a top-secret clearance.
- Date Created:
- 2010-03-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mae Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1919. She graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1937 and eventually went to nursing school. Because she could not finish nursing school, Mae traveled to California with a friend. After visiting California, she decided she would enlist in Woman's Army Corps (WAC) in New Haven, Connecticut. She was then sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for basic training. After basic training, Mae was sent to Hot Springs, Arkansas where she worked in a hospital as she was assigned to the Surgical and Medical Wards. Once she was finished in Arkansas in early 1945, she was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois where she maintained a similar position as before. While at Fort Sheridan she met her future husband and met many German POWs.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Shirley Morris grew up in the western United States and attended nursing school between 1941 and 1944. Upon graduating, she was recruited into the army. After military orientation at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, she was sent to the Pacific on a hospital ship and assigned to a hospital in the Philippines. She later went to Yokohama, Japan and served in an American military hospital there for three months before being sent home.
- Date Created:
- 2010-11-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Louis Smith is a WW II and Korean War veteran who served in the United States Army and the National Guard. Smith served in WW II from 1942 until 1945 in the Pacific Theatre and served his time for Korea at Valdosta Base, Georgia. During WW II, Smith was on the same ship that General MacArthur was on when he signed the peace treaty with Japan. In this interview, Smith shares his childhood recollections during WWI that included witnessing the burning of an effigy of the Kaiser in Ste. Saint Marie, his home town. Smith discusses his high school years and his love of sports, which spurred a life long coaching career. Throughout his years in the service, Smith coached the Army and National Guard basketball teams.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)