Veterans History Project 1714 items

Notes:: Charles Windisch grew up in Holland, Michigan during the depression. Although times were rough, his parents were both able to hold on to their jobs during the depression. Charles went to school through the sixth grade and joined the National Guard when he was only sixteen. He eventually enlisted in the Navy and traveled through the Pacific to islands such as Hawaii, Guam, and Okinawa. He served between 1941 and 1946 primarily on the USS Nashville, but also did a stint as a demolitions frogman.
Date Created:: 2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Glendle Callahan served in the Korean War in the United States Army from February 1951 to November 1952 in Alabama and Korea. In this interview, Callahan tells of the day he received his draft letter and why he volunteered to go to Korea after being at Camp Rooker, Alabama. Once overseas he attended supply school and became involved in the Field Artillery.
Date Created:: 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Harold Hanselman served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. He was stationed on Attu Island in the Aleutian chain in the northern Pacific ocean. He was a radio operator in a B-25 bomber that would fly bombing missions in the Kurile Islands north of Japan. He discusses both the living conditions on Attu and the experience of flying missions in that area, where the Soviets and the weather added to the problems caused by the Japanese.
Date Created:: 2008-03-19T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Thomas McIntire enlisted in the US Army three days after his graduation from high school. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp, and later for truck mechanic school. The Army sent Thomas to Germany, where he worked in the motor pool on a base there. Thomas was discharged in June of 1968, and came back to Michigan to become a tool and die maker.
Date Created:: 2005-05-26T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: John Reilly was born in Kittery, Maine, in 1946, and grew up in New Jersey. After graduating from college in 1968, he decided to enlist in the Army before he was drafted. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Reilly went through the Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Although initially slated for officer training, Reilly dropped out and deployed to Vietnam in June 1969. Once in Vietnam, Reilly joined the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Trained in fire direction control, he served at Firebases Airborne and Berchtesgaden in the latter stages of the 1969 campaign in the A Shau Valley, and later served with the battalion headquarters at Camp Eagle, where he was stationed at the start of the Ripcord campaign.
Date Created:: 2011-10-07T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Eugene Schmidt was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1918. He joined the National Guard during high school and was federalized on October 15, 1940. Eugene was assigned to a Head Quarters Company and he was deployed to Australia. Then he was sent to New Guinea and was injured by a loose fuel barrel on the way over. He had to stay in the rear while his company went to Buna and after they were done he met up with them in Australia for amphibious assault training. They went on 2 assaults in New Guinea at Saidor and Aitape. In October of 1944 he was sent back to the US and was assigned to be a MP in Detroit, Michigan. Eugene was discharged in July of 1945.
Date Created:: 2008-07-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Terry Donahue was born in 1925 in a farming community in Saskatchewan, and grew up playing baseball with her family and friends, and softball at school. At the age of fifteen, she was recruited onto the Moosejaw Royals, a women's softball team, and was spotted by American scouts from there and went to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1946. She played four seasons for the Peoria Redwings, starting as a utility player and winding up as a catcher. She left the league in 1950 for a softball league in Chicago, and stayed there to work for an interior design firm.
Date Created:: 2010-08-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Robert Vander Laan is a Korean War era veteran who served in the 7th Army 966 Field Engineering Battalion. He was sent to Germany during his time in the service, and was never involved in any active combat. However, he witnessed the aftermath of WW II during his travels throughout Europe. He also discusses his reaction upon being taken by the Army to several concentration camps in the Munich are. He also recalls the difficulties of basic training during the summer in Louisiana.
Date Created:: 2007-06-25T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Ken Vandenberg of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was drafted into the Army in 1961. After basic training at Fort Knox, he went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for military police training, and was then sent to La Rochelle, France, where he served until 1963.
Date Created:: 2010-04-24T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

Notes:: Richard DeVos was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1926. He grew up in Grand Rapids and graduated from Grand Rapids Christian High School. After graduating he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, and after being processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois was sent to Sheppard Field, Texas for basic training and glider mechanic school. He was then sent to a base near Winston-Salem, North Carolina to aid in the training of glider pilots. From there he received orders to be deployed to the Pacific Theatre. He shipped out of Portland, Oregon shortly after the atomic bombs were dropped and Japan surrendered. He was stationed on the island of Tinian aiding in the effort to bring material back to the United States as well as the transportation of food to the various mess halls on the island. From Tinian he was sent to Clark Field in the Philippines where he continued to load supplies onto ships bound for the U.S.
Date Created:: 2011-05-18T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)