Veterans History Project
1714 items
- Notes:
- Keith King was born on April 5, 1921 in Greenville, Michigan. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Army in 1942. He was processed at Camp Custer, Michigan then went to Camp Roberts, California for three months of infantry training and vehicle maintenance training. From Camp Roberts he was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina and was assigned to a Service Company in the 310th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Infantry Division. He went on maneuvres, got married, and worked at Camp Butner until the division was deployed in fall 1944. They crossed into France in late November 1944 and took up positions in the Hurtgen Forest on the Belgian-German border. He took part in the Battle of the Bulge then the advance into Germany, crossing the Rhine River in March 1945 and fighting in the Ruhr Pocket until Germany surrendered in May 1945. He stayed in Germany until September 1945 when he was sent back to the United States and discharged at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Canepa was born in Massachusetts in 1930. He attended Harvard University and enlisted in the Navy near graduation and just barely missed the Korean War. He attended officer school in Rhode Island and was later assigned to work in the Naval Amphibious Force. John traveled to Japan, Korea, and Cuba while in the Navy. After he was discharged he remained in the reserve for three years.
- Date Created:
- 2004-10-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bert Jones II was a combat soldier in the Vietnam War for the U.S. Army. He mainly fought in the Tan Yen Province, but was in Cambodia for 45 days, as well. He does not discuss in specific detail what he did during the War, but he does describe the emotional impact it caused.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Nickoli Kotchka is a World War II Veteran who served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1945 in Africa, Italy, France, and Austria as a member of the 15th Infantry 3rd Division. Soon after Pearl Harbor, Kotchka was drafted into the Army and sent to Europe. Kotchka discusses his time in Europe and some of the fighting in Italy, as well as his life after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William A. Sikkel joined the Michigan National Guard before World War II and served in the army on active duty between 1940 and 1945 in the 126th Regiment, 32nd "Red Arrow" Division. He attended Officer Candidate School before the division shipped out to the Pacific and served in Australia and New Guinea as a platoon and company commander and as a staff officer. He remained in the National Guard after the war, and also served as mayor of Holland, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Van Strien was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Byron Center High School in 1945. After high school he and three of his friends joined the Navy. After basic training he was assigned to be a typist for a Commander aboard the USS Columbus. He served after the war during the Occupation of Japan and typed part of the ships newsletter. After his discharge in 1946 he used his GI bill money to learn how to fly and has owned three planes.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Walter de Leeuw was born in the Netherlands in 1937 and lived there during the German occupation of the country. He later emigrated to the US, and served in the US Army between 1959 and 1961. He trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and served in Germany with armored and artillery units.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Raymond Frederick served in the U.S. Navy between 1944 and 1946 in the Armed Guard. He worked with the Merchant Marines in the transport of supplies throughout the Pacific Theater. He discusses what he was doing before the war, his experiences in working with the Merchant Marines, the various places he visited in the Navy and what happened after the war. He also expresses his views on Middle-Eastern culture, both from his exploits to Iran and in the United States.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Carolyn Greene was born in Jackson, Mississippi on June 23, 1948. Her father was in the US Air Force and she grew up where he was stationed at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. When Carolyn was a teenager she was active in the Civil Rights Movement, working with the Freedom Riders, NAACP, and even got to meet Martin Luther King. She enlisted in the Army in 1972 after graduating from college, and went through basic training in Fort Jackson in South Carolina. She then went to Fort Rucker in Alabama where she took AIT classes and spent the rest of her service working in an office. In the interview, she notes continuing problems with racism in Alabama and some of the problems that returning veterans from Vietnam brought with them
- Date Created:
- 2006-08-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Don was born in South Amboy, New Jersey on April 6, 1949. He graduated from high school in 1967 and worked for two years as a machinist before being drafted into the United States Army in 1969. He attended basic training at Fort Dix and AIT at Fort Lewis. Don was sent to Vietnam in 1969 and was assigned to Charlie Company, 101st Airborne. He was in the battle of Hill 902 and Hill 1000 and operated around Firebase Ripcord. Don spent a total of 50 weeks in Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2013-10-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)