Veterans History Project 1714 items
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- Notes:
- Andrew M. Olah was born on March 4, 1924 and grew up in Muskegon, MI. After being drafted, Andrew served as a sergeant for the U.S. Army. He served in England, France, Luxembourg, and Germany. During his service, Andrew was selected by the government for special duty to help plan for the Invasion of Normandy.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jean Cione was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1928. She grew up in the Rockford area and played softball with the neighborhood boys and then also played with the local industrial teams. When the Rockford Peaches made Rockford their headquarters, Cione tried out for the team and at age 15 joined the ranks of the Rockford Peaches in 1945 as a reserve rookie first baseman. In 1946, she was traded to the Peoria Red Wings and played first baseman for them but was then traded to the Kenosha Comets in 1947. She remained with the Kenosha Comets from 1947 to 1953 and played sometimes as a left-handed pitcher, first baseman, or outfield. Consequently, the Comets franchise disbanded in 1954 and she was traded back to the Rockford Peaches where she finished out when the All American Girls Baseball League was disbanded.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Annemarie Hortman was born in Rangsdorf, Germany, on April 14, 1939. When she was only a year old she moved to Ingolstadt and stayed there until September 1940. At such a young age and that early in the war she remembers getting off a train during an air raid, and going into a community bomb shelter in Ingolstadt. For the rest of the war, Annemarie lived in Rangsdorf. During the last six months of the war she experienced daily bombings due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Germany and final push toward Berlin. After Germany’s surrender, she and her family stayed in Rangsdorf during part of the Soviet occupation enduring the random and often arbitrary brutality of the Soviet troops. In 1947, Annemarie, her mother, her brother, and sister fled Rangsdorf on foot and sneaked across the East/West German border. They walked to Ingolstadt where she lived until she got married to an American serviceman. Annemarie and her first husband had a child and moved to the United States in 1960. Due to her husband’s infidelity the first marriage failed, and after moving around the country and a second divorce, she met Bill Hortman and settled down with him in Walker, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2016-09-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Merton Powell was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1924. He grew up in Topeka and enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He received basic training in Chadron, Nebraska then went to Iowa for College Training before going to California for Flight Training. He was accepted into the Naval Aviation Program and was able receive flight training in the N2S Stearman. After the Second World War ended in September 1945 he was discharged from active duty. He remained in the Naval Reserve until 1947. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1949 and served briefly with them.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Chris Petty was born October 1969 in Cedar City, Utah, and was raised in Salt Lake City. He graduated high school in 1988 and enlisted in the Army a year later. He received advanced communications training and completed Airborne School. Chris was soon assigned to a Long Range Surveillance Company which would become part of the 82nd Airborne Division. He operated with this unit performing reconnaissance in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and later in South American countries for the War on Drugs. Chris was reassigned to South Korea, were he operated supply and logistics for a battalion stationed there for a year. He was reassigned to the newly formed 82nd Airborne Division, where he served about six years. He left the military for a while to spend time with family, then went back into the reserves. Chris' reserve unit was deployed to Iraq in support of the Striker Brigade, where he served for 16 months. After Iraq, Chris worked as a very successful recruiter for a few years, then retired from the military as a First Sergeant of a Military Police Company in South Bend, IN.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Donald Brazones enlisted into the Army Air Corps at the age of 18 in retaliation to the Japanese's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Brazones trained to be a navigator and was sent to England to fly missions over Europe. On Brazones' 18th mission, he was shot down and captured by German Officers. His interview is a detailed recollection of his time in the service, especially his memories from the day he was shot down, and his subsequent capture, imprisonment and release from captivity.
- Date Created:
- 2009-04-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Doyle was born in Vermont and drafted into the US Army as he finished college in 1969. He trained as an infantryman and served in two different battalions in the 1st Infantry Division before being reassigned to the 101st. He served with D Company, 1/506 Infantry, from March until October, 1970 and participated in the Ripcord campaign. After returning from Vietnam, he stayed in the Army and eventually became an MP. He participated in the planning of the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the establishment of the facility for Al Qaida prisoners at Guantanamo.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Daniel Horon served in the Navy during the Cold War, from 1957 to 1961. He trained in communications and photographic intelligence and was sent to an air base in Newfoundland. He performed a variety of duties, including aerial reconnaissance, and provides detailed accounts of both life on the base and of the assorted tensions brought on by the Cold War as they played out in Newfoundland. He also took large quantities of pictures while there, and many of these are included in his file.
- Date Created:
- 2009-11-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jacob Lucas is a World War II veteran who served in the Seabees, a construction branch of the Navy, from December 1942 to 1945. In this account, Lucas discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training in the U.S. and his service time abroad in the Pacific. He goes into some depth about his responsibilities as a Seabee in Okinawa, New Caledonia, New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. Lucas concludes his interview by showing pictures and newspaper clippings from that time.
- Date Created:
- 2004-04-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gary was born near Ithaca, Michigan and later attended Michigan State University. He graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1965. Gary received his draft notice in January 1966 for the United States Army. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training and later attended communications school at Fort Gordon. Gary was stationed in Germany for 18 months and served with the 6th Battalion, 10th Artillery, Headquarters Battery located in Bamberg.
- Date Created:
- 2013-05-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Annemarie Hortman was born in Rangsdorf, Germany, on April 14, 1939. When she was only a year old she moved to Ingolstadt and stayed there until September 1940. At such a young age and that early in the war she remembers getting off a train during an air raid, and going into a community bomb shelter in Ingolstadt. For the rest of the war, Annemarie lived in Rangsdorf. During the last six months of the war she experienced daily bombings due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Germany and final push toward Berlin. After Germany’s surrender, she and her family stayed in Rangsdorf during part of the Soviet occupation enduring the random and often arbitrary brutality of the Soviet troops. In 1947, Annemarie, her mother, her brother, and sister fled Rangsdorf on foot and sneaked across the East/West German border. They walked to Ingolstadt where she lived until she got married to an American serviceman. Annemarie and her first husband had a child and moved to the United States in 1960. Due to her husband’s infidelity the first marriage failed, and after moving around the country and a second divorce, she met Bill Hortman and settled down with him in Walker, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2016-09-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Alkema was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1926. After graduating high school in 1944 he enlisted to the Navy. For his brief basic training he was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois. In Norfolk, Virginia he was trained to use the anti-aircraft guns to be a guardsman. Thereafter he traveled aboard the Seatrain Texas ship to Falmouth England, Naples Italy, and Marseille France to deliver locomotive engines. The ship next passed through the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor where Richard boarded LST 801. Their next destination would be Okinawa where they transported Japanese to the mainland in the aftermath of the War. His time in the military lasted two and a half years and he was discharged in 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ed Wietecha was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1945. He attended the University of Illinois and was part of the Navy Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the Marines in 1967. He attended Basic School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, and received Artillery Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was deployed to Vietnam on April 5, 1968, and arrived at Da Nang. He first joined Whiskey Battery in BLT 3/1 (Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines Regiment). They operated out of Camp Carroll for a few weeks then moved to Ca Lu Combat Base. He, and the rest of the unit, returned to Da Nang and joined the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Marines Regiment where he operated for four months. He went into the field as a forward observer and due to a foot injury briefly served at a recon outpost. He returned to the field as a forward observer during Operation Meade River (November 20, 1968 to December 9, 1968). After Operation Meade River he joined the 1st Recon Battalion and went on reconnaissance missions and guided artillery at observation posts. Near the end of his tour he served as the company executive officer in Da Nang. He left Vietnam in spring 1969 and spent the three remaining years of his enlistment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, serving as an artillery instructor.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Chuck VanCleve was born in Linwood, California in 1950. He grew up in Linwood, California and enlisted in the Army on May 6, 1968. He qualified for officer training despite his young age, and received his commission on June 17, 1969, and went to Helicopter School at Fort Walters, Texas. He completed the entire course, but was forced to wash out on the final check ride due to colorblindness. From there he went to Jungle Training in Panama to prepare for a deployment to Vietnam. Upon completing that he was sent to Vietnam in late 1969. After travelling to Camp Eagle he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and travelled from there to Camp Evans where he was assigned to B Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 319th Field Artillery Regiment attached to D Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment as a forward observer for artillery. He served under Captain Rollinson and took part in patrols of the area around Firebase Jack and later around Firebase Ripcord. On July 1, 1970 he was reassigned to C Company of the 2nd of the 506th under the command of Captain Hewitt. On July 2nd Hill 902 came under attack by North Vietnamese forces and he was wounded in the initial rocket barrage. Despite being wounded he assumed the role of acting company commander (Captain Hewitt was killed immediately in the barrage) and directed mortar fire and flares to ward off the North Vietnamese onslaught. After the battle he was evacuated to Camp Evans where he was awarded the Purple Heart and later the Distinguished Service Cross and then eventually to Japan and finally to Fort Bliss, Texas to receive treatment for the wound on his hand, and served as an ROTC instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma until he left the Army in 1974.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Howard Bennink enlisted in the Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Bennink trained for six months at Camp Lejeune before traveling to New Zealand. He served in fought on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester and Iwo Jima during his tour of duty. He earned a Silver Star during fighting in Cape Gloucester, fought off several bouts of malaria, and was wounded two weeks into the fighting on Iwo Jima. Grand Haven Tribune newspaper article and personal narrative appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ollie Dean is a World War II veteran that was born in 1927 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In early 1945 at the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Navy and after training at Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago was deployed to the Pacific Theatre and Southeast Asia aboard the U.S.S. Cheleb, a Navy cargo ship. He also served on the U.S.S. Mt. McKinley, a communications ship, on a cruise through the Inland Sea of Japan and up to Vladivostok. With the Cheleb, he spent time in Shanghai and Tsingtao while the Japanese were being evacuated from China.
- Date Created:
- 2013-11-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Walter Kryzanowski was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1949. After dropping out of high school he enlisted in the Army. Enlisting allowed him to choose where he'd like to work; he chose supply. He trained at Ft. Knox and Ft. Lee. He was in the top 10% of his class at Ft. Lee which allowed him to work in advanced stock control and accounting control. This was his job the whole time in Vietnam; he and a few other guys worked in three vans. His job was to process parts what they knew what they wanted, punch cards, and went to the computer room and ran them through. Mr. Kryzanowski extended his tour in Vietnam. He continued this job after Vietnam in England for three years.
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Duane Harvey was born in Smelter City, Oklahoma in 1924. He grew up there and finished high school there in 1943. He was drafted in 1942, but allowed to complete high school and was inducted into the U.S. Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma in July 1943. He was sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland for basic training and for ordnance training. In the spring of 1944 he was sent over to England and arrived just prior to the D-Day Invasion. He was stationed at the Litchfield Barracks part of the 10th Replacement Depot until he volunteered to join the 501st Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division and become a paratrooper. After completing paratrooper and “jump” (parachuting) training in England he was sent over to Mourmelon, France where he was first assigned to B Company and later joined an S2 Squad in Headquarters Company dealing primarily with observation posts and processing German prisoners of war. He saw action at Bastogne and in Alsace-Lorraine during the Battle of the Bulge and after the war ended was part of the American occupying force in Germany, and returned home in January 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2014-06-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Stanley Poloski was born in 1948 in Richmond, Virginia. He lived in Richmond, Virginia until his family moved to central Florida. He grew up in Florida and attended high school and community college there until he was drafted. In the summer of 1969 he reported for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and from there took advanced individual training specializing in artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In November 1969 he was deployed to Vietnam and was assigned to B Battery 2nd Battalion 319th Field Artillery Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division based out of Camp Evans. He served with them at multiple firebases before they were sent to Firebase Ripcord in March 1970. He served at Ripcord through the Battle of Ripcord until the firebase was evacuated on July 23, 1970. After the battle his unit was dissolved and he was reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division operating near Saigon. He stayed in Vietnam until he was sent home on Christmas Eve, 1970 arriving home on New Year's Eve, 1970.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-08T00:00:00Z
- 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 October 13, 1943. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated October 27, 1943. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes a brief message to Agnes to let her know he misses her and her letters after not receiving one in many days. He also writes to ask about her family and how they are settling into their new home.
- Date Created:
- 1943-10-13T00:00:00Z
- 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 11, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated January 19, 1944. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes to Agnes and shares his excitement in finally hearing the news of her meeting his parents and wonders what popluar songs are on the hit parade at the time.
- Date Created:
- 1944-01-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Gordon was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1925. He grew up in Lacrosse, Wisconsin and Winnetka, Illinois and graduated from high school in 1943. In April 1943 he received a draft notice for the Army, but enlisted in the Marine Corps. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, California and specialized with the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). In December 1943 he was sent to Guadalcanal in the South Pacific where he joined C Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine, Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. In June 1944 he partook in the invasion of Guam where, after neutralizing a Japanese machine gun nest, he was awarded the Silver Star. At the start of 1945 his unit sailed to Iwo Jima but did not land, and instead returned to Guam to clear out Japanese stragglers and prepare for the invasion of Japan. He remained there after the Japanese surrender and returned home in December.
- Date Created:
- 2014-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sam Rawlinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1948 and grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. After graduating from high school in 1967 he decided to join the Army. He did his basic training at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. He then went to Ft. Dix in New Jersey for AIT as a mechanic. Sam received orders to go to Vietnam by October of 1968. After Vietnam he worked at Ft. Hood in Texas for three years and after that he went to Germany for two years. He retired from the military in 1988 and retired from the work force in 2008.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerry Bauma lived in the Netherlands during World War II. As a seminary student, he had the opportunity to live in the times without having to go into forced labor as many of his friends did, although he was at one point caught up in a German sweep and sent to a forced labor camp, where he stayed until the seminary arranged for him to be released. He also observed the initial German attempt to capture the Hague by air, and after the surrender took his bike up to Rotterdam to inspect the bomb damage. He got a radio during the war, and passed along things he learned to a friend who ran an underground newspaper. He survived the "Hunger Winter" of 1944-45, and emigrated to Canada shortly after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Hogue was born on October 12th, 1950 in Salem, Ohio. After graduating from high school, Hogue moved to Michigan to work of the Goodyear Tire Company because there were no jobs in the Salem area. In 1969, Hogue received his draft notice and after completing basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, Hogue deployed to Vietnam to serve with the Americal Division. He served as an infantryman in a rifle platoon and spent most of his tour in the jungle engaged in patrols and small unit actions. Following a yearlong tour in Vietnam, Hogue returned to the United States in August 1971 and received his discharge.
- Date Created:
- 2011-03-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dan Huver was born in September 1943 in Lowell, Michigan. After briefly thinking about joining a law enforcement academy, Huver requested that the military move his name up on the draft list so that they would draft him and he would only serve for two years instead of the three years had he enlisted. After he received NCO and armored training, Huver was part of an airlift to Germany, where his entire division performed maneuvers of six months. Following Germany, Huver returned to United States and served at Fort Riley, Kansas as an advanced infantry instructor for soldiers going to Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lewis Kelsey was drafted into the army in 1942. He initially was sent for pilot training, but a problem with one eye made him a gunner and flight engineer instead. He trained in B-17s, and his crew was sent to the 8th Air Force in England in April, 1944. He flew 30 missions between April and August, and was then sent back home to serve as an instructor. Most of his missions were over France, supporting the Normandy invasion, but he also flew missions over Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland.
- Date Created:
- 2010-11-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Terry Knapp joined the army in 1967. He served in Vietnam with the 11th Calvary. His unit served during the Tet Offensive and suffered heavy casualties. He received a purple heart and was discharged at the end of 1968. After the war he returned to work at his family bakery in Lansing, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2006-12-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dave Kim joined the military after doing security in Arizona. He tried to enlist in 1983 but was disqualified due to a minor injury and finally was accepted between late 1985 and early 1986. Dave trained at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California where he trained and worked as a machine gunner.
- Date Created:
- 2013-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Todd McCrumb was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1965 and enlisted in the Air Force in 1984 shortly after graduating from high school. He had been unsure of what he wanted to do in his life, not ready for college, and unemployment in the area was at 16%. Todd spent time working with the security police near the DMZ in South Korea. He was later stationed in Montana. Todd did not re-enlist because he was told he would have to spend another 6 years in Montana. He later graduated from Grand Valley State University and is now a teacher.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Reeves was a B-24 pilot in World War II where he flew 45 missions in the Pacific. He provides a detailed account of training and of missions over New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa and the Netherlands East Indies.
- Date Created:
- 2004-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jerry McFarland was born on March 24, 1933 and enlisted in the Navy in 1950 after graduating from high school. Jerry trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois and was then stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. He worked there for about 4 years transporting Marines to Puerto Rico to train for the Korean War. Jerry was discharged after 4 years, but found himself bored with civilian life and then enlisted in the Army. While in the Army Jerry worked in Texas, Germany, France, Colorado Springs, and Vietnam, where he served with an engineer unit.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Norton was born in Ottawa County, Michigan, in 1920. He graduated from high school in 1937 and enlisted in the Navy in 1938. He trained as a machinist's mate and sailed first on a transport ship in the Pacific, then on the destroyer USS Barker from 1940 to 1943, engaging mostly in convoy escorts and antisubmarine patrols in the Pacific (including visits to China before Pearl Harbor) and Atlantic (sinking two U-Boats). He then transferred to the destroyer escort USS Henry R. Kenyon, and again served in the Atlantic and Pacific, witnessing a kamakaze attack at Okinawa and ending the war in the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-15T00:00:00Z
- 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 May 8, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated May 10, 1944. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes while thinking of her on a lovely day in England, sharing the news of his sister Helen's excitement over their engagement and her willingness to help them purchase their wedding rings. He also writes of his most recent visit to the movie theater to see the film "Thunder Bird" and how going to the movies is a great pastime for him while he is so far away from Agnes.
- Date Created:
- 1944-05-08T00:00:00Z
- 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 August 11, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. "K," Det. of Patients, 4167 U.S. Hospital Plant, A.P.O.-514-A, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated August 14, 1944. In the letter, Joe writes to Agnes sending along his latest hospital address and a request to the Postmaster allowing Anges to send him a package of personal care items. He also continues their discussion on wedding plans and the selection of their Best Man and Maid of Honor. As a side note, Joe accidentally dates this letter as "1942" instead of "1944," which he later mentions in his letter, dated August 28, 1944, and suggests thoughts of Agnes were the cause of his absent-mindedness.
- Date Created:
- 1944-08-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Garner was born in West Branch, Michigan, on May 25, 1927. During the Great Depression, his family's jewelry shop was diversified as his father agreed to share the space with an energy company so he could pay the rent. Garner signed onto a radar technician program with the Navy in the closing months of the war and attedned Boot Camp at Great Lakes Naval Station. He was in Alameda, California, when the war ended and was quickly offered an early-out of the service due to the flood of dischargees returning home. He then went on to attend optometry school in Chicago on the GI Bill.
- Date Created:
- 2017-11-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Fleischmann, born November 17th 1950 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in U. S. Air Force from October 1972-August 1976 after the Vietnam War as an educational consultant. After completing his basic at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Fred began working at the education department at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC. Here he assisted men with pursuing secondary education and college courses. He also served on security details at major events, including two presidential inaugurations.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Barrett was born in Ohio in 1925. In 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He went to Gunnery School in Gulfport, Mississippi and received training with pistols, rifles, and larger ship guns like the 20mm cannon. He was assigned to the SS Alcibiadie, a Merchant Marine vessel, as one of forty five Americans on the gunnery detail. They operated in the Gulf of Mexico transporting fuel and in the Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Guinea refueling ship. In August 1944 the ship was acquired by the U.S. Navy and became the USS Andrew Doria. They continued with refueling operations then took part in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945. Refueling operations continued until the end of the war. In early 1946 they returned to the U.S. and the USS Andrew Doria was decommissioned in Mobile, Alabama in late February. Robert was discharged in March 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jerry Moyer was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1948, moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1958 where he graduated high school. Moyer enlisted in the Army in 1967 before he could recieve a draft notice and underwent signals training and learned to string telephone wires. He was then sent to Germany where he was stationed with a mechanized infantry battalion of the 4th Armored Division in Crailsheim. When he was promoted to sergeant in 1969, Moyer's specialization was changed to infantry and he was evetually deployed to Vietnam, joining C Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101 st Aiborne Division. His unit participated in the establishment of Firebase Ripcord and the defense of Hill 902 when Moyer was injured and sent to the rear.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Frank Marshall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1949. He lived there until he recived his draft notice late in 1968. After basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and advanced training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he went to NCO school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He quit that program and was sent to Vietnam, where he was assigned to Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion 506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division. He participated in shutdown operations in the A Shau Valley late in 1969, then operated closer to the coast in early 1970, and then took part in the campaign around Firebase Ripcord, and was wounded three times. He returned home in August and was discharged. He later became one of the founding members of the Ripcord Association, and remains actively involved with that organization.
- Date Created:
- 2013-10-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wayne Monroe served in the US Navy between 1944 and 1946. Her served as a crewman on USS Kaskaskia, a large oiler, and saw action at Okinawa, where he witnessed kamikaze attacks. After the war, he sailed to Japan, China and Arabia before returning home to be discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- This interview adds new material to the original interview, specifically focusing on his efforts to help rescue the crew of the downed B-24 crew in the waters off of Borneo.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Bernhardt enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17 in early 1944. He served in the Pacific Theater of WWII as an artillery observer for naval bombardments. He also served as a guard of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, and was part of the post-war occupation force as an MP in the Nagasaki area.
- Date Created:
- 2007-11-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Day was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who is currently serving in the National Guard. His recent term of deployment lasted about 11 ½ months. In this account, Day discusses his pre-enlistment year, his enlistment and training in the U.S. His term of active duty in Iraq has taken him to various camps and cities in Iraq as part of a transportation company. Among his duties included serving as a convoy truck operator transporting military equipment to their destinations.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Devries joined the Army Reserve after high school and worked on a mortar crew to plot coordinates. Richard trained in Missouri during the Vietnam War but was never called to duty. Richard enjoyed his time in the service and made lots of friends. After serving, Richard got a job at Steelcase and now believes that all areas of the service are very important to support our free country.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Hyslop grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan and was drafted into the Army to serve in the Korean War. He did basic training as a wiring specialist and worked in this capacity while he was in Korea. He returned to the United States at the conclusion of the war and worked in a factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Samuel Latigo was born in 1927 in San Antonio, Texas. Raised by his grandmother, he worked as a teen before enlisting in the Navy at the age of seventeen. Following training in San Diego, the Navy assigned him to the troop transport U.S.S. Edgecombe. The Edgecombe carried troops to New Guinea and the Philippines and participated in the invasion of Okinawa and the landing of occupation troops in Japan following the end of the war. Following the end of the war, the Edgecombe returned to the United States and the Navy discharged Latigo.
- Date Created:
- 2010-03-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Litty is a Korean War veteran that also was a civilian living in Germany during World War II. He was born a U.S. citizen in Yonkers, New York in 1930, but at the age of five his family moved back to Germany and lived in a Berlin suburb. He describes his experiences before and during the war, discussing the Hitler Youth program, his father's military service on the Eastern Front, surviving bombing raids, multiple moves, and finally the atrocities committed by the Red Army in 1945. As a US citizen, he was allowed to move to the American sector of West Berlin, and he and his family returned to New York. In October 1951 he was drafted into the U.S. Army and was deployed to fight in the Korean War. He was assigned to a mortar platoon of the 27th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. He served on the front line for six weeks until he was reassigned to a position in the rear in record keeping, and returned home and was discharged in 1953.
- Date Created:
- 2014-03-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Stolk was born in 1920, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted in 1942, and trained at Fort Sill as an artillerist. His main job was to site guns and check their ranges. His unit went to England in 1942 and served in France, Belgium, Germany and Czechoslovakia. He discusses his experiences in the Hurtgen Forest, and occupation duty in Germany and Czechoslovakia.
- Date Created:
- 2007-11-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harry Kooyman was born in the Netherlands in 1944 and his family moved to the United States when he was four years old. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and after high school he enlisted in the Navy in 1962. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and naval aviation electronics training in Memphis, Tennessee and Naval Air Station Glynco, Georgia. He was assigned to a patrol squadron at Naval Air Station Barber Point, Hawaii from June 1963 to March/April 1965 where he flew patrols from Midway to the Aleutian Islands in search of Soviet aircraft. In April 1965 he was assigned to the USS Bennington (CVS-20) and served with VS-38 an antisubmarine patrol squadron. He flew observation missions over the Mekong Delta and along the Vietnamese coast until he was discharged from the Navy in August 1965.
- Date Created:
- 2012-11-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Nicolaus Solecki was born in October 1990 in Flint, Michigan. He joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Flushing High School in 2009. After his basic training, Nic was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, from Okinawa, his unit (1st Battalion, 7th Marine Division) was sent to the coast of North Korea, as well as the Philippines. In early 2012, Nic's unit was sent to the Sangin Province of Afghanistan. His mission was to assist in the training of the Afghan National Army, and this task was made increasingly difficult by lack of operational effectiveness that the Afghan soldiers often displayed. Nic would return to the United States in October 2012 and enroll at Grand Valley State University.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated March 8, 1945. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated March 9, 1945. In the letter, Agnes expresses her excitement over receiving the care package from Joe including a treasured photograph of him, handmade souvenirs, and valentines. She also writes that she is looking forward to his birthday and dreams of the day when they can furnish their future home together.
- Date Created:
- 1945-03-08T00:00:00Z
- 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 February 7, 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 letter, Joe writes many pages to Agnes from England sharing how he has been overseas for 18 months and 5 days and is heavyhearted about the time they have been apart. He also writes about her being his birthday wish for the following month and how he wishes she could be with him on his special day.
- Date Created:
- 1944-02-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Laura Hansmann was born in Iowa in 1947. She is the wife of Vietnam veteran Paul Hannsman. Laura discusses the her homefront experiences during the war, the war's effect on her family, child birth while her husband was deployed, as well as the changes she saw as she traveled to various training locations with Paul. She says to expect veterans to be different when they return home and to be supportive by talking to them. She talks about PTSD and the way her husband opened up over time, advising peopel to careful and empathetic when helping a veteran suffering from PTSD.
- Date Created:
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jerry Bruinekool was born in Michigan on December 15, 1938. Jerry enlisted in the Navy in January of 1956 because he felt that his life needed some direction. While in the Navy, Jerry traveled to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas, France, Italy, Portugal, and Greece. He enjoyed going to all the different foreign ports and seeing how other people lived.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ronald Biermacher served in the US Navy during the Korean conflict. He was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia aboard the USS Mississippi, where he was a barber. After the conflict was over, he returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he continued cutting hair until he retired.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ray Gill is a World War II veteran who served with the U.S. Army from 1941 to May 1946. In this account, Gill discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He also discusses his active duty and how difficult the fighting was in France, Luxembourg, and Germany. He talks about soldiers living conditions, and the occupation of Germany. Gill also toured with a dance band throughout Europe.
- Date Created:
- 2004-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Shirley Burkovich was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She played softball with the neighborhood boys and her brother throughout her childhood. She first heard about the All American Girls Professional Baseball League one day when she was reading the newspaper. Her brother took her down to where they were holding tryouts; she tried out and afterwards was told to report to Cape Giradeau, Missouri for spring training. She played with the Springfield Sallies during the 1950 softball season and then was traded to the Rockford Peaches where she played out the 1951 season there. During her time in the league, her fondest memory is hitting the game-ending single to center field in 12-inning game. While with the league she played utility infield and utility outfield.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Douglas McVay was born in Monticello, Iowa, on December 18, 1949. In August 1969, he enlisted in the Army. He received his basic training and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, then received armored personnel carrier training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In late fall of that year, he was deployed to Vietnam where he joined A Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. For the rest of 1969 and into the spring of 1970 he patrolled around Camp Evans, then from April through July he and A Company patrolled around Firebase Ripcord. During the Battle of Firebase Ripcord (July 1 – July 23, 1970), his company fought around Ripcord, and got into a severe firefight on July 22nd in which Douglas was wounded. After being rescued on July 23rd, he was taken out of combat. He recovered in Japan and returned to the United States. He served at Fort Carson, Colorado, for the remainder of his enlistment and was discharged in May 1972.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Grover DeVault was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, on August 20, 1929. He originally served in the New Jersey National Guard with C Company of the 50th Armored Division before joining the regular Army as a chaplain after studying at Philadelphia Faith Theological Seminary. Grover served at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as the garrison chaplain and at the DeWitt Army Hospital for a year. He served with the U.S. Army Polar Research at Greenland and helped with the construction of Camp Century, and also went to remote outposts to conduct services. After Greenland, he served in West Germany with the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment at the Fulda Gap. He was deployed to Vietnam and in Vietnam served with the 80th Support Group. While in Vietnam, he worked with the Army and mission groups to help the Montagnard tribes. He returned to the United States and served at Fort Detrick, Maryland, for one year then studied at Union Theological Seminary. He completed his service at Fort Hood, Texas.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jim Oudman was born on July 28, 1943, in Palo Alto, California, but he grew up in Michigan. In the fall of 1964 he volunteered for the draft. He received basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, then received advanced individual training at Fort Story, Virginia. While at Fort Story he learned how to drive trucks and handle supplies, and was assigned to the 565th Transportation Company. In October 1965 he deployed to Vietnam with the 565th and got there via the USS General JC Brekinridge. He landed at Cam Ranh Bay and helped establish a base there. For a year he went on convoys to nearby bases to deliver supplies with most convoys going from Cam Ranh Bay to Nha Trang. After a year in Vietnam he returned to the United States and with four months left in his enlistment he was discharged early.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-25T00:00:00Z
- 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 February 2, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated February 11, 1944. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes to Agnes after receiving a message from her the previous day, inquiring about how her family are doing and how he hopes to hear from her soon.
- Date Created:
- 1944-02-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Matthew Brong was in1983, received some ROTC training at Michigan State University for a while, but dropped out because he was not getting good grades. He joined the Army in 2005 and was sent to Iraq in August of 2006 with the 82 Airborne Division. May 26, 2007 Matthew was injured when the truck he was traveling in ran over a road bomb. He experienced back injuries and memory loss. He was discharged and it took him quite a while to recover from his injuries. Matthew later re-enlisted in the Army, but can no longer endure intense physical activity.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Goins was born in 1921 in Sigma, Michigan, and grew up in Zanesville, Ohio. His family farmed and ran a produce trucking business that made regular trips to the Southern United States to market. Although Goins is African- American, he did not fall victim to the racially charged environment where he did business. He was drafted into the United States Army and entered the service in 1943. Goins completed basic training at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana, and then stationed on a series of air bases in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, and eventually worked as a mechanic repairing B-29 bombers. He recalls having to be careful while traveling through the south due to fear of lynching, but also being offered the opportunity to train as an officer.
- Date Created:
- 2009-11-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Catherine Kooyers was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and comes from a family of veterans. After she got married, she was working at a local fair when she first encountered Vietnam veterans. From her experiences, Catherine quickly realized that work needed to be done in veteran organizations and that work needed to be done in the field of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Catherine was part of a PTSD committee that formed and fought for the VA (Veterans Affairs) to provide services to veterans that they had not previously received.
- Date Created:
- 2012-08-02T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Mary Lou Caden (née Studnicka) was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She grew up in the Oak Lawn area and started playing softball with the neighborhood kids and transitioned to playing for local teams. She played as a short-stop in her amateur career and eventually was contacted by Mitch Skupien in 1950 to play for the Grand Rapids Chicks. She played for the Grand Rapids Chicks from 1951 to 1953 when she was traded to Fort Wayne and due to a pay cut decided to quit baseball and return to her job for National City Bank. During her time with them she played positions such as pitcher and second base.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Lund was born in Cadillac, Michigan, in 1950. In the spring of 1969 he enlisted in the Army, and after graduating from high school reported for duty in July 1969. He received Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and then received Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He deployed to Vietnam in late 1969. At Camp Sally he was assigned to a Recon unit in the 2nd Battalion, of the 501st Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division. In December 1969 he went on his first recon mission. From January through March 1970 he went on patrols in the A Shau Valley, and was wounded on April 23, 1970. After recovering he rejoined his recon unit and conducted patrols around Firebase Ripcord until its total evacuation on July 23, 1970. After the fall of Firebase Ripcord he went on recon missions around Firebase Bastogne until being reassigned to Phu Bai. His tour ended in late 1970, and in January 1971 he reported to Fort Ord, California. He completed his enlistment at Fort Hunter Liggett, California.
- Date Created:
- 2016-08-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Groggel was born on July 22, 1924 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In March 1943 he was drafted into the Army. He received basic training and anti-aircraft training at Camp Hulen, Texas before being reassigned to the infantry. He received infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia before receiving officer training at Fort Davis, North Carolina. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and trained soldiers in California before being assigned to an infantry unit. They deployed out of Fort Meade, Maryland in fall 1944 bound for the European Theatre. They moved from England to France and took up positions on the German frontier. During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 Richard and his platoon were captured by Germans. He was moved to prisoner of war camps across Germany and Poland, he marched 350 miles across Poland and witnessed the failed Task Force Baum raid on Hammelburg prisoner of war camp. He was liberated from Stalag VII-A on April 29, 1945, and after recovery at Camp Lucky Strike, France he returned to the United States. He was discharged in August 1945 shortly after Japan's surrender.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Hopkins was born in Blanchester, Ohio in 1927. He was drafted on June 19, 1945 and was processed in Ohio and Indiana before going to Camp Walters, Texas for basic training to prepare for the invasion of Japan. When the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and Japan surrendered the invasion plans changed and he was assigned to occupation duty in Germany. He was deployed to Germany in December 1945 and arrived in Le Havre, France. He was stationed in Marburg, Germany for a month working as a special orders clerk (processing soldiers being sent home) before applying for the 3rd Special Services as a performer. He traveled around Germany with the GI song and dance troupe "Script and Score" performing in German cities all around West Germany. In November 1946 he took a ship back to the United States and was discharged in New Jersey in December 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Buford North was born in Paragould, Arkansas, in 1922. His family later moved to Flint, Michigan where he attended high school. He enlisted in the Navy in June 1942. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and transferred to New Orleans, Louisiana for further training and his assignment to a ship. From New Orleans he went to Orange, Texas to board the USS William D. Porter as an Electrician's Mate 3rd Class. The USS William D. Porter participated in escorting President Roosevelt to Allied conferences in Africa and the Middle East as well as campaigns in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, the Philippines, and finally at Okinawa supporting the invasion there. On June 10, 1945 the USS William D. Porter was struck by a Japanese kamikaze plane and sank off the coast of Okinawa. Buford, along with the rest of the crew, was successfully rescued and returned to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 2014-09-04T00:00:00Z
- 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 July 19, 1943. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated July 30, 1943. In the V-Mail letter, Joe reminisces about the Fourth of July he spent together with Agnes and how he wishes he could have attended her graduation. He also mentions how he thought he would return home after the African Campaign and his resulting feeling of disappointment.
- Date Created:
- 1943-07-19T00:00:00Z
- 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 28, 1944. The envelope is sent from Co. L, 26th Infantry A.P.O.-1, c/o Postmaster New York, New York, dated February 9, 1944. In the V-Mail letter, Joe writes to Agnes while feeling tired in the evening and notes how writing everyday leaves him with nothing more to write except the constants of how much he loves and misses her.
- Date Created:
- 1944-01-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Hale was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1946. He attended Barbour Hall Academy and Marmion Military Academy until graduating in 1964. In August 1965 he enlisted in the Army for communications and attended training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and Fort Riley, Kansas. He was attached to Headquarters Company of the 15th Combat Engineer Battalion of the 9th Division at Fort Riley and was deployed to Vietnam in mid-October 1966 where he served at Bearcat and at Dong Thap in the Mekong Delta until he was sent home in April 1968. Upon returning home he served at Fort Sheridan, Illinois until May 1969.
- Date Created:
- 2013-12-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Johnson served in the Navy during WW II. He traveled mostly aboard a luxury ship that had been remodeled into a Navy ship. Johnson's crew traveled throughout the Pacific to Australia, Guam, and the Philippines. Johnson experienced combat three times while in the Pacific and also discussed his experience with Japanese Kamikazes.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edward Johnson was born in Greenville, Michigan in 1919, and was drafted into the Army in 1941. After training to be a mechanic at Camp Boyd, Texas, Johnson joined Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. He went to England with this unit in 1942, and stayed with it through campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, the Hurtgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Germany, ending up in Czechoslovakia when the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Stuart Padnos was born in Michigan in 1922. He attended the University of Michigan and enlisted in the Army Reserve after Pearl Harbor. He was called to service a few months later where he took part in the Army Specialized Training Program. Padnos began taking engineering classes, but was later called up for infantry training due to a shortage of recruits. Stewart was later assigned to the 78th Division and sent to fight in the Hurtgen Forest, where he was captured and sent to a German prison camp. He remained there until he was liberated by the Russians, and eventually found his way back to the US.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Schrader was born in Alpena, Michigan on October 19, 1929. He entered the Army on July 31, 1948, and served in Germany near the end of World War II. After WWII, Schrader went to Korea and served in the Korean War. After Korea, Schrader switched from Infantry to Airborne. After joining the Airborne, Schrader married and he and his wife went back to Germany. Schrader spent 113 days in Lebanon during the Lebanese Crisis, and afterwards, went back to the United States and joined the Special Forces, eventually becoming a Green Beret. In 1962, Schrader left and trained guerillas in both Laos and Iran before going to Vietnam in 1965. Schrader left Vietnam and served in the United States for several years before returning to Vietnam in 1969, where he again trained Vietnamese forces.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Eugene Smith was drafted to the United States Army in the 1940's. He was stationed in Calcutta, India for a total of 28 months. Although the American troops deployed to India at this time were intended to attack Axis supply lines coming from the country of Burma, Smith was not actively involved in this mission and served as a military policeman. His duties consisted of primarily base patrol with occasional prisoner safeguarding. The base which Smith was stationed was highly underdeveloped and demanded fast adaptation by new recruits who had been thrust into highly dangerous positions from a previous life of suburban factory work. The 44-day voyage to India presented Smith and the other young American men with unfamiliar situations including attacks by Japanese submarines, hurricanes, and extended sea travel. Smith was discharged on January 1st 1946 and returned to his home in Wisconsin to attend Marquette University funded by the GI Bill of 1944.
- Date Created:
- 2006-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Noella Le Duc was born in Graniteville, Massachusetts in 1933. She grew up playing baseball with the boys, and when she was sixteen, a friend of her mother's introduced her to one of the AAGPBL players, Rita Briggs, who arranged a tryout for her in 1951. She played in the AAGPBL from 1951 through 1954, first with Peoria and later with Muskegon and Fort Wayne. She was primarily an outfielder, but also tried her hand at pitching and catching.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jan Viveen, born in 1918 in a small village in North Brabant in the Netherlands. After completing high school in 1936, he was drafted into the Dutch Army in 1936. At the time of the German invasion in 1940, he was manning an antitank gun on the banks of the Erft River, and stayed there until his unit was ordered to surrender. He spent about four months in a POW camp before being allowed to return home. After that, he worked in a rail yard and aided downed Allied airmen. In the spring of 1945, he was sent to a labor camp in Germany, and remained there until the liberation.
- Date Created:
- 2010-09-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Phil Owens was born in 1984 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted to the Marines and undertook boot camp in San Diego, California. After graduating in 2003 he was educated for supply operations and administration at Camp LeJune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. His role involved training, keeping track of inventory and serial numbers of gear, and budgeting. Additionally he trained to use specialized weapons in machine gunner school such as the MK19 grenade launcher and the M240. Owens returned to the 3rd Marines battalion in California before being sent on two tours of duty to Iraq. From 2004 to 2005 he was situated in Fallujah where the Second Battle of Fallujah was taking place. The second tour was located in Haditha Iraq. In 2008 he was honorably discharged from the Marines and continues to participate in a variety of groups for war veterans and working as a clinical athletic trainer.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Vickers was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on September 25. 1944. He was in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Eastern Kentucky University and received a commission as an officer in the combat engineers of the Army in 1965. He decided to become a chaplain and attended seminary for three years, then went to the Chaplain School in 1969. He stayed in the Army Reserve until January 1975 when he went on active duty. His first assignment was at Fort Carson, Colorado, with the 1st Battalion of the 77th Armor Regiment, for 15 months. He was stationed in Wiesbaden, West Germany, with the 76th Infantry Brigade from March 1976 until June 1979. He studied at the Advanced Course for Chaplains at Fort Wadsworth, New York, then went to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in January 1980. He left Fort Devens in May 1983 to study at Vanderbilt University then serve at the Chaplain School. He was stationed at Fort McPherson, Georgia for four years, then did a tour in South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division. Robert's last two assignments were at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he retired in 1996.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Woodrow J. Tromp is a WW II veteran who served in the U.S. Army with the 32nd (Red Arrow) Division Company I, 126th Infantry Regiment from 1940 to 1945. In this account he discuses his time with the National Guard before and after it was federalized as part of the U.S. Army. In addition, he discusses his training in the U.S. and Australia, combat experiences in New Guinea and the Philippines, along with problems caused by terrain and disease.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Handwritten letter and envelope with transcript by Agnes Van Der Weide to Joe Olexa, dated December 3, 1944. The envelope is sent from 1913 Berkley Ave. S.W., Grand Rapids, Michigan, dated December 7, 1944. In the letter, Agnes describes her trip from Conewango Valley back to Grand Rapids, Michigan with family and friends and expresses appreciation for Joe as her future husband.
- Date Created:
- 1944-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wallace Ewing was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 11, 1932. He recalled listening to news reports on the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but remained unworried about the global events of the Second World War. After graduating high school in 1950, Ewing pursued the NROTC program at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He participated in three overseas cruises and training exercises, but was forced to abandon his training when he was told he could not be married and become a Midshipman. Ewing and his wife started a family in East Lansing, he finished his degree at Michigan State University, and he became a university English teacher and later Dean at a small college.
- Date Created:
- 2017-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Meyers was born in Coloma, Michigan on August 6, 1926. George spent his early years on his parent's farm, but they had lost it during the Depression. Both of George's older brothers were already in the service and fighting when he received his draft papers in 1944. George went through basic training for the Army at Camp Hood in Texas and then went through extended training before being sent to Luzon. George served as a replacement in the 32nd Infantry Division and was later sent home after being injured by a grenade.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Albert Ohanesian was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. He wanted to enlist in the Army immediately after Pearl Harbor, but was too young, and was drafted late in 1942. He tried to get into the Army Air Corps, and tested well enough while in basic training at Camp Grant, Illinois, to qualify, and was put into a program to give some college training for flight school candidates and sent to Butler University. He did well there, but his program was shut down and he wound up at Camp Polk, Louisiana, assigned to the 58th Armored Infantry Battalion in the 8th Armored Division. He sailed for England at the end of 1944, then shipped over to France in early 1945. His division passed through Belgium and joined the 9th Army in the Netherlands before crossing the Rhine and proceeding across Germany and into Czechoslovakia.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fay Orvis was a soldier during World War II in the United States Navy. He worked as a minesweeper during his time in the service and spent time in Okinawa and Saipan. His account describes different duties performed on the minesweeper and onshore in California and on various islands, as well as incidents involving kamikaze attacks and mine explosions.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Frederick Rawsthorne was born in St. Helena, England, but migrated to the United States at an early age with his family. He returned to England with his family, then ventured back to the United States, with his family yet again. His family struggled to support itself during the Great Depression. Frederick found work, and then became a machinist's apprentice at Ford. During his apprenticeship, he joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in noncombat zones throughout the Pacific, eventually Japan. After WWII he became a full time machinist. He was laid off in 1949 and went to work at the post office in Trenton, MI. Eventually he rose to high status as postmaster of his town and master of his Masons' lodge.
- Date Created:
- 2006-08-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Steele was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He had previously gone to a technical high school and was able to continue such aviation and mechanical training while in the Navy. George spent most of his service in Guam after the Japanese invasion. He was there for about two years while the Navy was giving technical support to the Marines. After his time in the service George became a draftsman at an architecture firm.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ben Jerzyk born in 1945 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He was the oldest of eight other children and his father was a World War Two veteran. He attended college and trained as a physical therapist and was drafted into the Army in June 1967. He trained as a medic at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He was deployed to Vietnam in mid-December of 1967 and was stationed at Cat Lai with the 133rd Medical Detachment Company. He spent eleven months in Vietnam during which time he lived through the Tet Offensive in early 1968. After returning home from Vietnam he completed his service at Fort Carson, Colorado in early 1969.
- Date Created:
- 2014-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Larry Rosencrans was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1948. After high school he was drafted in 1967 and his basic training took place at Fort Knox, Kentucky. At Fort Polk, Louisiana he underwent his AIT training before being sent to Vietnam in 1969. Near Pleiku Vietnam at Camp Enari he underwent more training, and then he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. In the jungles Larry would participate in a number of missions until 1969 when he left Vietnam. From 1970-1972 his mechanical repair skills came in handy in Fort Hood, Texas where he worked as a heavy duty mechanic, then later as a motor pool clerk.
- Date Created:
- 2015-11-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Thomas York was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1927. His family moved first to Oklahoma, then to Michigan. York enlisted in the US Air Force at 16, and after graduating at 17, entered active duty on July 1st of 1945. York underwent basic training at the base in Biloxi, Mississippi. York re-enlisted after his 6 months of duty were finished in the US Army Air Force. York was sent to Caserta, Italy, where he served for a year as a medical clerk. While at Caserta, York met British military personnel and German prisoners of war.
- Date Created:
- 2010-01-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Demo Christopoulos is a World War II veteran who served in the Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 261st Infantry Regiment, 65th Division. He enlisted in the Army late in 1943, but did not go to Europe with his original training company because he was too young. He eventually sailed with the 65th Division, which joined the 3rd Army in time to participate in the spring offensive in 1945. His unit pushed through the Saar, crossed the Rhine, and then fought their way across the Danube, and ended the war in Austria. Christopoulos remained in Europe until the spring of 1946, with his last assignment involving screening SS prisoners held at Dachau.
- Date Created:
- 2011-07-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Doucette first began his military career in the Civilian Military Training Corps at the age of 15. Leaving after two year to find work in Chicago, Doucette eventually came back to join the Aviation Cadet Program. After making it to his Basic Flight Training, Doucette was washed out after a "check flight"during which the instructor had passed out. This eventually led Doucette to go work at an Instrument Training School, until he volunteered for overseas duty. He served as a driver and mechanic in New Guinea and the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Lugtigheid was born in Grand Rapids, MI and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He joined the Air Force at age 17, and became an autopilot and flight controls mechanic. He was based in California and spent some tours of duty in Spain. He also spent a tour of duty in Da Nang, Vietnam on a base working support for aircraft.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Steve Wendt served in the US Navy between 1968 and 1972. He did a tour in Vietnam as an engine mechanic working on river craft on the Mekong River. He went on numerous patrols and saw combat on a regular basis. His unit went into Cambodia on a number of occasions, and helped to escort Vietnamese refugees from Cambodia back into Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gust Anton was born in Chicago on December 17, 1928. He was drafted in December 1951 and reported for duty in January 1952. He went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for his basic training and mechanic training, then went to Fort Lewis, Washington, to wait for his deployment to Korea. He sailed to Korea aboard the USNS General Simon B. Buckner, and after a brief stop at Camp Drake, Japan, arrived in Korea at Inchon in early December 1952. Gust was assigned to the 84th Engineer Battalion near the 38th Parallel, and due to prior photography experience was made a photographer in that unit. He not only documented equipment damage, but also photographed the dead and wounded. He witnessed the Battle of Outpost Vegas on March 26, 1953, and another major fight on May 28, 1953. Gust also photographed Seoul and the people living in the city during the war. After the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, he served as the company PX clerk (Army general store) until returning to the United States in December 1953. He was discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, on December 25, 1953.
- Date Created:
- 2017-01-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Chenard was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, in 1948 and was drafted into the Army in 1967. Chenard attended both basic and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, before being sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Airborne training as well as Ranger School near the Panama Canal. For his first deployment, he was selected to run small search-and-rescue operations in and out of Vietnam, recieving several bullet wounds during this action. Chenard's return to the United States was rocky, as crowds threw things and yelled at him. For his service, he earned a variety of metals, including 4 Purple Hearts, became a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and was a part of the decorated Army Drill Team. He also mentions crossing paths with several Cambodian refugees in the United States he had not seen since his service in Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2017-03-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)