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- Notes:
- Mr. Potter is from Grandville, Michigan. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in August, 2001, served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine. His highest rank was sergeant. He received his training in San Diego, where he was a squad leader. In Iraq, Mr. Potter was a fire-team leader. In Afghanistan, he was a squad leader. He was able to travel to over 30 different countries throughout his military career.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sarah Anderson was born in 1990 in Muskegon, Michigan, and lived in the same house for her entire childhood. Anderson graduated high school in 2009 and immediately joined the Marine Corps since she disliked the mundane environment of the classroom, was energetic, and saw the positive impact the Corps had upon her brother. During the 9/11 attacks, Anderson was in the fifth grade and remembers being sent home early after hearing of the attacks over the radio, later influencing her decision to join the service. She attended Marine Boot Camp in August of 2009 at Parris Island, South Carolina, where male recruits were separated from female recruits, even though training standards were equal between the sexes. In addition to basic training, recruits were instructed on hand-to-hand combat in the Marine Martial Arts Program and Anderson recalled how all training was meant to break down recruits to build them up again as skilled, devoted, proud soldiers. After Boot Camp, Anderson transferred into Marine Combat Training in Fort Johnson, North Carolina, where she chose her career within the Corps, and then to Fort Meade, Maryland, for her Marine Occupational Specialty schooling in public affairs. She then chose her occupation within the Corps as a Combat Correspondent, or Strategic Communications and Mass Communicator, and described her occupational schooling as greatly constructive due to her greater exposure to the experiences of other branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Anderson's first base assignment was in Twentynine Palms, California, where she interviewed Marines before they were deployed to Afghanistan, growing attached to her work and to the stories of these men. When her first four years of service ended, Anderson was encouraged to reenlist by her fellow Marines as well as an underlying dread that she had not seen enough of the Corps or the world. Once reenlisted, she opted to be stationed in bases on Oahu Island, Hawaii, where she continued her media work online and through interviews. She became exposed to working with military personnel of all ranks, urging her to quickly develop proper etiquette for addressing high ranking soldiers and commanders. She also acquired opportunities to work with military personnel from other nations from across the globe, allowing her to see into the military cultures of other countries. Anderson concluded that her work on Oahu taught her the values of working individually, thus independently, and problem solving between the needs of various specializations within the military. Later, she transferred to Darwin, Australia, for Marine Rotational Force Darwin, a unit deployment program, and Talus Mu Saber, a two-week training exercise held every other year between the American and Australian militaries. Anderson became more of a 'brand marketer' than a Combat Correspondent, focusing on both media and public relations through working with major media outlets, social media, and other forms of press coverage. With this new focus, she became more integrated with the history of the Corps in the Second World War, Vietnam, as well as current conflicts. After eight years in the service, Anderson made the difficult decision to leave the Corps in 2016 since she never acquired the deployment opportunities she strived for. From there, she attended Grand Valley State University for a degree in PR, advertising, and photography. She commended her recent academic ventures for teaching her the technical skills that the Corps could not provide her while also commending the Corps for teaching her discipline and responsibility. Reflecting upon her service, Anderson believed she grew tremendously as a person through the Corps by doing her best, especially in the face of subtle, underlying sexism or gender stereotypes. Ultimately, these subtle tensions in gender relations remained constant during her service. She also adhered to the moral and ethical teachings of various mentors and instructors who helped her build a stronger character and skills in leadership.
Pre-Enlistment: (00:00:52:00)
Enlistment/Training: (00:06:30:00)
Service: (00:29:48:00)
Post-Service Life: (01:07:17:00)
Reflections: (01:09:43:00)
- Date Created:
- 2019-04-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Matthew Oudbier was born in Bremerton, Washington and grew up in a Marine Corps family. He entered the Delayed Entry Program in 2004 and went to Twentynine Palms, California, for its field radio operators course. Oudbier was then assigned to 1st Stinger Battery or 1st LAD in Futenma on Okinawa, Japan, before being deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, in 2007 where he was his company's radio operator and participated in heavy training. After reenlistment, Oudbier became first ANGLICO, returned to Iraq in 2008, and joined a support/logistics team. He also reenlisted for tours in the Gulf of Aden in 2009 and Sangin, Afghanistan in 2011 where he was assigned to the Georgian Army. After leaving the service, Oudbier got his Class A license and worked at the VA hospital in San Diego before moving back to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2017-06-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Louis Dudeck was born in 1943 in Bloomer, Wisconsin, and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1963. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, and served with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Pendleton until he unit was deployed to Vietnam in 1965 and redesignated as the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. His unit did jungle training on Okinawa, and then landed at Da Nang, the first ground combat unit in Vietnam. His battalion initially guarded the Da Nang airport, then went to Chu Lai, and Dudeck was then transferred to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, with whom he participated in Operation Harvest Moon in December, where his company took heavy losses. A few weeks later, while operating in the A Shau Valley, Dudeck was badly wounded and sent first to Japan and then to the US to recuperate, and was discharged for medical reasons in 1966. [Note: the first interview includes most of his combat history, and the second fills in some gaps in the early part of the story and clarifies several aspects of his Vietnam service.]
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-30T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Richard "Buck" Buckingham was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1929. Buckingham grew up in Detroit and graduated from Redford High School in 1947. He then attended Hillsdale College for two years before transferring to Michigan State University where he stayed for one year. In 1951, Buckingham considered joining the Air Force, but this ended up not happening because the program he was interested in was cut off. However, in December 1951, Buckingham was drafted into the Marine Corps. Buckingham first reported to Detroit and was then sent to Parris Island, South Carolina where he went through a twelve-week training program. Once Buckingham completed his training, he joined the 8th Engineer Battalion at Camp Geiger in North Carolina and began working in personnel at an engineering headquarters and service company there. In November 1952, Buckingham moved to Arlington, Virginia and started working at the Headquarters Marine Corps. During his time in Arlington, Buckingham drove a Jeep in Dwight D. Eisenhower's inaugural parade, met his future wife who worked for the Air Force, and eventually became a corporal. In December 1953, Buckingham's enlistment ended, and he returned to Michigan State University where he earned a degree in business administration. After graduating, Buckingham sold insurance for a year before landing a longlasting job at Sears, Roebuck, and Company.
- Date Created:
- 2017-12-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Christopher Wiers enlisted in the Marine Corps before graduating high school. The time he served was from 2002 – 2006. During his second tour in Iraq, he worked in convoy security. They would clear explosives when they were detected. Mr. Wiers was involved in an IED explosion accident and suffered brain damage along with other injuries.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gary Mitchell, of Wolf River Wisconsin, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 at the age of 17. Despite his age, he was able to train as a pilot due to a shortage of combat pilots. Sent to Korea in 1952, he flew multiple combat missions over enemy territory before mechanical problems forced him to bail out off the North Korean coast. He and his copilot were picked up by the Chinese, who regularly beat them in an effort to gain information about their aircraft. He was released at Panmunjon at the time of the signing of the armistice, and then underwent several years of medical treatment for injuries suffered in the bailout and while in prison, and then served as an instructor on Marine and Navy bases until he was discharged in 1959.
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Henry Diedering was a teenager in the Netherlands when the Germans took over in 1940. He describes life in his home town under occupation, and of his efforts to avoid being impressed as a forced laborer by the Germans when he turned 18. He made his way to Rotterdam and got a job on a cargo ship on the Rhine River, and worked on it until the ship was damaged by Allied air attack. After that, he tried to make his way home, staying in damaged and abandoned houses, until he found a German village that had no able-bodied men in it, and where he worked for the villagers until the spring of 1945, when the Canadians took over the area. Seeing few opportunities at home, he enlisted in the Dutch Marine Corps and was sent to Indonesia, where the Dutch were attempting to reassert control, and was sent home after the Dutch agreed to leave.
- Date Created:
- 2010-02-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Brian Sager, born in Brown City, Michigan, in 1978, served in the Marine Corps Reserve starting in 1996. After training in San Diego and at Camp Pendleton, California, he was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to train as a combat engineer, and then went home. He was still in the Reserves in January, 2003, when his unit was activated and sent to Kuwait. His unit participated in the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, and built several bridges over the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers before being sent back to Kuwait and then home again. Since then, he has gone to the Dominican Republic to build bridges for humanitarian work.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)