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- Notes:
- Raymond Zandstra was born in Grand Rapids. He served in the US Navy from July 14, 1959 to Sept. 28, 1962. He served in Sicily, and in the San Diego Helicopter Squadron One. Most of his duties revolved around helicopter maintenance and repair. He was trained in air-sea rescue in Imperial Beach. He also relates the story of a one-week survival training course he took, during which he was placed in a mock prison for twenty four hours.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Samuels was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1950 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1948. He trained at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he learned water purification processes. When the Korean War started in 1950, he was sent to Korea and served as a BAR gunner with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. He served with that unit at Inchon and Seoul, and then in the invasion of North Korea. He fought in the Chosin Reservoir battles until he was airlifted out due to bad frostbite. He was treated in Japan and then sent back to the US, where he served out his enlistment in Philadelphia and finally back at Camp Lejeune.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Norman Christopher was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 1943 where he attended local public schools and graduated high school. His father worked as a Hull Secretary for Atlantic Mutual Marine Insurance, influencing Christopher's interest in naval vessels. In 1961, he attended the University of South Carolina for its Naval Reserve Officer Training Course, alongside the study of chemistry, with the idea of possibly making a career out of the Navy. While in college, Christopher was aware of the growing tensions of the Cold War, but remained largely focused on his education. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy put the tensions of the decade into perspective for him, fostering a heightened sense of awareness going forward. He graduated in May of 1965 and went on to attend Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which helped clear him as a specialist in the Navy. His first assignment came in the summer of 1965 when he was assigned to the DD724 USS Laffey and an older ship ported in Norfolk, Virginia. He recalled how his first few months of duty were challenging since the turbulence of the sea made his work difficult to complete without developing his 'sea legs.' As an officer, Christopher was then assigned as a Quarter Deck Watch Officer with duties on the bridge as well as elsewhere on the vessel. After his time on the USS Laffey, he attended a course on Cargo Fuel Handling in San Diego, California, before being assigned to the USS Neches. On this new ship, Christopher traveled to the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. He detailed how American naval carriers supported the inland ground forces with aircraft that did most of the fighting while Christopher and his vessel ran refueling missions between ships in the gulf. He also recalled having to occasionally operate in typhoons or enormous waves. While serving on the Neches, his fellow crew members remained largely consistent and Christopher was eventually promoted to Lieutenant JG on the ship. He had great respect for his Captain on the Neches and held many of the other officers in high regard, even though he did not come into close contact with all of them. Christopher also believed he became a better ship handler over time and how homesickness affected some men who had been to sea longer than others. In one instance, his ship was fired upon as a warning to discourage it from drawing closer to shore. In other instances, he recalled how local fishing vessels would travel in close proximity to the American vessels to conduct their work. Christopher did travel into port in locations such as Subic Bay in the Philippines, Da Nang in Vietnam to access the military hospital at the port, as well as in Japan where he briefly became a Navy Military Policeman. Later, noticing how some planes never made it back to their carriers or how others barely made it back, Christopher was given reason to start questioning why the United States was actually in the war. Reflecting upon the greater picture of American naval operations during the war, he analyzed how every branch of the service, class of ship, and crew assignment worked together and cooperated during conflict. Christopher described the situation in Subic Bay as relatively chaotic with large populations of marginalized people, poverty, and pollution. This made the interactions of American servicemen with local civilians tense and often dangerous due to heightened rates of crime, bar fights, and widespread prostitution. When the Neches returned to California, Christopher chose, with the persuasion of his future wife, to not pursue active duty in the Navy as his primary career going forward. In June of 1967, he was released from active duty, remaining in the active reserves, and pursued marriage as well as employment at Dow Chemical Company. While in the Navy Active Reserves, he moved to New Jersey where he became a Lieutenant and Administrative Officer, and then Executive Officer, for his reserve unit before transferring to inactive duty. Ultimately, Christopher decided the Navy
was no longer the best career choice for him in favor of pursuing a higher academic degree and was discharged in October of 1982. He concluded that the Navy taught him the value of accountability, intertwining it with lessons on responsibility. He noted how there was an honor in serving, but not overall respect for being a soldier, and how he was haunted for years about imagery of the effects of napalm while working at Dow Chemical. Reflecting upon his service, Christopher was ultimately happy that he served his country. He was also fortunate that memories of combat do not haunt him as they do for many mutilated veterans who served on the ground during the war.
Pre-Enlistment: (00:00:33:00)
Enlistment/Training: (00:02:05:00)
Service: (00:14:45:00)
Post-Service Reflections: (01:40:28:00)
- Date Created:
- 2017-06-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Randal Cope was born into a lower-income family located in Wyoming, Michigan. He entered the United States Air Force at a young age in search of an employment opportunity. He was trained as a security officer, which also included police work. After training, he volunteered to be an Air Commander and was deployed to Germany shortly after. He spent three years, from 1980 to 1983, in the small town of Zweibrücken where he attended to mostly small security matters, that of both United States and Germany. In 1983, Cope was sent back to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri until he received a mandatory recall notice to Grenada, an island in the Caribbean. This deployment marked the official beginning of the Invasion of Grenada, an event attributed to the end of the Cold War. The men of the Air Force, including Randy, were in charge of clearing the airfield for the safe landing of other American vehicles. Cope was involved in the initial search of the airfield for Russian, Cuban, and Grenadian.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Milton Devries was drafted in 1941 and sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, to join the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division. He served with this unit on New Guinea, where he was badly wounded at Buna. After an extended hospital stay, he saw duty in Australia and the United States before being discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edwin Jamros joined the US Coast Guard in 1940 because he knew the United States was going to war. After going to Ellis Island for basic training, he was assigned to the USS Joseph Dickman as an electrician's apprentice. While on the Dickman, he traveled to Africa, Australia, Italy and Scotland. His ship participated in the invasions of North Africa and Sicily. Edwin was discharged as an Electrician's Mate, First Class on May 22nd, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2009-03-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Thaddeus Zator grew up in Michigan and was drafted in the Army during World War II. He trained as a communications specialist, first at Camp Crowder, Missouri, and then in Arlington, Virginia, before being sent to England in 1943. He was based in London, and traveled around to repair communications equipment. After D-Day, he was sent to France, where he moved from unit to unit to work on equipment as needed, often flying in small planes to his assignments from a base near Verdun, France.
- Date Created:
- 2010-11-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mary Louise "Wimp" Baumgartner was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1930. She played in the AAGPBL from 1949 to 1954 as a catcher for Peoria and South Bend. She went to college in the off season, and after the league folded she became a teacher and coach for girls' athletic teams, and was actively involved in the promotion of girls' sports in Indiana.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Sarros served in the Marine Corps from 1946-1951. He fought as a machine-gunner during the Korean War. He did experience combat with Koreans and the Chinese, but did not talk about much of his experience. He does recall being on the front line while he served in Korea. George said that many of his men were hurt and it was an unpleasant experience, so he blocked much of it out.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jimmy Butt was born in Tippo, Mississippi, on October 13, 1921. He was in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Auburn University and graduated in February 1943. He attended the Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was commissioned as an officer on June 23, 1943. He completed Survey School a month later. In September 1943, he went to Camp Van Dorn, Mississippi, and joined the 863rd Field Artillery Battalion of the 63rd Infantry Division. On Christmas Day 1944, he sailed to the European Theatre and in January 1945 joined the rest of the 63rd near Saarbrucken. He participated in the fighting on the Siegfried Line and the eventual crossing of the Rhine River into Germany. He was with the division as it advanced through Germany and witnessed the liberation of multiple slave labor camps. After Germany's surrender in May 1945, he was part of the Army of Occupation and served in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. He left Germany in summer 1946 and was discharged at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in September 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2017-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
