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- Notes:
- Thornell Billingslea was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 29, 1947. In 1966 he was drafted and received his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He volunteered to be a paratrooper and received his Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and his Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He went home on a short leave before being deployed to Vietnam. Thornell landed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase and was assigned to Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He joined his unit at Bien Hoa and was assigned to 1st platoon. He went on patrols out of Bien Hoa, Pleiku, and Dak To. While at Dak To he fought in the Battle of the Slopes (Hill 1338) and after getting separated from his unit walked for three days to get back to Dak To. Thornell was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions at Hill 1338. He was wounded on a patrol on July 9, 1967, and after recovering was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky until he was discharged in August 1968.
- Date Created:
- 2016-03-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Diekevers was born in 1937 in McBain, Michigan. He decided to enlist into the Army at 17. At Fort Knox, Kentucky he received basic training, while further training took place at Fort Carson, Colorado, and later at Fort Bliss, Texas. Their training involved the use of 90mm artillery and lengthy 70 mile marches. Eventually he would be stationed in Washington D.C. for the last part of his service. In 1954/55 he met his wife and they finally married after being discharged from the military in 1958.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Chet Trybus was born on March 16, 1945 in Highland Park, Michigan. Trybus was attending Henry Ford Community College in 1965 when he received a draft notice. Wanting to continue his education, he opted to join the Navy Reserves and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, for Boot Camp. While in the Naval Reserves, Trybus was able to continue his education at Western Michigan University since there was a Reserve station in Kalamazoo. After completing his degree, he was stationed at Great Lakes processing recruitment orders as part of his active duty. Since he was stationed in the U.S, Trybus was able to pursue his master's degree while on active duty. He eventually left the service in 1972 and took up work for the Xerox Corporation in Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2013-01-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harrison Goodspeed was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. Harrison thought that he would soon be drafted, so he enlisted in the Army after high school in order to have a choice in the position that he would hold. Harrison served as a platoon leader in the 80th Infantry Division in France, Germany, and Luxemburg and provides some detailed combat stories, as well as observations on conditions in Europe after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Russel Prince enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1940 and served in the anti-tank company of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until 1944, when he was sent back to the US to help train new recruits in Alabama, finally mustering out in January 1945. He provides a clear and detailed account of his unit's transfers first to the East Coast and then back across the country to ship out to Australia and New Guinea. His company was shipped to Port Moresby, New Guinea, in November, 1942, and spent nearly two months crossing the Owen Stanley Mountains to join in the attack on Buna. His company broke through Japanese lines early on, and then was isolated for three weeks before it was finally relieved. He discusses the difficulties of fighting in a jungle and of the action at Buna. This interview is featured in the documentary "Nightmare in New Guinea" produced by Grand Valley State University.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Willard Van Essen was born in Nobles County, Minnesota, in 1927. He was drafted in 1951 and received his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. At the end of basic training, he was selected to become the new sergeant in charge of the records department at Fort Gordon. During his time at Fort Gordon he processed incoming recruits, sorted recruits into training companies, sorted them into specialized training (radio, military police, or infantry) and ultimately decided where men were sent for their deployments. Many of the men had to be sent to fight in Korea. He was discharged from the Army in 1954, but served in the Army Reserve for an additional eight years going to drill at Battle Creek and Houghton, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2017-01-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Eldon Hunsberger was born on a farm in Plainfield, Michigan. He went to college for 2 years and then joined the Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot. He flew B-26 bombers on 65 missions over Italy from bases in Tunisia, Sardinia and Italy. When he got back to the US he was in the Army Reserve and then got called back in April of 1952 for the Korean War. Eldon flew a KB-29 and refueled planes on their way to Hawaii.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sally Robson was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1937. She graduated from high school in 1955 and began studying to become a teacher at Albion College and taught second grade in Walled Lake, Michigan, after graduating. In 1969, her husband, Larry, enlisted into the Navy and moved his their family down to Texas during his Basic Training. When he was sent to Vietnam to work as a doctor at a base in Quang Tri, Robson and her children moved back to Muskegon and lived with her parents. After returning from Vietnam in 1969, Robson's reunited family moved to Chicago where Larry worked at the Great Lakes Naval Station before moving to Detroit where Larry started his vascular surgery residency. A year later, the family settled into Grand Rapids where Larry worked at both Blodgett Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital.
- Date Created:
- 2019-02-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Schrouder was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 26, 1925. He joined the Navy on September 1, 1943 and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. Upon completion of basic training he was sent to Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois for Diesel School and after graduating from that he was sent to New London, Connecticut to train with submarines. After deciding to get out of the submarine program he was reassigned to LST 618 and deployed to the Pacific Theatre in late summer 1944. He participated in three major campaigns: the invasion of Leyte (in the Philippines), the invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf (in the Philippines), and the invasion of Mindanao (in the Philippines). After the war, LST 618 ferried Nationalist Chinese troops to various Chinese ports until sailing back to the United States. He was sent back to Chicago and was discharged on February 28, 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-06-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Van Luyn was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925, and was drafted into the Army in 1943. He wanted to go, and was disappointed when he was rejected due to an eye problem, but later talked his way past the recruiter and sent to Camp Ellis, Illinois, to train as an engineer. He joined the 1303rd Engineer General Service Regiment and was assigned to B Company, which specialized in bridge construction. He shipped out to England with his unit in the spring of 1944, and deployed to Normandy shortly after D-Day. After the Normandy breakout, his regiment followed Patton's 3rd Army across France, building and rebuilding bridges all along the way, sometimes under fire from enemy artillery or aircraft. His unit got caught up in the Battle of the Bulge, and then participated in the invasion of Germany, building their longest bridge across the Rhine near Remagen. Shortly after the Germans surrendered, the unit was deployed to the Philippines in preparation for the invasion of Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2011-08-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
