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- Notes:
- Charles Hoffman was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1924, and served in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to a destroyer which was used to guard convoys from submarines. He served initially in the Atlantic, but moved to the Pacific after VE day. He sailed to many places, including Brazil, North Africa, France, England, and the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2005-08-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard VanAllsburg, born on February 17th 1921 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in the U.S. Navy from approximately 1943-1945 as a pilot during World War II. Richard spent his first year of service in various training locations and active duty on bases. He soon volunteered to be sent to the Pacific in order to fly more. Richard was sent to Hawaii where he pulled targets for shooting practice. After being discharged in 1945 Richard joined the Naval Reserve. He was called back into duty in 1962 to carry out reconnaissance missions in the Caribbean for approximately 1 year.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Louis Kayo Erwin Sr. was born in Dayton, Tennessee, on March 1, 1925. He grew up in Dayton then on a farm in Big Spring, Tennessee. When he was 16 he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and enlisted in the Navy when he was 17 years old. He enlisted on December 20, 1942, and on December 26 he shipped out for basic training in San Diego. Louis initially received orders for the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. He stayed on the Bunker Hill until summer 1943 when he joined the USS Indianapolis. He saw action at Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Iwo Jima. In March 1945 the Indianapolis was struck by a kamikaze forcing them to return to the US for repairs. In July 1945 they received orders for a secret mission. On July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb components were loaded onto the USS Indianapolis at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and they delivered the components on July 26, 1945 at Tinian. On July 30, the I-58 torpedoed and sank the USS Indianapolis. Louis and the other survivors had to endure exposure, shark attacks, and saltwater poisoning. On August 2 a seaplane spotted the survivors and they were rescued. Louis and only 316 other crewmen survived. After recovering on Peleliu and Guam he returned to the United States. He briefly served at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado before being discharged in late 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2016-09-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Henry J. Pelak was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1924. He grew up and finished high school there and was drafted in 1942. He chose to enter the Navy, and trained at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and then did amphibious craft training in Virginia and Florida. He was assigned to be the motor machinist on an LCM (landing craft, mechanized). He was deployed to Europe and went over to England to prepare for the Normandy Invasion. In April 1944 he witnessed a U-Boat attack during a training exercise. On June 6, 1944 his craft transported a demolition team to the beach to aid in the Allied invasion. After dropping off the team his craft continued to aid the invasion force by ferrying personnel between ships. After Normandy he was reassigned to a unit that was following the British Army through northern Europe to establish an American Naval base at Bremerhaven, Germany. When the war ended he concluded his service with the Navy decommissioning a ship in the Caribbean Sea. He reenlisted for two more years and was stationed in Bremerhaven, Germany first and then in Vienna, Austria.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Baker-Clark, born in St. Lois Missouri in 1948, served in the U.S. Navy from 1968-1970 as a Naval Corpsman during the Vietnam Era. After completing his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Academy, Charles was given medical training at the same base. After this was completed he was then sent to Naples Italy where he served in a naval hospital. In December of 1968 Charles had to be moved after he was involved as an informant used to bust a group selling drugs on the base. Charles was then moved to Maine where he served in another naval hospital. Soon after, he was sent to Iceland and then Sicily Italy where he served with a Unit of PT Orion pilots.
- Date Created:
- 2012-04-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tony Pacino served in the U.S. Navy as a medical corpsman assigned to the Marine Corps from approximately 1992-1994. During his service, Tony served in Somalia in the early 1990s at the Port of Mogadishu. After his service, Tony was able to use his military training in his career as a nurse.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gaetan Gerville-Reache was born on October 8, 1976 and served in the United States Navy from 1998-2002. He was deployed to the Persian Gulf as a part of Operation Southern Watch and served as the main propulsion officer on the USS Benfold. The objective of the operation was to enforce a no-fly zone and embargo on Iraq. He visited the ports of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Kuwait. In addition to his experiences in the Persian Gulf, Gaetan recounts September 11, 2001 and how the navy responded to the attacks thereafter.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ronald Zandbergen was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 26th, 1942. He joined the Navy in January of 1961. At Great Lakes, Wisconsin he endured basic training and became assigned to communications as a radioman. In Bainbridge, Maryland he was trained in Morse Code and radio specialization. Then he spent a year in Keflavik, Iceland where the US was wary of ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Next he was sent to Littlecreek, Virginia to the Tactical Air Control Squadron 21. During his time in the Navy Ronald travelled on the USS Boxer, and visited European ports in the Mediterranean area on the USS Francis Marion.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kevin Heine was born in Flint, Michigan on October 1, 1964. About 25% of his graduating class joined some form of the service in Osceota because it was an Air Force town and the economy was terrible in Michigan during the 80s. Kevin joined the Navy after high school and was able to take many classes in many areas during his 20 year career. Kevin took engineering classes, cryogenics, business administration, computer science, and many others.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Steven Hillock initially joined the US Navy in 1963 to get out of farming. After his duty was up with the Navy, he joined the Army to fight in Vietnam. Initially trained as an airborne trooper, he joined the Tracers Recon unit. They fought in minor skirmishes, and took part in some battles. While he initially left the military very angry, he does not regret his time in the military.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dwight Stevens spent time in the Navy in the Pacific during WW II working on decoding Japanese messages. He served in the Philippines and witnessed Kamikaze attacks on Allied ships.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Wessels, born and in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1924, served in the U.S. Navy from January 1941 to November 1945 during World War II. After having completed his basic training, John was assigned to be an aviation radioman. His first deployment was to BOB 208, a unit of PBY seaplanes, in Florida and the Caribbean. Here, John looked for submarines. John was then transferred to the 208th of the 26th and flew in the Pacific, mainly performing reconnaissance. His unit started in Hawaii, served in several areas, including off Okinawa, and flew into Tokyo Bay at the end of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ray Pell was born in Fremont, Michigan on March 20, 1927. He grew up there and completed high school when he was seventeen and enlisted in the Navy prior to graduating. He received training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and amphibious training in San Bruno, California. When the war ended due to the atomic bombs being dropped, he was assigned to a hospital ship. He went on two cruises aboard the hospital ship, the first one to Guam and the Philippines and the second just to Guam.
- Date Created:
- 2014-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dale Allen Weaver is a veteran and former E-6 who served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1990. In this account, Weaver briefly discusses his pre-enlistment years, his basic training and other training in the U.S. Navy. Additionally, he discusses his service assignments around the U.S. and briefly discusses his secret missions as a Navey Seal in Panama, Beirut, and Lebanon. Finally, he discusses his athletic years with the Para-Olympics following his navy service.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for merchant ships. On his first voyage, he was on the Murmansk run with convoy PQ 18. He shot down a German bomber, but his ship was sunk by a torpedo, and he was rescued by a British destroyer. He then spent time on a US Marine base in Scotland, Oran, Algeria, on an oil tanker In the Caribbean and Atlantic, a tugboat in the Caribbean, and finally on a cargo ship in the Pacific after the end of the war, visiting Okinawa and Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Marv Kuzawa enlisted in the Navy in 1942 at the age of 21. For basic training he was sent to Camp Perry, Virginia. Eventually he was placed in the Seabees and sent to Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to construct infrastructure for the War. After being transferred to the 14th Construction Battalion, Marv was sent to Honolulu Hawaii to build Quonset huts where the effects from the Pearl Harbor attack were still evident. In May of 1945 Marv arrived in Okinawa Japan to construct infrastructure for the ongoing invasion, and he was present in Okinawa during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In November 1945 he left Japan on the USS Topeka and coincidently met up with his brother as they were both discharged at Great Lakes military base in Illinois.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Harrison served in the US Navy from 1950 to June of 1954. During his time in the Navy, he served on the Light Cruiser, the USS Worcester, in the North Atlantic. He was a machinist on the ship, and distilled sea water for use aboard the ship.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Heather Majestic, born in 1971 in Pennsylvania, served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 1997. She went through the Naval ROTC program at Notre Dame University, and received her commission after graduation. She then took training in Naval Supply, and served for a year with a cryptology unit based in the Aleutian Islands. While she was there, the rules were changed to allow women to serve on combat vessels, and she was assigned to the aircraft carrier Eisenhower, and sailed with the ship on cruises in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and spent three months on detached duty in Haiti on a humanitarian mission. She was then transferred to shore duty where she served as the supply officer for Seal Team 2.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Philip Rasey, born in California in 1959, grew up in Colorado and served in the U.S Navy from 1977-1997. He trained to work on submarines, and did tours on the USS George Bancroft and on the USS Georgia. He also served as an instructor in Bangor, Washington.
- Date Created:
- 2011-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kurt Stauff was born in November 1954 in Jackson, Michigan. In December 1982 he enlisted in the Navy. He started basic training on June 20, 1983 at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, and received Basic Enlisted Submarine Training at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut. He attended the Submarine Sonar Technician Apprenticeship School in San Diego, California and received further training at "C School." After two years of training he boarded the submarine, USS Pargo (SSN-650) in December 1984. He went on intelligence gathering missions, torpedo exercises, and got to sail north of the Arctic Circle. For a short time he served aboard fast-attack submarines and ballistic submarines out of Pearl Harbor. In 1994 he transferred to mine warfare and from 1995 to 1997 he trained in Charleston, South Carolina. From 1997 to 2000 he served aboard the USS Patriot (MCM-7) at Sasebo, Japan, then returned to the United States to serve as an instructor. During the War in Iraq he spent a year in Bahrain overseeing mine sweeping missions in the area. In 2007 he reached his highest rank, Master Chief Petty Officer (E9), and spent the next five years as the mine warfare master chief to an admiral. He retired from the Navy in 2012.
- Date Created:
- 2016-05-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Beachum served in the United States Navy during the World War II era. Growing up in Michigan, he graduated from high school in 1945 and joined the Navy right away to avoid being drafted into the Army. Because of a scarlet fever outbreak at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, he was sent to New York for basic training, and remained on Long Island doing clerical work for fourteen months before he was discharged. He did not go overseas or see combat, and was perfectly happy not to be shot at.
- Date Created:
- 2006-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Ryan was born in New York City and attended Notre Dame University on a naval ROTC scholarship. Upon graduating in 1975, he went on active duty for four years, serving on destroyers in the Pacific. After leaving the Navy, he joined the reserves in 1981, and did administrative work for them until he retired in 2005. Since then, he has been actively involved with the Employers Support for the Guard and Reserves, an organization dedicated to assisting men and women in the service deal with issues that they encountered when called to active duty.
- Date Created:
- 2011-01-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wesley Pontier was born on October 4, 1921 in Clifton, New Jersey and served in the United States Navy during World War II. He joined the navy in 1942 and trained in Bainbridge Maryland. He had several jobs while in the Navy and his most accomplished position was that of a signalman. Wesley traveled to many different parts of the world including Canada, Wales, Cuba, Chile, Peru, and Venezuela. During his interview, he recalls seeing men and ships preparing for the invasion of Normandy. After being discharged in December of 1945, Wesley returned to work for Manhattan rubber where he had worked before joining the navy. During his time in the navy, Wesley traveled over 80,000 miles at sea.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James VandenBosch, born in Ada, Michigan, enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and trained as a medical corpsman. After a cruise aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La in the Mediterranean, he trained for combat duty with the Marines at Camp Lejeune and was sent to Vietnam in 1968. After a short stint with a Civil Action Patrol working in the villages near Da Nang, he became the senior corpsman for a rifle company of the 26th Marines, and participated with them in a series of combat operations. He spent the last part of his tour at a hospital in Da Nang. After his discharge, he eventually decided to go to nursing school and re-enlist in the Navy, this time as a nurse and officer. He did so, and retired from the Navy in 1989.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Vogel served in the U. S. Navy both stateside and during two tours overseas during the Vietnam War. He joined the Navy immediately after high school to avoid being drafted. Vogel recalls his experiences during basic training, his time spent in Vietnam, and the technology used during the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Thorsen is a Muskegon, Michigan, native who enlisted in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor in 1941 at the age of seventeen. He worked mostly in the engine rooms of the ships he served on, initially an ammunition ship, and then the light cruiser Philadelphia in the Atlantic in 1942 and 1943 as it escorted convoys and supported the North African landings. He was then assigned to a new destroyer, the Anthony, which was sent to the Pacific in 1944. This ship also served as an escort and engaged in shore bombardments, notably at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was then based at Sasebo, Japan, after the end of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Walter Stecker was able to avoid being drafted into the services during the beginning of World War II because of his work for the aircraft industry in industrial design. He was eventually drafted into the Navy and worked on illustrations for the assembly of aircraft, blue-prints, and maps. He worked on top-secret projects and even presented some of his findings to the US Senate.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Doug Anderson was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Union High School in 1943. He enlisted in the Navy and began training one month after graduation. Doug went through accelerated college courses at Oakland College in Ohio and was then sent to mid-shipman school in New York. After going through training, the war was already over and Doug was sent to work in salvage and preservation in Guam. Doug spent the extent of his service in Guam and eventually became an Executive Officer when he was only 19 years old.
- Date Created:
- 2004-05-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jessica Oudbier was born on April 6, 1989 in Fort Ord, California. Her father was in the Air Force and she grew up in various military communities, even after her parents divorced. After graduating from high school she enlisted in the Navy on August 15, 2007. She received basic training and communications training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. She was assigned to Tactical Air Control Squadron 12 in San Diego, California. During her time there she withstood repeated sexual assaults as well as verbal harassment from fellow sailors. She was assigned to the USS Bonhomme Richard and took part in RIMPAC 2009 as well as a deployment to the Gulf of Aden for air strikes in Yemen. During her time in the Navy she got pregnant and got married and was assigned to FACSFAC in San Diego. She reenlisted in 2012 and was assigned to the USS New Orleans. After a nervous breakdown she was medically discharged from the Navy in February 2014 and moved to Michigan with her husband and children.
- Date Created:
- 2015-02-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Holl was born in Orange, New Jersey in 1927 and served in the Navy during World War II. He worked in Naval Aviation Electronics for the war, and served in the United States for the duration of the war. He did a number of tasks, primarily involving electronics. He attended college after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harold Sundberg, born April 14th 1926 in Red Wing, Minnesota, served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1950 during the end of World War II and the early part of the Korean War. During this time Harold spent much of his service studying electronics and radar at Great Lakes Naval Base in Illinois, Monterey California, and Patuxent River, Maryland. Though he never saw combat, this training was used to further Harold's career in radio and television.
- Date Created:
- 2011-07-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Vikisu Condon-Sharrock served in the Navy on active duty between 1971 and 1974, and remained in the reserves until 1998. She discusses her experiences in training and on active duty when women were still very new to the regular service, as well as changes that have taken place since then in terms of women's opportunities in the Navy.
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- David Good is a World War II veteran who served with in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. In this account, Good discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He discusses his work as an electronic technician aboard the USS Alaska at sea in the Pacific. He also covers the ship's visit to Tsingtao, China, after the Japanese surrender.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Marion Graff, born in Ironwood Michigan in August of 1922, served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 in the Pacific during World War II. During his service, Marion was a Medical Corpsman aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia and provided anything from basic medical care to surgeries for the sailors on aboard. During his time spend on the West Virginia, he participated in several major engagements, including the Surigao Straits, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2012-01-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Homer Berry was born in Flint, Michigan on February 13, 1925. Homer decided to enlist in the Navy shortly after his brother had been drafted. After training Homer became a motor machinist mate, 2nd class petty officer. Homer was shipped to the Pacific on a LST and they began traveling all over the Pacific dropping off supplies to other troops.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Jeltema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December 1927. He enlisted in the Navy during high school. Richard chose to go into the submarine service and was stationed in New London, Connecticut. He was assigned to a submarine in Pearl Harbor and went to places like Guam, Okinawa, Australia, China and Russia between 1947and 1948. While working on the sub Richard was a mechanic in the auxiliary systems room. The sub mostly patrolled, but on one occasion searched for mines off the coast of Russia.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Alfred Kowalewski was born on Memorial Day, 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In July 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. He went into Chicago for Diesel School then on to Little Creek, Virginia to receive amphibious training. In March 1944 he boarded the USS Cheboygan County (LST-533) and sailed to England. En route he witnessed the sinking of multiple ships in their convoy. He trained in England preparing for the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and on D-Day took part in the invasion. He served aboard a Higgins boat as an engineer and helped land troops at Easy Red Sector at Omaha Beach. He helped with supplies on Omaha Beach after the beachhead was secured and then operated out of England helping transport supplies and troops to mainland Europe and also bringing German prisoners of war, and freed Allied prisoners of war back to England. During the Battle of the Bulge he transported supplies to Allied forces in Belgium. In late May 1945 he returned to the U.S. and prepared for the invasion of Japan. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 he was stationed on the East Coast until he returned to Great Lakes Naval Station in March 1946 and got discharged there.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jim Vandermoere was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted on June 11, 1943 and started training at Great Lakes, Illinois eleven days later. He decided to join the Navy, and decided to become a submariner because it offered better pay and better food. He served in a relief crew on the sub tender U.S.S. Orion for eight months while in Australia. He was assigned to the submarine U.S.S. Blenny on February 5, 1945. He served on patrols near Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He served overseas for twenty-two months.
- Date Created:
- 2008-10-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Barwacz was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1921 and enlisted in the Navy on August 18, 1942. John went through basic training at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois and then had advanced engineer training at the University of Kansas. While in the Navy, John worked on the destroyer USS Hull as an engineer in the boiler room, as a lookout, and also handled guns on deck. Later took fire control training and served on an attack transport ship. He traveled all over the Pacific to the Aleutian Islands, Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Hawaii, Okinawa, and Japan. John was discharged on December 24, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2008-09-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Colin Williams was born June 9, 1927 and decided to enlist into the Navy due to the expectation that men his age served their country and because his brothers had also served. He was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for boot camp where he learned a good deal of discipline. After boot camp, he was sent west to get aboard the USS Charles Carroll where he then made fourteen voyages across the Pacific Ocean. Colin traveled to Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Eniwetok Island, Ulithi Island, Philippines, Japan, China, Guam, and Manus during his time in the service.
- Date Created:
- 2005-04-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Albert Larsen served in the Navy during WW II as a diesel mechanic for a mine sweeping ship (YMS 231). He served from 1942 to 1945 and reached the rank of Chief Petty Officer 1st class. His training took place in both Michigan and on the east coast, and his time overseas was spent in England and along the coast of France. His interview includes descriptions of his life during training and his time on the open water. The major operation mentioned in the interview took place during D-Day off the Omaha landing site. His re-counting includes details about the mines, enemy fire, types of ships, operational tactics, and the damage sustained by his and other ships. He discusses his down time in the US, England and France.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Earl Freeman was living in Phillips, Maine when he enlisted into the Navy. He was greatly influenced by the military experience of all five of his brothers. After waiting for his ship in San Diego, Earl was sent to Guam for more training. From Guam, he was sent to Vietnam to serve in many capacities on the riverboats. The majority of his time was spent in the Mekong Delta. He saw a good deal of combat, and his unit received multiple citations.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gene Van Zee was born on April 1, 1929 in Pella, Iowa. He graduated from high school in 1947 and went to Calvin College for pre-medical school then went to the University of Iowa for medical school. He enlisted in the Navy Reserves and was stationed at Naval Hospital Pensacola, Florida taking care of personnel and the family members of those personnel. After a year at Pensacola he reenlisted and was assigned to Naval Air Station Atsugi near Yokohama, Japan. He treated American personnel there and their family members then returned to the United States and was discharged in 1958.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James H. Childress enlisted in the Navy in October 1943. He trained in Spokane, Washington, Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois (for Quartermaster School), and and Little Creek, Virginia for amphibious training. He joined a Landing Ship, Medium crew in Houston, Texas and trained with them before sailing out into the South Pacific. He took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima and after that the invasion of Okinawa where he survived the sinking of his ship. He was sent home later that summer and was home during the dropping of the atomic bombs and Japan's subsequent surrender on August 15, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Don Bennett was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1925. He attended Albion College for one semester, then enlisted in the Navy, and became a submariner. He served on five patrols, one in the Kurile Islands, three near the Yellow Sea, and a final one north of Tokyo. During this time they sunk forty-two enemy ships. He was discharged on December 18th, 1945. After the war, he finished school at Albion College.
- Date Created:
- 2005-11-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Morris Gooch was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1951. He enlisted in the Navy during the American war with Vietnam because he felt that it was the patriotic thing to do. While in the service, Morris worked as a torpedo man traveling to South Carolina, Spain, Hawaii, and Guam. Morris remained in the Navy for 13 years and ended up as a Navy Alcohol Safety Action Program Instructor. After his time in the service, Morris began working as a field engineer for a company that dealt with submarine construction.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bill Heintzelman enlisted in 1961 and trained as a radioman in the Navy. He was stationed at the Panama Canal during the Cuban Missile Crisis where he patrolled aboard ships and along the canal. When Heintzelman went back into the Navy after a ten year gap between his first and second term of service, he worked as a journalist at several stations around the world.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Oosterbaan was born on May 17, 1926 in Ellsworth, Michigan. In 1942 (or 1943) he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and in May 1944 he enlisted in the Navy. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois then went to Camp Bradford, Virginia for Amphibious Training. He went to Jeffersonville, Indiana and joined the crew of LST 720 and sailed to the Gulf of Mexico for the ship's shakedown cruise. In late 1944 they sailed to the Pacific Theatre and operated around the New Hebrides until sailing to the Philippines in 1945. He took part in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945 and supply operations around the Philippines until the surrender of Japan in August 1945. After the war he stayed with crew of LST 720 and sailed around China, Korea, and Japan helping transport liberated Chinese slave laborers and Japanese soldiers back to their home countries. In spring 1946 they sailed for the U.S. and arrived in Bremerton, Washington in May 1946. The ship was decommissioned in June 1946 and he was sent back to Great Lakes Naval Station in late June and got discharged there.
- Date Created:
- 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Raymond Start was born in 1927 and grew up in Galewood, Michigan. When he turned seventeen he enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. From there he was sent to the University of Wisconsin for Radio School and after five months of that he was sent out to California to board a troopship. He was sent to the Philippines where he boarded an attack personnel destroyer in Leyte. They sailed toward Japan with underwater demolition teams, preparing for the invasion of Japan until the atomic bombs were dropped in August 1945. He was sent back to the United States where he was assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS Bougainville. He took a cruise around the Pacific collecting aircraft and officers, and then helped decommission the ship in Tacoma, Washington until July 1946 when he was discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Butler served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He evaded earlier tours of Vietnam, by serving on two missions to Antarctica as part of a construction crew. However, he eventually served time in DaNang, Vietnam, once again as a construction member. After his active service, Butler served time in both the United States Naval Reserve and the United States Army Reserve. After failing to secure an officers position in either branch, he joined the United States Coast Guard Reserve. He became a Lieutenant Commander and served until his retirement.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Carl King was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924 and served in the Navy during World War II. He was drafted into the Navy upon his request, and attended training at Great Lakes Naval Station. He joined the PT corps and worked as a machinist throughout his time in the service. He spent most of his time in the service in the Pacific theatre, serving in the New Hebrides, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, and Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2009-01-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jay Shook served in the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War. He served in the Pacific Theater in World War II on the USS Bailey, a destroyer, and escorted LSI's and LSG's in to landing zones. During the Korean War, Jay served on the USS Bryce Canyon, a Destroyer class maintenance ship.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Buzz Sodeman served in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1970. After serving for several months as ground crew on a Naval Air Station in California, he was sent to Memphis, Tennessee, to train on ejection seats. From there, he went to San Diego, where he maintained aircraft and trained other personnel on ejection seats. He was sent to Vietnam in 1969, and served his tour at the Naval base at Binh Thuy in the Mekong Delta, where he worked as a parachute rigger. He describes daily life there in some detail, and also discusses some of the physical and psychological issues that he had after his return.
- Date Created:
- 2011-12-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Christiansen was born on August 11, 1920 in Muskegon, Michigan. He joined the US Navy in 1944 and served in the Pacific on board the destroyers USS Ward and USS July. He served on convoy duty between New Guinea and the Philippines and in the Okinawa campaign.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Glenn Gronevelt was born in Grand Haven, Michigan in 1947. In early 1969 he enlisted in the Navy to be serve with the “Seabees” (Construction Battalions). He received introductory training at Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi then went to Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme, California for combat training. He was deployed to Vietnam in late May 1969 and arrived on June 1, 1969. He was assigned to Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 302 and did construction work in Cam Ranh Bay, at New Port warehouse in Saigon, in Cat Lo, and he helped with building projects part of the “Vietnamization” process. During his time in Vietnam he also remembers witnessing first hand the movement of troops and supplies into Cambodia. He left Vietnam on July 1, 1970 and after visiting his family for the 4th of July he reported to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and was discharged from the Navy.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Daniel Donnelly was a student in high school before he decided to enlist into the Navy under the Navy Enlistment Buddy Program. After taking his oath at a Detroit Tigers game, Daniel was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for basic training. He departed for his deployment three days before Operation Desert Storm began and returned five days after it had ended. Daniel never saw active combat but served as an electrician and worked with nuclear propulsion operations aboard a Ballistic Missile Submarine. After the service, Daniel received his Associate's Degree from Grand Rapids Community College and a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. After school he began working at Amway Corporation where he remains an employee. Daniel believes his experience helped motivate him and get him on the right track in life.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Frazine was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1925. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943, and went to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, for his boot camp and Radio School. Upon completing training, he boarded a Landing Ship Transport (LST) and sailed to San Diego (via the Mississippi River and the Panama Canal) before going to the Pacific Theater. He served as the radio operator on the flotilla flagship, but also handled supplies and knew how to operate a 20mm antiaircraft gun. Gerald participated in the invasion of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan during the Mariana Islands Campaign; the invasion of Leyte during the Philippines Campaign; and the final battle of the Pacific Theater, Okinawa. After the war, he sailed back to San Diego then returned to Great Lakes Naval Station to be discharged from the Navy in late 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Carlson is a U.S. Navy veteran that served before and during the Vietnam War first aboard the USS MacDonough (before Vietnam) and aboard the USS Wainwright during the Vietnam War and saw action in the Gulf of Tonkin during Operation Rolling Thunder. He was born in Holland, Michigan in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy in 1961. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy and specialized in electronics. He traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS MacDonough and the Tonkin Gulf and South Pacific aboard the USS Wainwright. He then had shore duty in Charleston, South Carolina, and left the Navy in January 1970.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)