Oral Histories 1857 items

Wide-ranging oral histories from Grand Valley, Capital Area District Library, and Michigan State that capture the perspective of citizens and veterans across the state.

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101. Reeves, John (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2004

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.)

102. Mc Farland, Jerry (Interview outline and video), 2005

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.)

103. Norton, Jack (Interview outline and video), 2008

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.)

104. Garner, Gerald (Interview transcript and video), 2017

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.)

105. Fleischmann, Frederick (Interview outline and video), 2005

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.)

106. Barrett, Robert William (Interview outline and video), 2015

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.)

107. Moyer, Jerry (Interview transcript and video), 2016

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.)

108. Marshall, Frank (Interview outline and video), 2013

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.)

109. Monroe, Wayne S. (Interview outline and video), 2007

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.)

110. Reeves, John (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2009

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.)

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