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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1771. Honderd, Marvin (Interview outline and video), 2007

Notes:: Marv Honderd was born in Byron Center, Michigan and enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 to avoid being drafted into the army. After starting out in radio school, he switched to pilot training and became a fighter pilot. He flew 70 missions over Korea in F-86 fighters in 1953, before he was sent back the US. Afterwards he continued flying more advanced F-86 jets in Dayton Ohio.
Date Created:: 2007-10-16T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1772. Pfeiffer, Dan (Interview outline and video), 2007

Notes:: Dan Pfeiffer served in the US Army between 1952 and 1954. He served in an infantry unit in Korea during the last months of the Korean War in 1953. He provides detailed descriptions of combat patrols and fighting in the trench lines against the North Koreans and Chinese. Later on, he was assigned to be the chauffeur for a general.
Date Created:: 2007-12-14T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1773. Childress, James Harold (Interview outline and video), 2015

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.)

1774. Godino, Peter N (Interview outline and video), 2005

Notes:: Peter Godino was born in Italy on November 16, 1921. In 1930 he and his mother and siblings came to the United States to live with his father in Pennsylvania. When he was eighteen he enlisted in the Army and was placed in the Army Air Force. He trained at Bolling Field, Washington D.C. and served there until he joined the glider program in 1942. He trained with gliders in Wisconsin, but was reassigned to gunnery training. He received gunnery training in Las Vegas then joined a bomber crew at Wendover Field, Utah. The crew was assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group and they were sent for further training at Fresno, California. They eventually received orders to go overseas and wound up at Torretto Airfield, Italy. They began flying missions in April 1944, bombing targets in Regensburg, Vienna, Budapest, Ploesti, as well as in Yugoslavia. His bomber was eventually shot down and he was one of three survivors from his crew. He was then captured and taken to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Stalag Luft IV, and finally Stalag Luft I.
Date Created:: 2005-10-20T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1775. DiLorenzo, Joseph James (Interview outline and video), 2015

Notes:: Joseph DiLorenzo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948. He enlisted in the Air Force in April 1967 and reported for basic training on August 2, 1967. He received his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and for two and a half years was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana guarding B-52 bombers and KC-130 tankers. In December 1969 he received orders for Vietnam and in the spring of 1970 he was deployed to Vietnam. He was stationed at Phu Cat Air Base with the 12th Security Police Squadron. For the first six months of his tour he stood guard in a tower outside of the base's perimeter, and for the second six months he was part of a mobile Security Alert Team patrolling the base's perimeter and dealing with any security breaches. At the end of his tour he returned to the United States and was discharged in Seattle, Washington.
Date Created:: 2015-07-23T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1776. Takeuchi, Beatrice (Interview outline and video), 2017

Notes:: Beatrice Takeuchi was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 6, 1921. In June 1942, she, and the rest of her family, was deported to the Puyallup Assembly Center at the Western Washington Fairgrounds, due to Executive Order 9066. Her family sold their house and their car, and her father's printing equipment was seized by the government. She was held at Puyallup Assembly Center for two or three months before getting transferred to Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. Due to unsanitary conditions at the camp, she fell ill which contributed to her being allowed to leave the camp. She had also been an art student, and was allowed to continue her studies at the Chicago School of Design. Beatrice then found work in Washington D.C. and was there when the war ended.
Date Created:: 2017-01-10T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1777. Kitchens, Herbert E (Interview outline and video), 2016

Notes:: Herb Kitchens was born on October 24, 1940, in Bauxite, Arkansas. Prior to joining the Army, he attended the Missionary Baptist Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas, and served as a pastor for 12 years. He joined the Army as a chaplain in 1974. He was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, in October 1974, but didn't take his basic chaplain's course at Fort Wadsworth, New York, until January 1975. He spent his first three years in the Army at Fort Hood and served as an assistant chaplain in the division artillery of the 2nd Armored Division. He was sent to West Germany in 1977 and was assigned to the 12th Engineer Battalion at Anderson Barracks near Dexheim, Germany. He returned to the United States in the summer of 1980 and took the advanced chaplain's course at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He returned to Fort Hood and served as the brigade chaplain of 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division for three years. After Fort Hood, he received orders to go to the Chaplain's School and serve as part of the staff and faculty.
Date Created:: 2016-10-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1778. Bennett, Don (Interview outline and video), 2005

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.)

1779. Gooch, Morris (Interview outline and video), 2008

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.)

1780. Gower, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2009

Notes:: Michael Gower was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and served with the Army in the Iraq War. He served in the First Stryker Brigade to enter Iraq, and was deployed twice. He was discharged for medical reasons on August 2nd, 2007 after being injured in an explosion that killed three of his squad members and injured several more.
Date Created:: 2009-11-04T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

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