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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1791. Heintzelman, William L. (Interview outline and video), 2008

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.)

1792. TerHaar, Ken (Interview outline and video), 2008

Notes:: Ken TerHaar was born in Byron Center, Michigan on January 31, 1928. He graduated from high school in 1946 and was drafted into the Army in August 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War. Ken spent six months training at Fort Knox in Tennessee and another six months training at Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. He was then sent to a base in Germany where he worked with the Army of Occupation for about one year. He spent time working with many German citizens while the country recovered and saw the effects of the Cold War grow stronger over the year.
Date Created:: 2008-04-09T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1793. Oosterbaan, George (Interview outline and video), 2015

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.)

1794. Emma Jane "Red" Petach Hanks interview (video and transcript, 4 of 8), 1991

Notes:: Interview of Emma Jane (Foster Petach) Hanks by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Emma Jane "Red" Foster first traveled to China as the first woman foreign exchange student at Lingham University in Canton in 1935-1936. After receiving her B.A. from Penn State (1937) and Masters in Nursing from Yale University (1940), she joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) medical team in 1941. On her trip to China aboard the Jaegersfontein, she met John "Pete" Petach, 2nd Squadron Flight Leader. She was the only RN who served with the AVG and helped the three physicians take care of men who contracted dengue fever and malaria as well as those injured in accidents or combat. In February 1942, she and Pete Petach were married by AVG chaplain Paul Frillman in Kunming, China. Red and Pete decided to stay several days to help Col. Chennault after the AVG disbanded. During that time, Pete Petach was killed while on a bombing and strafing mission at Nanchang. After the war, she continued her nursing career in various capacities and in 1964 married Christian Hanks, a former Hump pilot for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). In this tape, Hanks describes her first impressions of the medical situation in Toungoo and the early days working as a nurse for the AVG.
Date Created:: 1991-05-17T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

1795. Brinkman, William (Interview outline and video), 2009

Notes:: After graduating from a military academy, William Brinkman attended Officer's Candidate School where he was given a commission as 2nd Lieutenant. He served during the Korean War, but his division, and a couple of others, were sent to Germany, instead, to guard against the Russians. He served in the 102nd Regiment, 43rd Infantry Division. He also tells the story of his OCS classmate, Doc O'Donnell, who was killed in Korea. After the war, he worked for Martin Marietta and was involved with the space program.
Date Created:: 2009-11-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1796. Brooks, Mary Jean (Interview transcript and video), 2007

Notes:: Mary Jean Brooks was in the WAVES during World War II. She trained at Smith College in communications. She worked in the Naval Department building in Washington, D.C., encoding and decoding messages sent to and from naval bases and ships. She delivered some messages herself to different government offices and to the White House.
Date Created:: 2007-05-22T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1797. Dilley, Alva Newton (Interview outline, video, and papers, 1 of 2), 2007

Notes:: Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline.
Date Created:: 2007-10-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1798. Greenawalt, Rex (Interview outline and video), 2005

Notes:: Rex Greenawalt was born on October 5, 1947 In Plainwell, Michigan and graduated from high school in 1966. He was drafted into the Army in September of 1967 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then infantry school at Fort Polk in Louisiana. Rex was sent from California to Vietnam on the Fourth of July in 1968. Rex went through Scout Dog Training School and became the handler of a dog named Rupert. They then began working with the 25th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs. Rex was eventually wounded in both legs and sent back to the US and discharged in 1969.
Date Created:: 2005-08-21T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1799. Mulbrecht, Fred (Interview outline and video), 2012

Notes:: Fred Mulbrecht served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aircraft mechanic from 1942-1944 in Italy during World War II. Prior to joining the service, Fred was in the National Guard. After being drafted in 1942, he aspired to be a pilot but instead was made a mechanic. Fred's training was undergone at Kistler Field Virginia as well as several private schools in New Orleans and Detroit. In late 1943 Fred was sent to a unit of the 15th Air Force in Foggia, Italy, where he spent all his service until he was discharged in 1944.
Date Created:: 2012-09-20T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

1800. Start, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2015

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.)

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