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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231. Clark, James (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2010

Notes:: James Clark was born in September 1920 in a farmhouse in Wayne County, Michigan. Growing up, Clark had a difficult childhood, including a diagnosis of tuberculosis, moving to Arizona for treatment and back to Michigan, and his family losing their property during the Great Depression. After high school, Clark attended both Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University before receiving his draft card in 1942. After the Army drafted Clark, he spent two years in different programs before deploying with the 106th Infantry division to Belgium. During the Battle of the Bulge, Clark was wounded and evacuated back from the line for nearly a month before returning to his unit, where he served for the rest of the war. Following the war, Clark attended a school the Army had set up in southern France.
Date Created:: 2010-11-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

232. Breidenfield, Jane H (Interview outline and video), 2015

Notes:: Jane Breidenfield was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 23, 1921. She joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (which would later become the Women's Army Corps) in 1943 and was trained at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Jane spent her term of service in Orlando, Florida where she plotted bombing missions, sold war bonds, and worked as a teletype operator. Selling war bonds allowed Jane to participate in many theater related activities which she enjoyed and often continued in her free time. After the war ended and she was released from her duties in Orlando, Jane returned to Grand Rapids where she joined the Army Reserve.
Date Created:: 2015-07-29T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

233. Keegstra, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2016

Notes:: Robert Keegstra was born on April 20, 1919 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy on August 7, 1941 and received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He went to Yeoman School and after 16 weeks graduated as a yeoman in the Navy. He was stationed at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois when the war began. In the summer of 1942 he went to U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen School at Abbott Hall at Northwestern University and graduated from that training on October 30, 1942 with the rank of ensign. He stayed there and worked as an instructor for a little over a year, then was transferred in January 1944 to Hollywood, Florida where he worked as a navigation instructor. In March 1945 he joined the crew of the USS Savannah (CL-42) and trained in the Gulf of Mexico through the summer and early fall of 1945. On October 22, 1945 he left the ship in New Orleans and shortly thereafter was discharged from the Navy at Great Lakes Naval Station.
Date Created:: 2016-02-27T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

234. Veenstra, Willard (Interview outline and video), 2014

Notes:: Willard Veenstra was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted in 1944 and reported after graduating from high school that June. He trained at Camp Blanding, Florida, and Fort Meade, Maryland. He was sent to Europe in January, 1945, and was sent to the 2nd Armored Division as a replacement during the final days of the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to the Netherlands with them for training and was assigned to the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division. In March 1945 they marched into Germany and fought across northern Germany, known as the Rhine Campaign, until they reached Magdeburg. He was wounded in Magdeburg on April 12, 1945 and was eventually evacuated to the United States.
Date Created:: 2014-10-30T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

235. Westra, Doré (Interview outline and video)

Notes:: Doré Westra was born on February 22, 1925 in Byron Center, Michigan. He grew up in the Grosse Point area of Detroit, Michigan and lived there until he was drafted after his eighteenth birthday on February 22, 1943. He received basic training and engineer training at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana and was assigned to B Company of the 1302nd Engineer General Service Regiment. In late 1943 his unit was sent up to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and by January 1944 they were in England. He was stationed in England for over half of 1944 until he volunteered to join a combat engineer unit in the 5th Armored Division. He joined that unit in fall 1944 and was in the Battle of the Bulge and the crossing of the Rhine River. After Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 he was reassigned to the 2nd Armored Division and was stationed in Berlin until he was sent home in late fall 1945. He was discharged from Camp Atterbury, Indiana in winter 1945.
Date Created:: 2015-04-14T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

236. Ray Diffenderfer (Audio interview and transcript), 2018

Notes:: Ray Diffenderfer's grandparents were among the first to own land near Mt. Baldhead, where they built a cottage in the early 1920s. In this article, Ray reminisces about spending summers of his youth at the cottage and swimming at the beach in the 1950s and 1960s.
Date Created:: 2018-10-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)

237. Ed Rector interview (video and transcript, 4 of 11), 1991

Notes:: Interview of Ed Rector by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Ed Rector served as Vice Squadron Leader of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." He joined the AVG after discharging his commission from the US Navy, and left the AVG when it was disbanded in 1942. In this tape, Rector discusses his initial training period with General Chennault and meeting the rest of the AVG personnel in Toungoo.
Date Created:: 1991-05-16T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

238. Barker, Albert (Interview outline and video), 2012

Notes:: Albert Barker was born in 1925 in Stanton, Michigan. Albert grew up on a farm and was doing farm work when he was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and was then sent to Great Lakes, Illinois where he spent eight weeks in basic training. After his training, Albert was sent to the South Pacific where he met up with his PT squadron in New Caledonia. After being in New Caledonia, he was sent to Rendova Island where he patrolled waters against the Japanese. After Rendova, he was sent through the Solomon Islands until he was eventually sent to the Philippines. Albert was sent home from the Philippines and was discharged in Bainbridge, Maryland in 1946.
Date Created:: 2012-07-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

239. Becker, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2012

Notes:: Bob Becker, born in Illinois in 1944, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1966 during the Vietnam War. While training at Lackland Air Force Base, Bob was recruited on to the base softball team. He traveled often with the team playing in tournaments against both military and civilian teams. He was then transferred to the Air Force Academy softball team and reassigned to the base newspaper. Here he covered sports stories including Air Force football games and the training of the 1968 Olympic team. After being discharged Bob continued his career in journalism working in sport in Grand Rapids Michigan and became very involved with veterans organization.
Date Created:: 2012-06-28T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

240. McDonald, Lewis (Interview outline and video), 2007

Notes:: Lewis McDonald of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a World War II veteran who served as a pilot with the Eighth Air Force. Lewis was drafted in 1943 and went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training. While there, he was recruited into a pilot training program, and was sent to England in late 1944 to be a B-17 pilot. He flew regular missions over Central Europe until the German surrender, at which point he was sent back home to train as a B-29 pilot, but the war ended before he was to deploy to the Pacific. After the war, he remained in the Army Air Corps for a year and a half, mostly flying B-17 on aerial photography missions, and spent the summer of 1946 doing this at Thule, Greenland.
Date Created:: 2007-12-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

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