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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301. Goldrick, Martin (Interview outline and video), 2009

Notes:: Martin Goldrick was a Marine Officer who served during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971 as a Platoon Commander, then as a Civic Action Officer working with Vietnamese civilians. He discusses combat operations in detail, as well as some of the issues confronting him as a Civic Action Officer. He also discusses morale and race issues within his units.
Date Created:: 2009-12-02T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

302. Kenyon, Rodney (Interview outline and video), 2008

Notes:: Rodney Kenyon enlisted in the US Navy in 1952 to avoid being drafted into the army and sent to Korea. He was assigned to the commodore's staff in a destroyer flotilla based in Newport, Rhode Island. He followed his commander from ship to ship, and eventually served on 21 different vessels before being assigned to duty on the base at Newport. He made regular trips across the Atlantic, but never served in a combat zone.
Date Created:: 2008-05-25T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

303. Lillie, Joy (Interview transcript and video), 2011

Notes:: Joy Lillie, born in Coopersville Michigan, served in the 51st Field Hospital in the Army Nurse Corps from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War. During her service she spent 9 months in Oran, Algeria, and went to Normandy shortly after D-Day and worked in France, Belgium and Germany.
Date Created:: 2011-09-20T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

304. Nagelkirk, Shewin J. (Interview outline and video), 2009

Notes:: Sherwin Nagelkirk was born in Zeeland, Michigan and lived with his grandparents growing up during the Depression while his father worked on their farm. Sherwin was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating from high school in 1951. He went through basic training at Fort Riley in Kansas and then received orders to go to Korea. Once in Korea Sherwin was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division of the 35th Regiment, Fox Company. He was wounded in the Heartbreak Ridge sector, where he won a Silver Star. He later worked on guarding prisoners on Kojido island.
Date Created:: 2009-04-16T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

305. Miller, Noel (Interview outline and video), 2013

Notes:: Noel Miller was born in Lima, Ohio in 1949. He grew up in Ohio, and after high school he wasn't sure what to do and decided to enlist in the Army in April 1968. He completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and helicopter aviation training at Fort Walters, Texas and Fort Rucker, Alabama where he graduated from in May 1969. He was deployed to Vietnam in June 1969 and was assigned to A Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry of the 101st Airborne Division stationed at Camp Eagle outside of Hue. From June 1969 to January 1970 he served at Camp Eagle and flew scouting patrols in the A Shau Valley until he and the rest of his unit was transferred to Quang Tri and My Lac located near the DMZ where he would serve the last five months of his deployment.
Date Created:: 2013-12-19T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

306. Ringnalda, Cornelius and Richard Herrema (Interview outline and video), 2008

Notes:: Cornelius Ringnalda and Richard Herrema were interviewed jointly. Ringnalda was born in Grand Rapids in the early twenties and drafted into the military after high school. He served with the 383rd Infantry Regiment and fought on Okinawa in the early stages of the campaign, and was wounded after about two weeks of combat. Herrema was born in Michigan in the early twenties and was also drafted after high school. He joined the Air Force Cadet program and was assigned to a B-29 crew with the 13th Air Force, and flew 21 missions from bases in New Guinea and the Philippines.
Date Created:: 2008-07-09T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

307. Konwinski, Dolores L. (Interview transcript and video), 2008

Notes:: Dolly Konwinski was born on May 27, 1931 in Chicago Illinois. Starting at the age of seven, she played baseball with a neighborhood team and her father who encouraged her to pursue it. In 1947, Konwinski got her big break and tried out for one of the four teams the All American Girls Professional Baseball League was trying to form in Chicago. She began her professional career playing for the Chicago Colleens. In 1949, after the barnstorming tour she was allocated to play for the Springfield Sallies. In 1950, she was traded to the Grand Rapids Chicks and played mainly for them until 1952 but played for a brief time with the Battle Creek Belles in 1951. During her professional career she mainly played second and third base.
Date Created:: 2008-10-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

308. Palmer, Donnally (Interview outline and video), 2015

Notes:: Donnally Palmer was born in 1918 in South Dakota. Growing up he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1936 and was drafted into the Army in mid-1941. He received basic training and intelligence gathering training at Camp Roberts, California. At the end of his training Pearl Harbor was bombed and he was sent to Camp Haan, California and was transferred to the Army Signal Corps. He was placed in the unit that would eventually become the 582nd Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion. His initial duty was to oversee supplies, but that duty was changed overseas to guide ships and aircraft that were damaged, as well as keep track of Allied and enemy aircraft, and targets. He sailed overseas aboard the Queen Mary and saw the sinking of the HMS Curacao. He took part in the invasion of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Southern France. In fall 1944 he was sent back to the United States for Stateside duty and was discharged from the Army in September 1945.
Date Created:: 2015-03-31T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
Collection:: Veterans History Project (U.S.)

309. Marian "Steve" Adair interview (video and transcript, 3 of 3), 1991

Notes:: Interview of Marian "Steve" Adair by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Adair, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was the wife of pilot Skip Adair. In this tape, Adair discusses how the year she spent in China affected her life and marriage with Skip Adair, in addition to how the Flying Tigers affected the morale of the United States and China.
Date Created:: 1991-06-06T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

310. Gerhard "Herman the German" Neumann interview (video and transcript, 5 of 9), 1991

Notes:: Interview of Gerhard Neumann by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying TIgers. Neumann, known by his American Volunteer Group (AVG) comrades as "Herman the German," was a mechanic and the son of non-practicing Jewish parents. Though drafted into the German army in 1938, he attained a deferrment as a working engineer. He left Germany to seek a job opportunity in Hong Kong in 1939, but upon arrival learned the company had disappeared. Circumstance led him to working for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) where he worked as an auto mechanic. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he accepted an offer from Col. Chennault and joined the AVG. He served among the headquarters personnel as a Propeller Specialist. In this tape, Neumann discusses his impressions of working with the Chinese and American people and his evaluation of the P-40 airplane.
Date Created:: 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
Data Provider:: Grand Valley State University. University Libraries

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