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- Notes:
- Phillip Spoelstra was born in Wyoming, Michigan in 1923 and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1939. He graduated high school in 1941 and joined the Air Corps in 1942. Phillip trained mostly in Oklahoma and became part of a bombers unit. He was deployed to Foggia, Italy and assigned to the 5th wing of the 15th Air Force in the 97th bomb group in September of 1944. It was their job to strategically bomb German supplies and transportation. He was in Foggia until the end of the war and then was sent home.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jake Werner was born on November 29, 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Army on May 1, 1938. After training Jake was sent to Panama and was not at all enjoying himself because of the drug problem in the area and decided to buy is way out of the service. He returned back the US and remained in a reserve unit until he was called to active duty in February of 1941. Jake went through Officer Candidate School and then helped form one of the first armored divisions, which were relatively new at the time. They were later sent to Britain for more training and then traveled through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany throughout the remainder of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kenneth McCloud was born on May 5, 1920 in Tennessee. On February 10, 1942 he enlisted in the Army and was placed in the Signal Corps. He was processed and inducted at Fort Oglethorpe then went to Joplin, Missouri (most likely Camp Crowder) for basic training and signal training. He was deployed to the Pacific Theatre in either late 1943, or early 1944, and was sent to Finschaefen, New Guinea. He stayed at Finschafen until spring 1944 following the invasion of Hollandia. During his time in the Pacific he was part of the 553rd Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion and later the 559th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion and his duty was to maintain the generators used for radar installations. In November 1944 he was sent to the Philippines and was stationed on the island of Leyte until the end of the war. Following Japan's surrender in August 1945 he was sent to Osaka, Japan for occupation duty (most likely in late September/October 1945). He stayed in Japan for five weeks then returned to the United States. He was sent to Camp Chaffee, Arkansas and was discharged on December 15, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Rafferty was born on October 31, 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He grew up in Grand Rapids and in the December 1942 he enlisted in the Navy Reserve as an Aviation Cadet. He was called up for active service in April 1943 and received training at Ohio Wesleyan University, St. Mary's College of California, Whitman College, Max Westheimer Field, and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Richard graduated from training on November 1, 1944 and became a Naval Aviator with the rank of ensign. He received operational training at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida and qualified for aircraft carrier service aboard the USS Solomons at Port Everglades, Florida. From Florida he went to Seattle to join VC-80 Squadron, a torpedo bomber and fighter squadron. They operated in Coos Bay, Oregon and Holtville, California and when the war ended in August 1945 he helped decommission the squadron. He also served at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, Michigan as an operations officer then went to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois to be discharged from active duty in November 1945. After the war he stayed in the Navy Reserve for 25 years serving at Grosse Ile, Battle Creek, and Jackson, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Alvin Rippen was born in 1917 in Franklin County, Nebraska. He finished high school in 1935, went to college and graduate school and took a job in the dairy industry in Chicago. In 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and qualified for pilot training. He was assigned to the USS Lexington in 1944 and went to the Marianas, where he witnessed "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" air battle and then participated in attacks on Guam and Saipan. He then spent time as a dive bomber instructor, and then learned to fly the Hellcat fighter and served on the USS Shangri-La and on Saipan before being discharged late in 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2014-07-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Burgess is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from June 23, 1944 to May 16, 1946. During the course of the interview he discusses in great detail his pre-enlistment, enlistment/basic training experience, and active duty in the South Pacific fighting against the Japanese. He describes in vivid detail the fighting on New Caledonia, Ulithe, Okinawa, in the Philippines, Saipan, and the suicide bomber attacks on the USS Franklin. He further goes into some detail about what the occupation of Japan was like. Burgess concludes by discussing what he got out of his military service.
- Date Created:
- 2005-03-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Nick Marrone was born in Italy in 1924 and came to the United States in 1929. He was drafted into the army, and was assigned to the Army Air Corps as a mechanic. He served with the 13th Air Force in the South Pacific from 1943 to 1945. H was a crew chief in the 12th Fighter Squadron, which was based on Guadalcanal and New Guinea.
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Beatrice McLogan was a World War II veteran who served in the Navy WAVES from 1944 to 1945. In this account, McLogan discusses her family life, her enlistment and training, and her work in the code office in Washington D.C.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tony Urbon was born in Michigan in 1917 and drafted into the army in April 1941. He was sent to train with the 32nd Division, which included the National Guard regiment from his area. He was a musician and served with the division's band. His division went to Australia in 1942, and then to New Guinea. During the Buna campaign, the band members worked on transport aircraft delivering supplies to the combat units and ferrying back dead and wounded soldiers. After Buna, they returned to Australia, and then went back to New Guinea and to the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gordon Siggins was born in Highland Park, Michigan in 1925. Prior to serving he worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant outside of Detroit from summer 1942 to summer 1943. He registered for the draft when he turned 18 and joined the Marine Corps. He took basic training in San Diego which began in October 1943. Upon completion of basic training he joined the Marine Raiders and trained at Camp Elliot, California. On February 28, 1944 he deployed to the Pacific Theater with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and trained at New Caledonia for a month. The Raiders were disbanded and he was assigned to C Battery of the 11th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division. He took part in the invasion and battle of Peleliu from September 15, 1944 to November 27, 1944. After resting on Puvavu and training on Guadalcanal he took part in the invasion of Okinawa and the battle for that island from April 1, 1945 to June 22, 1945. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 he went to Tientsin, China in September 1945. From China he returned to the United States, landing in San Diego, California on February 27, 1946. Shortly after getting back to the U.S. he was discharged from the Marines.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Morris Kleiman was drafted into the Army for WW II and started his training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. He had closely followed the events in Europe prior to being drafted and was also attending college at the University of Michigan. Morris had fought on the front lines against the Germans in Belgium and had done some reconnaissance work. He eventually got very sick and was sent back to the United States. After his time in the service, Morris finished his degree in accounting and took over his family business.
- Date Created:
- 2007-11-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Penning was a civilian who had a career in the airline business. He contributed to military operations from WWII to Vietnam by helping to traffic and guide commercial planes that were used for military use. His job took all around the world, from North American, to Asia, and even to Africa.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ted Weatherhead was attending college at Ohio University when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps, but had to wait for some time before starting his training. After surviving the initial screening and tests at San Antonio, he made it successfully through pilot training, only to be assigned to fly transport planes rather than fighters. Assigned to a transportation squadron early in 1944, he flew his C-47 to North Africa and then to England, where he underwent an accelerating training program to prepare him to drop paratroopers into Normandy. Between June, 1944 and May, 1945, he flew eight combat missions as part of the D-Day and Market Garden operations, as well as over 250 supply missions.
- Date Created:
- 2011-07-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tony Trovato was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1912. He was son to Italian immigrants and could speak fluent Italian. He enlisted into the Navy in 1943 when he was 31 years old and trained at Great Lakes where he learned how to handle troops and personnel. He was later assigned to Norfolk, Virginia where he was trained to be a boatswain. After leaving Norfolk, he was sent down the Mississippi River to New Orleans and eventually made his way across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea. While in the Mediterranean, his convoy spent the majority of its time resupplying troops in France and Italy as well as carrying war prisoners. He served as shore patrol near the end of his time before he was discharged in 1945, after both Germany and Japan had surrendered.
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Max Doering was born in 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After Pearl Harbor he was drafted into the Navy in 1942 and had boot camp at Great Lakes in Illinois. After training as a hospital Corpsman, he volunteered to serve with the Marines and was placed in the 22nd Marine Regiment. He participated in the invasions of the Marianas and Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Hayes Cargill was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1926, and served in the Navy during World War II. He worked primarily on craft that took men from their ships to the mainland when they were at port. He worked in both the Philippines and Japan, but he never saw combat, as they were in theses areas after the war had for the most part wound down. After the War, he worked as an umpire for minor league and women's baseball.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Katherine Powers was wife to Thomas Powers, a Navy seaman during World War II. The couple had been married for one year before Thomas was drafted to serve in Europe. While serving, Thomas worked on the USS Merrimack picking up wounded and stranded soldiers and bringing them back to a base. Katherine remembers the job market opening up for women during this time as she worked two jobs. Thomas and Katherine were able to remain in contact through letters throughout the war.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Beth Sefton was an Army nurse during World War II. She volunteered for duty in 1942 and continued to serve until after VJ Day. She served in England, France, and the China Burma India Theatre working with surgeons and American, German, Russian and English casualties. She left the service as the Head Nurse and a 1st Lieutenant in the Army. Beth met her husband Bill while serving in the war and came home to marry him.
- Date Created:
- 2007-08-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ester Warber grew up in Michigan and worked in defense plants in the Detroit area during World War II, and then enlisted in the WAVES, trained as an aircraft mechanic and served on a base in Hawaii. After the war she held a variety of jobs and became a psychologist, and then served in the Peace Corps in the 1960s. She provides detailed descriptions of her training and duties in the military, and mentions meeting Henry Ford as well as Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson.
- Date Created:
- 2004-02-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Austin was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up on a farm. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June, 1941 and trained first for the Marine Air Corps and then for the Marine Paratroopers. He eventually was assigned to the 5th Marine Division and was in the first wave of the landing on Iwo Jima. He was wounded soon after the landing and spent the rest of the war in hospitals. He re-enlisted after the war and played on a Marine baseball team prior to being discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Phillips was born in Flint, Michigan and graduated from high school in 1936. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in April of 1941 and was sent to Chanute Air Field in Illinois for airplane mechanic school. William also went through crew training and gunnery school, later becoming an instructor training men to work as gunners with B-24s. He later got his orders to work overseas and was sent to Puerto Princesa Bay where he began working with the 2nd Emergency Rescue Squadron.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Vedrode served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945. He describes combat on Eniwetok, where he earned a silver star for destroying a Japanese gun emplacement, serving with Carlson's Raiders in the Philippines, and serving on occupation duty in Japan after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jim Hallberg of Muskegon, Michigan, was drafted into the army in October of 1941 and assigned to the 34th Division as an infantryman. He was part of the group sent directly into the harbor at Algiers to seize the port in November, 1943, and was captured by the French, who then changed sides and joined the Allies. He went on to fight at Kasserine Pass, where he was wounded. Because of his injury, he was switched to the division headquarters and stayed with them through Salerno, Cassino, Anzio and northern Italy.
- Date Created:
- 2009-10-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harold Kuizema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925. After high school, he had tried to join the Air Corps, but was unable to because the testing determined that he was colorblind. In November of 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps during World War II. He trained with the 106th Division, which went to Europe in the fall of 1944. His specialty was primarily communications and he was responsible for operating the telephones and laying wires from the guns to the observation points. His artillery unit had just taken up positions on the Ardennes front when they were attacked at the start of the Battle of the Bulge. He managed to stay a step ahead of the Germans, and was fighting at a roadblock when he was wounded and evacuated to England.
- Date Created:
- 2005-03-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Walbridge graduated from Caledonia High School in Michigan and in 1942 and then began taking courses at Grand Rapids Community College and also joined the Army Specialized Training Program. He was called up for service in May of 1943 and found basic training to be boring, so he volunteered to be a paratrooper. Jack went through paratrooper training at Fort Benning in Georgia and then later traveled in a very large convoy to Northern Africa. They made their way though Italy and France and Jack often worked as a scout. Jack was discharged shortly after the Battle of the Bulge and began working for his father's meat market in Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2004-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Christine and Henry Vande Kerk are both World War II veterans who served their country in different capacities during the course of World War II. Christine Vande Kerk briefly discusses her pre-enlistment, enlistment as a nurse into the armed services, and her nursing experience while serving in England until 1944. She then discusses her missionary work in Iraq and Jordan in some detail. Henry Vande Kerk briefly discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training in the U.S. and then his goes into some detail about his days as a U.S. Navy Air Force civilian flight instructor working in the training of pilots in the basic procedures of aviation mechanics before they went on to pursue advanced training in bomber, fighter, and transport plane dynamics. Henry then briefly describes his thoughts on his wartime and what he learned from it. They both wrap up their interviews by showing some pictures and documents from Christine's Army and Missionary Books.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gordon Van Wylen left his job as an engineer for Dupont in 1943 and joined the US Navy. He entered an officer training program, but then transferred into submarine school. He served on the submarine USS Hardhead in 1944-45 and went on six patrols in the Pacific. His boat sank several Japanese warships, including an aircraft carrier, and after the war he contacted and befriended some of the Japanese sailors who survived the sinking of this ship.
- Date Created:
- 2004-10-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- David Schaper was born in Wright City, Missouri on August 2, 1921. Prior to enlisting in the Army Air Force he worked for Curtiss-Wright on the AT-6, even after enlisting he was granted a twelve month deferrment due to his work on the AT-6. He was eventually called up for service and was sent to Texas for basic training and gunnery training. He was assigned to a B-24 Liberator bomber crew in Lincoln, Nebraska. They trained together before being deployed to the European Theatre. They were Crew #54 of the 766th Bombardment Squadron of the 461st Bombardment Group stationed at Torretto Air Field, Italy. They flew bombing missions into Austria, as well as supply missions into the Po Valley. In the summer of 1945 he was sent back to the United States and began training with the B-29 Superfortress at Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas in July. After Japan surrendered he was sent to Sioux City Army Air Bse, Iowa where he was discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2005-10-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dean Chapman was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1922, and served in the Army in World War II. He was in the ROTC in college at Michigan State, and joined the Army shortly after graduating. He worked as a forward observer for the 123rd Battalion of the 10th Armored Division. He was involved in several different campaigns in Europe, serving in the Battle of the Bulge, and in Germany and Austria.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ray Fischer was born on November 27, 1924 and grew up on a farm in Greenville, Michigan. After high school he was drafted and trained in Oklahoma as an infantryman. He served in the 79th Division and fought in Normandy, France, Belgium and Germany. He was captured in Germany and spent a month in a prison camp before being liberated by the Russians.
- Date Created:
- 2003-08-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jay Lutke, born in Michigan in May of 1918, served in the U.S. Army from approximately May 1943-Novmeber 1945 in Europe during World War II. After completing his basic training at Fort Knox Kentucky, Jay was assigned to the 702nd Tank Battalion attached to the 8th Infantry Division in the 3rd Army. Jay spent his service traveling through France and Austria clearing pockets of resistance, and remained in Austria and Germany for about six months after the German surrender.
- Date Created:
- 2010-11-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Born in Charlevoix, Michigan in 1922, Jim Ochs grew up through the Depression. After graduating from high school in 1940, he attended college for a couple of years before receiving his draft notice in late 1942. He received training as a photographer, but was shuttled around between different training programs and eventually wound up with a signal company attached to the 26th Division as a message center runner. His division went to France in the fall of 1944, and was in action around Metz, in the Bulge counterattack, and Patton's advance into Germany. Ochs managed to acquire a camera and improvised a darkroom to develop his pictures while on campaign. After the war, he was able to develop his pictures properly. Ochs donated his photographs and personal papers to GVSU.
- Date Created:
- 2010-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Frederick Rock was born on November 11, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan. He went to the University of Detroit for a few semesters and then joined the Army Air Corps. He was a staff sergeant and assigned to be a flight engineer on a B-17 Bomber. Frederick went to North Africa and then to Italy. He was a turret gunner and a flight engineer on a crew of 10 people in the 348th squadron of the 99th bomb group. He went on 35 missions but they counted some of the rough ones as double so he had a total of 50 missions.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Warren Wandrey, born in 1924 in Chicago, served in the U.S. Navy from July 1943 to March 1946. After receiving his draft notice in 1942, he was allowed to finish high school before starting training in 1943. He trained as a radioman, and was sent to the Pacific in 1944. He started at a PT boat base in New Guinea, and was soon assigned to a series of PT boat tenders, which he accompanied to the Philippines and back to the East Indies, where he was stationed when the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Carr grew up in Chicago and joined the Navy in 1945 at age 17 as a first class seaman. He received raining at Great Lakes Naval Station, and worked there as a dispersing clerk handling payroll for sailors being discharged after World War II. He then went to college and served in the reserves. He was called up when the Korean War started and was sent to Amchitka in the Aleutian Islands to work on a secret project for Atomic Energy Commission.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Al Kraker was born in Allendale, Michigan on June 26, 1924. He grew up there and when he was older learned about engines at a local automotive garage. After graduating from high school in 1942 he was drafted in December of that year and reported for basic training in March 1943. He was sent to Camp Crowder, Missouri where he spent three months working on trucks. In July 1943 he was sent to North Africa and arrived in Oran, Algeria. He was assigned to the 591st Signal Depot Company in a repair section working on generators. He was stationed there for a year until he applied for Airborne Training. He trained in Italy until he suffered a severe back injury on a training jump. After recovering he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, but was unable to see action with them due to a case of appendicitis. He was eventually reassigned to the 591st and went to the Pacific Theatre with them in the summer of 1945. He was briefly stationed in the Philippines, but contracted dysentery and had to be sent back to the United States after Japan surrendered. He was sent to a hospital in Galesburg, Illinois to recover and was discharged from the Army in early spring 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Baas, Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1920, enlisted in the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor. Initially, he was initially allowed to return to college to finish his senior year, but before the term ended, he was sent to Mississippi to begin training. He qualified as a Navy pilot and was given his choice of naval aircraft (other than fighters), and trained on the TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber. He did carrier training and flew patrols off the Massachusetts coast in 1944 and operated off of an escort carrier with an Atlantic convoy, and then was sent to the Pacific early in 1945. Assigned to Carrier Group 83, he flew missions over Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan, and participated in the attack on the Japanese battleship Yamato as it attempted to reach Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Hill joined the Michigan National Guard before World War II and served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division, throughout the war. He fought in every major action that his unit was involved in on New Guinea, Morotai and Leyte, and provides detailed descriptions of combat and army life at the time.
- Date Created:
- 2007-08-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edmond Kaminski served with the 760th Tank Battalion in Italy during World War II. His account includes discussions of armored training and combat in a series of battles in Italy, including Cassino.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cornelius Potts is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945. While still in training, he was assigned to the 33rd Infantry Division's band. His unit was based near Seattle for some time, but eventually went to the Philippines and served on Luzon. Potts experienced combat, but primarily served with the band, entertaining dignitaries including Gen. MacArthur and President Quezon
- Date Created:
- 2008-09-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Leonard Straayer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on March 30, 1918. He was drafted in 1941, shortly after graduating from high school. Leonard was assigned to a service company in the 126th infantry and drove trucks. He was first sent to South Australia and then to New Guinea. In New Guinea he helped haul the E company up the Owen Stanley Range and loaded k rations on to planes to be air dropped. Then he was moved up to a mechanics company and went to places such as Milne Bay, Morotai and Saidor. Leo was then sent to the Philippines, but only spent 25 days there and was sent home because he had enough points. He spent the rest of his time helping out with German POWs at Fort Custer, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2008-09-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Keith was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1926. He grew up in Grand Rapids and in August 1944 he enlisted in the Army Air Force, almost a month before his eighteenth birthday. He reported for duty on March 1, 1945 and was processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was sent to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi for basic training and then a technical school where he learned how to be an aircraft mechanic. His time there ended in September 1945 and he was sent to Langley Field, Virginia for two months. In November 1945 he was sent over to Germany where he was stationed at Landsberg Air Base near Munich doing engine changes on a variety of aircraft, but the major focus was on the C-47 transport plane. His time in Germany ended in September 1946. He returned to the United States and was discharged in October 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Otto Skoppek was born near Treuberg, East Prussia, on December 15, 1916. Sometime in the early 1940s, he enlisted in the German Army and was assigned to Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps. He served as a paratrooper and went behind British and French lines to disrupt their forces so the Germans could advance. Based on this information, he was most likely in the Ramcke Parachute Brigade. He saw fighting across North Africa in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and was stationed in Tunis for a time. He did six combat jumps, and fought at El Alamein, Tobruk, and Sollum. In 1943, due to dire supply shortages, he and the other German forces surrendered to American forces. Due to being under Rommel's command, they were treated with great respect and civility. Otto was brought to America and spent the rest of the war at a prisoner-of-war camp in Texas near the Mexican border picking cotton, then briefly at a canning factory in Wyoming. He returned to Germany (most likely in 1946 or 1947), and lived in West Germany until 1957 when he and his wife and child moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2017-02-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Stout was born in Muskegon, Michigan on July 20, 1923. He grew up in Muskegon and enlisted in the Michigan National Guard on June 30, 1939. In October 1940 his unit, G Company of the 126th Infantry of the 32nd Division was mobilized and sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana and later to Camp Livingston, Louisiana to train to prepare for an American involvement in the war in Europe. After Pearl Harbor the unit was sent to Fort Devens, Massachusetts for further training until it was decided that they were needed more in the Pacific Theatre. They were sent first to Australia and later to New Guinea in September 1942 where his unit crossed the Owen Stanley Mountain Range leading to them being nicknamed the "Ghost Mountain Boys." He participated in the Buna-Gona Campaign in New Guinea and was wounded there. After healing and rejoining his unit they went back to New Guinea. After New Guinea was liberated his unit was sent up to participate in the invasion of the Philippines at Luzon and Leyte. In July 1945 he had enough points to go home and returned to the United States and was discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He worked briefly for Continental Motors until the end of the war and from there joined the police force. After the 126th Infantry Regiment was reorganized he decided to reenlist in the Michigan National Guard. During that time he was sent to Detroit to be a part of the military presence in the city helping to restore order during the race riots. He retired from the National Guard in 1968 with the rank of major.
- Date Created:
- 2014-06-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jacob Rozema was born in the Netherlands and moved with his family to Michigan in 1930. He enlisted in the medical corps and served in the 148th station hospital in New Guinea before transferring to an evacuation hospital in Manila. In the Philippines, he served with front line combat units at times as well. He served in Japan after the war and contrasts what he observed of Japanese brutality in the Philippines with their treatment of the soldiers in the occupation forces. Extensive personal narrative written prior to this interview concerning New Guinea, the Liberation Campaign, Occupation Forces in Japan, return to the US and separation from active duty is appended to this interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-12-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Tibbe was born in Grant, Michigan on March 10, 1921. He went to school through the 8th grade and then began working on his family's farm until he was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1942. John went through basic training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and then later went through Advanced Infantry Training at Camp Pickett in Virginia where he trained to be an anti-tank gunner. After training John was stationed in New Guinea and also the island of Morotai.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Bocian was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1925 and enlisted in the Navy in 1943 when he was only 17 years old. He went through training in Chicago and then chose to continue his training with submarines. After going through submarine school Gerald was stationed at Pearl Harbor where he worked on refitting submarines while the crew had time off on R & R. Gerald worked in Hawaii for 3 years before he went on a war patrol on the submarine USS Silversides in the Pacific.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Don Eckman, of Lake Odessa, Michigan enlisted in the Army in March, 1944. He was in basic training in Florida at the time of D-Day, and shipped to Europe in the fall of 1944. He was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, at Nancy, France, and participated in fighting at Strasbourg and other places in Alsace, regularly walking point for his platoon. He was wounded twice in the space of several months, and was already on a ship heading for home when the Germans surrendered in May, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Louis Kramer served in the 42nd Infantry Division in the US Army during World War II. His unit was shipped to France late in 1944, and joined the 7th Army in Alsace. Kramer's unit fought near Strasbourg during the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Nordwind, and participated in the counterattacks that followed and in the campaign into Germany. Kramer was wounded in March 1945, and out of action for the rest of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sid Linger was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1918. After graduation from high school, Lenger went into business with his father, who ran several stores in the Grand Rapids. He was drafted into the Navy in 1944, and was assigned as a quartermaster on a new LST that was being built at Seneca, Illinois. He sailed on the LST down the Mississippi River, through the Gulf and Mexico and the Panama Canal and into the Pacific Ocean. Lenger's LST transported Marines as part of the massive invasion of Okinawa, where they witnessed many kamikaze attacks. Following the battle, the LST transported the supplies needed for P-38 fighter escorts and supplies to Japan before Lenger left the service. Included with the interview is a video Lenger made himself, combining official Navy training films and video he filmed himself while aboard the LST (see 2 of 2).
- Date Created:
- 2011-01-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Siegel grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, in a Russian-Jewish family. He attended college and veterinary school at Michigan State University and enlisted in the Army Reserve as a 1st Lieutenant in the Veterinary Corps. After receiving his draft papers in 1941, he went to Chicago and stayed there for a year at the Quartermaster Depot. He then went to England to inspect a packing company. He spent time in New Guinea and the Philippines and inspected various things working in a laboratory. After coming back to the US in 1945, he had a successful life as a veterinarian.
- Date Created:
- 2005-07-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Gless is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from approximately 1945 to December 1946. In this account, Gless discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, training, and active duty. He mentions his brief postings at various POW camps in Northern Italy and describes a prison break by German POWs.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Graham is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Anti-Aircraft Corps from September 1944 to an undisclosed date. In this account, Graham discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, training, and active duty. While not going into much depth about his active duty he does mention where he trained in the U.S. Graham concludes by reflecting on his time in the service
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bruce Grant, born in Cincinnati Ohio in 1923, served in the U.S. Marines Corps from 1940 to 1945 in the Pacific during World War II. When the war began, he was with the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, and deployed with the division to Hawaii and landed in Guadalcanal in September, 1942 He initially fought as a rifleman, but wound up as a signalman on Henderson Field. When the division was relieved, he was sent to radio school and then assigned to a Marine bomber squadron that flew night missions in B-25s. His squadron trained in Hawaii and then flew out of several different islands, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His plane was shot down off Iwo Jima, but the crew was rescued by a seaplane after about twelve hours and put back to work.
- Date Created:
- 2011-07-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Kandra, born in Beaverdale Pennsylvania in February of 1925, served as a radio operator in the 164th Combat Engineer Battalion from 1943 to 1945 in France and central Europe during the Second World War. He did most of his training at Camp Van Dorn however received specialized training in Morse code at Oxford University while stationed in England. During his service, Kandra spent most of his time relating messages between commanders, checking roads for mines, repairing roads, and repairing bridges. Thought he was never on the front lines his company did come under artillery and aircraft fire. Later in his life he used his training to work in television in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2012-01-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Pylman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 29, 1924. After attending Calvin College for one year, he decided to enlist into the Air Force in June of 1943. John was sent to Miami Beach where he spent six weeks in basic training. After the six weeks of basic training, he was sent to Wittenberg University in Ohio where he received college training detachment. John chose to become a navigator and was assigned to England with a crew of nine members. While serving in Europe, John went on twenty-two missions across the continent. He finished out his service by delivering salvaged materials from North Africa.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Zysk served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Infantry Division on New Guinea and in the Philippines during WW II fighter. In the Philippines, he was on board a ship that was hit by a kamikaze. He speaks critically of Gen. MacArthur but highly of the men he served with.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Henry Vandermeer was born in the Netherlands in 1931 and lived there during the Nazi occupation. His family emigrated to the United States in 1952, and he served in the US Army. He was sent to La Rochelle, France, where he worked in an army hospital.
- Date Created:
- 2010-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Earl Lee joined the Navy in 1943 and trained for only six weeks before shipping out to London. Earl made three trips across the Atlantic while he was in the service, also traveling to Cuba, Panama, the Philippines, and Japan. He said that he had more problems aboard the ship then he did fighting the enemies. He had been surprised when they went ashore in Japan becuase he had thought the people there would be more hostile towards Americans. Earl said that overall he had a very positive experience in the Navy and it dramatically affected his life in a positive way.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Wall was born in Hope, Michigan, in 1924, and later moved with his family to nearby Midland. He was drafted into the Navy shortly after he finished high school.in 1943. He trained at Great Lakes, Illinois, and was assigned to San Clemente Island, off the coast near San Diego, and worked as a carpenter. The island had a rifle range and some other training facilities, and housed a few seaplanes and a radar station, but was mostly out of the way of the war. With little war work to do, Mr. Wall built things such as picture frames, suitcases, and lobster traps. He also ran a small bowling alley on the base, played a lot of poker, helped tend the lobster traps, and took trips to the mainland when he could. He enjoyed his life there, and turned down opportunities to transfer elsewhere, and stayed at San Clemente until his discharge in 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2017-11-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Rasmussen, born in 1913, grew up on a farm outside of Greenville, Michigan. After finishing high school, he attended Olivet College and the University of Chicago Medical School on scholarships. After receiving his medical degree, he was accepted into the Navy in 1938, but wound up going back to Chicago to train as a thoracic surgeon. He was still in training when Pearl Harbor happened, and in 1942 he entered the Navy. He was assigned to a Seabee battalion that trained in Rhode Island and was sent to Adak Island in the Aleutians, where he served over two years. Once back in the states, he began practicing in Grand Rapids and became part of the research group that developed the first heart/lung machine and became an early anti-smoking activist.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Bleecher enlisted in the Merchant Marine in 1944 and trained as a radio officer. He sailed to Asia and Europe in 1945 and 1946 and then returned to civilian life, only to be drafted for the Korean War. This time he served in the army, attended Officer Candidate School and trained as an anti-aircraft officer. He shipped out to Korea in 1952 and spent several months there on active duty.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Frens is a World War II veteran who served out of the 792nd Bomb Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps from December, 1942 to 1945, and remained in the reserves until 1958. He served in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 navigator. His unit was based first in India, then later in China and in the Marianas. He participated in bombing missions against Japanese positions in Southeast Asia and China, and later in the strategic bombing of Japan in 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2003-06-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred was born in Wyoming Park, Michigan in 1920. Most of his family was also born and raised in the Wyoming area. He was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He served overseas in the Philippines as a truck driver. Fred delivered needed supplies to the troops such as food, water and other essentials.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edward McLogan entered the ROTC at the University of Michigan in 1938, and joined the US Army in 1942. He served as an officer with an army unit in the Solomons, participating in a landing on Vella Lavella, and subsequently volunteered to join a specialized unit that turned out to be Merrill's Marauders. He served as an officer on the unit's mission behind Japanese lines in Burma, and despite being wounded remained with it until the end of its mission. He served for the rest of the war at Fort Benning and in Washington.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harrison Goodspeed was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. Harrison thought that he would soon be drafted, so he enlisted in the Army after high school in order to have a choice in the position that he would hold. Harrison served as a platoon leader in the 80th Infantry Division in France, Germany, and Luxemburg and provides some detailed combat stories, as well as observations on conditions in Europe after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Russel Prince enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1940 and served in the anti-tank company of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until 1944, when he was sent back to the US to help train new recruits in Alabama, finally mustering out in January 1945. He provides a clear and detailed account of his unit's transfers first to the East Coast and then back across the country to ship out to Australia and New Guinea. His company was shipped to Port Moresby, New Guinea, in November, 1942, and spent nearly two months crossing the Owen Stanley Mountains to join in the attack on Buna. His company broke through Japanese lines early on, and then was isolated for three weeks before it was finally relieved. He discusses the difficulties of fighting in a jungle and of the action at Buna. This interview is featured in the documentary "Nightmare in New Guinea" produced by Grand Valley State University.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Eldon Hunsberger was born on a farm in Plainfield, Michigan. He went to college for 2 years and then joined the Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot. He flew B-26 bombers on 65 missions over Italy from bases in Tunisia, Sardinia and Italy. When he got back to the US he was in the Army Reserve and then got called back in April of 1952 for the Korean War. Eldon flew a KB-29 and refueled planes on their way to Hawaii.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Schrouder was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on May 26, 1925. He joined the Navy on September 1, 1943 and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. Upon completion of basic training he was sent to Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois for Diesel School and after graduating from that he was sent to New London, Connecticut to train with submarines. After deciding to get out of the submarine program he was reassigned to LST 618 and deployed to the Pacific Theatre in late summer 1944. He participated in three major campaigns: the invasion of Leyte (in the Philippines), the invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf (in the Philippines), and the invasion of Mindanao (in the Philippines). After the war, LST 618 ferried Nationalist Chinese troops to various Chinese ports until sailing back to the United States. He was sent back to Chicago and was discharged on February 28, 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-06-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Van Luyn was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925, and was drafted into the Army in 1943. He wanted to go, and was disappointed when he was rejected due to an eye problem, but later talked his way past the recruiter and sent to Camp Ellis, Illinois, to train as an engineer. He joined the 1303rd Engineer General Service Regiment and was assigned to B Company, which specialized in bridge construction. He shipped out to England with his unit in the spring of 1944, and deployed to Normandy shortly after D-Day. After the Normandy breakout, his regiment followed Patton's 3rd Army across France, building and rebuilding bridges all along the way, sometimes under fire from enemy artillery or aircraft. His unit got caught up in the Battle of the Bulge, and then participated in the invasion of Germany, building their longest bridge across the Rhine near Remagen. Shortly after the Germans surrendered, the unit was deployed to the Philippines in preparation for the invasion of Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2011-08-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Kerkstra was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. In March 1943 he was drafted into the Army and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training. He received rifle training and later mortar training. He was stationed at Camp Butner for a year with the 78th Infantry Division before shipping out in spring 1944. En route to England he was treated for appendictis and was forced to stay behind while the rest of his division went ahead. He reached France a week after D-Day and joined the 4th Infantry Division. He fought in St. Lo, in the hedgerows, took part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944, and fought in Belgium and the Hurtgen Forest. He was wounded in late November 1944 and was eventually evacuated to the United States. He received treatment in Battle Creek, Michigan and was discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan in April 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Douglas Anderson, born near Grand Rapids, Michigan. in 1926, was drafted into the Army in 1945 after the war had already ended. After training at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and Fort Meade, Maryland, he was sent to Yokohama, Japan to identify and sort war materiel.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gloria Jackson was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She graduated from high school in 1942, just before being accepted into the Cadet Nursing Corps. She trained at Butterworth Hospital, Wayne University, and Percy Jones Hospital (Battle Creek Sanitarium). She also worked for some time in Des Moines, Iowa after getting married. She remembers seeing German POW's in the hospitals. Gloria was in Grand Rapids, Michigan when World War II ended.
- Date Created:
- 2006-06-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Shannon was born in Galveston, Texas in 1928. He enlisted in the Merchant Marines while in his first year of college. He had boot camp in Catalina, California and went to radio school on Hoffman Island in the New York Harbor. He completed his training just as the war ended, and served on merchant ships carrying relief supplies and other cargoes to Europe, Africa, and Asia, alternating voyages with terms in college. During the Korean War, he served on a troop transport ship. He eventually completed his degree in electrical engineering, stopped sailing and worked as an engineer designing anti-submarine warfare systems.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ross Vincent was drafted into the Army during World War II. Initially assigned as an MP, Ross took the Air Corps exam, and was sent to Army Air Corps training, eventually becoming a navigator in the Pacific, specifically based off the island of Morotai. After several months, his crew was assigned to Clark Field, in the Philippines, where he became an Information and Education officer. Ross was discharged in 1946, but stayed in the Active Reserves.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Pond was born in Santa Ana, California in 1925. He became very bored with school during the war and dropped out when he was 17 to enlist in the Navy. James went through boot camp in Idaho and then went to signal school in Chicago. After signaling on destroyers in the Arctic, James retinas became burned and he could no longer work as a signal man. He went back to school to become a hospital corps man and was sent to work in a hospital in Okinawa after the invasion. James also worked as a doctor aboard a ship stationed outside of Sasebo and Nagasaki, Japan
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ray Richardson, born November 13th 1920 in Winterfield Township Michigan, served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1942-1943 and then in the U.S. Navy from 1943-1946 as a flight instructor during World War II. As a flight instructor, Ray trained cadets on the PBY Catalina in Pensacola Florida. After completing his service, Ray served as an agent in the FBI from 1947-1973.
- Date Created:
- 2011-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Joseph Bailey was born in Prescott, Arizona, in 1922. He enlisted in the Navy in early 1941. He received his basic training and attended Metalsmith School at San Diego, and was assigned to the USS Whitney (AD-4). He survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and shortly thereafter was assigned to the USS Thomas Jefferson (APA-30). After an abortive attempt to bring supplies to American forces on the Philippines, he was transferred to the USS Annoy (AM-84) and participated in the liberation of the Aleutian Islands and subsequent patrols around those islands. He was then reassigned to the USS Impeccable (AM-320) and witnessed the liberation of the Marianas Islands, the invasion of Iwo Jima, and the invasion of Okinawa. His active duty ended in 1947 and he was placed in the inactive reserve. He was called up for duty in September 1950 due to the Korean War and was assigned to the USS Moctobi (ATF-105). He was then transferred to an oiler. For six months they refueled ships at Kwajalein before sailing to Sasebo, Japan, to continue refueling operations. He was discharged in 1952.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Raymond Fink was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 1945 to 1946. In this account Fink discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training, and his active duty while stationed out in the Pacific. Fink was stationed on Guam and describes living conditions there after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2009-04-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wilbert Koetje was born in Marion, Michigan in 1922. After failing in his first attempt to enlist, he was drafted in 1943 and served in the Navy. Even after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Koetje waited a year before enlisting. After the military denied his enlistment, Koetje waited for the draft; once drafted, he served in the Navy. He initially served on a destroyer, the USS Davison, on convoy duty in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. He then switched to another destroyer, the USS McDermott, which patrolled out of Hawaii. After several months, he was sent back to California on a transport ship, the SS Henry Byrd, which had to be abandoned off San Francisco. After that, he was assigned as a gun captain aboard a transport ship, the SS Leo, and participated in the campaigns at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, took a load of troops to Japan for the occupation, and helped repatriate Chinese soldiers.
- Date Created:
- 2010-03-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Leonard Galloway was born on August 3, 1925 in Huron, South Dakota. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he was 17 years old because he did not want to be drafted and because he had always wanted to fly. Leonard went through basic training in Texas and then was sent to the University of Mississippi for training classes. The war ended just as he was getting into advanced flight courses and he was disappointed because he had really wanted to fly in Europe.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Valeria Dellinger was a veteran of WWII in the United States Army in 1945 and 1946. She served in Los Alamos, New Mexico as a switchboard operator for the military at the time of the development of the atomic bomb. She married her husband after she was discharged in 1946. He remained a MP for the military and transferred to the Pacific when they were testing the atomic bomb, while she stayed on at Los Alamos in the civil service for a while before moving to Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2006-10-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Leonard Feerick, Jr. served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. He trained in Miami, Florida, and Gulfport, Mississippi, and was eventually stationed in England where he worked in ground support on an airbase. Toward the end of the war, he was transferred to the infantry, and eventually served with the Army of Occupation in Berlin.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Kriegbaum is a veteran of the army who served during WW II. He was a forward artillery observer with the 34th Infantry Division. He spent much of his service in North Africa and Italy fighting on the front lines with many battalions. In all he served over 400 days on the front line and his unit spent over 600 days fighting. His record going thru Italy was thoroughly understand and remembered details of civilian and German POW's. Robert's unit was in Italy when the war ended and directed all surrendering German soldiers to camps. His service was impeccable and his memory of events vivid. He was also one of the men who fought near Monte Cassino Abbey against the Germans.
- Date Created:
- 2007-12-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Morley Wilson joined the Michigan National Guard in 1937, resigned briefly in 1940, and rejoined to serve in World War II in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division, in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. He served most of the war as a supply officer, but also worked with engineers and had other administrative duties. On one occasion he served as host to Eleanor Roosevelt when she visited his unit in Australia. Poems and personal narrative appended to outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Win Mueller was drafted into the Army in 1942 and went through basic training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. He also trained there to be in the Military Police and was at Fort Custer for about 6 months all together. After training Win worked at Fort Swift in Texas, where he guarded POWs for another six months. Win later helped form the 106th Division and was sent to Europe where they eventually replaced the 101st Division in the Netherlands right before the Battle of the Bulge. Win fought in the Battle for about a month in freezing cold weather with not much food to eat. After making it through the battle and traveling to other parts of Europe, win had enough points to go home right around the time of the Japanese surrender.
- Date Created:
- 2003-08-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cecilia Schlepers is the daughter of two Dutch immigrants who lived under German occupation during the Second World War. She talks about what life was like for each of her parents during the war. Her father's family worked on a farm and her mother's family lost their farm during German occupation.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edmund Szudzik was a draftee who joined the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division while it was training at Camp Livingston, Louisiana, in 1941. His unit was sent first to the East Coast, and then recrossed the country bound for Australia and New Guinea. His account includes colorful stories of training camp and of conditions in Australia and New Guinea, including vivid discriptions of jungle combat. His interview is featured in the documentary Nightmare in New Guinea produced by Grand Valley State University.
- Date Created:
- 2005-11-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ed Wikander joined the Navy in 1934 and served as a seaman on board the battleship USS Tennessee until leaving the Navy in the middle of 1941. After Pearl Harbor, he was drafted back into the Navy, and spent about two years working at a Marine base in California before being sent to Tinian to help build a hospital. He was called up again for Korea, and served on a destroyer based in Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2009-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Clyde Boerman served in the Navy in World War II. He was part of a Torpedo Boat that served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. He worked manning the torpedoes on the boat. He participated in D-Day as part of the Naval team that assisted with the landings and he also served in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Abrams was born in Sparta, Michigan, in 1923, and eventually grew up in Montana. After moving to Grand Haven, Michigan, he joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. After boot camp in San Diego, he was shipped to the Solomon Islands and joined the Weapons Company of the 1st Marine Regiment on Guadalcanal toward the end of the campaign there. The regiment refitted in Melbourne, Australia, and then went to New Guinea prior to landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain. After that battle, they went on to the hard fight at Pelelieu, and went on from there to Okinawa. After the Japanese surrender, he spent several months in China escorting Japanese soldiers and civilians who were being sent home.
- Date Created:
- 2011-06-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cornelius Jonker was born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan. When he was young his family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and he grew up there. After turning eighteen he received his draft notice and was sworn into the Army on March 18, 1943. He was processed at Camp Grant, Illinois and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina where he received basic training and driver's training. While at Camp Butner he served as a clerk and then as a truck driver for the 78th Infantry Division. In October 1944 the 78th Infantry Division left for the European Theatre, and by the end of November 1944 he was in Belgium. While in Europe he and his division saw action at Simmerath, the Schwammenauel Dam, and the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. After the war, he was stationed in Bad Wildungen, Germany; Maastricht, Holland; and Berlin, Germany. He was eventually sent home and was discharged from Camp Atterbury, Indiana in January 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Nancy O'Rear was born on January 7, 1938 in Grandville, Michigan. She grew up in Grandville and Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in 1951 she started following the Grand Rapids Chicks, an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League team. From the 1951 season through the 1954 season she practiced with the Chicks, befriended the players, and traveled with the team to away games in Michigan and Indiana. There were plans for Nancy to join the team once she graduated from high school, but with the team's disbanding in 1954 those plans were scrapped.
- Date Created:
- 2016-01-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Kennaugh was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1923. He became part of the Illinois Reserve Militia, which took the place of the National Guard. John was drafted in February of 1943 and was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois for basic training. He also trained in St. Petersburg, Florida, Utah, Iowa, and Texas. John was then deployed on a transport ship for thirty-three days before landing in Bombay, India. After being stationed at [Ninga] airbase for some time, he was sent to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. In India, John worked with pilots that were recovering body's form the front lines of Burma. He then volunteered himself for similar work in China where he passed through Xi'an and Kunming, China. Upon hearing of a Transport Squadron plane that had crashed, John was sent alongside two others and an interpreter to recover the soldiers. After finishing his work in China, John was sent to California, went to school, and eventually became a City manager.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harvey Lugten was born in Holland, Michigan in 1922 and graduated from Holland High School in 1940. Harvey was drafted into the service and had his choice of the Army of the Navy. He chose the latter and went through training at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago. After basic training Harvey went to machinist school and then submarine school for another 6 months. After training he was shipped to Australia where he later boarded the USS 256. Harvey went on three war patrols throughout the Pacific and was later discharged in February of 1946. After his time in the service, he received his masters degree and later became the superintendent for Byron Center schools in Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2008-10-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Louis Schmidt served in the Navy during World War II. He was sent to Australia after basic training and trained as an anti-aircraft gunner, but served mostly in support units. He served for about a year in Australia, and then went to Manus Island and to the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2010-09-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Thomas Pacic was born in Youngstown, Ohio on November 23, 1927. After graduating from high school in 1945 he enlisted in the Coast Guard in December 1945. He received orders to go to Curtis Bay in Baltimore, Maryland for basic training. He reported for basic training on January 8, 1946 and received rifle training, swimming training, the history of the Coast Guard, the function of the Coast Guard, and how to tie knots. His first assignment in the Coast Guard was aboard a cargo ship looking for mines left over from the war. They sailed down the East Coast, through the Caribbean Sea, the Panama Canal, and up the West Coast. He got to see San Diego and San Francisco before being stationed in Miami, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He spent the rest of his time at Coast Guard Station Erie, Pennsylvania where he helped rescue boaters and received a medal for saving a pregnant woman and her husband. He left the Coast Guard in May 1947 and then joined the Naval Reserves. He went on cruises aboard the USS Missouri and a minesweeper as well as cargo ships as part of a stevedore unit. During the Korean War he was on active duty helping with supply operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. After getting injured working in Red Bank, New Jersey he was discharged from the Navy in June 1953.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- David Zylstra was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. In August 1943 he received his draft notice. He was processed at Fort Custer, Michigan and accepted into the Army Specialized Training Program. He received basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and then went to Brooklyn College, New York for the ASTP engineering course. When the ASTP was cancelled he was sent to join the 75th Infantry Division on their maneuvres in Texas and Louisiana in spring 1944. He was assigned to M Company of the 291st Infantry Regiment and received heavy weapons training. The division left the United States in fall 1944 and arrived at Swansea, Wales on November 2, 1944. In December 1944 the 75th went to France and arrived at Le Havre on December 13, 1944. David saw action in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, in the Netherlands, and in the Ruhr Pocket during the advance into Germany in spring 1945. At the end of the war he was in Westphalia, Germany and Camp New York, France helping with the processing of GIs, German prisoners of war, and the Information and Education Office for the American Universities in England and France. He also attended the American University in Biarritz, France. He returned to the United States after nine months of occupation duty and got discharged on March 10, 1946 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
- Date Created:
- 2015-06-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Fisher served as a 1st scout in the 89th infantry division 353rd regiment of Patton's 3rd Army. During this interview Charles Fisher's recounts action during his service from 1943 to 1946 including one occasion in which he was the first American solider to enter a concentration camp. He also touches briefly on is home life including his employment and management of factories. This interview includes a supplemental video with some home movie footage that he shot in Europe after the war and an earlier interview recorded by his daughters.
- Date Created:
- 2011-06-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Chester Novak is a WW II and Korean War veteran who served in the United States Air Force from February 1944 to 1952 in the Aleutian Islands and Korea respectively. In this interview, Novak talks about growing up on a farm and joining the Army at 15 years old. Because he was underage, the Army sent him home. In 1944 he was drafted by the Air Force as a gunner. During the Korean War, Novak's plane was shot down and he became a prisoner of war for 17 months. After being released from prison camp, Novak left the Air Force, got married and moved to Mississippi where he was a shrimper for 22 years.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)