Search Constraints
« Previous |
851 - 896 of 896
|
Next »
Search Results
- Notes:
- James H. Childress enlisted in the Navy in October 1943. He trained in Spokane, Washington, Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois (for Quartermaster School), and and Little Creek, Virginia for amphibious training. He joined a Landing Ship, Medium crew in Houston, Texas and trained with them before sailing out into the South Pacific. He took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima and after that the invasion of Okinawa where he survived the sinking of his ship. He was sent home later that summer and was home during the dropping of the atomic bombs and Japan's subsequent surrender on August 15, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Peter Godino was born in Italy on November 16, 1921. In 1930 he and his mother and siblings came to the United States to live with his father in Pennsylvania. When he was eighteen he enlisted in the Army and was placed in the Army Air Force. He trained at Bolling Field, Washington D.C. and served there until he joined the glider program in 1942. He trained with gliders in Wisconsin, but was reassigned to gunnery training. He received gunnery training in Las Vegas then joined a bomber crew at Wendover Field, Utah. The crew was assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group and they were sent for further training at Fresno, California. They eventually received orders to go overseas and wound up at Torretto Airfield, Italy. They began flying missions in April 1944, bombing targets in Regensburg, Vienna, Budapest, Ploesti, as well as in Yugoslavia. His bomber was eventually shot down and he was one of three survivors from his crew. He was then captured and taken to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Stalag Luft IV, and finally Stalag Luft I.
- Date Created:
- 2005-10-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Beatrice Takeuchi was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 6, 1921. In June 1942, she, and the rest of her family, was deported to the Puyallup Assembly Center at the Western Washington Fairgrounds, due to Executive Order 9066. Her family sold their house and their car, and her father's printing equipment was seized by the government. She was held at Puyallup Assembly Center for two or three months before getting transferred to Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. Due to unsanitary conditions at the camp, she fell ill which contributed to her being allowed to leave the camp. She had also been an art student, and was allowed to continue her studies at the Chicago School of Design. Beatrice then found work in Washington D.C. and was there when the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2017-01-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Don Bennett was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1925. He attended Albion College for one semester, then enlisted in the Navy, and became a submariner. He served on five patrols, one in the Kurile Islands, three near the Yellow Sea, and a final one north of Tokyo. During this time they sunk forty-two enemy ships. He was discharged on December 18th, 1945. After the war, he finished school at Albion College.
- Date Created:
- 2005-11-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Marthajane Kirby was born on November 4, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri. When her high school sweetheart joined the Marines, she wrote to him regularly until he was killed. His friend, Stanley Kirby, then took up the correspondence, and when he finally returned to the US, the two were married. See other interview record for papers.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Zena Smith was born in 1926 in Birmingham, England. As a teenager, she experienced the effects of war on her community. She had a job at an office after completing public school that made tanks for the North African Desert War. There were often sirens heard throughout her community to warn them about air raids. She contracted diphtheria at one point and had to stay in a hospital for eight weeks and was there when a bomb hit her hospital. She took a job with a defense plant and saw Winston Churchill and General Montgomery when they visited it. Mrs. Smith met her husband, Ken Smith, in 1944 and dated a year before marrying. Her husband worked at Packington Park and was an assistant during autopsies. After getting married and at the end of the war, she traveled on the Queen Mary to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lloyd Snowdeal was born in Rockland, Maine in 1927. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the Navy. Lloyd went to radio school after training and became a Radio Officer. Lloyd went on trips across the Pacific in a large convoy on a repeater ship. His job was to repeat changes in the course from the commander ship to all of the other ships in the convoy. After the war was over in the Europe, he brought replacements across the Pacific to Japan. Lloyd was discharged and then on February 23, 1950 he enlisted in the Air Force for the Korean War. He became a Bypass Specialist and was assigned to a B-29 squadron. Lloyd became sick and went home, but later volunteered to go back overseas. He was stationed at a service and repair depot and then spent the rest of his time in the Air Force close to home in Bangor, Maine.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Shirley Weber served in the 32nd Infantry (Red Arrow) Division during WWII in New Guinea. His company teamed up with the Australians fighting Japanese soldiers on the island. He spent time fighting in Buna, Saidor and Aitape battles. He received the Bronze Star for an operation to pull out fire from the Japanese hiding in the jungle. He contracted malaria on New Guinea, which eventually led to his being sent home, where we worked with German POWs at a camp in Chicago. Military papers appended to the interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of C.Y. "Henry" Lee by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Lee was a Chinese Air Force Communications Officer who worked for Col. Chennault as his personal radioman before the AVG officially formed. Lee eventually joined a group of Chinese flight cadets being instructed by Captain Adair in Kunming, and then traveled to the United States for additional flight training. In this tape, Lee explains the reasons for the formation of the American Volunteer Group and his perspective while serving in the Chinese Air Force. He also describes his relationship with General Chennault in the early days of the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-03-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Charles Mott by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles Mott was a Flight Leader for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Recruited from the U.S. Navy, where he served three years as a Dive Bomber pilot, he joined the AVG in 1941. During a mission over Thailand, he was shot down by ground fire and captured, severely wounded. He was placed in a POW camp along the River Kwai railway for 3 1/2 years and repatriated at the end of the war. He was the sole survivor of the four AVG pilots captured. In this tape, Mott discusses the enduring contribution of the AVG and the sense of hope the Flying Tigers gave the Chinese people during that time.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- 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 describes the day the AVG lost Bert Christman (also known as "Crix") and his memory of the funeral, in addition to his return trip to Burma in search of his grave.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- George Oosterbaan was born on May 17, 1926 in Ellsworth, Michigan. In 1942 (or 1943) he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and in May 1944 he enlisted in the Navy. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois then went to Camp Bradford, Virginia for Amphibious Training. He went to Jeffersonville, Indiana and joined the crew of LST 720 and sailed to the Gulf of Mexico for the ship's shakedown cruise. In late 1944 they sailed to the Pacific Theatre and operated around the New Hebrides until sailing to the Philippines in 1945. He took part in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945 and supply operations around the Philippines until the surrender of Japan in August 1945. After the war he stayed with crew of LST 720 and sailed around China, Korea, and Japan helping transport liberated Chinese slave laborers and Japanese soldiers back to their home countries. In spring 1946 they sailed for the U.S. and arrived in Bremerton, Washington in May 1946. The ship was decommissioned in June 1946 and he was sent back to Great Lakes Naval Station in late June and got discharged there.
- Date Created:
- 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Emma Jane (Foster Petach) Hanks by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Emma Jane "Red" Foster first traveled to China as the first woman foreign exchange student at Lingham University in Canton in 1935-1936. After receiving her B.A. from Penn State (1937) and Masters in Nursing from Yale University (1940), she joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) medical team in 1941. On her trip to China aboard the Jaegersfontein, she met John "Pete" Petach, 2nd Squadron Flight Leader. She was the only RN who served with the AVG and helped the three physicians take care of men who contracted dengue fever and malaria as well as those injured in accidents or combat. In February 1942, she and Pete Petach were married by AVG chaplain Paul Frillman in Kunming, China. Red and Pete decided to stay several days to help Col. Chennault after the AVG disbanded. During that time, Pete Petach was killed while on a bombing and strafing mission at Nanchang. After the war, she continued her nursing career in various capacities and in 1964 married Christian Hanks, a former Hump pilot for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). In this tape, Hanks describes her first impressions of the medical situation in Toungoo and the early days working as a nurse for the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Mary Jean Brooks was in the WAVES during World War II. She trained at Smith College in communications. She worked in the Naval Department building in Washington, D.C., encoding and decoding messages sent to and from naval bases and ships. She delivered some messages herself to different government offices and to the White House.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Mulbrecht served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aircraft mechanic from 1942-1944 in Italy during World War II. Prior to joining the service, Fred was in the National Guard. After being drafted in 1942, he aspired to be a pilot but instead was made a mechanic. Fred's training was undergone at Kistler Field Virginia as well as several private schools in New Orleans and Detroit. In late 1943 Fred was sent to a unit of the 15th Air Force in Foggia, Italy, where he spent all his service until he was discharged in 1944.
- Date Created:
- 2012-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Raymond Start was born in 1927 and grew up in Galewood, Michigan. When he turned seventeen he enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. From there he was sent to the University of Wisconsin for Radio School and after five months of that he was sent out to California to board a troopship. He was sent to the Philippines where he boarded an attack personnel destroyer in Leyte. They sailed toward Japan with underwater demolition teams, preparing for the invasion of Japan until the atomic bombs were dropped in August 1945. He was sent back to the United States where he was assigned to the aircraft carrier the USS Bougainville. He took a cruise around the Pacific collecting aircraft and officers, and then helped decommission the ship in Tacoma, Washington until July 1946 when he was discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington describes his personal experience working between General Bissell and General Chennault, in addition to the meeting Bissell called addressing the AVG and their accomplishments in China.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Carl King was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924 and served in the Navy during World War II. He was drafted into the Navy upon his request, and attended training at Great Lakes Naval Station. He joined the PT corps and worked as a machinist throughout his time in the service. He spent most of his time in the service in the Pacific theatre, serving in the New Hebrides, Guadalcanal, the Philippines, and Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2009-01-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Mulder was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His family moved to Montana, but moved back to Grand Rapids after World War II broke out. John was drafted into the US Army when he was 18 years old. After completing basic training in Fort Stewart, Georgia, he also completed anti-aircraft school, in which he learned how to operate mobile anti-aircraft units. After training, he spent the remainder of the war in Hawaii, guarding Pearl Harbor.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Kuiper was born in February 1926 in Holland, Michigan. He grew up in Holland and in February 1944 he received his draft notice. In June 1944 he reported for duty at the draft board in Holland, was processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and was sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training and field artillery training. After sixteen weeks of training he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland for an additional week of training and then left the United States out of Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. He sailed over, stopping in England, and arriving in Le Havre, France. He was sent to Paris where he was assigned to the 191st Field Artillery Battalion attached to the 4th Armored Division. He joined the battalion in Belgium in mid/late December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and was assigned to #1 Gun in A Battery and also laid down field telephone wire for the gun batteries. After the Battle of the Bulge they advanced into Germany, crossing the Rhine River at Worms, going south and seeing the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, and entering Czechoslovakia on April 29, 1945. After the war ended on May 8, 1945 he was reassigned to the 405th Infantry Regiment and then 4th Armored Division before being sent home in early 1946 and getting discharged at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Pia White was born in 1926 in Rome, Italy, to a Japanese father and an American mother. Due to her father's job with the Japanese government, the family traveled all over the world, and she lived in the United States, Japan, and various other countries. In the late 1930s, Pia, her mother, and her siblings returned to Japan. She lived in Tokyo and attended school there. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, she and her family moved to a summer cottage in a mountain village near Tokyo. In 1942 her father, who had been in Washington, DC, at the time of Pearl Harbor, returned to Japan as part of an exchange of diplomats and he lived in Tokyo until he joined the family at the cottage. During the war she helped gather food and worked at the village's police station as a translator. In 1945, her older brother, a pilot, was killed in action during a bombing raid on Tokyo. After the war ended, she worked closely with the American Army of Occupation by helping manage the village as an R&R location for American troops. She befriended one Lieutenant Ken White and they eventually married, returning to the United States in December (1947 or 1948). They started a family and lived in Ohio and various cities in Michigan before settling in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2016-05-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- 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 journey to Hong Kong to visit the CNAC office and his first meeting with Captain Claire Lee Chennault in Kunming discussing the future of the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Dr. Lewis Richards by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Dr. Lewis J. Richards, or "Doc Rich" as he was known in the American Volunteer Group (AVG), served as the unit's Flight Surgeon. In this tape, Richards discusses the last months of the AVG and his reflection on the achievements of the Flying Tigers.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Eugene Borek was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925. He enlisted in the Army shortly after turning eighteen, and trained with the 78th Division at Camp Butner, North Carolina, until his unit was broken up and he was assigned to the 83rd Division. He sailed to England in April, 1944, and landed in Normandy in late June. He fought in the battles near St. Lo until he was wounded and sent to England. He was then sent as a replacement to the 104th Division in September, and fought near Aachen, in the Hurtgen Forest and western Germany until he was wounded again in early 1945. After that, he was assigned to a military police unit based in Strasbourg until he was sent home late in 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2011-05-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Glenn Marks, born July 27th 1925 served in the U.S. Army in the medical field from 1944-1946 in Europe during World War II. While in training at Camp Grant, Illinois, Glenn was sent to clerical school where he was trained to be a typist. However, due to demand, Glenn was assigned to be a field medic recovering fallen casualties. Glenn traveled across Europe following units that were expected to have high casualty counts. At the end of the war, he stayed in Germany caring for German casualties until he was sent home.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Leo Zimmerman of Grand Rapids, Michigan, waited to be drafted before joining the Army in 1943 during World War II. Leo received his training in wheeled vehicle maintenance and repair in Camp Worth, Texas. His first deployment was to Italy in 1944 where he served with a replacement depot until the war ended in May 1945, driving with supply convoys between Naples and the Po Valley and performing other duties. After the war ended in Europe, Leo was transferred to the 109th Ordnance Company and shipped out to the Philippines to start servicing vehicles. He was stationed in the Philippines during the bombing of Hiroshima, and was sent to Japan shortly after to perform maintenance duties and gained further experience in welding. Leo left the military in April 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jay Shook served in the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War. He served in the Pacific Theater in World War II on the USS Bailey, a destroyer, and escorted LSI's and LSG's in to landing zones. During the Korean War, Jay served on the USS Bryce Canyon, a Destroyer class maintenance ship.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Tibbe is a World War Two veteran who was born in Moddersville, Michigan in 1924. After completing the ninth grade he left school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked around Michigan doing public works projects. On August 19, 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and received training at Shepherd Field, Texas and at Buckley Field, Colorado to become an armorer for bombers. He was stationed at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, at Fiji, and and at Hickam Field, Hawaii over the course of the war. Just before the end of the war he was sent back to the continental United States where he served at Hamilton Field, California, Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, and Lowry Field, Colorado. He was discharged in December 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2010-03-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Erik Shilling by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Shilling served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 3rd Squadron "Hell's Angels" as a Flight Leader. In this tape, Shilling discusses dogfighting for General Chennault and the training the AVG experienced at the time, in addition to how the squadron insignias came into existence.
- Date Created:
- 1991-09-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Robert Christiansen was born on August 11, 1920 in Muskegon, Michigan. He joined the US Navy in 1944 and served in the Pacific on board the destroyers USS Ward and USS July. He served on convoy duty between New Guinea and the Philippines and in the Okinawa campaign.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Albert Lobbezoo grew up on a small farm in Michigan and was drafted in the Army in April of 1941. Albert worked as a switchboard operator for the 32nd Infantry Division headquarters in New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines between 1942 and 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harold Sibley was born in Grand Lake, Michigan in 1921. After graduating from high school, he tried to enlist in the Navy Air Corps, but was rejected due to his eyesight. Later on, he was drafted into the Army and eventually volunteered for the First Special Force, the predecessor to the Green Berets. Harold was a mortar man for the special force and was sent to the Aleutian Islands, Anzio, Southern France, Rome, Nuremburg and many other places throughout Western Europe. He was in Norway processing German prisoners of war when the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes his work as a Naval Aviator prior to joining the American Volunteer Group, how he first heard of the opportunity in China, and his personal motivations for going oversees to serve with the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes the training the AVG experienced with General Chennault and how the group welcomed the new batch of members into the family. He also goes into detail about their reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor and how it informed their work for Chennault during wartime.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Bill Schaper by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Bill Schaper was Crew Chief for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 1st Squadron "Adam and Eves." He joined the AVG in 1941 after serving in the US Army as a Staff Sergeant in the 77th Pursuit Squadron. It was his responsibility to maintain the aircrafts. In this tape, Schaper discusses discusses the last days of the AVG and his experience returning to the United States along with the hero's welcome they received.
- Date Created:
- 1991-04-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Chuck Baisden by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Chuck Baisden was an armorer of the AVG 3rd Squadron, "Hell's Angels." He joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in 1941 after signing a covert contract with Continental Aircraft Mfg. Co. He was with the first forces to reach Burma and was stationed at Mingaladon and Magwe, Burma and Loiwing, Mengshi, and Kunming, China. He left the AVG at the expiration of his contract in 1942 and enlisted as a T/Sgt. in the US Army. In this tape, Chuck Baisden describes his background in the American Air Corps before becoming involved with the American Volunteer Group and his journey overseas from San Francisco.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Donald Jandernoa served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He trained as a B-24 pilot and flew missions for the 15th Air Force, based in Italy, in the later stages of the war. He describes the training process and his combat experiences in detail, including a mission on which he and his crew had to bail out along the Yugoslav coast and were rescued by local villagers. He also discusses the role of the Tuskegee airmen in protecting his unit.
- Date Created:
- 2006-03-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Janssen was born on April 30, 1922 in Wisconsin and moved to Michigan in 1928. He graduated from high school in 1940 and joined the Marine Corps on October 29, 1941. John went through basic training in South Carolina, where they spent a lot of time marching through swamps. John then began working on an aircraft carrier as an anti-aircraft gunner and served in a series of battles in the Pacific, concluding with Okinawa. After Japan was bombed, John worked there breaking down an arsenal and taking weapons away from Japanese soldiers.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ben VanSlooten served in the United States Army during WW II from May 13, 1943 to October 30, 1946 in the European Theater. VanSlooten discusses life on the home front, his time in basic training, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, Operation "Market Basket" (Market Garden), interactions with soldiers from other countries, and his first air raid. He talks about the chow lines in Belgium, a restaurant in France, acts of kindness in England, and the Red Ball Express in Belgium.
- Date Created:
- 2006-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerald Frazine was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1925. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943, and went to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois, for his boot camp and Radio School. Upon completing training, he boarded a Landing Ship Transport (LST) and sailed to San Diego (via the Mississippi River and the Panama Canal) before going to the Pacific Theater. He served as the radio operator on the flotilla flagship, but also handled supplies and knew how to operate a 20mm antiaircraft gun. Gerald participated in the invasion of Guam, Tinian, and Saipan during the Mariana Islands Campaign; the invasion of Leyte during the Philippines Campaign; and the final battle of the Pacific Theater, Okinawa. After the war, he sailed back to San Diego then returned to Great Lakes Naval Station to be discharged from the Navy in late 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Milford Cherington Served in the Air Force during World War II. He joined the Air Corps after being classified 4F by the Army draft board. He wanted to train as a pilot, but wound up as a gunner on a B-17 bomber and flew numerous bombing missions over Germany. He was also part of the first group to bomb Berlin in daylight.
- Date Created:
- 2004-04-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mark Doren was born in 1919 in Kent City, Michigan and served into the Army in World War II. He was drafted into the Army and attended basic training in Florida and was then sent to Europe. He served in the 6th Armored in France and Germany as a mechanic, and was part of the group that liberated the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- 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 reactions to the bombings in Kunming and Pearl Harbor, in addition to his motivation for joining the AVG with General Chennault.
- Date Created:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Carl Carlson is a veteran of the United States Army Air Corps. He served in the European theatre during World War II. He worked as a radio operator during flight missions, particularly over Italy. He served around 70 missions, the military had to increase the number of missions each man made due to the increasing numbers of casualties. While in Europe, he was able to see Bob Hope perform. After the service, he worked in electronics sales and repairs until he retired. Newpaper clippings and award certificates appended to interview outline. [Image not available].
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Miller Siegel was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1917. He received a Masters Degree in Business Administration and was drafted shortly after. Miller was assigned to the Air Corps and became an officer in Florida. He then graduated from Harvard University's new Statistical Officer School. Miller was assigned to heavy bombers and did flight reports at a few air fields before being sent overseas. His job in England was to write a report after each mission regarding injuries, deaths, fuel consumption, how many planes were lost, and then send the reports to HQ. After the war Miller was moved to Eisenhower's HQ and had to figure out dollar amounts for the lend-lease program with France and Britain.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)