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- Notes:
- Merton Powell was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1924. He grew up in Topeka and enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He received basic training in Chadron, Nebraska then went to Iowa for College Training before going to California for Flight Training. He was accepted into the Naval Aviation Program and was able receive flight training in the N2S Stearman. After the Second World War ended in September 1945 he was discharged from active duty. He remained in the Naval Reserve until 1947. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1949 and served briefly with them.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Reeves was a B-24 pilot in World War II where he flew 45 missions in the Pacific. He provides a detailed account of training and of missions over New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa and the Netherlands East Indies.
- Date Created:
- 2004-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harris Van Singel was born in Byron Center, and has lived there his entire life. He went to school, and graduated from Byron Center School in 1940. He avoided the draft for four years because his two brothers had both enlisted, and because he was doing farm work. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1944, and was trained as a remote control gunner on the B-29. He initially wanted to be a pilot, but they had too many applicants. He served in the Pacific theatre, and flew on 14 combat missions over Japan from a base on Saipan.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Breuninger was born on April 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Air Force during WWII. He had gone to Castle Lake Military Academy, and was put into a HQ company. Fred was sent to England with the 8th Air Force in the 446th bomb group that used B-24 planes. He was part of operations in the HQ Company. They would work 14 hour shifts and alternate from days one week to nights the next. After VE day Fred went back to the US and thought he was going to be sent to Japan, but was discharged and returned home to Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mildred Doyle was born in 1921 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and served in the Womens Airforce Service Pilots Corp. She became a pilot during college, and then was requested to serve in the WASP corp. She worked, after training, on Freeman Field in Seymour, Indiana as a test pilot and ferrying people around the area. She went home when the WASPs were disbanded, and served as a homemaker in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2004-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Michael Scalabrino served in the United States Air Force during WWII from 1941 to 1945. He served in the 301st Bomber Group as an aerial engineer on a B-17 Bomber. He was stationed in Lucera, Italy where he was able to communicate with the locals because he knew Italian, and even acted as a translator sometimes for the military. He talks about the responsibilities he had as an aerial engineer, and gives some detail about the equipment in the B-17. He talks about his experience in the German prison camps in eastern Prussia. He also mentions his free time in Italy, censored letters sent home, and his life in Ionia before and after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2006-05-27T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- 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.)
- Notes:
- Bob Blackwell served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. He served as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber with the 8th Air Force in Europe. His account covers his training, experiences in England, and flying missions over northern Europe. During the Battle of the Bulge, his plane was shot down, and he had a narrow escape from the Germans when he landed in a river near the front lines and was rescued by Belgian civilians.
- Date Created:
- 2004-10-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Peter McMillan is a WW II veteran who served in the United States Air Force from approximately 1945 to 1947? in Guam with a six-week stint in Hawaii. Although a majority of his time in the service occurred after WWII had ended, McMillan's story still provides a unique perspective on post-WW II conflict in the Pacific Theater. This account details how tension and confusion continued well into the post-WWII years. He talks briefly about the role of the United Service Organization and his correspondence home. Finally, McMillan discusses life after war - the role of the G.I. Bill and his generation's commitment to WW II - and what impact the anti-war protests of the 1960s had on his generation.
- Date Created:
- 2006-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Grasman was born in Georgetown Township, Michigan in 1923 to a family of farmers. He enlisted it the Army Air Corps at age 19 and began a lengthy training regime to become a pilot. He was eventually assigned to become a bomber pilot and flew B-17s for the duration of the War. He was stationed in Southern Italy, and flew raids into Austria, Romania and Northern Italy. After the War, he served some extra time in Europe flying GI's to ports to be sent home, and doing other tasks. He joined the Air Force Reserves after his discharge.
- Date Created:
- 2008-09-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dewey Lenger was part of the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He took a cadets exam that allowed him to bypass the general draft and eventually become a pilot. He was set to Europe and assigned to fly transport planes, which he had not trained in, and learned to tow gliders and drop paratroops as well as regular cargo missions. He flew first from a British base, and later from a French one. He ferried fuel to Patton's army, dropped supplies for American troops during the Battle of the Bulge, and carried Canadian paratroopers during Operation Varsity.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gelmer Romeyn was born on March 24, 1923 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the early 1940s he joined the Michigan State Troops (a state defense force) and in November 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Force. He reported for basic training at Miami Beach, Florida in February 1943 then received college training at Duquesne University, Pennsylvania. He was classified as a pilot and received flight training at Maxwell Field, Alabama, Shaw Field, South Carolina, and and Moody Field, Georgia. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and a pilot on May 22, 1944. He trained on the C-47 transport plane. He spent six months in Casablanca, Morocco flying transport missions to Italy. He was transferred to Oran, Algeria for the remainder of his time overseas. He returned to the United States in December 1945. He was discharged at Newport News, Virginia and was released from active duty in February 1946. Gelmer remained in the Army Air Force Reserve and then served with the National Guard as a 1st lieutenant for two years.
- Date Created:
- 2005-04-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Duane Koshork was born in Wisconsin in 1925 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and did sheet metal training. After about 10 months of training in the US Duane went to Bombay, India on a troopship and then travelled by train across India. They got to Calcutta, India and loaded their trucks on to a train. Then they unloaded their trucks and hauled plane fuel from the Ledo Road to the Burma Road. Duane ended up in Kung Ming, China where he worked at a radiator repair shop on an airbase until the war was over. He was then sent to Shanghai to be a MP and sent home in April, 1946 to be discharged. Newspaper clipping about Koshork is appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Guy Green is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army's 8th Air Force from January 1943 to September 1945. In this account, Greene discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training, and also gives one a brief picture into the bomber campaigns over Germany entailed.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Shaull was born in Lansing, Michigan, in 1921, and enlisted in the army in 1942. He wanted to become a pilot, but his vision was not good enough for the Army Air Corps, and he enrolled in a course for artillery observation pilots, but was then sent to radio repair school instead. When he arrived in England in the spring of 1944, he was again reassigned, this time to an office in London where he worked with aerial reconnaisance photographs. After the Normandy campaign, his unit moved first to Chartres, then to Reims, France, and then to Namur, Belgium, and finally into Germany after the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Ewing enlisted in the Air Force Reserves before the beginning of WW II and remained in the Reserves until 1984. During WW II he flew the A-20 Avenger out of New Guinea and later the Philippines before returning home after completing his tour. In this interview Ewing discusses basic training and flight training, combat experiences and procedures in the A-20, and being shot down and rescued. Mr. Ewing also discusses hearing about the end of the war and his feelings about the bombing of Japan, and what he did after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fred Kerkstra was born in Byron Center, Michigan in 1923 and grew up on a farm. He was drafted in February of 1943 and sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. At the time, the Army Air Corps was short on gunners and Fred and had been lucky enough to be transferred into the Air Corps. He trained for 13 months in Florida and Colorado and became a tail gunner on a B-25. Fred traveled to Hawaii, Australia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Luzon, New Guinea, Guadalcanal, and Formosa. Fred went on 40 missions altogether while in the Pacific. Personal narrative of military service is appended interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Rich Natte was born in 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was forced to quit his schooling at the age of sixteen so that he could provide for his family. Rich found a job at a local furniture store until being drafted in 1943. He spent six weeks at basic training in Gulf Port, Mississippi and spent an additional six weeks at a carpentry school in Virginia. Rich was then sent from Rhode Island to Norwich, England where he served with the 491st Engineer Battalion doing airbase maintenance. After the war was over he spent one more month in France before being sent home and discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Willie Saddler is an African American veteran who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the end of World War II where he helped clean up and retrieve casualties from towns in Germany and Italy that were attacked during the war. He also describes early efforts at racial integration in the Air Corps.
- Date Created:
- 2011-08-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kenneth Hicks served in the 8th Air Force as a B-17 pilot based in England in 1944-45. He provides extensive descriptions of the training process and his experience with bombing missions in the later stages of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Alfred Roth was born in Ionia County, Michigan. After school, Alfred traveled to many places around the United States doing odd jobs before he was drafted into the Army. Before his time in the service, some of his jobs included mining for gold in Alaska and building B-17 bombers for the government in Washington. Alfred was trained as a radio operator during World War II, working in the Philippines and New Guinea.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tom Jillson was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1947 and grew up in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. He joined the Air Force upon graduating high school and was initially trained as an electrical specialist, but was then transferred to accounting. He was stationed at Webb AFB in Texas for two years of his service and was then shipped to Vietnam for the remainder of his enlistment period. His job in Vietnam was a clerk, trading American money for Military bills. He remained in Da Nang for the greater part of his time in Vietnam.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Sautter was born near Manistee, MI in 1923, and served in the Army Air Forces during World War II. He enlisted in the Air Force, and worked as a chauffeur, flying around Air Force personnel that needed to go places. After the war, he continued working as a pilot.
- Date Created:
- 2008-08-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cappy Rowe served in the U.S. Air Force from 1941 to 1971. He enlisted in the Army prior to the start of the war, and trained initially as an artillerist, but eventually was accepted for pilot training. He served in the Pacific during the latter part of World War II, flying out of Guadalcanal and other islands. After the war, he had assignments in England, South Africa, Austria, Hawaii and the continental US, doing various types of intelligence work, and retired as a full colonel.
- Date Created:
- 2012-08-21T00:00:00Z
- 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.)