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- Notes:
- Todd McCrumb was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1965 and enlisted in the Air Force in 1984 shortly after graduating from high school. He had been unsure of what he wanted to do in his life, not ready for college, and unemployment in the area was at 16%. Todd spent time working with the security police near the DMZ in South Korea. He was later stationed in Montana. Todd did not re-enlist because he was told he would have to spend another 6 years in Montana. He later graduated from Grand Valley State University and is now a teacher.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Fred Fleischmann, born November 17th 1950 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in U. S. Air Force from October 1972-August 1976 after the Vietnam War as an educational consultant. After completing his basic at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Fred began working at the education department at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC. Here he assisted men with pursuing secondary education and college courses. He also served on security details at major events, including two presidential inaugurations.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Lugtigheid was born in Grand Rapids, MI and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He joined the Air Force at age 17, and became an autopilot and flight controls mechanic. He was based in California and spent some tours of duty in Spain. He also spent a tour of duty in Da Nang, Vietnam on a base working support for aircraft.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-31T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Louis Berra was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1942. He attended the University of Detroit and was part of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) there. He received his Officer Candidate School training at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio and received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in August 1965. In June 1966 he received orders for Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming where he served as a staff officer and the chief of operations until 1969. He was transferred to Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay in Canada where he helped with base operations until 1970. From 1971 to 1995 he served in the Air Force Reserve at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, various bases all over the continental United States, and and at NATO bases in Europe. From 1990 to 1995 he served in the Office of Civil Engineers in the Pentagon and reached the rank of colonel.
- Date Created:
- 2015-08-13T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Bob Becker, born in Illinois in 1944, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1966 during the Vietnam War. While training at Lackland Air Force Base, Bob was recruited on to the base softball team. He traveled often with the team playing in tournaments against both military and civilian teams. He was then transferred to the Air Force Academy softball team and reassigned to the base newspaper. Here he covered sports stories including Air Force football games and the training of the 1968 Olympic team. After being discharged Bob continued his career in journalism working in sport in Grand Rapids Michigan and became very involved with veterans organization.
- Date Created:
- 2012-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- 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:
- Robert Knight was born in Decatur, Michigan on March 28, 1933. He enlisted in the Air Force on March 3, 1953 and received his basic training at Sampson Air Force Base, New York. He received property accounting and material services training at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming and then went on to Patrick Air Force Base, Florida where he was assigned to the 1st Pilotless Bomber Squadron. The squadron was attached to the 36th Fighter-Bomber Wing and was deployed to Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, in March 1954. He worked in the supply section at the base, went on maneuvers, and went to Wheelus Air Base, Libya for missile testing in the Sahara Desert. He left Bitburg Air Base in December 1956 and was discharged in New York in that same month.
- Date Created:
- 2016-03-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kim Tuck was born in 1946 in Battle Creek, Michigan. After graduating from Michigan State University, he enlisted in the Air Force and completed officer training as a munitions officer. Following training, he served as a munitions officer at several bases around the country and the world, including a year's tour at bases in Thailand from 1972 to 1973.
- Date Created:
- 2009-08-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ron Kloet was born on August 8th, 1936 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school and briefly attending Davenport University, Kloet enlisted in the Air Force in 1955. After completing his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Kloet transferred to nearby Kelly Air Force Base for "radio intercept traffic analyst" training. Once he completed the training at Kelly, Kloet deployed to Shiroi Air Force Base in Japan. Because advancement in his branch was difficult, once his two-year deployment was complete, Kloet chose to get out of the Air Force and enrolled at Michigan State University to study for a Russian degree. After completing his Bachelor's Degree, Kloet briefly thought about continuing for a Master's Degree but instead decided to take a job working for the CIA. However, the job was not what Kloet had expected, so he eventually re-enlisted in the Army and after leaving the CIA and receiving additional training at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Kloet deployed to Germany. Kloet moved around several units in Germany, eventually ending up as the de facto leader of a detachment in a town outside of Frankfurt. However, that was not the work Kloet expected to do, so he put in a transfer request to Vietnam and after training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, deployed to Vietnam. Once in Vietnam, Kloet stayed in Saigon working as part of the intelligence services, creating reports about enemy infiltration rates and troop strengths. After his tour, Kloet returned to Fort Bragg in March 1968, missing the Tet Offensive before deploying for a second tour as an intelligence advisor at a province capital. (see parts 2 and 3 for rest of career)
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Thomas Swanson served in the U.S. Air Force between 1976 and 1980. He trained in Denver, Colorado, as an instrumentation mechanic, and worked on the testing grounds at Yuma, Arizona.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Goedert was born on January 23, 1926 in Oak Park, Illinois. He became an ordained Dominican Priest in 1951 and served in New Orleans from 1952-1960. In 1960 he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as a Catholic Chaplain. Father Goedert served in the Air Force until 1988, when he retired at the age of 65.
- Date Created:
- 2013-04-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Patrick was born in Maywood, California on April 9, 1931. William enlisted in the Air Force in August 1950 and went through basic training in Texas. He then went through preliminary air training school as well as advanced computer training in Texas. William then spent the rest of his 3.5 years stationed at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas where he inspected B-29s before they took off for Korea. He discusses several air crashes that he witnessed, along with more routine duties.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Carol Sutton of Muskegon was born in Davis, West Virginia on February 23, 1940. She went to Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as West Virginia University after high school. After graduating in 1963, Sutton went on an extended international trip before joining the Air Force. In May of 1965, she underwent Basic Training in Montgomery, Alabama, and graduated as a Second Lieutenant since she was a nurse. She was then stationed at Wilford Hall in Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, where she met her husband in the labor and delivery unit of the hospital. They got married in July of 1966 before her husband was deployed to Vietnam. After his return in 1968, the couple moved to Austin, Texas and they both left the service. Sutton then worked as a nurse at the health center at the University of Texas before retiring in 2000.
- Date Created:
- 2019-06-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- LeRoy Van Vleet was born in Michigan in 1931. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1931, and received training as a specialist in fuels and lubricants. He was assigned to a refueling base in the Aleutian Islands for thirteen months, and then spent the rest of his time in the service at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
- Date Created:
- 2010-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kathryn Bulkley was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1919. During World War II she worked in the Continental Motors factory in Muskegon for a few years building aircraft for the war effort. In 1948 she enlisted in the Air Force. She received her basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, then went to Chanute Field, Illinois, to wait for her assignment. She was assigned to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, to work as a mechanic on flight simulators for pilots to learn how to fly by instruments. She stayed at Langley for the duration of her enlistment and was discharged in 1950.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Henry Bledsoe was born in 1951, in an Illinois farming community. He served in the Vietnam War in the Air Force as a medic. He spent several months in Vietnam, where he tested blood cultures and worked with a unit whose job it was to keep patients stable prior to shipment to hospitals.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Stephen Rowe is a Vietnam veteran who served in the United States Air Force for 20 years in the field of intelligence. As a member of the 7602 Air Force Intelligence Group, Rowe went to Vietnam, the Philippines, and various bases throughout the United States. In this interview, Rowe gives an overview of his 20 years spent in the service and answers questions about food, free time, holidays, fear, and combat. One of his most memorable moments occurred just after Vietnam, when Rowe was assigned to the debriefing of one of the Vietnam POWs. Rowe spent 2-4 weeks in a hospital near Riverside, CA listening to the POWs story.
- Date Created:
- 2006-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mr. Vermerris is from Michigan and was born on February 22nd, 1931. In 1951, he and some friends decided to join the Air Force instead of waiting to get drafted for Korea. He received his training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and then to Biloxi, Mississippi to learn how to use a radio. He chose to be in the Airborne. His job in the service consisted of supplying troops in Japan, Korea, and he even traveled to Greenland and Iceland. He was in the Air Force for three years.
- Date Created:
- 2010-02-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Melvin Bowser served in the US Air Force from 1962 to 1966. He trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and was then stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan. There he worked as a furnace tender and maintenance man on the base, and later switched to electrical work after being injured.
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sherman Reed was born in Jasonville, Indiana, on June 24, 1941. He originally served in the Air Force before becoming an Army chaplain. He received his interceptor weapons control training at Keesler Air Force Base, Missouri, then was assigned to the 848th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Norton Air Force Base, California. During his time with the 848th, he was deployed to a base north of Clark Field in the Philippines to assist with the buildup in Vietnam. He decided to become a minister, and he attended the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from there in May 1971. While at seminary he was part of the reserve at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base. He resigned his commission with the Air Force and began the process of becoming a chaplain in the Army in 1977 He served at Fort Carson, Colorado, and worked with the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade in West Germany. Sherman retired from the Army in 2000, and as of 2016 is national chaplain for the Reserve Officers Association.
- Date Created:
- 2016-10-26T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- David Weaver Sr. was born in 1964 in Madrid, Spain, where his father was in the Air Force, and grew up in Michigan. He joined the Air Force in 1982 trained at Lackland and later Lowry Air Force Bases and became a procurement specialist. He served at George Air Force base working in the procurement department and serving on the base's drill team. Conflicts with some of his superiors led to a situation in which he was mistreated badly enough to lead to PTSD, and while he worked through those problems, he chose to leave the Air Force when his enlistment ended in 1986.
- Date Created:
- 2014-09-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Shaun Davis served in the U.S. Air Force.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gordon Ludema served as a staff sergeant for the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. After high school in August of 1948, he enlisted in the Air Force in order to avoid being drafted into the army. After spending 13 weeks in Texas for basic training, he learned to fly DC-3 planes before his outfit went overseas. He served as a radio operator and at night, his outfit was responsible for dropping flares so that U.S. fighters and bombers could attack enemy convoys. While in Korea and Japan, he flew a total of 104 combat missions.
- Date Created:
- 2005-06-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Autumn DeRoo made the choice to join the Air Force at the age of 17 early in her high school career. Going into a technological field, dealing mainly with computers, Deroo was able to work at Cheyenne Mountain with NORAD and the U.S. Base Command in the States, and was there at the time of the 9/11 attacks. She later served on a NATO base in Portugal, where she was when the Iraq War started in 2003. She eventually left the military as a Technical Sergeant and now works at Grand Valley State University.
- Date Created:
- 2009-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Kendrick Coryell was born in Kansas, but grew up on a farm in rural Oklahoma. He joined the Air Force upon graduation from college in 1956, and started as a flight instructor. He worked most of his career in reconnaissance, including flying from a base in Thailand to fly reconnaissance over Cambodia and Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He also worked in the Minuteman Missile program in Montana, and had multiple assignments in Europe over the course of a 30-year career.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald Gary is a Korean War era veteran who served with the U.S. Air Force from December 1950 to December 1954. In this account, Gary discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He worked in the accounting department and kept Air Force inventories. He discusses his activities in Germany and the U.S. during his active duty in serving with the U.S. Air Force.
- Date Created:
- 2008-09-30T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- James Frederick is a Vietnam War veteran who served initially in the ROTC and then the U.S. Air Force from 1965 to 1993. In this account, Frederick discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, and basic training in the U.S. Serving his active duty in Vietnam, Frederick gives one a brief but detailed perspective of what fighting in Vietnam, specifically during the Tet Offensive, was like and his part in it.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Elaine Kines was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1954. She graduated from high school in 1972, and continued on to become a college student and full time employee at the local Meijer warehouse. Unable to maintain her employment and schooling, she decided to join the Air Force. After passing her testing and physical examinations in Detroit, she was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for basic training. She received her orders after the six-week basic training, and reported to Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois where she worked in maintenance for weather equipment repair and weather observation. She was able to evade her first assignment to Minot, North Dakota by gaining a join spouse agreement. This agreement allowed her to be re-assigned to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina where she worked for over three years. She remembers both the hardships and benefits of being a woman in the service and left the Air Force once her husband was discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2012-04-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mel Bajema was born in England in 1946. His father was in the Army Air Corps (later the Air Force once it became its own branch) and his mother was an English "war-bride." His family soon moved to the US and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After high school, Mel enlisted in the Air Force, and served between 1964 and 1968. He trained in supply, and served between 1965 and 1967 at Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, and then requested assignment to Southeast Asia. He went to South Vietnam and was based at Da Nang, where he eventually switched from supply to ground control work. While there, he witnessed the attack on the base during the Tet Offensive.
- Date Created:
- 2014-06-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Roosevelt Burch was born on July 24, 1937 in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. He went to school in Mississippi until he was 9 years old and then moved to Chicago to live with his father for a while. Roosevelt later moved to his mothers' new house in Detroit and graduated from Central high school. After high school Roosevelt attended classes at Michigan State University for about 6 months where he studied Spanish. Roosevelt enlisted in the Air Force in 1960 and went through training in Texas. He was only in the Air Force for 8 months before being discharged.
- Date Created:
- 2007-03-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arnold De Loof grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. After training, he was sent to Alaska and Korea, where he did supply work and eventually became a fireman.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Keberle was born in Ohio during the beginning of the Depression. His family did not have very much money and he joined the National Guard in eleventh grade. After graduating from high school, Richard spent more of his time in the Air National Guard, which eventually became part of the Air Force, serving between 1949 and 1954. Richard remembers the changes that took place while the Air Force was being created. Keberle served as a clerk and did not fight in the Korean War.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Butkus served in the Air Force as a meteorologist during the Korean War. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois, and his father was an electrician. He completed high school and some college before he joined the Air Force due to his low draft number. He specialized as a meteorologist, and served in the South Pacific during the atomic testing program and in Hawaii taking readings from weather balloons.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-03T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Scott Pellerito served in the US Air Force between 1995 and 1999. Scott was trained at Goodfellow Air Force Base to become an imagery interpreter. Upon his graduation, Scott was placed in the 13th Intelligent Squadron where he worked on images relating to the Bosnian Conflict. In approx. 1996 Scott began his work in Florida. Here he assisted in Operation Desert Fox in 1998. After his discharge he began IT work in Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Michael Yocum was born in Seattle and grew up in the Mount St. Helens area of Washington. He enlisted in the Air Force in the early 1960's and after serving at several bases around the world as an aircraft mechanic, he did a tour in Vietnam at Phan Rang Air Force Base from 1967 to 1968. He remained in the Air Force until 1980, serving on bases in the US and Europe.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bill Schaefer was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1943. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Western Michigan University in 1965. He enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to San Antonio, Texas for basic training. He was selected for top secret code work and was trained at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. With that training complete he was assigned to the 410th Bomb Wing stationed at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan and got picked to serve aboard the airborne command post, flying missions out of Guam and directing B-52 bombing raids over North Vietnam. In May 1966 he was sent to Lindsey Air Station, West Germany and was assigned to Central European Operations, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency. During his time with them he worked to stop the desertion of soldiers, tracked uranium shipments in the Eastern Bloc, and oversaw the retrieval of codes from the U.S. embassy in Czechoslovakia (Prague Spring), Wheelus Air Force (Gaddafi seizure of Libya), and the U.S. embassy in Jordan (Jordanian Civil War). In the early 1980s he was assigned to the Pentagon to work with Tactical Air Control Party units and retired from that in 2003. He is now an active member of the Kent County Honor Guard aiding veterans and veterans' families.
- Date Created:
- 2014-08-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Linda Crumback was one of the first women to go through the Air Force ROTC School. She would serve her country for 22 years, initially monitoring missile launches, and later working with computers and computer software. She served on bases in Florida, Colorado, Alaska and California, and worked with officers from other branches, especially while serving as an instructor at the Naval Post Graduate School.
- Date Created:
- 2011-01-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jay Lindquist was born in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from high school there in 1952. He attended the Naval Academy and served on several ships before transferring to the Air Force in 1957. He trained as a fighter pilot served as a flight instructor, and then trained to work with rocket systems before volunteering for duty in Vietnam. He served there between 1965 and 1966 training Vietnamese pilots and flying observation aircraft out of Da Nang with the 110th Vietnamese Liaison Squadron, and won the Distinguished Flying Cross on one of his missions.. He returned home in 1966 and worked at the Air Defense Weapons Center in Florida until he resigned from the Air Force to pursue a business degree at the University of Michigan during which time he served with the Michigan Air National Guard until he resigned from there as a lieutenant colonel and took a job at Western Michigan University as a marketing professor.
- Date Created:
- 2014-02-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Prior to beginning his fourth tour in Vietnam, Ron Kloet initially went through officers training with the Army intending to give him an assignment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Kloet, wanting something else, instead volunteered to serve in the Phoenix program, a specialized program in Vietnam. After finished the fourth tour, Kloet transferred from Vietnam to Germany to work as an intelligence officer. Following his tour in Germany, Kloet's military service ended and he attended Michigan State University, attaining master degrees in Russian history and Russian literature. However, Kloet found his work at graduation unsatisfying, so he began working to complete enough active-duty service time to retire with a pension. Eventually, Kloet began working for the U.S. Army Foreign Intelligence Activity (FIA) as a civilian employee. In 1995, the FIA and other intelligence agencies reorganized and Kloet, not liking his new roll, eventually retired. Then, in Sept. 2001, he received a phone call from a former colleague asking Kloet to return to work. Kloet did return for six months before retiring for good.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James was born on February 25, 1963 in Virginia and grew up in an Air Force family. His father and his uncles all served in the Air Force, and when James graduated from high school, he too joined. He enlisted in July 1981 and left for basic training in October. After basic training, he became a Missile Systems Analyst Technician on the Titan 2 Missile system. After two years he applied for the United States Air Force Preparatory School and later attended the Air Force Academy. He graduated from the academy in 1988 with a degree in physics. James became a pilot and flew C-130s and also was a training instructor for the T-37 and the T-6 aircraft.
- Date Created:
- 2013-05-29T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Richard De Young was born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan. He volunteered for the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general and De Young assumed that that fact would somehow benefit him. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, De Young received computer training in Amarillo, Texas. Once his training was complete, he served at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, home of Strategic Air Command. Although he twice requested permission to go to Vietnam, the Air Force denied both requests, partly because De Young had a top-secret clearance.
- Date Created:
- 2010-03-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Jarocki joined the United States Air Force in 1986 and was stationed in many different parts of the United States and Europe for eleven years. While in the Air Force, Charles received his Bachelors degree and his Masters degree in computer programming. He never experienced hands on combat because he had been called out over seas just as the Persian Gulf War was ending. Charles still works in the computer programming and engineering field and believes that the Air Force was a great experience for him.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Douglas Broek grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1967 to stay ahead of the draft. After completing basic training in San Antonio, he spent about two years working as a clerk for a security unit at Loring Air Force Base in Maine. In June, 1969, he was sent to Vietnam. He served his tour at Binh Thuy in the Mekong Delta, and worked as the R&R clerk for all of the military units based in the area. Things were pretty quiet in his area at the time, and he picked up other odd jobs on the base just to stay busy. After returning to the US in 1970, he completed his enlistment as a clerk with a heavy equipment unit based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
- Date Created:
- 2011-12-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Norman Curtis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. During his time in Vietnam, he worked at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon. His job was vehicle maintenance and recovery, which kept him for the most part on base but he did spend some time retrieving disabled vehicles. He also worked for a time at a survival training school at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida as an instructor.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Meiers was born in Latvia, where, at the age of six, he and his family were moved to Germany and, eventually, put in a displaced persons camp. After receiving a sponsor to live in America, Meiers enlisted into the Air Force in 1956 where he served in Communications.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ronald Allen served in the Air Force from 1970 to 1974. He enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army and had a deeper interest in serving with the Air Force and working with aircraft. After travelling from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana he was inducted into the Air Force and was sent to basic training. He was deployed to Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam in April 1972 where he served with the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron after he trained with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah. During his time in Vietnam he was involved in a large number of rescue missions and had multiple incidents involving enemy artillery fire. In December 1972 his unit was deactivated and he was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard and attached to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron stationed in Thailand. In February 1972 he returned home and continued to work with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah.
- Date Created:
- 2013-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James de la Cruz was born in Texas in 1945 and moved to Michigan when he was one year old. James spent 3 years in the ROTC while going to school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. James enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and was sent to Texas for basic training. He also spent time training in Illinois for mechanics training. His first duty station was in Tampa, Florida where he spent 14 months maintaining aircraft on base. James then left for Ubon, Thailand where he was stationed for a year maintaining aircraft. After Thailand, James was sent to Tinker Base in Oklahoma before being discharged 9 months early.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-13T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Rick Sturim was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 21, 1942. He attended college at the Newark College of Engineering and joined the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He graduated in 1964 and was commissioned in that same year as a 2nd lieutenant. He was trained as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois from December 1964 through June 1965. In August 1965 he was assigned to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico where he helped maintain the nuclear weapon-armed B-52 bombers at that base. In August 1968 he was assigned to Kincheloe Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and stayed there until August 1969 when he was discharged from the Air Force.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Julie Price was born on September 6, 1952 in Michigan. She had to get her parents' permission to join the Air Force after graduating from high school and then went through basic training in San Antonio Texas. After training Julie had to go through a background check because she was going to be working with classified material at a Communications Center in North Dakota. While in the Air Force Julie witnessed many positive changes in the way women were treated.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Randal Cope was born into a lower-income family located in Wyoming, Michigan. He entered the United States Air Force at a young age in search of an employment opportunity. He was trained as a security officer, which also included police work. After training, he volunteered to be an Air Commander and was deployed to Germany shortly after. He spent three years, from 1980 to 1983, in the small town of Zweibrรผcken where he attended to mostly small security matters, that of both United States and Germany. In 1983, Cope was sent back to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri until he received a mandatory recall notice to Grenada, an island in the Caribbean. This deployment marked the official beginning of the Invasion of Grenada, an event attributed to the end of the Cold War. The men of the Air Force, including Randy, were in charge of clearing the airfield for the safe landing of other American vehicles. Cope was involved in the initial search of the airfield for Russian, Cuban, and Grenadian.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ronald Seigel served in the United States Air Force as an Air Force Security Specialist at the Kelley Air Force Base in Texas starting in 1979. Although technically serving during peacetime, his personal account of his time in the service is very interesting. In this interview, Seigel shares stories from the third shift like hearing a nuclear detonator explode at nearby facility and getting accidentally tracked by a B-52's four 50 caliber machine guns. Also, while at Kelley Air Base, Seigel talks about how he witnessed the arrival of the ex-Shah of Iran who was flown to the base to begin cancer treatment at an area hospital.
- Date Created:
- 2006-05-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Fry was born in 1970 and enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating high school in 1988. He spent his time training in Kentucky and enjoyed boot camp. Robert earned many medals and ribbons during his time serving in Germany and in the Middle East. Robert led a fire team during Desert Storm, working on border patrol and search and destroy missions. After serving in the Army, Robert earned his associates in Security and is currently employed in armed security.
- Date Created:
- 2004-02-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Linda Namenye of Spring Lake, Michigan, tells the story of her mother, Evelyn Tolley Buckingham, who served in The United States Air Force. Buckingham was born in Madison, South Dakota and grew up during the Depression. She graduated in 1949 and enlisted into the Air Force in February of 1952. Following her training at Lackland Air Force Base, she was to Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming to be a teletype operator. She was then assigned to go to Washington D.C. and work for the Pentagon. In the Pentagon she handled communications, reading the teletypes. Her next assignment she was living on base in Fort Myers in Arlington. She worked in JEV, secretive overseas communications on a teletype machine. After moving to Detroit, Michigan, with her Marine husband, she didn't work outside the home once they started having children.
- Date Created:
- 2018-01-11T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Willard Steffens was born in Leland, Michigan in 1935 and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1954. Willard worked as a switch board operator in French Morocco after the Korean War and stayed there until 1956. He comments on living and working conditions there and on tensions with the local population.
- Date Created:
- 2006-04-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Glenn Dells served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War from 1966 to1970. His military occupational service (MOS) during Vietnam was munitions specialist; which meant that he built, delivered, blew up, and disarmed bombs. He was stationed in Phan Rang when he served his time in Vietnam. He talks about his experiences with the Vietnamese population, and how it was difficult for him to distinguish friend from foe. He discusses some of the regrets he had about serving in Vietnam; like missing a year of his son's life. He talks about what he and others would do when they had some free time, and how they got to see the Bob Hope show at their base. He tells about how they would normally communicate with those back home, and how they were allowed to make a 3 minute phone call via HAM operators on Christmas. He talks about what he had learned from serving in the military during Vietnam. Some of what he learned was how to take orders, how take pride in doing your job, and how to take pride in yourself. He also talks about how he feels on the subject of serving in the military today.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Fields served in the United States Air Force from 1957 to 1963. He trained as an aircraft radio technician, but wound up performing a wide assortment of duties on air bases in Oregon, Labrador and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most of his assignments were with units involved in defense against possible attacks from the Soviet Union.
- Date Created:
- 2010-07-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Phil Davis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He joined the Air Force because of his low draft number, and he was sent to Vietnam and served in the I Corps sector as a pilot.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Metevier enlisted in the Air Force in January, 1966. After basic training in San Antonia, he spent over a year at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida before being sent to Vietnam. He served his tour at Cam Ranh Bay, where he was assigned to the 412th Munitions Maintenance Squadron. He worked in the ammo dump and the flight line, and supervised the shipment of munitions to different bases. Most of his duties were relatively safe, but he did make a couple of deliveries of ammunition to Khe Sanh while it was under siege in 1968. He extended his tour in exchange for an early out, and served in Vietnam from February, 1968 to August, 1969.
- Date Created:
- 2011-12-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Boland was born on August 2, 1933 in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Norte Dame University and took part in the ROTC. Upon his graduation in 1955, he joined the United States Air Force and was placed in the 15th Fighter Interceptor Squadron as an F-86 pilot. His squadron was tasked with protecting various Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases throughout the United States. After leaving the air force in 1958, Richard got his masterโs degree in accounting from St. Louis University and worked for Steelcase for 30 years.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Heflin was born in Bellevue, Michigan and after high school enlisted in the Air Force. He was assigned to be a mechanic and trained in Columbus, Ohio. John was deployed in January 1968 to the Philippines during the Tet Offensive. After the Tet Offensive he was stationed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Vietnam. It was his job as crew chief to make sure that the planes were ready to go at all times. He discusses soldiers' attitudes toward the war, racial tensions and drug use. After leaving Vietnam in 1969, he worked in Detroit and joined the Black Panther Party.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mike Davis joined the Air Force in 1973 after completing the 4-year ROTC program in college. He served in Active Duty as a Pilot Instructor and later went into the Air National Guard during the Cold War. He retired from the Guard in 2000 but still flies for American Airlines today.
- Date Created:
- 2006-06-02T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Dale Kissinger was born in Gary, IN in 1948 and served in the Air Force between 1972 and 2002. He decided to join the Air Force upon completion of high school and attended training to become a helicopter pilot, and later trained in fixed wing aircraft as well. He worked in Nevada, Panama, Texas, South Carolina, New Mexico, Iceland, Bosnia and Afghanistan. He did a number of different jobs, including pilot, flight instructor, and management. He retired from the Air Force in 2002, and works for a website which helps military families during their transitions from base to base.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-22T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- In July 1969, Ron Kloet returned to Vietnam for a third tour of duty. During this tour, he served as part of the intelligence section for the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Phuoc Long Province. While with the 1st Air Cav., Kloet took part in operations within neighboring Cambodia. Once his tour with the Air Cav. ended, Kloet's original orders called for him to go to a career course at Fort Bragg. However, recalling previous time spent at Fort Bragg, Kloet instead requested going back to Vietnam for a fourth tour, which he received. Therefore, after receiving training in another career course and in a MASA (Military Assistance Security Advisory) course, Kloet deployed to Vietnam for a fourth time. During the fourth tour, Kloet served as part of the Phoenix program, a joint Vietnamese-American effort to neutralize the Viet Cong and communists at a local level. Also during his time with the Phoenix program, Kloet took part in the NVA's 1972 Easter Offensive, which occurred in a neighboring province.
- Date Created:
- 2011-02-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Michael Zulauf reported for duty to the United States Air Force Academy on July 1st 2004, just a month after graduating from high school in Muskegon, Michigan. In his interview, Zulauf offers a detailed description of his experiences as a student there, as well as in assignments in Alaska, Korea, and at the Coast Guard Academy. Zulauf was permitted medical retirement from the Air Force Academy after graduating in 2008 and is now attending Grand Valley State University pursuing a master's degree in education.
- Date Created:
- 2011-04-05T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a few years in civilian jobs before entering the Michigan National Guard in 1991. Commissioned as an officer in 1993, he eventually took a full time position with the Guard, and deployed to Iraq in 2003 and to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012. He currently commands the 507th Engineer Battalion based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2014-01-23T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Amos Sterzick Jr. grew up in western Michigan with his sister and two brothers. On a whim, he decided to leave for Grand Rapids, MI with his friend to enlist in the Air Force in order to avoid being drafted into the army. Most of his service was spent in Japan, but he also went to Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, and Guam.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Roger Williams is a Native American who served in the United State Air Force as a medical Administrator in two separate tours between 1957 and 1967. He was stationed in Texas, Florida and Germany, and was at the Homestead , Florida, air base at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Dorman was born in Manistique, Michigan, in 1930. He grew up in Manistique and enlisted in the Air Force in 1948. Over the course of twenty years he was deployed to Guam, the Panama Canal Zone, Texas, French Morocco, Michigan, New York, Greenland, Montana, Spain, and Washington, and then volunteered for Vietnam. He was attached to the 7th Air Force Headquarters in Tan Son Nhut and was a part of an operation that was helping to turn American airbases in Vietnam into South Vietnamese airbases. He served a year in Vietnam and returned to Michigan for his final deployment to K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base in Marquette, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2013-03-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Stuart Jennings was born during the beginning of the Depression in Michigan. He said that growing up through that taught him to share, to do things on his own and to treat people well. After graduation Stuart became a cadet in the Army Air Corps in Texas and eventually a Barracks Corporal in the Air Corps. Stuart never experienced combat or went overseas. His job was to fly wounded men back and forth from hospitals in the United States. After his time in the service, Stuart got involved in the post-war house building boom after the war. The business allowed him to make a good living and travel.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dennis Churchill was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1946. He enlisted in the Air Force in late September, or early October 1965 after graduating from high school in that same year. He received basic training in November 1965 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas and mechanical training at the Technical School at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. He was stationed at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas and did temporary duty assignments at San Isidro Air Base, Dominican Republic and at RAF Mildenhall, England. He was reassigned to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base near Taichung, Taiwan and while there served multiple temporary duties in Vietnam. While in Vietnam he was stationed at Tuy Hoa Air Base and Cam Ranh Bay and made supply runs to the major American bases in the country. After his time in Vietnam and being stationed in Taiwan he received an early discharge from the Air Force, and was discharged at McChord Air Force Base, Washington in 1969.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bradford Sutherland is an Air Force veteran who entered the military after completing two years at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI as an art student. His introduction to the military was through an officer's training course that was required by the university, causing him to take an interest in having a career with the Air Force. He spent his time in the US Air Force at bases in Texas, Washington, and in England. In this interview, Sutherland describes his experiences in the service, including the time that he spent traveling throughout Europe. Sutherland also describes many of the hardships that veterans endure once their time in the service has expired.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- James Turner was born on March 8, 1940 in Guntown, Mississippi. When he was five years old his family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1960 (approximately) he enlisted in the Air Force. He received basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. After that he served as chaplain's assistant both in the United States and in Turkey where he conducted tours of the Holy Land and holy sites in the area. He went on to receive Officer Training and training from the Police Academy and got into the Military Police of the Air Force. He served in Spain as part of the Military Police and at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany where he dealt with the Baader Meinhof Gang and Red Brigades (terrorist groups). He also served at Stewart Air Force Base, New York and at Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Indiana (now Grissom Air Force Base). During his 20 year career in the Air Force he also helped establish human relations courses and race relations courses, specifically with the Department of Defense and President Nixon's Secretary of Defense. He concluded his Air Force career at the University of Michigan where he worked in aerospace studies and recruited minority students.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Al Lust was born in Ohio in 1950 and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1971. Al served in Germany, Thailand, and Korea. While in Thailand, Al worked on flight missions against the Viet Cong. Al stated that he was mortared and shot at many times but never experienced any heavy combat. After his time in the Air Force, Al worked on a mission dealing with the homeless for 16 years. He also was a rescue mission chaplain and a substance abuse counselor.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bryan Pogodzinski was born on September 15th 1964. He was active in the military during the Cold War as well as the Iraq War and served as a Master Sargent in the Air Force. During the Cold War he was stationed at Dyess Air Force base where the B1 Bomber was introduced. Later he was part of Operation Desert Shield in Iraq. There he worked for the 555th Military Police Company dealing with security risks. After leaving the military he focused on education and is soon to complete his PhD.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-25T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Pete Rowe, born in Abilene Texas in 1942, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1964-1986 as an intelligence officer. Pete began his service in the ROTC program. After being commissioned, Pete was sent to the Philippines where he served over an intelligence team that intercepted signals from South and Southwest China. In 1968, Pete was sent to Vietnam where he worked interrogating captured North Vietnamese's soldiers during the Vietnam War. After leaving the country in 1969, Pete began working in the Domestic Contact Position (DCP) where he interviewed individuals who commonly interacted with and traveled outside of the country in order to gain intelligence. In 1974, he began working as an assistant professor of aerospace engineering at California State University Fresno in the ROTC program.
- Date Created:
- 2012-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Wells was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930 and his family moved to Michigan in 1931, graduating from high school in 1949 in Grand Rapids. He then attended Grand Rapids Community College and served in the Michigan Army National Guard. After hearing rumors that his National Guard unit would be deployed to fight in the Korean War he decided to transfer to the Air Force in February 1951. He received training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; University of Southern California School of Aeronautics, Santa Maria, California; and Chanute Field, Illinois. He was first stationed at George Air Force Base, California with the 4th Tow Target Squadron and then sent to Ashiya Air Force Base in Kyushu, Japan where he served with the 816th "Packet Rats" Troop Carrier Squadron flying supply and repair missions to Korea. From May to July of 1953 he served in Vietnam as an engine technician aiding the French air force at the time when they were building the base at Dien Bien Phu. He returned to Japan after his short stint in Vietnam, served a year at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and left the Air Force in January 1955.
- Date Created:
- 2014-04-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Seymour Harkema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1930. In December 1950, he enlisted in the Air Force and received his basic training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Upon completion of basic training he went to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, for electronics training then went to Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. At Lowry, he learned about and became an instructor for radar-guided weapons sights on the F-84 and F-86 fighter jets. Once he left Lowry he joined a mobile training unit based out of Chanute Field, Illinois, and he served as an instructor at various bases in Michigan with the National Guard. He spent a total of nine months in Japan on Kyushu and Okinawa working with fighter pilots flying during the Korean War, and went to South Korea once a month during the war. After Japan, he returned Chanute Field, and for his final assignment he was stationed at Hickam Field, Hawaii, for three months until his enlistment ended in 1954.
- Date Created:
- 2015-03-28T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Paul Lecours was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1946 and decided to join the U.S. Air Force in 1966 because of concerns that he wouldn't be able to keep his deferment from the draft. Following basic training, Lecours briefly served at a Strategic Air Command base in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan before deploying to Vietnam. During his tour in Vietnam, the Air Force stationed Lecours at Cam Ranh Bay in the military pay section. While with that section, Lecours worked on one occasion with the Office of Special Investigation doing an investigation of a corrupt doctor at the base hospital. Following his main tour, Lecours signed for a six month extension to finish said investigation then transferred to Washington D.C., where he finished the remainder of his time in the service.
- Date Created:
- 2010-09-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a few years in civilian jobs before entering the Michigan National Guard in 1991. Commissioned as an officer in 1993, he eventually took a full time position with the Guard, and deployed to Iraq in 2003 and to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012. He currently commands the 507th Engineer Battalion based in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2014-01-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dick Unger was born in Polo, Illinois in 1931. In 1951, he enlisted in the Air Force. Initially he was sent to Lackland Field in San Antonio, Texas, but the base was overcrowded, so he was sent off to Wichita Falls for basic training. Once training was complete he was assigned to Brookley Air Force base in Mobile Alabama where his clerk duties assisted the various personnel filing work. Eventually he was re-assigned in the summer of 1954 to Kelly field in Texas where he lived with his wife off base until her tragic death. Once his enlistment expired in October 1955 he graduated from CMU as a biology major and wound up teaching in Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2015-09-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)