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World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
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United States--History, Military
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United States. Army Air Forces
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- Notes:
- Thomas York was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1927. His family moved first to Oklahoma, then to Michigan. York enlisted in the US Air Force at 16, and after graduating at 17, entered active duty on July 1st of 1945. York underwent basic training at the base in Biloxi, Mississippi. York re-enlisted after his 6 months of duty were finished in the US Army Air Force. York was sent to Caserta, Italy, where he served for a year as a medical clerk. While at Caserta, York met British military personnel and German prisoners of war.
- Date Created:
- 2010-01-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Doucette first began his military career in the Civilian Military Training Corps at the age of 15. Leaving after two year to find work in Chicago, Doucette eventually came back to join the Aviation Cadet Program. After making it to his Basic Flight Training, Doucette was washed out after a "check flight"during which the instructor had passed out. This eventually led Doucette to go work at an Instrument Training School, until he volunteered for overseas duty. He served as a driver and mechanic in New Guinea and the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Keith was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1926. He grew up in Grand Rapids and in August 1944 he enlisted in the Army Air Force, almost a month before his eighteenth birthday. He reported for duty on March 1, 1945 and was processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was sent to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi for basic training and then a technical school where he learned how to be an aircraft mechanic. His time there ended in September 1945 and he was sent to Langley Field, Virginia for two months. In November 1945 he was sent over to Germany where he was stationed at Landsberg Air Base near Munich doing engine changes on a variety of aircraft, but the major focus was on the C-47 transport plane. His time in Germany ended in September 1946. He returned to the United States and was discharged in October 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Pylman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan November 29, 1924. After attending Calvin College for one year, he decided to enlist into the Air Force in June of 1943. John was sent to Miami Beach where he spent six weeks in basic training. After the six weeks of basic training, he was sent to Wittenberg University in Ohio where he received college training detachment. John chose to become a navigator and was assigned to England with a crew of nine members. While serving in Europe, John went on twenty-two missions across the continent. He finished out his service by delivering salvaged materials from North Africa.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Kennaugh was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1923. He became part of the Illinois Reserve Militia, which took the place of the National Guard. John was drafted in February of 1943 and was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois for basic training. He also trained in St. Petersburg, Florida, Utah, Iowa, and Texas. John was then deployed on a transport ship for thirty-three days before landing in Bombay, India. After being stationed at [Ninga] airbase for some time, he was sent to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. In India, John worked with pilots that were recovering body's form the front lines of Burma. He then volunteered himself for similar work in China where he passed through Xi'an and Kunming, China. Upon hearing of a Transport Squadron plane that had crashed, John was sent alongside two others and an interpreter to recover the soldiers. After finishing his work in China, John was sent to California, went to school, and eventually became a City manager.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Eugene Shoemaker was born in Byron Center, Michigan in 1927 and was drafted into the in 1945. He was sent to many different states and took many tests before they could decide what they would be doing with him. In November of 1945, Eugene was flown to Iceland, without having any training at all. He had learned how to type in high school and they needed typists at the base, which was used or refueling aircraft to and from Europe. Eugene worked in Iceland thought August of 1946 and learned a lot from his experience in the service, but would not recommend it to anyone.
- Date Created:
- 2009-11-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bob Wright was born in Massachusetts in 1922. Enlisted in the Air Force during World War II after dropping out of high school. He was trained to work with the electrical and mechanical aspects of military aircraft in Kansas City and at the Douglass plant in California. Overseas, his service began at Guadalcanal and involved "policing Henderson Field" and guard duty. He was transferred to the 68th Figher Squadron in Bougainville where he worked on P-39s. Eventually, he requested to work with a difference ordinance where he primarily worked on P-39s and P-38s. His subsequent service was in New Guinea and the Philippines.
- Date Created:
- 2009-09-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Pahl was born in Fennville, Michigan and grew up in Allegan, Michigan. As a teacher during the early parts of World War II, he and his class would follow the war on a map. When the Army drafted him, Pahl received training as a quartermaster. Following graduation, Pahl volunteered for the Air Force, where he received a commission and training as a radar controller. Following his deployment to India, Pahl served as a radar controller for the Tenth Air Force in India and Burma. After the war, Pahl returned to the United States, but the Air Force recalled him during the Korean War. During the Korean War, Pahl trained younger men in how to be radar controllers.
- Date Created:
- 2010-07-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Joseph Gabrosek Jr.was born in 1924 in Barberton, Ohio. He grew up there and graduated from high school there. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December 1942 and went through the multiple stages of flight training at different bases, and finished his training in C-47 transport aircraft at Sedalia, Missouri. In June 1944 he was deployed to Europe and was stationed primarily at Capodichino Air Field near Rome, Italy. He was attached to the 35th Squadron of the 64th Troop Carrier Group of the 12th Air Force. On August 15, 1944 he took part in Operation Dragoon, the liberation of southern France, in that mission he dropped paratroopers and supplies into the area. Over the course of the war he flew supply missions to the Army in northern Europe and to partisans fighting the Nazis in northern Italy. In May 1945 he returned to the Americas and until September 1945 he ferried troops from British Guiana back to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 2014-10-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mabelle "Barry" Vincent Smith was born in Syracuse, New York in 1920. Her two older brothers were pilots during World War I, and encouraged her to learn to fly. She took flying lessons, and then enlisted in the WASP program during World War II, primarily as a flight instructor at Lackland Army Air Force base in San Antonio, and served with it for a year until it disbanded late in 1944.
- Date Created:
- 2012-04-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack VanHoef was born in Grand Haven, Michigan in 1925. In 1943 he enlisted in the Army with the intention of going into the Army Air Corps. He received basic training at Biloxi, Mississippi, college training at North Carolina State College in Raleigh, North Carolina, and he was classified to be a radio operator onboard an aircraft and was sent to radio school at Scott Field, Illinois and upon completing that was assigned to a B-24 Liberator bomber crew in Yuma, Arizona. He and his crew were deployed to the Pacific Theatre and in early 1945 they reached New Guinea and he and his crew were assigned to a squadron in the 90th Bomber Group of the 5th Air Force. He began flying missions in February 1945 out of New Guinea and out of the Philippines and did so until the end of the war in August 1945. He flew missions against targets in China, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines not only serving as his bomber's radioman, but also as a turret gunner. He was discharged in August 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2014-09-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Lilley was born in Ferndale, Michigan in 1922. He graduated from high school in 1940 and then spent two years in an apprenticeship with his father at Pontiac Motors. James enlisted in the Army Air Forces and went through basic training in St. Petersburg in the summer of 1942. James later went through flight school in California and trained to be a fighter pilot. After training James was stationed in Saipan where he escorted B-29s on their missions over the Pacific. James helped secure Iwo Jima and shortly after was injured on his last mission. He was discharged in 1946 and began his career in engineering.
- Date Created:
- 2009-01-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Roy Davis was born in Hartford, Michigan in 1924. He grew up in Hartford and after graduating from high school in 1942 enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. He reported for duty on June 1, 1943 and began training at Sheppard Field, Texas. From there he went to Wittenberg University for College Training then went to San Antonio, Texas for Active Pre-Flight Training. He received flight training in Uvalde, Texas, and after graduating as a pilot and receiving his commission as a 2nd lieutenant he was assigned to Multi-engine Advanced Training. In Reno, Nevada he trained on the C-46 cargo plane. In late summer 1944 he deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater and was stationed at Sookerating Field in the Assam Valley of India, flying supply missions into China over the Himalayas. Three months later, after Christmas 1944, he was transferred to Myitkyina Airfield, Burma where he continued to fly supply missions until the war ended. He contracted a disease (most likely malaria) and stayed in Burma until he was transferred to Calcutta, India in September 1945 for 30 days in a hospital. In October 1945 he returned to the United States and arrived in November. He received 30 days of leave and was discharged in early 1946. Marion Davis grew up in Hartford, Michigan and in September 1943 enrolled as a cadet nurse at St. Jospeh Hospital in South Bend, Indiana. She received hands-on training on how to be a nurse and planned on joining the Navy after she completed her nursing program if the war was still going on. She completed her nursing program at St. Joseph Hospital in September 1946, and married Roy Davis in 1947.
- Date Created:
- 2016-01-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edwin Baumann was born on June 19, 1923 in Stockton, California. In April 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Force to become a pilot and began training in August 1942. He received training at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas then went on to train at Hicks Field, Texas and Lubbock, Texas, graduating with the ability to fly twin engine aircraft. He was trained with a B-24 crew in Mountain Home Air Base, Idaho and survived a crash there before being assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group at Hammer Field, California. In January 1944 he and his crew were deployed to the European Theatre and were stationed at Toretto Field, Italy. He flew bombing missions over Yugoslavia, Romania, and Hungary and got shot down on a bombing raid on Ploesti in May 1944. He was captured in Yugoslavia and became a prisoner of war for eleven months placing his liberation as sometime in April 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2005-10-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lee Bakker was born in Wellsburg, Iowa on October 14, 1924. After graduating from high school in 1943 he was drafted in fall 1943. He was inducted in Des Moines, Iowa and received basic training at Camp Roberts, California. After basic training he tried to be a paratrooper and received the training at Fort Benning, Georgia, but broke his leg. He was then sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he trained with 81mm mortars and was assigned to the 70th Infantry Division. He left the U.S. in November 1944 and arrived in Marseille, France in December 1944. He was assigned to H Company of the 275th Infantry Regiment of the 70th Infantry Division and fought in France, and Germany (liberating the city of Saarbrucken) and crossing the Saar River. He was stationed in Germany for occupation duty until he threw out his back and returned to the United States. He received treatment at O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri and got medically discharged in September 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)