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- Notes:
- Interview of Joe Rosbert Joe by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Rosbert served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as a Flight Leader in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." He joined the AVG after serving in the US Navy, and remained until it disbanded in 1942. In this tape, Rosbert discusses his background as a naval aviator before being recruited into the American Volunteer Group, in addition to his journey overseas and arrival in Rangoon.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Richard Cannon was born in Gary, Indiana in 1925. He was drafted after high school in July of 1943 as part of a group of black draftees from his neighborhood. Mr. Cannon was assigned to the Navy. After training at Great Lakes Naval Station, he was sent to Whidbey Island, Washington, where he commanded a small boat used to retrieve torpedoes from training missions. Later on, he was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and then at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
- Date Created:
- 2011-11-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bud Masinick was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Detroit, MI during his childhood. After graduating high school, he was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He attended basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, and attended submarine school in New London, CT. He was then assigned to the USS Icefish, and patrolled the Pacific until the end of the war. After the war, he played professional baseball, making it to the AAA level.
- Date Created:
- 2008-06-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Powers was born in Greenville, Michigan on January 25, 1924. After graduating high school, he attended college at Albion University before enlisting in the Air Force. Robert trained for about 13 months before he was sent to a base in Italy. From there he flew about 25 missions throughout Romania, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, and Poland before his plane was shot down in France. Robert sustained many light injuries, was helped by the French Resistance, but was captured by the Germans. He remained in German prison camp for 11 months until the war ended.
- Date Created:
- 2004-12-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wesley Strehlau was born on December 14, 1926 in Detroit, MI. He served in World War II in the U.S. Navy as a second class water tender. During his three years of service, his responsibilities included operating and repairing machinery. He traveled from port to port to Australia where he participated in atomic bomb tests. He was discharged in 1947 and returned to work as an apprentice draftsman.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Virgil Westdale was born Virgil Nishimura in Millersburg, Indiana and served in World War II. He was trained as a pilot but because his father was Japanese he was demoted to an infantryman and placed in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted primarily of Japanese-Americans. He worked in the Fire Direction Center for his unit, and spent time in combat in Europe. His unit also worked in occupied Germany after combat.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes the effect the Flying Tigers had on the Chinese people and his own life.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Alexander Gorashko was drafted in 1942 was assigned to the Army Air Corps. He began training as a radio operator, but then switched to gunnery school, and was assigned to a B-24 crew as a tail gunner. He and his crew were sent to the 15th Air Force in Italy, and flew 14 missions before being shot down over Hungary, including raids over Romania and Auschwitz, and a mission in support of the landings in southern France. After being shot down, he was captured and sent to a POW camp in Pomerania, and was eventually forced by the Germans to march eastward to escape the advancing Russians. The Germans continued to move prisoners around as Allied forces approached from east and west, and Gorashko was eventually liberated by American and British soldiers
- Date Created:
- 2009-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lillian Hansen grew up on a farm in Michigan during the Depression and graduated from high school in 1936. She then worked in her parent's restaurant for a few years before enlisting in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) on February 23, 1943. She trained at a hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida and cooked for the troops. After training Lillian returned home to help her parents run their business. She began writing to Raymond Remus, an old friend from high school, who was fighting in Italy. They got married when he returned 2 years later.
- Date Created:
- 2009-08-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of General Yu Wei of the Republic of China Air Force by filmmaker Frank boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. In this tape, Yu Wei looks back on the period of time he spent as a cadet and how it informed the rest of his life, in addition to the significance of the AVG in Chinese and American relations.
- Date Created:
- 1991-03-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- James Crowell is a WW II veteran who served in the United States Navy from November 1942 to February 1946 in the South Pacific. In this interview, Crowell shares with great detail his time in combat, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, dogfights over Manila, suicide attacks, a massive air attack on November 25, 1944, and a landing accident that threw Crowell 150 feet from his plane. This accident, which both Crowell and his pilot survived, was made part of a motion picture.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Harold Harig served in the US Navy from 1943 to 1946. He trained as an anti-aircraft gunner and served aboard the escort carrier USS Shamrock Bay. He sailed on convoy escort duty to North Africa, and later served in the Pacific in the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns, and was later based in Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack McKindley was born in 1925 in Kalamazoo Michigan. He graduated from Mendon High School in 1943 and was drafted to the United States Army. After doing his basic training at Keesler Air-force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, he was sent to Arkansas to be part of the military band. He played trumpet for the 469th Air-force band with 27 other members. They were stationed outside of Newport News at Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia during the end of the war. He was discharged in March of 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2014-04-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Meyer was born in Patterson, New Jersey in 1922 and graduated from high school in 1940. After high school Richard worked in the metal trade until he was drafted in 1942. He started training in December 1942 in Colorado Springs with the 49th Engineers. Richard also trained in North Carolina and Tennessee before being sent to Europe. While in Europe Richard worked with the 35th Infantry Division, working on communications and operating switchboards. He traveled through Britain, Holland, Luxemburg, Germany, and France. Richard left Germany in 1945 and later started his own machine company.
- Date Created:
- 2009-04-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Twa was born in Crystal Falls, Michigan in 1922 and served in the Army Air Corps in World War II. He was trained as a weather forecaster and served in California, Michigan, Greenland, Bermuda, Canada and Georgia. After the war, he worked for the Weather Bureau.
- Date Created:
- 2009-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Joseph Hovinga was born in 1923 in Dorr, Michigan. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Army in 1942. He trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and Fort Ord, California. He was sent to Hawaii and was assigned to H Company 32nd Infantry Regiment 7th Infantry Division. He saw action on Attu Island in the Aleutian Islands Campaign, on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands Campaign, on Leyte in the Philippines, and on Okinawa.
- Date Created:
- 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Russell Buys enlisted in the Michigan National Guard shortly after graduating from high school in 1940. A few months later, his unit was activated and sent to Louisiana to train. He initially served as a cook with the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division. He sailed with them to Australia, and was then shipped to New Guinea, where he and his battalion marched over the Owen Stanley Mountains toward Buna. Toward the end of the Buna campaign, he decided that he wanted to do more than cook, and became a rifleman and got himself wounded in the shoulder. He recovered and stayed with the unit through further fighting in New Guinea and the Philippines before rotating home in 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2010-05-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Richard Beimers was born in 1920 in Lowell, Michigan and spent his early life in the Grand Rapids, Michigan. After injuring his eye as a young person, Richard received a surgery that caused him to lose sight in his right eye. He was eventually drafted into the service and sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan where he learned that he would serve as a non-combatant service man. After receiving basic training, he was sent to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin where he served as an MP Escort Guard, guarding illegal German aliens. He was then transferred to Station Hospital at Fort McCoy where he served as a guard in the contagious and woman's wards. Richard was eventually sent to Hereford, England where he served in a hospital for one year. The hospital where he worked received two trains of patients every week but he only remembers losing seven patients during his entire service. He was eventually sent back to the United States and discharged in Indiana on November 17, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2004-11-18T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Jeanette Rearick is World War II wife whose husband served in the U.S. Army. She re-accounts his pre-enlistment, training and enlistment, and service experience. She retells briefly what John Rearick, her husband's service experience, was like in the Pacific. What is memorable about him is his experience fighting the Japanese in the jungles on Guam. After his service experience, John went to law school and traveled with his wife a little bit. She concludes by mentioning how her husband's war experience made them closer.
- Date Created:
- 2009-05-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gib Thomas, born in South Dakota in September of 1920, served in the U.S. Marines from July of 1943-1946 in the Pacific during World War II. While in college in the early 1940s at South Dakota University, Gib was a member of the ROTC. After reporting for active duty, Gib was made the Property and Police Sergeant of the 29th Marine Regiment, Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion. He also served on Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Guam and China during and after the war.
- Date Created:
- 2012-04-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Julius Van Oss was drafted into the US Army in 1943 and initially assigned to the Army Air Corps. In training, he qualified for the ASTP program, which sent men to college to prepare them to become engineers, but the program was cancelled after he had been in it for seven months, and he was returned to the Air Corps. After failing to qualify as a radio operator, he was assigned to the infantry and was slated to go to Europe. The Germans surrendered before he could leave, however, and he wound up being sent to the Philippines as a replacement for the 6th Division. He fought briefly prior to the Japanese surrender, after which he was assigned to work with communications for his regiment, first in the Philippines and then in Korea before he returned home in 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Lloyd Blough was born in Michigan on August 25, 1915 and drafted into the Army in 1941 when he was 26 years old. He went through training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan and was transferred to Virginia two weeks after Pearl Harbor was attacked. In Virginia, Lloyd went through advanced training to become an airplane mechanic, working with P-39s. Once he was finished training, Lloyd was sent to Africa where he worked on different planes in Algeria and Tunisia. He spent a total of two years overseas and also worked in France, Italy, and Ireland before he was sent back to the United States to finish the other two years of his service.
- Date Created:
- 2005-03-31T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wilbur Bouwkamp served in the US Army between 1941 and 1945. After basic training, he was assigned to the 10 Armored Division, where he served on a recovery vehicle, a tank adapted to tow damaged tanks back to friendly lines where they could be repaired. He was wounded in action in Europe but returned to his unit, and received orders to ship home shortly before V-E Day.
- Date Created:
- 2007-08-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses the origin of how he came up with the iconic tiger shark painting that the group adopted for the Flying Tigers' airplanes. He also describes his reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor and the days that followed for the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Robert "Moose" Moss by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Moss was a Flight Leader for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." In this tape, Moss describes his close relationship with General Chennault and his ability to bring people together as a man of vision. He also reflects on the losses he experienced as a Flying Tiger and how it affected his work.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Charles Mott by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles Mott was a Flight Leader for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Recruited from the U.S. Navy, where he served three years as a Dive Bomber pilot, he joined the AVG in 1941. During a mission over Thailand, he was shot down by ground fire and captured, severely wounded. He was placed in a POW camp along the River Kwai railway for 3 1/2 years and repatriated at the end of the war. He was the sole survivor of the four AVG pilots captured. In this tape, Mott describes the raid where he was shot down by the Japanese and injured upon landing when escaping his parachute, in addition to the experience of being discovered and taking a train to Bangkok.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Raymond Fischer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924 and after attending junior college and working in Greenville, Michigan, Fischer joined the military. Following training in Oklahoma, Fischer shipped overseas and as part of the 79th Infantry Division, participated in the Normandy campaign, fighting through swamps and hedgerows, in the advance across France and fighting along the German frontier in the fall of 1944. While on patrol at that time, he was taken prisoner, and he spent the rest of the war in a prison camp until Russian soldiers arrived. He and some other men left the camp on bicycles and made their way back to the American lines, and he was sent home from there.
- Date Created:
- 2010-07-13T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Oscar Carlson was born in 1920, or 1921 and raised in Northport, Michigan. On December 8, 1941 he enlisted in the Army in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was processed at Fort Custer, Michigan and was sent to Camp Joseph. T. Robinson, Arkansas for basic training. While at Camp Robinson he was assigned to the 43rd Infantry Division. He trained in the United States for the majority of 1942 in Arkansas and Mississippi before deploying to the Pacific Theatre in October 1942. He was stationed at New Zealand before taking part in the occupation of the Russell Islands in February 1943, the liberation of Vangunu, Rendova, and New Georgia through the summer of 1943, securing Aitape, New Guinea in July and August 1944, and and the liberation of Luzon, Philippines in January-August 1945. After the war ended he returned to the United States and landed at San Francisco. He was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and was discharged there in October 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Carol Haven lived in Grand Rapids during World War II. Her husband, Peter, served in the United States Army and was sent to China, Europe and served in the states during Korea. He was a member of the 15th Infantry in China and was there from 1936-1938. In 1940 the two were married and a week later he was recalled to active duty because of the escalating conflict in Europe. During World War II, Peter worked for the Military Police in the US and in Europe. He was recalled again during Korea, and served in the US.
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ben Kleiman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1918. He tried to enlist in the Army after Pearl Harbor, but was rejected due to poor eyesight. He was eventually drafted in 1943 and put on limited duty. He worked as a clerk at Camp Reynolds, Pennsylvania, keeping track of soldiers who had gone AWOL, and was eventually reassigned to Camp Richardson, Alaska, outside of Anchorage, where he worked as a personnel clerk until discharged in 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2010-06-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Berles was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was drafted in 1943 during his sophomore year at Aquinas College. Robert volunteered for a Navy program after receiving his draft notice that would allow him to finish his sophomore year before his time in the service, and also allow him to finish up college afterwards. Robert began officer training at Western Michigan University, where he attended classes all day long and physically trained. He served on a troop transport ship in the Pacific, and his ship was hit by a kamikaze off Luzon, the aftermath of which he describes in detail.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Charlie Bond by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles R. "Charlie" Bond was Vice Squadron Leader of the First Pursuit Squadron "Adam and Eves" of the American Volunteer Group (AVG). Recruited by Skip Adair in 1941, he was inspired by photos of shark-mouthed Tomahawks of No. 112 Sqadron, RAF. He was the first to paint his P-40 in similar markings, setting the precedent for what became the trademark of the Flying Tigers. He shot down six Japanese fighters and one bomber. After the AVG disbanded, he rejoined the US Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics to train new fighter pilots. In this tape, Bond discusses his impressions of Harvey and Olga Greenlaw, in addition to his squadron's arrival in Rangoon and the combats that took place there.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Albert Havinga was a civilian residing in Groningen in the Netherlands during World War II. In this Interview Albert gives an account of the invasion, occupation, and liberation of his city from 1940-1945, as well as the recovery of the state after the occupation had ended. In addition, Albert describes many social and economic hardships that where encountered as a result of the Nazi invasion. He also briefly touches upon his immigration to the U.S. after the war had ended.
- Date Created:
- 2011-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edgar Lamm was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 14, 1925. He grew up in Chicago and was drafted into the Army in February 1944. He received basic training at Fort Custer, Michigan and then Military Police training at Fort Custer and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was sent to the European Theatre and arrived in Scotland on November 9, 1944. He was stationed in Hereford, England with the Military Police for the rest of 1944 and was sent to France in late January 1945 as an infantryman. He was assigned to E Company 2nd Battalion 260th Infantry Regiment 65th Infantry Division. He took part in the advance into Germany and was in Linz, Austria when the war ended on May 8, 1945. He was stationed in Austria until he was sent back to Le Havre, France waiting to be sent home. In the late spring of 1945 he was sent back to the United States and was discharged from Camp McCoy, Wisconsin in June 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-05-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Loftis was born July 28, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He spent the majority of his childhood at his grandparents' farm in Marne, Michigan. Robert enlisted into the Navy in 1942 and was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for boot camp where he spent nearly five weeks in training. After boot camp, he was sent to board the USS Phelps in Treasure Island near San Francisco, California. From California, he left for six months to fight the Japanese in the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean. Robert spent the majority of his time in the Pacific Ocean and was designated as a Signalman 3rd class that used Morse code to communicate with other ships. He was discharged in September of 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2004-05-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Frank Maleckas, Jr. was born in 1916 in Niagara Falls, New York, and grew up in Michigan. He attended Western Michigan University, and was drafted in 1941. After basic training in the infantry, he switched to the Army Air Corps, serving as a navigator on B-24s. He was the sole survivor of two air crashes, one in training and one in the Solomon Islands. He flew missions from Guadalcanal until the second crash, which he survived by keeping himself afloat for two days, making his way to shore on Choiseul, and being aided by natives and a coastwatcher. After his rescue, he was assigned to training duty. Frank wrote a book on his experiences: One 11 Millionth of a War. Elk Rapids, Mich.: Bookability Inc, 2000.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- James Burke, Sr. was born in Pennsylvania on April 29, 1918. James was the second oldest of a very large family of 11 children. He went to school through 5th grade and then began working to help his parents support the family. James enlisted in the Army in early 1942 and went through boot camp in Maryland. After boot camp James went through leadership school and became a staff sergeant. James went to France in 1944 and into Germany in 1945 and then served in Japan for another 3 years with his service not completely ending until 1948.
- Date Created:
- 2008-12-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Wellington "Bill" Homminga served in the 126th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd "Red Arrow" Division during World War II. After training in Australia for Jungle Warfare, his unit served in New Guinea in the Buna campaign, where his company spent 21 days isolated at a roadblock behind Japanese lines. After his unit was relieved, he came down with malaria, and continued to suffer from malaria and other tropical diseases until his discharge in 1944.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-19T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Fay Johnson, born in Lowell Michigan in 1925, served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945 in the Pacific during World War II. After completing his basic training, Fay was sent to specialty school where he eventually was made a fire controller. After training, Fay was placed aboard the destroyer USS Terry and sailed to Saipan and then took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. The ship encountered some damage during the invasion and needed to be sent back to San Francisco for repairs, and returned to duty off the coast of Japan before the end of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2005-11-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Edmond Kaminski served with the 760th Tank Battalion in Italy during World War II. His account includes discussions of armored training and combat in a series of battles in Italy, including Cassino.
- Date Created:
- 2005-05-04T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Lindner was born in Indiana in the early 1920s and joined the US Navy on July 3, 1941. Paul went through basic training in Chicago and was then sent to Rhode Island to train as a mechanic working on torpedo boats. Paul later traveled through the Pacific to Panama, Australia, New Guinea, Milne Island, Boona, and Kiriwina Island. Paul was also sent to Europe where he patrolled off the coast off Plymouth, England, and Cherbourg, France. He was eventually transferred to the Pacific shortly before the war ended, and never served there. Photographs and an account of military service are appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Olson was born in Muskegon, Michigan in September of 1921. In 1940, he decided to join the National Guard, and shortly afterward, his unit was federalized and sent to Louisiana to train. He had wanted to fly, so while in Louisiana, he applied to join the Army Air Corps, and was accepted into bombardier school. He was sent to England at the end of 1943 and flew 32 missions in a B-26 over Europe before returning home to train B-29 crews in 1945. He left the Army briefly, but soon rejoined the Michigan National Guard, and went back on active duty in 1948. He was sent to Japan, and participated in the Inchon landing and the invasion and retreat from North Korea in 1950. He remained in the Army into the 1960s, and served as an adviser in Vietnam in 1963. While working at the MACV Headquarters in Saigon, he wound up having to identify the bodies of the assassinated Vietnamese President Diem and his brother.
- Date Created:
- 2009-06-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Peterson enlisted in the Navy when he was just 17 years old and was then sent to Rhode Island for training in 1942. During training George and a friend volunteered for submarine service and were transferred shortly after. George spent nearly a year training for submarine service and was finally on his first war patrol in 1943. He spent two years making six war patrols throughout the Pacific, with port breaks at Panama, Hawaii, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and Midway. After the war George was part of the police force in Hawaii, where he helped to patrol the base. George had made it to the position of First Class Gunner's mate when he was discharged in 1952. Photographs are appended to interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Sam Bush was born in 1925 near Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. In 1943, at Dartmouth College, he undertook the Navyโs air corps V12 training program. Initially he spent time in Lynchburg, VA as well as Sheepshead Bay, NY working tarmac duty. In 1944 he was attending flight prep when the military screened him out with a physical exam. Instead he decided to join the Merchant Marines. He undertook basic training at Sheepshead Bay, radio school on Hoffman Island, and physics training. By July 1945 he completed his trainings and became a Junior Radio Officer aboard the Heber M. Creel Liberty Ship. Shortly after the bombing of Japan, they docked in Samar, the Philippines, where they unloaded cargo and transported locals as a troop ship. After enduring a typhoon he returned to the US in August 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Robert "Moose" Moss by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Moss was a Flight Leader for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." In this tape, Moss discusses the differences he experienced between the AVG and a standard military unit and his impressions of the city of Kunming.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Robert B. "Buster" Keeton by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Keeton served in the American Volunteer Group as a Flight Leader in the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." He joined the AVG in September 1941, and 2.5 confirmed victories in air combat against the Japanese. He remained with the AVG for one year, and returned to the United States in December 1942. In this tape, Keeton discusses his first impressions upon arrival in Rangoon and later at the base in Toungoo, in addition to his initial introduction to the AVG.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-29T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Erik Shilling by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Shilling served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 3rd Squadron "Hell's Angels" as a Flight Leader. In this tape, Shilling discusses his motivation for wanting to help the Chinese people, the undercover trip overseas, and his first impressions upon arriving in Rangoon and Toungoo.
- Date Created:
- 1991-09-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Erik Shilling by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Shilling served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 3rd Squadron "Hell's Angels" as a Flight Leader. In this tape, Shilling discusses the importance of the events at Salween Bridge, in addition to the AVG's place in American and Chinese history and his reaction to being a Flying Tiger.
- Date Created:
- 1991-09-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Joseph Dubois was born in Avery Island, Louisiana in a family with 11 siblings. He worked at the local Mc. Ilhenny Tabasco Sauce plant in town. Joseph completed basic training in Little Rock Arkansas. He was placed in the 89th Infantry Division as a Platoon Guard, and continued participating in training combat maneuvers in California and North Carolina. In January of 1945 he arrived in France, travelling through Luxembourg, Austria, and Germany. After crossing the Rhine River, the 89th liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp. Eventually at the border to Czechoslovakia, he awaited with his Division for the Russians to arrive at the end of the War. Once the War had ended Joseph was stationed at Camp Lucky Strike, and then later Austria until leaving Europe for home.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his squadron's return to Kunming from Magwe during a time when it felt as though they were fighting a losing battle. He also goes into detail about the time General Chennault sent him to Karachi to assemble 35 P-40E fighter planes.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of J. J. Harrington by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Harrington served in the AVG as Line Chief in the 1st Squadron "Adam and Eve." After experiencing some confusion with his recruitment for AVG and discharge from the U.S. Army Air Forces, he traveled to Rangoon, Burma where he was met by Col. Chennault. He was stationed in Rangoon and Toungoo, Burma and Kunming, China. In this tape, Harrington discusses his impressions of the new personnel that arrived to replace the AVG during the two week extension and their differences in attitude in comparison with the Flying Tiger spirit.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Lynn Hahn was born in Michigan in 1931. He attended college shortly after high school before being drafted into the Army. Lynn attended quarter master training in Virginia and trained in graves registration. Lynn was shipped to Korea in August of 1952 and stayed about 15 miles from the front working in a mortuary. Lynn spent much time identifying bodies and going on search and recovery missions after battles took place.
- Date Created:
- 2008-04-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Ken Maatman was an Officer in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He supervised the installation and maintenance of communications lines in the China/Burma/India theater, particularly along the Burma Road in the last two years of the war. Letters and military documents appended to outline.
- Date Created:
- 2004-09-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Charles Ohanesian is a WW II veteran who served in the U.S. Army with the 2nd Armored Division from 1942 until being seriously wounded in 1944, arriving in North Africa after the German surrender there, and participating in the campaigns in Sicily and Normandy. In this account, Ohanesian discusses rebelling against his parents by forging their signatures to enlist early, training in the U.S, combat experiences in Sicily and Normandy, and his life after the war. Ohanesian also recounts aspects of war often not talked about on the Allied side, such as the confusion of the Normandy invasion, the execution of prisoners, and keeping of contraband.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Perrin was born on September 11, 1923 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and drafted into the Army in 1943. He went to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin for basic training, which he thought was terrible. Robert then began training for the Military Police and was later stationed in Louisiana to help with flooding. Robert was transferred into the Army Air Force and then became part of the 42nd Rainbow Division. Near the end of his service Robert was instructing the Military Police how to repair radios in Colorado. Robert was discharged on November 26, 1945 and moved back to Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-24T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Nicholas Huizenga was born in Munster, Indiana in 1925. He graduated from high school in 1943 and was given a draft deferment so that he could work on his uncle's farm to provide food to the country and the troops during the Second World War. In 1945 his deferment expired and he was drafted into the Army in October 1945. He served for seven months at Camp Atterbury, Indiana processing returning soldiers, then four months at Fort Knox, Kentucky handling records there. He received his basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama and his final duty station was at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was discharged from the Army in late 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2015-07-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Marshall Doak was born in Sturgis, Michigan on March 3, 1921. He enlisted in the Navy on November 9, 1938 and went to Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island for basic training. He served aboard the USS Salt Lake City then went to Hospital Corps School in San Diego, California in late 1939. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and served in the urological ward at Norfolk Naval Hospital. From Norfolk he returned to Great Lakes Naval Station to work in the dispensary then got assigned to the USS Wakefield. In November 1941 the Wakefield joined a convoy in Canada and helped secretly transport 5,500 British troops to Singapore before the United States entered the war. By the time they dropped off the troops, Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the U.S. was in the war. He served aboard the Wakefield until Thanksgiving 1942 when he was reassigned to the USS Arapaho. Aboard the Arapaho he served as the ship's doctor. Through the summer of 1943 the ship operated in the Pacific Theater and during the Battle of Tarawa he went ashore to treat Marine casualties. He also participated in the liberation of the in liberation of Eniwetok, Kwajalein, Makin, and the Northern Marianas Islands. He experienced a quasi-mutiny on the USS Arapaho before being transferred to the USS Enterprise on November 24, 1944. He returned to the United States and served at Brooklyn Naval Hospital and Hunter College before being discharged on October 8, 1945.
- Date Created:
- 2015-12-03T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of David Lee "Tex" Hill by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Tex Hill served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as Squadron Leader to the 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." Prior to joining the AVG, he served in the US Navy as a torpedo and dive bomber pilot and SB2U-2 pilot. During his AVG service, he became a double ace and had more than twelve victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Hill describes his friendship with Bert Christman and how his death affected him. He also discusses the other personalities he encountered such as P. Y. Shu, Tiger Wong, Pappy Boyington, Colonel Harvey Greenlaw and his wife, Olga.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Emerson Barrone was a medic and ambulance driver in World War II. He was drafted in 1942 into the Army and spent time training in Missouri. He was then shipped of to England at the end of 1943. He landed on Utah Beach one day after D-Day. His job was to drive ambulances, and he was on the fringes of several major battles, including the Battle of the Bulge, but he never got into the fighting.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Robert Schowers was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927. Robert joined the Merchant Marines when he was 16 and passed the test to become a radio operator. He trained at Hoffman Island and received his 2nd class telegraph license, 1st class telephone license, and a Ham radio license. Robert was assigned to a T2 tanker and made 2 trips to Europe during the war. He then got on another tanker and fueled ships at Subic Bay. On his 3rd ship, the Seatrain Texas, he went to Oran, Marseilles, and Naples to pick up locomotives. When he returned he joined the Army for 2 years during the Korean War. He was stationed in Santa Fe, New Mexico and wrote technical manuals.
- Date Created:
- 2008-05-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mary Froning O'Meara was born in Minster, Ohio, in 1934. She played on softball teams run by the local Catholic Youth Organization while in school, and was recruited into the AAGPBL in 1951. She played outfield for the South Bend Blue Sox from 1951 until the league folded in 1954. After baseball, she worked as an airline stewardess for several years, and then married and raised a family, and continued to play and coach baseball and softball.
- Date Created:
- 2010-08-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- John Oracz was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925. He was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and went to basic training at Farragut Naval Station, Idaho and then went to the University of Chicago for radio training. In late 1943 he was sent to Shoemaker Navy Base, California to wait for his next orders, and in early 1944 he finally received orders to join the Pacific Theatre. After doing a few weeks of supply work on various liberated Pacific islands he finally boarded the USS Hoel, a destroyer, in early 1944 in the Solomon Islands. Aboard the Hoel he saw action during the Invasion of Peleliu and at Leyte Gulf, where his ship was sunk. He was rescued after three days in the water, and served on several other ships without seeing further action until he returned home in 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2014-08-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Robert "Burma Bob" Locke by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Locke was recruited to join the American Volunteer Group (AVG) from the Navy, where he was a Propeller Speciallist. He served his full term with the unit and was honorably discharged in 1942 when the AVG disbanded. In this tape, Locke describes his relationship with the Chinese and British during his time with the AVG, in addition to the fall of Rangoon.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-07T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Phil Brockschmidt knew that he wanted to join the armed service after Pearl Harbor was attacked and joined the Navy when he was only 15 years old. He took many long trips traveling in a convoy to Russia to deliver oil. Phil was eventually transferred into the Navy Air Corps and was disappointed with the transfer. In the Navy Air Corps Phil traveled to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Africa, Miami, Cuba, and Puerto Rico working as an ordinance man.
- Date Created:
- 2004-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Paul Penno was a World War II veteran who served in the Army as a medical aid from 1942 to December 1945. In this account, Penno discusses his pre-enlistment and his enlistment and training years in the U.S. He further discusses his part as a medical aid in France and occupational officer in Czechoslovakia.
- Date Created:
- 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Robert "Moose" Moss by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Moss was a Flight Leader for the American Volunteer Group (AVG) 2nd Squadron "Panda Bears." In this tape, Moss touches on the painful memories of combat and shares a memory of the time he bailed out of his airplane and withstood a facial injury in the process.
- Date Created:
- 1991-06-09T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview with Robert M. Smith by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Smith served in the American Volunteer Group (AVG) as a Communications Specialist. In this tape, Smith discusses the experience of having to leave his station at Chengyi and later returning to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 1991-04-25T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Harry "Bud" Baxter graduated high school near the beginning of WW II. He went to college at the University of Michigan for a year, but feeling that he would soon be drafted, he enlisted in the Army. During WW II he traveled with other men where they built bridges and repaired roads so that the United States Army could move around through the area. Harry continued to remain in the reserves when his time was up and eventually served for a short time in the Korean War.
- Date Created:
- 2007-06-28T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gerd Lindemann was born in Rodach Germany, trained as a tank officer and commanded a tank company in the Afrika Korps in 1942 and 1943. He fought at El Alamein and Kasserine, and was captured in May, 1943. He was sent to the United States as a POW, went home after the war, and eventually returned to the United States.
- Date Created:
- 2011-05-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Chinese Ambassador Konsin Shah by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Ambassador Shah served as a Chinese aviator during World War II and later as President Chiang Kai-shek's pilot and aide de camp. In this tape, Konsin Shah discusses the great dilemma of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at the time of Japanese invasion in July 1937 and the lack of hope for a peaceful solution in China.
- Date Created:
- 1991-03-24T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Jay Huston was born in Erie Pennsylvania on August 25, 1925. He graduated in 1943 and then enlisted in the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army. Jay went through basic training at Great Lakes in Chicago and went through advanced training there to be a hospital corpsman. He was then stationed in London and preparing a hospital for the incoming patients after the D Day invasion. After working in Europe, Jay also worked in hospitals in the Pacific, including on Okinawa, during the war with Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2009-02-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Donald McKersie is a WW II Army veteran who served in the European Theater and in Japan. He took part in the Battle of the Bulge, and talks about the disposition of prisoners by his division. After being sent to Japan, he was on furlough when the war in Japan ended. McKersie discusses the effect serving in the Army had on his life and on his success as a businessman.
- Date Created:
- 2007-07-02T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Tom Westbrook was born in 1919 in Ionia, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor and trained as an aircraft mechanic at Keesler Field, Mississippi. Immediately after training, he was sent to Australia, where he worked at bases in Brisbane and Townsville, and volunteered for duty nearer the combat zones. He then went to Finschaefen and Hollandia, New Guinea, and then to Morotai, and from there to Okinawa and, after the war, to Japan.
- Date Created:
- 2006-02-20T00:00:00Z
- 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:
- Dora Kilmer was born in Plymouth, England, in 1924. After high school, she worked for a gas company in the office and eventually worked as an air raid warden. As an air raid warden, she patrolled outside and assisted others in getting into the shelters during the raids. She met an American soldier stationed there and married him in 1945 towards the end of the war. Eventually, she went back to the US with her husband and lived in West Virginia, and eventually Michigan.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Art Lucas was born in a small farm town in Michigan in 1922. There he acquired farming skills that would help him to avoid being drafted into the war at the very beginning. Lucas became eligible for the draft and decided to enlist in the Navy serving on an LST as a signalman and then as a quartermaster between 1944 and 1946. He has photographs taken in Japan after Nagasaki had been bombed. After serving, he continued farming and in Michigan was voted supervisor of his township for 25 consecutive years. Personal narrative, "My Two Years Before the Mast" is appended to the interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-09-20T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Horton Mallory was born in Elwell, Michigan, and was drafted during World War II. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps, and trained as a bombardier. He flew in B-24 bombers out of Italy, and served a total of 38 missions in the later stages of he war.
- Date Created:
- 2011-05-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Gordon Zuverink joined his local National Guard unit in Holland, Michigan, after graduating from high school in 1939. His unit was federalized in 1940 and sent to train in Louisiana. In 1942, his division was sent to Australia and then to New Guinea. Zuverink became one of the "Ghost Mountain Boys" who trekked across the Owen Stanley Mountains as part of the campaign against Buna. During the campaign, he contracted malaria and was sent back to Australia, where he served for the remainder of the war.
- Date Created:
- 2011-09-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- George Edema was drafted into the Army in March of 1943. George traveled around the US for training and was then asked to be an instructor in small arms. He only taught for two weeks before he was called into the Army Specialized Training program. George then went to India, Burma and China for a short amount of time before he caught diphtheria and was sent back to the US.
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-05T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Roger Morrison was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 21, 1924. He went to school until he was 14 years old and then began working in a bait shop until he was drafted into the Army in February 1943. Roger went through basic training in El Paso Texas and advanced training in New Mexico for a total of 6 months. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Division and first fought in North Africa, working with an anti-aircraft unit. They later moved north into France, Belgium, Germany, and then back to Marseilles. Roger had been training for the war in the Pacific in Marseilles, but was eventually discharged before being sent to the Pacific.
- Date Created:
- 2007-04-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Roy Olson was born in Minneapolis in 1922 and later moved to Michigan where he graduated from high school in 1941. He then began taking pre-dental classes at college and was a sophomore when he was drafted into the Army Medical Corps. Roy had basic training in Illinois for 6 weeks and was then transferred to work at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC. Roy worked in DC for a year and was then sent to work in two other hospitals in Hawaii for about another year.
- Date Created:
- 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Nina Trierweiler served as a nurse's aide in the Army during World War II. She and her sister enlisted together, trained at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and were assigned to the military hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, where she served until November, 1945. She also discusses some of her husband's experiences as a soldier in Europe
- Date Created:
- 2008-02-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Jack Stoepker was born in 1928 in Holland, Michigan, and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He served as an air raid warden during World War II, and enlisted in the Army in summer 1946. While training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he injured a knee and was sent to Valley Forge General Hospital, Pennsylvania and during recovery there was transferred to the dental clinic at the hospital to work as a dentist's assistant. He specifically aided patients that had suffered severe facial trauma during the war and needed reconstructive surgery as well as physical and psychological rehabilitation.
- Date Created:
- 2015-04-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Cornelius "Casey" De Jonge was born in the Netherlands, became a US citizen in 1935, and served in the Merchant Marines between 1943 and 1943. He tells of a series of voyages in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, including some difficult trips to Russia via the Arctic route.
- Date Created:
- 2008-03-06T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Mae Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1919. She graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1937 and eventually went to nursing school. Because she could not finish nursing school, Mae traveled to California with a friend. After visiting California, she decided she would enlist in Woman's Army Corps (WAC) in New Haven, Connecticut. She was then sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for basic training. After basic training, Mae was sent to Hot Springs, Arkansas where she worked in a hospital as she was assigned to the Surgical and Medical Wards. Once she was finished in Arkansas in early 1945, she was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois where she maintained a similar position as before. While at Fort Sheridan she met her future husband and met many German POWs.
- Date Created:
- 2012-02-08T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Shirley Morris grew up in the western United States and attended nursing school between 1941 and 1944. Upon graduating, she was recruited into the army. After military orientation at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, she was sent to the Pacific on a hospital ship and assigned to a hospital in the Philippines. She later went to Yokohama, Japan and served in an American military hospital there for three months before being sent home.
- Date Created:
- 2010-11-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Arthur Louis Smith is a WW II and Korean War veteran who served in the United States Army and the National Guard. Smith served in WW II from 1942 until 1945 in the Pacific Theatre and served his time for Korea at Valdosta Base, Georgia. During WW II, Smith was on the same ship that General MacArthur was on when he signed the peace treaty with Japan. In this interview, Smith shares his childhood recollections during WWI that included witnessing the burning of an effigy of the Kaiser in Ste. Saint Marie, his home town. Smith discusses his high school years and his love of sports, which spurred a life long coaching career. Throughout his years in the service, Smith coached the Army and National Guard basketball teams.
- Date Created:
- 2007-05-15T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes his arrival at Rangoon, his first experience with the other members of the AVG and flying a P-40, in addition to meeting General Claire Chennault.
- Date Created:
- 1991-02-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Interview of Dr. Lewis Richards by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Dr. Lewis J. Richards, or "Doc Rich" as he was known in the American Volunteer Group (AVG), served as the unit's Flight Surgeon. In this tape, Richards describes the conditions he was working under in the field and away from the hospital, in addition to his personal reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor.
- Date Created:
- 1991-05-30T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Ralph Baldwin was an astronomy instructor at Northwestern University in 1941 who volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor. He was initially assigned to teach navigation, but lobbied for a more important assignment. He was sent in 1942 to a secret program in Maryland being run by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Here he helped to develop the proximity fuse, a device that enabled anti-aircraft shells to sense when they were near targets and explode. By the end of the war, the fuse had become highly effective, and aspects of the technology developed for it are still used today.
- Date Created:
- 2007-11-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Chris Meeuwenberg was born Fremont, Michigan and drafted into the Army in 1943 when he was 19 years old. He went through training in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas and eventually became a medical technician. Chris was sent to Europe and landed in La Havre, France where they were immediately shot at by German planes. While in Europe Chris traveled through France, Germany, and Austria. He was eventually discharged near the end of the war and then went to Ferris State University for 4 years of pharmacy school.
- Date Created:
- 2004-05-22T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Dominic P. Sondy served in the U.S. Army with the 662nd Field Artillery from April 1943 to January 1946 during World War II. In this account, Sondy discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his combat experiences in France and Germany. Personal narrative is appended to the interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2008-01-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- William Van Dop was born in Muskegon Heights, Michigan on July 20, 1926. He was drafted in late summer 1944 and reported for duty in November 1944. He received basic training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas then received his advanced training in Fort Ord, California. He boarded a troopship in late May/early June 1945 and sailed to Manila in the Philippines. He was assigned to Military Police duty on August 1, 1945 and worked at a base on Manila Bay. William was stationed in the Philippines until October 1946. He sailed back to the United States and was discharged at Camp Beale, California in fall 1946.
- Date Created:
- 2016-02-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline.
- Date Created:
- 2007-10-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Bobby Jones was born in July of 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Creston High School where he was one of eight African American students. After receiving his draft notice two months after graduation, Bobby left for Montford Point Camp in North Carolina for Basic Training. He stayed and helped train new recruits once Basic Training was completed. Bobby then boarded a ship in Virginia for Okinawa. En route to Okinawa, he passed through the Panama Canal, Guam, and Iwo Jima. When he returned to the United States, Bobby reenlisted for four years and became a Drill Instructor. He remembers the training facilities being segregated between blacks and whites. In 1949 he married the sister of Malcolm X.
- Date Created:
- 2012-10-18T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Merle Knight served in the Navy WAVES during World War II. She was a volunteer who spent all her time on the East Coast of the US, primarily at a naval air station. Although she wanted to go to serve in Pearl Harbor, she would change her mind due to the war ending
- Date Created:
- 2004-04-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Howard Terry was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1927 and lived in different orphanages from the ages of 5-15. When he was 15 years old he lied about his age and enlist in the Marine Corps to get out of the orphanage. Howard went through boot camp for 6 weeks and then began traveling east until he eventually made it to Londonderry, Ireland where he worked with the First Provisional Marine Battalion guarding facilities in Northern Ireland. Howard was in Ireland for 2 years and then sent back to the US after the Normandy Invasion. After having some time off and going through more training Howard was sent to the Pacific where he fought in Okinawa and Guam. He was later stationed in Tsingtao, China before his 4years of service was up. Howard then signed up for 1.5 months with the Army, which he did not enjoy and decided to leave early. He later began working on a book, detailing his life in the orphanages and his time in the service.
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Collection:
- Veterans History Project (U.S.)
- Notes:
- Interview of Charles Older by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. Charles Older trained as a pilot in Long Beach and Pensacola, earning his Navy wings in 1940. He then served in the Marine Fighting Squadron One and was qualified in gunnery, dive bombing, and carrier landings. Older joined the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in August 1941 and sailed to Burma. He served as a Flight Leader for the 3rd Squadron "Hell's Angels," and participated in the squadron's first combat over Rangoon where he downed two enemy aircraft. By the time the AVG disbanded in 1942, he had 10 total victories. After leaving the AVG, Older joined the US Army Air Forces and returned to China in 1944 with the 23rd Fighter Group. After the war, Older left the Air Force as a Lt. Col. and earned a law degree from the University of Southern California. He practiced law until becoming a superior court judge for Los Angeles. In the 1970s, he gained notoriety for presiding over the Charles Manson murder trials. In this tape, Older describes how it felt to shoot down enemy aircraft and his focus on survival, in addition to the types of planes that he fought.
- Date Created:
- 1991-04-26T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries