McNamara, Martin (Interview outline and video), 2008

Smither, James (Interviewer)

Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)

WKTV

WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)

Martin McNamara, born in 1916 in Michigan, joined the National Guard in 1938, serving with the 119th Field Artillery. His unit was mobilized over a year before Pearl Harbor, and sent to train at Fort Knox and Fort Leonard Wood. In 1942, he was reassigned to the 260th Coastal Artillery and sent to Alaska. He served as a driver for trucks and caterpillar tractors, and helped build bases on Kodiak and Amchitka Islands in the Aleutians. He was sent to Texas in 1944 and trained as a combat engineer and as a paratrooper in preparation for the invasion of Japan, but the war ended before he could be sent overseas, and he was discharged shortly afterward.

2008-07-10

Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives

Veterans History Project (U.S.)