Rippen, Alvin (Interview outline and video), 2014

Smither, James (Interviewer)

WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)

Alvin Rippen was born in 1917 in Franklin County, Nebraska. He finished high school in 1935, went to college and graduate school and took a job in the dairy industry in Chicago. In 1942, he enlisted in the Navy and qualified for pilot training. He was assigned to the USS Lexington in 1944 and went to the Marianas, where he witnessed "The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" air battle and then participated in attacks on Guam and Saipan. He then spent time as a dive bomber instructor, and then learned to fly the Hellcat fighter and served on the USS Shangri-La and on Saipan before being discharged late in 1945.

2014-07-01

Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan

Veterans History Project (U.S.)