Kraker, Alvin (Interview outline and video), 2015
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Al Kraker was born in Allendale, Michigan on June 26, 1924. He grew up there and when he was older learned about engines at a local automotive garage. After graduating from high school in 1942 he was drafted in December of that year and reported for basic training in March 1943. He was sent to Camp Crowder, Missouri where he spent three months working on trucks. In July 1943 he was sent to North Africa and arrived in Oran, Algeria. He was assigned to the 591st Signal Depot Company in a repair section working on generators. He was stationed there for a year until he applied for Airborne Training. He trained in Italy until he suffered a severe back injury on a training jump. After recovering he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, but was unable to see action with them due to a case of appendicitis. He was eventually reassigned to the 591st and went to the Pacific Theatre with them in the summer of 1945. He was briefly stationed in the Philippines, but contracted dysentery and had to be sent back to the United States after Japan surrendered. He was sent to a hospital in Galesburg, Illinois to recover and was discharged from the Army in early spring 1946.
Kraker, Alvin
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
In Copyright
Kramer, Donald M. (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2006
Michigan--History, Military
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Don Kramer was born in Gary, Indiana on April 3, 1943. Don got his GED when he was 17, got married, and also joined the Navy. Don worked in the Caribbean, Europe, Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos. Don was involved in many fire fights while in Vietnam and was often under heavy attack. After being badly wounded in a mortar attack in 1972, Don was discharged from the Navy 6 months short of retirement and spent 2 years in military hospitals receiving physical therapy. He retired from his job in 2005 and now spends most of his time at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
Kramer, Donald M.
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Kramer, Donald M. (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2006
Kramer, Louis (Interview outline and video), 2008
Louis Kramer served in the 42nd Infantry Division in the US Army during World War II. His unit was shipped to France late in 1944, and joined the 7th Army in Alsace. Kramer's unit fought near Strasbourg during the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Nordwind, and participated in the counterattacks that followed and in the campaign into Germany. Kramer was wounded in March 1945, and out of action for the rest of the war.
Kramer, Louis
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
Kranenberg, Richard (Interview outline), 2012
Richard Kranenberg, born on January 6th 1944 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in the U.S. Navy as a supply man between 1962 and 1966. Richard served in ROTC in high school which prepared him for service. Throughout the course of his service, Richard served aboard the USS Midway as well as the USS Enterprise.
Kranenberg, Richard
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Kriegbaum, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2007
Robert Kriegbaum is a veteran of the army who served during WW II. He was a forward artillery observer with the 34th Infantry Division. He spent much of his service in North Africa and Italy fighting on the front lines with many battalions. In all he served over 400 days on the front line and his unit spent over 600 days fighting. His record going thru Italy was thoroughly understand and remembered details of civilian and German POW's. Robert's unit was in Italy when the war ended and directed all surrendering German soldiers to camps. His service was impeccable and his memory of events vivid. He was also one of the men who fought near Monte Cassino Abbey against the Germans.
Kreigbaum, Robert
Kridler, Debra (Interview outline and video), 2009
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Ms. Kridler was in the US Army in the 1980's. She served in the southern Bavarian region of Germany on a base that was shared by Americans and Germans. Ms. Kridler worked in telecommunications, but also received combat training and served on guard duty. After completing her enlistment, she served in the National Guard.
Kridler, Debra
United States. Air Force
Dale Krueger served in the U.S. Army from 1971-1974 in the Vietnam War. He also served in Iraq at a check point as well as in other countries such as Panama.
Krueger, Dale
Krzeminski, Joseph (Interview outline and video), 2012
Joseph Krzeminski was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1919. His family suffered during the Depression, and he left high school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936, serving two stints, and then joined the Army in 1940. After training at Fort Ord, California, he joined the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Division, at Camp Clatsop, Oregon. His battalion was sent to the Aleutian Islands in April, 1941, and stayed for three years. He witnessed the Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor in 1942 and helped with preparations for later American landings on Attu and Kiska, and then went to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, to serve as a trainer until he was discharged.
Krzeminski, Joseph
Kuennen, John (Interview outline and video), 2014
John Kuennen was born in New Hampton, Iowa, in 1950. After graduating from high school in 1968 he attended college for one year before volunteering for the draft. He trained as an infantryman at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and went to Vietnam in November, 1969. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division and patrolled the Mekong River Delta area as a radioman. In mid-March 1970 the 1st Infantry Division was sent back to the United States and he was reassigned to C Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division based out of Camp Evans as an infantryman and then as a radioman. He took part in the establishment of Firebase Ripcord on the edge of the A Shau Valley and later in the Battle of Firebase Ripcord specifically on Hill 902 on July 2nd and then on Hill 1000 on July 7th and 8th. After the fall of Firebase Ripcord on July 23rd, 1970 he was reassigned to the Battalion Tactical Operations Center at Camp Evans as a radio operator. In the fall of 1970 he returned to the United States and completed his service in the Army at Fort Hood, Texas in April 1971.
Kuennen, John
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
College students
Personal narratives
Class project of GVSU student Kathryne Kuhlman, illustrating effect of COVID-19 pandemic on a dental practice, where she worked as a dental assistant.
Kuhlman, Kathryne
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Robert Kuhn, born in 1934 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in the U.S. Air Force between 1954 and 1974. He trained as a pilot and did two tours in Korea. He was later sent to Vietnam, where he flew AC-47 ground support aircraft, and was shot down once. After returning from Vietnam in 1969, he completed his 20 years at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
Kuhn, Robert
Kuiper, George (Interview outline and video), 2015
George Kuiper was born in February 1926 in Holland, Michigan. He grew up in Holland and in February 1944 he received his draft notice. In June 1944 he reported for duty at the draft board in Holland, was processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and was sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training and field artillery training. After sixteen weeks of training he was sent to Fort Meade, Maryland for an additional week of training and then left the United States out of Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. He sailed over, stopping in England, and arriving in Le Havre, France. He was sent to Paris where he was assigned to the 191st Field Artillery Battalion attached to the 4th Armored Division. He joined the battalion in Belgium in mid/late December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge and was assigned to #1 Gun in A Battery and also laid down field telephone wire for the gun batteries. After the Battle of the Bulge they advanced into Germany, crossing the Rhine River at Worms, going south and seeing the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, and entering Czechoslovakia on April 29, 1945. After the war ended on May 8, 1945 he was reassigned to the 405th Infantry Regiment and then 4th Armored Division before being sent home in early 1946 and getting discharged at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.
Kuiper, George
Kuizema, Harold (Interview outline and video), 2005
Harold Kuizema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925. After high school, he had tried to join the Air Corps, but was unable to because the testing determined that he was colorblind. In November of 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Corps during World War II. He trained with the 106th Division, which went to Europe in the fall of 1944. His specialty was primarily communications and he was responsible for operating the telephones and laying wires from the guns to the observation points. His artillery unit had just taken up positions on the Ardennes front when they were attacked at the start of the Battle of the Bulge. He managed to stay a step ahead of the Germans, and was fighting at a roadblock when he was wounded and evacuated to England.
Kuizema, Harold
Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Kuna, Anthony (Interview outline and video), 2007
Anthony Kuna was born in 1923 in Shepherd, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army when he was 18 years old and was sent to Camp Carson, Colorado, where he trained as an artillerist. After maneuvers in California and further training at Fort Benning, Georgia, his unit, the 71st Division, was shipped to France. He served as a machine gunner assigned to a battery of 155 mm guns. His unit fought through the Siegfried Line in January, 1945, and moved across southern Germany, ending the war in Austria, where his unit liberated a concentration camp.
Kuna, Anthony
Lowell Area Historical Museum (Lowell, Mich.)
Kurys, Sophie (Interview transcript and video), 2009
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives
Baseball for women--United States
Baseball
Sports for women
World War, 1939-1945
Baseball players--Wisconsin
Baseball players--Michigan
Women
Sophie Kurys was born on May 14, 1925 in Flint, Michigan. Early on in childhood she played baseball with the neighborhood kids and then started out in city leagues playing organized baseball at thirteen until she turned seventeen when she tried out to play professionally. She played for the Racine Belles from 1943 to 1950; played for a Chicago league from 1950 to 1951, and then Battle Creek Belles in 1952 until 1955 and left for reasons unsaid. During her long career, she predominantly played second base but switched to various positions when she was with the Battle Creek Belles. For the Battle Creek Belles she played third base, shortstop, and outfield. Kurys set many records. Among the most notable highlights were setting the league record for stealing 201 bases in 1946 and hitting seven home runs in 1950.
Kurys, Sophie
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)
Kutten, Harry (Interview outline and video), 2011
Harry Kutten was born in St. Louis in 1924 to Russian immigrant parents, and enlisted in the Navy while still in high school after he heard of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. He felt obligated to join the armed forces after this incident, and cited the growing influence of Hitler and the threat to democracy as his motivation. Harry completed basic training at the Farragut Naval Training Station in Idaho. After training he joined a merchant ship that sailed to New Caledonia and assigned as a signalman aboard the light cruiser USS Montpelier. He served aboard the ship in the Solomon Islands, and later on as part of the flotilla that went to the Marianas and provided support for troops on Saipan. From there, he went on to the Philippines, Okinawa and Japan.
Kutten, Harry
United States. Army. Corps of Engineers
Scrapbooks
Photographs
B-25 C Mitchell Nose Art, "Snookie", 1943.
Kuxhaus, Otto
Otto Kuxhaus WWII collection, RHC- 57
Captured Messerschmitt Me-210, North Africa. Note British insignia on underside of wing, 1943.
B-25 C Mitchell armerer cleaning nose machine gun
B-25 C Mitchell armerer cleaning nose machine gun, 1943.
B-25 Mitchell Nose Art, "Miss Copper Country, Quincy, Skanee, Hiawatha's Playground"
B-25 Mitchell Nose Art, "Miss Copper Country, Quincy, Skanee, Hiawatha's Playground," 1943.
Group of German soldiers on vehicle, 1943.