Gwatkin, Mary Ann (Interview outline and video), 2004
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Mary Ann Gwatkin was born in 1920 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She trained as a nurse, and enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor. She worked initially in Gulfport, Mississippi, and was then sent to Europe, where she worked at several assignments in Wales and England, and eventually transferred to France, ending up at the American base at Mourmelon. Along the way, she helped to treat casualties from the battles in France from Normandy to the end of the war.
Gwatkin, Mary Ann
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Lowell Area Historical Museum (Lowell, Mich.)
In Copyright
Gullick, Felix (Interview transcript and video), 2008
Felix Gullick spent most of his childhood on a farm in Kansas, and then moved to Muskegon, Michigan in 1939. He was drafted and served in the US Army between 1943 and 1946. He did his basic training in California, and spent about a year working on the docks in Los Angeles and Long Beach, and later was shipped to India and spent the last year of the war with the 45th Engineer Battalion, which was building and maintaining part of the Burma Road. He was the dispatcher for his company, and effectively commanded his unit much of the time. After the war, he returned to Michigan and played semiprofessional baseball during the last days of the Negro Leagues.
Gullick, Felix
Guevara, David (Interview outline and video), 2011
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
David Guevara was born in Martin, Michigan on October 19th 1947. He grew up moving around a lot because his parents were migrant workers. He went to school when he could and worked in a factory. In 1968, he was drafted into the Army, but enlisted in the Marine Corps before he had to report. He trained in California and became a wireman for a communications unit. He was assigned to the Marine air base at Marble Mountain, near Da Nang. He mostly worked on the base laying communications lines, but also did some radio work, at times communicating with other Hispanic soldiers in Spanish, which the Vietnamese could not understand.
Guevara, David
Grosser, Tom (Interview outline and video), 2007
Tom Grosser served in the US Army between 1971 and 1973. He served in Vietnam and saw some combat, but is still suffering the effects of PTSD and is reluctant to talk about it.
Grosser, Tom
Groothuis, Larry (Interview outline and video), 2011
Larry Groothuis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. He was drafted into the Army late in 1966. During basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he was selected to go to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for training as a teletype operator, and from there was sent to Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he served until late in 1967, when his communications company received orders for Vietnam. The unit went by ship, arriving in Vietnam in January, just before the Tet Offensive. His unit initially coordinated communications between the 1st Cavalry Division and other units while based at An Khe, but soon moved north to Phu Bai, and Groothuis was promoted and put in charge of the communications net for all of I Corps. He remained at Phu Bai for the rest of his tour, but made regular trips to other bases by helicopter with his company commander, and also periodically traveled with road convoys simply to get off the base. The base itself was relatively secure, but subject to regular mortar and rocket attacks, one of which killed one of his friends, and periodic sapper attacks.
Groothuis, Larry
Groggel, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2009
Richard Groggel served during World War II in Germany and France as a Replacement Officer for the 90th Division in 1944. Shortly after arriving, he and his severely shorthanded platoon were captured by a German outfit when defending from a pillbox. Groggel was then registered as a POW on December 9, 1944 and was sent to a camp in Poland. A few weeks later, as the Russians approached, the prisoners marched across Poland to Germany, under grueling conditions, and then had to march south from Hannover to Munich as other Allied forces approached. His liberation by General Patton's forces came on April 29, 1945 in Münchberg, Germany.
Groggel, Richard
Grit, Jacob (Interview outline and video), 2009
Jake Grit was drafted into the Army in 1943 and fought in World War II. He served in a rifle company in the 9th Division, which he joined as a replacement in September, 1944. He saw action in the Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, at the Remagen Bridge, and in the advance into Germany. Despite the intensity of some of his combat experiences, he did not have enough points to go home right away, and spent several months with the Army of Occupation in Germany.
Grit, Jake
Greene, Guy (Interview outline and video), 2008
United States. Air Force
Guy Green is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army's 8th Air Force from January 1943 to September 1945. In this account, Greene discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training, and also gives one a brief picture into the bomber campaigns over Germany entailed.
Greene, Guy
Greenawalt, Rex (Interview outline and video), 2005
Rex Greenawalt was born on October 5, 1947 In Plainwell, Michigan and graduated from high school in 1966. He was drafted into the Army in September of 1967 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then infantry school at Fort Polk in Louisiana. Rex was sent from California to Vietnam on the Fourth of July in 1968. Rex went through Scout Dog Training School and became the handler of a dog named Rupert. They then began working with the 25th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs. Rex was eventually wounded in both legs and sent back to the US and discharged in 1969.
Greenawalt, Rex
Green, Robert J. (Interview outline and video), 2006
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Robert Green served in the military for two years during the Korean War. He was drafted, but served at Fort Carson, Colorado. He was raised in Lowell, Michigan along with his two younger siblings. While in the Army, he was a mechanic on tracked units. He reminisces about some of his camp experiences, and explains some of the training he underwent.
Green, Robert J.
Grasman, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2008
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.
Grasman, Charles
Grant, Bruce (Interview outline and video), 2011
Bruce Grant, born in Cincinnati Ohio in 1923, served in the U.S. Marines Corps from 1940 to 1945 in the Pacific during World War II. When the war began, he was with the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, and deployed with the division to Hawaii and landed in Guadalcanal in September, 1942 He initially fought as a rifleman, but wound up as a signalman on Henderson Field. When the division was relieved, he was sent to radio school and then assigned to a Marine bomber squadron that flew night missions in B-25s. His squadron trained in Hawaii and then flew out of several different islands, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. His plane was shot down off Iwo Jima, but the crew was rescued by a seaplane after about twelve hours and put back to work.
Grant, Bruce
Grahl, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2010
Robert Grahl was drafted in 1943 and trained as an artillery gunner. He was shipped to England in 1944 and initially assigned to the 78th Division in Normandy, but before he saw action there, he was reassigned to the 363rd Infantry Regiment north of Florence. He spent several stints in the front lines confronting the German Gothic Line defenses during the winter of 1944-45, but this was interrupted by a bout of hepatitis. He returned to his unit in time to participate in the spring offensive in 1945, and his unit had reached Trieste on the Yugoslavian border by the end of the war.
Grahl, Robert
Graham, Walter (Interview outline and video), 2006
Walter "Red" Graham was born in January of 1917 in Lowell, Michigan, and lived there until he was drafted into the Army in 1941. He spent a year and a half training on Whidbey Island, near Seattle, Washington, and was then sent to Kodiak, Alaska as part of the 14th Coastal Artillery. In 1944, after spending significant time in Alaska, he was sent to Oklahoma for retraining before being shipped to Italy. Walter traveled through the Po River Valley in Italy until they reached Northern Italy when the war was won. Walter was eventually discharged from Camp Carson, Colorado in 1945.
Graham, Walter
Graham, Mark (Interview outline), ca. 2013
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Mark Graham was born in 1971 in Douglas, Michigan. At 18, Mark joined the Air Force right out of high school. He went to Lackland Air Force Base in September 1989. After basic training, Mark went to Chanute Air Force Base to work on cruise missiles. His first station was Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. He worked there for four years and was transferred to Pope Air Force Base in 1994 and served there for seven years.
Graham, Mark
Graham, John (Interview outline and video), 2004
John Graham is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Anti-Aircraft Corps from September 1944 to an undisclosed date. In this account, Graham discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, training, and active duty. While not going into much depth about his active duty he does mention where he trained in the U.S. Graham concludes by reflecting on his time in the service
Graham, John
Graff, Marion (Interview outline and video), 2012
United States. Navy
Marion Graff, born in Ironwood Michigan in August of 1922, served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 in the Pacific during World War II. During his service, Marion was a Medical Corpsman aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia and provided anything from basic medical care to surgeries for the sailors on aboard. During his time spend on the West Virginia, he participated in several major engagements, including the Surigao Straits, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Graff, Marion
Gower, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2009
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Michael Gower was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and served with the Army in the Iraq War. He served in the First Stryker Brigade to enter Iraq, and was deployed twice. He was discharged for medical reasons on August 2nd, 2007 after being injured in an explosion that killed three of his squad members and injured several more.
Gower, Michael
Gore, Jerry (Interview outline and video), 2009
Jerry Gore was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War in 1969. Having gone through Advanced Infantry Training, he served as a machine gunner and tunnel rat until he became too ill to fight. He states that he was in combat all the time, but chooses not to talk about it.
Gore, Jerry
Gorashko, Alexander (Interview outline and video), 2009
United States. Army Air Corps
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
Gorashko, Alexander
Goodspeed, Harrison (Interview outline and video), 2007
Harrison Goodspeed was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. Harrison thought that he would soon be drafted, so he enlisted in the Army after high school in order to have a choice in the position that he would hold. Harrison served as a platoon leader in the 80th Infantry Division in France, Germany, and Luxemburg and provides some detailed combat stories, as well as observations on conditions in Europe after the war.
Goodspeed, Harrison
Good, David (Interview outline and video), 2004
David Good is a World War II veteran who served with in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. In this account, Good discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He discusses his work as an electronic technician aboard the USS Alaska at sea in the Pacific. He also covers the ship's visit to Tsingtao, China, after the Japanese surrender.
Good, David
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Gooch, Morris (Interview outline and video), 2008
Morris Gooch was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1951. He enlisted in the Navy during the American war with Vietnam because he felt that it was the patriotic thing to do. While in the service, Morris worked as a torpedo man traveling to South Carolina, Spain, Hawaii, and Guam. Morris remained in the Navy for 13 years and ended up as a Navy Alcohol Safety Action Program Instructor. After his time in the service, Morris began working as a field engineer for a company that dealt with submarine construction.
Gooch, Morris
Goldrick, Martin (Interview outline and video), 2009
Martin Goldrick was a Marine Officer who served during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971 as a Platoon Commander, then as a Civic Action Officer working with Vietnamese civilians. He discusses combat operations in detail, as well as some of the issues confronting him as a Civic Action Officer. He also discusses morale and race issues within his units.
Goldrick, Martin