David, Kenneth (Interview transcript and video), 2011
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Ken David was born in Girard, Ohio in January of 1950. He graduated from high school in 1968 and was drafted a year later. He took basic training at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, and Infantry AIT at Ft. Polk, Louisiana, and was sent to Vietnam in the fall of 1969. He was assigned to the 2nd platoon, D/1/506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. His company patrolled first in the lowlands near the coast south of the DMZ for a month, then spent about six weeks in the A Shau Valley at the end of the year. They then worked in the hill country to the north and west of the A Shau, and in early May the company's perimeter was hit by sappers, who overran the positions of David's platoon. He kept on fighting through the night, and was eventually joined by one of his friends. He was badly wounded in the fight and sent back to the US, and spent the rest of his hitch as a clerk at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in his last battle.
David, Kenneth
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
In Copyright
Darling, Karol (Interview transcript and video), 2008
United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Women
Karol Darling was born Michigan in 1921 and joined the Navy in 1931 and trained in the Wave Program. She worked in Georgia and Florida training pilots in the Navy to take off from air craft carriers. Karol was discharged after working in Jacksonville for one year due to an illness.
Darling, Karol
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
Darling, Ed (Interview outline and video), 2009
Ed Darling is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from September 1944 to December 1946. In this account, Darling discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his active duty in Japan during the military occupation of their country. Darling takes a depth look of what occupational life in Japan was like for an Army soldier and mentions a number of social encounters with former Japanese soldiers. He briefly describes what his duties consisted of and what the attitude of the Japanese people was like towards the U.S. occupational forces.
Darling, Ed
Daniels, Wesley (Interview outline), 2012
United States. Marine Corps
Wesley Daniels enlisted in the Marine Corps and served during the Vietnam War. He Served in Helicopter Squadron 647 and worked as a clerk.
Daniels, Wesley
Damon, John (Interview outline and video), 2011
United States. Navy
John Damon was, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1919. When Pearl Harbor happened, he was a cadet at The Citadel, and immediately enlisted in the Navy. However, he was given the opportunity to complete his degree first, so he went on active duty only in 1943. He went through his officer's basic course at Columbia University, and while there drilled recruits who were having trouble with their training. He was assigned to the USS Alaska, a battle cruiser still under construction, in 1944. He sailed with the Alaska on a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo, and then into the Pacific in early 1945. The ship escorted carriers off of Iwo Jima and Japan, and also did shore bombardments and a sweep of the Chinese coast. After the surrender, they sailed to Japan, and then spent three months in Tsingtao, China, while the Japanese troops there were evacuated.
Damon, John
Daly, Nina (Interview outline and video), 2012
United States. Army. Women’s Army Corps
Nina Daly served in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) from 1943 to February of 1945 during World War II. Though the WAACs were permitted to leave the U.S. after 1943 Nina spent her service in Daytona Beach Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Nina spent her service working as a truck driver and in intelligence gathering.
Daly, Nina
Daleure, Harry (Interview outline and video), 2007
Harry Daleure joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school in 1943. Harry went to boot camp in California. After training Harry, was shipped first to a base in the Solomons, and then saw action on Okinawa. While in Okinawa Harry was taken prisoner by the Japanese for six weeks. He barely ate anything during his time as a POW and thought he would die in the small tunnel they forced him to live in. Harry eventually escaped and made his way back to his outfit. He later served in China, disarming the Japanese and protecting American assets in Beijing.
Daleure, Harry
Dailey, Edward (Interview outline and video), 2007
Edward Dailey served in the US Army between 1949 and 1954. He served in Korea as an infantryman. He describes engaging enemy snipers while guarding a hospital in Seoul, as well as combat on the front lines near the 38th parallel. He spent his last two years in the army working at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Dailey, Edward
Dahlke, Gregory (Interview outline and video), 2009
Mr. Dahlke served in the US Army as an engineer during the Vietnam War. He received his basic training at Fort Knox, and AIT at Fort Leonard Wood. This is where he learned to be an equipment operator. Much of his job included operating heavy equipment, like bulldozers. He cleared lanes, built bunkers, repaired roads, and did mine sweeps. In Vietnam, he served with the 588th Engineer Battalion, attached to the 25th Division.
Dahlke, Gregory
Dahlen, Richard (Interview transcript and video), 2007
Richard Dahlen served in Army between 1969 and 1972, and spent about a year as an air traffic controller for the Army at Cu Chi in Vietnam. He discusses his specialized training for his assignment, his work at Cu Chi, and his impressions of both the American operations that he was involved in and the Vietnamese people he worked with and observed on the base. He also discusses his views of the war itself and comments on common misperceptions of the war and the men who fought it.
Dahlen, Richard
Christian, Harold (Interview outline and video), 2011
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Harold Christian served as a Quartermaster in the U.S. Army from approx 1954-1957 after the Korean Conflict. While in the service, Harold spent two years stationed in Alaska and one year stationed in Texas. After exiting the service he pursued a care as an airline pilot.
Christian, Harold
Christian, David (Interview transcript and video), 2010
David Christian was born in 1946 in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. After completing high school there in 194, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After training in California, David was sent to Chu Lai, Vietnam in 1965. David's first tour was spent at Chu Lai and fixing aircraft at Marble Mountain Air Facility. After returning home and marrying his wife, David reenlisted for a second tour. David was promoted to sergeant and repaired aircraft at Chu Lai until 1970. David also worked at Iwakuni Marine Corps Base for the remaining 6 months of his second tour. David returned to the United States in 1970 where he worked at Camp Lejeune and as a Drill Instructor on Parris Island.
Christian, David
Christensen, Sherman (Interview outline and video), 2012
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Sherman Christensen, born in Covington, Kentucky, in 1988, served in the U.S. Marines and Marine Reserve stating in February 2006 and served 11 months in Iraq in 2007-2008. He joined the Marines out of high school in February of 2006. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton as a mortarman, and was assigned to Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 24th Marines. During his service in Iraq, Sherman mostly patrolled and looked for road side bombs and IEDs.
Christensen, Sherman
Cherington, Milford (Interview outline and video), 2004
United States. Air Force
Milford Cherington Served in the Air Force during World War II. He joined the Air Corps after being classified 4F by the Army draft board. He wanted to train as a pilot, but wound up as a gunner on a B-17 bomber and flew numerous bombing missions over Germany. He was also part of the first group to bomb Berlin in daylight.
Cherington, Milford
Cheeseman, David (Interview outline and video), 2011
David Cheeseman, of Martin, Michigan served in the Navy for 22 years, rising in ranks throughout his enlistment to become a Chief Officer. He enlisted in 1964, during the beginning of the Vietnam conflict. David trained as an aviation anti-submarine warfare technician in Memphis and spent his first four years in the Navy stationed at the Commander Fleet Air of San Diego. After reenlisting in 1968 with the rank of a Third Class Petty Officer, David spent time in Japan before returning to San Diego as a First Class Petty Officer and completed a tour from 1971-1975 in which he served as a mechanics repair shop supervisor. After being deployed to Bermuda, Spain, and Iceland, David returned to Memphis to spend his last four years in the Navy as an AVA course supervisor. By this time, he had earned the rank of Senior Chief. David shares extensive insights on racial relations in the south, anti-warfare sentiments on the west coast throughout the 1960's, and the integration of women in the Navy in the 1970's.
Cheeseman, David
Charles, Wayne (Interview outline and video), 2013
Wayne Charles was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1925, and was drafted in 1943. He trained at Camp Croft, South Carolina, in wire communications, but was eventually sent to Europe as an infantry replacement. He shipped out in June, spent about a month in England, and was assigned to the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, before the liberation of Paris in August. His unit advanced across France and Belgium, and fought through the Siegfried Line and into the Hurtgen Forest, where they saw their heaviest fighting. They were then sent to Luxembourg to refit, and wound up on the south shoulder of the Bulge in December. He then participated in the invasion of Germany and spent some time guarding German prisoners before being sent home and discharged.
Charles, Wayne
Chapman, Rod (Interview outline and video), 2009
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Rod Chapman was drafted into the US Army in 1951. After training as an engineer at bases in the US and as a cook in Japan, he was assigned to the 7th Division as a rifleman, where he was stationed first in the Heartbreak Ridge sector and then in the Triangle Hill sector. In the fighting at Triangle Hill, his unit suffered heavy casualties and was eventually rotated out of the line, and he was sent home shortly afterward in 1953.
Chapman, Rod
Chapman, Dean (Interview outline and video), 2008
Dean Chapman was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1922, and served in the Army in World War II. He was in the ROTC in college at Michigan State, and joined the Army shortly after graduating. He worked as a forward observer for the 123rd Battalion of the 10th Armored Division. He was involved in several different campaigns in Europe, serving in the Battle of the Bulge, and in Germany and Austria.
Chapman, Dean
Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Chambers, Fred (Interview outline and video), 2009
Fred Chambers was born in Orlando, Florida in 1940 and graduated from Jones High School in 1959. After graduating from high school Fred volunteered for the draft in the Army so that he would serve a term of 2 years instead of 3. He went through basic training for 8 weeks at Fort Jackson and then volunteered for Jump School at Fort Bragg. After his 2 years Fred re-enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the 187th Infantry Brigade, where he served for 2 tours in Okinawa and 2 tours in Vietnam. After serving overseas Fred working as a recruiter for the Army in Grand Rapids, Michigan for 13 years before he retired.
Chambers, Fred
Chamberlain, James (Interview outline and video), 2007
James Chamberlain enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago. James spent almost a year in the Philippines helping to build naval bases along the coasts of different islands. On his trip home in 1946, he traveled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Gibraltar, Naples, and Casablanca.
Chamberlain, James
Ceton, Paul (Interview transcript and video), 2010
Paul Ceton was born in 1946 in Muskegon, Michigan, and was drafted in 1966. Following a year of training at Fort Hood in Texas, Ceton deployed to Vietnam as part of the 198th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division. Ceton fought in Vietnam for three months and while stationed on the Van Truong Peninsula, he received head wounds during a firefight and lost his right eye. After spending time in hospitals in Japan and Illinois, Ceton spent a brief period at Fort Sheridan before receiving his discharge in July 1968, after which he moved back to Michigan. In the 1990s, he made two return trips to Vietnam.
Ceton, Paul
Cebulski, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2007
Ray Cebulski served aboard the USS Kittyhawk as an A-6 pilot during the Vietnam War. In this interview Cebulski describes day-to-day life for a bomber pilot aboard a carrier, additional duties he had, night interdiction missions into North Vietnam, and some of the people that he served with.
Cebulski, Raymond
Cavner, Harold L. (Interview outline and video), 2004
Harold Cavner joined the US Marine Corps in 1943. He was on Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa, and was one of the occupation troops in Nagasaki after the war, after the atomic bomb had been dropped there. Back in the United States, he attended Grand Rapids Junior College (now GRCC) and Michigan State University. His career was in the retail and wholesale lumber business.
Cavner, Harold L
Cavanaugh, Sidney Jr. (Interview outline and video), 2013
Sidney Cavanaugh was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1942 and later moved down to Jacksonville, Florida. After graduating from high school in 1961, he tried going to college several times. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1964. He trained as a radio operator for the 2/17th Artillery 155 Howitzer out of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He also was trained as a crew chief on a Mojave Helicopter. When he was sent to Vietnam, he was made a door gunner on a Huey Hog Ship with the 2/20th artillery, 1st Air Cavalry Division, and participated in the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965.
Cavanaugh, Sidney Jr.