Carpenter, Edson (Interview transcript and video), 2008
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Edson Carpenter is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army with the 767th Tank Battalion 19th Inf. Division from 1941 to 1945. In this account, Carpenter discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S and the Pacific, and his combat experiences across the Pacific. Carpenter also mentions aspects of the war not generally talked about such as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the fighting on Leyte, and other island assaults he took part in. Carpenter concludes by discussing his life after the war and what he learned from his military experiences.
Carpenter, Edson
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
In Copyright
Carlson, John (Interview outline and video, 1 of 4), 2011
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
John Carlson is a U.S. Navy veteran that served before and during the Vietnam War first aboard the USS MacDonough (before Vietnam) and aboard the USS Wainwright during the Vietnam War and saw action in the Gulf of Tonkin during Operation Rolling Thunder. He was born in Holland, Michigan in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy in 1961. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy and specialized in electronics. He traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS Macdonough and the Tonkin Gulf and South Pacific aboard the USS Wainwright. He then had shore duty in Charleston, South Carolina, and left the Navy in January 1970.
Carlson, John
Carlson, John (Interview outline and video, 3 and 4 of 4), 2011
John Carlson is a U.S. Navy veteran that served before and during the Vietnam War first aboard the USS MacDonough (before Vietnam) and aboard the USS Wainwright during the Vietnam War and saw action in the Gulf of Tonkin during Operation Rolling Thunder. He was born in Holland, Michigan in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy in 1961. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy and specialized in electronics. He traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea aboard the USS MacDonough and the Tonkin Gulf and South Pacific aboard the USS Wainwright. He then had shore duty in Charleston, South Carolina, and left the Navy in January 1970.
Carlson, Carl (Interview outline and papers), 2008
United States. Army. Air Corps
Carl Carlson is a veteran of the United States Army Air Corps. He served in the European theatre during World War II. He worked as a radio operator during flight missions, particularly over Italy. He served around 70 missions, the military had to increase the number of missions each man made due to the increasing numbers of casualties. While in Europe, he was able to see Bob Hope perform. After the service, he worked in electronics sales and repairs until he retired. Newpaper clippings and award certificates appended to interview outline. [Image not available].
Carlson, Carl
Carlon, Cliff (Interview outline and video), 2008
Cliff Carlon was born in 1921 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army in 1942 and trained as a mechanic. He served with Company B of the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion in Europe, and later transferred to a reconnaissance unit. After the Germans surrendered, Cliff was part of the Army of Occupation in Austria for 90 days before he was sent back to the US.
Carlon, Cliff
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
Cargill, Hayes (Interview outline and video), 2004
Hayes Cargill was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1926, and served in the Navy during World War II. He worked primarily on craft that took men from their ships to the mainland when they were at port. He worked in both the Philippines and Japan, but he never saw combat, as they were in theses areas after the war had for the most part wound down. After the War, he worked as an umpire for minor league and women's baseball.
Cargill, Hayes
Cardenas, Benjamin (Interview outline and video), 2011
United States. Marine Corps
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Ben Cardenas was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan. , he joined the Marines in 2001 after one semester at Grand Rapids Community College. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, he was sent to Djibouti in 2001. He remained there for 9 months where he was primarily involved in force protection. He returned home for a brief time and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in September of 2006. While in the Middle East, Cardenas was involved greatly in military advisory because of his advanced communication skills. He and his comrades were able to gain a level of trust within the community, which became a catalyst for the city's advancement and unification. 5 months following Cardenas' retreat to the United States, Fallujah became a completely peaceful and functional city. Cardenas stayed in Fallujah until April 2007 when he returned home.
Cardenas, Benjamin
Cannon, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2011
Richard Cannon was born in Gary, Indiana in 1925. He was drafted after high school in July of 1943 as part of a group of black draftees from his neighborhood. Mr. Cannon was assigned to the Navy. After training at Great Lakes Naval Station, he was sent to Whidbey Island, Washington, where he commanded a small boat used to retrieve torpedoes from training missions. Later on, he was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and then at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands.
Cannon, Richard
Canepa, John (Interview outline and video), 2004
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
John Canepa was born in Massachusetts in 1930. He attended Harvard University and enlisted in the Navy near graduation and just barely missed the Korean War. He attended officer school in Rhode Island and was later assigned to work in the Naval Amphibious Force. John traveled to Japan, Korea, and Cuba while in the Navy. After he was discharged he remained in the reserve for three years.
Canepa, John
Campbell, William (Interview outline and video), 2012
Tex Campbell was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 1949, and was drafted into the Army in 1968. After training in Fort Bliss, Texas, he was sent to Vietnam and assigned to an infantry company in the 101st Airborne Division. His unit patrolled around Phuoc Vinh and Cu Chi for several months, and then moved north and operated out of Camp Evans. His unit spent most of its time in the field, and was involved in actions in the A Shau Valley in 1969. Upon his return from Vietnam, he spent the last part of his enlistment at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Campbell, William
Campbell, James (Interview outline and video), 2013
Jim Campbell was born in 1946 in Santa Barbara, California, and grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University and graduated in 1968, and then enlisted in the Army. He did his basic training and advanced infantry training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and then went on to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and graduated from the program on April 24, 1969. He served as an instructor at Fort Lewis, Washington until he was deployed to Vietnam in November 1969. He was assigned to the 2nd of the 506th of 101st Airborne Division as a platoon leader in C Company. He and his unit would go on to establish Firebase Ripcord and later participate in the infamous battle in the summer of 1970. After Vietnam he was stationed at Fort Polk until his service ended in March 1971.
Campbell, James
Cameron, Eleanor (Interview outline and video), 2007
Army spouses
Military spouses
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Women
Eleanor Cameron is the widow of Malcolm Cameron, 3rd Infantry Div. who served during WW II. In this interview she discusses her life as a military wife, her husband's experience and injury while serving in Europe, and their life together after the war.
Cameron, Eleanor
Callahan, Glendle Gene (Interview outline and video), 2007
Freemasons
Glendle Callahan served in the Korean War in the United States Army from February 1951 to November 1952 in Alabama and Korea. In this interview, Callahan tells of the day he received his draft letter and why he volunteered to go to Korea after being at Camp Rooker, Alabama. Once overseas he attended supply school and became involved in the Field Artillery.
Callahan, Glendle Gene
Cady, Keath (Interview outline and video), 2007
United States. Army. Medical Corps
Philippines
Guadalcanal, Battle of, Solomon Islands, 1942-1943
Keath Cady served in the medical corps during WW II. Cady was on Guadalcanal and the Philippines and describes conditions there. After the war, he served in the army of occupation in Germany. In this interview Cady talks about treating malaria patients and setting up medical facilities during amphibious invasions.
Cady, Keath
Cutler, Darwin (Interview outline and video), 2010
United States. Air Force
Darwin Cutler enlisted into the Air Force in September 1950 and trained as a Specialized Mechanic and sometimes operated as a Flight Engineer. His job was to work on aircraft engines and transportation during the Korean War. He was based in the United States.
Cutler, Darwin
Curtis, Norman (Interview outline and video), 2004
Norman Curtis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. During his time in Vietnam, he worked at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon. His job was vehicle maintenance and recovery, which kept him for the most part on base but he did spend some time retrieving disabled vehicles. He also worked for a time at a survival training school at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida as an instructor.
Curtis, Norman
Curry, Randall Lee (Interview outline and video), 2007
Randy Curry enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1962 when he was 17 years old. He served on a destroyer as a torpedo man. His ship sailed to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Norway. He spent an extra 4 months in the service due to Vietnam and signed out after that.
Curry, Randall Lee
Crumback, Linda (Interview outline and video), 2011
Linda Crumback was one of the first women to go through the Air Force ROTC School. She would serve her country for 22 years, initially monitoring missile launches, and later working with computers and computer software. She served on bases in Florida, Colorado, Alaska and California, and worked with officers from other branches, especially while serving as an instructor at the Naval Post Graduate School.
Crumback, Linda
Crowell, Mary Louise Mitchell (Interview transcript and video), 2007
Navy spouses
Civil service
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
Mary Louise Crowell shares what life was like at home prior to, during, and after WW II. With the US involvement in WW II, Mary explains what it meant to take an active role in the war at home like saving lard, oil, tin cans, and using ration books. During the war, Mary worked for the Civil Service at Fort Custer as a clerk typist and attended many of the USO events. When WW II ended, Mary married her soldier, Jim Crowell, and together they raised two children.
Crowell, Mary Louise Mitchell
Crowell, James Hugh (Interview outline and video), 2007
Naval gunners
James Crowell is a WW II veteran who served in the United States Navy from November 1942 to February 1946 in the South Pacific. In this interview, Crowell shares with great detail his time in combat, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf, dogfights over Manila, suicide attacks, a massive air attack on November 25, 1944, and a landing accident that threw Crowell 150 feet from his plane. This accident, which both Crowell and his pilot survived, was made part of a motion picture.
Crowell, James Hugh
Croft, James (Interview outline and video), 2012
James Croft was born in Gainesville, Florida, in 1977 and enlisted in the Navy after high school in 1996. He was assigned to the guided missile destroyer USS Cole and sailed with her to the Mediterranean. The ship then went on to Yemen, and was attacked by Al Qaeda bombers there. He remained assigned to the ship while it was under repair, and completed his enlistment at Norfolk, Virginia.
Croft, James
Critchlow, Anthony (Interview outline and video), 2012
Anthony Critchlow was born in Boise, Idaho in 1948. When he was nineteen years old he decided to enlist in November of 1967 as a cook in the military. He went to basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington for eight weeks before going to Fort Lee, Virginia for another eight weeks of Advanced Individual Training. Anthony was then assigned to Frankfurt, Germany but was eventually sent to Verona, Italy where he remained for one year. He volunteered to serve in Vietnam and, after addition training at Fort Lewis, he was sent to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. Anthony was sent to Fort Evans until he volunteered to serve as a replacement for Firebases. He initially served at Firebase Blaze until he was sent through Firebase Bastogne and Firebase Birmingham. His final Firebase came in May of 1970 when he was sent to Firebase Ripcord. He worked in a small field Kitchen at Firebase Ripcord until he was sent home. He re-enlisted three years later and stayed in the Army until 1990, serving in Germany, Denmark and Korea, as well as at Fort Hood, Texas.
Critchlow, Anthony
Crist, Arch (Interview outline and video), 2007
Arch Crist joined the US Army in 1946 and left after a year and a half. He spent his training time in the U.S. at Fort Snelling, Fort Sheridan, and in Fort Lewis. He was shipped out from San Francisco to Japan where he was part of the occupational force. Before getting to Japan he stopped in Guam where he celebrated Christmas. He tells of his experiences in Japan while in Yokohama harbor, and while at the base in Omiya. He attended the War Crimes Trials in Tokyo, and took part in a parade on the Imperial Palace grounds. General MacArthur was watching the processions at the Imperial Palace that day. He talks about the close friendships he made while in Omiya. He also mentions how his experience in Japan was shaped by the US government's decision to let Hirohito escape trial. He went on to be a journalist and then an advertising executive in Minneapolis.
Crist, Arch
Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.)
Cripps, Donald (Interview transcript and video), 2008
United States--National Guard
Donald Cripps joined the Michigan National Guard in 1940 and served in Company C of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division during World War II. He describes training in Louisiana, service in Australia and New Guinea. He was wounded at Buna in New Guinea and then was stationed in Australia after he recovered.
Cripps, Donald