440 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a1fa9e8cc60b380481e1b53e39d7ca56.mp4 b2833473866adbe9e8d4d6c4fabf1a61 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99f2aa2a86bc4afbd81924504c8875d9.pdf 62511826687abe9e52cf34caca97c379 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project George Kuiper World War II 1 hour 56 seconds (00:00:10) Early Life -Born in February 1926 in Holland, Michigan -Grew up in Holland -Father worked in the Holland Furniture Company -During the Great Depression he only worked three days a week -Despite having a job, the family still didn't have much -He had three brothers -His aunt lived with them -Mother stayed home and took care of George and his brothers (00:01:10) Start of the War and News on the War -Remembers hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor the afternoon of December 7, 1941 -In school they were discussing the events unfolding in Europe and Asia -Always enjoyed history, so that stuck with him -Still, he was only fifteen (or sixteen) so it wasn't of great importance They still had family living in Germany during the war -Father would write to them once in a while -Had male relatives living in Germany that wound up fighting for the German Army -Didn't think that the war would be over before he would have to serve -Started receiving extra physical education in high school -Preparing all of the young men for military service (00:03:14) Getting Drafted -Graduated from high school in June 1944 -Received his draft notice to report for an Army physical in Detroit -This happened shortly after he turned eighteen in February 1944 -Reported to the draft board in Holland in June 1944 -Father dropped him off there Sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois by train for processing (00:04:42) Basic Training and Field Artillery Training -From Fort Sheridan he was sent to California by train for field artillery training -The train ride was dirty from the soot produced by the steam engine -Travelled across the Rocky Mountains and the Great Salt Lake -Received his training in Camp Roberts, California -Between San Francisco and Los Angeles -Went to Fort Hunter Liggett -Proving ground for the field artillery at Camp Roberts -Received basic training and field artillery training at the same time -Trained with WWI-era artillery pieces -Learned how to prepare a charge, load a round, and set coordinates for �the gun -It took seven men to load and properly fire a howitzer -His job was to load the powder charge -Determined the range and elevation of the round -Received their coordinates from headquarters via field telephone -Later in the war, his job was to lay down telephone wire -Establishing coordinates involved trigonometry -Could fire three rounds per minute when the gun crew was trained enough -Each artillery shell weighed about ninety six to ninety eight pounds -Had to also qualify with the M1 Carbine -Went to a firing range and shot at targets 100 yards and 200 yards away -Marched around Camp Roberts -There was a strong emphasis on discipline and Army protocol -Bed had to be made just right, everyone had to have their things uniform and lined up -He adjusted well, although initially the coarseness of the drill sergeants was a shock -Believes that it would teach a lot of young people discipline -He was a little homesick at first, but got over it -Spent sixteen weeks at Camp Roberts -The howitzer was pulled by a modified tank -Could go to Paso Robles, California which was a town near Camp Roberts -Took the bus from the camp to the town -It was good to get off the base on Saturdays -If you didn't have anything to do, they'd find something for you to do (00:17:28) Pre-Deployment -After Camp Roberts he was sent across the country to Fort Meade, Maryland -Stayed there for about one week -Went to an infiltration course -Crawling under barbed wire while a machine gun is fired over your head -One day had to march eight miles to the infiltration course in the pouring rain -Afterwards had to march the eight miles back -Did the infiltration course three times -At Fort Meade he was still a replacement and did not have a unit (00:20:07) Deployment -After a week at Fort Meade he was sent up to Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts -Stayed there for two days -Boarded the RMS Aquitania (sister ship of the RMS Lusitania) -Sailed alone and left after dark -He pulled guard duty, four hours on eight hours off, looking for U-Boats -Took seven days to sail across the Atlantic Ocean -Weather wasn't too bad -Some men got seasick �(00:22:14) Arrival in the European Theatre -Arrived in Glasgow, Scotland -Went by train to Southampton, England -Boarded a ship and was given a loaf of bread and a ring of bologna -It was a small transport ship -Had to sleep in hammocks -Anchored just outside of Le Havre, France -Couldn't go into the harbor because it was heavily damaged -Had to climb down the side of the ship using rope ladders to board LSTs -Also dealing with twenty foot high waves -In Le Havre they boarded "40 and 8" boxcars and traveled to Paris -"40 and 8" boxcars: capable of carrying forty men, or eight horses -By now it was November 1944 -In Paris he went to a replacement depot and was assigned to the 191st Field Artillery Battalion (00:26:10) Joining the 191st and the Battle of the Bulge Pt. 1 -From Paris he traveled to Belgium in open topped trucks to join the 191st -By the time he joined them it was mid/late December 1944 and extremely cold -Saw a lot of American planes flying east into Germany on bombing runs -German planes would show up occasionally and strafe them -The first night that he joined the battalion he was placed on guard duty -It was freezing and he could see Germans and Americans exchanging gunfire -They followed the infantry and the tanks as they pushed the Germans back -They were attached to the 4th Armored Division -Working with "split trail" howitzers that had longer barrels -Pulled by trucks -Took an hour to set up one gun -After it was set up the 1st lieutenant would sight the gun -He was assigned to #1 Gun in A Battery -They would receive orders to do "harassing fire" -Fire a shell every two minutes at the Germans to keep disrupting them -Had to learn how to sleep through the artillery fire -Wore long underwear, two pairs of pants, combat boots, a sweater, and a heavy jacket -Also wore a wool cap under his helmet -This was all just to keep from freezing to death -Not allowed to light a fire because it would give their position away to the Germans -German 88mm gun crews could spot the fire and zero in on their position -Didn't know anything about the progress of the battle or the progress of the war -Just advanced and followed orders to carry out fire missions -Some days they advanced a couple miles -Other days they had to stop and bombard the German positions before moving (00:34:53) Rhine River Campaign Pt. 1 -The next major fighting was crossing the Rhine River at Worms in early spring 1945 -Their job was to ire shells over the river to cover the Army Engineers �-The Army Engineers were trying to set up a pontoon bridge to cross the river -Had to contend with German artillery and German Me 109s -One plane got so close that he saw the pilot's face -Could see low level dogfights and high altitude bombers going into Germany -Punched through the German lines and advanced fifty miles into Germany -The German line closed behind them and they ran out of gas for three days -German bombers would come in and harass them -One gun got hit and one truck was hit and they took some casualties (00:38:22) Battle of the Bulge Pt. 2 -Once the Germans had begun to retreat, they began to advance out of the Ardennes Forest -This would have been near the end of January 1945 -Could see charges tied to trees along the road -Germans were going to try to block the road but retreated too quickly -Couldn't see any of the German frontier fortifications due to the snow (00:40:00) Rhine River Campaign Pt. 2 and Advancing into Germany -While crossing the Rhine River the Germans tried desperately to stop the Army Engineers -The Germans failed and he was one of many that crossed on that pontoon bridge -Before crossing over some men found a warehouse and found several big cases of wine -After they had crossed the Rhine River they had to deal with mined roads -Remembers seeing German soldiers leaving their foxholes and retreating, some without guns -Got caught behind German lines for three days before they could get refueled -Once they got refueled they kept advancing and were at the front of the advance -Because of this they didn't see a lot of prisoners -Went through towns that they had had to shell -Saw the civilians living in the rubble -Pushed the Germans back every day -There was still some last ditch German resistance near the end, mostly artillery harassment -Remembers one night after crossing a river he was camped out next to a house -German artillery was so intense that he thought it was a thunderstorm -The next day he saw an artillery shell lodged in the porch of the house -Had it not been a dud, he probably would have died -Started seeing more civilians retreating east that were trying to get away from the Allies -Had been brainwashed into thinking the Allies would kill any civilians they saw -Proved the propaganda wrong and just drove around the civilians (00:48:00) End of the War Pt. 1 -Got into Czechoslovakia by the time the war ended on May 8, 1945 -The 191st entered Czechoslovakia on April 29, 1945 -Saw Ohrdruf Concentration Camp in Germany around April 7, 1945 -First concentration camp liberated by the U.S. (April 4, 1945) -Saw corpses laid out like cord wood, couldn't fathom the inhumanity �-Went back into Germany for a while after the war on occupation duty -Russia had begun to set up their occupation zones -He was reassigned to the 405th Infantry Regiment for a while -Then he was reassigned to a unit within the 4th Armored Division (00:50:14) Field Telephone Work -Enjoyed laying down wire for gun batteries more than being on a gun crew -Safer than being on a gun, surrounded by gunpowder -Rode around on a weapons carrier -Combination of a jeep and pickup truck (00:50:58) End of the War Pt. 2 -With the war over they were able to stay in houses and sleep in beds -Had more contact with German civilians, and contact became more positive after the war (00:51:44) General Patton -Only saw General Patton a few times during the war, and that was close to the front line -Tried to avoid him, simply felt that he didn't need to be where high ranking officers were (00:52:12) End of the War Pt. 3 -Stayed in Germany on occupation duty until early 1946 -Drove around Germany in a jeep, transporting personnel around the country -Got to drive on the Autobahn -Saw that the parts of Germany that were intact were clean and advanced -Towns and cities had been flattened by the bombing -Could smell rotting bodies in the rubble -Some men in his unit would try to help civilians whenever it was possible -Everyone mostly kept to themselves though -He got to take a short trip to Paris -Another culture shock seeing brothels -Got to see Notre Dame -Stayed in a hotel -His travel companions brought back prostitutes at night -The vacation only lasted a few days -Knew that venereal disease was pretty common problem -One soldier needed ninety consecutive shots of penicillin to treat his infection -Did some duty with the Military Police on a train -Stopping people from jumping on the train, or stealing anything -Black market activity was a problem after the war (00:59:04) Coming Home and Life after the War -In early 1946 he received orders to go home -Took a train across northern Germany and northern France back to Le Havre -Boarded the SS George Washington and sailed to New York -From New York he was taken to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey for a few days -Took a train to Camp Atterbury, Indiana and was discharged there -Worked as a mechanic in a garage for a few years after the war -Started working on boats and started his own boat repair shop in Zeeland, Michigan � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KuiperG1775V Title A name given to the resource Kuiper, George (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource 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. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kuiper, George Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-27 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24ac16db7d36d40da24a319c22046a5e.m4v 7bd82c8340aa9b6ace9b70961af408f2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bc31ab1ce2f1978f298f636aae02e04f.pdf f11522a11291585b4fab1b3e4f32e868 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Harry Kooyman Cold War/Vietnam War 55 minutes 43 seconds (00:00:38) Early Life -Born in the Netherlands in 1944 -Known as the “Starving Times” because of the Second World War -Mother couldn't produce enough milk to feed him -She used milk from a cow with Hoof-and-Mouth Disease -This resulted in Harry getting very sick and nearly dying -Born in a village near Rotterdam -Family moved to the United States when he was four years old -Started out in New Jersey then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early 1950s -Started on a farm in New Jersey then father became a day laborer in Grand Rapids -Father found work with Reliable Cartage in 1953 -Trucking company that serviced A&P Grocery Stores -Mother's uncle lived in Grand Rapids -One of the relatives that sponsored them when they were working on citizenship -Convinced them to move from New Jersey to Grand Rapids -Attended Mayfield Christian School -Went to Grand Rapids Christian High School -The church provided his family with a scholarship -Church wanted children sent to Christian schools (00:03:57) Enlisting in the Navy -Went to an Air Force recruiter in Grand Rapids and said that he wanted to be a pilot -Told that he did not have the requirements to be a pilot in the Air Force -Went to the Navy recruiter and asked if he could enlist to become a pilot -Recruiter said he could -Enlisted in the Navy in 1962 -He was 17 years old, so he needed his parents' approval -They supported him (00:05:28) Cold War -Kept track of major Cold War events in the 1950s and early 1960s -There was still a lot of positivity and optimism in the country in the early 1960s -Remembers when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in February 1962 (00:05:49) Basic Training -Sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training -Reported for training on June 27, 1962 -Completed his basic training in September 1962 -Basic training lasted about 10 weeks -Went from Grand Rapids, to Detroit, to Chicago -Remembers being greeted by a drill instructor screaming at him and the other recruits -Told his serial number and ordered to never forget it -As of 2016 he can still remember it -The first few days of basic training consisted of getting uniforms and information about the Navy -Took literacy and physical exams at Fort Wayne, Michigan before going to Great Lakes Naval Station �-Took an aptitude test at Great Lakes Naval Station and was asked what he wanted to do -He said he wanted to be a pilot, so he was placed in Naval Aviation -Told he would be an aviation electronics technician -Large part of basic training was learning how to think as a part of a unit -If you made a mistake, then you and your unit were punished -Had to psychologically adjust to life in the Navy -Had personal and barracks inspections almost every day -Trained by career officers -One of the trainers was a World War II veteran -He was a good man -Received a lot of physical training -Went in skinny and came out of basic training with 20 pounds of muscle -Mornings consisted of classroom instruction -Afternoons consisted of physical training -Two thirds of the original recruits were washed out or recycled -One recruit was discharged because his father died -A few men tried to commit suicide and were discharged -Some men couldn't pass the written tests or the physical exams and had to start over (00�:12:02) Electronics Training Pt. 1 -Given two weeks of leave after basic training -Sent to Memphis, Tennessee for advanced training -September 1962 to March 1963 -Eight hours of electronics training every day in Memphis -Started off with the basics of electronics and then worked up to complex electronics -Designated as an Aviation Electronics Technician Airman -From Memphis he was sent to Naval Air Station Glynco, Georgia for specialized training (00:13:30) Cuban Missile Crisis -Remembers the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 -Told to be aware of what was going on -Woke up one morning and saw soldiers sleeping on the floor of the barracks -Never saw so many aircraft in his entire life -Convinced that the United States and the Soviet Union were going to war (00:15:15) Electronics Training Pt. 2 -First part of electronics training in Tennessee was learning about electronics in general -One month before leaving Memphis he volunteered for flight duty -Only one of ten men selected -Sent to Naval Air Station Glynco for specialized training -Worked with classified electronics equipment used in radar planes -Part of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) (00:16:30) Civil Rights Movement -There was a lot of Civil Rights activity in the south -He had never had any problem with black people -Saw a segregated bathroom and a segregated water fountain in Tennessee - “Colored” water fountain was filthy and not taken care of by the city -Told to stay out of Civil Rights politics -KKK tried to come onto the base in Memphis -Got up to the guard towers and turned back without incident -Brunswick, Georgia (near NAS Glynco) was very segregated -Befriended a black technician in training �-He couldn't go to movies or restaurants with Harry due to the race laws (00:19:23) Electronics Training Pt. 3 -Completed training in Georgia in June 1963 -Worked in a module on the ground at NAS Glynco -Exact replication of the type of aircraft he would be working in -Could not take study material out of the module -Worked with radar equipment and electronic countermeasures -Learned how to collect radar information from enemy planes and resist electronic attacks (00:20:51) Stationed in Hawaii Pt. 1 -Sent to Naval Station Treasure Island, California -Transfer station to receive orders -Flown to Naval Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii -Near Pearl Harbor -Rural area surrounded by sugar cane fields -There were 2,500 men in his squadron -Largest squadron in the Navy -There were patrol, antisubmarine, utility, and helicopter squadrons at the base -Deployed once a month for two weeks per month to go on patrols over the eastern part of the Pacific -Flew from Midway to the Aleutian Islands and then return to Midway -Flights lasted 14 to 16 hours to fly from Midway to the Aleutians -He worked in the Combat Information Center (CIC) as an Electronic Countermeasure operator -Did everything but fly the plane -Had a lounge area and an eating area on the plane -Flew in a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation -Four engine, turboprop aircraft -Went on to flying in the Boeing 707 -There were 20 to 30 men on the plane -Had two crews, and they switched every four hours -Stationed in Hawaii for two years (00:24:08) Downtime in Hawaii -Had two days off after each deployment -Had three days off before each deployment -Visited Honolulu and Waikiki Beach to meet girls -Played a lot of cards during downtime -Relaxed atmosphere and not too many people in the 1960s -Sometimes the military personnel were seen as intruders by the Hawaiians -Teenagers were the most antagonistic -Former military personnel were positive toward servicemen -Locals wanted the servicemen to spend money (00:26:45) Stationed on Midway -Not much to do at Midway when they weren't flying out of the island -A lot of birds at Midway -Flew into aircraft when they took off or landed -Post-flight and pre-flight took three hours -Spent most time on Midway sleeping -Had a movie theater, bowling alleys, and a basic TV station -There were military families on Midway -There was a high school �-Servicemen played sports games against the students -Housing on Midway was very clustered -He lived in barracks close to the airstrip -Went swimming (00:29:08) Aleutian Islands -If they had engine troubles or deliveries to make they stopped on Adak or Kodiak -Always landed during the winter -Windy, cold, and much more intense than Michigan winters -Had to refuel the plane once on the Aleutian Islands -Even in winter weather gear he felt the wind cutting through his clothing (00:30:15) Stationed in Hawaii Pt. 2 -Arrived at Hawaii in June 1963 and left in March or April 1965 -Squadron was decommissioned (00:30:38) Vietnam War -The Tonkin Gulf Incident happened in the fall of 1964 -Had to stay on the base when it happened -Thought they were going to be sent to Vietnam -Incident deescalated -After a while they were allowed off the base for four hours -And a little while later they were allowed off the base for 24 hours (00:31:40) Assassination of President Kennedy -At Hawaii when President Kennedy got assassinated -Took off at 9 AM Hawaii time on November 22, 1963 -Came back later in the day and nobody greeted them on the runway or answered the radio -He got off the aircraft and brought a ladder up to the aircraft -Walked into the barracks and nobody was there -Went into the TV room and everyone was there -Told that President Kennedy had been assassinated -He was shocked -Traumatized the whole country -Memorial services held at the chapel at NAS Barbers Point -Chapel filled up for every memorial service (00:34:20) Encounters with Soviet Aircraft -Noticed Soviet “Bears” (Tupolev Tu-95, strategic bomber) in American airspace -They were checking American reaction time -If they saw a Soviet plane they relayed their finding to NORAD -NORAD contacted fighter squadrons in Alaska to go and scare off the Soviet bomber -US government didn't want any more surprise attacks after Pearl Harbor -His squadron provided radar coverage of the majority of the Pacific Ocean (00:36:10) Stationed on the USS Bennington (CVS-20) -Asked where he would like to be stationed for the last six months of his service -His preferences were not taken into consideration -Placed on a ship headed for Vietnam -Allowed to visit home in March (or April) 1965 before reporting for duty -Shocked to be back in cold weather -Spent one or two weeks at home -Visited his parents and his future wife (girlfriend at the time) -Knew Vietnam War was escalating -Viet Cong and North Vietnamese were getting more aggressive �-Assigned to the USS Bennington (CVS-20), an aircraft carrier -Antisubmarine squadrons on board -Boarded the ship in June 1965 -Joined the ship at Pearl Harbor -Assigned to VS-38, an antisubmarine squadron -Flew the S2E -Twin-engined and effective aircraft -Went on the WESTPAC Exercise -Sailed to Yokosuka, Japan then to the Philippines then to Bangkok, Thailand -Made very few flights as the plane captain -In charge of the entire aircraft -Had to make sure repairs were made and everything on the plane worked -S2E carried two pilots and two technicians -Had some experience with observation work -Flew night missions that lasted four hours -Flew search and rescue patterns over the Mekong Delta and the Vietnamese coast -Took pictures of boats in the Mekong Delta and off the Vietnamese coast -Viet Cong were using sampans and small boats to offload supplies from trawlers -Flew very low and fast -Did visual observation -Radar didn't work with wood boats like sampans -Had to avoid getting shot at -Never got shot at to his knowledge -Never saw any muzzle flashes (00:43:23) End of Service & Coming Home -Left the USS Bennington in August 1965 -Ship resupplied in Yokosuka, Japan and that's where he left it -Wanted to go to college and was allowed to leave early because of this -Given two hours notice that he could get off the ship and go home -Stopped at Naval Station Treasure Island, California -Not a lot of encouragement to reenlist -Released from service just before Secretary of Defense McNamara extended everyone's service -Worked in an office at Treasure Island before being discharged -Had to find sailors with “bad time” (spent time in the brig) and extend their service -Families were waiting for their servicemen -Watched as they received their extensions and were deployed to Vietnam -Probably the worst day of his life -Discharged so he could attend college at Grand Rapids Junior College (now Community College) (00:47:09) Life after Service -There was not a lot of antiwar activity in Grand Rapids -Remembers blood drives being held at Grand Rapids Junior College for the troops in Vietnam -Transferred to Western Michigan University -More antiwar activity there -Stayed quiet about being a veteran -Married by the time he got to WMU and lived in married housing -He and his wife befriended another veteran and his wife and spent most time with them -Started with a major in Drafting Technology -GI Bill went into effect, so he decided to go to college for four years instead of two -Changed his major to Industrial Education �-Taught for Grand Rapids Public Schools for 20 years -Taught at Grand Rapids Community College and at Jordan College as an adjunct professor (00:49:15) Progress of Vietnam War -Followed the news on the Vietnam War -Friend from middle school/high school was killed in action in Vietnam -One or two month(s) after Harry got out of the Navy -Brother-in-law enlisted in the military in June 1967 -Watched everything that happened in Vietnam (00:50:07) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -He wasn't a good student in high school -Navy taught him that he had to be a good student -Learned how to study -Got the second highest exam score on his final electronics exam -Lonely time in the Navy -Being in the Navy prompted him to reconnect with his high school girlfriend -Led to them dating and eventually getting married in November 1966 (00:52:49) Contact with Home -Wrote his girlfriend the entire time he was in the Navy -There was a two week delay in getting letters when he was in the Navy -Had to pick up letters at Midway or at Hawaii -Called collect to phone home -Cost $1 per minute to call his family or his girlfriend (00:53:53) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -Learned about how different people live -Appreciation for different individuals -Made friends in the Navy that he is still friends with -People he would die for, and he knows they would die for him -Completely different mindset than being a civilian -A lot of civilians, especially now, don't understand the military mindset � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KooymanH1897V Title A name given to the resource Kooyman, Harry (Interview outline and video), 2012 Description An account of the resource Harry Kooyman was born in the Netherlands in 1944 and his family moved to the United States when he was four years old. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and after high school he enlisted in the Navy in 1962. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and naval aviation electronics training in Memphis, Tennessee and Naval Air Station Glynco, Georgia. He was assigned to a patrol squadron at Naval Air Station Barber Point, Hawaii from June 1963 to March/April 1965 where he flew patrols from Midway to the Aleutian Islands in search of Soviet aircraft. In April 1965 he was assigned to the USS Bennington (CVS-20) and served with VS-38 an antisubmarine patrol squadron. He flew observation missions over the Mekong Delta and along the Vietnamese coast until he was discharged from the Navy in August 1965. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kooyman, Harry Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-11-12 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/017aef057036015a8b2787d4cb382766.m4v 55dda55bba157bcc4cab33b5607b0c8b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a59f921b0f416a6fc41ee05b67c4840f.pdf a2fc6be29f40011a22244e339c2551fc PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Ryan Klingeman Iraq War 59 minutes 58 seconds (00:00:10) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 2, 1981 -When he was three years old his family moved to Allendale, Michigan -Grew up there and attended Allendale High School -Father worked for Steelcase -Mother drove a school bus for Allendale public schools -Graduated from high school in 2000 -Attended Grand Valley State University on a scholarship -Attended for two years (00:01:04) September 11th Attacks & Enlisting in the Marines -After the September 11th attacks he decided to enlist in the Marines -Remembers being at class when people started telling him to turn on the news -Watched the events of that day unfold -Less than a year after the attacks he decided to enlist in the Marines -What was Saddam Hussein capable of doing if terrorists could do so much damage? -Felt he should do his part to protect the country and stop enemies of the country -Grandfathers had served in World War II, and great-grandfathers in earlier conflicts -A lot of his friends had enlisted in the other branches, so he decided to join the Marines -Different than his friends and saw it as more of a challenge -Two weeks after enlisting he was considered ready for basic training -Most recruits take months to prepare -Being in good physical shape and having some college education sped up the process -Did various physical tests and aptitude tests -Went to Lansing, Michigan to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (00:03:54) Boot Camp -Sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, for boot camp -When he landed at the airport he could see the obstacle course and facilities at the base -Placed on a bus and told to keep his head down -Arrived at night -Drill instructor came on board, screaming orders to get off the bus and stand at attention -Issued gear, had his head shaved, and went through processing -Did paperwork for hours -First experience with stress and sleep deprivation -Assigned to a squad bay for three days -Cleaning and waiting for more recruits to form a training platoon -Boot camp started with Phase 1 -It was difficult -Remembers the drill instructor saying something funny and he laughed -Drill instructor shoved him onto a footlocker and he realized they could hit him -Had no difficulty with the physical training -Learned that all he to do was follow orders and do what the drill instructors said -Recruits were punished as individuals, then punished as a group for mistakes �-Teaching them that mistakes in combat would affect the entire unit -Boot camp lasted 13 weeks, split into three four-week phases -Phase 1: Basics of being a Marine, learning discipline, and receiving martial arts training -Phase 2: Extensive bayonet training -Phase 3: Go to Camp Pendleton for rifle training -Had a half-hour on Sundays for relaxation -At night, the recruits had to sleep with their rifles -Told when to sleep and when to wake up -Went through “the Crucible” -Three days of marching with a full pack and three, meager meals a day -Teaching you to endure the hunger, pain, and exhaustion of being in combat -Had 110 recruits in his training platoon -Some of those men washed out due to the stress of basic training -Some of the recruits tried to escape -Some men added to the platoon because they had been held back -Graduated with fewer recruits than what they started with -Did his basic training in the summer of 2003 -Post-invasion of Iraq -Emphasis on preparing for war (00:13:54) School of Infantry -Got ten days of leave after graduating from boot camp -Parents came out to California to see him graduate from boot camp -Returned to Michigan for his leave -Went to Camp Pendleton, California, for the School of Infantry -Assigned to be a 03/11 Bravo (rifleman) -It was very difficult -Did a lot of classroom work -Learned about different weapons -Took land navigation courses -Carried 200-pound backpacks -Gained 20 pounds of muscle -Went on escape & evasion courses -Learning how to avoid being captured if stuck behind enemy lines -Went through mock villages -Similar to rural Iraqi and Afghan villages -Did gas training -Hit with CS gas (tear gas) and putting on gas masks -Fears that terrorists or insurgents might use chemical weapons -Learned about house-house searches -Platoon sergeant training him had served in Afghanistan -Gave good advice -School of Infantry lasted two months -He was eligible for Recon Training, but swimming didn’t appeal to him (00:18:28) Stationed in Michigan -He had joined the Marine Reserves -Upon completion of training he joined the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines in Saginaw, Michigan -More training and more classroom work -Majority of battalion had been deployed to guard bases along the Kuwaiti border -Spent most of his time exercising and cleaning the base �-Learned about different forms of radio communication -Given a housing allowance, but he stayed with a friend in Saginaw -Stayed at Saginaw for three months, and after one month the battalion returned -Sent to Poland for training with international forces -Stormed beaches on the Baltic Sea in World War II-vintage amphibious vehicles -Germans were disciplined -Majority of Russian soldiers were conscripts and acted like it -Woefully under-trained and didn’t want to be there -Stayed there four or five weeks -Stayed at an Air Force base -First time out of the United States -Experienced a lot of different people and different cultures -After the training in Poland he returned to Saginaw (00:23:18) Pre-Deployment Preparation -He had planned on re-enrolling in college, but there was a deployment rumor -The deployment didn’t happen -He went full-time for the Reserves -Went on field exercises and worked on the base -In mid-2005 they received deployment orders -Went on longer field exercises -Went out to California in early 2006 for extensive training -Did assault courses, had live-fire mortars and live-fire machine guns -Trained at Camp Pendleton -Went to 29 Palms for a large, combined forces exericse -Did patrols in mock villages with other branches of the armed forces -He looked forward to being deployed -Older than a lot of the other Marines -Being in 29 Palms exposed him to the desert environment (00:27:10) Deployment -Given a week of leave to say good bye to his family -Father was proud, but mother was worried -He had gotten married and was able to see the birth of his daughter -Went back to 29 Palms for four or five more weeks of training -It was beneficial -Went through mock villages -Had soldiers act as combatants and simulated rounds (similar to paintballs) -Paid a lot of attention to the news coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan -News shifted from being positive to being negative -Reports of civilian deaths, war crimes, and the torture of prisoners -Flew from the United States to Germany to Kuwait on a commercial airliner -Stayed in Kuwait for two days (00:30:42) Arrival in Iraq -Flown up to Al-Taqaddum Air Base (TQ) in Iraq on a C-130 -Located in Al-Anbar Province -Made a combat landing -A spiraling descent toward the runway to avoid antiaircraft fire -Spent a night there -It was a large base with a Taco Bell and indoor plumbing -Sent to Camp Baharia near the city of Fallujah �-Took a convoy to the forward operating base (FOB) at an abandoned train station north of Fallujah -Started the transition process to take over from the previous unit -Shown the perimeter, shown weak points, and informed about the situation -Attacks were getting progressively worse due to the Muslim holiday of Ramadan -More attacks -Insurgents attacked during transitions because units were vulnerable -Upon arrival at the FOB they took mortar fire and a suicide car hit the base -The suicide attack killed some Marines that were slated to go home (00:33:49) Operating in Fallujah -Getting to know the area and making contact with the civilians -Went on patrols and went to houses to make sure the people had military-issued ID cards -The civilians were friendly -Learned that the overly friendly people were hiding something -Within a few weeks they started encountering improvised-explosive devices (IEDs) and snipers -Had a good intelligence group that gathered information for raids -Made raids every other night to capture high value insurgents -Worked closely with local officials, the Iraqi police, and the Iraqi Army -Intelligence group worked with sheiks to get information about insurgent activity -Most of the Iraqis hated the insurgents, but didn’t want to risk retaliation from them -They wanted to give information to the Americans, but feared the insurgents -Able to call home and rest at Camp Baharia -Used abandoned buildings as outposts in the city -Stayed there for three or four days with nine or ten men -Watching routes with high IED activity and supply routes -Went on combat patrols -Mix of hunting for high value targets and looking for insurgents -Didn’t get a lot of sleep during those patrols -Did patrols in vehicles and on foot -Kept it random so the insurgents couldn’t establish a pattern -He preferred foot patrols -Able to move faster and get out of situations easier -Realized that a presence alone wouldn’t suffice -The Iraqis wanted to see results from the presence -Civilians could get compensated for damaged property -Spent his nine-month tour in that area (00:42:02) Enemy Presence in Fallujah -At first, they were attacked quite a bit -Once they started doing raids and engaging the insurgents the attacks decreased -There were two types of raids: hard and soft -Soft raid meant going in quietly (for example, going roof to roof to get into a house) -A hard raid usually meant kicking down a door or blowing up a wall to get into a house -During raids they had a fire team go up on a nearby roof to provide cover for the raid party -Civilians liked what the Marines were doing -Invited them in for tea and exuded hospitality -Civilians hated the insurgents because of things like beheading prisoners and abusing children -Started to notice large groups of civilians feeding information to the intelligence groups (00:45:45) On Base & On Outpost -The base was small, roughly the size of a football field -Didn’t have much down time �-Only had four hours a day to clean rifle, do laundry, and catch some sleep -On outposts they slept in shifts -On outposts the insurgents hit hard with RPGs and assaults -Used the RPG as a distraction then hit the other side with small-arms fire -The abandoned houses they used as outposts had belonged to wealthy Iraqis -Had walls around property -Sat up on the roof with thermal scopes -Able to stop insurgents before they crossed the perimeter (00:48:25) Casualties -Most casualties came from IEDs and snipers -Command kept them informed about the men wounded or killed -Battalion numbered at about 900 to 1,000 Marines -23 were killed during that tour -90 to 120 were wounded during that tour (00:49:32) Weapons -He carried a Benelli shotgun during raids with a lock-busting round -Carried an M-16 rifle with an M203 under-barrel grenade launcher for patrols -Sometimes carried an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon); a light machine gun (00:50:26) IEDs, Snipers, & Protection -Friend got wounded by an IED nine days after the battalion arrived -Insurgents used three, 155mm artillery rounds bound together as an IED -When they got stronger armor on vehicles, the insurgents made stronger bombs -Used smokescreens to avoid snipers -Used Humvees and 7-ton trucks as personnel carriers -The trucks took IED blasts better than Humvees (00:51:45) End of Tour & Coming Home -He was still in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006 -The Iraqi people celebrated, but the insurgents used it as an opportunity to attack -Left Iraq in April 2007 -Returned to the United States and got 30 days of leave -Rapid transition from being in a combat zone to being in civilian society -Strange to be sitting in his living room with his wife and nine-month old daughter -Allowed to decompress for a few days in California before going home (00:53:56) Training Exercise in Haiti -Opportunity came up to train Haitian soldiers on raid tactics and drug enforcement -Did urban assault exercises -The Haitians were poorly-equipped, violent, and not friendly like the Europeans and Russians -Stayed there for five weeks (00:55:00) End of Service Pt. 1 -He found a civilian job and decided to become a member of the inactive Reserve for rest of enlistment -Wife was against him reenlisting anyway (00:55:26) Contact with Home -He had access to a satellite phone to call home -Didn’t like to call much because it upset his wife -There were a few times when the base got attacked while he was on the phone -Used email a few times -Mostly wrote regular letters to stay in touch with his family -Wrote a letter every day �(00:56:37) Readjusting to Civilian Life & End of Service Pt. 2 -Being in crowds scared him for a while (Insurgents used crowds of civilians as human shield) -Had his wife drive for a while after he came home (Insurgents hid IEDs on roadsides) -Didn’t go out in public that much after he came home -Worked as a supervisor for a distribution company until 2015 -Returned to Grand Valley State University on the GI Bill -Studying to be a high school history teacher -He is in his senior year at Grand Valley (as of the interview) -Went on inactive reserve in 2009 and was discharged in 2011 (00:58:40) Reflections on Service -Taught him leadership skills -Instilled in him a strong work ethic -Learned a lot and met a lot of different people -Difficult to reconnect with friends that didn’t serve in the military -Bonds with other friends that served in the other branches � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KlingemanR1953V Title A name given to the resource Klingeman, Ryan A (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Ryan Klingeman was born on November 2, 1981, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2002 he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, and in summer 2003 he went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. He volunteered to be a rifleman and went to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, California. Upon completion of training he joined the 1st Battalion 24th Marines in Saginaw, Michigan and went to Poland for a multinational training exercise. In mid-2005 the unit received orders to deploy to Iraq. They trained at Camp Pendleton and 29 Palms before deploying to Iraq in 2006. Ryan and the rest of his unit was stationed at Camp Baharia near Fallujah, Iraq, and they operated out of a forward operating base north of the city. He spent his nine-month tour in Fallujah. He went on patrols, conducted raids to capture insurgents, and stood watch at outposts in the city. They left Iraq in April 2007 and returned to Michigan. He participated in a joint-training exercise with the Haitians before going inactive reserve in 2009, and in 2011 he was discharged from the Marines. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Klingeman, Ryan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine Corps Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-09-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/92cbd0d6c4523c07c7ffd33d0bc41490.m4v 44d0987d44e56edc44d2c8e134136f80 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b854b2e7f292d2d85e5f32f43b2dc26f.pdf 17ee39963f4afa69206a89efa890c4b7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Jim Keatley Vietnam War 2 hours 9 minutes 47 seconds Part 1 – 1 hour 11 minutes 30 seconds (00:00:40) Early Life -Born in Bremerton, Washington, in 1945 -When he was nine months old the family moved to California -Father had been interning in Bremerton as a machinist -Got a job at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California -Lived in an old mining town until the base had civilian housing -Grew up in China Lake -Graduated from high school in 1963 -Attended San Diego State University for a while then transferred to Bakersfield College (00:02:48) Getting Drafted -Granted a draft deferment while he was at San Diego State University -Lost his deferment when he transferred to Bakersfield College -Draft board said he would be drafted at the end of the school year (most likely in 1966) -Had a draft physical in December (most likely 1965) -Basic physical examination -Got a summer job and decided to wait to get drafted -Quit a week before his brother's wedding then decided to wait to get his draft notice -Kept waiting for his draft notice, and after two weeks he called his draft board -Told him they forgot about him and would send him his draft letter -Received his draft notice three days later -Reported to a local bus station to be taken to the induction center in Los Angeles -Walked up to the counter and talked to the Specialist 4th Grade (Spec. 4) at the desk -Handed over his papers and the spec. 4 berated him for being late -Jim defended himself by saying he reported on time as instructed -A sergeant came over to assess the situation -Decided Jim was in the right and relieved the spec. 4 -Placed in an old motel for a night -Reported to the induction center the next day for processing (00:09:16) Basic Training -Sent to Fort Ord, California, for basic training -Arrived at mid-afternoon -Placed in barracks for the night -Assigned to guard duty -Two spec. 4s tried to get into the barracks -Jim stopped them and asked their business -Said they wanted to teach a new recruit a lesson -Recruit left his footlocker open, they would steal from it -Jim told them they wouldn't do that and took down their names -They attempted to proceed with their theft -Jim turned on the lights and woke up everyone �-He then told them to leave or face 45 angry recruits -Spec. 4s left without incident -The next day his sergeant talked to him about the situation -A week later, his sergeant told him the situation had been dealt with -Applauded Jim's action and promoted Jim to squad leader -Sergeant also had the spec. 4s demoted for their action -Did a lot of physical training -Getting prepared for combat -Psychologically breaking down and rebuilding the recruits -Be disciplined, learn to survive, and keep your comrades alive -He was in good physical shape -Helped him get his life in order -Did what he was told even when it was frustrating -For example, they usually had Sunday afternoons to themselves -One Sunday afternoon, the sergeant said he wanted to inspect their personal boxes -Meant they lost that Sunday afternoon (00:17:40) Advanced Infantry Training -Assigned to Infantry at the end of basic training -Sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for advanced infantry training (AIT) -Arrived at Fort Polk in late 1966 -Fort Polk had “Tigerland” (a training area set up like a Vietnamese village) -Received mortar training -Went on field exercises -First night in the field he and the other men were ordered to dig a foxhole three feet deep -Due to the water in the ground he only dug down eight inches and hit water -Meant he had to sleep in about two feet of water -Had an infiltration range -Go from Point A to Point B without getting “captured” -Given a map -If they were caught, they would be sent to a mock prisoner-of-war camp -He was traveling with a group of six or seven other men -Walked into an ambush -Taken to the prisoner-of-war camp -Gave his name, rank, and serial number -Interrogator wanted his unit name and Jim refused -This prompted the interrogator to punch Jim in the chest -Interrogators continued to slap and abuse Jim for not answering their questions -Brought to a flag pole, sat down, and tied up -Interrogators kept slapping him, kicking his arms, and stepping on his chest -Despite the abuse, Jim refused to answer -Chaplain came up to him and asked him for his unit, and Jim refused -Chaplain untied him and told him he could leave the camp -Jim was wary, at first, then left and trucks brought him back to base -The prisoner-of-war camp experience taught him to survive -Trained with the M14 rifle, the Light Anti-Tank Weapon, the .50 caliber machine gun, and bazookas -Learned how to sight and fire mortars -Learned how to calculate targets -Taught them nothing about Vietnam -Some of the instructors had been to Vietnam, but didn't talk about their experience �-Taught about some booby traps and what to look for -Received CS gas training -Placed in a room while wearing a gas mask, then the room filled with CS gas (tear gas) -Once the room was filled with gas they had to take off their gas masks -Received grenade training -Learned how to read maps -Took proficiency test and received a very high score -Granted a weekend pass to get off base, but he had no money -Broke his foot during AIT -Medic told him not to walk and gave him a note -Gave the note to his sergeant and the sergeant didn't believe him -His platoon helped him march back to camp -Returned to Fort Polk and got two days of kitchen patrol duty -Went to sick bay to get his foot treated -They didn't believe him, so he went back out for training -Did 2 ½ weeks of training with a broken foot -AIT lasted eight weeks (00:33:04) Leave before Deployment -Went to California for a month of leave -Went to the hospital at the base at China Lake -Received x-rays and told that he had indeed broken his foot -Told he could have it re-broken and reset, but it would take months to heal -Decided not to have that surgery -Had foot surgery 15 years later -Parents and brother weren't happy that he was being deployed to Vietnam -He knew a lot of Americans were getting killed in Vietnam -Knew that the US was fighting against the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong (00:35:30) Deployment to Vietnam -Got on a bus and reported to a place near Fort Ord -Flown to Vietnam on a chartered jet -Stopped at Hawaii -Landed at Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam -Hot, humid, and sandy -Taken to a building and stayed there for two days (00:36:53) Assignment to 1st Cavalry Division -Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in An Khe -Located in the Central Highlands -Verdant, beautiful region -Flown up to the base -He expected to be assigned to Charlie Company as an infantryman, specifically on mortars (00:37:55) Working in Battalion Supply -At the headquarters the new men were asked if any of them could type -He said that he could -Placed into the Headquarters Company for Battalion Supply -Battalion Supply had its own area on the base at An Khe -Office building, eating area, small shower, outhouse, barracks, and Quonset hut with supplies -Took over as a supply clerk -Had four days to learn how to do the job -Promoted to the rank of E4 (Specialist or Corporal) �-Worked with captain, lieutenant, sergeant, sergeant first class, and warrant officer -Captain, lieutenant, and sergeant were usually at LZ English -Jim was placed in charge of handling the supplies at An Khe and training a new private first class -Warrant officer and sergeant first class usually stayed on base, but busy with their own tasks -LZ English was also in the Central Highlands, about a 90 minute drive from An Khe -Took him four weeks to really learn the job -Officers and sergeants were supportive -Got only four hours of sleep each night during that four week period -1,200 men depended on him to know how to do his job and do it well -In charge of supply paperwork and insuring that the troops got their supplies -Helped two officers that had lost some material in a fire -The Army wanted to hold them responsible for the costs -Jim managed to get some supplies to make up for the material lost -This allowed the two officers to have their records cleared -Stayed at An Khe for six months (latter part of 1967) (00:47:04) Contact with Vietnamese Civilians -Vietnamese civilians worked on the base at An Khe -Remembers one funny incident involving a Vietnamese cleaning woman -The outhouses at An Khe had three toilets, not separated by walls -He went to use one of the toilets, leaving a space between himself and the other man -A Vietnamese woman was sweeping around the outhouse -She came inside, sat between the two men, and used the bathroom -Shocked Jim how nonchalant the Vietnamese were about things like that -Vietnamese civilians on the base mostly cleaned or did other maintenance work -Brought laundry to a Vietnamese family living in the town of An Khe -Family was grateful for the American presence -He learned about some of the Vietnamese culture (00:49:49) Prostitution & Drug Use -There was a brothel in An Khe -Drugs were available in An Khe -Knew some men that visited the brothel -Dangerous because some of the women could be agents for the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese -Men contracted diseases -Saw men going on patrols and getting high beforehand, or using while on patrols -Saw it as unacceptable in a combat zone -Putting yourself in danger and putting others in danger (00:51:48) Guard Duty at An Khe -Pulled guard duty one night at An Khe -When he was on guard duty he was stationed in the “green zone” -Open space, well-lit, surrounded by barbed wire, and with a few bunkers -Aim was to keep intruders from getting past the “green zone” into the base -While on guard duty he saw a jeep approach with a sergeant and a lieutenant -Lieutenant was still wearing his lieutenant medal (two gold bars), and had his sleeves rolled up -Clearly an officer, and a target for the Vietnamese -Jim ordered the two men to halt and identify themselves -The two men didn't stop -He challenged the two men two more times, and they refused to stop again -Jim loaded his rifle and ordered the men to stop again -The sergeant stopped, but the lieutenant kept walking �-The lieutenant approached Jim and started yelling at Jim for pointing a rifle at an officer -Jim told the lieutenant he broke protocol and was drawing too much attention -Jim told his commanding officer about the incident the next day -Asked his commanding officer what would've happened if Jim had shot -Jim would have been tried by the Army and charged with murder -He would've been fined a carton of cigarettes for the crime -He would've then been given a carton of cigarettes to pay his fine -Meant Jim would have been protected from actual prosecution (00:58:20) Supply Networks -Soldiers came to him to ask for supplies which allowed him to create a network with other troops -One officer wanted 1,200 spare uniforms and 1,200 spare pairs of socks for the battalion -Men needed to be able to change their clothing to avoid skin infections -Jim worked it out and got the supplies -He had enough clothing that the men could change their clothes every day -Had another sergeant come from the maintenance battalion asking for a new pair of boots -Jim had a few extra pairs of boots that would fit the sergeant and he gave them to the man -The sergeant worked in the kitchen -Two hours later a truck pulled up with four soldiers -They unloaded a refrigerator and gave it to Jim -Filled with soda, beer, chicken, and steak -Gift to Jim from the sergeant for getting a pair of boots -Men networked to get extra supplies so they could sell those supplies on the black market -Jim always saw his networking as a way to help the unit, not himself -One friend needed a gun cleaning rod for his rifle -The friend went to the supply tent at LZ English and was told he needed a requisition form -The supplies at LZ English were basically free for the taking -Jim went out to LZ English and told the man at the supply tent not to ask for requisition forms -The men in the field needed supplies for survival without bureaucracy in the way (01:08:33) Traveling to LZ English -Unsafe to drive between An Khe and LZ English -Remembers driving between those two places and taking fire from a bamboo patch -An armored vehicle came up to Jim's convoy and dealt with the enemy force -Roads between An Khe and LZ English were made of red clay -This clay produced dust which lowered visibility and made driving dangerous -Had mirrors shot off of his jeep when he drove between An Khe and LZ English -Remembers while traveling between the two places he saw a water trailer on the side of the road -The soldier in charge had most likely stopped off to get a bite to eat -The men in the field needed that water -Jim picked up the trailer and brought it base Part 2 – 58 minutes 12 seconds (01:11:33) Stationed at Dak To -Never experienced any infiltrations or attacks while stationed at An Khe -4th Infantry Division got hit hard while at Dak To -Remembers talking to a Specialist 4th Grade in the 4th Infantry Division -Placed in charge of a company of 21 men -Note: Company usually consisted of 200 men led by a lieutenant -The 12th Cavalry Regiment went to Dak To to relieve the 4th Infantry Division �-Stopped at a village en route to wait for the convoy to assemble -Vietnamese man and his son came up to the convoy bearing fruit -Wanted his son to know the Americans were there to help -Proceeded to Dak To with tanks and armored personnel carriers -When he arrived at Dak To he was told that he was expendable -Base was taking fire when they arrived -A Vietnamese shell hit a plane near the ammunition dump -Caused the plane to explode which then caused the ammo dump to explode -When he arrived at Dak To he spent two hours loading dead bodies onto trucks -Given weapons left behind by the 4th Infantry Division -South Vietnamese troops had been ordered to deal with the North Vietnamese troops -The South Vietnamese left when the ammo dump exploded -Fortunately, the North Vietnamese didn't attack when the South Vietnamese left -Remembers looking up at night and watching helicopters firing mini-guns at enemy positions -The tracer rounds burned red and looked like a single red line from the helicopter to the ground -Stayed at Dak To for three or four weeks -Marines tried to take a nearby hill from the North Vietnamese -Tried assaulting from the bottom of the hill and lacked proper supplies -Cavalry landed on the top of the hill and worked down it rather than fight up it -Marines were typically under-equipped and used outdated helicopters -Stayed at Dak To the entire time that the 12th Cavalry Regiment was there (01:21:18) Stationed at Quang Tri & the Tet Offensive -Received orders to move to Quang Tri -Traveled as a convoy -Stopped in Da Nang -Stayed at the Air Force reception center -Hadn't showered or had a hot meal in three or four weeks -Air Force had a buffet and encouraged the soldiers to eat to their fill -Felt like being in the United States -Stayed there for two days -Passed through Hue shortly after the Viet Cong were pushed out of the city -Note: This would've been at the end of January 1968 during the Tet Offensive -Saw destroyed Vietnamese vehicles -Buildings pockmarked with bullet holes -Reached Quang Tri -Heard a rumor that the North Vietnamese were moving toward Quang Tri -Intended to push out the Americans wipe out the city -Quang Tri was predominantly Catholic -North Vietnamese equated Catholicism with capitalism and imperialism -Caught a few North Vietnamese soldiers -Interrogators brought them up in helicopters -One of the prisoners refused to talk, so she was thrown from the helicopter -The other two prisoners decided to tell everything they knew -Learned that three regiments of North Vietnamese soldiers were moving toward Quang Tri -This allowed American forces to intercept the North Vietnamese and stop them -Saved Quang Tri from certain destruction -Happened shortly after the Tet Offensive (01:27:15) Rules of Engagement -There were certain rules of engagement governing which towns could be attacked �-Remembers being in headquarters and there was mortar fire coming from a village -A gunship requested permission to fire on the village -Headquarters denied permission, but the gunship opened fire anyway -Ground forces investigated the village after the incident -Found mortars, machine guns, and recoil-less rifles -Knew some groups of American troops that crossed the demilitarized zone in North Vietnam -American ground forces forbidden to enter North Vietnam -Too many rules made it impossible for the United States to ever win the war (01:29:15) Interactions with Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) -Saw ARVN units at Dak To and Pleiku -ARVN troops at Pleiku stole some material from American troops -Chased them down and got back their possessions -Noticed ARVN troops watching them with a machine gun -Had no respect for ARVN soldiers -Respected the Montagnard soldiers -Montagnard: Ethnic group of hill people that fought for the United States -Tenacious fighters, disciplined, pro-American, and followed orders (01:31:35) Cities in Vietnam -Passed through the city of Kontum while en route to Dak To -Mud plaster buildings painted orange and brown -No modern buildings -Busy city -Saw ARVN soldier with a face scarred by burns -Asked what happened to him -He had been with the North Vietnamese and was wounded by a gunship -After that he defected to South Vietnam and joined the ARVN (01:33:55) R&R -Went to Manila in the Philippines for his R&R -His brother had married a Filipino woman -Got to meet his sister-in-law's family -Enjoyed his time with them -Always interested in learning about different cultures -His sister-in-law's family welcomed him with love and hospitality -Remembers them making breakfast for him -Beer, eggs, and meat wrapped in banana leaves -Filipinos thought Americans drank beer with every meal -His sister-in-law's father told Jim about the Japanese occupation of Manila -Learned about the atrocities committed by the Japanese -He was walking home one night and found a rosary in the rubble of a building -Hid it during the war -Gave it to Jim (01:38:13) Contact with Home & Meeting his Wife -Had a lot of contact with home -Wrote his mother at least once a week -Friend got a birthday card from his fiancee's two girl friends -Jim started writing to one of the girls -Talked about religion in their letters -She was Christian and he was not at the time -Led to his perspective changing while he was in Vietnam �-Wrote to the girl for about nine months, and started writing each other every day -After his tour he was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado -Girl moved to Boulder, Colorado -He went and met her -First time meeting in person -Eventually led to them getting married (01:43:37) Evidence of the War & Supply Work in Quang Tri -Saw a lot of bloodied, burned, or otherwise damaged material being disposed of -Reminded him that he had to just keep doing his work to keep the soldiers supplied -Kept doing the same work every day until he left Vietnam -Remembers seeing an Army funeral in Quang Tri for 28 soldiers killed in action -Somber experience -Saw gunships fly over to salute the fallen soldiers -30 minutes later the base took incoming fire (01:46:28) End of Tour -Received orders to fly to An Khe -Did some paperwork and sat around for a couple days -Went back to Cam Ranh Bay and boarded a chartered Japanese airliner -Men cheered when they took off from Vietnam -Landed at Fort Lewis, Washington -Did more paperwork -Received orders for Fort Carson, Colorado, for the last six months of his enlistment -Told to expect protestors and ignore them (01:48:15) Anti-War Protestors -Given a month of leave before reporting to Fort Carson -Met up with a friend from the Army in Los Angeles -Some anti-war protestors heckled Jim and his friend, but they ignored them -In Colorado he heard some men talk about harassment from protestors (01:49:49) Stationed at Fort Carson -While at Fort Carson, Colorado, he was placed in battalion supply -Had a maintenance soldier helping him -Essentially a day job -Battalion supply was run well and efficiently -Awarded a Bronze Star at Fort Carson for doing his job exceptionally well (01:51:22) End of Service -Had made the rank of sergeant within six months of being in Vietnam -At the end of the tour he was offered a promotion and a raise of $10 -Also meant he would have to go into combat and have to extend his tour -Decided to leave Vietnam, take his six months of stateside duty and get out of the Army (01:53:03) Life after the War -Got a job as a credit collection manager for Sears -Did that for two years -Had converted to Christianity by this time -Troubled him to go to people's houses and threaten them with reposession -Decided to quit the Sears job and return to college -Studied Wildlife Management at South Dakota State University -Moved to South Dakota with his wife -Graduated as a wildlife biologist -Taught Sunday school while in South Dakota �-Showed him that he loved teaching -Decided to join the Student Teacher Association at South Dakota State -Became president of the association after attending one meeting -Wanted to get into the teaching program, but had a GPA of 2.99 -Program required a 3.0 -Applied anyway, and was accepted -Applied for wildlife jobs and teaching jobs after he graduated from college -Offered a job at Lansing Christian School in Lansing, Illinois -Took the job and worked there for two years -Got a job at Zeeland Christian School in Zeeland, Michigan -Taught there for 22 years -Remembers helping a wayward 8th grade student with a terrible home life -Rewarding experience and he wanted to help more children like that -Got a job at Vanderbilt Charter Academy in Holland, Michigan -75% of the students there were considered “at risk” (future crime, drug use, etc.) -One of the best jobs he ever had was working with those students and helping them -Became the assistant principal of the academy and that was the best job he ever had (02:07:22) Reflections on Service -Time in Vietnam made him more selfless and aware of other people -Tried to help and save as many men in Vietnam as possible -That attitude carried over into civilian life -His experiences in Vietnam and immediately afterward led him to convert to Christianity -Made him realize that there is more to life than himself � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KeatleyJ1919V Title A name given to the resource Keatley, James (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Jim Keatley was born in Bremerton, Washington, in 1945. In the summer of 1966 he received his draft notice and received his basic training at Fort Ord, California. Upon completion of basic training he was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for Advanced Infantry Training and completed that after eight weeks. After a month of leave he was deployed to Vietnam, arriving at Cam Ranh Bay. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, of the 1st Cavalry Division in An Khe. He was assigned to Headquarters Company and worked in Battalion Supply insuring the men in the battalion received enough supplies. For six months he worked in An Khe and Landing Zone English. The 12th Cavalry Regiment relieved the 4th Infantry Division at Dak To, and he stayed there for three or four weeks. From Dak To the unit moved to Quang Tri and he spent the remaining five months of his tour at that base. Upon returning to the United States he received a month of leave and spent the last six months of his enlistment at Fort Carson, Colorado, working in battalion supply. He was discharged at Fort Carson (most likely in late 1968) with a Bronze Star and the rank of sergeant. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Keatley, James G. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-02-11 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5b35d541b4befbade66c26ad1ec7dff3.mp4 427d59aecd3aa225816b4036f343cb5e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15a66974523fd5a5ebc3528820b64e96.pdf 3c11699c8a59d609cd4f37729591ff8e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Cornelius Jonker World War II 58 minutes 34 seconds (00:00:20) Early Life -Born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan -His father was a pastor for a local farming church -Moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan when he was still very young -Grew up in the southeast part of Grand Rapids and attended school there -Father insisted that he always did well in school in the areas of "conduct" and "effort" -He was the second oldest child and had three siblings -One older sister and a younger sister and a younger brother -Younger brother was killed in a car crash when he was only twenty two years old -His father died at sixty one years old due to health complications from smoking -First house that he remembers living in was on Dunham Street in Grand Rapids -Able to walk to school from that house -Lost that house during the Great Depression -Moved to a house on Alto Avenue (also in Grand Rapids) and attended Oakdale School -Parents bought a house on Warden Street and he spent his teen years there -Lived there when he received his draft notice -Attended Grand Rapids Christian High School -Graduated from there in 1942 (00:04:45) Getting Drafted -Received his a letter ordering him to report to Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 18, 1943 -In Kalamazoo he was given a physical exam, told he could choose the Army or the Navy -Chose the Navy and was given a colorblindness test -Didn't pass the test so he was reassigned to the Army -He was sworn in and given a week to go home before reporting for duty -On March 25, 1943 he was taken to the train station in Grand Rapids with his friend Maynard -They were en route to Camp Grant, Illinois to be processed -Remembers getting on the train with Maynard and seeing men gambling -It was a definite culture shock for him -Got to Camp Grant and was given a uniform, vaccinations, and an aptitude test -He took the typing test and was classified as a 405 Clerk Typist -Got assigned to the infantry which he wasn't excited about -Fortunatey, he was assigned to a service company in a regiment -Meant that he would be in the rear, mostly safe from combat (00:08:36) Basic Training -He boarded a train and was sent down to Camp Butner, North Carolina �-Once there he boarded a two and a half ton truck and was taken to the training camp in Camp Butner -Got assigned to K Company for the duration of basic training -Basic training lasted six weeks -Sergeant training him wasn't happy about training men that weren't going to fight alongside him -Training consisted of running, hiking, and going to the rifle range -Had to go on the "infiltration course" (nicknamed "Widow's Course" by the men) -Crawling under barbed wire while live rounds were fired over your head -In the middle of basic training he was able to take a driver's training course -Lasted two weeks -By the end of it he had a license that said he could drive anything up to a 2.5 ton truck (00:11:04) Stateside Duty -At the end of basic training he was assigned to be an assistant truck driver -Assistant truck driver basically did all of the work, truck driver just drove the truck -At one point he had an operation on one of his toes due to an infected and ingrown nail -Man named Corporal Simms came to him and said he needed an assistant company clerk -Cornelius took the job and became lifelong friends with Corporal Simms -As the assistant company clerk he would type up rosters and set payrolls for the men -Got to know the history of the men in his regiment -Cpl. Simms was made head of the payroll department which made Cornelius the company clerk -Became a Technician, 5th Class -He was reassigned to be the mail clerk for the company -Typed up paperwork for the 1st Sergeant and also collected and distributed mail -Eventually was reassigned to be a truck driver and went overseas as a truck driver (00:17:24) Serving in Germany Pt. 1 -When he was in Germany there was a time where he needed to go collect ammunition -Went out on the Autobahn to an ammo dump and collected the ammunition -Had to drive back at night without the lights on -Eventually made it back to 2nd Battalion safely -They were just inside Germany, close to the Belgian border -Saw a lot of bombed out towns -Air Force and ground forces had gone in first and driven the Germans out -His job as a truck driver was to make sure the troops had enough ammunition -Periodically saw a German V1 "Buzz Bomb" go overhead -If the rocket engine turned off then he knew that it was coming down and took cover -At night a lone German plane would fly over their position and randomly drop bombs on them -Nicknamed that plane "Bed Check Charlie" -Dropped devestating antipersonnel bombs -In the town of Simmerath there were jeeps trapped in the town �-Germans had the town covered with artillery fire making it difficult to get in -He volunteered to be one of the drivers to go in to recover the jeeps -Got into the town and started taking artillery fire -Shrapnel landed in the mud at his feet and was so hot that it sizzled -One by one, they managed to get the jeeps out of the town -Had to dodge German artillery on their way out (00:25:04) Deployment to the European Theatre -He was assigned to be a truck driver before his unit left the United States -NOTE: He was most likely in the 78th Infantry Division -Went up to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on October 5, 1944 -NOTE: In the interview he says 1943, but the year would have actually been 1944 -Left on October 13, 1944 aboard the USS General G.O. Squier -Had to sleep in the hold on canvas cots in tight sleeping quarters -Fed two meals a day -Stank so bad in the galley that he ate on the deck of the ship -Some men got seasick, but he did not -They were part of a twenty ship convoy -Arrived at Plymouth, England on October 25, 1944 -While aboard the ship he would watch the other transports and the destroyers escorting them -Able to make it to England without incident other than a few U-Boat sightings -Prior to leaving the United States he had bought a pipe and a can of tobacco -Would pass the time on the ship sitting on deck and smoking his pipe -Also had cigarettes available and they were only five cents a pack -Quit smoking before he came home -He wasn't nervous about going overseas -He had his faith whenever he felt any uncertainty or apprehension -Never felt despair, or fear for his life though (00:29:42) Arrival in the European Theatre -After landing at Plymouth they took a train to Bournemouth, England and continued training -Boarded a troop transport and sailed across the English Channel, landing at Le Havre, France -In Le Havre there was a lot of rubble and he could really see the effects of the war -Boarded a "40 and 8" boxcar (designed to carry forty men, or eight horses) -Traveled in that across France bound for Belgium -It was rainy and muddy -When they got to Belgium they slept in barns -Remembers that the Belgian farmers were very friendly and very helpful -By now it was November 1944 -NOTE: The 78th Infantry Division reached Belgium on November 27, 1944 (00:32:07) Serving in Germany Pt. 2 -Simmerath, Germany was close to the Belgian border �-Had been reduced to ruins -Used the basements of buildings because those were still intact -His company followed infantry as they advanced into Germany -The 78th Infantry Division captured the Schwammenauel Dam in early February 1945 -In early March 1945 they captured the Ludendorff Bridge (aka the Bridge at Remagen) -Germans tried to destroy the bridge before its capture, but failed -After it was captured by U.S. forces the Germans tried to bomb it at night -Remembers American antiaircraft batteries firing at the German planes -Eventually the Germans were able to destroy the bridge -Proved to be irrelevant, U.S. forces were already across the river -After the bridge was destroyed Army Engineers set up a pontoon bridge -Didn't know much about the progress of the war, just knew that they were advancing -Only a few months after the the Ludendorff Bridge, Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 (00:36:35) Incident with German Prisoners of War -After crossing the Rhine River he was traveling as part of a small, three truck convoy -They stopped on the side of the road to eat some lunch -They saw an American soldier running towards them, shouting for help -He led them to where he had come from which was a nearby road -Turned out that this man and a few others had captured some Germans -In the process of transporting them their jeep had struck a land mine -Two of the Germans had been killed and the third was in shock -Two of the American soldiers were wounded -Cornelius and the other drivers called in assistance and medics (00:41:42) Other Duties in Germany -One of his other duties as a truck driver was to transport dead GIs -Remembers recognizing one dead soldier as a medic that he had known in the U.S. (00:42:19) End of the War -When the war ended they weren't able to celebrate, but they were relieved that it was over -After the Germans surrendered they were sent to Bad Wildungen -It was a spa town that had hot baths -It was a nice place to be -They could go hunting in the woods around the town -There were German prisoners of war that would do menial tasks and help hunt -He was sent up to Maastricht, Holland on temporary duty for six weeks -This was around August 1945 -He was stationed there with three (or four) other men from the regiment with their trucks -His job was to take men from the train station to quarters in Maastricht �-The next day he would take them to resort towns for R&R -After dropping them off he'd pick up troops that were done with R&R -He was picked for that duty because he kept his truck clean and presentable -The atomic bombs were dropped on Japan while he was stationed in Maastricht -Good news because the division had been slated to participate in the invasion of Japan -After he was done at Maastricht he returned to his unit -Got promoted to be the motor pool sergeant -Part of the occupation force in Berlin for a little while -Got to see how ruined the city was (00:47:30) Coming Home -After Berlin he was sent to Camp Chesterfield, France to wait to be sent home -Sailed home on the SS George Washington -Same ship that President Wilson used during WWI to discuss the Treaty of Versailles -The voyage home was very rough -Landed in New York in January 1946 -First thing that he did was go to a restaurant and order a steak -A couple in the restaurant paid for his dinner out of gratitude for his service -From New York he took a train to Camp Atterbury, Indiana -Honorably discharged there and then went home to Grand Rapids -He had been in the service for thirty four months (00:50:02) Leave Time in the Army -He didn't have a lot of furlough time when he was in Europe -Most of his liberty was when he was still in the United States -Most of what he saw in Europe was what he saw while moving through Belgium and Germany -Only got to come home once before he was sent overseas -Remembers that his mother thought that she would never see him again (00:53:38) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -Certain that being in the rear was a blessing -Doesn't believe that it affected him that much -He was offered a chance to reenlist and get promoted to master sergeant -Refused the offer though -Didn't hate being in the Army, just wanted to get out and go home -It didn't take anything away from him, and it definitely helped him to grow up (00:55:47) Life after the War -He started his own business later in life -After the war he was working in a factory running automatic screw machines -He and a friend started their own business in Hudsonville, Michigan -It became very successful -Named Topcraft Metal Products -Started that business when he was 47, and retired when he was 64 �-Came home and just moved on with his life (00:57:37) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -He is not ashamed of being a soldier -Thankful that he survived and is still around -Made some great friends in the Army, but also made some "enemies" � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context JonkerC1771V Title A name given to the resource Jonker, Cornelius Richard (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Cornelius Jonker was born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan. When he was young his family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and he grew up there. After turning eighteen he received his draft notice and was sworn into the Army on March 18, 1943. He was processed at Camp Grant, Illinois and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina where he received basic training and driver's training. While at Camp Butner he served as a clerk and then as a truck driver for the 78th Infantry Division. In October 1944 the 78th Infantry Division left for the European Theatre, and by the end of November 1944 he was in Belgium. While in Europe he and his division saw action at Simmerath, the Schwammenauel Dam, and the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. After the war, he was stationed in Bad Wildungen, Germany; Maastricht, Holland; and Berlin, Germany. He was eventually sent home and was discharged from Camp Atterbury, Indiana in January 1946. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jonker, Cornelius Richard Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Moore, Deb (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-15 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/237168ac838ec5047c105d95b38cefa7.mp4 700139e0ca8e976193beccf8bc4b54ed https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0b37f300e93d8b0955ad4aa7809962c9.pdf d8765401a2a1728a9b56326aedcb0838 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Frank Jones Vietnam War 2 hours 11 minutes 39 seconds (00:00:16) Early Life -Born on February 15, 1950 -Grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan -Mother was a housewife -Father worked at General Motors -He had six younger siblings, he was the oldest -He attended South High School until it closed -After it closed then he attended Central High School -He graduated from high school in June 1970 (00:01:28) Awareness of the Vietnam War & Civil Rights -He was very aware of the Vietnam War -Paid attention to all of the news about it -He knew that there was a draft and was hoping it would be over before he was old enough -He was also very aware of the Civil Rights Movement -South High School had had mostly black students -He was not aware of prejudice until he attended South High School -The younger students were more antagonistic than the older ones (00:04:03) Getting Drafted -During the summer of 1970 he was working for a cousin in construction -His draft number was 68 -All of the men between the ages of 18 and 26 were issued a number 1-300 -If you were given a number between 1 and 100 you were the first to get drafted -He received his draft notice in August 1970 -Told his fiancée that he wasn’t going to get married before he deployed -Didn’t want to leave her a widow if he was killed in Vietnam -His family was upset when he got drafted -Remembers that his grandfather was especially upset -When he boarded the bus for Detroit he could see his grandfather waving and saluting -There was a certain amount of pride in going to fight for his family -He didn’t agree with being sent to fight to protect South Vietnam -He was sent to Detroit to be given a physical examination and to be inducted -Making sure that you were fit for service before being inducted -It was basically pointless because they were accepting everyone -He shouldn’t have been accepted for service and learned this in Jump School (00:10:17) Jump School Pt. 1 -When he was in Jump (paratrooper) School at Fort Benning, Georgia his knee gave out -He went to the infirmary where a doctor told him that he should have never been drafted -He had a hip bone deformity that was liable to cause his knees to give out -If this happened in the field he, and other men, would be in danger �-He was given a “permanent profile” which barred him from combat service -He was placed into a unit that guarded the company commander -If you were in this unit you didn’t have to pull guard duty for the base (00:14:31) Basic Training -He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training -Took the bus from Detroit to Fort Knox -He was resigned to his fate and tried to make the best of it -Saw it as a learning experience -He adjusted pretty well to living in the Army -He didn’t know what to expect going in -The only advice he was given was to never volunteer for anything -You never know what you might be volunteering for -There was a lot of running and physical training -Went out to the gun range to shoot the M14 and M16 rifles and the .45 caliber pistol -Enjoyed those exercises -The drill sergeants had been to Vietnam and most of them were career soldiers -It was a transitional step for them between Vietnam and serving in the United States -They gave the recruits a lot of tongue-in-cheek advice about fighting in Vietnam -Some of it was practical though -Told not to go into bunkers because they would probably collapse -Never go anywhere alone, always bring a friend -There were no “safe zones” so don’t pretend there are (00:20:33) Fort Sill Pt. 1 -When he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma he became a clerk for a captain there -He was allowed to live off base -He didn’t think that he would be deployed to Vietnam -He made plans to get married -He was given thirty days of leave and went to Grand Rapids to get married -Three days before the wedding he was told he was going to be deployed -His “profile” had been reevaluated and he was deemed fit for combat -Decided to go ahead with the wedding and to get married -After the wedding he drove back to Fort Sill with his wife and packed his belongings (00:22:54) Advanced Infantry Training -After six weeks of basic training he was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana for AIT -AIT was focused on preparing soldiers for fighting in Vietnam -Learning how to set up booby traps and also how to spot them -It didn’t compare to actually being in Vietnam though -Didn’t show soldiers the awful reality of war (00:25:37) Arrival in Vietnam Pt. 1 -When he arrived in Cam Ranh Bay he was placed on kitchen patrol duty -He went out to have a smoke with another soldier -As he was walking back to the kitchen searchlights came on -He was told that Vietnamese soldiers were spotted on the perimeter -He became a clerk for an officer in Headquarters Company -His job was to process promotions and leaves and decided if those things were granted �(00:28:12) Jump School Pt. 2 -After only about a month of AIT he was sent to Jump School at Fort Benning -It consisted of a lot of running -He did all of the training except for the five training jumps out of an airplane -This was because of the trouble that he was having with his hip (00:29:32) Medical Troubles after the War -After getting discharged he was told to go to Detroit to get evaluated for compensation -A month later he was told that he was considered 25% disabled -Allowed him to receive $25 a month -When he went to the Veterans’ Affairs Hospital in Kalamazoo he was denied further assistance -He was told that there was nothing wrong with him -He was also told that Vietnam veterans were always just faking to try and get money -He got in touch with a liaison for Veterans’ Affairs -He was able to apply for more disability assistance -After further evaluation it was decided that he was actually 95% disabled -He doesn’t trust the military or the government for the way veterans are treated (00:35:38) Further Training -His plan was to take as many training courses to delay being deployed to Vietnam -After AIT he had been told that he qualified for leadership training at West Point -Ultimately turned down the offer because of the commitment it meant -He opted to go to Jump School which meant six more weeks of not being in Vietnam -He was going to apply for Green Beret training, but wasn’t able to -He was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma -He remembers at Jump School you would do “static line jumps” from a tower -You were told to spread eagle on the way down -One older soldier didn’t and had a heart attack and died on his way down (00:40:00) Relationship with Other Soldiers -He made good friends with the men that he trained with -He knew one recruit from New York City that he would joke around with -Eventually they both got in trouble for messing with a drill sergeant -In basic training the majority of the recruits were draftees -Some men were also from the National Guard or the Army Reserves -They had joined one of those organizations to avoid going to Vietnam -There were some discipline issues in basic training -Some of the punishment was called for -He remembers recruits would make sure that other recruits got into line -One recruit refused to take a shower, so he was beaten with bags of soap (00:45:05) Deployment to Vietnam -He received orders to go to Vietnam in spring 1971 -He flew to Seattle from Grand Rapids and then flew out of Seattle for Vietnam -Stayed in Seattle for three or four days -Got to see Carlos Santana perform for free (00:49:20) Arrival in Vietnam Pt. 2 -When he got to Vietnam he already knew he was going to join the 101st Airborne Division -He was going to be sent up to Phu Bai from Cam Ranh Bay -He remembers when the jet entered Vietnamese airspace three fighter jets escorted them �-From the air the country looked beautiful and green -On the ground it was trashy looking -While he was in Cam Ranh Bay he ran into the captain he worked for at Fort Sill -He was also heading up to Phu Bai and needed a clerk -Offered the job to Frank who took the position (00:53:08) In the Field -Despite being a clerk he went into the field a few times -The first time that he went into the field a volunteer was needed -The job was to either carry the M60 machine gun or a PRC25 radio -The M60 was heavier and with the PRC25 you got to carry a .45 caliber pistol -Frank volunteered to take the radio -Once the radio antenna was unreeled he realized what a mistake he had made -He was now the most obvious target for the North Vietnamese -During his first time in the field he learned to never say “repeat” on the radio -Repeat meant for the artillery to unleash everything on the last given coordinates -He quickly corrected himself before anything serious happened -During another time in the field a soldier tripped a booby trap -He acted quick enough and dropped flat on the ground -He only got hit with some shrapnel in the legs as opposed to losing his legs -Frank escorted the wounded soldier back to the field hospital -He was allowed to watch while the surgeon removed the shrapnel -He never actually saw the North Vietnamese or the Viet Cong, they were always in the distance -His unit only took minor casualties -Nothing serious enough to send them back to Saigon, Japan, or the United States (01:01:15) Enemy Contact and Civilians -They would drive through towns in convoys -Children would always approach the vehicles to try and ask for something -They would have to tell them to get away because they might be a suicide bomber -If they didn’t listen they would have to shoot at the child -It was that or risk losing a truck full of soldiers -He had some contact with South Vietnamese soldiers -They were worthless as a fighting force though -There were also the Montagnard people that lived in the Central Highlands -They were a neutral party in the conflict, but aided the United States occasionally -Helicopter gunners would also shoot at water buffalo -The military would then have to pay the villagers to compensate for their loss -Eventually the gunners were told they would have to pay for it (01:07:05) Bad Officers and “Fragging” -There was an incompetent and selfish lieutenant in his unit -He refused to sign the application that would grant soldiers their Combat Infantry Badge -Having a CIB meant higher pay -He did not believe that any of these men deserved to have it -After being in Vietnam for only eight weeks he demanded to get a CIB -Frank said that he would only process his application if he signed the others -Argued that all of Vietnam was a combat zone -The lieutenant caved and signed all of the applications �-He got along well with some of the men that were at the brigade level -Exchanged favors for each other -He had a box on his desk with various grenades in it -Some of the men that he knew from brigade came to him -They said that there was a bad officer and they needed to get rid of him -Frank offered them the box of grenades and they took what was needed -Later on they tossed a fragmentation grenade (not live) into the officer’s room -They followed that with a tear gas grenade -The officer stumbled out of his room and fell down the stairs breaking an arm (01:13:50) Friendship with the Medics -He got to know the medics well -They were allowed to do more and get away with more -He remembers a soldier came in with a syphilitic cyst on his pelvis -The doctor was annoyed that the soldier’s lack of common sense -Lanced the cyst with a huge needle and without anesthesia -Frank’s job was to hold down the soldier while the cyst was drained -He had a good time with the medics -Frequently smoked marijuana with them (01:20:08) Morale and Discipline -Soldiers were sick of the war -Morale wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either -There was a lack of discipline in the ranks -Men from the motor pool would take vehicles into the town of Phu Bai to collect prostitutes -They would then take them back to the medics to see if they were safe or not -He had a friend that got seven days of leave and seven days of R&R -Wanted to fly back to Detroit so he could see his family -Frank approved the R&R destination -At the end of the fourteen days Frank got a call from Detroit -The man said he couldn’t leave his wife and children just yet -Frank gave him ten more days of leave -If he was late though, he would not help him -Ten days later, at noon, the soldier showed up on time (01:25:44) Natural Dangers -He was behind the medic’s tent having a smoke when he saw a vibrant green snake -Grabbed a stick and decided to play with it -Before he could do anything a soldier tackled him to the ground -Told him that it was a Bamboo Viper -If he had been bitten by it, it probably would have killed him -An experience like that made him realize that he really wasn’t in the United States -Someone grabbed a shovel, cut off the snake’s head, and put it in a bottle of formaldehyde (01:28:44) Living Conditions -While the officers were down in Cam Ranh Bay the enlisted men would raid their clubhouse -Gave them a chance to get beer and liquor that they usually couldn’t have -Because of being the clerk for a captain he had his own “hooch” -Other enlisted men had to sleep in a barracks with ten other men -The size of his hooch was about ten feet by ten feet �-He had an actual bed -He was able to have larger personal possessions -The first night there he sprayed the room with cockroach repellant -That night in bed cockroaches were crawling onto the ceiling then dropping onto him -Learned that it was better to just not spray repellant -Another night he heard a door opening and then closing -Concerned that it was a possible intruder -Went and investigated and saw that it was a rat the size of a small dog -Paid Vietnamese civilians to come capture the rat, who then ate it -Because of the favors that he did for people he was able to get fancy, rare liquors (01:37:36) Drugs -Aside from marijuana there were hard drugs coming into the country (cocaine and heroin) -Remembers that heroin was the most common, and the worst problem -There was one soldier that refused to go home to his wife and children -His addiction was so bad that he was spending all of his money on heroin -Eventually had to be handcuffed in the plane and was sent home -The heroin was also 95%-98% pure -This meant that it produced a strong high, but it was easier to overdose on -He doesn’t remember medics in Headquarters Company dealing with overdose cases -Soldiers that had that severe of a problem were sent to Saigon to detox -Soldiers would smoke “scag joints”: marijuana cigarette mixed with opium -Commonly used by the helicopter gunners (01:41:42) Racial Tensions -Racial tensions were high and apparent -He tried to act as a liaison between the white and black soldiers -Black soldiers would isolate themselves and refuse to work with white soldiers -In the field racial divisions did not exist -In the rear though, the races did not mix even if the soldiers were friends -He could not understand all of the unnecessary animosity -Believed that they were all in the same situation together -He tried to break down barriers between the two races, but it was no use (01:47:17) Coming Home -He left Vietnam in February 1972 -Through a series of favors and due to the advance of the communists he was sent home early -He went down to Cam Ranh Bay to wait for a chartered flight back to the U.S. -When they flew out of the country three fighter jets escorted them -Once the jets were gone they knew they were out of Vietnamese airspace -They stopped in Okinawa on the way back -Landed in Seattle and was waiting for a flight to Chicago -While in Seattle there was a question about his orders to be sent home early -Contacted the proper authorities in Vietnam and the problem was resolved -He missed the flight to Chicago and got a flight to Kalamazoo, Michigan instead -He was greeted at the airport by his wife and his parents -Afterwards they drove back to Grand Rapids and his time in the service was over (01:54:18) Readjusting to Civilian Life & Life after the War -He was harassed by protestors �-While at Ferris State University the Veterans’ Club was looked down upon -Feels that veterans from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan are treated better now -Directly because of how veterans from Vietnam were treated -Finds it ironic that people that once harassed him now thank him for his service -He had to censor himself in terms of the language he had gotten used to using in Vietnam -He lived with his in-laws for a little bit -He found work at an ice cream parlor -He wanted to have a job like that to readjust to being a working civilian again -He attended Ferris State University for a couple years -Decided that it just wasn’t for him though and left -He worked for his father-in-law for a while -Finally settled on working at General Motors with his father -Stayed with that job for thirty one years -After the war he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder -Believes that he has handled it pretty well though -Hasn’t allowed it to control his life -Appreciates life and his family in spite of the PTSD (02:06:09) Veterans’ Groups -He was involved with the Veterans’ Club at Ferris State University -He was in a veterans’ group at General Motors -He became a salary employee though which caused a conflict of interest -He plans on getting involved with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion -He also thinks highly of those who volunteer at the Veterans’ Home in Grand Rapids (02:08:36) Reflections on Service -He doesn’t regret the time that he spent in the service -He views all of it as a learning experience -It showed him how the world actually works -Exposed him to the more bizarre, but very real parts of American society and the world � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context JonesF1725V Title A name given to the resource Jones, Frank (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Frank Jones is a Vietnam War veteran that was born on February 15, 1950 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school in June 1970 he was drafted into the Army in August 1970. He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Polk, Louisiana; and Fort Benning, Georgia. He was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and was deployed to Vietnam in October 1971. In Vietnam he was assigned to Headquarters Company for the 101st Airborne Division in Phu Bai. He worked as a clerk for a captain, but also went out into the field on a few patrols. In February 1972 he received an early out and his tour in Vietnam ended. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jones, Frank Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jones, Adam (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-01-29 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/df3e5c3676a098af17f518632436f2d7.m4v 2a2e63c4c95f244bedb8f5e9ad444e8f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/378579d5a92baa4b0cca70b8db303f2b.pdf a99d64538a54e2baefca924d4ce311d7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project TJ Johnson Cold War – Vietnam War Era 1 hour 16 minutes 28 seconds (00:00:48) Early Life -Born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 19, 1952 -Seventh child out of a total of nine -Tight-knit family and they took care of each other -Remembers the first time he became aware of social problems in Chicago -His brother witnessed some boys stealing instruments from their church -Brother told on the boys, the boys found out, and they promised to retaliate -This was TJ’s first memory having to be on the defensive when he left home -As he got older he became more aware of people fighting in the street -He was in the choir and was an alter boy -Family lived in a two bedroom apartment -Had his siblings, a cousin, and an uncle living with them too -Father got a promotion (or a new job) which allowed them to move into a house -Stayed for a year and then his father went bankrupt -Moved to the LeClaire Courts low-income housing project in west Chicago -A lot of gang activity in the area -Had four bedrooms, but multiple families lived in one apartment -Lived there from the 5th grade through high school -Graduated from high school in 1969 (00:07:06) Young Adult Life -Went to Winston-Salem State University -Saw it has chance of getting away from the gangs and other unrest -Brother was in the Blackstone Rangers -Race riots, emergence of Black Panthers, and the Democratic Convention Riot in 1968 -Had experienced severe racial tension in school -Went to a school with 3,000 white students and only 300 black students -Every spring there was racial violence -Got homesick and couldn’t keep up with the classes -Dropped out after his first semester -Worked with his former basketball coach to start a basketball program at a Chicago school -Did that for two years -Brother came home from Vietnam with a drug addiction -Stole some things from the school leading to TJ getting fired -Worked as a bus driver until a passenger threatened TJ with a pistol -Decided that he didn’t want to get killed on the job (00:12:27) Enlisting in the Army -One of his friends suggested that they join the Army -Recruiter promised them bonuses, promotions, and any job they wanted -At the time he had a fatalistic outlook about life -He’d either get killed in Chicago, or get killed in Vietnam -In August (1972?) his friend decided not to enlist, but TJ went ahead with it -Vietnam War veterans told him his life would change for the worse �-Taken by bus to the airport -Remembers the bus got stuck in traffic near a liquor store -He jumped off the bus and bought a bottle of liquor to pass around on the bus (00:17:10) Basic Training -Stayed at a receiving station for three or four days of processing -Getting his head shaved, doing paperwork, and meeting the other recruits -Taken to Fort Polk, Louisiana, on a cattle truck -Had to stand up during the ride -It was hot and crowded -Arrived at Fort Polk where they were greeted by drill sergeants screaming at them to get off the truck -At that time drill sergeants were still allowed to hit recruits -Fell into formation -TJ was cracking jokes and one of the drill sergeants heard him -The drill sergeant, a massive black man, confronted TJ -TJ was placed in charge of the men in his barracks -If they misbehaved TJ would be punished -Told the expectations of a soldier -Did drills in the morning -He was made the Physical Training Non-commissioned officer -Led the other recruits on their runs -Ran five miles every day -Enjoyed being in charge -Had to pass a series of tests to go onto Advanced Individual Training -One of the tests was a land navigation course -Placed in the woods at sundown and told to get back to base -He started walking and became the de facto leader of his platoon -Supposed to be back to base by midnight, and at 2 a.m. they were still in the woods -TJ was leading the men, so when he fell off a six foot ledge the rest of the men followed -Eventually, the black drill sergeant found them and led them back to base -Proud of TJ for leading the men and getting them all back to base (00:25:26) Advanced Individual Training -The Army needed men for the infantry and the field artillery -He volunteered for the field artillery -Took a test and scored high enough to be a surveyor -Survey teams went in the field to gather data for artillery coordinates -Trained at Fort Hood, Texas -Part of the 1st Battalion of the 92nd Field Artillery Regiment -It didn’t have a survey section, so he was made the acting Staff Sergeant (E6) -Meant he was second in command of his platoon -Rumors that they would be sent to West Germany or Vietnam -There were fights between troops returning from Vietnam and new soldiers -Created “Combat Football” (contact soccer) to build morale and channel aggression (00:32:15) Race Relations in the Army -He worked as the Race Relations Non-commissioned Officer for his unit -On June 19 (“Juneteenth”) the black soldiers wanted to celebrate the holiday -Note: June 19, 1865: Oldest known celebration of emancipation and end of the Civil War -TJ went to General George Patton (IV) to get approval for the holiday -After a racist tirade General Patton allowed for the celebration of the holiday -TJ had historical workshops, and only a few soldiers showed up �-Rest of the men went into town to drink -Decided to drive up to Hippie Hollow (near Ft. Hood) with a few friends -A few black soldiers got caught stealing from a PX (military general store) -TJ was placed in charge of guarding them until transfer to Fort Leavenworth -Guarded them for 30 days and wound up bonding with them -Black and white soldiers self-segregated -Had to be in charge of black and white soldiers that hated each other -If a black soldier associated with white soldiers he was an “Uncle Tom” -On another occasion TJ went up to close the day room on base -A group of black soldiers refused to leave -He tried to threaten them with jail and an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) -He grabbed a cue ball and a pool cue to fend off the other soldiers -One of them hit TJ in the head -He went to get the officer on duty -Officers were allowed to have a sidearm -Soldiers followed him and the officer couldn’t bring himself to shoot -One of them stabbed TJ with a broken pool cue -He decided to leave and was taken to the hospital -Military Police asked him about his side of the story -Command decided to ignore the incident -The black soldiers deserted anyway (00:43:56) Training in West Germany -Sent to West Germany for six months of training -Trained every day, all day -Behaved like you were at war -Went out on maneuvers every day -Had daily strategic meetings -A German colonel wanted TJ’s survey team to get coordinates for mortars -Seemed pointless to do a survey for mortars, but he had orders -He was able to do it without his full team and the equipment -Surveying for mortars didn’t require that level of specificity -Colonel yelled at him for not taking it seriously and being disrespectful -TJ argued his point which got him thrown in a German brig -US couldn’t help him -TJ’s commanding officer went over the chain of command to get TJ out -While in Germany he learned that non-commissioned officers were cornerstone of Army command (00:50:25) End of Service -Returned to Fort Hood, Texas -Asked if he wanted to reenlist -Offered $30,000 and promotion to Sergeant First Class -Decided when it was time, he would reenlist because he didn’t want to return to Chicago -Things started going downhill at Fort Hood -One of his men had a nervous breakdown and received a Section 8 medical discharge -Decided not to reenlist and left the day before his enlistment ended -Technically AWOL, but the Army decided not to press charges -Had money taken from his separation check, but got an honorable discharge -He was ready to be done with the Army -Burned his uniform -Sick of the arbitrary decisions made by the Army and the favoritism �(00:53:37) Army Reserves -Decided to stay in the Army Reserves -Trained once a month, and two weeks a year -All the good of the Army without the complications and bureaucracy -Able to still serve his country and be a leader of men -Satisfying a feeling instilled in him since basic training -Remembers the first time he had to make a leadership decision -In basic training there was a recruit that just couldn’t be a soldier -Threat to himself and to others -Made the call to have him discharged without incident -Taught him to make hard decisions for the sake of his soldiers (00:56:38) Reflections on Service -Being in the Army makes a deep psychological impression on a person -Connection to a weapon and to kill on command -Connection with other soldiers -Difficult to come out of the Army and be a civilian -Lacked the regimen and discipline of the Army -Difficult to connect with civilians -Instilled in him a strong survival instinct -Able to sleep leaning on his rifle, or take a bath using water in helmet -Taught him to grow up and be responsible for himself and others -Finds civilian life to be impersonal compared to life in the Army -Have to go through the proper channels to deal with a problem (01:02:04) Life after the Army -Eligible for VA benefits if injured in the service regardless of context of injury -Didn’t want to take the benefits because he didn’t want to be connected to the government -Took the GI Bill and went back to college at Southwest Missouri State University -Had a drinking problem and a lack of focus -Moved to Sparta, Missouri, to live with one of his friends from the Army -Ultimately dropped out of college -Worked for a year and got fired -Went to the VA for a few therapy sessions, but felt annoyed instead of relief -Moved back and forth between Chicago and Missouri -Felt anxious and miserable -He had money, but no direction or satisfaction -Tried out for the Chicago Bears then tried out for the San Diego Chargers -Too old for the Chargers, but decided to stay in San Diego -Transferred to the Reserve unit in San Diego -Felt comfortable being in San Diego due to its military environment -Had health problems and a World War II veteran advised him to go to the VA -It took a fellow veteran to convince him to do that -Within a month he started receiving benefits -He was homeless and disabled which got him multiple significant benefits -Income-based rent for housing -Alcoholics Anonymous to help with his drinking problem -Therapist and a social worker -Got a career, lost weight, started traveling, and attended therapy -Now helps troubled, younger soldiers to give them direction -He’s proud of his service now and isn’t ashamed to talk about it � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context JohnsonA1932V Title A name given to the resource Johnson, Antonio Earl (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource TJ Johnson was born in Chicago on October 19, 1952. Due to growing up in a challenging and often dangerous environment he decided to enlist in the Army (most likely August 1972). He received basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and field artillery training at Fort Hood, Texas. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 92nd Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas. He served as the acting staff sergeant in his unit and also served as a surveyor (gathering coordinates for artillery batteries) and the race relations non-commissioned officer. He served in West Germany for six months of field maneuvers. TJ completed his enlistment at Fort Hood, but remained in the Army Reserves (most likely until the late 1970s). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Johnson, Antonio Earl Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-03-17 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2aec4f5e32e7bcadc47001017a0dcfd5.m4v 3116963fbf4da33107730a6e606a9175 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/37a065b42dc6b63837e5e8e38ae6177b.pdf 90f4648df22427e0c74c8983d518b99b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Dwight Jamison Korean War 26 minutes 54 seconds (00:00:02) Early Life -Born in Big Rapids, Michigan on February 15, 1928 -Brother enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943 -Served in India during World War II -Base with aircraft that brought supplies into China (00:01:15) Enlisting in the Army -Interested in joining the military since youth -Served in the Michigan National Guard -Father served in the National Guard in the 1920s -Wanted to enlist before he turned 18 years old, but father forbade it -Enlisted in the Army -Father's National Guard service prompted him to enlist in the Army -Lived across from the recruiting center in Big Rapids -Enlisted on his 18th birthday -Two weeks after enlisting he went to Detroit to take his physical exam -Went to Detroit with his friend who had also enlisted -Dwight passed the exam, but his friend failed it (00:03:16) Basic Training -Sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana for basic training -Watery and swampy location -Basic training lasted eight weeks -Time in the National Guard prepared him for basic training -Went on a bivouac -Remembers being woken up at night by the drill instructors -Raining and ordered to march 20 miles through swamp -Had to hold rifle over his head -Saw a five foot long water moccasin (00:05:04) Stationed in Japan -Deployed to Japan -Served in southern Japan at an Army hospital during the Korean War -Worked in supply -Brought wounded soldiers from the air strip to the hospital -Would rather have been fighting in Korea -Remembers bringing in one soldier that was severely wounded -New nurse put a wound tag on the soldier -He asked if it would hurt and she started crying -Had been hit by an artillery shell -Hit in the ribs, arm was hanging by a strand of muscle -Worked on a hospital train three times -Going between south Japan and Tokyo -Had a Turkish soldier in his train car -Couldn't speak English and played a harmonica �-Only song he know how to play was the Turkish national anthem -Cared for the wounded in his car -None of them were too severely wounded -Remembers a B-29 bomber en route to Guam after a bombing run over Korea -Severely damaged, lost its landing gear, and had wounded aboard -Had to land without its landing gear -Navigator, tail gunner, and one other crewman was wounded -Bomb exploded under the navigator and injured his feet -Stripped the wounded and collected their personal belongings for storage -Navigator had a beautiful pair of boots -Cleaned the boots for the airman and held onto them -Airman told Dwight he got the boots in Monaco (00:14:32) Japanese Civilians -In Japan he met an older Japanese man who worked as a mechanic -Helped repair Dwight's jeep -Had two daughters -Often spent evenings with him and ate dinner together (00:15:48) Christmas in Japan -Remembers one Christmas all of the cooks in his unit were gifted bottles of rum -Indulged with them to celebrate the holiday -Decided that he preferred sake over rum (00:16:39) Friendship & Exploration of Japan -Is still in touch with a friend he made in the Army -Friend's parents lived in Tokyo -Explored the parks and monuments in Tokyo -Saw the place where many Japanese had committed seppuku (ritual suicide) (00:18:10) Downtime in Japan -During one winter he went skiing in northern Japan -In the summer the Japanese grew crops in the mountains -Ran into cornstalks buried under the snow -Went head over heels and a ski hit him in the back of the head (00:19:57) Rank -Made the rank of corporal before the Korean War (prior to June 1950) -Tried to get promoted to staff sergeant, but there was no need for another sergeant at the time (00:20:22) Contact with Family -Kept in touch with his family while he was in Japan (00:20:35) Hospital Duty in Korea -Sent to an area near Pusan, Korea -Established a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) field hospital (00:21:23) Coming Home & Life after the War -He was back in the United States by the time the war ended in 1953 -Glad it ended -American people didn't pay much attention to the returning veterans though -At Camp Stoneman, California -Had flown back to the United States from Japan -Flight took 36 hours -Stopped at Wake Island and Honolulu, Hawaii -Arrived at Camp Stoneman early in the morning -Didn't recognize the towers on the houses �-Didn't know what TV antennas were -Hadn't been in the United States for four and a half years -Left the United States in 1946 and got back in 1951 -Visited the nearby town of Pittsburg, California to get a meal -Got heckled by a group of locals for being in the Army -Lost faith in the American people -Made him want to return to Japan -Took a train across the country back to Michigan -Trip took two and a half days -Left his experiences in the Army behind him -Had trouble finding a job -Went back to Big Rapids, Michigan Interview ends abruptly � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context JamisonD1835V Title A name given to the resource Jamison, Dwight Carson (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Dwight Jamison was born in Big Rapids, Michigan on February 15, 1928. He served in the Michigan National Guard as a teenager and enlisted in the Army in 1946. He received his basic training at Camp Polk, Louisiana and after that was deployed to Japan. He served at a hospital in Japan during the Korean War, helping with supplies and bringing wounded soldiers from a nearby airstrip to the hospital for treatment. He was also sent to an area near Pusan, Korea to help establish a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. In 1951 he returned to the United States after four and a half years in Japan and served at Camp Stoneman, California. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jamison, Dwight Carson Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hansen, Mia (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-17 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3011f13add33890319260fec1a3ea5b9.m4v c8113203b7fdaede4cd8e720d45c77d6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5f5a4f2f4fbd1fe8cf90490de38ad193.pdf 6a7e5292fb2527bc382e05c4aed96f55 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Franjo & Etela Ivkovic Yugoslavian War 34 minutes 56 seconds (00:00:10) -Their situation started in Yugoslavia in September, 1990. -Franjo was born in Yugoslavia on March 19, 1964. -Etela was born in Yugoslavia on May 24, 1967. -Refugees from the Yugoslavian War in 1990. -Separationists wished to have their independence. -They are from the area that is now Serbia. -Next, Croatia wished to gain independence as well. -Croatian population was much more mixed of different ethnicities. -The borders between the various states began creating more physical borders. -They worried what may happen if they were to become a minority in their state. -Three major religions: Catholic, Orthodox Catholic, and Muslim. -The Yugoslavian constitution requires men from age 18 to 65 to be drafted. -Discussed leaving to Hungary if it seemed like he were being drafted. -Government did not have enough draftees, and so they would pick people up from populated buildings. -The police came to their door and Etela hid in the attic while they left. -The War in Croatia was getting very bad. -Franjo’s cousin and several friends were drafted (00:10:00) -People that came back from the War were “not normal anymore”. -They crossed the border to Hungary and encountered many of the people they already knew. -Decided to stay in Hungary. -Individuals they worked with bought a bar/pizzeria so they began working there. -The lead up to the War happened quickly. -Lived in Hungary for three months. -People began going to Sweden to obtain refugee status. -The UN had recognized the civil war and refugee status. -They decided to go to Sweden. -However, the EU was becoming fearful for being overwhelmed with refugees. -Authorities in Sweden asked where they came from. -They explained they came from Hungary. -Have relatives in the US. -Sweden authorities rejected their entry to Sweden. -Sent via train back to Yugoslavia. -Had enough money for food thanks to their employment. -Upon arriving home, their parents were shocked claiming it was too dangerous. -For the next day they stayed indoors all day so nobody would know they were there. -Did not trust anyone. �-There was a UN refugee camp in Vienna, Austria. -Left on a train in the evening for Vienna. -Police on the train asked for their passports. -They lied to say they were going to Vienna to buy goods to import back to Yugoslavia. -After an extensive ~10 minute inquisition, the man sent them on their way. -Refugee camp was full of thousands of people. -It was an old military camp from the Austrian monarchy. -UN refugee center for people from all over the world. (00:20:00) -People may have been in the camp for months or years already. -Refugees from Yugoslavia were held there for the moment. -It wasn’t yet clear where to send them. -Nobody wanted the refugees. -UN began paying bed and breakfast type places to host refugees in Austria. -They spent seven days in the camp. -Stayed for eight months in the bed and breakfast. -Were not allowed to work due to protectionist laws. -They attempted to learn the local language, German. -Austrian government decided to only offer refugee status to those that were directly involved with the action of the War. -They denied their refugee status, but they were not sent out of the country. -Granted a temporary working permit. -Required visiting the local unemployment office once a week. -Very long line. -Each week they insisted that they couldn’t be given work because they can’t speak German. -Franjo got a job at a locksmith shop. -He spoke Hungarian and they needed Hungarian translation. -Because he got a job, Etela was not allowed to work. -Eventually, four years from then, she obtained an under the table job. -They were not making enough to live from his job alone. -She worked to do misc. tasks for the bed and breakfast. -They lived in Austria for five years. -Later she began working sewing in a factory for men’s underwear. -Paid on the amount produced. -Made decent money. -Began saving money to buy tickets go to the US and obtain a visa. -At the American embassy in Vienna, the ambassador granted their visas. -Worked for three and a half years under a sponsor. -The sponsor ended the sponsorship so they were preparing to leave the country. (00:30:00) -Came to the US in 1996. -They lived with his uncle for 4/5 years. -Eventually they moved to Bloomington, Michigan. -They learned English while living and working in the US. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context IvkovicF1826V Title A name given to the resource Ivkovic, Franjo and Etela (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Franjo and Etela Ivkovic are a Yugoslavian couple that fled Yugoslavia during the Yugoslavian War. Franjo was born in Yugoslavia on March 19, 1964, and Etela was born there as well on May 24, 1967. The two of them left for Hungary temporarily when the War drafting was intensifying. A later attempt to enter Sweden was rejected. They managed to leave Yugoslavia on a train to Vienna, Austria where they stayed in a UN refugee camp. For the next five years they struggled to work in Austria. Eventually they saved enough money to come to the US with a sponsorship and they are now full US citizens Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ivkovic, Franjo and Etela Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Schmehling, Madeline (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-25 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/69cd8877944b32d0e5e16248fd307fac.m4v c68fec778796cf3226543aeb236c2ef1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4978eaf7a8b2f6813105633b1a323f07.m4v df40c9f14e11d17b73328ff3c721e5de https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0be258e2c3a068bd021f45350a6c5a79.pdf c4d424928ce215bb61daf469e5c58af2 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Bob Elliott Vietnam War Part 1 – 57 minutes 48 seconds (00:00:55) Early Life -Born in Hart, Michigan on November 22, 1948 -Lived in Hart until halfway through the third grade -Moved to Muskegon, Michigan -Lived in Muskegon until 1966 -Dropped out of high school when he was 17 years old -Grandparents raised him -Grandfather worked in manufacturing -He worked in the summers -Grew up lower middle class (00:02:55) Vietnam War & Enlisting in the Marines -Knew Vietnam War was going on -Read the newspapers and watched the news reports at night -Wanted to serve his country despite the war -Had a better chance of survival in the Marines than in the Army -Didn't want to be on a ship on the water or a target at an air base -Enlisted in March 1966 with a three month delay before starting basic training -Took his physical and mental exams at Fort Wayne in Detroit -A lot of men went directly from Fort Wayne to basic training -Thorough physical -Marine Corps wanted all of your medical records since childhood -At that point he was still in high school -One month after enlisting he left school and got a job -Worked until he left (00:08:10) Basic Training -On July 21 or 22, 1966 he reported for basic training -Flew from Detroit to Los Angeles where he changed flights then flew to San Diego -Drill instructors greeted the men at San Diego and started barking orders -Exciting and totally unexpected experience -Boarded a bus and went to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego -A drill instructor ordered them off the bus and told them they belonged to the Corps -Arrived there early in the morning -Shaved head, handed over civilian belongings to be sent home, issued fatigues and boots -Got an hour of sleep then got physically kicked out of bed -First part of basic training consisted of physical training -Getting physically conditioned -Started every day with three to five miles of running -After a run they had breakfast and followed breakfast with calisthenics -Went on another run before lunch and followed lunch with more calisthenics -After a couple weeks they started taking classes -Taught the history of the Marines -Received weapons training �-Learned about the parts of a rifle, information on the rifle, and how to take it apart -Taught protocol and the United States Code of Military Justice -Learned that the only time you called a non-commissioned officer 'sir' was in basic training -If you made a minor mistake you were usually punished with extra exercise -At least once a day they marched past the jail to see prisoners breaking concrete as punishments -Screamed at by guards worse than drill instructors yelled at recruits -Minor infractions were obviously punished with less severity -Remembers one recruit failing to pass a rifle inspection -Recruit had to dig a grave for the rifle, bury it, exhume it, and clean it -All leather had to be polished -Everyone got it wrong at least once -Sometimes drill instructor scuffed clean leather so you had to redo it -At first he didn't understand the abuse, but eventually understood it -Learned that it was about working as a unit and not as an individual -Once he got through basic training he adjusted well to the Marines -Had to do two extra weeks of basic training because he was assigned to Physical Conditioning Platoon -He was overweight and needed extra help getting into shape -Dietary restrictions and extra exercise -Only a few men did not complete basic training -Remembers one man died in training because he had a fever of 106o and refused to get help -Only time a drill instructor talked to them like equals was after that (00:22:03) Infantry Training -Sent to Camp Pendleton north of San Diego -Received two weeks of infantry training -Had been assigned his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) at the end of basic training -Test scores from induction and a need for Marines doing that specific job were factors -He wanted to go into explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), but was not given that MOS -His MOS was 2531-Voiced Radio Communication -Meant that he would receive shortened infantry training -Trained with all weapons at Camp Pendleton -Machine guns, bazookas, etc. -Went on an infiltration course -Crawling through mud and barbed wire under live fire -Learned how to use hand grenades -Marines assigned to the infantry stayed at Camp Pendleton for two weeks longer (00:25:53) Radio Training -Sent to another part of Camp Pendleton for his radio training -That training lasted four weeks -Taught how to use radios -Learned the NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, etc.) -Had to get a background check and security clearance to do radio work -Only technical information he had to know was how to change a battery and operate a radio -Learned how to properly talk on a radio -Enunciate your words and keep the microphone away from your mouth -Learned how to talk in secret code -Used three different types of radio: -PRC-25 (common radio for communication, man-portable) -Mark 84 (vehicle mounted radio) -PRC-45 (portable radio for ground-air communication) �-Didn't learn a lot about communicating with different units or different branches (00:30:57) Stationed at Hawaii -Went home on leave after radio training -Reported to staging barracks and waited for enough Marines to go to Hawaii -Stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay on Oahua, Hawaii -Assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 27th Marine Regiment of 5th Marine Division -First assignment was with a radio platoon -Learned more about communicating with other units -How to send a situation report, call in supplies, and call in a Medevac helicopter -After five months he was reassigned to a mortar platoon -Learned about forward operating procedures -Calling in mortars and artillery -Extensive classes on calling in airstrikes and artillery strikes -How to get jets in and out of a combat zone as quickly as possible -Pilots needed to know where to go after dropping their bombs -Spent a little over a year in Hawaii -Days at Hawaii were 85o, sunny, and it was a great place to be assigned -Got up at 6:30 a.m. and worked until 4:30 p.m. -Sometimes went into the field for a week for field training -Spent downtime by going to the beach and surfing -It was a 40 minute drive to Honolulu (00:36:35) Deployment to Vietnam -Always knew he could be deployed to Vietnam -Knew about Marines getting wounded or killed in Vietnam -Unit served as a replacement unit -Get trained in Hawaii then be sent individually to Vietnam -Only a few men got sent to Vietnam while he trained in Hawaii -Stayed in Hawaii until the end of January 1968 -Told they were going on a training cruise to Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, and Australia -Boarded a ship in Pearl Harbor and saw crates of ammunition being loaded onto the ship -Knew that they were being sent to Vietnam before they were told -Crossed the International Date Line and were told they were being sent to Vietnam -Weren't given a lot of information about what their role in Vietnam would be (00:41:00) Arrival in Vietnam -When they got to Vietnam they were told they were supporting the 1st Battalion in the 1st Marines -Unit had fought at Hue during the Tet Offensive and the area needed support -Landed south of Danang -Originally supposed to dock in the harbor at Danang -Plans changed and they went ashore in landing craft -North Vietnamese sappers had sunk a ship and effectively blocked the harbor -Didn't get any ammunition when they went ashore -Nets were dropped over the side of the ship and they climbed down into landing craft -When they got to shore they were picked up by trucks and taken to a base -Spent the first couple weeks adjusting to the heat -Did light exercises and stayed active to acclimate (00:44:58) Early Operations in Vietnam -Operated at a base ten miles south of Danang called Bong Song -Not much enemy activity in the area, but there was still fighting in Hue -Didn't have a lot of combat veterans in the unit �-Fortunate enough to find a communication Marine that had been to Vietnam before -Told not to trust any Vietnamese civilians and to just leave them alone -Told to remember their training and use it -First patrol lasted six or seven hours and they operated from morning to sunset -A week later they went out to the field and stayed the night -Set up a camp, established a perimeter, and had men stand watch -The next morning they packed up and returned to base -Didn't rush into combat and learned to look for booby traps and trails in the jungle -Every other time they went out they ran into small groups of enemy soldiers -On one patrol their point man tripped a landmine near a creek and the North Vietnamese opened fire -He called in a Medevac and artillery to fight back against the Vietnamese -Sporadic enemy contact -Started operating at squad strength (~10 men) to platoon strength (~40 men) -Depended on how long they would be in the field and the size of their area of operation -Had a mortar section that was within range of their patrol and could support them if necessary -Usually had three radio operators in the field -When they got ambushed at the creek he was the only radioman with a working radio -He called in situation report, mortars, Medevac, and artillery -He worked with a forward observer who worked with the mortars -Didn't stay at the base much -When he did, he stood radio watch and took in messages coming in from the field -Usually worked with a unit going out on patrols -At the end of patrols they returned to base, cleaned up, resupplied, then returned to the field (00:55:07) Operation Allen Brook -On May 4, 1968 the Marines launched Operation Allen Brook -Loaded onto trucks and went to Go Noi Island 25 kilometers south of Da Nang -Mission: make contact with enemy and stop North Vietnamese from launching a major offensive -Knew there was a high possibility of running into a large contingent of enemy troops -Made contact with highly trained, highly skilled North Vietnamese regulars preparing an offensive End of Part 1 Part 2 – 1 hour 7 minutes 17 seconds (00:00:43) Operation Allen Brook -Got into combat the first night of that operation -Spent 45 days in the field -Only five or six days/nights without enemy contact and that was because of the rain -Moved during the day and set up camp at night -Enemy tended to attack at night -Sent out teams with strengths from four men to 25 men -Scouting the enemy or engaging the enemy -Forcing the enemy to move or fight -Went on a few “Stingray” patrols -Four man team going into the field and going to the high ground -One sergeant, a machine gunner, a radioman, and a forward observer -Look for enemy movement, report it, then call in artillery or an airstrike -Alerted nearby units if the enemy was moving toward them -Hard to tell the size of the enemy force �-Heard enemy officers giving orders and could tell their direction -Enemy waited until it was really quiet at night to mount an attack -Stealthy soldiers -Could get right up to the perimeter before launching their attack -Larger groups of enemy troops had rockets and mortars -Mimicked American tactics -Had to call in artillery and an airstrike on their position twice -Jet dropped napalm 100 yards from their position -Safe distance for napalm is 1,000 yards -Met up with other units after clearing an area then split up again -Assigned to different platoons and different companies within the battalion depending on need -Stayed with Alpha Company during Operation Allen Brook -Alpha Company suffered 20-25% casualties, but lighter than Delta Company -1st Battalion was never up to strength after Operation Allen Brook -Needed replacements, but never received them -Hard to tell how much damage they inflicted on the North Vietnamese -Alpha Company took four prisoners of war -Hard to find enemy bodies -North Vietnamese were good at collecting their dead and wounded -Discovered an underground hospital that covered four acres -Found a table that still had playing cards on it -Found operating tables with fresh blood -Sent down smaller Marines to investigate the tunnels -Engaged enemy forces during the day -Foliage limited their line of sight -Six foot tall elephant grass and overgrown rice fields -Established a field of fire and tried to force the enemy to retreat -Noted trails on maps and never went down the same trail twice -If you went down the same trail twice you set yourself up for ambushes or booby traps -Civilians were told to leave the area or they would be considered enemy sympathizers -Only had to search and destroy one village in the Go Noi Island area -Most civilians had evacuated the area before Operation Allen Brook -Objective was to clear out the enemy and allow the civilians to return (00:15:27) Establishing Camp Eagle -Returned to base after Operation Allen Brook -Got resupplied and rested -Went to a hill between Hue and Phu Bai -Secured an area between Highway 1 and the ocean -Objective was to secure the area so the 101st Airborne Division could establish Camp Eagle -Found new and old trails -Set up booby traps -Only got shot at once during that operation -When the Marines left the North Vietnamese overran the area -North Vietnamese had waited until the 101st Airborne Division moved in -Believes they had been waiting for the right moment to launch their offensive -Last major operation for the 27th Marine Regiment -Conducted in July 1968 (00:18:20) End of First Tour & Coming Home -Not much activity in August 1968 �-Didn't get a leave before being deployed to Vietnam -Two months in Hawaii equaled one month in Vietnam -Went on a few patrols in early August -Told he could turn in his gear and relax until he went home -Left Vietnam in early September 1968 -Flew from Da Nang to Okinawa and got his personal effects back -Dress uniform and he had his records updated -Stayed in Okinawa for four days -Flew on a chartered civilian airliner to Los Angeles -Got off the plane and all of the men were happy to be home -Greeted by protestors throwing stuff at them and spitting on them -Mad and disappointed -Aware of antiwar sentiments, but didn't expect it to be directed at troops -Thought race riots were going to be more of a problem than protestors -Came home on leave and in uniform -Young woman was scared of him because he was a Marine -She believed Marines had committed atrocities -He politely explained to her that that simply wasn't the case -Had 20 days of leave (00:26:56) Redeployment to Vietnam -Reported to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina -There was talk about the Marines going on a training cruise in the Mediterranean Sea -Didn't want to be back on a troopship again -Could volunteer for another tour in Vietnam to avoid going on the cruise, so he did -Spent the rest of his time at Camp Lejeune waiting to return to Vietnam -Went on leave then reported to a Marine company in California -Only one of four combat veterans in that unit -Spent a month at Camp Pendleton -A few of the men asked about Vietnam, but most were too scared to ask questions -Helped on the Escape and Evasion Course at Camp Pendleton -Played the part of a Viet Cong aggressor -Marines had to get across the course without getting “captured” -Flew to Vietnam from California (00:30:25) Stationed at Quang Tri -Assigned to Headquarters Company of 3rd Marine Division -Got to Vietnam in February 1969 -Quang Tri was the last major city before reaching the DMZ -Marines started using seismic intrusion devices -Placed the gadgets 100 feet apart on a trail then go back about 1,000 yards -Established the coordinates and gave the coordinates to artillery crews -Transmitters detected troop movement -Worked with C Battery at Camp Charlie -Setting up the seismic devices was not as dangerous as he thought it would be -Knew what to look for and avoid in the way of booby traps -Avoided enemy troop movement -Didn't have enough men or firepower to engage in combat -Only went out for three or four hours -Seismic intrusion devices were given to the Marines from the Army -Worked very well �-Only two times when North Vietnamese forces managed to get out of the area before artillery (00:36:33) Stationed at Con Thien -Had ground radar jeeps -Detected North Vietnamese artillery positions at the DMZ and directed fire on those positions -Counted 120 explosions out of 100 shells fired on one occasion -Secondary explosions from munitions exploding -Sent over a recon plane to survey the damage -Found destroyed Soviet artillery pieces -Operated out of the Marine base at Con Thien -Situated on a hill, a natural observation point -There were a few Montagnard hill people near Con Thien -Marines gave them food when they came out of the hills -Only civilian presence in the area -North Vietnamese stayed away from the area -Second tour lasted six months (00:40:38) Stationed Near Laos -Left Con Thien and went to a mountain base near Laos -Simple base with radar bunkers and guard bunkers -Stood watch -Near the end of his second tour -Nothing happened at that base -Noticed movement once and called in air strikes (00:42:38) Morale, Racial Tension and Drugs -Morale was good on both tours -Always worked as a team -Wanted everyone to get home alive and everyone shared that mentality -If you looked out for everyone, they looked out for you -There was some racial tension, but only if you made it -He had no problem with non-white Marines -Everyone was in the same situation regardless of race -Racial tension would cause conflict in the field which would threaten everyone's survival -The unit on his second tour was predominantly white -A couple men heavily used drugs -He dabbled with marijuana as a way to relieve stress -Couldn't buy hard liquor in the Marines -Easier to walk down the street and buy a pack of 10 joints for $10 from a Vietnamese civilian -Only smoked or drank when it was safe at a base -No Marines used drugs when they went on patrols -Allowed to have beer on a base, but no hard liquor -Got a substantial beer ration after Operation Allen Brook (00:50:20) Service with South Vietnamese Troops -Worked with South Vietnamese troops on two occasions -The soldiers he worked with were good soldiers -Held their own and were good men -Showed the Marines the area so they didn't get lost -Showed Marines how to look for trails and other things -Worked with them early in his first tour -Had some interpreters at Headquarters Company on his second tour �(00:52:07) Contact with Civilians -After Operational Allen Brooke and during Camp Eagle they crossed a village near Highway 1 -Brought food, candy, and a corpsman with extra medical supplies -Always made sure they had extra supplies to give to the civilians -Some civilians were glad that Americans were -Understood the American mission and wanted them there -Some of the civilians were bitter and wanted the United States to leave Vietnam (00:54:46) End of Second Tour, End of Service, & Coming Home -At the end of his second tour his enlistment was done -Marines tried to get him to reenlist -Two Army generals had come to Con Thien for inspection -Gave Bob a letter of recommendation for promotion -Tried to barter with his commanding officer to get the promotion if he extended his tour -CO told him he couldn't give him the promotion -Bob wanted a promotion to sergeant, but could only get promoted to lance corporal -Decided that it was time to get out of the Marines -Flew from Vietnam to Okinawa, and from Okinawa to Marine Corp Air Station El Toro, California -Stayed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro for out-processing -Bought civilian clothes -Flew back to Michigan in civilian clothes -Noticed a diminished sense of animosity from civilians -Told protestors to stop harassing troops, but didn't get combative (00:59:25) Life after the War -Planned on drawing unemployment and relaxing for a while -Home for a week and got a job -Took a while to get his initiative back -Took a few night classes at his old high school to get his diploma -Used the GI Bill to attend Muskegon Community College -Got his associate's degree -Started a family -Studied for two years at Grand Valley State College (now University) -Got his journeyman's card as a carpenter -Moved to Holland, Michigan and got a job with an automotive supplier -Worked his way up and became a process engineer -Had trouble readjusting to civilian life -Time at college helped him return to civilian life -GVSC had counselors and other veterans to talk to -There were a lot of veteran students at Grand Valley -Non-confrontational atmosphere -Noticed more antiwar sentiments and animosity in the workplace -Got turned down for three good positions because he served in Vietnam and saw combat (01:04:50) Reflections on Service -Glad he served, but wouldn't do it again -Made him a better person -Matured quickly in the Marines -Taught him self-reliance and how to take care of others -There were a lot of lessons to learn being in the service if you accepted the lessons (01:06:00) Miscellaneous Details -Major objective of Operation Allen Brook was keeping the North Vietnamese out of Danang �-On “Stingray” patrols they relied on line of sight observations -Used binoculars and telescopes -Viet Cong relied heavily on improvised explosives -Basically, make a booby trap out of anything that will produce an explosion and shrapnel � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ElliottB1772 Title A name given to the resource Elliott, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Bob Elliott was born in Hart, Michigan on November 22, 1948. He enlisted in the Marines in March 1966 and began basic training in late July 1966. He received his basic training in San Diego and Infantry Training at Camp Pendleton, California. He remained at Camp Pendleton for Radio Training then was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay on Oahua, Hawaii with the 1st Battalion of the 27th Marine Regiment of the 5th Marine Division. In late January 1968 the unit sailed to Vietnam and went ashore near Danang. They operated out of a base near Bong Song and conducted patrols in the area. He participated in Operation Allen Brook near Go Noi Island and helped clear an area for the establishment of Camp Eagle. In September 1968 he returned to the United States and was briefly stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He voluntarily redeployed to Vietnam and arrived there in February 1969. He was assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 3rd Marine Division and helped with artillery operations around Quang Tri and Con Thien. At the end of his second tour he was stationed at a base near Laos. He returned to the United States at the end of that summer and was discharged from the Marines at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Elliot, Robert Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine Corps Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-26 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0d36f49b5335dc44c344e1ce201a90b6.m4v 6292e03c6da1b370e4862f15499b91a6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7e8b352bf99a8fce3032fb60e20abcef.pdf 70537fbdaa5087d9f1f10b6f6ba3484e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Thornell Billingslea Vietnam War 1 hour 14 minutes 45 seconds (00:00:40) Early Life -Born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 29, 1947 -Grew up in Detroit -Father was a career soldier -Raised by his mother and great-grandmother -His mother worked in the school system then in the state hospital system -They were poor and lived on the East Side of Detroit -Attended John J. Pershing High School -Father was a sergeant major in the Army -Sent money home -Had a younger brother -Parents got divorced shortly after the birth of his younger brother -Graduated from high school in 1965 -Worked for Chrysler for nine months and got fired -Worked for TRW Incorporated in Warren, Michigan (00:02:45) Getting Drafted & Awareness of Vietnam War -Received his draft notice in 1966 -Didn’t know a lot about the Vietnam War -Saw it on the evening news -Aware of fighting in Vietnam -Took his draft physical when he turned 18 years old -His eight paternal uncles and his four maternal uncles served in the military -He expected to serve regardless of the draft (00:03:50) Basic Training -Reported to Fort Wayne, Michigan, to be sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training -The drill sergeants asserted their dominance and intended on making soldiers out of the recruits -Thornell expected this after talking to his uncles -First few days of basic training spent on testing and processing -Did calisthenics every morning before breakfast -Received rifle training -Got some Jungle Training -Did hand-hand training -Went on long marches -Marched up “Suicide Hill” with a full backpack -Strong emphasis on discipline -Remembers standing in formation, at attention, when a bee stung him and he didn’t move -Drill sergeants taught him a lot -Emphasized that discipline and hard work in basic training meant survival -He adjusted easily to Army life -Lifelong athlete made physical training easy, and he understood the discipline aspect �-Some of the men had difficulty adjusting -In the fourth or fifth week one man swallowed aluminum foil on purpose and got discharged -He was drafted with some of his friends and was able to train with them too -Basic training lasted eight weeks (00:09:15) Advanced Infantry Training -He volunteered to be a paratrooper meaning he would receive Infantry Training before Jump School -In Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) he received Infantry Training and more Jungle Training -Sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia for AIT because it was closer to Fort Benning than Fort Polk, Louisiana -Focused on infantry tactics and how to survive behind enemy lines -Received more training with the M-16 rifle -Went on an overnight maneuver -Sent into the wilderness and told to get back to base -Trained with a full range of infantry weapons -M79 grenade launcher, M60 machine gun, M72 LAW (antitank weapon), rifle-mounted grenade launcher, and the .50 caliber machine gun -Simulated conditions in Vietnam -Had a mock village for patrol training -A couple of the sergeants had been to Vietnam -Advised the men to keep their feet dry and powdered to avoid infection -Avoid the villages and the women -Watch out for booby traps -Received booby trap training -Close, but not the same as the real thing -Visited Augusta, Georgia, twice during his time at Fort Gordon -Noticed the racism and discrimination -Certain hotels refused him, and other black soldiers, service -Got robbed while in a hotel -Called the police and they were no help -On the way back to base a black soldier got into a fight with a few white men -Wondered why he should serve a country with citizens that hated him -Stayed at Fort Gordon for six weeks (00:16:55) Airborne Training -Sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Jump School (Airborne Training) -Ran five miles in the morning and did calisthenics then got breakfast -Received parachute training -How to land without injuring himself -Jumped from a training tower -Part of the intense physical training was to ready the body for landing after a jump -Also preparing to do a lot of walking and running -Only three men dropped out -One man broke his leg -Started with jumping off a stool and landing with a tuck and roll -Moved onto going down a zip line from a tower -Did this every day for the first three weeks -In the fourth week he did training jumps from a plane -Had to do three successful jumps to get his Airborne wings -First jump was phenomenal and exciting, but subsequent jumps were scarier (00:20:13) Deployment to Vietnam -Sent to Fort Campbell for two weeks �-Received orders for the 173rd Airborne Brigade -Missed the 173rd’s combat jump in Vietnam (Operation Junction City) -Went home on leave -Visited TRW because most of the workers were veterans -Accepted well by his community -Proud of his accomplishments in the Army -Sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey, and flew to San Francisco -Boarded another plane in San Francisco and flew to Vietnam -Stopped at Hawaii and Okinawa en route (00:22:12) Arrival in Vietnam -Landed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in the morning -First impression of the country was that it was hot, and surprisingly peaceful -Received a brief orientation upon arrival -What to do, what not to do, and stay away from the women (00:23:08) Joining the 173rd Airborne Brigade -Assigned to Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade -Operating out of Bien Hoa at the time -When he arrived at the base nobody was there except for support personnel -Rest of the unit was in the field -Assigned to a hut -He was by himself on his first night in country -Remembers halfway through the night something trying to get up on his bunk -He swatted at it and it yelped -Relieved to discover that it was a puppy -The unit returned and he was assigned to 1st platoon in Alpha Company -He met with the men in his unit -Despite being the “new guy” he made friends quickly -Diverse mix of races -About 60 percent black, 20 percent Hispanic, and 20 percent white (00:26:38) First Patrol -Went out in helicopters to get into the field -Started taking sniper fire before hitting the landing zone -Reached the landing zone and jumped out of the helicopter -10 to 12 foot jump from the helicopter -Hit the ground running -Advancing toward the snipers and returning fire -Killed one of them and the other two retreated -Walked away from the landing zone and got to a place to make camp -Dug foxholes, ate C-Rations, and took turns standing watch -On this patrol Alpha Company moved as a company; not platoons or squads -Operated in a mix of jungle, fields, and rice paddies -Never walked on trails, and instead made their own trails -Walked in a ten yard spread -The other men knew how to operate in the field -A Native American soldier took care of Thornell and taught him how to survive -This same soldier could smell Viet Cong soldiers and knew where they had been -It was a quiet patrol -Encountered another sniper, but he retreated -Went on this first patrol in March 1967 �(00:31:05) Moving to Pleiku -Stayed at Bien Hoa until May 1967 -Went to Taipei, Taiwan, for R&R -Unit moved to Pleiku shortly before his R&R -Stayed there for three weeks and experienced the monsoon (00:31:54) Enemy Contact – Bien Hoa -Always had light enemy contact around Bien Hoa -Encountered Viet Cong troops and never North Vietnamese Army troops -Usually ran into individual snipers or squads of Viet Cong troops -Captured one Viet Cong soldier and sent him back to base for interrogation -Unit didn’t take any casualties while operating out of Bien Hoa (00:33:00) Operating out of Bien Hoa -Patrols lasted two to three weeks -After patrols they returned to base and went to a bar in Bien Hoa -Never saw any civilians on patrols -Didn’t go through villages or farms (00:34:04) Operating out of Pleiku -General Westmoreland wanted to focus efforts on Pleiku -This prompted the 173rd’s move to Pleiku -Traveled to Pleiku by way of convoy -Passed through the Ia Drang Valley and heard “Hanoi Hannah” on the radio -Operated out of Pleiku for two or three weeks -Had a small base at Pleiku -Went on small patrols -Remembers a firefight wherein a few American soldiers got wounded -First time seeing wounded American troops -Had orders to wait for the enemy to shoot first, but they tended to ignore that order for survival (00:36:41) Operating out of Dak To -Moved to Dak To in early June 1967 -Started encountering heavier resistance than before -More concentrated fire and organized attacks -Found enemy tunnels, bases, and other signs of human activity -Operated as a fully company -About 125 to 130 men in the field during patrols -Dak To was a small base in the Central Highlands and it had an airfield -Allowed them to fly out to the field and go on patrols (00:39:05) The Battle of the Slopes (Hill 1338) -On the third patrol out of Dak To they fought the Battle of the Slopes on June 22, 1967 -On June 21 they found a tunnel system and set up camp near the complex -The next day, Thornell and a few other men stayed behind to gas the tunnels -The rest of Alpha Company moved on -Rejoined his platoon in the midst of an intense firefight -When Thornell reached his platoon a quarter of the men were either hit, or killed -The jungle was too thick for an outflanking maneuver -Alpha was spread out and pinned -Later found out that it was Alpha Company against a battalion of North Vietnamese troops -North Vietnamese attacked in waves -He lost his radio and was the only man not wounded or dead -Thornell tended to the wounded while returning fire �-Attack helicopters and jets came to try and hit the North Vietnamese positions -Limited visibility and proximity of the enemy troops made airstrikes impossible -Thornell went to the main body of Alpha Company to inform them of his platoon’s position -He returned to his platoon and tended to his lieutenant and medic -Lieutenant had a severe head wound and medic had been disemboweled -It started to get dark, so Thornell decided to go to Alpha and see if they could get evacuated -On the path he encountered three North Vietnamese soldiers -He shot and killed one, -Used his knife to kill another, -Killed the third with his bare hands -Realized that Alpha Company had left the area -Began walking back toward the base at Dak To -Took him three days to get from Hill 1338 to Dak To -Only had one meal and limited water -Lived off of grubs and vegetation -Whenever he saw Vietnamese troops he took cover and let them pass -Reached the perimeter of the base -Guard on watch recognized him and helped guide him through the minefield -Lieutenant and medic died from their wounds -Note: 76 men of Alpha Company had been killed and 23 men wounded -Most of the men had died from the wounds -Survivors also said the North Vietnamese executed some of the wounded (00:48:33) Recovering from the Battle of the Slopes -Had to get reinforcements to rebuild Alpha Company -He helped identify the dead -Identified the body of his friend, Eddy -Went out on another night patrol on June 28 -Hadn’t gotten much sleep, so he fell asleep on watch -Punished with having to dig an 8’ x 8’ x 8’ hole -General Westmoreland came to the base at Dak To -Thornell was called to go before the general -Awarded the Bronze Star for his actions at Hill 1338 -Got some sergeants from other companies to rebuild Alpha Company -Majority of reinforcements came fresh from the United States (00:52:53) Officers in Alpha Company -Got a new lieutenant that graduated from West Point -He was book smart, but lacked experience -Most West Point graduates were over ambitious and cared more about commendations -Some of the men wanted to “frag” (assassinate) the executive officer (XO) of Alpha Company -Felt he was incompetent and prejudiced -Thornell’s friend, Eddy, had been a typist and company clerk -Good position since he was married and it was safer -The XO found another typist, a white man, and replaced Eddy -Got Eddy sent to the field and ultimately killed at Hill 1338 (00:54:55) Battle of Dak To & Getting Wounded -The Battle of Dak To became an extended campaign -Went out on a patrol on July 9 -Hit the landing zone and immediately took sniper fire -Captain called in artillery to neutralize the snipers �-One of the artillery rounds fell short -Severely wounded Thornell and nine other men -He had been wounded before, but this time he almost lost his arm -Given morphine and got evacuated to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) -Woke up two days later and told to write a letter home (00:58:19) Recovery & Coming Home -Evacuated to the Philippines for more surgery -Sent to Japan and stayed there for a month -Almost had his arm amputated -A colonel stepped in and did the surgery, saving Thornell’s arm -Flown to Alaska then Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland -Bused Valley Forge General Hospital, Pennsylvania -Nine months of rehabilitation -Went to the gym every day and played basketball -Visited New York City and Philadelphia -Went home on leave after a month at the hospital -Went to the Philadelphia airport -Protester spit on him and he got into a fight with the protester -Police broke up the fight and backed Thornell -Family welcomed him home and called him a hero -Brother got sent to Vietnam since Thornell was home (01:03:10) End of Service -Sent to Fort Knox for the rest of his enlistment -Didn’t make sense to him since he had a medical profile -Couldn’t handle a weapon or lift more than ten pounds -Got to Fort Knox about one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. -Troops had been deployed out of Fort Knox to deal with riots in the cities -He stayed in the day room and played music to pass the time -Majority of black soldiers and even some white soldiers didn’t want to go to the cities -Discharged in August 1968 -Army encouraged him to leave (01:05:41) Life after the War -Got married in September 1968 -Went back to work for TRW -Stayed until 1986 -Went to Wayne State University on the GI Bill and studied social work -Wanted to do more work with his hands, though -Got a scholarship with BASF to become an electrician for the company -Ultimately moved to Kentwood, Michigan and lives there as of the interview (01:08:05) Reflections on Service -Gave him a lot of discipline and the ambition to complete his goals -His service also left him with PTSD and severe injuries -Has chronic pain in his arm and had to have 13 surgeries (01:09:25) Coping with PTSD -Had two sons, a wife, work, school, and his own small business -Overworked to avoid his PTSD -If he stayed busy he couldn’t focus on the bad memories -Played basketball and drank a lot to avoid the memories -Started getting treatment for his PTSD in 2005 �-Had retired in 2002 which gave him more time to focus on his experiences in Vietnam -Started seeing a psychologist and going to group therapy -Works with other veterans to help them with their PTSD -Runs a veteran group on Tuesday nights -Does peer-to-peer counseling as an independent therapist -Is working with an Afghan War veteran as of the interview � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BillingsleaT1929V Title A name given to the resource Billingslea, Thornell (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Thornell Billingslea was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 29, 1947. In 1966 he was drafted and received his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He volunteered to be a paratrooper and received his Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and his Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He went home on a short leave before being deployed to Vietnam. Thornell landed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase and was assigned to Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He joined his unit at Bien Hoa and was assigned to 1st platoon. He went on patrols out of Bien Hoa, Pleiku, and Dak To. While at Dak To he fought in the Battle of the Slopes (Hill 1338) and after getting separated from his unit walked for three days to get back to Dak To. Thornell was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions at Hill 1338. He was wounded on a patrol on July 9, 1967, and after recovering was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky until he was discharged in August 1968. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Billingslea, Thornell Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-03-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bc451503d8bbd96184a55b3557c11dab.m4v f36f9fcb39b5b74242c8209fd3b30c9a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/428337fc153b0953087d2507872ca8f1.pdf 0c719d42f9e339a74c61f283f95e8982 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Tom Bilecki War in Afghanistan 27 minutes 24 seconds (00:00:02) Serving in Afghanistan Pt. 1 -Did two tours in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom -Stationed at Forward Operating Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar -First tour was in 2004 -Second tour was in 2012 -FOB Frontenac was a good base -Had good housing made out of shipping containers -Had beds -Showers -Dining facilities -Each tour lasted nine months -Federal government federalized his National Guard unit prior to being deployed -Meant that they were technically part of the Army -Three months of pre-deployment training and nine months of tour -National Guard and regular Army troops got along better -National Guardsmen pulled half of the missions in Afghanistan during his tours -Served as an operations sergeant -Worked in the unit command post -Assisted the commander in planning missions and the logistics -Monitored the radios and computers when soldiers went on missions -Reported mission progress to higher-ups -Remembers on one night six Taliban militants infiltrated FOB Frontenac -Came out of Pakistan -Launched their attack at 2:30 a.m. -Heard helicopter gunships firing at the militants inside the FOB -Sirens sounded and he decided that it would be best to get out of bed -Waited to see how long the shooting lasted and if it was moving toward him -Most of his unit was in the field, so he was essentially on his own during the attack -Went up on top of his living quarters to watch as U.S. infantrymen fought the militants -Felt pretty safe during the attack -Only six militants, and their objective had been to sabotage artillery positions -By the end of the firefight all six Taliban militants had been neutralized -10-14 American soldiers wounded in action, and one Afghan national killed in action (00:05:45) Conditions in Afghanistan -Found FOB Frontenac's location to be desolate and flat -Situated in the high desert -Meant the desert itself was about 3,000 feet above sea level and mountainous -Arrived in January during the rainy season -Meant everything was muddy and ugly -In the summer it got really hot -On one summer day it got up to 136o -Fatigues and body armor made it feel even hotter �-40-50% humidity during the summer -Had a sandstorm every ten days -Forced them to shut down operations -Storm lasted about one day -Could always see the storms coming (00:07:50) Deployment to Afghanistan -Had one year of advance warning before deploying to Afghanistan -Twice a month he reported for four days of training to prepare for deployment -Enough time to alert his civilian employer that he was being deployed -Army provided him with a packet to give to his employer explaining the situation (00:08:46) Serving in Afghanistan Pt. 2 -Not too many memorable experiences in Afghanistan -Remembers one instance when his unit got ambushed -He was on the radio in the command post listening to the battle -Had to Medevac a dozen men -Battle lasted from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. -Had to listen to the entire battle on the radio -Directed air support to aid the troops -Medevacs to evacuate wounded, helicopter gunships, and drones -Drones allowed him to have a bird's eye view of the battle -Medevacs went into a “hot” (taking enemy fire) landing zone if necessary -Nobody was killed in action during that battle -Worst casualties were a few men needed amputations and a few men with broken backs -Happened on his second tour -Nobody was killed on the first tour -All things considered, deployments were relatively safe in Afghanistan -Low casualty rate considering the number of men deployed to Afghanistan (00�:12:39) Contact with Civilians Pt. 1 -Not allowed to go off the base on his own -His unit patrolled 16 villages near FOB Frontenac -Seeing what the civilians needed -Trying to win the “hearts and minds” of the people -Civilians sided with whomever gave them better stuff -Trying to convince the Afghans that Americans were better benefactors than the Taliban (00:13:22) Contact with Home -Able to keep in touch with his family during his tours -Had a good internet connection at FOB Frontenac -Had a phone connection -There was a communication center on the base with phones and computers -Able to Skype with his family -Signed up for a communication plan that cost him 4¢ per minute (00:13:52) Food in Afghanistan -Food was good in Afghanistan -Rarely ate Meals Ready to Eat (MREs; similar to rations in World War II, Korea, Vietnam) -At them for a month after the Taliban attack at FOB Frontenac -Mess hall caught fire during the attack and burned to the ground (00:14:34) Personnel at FOB Frontenac Pt. 1 -800 to 1,000 American troops stationed at the base -400 to 500 civilians doing laundry, working in the mess hall, or doing mechanical work �(00:15:05) Working as an Operations Sergeant Pt. 1 -Stressful when you knew that lives were on the line -Mentally prepared himself for that reality -Not a lot of choice on what he was assigned to do in the Army -Took aptitude tests during training -Offered assignment in the Army based on test scores and need for type of personnel (00:16:00) End of Service Pt. 1 -Served in the Army National Guard for 17 and a half years -As of the interview he is now officially discharged from the National Guard -Discharged with the rank of E5 (sergeant) -Initially thought he would only serve six years in the National Guard then end his service (00:16:35) Work Routine in Afghanistan -Usually only had an hour off each day -Spent it by going to the gym at FOB Frontenac -Busy the rest of the day -Worked 12 hour days -When he wasn't working as the operations sergeant he worked with Afghan interpreters -Worked 254, 12 hour days, in a row -Soldiers that went on patrol had one day off per week to resupply and do maintenance work -Rest of the week, they went outside of the base for six or seven hour long patrols (00:18:10) Contact with Civilians Pt. 2 -Only went off the base once a month -Went with soldiers to nearby villages -Providing health and welfare -Handing out books and toys to civilians in the villages (00:18:42) Patrols -When he went off the base he traveled with a platoon -Minimum unit strength: four vehicles and 16 soldiers -More concerned about IEDs than direct enemy contact -16 mile radius around FOB Frontenac was the area of operations for his unit (00:19:41) Working as an Operations Sergeant Pt. 2 -Had a few men subordinate to him that worked with him in the command post (00:19:56) Enemy Contact in Afghanistan -Militants took potshots at vehicles, but to no effect -Average IED could destroy a tire, but not the entire vehicle -By 2012, vehicular armor could withstand the average IED blast -One IED was big enough that when it exploded it flipped over a vehicle -Only major IED his unit encountered -One soldier had to have both of his arms amputated (00:20:46) End of Tour -Always happy to know that he had reached the end of his tour -New unit moved in two weeks to a month before his unit left the base -Trained them and informed them of the situation in the region -He was sent to Kandahar Air Force Base 28 days before the rest of his unit left the base -He was no longer needed at the base (00:21:50) Personnel at FOB Frontenac Pt. 2 -There were a lot of American contractors in Afghanistan -American civilians working for corporations that had contracts with the government -Biggest threat to contractors was traveling outside of the base �(00:22:40) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 & the War in Afghanistan -Glad that he served and went on deployments -He would go again if he was ordered to, but he wouldn't volunteer for it -Thinks the United States will leave Afghanistan and be replaced by Chinese forces -Feels the U.S. could have done more to fight the war in Afghanistan -Believes that America needed to invade Afghanistan following the September 11th Attacks -Doesn't feel that Iraq got media attention than the Iraq War -During his second tour in Afghanistan (2012) the Iraq War was effectively over -Training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi when Osama bin Laden was killed (May 2, 2011) (00:25:37) End of Service Pt. 2 -Since he got discharged he has relaxed and gone on a few vacations -Discharged from the National Guard in April 2015 -Intends to work with veterans' organizations in the future (00:26:30) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -Service and deployments made him a more worldly person -Introduced him to other worldviews -Feels that Americans, as a whole, need to be more aware of those different worldviews � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BieleckiT1845V Title A name given to the resource Bielecki, Thomas G (Interview outline and video), 2014 Description An account of the resource Tom Bilecki served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did two tours, one in 2004 and another in 2012. He was stationed at Forward Operation Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar. He served as an operations sergeant in the command post helping plan missions and call in air support for units in the field. Once a month he accompanied patrols to nearby villages and helped distribute books and toys to Afghan children and also got an idea of what the Afghan civilians needed in the way of aid or supplies. After 17 and a half years in the Army National Guard he retired with rank of sergeant. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bielecki, Thomas G. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Neering, Grant (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American United States. National Guard Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10-19 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fdd779af9406d8240ffc3f1b3d65bb74.m4v 866cfeeade829af6ae8b21bac594252e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2d549649238cb8a7d05a5c5790dfc568.pdf e4b801f47828d0856e5a2abca24a2a3b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Joseph DiLorenzo Vietnam War 1 hour 36 minutes 27 seconds (00:00:40) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948 -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Graduated from Kelloggsville High School -Took some classes at Grand Rapids Junior College (now Community College) -Worked at Steketee's Department Store -Graduated from high school in June 1966 (00:01:11) Enlisting in the Air Force & Vietnam War -Given a deferment while he attended college -After he left college he knew he would get drafted -Decided to talk to recruiters in Grand Rapids in February 1967 -Friend wanted to enlist in the Army, but that didn't appeal to Joseph -He talked to an Air Force recruiter -Took some tests and decided to enlist in the Air Force -Had seen some news about the Vietnam War -Didn't bother him too much though, he focused more on just enjoying life as a young man -Didn't know what he wanted to do with his life -Left college in January 1967 and enjoyed working at Steketee's -Many young men at college were concerned about their draft status -Joe was unconcerned because he thought the government wouldn't know his college status -Felt that being in the Air Force would be a safer bet than being an infantryman in the Army -Father had served in the Army during World War II -Served in the European Theater -Talked about his experiences -Felt that that prepared him for his own service in the Air Force -Father was neutral about Joe's decision to enlist, but his mother asserted he wouldn't go through with it -That only made him want to enlist more just to prove her wrong -Also wanted to be away from home because his mother was a strict woman -Signed the paperwork in April 1967 -In May 1967 he received a call telling him he could report in July, August, or November -He chose August 2, 1967 as his report date -Showed his mother that he was true to his word about enlisting in the Air Force -On July 1, 1967 he received his draft notice -Recruiter told him to throw it away and not worry about it (00:07:34) Basic Training -Sent to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas for basic training -Six weeks -No longer an individual -After the first day of basic training he wondered why he enlisted -Basic training was a growing up experience for him -Focused on team-building and learning to support each other -Did drills and went on runs �-Remembers one man that couldn't run a half mile without being exhausted -Joe and another recruit supported the man while they ran -First day of basic training consisted of getting his head shaved and getting various assignments -Assigned to a barracks and assigned to a Training Instructor (TI) -Handed over his personal belongings for storage and he was issued a uniform -First couple of days consisted of being broken down and taught to fear anyone with rank -T.I.s had served in Vietnam, many had been in the Air Force for 20 years, and were sergeants -Screamed at you if you didn't show them enough respect -All it took was one time for that to happen to Joe for him to respect his TI -Everything was always done fast -Remembers being woken up in the middle of the night and ordered out of bed -T.I.s came in and messed up everyone's beds -They were given two minutes to put everything back together -Always had to make sure his boots were polished, otherwise he would be denied leave -First two weeks of basic training you couldn't have any cigarettes -Some men that thought they could handle it, couldn't -Some men washed out and had to be picked up by their parents -Knew he was immature and wanted to prove himself to his family, friends, and himself -Had been drawn to military service since he was a boy and wanted to know his capabilities -Recruits emotionally supported other recruits -Basic training consisted of a lot of physical training -Running obstacle courses and crawling through the mud -Went on the rifle range and shot the outdated M1 Garand rifle (WWII vintage) -A lot of classroom work -Taught the chain of command, problem solving, health, finances, and first aid training -Majority was more about making the recruits responsible adults -At the end of basic training went through a graduation ceremony and got issued orders -T.I.s also softened and treated the recruits like people and gave them advice -Given leave and orders for either a technical school or a base (00:17:02) Assignment to Barksdale Air Force Base -After two weeks of leave he went to Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, Louisiana -Strategic Air Command base and very formal -Excited to be assigned there -As a SAC base it was a large Air Force base -B-52 bombers, U-2 spy planes, KC-130 tankers, and the SR-71 recon plane landed there once -Base also housed nuclear weapons -He was assigned to the Security Police -Guarding aircraft -Two Man Policy -Allowing two officers on an aircraft by themselves -Had to check identification before anyone boarded an aircraft -Security Police were tested to see if they paid close enough attention to IDs -Heard stories about bomber crews sleeping under their B-52 during Cuban Missile Crisis (00:19:52) Security Work at Barksdale AFB -If you didn't stop an unauthorized person you could face imprisonment at Leavenworth -Someone checked up on him every 15 minutes to see how he was doing -Had a rifle and a whistle -No problem guarding the tanker area -Supervisor patrolled the area in a jeep and there was a guard post at the entry point �-Assigned to the tanker area for six months -Transferred to the bomber area -Had Operational Readiness Inspections (ORI) once a year -Simulated nuclear attack on the U.S., bomber crews had to be ready to fly -Shut down the base and launched the bombers like they were going on a mission -Failed the inspection if the base was not 100% prepared to go to war -There were some boring days pulling security, but he enjoyed seeing the aircraft -Could listen to a transistor radio while on guard duty to pass the time -Work schedule: -Three swing shifts (3:30 p.m. to Midnight) -Three mids (Midnight to 7 a.m.) -Three day shifts -Two and a half days off -Kept him busy -Did drills with a fake intruder -Had to stop them, search them, and then throw them in the back of a truck for detention -Some of the security police did their job a little too well and hurt the volunteers -Remembers some drunk airmen wandered into an area -They were detained and sent to the base's jail (00:25:54) Life at Barksdale AFB -The barracks he lived in were at Bossier Air Base -Nuclear weapons storage facility on site -Lived in barracks built during World War II -Got to move into new barracks six months after living in the old buildings -Had good food in the Air Force -Had a movie theater, a bowling alley, and a car mechanic on base -Went off base a lot with his friends -A lot of bars and bowling alleys in the area -Formed a bowling team and competed against civilian teams -Treated well by the community around the base -Air Force provided non-military work for civilians and airmen spent money in the community -Met a lot of friendly people at a local church (00:29:21) Getting Married -Had known his wife since they were both children -Reconnected in high school and dated through high school -After he completed basic training they started dating again -Got married in 1969 -Given two weeks of leave -Went on their honeymoon in Florida -Moved into an off-base apartment near Barksdale AFB -It was good having her live there with him -Wife got a nursing job in Shreveport -Lived in Louisiana from October 1969 to December 1969 (00:32:02) Orders for Vietnam -Received his orders for Vietnam in December 1969 -Moved his wife back to Michigan in April 1970 -Had orders to report to San Antonio for pre-deployment training -Given two weeks of leave before he would have to deploy -Had hoped that he wouldn't get reassigned �-Had spent 2 ½ years at Barksdale AFB before receiving orders for Vietnam -Always knew it was a possibility that he would get reassigned (00:33:27) Pre-Deployment Training -Two other men from Barksdale received orders for Vietnam and reported to San Antonio with him -Learned how to fire M16 rifle, M60 machine gun, M79 grenade launcher, .50 caliber machine gun -Also worked with the XM174 automatic grenade launcher (fired 12 40mm grenades in 30 sec.) -Did tactical training at night and learned how to guard a perimeter at night -Had a mock-up helicopter site for training purposes -Stood guard at night Drill Instructors acted like the Viet Cong and tried to infiltrate the helicopter site -Worked with night scopes -Some men were mentally prepared to deploy while other were not -Taught some of the Vietnamese language -Shown footage of Viet Cong soldiers -Instructors instilled in them a sense of fear -They wanted you to be afraid, so you would be cautious, so you would get home alive -Did well in training -More mentally prepared than some of the other men -He was not afraid of coming home in a body bag -Would go to Vietnam, do his job, and come home -Two weeks of training, seven days a week -Still had a little down time though -Good training and he enjoyed it (00:38:48) Deployment to Vietnam -After pre-deployment training he was given 1 ½ to 2 weeks of leave to be with his wife and family -Filed paperwork -Where to send paychecks if he was killed in action and he signed up for savings bonds -He was slated for a one year tour -Flew from Grand Rapids to Chicago to Seattle -Remembers a businessman in Chicago bought him and other airmen drinks -In Seattle there were protestors -Threw eggs and dog feces at the soldiers -Stayed in Seattle a couple hours -Flew up to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska to refuel -From Alaska flew to Yokota Air Base, Japan and refueled there -Left Japan and flew to Clark Field, Philippines -Last stop before going on to Vietnam (00:41:30) Arrival in Vietnam -Landed at Cam Ranh Bay during the day -Came in steep to avoid antiaircraft fire -Beautiful beaches, blue sea, and lush foliage -Couldn't believe there was a war -When he stepped off the plane he remembers being hit by the heat and the sight of body bags -Showed him that a war was indeed going on in this country -While he was processing he ran into an old high school classmate -Stayed in Cam Ranh Bay for a couple days -Waiting for a flight to take him farther north (00:43:42) Assignment to Phu Cat Air Base & 12th Security Police Squadron -Took a Fairchild C-123 to Qui Nhon along with Vietnamese civilians �-C-7 Caribou from Qui Nhon to Phu Cat Air Base -Beautiful base in the middle of nowhere -Joined the 12th Security Police Squadron -Guarding the base perimeter and the Cobra gunships -Informed that he would pull 12 hour shifts from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. -Variety of assignments for base security -Bunkers and guard towers -Response Team and Security Alert Teams -Had armored personnel carriers and V-100 armored amphibious vehicle -.50 caliber machine gun, M60 machine gun, radio, M-16 rifles, grenades and launchers -If there was a security breach you stopped the breach -Held the line until reinforcements arrived -When he got to the base he was essentially introduced to life in Vietnam -Talked to the chaplain -Instructed to take salt tablets -Shown around the base -Met with the company commander -Assigned to a transit barracks, then a temporary barracks (00:47:15) Racial Tension -His first living quarters was filled with predominantly black airmen -Sensed the racial tension -Stayed in those living quarters for two or three weeks -Moved to new living quarters that were predominantly white -Black and white airmen voluntarily segregated -Black airmen ignored white airmen in the living quarters -Took care of each other while on guard duty regardless of race -Had black superiors and there were no problems -Lower ranking black airmen were more contentious than black officers -Remembers one racially motivated incident at Phu Cat -One white airman from Mississippi flew a Confederate flag, but he wasn't a racist -Someone threw a Molotov cocktail on the top of the roof of the white living quarters -Company commander called everyone out and told the men there would be an inspection -Polished boots, neat uniforms, and no personal material hanging in the living quarters -Never found out who threw the bomb -Racial tension eased after that incident (00:52:04) Guard Tower Duty -His first regular assignment was on a guard tower outside of the base perimeter -Volunteered for that duty -Had a .50 cal machine gun, a night scope, two M60 machine guns, grenades, and flares -Dropped off at the tower at night and got picked up in the morning -Never had any enemy contact -It was pitch black at night -Night scope helped with that -Guard tower was on a flat plain that extended for 150 to 200 yards and was at the base of a hill -Protected the north/south runway -Had an American mortar pit to the rear -Mortar crew zeroed in on the tower -If North Vietnamese or Viet Cong overran the tower it could be destroyed -Voluntary assignment that was not randomly given to airmen �-Out there by himself -Tied equipment and rifle to a pulley and raised it to the top of the tower -After that he climbed to the top of the tower -Interesting being out there -Six months of guard tower duty and he enjoyed it (00:56:40) Downtime at Phu Cat -There was a base theater with air conditioning for the men -First movie they were shown was the Green Berets -Went to the Non-commissioned Officers Club -A lot of heavy drinking -Played a lot of cards -There was an Olympic-sized swimming pool (00:57:24) Contact with Other Soldiers & Progress of the War Pt. 1 -101st Airborne Division men came to Phu Cat for their R&R -Heard combat stories from the men -Got to know some of them -In 1970, “Vietnamization” led to a lack of supplies for men in the field -Airmen traded supplies with infantrymen, because the infantrymen needed the supplies -Had a pretty good idea of what was going on in the field -Read the military newspaper, The Stars & Stripes -Wife sent him news articles about the Vietnam War -Aware of what was going on all over Vietnam in terms of combat -Fighter-bombers flew sorties out of Phu Cat Air Base into Cambodia and Laos -For a while, Phu Cat was unlisted due to the secret bombing missions over Cambodia (01:00:53) Contact with Civilians -There was a village nearby named Phu Cat -Villagers were friendly -Civilians worked on the base -Did laundry -Nice people -Problem was you couldn't tell where their loyalties lied -Seemed glad, at least, to have an American presence in the area -Airmen and soldiers gave some of their rations to civilians -Remembers the civilians ate large rice bugs -Offered one once, but he politely declined -Forbidden to go off the base (01:02:38) Prostitution & Drug Use -No problems with prostitution -Tight restrictions due to concerns about sexually transmitted diseases -Men didn't want to contract an STD and be considered unfit to go on R&R -Only substance-abuse problem was alcoholism -Beer and whiskey were widely available -One man was such an alcoholic that he could barely function most of the time (01:05:08) Enemy Contact -First rocket attack happened one morning around 6 a.m. -He was coming off duty and heading back to base -They were crossing the runway when he saw sparks in the distance -122mm rockets being fired at the base -Got out of the truck and got under it �-Rockets never hit the runways because the North Vietnamese couldn't hit any targets -During the second rocket attack the strikes were a little closer, but caused no damage -Nobody took the rocket attacks seriously -There weren't many rocket attacks during his tour in Vietnam -Recon teams went out night -Brought mines and a German Shepherd to alert them to an enemy presence -Kept the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong away -Remembers three separate rocket attacks and none of them caused any memorable damage -There were some enemy attempts to breach the perimeter -He was part of the Security Alert Team by then -He drove one of the armored vehicles and manned the grenade launchers -One one occasion they pulled up to a tower to relieve the tower guard -Heard bullets zipping past his head -The men grabbed their weapons, returned fire, and alerted the base -Forces on the north perimeter concentrated their fire on the enemy position -Didn't think about being shot at, thought about getting his uniform duty -Sent out a patrol to search the area for an enemy force -Found nothing, not even traces of an enemy force -At sunrise the Viet Cong always scattered -There were two times when he got shot at -Called to a perimeter bunker because an airman saw movement beyond the perimeter -There was nothing out there -Went down the line to give the guards coffee -Guard at the original bunker called the Security Alert Team back because he saw movement -Heard bullets pinging off of metal -Parked the armored vehicle at an angle to provide cover and return fire -Had mortar support -The next morning they found nothing (01:14:15) Security Alert Team Duty -During the second half of his tour he volunteered be on the mobile Security Alert Team -Responded to a breach in the perimeter and held off enemy until reinforcements arrived -Visited every post at night -Drove without the vehicle lights on -Had to know the perimeter and the posts well -Made sure the guards were awake -Did test firing of weapons along the perimeter -Making sure the weapons fired properly, but also kept away enemy troops -Protecting American lives and American property (01:16:20) Contact with Other Soldiers & Progress of the War Pt. 2 -Had contact with mechanics and a lot of contact with infantrymen at Phu Cat on R&R -Infantrymen didn't talk a lot -Too exhausted to talk to anyone -They had been on the DMZ and in the jungle near the Laotian border -101st Airborne Division saw a lot of action during 1970 -Major campaign and defeat at Firebase Ripcord in 1970 (01:18:22) Leadership & Relationship with Fellow Airmen -New officers listened to enlisted men that had in-country experience -Casual relationship between the officers and enlisted men -Made the enlisted men respect the officers more �(01:19:34) Contact with Home -Wrote constantly to his wife -Took a while to receive letters from home -Made calls home via satellites -Delay between calls (01:20:06) R&R in Hawaii -In February 1971 he went to Hawaii for R&R -Got to see his wife and his parents -Father didn't ask about experiences in Vietnam -Wife asked a little about his experiences -Hard to get on a plane headed back to Vietnam -Knew he would be out in June 1971 (01:21:06) End of Tour Pt. 1 -More cautious near the end of his tour -Determined that he would get home alive and intact -The last couple months in Vietnam passed more slowly than his first months in Vietnam (01:21:41) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -Life changing experience -Kind of emotionally prepared for service after hearing his father's stories -Saw some action, but has tremendous respect for infantrymen -Feels that he did his job and did it well -Wouldn't want his sons to have to go through war -Believes the Vietnam War set the tone of warfare for the rest of the 20th century and the 21st century -Glad that he served his country (01:24:13) End of Tour Pt. 2 & Coming Home -Stayed at Phu Cat Air Base for his entire tour save for R&R -Got to see Da Nang when he was en route to Hawaii -Given orders to go home one week earlier than he originally planned -Relieved from duty and got his travel paperwork in order -Flew out of Cam Ranh Bay -Spent two and a half days there -Incredibly cautious and on edge because he had no weapon -Minor rocket attacks -Dead silent when they took off from Vietnam -He had expected the men to cheer -Stopped in the Philippines -Landed in Seattle in the late afternoon -There were still protestors, but he and the other men ignored them -Went into the terminal to get out-processed -No protestors in the airport -Flew back to Grand Rapids in uniforms -Proud that he served his country and unafraid to show it -Felt the protestors had the right to protest as long as they didn't get violent -Felt we should have done more to win the war, but popular opinion was against the war -Experienced more direct antagonism from civilians before he went to Vietnam -On a flight home from Barksdale AFB a woman refused to sit next to him -Landed at Grand Rapids and there were no protests -Wife and parents greeted him -Father set up a banner at their house that read, “Welcome home Joe!” �-No protestors in the airport at Grand Rapids or in the city (01:30:50) End of Service Pt. 1 -Done with enlistment in the Air Force by time he got back to Grand Rapids -Discharged while he was in Seattle (01:31:00) Life after the War Pt. 1 -Got an apartment in downtown Grand Rapids on Wealthy and Fuller -Remembers a car backfiring at night -He unconsciously jumped out of bed and grabbed his pistol before he woke up -Only incident that ever happened after he got home from the war -Didn't talk about his time in Vietnam, mostly because no one really asked him about his time -Friends asked him generic questions about his service and the war, but nothing probing (01:32:59) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -Glad that he served his country, no matter what -After he got home he learned that two high school classmates had been killed in action -Deeply affected him (01:33:30) End of Service Pt. 2 -Air Force wanted him to reenlist -Offered a bonus and his choice of base in the United States -Wife didn't want to be a military wife and he wanted to start a family -Had he been single he probably would have reenlisted -He explained his reasoning next to reenlist and the officer understood perfectly (01:35:03) Life after the War Pt. 2 -GI Bill went into effect, so he returned to Grand Rapids Junior College -Had a son -Went to school full time and worked at his wife's uncle's bar -Got a job with Witmark Catalog Showrooms -Worked for them for 25 years -Graduated from Grand Rapids Junior College with an associate's degree � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DiLorenzoJ1858V Title A name given to the resource DiLorenzo, Joseph James (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Joseph DiLorenzo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948. He enlisted in the Air Force in April 1967 and reported for basic training on August 2, 1967. He received his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and for two and a half years was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana guarding B-52 bombers and KC-130 tankers. In December 1969 he received orders for Vietnam and in the spring of 1970 he was deployed to Vietnam. He was stationed at Phu Cat Air Base with the 12th Security Police Squadron. For the first six months of his tour he stood guard in a tower outside of the base's perimeter, and for the second six months he was part of a mobile Security Alert Team patrolling the base's perimeter and dealing with any security breaches. At the end of his tour he returned to the United States and was discharged in Seattle, Washington. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DiLorenzo, Joseph James Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-07-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/47d1c70db71a3c6e8066fe8741ebe7ba.m4v 39aa7bffb605437f2ed021508721d0af https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7f7867e398cbe228dca9a5a5b023679a.pdf fbf94f1a967cd9b55add5f5b8e0e87a1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Kathryn Bulkley World War II (Civilian), Post-WWII (Air Force) 37 minutes 14 seconds (00:00:11) Early Life -Born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1919 -Moved to North Muskegon -Graduated from North Muskegon High School -Attended community college for two years -Father was a coffee salesman and sold coffee door-to-door -Had a difficult life during the Great Depression -Father worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) -WPA: New Deal agency that hired Americans to do various jobs -For example, her father cut down trees for the WPA -Mother worked as a caretaker -Her mother contracted cancer and died when Kathryn was 21-years old -Graduated from high school in 1937 -Had 26 people in her class -After community college she went to Western Michigan University for one year (00:03:18) World War II -Worked for Continental Motors in Muskegon for a couple years -Aircraft factory -Worked for seven days a week, for 25 cents an hour -Worked on Rolls Royce engines for aircraft destined to Britain as part of the Lend-Lease Act -She worked in the paint department -Moved to Portland, Oregon, to live with sister and find work in the shipyard -Couldn’t find work -Returned to Muskegon after the war ended -Worked in the YWCA office and at the YMCA as a swimming instructor (00:06:25) Enlisting in the Air Force -Decided to enlist in the Air Force after the war -Had wanted to serve and it was something different to do -Wanted to further the medical skills she had learned in college -Didn’t know that the Air Force didn’t have its own medical service -Air Force still relied on the Army for medical services (00:08:39) Basic Training -Sent to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for basic training -Took aptitude tests -Learned how to march -A lot of foreign generals visited the base -Recruits to had to go out in formation to greet them -Remembers recruits collapsing due to the heat -Not allowed to help them -Learned how to obey orders -It wasn’t too hard for her -Strong emphasis on following orders and being disciplined �-She was older than the other recruits -She was in her late twenties, and most of the recruits were in their late teens -The drill sergeants were nice, strict, and women -Basic training lasted three or four months (00:12:47) Chanute Field, Illinois -Sent to Chanute Field, Illinois, to wait for her assignment -She had picked an assignment to work as a mechanic on an aircraft simulator -The simulator was a pod with aircraft instruments, on hydraulics, over an electronic map -Used to teach new pilots how to fly by instruments (usually for night flying) -Spent a few weeks at Chanute waiting for her final assignment (00:18:30) Stationed at Langley Air Force Base -Sent to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia -Assigned to a department to learn how to do maintenance on the flight simulators -Training lasted four months -Learned about electronics, hydraulics, instruments, and how to use the simulator -As a mechanic, she worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. when pilots weren’t using the simulators -First group of female mechanics -They were considered an experimental group (seeing if women could be competent mechanics) -Reported to a master sergeant -He treated the women well -She and the other female mechanics were routinely checked to see if they were doing well -They made the experiment a success, gaining women a stronger role in the military -Quartered in barracks -Slept on cots in an open area with 15 or 20 women -Worked with a lot of Southern women -Difficult to understand -They saw it as a place to advance themselves, and maybe a route to go to college -Enjoyed the work she did, but it wasn’t really practical for the civilian sector (00:24:55) Downtime & Life Off-Base -Allowed to hop flights off the base, but had to be back for duty by a specific time -Hopped a flight to New York City -On the way back she lost her seat because General Curtis Lemay needed a seat -This resulted in Kathryn being AWOL -Punished with marching in front of the flag for an hour a night for a week -Never took a flight off the base after that -Korean War didn’t make much of an impression on her when it began in June 1950 -Didn’t pay much attention to the news anyway -Had some limited entertainment options on the base -Pool, card room, and the occasional movie, but nothing exciting (00:29:10) End of Service -She wasn’t really happy at Langley, and wasn’t really happy in the Air Force -Didn’t feel like she belonged in the Air Force -Felt confined, and didn’t like it -Didn’t see herself making a career out of the Air Force -Had gone in with the mindset of staying for two years then getting out -No encouragement for reenlist -Discharged from the Air Force in 1950 (00:31:00) Life after Service -Didn’t what to do after she got out of the Air Force �-Got a job with Sealed Power in Muskegon, Michigan -Worked for them for 16 years -Went back to Western Michigan University in 1966 -Lived in on-campus apartment -Completed a degree in physical education -Got a job at Oakridge Middle School in Muskegon -Taught there for 17 years -Enjoyed the work and discovered it was her true calling (00:33:55) Segregation -Doesn’t remember any African American women in her unit -President Truman issued an executive order in 1948 desegregating the military -Took a while for the military to integrate, though -Didn’t spend time off-base in the South, so she didn’t see segregation (00:35:24) Reflections on Service -The Air Force taught her electrician skills -Helpful when she built her house � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BulkleyK1966V Title A name given to the resource Bulkley, Kathryn (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Kathryn Bulkley was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1919. During World War II she worked in the Continental Motors factory in Muskegon for a few years building aircraft for the war effort. In 1948 she enlisted in the Air Force. She received her basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, then went to Chanute Field, Illinois, to wait for her assignment. She was assigned to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, to work as a mechanic on flight simulators for pilots to learn how to fly by instruments. She stayed at Langley for the duration of her enlistment and was discharged in 1950. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bulkley, Kathryn Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-10-18 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e388dbf5ba707bf0252fb8e2ee6321c4.m4v da057ebb392dc4257d53f8089b85556a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ffbeb09f6117bc8528fa3cf8db381896.pdf c61bc32ff4cce3fde3298dc845537bdc PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Willard Brock Cold War/Post-Korean War 22 minutes 3 seconds (00:00:23) Early Life -Born on June 8, 1936 in Gaines Township, Michigan -There were nine children in his family -Active household -Remembers every family had a garden to raise food for the family -Stored the extra food in the cellar -Attended Grand Rapids Christian High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan (00:01:49) Enlisting in the Army -Considered enlisting because the draft was still in effect when he turned 18 (c. 1954) -Enlisted with friends from high school -Wanted to serve his country, but also knew there was a likelihood he would get drafted -Always assumed he would have to do service for the country -Enlisted in the Army -He and his friends all enlisted and got discharged at the same time -Had his physical exam and his induction in Detroit (00:03:29) Basic Training -Received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri -He and his friends all received their training at Fort Leonard Wood -It was difficult -Army wanted to figure out what kind of person you were, and how you acted under pressure -All of his friends made it through basic training -Went on the infiltration course at night and was the most difficult part of basic training -Crawling under barbed wire while a machine gun fired live rounds over his head -Not too physically challenging -Difficult for heavier men -Mental and physical strength were important traits -Drill sergeants had fought in the Korean War -Tried to be imposing -Had to be tough on recruits to prepare them for the possibility of combat (00:06:17) Medical Training -Sent to Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas -Received 12 weeks of medical training there -Had volunteered for medical training and received his position of choice -Family members working in medicine prompted him to volunteer for medical training -After Fort Sam Houston he went to Fort Riley, Kansas for practical training -Worked in all of the different wards of the hospital on the base -Getting different medical experience -Not much to do outside of Fort Riley -Final part of training (00:08:00) Deployment to West Germany -He was assigned to duty West Germany -Went to Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1956 to wait for transportation �-Assignment was based on need -Flew to Germany -Flight took 18 hours -Stopped in Newfoundland, Canada to refuel -Not allowed to get off the plane -Landed at Frankfurt, Germany -Taken to Nuremberg and was stationed there for 18 months -Flew to Germany on a Navy plane -Comfortable flight (00:10:14) Stationed in Nuremberg & the Cold War -Had drills every so often to prepare in the event of a Soviet attack -Remembers soldiers being sent to the Middle East due to trouble in Lebanon -1958 Lebanon Crisis -Served as the ward master in a hospital -Meant he stayed on the base when the troops went abroad -Stationed at the 20th Station Hospital -Military hospital in Nuremberg -Treated soldiers injured in field exercises -Took care of servicemen from other branches outside of the Army (00:12:16) German Civilians -A lot of German civilians worked for the American government -Thought every American was rich -Got along well with the German people -Saw the Nazi party rally grounds where Hitler had held rallies in the 1930s -Planned to rule the world from that location (00:13:21) Travel in Europe -Got to travel around Europe -Visited the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy -Italy was a wonderful country -Food was great -Saw a lot of Italy -Spent two weeks there -Met relatives for the first time when he visited the Netherlands -Visited his mother's old home (00:14:45) Duties at the Hospital -He was in charge of the maternity ward supplies -In charge of linens in the maternity ward -Helped with labor and delivery rooms -German ambulances delivered pregnant women to the hospital -Remembers one woman gave birth before she got to a room -Always busy and enjoyed his work -Stationed at the 20th Station Hospital for 18 months (00:16:10) End of Service & Coming Home -At the end of his time in Germany he returned to the United States via troop transport -Took six days to get back to America, and it was a rough trip -Landed at New York City -Sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois to be discharged -Involuntarily placed in the Reserves for two years -Able to serve out of Grand Rapids, Michigan �-Attended classes on medical issues -Went on training exercises for two weeks in the summer -Received that assignment because of his occupation in the Army -Achieved the rank of Specialist 3rd Class (equivalent to corporal) -Happy with that rank (00:17:54) Friendships in the Army -Kept in touch with some of his friends -One was stationed in West Germany and another was stationed in France -They were able to meet up a few times (00:18:10) Life after Service -Had to start over in terms of personal relationships -Old friends had moved on with their lives -Went back to his old job in a furniture factory -Good for readjusting to civilian life -Lost touch with most of his friends that he made in the Army (00:19:30) Reflections on Service -Realized that it was time to leave the Army when he did -Learned that there are rules and regulations in life that you have to abide by -Taught him to obey authority -Time in the Army taught him leadership and responsibility -Good experience and a good educational opportunity -Happy that he served his country � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrockW1842V Title A name given to the resource Brock, Willard M (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Willard Brock was born on June 8, 1936 in Gaines Township, Michigan. Around the time that he turned 18 years old he enlisted in the Army. He received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and medical training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and Fort Riley, Kansas. He was deployed to West Germany in 1956 and served 18 months at the 20th Station Hospital in Nuremberg, Germany for 18 months where he worked in the maternity ward. At the end of his time in Germany he returned to the United States and was discharged from active duty at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and served for two years in the Reserves. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brock, Willard M. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Pattison, Jordan (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f1331970fd162fd13aa0af8d486ad1a2.m4v 1f0326f9b17401fda831bbf44de2858c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ff30ffce22fd97e8142f651870ebd0e9.pdf 45901fb279019e16125f4b34642bd9d8 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project David Bluem Vietnam War 49 minutes 30 seconds (00:00:04) -Born on December 13th, 1944 in Saginaw, Michigan. -Highest rank achieved Specialist 5th class. -Father worked for an auto plant and the City. -Mother worked for various hospitals in food service. -Two older sisters. -Some uncles served in World War II and the Korean War. -Cousins that were in the military as well. -Father in law was a Navy vet of World War II. -A brother in law went into service the same day as him. -They both went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training. -He was drafted into the military. -He graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s. -Began his Master’s for guidance and counseling when he was drafted. -Appealed the draft which was granted. -However two weeks later he was drafted anyway. -Entered service in the Army. -The Army needed draftees. -About an eight week training. -Considered himself in good health at the time, but training was difficult. -Practiced carrying one another, marching with heavy packs. -Being sent to Vietnam: -Flew out of Detroit to Fort Lewis, Washington. -Spent a few days getting prepared with gear etc. -Next flew to Anchorage, Alaska, to the Philippines, then to Japan, and finally landing in Vietnam. -Befriended a few of the military recruits. -Connected with others that were also working on their graduate degree. -They were able to help tutor certain recruits that were struggling with the written portions of the training. -Enjoyed this capability to offer a unique value to the service. -Encountered one of the recruits he tutored several weeks after arriving in Vietnam. -Typically sent letters to his wife every day. -His wife wrote back often as well. (10:00) -Sometimes she would record messages on a cassette. -He worked at aviation headquarters. -So he could not give detail about operations. -Operation was being prepared to be handed over to the Vietnamese. �-They burned much of the sensitive materials in burn barrels. -They still own the letters and cassette communications sent to one another. -Made friends with the other recruits, one was from Traverse City, Michigan. -While off duty they played volleyball, basketball, and watched movies. -Movies were fairly current. Example: Woodstock. -Slept in bunk beds in large barracks. -Very large rats were common. -Eventually he obtained a two-man room to reside in. -Marijuana use was quite common. (20:00) -Drug use seemed to be an escape method. -At the mess hall there was a box to leave your drugs and sign up for a rehab program. -Local women would wash and iron their uniforms. -The first base in Vietnam was Cam Ranh Bay. -They took refuge in a shelter while being bombed. -Eventually he was sent to Long Binh. -Aviation Brigade would take care of the helicopters. -Other than that the conflicts were in the distance. -Stayed in Long Binh most of the time. -On guard duty they were issued a rifle. -A friend that fell asleep on guard duty was demoted with a pay cut. -He was promoted from E4 to E5 while in Long Binh. -When the Vietnam War ended he had been back in the US a few years. -He was released from military service two months early to finish his Master’s degree. -Flight out of Vietnam stopped at the Philippines to refuel, and then landed in San Francisco, California. (30:00) -Used a USO area at the airport, changed to civilian clothes from anti-war concerns. -School began only a few weeks after returning to the US. -Lived in an area of Saginaw where medical helicopters would fly over. -An upsetting reminder of the War. -Began work on his specialist degree for guidance counseling. -Job market had changed since he left, difficult to find work. -Began working as a substitute teacher, and then worked with the State social services. -Eventually worked with child welfare services and retired from there. -Utilized the G.I. Bill toward his college tuition. -His job offered medical insurance so VA was not needed. -Did not maintain contact with many of the recruits from the military. -Preferred to leave the War in the past. -Highlights of the military: A Bob Hope show. (40:00) -Food in Vietnam was mostly flown in from Australia. -Quite good. Fruits, vegetables, meats, etc. -In basic training the food was much worse. -Once while he went home to visit in basic training, his wife didn’t recognize him because he was so much thinner. �-Lessons from the military: interesting to work with various people, accepting job responsibility. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BluemD1819V Title A name given to the resource Bluem, David Michael (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource David Bluem was born in Saginaw, Michigan on December 13, 1944. He was drafted into the Vietnam War while attending grad school at Central Michigan University. In basic training he was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for the US Army. Thereafter he was flown to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. He was then sent to Long Binh he was assigned to the Aviation Brigade to take care of the helicopters. At his highest ranking he achieved the rank of E5. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bluem, David Michael Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sprau, Sydney (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/35c1624a41ece8adc49c6155d1152d92.m4v acce21667ccb0ced8b3ea5624f00b55f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/91ab1c910c4f88021cd07bcf9a81245c.pdf 8c96977c53a2b0818bc6efd8f63f9d1c PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project David C. Bloye Cold War 1 hour 29 seconds (00:00:20) Early Life -Born on September 2, 1940, in Grand Rapids, Michigan -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Father worked as an accountant and as a project manager -Mother was a housewife -He had three younger brothers -Attended Godwin Heights Public Schools from kindergarten through senior year of high school -Graduated in June 1958 (00:01:16) Enlisting in the Navy Reserve -Enlisted in the Navy Reserve in September 1957 -Needed his parents’ permission to enlist because he was 17 -Enlisted in the “2 by 2 by 2” program -Two years of active reserve -Meeting at the reserve center once a week -Two years of active duty -Serving on a base or on a ship -Two years of inactive reserve -Don’t have to report for duty unless necessary (00:02:24) Active Reserve Duty -Started his active reserve duty while still in high school -Doing classroom work at the reserve center in downtown Grand Rapids -Military courtesies, uniform protocol, shipboard duties, terminology, etc. -Did two weeks of basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois -Summer after graduating from high school -Took a train to Chicago and a commuter train to the base -Continuation of classroom work -Did firefighting courses and his swim qualification test -Returned to Grand Rapids -Studied at Grand Rapids Community College for the fall semester of 1958 -Went to the reserve center on Wednesday nights (00:04:50) Active Duty -Decided to go on active duty in early 1959 -Reported for his active duty on March 17, 1959 -Flew to Philadelphia and reported to the receiving station -Interviewed by a classifier to see what he was qualified to do and what he wanted to do -He wanted to go to Electrician’s School -Waited for orders for three weeks (00:06:00) Joining the USS Norfolk (DL-1) -His orders were to join the crew of the USS Norfolk, a destroyer leader -There was no opening for Electrician’s School and he couldn’t stay at the receiving station -Went to Norfolk, Virginia, then to Portsmouth, Virginia where the ship was in dry dock -In dry dock until early April 1959 �-Went out on a shakedown cruise -Figuring out if the ship needed further repairs -He got seasick crossing the Chesapeake Bay as well as other new sailors (00:08:22) West Coast Voyage & Anti-Submarine Exercises -After the shakedown cruise they departed for the West Coast -Going there to do exercises with the new ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) system -Took a week to sail from Norfolk to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -Spent the weekend there -Took another week to get to the Panama Canal -Spent the weekend at Rodman Naval Station -Went through the Panama Canal and anchored off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico -Sailed up to Long Beach, California, for the weapons test -Had civilian technicians on board to see the test -Operated off the coast of Long Beach during the summer of 1959 (00:10:09) Duties on the USS Norfolk -He was assigned to a deck division -Maintaining the weather deck of the ship -Making sure the winches are functional, chipping paint, and painting the ship -He was assigned to mess cooking duty for three months -Clearing dishes, cleaning dishes, and cleaning the mess deck -Returned to deck division then got assigned for more mess cooking duty (00:12:07) Operating in the Caribbean Sea -After operating near California the ship returned to Norfolk for one month -Sailed down to Key West, Florida, in mid-October 1959 -Working with American submarines with the ASROC system -Able to be on deck to watch test-firings of the missiles -At sea for a week then pulled into San Juan, Puerto Rico for the weekend -Went to sea for another week then spent the weekend at St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands -Anchored off shore there because the ship was too big to go into a harbor -Went to shore in a longboat -Remembers the water was so clear he could see 50 feet down -From St. Thomas they sailed back to Key West -Did that triangle from November 1959 to the spring of 1960 -Got two weeks off at Christmas -Went to sea few times during the spring and summer of 1960 (00:15:39) NATO Exercise -In early fall the Norfolk participated in a NATO exercise in the North Atlantic, above the Arctic Circle -Did anti-submarine exercises in the United Kingdom – Iceland Gap -Keeping Soviet submarines from entering that waterway -Remembers fog so thick that he couldn’t see the ends of the ship -Sky was green, water was green, and it was eerily quiet -Didn’t have contact with any of the sailors from other NATO forces (00:18:37) Visiting England -Pulled into Portsmouth, England, for a break after the NATO exercise -Saw the HMS Victory -Lord Nelson’s flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar and now a museum ship -Took a tour of the ship -Took a three-day tour of London -Saw Piccadilly Circus, Nelson Monument, Scotland Yard, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park �-Fascinating to finally see the places he’d read about in history and literature -Rode on London’s subway system, the Tube -Saw 221B Baker Street, the address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes -Visited the original Madame Tussauds wax museum (00:22:00) End of Active Duty -Left Portsmouth and returned to Norfolk, Virginia -Arrived in late November -Never went to sea again -Did maintenance work on the ship -Hitchhiked home for Christmas leave -Got a ride to US 31 Exit and got off there at 3 or 4 a.m. -No traffic and it was -20oF which resulted in him getting frostbite on the ears -A trucker picked him up and brought him to Grand Rapids -After seeing his family he went to St. Mary’s Hospital for frostbite treatment -After Christmas leave he returned to Norfolk -Sent to Portsmouth Naval Hospital for six more days of recovery -Once he got out of the hospital he had two weeks of active duty left -Given light duty on the ship -On January 19, 1961, his active duty ended -Went to Naval Air Station Anacostia -Snowstorm prevented flights or taking a Greyhound bus -Decided to take a train back to Michigan and got off at Detroit -Hitchhiked to Grand Rapids (00:28:45) Civilian Life & Inactive Reserve -By Monday morning he was back in civilian clothes and at Grand Rapids Community College -Still had to do two years of service in inactive reserve -Reported to the reserve center to let them know he was back -No longer obligated to report for meetings or training -Transferred to Western Michigan University -Worked as a switchboard operator in his dorm -Student taught at Kelloggsville High School in Kelloggsville, Michigan -Graduated from WMU with a teaching degree with a focus on history and geography -Got a job at Kelloggsville High School -Started working there in September 1964 as a teacher for senior year students -He was a 24 year old teaching 17 and 18 year old students -Taught there for 32 years -Retired from the same room he student-taught in -Second part of his Navy career happened concurrently with his teaching career (00:32:20) Cuban Missile Crisis & Berlin Wall -In October 1962 he was sitting in the student commons when he learned of the Cuban Missile Crisis -Heard about reserve forces being called to action in the event of war -He was concerned that he would be called to duty, but it never happened -Wasn’t concerned when the Berlin Wall went up in August 1961 -Mostly a land-based operation and it wasn’t aggressive like the Cuban Missile Crisis -He wasn’t too concerned when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened -If they had called him he would have gone (00:34:25) Reenlisting in the Navy Reserve -In March 1974 he reenlisted in the Navy Reserve -In September 1972 the school hired a new counselor �-He was an officer in the Army Reserve and befriended Dave -Dave learned that this officer had received a “direct commission” -Applying to be an officer without going through the regular process -Officer Candidate School or an academy -Interested him, and decided to research the Navy’s process for that -Dave took an Officer Qualification Test and passed it -Applied for a position in Naval Intelligence -Had a master’s degree in history from Michigan State University -He was 34 years old (a little older than the usual 32, or 33 year old candidate) -He was accepted for a direct commission and was made a lieutenant junior grade -One rank higher than the lowest commissioned rank of ensign (00:38:38) Intelligence Service -In March 1974 he reported to Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan -Joined a Navy Intelligence unit operating out of that base -There were two other intelligence units on base -Reported for duty one night per week, and one weekend per month -Did two weeks of active duty each year -Alternated between doing intelligence tasks or getting intelligence training each year -Basic intelligence, to advanced, to anti-submarine and anti-aircraft -Navy started to experiment with computers during his time in the Reserve -He was in Reserve Intelligence Area 11 -Southeast Michigan, northern Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, and upstate New York (00:41:26) Vietnam War & Social Changes in the 1960s -He wasn’t going to be called up for service during the Vietnam War -He was 4A (prior military service) -Got married in 1965 -Working as a teacher -Watched the Vietnam War on the nightly news -Personal to him, because four of his students were killed in action -In later years he had another student killed in action in the 1983 Beirut terrorist attack -Saw social changes happen in the classroom -Dress codes became more relaxed -Less order and less discipline from students (00:45:24) End of Navy Reserve Career -Became a commanding officer of a unit in August 1994 -Commander of a small intelligence unit of 25 officers and 20 – 25 enlisted men -Retired from the Navy Reserve on July 1, 1996 -Retired from teaching on the same day (00:46:33) Gulf War -He applied for active duty during the Gulf War, but was denied -Too old and at the time he was doing more work in administration than analysis -Feels it would have been an interesting and enjoyable experience (00:48:00) End of the Cold War -In his position, the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union was not visible -More of an economic and political collapse than a military one -Common perception is that the United States outspent the Soviet Union -They couldn’t keep up militarily or civilly (00:49:40) Intelligence Information -In intelligence the sources tended to be more sensitive than the information �-There was a quick turnaround when it came to classified information -Sometimes classified information he had on his desk was in the news a week later (00:50:30) Teaching Career & Navy Career -He did his two weeks of active duty individually and scheduled it for the summer -This meant there was no conflict with his teaching job -His one weekend a month happened on the weekend, so no conflict there either -He only had to take off work once or twice during his time in the Reserve -District never objected to that or punished him with removal of benefits during active duty -It would have been a bureaucratic nightmare anyway -His two careers worked well together (00:52:13) Reflections on Service -He is satisfied with serving his country -His time on active duty, from 1959 to 1961, was a great social experience for him -Meeting and working with minorities and citizens from other parts of the country -Taught him organization and self-reliance -His time in the Navy Reserve was a special time -Getting recognized for his work -Culminated in his being promoted to commander of an intelligence unit -Working with a variety of men from different employment backgrounds -Professionals, tradesmen, police, and factory workers -Enlightening and fun to talk with them -Nice to talk to people who did something other than teach -Made a lot of his friends during his time in the Navy Reserve that became like family -Still meets with them once a year as a kind of informal reunion � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BloyeD1948V Title A name given to the resource Bloye, David C (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource David C. Bloye was born on September 2, 1940, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In September 1957 he enlisted in the Navy Reserve and began his active reserve duty while still in high school. After graduating from high school he received two weeks of basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. In early 1959 he applied for his two years of active duty and on March 17, 1959, he reported for active duty. He served aboard the USS Norfolk (DL-1) and went on anti-submarine exercises on the Pacific Coast, the Caribbean Sea, and in the North Atlantic. His active duty ended on January 19, 1961, and his inactive reserve duty ended two years after that. In March 1974 he reenlisted in the Navy Reserve, and after applying for a direct commission became a lieutenant junior grade. He served at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, for 20 years with a Navy Intelligence unit. In August 1994 he became the commanding officer of an intelligence unit and did that until his retirement on July 1, 1996. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bloye, David Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jones, Adam (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-08-18 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15a41c42fa8501addbd181fcb4aaef81.m4v 199f861aef86a029d0db267e4a024e78 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76cd471202c7627952c3731da11eaa40.pdf 20c10d4d5e9ca78e2f3ffe7684e58e76 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Lin Bashford Vietnam War 1 hour 15 minutes 40 seconds (00:00:25) Early Life -Born in Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska, on August 20, 1946 -Moved to Wyoming when he was two years old -Father worked for the Bureau of Reclamation -Attended high school in Cheyenne, Wyoming -Graduated in 1964 -Attended Casper Junior College for 2 years then University of Wyoming for 2 ½ years -Graduated from college with a degree in range management (bachelor degree of science) -Every six months he got an update about his draft status -Draft board kept close tabs on him (00:02:18) Getting Drafted -Got a job with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department -Tried to enlist in the National Guard -Denied enlistment because he was already slated to be drafted -Received his draft notice -Went to Denver, Colorado, to report for his draft physical and induction in April 1969 -Had ten slots open for the Marine Corps, and the draft board needed to fill those slots -He was initially selected, and didn’t want to go into the Marines as a draftee -Fortunately, someone else volunteered and filled his slot (00:05:34) Basic Training Pt. 1 -Sent to Fort Ord, California, for basic training -Taken by bus to the receiving station -Greeted by drill sergeants screaming orders at him and the other recruits -Knew what to expect because his father had served in the Army during World War II -Drill sergeants screamed at recruits and threw gear at them -Had difficulty adjusting because he was older and was used to being independent (00:07:34) Social Movements & the Vietnam War -Noticed some anti-war protests while in college -Saw more civil rights protests than anti-war protests -Remembers protests about the “Chicago Seven” -There were hippies around the university -He was part of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Rifle Team -More aware of the hippies and anti-war protesters than average students -Mostly knew about the Vietnam War via the news and from conversation with friends -Knew one young man that had been killed-in-action -Knew the war was dangerous (00:10:08) Basic Training Pt. 2 -Did a lot of physical training and drilling to get into shape -Received firearms training -Did classroom work -Learned about Uniform Code of Military Justice and Army etiquette -He was in good physical shape during basic training �-Some of the drill sergeants were better than others -Some drill sergeants targeted the men that had graduated from college -If you did well, you were celebrated; if you did poorly, you were mocked -Lasted eight weeks (00:11:51) Advanced Infantry Training -Assigned to advanced infantry training at Fort Ord -Moved to a different part of the base -Learned about infantry tactics -Trained with grenades and other firearms -Went through gas training -Went into a chamber to be exposed to CS gas (form of strong tear gas) -Went on forced marches -Did week-long bivouacs -A lot of the instructors had served in Vietnam and tried to prepare recruits for Vietnam -Difficult to mimic Vietnamese climate in southern California -Began training with M14 rifle, then M16 rifle, M60 machine gun, M79 grenade launcher -Also worked with Light Anti-Tank Weapon and hand grenades -Given a brief overview of mortars -Taught how to call in mortar fire, not how to fire the mortars -Lasted eight weeks (00:14:42) Non-Commissioned Officer School -He was selected for Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) School -Originally selected to be an 11-Foxtrot (Long Range Recon Patrol) -Sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for NCO School -Learned how to read maps, how to escape & evade capture, and how to be a leader -Received classroom and practical training -Worked as platoon sergeant, and as a squad leader -Getting experience in various leadership positions -Involuntary assignment (00:17:44) Stationed at Fort Carson -Graduated from NCO School and went to the base of his choice for on-the-job training -He selected Fort Carson, Colorado, to work with an infantry company -Assigned to unit within the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) -Served with a regular unit as a sergeant -Stationed there in January and February 1970 -Very cold during field training -Working with men that already fought in Vietnam -Got to visit his family on leave -Assigned to Fort Carson for six weeks (00:20:10) Deployment to Vietnam -Orders came for him to report to the depot in Oakland to be deployed to Vietnam -He expected it since he’d gone through NCO School -Got a few weeks of leave before his deployment -Flew in a chartered commercial airliner to Vietnam -Stopped at Honolulu, but not allowed to leave the airport (00:21:18) Arrival in Vietnam -Landed at Bien Hoa Airbase near Saigon -Noticed the overwhelming heat and stench -Smelled like a hot sewer �-Placed in a truck and taken to a reception center for incoming replacements -Assigned a bunk -Received in-country training -Living in Vietnam -Issued new clothing -Pulled guard duty, cleaning duty, and kitchen patrol -Stayed at the reception center longer for a week (00:23:44) Assignment to 101st Airborne Division -Assigned to the 101st Airborne Division operating in I Corps (northern most part of South Vietnam) -Flew in a C-130 up to Camp Eagle -Received more training there -Jungle tactics, rappelling, target practice, and patrol training -Went on patrols outside of the base with live ammunition -Stayed there for about one week (00:25:58) Joining D Company -He went to Camp Evans to join D Company of 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment -Joined them in April 1970 while the company was in the field -Pulled guard duty at Camp Evans until he joined D Company -Flew to Firebase Ripcord because the unit was there -Barren, rocky, hilltop base surrounded by barbed wire -Had artillery batteries and a helipad -Supporting artillery fire for infantry units in the field -One company stayed on the base while the other companies patrolled around it -Joined a squad in D Company (00:28:45) Patrols around Firebase Ripcord Pt. 1 -Walked off Ripcord to conduct patrols around the firebase -Operated in hot, humid, and mountainous jungle -Seemed like mass confusion to him -Walked in a staggered, single-file line -Forged their own trails -Stayed aware of booby traps -A couple men tried to help him and correct his mistakes -Sergeant Skinner helped him a lot -He was willing to learn from anyone, regardless of rank -Felt the platoon leader did an excellent job -Felt Captain Rollison was gung-ho, but cared for his men, and was respectable and competent -Started patrols in late April/early May 1970 (00:33:05) Enemy Contact -Very first day off the base they got attacked -Didn’t see much of the enemy soldiers -Saw North Vietnamese soldiers run across the trail in front of him -Realized they were people, and not just the enemy -First contact was very brief -Told to go look for an enemy presence -Found some fresh, bloody bandages, but nothing else -Nearly impossible to see targets in the jungle (00:36:15) Reassignment to Camp Evans Pt. 1 -Near the end of the battle of Firebase Ripcord (July 23, 1970) he was reassigned to the rear -Captain Rollison recommended him for company clerk duty at Camp Evans �-Felt it would be a good place for Lin’s abilities and the safest place for him (00:37:40) Patrols around Firebase Ripcord Pt. 2 -Patrolled from one hilltop to the next -Took hours to go from one night defensive position to another one -Never had a “typical” day -At night they set up a position and established a perimeter -Set up antipersonnel mines, dug foxholes, and pulled guard duty in shifts -North Vietnamese did recon probes at night, but never engaged in firefights -Heard other units getting attacked at night -One of his most vivid memories is one unit finding an enemy bunker complex -Called in an airstrike and remembers the napalm bombs exploding on the target (00:40:51) Battle of Firebase Ripcord -On July 1, 1970, the North Vietnamese began their bombardment of Firebase Ripcord -Heard the bombardment all the time -On July 7th and 8th D Company assaulted Hill 1000 -His squad stayed back (00:42:27) Life in the Field -Using the bathroom in the jungle was always a chore -Had to find a place outside the perimeter and remain vigilant -Then returned to his unit without accidentally getting shot by his own soldiers -Resupplied by helicopter -Food, water, and clothing -Ate C-rations -Cans of pork and beans, cans of ham and lima beans, and other canned foods -None of it tasted very good -Had Tabasco Sauce to make the food taste better (00:44:54) Vietnamese Scouts -Had a Vietnamese scout with his unit who was tremendously helpful -Identified tracks, booby traps, and enemy explosives -Served as interpreters for prisoners-of-war -Knew one scout that had surrendered and defected to US/South Vietnamese forces (00:46:42) Reassignment to Camp Evans Pt. 2 -Sometime in late July he was sent to company headquarters at Camp Evans -Served as a company clerk -Handled morning reports, radio traffic, leaves, R&Rs, and personnel records -Men came to Camp Evans with injuries -He monitored them and gave updates to their units in the field -Assigned men to bunker detail, kitchen patrol, and waste burning -Usually had eight to ten men from D Company at Camp Evans at any time -Going to/coming from R&R, leaving Vietnam, and sick or injured (00:49:43) Fall of Firebase Ripcord -Didn’t know a lot about the events surrounding the end of the battle of Firebase Ripcord -Knew about D Company being sent to rescue A Company -Firebase Ripcord was evacuated on July 23, and American bombers destroyed the base (00:50:47) Life at Camp Evans -Fell into a routine -Wrote letters on behalf of the captain for the men killed-in-action -Wrote more letters than he wished he’d had to -A good friend of his was killed-in-action �-D Company made some random contact after Ripcord -122mm rockets hit Camp Evans at least once a week -Learned how to take cover, fast -Didn’t sleep well -Lived in tin shacks with sandbags on top of the shacks -Had a barber, a PX (Army general store), a hospital, and a helipad for gunships -Also had an enlisted/NCO club and an officers’ club -Had Vietnamese civilians working at the barber shop and PX (00:54:30) Drug Use & Racial Tensions -Saw men using drugs at Camp Evans -Most men used weed, but there was some heroin use -Told not to talk about the heroin use -Caught a Vietnamese scout with heroin and turned him over to the military police -Units still functioned despite drug use, but some soldiers had severe problems -Drugs were a problem in the rear, but not in the field -There was racial tension at Camp Evans, and it got worse over the course of 1970 -Issues and attitudes imported from the United States -More aware of issues because he’d had law-enforcement training in college (00:58:20) R&R -Went to Australia for his R&R -Chose Australia because he wanted to get out of Southeast Asia -Treated well by the Australians -Didn’t notice any anti-war or anti-American sentiments -Explored Sydney for a few days -Visited New South Wales Conservation Office -Spent time with a conservation officer and his family -Kept in touch with them after the war -Saw a lot of the Australian wildlife -Took his R&R after he was ¾ done with his tour in Vietnam (01:01:24) Progress of Vietnam War -Noticed the “Vietnamization” process, but it was not as prevalent in I Corps -Note: Vietnamization – term used to describe transfer of fighting duties to South Vietnam -Heard about the Americal Division (23rd Infantry Division) and 4th Infantry Division leaving Vietnam (01:03:30) Work at Camp Evans -He took his job seriously -Knew how to do his job and did it well -Gave good updates to units in the field, and also managed personnel and supplies well -Processed incoming replacements -Tried to prepare them for when they joined their units -Did a lot of work on his own (01:06:27) End of Tour & End of Service -Knew about a month before his tour ended that he was nearing the end -Wrote a letter to the Chief Game Warden of Wyoming about getting his old job back -Received his orders to return to the United States -Checked out of D Company, out of 2nd Battalion, and finally out of the 101st Airborne Division -Went to Na Trang, to Saigon, and flew to Fort Lewis, Washington -Filed a lot of paperwork at Fort Lewis and got a new uniform -Offered a chance to reenlist, which he declined �(01:09:47) Coming Home -He flew home in uniform -Got hassled by protesters at the Seattle airport -Protesters taunted him, and targeted soldiers with the Combat Infantry Badge -Came as a surprise to him, because he didn’t think it would happen to him (01:11:35) Life after the War -Didn’t get his old job back -Given a temporary assignment in Casper, Wyoming, as a deputy -Did that for a month -Conducted patrols and maintained the grounds for the Department of Wildlife -After his supervisor degraded him for being a Vietnam War veteran he received transfer orders -En route to his new assignment he stopped in Rawlins, Wyoming -Knew the sheriff there, and the sheriff offered Lin a job with the department -He worked with the department for seven years -Returned to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to work as an investigator (01:15:10) Reflections on Service -Learned patience -Learned how to take orders -He would do it again, if he had to, for love of his country � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BashfordL1958V Title A name given to the resource Bashford, Lindon L (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Lin Bashford was born in Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska, on August 20, 1946. He was drafted in April 1969 and went to Fort Ord, California, for basic training and later advanced infantry training. He was selected for Non-Commissioned Officer School and went to Fort Benning, Georgia, to receive that training. He was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, in early 1970 before deploying to Vietnam in early spring of that year. He joined D Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in April 1970. He went on patrols around Firebase Ripcord and was in the area when the Battle of Firebase Ripcord began on July 1, 1970. Shortly before the fall of the firebase he was reassigned to Camp Evans to serve as company clerk. In early spring 1971 he returned to the United States and was discharged at Fort Lewis, Washington. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bashford, Lindon Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-10-08 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6449ef5b46a9da04e7a991aa6e5deba6.m4v 9b97509a37e7ff7ff81239fde87db331 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4646931beaa002fb1820c2a6a1a2c100.pdf 5f57a41dc29573173d00bf2ba59a9168 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Margaret Akines Note: Widow of Bill Akines (World War II veteran and survivor of the USS Indianapolis sinking.) 46 minutes 48 seconds (00:00:39) Margaret’s Early Life -Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938 -Father was a tomato farmer and mother helped on the farm until she got a management job -Loved growing up in Nashville -Had three brothers and three sisters -One brother is still alive (as of 2016) -All of her sisters are still alive (as of 2016) -She is the oldest child (00:03:06) Margaret’s Adult Life -Got married when she was 15 years old -Had four children before she turned 20 years old -Got her GED when she was 40 years old -First marriage didn’t work -Worked for the Krystal fast food chain for 29 years -Became the first female area manager -Started working on a grill and through various promotions became an area manager -Retired from Krystal in 1985 -Met her second husband, Bill Akines, working at Krystal -He was her boss -Love at first sight -He had a tough exterior, but was actually a gentle man -He had two children from a previous marriage -Daughter is still alive, but son has since died -Met in 1971 and got married in 1978 -Had met her before when he came to one of the stores (00:08:48) Bill’s Involvement with the USS Indianapolis -Knew he had served during the Second World War aboard the USS Indianapolis -He didn’t talk about it often, and those details stayed in the background -He started talking about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis later in life -Invited to the dedication of the USS Indianapolis memorial in Indianapolis in 1995 -She learned more about the sinking from the other survivors and, Only 317 Survived! -Bill always shrugged off the “hero” label -He was just grateful to have survived, and remembered the comrades that died -Had gone to one or two reunions before they got married -The reunion group had lost his address, so he didn’t go to any reunions until 1995 -Sponsor of the memorial dedication reached out to him -Allowed him to go to the ceremony and reconnect with the group (00:13:12) Sinking of the USS Indianapolis -Note: USS Indianapolis torpedoed on July 30, 1945; only 317 men survived out of 1,196 �-She knew almost nothing about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis -Learned more about the sinking during the memorial dedication in 1995 -Most survivors couldn’t talk about the sinking without being emotional -Bill was only 17 years old when the ship sank -On the last day before getting rescued his life-jacket approached failure -He was on the ship’s bridge and had just gotten off duty at midnight on July 30 -Doing some quartermaster work -At 12:14 a.m. a Japanese submarine torpedoed the Indianapolis -He may have jumped overboard, or waited to slide down into the water as the ship sank -He managed to get with a larger group of survivors -Remembers sharks being in the water around his group, but not in the group -Saw sharks attacking survivors, and survivors fighting off the sharks -Sharks had been attracted by the open wounds on some of the men -Remembers the light coming from the USS Cecil J. Doyle, first ship to arrive on the scene -Like a light from heaven -Note: Began rescue operations on August 2, 1945 -Brought to Guam to recover -Bill knew they had classified material, and it was important, but didn’t know what it was -The Indianapolis had brought the atomic bomb components to Tinian on July 26, 1945 -He felt the bomb ended the war and brought about a quicker victory for the United States -Supported Captain Charles B. McVay III during the court-martial -Note: Captain McVay was court-martialed in November 1945 for losing the ship -Bill never held any ill-feelings for the captain -Felt it was a tragedy that he was being tried for losing a ship during wartime -Note: Captain McVay committed suicide in 1968 (00:25:42) Public Awareness of the Sinking -Jaws was the first time Margaret remembers seeing widespread exposure of the sinking -The dedication of the memorial in 1995 was the next major event -Remembers the campaign to exonerate Captain McVay of his court-martial -Mochitsura Hashimoto (Commander of submarine that sank the Indianapolis) -Hunter Scott (sixth grade student) -Commander of the USS Indianapolis (submarine) -All worked to see Captain McVay exonerated -Captain McVay, via Congressional resolution, had his record exonerated in July 2001 -Margaret and Bill felt it was a long time coming and the right thing to do (00:27:51) USS Indianapolis Reunions Pt. 1 -Thinks it’s wonderful that Hashimoto’s daughter and granddaughter come to the reunions -The survivors understand that it was part of the war and nothing personal -None of the men carry any hate for Commander Hashimoto or his family -She never saw any disrespect of the daughter or granddaughter -Accepted them into the reunion group and treated them like family (00:30:48) Media & Teaching about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 1 -Thrilled with the new documentary by Sarah Vladic, USS Indianapolis: The Legacy -Margaret feels the documentary is well done and serving a good purpose -Getting more public attention about the sinking in the United States and abroad -Good for the survivors to have their story known by more people -Believes the sinking ought to be taught in American History lessons -Ignored because the Navy made a fatal mistake that killed over 900 men and lost a ship -Note: Distress signal from the USS Indianapolis ignored by Navy personnel �-Feels the Navy tries to distance itself from the sinking because of the negative PR -Doesn’t surprise her (00:35:03) USS Indianapolis Reunions Pt. 2 -Bill passed away in 2011, but she still attends the reunions every year -Bill would have wanted her to go -She cares about the other survivors and the friends she made in the reunion group -Her way of staying connected to Bill (00:35:45) Media & Teaching about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 2 -People often confuse the USS Indianapolis with the USS Arizona (sunk at Pearl Harbor) -Understands why people confuse the two ships -Has found that more people are learning about the sinking -Getting more public involvement and attention -There are plans to have a memorial erected in Lansing, Michigan, for the Michigan survivor -Addition to memorials in Colorado, Texas, Connecticut and Indiana -She feels that anyone involved in the sinking deserves recognition -Every detail is important -Feels that Doug Stanton’s book, In Harm’s Way, is one of the best books about the sinking -Outstanding job of chronicling the survivors’ thoughts and feelings -Feels that Only 317 Survived! is the most personal record, In Harm’s Way best overview (00:45:21) Reflections -Proud to have been Bill’s wife -Glad she can still represent him and the story of the USS Indianapolis � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context AkinesM1951V Title A name given to the resource Akines, Margaret (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Margaret Akines was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938. She married Bill Akines in 1978. He was one of the 317 men that survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and in this interview she tells about his experience surviving that catastrophe. Bill was active in the USS Indianapolis survivors’ group, and since his death in 2011 Margaret still attends the annual reunions and maintains contact with the other survivors. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Akines, Margaret Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hammond, Steve (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-09-12 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c7b5c45615706ecd5a2e49023cb6c2fe.m4v 967b89b8e1ca834248d7728a7e851b4d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f64d805d15b43cdfd6fd83e64e90b173.pdf ef0eae97d57b41a61cb2c8adfc178d98 PDF Text Text Grand Valley Stte University Veterans History Project Emil Hurbanis (26:02) Background Information (00:12)     Served in the U.S Army. (00:14) Served in the Vietnam War. (00:18) He graduated from Western Michigan University. He had received his degree in Accounting. Several weeks after his graduation he was drafted. (00:37) Because of some training Emil was required to take to work a job at the U.S. Treasury Department, he had to change draft boards. This delayed his draft notice and gave him time to enlist. (1:01) Training (1:30)      He attended basic at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in January of 1969. (1:35) He was then sent to artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. (2:02) Emil was then sent to Virginia for Officer Candidate School to become a combat engineer. He did not complete his artillery training. Emil dropped OCS because if he was to be sent to Vietnam he did not want to go as an officer due to their short life expectancy. (3:37) He was then sent to Arizona to learn to use unattended ground sensors. He was then sent to Vietnam in October of 1969 for 1 year. (4:00) Service in Vietnam (4:20)       He recalls the country looking very beautiful from the plane. (4:25) Emil had to go through a 1 week orientation after he landed. He had to be trained with the M16 and the M60. (5:08) Emil was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division. (5:40) Emil was sent to Cambodia to set up sensors on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. These were used to track enemy movement. (6:17) Emil’s favorite sensors were seismic sensors. These were dropped by helicopters. Once dropped, a bush was deployed to camouflage the sensor. (8:11) He was sent into the jungle with rangers. The rangers knew Emil’s position. He himself had no idea of his whereabouts. (9:14) Discharge (10:05)    Emil flew home on a commercial airline. He loved the safe feeling of leaving the air strip. (9:19) He landed in Oakland, California, where he was discharged in late 1970. (10:10) If something was bothering the men physically the men would have to stay for several weeks. Though Emil had an ear infection he did not tell anyone because he wanted to be discharge so badly. (11:02) �Life after Service (11:43)    Emil received a job as a revenue agent in Benton Harbor Michigan for 2 years. (11:48) In January of 1973 he was sent to Ohio to work in the criminal investigation branch. (12:06) Emil does not have any friends from his service. This was due primarily to the fast turnover of men that occurred in Emil’s unit. (12:51) Service in Vietnam (cont.) (17:28)     While in Vietnam men often didn’t sleep because if they did they would make noise. (15:00) While Emil was on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in May of 1970 there was a lot of movement on the trail. (17:30) After a bomb was dropped, Emil also had to assist clean up the targeted area. The men would examine the weapons the men had after an attack. (18:49) He received several Bronze Stars. (20:03) 1st and 9th Infantry (20:36)    The 1st infantry Devotion was one of the first to be pulled out of Vietnam. Because Emil did not have enough months to go home, he was transferred to the 9th Infantry Division. (20:37) Emil retained his job in the 9th Infantry Division but he was in rice paddies as opposed to jungle. (22:11) Emil’s most frightening moments was his first mission. When he met Rangers who were true combat soldiers it was very intimidating. (23:04) Life after Service (24:47)  He changed and came home in civilian clothes to avoid protesters. (25:01) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HurbanisE1360V Title A name given to the resource Hurbanis, Emil (Interview outline and video), 2012 Description An account of the resource Emil Hurbanis served in the U.S. Army from approx. 1969-1971 in the latter half of the Vietnam War. Emil spent 1 year in country. He was first assigned to the 1st Infantry Division where he worked with unattended ground sensors on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cambodia. He was later transferred to the 9th Infantry Division. He retained his same job but had to perform it in rice paddies. He was awarded 3 Bronze Stars. After service Emil continued his career as an accountant working to the U.S. Treasury Department. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hurbanis, Emil Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rodgers, Rob (Interviewer) Birkmeier, Nicholas (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Michigan--History, Military Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-02-27 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/53f3427ce03b2760f78d6159713cdc09.m4v 358c7facb71e3867489b09e588533994 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7578daea86a9bff784895a814e912940.m4v bea81b94a4fd3d77f6792f423f56ec74 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15832424601167c3e4b8d9d442a37b0a.pdf 7068b035c13e1c96833a85fd9a623ac0 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Annemarie Hortman World War II – Civilian Part 1 – 1 hour 56 minutes 24 seconds (00:00:18) Early Life - Rangsdorf -Born in Rangsdorf, Germany, on April 14, 1939 -Mother worked before Annemarie’s birth, but stayed home to care for her -Father served in the Wehrmacht in Italy -Uncle served on the Russian Front and was killed-in-action -Father beat her, because he hated her -It was a relief for him to report for service and go away -Forced her to goosestep like a fascist soldier, and he hit her if she didn’t walk right (00:03:34) Early Life – Ingolstadt -Moved to Ingolstadt (near Munich) when she was a year old and mother was pregnant with brother -Traveled there by train -Remembers the train stopping by a ditch, and the passengers being ordered off the train -Heard an air raid siren -Didn’t know what it meant -Stayed in Ingolstadt until September 1940 -Stayed with her mother and grandmother -Put a blanket in front of the windows at night because of air raids -Never remembers her mother giving the Nazi salute -Remembers a siren at night -Told to put on two pairs of underwear and socks, a winter coat, boots, a hat, and gloves -Mother and grandmother had bag full of important documents and family jewelry -Went to the bomb shelter in Ingolstadt -Built into a hill -Went through an iron door, down a flight of concrete steps into a concrete chamber -There were wooden benches along the walls -Noticed there was no other exit, and started to cry -Then she looked up and saw air vents, which comforted her -Came back to her grandmother’s house after the raid and saw it was fine -Brother was born in Ingolstadt in August 1940 (00:18:40) Early Life – Return to Rangsdorf -Moved into another house when they returned to Rangsdorf -Remembers an old man that was their neighbor -All of the children called him “uncle” and loved him -Lived in a duplex house on the ground floor -Remembers a woman that lived there that her mother instructed her to call “aunt” -She and her brother were never allowed to go too far from the house -Remembers she and her brother breaking their mother’s umbrella by using it like a small boat -The house they lived in belonged to a Nazi officer -The woman they called “aunt” was the officer’s wife -Father came home during this time -The Nazi officer came back, and they never saw him or the “aunt” ever again -Her mother was allowed more food because she had two children �-Father brought home canned fruit from Italy, but didn’t give any of it to the family -He brought it to his mistress instead -Lived in several different houses in Rangsdorf -Only moved personal belongings, never furniture -Moved from cottage to cottage (most likely former vacation homes of wealthy Germans) -Always had the feeling that someone lived there, and there were forbidden rooms -Most likely Jewish citizens hiding in the houses -Stayed in a larger house for one night in the last two years of the war -Stayed with an older man -She and her family lived upstairs (00:32:34) The Fall of Germany Pt. 1 -Russians bombed them day and night -Always going up and down the stairs, stopped bothering to change clothes -Remembers a Russian bomb landing near the house -Adult went upstairs and went outside -She got a bloody nose -Possibly from the concussion -All but that house and one other house survived -The rest of the neighborhood was destroyed -Numerous neighbors killed in that raid -Last major action she remembers of the war (00:38:09) Food in the War -Mother usually bought flour, sugar, and other basic food items -Remembers her younger brother expressing his younger -Knows that some neighbors got extra food -Most likely feeding hidden Jewish citizens -Near the end of the war, resorted to eating beets, dandelions, and wild nuts -The old man they lived with found some fresh tomatoes and gave them to Annemarie’s mother (00:41:45) The Fall of Germany Pt. 2 -In 1945, the war came closer to Rangsdorf -Russians were on the offensive, pushing toward Berlin -Dealt with five or six months of near continuous air raids and bombardment -Starvation was more of a problem for her during the war than direct violence (00:43:03) Russian Occupation -Russians came into Rangsdorf and labeled anything they wanted as “contraband” -Confiscated the “contraband” for themselves -Remembers a Russian soldier choking her, her brother, and her mother -Neighbor got her and her brother away from the soldier -The Russian soldier gave up the intimidation and left -She told her mother that she hated the Russians -Mother told her never to hate anyone just because of their country of origin -Stuck with her her whole life -Also told Annemarie to question why the Russians were so violent -Possibly getting revenge for how Germans treated Russians -She and other children hid in a neighbor’s rabbit cages when Russian soldiers came around -Remembers playing near a bomb shelter -Russian soldier ordered her to get away from it -There was a live bomb near the shelter; soldier didn’t want Annemarie to get hurt -Russians took food from the grocery store �-German men tried to get some boxes of food while a Russian plane strafed them -Mother went down to the grocery store and grabbed a box of food while being shot at -Wound up being a box of candy, not real food like she wanted -Russians came the next day and took everything, even Annemarie’s backpack -One of the Russian soldiers broke a candy bar in half -Gave each half to Annemarie and her brother -Russian soldiers routinely searched their house -Cut open the mattress to look for mattress (00:53:38) Living in Post-War Rangsdorf -Moved into an abandoned villa -Father came home briefly after the war, then visited periodically to steal food -Bringing the stolen food to his mistress in Berlin -Got Annemarie’s mother pregnant -Her mother found out the name and address of the mistress -Confronted the mistress, said she was pregnant, and to leave the father alone -Mistress refused -Moved to another place in Ramsdorf around Christmas 1946 -She and her brother gathered pine branches to give to their mother to make her happy -Father tried to take away the pine branches, but her mother intervened -Mother took the pine branches to Berlin, and traded them for a little food as a Christmas gift -While her father was home, Annemarie got in a fight and lost -She came home from the fight, crying, and her father beat her -Told her to go find the boy, fight him again, and win (which she did) Tape stops here, and starts at (00:00:00) for Part 2, however this is not the “Part 2 disc” (00:00:11) Living in Post-War Ingolstadt -Father visited only to steal food -Mother decided to leave Rangsdorf in 1947 -Moved back to Ingolstadt and stayed with her grandmother (mother’s mother) for a while -Ingolstadt had been bombed, but was in better shape than Rangsdorf -Occupied by American soldiers, not Russian soldiers -Collected coal from trains -She and her brother took a train to Berlin for an adventure -Brother decided they should climb across the bridge’s structure to get over the rail yard -Police officer caught her and her brother at the other side of the bridge -Put them on a bridge back to Rangsdorf (00:05:02) Getting to Ingolstadt -Mother decided they needed to leave Rangsdorf to get away from the father -Went to Berlin and got stopped by German officials -Ordered to return to Rangsdorf -Mother, Annemarie’s infant sister, little brother, and herself started walking on the highway -Remembers sleeping under an overpass -Kept walking and got to the East/West German border -Russian soldiers forbade them from going through the checkpoint -An old German man told them to go off the road, under a bridge, into the woods -Stayed quiet and walked through the woods -Waited for the Russian guard to pass, then they continued -Ate a can of cold soup then passed into West Germany �-Stood at the top of a hill and could still see the Russian checkpoint -Picked up the highway and continued walking until they reached a train station in Bavaria -Mother put them on a train and planned on joining them later -Annemarie and her brother got off the train, but their mother wasn’t there -Red Cross officials cared for them until their mother came back to the train station -Finally boarded a train together and got to Ingolstadt (00:19:50) Interactions with Russian Soldiers -Remembers learning a Russian swear word from watching Russian soldiers trying to ride a bike -They heard her repeating it and told her not to say it because it was a bad word -Some of the Russians spoke limited German -One female Russian soldier taught them how to ask for food from Russian soldiers -Taught them a word that would endear them to the Russians -Showed her that not all of the Russian soldiers were bad (00:22:56) Living in Ingolstadt (Post War) Pt. 1 -Grandfather had everything confiscated by the Nazis, for speaking against Hitler -Lost his home, job, and truck -Sent to an insane asylum, then jail, then used for hard labor -In 1947 he built a new house in Ingolstadt -Grandfather had been a baker, but also made money dealing in scrap metal and scrap clothing -Released from custody after the war -Found his confiscated vehicle in the possession of a Nazi officer -Officer’s mother sold it to him -Officer came home and forced the grandfather to buy it again -By 1947 he had rebuilt his life -They stayed with her grandfather in Ingolstadt -Grandfather had a cow that Annemarie cared for -Built a barn and got a piglet -Insects chewed off the piglet’s ears, so they let it live in the house -Put it back in the barn once it was grown -Someone shot and killed the pig -Grandfather had the meat processed, but she and her family couldn’t eat it (00:32:54) Going to School Pt. 1 -Had only six months of school in Rangsdorf -Lost her hearing due to abscesses in her ears (possibly caused by bomb concussion) -Eventually resolved itself, but never completely regained her hearing (00:36:17) Living in Ingolstadt (Post War) Pt. 2 -Grandfather was self-sufficient and built everything he needed -This included buildings and necessary machines -Step-grandmother was Swiss -People disliked her because she was brutally honest and Swiss -Annemaried liked her step-grandmother because she was good and kind to Annemarie -Had trouble finding an apartment in Ingolstadt due to Germans that fled East Germany -They refused to leave Ingolstadt and returned to East Germany -Mother finally got an apartment in Ingolstadt -Remembers watching motorcycle races -There were a lot of American soldiers in Ingolstadt -Majority of them were good -Some of them were bad and committed rapes -American soldiers gave them food �-Russian soldiers had just thrown food on the ground -Amusement to watch children fight for food -Noticed some economic and social changes happening in Germany -Immediately after the war people had to buy food on credit -Grandfather gave them candy and made his own liquor -The apartment they moved into had been a former soldier’s home (00:48:57) Going to School Pt. 2 -Began going to school normally in Ingolstadt -Forced to speak High German, not Bavarian German -7th grade teacher didn’t like her very much -5th grade teacher liked her and defended her from the 7th / 8th grade teacher -Allowed her to graduate as an 8th grader despite only finishing 7th grade -Went to occupational school -Studied business for one semester, but decided she didn’t like it -Studied engineering, but didn’t complete the course -Got married before she got an engineering job -Thinks the 7th grade teacher may have been a former Nazi officer -Didn’t like Annemarie because she looked Jewish (darker hair, non-Aryan features) Part 2 – 1 hour 52 minutes 34 seconds (00:00:28) Finding a Colt -Right after the war ended they went looking for her paternal grandmother in Rangsdorf -Saw a field of dead soldiers and dead livestock -Found half of a dead soldier -She and her brother wanted their mother to fix him like a doll -Didn’t understand that a human couldn’t be fixed like that -A colt came up to them and started following them -Little brother wanted to keep the horse as a pet -Passed a wooded area and saw six dead German soldiers -Got to the village where the grandmother lived -House was bombed out and abandoned -Mother went inside and found some sugar -Went to an aunt’s apartment and it was bombed out too -Russian soldier came up and demanded the horse -The children refused -Another Russian soldier wanted to make a deal: a can of meat for the horse -Their mother insisted they make the exchange -Mother could read English -Knew it was canned pork from the United States (00:07:08) Finding a German Grenade -In a swamp near Rangsdorf she and some other children found a German hand grenade -Didn’t know what it was and they started playing catch with it -A teenager came up to them and took the grenade -Threw it into the swamp where it exploded (00:08:55) Collecting Apples -She and her brother went to the swamp near Rangsdorf to scavenge for mushrooms -One of Annemarie’s friends came along and told them where they could find apples -Brought them to an abandoned house with an apple orchard �-Filled their bag and began walking home -A Russian soldier wanted an apple, and Annemarie agreed to sell to him -He bought two apples for 20 Deutsche Marks -When she got home her mother told her to never deal with Russian soldiers again (00:12:50) Acting in Ingolstadt -Maternal grandmother and grandfather were divorced, but saw them both in Ingolstadt -Grandmother had been an actress -Got Annemarie involved with acting -She did skits where she played an old woman or another skit where she danced -Started acting when she was 12 years old and did it until she was 17 years old -Performed at beer gardens doing song and dance routines -Remembers dancing with a professional foxtrot dancer -Didn’t know she could keep up with him -Later learned that that dancer had been her grandmother’s dancing partner in the acting days (00:24:23) Meeting Her First Husband -Met her first husband through a gypsy friend -She had been at a move and three boys followed her home, and her friend drove them off -After that incident she was at a dance hall late into the night -Friend’s boyfriend’s friend (an American soldier) offered to drive her home -After that he started pursuing her -The American soldier started visiting her every weekend and writing her letters -Her mother and stepfather grew to like him -Met her first husband in 1957 -At the time she was going to school for engineering and working as a seamstress -Took an engineering test and tried to get a job with Audi -They wanted her, but the quota was filled -Asked her to come back next year, but she got married in that time -One weekend Charlie (the GI) didn’t visit or write her any letters -She worried that he was in trouble -When he showed up she realized she loved him and wanted to marry him (00:35:42) Marriage to First Husband -Made an agreement to live in Germany for a few years then move to the United States -Had a good marriage with Charlie when they lived in Germany -Had a daughter together and they were a happy family (00:37:40) Divorcing First Husband -In 1960 they moved to the United States -He flew back to the US with the Air Force -Annemarie and her daughter flew to New York City then to Pittsburgh -Her in-laws picked her up at Pittsburgh and mother-in-law instantly disliked her -Charlie showed up three days later -She found out that he was going with other women behind Annemarie’s back -Found his wallet and realized he lied about how much money he made -Gave her a meager stipend and spent the rest of his money on mistresses -Found one of his mistress's phone number -Started the divorce process and kicked him out of the house -Called the mistress and said she could have Charlie, because she didn’t want him -Moved into a trailer with her daughter, but couldn’t find a park -Ex mother-in-law had connections and kept Annemarie out of the parks -Found a private park and moved there �-Ex-mother-in-law found out where Annemarie lived -Started sending men to Annemarie to proposition her for sex to harass her -Ex mother-in-law stole Annemarie’s television -Ex mother-in-law started picking up Annemarie’s daughter from the babysitter -Had to go through five babysitters to avoid the woman -Friends advised her to get legal help -Charlie had a powerful lawyer though, stopping Annemarie from taking legal action (00:51:42) Second Marriage -Got tricked into marrying another man -Lived together from 1963 to 1964 -He abused her and her daughter -In spring 1964 she called her parents to get plane tickets to Germany -Returned to Ingolstadt with her daughter -Husband followed them two weeks later -Fortunately they worked opposite shifts in Germany -Met her old friend’s fiance and befriended him -Husband was convinced the fiance was pursuing Annemarie -Her husband tried to slit her throat then started to beat her -He left and she immediately started packing to get out of the house -He came home and punched through the door’s window -She woke up in an ambulance en route to a hospital -Wrote a letter to his boss in the US and got him sent back to the US -He left then sent tickets to her to go to the US -She couldn’t stay in Germany or he would come back -Moved to New York City -Stayed with a cousin for a couple weeks then got a job as a housekeeper for a lawyer Tape starts over at 00:00:00 however the story continues (00:00:04) Living in New York City and Oregon -Worked for the lawyer and cared for his baby girl -She had a terrible diaper rash and Annemarie cured it -Worked for the lawyer for a while until private detectives started coming to the house -Looking for Annemarie on behalf of the second husband -Went out to Oregon to be with an old friend on her wedding day -Friend decided not to get married, but fortunately it got her out of New York City -Did odd jobs and got assistance from welfare (paid for rent and electricity) -Got food from a pantry once a month -Met a couple through a friend -They were good people, had children, and Annemarie’s daughter got along with the children -Couple wanted to move back to Michigan and have Annemarie and her daughter join them -They could live with them (00:08:26) Living in Michigan -Lived with the family from Oregon -Got a job in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as a seamstress -Experienced discrimination for being an immigrant -As a result she befriended other shunned, immigrant workers -Did good work as a seamstress and got a better job �(00:14:33) Marrying Bill Hortman -Met a man named Bill through one of her coworkers -Started dating him, but was worried he would be like her previous husbands -Realized he was a good man -Married Bill Hortman -He taught her how to golf -They had two sons together, and Bill adopted her daughter -Had to get the adoption approval from Charlie -Ex-mother-in-law and her sister showed up demanding that Annemarie come home -To get married to Bill she had to get divorced from her second husband -They had separated, but never gotten a divorce -Told him that she was pregnant and that prompted him to divorce her -He dragged his feet for a while, then began the process -Annemarie told the ex-mother-in-law to leave her alone -Charlie’s mother tried to manipulate her by saying Charlie was in an abusive relationship -Annemarie told her that he could deal with it -Also had to deal with her second husband’s car payments because he couldn’t make them -She had cosigned -Eventually got away from that -Charlie’s mother stopped bothering her after seeing how Annemarie and Bill loved each other -She and Bill fought, but he never held a grudge or followed other women -Bill served in the Marines as an aircraft mechanic in World War II (00:36:57) Relationship with Parents (Adult Life) -Her mother and stepfather started visiting in 1972 -Visited every three or four years -During a visit in 2000 her stepfather had a stroke -Stepfather enjoyed the US and always wanted to stay -Flew stepfather back to Germany for treatment after his stroke for treatment by his doctor -He recovered from the stroke -In 2005 she flew back to Ingolstadt because her stepfather was in bad shape -Her mother took care of him at home -It was wonderful to see her mother in such a loving relationship (00:44:34) Annnemarie’s Biological Father -She never had contact with biological father in her adult life -She has a photo of him from the 1950s -Only keeps it as a part of the family record -Biological father had tried to molest her in Ingolstadt -Grandfather stopped him -Not long after that incident Annemarie’s mother divorced the father -He came back once to try and take her brother -Her brother had lived with him for a few years -He never let him get any gifts from Annemarie or her mother � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HortmanA1944V Title A name given to the resource Hortman, Annemarie (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Annemarie Hortman was born in Rangsdorf, Germany, on April 14, 1939. When she was only a year old she moved to Ingolstadt and stayed there until September 1940. At such a young age and that early in the war she remembers getting off a train during an air raid, and going into a community bomb shelter in Ingolstadt. For the rest of the war, Annemarie lived in Rangsdorf. During the last six months of the war she experienced daily bombings due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Germany and final push toward Berlin. After Germany’s surrender, she and her family stayed in Rangsdorf during part of the Soviet occupation enduring the random and often arbitrary brutality of the Soviet troops. In 1947, Annemarie, her mother, her brother, and sister fled Rangsdorf on foot and sneaked across the East/West German border. They walked to Ingolstadt where she lived until she got married to an American serviceman. Annemarie and her first husband had a child and moved to the United States in 1960. Due to her husband’s infidelity the first marriage failed, and after moving around the country and a second divorce, she met Bill Hortman and settled down with him in Walker, Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hortman, Annemarie Boettner Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-09-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5e580ba47dee6be41394e934a3c347e3.m4v a9d84f549dc31020b7843e9806d5fbf9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/77ea7b643a29ffc8149d1ea55ea3a25b.pdf 501c690005ed8d9c52ef688d1e73bbb9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Ernest Homrich World War II-Postwar 44 minutes 43 seconds (00:00:11) Early Life -Born at his family's home in Alpine Township, Michigan on April 13, 1925 -Grew up on the farm there -Second-to-last child in the family -Family was able to keep the farm during the Great Depression -Had enough food, but had to ration it -Father had a stroke -Bedridden for 15 years -Ernest and his brother had to run the farm -Milked the cows in the morning -Fed animals and did chores at night -Stayed in school until the 11th grade -Went to school off and on -Took Fridays off and went fishing -Mother was a great help in taking care of the farm and Mr. Homrich after he had his stroke -Father lived to be 75 years old -Had his stroke when he was 60 years old -Ernest was 15 years old at the time -Grew produce and raised animals they could sell (00:03:58) Start of the War -Driving in the car when he heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed -Paid attention to the news coming out of Europe and Asia before Pearl Harbor -No one in his family was in the military when the war began -He was 16 years old when the United States entered the war (00:05:04) Getting Drafted -Registered for the draft when he turned 18 in 1943 -Deferred for a while because he worked on the farm -When he got drafted his younger brother took over the farm -Got drafted in late 1944 after being deferred twice -Went to Detroit for a draft physical when he first registered for the draft (00:06:42) Basic Training -Went to Chicago -Sent to an Army base in Texarkana/northeast Texas -Went there by train -Ride was smoky and there was soot everywhere -Stopped along the way to let other trains pass -Took quite a while to go from Chicago to Texas -Went on hikes during basic training -High emphasis on discipline -Whatever your superiors told you to do, you did -Men that couldn't keep up with the training were discharged -Because he grew up doing farm work he was in good shape and kept up with the training �-Received rifle and grenade training -One time a sergeant dropped a live grenade -Obviously, everyone ran away -Fortunately, the grenade didn't explode -Thought that that was the end of his life -Had a little rifle experience from bird hunting on the farm -Trained with men from all over the United States -Didn't receive any specialized training -Felt sorry for the men that couldn't do the training -Men that couldn't adjust were discharged, recycled, or transferred -Training lasted 17 weeks (00�:12:17) Deployment -After basic training received a leave home -Reported to San Francisco -Didn't spend too long there -Boarded a troopship -1700 men on the ship -Had to share bunks -Didn't know where they were going -Stopped in Pearl Harbor because of boiler trouble -Remembers the song “Sentimental Journey” playing as they left -A lot of men got seasick (00:15:54) Stop in Pearl Harbor -Broke convoy to stop in Pearl Harbor because the ship's boiler needed repair -Stayed in Pearl Harbor for a month -Spent the time in Pearl Harbor with training -Fed pineapple and all of the men got “GI Trot” (diarrhea) -Limited outhouses, so some men had to defecate in the open -Next day they got up early -Men were still sick, so they were given a pill to alleviate the illness -Went out for a drill -He spent the entire day in an outhouse -Went into town once or twice -Found an old Japanese motorcycle -Pearl Harbor had been cleaned up -Saw the sunken ships left in the harbor (00:18:50) Arrival at Okinawa & End of the War -Sailed to Okinawa alone -Went in a straight line -Trying to catch up with the convoy -Dropped anchor away from Okinawa -Preparing for the invasion of Japan -All of a sudden, the war ended -Off of Okinawa for a week then the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan (00:20:48) Supply work in Inchon, Korea -Went to Inchon, Korea -Had to sleep in a partially built building -Given a cot and blankets for sleeping -Went out every morning with the high tide and came back in at night with the tide �-Used a Landing Ship Medium (LSM) to go to the ship to bring supplies to shore -Supervised Korean workers -Had to watch them closely -Had problems with them stealing beer -Had pretty good living conditions and had pretty good food -Found abandoned, one-man Japanese submarines -Note: possibly kaiten suicide torpedoes -Crudely built and made of recycled metal and wood scaffolding -Japanese had a lot of old American cars being used for scrap metal -About 40 acres of old cars -No Japanese soldiers left in Korea -Found a lot of Japanese rifles -Dumped them in the nearby river -Got his hand hurt -Two of his nails were ripped out of his hand by a winch -Unloaded trucks, tires, and lumber from the ship -Material prepared for the invasion of Japan -Burned any material they didn't need -Some soldiers sold the material to the Koreans (00:28:00) Hospital Stay in Inchon -After hurting his hand he went to a hospital in Inchon -Spent 45 days in the hospital -One of nurses baked a cake for him -He was mobile, so he could walk around (00:29:04) Working with Amphibious Engineer Unit -Set traps to catch rats -Caught a few, but not very many -Collected wood for burning in the officers' rooms (00:29:57) PX work in Korea -Reassigned to work in a post exchange (PX) -Note: Army general store -Worked in the PX for nearly a year -Had to make sure nobody stole anything -Slept with his M1 carbine to ward off thieves -Koreans mostly wanted to steal cigarettes, but would steal anything -Only American soldiers were allowed into the PX -Went out to dumps to get rid of spoiled food -Korean civilians tried to get the rotten food -Had to beat back Koreans and fill in the pits of food so they didn't get the bad food -Never wanted to see that again (00:32:45) Korean Civilians -Koreans lived in straw huts -There were open ditches that the Koreans used as toilets -Rice farmers went to the ditch to get human waste to fertilize their crop (00:34:25) Contact with Home -It was a long time before he got any mail from home -Sent money home -Mother saved it for him -Had a quite a bit of money saved up by time he got home �(00:35:15) Coming Home Pt. 1 -Went home with a group of men from different units -Pulled into Seattle -Delayed and put into barracks -Selected to clean out mess cars -Had to wait because his records were lost -Sent to Chicago -Still couldn't find his records -Sent home for a couple weeks of leave -Reported back to Chicago and got discharged (00:37:10) Life after the Army -Worked on a farm for one season -Worked for 75 cents an hour then got raised to $1 an hour -Worked in a shop for 95 cents an hour -Married in 1952 -Stayed on the farm, but worked other jobs -Younger brother hauled coal to the veterans' home (00:39:57) Reflections on Service -Learned discipline and how to follow orders -Learned a lot in Korea -Snow in Korea was the same as Michigan though -Shocked that Inchon never experienced a major fire due to all of the straw and wooden buildings -Saw a lot and learned a lot during his time in the Army (00:41:53) Downtime in Korea -Visited Seoul -Got cold showers -Luxury because they didn't get showers in Inchon -Went to Seoul quite often -More built up than Inchon -Drank a little sake -Tried 190 proof alcohol -Cut it with sugar and water to dilute it (00:44:03) Coming Home Pt. 2 -Fed really well upon his arrival in Seattle -Given whatever food he wanted � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HomrichE1917V Title A name given to the resource Homrich, Ernest Q (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Ernest Homrich was born in Alpine Township, Michigan on April 13, 1925. He was drafted in late 1944 and went to Texarkana/northeast Texas for basic training. After 17 weeks of basic training and a short leave home he went to San Francisco to board a troopship. En route to their destination they experienced boiler trouble and had to stay in Pearl Harbor for a month for repairs. From Pearl Harbor they sailed to Okinawa and were offshore for a week then the atomic bombs were dropped. They went to Inchon, Korea where he helped unload material and discard Japanese weapons. He injured his hand and after recovering in a hospital was assigned to work with an amphibious engineers unit then at a PX where he worked for nearly a year. Upon completion of his time in Korea he returned to the United States and was discharged in Chicago. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Homrich, Ernest Q. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-02-09 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c48785360080c11f12e5b8860e49c30d.m4v ea254e3d4539a01341488bb7eae8660d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a007693bb58dcc5914a3a01e8e3affd5.m4v 7d743b1e1935bab9346333cfb6b7747e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ddd5b38e6c2203c6a31b1d8658df82c1.pdf 517e5d9de74ef28429c67c5913144944 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Kyle Herring War in Afghanistan Part 1 – 48 minutes 52 seconds (00:00:17) Early Life -Born in Frederick, Maryland on October 11, 1987 -Lived there for one or two years -Moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan -Parents were originally from Maryland -Lived on the southeast side of the city near Kalamazoo Avenue -Moved to Kentwood, Michigan when he was in middle school -Suburb of Grand Rapids -Attended East Kentwood High School -Last class to graduate early -Graduated in February 2006 -Father worked as an aerospace engineer for General Electric -Mother worked in healthcare for Spectrum Healthcare (00:01:20) September 11th Attacks & Start of the War on Terror -He was in eighth grade when the September 11th attacks happened in 2001 -Didn't have TVs on in the morning -Teachers came in around 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. and told the students the U.S. had been attacked -Rest of the day watched the news reports coming in from New York and Washington D.C. -Aware of the severity of the attacks -Possibly more aware than other students because his family served in the military -Father served in the Marines and mother served in the Army -Father had fought in the Gulf War -Thought the U.S. would be invaded following the attacks (00:03:39) Enlisting in the National Guard -September 11th attacks contributed to his decision to join the military -Had always wanted to be a soldier -Wanted to serve in the Marines like his father -Father advised against it -Felt that Kyle would get more out of a different branch of the military -Wanted to do something with technology -When he was 16 years old he started talking with Marine recruiters -When he turned 17 the recruiters asked him to sign the paperwork -Kyle wanted to be an aircraft controller -Recruiters told him he could be in the infantry or the engineers -Friend enlisted in the Michigan National Guard -Got the job he wanted and an enlistment bonus -Talked to a National Guard recruiter and watched some different videos about technology jobs -Decided he wanted to be a multichannel transmission systems operator-maintainer -Military Occupational Specialty code: 25 Quebec -Enlisted in the spring of 2005 (00:05:40) Drilling with the National Guard -Able to start drilling with the National Guard before completing basic training �-In the summer of 2005 he visited Europe and saw London, Paris, and Barcelona -When he returned from the Europe trip he started doing drills with the National Guard -One weekend a month through the summer and his senior year (00:06:35) Basic Training -Sent to Fort Benning, Georgia on January 1, 2006 for basic training -Left Lansing, Michigan early in the morning -Landed at Atlanta and told to go to the clock tower in the airport and wait for a bus -At 9 p.m. a woman came to the tower and told him to follow him if he was a recruit -Very informal greeting -There with 100 or 200 other recruits -Pulled up to Fort Benning and drill sergeant boarded the bus -Told if they listened to him they would be fine -Went through processing at 10 or 11 p.m. -Given sweatshirts and sweatpants and ordered to change into them -Didn't sleep much the first night there -First week was spent processing -Basic training wasn't too difficult -Expected it to be like the basic training in the film, Full Metal Jacket -Disappointed that it wasn't tough -Felt prepared from hearing about his parents' experiences in the military -Graduated from basic training in April 2006 -Drill sergeants yelled at them, but not to an extreme degree -Spent most days exercising, sleeping, or going to classes -Remembers one exercise called “belly, back, and feet” -Push-ups, flutter kicks, and jogging in place -Had to change exercises when the drill sergeant commanded -A few men had trouble adjusting to the military -Trained with other slightly older recruits -Only three or four men didn't pass basic training -One of his bunk mates had to be medically discharged due to heart problems -Remembers a group of Ohioans didn't adjust well to the discipline, but they made it through -Sundays were cleaning day -One of the Ohioan recruits hid in a wall locker and slept all day on Sundays -Did a lot of weapons training, physical training, and marches with full packs -Basic infantry training -Firing a rifle, digging a foxhole, basic first aid, and using a radio (00:14:08) Signal Training -Sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia for Signal Training -Lasted 21 weeks -Trained with truck-mounted radios and satellite radios -Trained with old technology and new technology -Radios used by the French in the 1990s -French radios were set to OCONUS -Overseas radio setting, and permanent unless rewired -Learned how to rewire those radios to be used in the United States -Second part of training consisted of satellite communications (00:16:21) Joining the 156th Signal Battalion -Returned to Grand Rapids and was assigned to C Company of the 156th Signal Battalion -Stationed at Grand Valley Armory in Wyoming, Michigan (suburb of Grand Rapids) �-Did drills one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer -Attended Grand Rapids Community College while not drilling with the National Guard -Did the basic weekend/month and two weeks/summer schedule for two years -Enjoyed drilling in the National Guard -Bond forming and team building -Everyone worked well together and did a good job together (00:17:48) Medic Training -Discovered that he didn't enjoy communications work -In early 2008 the 156th Signal Battalion became part of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team -This resulted in the creation of a combat medic position -He wanted to become a medic, requested the position, and got it -Sent to Parks Reserve Forces Training Area (Camp Parks), California in the summer of 2008 -Base was situated in the middle of a wealthy area -Close enough to San Francisco that they could take a train there -Medic training usually took six months, but they did it in three months -14 hours of training for a while -Studied a chapter in class and read the next chapter at night -The next day took a test on the material they studied in class -Took the National Registry of EMTs Exam and half of the trainees failed it on the first attempt -Second time they took the test three quarters of them passed -Got practical training -Trained with practice mannequins, learned how to give shots, and place IVs -Rode in a civilian ambulance in Oakland, California -Treated an old woman, a homeless man, an infant, and responded to a car accident -Did that all in one, eight hour shift -Resuscitated a man in the emergency room and pronounced an infant dead an hour later -Doing practical work like that gave him confidence he hadn't had before -First half of medic training focused on basic EMT skills -Second half of medic training focused on Army medicine -For example: properly using tourniquets and moving litters -Did field exercises in the desert -Remembers on one exercise he didn't drink water until 5 p.m. -Acting squad leader and made sure the other soldiers stayed hydrated -He just forgot to do the same for himself (00:24:19 Pre-Deployment Training & Preparation -Returned to Grand Valley Armory -Alerted for mobilization -In early 2009 they received equipment and started their training -Went to Vermont for mountaineer training with the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team -Fun -Learned how to walk horizontally across a steep grade -Did a 20 foot rappel -On the first rappel he was carrying a 50 pound aid bag -Had to do his first rappel with the pound bag -Did a 150 foot rappel down a cliff face -Returned to Michigan after mountaineer training in Vermont -Started dating his future wife -Dated a few months and decide to try for a long term, long distance, relationship -Sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana for combat training �-Three weeks -Ran practice convoys -Worked in an aid station -Did that in September 2009 -On December 3, 2009 they received their federal orders -Bused to Camp Atterbury, Indiana -Did three or four days of processing -Vaccinations and various physical tests -Land navigation training and a brief introduction of what to expect in Afghanistan -Medics received Brigade Combat Tactical Training -One week of intense medical training -Trained by special forces medics and surgeons -Learned about what IEDs could do to a person -By 2009 the Army knew more about IEDs and damage potential -Learned that they had to go back to Fort Polk because they missed a training step -Three more weeks of combat training -He was originally assigned to a Military Police platoon with brigade headquarters -Platoon got reassigned to the 1st Squadron of the 172nd Cavalry Regiment -Part of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team -Did field exercises in the woods in Fort Polk -Taught the Rules of Land Warfare -What a soldier can/cannot do in combat -At Fort Polk they had fake enemies and fake civilians -Lived and operated in a fake Afghan city -Had Afghan nationals and fake reporters -Rifles with blank rounds, fake bombs, and helicopters -Pre-deployment training was worse than the actual tour in Afghanistan (00:33:23) Deployment to Afghanistan -Received orders to fly directly from Fort Polk to Afghanistan -Given 24 hours of leave -He and the other men went to Bourbon Street in New Orleans -Last time they could drink before being deployed to Afghanistan -Stayed at Fort Polk for a few days then flew out of Louisiana at 3 a.m. -Flew to Afghanistan on a chartered civilian flight -Stopped in Canada, Iceland, Ireland, and Germany to refuel -Allowed to get off the plane in Germany -Place for soldiers to eat, stretch their legs, and buy souvenirs -There were political issues with Russia which altered their flight path to Afghanistan -Flown to Kyrgyzstan -Landed at a Soviet-era airport -Beautiful and cold country -Bought an Iranian cell phone that worked in the Middle East -Boarded a C-130 and flew to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan (00:36:20) Arrival in Afghanistan -Received two days of training at Bagram Air Base -Boarded another C-130 and flew to Sharana, Afghanistan to get to Ghazni -Had to do a combat landing at night because the base took fire on a regular basis -Plane corkscrewed down to the runway -C-130 dropped the ramp and they were ordered to march off the plane �-Only had 15-20 rounds of ammunition and it was pitch black -Told to go to a reception area at the other end of the runway -Went into a transient tent -Disgusting and one of the worst places he had to stay -Contacted the unit they were replacing in Ghazni -Needed more ammunition before they they moved -In RC-East (NATO designation for eastern portion of Afghanistan) -Unit they were replacing came to pick them up from Sharana -Traveled in Cougar Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) armored transports -Brought them a trailer full of ammunition -Told to watch out for IEDs en route to Ghazni (00:39:45) First Contact with Enemy Troops -Reached a place called Four Corners en route to Ghazni -Afghan police were taking fire and the American forces were ordered to assist them -Got out of the MRAP and went to the left of the road -Told to watch out for a man riding a red moped -Afghan forces were taking fire on the right side of the road -Walked forward 100 or 200 yards -The red moped showed up -Everyone pointed their rifles at the man and he quickly turned around -Not the target -Took cover behind a berm and returned fire -He was ordered to stay down and hold his fire -If he, the medic, got wounded then who would take care of him? -Taking small arms fire -After 10 or 15 minutes the militants scattered and they proceeded toward Ghazni (00:42:25) Stationed in Ghazni -Final destination was Forward Operating Base (FOB) Vulcan in Ghazni -Ghazni is the capital of Ghazni Province -There was another FOB, called FOB Ghazni in the city -Provincial reconstruction, helicopter base, and a forward surgical team -FOB Vulcan was a former Soviet base from the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s -Shared it with an Afghan battalion -Minimal enemy contact -FOB Ghazni got hit by mortars and rockets on a regular basis -FOB Vulcan wasn't a large base -150 Americans stationed there -Shared the base with Polish forces -NATO commander was Polish and had a Polish 155mm artillery unit (00:44:20) Patrols in Afghanistan -Started their mission after a week of being at FOB Vulcan -Mission was to train Afghan police in the area -Went to the towns of Waghaz and Qarabagh -First time at Waghaz they took mortar fire from the mountains -Established contact with the town chieftain -Moved to Qarabagh after patrols in Waghaz -Stayed there for a few nights -Lived on Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and trained the Afghan police -Pulled security at night �-Set up a post on top of an old prison -If they saw movement they had orders to retreat -Had only 20 men at Qarabagh and couldn't taken on an enemy force -Arrived in Afghanistan in March 2010 and started conducting patrols soon -Had Thursdays off because Friday is the Muslim holy day (00:46:50) Fighting around Waghaz -The second time they went into Waghaz they took mortar fire, again -Brought a TOW missile launcher and a forward observer to call in artillery support -Fired the TOW at the enemy position and it flew into a group of trees -Mortars were landing around the compound -Knew the militants were bad shots, but they could eventually get a direct hit -Called in Polish artillery to knock out the mortar position -Lieutenant was fairly incompetent -Called in the wrong coordinates -Resulted in the artillery hitting 1,000 yards off target Part 2 – 45 minutes 39 seconds Note: Separate DVD, but time code continues (00:49:33) Fighting around Waghaz -Polish artillery was off the mark -United States artillery procedure is to fire to the right of the impact area -Polish artillery procedure is to fire to the left of the impact area -Shot again and were even more off the mark than the first time -Decided to get into MRAPs and go into the hills to find the mortars -Had F-16 fighter aircraft providing air support -Went up to a little bridge in the hills -Good chance there would be IEDs -He was in the third vehicle in line -Two of the MRAPs got across the bridge without incident -His MRAP shifted to the right and hit an IED -It was two antitank mines stacked on top of each other -Blew off a tire -Militants had been planning an ambush on the convoy -Disable a vehicle then attack with machine guns and rockets -F-16s scared them off -No one in his vehicle was injured -A few men sustained minor concussions -Recovery vehicles took forever to reach them -Traveling at one kilometer/hour (or a little over ½ mile/hour) -F-16s ran out of gas and had to leave the area -B-1 strategic bomber came to provide air support -Stayed there for a while -Pilot radioed the recovery convoy and told them to go faster -Getting bored and wanted to leave -Finally got picked up and his MRAP was repaired within a few days (00:53:30) Leaving Ghazni -Spent three months in Ghazni �-Only American forces in the area, and they were a small force -Got replaced by a larger American force -Ghazni hadn't been a bad place to be stationed -Had internet, hot food, showers, and civilians did their laundry (00:54:15) Ambushed outside of Qarabagh -Wanted to go to Qarabagh to say good bye to the Afghan police chief -Bitter and nervous that the Americans would leave and not be replaced -Stayed overnight in Qarabagh and ate breakfast with the police the next day -Left Qarabagh and he was in the last vehicle in the convoy -MRAP in front of him hit a 500 pound IED -Blast threw vehicle into the air and flipped it over -Gunner survived because he bent down to pick up a bottle of a water -Felt the shock wave in his truck -The gunner in his MRAP returned fire with machine gun and grenade launcher -His truck took three rocket propelled grenades -After each blast the gunner got back up and returned fire -MRAP caught fire and had to be evacuated -Made his way to the destroyed MRAP -Half of the vehicles in the convoy were damaged or immobilized -Ran through the blast zone and the IED produced a crater in the highway -Everyone in the destroyed MRAP was out of the truck and were wounded -Six wounded -Inside of that MRAP was covered in blood -Started treating the wounded -One soldier had internal bleeding -Told the platoon sergeant they needed to get the wounded out of the area -Other soldiers went off the road to hunt down the militants -Polish sent in helicopters to pick up the wounded -He didn't know the Polish were sending in helicopters -Saw a Mi-24 Hind fly overhead -Same helicopter used by the Russians -Astounded at the sight and didn't know what to expect next -Militants retreated -Helicopter pilot saw the blast crater and decided to land in the adjacent field -Helped get the wounded to the helicopter -Told the flight medic about the situation -Another helicopter showed up -Thought there were six litter wounded, not ambulatory -Polish armored vehicles came to support them -Patrolled the area and found a few weapons -Got into a new convoy and went to FOB Ghazni -Ate and got cleaned up -Visited the wounded -Let him put three of the more severely wounded into a helicopter -One of the men went to Germany and two went to Bagram Air Base (01:04:55) Stationed at FOB Lightning -Flown to FOB Lightning in Gardez -Spent two weeks at FOB Lightning -Worked with the 82nd Airborne Division �-Did patrols and went on a convoy to a FOB near Pakistan -FOB Lightning was a larger base -Had a mess hall open at all times with iced coffee and a panini machine -Had internet access -Could contact his family and his fiancee (01:06:20) Stationed at Charikar -Sent to Bagram Air Base for one week to await further orders -101st Airborne Division replaced them -Sent to the city of Charikar near Bagram -Worked with United Arab Emirates soldiers -Stationed at the police station in Charikar -Shared the barracks with Afghan police -Went on two foot patrols each day -Did two, three hour shifts of guard duty -One of his jobs was to bleach the water used for showering -Built up area -Civilians were allowed to go into the police station -Medium-sized city with three-story buildings -Able to send the interpreter into town to get local food -Had french fries and kebabs -American dollar was very strong -Avoided eating cold food and dairy products -Spent six months in Charikar out of a total of nine months in Afghanistan -Did the same routine every day -Brought a firearm with him everywhere he went -Got comfortable carrying a firearm with him -Never fired his rifle in anger -Medic shouldn't have to return fire in a combat situation (01:12:30) Enemy Contact in Charikar -One night they were sleeping and someone fired a rocket propelled grenade at the station -Local that angry about a political decision made by the U.S. military -No wounded and no killed -Pulled guard duty at night because he enjoyed the coolness of the evening -One night he heard fire on Route 1 -Went into the tactical operations center (TOC) -Told NATO Macedonian forces had been attacked -Being sent to Charikar -When the Macedonians arrived they were on edge -Jumped out of the trucks and pointing their rifles -An American unit near them hit an IED and lost their medic (01:14:52) U.S. Ambassador visit to Charikar -U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan came to Charikar to visit the provincial governor -Had jets, layers of security, and Secretary of State security forces -Afghan police were on the road in front of the governor's compound -Remembers a blue tanker truck coming up to the compound -Afghan police let it go through the roadblock -Secretary of State security thought it was a suicide truck -Turned out to be fine -Ready for it to explode and deal with the consequences �(01:16:52) United Nations Presence -United Nations World Food Program operated in the area -Used white vans and SUVs with no armor -Drove around Charikar -Never made sense to him why they'd use civilian vehicles -Never got attacked (01:17:50) Contact with Afghan Civilians -A lot of contact with Afghan civilians -Patrolled the markets in Charikar -There was a canal next to the police compound -Threw candy to children who stood on the other side of the canal -A sucker hit a little girl in the head -Brought her and her father over to the compound -Gave her another sucker, and a stuffed animal, and bandages -Father was happy and understood that it was an accident -Afghans knew that he was a medic and less intimidating than the other soldiers -Thought he had magic pills that could treat anything -Remembers in Qarabagh a man approached him and said his leg hurt -Couldn't give him pain pills because he could be allergic -Gave him a red Tic-Tac -Man came back a week later complaining of leg pain again -Gave him a yellow Tic-Tac and the man requested a red one -There was a blind man in Charikar that asked to be healed -Couldn't grasp that Kyle wasn't a doctor or a miracle worker -Apologized to the man and gave him some American money for his trouble -Treated one Afghan policeman with an infected ankle from wearing his boots wrong -Took a picture together -Trusted the Afghan interpreter because he was in just as much danger as they were -Gave him a first aid kit and a shotgun or an AK-47 rifle if they had a spare (01:22:50) Mystery Weapons Cache -He was on guard duty one night and an Afghan police cargo truck came into the compound -Truck was filled with crates of rifles, ammunition, rocket launchers, and rockets -Helped the Afghan police unload the truck -Went into a basement on the compound and it was filled with weapons and ammunition -Didn't know it existed -Had no idea why the Afghan police had it -Radioed 86th Brigade headquarters and told them about the weapons cache -They didn't know it existed either -Piles of Chinese, Egyptian, Soviet, and unmarked weapons (01:25:37) End of Deployment & Coming Home -Deployment ended in December 2010 -Stayed at Bagram Air Base for one week -in Thanksgiving 2010 President Obama came to Bagram Air Base -Delayed coming home -Out processed at Camp Atterbury, Indiana -Came home to Grand Rapids and was greeted by the community -Stopped at Kyrgyzstan en route to the United States -One soldier broke his ankle walking out to the plane �-Had two choices: fly home with a broken ankle, or stay behind for treatment -Decided to fly home with the broken ankle -Took a year to get his ankle fixed (01:27:02) Assignment to the 126th Cavalry Regiment & Current National Guard Service -While on his deployment he was promoted to the rank of sergeant (E-5) -Spent three more months with C Company of the 156th Signal Battalion -Moved across the hall at Grand Valley Armory and was reassigned to 126th Cavalry Regiment -Placed on full-time orders for a couple years then became Active Guard Reserve (AGR, career) -Worked for eight months as a National Guard recruiter at Grand Valley Armory -Went back to work as medical readiness sergeant with the 126th Cavalry Regiment -Job as of time of interview -Managing medical documents -Overseeing a platoon of medics -Administering flu shots -Medical exams -General healthcare of soldiers (01:28:15) Reflections on Service -Made him a calmer individual -More confident -More to life -Drinks less after his deployment -Appreciates life more -Spent nine months without TV, cell phone, and limited internet -Misses the order and routine of Afghanistan -Still maintains a routine as a civilian (01:29:46) Wounded in Ghazni -In Ghazni after the 500 pound IED explosion -He was in the mess hall and the FOB started taking rocket fire -Ran toward bunkers and a rocket exploded in front of him -Attack happened near Easter 2010 -Doesn't remember the blast, but remembers getting up from the ground -Saw a man lying in the middle of the road -Acted without thinking -Base was still taking rocket fire -Wounded man was a Navy corpsman -Entire right side was peppered with shrapnel -Polish ambulance came to help treat the corpsman -Helped the Polish soldiers treat the man -Reunited with his platoon -One week later he found the corpsman survived and was being treated in Germany -Spent three months in therapy due to sustaining a traumatic brain injury -Didn't qualify for a Purple Heart -Placed on rest for two days and ordered to relax -Still has ringing in his ears and memory problems -Works with a lot of soldiers that have traumatic brain injuries -Is able to relate with them � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HerringK1933V Title A name given to the resource Herring, Kyle (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Kyle Herring was born in Frederick, Maryland on October 11, 1987, but grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted in the Michigan National Guard when he was 17 years old in spring 2005 and drilled during his senior year. In January 2006 he received basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia then went to Fort Gordon, Georgia for signal training. He joined C Company of the 156th Signal Battalion at the Grand Valley Armory in Wyoming, Michigan. In early 2008 a medic slot opened and he volunteered for it. He received medic training at Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, California. In early 2009 they received deployment orders and spent most of 2009 training in Vermont; Camp Atterbury, Indiana; and Fort Polk, Louisiana. He was attached to 1st Squadron of the 172nd Cavalry Regiment of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. They deployed to Afghanistan in March 2010 and he was stationed at Forward Operating Base Vulcan (Ghazni) for three months working with local police in Waghaz and Qarabagh. He suffered a concussive injury in Ghazni. He was also stationed at FOB Lighting (Gardez) and at the police station in Charikar for six months. In December 2010 the deployment ended and he returned home. After three months he joined the 126th Cavalry Regiment and went on full-time, active duty as the medical readiness non-commissioned officer. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Herring, Kyle Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jones, Adam (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American United States. National Guard Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-03-17 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/83b2554bc73f39523d44476a7a7e4562.m4v e6c610d796d72cb473d8f72c24c63855 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fab0d0fcc75611c53237f7e97fa72a2a.pdf 99ac32fc6cbb39a843b7b3b311c6fced PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Earl O. Henry Jr. Cold War – Vietnam Era 1 hour 5 minutes 6 seconds Note: Earl is also telling the story of his father, Earl O. Henry, who died on the USS Indianapolis. (00:00:40) Earl Jr.’s Early Life -Born in Mayfield, Kentucky, on June 19, 1945 -Lived there until he was 8 years old -Father died on the USS Indianapolis when Earl was only six weeks old -Moved to Nashville, Tennessee -Lived there for the rest of his life save for time in college and the Army -Mother grew up in Mayfield and attended Western Kentucky State Teachers College -Taught in Tennessee and met Earl’s father in Tennessee -Had a fairly normal childhood -Grandfather and uncle became father figures for him -Uncle took him to baseball games, on fishing trips, and effectively acted as his father (00:03:30) College & Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps -Attended Vanderbilt University and majored in business -Went to University of Washington for graduate school -Got his Masters of Business Administration -Joined the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in college -Went to ROTC summer camp in 1965 -Received six weeks of basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky -The same as regular basic training just without biological or chemical warfare training -Went on the infiltration course -Crawling under barbed wire while live rounds are shot over your head -Ran on Heartbreak, Misery, and Agony Hill -Became an officer in the Army upon completion of college and ROTC training -Note: Most likely a 2nd lieutenant (00:05:30) Service as a Quartermaster Officer -Sent to Fort Lee, Virginia, for Quartermaster and Officer Basic Training -Received training on how to manage non-commissioned officers’ clubs and officers’ clubs -Remembers scandals in the NCO and officers’ clubs at the time -Army wanted men with accounting and business knowledge to handle the clubs -Assigned to the officers’ club at Fort Knox -Worked with non-commissioned officers, officers, and civilian workers -Nontraditional position for an officer -Spent nearly two years in the Army -Discharged six weeks earlier than planned date due to spending cuts -Doesn’t regret forgoing a career in the Army, because it wasn’t for him -1969 to 1971 was not an ideal time to be in the Army -Poor morale and bad esprit de corps -Fortunately, he never experienced any harassment from people for being in the military (00:09:41) Earl Sr.’s Early Life -Born in Clinton, Tennessee, in 1911 and grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee �-Attended and graduated from Knoxville High School -Collected bird cards from Arm & Hammer (similar to baseball cards) -Joined the Bird Club and became an amateur ornithologist -Had good eyesight, good hearing, and the ability to imitate bird calls -Led to him recording bird calls at the Naval Academy in January 1944 -Proficient with taxidermy -Allowed to collect one male and one female bird of each species for taxidermy -Mounted 88 birds and donated them to the Ijams Nature Center -Mother kept three mounted ducks as a memory of him -Father attended the University of Tennessee to study dentistry -Graduated from there in 1935 (00:15:17) Naval Service – Stateside -Came to Knoxville to practice dentistry -Went on Navy active duty with America’s entry into World War II -He and Earl’s mother got married in October 1941 -Earl’s parents were at a party on December 7, 1941 -When the last guest arrived they said that Pearl Harbor had been bombed -Ordered to report to Parris Island, South Carolina -Earl’s mother was able to join him in South Carolina -They rented a cottage in Beaufort -Stayed there for a year -Earl’s father received orders to report to the Naval Academy to join the Dental Corps -Parents moved to Annapolis, Maryland (00:19:57) Service on the USS Indianapolis -In 1944 he volunteered for sea duty and was assigned to the USS Indianapolis -Earl Sr. felt he should take his turn at sea like other men -Service on the Indianapolis was considered a prime assignment -Joined the USS Indianapolis at Saipan on July 25, 1944 -Flown out to Saipan -Father painted a war poster in August 1944 -Bald eagle defending the US flag, clutching a bleeding snake with a Rising Sun around its tail -USS Indianapolis returned to Mare Island in San Francisco in November 1944 for repairs -Earl’s mother came out to meet him there -Spent Thanksgiving 1944 together -Stayed there for six weeks -Visited relatives in Fresno -Mother returned home after that visit -USS Indianapolis took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima in February 1945 -At the time the Indianapolis was Admiral Spruance’s flagship -Assisted during the battle of Okinawa -On March 31, 1945, the day before troops hit the island a kamikaze hit the Indianapolis -Nine men were killed as a result -Admiral Spruance transferred to a different ship -Returned to Mare Island for reapirs -Got a three week leave to Mayfield -Earl (Jr.) was not expected until the end of July -Grandparents visited for a week while he was in Mayfield -Visited the naval facilities in Memphis as a possible postwar duty station -Had dinner with Earl Jr.’s mother and had their picture taken �-Only family photo (since Earl’s mother was pregnant) -Earl Sr.’s leave ended and he returned to Mare Island to board the USS Indianapolis -Received news that Earl Jr. had been born six weeks early -If Earl Sr. had known, he could have gotten an extension of leave, and lived (00:30:13) Secret Mission & Sinking of the USS Indianapolis -Indianapolis received orders for a secret mission -Note: Mission was to deliver the atomic bomb components to Tinian -Stopped at Guam en route to Tinian and received baby photos of Earl Jr. -Sent a short note to Earl Jr., last communication before dying -Note: At 12:14 a.m. on July 30 the I-58 torpedoed and sank the USS Indianapolis -300 crewmen went down with the ship, among them Earl O. Henry Sr. -Earl Jr.’s mother received news of Earl Sr.’s death on the same day Japan surrendered -A few weeks later, Earl’s mother went to a movie and saw a newsreel featuring the I-58 -Ran out of the theater crying -She contacted Captain McVay III (captain of the Indianapolis) to ask about Earl Sr. -Told her that Earl Sr. was a proud father and showed the crew pictures of Earl Jr. (00:41:00) USS Indianapolis Reunions & Other Events -Earl Jr. and his mother went to the 25th survivors’ reunion in 1970 -Painful experience -Always assumed Earl Sr. went down with the ship, and other crewmen confirmed it -Glad he got to talk with other survivors including his father’s closest friends -Went to the dedication of the national memorial in Indianapolis (coincided with 50th reunion) -Made prints of his father’s war poster (with the eagle) to distribute at the event -In 2005 he finally got the chance to present his father’s story at that year’s reunion -In 2005 he began speaking at middle schools about the sinking of the ship and his father’s story -In 2005, the American Legion magazine ran an article about Earl Sr. -He was interviewed for Sara Vladic’s documentary about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis -Participated in presentation about the sinking at a community college -Saw the Enola Gay (B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb) with two other Indianapolis survivors -Note: The Enola Gay dropped the Little Boy atom bomb delivered by the Indianapolis -Also visited the World War II Memorial with those same survivors (00:52:44) Media about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 1 -Sara Vladic, a director, started the Indianapolis Legacy Project -The Indianapolis Legacy Project: 10 year long project interviewing survivors and families -Way of documenting the experiences of the crewmen, both living and dead -Directed a documentary, USS Indianapolis: The Legacy, about the sinking of the ship -Abandon Ship!, published in 1958, was the first major book dealing with the sinking -Later books, such as Only 317 Survived and In Harm’s Way, include new information from the Navy (00:56:30) Opinion of Captain McVay III -Knows that his father deeply respected Captain McVay III -Earl Jr. feels that Captain McVay shouldn’t have been court-martialed for losing the ship -Note: Only captain to be tried and found guilty for losing a ship in wartime. Later committed suicide in 1968 over the guilt. -Feels the Navy unfairly treated Captain McVay -Sees him as a victim just like the other crewmen (00:58:28) Media about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 2 -USS Indianapolis is receiving more exposure -Believes the film, Jaws, helped introduce more people to the story of the sinking -Note: One of the characters in the film survived the sinking �(00:59:55) Public Knowledge about the Sinking -Strange that schools tend to not talk about World War II, with no attention given to the Indianapolis -Even the World War II Museum (in New Orleans) only has a small plaque about the ship -Interviewer, as of 2016, is working on erecting a memorial in Lansing, Michigan -Commemorating the Michigan crewmen -Hopefully, more memorials will lead to more people learning about the Indianapolis -New book, Indianapolis, has a planned release date of Memorial Day 2017 (01:03:05) Connection with Other Survivors -In 2012, he visited one of the survivors who served as one of the ship’s doctors -The doctor, Earl Sr. and the ship’s chaplain tried to look after the other crewmen on leave -Watched over them and kept them safe -The chaplain, Father Thomas Conway, survived the sinking but died before rescue -There is memorial for Father Conway in Waterbury, Connecticut � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context HenryE1945V Title A name given to the resource Henry, Earl O. Jr (Interview outline and video), 2016 Description An account of the resource Earl O. Henry Jr. was born in Mayfield, Kentucky, on June 19, 1945. He attended Vanderbilt University and the University of Washington, and while in college was in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. After graduation he was commissioned as an officer in the Army and received Quartermaster and Officer Basic Training at Fort Lee, Virginia. He was assigned to manage the officers’ club at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served from 1969 to 1971. Earl’s father, Earl O. Henry Sr., was born in Clinton, Tennessee, in 1911. He served as an officer and a dentist in the Navy. With America’s entry into World War II, he served at Parris Island, South Carolina then joined the Dental Corps at the Naval Academy. In 1944 he volunteered for sea duty and was assigned to the USS Indianapolis. He joined the ship on July 25, 1944 at Saipan. He participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and survived the kamikaze attack near Okinawa on March 31, 1945. Earl Sr. was aboard the USS Indianapolis when it delivered the atomic bomb components to Tinian, and was killed in action when the I-58 sank the Indianapolis on July 30, 1945. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Henry, Earl O Jr Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hammond, Steve (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-08-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives