440 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b51f3be9f6ce3853a04b209beed06a1.mp4 83cbd477b4031690526fed639a15d001 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8f32b153ad6ac8fb72da1fe71772d3f2.pdf bf41190c311eba5b393e9cb035db908d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee: Lewis Kelsey Length of Interview: 01:22:25 Background                 He was born in Reed City, Michigan on March 24, 1923. He lost the farm when he was 10, during the depression. He would move to a small town in Eaton County. His father would rent a farm. He would go to a small country school. If you heard an airplane, the teacher would take them all outside to see an airplane. He would make it through 12th grade in high school. He graduated in 1942. He was in school when Pearl Harbor happened. He remembers hearing about it the next day when he went to school. When he found out about the war, he still wanted to finish school. There was only one man who enlisted immediately out of high school. After high school, he was enrolled at a National Youth Administration to learn about airplane mechanics. While he was in that school, his instructor was a retired Marine airplane mechanic and he got Kelsey to join the Marines. He had heard somewhere that there was going to be a new type of plane coming out and he really wanted to fly one of them. Unfortunately, he got the draft notice before he could sign up. He would report to his physical January 2, 1943. He was sworn in at the Armory in Kalamazoo. He was given a choice: go now to Fort Custer or wait a week and go to Camp Grant. He would take the week to see his sister in Big Rapids and go to Camp Grant on the 9th. He was there for two day and left in full uniform and dress coat. From there he was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi. It was in the 90’s. Training (5:25)      It took them 2 days and 2 nights by train. The only thing that sticks out in his mind about the trip is that one guy had to be taken off the train and into an ambulance. He never did find out what happened. He had to walk out to the base. He thought it was a pretty nice base. There were a lot of B-36 planes there. He got basic training there. He was doing exercises, marching, and discipline. He applied for aviation school while he was there. �     When he went through the physical for aviation school, he was disqualified because his left eye was deemed not good enough. Even though when he had his first physical, he had almost perfect eyesight. The man telling him this showed him that because of his left eye, he was left with a blind spot. He understood, then, but he was still upset that he would be unable to go. Learning Army discipline wasn’t too hard for him. One time he missed a command and he had to run three laps around the Army field. Basic training lasted about 3 months. He would learn more about Air school when he transferred to Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas (10:00)         It was very intensive training there. He had to learn how to take a machine gun apart and put it back together, blindfolded. He did an awful lot of shooting. He would first learn how to shoot a 50 caliber gun on the ground. They would have to shoot it at posts. The last 4 weeks they went up in airplanes and practices there. At the end of his training, he was flabbergasted to learn that he was one of the top 10 gunners and was invited to stay at a hotel in Vegas to celebrate. Las Vegas was not a big town then, but still good size. That night at the hotel he would meet a couple of actors and a singer. She would not sing for them that night, but she did sit at the table and eat supper with them. He was not getting any other training other than gunnery training. When he was done with gunnery training, he was shipped to Amarillo, Texas, for flight mechanic school. Amarillo (13:05)            He was learning all about the B-17. He was there almost 6 months. That was a very little amount of time to have to figure out everything that had to be done to learn about that plane, but he made do. His main responsibility was to transfer fuel. He would always have to make sure that no one was smoking. He would also take care of any problems while in flight. The fuel was stored in the wings. He had a lot of weekends off or got an evening pass to go see the city. There were no overnight passes. He remembers, they were done with their training, and he had hemorrhaged in the bowels. He spent 3 days in the hospital. He liked being there. It was a good town. His favorite town was Longview, Texas. He forgot to tell about his story from Keesler to Las Vegas: they went all the way around the mountain and into Utah. He does not know why they went so much out of the way, but they did. After his training and hospital time are done in Texas, he is transferred to Salt Lake City. �       When he was at Salt Lake City, he was assigned to an air crew. He was only there for a few days. From there they went to Peyote, Texas. That was another horrible place. He would take his combat training there. He would be transferred to a few more places and finally over the Atlantic. There were engine troubles along way and a guy in Iceland fixed it for them. When they went across the Atlantic, it was the entire crew. Europe (19:30)                 From Iceland he went to Belfast, Northern Ireland for a couple of days. From there he would get on a boat to go to Scotland and from there, he would take a train to Snetterton Heath. He would join the 338th Squadron 96th Bomb Group. The group would spend 2 years overseas and 200 missions. While at Snetterton Heath, they would live in Quonset huts, 12 men to a hut. There was a little coal stove in the thing, though there was not much coal to burn it. He does not recall even using it. He remembers his first mission, he went to Mulhouse], France. He remembers seeing the Swiss Alps. The plane that he would use for his first mission would get stuck in the mud before he ever had the chance to actually use it. It would only last 3 or 4 mission, as it would go down shortly after. He was with the same crew that he came over with throughout his time in Europe. He would lose 3 men. One of those men was born in Mexico City and did not have citizenship. An officer of the crew would find this out and the guy was pulled from any missions until his paperwork was completed. The officer was nice about it and explained what was going on to both the man and the rest of the crew, as the man was very well liked by all of them there. Because he was a citizen of Mexico wearing a US Army suit, he could have been executed for being a spy, legally. It turns out that the man was killed later on in a firefight, before they completed their mission. His pilot was from New Orleans. Copilot was a banker in NY. His navigator was a big honking kid from Memphis, TN. The bombardier was a Jewish boy from Philadelphia. The top gunner was the oldest and he was from Nashville, TN. The tail gunner was from Pittsburgh. There were others as well. Just before he left Texas, he turned 21. He was then one of the “old men” and that would give them five “old men” and five “kids” on their crew. His first mission was a milk run into eastern France (27:15) He bombed something, but he doesn’t remember what. He thinks it was a rail barge. This was April 1944. The squadrons would fly as a group. They would fly 3 squadrons as a group and each squadron would put up 7 airplanes, totaling 21. �                     He and his crew were in the 45th Combat Wing. Each squadron would put a wing on so all the planes would have an equal amount of cover fire. They would fly the planes close enough to keep the enemy aircraft from going through. Once in a while, they had an accident where two planes bumped together. Usually you would lose those planes. In the 30 missions he flew, he saw enemy aircraft four times, after seeing it one other time. Two of those four times, there were never any shots fired. The enemy aircraft did shoot at them. They did take a hit. The hydraulics system once caught on fire. The bombardier started screaming that they were on fire and to abandon ship. The big navigator, who was a really calm person, calmed the man down and said they would take care of the ship. And they did. The fire was put out, but the hydraulics system was gone, so everything had to be done manually. When he was flying these missions, a lot of times he could not see the ground at all. That was why they had a radar system on the plane. They would not bomb something unless they did see the target though. He does recall that on D-Day, they did drop bombs on a railway in a little town. The bulk of his missions were over France, though some of them were over Germany. (34:15) He bombed Paris a couple of times. It was terrible because they had really good antiaircraft fire at the time. He did bomb Berlin and received anti-aircraft fire there too. He saw enemy fire four times and they had attack them twice in the thirty missions that they had. To get near the ball bearing works or petroleum works, would mean that you would most likely see enemy fire. The worst place to attack was the ball bearing plant at Frankfurt. He went there once and that was enough. He did other missions rather than bombing missions. One time he went over France and they dropped supplies to the French underground. They never got above an 800 ft. altitude that day. He went there as a group and there was a big open field. They had the three groups that went and they left a lot of stuff. The French would have had to work real hard in order to get everything before the Germans got there. His plane got damaged from ground fire as well. In fact, he got a piece of shrapnel from the anti-aircraft fire. It was pulled from his headset. With the way he was standing, he thinks that if he had turned just a bit, the shrapnel would have gone completely through his earphone instead of catching onto it. Not one of his air crew were injured. On an average mission took him about 10 hours. When he completed his 30 missions that was it for him. While he was there, the requirement was raised, but they had completed their missions before that had happened. He only flew a few months. He was there in April and he finished in August. The last five missions took longer than the first twenty-five did. �            The last five missions took them to Czechoslovakia, twice to Poland, eastern Germany and another place. These missions weren’t necessarily more dangerous, just long. He did fly one mission with another crew, so he did not have to meet that last mission. After the 25th mission they were supposed to be at a rest home for a week, they were there 20 days. The psychiatrist would not release one of their men. The oldest man there was an alcoholic, so they would not let him go back. (40:30) Eventually, he would get sobered up and was allowed back into the missions. He was their turret gunner and he was a good shot. When he wasn’t flying missions, he would do normal exercises and play games. Every few days they would give you a two-day pass to London. He would also try to look for his brother. He knew he was in the 8th Fighter Command Headquarters, working as a cook, but he did not know how to find him. He was sent down to Operations, they would be able to tell him where he was at. So he went there and the clerk said that he could help him and it would only take a few minutes. The clerk disappeared for a couple of minutes and out came a major. The major told him that there was nothing that he could do for him. It would take him 30 years to figure out why he couldn’t find anything out. He would read Eisenhower’s Crusade in Europe book and finally figure out where he was. The reason they could not give him any information was because his brother was in the same compound that Eisenhower was. Just a few days later, his brother would come to find him. He told him how to find him in London. London (0:43:30)          His brother was allowed to stay with a 24 hour pass. He would give his brother his own bunk for the night. At 3am a guy came in to wake him up for a mission. Instead of waking up Lewis, the man would wake up his brother. He offered to take his brother on a mission, over England, but his brother would never fly. Lewis would eventually get a 48 hour pass to go see his brother in England. When his brother got off duty they would go to a pub. They would go to the local dog races several times. His brother’s friend, who was intimate with the world of gambling on the races, would help them out and tell them which dogs to bet on. When they got to the final race the dog they bet on was a scrawny little thing, but he ended up winning. Lewis’ brother could not believe it. He would send home $810 that month. (47:40) He would have luck with cards as well. While he was in London, he saw the House of Wax there, the Tower of London and he would see some of the bombed parts of London as well. While still in London, a buzz bomb had made it through the lines. He heard it quit running and there was quite an explosion. �                    He had to leave the next day, so he did not see the damage done. But he would return two weeks later to check it out. The place smelled so bad because they had not removed all the bodies yet. Once you smell that, you never forget. He and he crew would go in with five other crews, and they would only come out themselves. When they first got to the war, they would have fighter protection. As the newer planes came out, they would be escorted all the way to the target. The worst anti-aircraft fire mission they went on was Paris. They lost six planes that day. Most of their planes would be destroyed in anti-aircraft fire. One plane was on fire everywhere. He could see the copilot trying to keep the plane under control while the fires were being put out. It’s a good thing too, or else they may have been taken out that day too. He doesn’t know if anyone got out of the planes. There was a time when two planes bumped together. One came down and hit the other. The bottom plane split in half. The gunner and another man would fall to their death, from 30,000 ft. One of the crews had become POW. One man was an escapee, but the rest of his crew was still prisoners. (56:55) He remembers when he flew one of their first B-17 flights. He and his crew were carrying two 2,000lbs bombs. The bombardier would yell “Bombs Away!” but nothing happened. He was ordered up there to see if he could do something about it. But they were one ton bombs; there was nothing he could do. He would go back to the front and tell them there was nothing he could do. They sent him back again to see if he could do something. They eventually decided to land the plane at the farthest runway from the base. While he was helping the pilot, he did not even notice the plane touch down. If those bombs had come loose, they would have been blown to smithereens! It turns out there was a piece of the plane that was corroded a little bit. They had a heck of a time getting those bombs out of the plane. He did not get involved too much. It would be a couple of days after he completed his thirty missions when a sergeant came in and ordered them to pack their bags, clear the field, it was time to go home. When they got ready to go, he was ordered to put his stuff in a jeep, while the rest of his crew was ordered to put their stuff in a truck to be taken to the airport. When he got to where he was going, he was informed that he was under arrest for absence without leave for five weeks. His captain would come down to try to figure out what was going on. After giving the captain the information that was required he would have to stay not only on base, but he was restricted to the squadron area. The only time he could leave was to go to the mess hall. He was there for a couple of days and there was nothing to do. The man in charge told him that it was going to take a bit to figure out what was going on and asked him if there was something he would like to do. He wanted to see his brother back in London. The man was ready to give him a 7 day pass. He would go to London for a week and when he came back, he found out the man did not put those 7 days on his record yet. � That was a great thing, because when he got back to the US, he would come down with the chickenpox. This would prevent him from reporting to Miami, where he was supposed to go. Back to the USA (1:07:45)      After he got better, he reported to Miami. From there, he was sent back to Amarillo, Texas. He was there for a while and then was sent to Kingman, Arizona. There he was made a physical training instructor. He tried out for the baseball team there, but did not make it. This would not matter in the end because he was sent to San Antonio for physical instructor school. There he learned how to work with the guys coming through and teach them how to use hand-to-hand combat. From there, he went back to Kingman, but they were shutting the base down. He was sent to Laredo, Texas where he would be discharged. Post Duty (1:10:10)               He took a bus home to Michigan. By then the war was over. On his was back on the bus, there was a Marine sergeant sitting in front of him and in front of the Marine was a woman. The woman was complaining that the war was over and she wished it had gone on longer because she and her husband were living so well. The Marine got so upset that he socked her in the face. There was blood everywhere. At the next bus stop, the driver had her get off and told her to catch the next bus. He doesn’t know what kinds of reports went on from there, but he figured there must have been something. The Marine had broken some of her teeth, but even the bus driver thought the lady was asking for it. Once he got back home, he would work for the Kalamazoo paper company for a while. He would help out with the farm as well, with his brother and his father. His brother would eventually leave and go to Hopkins. It would be in 1957 that he would realize that he had enough of farming. The “family farm” was not the thing anymore. He had bought 120 acres of land to work, but it was not bringing in the kind of money that it had before. He would get a job at the Kalamazoo post office in 1963. Working two full-time jobs was too much for him, so he finally sold the farm. He would stay in the postal service for 30 years. The day he was discharged, the psychiatrist there told them that they would never forget this. He feels he is a better man after serving in the army. You don’t think much in the way of “I’m not going to make it”; you often think those things happen to others, but it can happen to you too. A single man on his crew was injured during combat, and that was his own fault for going out the wrong hatch and getting his finger caught. �       The pilot on his crew was a good pilot. (1:15:20) The man was barely big enough to be a bomber pilot. His crew would become the lead crew; this would happen via the pilot becoming the lead pilot. His squadron commander was sent to his camp to get combat experience. He would eventually be promoted to Brigadier General. He remembers when he was marching one time in England, he was a 1937 Buick. He was paying so much attention to the car, he did not realize there was a general in it, saluting him. Jimmy Stewart was actually a good officer. Apparently he was a general. He did find a way of getting answers from home, by mail quickly. Within a week he got a letters from his two sisters, his brother, and his mother. He had sent his letter home on a B-25. � 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 KelseyL Title A name given to the resource Kelsey, Lewis (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kelsey, Lewis Description An account of the resource Lewis Kelsey was drafted into the army in 1942. He initially was sent for pilot training, but a problem with one eye made him a gunner and flight engineer instead. He trained in B-17s, and his crew was sent to the 8th Air Force in England in April, 1944. He flew 30 missions between April and August, and was then sent back home to serve as an instructor. Most of his missions were over France, supporting the Normandy invasion, but he also flew missions over Germany, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text 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 2010-11-04 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> 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/ec33a25de0bff492fe490506b425a541.mp4 79453a080061559a0994a3e9123ca4ca https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d6c0b20d9ab9e7287c2b75465c6ed0c6.pdf e3e432ea1f8ded0ec3ae14e4a84c143b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 1] FRANK BORING: What were you doing prior to AVG? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I had gone through Pensacola, Florida as a Navy Cadet, not actually as a Navy Cadet, Navy flight training as a Marine Corps trainee, and had joined the First Marine Aircraft Group and 50 years ago today, we were in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on maneuvers after about 3 or 4 months in the States and about 4 months down there to be exact. So I think that the fact that I had been in the Marine Corps was a special good training for me as far as the AVG was concerned. FRANK BORING: When and how did you first hear about the opportunity in China? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well the whole First Marine Aircraft Group had returned to the States to Quantico, Virginia and just about that time we were allowed to go home on leave but almost exactly within a week or two of that, we heard of this man that was going to come through to interview anybody that met certain qualifications for this exciting-sounding tour in China. But the drive to go home was so steep in all of us that the fellows that eventually went out from that group, went home on leave first. Then we came back after 30 days at home and by chance had gone down to Norfolk, Virginia on a cross-country flight, that wasn't very far of course from Quantico to Norfolk, but to us we were feeling our oats and we met some of �our ex-buddies that we'd known at Pensacola in the Navy and they were talking very strongly about joining this AVG. So the 3 or 4 of us, actually there were 4 at that point that were interested, began to talk among ourselves and so we inquired and then made an appointment and flew up to New York to meet the heads of CAMCO who established the American Volunteer Group and would front for us out in China and I think it was the 68th floor of the Chrysler Building. Skip Adair, who I later met out in China, was the man that interviewed the four of us. FRANK BORING: We're going to re-run this same question again on when and how you heard about the AVG KEN JERNSTEDT: Well we had returned from the maneuvers that we had been on down in the Cuban area to the States and had just settled in, we were all anxious to go home on leave, which we did do. When we returned we had flown down to Norfolk and heard about a chance to go to China, which sounded fairly glamorous, from some of the Navy pilots who were there, that we had known in Pensacola. There were four of us in this First Marine Fighter Squadron, stationed at Quantico, Virginia that were very interested in this particular thing. So we missed the trip that he made through Quantico, so we took it on ourselves and contacted him and flew up to New York for a special interview in the 68th floor, I believe it was, of the Chrysler Building. And it was there that I met for the first time, Skip Adair, who was one of the officers of the group later on out in China. It's rather interesting to me at this time in my life that 3 of the 4 of us signed up. The one fellow that didn't, was left behind, his choice, because he was an only son of a widowed lady and he had just met a Powers Model. And if you ever met a Powers Model you know that's a pretty good reason for staying home. He was chasing pretty regular up to New York to see her. So he decided to stay home. The week that we were sitting in Los Angeles waiting to sail, he was killed in a routine cross-country flight back in Quantico, Virginia and the 3 of us that went out to China lived to a fairly ripe old age. One of them did pass away �about 10 years ago from natural causes and 2 of us are still alive. So I guess if you're gonna get it, you're gonna get it. FRANK BORING: What was your impression of what you were going to find in China from talking to Skip and talking to the CAMCO people? You said it was kind of exotic. What was your impression of what you were going to find there? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well that is a very interesting question as far as I was concerned and I've often wondered what I thought about it at that time now. But there was a challenge of travel, there was a challenge of doing something good for a nation that was obviously in trouble because there was a lot of propaganda put on by the news services at that time of the atrocities that the Japanese empire was doing on the Chinese; pictures of orphans sitting on street corners and wailing and the results of bombs falling in Shanghai and it was very effective propaganda. And it was true. So we did feel a real empathy for the Chinese people. Then we realized that also we would make more money, that had something to do with it. It was kind of a glamorous thought. There were 3 of us talking each other into this too. And when you get 3 young fellows with a certain amount of spirit, why it's easier to do it in three's than it is by yourself, if you're going to take on a venture like that. I think that maybe deep down the fact that there was a rumor going on that we might be doing submarine patrol duty in the north Atlantic off a carrier, made us think that maybe we were just about as safe fighting the Japanese out in China as we were trying to find a carrier in the fog in the north Atlantic and then land on the blamed thing, because we had, all 3 of us, checked out in carriers, in two different airplanes, two different carriers, and until you've done that a few hundred times, it is not exactly habit-forming. And I never did exactly like it, I wasn't scared of it, but it's a form of aviation that I lived without later on. FRANK BORING: What were you doing prior to the AVG? �KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I was finishing about a year's duty with the First Marine Aircraft Group, stationed in Quantico, Virginia. Just 50 years ago today, we were in Guantanamo Bay thinking about getting to return to the States. FRANK BORING: When did you first hear about this opportunity in China? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I think that happened just about within 2 or 3 days after we got back to Quantico and there was a notice on the bulletin board that a man was going to come through telling about this opportunity. But we were so anxious to go home on leave, which we did do, that we passed up that opportunity for the interview. A little later on, after we came back and were in normal operations again, we made a cross-country flight down to Norfolk, Virginia and met some of the Navy pilots that we had known in Pensacola, that had already had the interview and some of them had actually signed up and were going to leave the Navy to go out and supposedly fight the Japanese in China. So this kind of got us thinking a little more about it. So we made an appointment with this gentleman in New York City, went up to the 68th floor of the Chrysler Building and there I met Skip Adair for the first time and he was the one that interviewed 4 of us for the opportunity to leave the Marine Corps and go to China. FRANK BORING: What had you heard about, in terms of China? What was told to you and what did you kind of expect? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well we really didn't know what to expect. We each thought we were pretty well trained. A year of active duty in the Marines on maneuvers practically the whole time. We thought we were very well trained. Carrier landings were something I didn't particularly like and there was one rumor going around that we might go to the north Atlantic and this was, of course, before the war started. But if you recall, President Roosevelt was leaning very much toward the allies in Europe and we were sending Destroyer escorts, etc. and some of the war materials that were being shipped to Europe. So �one of the things that we heard was that they were going to use the aircraft carriers for that purpose and that the Marines might be doing that. Well I thought that I'd be just as safe out in China fighting the Japanese as I would be trying to find a carrier in the fog in the north Atlantic and land on it. Other things we had to consider was another opportunity to travel. Until I had joined the Marines, I had not really been out of the State of Oregon and here I had an opportunity to go halfway around the world and have this wonderful opportunity. Three fellows together, good friends, we started out to be four, but one dropped out. The fact that we were going to make more money, the fact that we were going to be out there for a year and then we could either continue our military careers or we could leave the service, that was going to be up to us. So you take all those things into consideration and three guys, four guys egging each other on, it was something that came to pass. FRANK BORING: What did you know about or hear about China at that period of your life? KEN JERNSTEDT: I really didn't know a lot about it. The fact that the Japanese had started invading the coast of China and had cut it all off entirely was, of course, the reason the AVG was founded. There were no seaports and they had to get supplies into China. The pictures that we'd see in on the newsreels, when we'd go to a moving picture and see the propaganda how the Japanese were bombing the civilians of Shanghai and there was a deep-seated feeling, as far as I was concerned anyway, that there was something wrong going on there and maybe I could do a little thing to maybe right that wrong. It was also a certain feeling that it looked like the whole country was going to go to war. Here was a chance to maybe get a little bit of practice ahead of time where it wasn't quite as dangerous as it might be someplace else. The way it worked out, I think I was wrong in that, it was just as dangerous there as anyplace. But it was a factor that went through my mind anyway, making up my mind to go out there. And probably last but not least, I was going to get another month's leave at home before I had to make the trip �to China. So it's odd sometimes the things that we do, the reasons that we do things, I should say, but there were 5 or 6 reasons that would go into my decision. FRANK BORING: Once you made the decision with your buddies to go to China, what was the procedure of getting out of the American military and then into this new group? KEN JERNSTEDT: That was very interesting looking back on it because we filled out a letter of resignation from our officer-ship, if you want to call it that, and that had to go through our Squadron Commander, it had to go through our Group Commander and then it had to go over to the Division and then the entire First Marine Corps Group. There were about four officers from a Major on up to a General that had to sign that, either approved or disapproved. By the time it reached the final one, I was talking to a General and he said "well Lieutenant, you know I can't possibly approve this." And I said "Well I can understand, Sir, but it's my understanding that once it gets to Washington, D.C. it will be approved and I guess all I can ask is, you just sign it one way or another." So it went to Washington, D.C. and my resignation was approved. We did sign a statement on that letter of resignation that we would accept employment upon the acceptance of that resignation, with the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co., which was the front for the group out in China. FRANK BORING: Once all the paper work was done and all of the final bits and pieces were put together, where did you have to go to meet up with this group that was eventually going to go to China? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well, as I stated, we had about a month at home and then I went to Los Angeles. We were to report in at the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles and they put us up there, except Tom Haywood and I stayed at Charlie Older's home for that week. And we'd go down once a day and report to the so-called leadership at the Jonathan �Club, find out that the ship wasn't going to sail for another day or two and then we'd go see Los Angeles. FRANK BORING: What were some of the conversations you guys were having about that time, about traveling out there? The excitement must have been building during that period. KEN JERNSTEDT: Yes, it really was building. Personally I had said my goodbyes to Oregon and my parents and my girlfriend and all that so by the time I hit Los Angeles, most of that trauma was over and waiting to sail was made a lot easier by the fact that I was living with my friend, Charlie Older and we, as I say, really got to see Los Angeles for a week under some very pleasant circumstances. I'll never forget that week. We did not really meet or get to know any of the other fellows that were on the same ship until the thing got started for the Hawaiian Islands. As I recall there was a total of about 32 or 33, six of us were pilots. FRANK BORING: You mentioned that four people originally were going to go on this, what's the story on that? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well, the fourth person was the son of a widow lady, the only son, by the way, and he had just met a Powers Model. And being a young Second Lieutenant, he was doing all right with his relationship with this nice looking girl, I had met her up in New York, and he was beating a pretty steady path up there. So the combination of being an only son and having met a beautiful young lady, made him decide that the United States was a pretty good place to follow his immediate career. So the 3 of us that eventually went then went out to the west coast, Los Angeles and stayed there for a week and during that week, our friend was killed in a routine cross-country flight back around Philadelphia, night flight. I guess this kind of made a fatalist out of me because the three of us that went out lived to a fairly decent age. I'm still alive, Charlie Older is still alive, Tom Haywood died of somewhat natural causes about 10 years ago and I had thousands of flying �hours and lived dangerously for years and I have done a little of that and Charlie Older certainly has and the one fellow that played it safe didn't make it. FRANK BORING: You mentioned earlier about your week in L.A. that it was unforgettable and that it was quite a wonderful time. What was it that made it so special? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I had the pleasure of staying in the Older home. I had met Charlie's present wife earlier in my military career, not much earlier. They were, of course, engaged by this time. I was introduced to her twin sister. Tom Haywood was introduced to another likely young lady of Los Angeles. I got to do some private flying there. I remember going out one time and taking Kitty Older and her twin sister up in a private airplane on what is now the International Airport and it was hardly more than a pasture at that particular time. I remember the movie actor, Bob Taylor being out there to fly an airplane about the same time and just little incidences like that. Meeting both the families of Charlie and his brother and Kitty and her whole family. It was just a fine experience for a young guy from a farm up in Oregon, being down in the great big city of Los Angeles. FRANK BORING: I'd like to talk a little bit about the ship and the trip over and if you could touch upon the rather unique occupations you had on your passports, as I understand, there were a few of those. KEN JERNSTEDT: Yes. Well there were six of us that were pilots. Three Marines, two Navy fellows and one Army, I believe. Then there were about 27 other members that were office staff, automobile mechanics, airplane mechanics, radio operators, armorers, etc. We had passports, of course, issued and I thought that I knew something about accounting, so I went out there as an Accountant, having a degree in Business Administration. Some of them got a little bit flippant and had gravediggers on their passport, all employees of Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co., naturally. We had an �interesting trip in that we changed ships. We were on three different ships. Changed ships two more times, once in Surabaya and the next time in Singapore. The whole trip took us a little over a month and here again, my chance to travel was certainly fulfilled because we went to the Hawaiian Islands, we spent 4 or 5 days in the Philippine Islands, went up to Cavite and saw some of my Pensacola classmates at Cavite, who later were killed there right after Pearl Harbor. We then went down to Batavia and ended up in Surabaya for 3 or 4 days. Then went on to Singapore, stayed there about a week and then took a train up the Malay Peninsula to a little town called Kuala Lumpur, which I have seen in the news in the last few years in connection with the trouble that we've had in that area of the world, and then took a bus from Kuala Lumpur to a little out-of-the-way port called Port Swettenham and there we watched them unload a load of sugar, while we waited for the chance to sail on up to Rangoon. � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 1 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes what he was doing prior to joining the American Volunteer Group and the first time he heard of the opportunity in China. He also describes the empathy he had for the Chinese people that influenced his involvement in the AVG and the experience of traveling across the ocean to his new destination. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6dc3e7adca8d4d8c9a2641b9894f83b.mp4 92d654e817be746c64d8893268517e1f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ceda215985209fe72fbd5f557f7be56d.pdf 03cd7e71c7462e439c10492a02a20708 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 2] FRANK BORING: Once you arrived - you said there was a train and a bus and then what happened after the bus trip? KEN JERNSTEDT: We took a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Port Swettenham and then got aboard this old tramp steamer and it was really a tramp. They had actually cleaned out some of the rooms on the stern and no passengers had been in there for months and years. They had hosed it all down and some of the fellows had made a left turn and headed in that direction and for some reason or other I instinctively turned right and got a more or less a cabin up front near the Captain. So we ate with the Captain and the one or two other passengers that were aboard that ship, Charlie Older and myself and I think Tom Haywood and one of the other pilots, I forget which one that was, and all the rest ate at the stern end of the ship with the crew and they didn't have near the living conditions that we did, and we kind of lorded it over them. FRANK BORING: What was your first experience with people from the AVG? I mean when you finally arrived? KEN JERNSTEDT: Of course we arrived in Rangoon and there was a fellow by the name of Noel Bacon that I had known and we were mostly Navy pilots and so he knew practically all of us, had come down from Toungoo. I think he was there to pick up a P-40 or something, but anyway, we had dinner with him in the hotel there that night. He �told us about living conditions up at Toungoo and I believe we stayed in the hotel that night and then started up on the train the next day. FRANK BORING: What did you find when you arrived? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well that was a - we had a grand reception because we pulled into the train depot at night and they actually had a band out to meet us and I couldn't believe it. Here was music playing and people yelling and greeting us and really trying to make us feel at home. I didn't expect anything like that. I don't know whether I've ever had an arrival like that since either. But anyway, it was kind of old home week because we were greeted by some of the fellows that we had known in flying school and they had seen our names on the roster and it didn't happen often enough, but what they made a little bit of a ceremony out of our arrival. Then we were put on busses and taken out to the Toungoo airport where we were going to train and taken over to the hostel. I've always felt very glad about the fact that Ole Olson, the Commanding Officer of the Third Squadron had seen three Marines listed on the list of incoming pilots and he figured that we would probably want to stay together, so he talked Colonel Chennault into letting all of us come to the Third Squadron. That's one thing we wanted to do if at all possible, was stay together and fortunately, why we were able to do that. FRANK BORING: Now you had an image from not too long before that of this exotic place called China and you arrived in Toungoo, what did you find? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well, it wasn't as bad as it might sound or as it seemed later. I've always noticed in my life that whether it was military chow or college food, when you first get there it doesn't seem very bad. In fact you wonder why everybody is complaining and then after you're there a couple or three weeks why you start being one of the complainers too. So the first few days there, why I didn't see too much wrong with the food and I didn't have any trouble sleeping in �that small cot. It was something different and kind of an interesting experience. Of course I had never seen a climate like that, there was a little exploring to do on the weekends and in our off hours. It was jungle you might say, right down to the edge of that little valley. Tea plantations up on the hill that we could go visit, a swimming pool out in the jungle that we were at I think the first Sunday we were there. I won't say that it was an Olympic sized pool or anything like that, but we could at least get wet and throw a little water around at each other. The fact that we were flying, of course, was the main thing and we quickly checked out in the P-40 which was a look-forward to event and getting acquainted with all the other guys. There was something to do all the time. I had no problem. FRANK BORING: Some of the guys as you know did not have the kind of experience you did in airplanes. If you could just describe to us your first experience with the P-40. I know that you said that you felt comfortable with it, but if you could describe that a little bit for people who wouldn't know about the P-40? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I had confidence in myself, but I have to admit that there was a surprise or two before that first flight was over. I've always liked to fly fighter airplanes because I didn't have to check out with anybody. I mean they could tell you about it and point out the instruments which were all very standard, but from then on you were on your own and they can tell you some of the characteristics which you can understand as a pilot. But the one thing about the P40, as far as I was concerned, was it was the first in-line engine that I'd ever flown. Being Navy trained, we were used to the aircooled radial type engines and when I got up in the air and started maneuvering a little bit I didn't have any problem whatsoever. It had different characteristics than the Grumman mid wing Wildcat, but pretty much of a standard type of plane. But when I pulled the canopy back and cut my throttle for the final landing and that thing started p-p-p-p at me, why I really got a surprise because here were these 12 exhaust stacks right there in front of me all banging at �once and that really kind of surprised me. That was the main surprise of that entire flight, was the way those exhaust stacks barked at me as I cut my gun for landing. FRANK BORING: When was the first time and if you could describe your first impression of meeting Claire Chennault? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I believe we met him the next day, went over to the office and here was this very weather-beaten face with very stern looking mannerisms about him, but I was really impressed because he was a military man, quite formal at first. Later on I got to make a few my mind up about a few things concerning him and one or two, I would say that, well in the first place, he hated to lose. In fact, like in a game of softball, he pitched for headquarters and the Padre caught flys occasionally out in center field for him and he would always get blamed for the fact that headquarters would get beat. Chennault by this time had reached the age where he was fairly easy to hit, but he hated to lose and somebody else got blamed for it. If you were going to play poker with him or cribbage or anything like that, there would be a time limit set, okay we'll play till 12 o'clock. Well you quit at 12 o'clock if he was ahead. If he was behind you kept playing. Sometimes the games drug out. He hated to lose. He was in good physical shape for a man his age and he was very proud of that. He was very succinct in his statements and you always had the feeling that he meant exactly what he said. He was obviously very knowledgeable about fighter airplanes and we learned a lot from listening to him talk to us concerning the characteristics of our own airplane and the Japanese airplanes, especially the Japanese airplanes. I don't know that he ever flew a P-40, but he understood its characteristics in comparison to what we were going to be up against as far as the Japanese were concerned. FRANK BORING: This is something I've always found very interesting is that some of you guys, especially like with you and Tex Hill was another one who had a great deal of experience. I think that if somebody had �gotten up there and tried to give you a lecture that you knew was not real it wouldn't be the same as the impression you got from Chennault. So from the very beginning you realized this man knew what he was talking about. KEN JERNSTEDT: Why yes. There was no doubt in my mind that he knew what he was talking about and I think he was the type of individual that might give orders sometime for something that for the long-range pull might not be exactly what you would like to see happen, but you think about it, you realize the old man would be right and so you followed the orders. He was a good leader and I think he had the respect of most of the people that were out there, most of them that I admired anyway. FRANK BORING: The classes that he gave, the teaching that he gave on these tactics and whatnot. Did you find that they were helpful when you actually got up in the air against the Japanese? I mean were you caught by surprise or you pretty much anticipate what you were going to run into? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well the one thing that he taught that was so different than what I had learned or had been taught in the Navy, was everything was three ship in the Navy and you operated in three of threes, etc. Well, under Chennault we quickly went to two ship and in pairs well three pairs to a group. So it would be three six ship operations, if you divided 18. If the Navy did it, why you'd have, we'd have three - I have to think this through, I'm messing this thing up. But if you had nine ships or a squadron of 18, you would have six three ships operations. Under Chennault you would have three six ship operations and those planes, it was much easier to fly formation in three groups of two and you were better protected tactically from getting jumped, you used less gasoline, it was just a lot better operation all the way around, with operating in ABC three ship rather than the three twos than the old three ship of the Navy. �FRANK BORING: There's also the idea which is somewhat different too of coming up from behind and using the advantage of the airplane to come down and back around again. Could you talk about that a little bit? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well the type of airplane that we had, the P-40 of course, did not climb too fast in comparison to the Japanese and Chennault really always taught "get the altitude, get the altitude" and if you start out with an additional 2 or 3 thousand feet on any airplane, why you can go into a speedy dive and then make that pass and then use that speed to gain altitude again. If you are starting out on the same level, you do not have that additional speed and so you quickly lose the advantage in a dog fight. If you start above them with that altitude, you have that supra speed that will last you much longer in the dog fight and be at your advantage. The same thing is true if you're attacking a group of bombers. I always found it much safer to come in from above and then you can decide on your way down just how you're going to formulate your attack. But speed and altitude was one thing that the P-40, we had to learn to use to our advantage. FRANK BORING: Let's talk a little bit about the days before Pearl Harbor. A lot of that time was spent training, a lot of that time was spent flying. Explain to us a little bit about what the routine was like and what not before you actually got into the battle? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well of course anybody ought to have several hours in an airplane before he starts using it tactically and that was the first thing we did was quite a bit of just plain flying by yourself and the 3 of us, the ex-Marines, worked together and we'd take off roughly at the same time when we could, a lot of times we'd go out and fly a little formation and go into the ABC formation if we were just the 3 of us even flying and we'd chase tails and do mock combat work. I remember finally after a week or two we had mock combat with one of our squadron mates who'd been out there awhile and they were probably much better qualified in the P-40. I went up against Duke Hedman the first time in dog fighting, he whipped me. But it �wasn't exactly a whipping, it took him a little while, but he eventually ended up on my tail and of course that was a good lesson for me. But Duke was a good pilot and I obviously needed some more training. There's a lot of formation work that goes into this type of flying and then there's formations working against each other and so once in a while we'd have maybe 9 ships attacking 9 ships. That gets to be a real rat race and it's a wonder somebody wasn't killed in one or two of those out there. But you get to know the country you're in, you get to know the airplane more and more. Every hour you put in is to your advantage as far as the first time or anytime that you're going to go into combat. The better acquainted you are with the airplane, the better off you're going to be and so we flew them as much as we possibly could, realizing that there was a limitation because of supplies, etc. and down time on any airplane. But the more you could fly, the better off you were even if you were up there just horsing around with each other. FRANK BORING: During this period of time did you have much interaction with the crew chiefs, the people who were actually working on your airplane? KEN JERNSTEDT: I think we did. Frank Losonsky was my crew chief and I feel very fortunate that I had him and I think most of the pilots, especially the Third Squadron, had all the - it may get even broader than that - we had good mechanics all through the AVG. Some of those fellows had been in the Army Air Corps for a long time. My mechanic was really devoted to that airplane and he did a good job and I take my hat off to him to this day and I know the other pilots feel the same way. We went over and talked to them a lot of times when we were not flying and just talked to them about the engine and some of the things and they'd educate us as to what to do and what not to do, to keep the thing cooled under certain conditions, etc. It was a learning process, so you took as much advantage of it as you could because you knew you'd better learn a few things. Sure didn't know it all. �FRANK BORING: Did you find that that was somewhat unique? Was that different than your past experience with working with military aircraft? Did you used to talk to crew chiefs when you were in the Marines or was this something more unique? KEN JERNSTEDT: A little bit more unique but not a lot because there's a certain esprit de corps in the Marines. If you'd ask an Army pilot that or maybe a Navy pilot, you'd find a different answer, but I remember in the fighting squadron I was on with the Marines, my crew chief that I had, had been in the Marine Corps sixteen years. He had a man under him that had been in the Marine Corps eleven years and there was one fellow that had been in there six years that wiped the airplane down and when you add up that much experience and that much going into one ship just for one pilot and then compare what we were doing in China with one crew chief and maybe some oriental laborer on the side. The experience wasn't there. But then I'll even go a little further and think about that in connection with let's say a 4 engine bomber of a B17 and the head chief on that had maybe been on that maybe 2 years and with 4 engines to take care of and Lord knows how many guns, etc., it sometimes boggles my mind to think how lucky we were to have the help that we had, both as a Marine pilot and the help out in China compared to what some of these fellows put up with. � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 2 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes his arrival at Rangoon, his first experience with the other members of the AVG and flying a P-40, in addition to meeting General Claire Chennault. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a5e422e0ca0c514926f0c766e78704d6.mp4 4cf507bbc3e979c28f21925d9d4f236e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a6485140d878e591e6ab0d53c60e3d67.pdf 0fa49b8930348cd099af5d1bb12dfce7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 3] FRANK BORING: I'd like to get back to the training itself that Chennault was giving you and the practice runs you were making with your buddies. How well did that translate to the actual combat that you eventually ran into? KEN JERNSTEDT: That's a fairly hard question to answer because when we finally got into combat, we were against such enormous odds that, yes you could go into your formations on your first pass or two, but then you could quickly get lost. That was my finding anyway. Not that we didn't use some of the very basics, like keep your altitude… [BREAK] FRANK BORING: The tactical information and the strategic information that Chennault was teaching and also the practice runs you were doing with your buddies, how well did that translate into the actual combat as you ran into it? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well it helped us a lot, especially we knew what to do and expect from the other fellow that we were flying with or fellows as the case may be. So many times we were outnumbered to such a degree that the things that we learned from Colonel Chennault were absolutely impossible to do because there just weren't enough of us there. But the basic things like, keep your altitude, remember the type of ship you're flying versus the type that you were �attacking, keep your buddy covered as best as possible if you're a wing man, remember that you have a wing man if you happen to be a flight leader. Then we'd do this as long as we could but when you're fighting against great odds, a lot of times this had to go by the boards pretty fast. You still maintained the basics the best you could, but many times because of the numbers involved, it was kind of every man for himself. Now in other cases, there might have been times, members of the AVG, the numbers were more equal, the element of surprise wasn't quite as much, maybe the tactics were a little more efficient all the way through. I think the same thing would be said about Navy tactics or Army Air Corps tactics or anything. One of the basic things that any fighter pilot has to learn is to be the Captain of that ship and meet the circumstances head-on and those circumstances change fast sometimes and then do the best you can. FRANK BORING: There is one big difference though. In other theaters, using the traditional method of dog fighting that the military was basically explaining, the British, even the ones that you were fighting with in the same skies, their numbers were not even close to the numbers that you had. Do you attribute a lot of that to Chennault's tactics? KEN JERNSTEDT: Basically, yes and the confidence that he built in us and the familiarity that a lot of us had with the airplane and the knowledge that we had concerning the advantages that our airplane had over those that we were up against. If you keep those things in mind, your enemies weak points and your strong points, and vice versa, why you'd live a little longer and there was one thing that we always were taught was don't be a dead hero. It was very important to keep that piece of equipment flying and it was very important that you be there the next day if at all possible. Not that people didn't get shot down, some of us did, but we also knew that we were serving the group a lot better if you saw that you were beginning to get the worst in a dog fight, instead of staying in there �and shooting it out with that guy, just dive out, live to fight another day. That was one of the key things he taught us. FRANK BORING: Let's talk now about the incidents that changed everything and that was the first time you heard about Pearl Harbor being bombed. Can you give us your impression? I know you had a lot of friends that were probably there. Can you tell us your impressions and your reaction to hearing about Pearl Harbor? KEN JERNSTEDT: I remember the day very succinctly in that I had the duty that day and we were on alert. The members of the Third Squadron and at least one time that day there was a Jing bow, which is the Chinese word for air raid and we were sent into the air and I think there were four of us. Japanese airplanes were supposed to have been sighted. We went up to shoot down Venus, because Venus shines at that particular latitude in the daytime and somebody saw this reflection up there, they thought it was an airplane and it was Venus. At least that's what it was determined to be later because when we got up high we never found anything except Venus. It was a jumpy group I can tell you because, of course, we put bullets in the airplanes, had been in for about a week as I remember, and everybody was on alert. I remember I got clear to the airport that day before I learned that Pearl Harbor had happened. It was a strange feeling because we knew that sooner or later we were going to war and now we realized that our whole country was going to go to war. It was a lot of soul searching and thinking to try to figure out just how that would affect our operation. Whether or not supplies would be sent up the Burma Road for us to protect and how long we would be able to keep the Burma Road open if that was going to be a major consideration of the allied effort to keep it open. We began to wonder, at least I did at that time, how can we operate as, you might say, a civilian operation with the whole rest of the world at war under military operation, how could we expect our government to send us supplies when there would be other military services of the regular Army Air Corps and Navy Air �Corps wanting supplies. So even at a very early stage we began to wonder just how long we could exist. FRANK BORING: Right after Pearl Harbor you were kind of expecting to be fighting almost any day but actually quite a few days went by. What were those days like before the actual first encounter? KEN JERNSTEDT: Pearl Harbor of course was on the 8th out there and right away the Third Squadron, the rumor started and later the orders came through that we would go to Rangoon because General Chennault and the powers that be considered that to be one of the vulnerable targets for the Japanese and so some of the British were there at Mingaladon and we were to go down there and aid them in the defense of Rangoon and the other two squadrons were to go up to Kunming. Of course there was a certain amount of preparation necessary for that move. You move that many people and planes and supplies that far in two different directions, there was a lot of activity going around Toungoo. I think it was around the 11th or 12th, something like that, before we were able to take off and make the move to Rangoon. Of course when we got there, it was a case of familiarization again. Flying the area, getting bearings, getting used to the operations in connection with the British Airdrome, having our food supplies, etc., places to sleep for a bunch of Yankees, getting them used to us. It took some diplomacy on a lot of people's part and sometimes the diplomacy wasn't so good. But we had to fly the planes to familiarize ourselves with the territory, we also realized that we weren't going to get much warning there because the British did not have in place a very good warning system. So the realization came that if we get hit here, we're going to really not have hardly any notice at all. FRANK BORING: How much interplay did you actually have with the British? Not necessarily brass, but other pilots, but if you did have interplay with brass too? �KEN JERNSTEDT: On my level, very little. I was a Flight Leader. We occupied a different area of the Airdrome. Those things are fairly large and of course we didn't know anybody over there and on purpose, I believe. They probably kept us apart as much as possible. I did not have any real personal contact with the British pilots. I did not have much respect for their airplanes, but we quickly learned that. That the Brewster's that they were flying in that area just didn't compare to anything really except a clunk of machinery. It was a poor excuse for a fighter plane as far as I was concerned. But there was a lot to just get used to in a fairly short time. You think two weeks is a long time but it passes pretty fast. FRANK BORING: Especially when you're under the threat of war. Could you tell us about your first encounter with the enemy? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well that was on December 23rd and we had an air raid warning go up so I remember there were I think 12 AVG'ers or the Third Squadron planes on alert that day and Neal Martin and Bob Brouk and I were one section and I don't remember the make-up of any others as well as I do that one. Neal Martin was going to be the leader of that flight, both Brouk and I were Flight Leaders and by that time maybe 2/3 of us were Flight Leaders in the Third Squadron, but we took off and went out a ways to gain some altitude and came back and here our first contact was with a large formation of 18 twin-engine Japanese bombers. Neal Martin was considered to be and rightfully so, as far as I was concerned, a very, very fine pilot. And I'm sure I'm right on this, an All American basketball player for the University of Arkansas, a great athlete, a great young man. I was flying on his wing and Bob Brouk was also back of me in our ABC and we got higher than this bomber formation and off to the right and Neal dove down and I never will forget seeing his airplane go through kind of below the formation and up and sit out right there in front of the bombers, and all of a sudden the thing turned over on its nose and went down and he went straight in, was killed. Now no one will ever know whether he made a tremendous mistake and misjudged his �dive and pulled up in front, or whether he was shot at and hit as he more or less went below them. But on the first pass, Neal Martin was killed and then it was my turn to go down and of course the heartbeat was a little faster in situations like that and I came in and attacked on the flank on the right side and made my first pass and nothing happened as far as any airplane going down is concerned. About my third pass I had gone down through the formation this way and I pulled up on the other side and I came back down and up and got fairly close and unloaded into one of those Mitsubishi bombers and it just blew up entirely. I continued to attack. I did not see any more airplanes come down. They turned and left for the east and I soon landed. There had been a great deal of damage on the airport. Bombs had hit the runways, missed the bomb hole when I came in, one was right on the runway. Some of the buildings had been hit. There was a great deal of excitement naturally, because quite a few of the fellows had quite a bit of wild stories and of course I was remembering my own. I had used most of my ammunition. Hopefully some of those went down before they got back to the border because I thought I was right on and you could see the bullets going in them but the things wouldn't come down except that one really blew up, just caught fire, must have hit the gas tanks and away she went. But that first flight we lost two pilots, Neal Martin and Hank Gilbert and of course what enthusiasm we had for the victories were dimmed considerably by the fact that we'd lost two good men. FRANK BORING: The next few days the Japanese came back. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well those were very hectic days. December 24th we were left alone but everybody was pretty keyed up and December 25th, of course Christmas, why here they came again and even in larger numbers. I had a little bit of trouble with my engine at first, the thing was missing a little bit, but it smoothed out and I had gained a lot of altitude on account of going on the outskirts and I made some passes at some bombers and did not have any luck. Then I �saw two fighters off to the northeast from where I was at that time and so I headed over in that direction and I headed toward them at an angle. One of them saw me and came back and we made headon at each other and I got him. I had six guns and it was an I-97 and I don't think they have more - I think they had four on them - I had fire power advantage and by this time the other fellow left the area and so I was, as I say, east of the airport considerably, had used up a lot of gasoline and practically all my ammunition and had only one fighter to claim, so I went back and landed. We did not have the damage, as I recall, to the airport that day that we had the first time. But again, we had two pilots missing. Overend and McMillan. Pretty soon Overend came back and that night we were having our dinner, the food………… (smoke alarm went off). � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 3 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt Jernstedt discusses how combat training with General Chennault translated into greater confidence during periods of actual combat. He also discusses his reaction to hearing about Pearl Harbor and what their experience was like in the period that followed. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4473e7cd02c4d9b8248fc21fc6139858.mp4 e43ab690809c3e95e6908aa546f365f5 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ea81bfb59ab7f48bff27b71c94828916.pdf cccca58e161c0ff2c9146be754030241 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 4] FRANK BORING: Some of the maneuvering you had to do in learning about your P40, how did you rate the Japanese pilots as fighters? KEN JERNSTEDT: They were very efficient. That may sound like a strange word to use, but for instance… FRANK BORING: When you answer, I'm saying Japanese pilots, but you're not going to hear that when you see it. So all we need to do is to say "the Japanese pilots were very efficient" that way we know what you're talking about. KEN JERNSTEDT: The Japanese pilots were very efficient which might be a strange word to use to describe a military pilot but I use that term because I remember my friend, Charlie Older, shot down the leader of one of the formations and quickly another one moved into position. They were really trained. The airplanes, of course, were a lot different than ours. The I-97 was a fixed landing gear fighter that couldn't compare anywhere near to a P-40 regarding speed. But it was very, very maneuverable so you could not turn with it. The Zero was a light airplane for the gun power that it had, so it could climb very efficiently and was also hard for an American to dog fight against in a P-40. Their bombing formations always impressed me because they kept formations tight, if anybody was shot down they maneuvered to quickly replace that one, their gunners knew what they were doing all the time. I thought they were fairly efficient. �FRANK BORING: Before the war there was a lot of propaganda put out about the Japanese and in fact the military establishment was saying the Japanese weren't good fighters. Had you heard that before you went to China? Then you got Chennault telling you that they were good fighters and then what did you actually find? KEN JERNSTEDT: I found that the stories that I had heard concerning the Japanese before I went out there were entirely wrong. They had been ridiculed by cartoonists and by war correspondents…… (smoke alarm again). FRANK BORING: The Japanese were portrayed in a certain way before you got to China and then you saw Chennault a little bit more about the Japanese and then eventually you fought against them in the skies. What were the differences between those? KEN JERNSTEDT: The Japanese pilots we were told before we left the country were very inefficient, were not well trained, were cross-eyed and all kinds of things like that so we had an entirely wrong opinion. We arrived out there and General Chennault told us that they were good pilots, well trained, and we soon found that out and it was a rather rude awakening to a certain degree. It's amazing when you look back 50 years ago that this propaganda was being floated around, and why anybody would be gullible enough to think that it was a nation of people preparing for war and their pilots were no good. It just doesn't make sense in retrospect. FRANK BORING: How did you rate the Japanese pilots in terms of their tactics compared to yours and the ability of your airplane against their airplane? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I would say the good pilots were equal to our good pilots. They had a different type of airplane. They knew the advantages they had over us, just like we knew the advantages we had over them. They were on offensive missions, we were on defensive �missions. So our goals were different. We operated toward different goals, which in war time becomes very apparent and hard to really just determine who is the better because of the different types of goals. I think they knew their airplanes, they knew their capabilities and had lots of hours, many of them. FRANK BORING: You had mentioned earlier you wanted to say something further about your crew chief KEN JERNSTEDT: Looking back I have to grin about my crew chief, Frank Losonsky because the first time I was in combat, he seemed to be very delighted that he found, I think it was, ten bullet holes in my airplane when I came back. That didn't make me feel too good at all, but he was very pleased and it gave him a little bit of oneupmanship among the other crew chiefs. By gosh, his pilot got shot at and here's proof, here are ten bullet holes in Number 88. I didn't feel good about them at all, but he liked them. FRANK BORING: Later on, on March 21st there was apparently a revenge attack by the Japanese at Magwe and the bombings began, Parker DuPouy was leading a flight of six P-40's to Magwe. There apparently was an incident that happened to you involving Japanese bombers or somebody shooting at you and the glass just exploding in your cockpit and all that. Do you recall that particular incident? KEN JERNSTEDT: I recall those few days in March very well because it was two days before that, that Bill Reed and I had gone on a mission of search and so forth, down into the southern part of Burma east of Rangoon to a little airport called Moulmein and we'd done a pretty good job of destruction down there. In fact General Chennault sent us a telegram saying "Congratulations. You have set a new record of world destruction." I don't know now whether that sounds so good or not, but at the time, it was all right. The fact that we had been thoroughly successful, I think irritated them to a certain degree and maybe all we did was postpone what happened on the 21st a day or so. On that particular day, we were caught on the �ground at Magwe and when I finally got to my airplane and got it off, the bombs were dropping at the end of the runway and how I got there I still consider myself pretty lucky and I went out and gained some altitude and started chasing this bomber group and they were headed back to I believe as far away as Hanoi. It was that general direction anyway and I made passes at the formation and had been successful in getting two of them down and like a darn fool I had put my goggles up on my forehead because of peripheral vision, it was much better with the goggles off and there was no wind stream in the cockpit, but as I was making a pass at one of these bombers, a bullet hit my windshield right in front of my face and the bullet went into the armor plating right back of my neck. I figure it missed my head by about a 1/2 inch and this glass just exploded into my face and some of it went into my left eye. Well I immediately called that battle off and headed home and I was a very fortunate AVG'er at that point in time, because I couldn't see too well, had one eye left, but I was getting low on gasoline, I hoped I knew the direct route to Magwe and fortunately I had just reversed my compass heading 180 degrees and hit it right on the button and landed on the Magwe airport after it had really been pounded. I missed a crater on the runway in my landing and ended up, immediately went to sick bay and Doc Richards dug glass out of my eye and eventually the next day - well two or three things were very unfortunate about that - we had a ground crew chief by the name of John Fauth that was killed and another pilot that had been on one side in one trench that wasn't quite so deep and he thought he'd be safer over on the other side of the runway and he got up and ran and a bomb hit and it caught him in his neck and on his hand and he was in pretty bad shape. I spent about half the night sitting with him and then the next day they flew me back up to Kunming for some so-called R&R in the old Lockheed or was it Beechcraft, I forget right now. But anyway, John Hennessy was the pilot and I stayed in Kunming for about 5 or 6 days and then rejoined the group. Some write-ups have said that I had my windshield shot out as I landed at Magwe, but that's entirely �wrong. I lost my windshield about 200 miles east of there when I was fighting against the bombers. FRANK BORING: Talk about the raid before all of this happened. KEN JERNSTEDT: On March 19th. Well the squadron had been operating in Magwe for several days and Bill Reed and I talked to Ole Olson and said we wondered what the Japanese were doing down south as they approached Rangoon as far as airplanes and troop movements, etc. were concerned and so …(smoke alarm) FRANK BORING: On March 19th Bill Reed and you took off from [?] to attack a Japanese airfield 10 miles from Moulmein, can you tell us about that? KEN JERNSTEDT: By March 19th the AVG had more or less retreated up the Burma Road as far as Magwe and we were operating the Third Squadron with some of the members of a couple of the other squadrons out of that particular airport for several days and Reed and I were talking to Ole Olson, our Commanding Officer, and we began to wonder about what the Japanese were doing down in the Rangoon area and east of there. So we cooked up the idea of going down on a reconnaissance mission. So he and I took off the evening of the 18th and stopped at Toungoo, re-gassed our airplanes and went to bed there in our old shack that we had lived in in our training days earlier. We got up real early in the morning - I'll never forget that particular take-off because of the circumstances - it was still dark about 5 o'clock and there were no lights on the airfield at all and a single strip, but it just so happens that in that particular latitude, the north star was sitting right on the horizon, right down the end of the runway for me, so when I hit the throttle on the P-40, I just concentrated entirely on the north star as a guiding light and took off and when I felt we had flying speed we took off and went into the air. So that's the first time I had ever done that. We went in the general direction of Rangoon, we were up at about 20 - 22 thousand feet, and then went in on the south side of Moulmein and �began to lose altitude and were going to come in over it for a quick look-see at what might be in that area. We spotted an auxiliary field about 5 to 10 miles away - it's kind of hard to remember distances exactly in this point in time - and here were at least 60 airplanes lined up on this auxiliary airport, wing tip to wing tip in two lines on opposite sides and we just had a heyday going up and down those two lines. He was going one way and I was going the other and just raising all kinds of havoc, setting airplanes on fire and I remember looking over to the side road and seeing a truckload of Japanese arriving on the scene. They must have been arriving to make an early morning take-off, because by this time it was I would say around 7 something and the sun was well up, but not too far in the sky and they just parked and watched all this havoc being raised with their airplanes. So then we finished there getting a little low on ammunition and headed over toward Moulmein. By that time there was activity going on because they evidently knew that we were in the area and we started strafing there. We got one just about the time he started to swing into position to take off, we got another - I had a kind of a trial bomb that Charlie Baisden had rigged up for me to put in the fur pocket on my wing. It was a homemade bomb and it was more to set fires with than anything else and I set a dandy, because there was a transport plane gassing up over near a hangar and I hit it in a vicinity to catch that whole area on fire and caught that one on fire and we made about one more pass after that and got the heck out of there because we had no more ammunition and more planes were beginning to warm up to taxi out, so we headed, and I have never understood quite why the Japanese didn't follow us because if they'd thought the thing through, they would have known that we were going to have to stop in Toungoo, which we did, and gassed up. I can't remember the name of the U.S. General there, but they interviewed us at some time for what we had seen. Of course all we could report on was airplanes. They were more interested in ground troops but we couldn't give them too much information and we stayed an extra 15 or 20 minutes talking to those guys and I was getting kind of antsy and so was Bill because we were �expecting to get our airplanes strafed out there at any time. Pretty soon we took off and went back to Magwe and landed and never saw any more until the two days later when that big raid hit us on the 21st. FRANK BORING: What did Chennault have to say about all of this? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well he sent the telegram to us congratulating us on the great record of destruction that we had set - a new record of world destruction. Something that kind of pleased me. I read the wording of that in the group diary not too long ago. I happened to have a copy of that and found it and it made me feel kind of good. FRANK BORING: There was a [?] when they shot the glass, the bomber I guess that shot at you and got all in your eyes. Could you repeat that story again please? KEN JERNSTEDT: You want that whole thing repeated? FRANK BORING: We don't know if we got it KEN JERNSTEDT: This really had the Japanese upset. I knew they were going to hit us anyway but on the 21st of March, two days after our raid, they hit Magwe and they caught us on the ground - absolutely cold. I was able to get to my airplane and get it into the air just barely about the time the first bombs were beginning to hit the airport. The chances of immediate dog fight was absolutely not there, so I gained altitude and then chased a bomber formation as it headed home. There were about 18 ships as I remember in that formation and I was the only one, which was a little bit foolhardy, but I kept nicking at them and I got two of them down and then on the one I was working on either he got me or one of his wing men got me with a shot that hit the windshield right in front of my face and I like a fool had my goggles off my eyes and on my forehead because, in a dog fight the goggles didn't give you the peripheral vision that you sometimes need. This wasn't really a dog fight but I �still wanted my peripheral vision and that glass exploded and some of it hit my eye and my face and I thought "oh my gosh, I'm dead" and I dove out and then realized I wasn't dead, so pulled it out and headed toward Magwe, which was about 200 miles. It took me quite a while to get there and landed with very, very little gasoline left and a navigational feat that was just plain luck. Because all I'd done was reverse what I remembered my compass heading to be as I was going with those bombers and I hit it right on the head, landed to see a great deal of turmoil. John Fauth, one of our crew chiefs had received a wound from a bomb. He died that night. Frank Swartz, another pilot, had jumped from one trench to another and as he was running, a bomb went off near him and hit his face and his hand. He died in Poona, India about a month later from an infection that had set in as a result of the wound. I had stayed up with him until about midnight that night and then the next morning they shipped me in the Lockheed up to Kunming for some R&R. I stayed up there for about 5 days and then John Hennessy flew me back down to Magwe where I joined the squadron again. That was at a time that we were gradually beginning to retreat out of northern Burma. We went into a place called Loiwing, operated out of there for several days. That was the headquarters for CAMCO, Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co., where they had the actual structure of a factory that was going to begin to build CW21's for the Chinese. But they never got any built because the Japanese took that area over. � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v04 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 4 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt discusses his impression of the Japanese pilots and how their flight tactics and airplanes compared to the Flying Tigers. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd3a55e08f232d99c166716765bd4c6f.mp4 7760a1a0cb4a635d6a0efa98ed1984d3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/830f9db797b0aa28a5fa9f26fc1bee6d.pdf da6ffce1bf965cd67c7d9a09e76e3b6f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 5] FRANK BORING: If you can tell us about the incident in which Third Squadron escorted some Russian bombers? KEN JERNSTEDT: When we left Burma and went back up into Toungoo to operate out of there for the rest of the life of the AVG, we had quite a bit of work to do around Toungoo. We were on night alert. We made some trips to different areas. We did daytime alert in case we got bombed. We escorted Generalissimo and Madame around in a DC3 on a tour of northern Burma and southern China. But one mission that I'll never forget was one that we were sent on to escort the Chinese bombing of Hanoi. There were some old Russian bombers that the Chinese Air Force had and I do not remember their name. They were a twin-engine, fairly high wing, monoplane type, older than the hills. We got into the air - as a fighter squadron we had to stop at a base in the south of Kunming - I can't think of the name of that place right now - for gas and then climb back up and escort them the rest of the way to Hanoi. Those things were so slow that we had to throttle as far back as we could in the P-40 at that particular altitude, I think it was around 18 or 20 thousand feet, and make circles above them or we'd stall out. They were going so much slower than the slowest speed of the P-40 that we had to use up our gas in circling just to escort those dudes. We got to Hanoi finally and they dropped them into an overcast. I never did know whether we did any damage or not and I don't know that anybody does. But we had to come all the way back and this time �we tried to make it straight to Kunming without refueling and some of the fellows, I think 2 or 3, ran out of gasoline taxiing back to park and I had enough maybe for ten more minutes of flying at the most. It was a very close and maybe a hopeless mission but I'll never forget that bombing of Hanoi by the Chinese with Russian bombers. FRANK BORING: As you got closer and closer to your contract running out, what was the attitude of the Third Squadron about it? What were you thinking about in terms of wanting to go home, were you wanting to stay? KEN JERNSTEDT: A lot of us had mixed feelings. We felt in some ways duty bound to stay. We also felt duty bound for our own good to go home. We'd been out there under pressure for several months and we did not know for sure just exactly what we wanted to do. I had Marine Corps leanings. I was offered a Majority out there. The Army made a very fair offer to me. My goodness, I left the Marines as a Second Lieutenant and here less than a year later I was going to be offered a Major's Commission, which was fair. Tactics began to be used that some of us didn't like. General Bissell came in and we had a group meeting. He stood up in front of the group and more or less threatened us and said "why if you don't go in, you'll be drafted when you go home." I sat there thinking about the draft board in Yam Hill County* in Oregon and thought well that would be awful stupid if those guys are going to draft me and I really didn't think they would, but it was something to think about, I'll have to admit. But also personally about that time I had some trouble. I had a series of boils and what the Chinese doctor and Doc Richards said was heel diarrhea and I had diarrhea, I'll tell you that for sure and I was off of flying status. So that made me all the more anxious to go home. I was down to about 145 pounds and I though Jernstedt, for your own good you've got to get back to the States. Well my good friend, Charlie Older, as luck would have it, had an appendicitis attack at that same time and he was operated on for that problem, had his appendix removed, and we both began �to feel a little bit better. As July 4th came upon us we went to the old man, excuse me, Colonel Chennault - General Chennault, he was by that time - and said, "General, everybody's going to be trying to get out of here on July 4th and how about, we're off of flying status, we haven't been on for two weeks, how about letting us have a week's head start and leave if we can?" He said "Fine, you guys have it coming." So he signed the papers and Charlie and I left a week earlier than mainstream. Some had left a little bit before. We flew the hump, got a ride on a DC-3 Army plane and went into the airport - I've forgotten the name again - on the far eastern part of India and then went into New Delhi. We holed up there for a week trying to get a ride on to Karachi, and finally we hitchhiked a ride to Karachi. We had just about given up hope for any chance of flying the rest of the way, when a pilot from - well he was a chief test pilot for Pan Am Africa - came into Karachi and Charlie and this fellow recognized each other. They had met when Charlie was on one of the first ferry hops that anybody made, when they had gone clear to the west coast of Africa to pick up some P40's early in the game. Charlie and Tom and McMillan and R.T. Smith and Paul Green and Link Laughlin. I had missed that flight because I was a Flight Leader and General Chennault said you have too many Flight Leaders, so our names went in a hat and mine came out and Link Laughlin took my place, he was a wing man at that time so I didn't get to go on that one. Which was good in the long run because I would have missed a lot of action that I saw later on. But this test pilot was a great guy and he said "What's the matter?" and we said we can't get out of here - "why not" - well we can't get any priority and we can't get any passenger room on any flight. He says "well I'll fix that" - well how? He says "You'll be prospective employees - that will be the priority." By that time there were about 18 or 19 of us piled up there including our female nurse, Emma, what was her last name, can't think of it right now but anyway he wrote out a ticket, I found that thing the other day on Pan Am Africa for all of us, each one of us and we went clear across the Persian Gulf, where they're now fighting, gassed up awfully close to - I wonder what point of that we did pick up our �gasoline. Crossed into southern Egypt and then over to Accra*, Africa. Stayed there about 3 days and then caught a ride on a B-24. By that time 4 pilots were together and I really don't remember what happened to the rest of them, but 4 of us split up on 3 B-24's that were flying crude rubber from Africa back to the States. John Farrell and I flew together, we flipped to see who was going to have company and each one of the other fellows got in the other planes and we headed across the South Atlantic and landed in Brazil, made another stop at the mouth of the Amazon, went on up to one of the other islands - I forget the name right now - and went in at West Palm Beach, Florida and crawled off the B-24 and started home on a train. But we kind of proved that General Bissell was wrong. I went home and the first thing I did was register for the draft and they gave me a discharge Veteran's rating. So I could have quit the war, I could have gone into farming, I could have gone into business, I could have done anything. But I recovered from malaria eventually - it took me about 6 weeks - I caught that on my way home, and had a real battle with it for a while until they discovered for sure what I had. Then Republic Aviation contacted me and they were looking for test pilots that had combat experience and there weren't too many of those flying around in those days that were available. So Parker DuPouy, one of my good Army friends from out in the Third Squadron was already established back there, he urged me to join him, so I went back there and looked the situation over and ended up as an experimental test pilot the rest of the war. FRANK BORING: Looking back on that time now, the period of AVG, what do you feel was your own personal accomplishment about that time? KEN JERNSTEDT: I think I could tell a little story to kind of prove my point I think. While we had a good record out there, most of the members of the AVG did and I was very proud of that military record. But in retrospect there's no doubt that the main contribution of that group to the United States was the fact that we were morale boosters and I proved my story or my point by telling the story of the time that �Madame Chiang Kai-shek came to this country to give an address to the people of the United States from Madison Square Garden, national radio hook-up, no TV in those days. The Flying Tigers that were in the New York area, there were two groups of us, one testing at Republic, there were about 4 of us, and another group in the northern part of the island that were flying for American Express, Bob Neale and Bus Keeton, Bob Layher and Hennessy I believe was there and several others. We were called into New York to act as her escort as she came on the stage in Madison Square and this was a real political shindig because there were six governors on the stage, Wendell Willkie was on the stage, the British Ambassador was on the stage and innumerable numbers of people. We were all congregated off stage waiting for the Madame to come and this formidable group would arrive singly and in doubles and here came Hap Arnold, Commanding General of the United States Air Force, back where we were standing and we were all in our old AVG uniforms, and for some reason or other, I must have been closest because he kind of came up and patted me on the shoulder and said "when am I gonna get you fellows back?" I kind of looked at him and grinned and said "well General, in the first place you never had me, because I was a Marine, and you're not gonna get me." He kind of looked at me and laughed and then he said "well what are you doing?" and I said "well I'm an experimental test pilot out on Long Island on the P47 Thunderbird built by Republic." He gave me a pat on the back and he said "you're doing your part." Which I kind of agreed with because we actually lost a higher percentage of pilots in test flying than we did in the AVG, by losing I mean from death and he paused a minute and he said "you know you guys were pretty good and the records speak for themselves, you had a wonderful record out there. But I don't know whether you ever stopped to think that your main contribution to this country was the fact that you were a morale booster for this nation when we really needed one that would make us see some good ahead. Every place else we were getting kicked, in the Philippines, Australia, all over the world, in the European theater, there was no good news, except that little group of you �fellows out there and your main contribution is not the number of planes you shot down, it was the job you did as a morale booster group." FRANK BORING: You got pretty close to some of the guys there during the AVG. I realize it's very personal, but what would you say, what death affected you the most? KEN JERNSTEDT: What death? While we were out there? Well the death that affected me the most while I was a member of the AVG, was the one when Tom Jones was killed practicing dive bombing over Kunming Lake. Now I say that because our careers went along together for so many months. He was in the same elimination class that I was in in Seattle, Washington where they were bringing ten a month from five western states for training at Pensacola. And five of us made that and we went to Pensacola together and he was in the same class that I was there. I did not realize that he had signed up for the AVG until I got out there and there Tom Jones was again and we had been very good friends at Pensacola, saw quite a bit of each other and then out there we continued to be very friendly. I had met his folks up in Seattle, his mother and one of his sisters, I probably knew him better than most of the members, except Tom and Charlie Haywood that I had been with in the Marines. But as far as death is concerned, that was the biggest shocker to me was when he was killed trying to simulate dive bombing over Kunming Lake. FRANK BORING: You had mentioned before your two weeks that you spent in Los Angeles before you went to China - excuse me one week - you had talked to your parents and basically had seen the people around there - did you tell your parents where you were going? Did you say you were going to China? Or what did you tell them? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I as a young man I had always had the support of my parents in nearly everything I had done. I don't know that they always thought that I had all my brains about me some of the times. I �remember when I came home from elimination days up in Seattle and I didn't say anything when I hit the porch and pretty soon Mom said "well how did you do?" And I said "well I passed." And she stomped her foot and said "Oh I knew you would." She was kind of half disgusted, but still proud of me. When I got my wings she was still proud of me, I know from what I've been told. So when I made up my mind I was going to go out to China on this thing, I have to admit that I told her a white lie. In a way, I told her that I was going out there to instruct. Well I think I got more involved than instructing and I never did discuss that white lie with them after I came back and I think, I hope - maybe they just thought that well instructing led into fighting because those boys were out there so they might as well make use of them. FRANK BORING: Did you ever get a chance to meet Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek? KEN JERNSTEDT: Yes, several times. FRANK BORING: What was your impression of him? KEN JERNSTEDT: I liked the Generalissimo. He was very quiet, he was very aloof. He had a tremendous responsibility if you stop to think about it. Here he was the chief honcho of 400 something million people scattered over an area larger than the United States, three separate dialects, no real good means of transportation between the different areas except some beat up airplanes, no roads, no railroads to speak of and trying to carry on a war. I really felt sorry for him. I think he understood more English than he put on. I remember how - let's use the word nervous our Dentist, Dr. Bruce was - when the Generalissimo came into Kunming one day and wanted his teeth worked on and a couple of bodyguards stood by while this went on and Doc Bruce had quite a time. The one story I really like about the Generalissimo and the Madame, one day a plane came in - the DC-3 that they usually flew around in at Kunming - and some of the fellows met him at the airport and just by chance and they �didn't know who was on it and here came Madame Chiang Kaishek, who in her day and still is a beautiful woman, but when she was younger she was even more beautiful. But their secretary, who was also a very charming and beautiful Chinese girl and a couple of the pilots, I won't go into names, picked them up in a station wagon and they were anxious to use the plumbing facilities of one of the hostels and so the fellows were going to take them over to the hostel where they lived, Hostel #1, and as the station wagon started to leave the airport, the Generalissimo was standing there kind of looking at things and one of them said to the ladies "wasn't that gentleman on the plane with you, should we pick him up?" and Madame said "Oh no, let him walk." And they took the two ladies to the compound and when all the Chinese help around there started bowing and scraping they began to wonder just who they had and I think by that time they were beginning to realize that there was the possibility that it was the Madame and it was. But it always tickled me that she said "no let him walk." � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v05 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 5 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes the attitude of the Third Squadron as their contract was coming to a close and the sense of accomplishment they felt as Flying Tigers. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8daba357ce094a1eb73ac78d7cdb7141.mp4 bf7d44cdff0047b1597fe4a1ee7e189b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24a21c0bd827f155197f7bd4a337b4a3.pdf 7870b23955aa3c11e9a156ba3468def0 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections & University Archives RHC-88 Fei Hu Films Flying Tigers Interviews Interviewer: Frank Boring Interviewee: Kenneth “Ken” Jernstedt Date of Interview: 02-22-1991 Transcriber: Frank Boring [TAPE 6] FRANK BORING: The Madame next did you want to…? Let him finish what he was saying about Chiang Kai-shek. KEN JERNSTEDT: Well I don't know, there's a lot more to say about that. I spoke of it earlier in my little dissertation about escorting the Madame and the General around in southern China and northern Burma. I think there were six of us assigned that duty and it was an interesting experience because they wanted us to ward off any Japanese that might have known that they were in the territory - you never know those things - and we would land and they would go in and attend to their business, wherever they were and we'd stay out at the airplane. Once or twice we had lunch with them, ate the same cold sandwiches etc. that they had aboard the plane. He was always very quiet. She was rather more of an extrovert compared with him and you didn't have personal conversations with him, but you could tell that he seemed like a man with a lot of weight on his shoulders and he had the respect of the people that surrounded him. They also threw a banquet for us up at Kunming one night. You'd have to call it a State Dinner because he had practically the whole Chinese cabinet there, the Madame and the Generalissimo, and they threw a very nice dinner for us. They each gave a speech. General Chennault responded. I often wished I had a copy of those speeches or had privy to them and oddly enough, I have a book that somebody saw at a book sale for ten cents and it was all the speeches - several speeches - that the Generalissimo had made and �in that book were the three speeches that I wanted. One of General Chennault, the Madame's and the Generalissimo, and I have all three of those that we heard that night. FRANK BORING: What was your impression of Madame Chiang Kai-shek? KEN JERNSTEDT: Well she was a very delightful person and she called us her - what was her pet name for us? - Her "Little Angels" or words to that effect, her American Angels. She was always kind of half chiding us and she did this night - "remember, boys, you are Americans and you're setting a reputation here and I'm kind of staking my reputation, so be good, you guys" and most of us were most of the time. But of course you can't keep that many Americans completely on the line. But she was a beautiful woman, she was educated in this country, she gave a wonderful speech back in Madison Square Garden that night. I should not tell tales on some of my past friends, but - they're still my friends although they are gone - but I sat right behind Pappy Paxton and admittedly several of the fellows including myself - I had a drink I believe before I went on the stage, but some of them had more than that, and Pappy wasn't exactly feeling too much pain, but she would start to speak and pretty soon he said in this loud voice that we could hear on stage anyway - "this speech is way above the heads of this audience". Of course I kind of flinched a little bit and pretty soon and here was the British Ambassador sitting just one over from the seat in front of him - and she made a remark about imperialism. "That's a crack at the blinkety-blank British". Anyway it didn't bother the Madame and we had a great deal, I think, of affection for her as a person. I'd like to see her again. We were out there in 1963, they threw a big banquet for us in Taipei and were entertained by the Madame and the Generalissimo and they stood in the receiving line and shook each one of our hands, etc. I have a warm feeling for them, especially her. FRANK BORING: What do you think the effect of the AVG was on the Chinese people? �KEN JERNSTEDT: Oh that is extremely hard to measure. I had the privilege - I've been out to Taipei twice and I've been out to the mainland China once since that time. I think for two reasons, one I was in politics to a very small degree in Oregon, the State Senator, and I'd been a member of the AVG. We had been invited to Taiwan. I'd been there both as a State Senator and as a member of the AVG and when anybody there finds out that I was a Flying Tiger, why there's no limit to their show of gratitude. Even at this time, it's amazing to me. On mainland China, the same thing exists to quite a degree. When I was told that - see I had to pay my way and my wife's way to Peking - Beijing excuse me - and then we were to be their guests for two weeks and we could go anyplace in China that we wanted to go. I said I know that I want to visit Kunming. "Ah yes, Flying Tigers" and the older people of China still remember us and it's a good feeling. FRANK BORING: Given the battles you had to fight and all that, what do you think of the Japanese today? KEN JERNSTEDT: I have nothing but respect for the Japanese and I feel no animosity for them, either as a nation or individually. I certainly respect the Japanese as a nation and as individuals. I happen to live in area in Oregon that has a lot of descendants of Japanese people and I know them to be industrious, smart, hardworking people. Those that have been in this country are extremely good citizens. They're playing a very important part in world economy today and I think that bygones are bygones as far as the war is concerned. They were very quickly with me when I returned to the States. We were fighting those Japanese over there, not the ones in this country at the time. I know that's the people that you're referring to when you questioned me, but I wish that some of the younger people in Japan could realize really what this country did for them. FRANK BORING: Towards the end of the AVG there was a lot of talk about the morale missions that you were supposed to be flying and basically �just to keep the enemy - the enemy was out of the sky anyway and you were under a great deal of danger from ground forces. Did you ever find that you were disgruntled or did you find that the tactics that were being asked of you were unfair or anything like that? KEN JERNSTEDT: No I didn't think so, personally, because I had already gone through my share of, you might say, sticking my neck out on that kind of raid and some of them that were accomplished later, might have been stretching the point a little bit. But you also have to remember that those that made those missions volunteered to go on them. So it works both ways when you start discussing something like that. I know that when we were getting down to the last days, when were no longer going to be the American Volunteer Group, the U.S. Army was going to take over, it gives you a strange feeling when you really realize that this was approaching the end. But it was one of those things that you looked back on with kind of wonderment and admiration for some of the volunteers and that was shown at that particular time. When one or two get disgruntled it's sometimes easy to spread that feeling among others, and there was a certain amount of that, but I wasn't very close to it. FRANK BORING: You accomplished a number of things in your life. You're in your 70's now and AVG was only a part of that. You became a State Senator and you were involved in other things. Where do you place the AVG in terms of your own personal evaluation of your life? KEN JERNSTEDT: Very high. I place the evaluation of the AVG in relationship to my life in a very high position because it has helped me in other ways. In politics, for instance, a lot of it is PR. People will say "Hey that Senator so and so, you know he was with the AVG" and the words Flying Tigers has been something that I like to have attached to my name in nearly any walk of life that I've tried to walk down. It's still with me and oddly enough, and I think logically enough, this year and the next year, which will be the 50th anniversary of our beginning and the 50th year of our breakup, it is rekindling a lot of memories and a lot of interest in us as a group. Of course we're �getting to be old fuddy-duds now, but it’s fun and I place it very high. It broadened my experiences, it showed me what I can do under fire and maybe some of the things I couldn't do under fire. It made friends for me that I've kept all my life and some of them that are extremely meaningful to me. So it's a lot better deal than some college relationships or business relationships or something like that, that's a very small group of men and a couple of women have in common that no other people have ever gone through. I just can't help but rank it very high in my experiences of life. FRANK BORING: Well I'll tell you something Ken, if I ever get to the age of in my 70's I'd like to be a fuddy-duddy too. You mentioned that the Chinese have reacted both in Communist China and also nationalist China about the Flying Tigers and they treated you very well. Why do you think that is? KEN JERNSTEDT: This feeling that I get from both the Nationalists on Taiwan and the People's Republic of China is really kind of interesting because they both call and consider themselves Chinese and there are people in both groups that have of course, a background that very few Americans and I don't understand completely. Their origins go way back in history. There's one small group of them living in Taiwan that had the same roots that the larger nation had in a larger area. So they have those things in common. At one time they had us in common. Part of them are over here in Taiwan now, a lot of them are over on the mainland. But we did fight for them all at one time in their lives and ours. So I think it's very natural for them to recognize this fact, that they do have us in common, that we were fighting for the Chinese, no matter where they were living. � 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 Flying Tigers Interviews and Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, Chinese World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Description An account of the resource Collection contains original 1940s films and interviews conducted in the 1990s, documenting the history of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) "Flying Tigers." The Flying Tigers were organized by the United States to aid China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Original filmstrips were recorded by AVG crewmen Joe Gasdick and Chuck Misenheimer, as well as Chinese Air Force Interpreter P.Y. Shu, who was assigned to assist Col. Claire Chennault as he trained Chinese pilots and established the AVG. Interviews with members of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tigers” were conducted by Frank Boring for the documentary film Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers, which he co-produced with Frank Christopher under the production company Fei Hu Films. The AVG Flying Tigers were a group of American aviators, mechanics, medical and administrative military personnel, led by Col. Claire Chennault to assist the Chinese Air Force in their defense against Japanese air strikes from 1941-1942. The AVG Flying Tigers also flew in defense of the Burma Road, a major Chinese military supply route. The group disbanded and returned to regular U.S. military service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boring, Frank Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films Research and Production Files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1938/1991 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fei Hu Films Christopher, Frank Gasdick, Joseph Misenheimer, Charles V. P.Y. Shu Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4; application/pdf Language A language of the resource English; Chinese Type The nature or genre of the resource video; text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-88 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1938-1945 World War II Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Moving Image A series of visual representations imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. Examples include animations, movies, television programs, videos, zoetropes, or visual output from a simulation. 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 RHC-88_Jernstedt_Ken_1991-02-22_v06 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ken Jernstedtneth A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-02-22 Title A name given to the resource Ken Jernstedt interview (video and transcript, 6 of 6), 1991 Description An account of the resource Interview of Ken Jernsted by filmmaker Frank Boring for the documentary, Fei Hu: The Story of the Flying Tigers. After resigning his officer's commission with the US Marine Air Corps, Ken Jerstedt joined a large group of volunteers leaving San Francisco under the cover of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Co. to join the AVG in 1941. He served in the Third Squadron "Hells Angels" as Flight Leader and had more than 10 victories against the Japanese. In this tape, Jernstedt describes the effect the Flying Tigers had on the Chinese people and his own life. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (interviewer) Christopher, Frank (director) Fei Hu Films Subject The topic of the resource Oral history United States--History, Military China--History, Military Veterans China. Kong jun. American Volunteer Group World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/540">Fei Hu Films research and production files (RHC-88)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e1268df4d0ee605048f198af02c3645a.pdf e826a46e6e0f21eec2bca291c4d06abd PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam John Kendall Total Time – (27:40) Background      He was born on March 6 He achieved the E-4 [E-6?] rank, Staff Sergeant (00:56) He had two brothers while growing up o Grew up in Detroit, Michigan He played tennis as a kid (01:15) Worked as a lifeguard (01:25) Enlistment/Training (01:28)        Enlisted when he was 19 years old (01:33) Only his father served in the military before he did Joined the Air Force to avoid the draft o Felt under pressure to do something (01:57) He spent 8 weeks of training o Remembers it as a terrible experience (02:28) Became an air policemen o Had to go to school to learn how to shoot firearms, drive cars, etc (02:49) The military life was relatively easy to adapt to Was sent to San Antonio, Texas for 8 weeks of training (03:40) o After training, he was sent to the Kincheloe Air Force Base in Sault St. Marie, Michigan for two and a half years Active Duty – (03:48)     Was then sent to Vietnam He was first sent to an Air Force Base in a port city on the South China Sea [Da Nang?] o Enjoyed the first six months until bombing on Vietnam began (04:13) o The last six months, the Vietnamese were attacking them Gained some friendships during the war – some were killed He never had to participate in the bombing (04:42) �            The majority of his missions were to guard planes and keep the Vietcong and North Vietnamese off of the American base (05:00) o They fought back and forth The North Vietnamese would throw satchel charges at the American airplanes He stayed in touch with his family through writing letters (06:10) o Soldiers could send home tapes with voice messages on them (06:35) He found his friends after they were killed (07:26) For recreation, he bought a motorcycle for 35 dollars (08:15) They would go surfing and out for beer for enjoyment They would often go out and visit missionaries to help guard them and their mission (09:21) Was able to befriend many Vietnamese When the war had officially ended in 1975, he was a police chief in Harbor Springs, Michigan (10:16) He believed the war was the worst thing that America has ever done He does not believe that America did not politically commit to fighting the Vietnam War (11:05) Believes that the war should have been fought from the military headquarters in Vietnam, not from Washington D.C. (13:00) After the Service – (14:02)          He returned home in Lansing, Michigan (14:14) o Returned on a United Airlines jet He left Vietnam in April, 1966 (14:35) His family received him very well while others in society did not approve of him being in the war (15:18) It was not difficult for him to adjust to civilian life (16:19) o Considers himself blessed to not have suffered in or after the war Remains in contact with Air Force friends, but not those that he served with in Vietnam Surviving the war helped him realize how good life is back home o Less things bother you after you serve (17:52) The war has made him grateful for what he has in America (19:03) Remembering the difference between his experiences, he remembers that there was a public execution of a young Vietnamese boy in a soccer stadium o The boy was tied to a goal post o He served as a patrol guard outside of the stadium to make sure no Americans went in Considers himself lucky to be alive, but is sad that such bad decisions have been made in America (21:52) � 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 KendallJ1427 Title A name given to the resource Kendall, John (Interview outline), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kendall, John Description An account of the resource John Kendall was born in Detroit, Michigan. To avoid the military draft, John enlisted in the Air Force in the early 1960s. After basic training in San Antonio, Texas, he spent at the Kincheloe Air Force Base in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, working base security. He went to Vietnam in 1965, and spent his tour providing security around an air base, a job that grew more dangerous during the latter part of his tour. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Pechrul, Steven (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Air Force Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text 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 2012-05-26 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf 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/81c82b89621306f0c568f51d24ce9eeb.mp4 45c3555154446af7e9007dfbe6d4c18f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3da94f295aaaad9793da700d5955682.pdf 06c6831ac15cf5c0f6614766f31f3236 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II John Kennaugh Total Time – (01:02:17) Background        He was born in Rockford, Illinois on March 4, 1923 (00:16) After three years, his family moved to Belvedere, Illinois o He lived there until 1935 (00:32) From Belvedere, his family then moved to Dixon, Illinois (00:42) o He grew up in Dixon, Illinois His family moved to Dixon because his father got a job at the Freeman Shoe Company (00:54) o His dad ended up deciding to go on his own and become an electrician There were two children in his family o He had a younger brother (01:14) He finished his schooling at Dixon High School in 1941 (01:23) After high school, he went to work with an engineering company doing land surveying Enlistment/Basic Training – (01:50)   While in Dixon, he was a part of the Illinois Reserve Militia – They took the place of the National Guard during the war (01:53) o He had access to the armory  He was playing basketball in the armory when he heard about Pearl Harbor (02:07) With the Illinois Reserve Militia he became a Drill Instructor o There were two different occasions where they were sent out on duty (02:24)  One was a train wreck outside of Dixon – He was posted in the mail car  The second was when he went to Savanna, Illinois where they guarded the Illinois side of the bridge going over the Mississippi River o They drilled and trained once a week (03:13) o The Militia was a volunteer position �               After Pearl Harbor he considered enlisting into the military – he was going to wait to get drafted (03:40) He received his draft notice in early 1943 He reported for duty in February of 1943 (04:01) Because of his background with the militia, he was responsible of getting men from Dixon to Chicago, Illinois When they got to Chicago, they received their physical inspection (04:40) He was sent to Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois for basic training (05:05) When he got to basic training, he had some advantages because of his previous experience o One of the Drill Instructors asked if anyone had any drill experience – his friends shouted his name out o He was asked to stay on as a Drill Instructor but he declined (06:24) Aside from drilling, the soldiers were involved in building tents that were built up (07:10) o They also dug trenches, helped move supplies at a hospital, and other odd jobs (07:39) o He took some written exams at Camp Grant as well – he scored 136/150 (08:34) From Camp Grant he went to St. Petersburg, Florida where the soldiers were put up in a hotel for a short time (08:52) o They drilled out on the streets (08:57) o They were then moved out to “Tent City” located on a golf course o The sun did not shine until 10 A.M. (09:23) o His basic training actually occurred in St. Petersburg, Florida Most of the men there were meant to go into the Army Air Forces o He was trained to be part of the ground crew (10:12)  They were meant to maintain planes that could maintain a newly acquired base  When a squadron of planes would come out, they could maintain the planes until their ground crews could go forward (10:27)  At the time, the Japanese were almost at the point of getting into India After St. Petersburg, he had courses in handling bombs, handling fuses, training as an ordinance individual, etc. He trained in Utah, Iowa, and Texas (12:20) o He learned to drive trucks in Texas o In the same training period, he was on a couple of convoys being sent up to new trucks – they would then drive them back to the base He received training in Utah on how to handle bombs, fuses, etc. (13:14) Iowa was the last base before departing for active duty (13:34) o He was responsible for drilling his own people, training his people on fuses and bombs – he was an instructor at the time (13:48) He had been in training for nearly one and a half years before receiving his orders to go overseas (14:08) o At this point it was the middle of 1944 (14:19) �    He had received some leave time There were no other men that went through all of the same training that he did (15:12) Iowa is where his group came together His group departed from California – they had to do some drilling there to keep them busy (15:50) Active Duty – India – (16:12)           They were deployed on a transport ship (16:20) o They were on the sea for thirty-three days o They stopped in Australia for one day but were not allowed to get off (16:34) o They were taken to Bombay (Mumbai), India (16:42) The ship sailed by itself o They sailed in a zigzag pattern (17:13) His time on the ship was spent playing cards and doing other activities While on the ship they went through one storm where the ship would hit the waves and then drop (18:02) o He does not recall any of the men getting seasick o He did not spend much time on deck (18:27)  There were too many men for everyone to be on deck at the same time Once he gets to Bombay, they were dropped off at the docks where he got all of his mail o He received nearly three dozen letters (18:57) o Many of the men had tears in their eyes when they received their letters The men were then sent on train from Bombay to an airbase in northeastern India (19:20) o The train was interesting in that the restroom on board was a cubicle area with a hole in the ground (19:45) o At the different stops, the number of people looking for help was incredible o They played a lot of cards on the train o The train was covered but not enclosed (20:36) The men were surprised at what the Indians looked like, seeing the beggars, the housing was something they had never seen before, etc. At the airbase, he would go see a movie every night (21:52) o Two nights in a row, with a clear sky, the moon was blue At the Airbase, he was waiting to go on duty (22:34) o His particular services were not needed o Some of the soldiers would play baseball during the day (22:43) After having gone to Calcutta to buy some things to send home, he found out that he could not send home a bundle heavier than 10 lbs. (23:08) �  There were many American units on the base as well – there were different squadrons present They had to take a malaria killing medicine every day until they left the country (24:23) Active Duty – India/Burma/China – (24:40)      After staying at the base for some time, his next assignment was to go to Cox’s Bazaar in what is now Bangladesh (24:53) o Ten men were sent there to move munitions from a ship to a new munitions dump (25:02) o They stayed in housing that were pole structures with straw roofs (25:41) o While in Cox’s Bazaar, he and another soldier were responsible for getting two trucks “in shape” (26:13)  They were part of the motor pool o He was able to eat British food while he was there (26:31)  On Christmas Eve, some of the soldiers were invited to celebrate with some British soldiers – It was the one time in his life where he got drunk (27:26)  He was not a big drinker and the others knew that During his time in India, he found out that there was a need to work with pilots that were removing wounded from the front lines in Burma (29:10) o He volunteered to work with the pilots (29:28)  He would set up the camp, get the food, prepare the water for washing, got supplies for the chef, etc.  He worked with the pilots three or four different times (29:51)  The last time he worked with them a pilot took him to his next air base at “Rangoon” (Yangon), Burma (29:59)  When they arrived, the pilot made a sharp turn and the engine stopped – they ended up landing on a black top road (30:28)  One of the struts his the edge of the road and they ran into a cemetery wall  When the plane crash landed, he just “hung on” (31:07)  The pilot did a good job of keeping it under control His cargo squadron then needed someone to go into China so he volunteered to go (31:53) They stopped in Kunming, China (32:06) o It was a woody area – he went and walked around in the woods  While he was in the woods, he was shot at by a Chinese soldier (32:34)  He eventually made it back to camp without any harm (33:03) They then went to an airbase near Xi’an, China (33:15) o When he arrived and settled in, he learned that a Transport Squadron planes had crashed (33:34) �           o He went to HQ to volunteer for recovery  He was elected to go with a two others and an interpreter (33:58) The trip was seven days o They were driven to the first mountain range – they were kept overnight in a house – their beds were overtop a fireplace (34:30) When they climbed the mountain ranges to where the plane crashed, they had decided that they better have a good meal before they get to the last village (35:06) o When they arrived in the village, there was a committee there to welcome them in (35:57) o They found out that there was a 12 course meal waiting for them (36:33) o They stayed in the village for two nights After staying in the village, they went to where the plane was (37:40) o When they arrived, they found that the plane had belly-flopped on the peak of the mountain (37:47)  The cabin broke loose and the seven G.I.’s flew out through the opening (38:04)  They were responsible for recovering the bodies  There were mule skinners that were going to haul the bodies back to the base (39:07)  Before the bodies were taken to the base, they were taken to the village where a worship service took place – the Chinese offered their forms of prayer When they went to the crash site they climbed the entire way (41:54) o At one point they were walking on a very narrow ridge o The hike was not short o The plane was very flattened (42:37) At one point on the hike, the sole of his shoe began to fall off When he returned to the base, he was surprised that one of the doctors gave him half a bottle of liquor (44:55) o He did not drink, but his fellow comrades enjoyed it o He was surprised to learn that he had become a Sergeant (45:16) From that point, everything was “slow-going” for him They were all buying their time before they were shipped home After leaving China, he set sail for America on a ship (46:27) o When they arrived at the base in California, there was a large buffet waiting for the soldiers (46:37) o When he was in India and China he missed fresh eggs, ice cream, and some other foods (47:39) When he remembers back to India and China, he remembers playing baseball (48:50) o One time he flipped over the catcher at home plate and he bruised his shoulder When he was in the training stage, he helped prepare 100 lb. bombs that were dummy bombs used for practice (49:55) o They were filled with sand (50:03) �  o All he did was haul the bombs to the plane and another group would handle the actual loading of the bombs When he was in India and China, he was always at a distance from the actual war (51:11) o However, when he was in Burma he was actually in the Combat Zone but was not where the fighting was going on o At one point, some of the pilots were worried about flying their planes without protection  He was able to get boxes of hand grenades to give to the pilots after having tea with a British supply man (53:02) o When he was in Cox’s Bazaar, all of the soldiers were British  At Cox’s Bazaar he was driving along the pavement when he found out that he was in the wrong place (54:21) The soldiers would sometimes have houseboys that would take care of their things (55:16) After the Service – (56:31)          After he landed in the United States, the military tried to convince him to re-enlist (56:45) o He did not re-enlist because he wanted to go to college When he got home on February 8, 1946 he was surprised to see a Christmas tree on a small table (57:19) o His parents had kept it up for him until he returned home Before he had left for overseas he had developed a code system with his parents so that they could know where he was (57:40) He started going to school in the Fall of 1946 (58:46) He worked with an engineering firm between the service and school He went to North Central College in Naperville, Illinois (59:05) o It was a church related college o It is much different now than what it was when he went there o He was one of the first G.I.’s to go to the college (59:39) o He studied Engineering Science and he worked in land surveying After he worked with the surveying company, he began working in public administration (01:00:55) He worked in Western Springs, Illinois as a City manager He eventually became a City manager of Wyoming, Michigan (01:02:14) o He was the first city manager for the city � 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 KennaughJ1460V Title A name given to the resource Kennaugh, John (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennaugh, John Description An account of the resource John Kennaugh was born in Rockford, Illinois in 1923. He became part of the Illinois Reserve Militia, which took the place of the National Guard. John was drafted in February of 1943 and was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois for basic training. He also trained in St. Petersburg, Florida, Utah, Iowa, and Texas. John was then deployed on a transport ship for thirty-three days before landing in Bombay, India. After being stationed at [Ninga] airbase for some time, he was sent to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. In India, John worked with pilots that were recovering body's form the front lines of Burma. He then volunteered himself for similar work in China where he passed through Xi'an and Kunming, China. Upon hearing of a Transport Squadron plane that had crashed, John was sent alongside two others and an interpreter to recover the soldiers. After finishing his work in China, John was sent to California, went to school, and eventually became a City manager. 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 Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Air Forces World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text 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 2012-10-16 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> 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/0a0069714a90934d6c07a64a5af92c0b.pdf 03d9e5029b2fd1a1e963c8342c71e0ba PDF Text Text ��� 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-45_CW10912 Title A name given to the resource Kennedy family correspondence Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1879 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, G. W. Subject The topic of the resource Correspondence Agriculture Dahlgren (Ill.) Hamilton County (Ill.) Illinois Description An account of the resource Correspondence between Illinois farmer G.W. Kennedy and family members in Ohio discussing routine work and family matters. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/91592527554f36cc157220abe49623c6.pdf ad970c4140991eb15d77650cb2db745e PDF Text Text ���� 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-45_CW10913 Title A name given to the resource Kennedy family correspondence Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1879 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, G. W. Subject The topic of the resource Correspondence Agriculture Dahlgren (Ill.) Hamilton County (Ill.) Illinois Description An account of the resource Correspondence between Illinois farmer G.W. Kennedy and family members in Ohio discussing routine work and family matters. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/91b846a6ee5474f3e4613eaf5adf4762.pdf b51b6b0678af7ab6fd646c3d4ee86d1d PDF Text Text �� 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-45_CW10914 Title A name given to the resource Kennedy family correspondence Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1879 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, G. W. Subject The topic of the resource Correspondence Agriculture Dahlgren (Ill.) Hamilton County (Ill.) Illinois Description An account of the resource Correspondence between Illinois farmer G.W. Kennedy and family members in Ohio discussing routine work and family matters. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/fd0bd8ed60fac79f95cbffb9d542a23a.jpg 047b3f740525e2c93d8fb4424654e89b 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 Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PR6005.0673 566 1898 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 DC-01_Bindings0343 Title A name given to the resource Sons of Adversity Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, J.W. (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of Sons of Adversity, by L. Cope Cornford, published by L.C. Page & Company, 1898. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1898 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/2f01280712ce2d10717874ff0e9d0693.mp4 55bd48533d75dc4830e1f35546ad5903 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e8c937ad4fb1fbed0b539897d6f00d68.pdf 7e9819eb680757757ac98c24df1bb845 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Jack Kennedy World War II 39 minutes 28 seconds (00:00:10) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Butterworth Hospital on April 17, 1924 -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Lived across from Blodgett Emergency -Whenever it rained he would cut through the hospital on the way to school -Father ran a mattress factory -During the Great Depression it was tough, but he was still able to make money -Able to keep his business through the Great Depression (00:01:38) Start of the War -He was in high school when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941 -Followed news of the war in Europe and Asia prior to Pearl Harbor -Remembers the news about Pearl Harbor being on every radio -A lot of young men decided that they were going to enlist after Pearl Harbor -He decided to just wait to get drafted -Father wanted him to have some college education before being drafted -Took him to Michigan State University and enrolled him there in January 1942 -Able to stay at Michigan State for one semester (00:04:36) Getting Drafted -Got drafted into the Army Air Force -He wanted to be in the Army Air Force anyway, so it worked out in his favor (00:04:55) Training -Received some training in Salt Lake City, Utah after basic training was done -Didn't enjoy basic training -Had to go through it twice -Once after he was processed, and again after he joined his unit in Utah -Went to Bowman Field, Kentucky for basic training -During basic training there was a focus on marching -Wasn't difficult for him because he had been in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps -Not a lot of emphasis on discipline -Went to Salt Lake City after training at Bowman Field (00:08:10) Stationed in the United States -He was assigned to be a medic in Salt Lake City -Medic training consisted of learning how to treat wounds and unload wounded men from aircraft -It was pretty rigorous training, but good training -Contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized for thirty one days -After that returned to his original unit �-Had a lot of time off when he was stationed at an Army base in Indiana -Able to go home a lot -By the time he got to Indiana he had been transferred to the regular Army as a medic (00:14:17) Deployment to the European Theatre -On New Year's Eve he had some leave time in New York City -Had a good time and stayed up all night -It was the end of 1943 going into 1944 -Note: Based on later information, most likely end of 1944 going into 1945 -Sailed on a Liberty Ship -The voyage over was not a good one -The North Atlantic Ocean is not a good place to be in the winter -Almost everyone got seasick -Sailed as part of a convoy -Saw a couple U-Boats that were chased away by their escorts -Took only six days to cross the Atlantic Ocean (00:17:00) Advancing through Europe -Landed in France in early 1945 -His medical battalion was attached to the 3rd Army -Joined them in France -Plan was to follow Patton's 3rd Army -It wasn't a good time -A lot of time was spent walking -Travelled by truck a little, but mostly advanced on foot -Established field hospitals as they advanced through Europe -His job was as a surgical technician -Had to participate in operations -It was interesting, but felt confining to not know how long they would be in an area -Didn't stay in the first area too long -Moved across France and got to the German border -Crossed the Rhine River into Germany -From that point on they were walking -Travelled across France on boxcars -Didn't see much destruction from the Allied bombing campaign -Some areas were damaged, but it wasn't as bad in the countryside and small towns (00:22:58) Field Hospitals -The field hospitals were pretty simple -A tent with a surgery cot for the badly wounded -Basically, a place to stabilize men and then move them on to a bigger hospital -Later on could get set up in buildings and live and work in them -Took over any buildings that were available -Most buildings had been abandoned �(00:24:45) Advancing through Germany -Started seeing a lot more German civilians as they advanced through Germany -They were friendly and didn't seem afraid of American soldiers -Gave them medical aid if they needed it -Saw concentration camps and prisoner of war camps -Didn't see many displaced persons (00:27:18) End of the War Pt. 1 -In Germany when Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 -They were heading north towards the Baltic Sea -Unit was most likely no longer attached to the 3rd Army -Didn't see any Soviet or French forces -Did see some British troops though (00:28:31) General Patton -Saw General Patton a few times -Didn't hero worship him because he saw him as just another human being -Thought he was a good military leader, but not a pleasant person to be around (00:29:13) Concentration Camps & Prisoner of War Camps Pt. 1 -Saw German prisoner of war camps and concentration camps -Based on the living conditions, knew that the prisoners weren't treated well (00:29:31) Occupation Duty in Germany & End of War Pt. 2 -Stayed in Germany for months after the Germans surrendered -Set up a field hospital in Germany -In Germany when the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945 -They had originally been slated to go to the Pacific Theatre for the invasion of Japan -Heard about the atomic bombs being dropped while they were still in Germany -The hospital they established in Germany was for treating American military personnel -After the war was over they spent a lot of time just trying to find something to do -Commanding officer told them that they couldn't just sit around -He decided to learn how to ski, but basically had to teach himself -Went to a German ski resort town and found a German instructor -Paid him in cigarettes to teach him how to ski -Had to deal with a language barrier -Didn't travel around Europe after the war (00:34:30) Concentration Camps & Prisoner of War Camps Pt. 2 -Commanding officer was adamant that the men saw what the Nazis did at the death camps -It was not good -Only corpses remained by the time he saw the concentration camps -Survivors had most likely been evacuated (00:35:38) Coming Home & End of Service -Left Europe in 1946 -Arrived in New Jersey and didn't stay there very long -Sent to Camp Atterbury, Indiana and got discharged there (00:36:35) Life after the War -Went back to college at Michigan State University �-Father insisted that he went back to school -Studied business administration -Father encouraged him to take insurance courses -Worked for his father at the mattress factory and inherited it -Retired from there in 1991 (00:37:58) Reflections on Service -Believes that he got a lot of good things out of his service -There were times during it that he wondered what they were doing in the war -It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't all good either -Got along well with the other men that he served with -Doctors were good at what they did and stayed focus � 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 RHC-27_KennedyJ1788V Title A name given to the resource Kennedy, Jack W (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-06-28 Description An account of the resource Jack Kennedy was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 17, 1924. He grew up there and in the summer of 1942 was drafted into the Army Air Force. He received basic training at Bowman Field, Kentucky and was then sent to Salt Lake City, Utah for medic training. He was eventually transferred to a regular medical battalion in the Army and was stationed in Indiana. In early 1945 he shipped out of the United States and arrived in France. His unit followed Patton's Third Army across northern France and over the Rhine River into Germany. After the war ended his unit established a field hospital and stayed for the rest of 1945. In 1946 he was shipped back to the United States and was discharged at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, Jack W. 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 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5d0f7c834a601751758be853dca66d16.pdf 268902caf38313860e7dcb914a304cf9 PDF Text Text t i / !£~~ 'vfu_ rv~vt ~ ~ ;/-. // ~ ~ 1 ~ ~U1/{ ~µd"",d ,fi~ ~r.~ Jiu~"! 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WtAi" ~ ~~ ft; .v£w .l~ ' ' ~ ~. • ; ~ _ ~ 4../,~ ( f Jf.,/ c.J ,l' fN. r,· 2~ . tt,,'7 .· ~ _ ,,;...,,G;. ~ · ' i_ ,,,,. ~ t4- ~I $ ~ 1..vu-i ..,\ .v,4 4- ~ 4 !ti . .It~ .t?1u tt+-i.,~ -~-~--,:) . µ /J ~ -,> - £v ~ f.4J ,t ~ ' - fi""-1' . ~ ;~ v"~;,- c;,...,~,,,£ ef _-i .#,,,,Ji . ./~/4 ~ wt::1 ¼~ 'U 4/. t .t. ~ .7-. :~ a/4.J,7 lt;:;. . ~ 4-C/ Jt: ' ~~~ U~ ~ A,,. L. PL 1:-----7 ,tu__ 1 a .~;(-.~ l' ~ i( h-,))' - r")- ~ , puJ./' P~/ /w1,A/ . ~C1,t~ ;+ !l /J( ~ ?f,l,,. , ? y ~ ':;? ~ • . ~ 4 ~ ~ ;...,_ "'-< ~ ) , ~ . Jt,""' ~ t{ It : ~,,_,e ,,aJftY7A- ~ / I-{ y- t-1:.,'4 la:Jt.A;// ~) If- ~ 2{~ -- ·~J (~ ' > W<.. .· /"/~ . ~ :·~ · :·. /z;-' -~ '\ .. ·~ (t. ·4;~ ~ ' ~ ¼~/ c ~ ·~ / .~If ~ ~~ ~· ~) / //'J- : .i/o...-J { £,.,,_ hm. µ<- / ~~, j,U.:,., / ~ 4,/ ~~ ~ ~ ·~c- - ~-(4 ./ _:::! v,/ ft~ _!14. ' /~,d- ' ~ t( puJ ~ u / ~ )' ~ '~ • f d~ ~ /4~,:Y .4-"'41 ~ ~ / . ('~ ,e.. •. . ~4 f- ~ ~ --1-- ~ + I ~i, t I . /4'4 ·. � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b8587f79ba68f5a2d2062cff713415f1.pdf d2c719a588b9b4cffd722fc7e9938847 PDF Text Text [Page 1] Ellicott Mills July 9. 1855 My dear Sir I received yours of the 30th a few days ago and have waited only for a leisure moment to answer it. The American party certainly were brought to the best of their strength in Philadelphia; and the result was hardly unexpected which demonstrated that it could not be unanimous. The Northern men seem determined that we shall not have a peaceful and prosperous country if they can prevent it. But still I think that there is something more than a germ of a patriotic national party, north and west, which is even now strong, and which will grow rapidly in the future. I mention this only that we may infer that I do not give up the hope of finding the new organization. �[Page 2] capable of leading to some permanent vow, notwithstanding the dissent and disturbance of the recent proceedings. At all events -- I hope. In regard to the movement we suggest, this hope has some influence upon me yet. I would not like to do any thing which might impair Mr T.’s chance of nomination in that body. My present opinion is that they will find Mr. T a reality which they cannot forego. And that will be because -- as you say -- he is stronger than any party or platform. It might injure him, therefore, to identify him with a party, by such a nomination as you propose. I think the course of things will be this -- There will be a series of spontaneous nominations made through the presses over the whole South -- These will be made first by Whig Presses -- or presses in affinity with them -- and will be taken up in the same way by the national Democratic presses -- the anti administration organs of the south. These �[Page 3] will say, “to such theme -- and that he is platform enough for them.” Then, the inclination of the Southern American party will be in the same direction; and we may have manifestations of this in many quarters -- a series of such preliminary demonstrations -- which may be looked for when the time is ripe for it, I fear would be prostrated or put at hazard by a regular, formal, old party nomination. There will be great difficulty in any attempt to organize a national convention -- the same devil of discord which has broken in upon the past conventions will be in waiting to mar any other we might gather hereafter. I don’t think the people of the south of either party will go into a national convention, or abide by one if made. Now, what I should like to see done, would be to make a strong expression of popular sentiment, without reference to party -- either old or new -- throughout Pennsylvania in [?] of Mr. T. I believe Pa[Pennsylvania] is strongly set in his favor, and if a course of [?] nominations were to be commenced there -- so authoritative as to �[Page 4] [docketed text] J. P. Kennedy show the States to be for him, it would inspire the whole south with a fervor in the subject that would show the rest of the states how useless it would be to nominate any one else -- and this again would rally the whole Conservative body -- what ever that may be -- of the North. The American party whose inclinations to Mr. T. an already very good, would see that their own strength would be greatly increased by adopting the nomination and giving it the full weight of their organizations. The dissenting Americans are all fast marching to the Buffalo platform of 1848 -- to its leaders, and to their fate -- I hope. I have no time for more than these few desultory hints, to which I ask your reflection; and I shall be glad to hear from you any suggestions they may induce you to make, as I think the subject one of great importance, and one, also, to which our friends should be giving early attention. Address to me here at Ellicott Mills. Very truly yours, John P. Kennedy The Hon. Nathan Sargent, Esq. � 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-44_NS1-15446 Title A name given to the resource Nathan Sargent from John P. Kennedy, July 9, 1855 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1855-07-09 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, John Pendleton, 1795-1870 Description An account of the resource Letter discussing the regional differences for the Presidential nomination, the formation of a national convention, and negotiations with the American party over the nomination. Subject The topic of the resource Sargent, Nathan, 1794-1875 Clayton, John M. (John Middleton), 1796-1856 Whig Party (U.S.) United States--Politics and government--19th century United States--Officials and employees Washington (D.C.) Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent papers, (RHC-44)</a> 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/e1f7b36b067e0f260054dbddc8f0f351.pdf bef1d54da529a4a3819693f3d7ca7446 PDF Text Text ~ OUOv? .,,c lI V1 ~ ~ t7 ~ ~~~ :-~ ~ ~ .t i ~ ~, . I .1~~ ,, . ~ ~--~ ~ ~ 1y.; ~ ! (. ,/4,. r:c,1.:t, 1~. ~J ~~ ·' ~LJ wvvr;_ 4h ~4 · ~a_,_ ;;l~ l '7 ~ i r[H; ~ r"'-'1 · r:_~ Cve~ ~ ! ~ . ~ ~-~ /Jc~ ~vi;y-4/- · ; ~ I \J'~ ~ ~ ~ /4,ovf~~- "'-<1<. -~ .~ ~4.2.. / + ~ t 4e ,{t~ / vi. ~~ {;r,,._ ·1 'hi~- ~:) .;ti:;~ : ~ ~ ,; /7 ( ~ . _a.J ""·-~'Y' j ( .fe;__ . ~ :,1f ft: ~;~ ~) ~ ~~ a : d ~ O ~ /. ' A 7 LA . h .~ .t ~~ ~./'/ ~ y /Lr.,_ ( ~ 1~~ 4 t c-<; _ ~~ �J, I: /Ct·vVIA-<-'-J._1 ),i-c, '7 / n1tt.1 ~,) r / ~ ~ iV~ (:f ¥ ~ ~/( t .. ~~~ tt ½ ~ {4 ~ ~ . ] i ,,. l • � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f5c50ad58af007ec9627d0dad1ef68e1.pdf e77b1224ea325a72e040a304eaf8cab8 PDF Text Text [Page 1] Ellicotts Mills July 17. 1854 My dear Sir Your letter of the 1st has been by me for some time. I should have acknowledged it immediately but wishing to see Monroe and the Editors of the American. I have deferred doing so till now. And now I am obliged to say to you that sickness in my family together with the extreme hot weather have prevented me from calling on the proprietors of these papers on the subject. I am pleased with the idea you suggest and will do any thing I can to promote it. But for the present can say nothing as to its practicability. I hope to see these [?] �[Page 2] soon, and I will after that let you know what they think of the proposition. Very truly yours John P. Kennedy N. Sargent Esq. � 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-44_NS1-15447 Title A name given to the resource Nathan Sargent from John P. Kennedy, July 17, 1854 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1854-07-17 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, John Pendleton, 1795-1870 Description An account of the resource Letter regarding an article published in the American. Subject The topic of the resource Sargent, Nathan, 1794-1875 Clayton, John M. (John Middleton), 1796-1856 Whig Party (U.S.) United States--Politics and government--19th century United States--Officials and employees Washington (D.C.) Mexico Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent papers, (RHC-44)</a> 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/c4be59e370502f7fc33241e293ad66e8.pdf 775954d722468d7236efc05e2775a40b PDF Text Text t • ...- . . ... ,le;, · ,,. . · 'l . • .... ·' l ft?/>- j .__:) ~c: 7 z /4.._ ~ · /~'1A r -~ ~ 2; ~ Y ~ - . ~,(,.,A~ ~~- 4 4: ~ ~~ A. ~ ~ ~c. - ~A ~ hz ~ /4 7 A- ~ JvyJ,Jpt « ~ h J .;J ~,, . . . .--~ 4 ~ 1 .v'--7 4: 7~ L- · ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ .~ • ~ ~~ . ,/747fh ;c__,) ~ ~~,/4_ ~ /'-,, / M,. ~ ~ ;_,._ 4 ... ~4 z· ..-,,· ~ -"'- 2' J O'LJ"- ~ /~ - 4;-~~ ktv1~~ ~ ,It,_ ~ / A 0A14/~~ _ . -~ ¼~ z ,z- ~ C- -":f /4:- /~~ ~ ~ ~.,.. .~ / / ~ ~ , , £ . ~ ~I, . ~ 4/,4 . �( c lvtrH.~ ~ ,-. 'iJ" _j ,,t"-7 · . ~ ·t-..::~ ~ ) P-4,,,H I • ~ ·~ ly,/4 : <>-/ ~ /-:- • f~ fr" ~ fo- /4: J7v'-~ AC·c/'L. ~ 1 r- /(._ I• c4 ht~ ~ L A . ~ 7 4 l ;L kJ~ t: 4 ~ ~:- 7 ?t ~j 4 I J ~ { ;/ 'a,t k,- /4 / ~ fr~ ~ ~ ht~~/ ~~t--Aj ~ fa ~4 :J h ~ .. ' .. .. " • > � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/baf7b9161a28c606dca3a6f5ab03aca9.pdf 94e2bcc91abc8af77897d2ddedcf7869 PDF Text Text [Page 1] My Dear Sir I received your letter and was in hopes it would by followed by the papers containing the notice you spoke of of the commercial question suggested by my report. Will you do me the favour to send them to me? I forwarded to you a few days ago a copy of the Report on African Colonization which has at last made its appearance. It was the delay of this report and the conputation[?] of it through the that prevented me making the competition we desired of the work of the committee on commerce during the last congress. You will �[Page 2] find this report extremely valuable for the amount and quality of its matters as well as for the great importance of the question it presents. In regard to the prospects of the Whig party I think it may be said the every day we are making assurance doubly free [?] Yours truly J.P. Kennedy Balt. Nov. 8 1843 N. Sargent Esq. � 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-44_NS1-15448 Title A name given to the resource Nathan Sargent from John Pendleton Kennedy, November 8, 1853 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1853-11-08 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kennedy, John Pendleton, 1795-1870 Description An account of the resource Letter regarding the Report on African Colonization. Subject The topic of the resource Sargent, Nathan, 1794-1875 Clay, Henry, 1777-1852 United States--Politics and government--19th century United States--Officials and employees United States. Congress. Senate Ashland (Ky.) Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent papers, (RHC-44)</a> 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/fcdd5eb503f91b837e816d01402e7d0a.pdf 37eade857e00abc1f66a465278467757 PDF Text Text We blow our own horn! VOLUME XV N O V E MB E R 1 9 9 0 NUMBER 11 Published by Recreation Therapy HA P p y Th~ Bugle has been in existance since 1976, I have endeavored to give it an interesting mix. A mixture of: poetry, news, birthdays and events, I hope that when you read it-it's time well spent. Through 14 years of writing, A joy it has been, Distributing the patients news to all our friends. As each month is written changes There will be. I hope you enjoy it-is the message from me. Betty Cook B I R T HD A Y KENT COMMUNITY HOSPITAL - 750 Fuller N.E. Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 �N O V E MB E R November is a somber month When leaves are dry and sereJ It follows Octobers bright blue weather The eleventh month of the year. Its time to think of bygone daysJ Of a summer long since pastJ And when a sunny day comes along We hope that they will last. It's a time we hold important elections And hope the voters make good selections. The potatoes are dugJ corn is in the cribJ Vegetables are canned and the mows full of hayJ Enough to feed the barnyard folksJ For many a cold winters dayJ We can always hope the bad storms miss us. When the newspapers begin telling usJ Its just a few more weeks until Christmas. Then there's Thanksgiving to look forward toJ Its one of our favorite daysJ lots of food on the tableJ Celebrated in many different ways, So ends the month of November Moy it usher in a beautiful December. Anna Mergener If wisdoms ways you'd wisely seek Five things observe with care. Of whom you speakJ to whom you speakJ and howJ and when and where. Anna Mergener Community Education C.lasses are great! Mens Group - Global Studies - with Gerritt Ten Brink People and Places and World News with Jane Hall. Great to have · these folks on board. Grand Valley State College-TR students who were with us: kathY DoyleJ Sara MaximJ Stacy KnightJ Tonya GreenJ Lynn KlOO$traJ Kathy MeJdrumJ Chris MileskyJ Traci TookerJ Amy RottmanJ Beth H1llJ Beth Carlise. �BEAR FACTS CryingJ teardropsJ screamingJ bawl; DreamingJ slumberJ nappingJ rest; SicknessJ coughingJ headacheJ illJ Bear is always there. ReadingJ whistleJ singingJ hums; SecretsJ sharingJ whisperingJ cares; PlayingJ bouncesJ hidingJ fun; Bear is always there. ChatterJ gossipJ jabberingJ talk; TroubledJ frustrationsJ upsetJ blue; GratefulJ comfortJ orotectingJ calm; Bear is always there. 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 10 NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS Tinnie Tisdale Jacquelyn Harris William Robinson Daniel Weber Rose Kanady Gladys Mohnke Estelle Edney Anna Weber Geraldine Bailey Delores Powers Julia Soules Armon Gilmour SubduedJ defeatJ losingJ fail; GrieL distress., mourningJ sad; TiredJ wearyJ fatiqueJ beat; Bear is always there. TriumphsJ delightJ jokingJ joys; TreasureJ cherishJ valueJ keep; SuccessJ advanceJ movingJ plans; Bear is always there. Laura Block Jessie Champion Elizabeth Cowman James Levine Andrew Nezwek Hazel Terveen Bertha Liefbroer Leroy Lucas Ruby Stubbs Viola Webb Rachel Evans Lottie Sadowski 102 years old HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL OF YOU! 13 15 19 20 22 24 25 26 27 30 �Change is Constant There is one thing in Life that is Constant And that is the thing we call "Change"J For nothing in Life is "For Always"J · Not even a mountain range,,. You look at a river todayJ It will rise or fall on the morrow. Water going over a dam May bring Joy or sorrow .. You watch the ocean roll in .. Soon the tide will start going out .. It's change after change in the waterJ And change is what Life's all about .. Time changes-each second goes past us. The surh a new course in the sky ... Each season has new things to offer . . No need for you to ask why,, A birth-a death-Life's renewalJ An ending-so New can begin .. A year becomes history-it passes .. Humans suffer a loss or a win .. Life is constantly changing,. Each Pearson born new every day,. And God in His infinite wisdom SaysJ "changes are here to stay" Clem H. Block 0 When we look for a Gem! We call on Clem. His poems we all seekJ We findJ "They can't be beat!" Best wishes to Clem todayJ And everyday along the wayJ Our best wishes to youJ In everything you do. Betty Cook Clem will be sharing his poetry with us on November 19. We look forward to his sharing is poetry with us. �HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE I was walking down life's highway a long time ago, One day I saw a sign that read Heaven's Grocery Store. As I got a little closerJ the door came open wideJ and when I came to myself I was standing inside. I was a host of angels. They were standing everywhere. One handed me a basket and saidJ "MY childJ shop with care." Everything a Christian needed was in that Grocery StoreJ and all you couldn't carryJ you could come back the next day for more. FirstJ I got some Patience. Love was in the same row. Further down was UnderstandingJ you need that everywhere you go, I got a box or two of Wisdom and a bag or two of Faith. I just couldn't miss the Holy Spirit it was all over the place. I stopped to get some Strength and Courage to help me run this race. By then my basket was getting fullJ but I remembered I needed some Grace. I did'nt forget SalvationJ for SalvationJ that was free. I tried to get enough of that to save both you and me. Then I started up to the counter to pay my grocery billJ for I thought I had everything to do my Master's will. As I went up the aisle I saw Prayer and I just had to put that inJ for I knew when I stepped outsideJ I would run right into sin. Peace and Joy were plentifulJ they were on the last shelf. Song and Praises were hanging near so I just helped myself. Then I said to the Angel"NowJ how much do I owe?" He just smiled and saidJ "Just take them everywhere you go." Again I smiled at him and said, "How muchJ nowJ do I really owe?" He smiled again and saidJ "MY ChildJ Jesus paid your bill a long time ago," "God sometimes puts in the dark to prove that he is light." <Anonymous) Submitted by Connie Deason .. �A TRADITIONAL INDIAN GATHERING The POW WOW The purpose of the pow-wow are manyJ but they are mainly held to bring families together to share artJ craftsJ danceJ customsJ foodJ and to renew old friendships, FurtherJ a pow-wow allows the young to learn to danceJ become familiar with regalia and to provide an opport-unitY to learn from their elders. Historically in MichiganJ these gatherings were held in springJ summer and early fall. The dance arena is set up with the opening to the east, It is the area around the drums. The opening is to the east because Indian people look to recognize the beginnings of all things, Grand entry is the first dance of the day, Grand entry is a time to create a sacred circle to symbolize the circle of life. The participants ask our Grandfather and our ancestors to witness this physical testimony of belief and continuation of old ways, Because both physical and spiritual attention is focused on this eventJ those who enter the area first have a great place of honor and responsibility, Grand entry begins with the carry in of our flags, These flags are carried in by veteransJ often times combat veterans. The Head Veteran Dancer will be among these men. It is his responsibility to arrange for other veterans to carry flags and for retrieval of any fallen eagle feather~ during the pow-wow. He also represents all Indian people who have given their lives for our country, Follwing the flag carriers are the two dancers who have been chosen to lead the dances. This man and woman are expected to know all the dances and songs, They must be able to dance any dance that is called for. The traditional women dancers follow the male fancy dancers. Great dignity and pride belongs to these women dancers. Our women are the life-givers. They are like Mother EarthJ so when a traditional woman dancesJ each step maintains a connection with the earthJ allowing her and Mother Earth to be one. The women fancy _or shawl dancers are the last to enter the dance arena. This dance depicts the first butterflies that the Creator placed on earth. The shawl spread while dancing look like butterfly wings, �(INDIAN TRADITION-POW-WOW CONTINUED) The drum is the heartbeat of the Indian .Nations. It is to be looked upon with respect, The term "drum" is used to refer to the group of singers who sing around the drum as well as the instrument itself, Each drum has a lead singer who leads the songs and is in charge of who may or may not sit at the drum. During the pow-wow you may see that a drum has been covered or that only one singer is sitting at the drum, The drum is never left unattended if not covered. We believe that during the dance the drum represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth and is the central harmony of the people at the gathering~ therefore if the drum is not in use it is either covered or attended to by one singer. No one it to play or hit it. Unlike most musicJ our songs are not written down. We learn them from our elders and pass them down to our children, Like all other musicJ our songs can express loveJ deathJ joyJ despairJ and victory, To those unfamiliar with our cultureJ the songs may sound strange and seem not have a meaning or pattern. However the songs are very structured and follow a pattern. Throughout the pow-wow you may be asked to stand for the honor song, These songs are sung at the request of individuals. The Masters of Cermonies will explain who has requested the song and why, The majoriety of the songs used are called "vocables", This means that instead of actual wordsJ a series of sounds are being used. The sounds are not randomly reproducedJ but are used in precisely as they were rassed down. Most of the sound is from the back of the throat and nasal in tone. A vocable is formed by the tongue with very little lip movement. There are a variety of dances that will take place during the pow-wow. Most of the dances will be Inter-Tribal dances. These are the dances anyone may participate. Speciality dances include honor dancesJ two stepJ snakeJ round danceJ and the crow hop to name a few. The Masters of Cermonies will announce the type of dance. The give-away is an important part of the pow-wow. The give-away is a way of showing our appreciation to the pow-wow participates and others for their coming and joining our celebration of life. It is a way of teaching our children the traditional way of sharingJ recognizingJ and honoring others. MICHINEMACKINONG Native American Culture _,....r--t, Marquette Museum of Ojibwa Culture c:__..::] _ __ St. IgnaceJ Michigan . ------------------------------------------------- �THE FIRST BUTTERFLIES When human twins were born to Spirit Woman1 she relied on the animals to help her. The animals loved the children and cared for them. Wolf hunted for them. Bear gave his fur to keep them warm. Raccoon washed their food. Beaver and Muskrat washed them. Birds sang lullabies and Dog watched over them. The twins had only to cry out and Dog would become alert. discover the source of irritation and set it right or call someone who could. If the babies needed fresh moss to keep them comfortable1 Dog went to Beaver and Muskrat. If they needed food he went to wolf for meat and Deer for milk. He asked Spider to help keep the flies away, And he1 himself would jump and snap at the flies until the babies laughed. If the babies were lonel~ he would do his best tricks to make them laugh. With his duties finished he would set down beside them until he was needed again. After a long time the animals became worried1 the children did not run and Play like their own young, Summonded by Bear1 they gathered to discuss the problem and to find a way to correct it. Wolf arose. "They are not wea K>They eat much meat." Deer agreed. Every day they drank her milk. Beaver and Muskrat told how the children could wave their arms and legs at bathing time. Indeed they often splashed until everyone was wet and Beaver and M:Js:krat had lost their patience. They could also wiggle as Fish had taught them. Win-a-bo-shoo addressed the animals. "You have done well. In fact you done so well that the children never have to do anything for themselves. All babies need excerise. They need to reach for things they cannot touch1 as later they will reach out in another way, Let me see what I can do." Win-a-bo-shoo traveled far to the west1 to the land of high mountains where cloudy peaks reach to the sky, It was here that he spoke to the Great Spir it. Since he was the Creator of the twins arid had been watching them he knew what had been watching them he knew what had to be done. At his instruction1 Win-a-bo-shoo searched the slopes of the mountains until he found many tiny sparkling stones, He collected the blue1 green1 red and yellow stones and placed them in a Pile that gleamed through the clouds. He sat down beside the pile and watched them for awhile. He soon became bored and restless. He began tossing the stones1 one after another into the air1 catching them as they fell back to earth. He tossed up a handful and caught the stones as they fe 11 back to earth. He tossed them up again1 expecting to catch them again. But no stones fell into his hand. He looked up, The stones were changing into winged creatures of many colors and �(Butterflies continued) shapes fluttering here and there coming to rest on Win-a-bo-shoo. Soon he was surrounded by clouds of shifting color. These were the first butterflies. Following Win-a-bo-shoo they flew to the twinsJ who crowing with Pleasut waved their arms and legs at the hovering butterflies. The butterflies always stayed just beyond the grasp of the children. With the butterflies for toys to chase the babies soon began to crawl ar walk and finally run after them. With the help of the animals the human twins grew up and in the course c time more children were born to the Anishnabeg, RIDDLE TAKE A NUMBER from 1 to 9 add 5 multiply by 50 add 1740 subtract the year you were born RESULT: First digit is the number you chose Next 2 digits are your age. Submitted by Dena Korfker It seems rather odd writing an article to let you know about myself when I'm nearing the end of my internship, As you know~ I'm a student at Grand Valley State University majoring in Therapeutic Recreation. I plan on graduating in December with a Bachelors degree and would like to continue working with the older population. . lk. I've met so many interesting patients here and have enJ9yed ta ing with youJ doing different activities with vouJ and getting to kn9w you. I've thoroughly enjoyed the time I've spent at Kent Community Hospital and all of the people. Cathy Brandli ------------------------------------------------------------------.. ~ .. RESIDENTS OF THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER: AND ALFRED ANDERSON Best wishes to you! FRANK ANTHONY Elsie's Gang had a great time recently celebrating Rosa Haynes Birthday, It •:as a lot of fun and a real surprise . for Ro~a. We're·glad Elsie is back and doing well following her surgery, We appreciate you Elsie! • �I . . S-unday Monday r-,--uesdQY_ Wednesda HAPPY THANKSGIVING ~ .. ·- - ·· s- l 1 6 VCR. n 0111 t program /~ I/ r 10: 30 . Mass 1 7 9-Crafts 9-Crafts 10:30 Mass 10-Rhythm Band 10-People and 11: 00 Calvary , 10:00 Pets Places-CE 1:30-Mens Group Church Humane Society 2-Inspiration H ~-Sing-A-Long 2:00 Punch Bowl 2-THE BEST OF 3 East 'ON THE MICHIGAN 4:30 Y/A Dinner ROAD"-Dick Evan 110-- Shopping 11:00 Boston Sq trip-Northkent C.R. Church 2-String Along Stories 2:00 Punch Bowl ON Unit program 3N-3S 7-wALTER HUSTED Orchestra . _ _TrulA~S DAY 0 I:;· I~ , _3 /';' 9-Crafts 9-Crafts 10-Rhythm Band 10-People and 1:30 KCHC MENS Places-CE LUNCH :30 Mens Group 2-Sing-A-Long -Inspiration Hr :30 4N-4S-3N Dinner .Zo Jl / Thu rsda 19-Never Give U lO:OO Lloyd & Doro th Bro n 2-Carl ~c osrer 3:30 Stroke Ed. MUSIC ON UNITS 4 : 3,0 Fizz/ !'art 7-World.~ews Community Ed. ' ' • -Breakfast 3 10 : 30 S uns h'ine rO : 00 Movies . ,. . ,. Fun Time 3:00 Vesper :00 St. Isador sGroup Children 4: 30 CANDLELIGH DINNER /0 ~Never· ·cive tJ~9B;eakfast 10:30 MEMORIAL 10:30 Sunshine SERVICE "Fun Time" 10:00 Movie~ 2-Australia and 3:00 Vesper Group 2-Hap~y Birthda _ New Zeeland · __(!_~-~ Dr. Glenda 7:00 Roaring Carl Mc Osker Taylor 20's 3:30 Strok e Ed. SUNSHINE GUILD Music on Uni ts 'HOLIDAY AFFAIR" 7Ct: 1 , )'? . s- Never Give U /(. Breakfast 10:30 Sunshine 10:00 Movies 10-Geri Gym . "Fun Time" 2-Carl Mc Osker 3:00 Vesper 3:30 Stroke Ed. 2:00 Party for Group MUSIC ON UNITS Cathy Brandli ?·world News - CE ~.A ~3 ;;/ 'f Breakfast 9-Crafts 10:00 1 0 : 3 0 Mass . ~ l O- Geri. Gym 10-People and Club ev. Dennis 11 :00 Evangelical THANKSGIVING Covenant Churc 11-RESIDENTS Places CE :30 Mens Group DAY 3G~8u¥esper COUNCIL 11: 30 BIRTHDAY ------2:00 Movies - MAPLE GROVE 2:00 Punch Bowl 112-Luncheon with PARADES- TV LUNCH PARTY 2N-2S Clem Block 2-'l'HANKSGIVING 2-Music SERVICE-Rev. VCR-Tha0ksgivi~g Promise On Unit Program Vern Haas - - - - - i 7-Garoe s _ _ _ ---- - - - - - , ~ ; - - - - - - - - - - t - - - - - - - : - - - - f - : : - - : - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - :1.,"< C -v 7 2 8 -~ 0 N G· U 3 c.> 10- Shopping Tri 9-Crafts 9-Crafts ~-,, ev~r ive '9-Breakfast Clu 10:30 Mass Northkent Mall 0-Rhythm Band 10-People and lO-Geri Gym 10:30 Sunshine 2 -carl Mc Osker Guild "Fun Time." 11: 00 First . 1: 30 KCHC MENS Places - CE 2-Geri Gym LUNCH 3:30 Stroke Ed. . Evangelical 2 - s·ing- A-Long on-Unit program USIC ON UNITS 2·00 Movies Free Church · :30 Mens Group · 7 -World News 4 East ?-Games -Inspiration Hr CE 2:00 Punch Bow 9-Crafts 0-Rhythm Band 0 -i � 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 Native American Publication Collection Subject The topic of the resource Native Americans Indians of North America Anthropology Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Michigan Description An account of the resource Selected digital surrogates of published and unpublished materials from the Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection dealing with different aspects of human culture and anthropology, with an emphasis on Native American people, events, organizations, and activities in Michigan. Includes newsletters, event programs, flyers, posters and other printed materials. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gillis, Edward V. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American Publication Collection (RHC-14)</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-21 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 Gi-gikinomaage-min Project (Kutsche Office of Local History) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-14 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1958-2000 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection, RHC-14</a> 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 RHC-14_kent-bugle_v15n11_1990-11 Title A name given to the resource Kent Patients Bugle, November 1990 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990-11 Description An account of the resource November 1990 (Volume 15, Number 11) issue of Kent Patients Bugle by the Kent Community Hospital collected by Edward Gillis included as part of his Native American publication collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kent Community Hospital Recreation Therapy Subject The topic of the resource Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Indians of North America Michigan Michigan -- Grand Rapids Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource 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> https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1616617b89c9a13ce391dd3222510876.mp4 be2e6d592399ac8445a2d1a4f5ba2e0b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4cc5a163c078eaf7627901f2ac03ef9e.pdf e5caaae6e6824bf131567d9a08fb347e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Dave Kenyon 45:39 Introduction (00:15)         Dave was born in Binghamton, New York on February 20, 1949. His father worked at a furniture manufacturing company and his mother worked for General Electric. They had four kids in the family, two brothers and one sister, and he was the second child. Dave graduated from high school in January 1967. After he graduated, he got a job at a flooring store working with carpet and ceramic. He was aware of Vietnam at the time, and he heard of people going there and being killed. His cousins were getting draft notices, but he did not watch much on the television. Dave received his own draft notice in 1968. He was given his physical and other testing there in Binghamton. (02:15) He doesn’t remember anyone trying hard to get out of military service while getting his physical. The physical was basic, mostly vitals. Dave was sent to Syracuse and flown to Fort Dix in March 1969. Training (03:09)           Basic training was conducted at Fort Dix. When he got there, they spent a couple of days for orientation which was when they were issued their uniforms and were checked into training. The first time they met their drill sergeant, he scared them all. Adjusting to military life was a little tough, especially waking up early and learning all the military discipline. Physical training, marching and weapons training were the main focuses of basic training. (04:30) Dave was in pretty good shape going in, so it did not bother him much. Most of the people in basic training with Dave were all from the east coast area. He also went in with his cousin. Most of the men were draftees. One red-headed sergeant that Dave remembers was a Vietnam veteran. Basic training lasted for 8 weeks, and then he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for AIT (Advanced Infantry Training). Dave was training to be a combat engineer. (06:47) AIT was much tougher physically than basic training. It was also more challenging mentally because of the classes and new things he had to learn about being an engineer but also the infantry aspect of shooting rifles and throwing hand grenades. �       They trained on an M-14 but once they got to Vietnam they were all issued M-16s. Dave was one of three men to max the PT (Physical Training) test. The instructors were also good, with some of them being Vietnam vets themselves, especially the demolition instructors. They did not get much training on being in Vietnam, just specialty training on being an engineer. AIT was another 8 weeks followed by 10 days leave back home. (08:42) While home on leave, he was stopped by a police officer for speeding but when Dave told him he was going to Vietnam he was let go without a ticket. When he came back from leave they were sent to Oakland, California. They flew commercially to Hawaii for refueling then on to Okinawa. From there, they went directly to Vietnam and flew into Cam Ranh Bay. Vietnam (10:11)                Dave’s first impression of Vietnam was that it was hot and sticky. The men he saw that were going home were all smiling, and it made him wonder what he was getting into. Once they got in country, they had a few days of indoctrination before he was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He was attached to the 326th Engineer Battalion. They were flown on a C-130 to Camp Eagle. At Camp Eagle, they were issued more gear and then trucked up to Camp Evans. Dave was in B Company. And when he first got there, he was called a ‘cherry’ and a ‘rookie’ by the men who were already there. (12:46) They were in camp for a couple weeks before he was sent into the field. That time on base was spent conducting special training like rappelling and walking out of a Chinook Helicopter and other things that the 101st made all new members go through. Dave arrived in Vietnam in August 1969. To clear an LZ (Landing Zone), they were given chainsaws and they cut down all the trees, they then used explosives for other things. One time he remembers having to rappel out of a helicopter. (14:50) One mission that he went on they had to clear booby traps in some buildings. He caught some shrapnel in his arm on that mission. They also went mine sweeping on the roads and found a large amount of TNT and blew it in place. After it was blown, another unit would come in and fix the road. Dave’s unit was designated for demolition, clearing and building firebases. They ran concertina wire, set trip wires and claymores. At night they had to pull guard duty, but they were usually brought back to the rear as soon as they were done. (16:30) When Dave arrived at Camp Evans, he met one of his best friends from school, John Hulver, who fought at Hamburger Hill. When the monsoons were coming, they blew up a dam and Dave never saw so much mud in his life. This was done in the A Shau Valley, and nothing could be done during the monsoon season because of the poor weather. Dave never saw the enemy the whole time he was there. Camp Evans was his home base for the duration of his tour in Vietnam. (18:35) In December, they went on a mission up to the DMZ, but he was back for Christmas. �          While in the rear, he re-built the mess hall and built an NCO club. Dave was always busy and normally worked by himself. The mess hall put out some good meals while in the rear, and the only time he had to eat c-rations was when they were out in the field. Dave had seven men in his squad. They were often sent out on missions by squad and they worked for a variety of different battalions. (20:24) In the rear, whites hung out with whites and blacks hung out with blacks. Men were usually either a pothead or a boozer, but he did not see much racial tension or fights. Other than marijuana, Dave did not see any other drugs, nor did he partake of them. He did drink beer that could be bought at the PX or the NCO club. In the field, most men did not smoke pot or drink beer. (22:44) Dave went to Hue and the Perfume River, and while there he noticed that everything was Americanized. Everything the Vietnamese people had was from the United States. The impression that Dave had with the locals was that they didn’t want them there. At the time, he felt that he was in Vietnam because he was called by his country to serve; now he feels that it was all politics and big business. (24:22) In March, the monsoon season was over and they went out and started building firebases. Ripcord (24:45)          The next big event that happened was in April when Dave went up to Ripcord, they arrived on the 1st of April and they were hit that day. They landed at a hot LZ. When they landed, he noticed there was no foliage due to bombings and Agent Orange. They planned on placing artillery on the hill that was Firebase Ripcord. Dave spent all day there and was mortared continuously and when night fell they were forced off Ripcord and hiked through the jungle in the dark a mile or two away. (27:03) He was dropped off with Bravo Company 2/506th. Dave spent the night there and a lieutenant came around and asked for volunteers to go back up the hill and bring back some bodies of three men that had been killed the previous day. They were not shot at when they were extracting the bodies. (28:30) After a while, they were brought back to Camp Evans and the grunts they were with stayed out in the field. Ten days later, they went back up to Ripcord with Charlie Company. They used bulldozers to build bunkers and he worked there for 2-3 weeks. Dave used Bangalore torpedoes from World War II to build some of these bunkers. Lieutenant Smith was in charge of the engineers and he served as platoon leader. (30:21) They blew up lots of tree stumps and cleared fields of fire. For the artillery positions, they were leveled off by the bulldozers. Dave also filled sand bags for several days. When they were staying at Ripcord, they slept in foxholes and they had to pull guard duty at night too. They did not receive any additional attacks or incomings after the April 1st attack. After the base was completed, Dave was sent back to the rear and was later sent to another artillery unit and performed some tile work. (32:52) At that point, Dave did not have a sense of what was going on in the war around him and he did not read Stars and Stripes or listen to the radio. �           During the summer when Ripcord was getting hit, Dave was not aware of it because his squad had been pulled out. At Camp Evans, they would sometimes get a rocket or mortar attack, but nothing serious and always sporadic. (34:57) They did not have much fun, but he did go to Eagle Beach once. Dave did not go on R&R because he did not know if he would be able to go back to Vietnam. One man he knew extended for two months to get an early out and was later killed, so Dave said he would never do that. Contact with the states was limited to letters from his parents and his family. He asked his family to send him magazines and jiffy-pop. Other things could be purchased on base at Camp Evans. (36:38) The new officers did a lot of stupid things and didn’t have much common sense. Civilians did the men’s laundry and they had to keep up on military uniform regulations while in the rear. Dave mostly did what he was told to do so that he didn’t rock the boat, but some men refused to do things like rappelling from the tower or practice. (38:50) The unit kept getting replacements and the new guys were taught by the older guys that had been there for a while. Dave left Vietnam in August. He turned in his gear at Camp Evans, and when they arrived at [Camron Bay] he noticed a huge difference in the lights. When he got on the plane, they were happy to be going home but he didn’t notice any new guys coming in as he was leaving. (40:52) Back in the States (41:09)        Their plane landed at Fort Lewis, Washington and they stayed there for a day or two before going back to New York. Dave flew home in uniform but did not have any problems with protestors. He was just happy to be back in the world. When he arrived back home, he still had six months left in service. He was stationed at Fort Belvoir and worked as a training NCO. The only duty he had was to come up with a training schedule for the guys. He did not have to pull any guard duty and he was able to go home every weekend. They mentioned re-enlisting, but he never thought about it because he knew he would be back in Vietnam in a year or two. Dave was discharged in March 1971. He took a couple of weeks off and then got a job working for as a carpenter. (43:22) After his friend was killed, he never complained about anything. He did learn discipline while in the army and it made him a better person. He also gained more appreciation for the things he had back in the states. He never spoke to anyone about Vietnam, and he finally began to when others like him started coming out and speaking about their experiences. � 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 KenyonD1543V Title A name given to the resource Kenyon, Dave (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kenyon, Dave Description An account of the resource Dave was born on February 20, 1949 in Binghamton, New York. He graduated from high school in 1967 and he received his draft notice in 1968. He was sent to Fort Dix for basic training and Fort Leonard Wood for AIT. Dave served as a combat engineer and was sent to Vietnam in August 1969. He was assigned to the 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Division. As an engineer, Dave helped build firebases, including Ripcord. He made it back to the United States in August 1970 and was discharged from the army in March 1971. 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 Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text 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 2013-10-12 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> 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/a0cc1e11ea2893222ea0d7b6ecb83d2c.m4v eec562dd252015b365457b410ca3e280 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b5af20fccbf361a64743b3cf340e636b.pdf 7b237f9f629e1c23b23f1a05dd1948ee PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Rodney Kenyon (46:25)  Background (00:10)  Born July 27 1933 (00:20)  Served during the Korean War and achieved the rank of Seaman (00:24)  Born in Middleville, Michigan (00:33)  Attended Thornapple-Kellogg High School  June 1952, he enlisted in the navy after receiving draft notice for the army, even though he had previously been in the naval reserve (00:50)  He went to naval reserve center after receiving the draft notice for the army, and was placed into the navy (02:00)  Went into the navy because of a great love for the navy (02:15)  He was homesick while serving in the army (02:50)  He was determined to do the best he could (03:40)  He was trained in fire drills and sea-faring (04:05)  After training he was assigned to a destroyer flotilla in Newport, Rhode Island (05:00)  He had typing experience in high school which qualified him to be a radioman (05:30)  He spent all of his time deployed on the east coast of the United states (06:10)  He was assigned to many ships because the Admiral would change his flagship often to any boat in port, 21 ships in sixteen months (06:40)  Sometime he was assigned multiple times to different ships without leaving port  Experience in England (08:25)  Went to London the week after the coronation of the queen 1953 (08:35) � They would practice maneuvers between the US Navy and US Air Force and the British Navy, which included air shows (08:50)  They would communicate by air mail to family back home (10:20)  The mail usually took no longer than five days (11:05)  The food was fine (11:25)  Grew up with two brothers and one sister (11:35)  They had about five cooks on board a destroyer to feed 350 crewmen (12:20)  He got along well with the officers, didn’t spend a lot of time with the enlisted crew because he was a radio man. He became good friends with one of the captains (13:50)  Entertainment (16:35)  Letters from home (16:40)  Married on boot leave (16:45)  His mother wrote him often (16:55)  Gambling on ships, but he never got involved (17:35)  He and his wife were saving money to buy a home (18:00)  While on leave the USO would give away tickets to sports and shows (18:40)  Service ended, he couldn’t wait to get out (19:30)  He was in the navy for 22 months ten days and eight hours (19:45)  The last six months he was assigned to the deck crew because of his record for changing ships (21 ships in sixteen months) (20:05)  He was assigned to a liberty boat (20:35)  The liberty boat is a craft that holds thirty-five to forty sailors and goes back and forth from ship to shore transporting (20:45)  It took about twenty minutes to go from ship to shore and another twenty to get back (21:15)  One of his experiences on a liberty boat took place during an extremely foggy night (21:55) � The officer on deck hadn’t received word that all the launches were canceled (22:00)  He wasn’t able to see the launch so he approached his officer and requested a compass in case the boat got lost on the way to shore (22:40)  The officer refused and accused him of insubordination (23:15)  So he was sent off on the boat without a compass, forty-five minutes after being in the liberty boat without seeing land, Rodney Kenyon assumed command to direct it to land (25:15)  He went to the bow of the ship and used a pole to feel in the water for rocks and land (25:40)  After being at the bow for a while he heard automobiles in the distance and directed the ship in that direction (26:10)  They found land (26:10)  He organized the crew, five all together, and pulled the boat on shore (26:30)  They were faced with a cliff and heard automobile traffic at the top so he led them in scaling the cliff (27:30)  He flagged down a marine patrol car (28:00)  The marine patrol accused them of deserting (28:40)  The Marines brought them to Newport because they were unable to contact the sailors command ship (29:10)  The marines handcuffed the group of five to benches (located at the boat landing) for the night (30:00)  They were picked up the next morning by the officer who had refused to give him a compass the night before (30:20)  Scariest moment of his naval career (31:00)  Korean experience (31:20)  His Admiral asked him to sign over for another three months of service in order to serve near Korea (32:00)  He refused the offer (34:00) � After his service ended he spent a couple days with his wife and then went back to work at his family’s dealership (35:30)  He joined the American Legion (36:00)  He was denied from joining the VFW because he hadn’t fought over in Korea (36:20)  He joined up with the Caledonia American Legion, Middleville did not have a post at the time, and has been with them since (37:40)  Service and experience changed his life around (38:40)  After his service he appreciated his town of Middleville (40:00)  (40:10) end � 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 KenyonR Title A name given to the resource Kenyon, Rodney (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kenyon, Rodney Description An account of the resource Rodney Kenyon enlisted in the US Navy in 1952 to avoid being drafted into the army and sent to Korea. He was assigned to the commodore's staff in a destroyer flotilla based in Newport, Rhode Island. He followed his commander from ship to ship, and eventually served on 21 different vessels before being assigned to duty on the base at Newport. He made regular trips across the Atlantic, but never served in a combat zone. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kenyon, Shelby (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text 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 2008-05-25 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> 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/5cf34ddb3b011bea52c5511a67db511d.mp4 aec15bb9a4892b3ff6a7bf9419473905 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b4595ee4512d7f0846da4f96f7f90bcf.pdf 9d866f0def68f3cbe9713cef131759b6 PDF Text Text Kenyon, Steve Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Gulf War/ Bosnia/ Afghanistan Interviewee’s Name: Steve Kenyon Length of Interview: (1:01:32) Interviewed by: James Smither Transcribed by: Maluhia Buhlman Interviewer: “We’re on.” I should be looking at you right, not the camera? Okay. Interviewer: “Okay, we’re talking today with Steve Kenyon of Grand Rapids, Michigan. We are at the 2017 LZ Michigan event sponsored by WGVU here in Grand Rapids, and Steve, start us off with some background on yourself ,and to begin with, where and when were you born?” (00:20) Sure, sure Jim hey and thank you for allowing me to talk about such a wonderful subject because it’s, you know, love of God, family, friends, neighbors and the United States of America those of us who served. So Jim I’m a Butterworth Hospital baby here in Grand Rapids, Michigan born in 1960 and went to Ottawa Hills High School, one of the City League high schools, wonderful wonderful great Grand Rapids experience. Went to Grand Rapids Junior College, got an associates degree there then onto Michigan State for a couple of degrees, couple of bachelor’s degrees, did a little bit of law school, natural gas business, military 34 years in the United States Army reserves and active, been blessed. Interviewer: “Okay so to back up a little bit, when did you initially enter the military?” Sure, you know it’s interesting my father– I grew up my dad retired as an Army colonel and he was logistics, armor, and medical service and my dad– Again, my hero, wonderful guy– He, let’s see in February of 1980 I’m a sophomore at Grand Rapids Junior College and dad works �Kenyon, Steve downtown at Michigan Consolidated gas company, happens to be commander of the 394 Station Hospital here in Grand Rapids as a Cold War hospital, 500 beds which is a huge activity– Cold War mobilization they would move to Heidelberg or Frankfurt, Germany take over facility. So you know growing up admiring my dad in the military, took us to summer camps with him. So I just always loved the military but, you know it’s interesting I never really thought of joining and again that’s an area when military is not very popular to a lot of other people and just one morning– A lot of times my dad he would drive me to school, drop me off because his office was close, JC right downtown here now Grand Rapids Community College, and just one morning he just said to me, you know “Steve have you ever thought about the military? You’ve got leadership qualities.” “Alright, well interesting Dad.” I didn’t really respond to him, well one week later I was in the recruiters office. Can still remember to this day Staff Sergeant Jerry– Sergeant 1st Class Jerry DeKulp, and within, you know an hour later I signed an eight year service obligation as an enlistment as a medic, an Army medic and you know. So I start, one month later I’m in uniform as an E1, that’s as low as you can be on the totem pole, with the 394 station hospital I haven’t gone to my basic training yet but so a unit of about 450 soldiers I was 450. (3:10) Now coincidentally my dad was number one he was commander of the O-6 and you know it was just a wonderful experience, loved it, so many great friends and I went on enlisted then for about eight months and then enrolled in the Army ROTC at Michigan State University, graduated distinguished military and got commissioned. Interviewer: “So they did not send you off anywhere for basic training along the way?” Yeah I did, yeah I went to Fort Knox Kentucky, yes sir I sure as heck did Fort Knox and– Interviewer: “When were you there?” That was July of 1980. Interviewer: “Okay, summer in Kentucky okay.” �Kenyon, Steve And yes boy oh boy still taste that combination, kind of like the day here we’re having in Grand Rapids, high humidity and hot but there’s that red clay dust that gets into your mouth and you just can’t get rid of that taste. There’s three hills, misery, agony, and I forget the other, everybody’s who’s done basic– At that time that’s when it was the Fort Knox was the armor school, now that has moved to Fort Benning since but you know General Patton’s museum, all of the wonderful things. Great experience, it was tough and loved it. Interviewer: “Okay, now do you think you went in there with a little bit better idea of what to expect than a lot of other guys did?” Yes sir I do, I sure did and I was motivated, you know mostly just that attitude of the finish line. I knew I was gonna get there and I was prepared, it was an exciting adventure to me, it is interesting and that’s a whole different conversation in itself, you know essentially you arrive on a Greyhound bus with 40 other guys, you get off the bus and different hair, certainly different clothing and 40 different guys. (4:57) Well about three hours later you walk out of the building with the same haircut wearing OD green, we’re still wearing fatigues back then and you know the shock starts and then you know then those first couple of nights sleeping in open bay barracks with 40 guys who snore and sleepwalk and on and on and on and we didn’t– We lost a couple of guys but we all made it, great experience you know those drill sergeants who were tough as can be but you know they’ve got such tremendous– They’re some of the most loving people in the world, they love the United States of America, they know that our military needs tough competent good soldiers and you know a few times those guys would break character. You’d see them, they– You know, it was fun, it was fun. Interviewer: “They’d show they actually did care about people?” They would never tell you that, you know we were scum but you know at graduation, and I was blessed I was the number one– I was the platoon leader for my platoon so a combination of peer ratings and then this cadre, and let me tell you that competition was tough. So yeah at the end you know our last– They broke character when we left, one time and you know we saw a smile, �Kenyon, Steve we saw that firm handshake and that pat on the back but then their faces got stern and they’d say “You go on and you do what you’re supposed to do or I’ll be on your ass.” Interviewer: “Did you get a chance to find out at all why the other guys were there, what motivated them to join or did you not talk to them enough to know?” You know it– On the one hand there’s a little bit of you’re still kind of independent, guys don’t talk a lot initially but then the force of the experience, we shared our lives very quickly because we succeeded in becoming a very well met, strong team and yeah combination of some guys just not having anything else better to do. Other guys there were a lot of– Not a lot but I would say maybe 10-15% of the other troops were military dependents and that was expected of them. You know interesting, back to my dad, it wasn’t– It was expected but it was only just one little hint and then I did it and then, you know a lot of other people in the middle– Including there were some guys that were– Just such an interesting group, there were some guys that, you know had trouble with the law and otherwise just trying to find direction. We also had an interesting group of guys who were Mormons and about a half dozen of them they were all from the University of Utah and they had done– I learned so much about– They were just phenomenally tremendous guys. (7:48) They had already done, which I had no idea, in their faith they did two years of missionary duty overseas and boy they were tough. Most of the group I went through basic training went on to become commissioned officers. Interviewer: “Okay, alright now were you a– Was this a class of people who were all slated to be medics or could you just be anything?” Yeah everything, yeah when you’re on that we have what’s called one station unit training, didn’t have that at that time but that’s where for instance the second level of basic training called advanced individual where you get your specialty. So we do that now so infantry OSUT in fact I was battalion commander of a related at Fort Benning– Related unit, but anyways so infantry soldiers do their basic and their advanced individual training Fort Benning, go to Fort Leonard Wood to become an engineer or military police Fort Sam Houstan, actually no basic training there, there’s only a couple of basic training bases, but yeah so our guys did everything. That was �Kenyon, Steve one of the few and I was commissioned initially infantry medical service, there were a couple– One of my good friends in University of Utah became a medical service officer, we crossed paths later. Interviewer: “Okay so we’re gonna back up here, so summer of 1980 you do your basic training at Fort Knox, now from there do you go back to Grand Rapids again for a while or what comes next?” Yeah I sure did. Yup back to GR back to reserve status and then I had graduated from Grand Rapids Junior College and I actually become– I was advanced to PFC part of my enlistment, bonus, enlistment no bonus money wise but because if I got my associates degree then I did become a PFC and then that fall enrolled at Michigan State. Stayed as a medic, stayed enlisted PFC until about November and as I say it that’s the other thing, my plan was to seek officer commissioning I wanted to be enlisted for a number of years and then no guarantee about becoming an officer but then some good guidance, and it was the right guidance– Enrolled in ROTC cadet leadership training and it was, it was thrilling. (10:06) So at that time we had what was called the simultaneous membership program, that’s where a soldier, if affiliated as a contracted ROTC cadet, administratively advanced to E5 pay, cadet rank not enlisted, not an officer and I happened to be the first one in the state of Michigan in the Army reserves, there were some others Army guard– What’s really interesting about that though is the enlistment contract continued in the background while you’re going through ROTC. So if– And we had one guy at Michigan State that washed out, he reverted back to his enlistment contract and became– You know he went from doing pretty well as a cadet to suddenly an E3 again and eight years is an event. Interviewer: “So you are basically accumulating time in service that way, whereas you’re ROTC you’re not officially in the service yet so there’s a difference in terms of your seniority.” Yeah, so other ROTC cadets their situation was they were not members of the military until they commissioned and they could either be kicked out or that was their decision point, my decision �Kenyon, Steve point was already made and again in the military talk about volunteering, you never volunteer, in reality we do volunteer a lot for tough assignments but ultimately there’s– We’re volunteers until we enlist or accept the oath of office as an officer and now we’re no longer volunteers, we’re obligated and it’s, you know it’s a sense of responsibility and it’s a good thing, it’s a good thing. Interviewer: “Alright, so when do you graduate from Michigan State?” 1982, June of ‘82 and I, again I was fortunate a distinguished military graduate and this isn’t about me as much as it is the things that these programs provide. So I was offered a regular Army commission and go on active duty as regular Army and I decided I wanted to get some more school so I stuck around I was gonna get an MBA, I ended up getting another bachelor’s degree and then I did a year and a half of law school but what I was gonna say– Oh final semester at Michigan State I was the cadet battalion commander which was just a thrilling– You know and at the end of the school year and you know leading that corp of cadets which was about 150 strong at Michigan State in 1982. (12:40) It was just really fun, in fact current president Louanna Simon, she presented me the award from the university actually it is a saber for the cadet battalion commander. So I had my saber etched with my name and Michigan State, my cavalry saber from Dr.Louanna Simon. She was the provost at that time and now she’s the president, I’ve seen her a few times since, she doesn’t remember me but I sure remember her. Interviewer: “Okay, now at the time you’re going through in the 80s here was there any kind of residual Vietnam stuff in terms of how people view people in the service or did your fellow students and everyone else just kind of view it as no big deal?” Yeah that’s interesting Jim, it was a little bit of a confusing– People didn’t generally know how to treat the military, we’re far enough after the Vietnam war that a lot of the misconceptions and the tragedy is far away but you know I served with a lot of non comms, noncommissioned officers who were Vietnam veterans and again the experience and these guys were a wealth of information and experience, they were great. On that though the world has always been an unsafe place so we had, very quickly after I got commissioned and I was actually at Fort Sam Houston, Texas in ‘83 when Grenada comes off and in fact we had– One of my fellow cadets �Kenyon, Steve graduated a year earlier was involved in that operation and then of course we have Panama not too much later but one of the remarkable things, before Sam Houston is the medical command for the Army now it’s medical command for all services and the Brookes Army Medical Center is the medcen and the burn center for the world is right there. Well I’m in my officer basic— Officer basic course there OVC and the casualties came back from Panama including, you know there was a young lieutenant who had in a helicopter crash and his legs were severed just below the hips, and we’re officers in training and giving blood and then going and seeing those soldiers. There were about 13 soldiers that came to Brooke, and you know that was my first contact with a fellow– They were all my age and you know seeing how life changes, yeah still remember that. Interviewer: “Okay, alright so you think it’s– Now so what you’ve been doing then you complete Michigan State, you stay on for more education so you still remain at that point on reserve duty then?” Yes. Interviewer: “With the Army and still at enlisted rank at than point you haven’t taken commission yet?” (15:41) Oh yeah, my commission 12 June, 1980 that is my commission date, 2nd Lieutenant Butter Bar and again– Interviewer: “ ‘80 or ‘82?” ‘82, I’m sorry ‘82. Interviewer: “Just so we have dates.” Yes indeed, well I’m a chronological guy too, very important. So yeah then I– Back to the 394 Station Hospital and I initially started as the– As a commissioned officer then as the S1. S1 is personnel, I move through logistics and operations, I was the medical– The patient �Kenyon, Steve administration officer, did a whole lot of interesting things there and then I transferred to the field artillery. We had at that time eight inch self propelled howitzers, 4th Battalion 20th Field Artillery in fact Lieutenant Colonel Alan West, who’s a wonderful nationally recognized person in his own right, he and I were in the same regiment. We crossed Frontlines of Freedom if I can say that now, we interviewed him on Frontlines of Freedom so same regiment 20th infantry– Or artillery regiment, he was 1st Battalion I was 4th Battalion. So that was the M110 we don’t have weapons system in the inventory now but a phenomenal eight inch self propelled howitzer so we could kick that 250 pound round out some 18 miles, 100 meter kill radius, we were a nuclear capable unit, half a kiloton nuclear round. I was the S2 security intelligence staff officer for a year and then I was the headquarters battery commander. Through all my experience in 34 years in the Army, you know the two most hardest working soldiers I’ve ever seen are field artillery men and then infantry soldiers, I was an infantry battalion commander too, and you know they worked the longest hours, the toughest duty, and they had the highest morale. They were just– Boy they were terrific, loved it. Interviewer: “Okay, now where does the Fort Sam Houston officer basic training fit into your timeline here?” (17:47) Okay that was– That was the fall of 1983 so I had my second bachelor’s degree in June of ‘83. That was about three months at Fort Sam Houston, Texas so then I’m officially– I’ve done my basic course. Now I return to Fort Sam Houston a dozen times in my career for officer advanced course, medical service, a medical logistics officer course, and other– Interviewer: “Now the officer basic course then what does that actually consist of?” That is– And at that time we had the allied Army medical department or A-Med, it is the largest collection of branches in the Army and that so the hard skills are Army Nurse Corps, Medical Corps doctors, Dental Corps dentist, Veterinary Corp vets, Army Specialist Corps those were physician assistants or dieticians and our physical therapists, those are the hard stripes then we had– Or the hard professionals. We had all of our allied scientists and then medical service administrative operations is my– So we had a collection of those in my officer basic course, �Kenyon, Steve again I was on the side of I was already infantry, I was already field, you know training guys. So you know those who weren’t as experienced sleeping in tents and getting shot at and otherwise we helped them through and they taught us a lot too. They were smart and we were tough, we were a good team. Interviewer: “Alright, so when you complete that do you go back to school again or now are you going on for regular active duty?” I didn’t have active duty required at that time, so I did actually I went back to Cooley Law School in Lansing and did a year and a half there working and so forth and then continued on reserve duty until I mobilized a couple of times, mobilized three times. So Operation Joint Endeavor Bosnia that is April of 1996 and fascinating that is a story in itself. The Balkan the Yugoslav– Far Yugoslavian you know ethnic cleansing with the Serbians and you know I mean there’s hundreds of years of ethnic rivalry. We didn’t have the mass casualties, we went in there with a strong force, I mobilized as the operations officer, officer in charge if you will of about 370 medical personnel from the midwest and a fascinating group of which about 70 physicians Army Medical Corps and then Dental Corps and we backfilled all of the– First of all at that time 1996 we’re down to about three hospitals in Europe. (20:46) The medical centers at Landstuhl co-located with Ramstein Air Base it’s the European Regional Medical Command and the medical center. We have a combat support hospital in Wurzburg near Leighton barracks where the 1st Infantry Division had its flag at that time and then in beautiful Heidelberg we had the last MASH hospital 212 MASH, beautiful place to go and visit, and then we had 17 medical clinics and dispensaries all over Europe, I got to travel. So I went there and coincidentally the G3, general staff, General Kevin Kiley was our commander, phenomenal he went on to become the surgeon general of the Army and his staff G3’s operations that officer has rotated out while I went in as an Army reserve liaison but I got to sit in that seat essentially co-head. So I saw a bunch, traveled, and you know some of the highlights there and this gets back to the integration the corp competencies are twice the citizen Army reservist who are you in the civilian sector in for profit facilities, universities. We had the Mayo Clinic we actually had two department heads from the Mayo Clinic, we had the chief nurse from the University of Michigan phenomenal people– Two things, the three hospitals were going through their joint accreditation that summer, �Kenyon, Steve the active duty folks were scared of– It’s not nice to say they were scared but they were apprehensive that is a huge thing to go through. Our Army reservist crew, piece of cake, they took them through that– Again our op tempo wasn’t anywhere near where we thought it would be, we didn’t have the mass casualties coming out of Bosnia. We go through all three hospitals past the joint accreditation, it was a huge victory and a lot of medals came out of that. 25 June 1996 02 in the morning I’m in my hooch sleeping and I was the officer in charge of the critical action center at 02 I get a call in my hooch from the operations NCO and this gets back to those non comms, those sergeants again these officers– Officers lead units, non commissioned officer, sergeants lead men, they were sergeants. So I get this call, there’s been a bombing and we shoot up the critcial action, the command center immediately. So I’m there about an hour later “What’s going on?” Well the Khobar towers Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has been bomber, 19 American servicemen Air Force pretty much killed instantly. Medical care in Saudi Arabia at that time is really good, most of the people that staff those hospitals are American civilians. They go to Saudi Arabia for a couple of years, make a boatload of money– They had great medical care, their initial stabilization was fantastic. We kicked it– And I’ll tell you what then and it is the example of drilling, that entire medical command just kicked in including a 0-6 that morning, the dependent community– We have an Army reserve medical blood unit from Provo, Utah, remember the staff sergeant, and they kick in place. (24:24) We are drawing blood and again these Americans are just jumping in, civilians and all of us we all got poked, we didn’t have a choice if we were in uniform but the civilians, the dependents they did. So we established an enormous blood bank, within four hours of notification of that bombing we had our command teams heading out. So those were– They were chaplains, psychologists, and social workers, their job is to get down there and stabilize the force, everything’s okay. Eight hours we had our first medical and these were– It was an eight hour flight, not quite that long but our first responders– Again if this were any other place we would need medical capability, the stabilization was done with the military there. So within about 16 hours we started bringing stabilized casualties back to Landstuhl, my recollection is about 350 wounded– Again 19 wonderful Americans were killed by those Islamic bastards. We brought about 240 back to Landstuhl and again these are young most– A lot of females, Air Force, most of them are 19, 20, 21, traumatic blast injuries their faces, traumatic amputations. They were stabilized, we didn’t lose a single patient, and returned to duty– About half of them returned to duty within 30 days and the rest of them came back to �Kenyon, Steve CONUS, contiguous United States, to our medical centers. Eisenhower at Fort Knox, Bethesda, and Watler Reed at that time– Walter Reed and Bethesda are now one facility, they all survived they all– It was a tremendous sense of accomplishment and doing what we’re paid to do or trained to do or wanted to do, it was a great experience. Americans– We were joint service by the way there at Landstuhl so we were Air Force, Navy, Army and wow they did good, I was proud of them. Interviewer: “Now how long did you wind up staying in Germany?” That ended up again we got cut loose early, we were about five months because again things stabilized we, you know the commander in chief– European command, front loaded that mission and that’s the way to do it, go in with overwhelming force you can always scale back. I was mobilized again for Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan and then– Actually located at Sheridan, Illinois it’s some good stuff. Interviewer: “Okay, so again we kind of back up here, ‘86 you’re over in Germany did you ever get–” (27:07) ‘96. Interviewer: “ ‘96–” Yes sir. Interviewer: “And then did you ever get to Bosnia itself or did you just stay in Germany and things came to you?” The latter, yeah again we were forward– Our assignment was to move into Bosnia, I would’ve moved in there as the medical OIC and delays and delays and delays, there were choke points, we had our logistical tail, is what we call it, the tooth to tail ratio. The tooth being the warfighters and the trigger pullers, and the tail is everybody else supporting that literally got bogged down so �Kenyon, Steve we kept getting delays on our line of demarcation, I’m missing some of the acronyms. Eventually got to the point not necessary, not necessary so we stayed back and did a lot of good and then released early. Interviewer: “And you were essentially replacing people who had been stationed there who had been sent forward.” Exactly, active duty. Interviewer: “So you’re seeing how that whole sequence goes basically, okay.” You know we had another at that time, coincidentally to today, we had another series of events with North Korea where we had response forces– As I recall some of our forces were heading to North– Or South Korea and Vietnam we were staffing up medical there because it looked like something could pop, interesting yeah. Interviewer: “Okay and then what does your unit do or not do at the time of the Gulf War?” (28:40) Yeah time of the Gulf War, okay so I’m in medical group is right here in Grand Rapids, Michigan 334th Medical Group so we had– That’s a command control by an O6, I was the– Became the executive officer who’s the number two guy, I was also logistics before the S4 and S3. Gulf war, I was detachment commander at that time so I had a lower rank, I was a captain– No, I was a major but anyways we had four combat support hospitals and 13 other units, air ambulance, ground ambulance, preventative medicine, catch the control, all allied units. So we had to spin up three of those combat support hospitals from one in Michigan, one in Ohio, one in Wisconsin, one in Indiana. We spun them up to head to the Persian Gulf War along with a lot of the– So about a third of all of our troops got spun up, almost half. Most backfilled facilities in the U.S– We took the combat support hospitals and the deployed as one unit to the Persian Gulf, and again I would’ve headed forward too we had all of our contingency plans, we never got to that point cause 100 hours that ground war was done. So you know everybody starts moving back but �Kenyon, Steve again a good experience, we really saw– We actually saw some negative things during that period of time too and I should reflect on that. Most of it was positive but we did see– There’s all the positive things and of course the Persian Gulf War long long overdue with welcoming those troops back with victory and my goodness our Vietnam war veterans that was the parade it was more of them then it was for– I mean it felt good and we have done such good things since all the way to today. On the lessons learned side we did go through a period there where we had certain officers in the– And with all due respect, largely in the medical side we had reserve forces, again our bang for the buck with reserve forces about 11% of the budget, the defense budget, but 50% of the capability. When we look at medical 80% of our medical capability is in reserve and guard. So we had– We called up a lot of physicians and said “Okay, Uncle Sam needs you.” We had pushback to a certain extent, and this happened in other branches too, but we had others say “Woah woah woah, I like the weekend pay, I like doing something exciting but I didn’t sign up to go to war.” You know the rest of us are saying this is– We’ve been scrimmaging forever we want to get in the game, we want to do what we’ve been trained to do. So there were individuals who truly at a minimum I would say were disgraceful, and the Army dealt with that in a good way just let others go and but we reformed things after that an reinforced and that’s when our Army reserve and our guard, so our seven reserve– Five reserve forces and two guard, air guard and Army guard. (32:15) We became, and wonderful thing, we are a strategic reserve, we were operational reserve during the Cold War, you know we could slowly get back into backfill, we had a year to get geared up. Operational, or strategic reserve now, there are things– Military police, 98% of our– Or not military police, civil affairs 98% of the capability is in reserve and guard staffs and those are American men and women in uniform that sometimes get two days notice and they go and they’re ready to go. It’s a huge success story, fun to be part of it. Interviewer: I think in some ways what you have going on is a long period when you weren’t doing a whole lot or deploying people and so forth and you can get that kind of peacetime military mindset and people can go in only with only for the personal reasons maybe and not really thinking about actually having to go someplace.” Yes. �Kenyon, Steve Interviewer: “And since much more recently there has been more activity, more deployments, more people sent more places it’s more part of the package.” It’s a mindset. Interviewer: “And you also learn the ropes and you learn from experience and so got that there.” Yeah, you know it gets back to volunteers, we’re volunteers in the military and again prior to 1972 when we had the draft and the same Americans, the most courageous and honorable, best and brightest were the force– Have always been the force, they are today and by the grace of God and our inspiration I’m very confident they will be going forward but the mindset now, and some of things I’m involved in too, to get off not on a sale pitch here but, employers part of the guards reserve, DOD committee again a culture where American– All American employers understand and support and value the military service of their civilian employees. (34:10) Prior service veterans, current service members of guard and reserve units, future members who may say “I want to join because I can protect America.” So the mindset that we have now for instance in the Army reserve is, you come in the Army reserve plan on it one year out of five you are in– It’s called Army reserve force generation, we are in the box and every unit in a perfect rotation. You start out in year one crawling, you’re getting your individual education starting to assemble the team, you get into year three and you start scrimmaging, go through all your battle drills and so forth, become a team, year four you’re validated you can do your job. Year five you are the quick reaction force so employers– And literally for our guard, our Michigan guard right now, guard members from all over the United State helping Americans in Florida and very soon, and boy I’ll tell you talk about good soldiers, I worked with them, The Puerto Rican Army National Guard there’s two brigades there, those are some of America’s finest, we’re deploying people to go down there to help Americans– So as I say with the Army reserve force generation model when you’re in year five you tell your family, you tell your employer “We are the only ones standing between the enemy hurting you, it’s us.” So boss, honey, kids any day now I’m– If the balloon goes up, so to speak, I’m going. I’m trained, my team’s trained, we’re ready, we’re the �Kenyon, Steve quick reaction force and we will go get through that fifth year, now you’re in your one of that cycle which means unlikely and you work on all the skill building again but reality is anybody can go at any time, wars are short. Interviewer: “Well you can have [overlapping chatter] and you can have extended conflicts in certain corners of the world and maybe you need more people.” Yeah, exactly and again back to these skills, these skills sets that we bring to the act of force with our reserve and guard we’re tough, and we’re good, and we love America and we’re ready to go and you know it’s pride, it’s pride from the inside not– And a lot of values with the sad things going on in America today, those that, you know that don’t respect the flag, that don’t understand what you and I know. American blood is red, and it’s a deep color of red it’s American red and 99% of the DNA in that blood is the exact same. We’re brothers and sisters in arms and, you know God you think of the sacrifices and heroes don’t talk, any blabbermouth talks about how great they are, heroes no. Those that didn’t come back and those that came back with casualties they’re the heroes. So to disrespect our flag it’s just a sad thing and it drains energy, to be respectful and part of this force, realizing the blessings of liberty, justice, honor, opportunity that have been earned by the blood sweat and tears of America’s most courageous and honorable, best and brightest. (37:35) Being earned today must be earned in the future, we’re a force for good. Interviewer: “Okay, let’s steer ourselves back now into your own service career here. So you’ve been out to Germany to support Bosnia, you have been organizing units and so forth to go into the Gulf War and then you get– We talked about that was before Bosnia and so we’re–” I got a couple other, other good things. Yeah, you know for me Jim I actually– And it’s a blessing, my experience as an enlisted soldier and as a commissioned officer pretty unique, in the old days we used to categorize our Army units as combat, those are the trigger pullers that’s our Special Forces, our infantry, our armor. Combat support, military police, engineers on and on. Combat service support, logistics, now we call that sustainment, we use some different terms �Kenyon, Steve now but for me actually very unique, I’ve been in all three categories. So I’ve been medical, I’ve been infantry battalion commander, the 1st Battalion 339 Infantry Regiment, polar bears, American North Russian Expeditionary Force World War I, World War II part of General Mark Clark’s 5th Army, deployed my troop– My troop is deployed to Iraq, two soldiers and they have moms they have families. Specialist Donald R McCune, 20 years old from Chelsea, Michigan killed in action in Iraq– Presenting the flag to his mother and his brother and sister. Staff Sergeant Todd Cornell from Chippewa Falls outside of Milwaukee, in fact Fort McCoy the noncommissioned officer academy of Fort McCoy the building is named after Staff Sergeant Cornell, he was killed in action in Fallujah, seven of my troops wounded there. So I had the infantry experience, Army commander general staff college is post graduate education for us. That’s the major school so I went through it at Fort Leavenworth and then I was selected to become an instructor so I taught fundamentals of warfare, leadership– I’m a student of leadership, servant leadership, and then history, military history World War II to present which you and I have a love of history. So I did that and then mission command– I do wanna talk about one other very exciting medical mission, but a battle command and mission command the 75th Division out of Houston Texas, the Great Lakes division at Fort Sheridan, Illinois just south of Great Lakes Naval Air Station or Naval Station I should say and north of Chicago. (40:25) By the way for everybody who wants to watch this the history, the beauty of Fort Sheridan which is now demobilized– Interviewer: “Or deactivated, whatever you call it.” Yeah. Interviewer: “Decommissioned maybe.” Yeah BRAC, base realignment and closing, so what started as 700 acres is now the Sheridan Army reserve center which is Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine corps, Guard about 150 acres including very uniquely the AFRICOM– It’s the security, intelligence security, I’ll think of the acronym here in a minute but they had uniquely it’s right there at Fort Sheridan but the old base is now the town of Fort Sheridan, it’s a national historic landmark absolutely gorgeous, beautiful. �Kenyon, Steve The general’s homes there they’re $8 million homes in the civilian sector right on Lake Michigan, it’s pretty. So I did those things but I wanted to get back to one other medical mission in 2000, I was the OIC for what was called medical readiness training exercise med-red 0-2-5-26 six months of planning, we deployed to Honduras in September and I was advanced party I did about five weeks there but Hurricane Mitch went through the peninsula in 1996, wiped out Honduras about 60,000 people killed the rivers, the infrastructure wiped it out. American military comes through the Army National Guard engineering they rebuilt the highways, they rebuilt the schools, they do all these other things and then we have a series of medical missions, these medical readiness training missions scattered mostly Army reserve units across the United states one month at a time. We deployed there and so we had a medical team, a dental team, and a veterinary team and again moved into– Well Soto Cano Air Base which my good friend Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was stationed there previously, Comayagua was the town and right in central Honduras. Soto Cano Air Base Drunk Task Force Bravo we’re the medical element of Drunk Task Force Bravo so we went, over that period of time we did eight missions with– We were truck born with our humvees and our five tons– Seven tons, let me tell you what the humvee can do, man we went across rivers that were three feet deep and over rocks and sand and on and on and then we were airlifted active duty chinook CH-47s took us into remote Indian villages to provide care. Again, fascinating, dangerous place dramatically more dangerous now sadly. (43:20) We had good old United States Marines as our security force, eight good marines led by a staff sergeant but the key thing there we went in there and these beautiful Hondurans and you know we go over there thinking we’re these great American professionals vets, docs, medics and we’re gonna– We’re coming down there to take care of you and you know we were humbled pretty darn quickly, those beautiful people who live simple and God fearing wonderful folks, we all came out of there– And by the way and so I had to link this all together, we linked up with American Peace Corps volunteers in these villages several church relief groups because we needed language skills and all of the logistical which we sent that up ahead of time but it was a fascinating sense of accomplishment. We all came back humbled, we’re the ones that were blessed by that experience and we did do good too and then we passed the flag to the next unit and you know it’s sad what’s going on in Venezuela since and so forth, and again Hondura, narcotics it’s just it’s a dangerous damn place and that’s sad because those people are good people. So that was great experience, loved it, saw people perform. �Kenyon, Steve Interviewer: “Where were you when 9/11 happened?” Yes sir, I was…2011 Interviewer: “Well 2001 we hope.” 2001 rather, yeah 2001 we think– You know it’s funny I remember exactly where I was as a civilian, I was in a meeting with a customer and happened to have that– You know for a break here let me think real quick, yeah. Yeah I was back to the medical group in Grand Rapids and now I’m the executive officer of the medical group. So again we’re spinning up units, very quickly after that I moved into the– Like 2004 I’m infantry and then we start sending troops but 2001 yeah I was– Or 2001 rather, with a medical group so we didn’t send any units overseas cause Afghanistan is pretty much quick reaction force, you know it takes a while. Of course we have nothing in Iraq until 2003, 2004 I’m an infantry commander 339th and then, you know, we are sending. I had, yeah 60 troops forwards and then– No, let me take that back, about 25 troops forward during those two years, another 60 troops mobilize across the united states and we actually we were the round out battalion for the 29th Infantry Division which was the school, the infantry school at Fort Benning. (46:30) There’s three battalions active duty, we were the reserve last battalion, the interesting thing and those who, you know listening to this who have experience in the military, we were a very rank heavy unit at 293 soldiers in fours states. So Five companies, headquarters, and Alpha Company in Fraser, Michigan near Warren, Bravo Company was in Richmond, Indiana an hour east of Indianapolis, Charlie Company was Milkwaukee and Delta Company was Waukegan, Illinois and as a battalion commander lieutenant colonel I had my command sergeant major and my staff, I had 14 full time personnel, active guards observe in uniform and a couple of– One civilian and I had 18 master sergeants, E8s, that’s huge. I had 105 sergeants first class and you know 80 or so 70 assists had forced I think 11 specialists– That is an upside down unit and the reason was we were the committee battalion so all of my troops moved to Fort Benning and they were committee chiefs. Everything from United States minds to basic rifle marksmanship, medical training, fuel navigation, mortars, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. So they were the committee chiefs that moved down there and �Kenyon, Steve then they actually had active duty subordinate training, it’s a fascinating mission and as I say then two killed in action in Iraq and seven wounded so we were part of the force and we did good. Interviewer: “When you made the transition into infantry did you have to do an infantry school at some point or had you done that earlier?” I had, yeah I already had infantry basic done yeah. So it was actually– Again for those who may be informed more than the common duck on this subject, it was called a branch in material, we were an infantry battalion, training battalion ITB technically, infantry training battalion. Not a go to war infantry unit– We did go to war as, in pieces not as an entire unit but again what was supposed to– So many times happened to me and happened to other units there’s plans– Worst case scenario, plan on this and then things don’t happen. So we initially were going to deploy to Iraq, train in the Iraqi infantry as a unit and quite frankly, you know I mean there was a lot of disappointment we wanted to do that, I sure as heck wanted to do it we were ready. Then the next base was we were going to deploy to Fort Benning as a battalion, truly rounding out. Fort Benning’s mission didn’t expand as quickly as they thought so we did deploy a company there and then some of our troops went to Fort Bliss to Fort Hood, had some at Fort Jackson, all doing infantry training in subsets at those. (49:40) A lot to watch, a lot to watch over and I had just a fantastic staff and Command Sergeant Major Paul Bianco, I will throw his name out he was phenomenal. He went on– Actually was the youngest command sergeant major in the Army reserve at the time, he went on to the 84th– 85th Division, Custer Division, he went from battalion command sergeant major to the command sergeant major for a two star general. He mad a jump I don’t think has ever happened before he was a heck of a– Interviewer: “Okay so he started at brigade level and went up to division level.” Sure did, police officer in Kalamazoo, phenomenal guy, love Paul haven’t seen him in a couple years he’s now retired. Wonderful mentor, he went on and, you know, just he molded good troops and good men and there was a whole lot of others I could talk about, let me tell you good people. �Kenyon, Steve Interviewer: “Okay, alright so to kind of go back in your own career so during what period of time were you the infantry battalion commander?” That was 2004 to 2006 June of ‘04 to February of 2000– August of 2006. Interviewer: “And then what did you do after that?” Then I went into retired reserves actually, combination of things, job heavy duty and again this isn’t a theme you know these twice the citizen, these members of our garden reserve, one of our examples is a three legged stool, you know we all– For most good people family comes first and then who puts bread on the table? Civilian employer and then affiliation with Army reserve, Army Guard, Air Guard, Air reserve, Naval reserve, Coast Guard reserve, Marine Corps reserve, you know that’s our– That fills out our extra 20 hours on a 70 hour work week and we miss weddings and we miss mother’s day and we miss children’s birthdays and all those other things, it’s tough. So when push comes to shove if family says “Make a decision.” Most of us say “Okay family, I love you.” It’s family. When an employer, either based on ignorance or worse, says “Make a decision.” Well, okay and you know we can’t afford to do that, we can’t because the same stellar performance in the civilian sector the same stellar performance in uniform, the occasional dead wood, poor performers that we have in the civilian sector if they’re in uniform we try to get rid of them as soon as possible cause they’re the same dead wood. (52:17) Most are in that higher third band where they’re trying hard and they’re doing well so yeah I had that happening, had lost– My daughter Elizabeth had died, that was a tough thing to go through, company knew I was in the natural gas business working for a wonderful company called Charlevoix Energy Trading Company which has since been bought out, I was a natural gas wellhead gas sales and fastenall the big industry institutions in Michigan but boy I’ll tell you it was tough, I was the senior guy, I had to give up. So I went into retired reserve and wanted to come back and certain things happened and I came back in then in 2010 and right into the 75th Division battle command and that’s where I finished off those last four years, loved it. Interviewer: “So you were basically a staff officer with them?” �Kenyon, Steve I was the deputy branch chief for what the–Again the military we’re always changing designations and acronym and things like that but we were battle command training division with five brigades in the United States. My brigade was at Fort Sheridan with a branch in Livonia, that term changed from battle command to mission command, the brigade changed to Great Lakes Division but what we essentially did, 75th Division is the executive agency for this training which is best thought of as scrimmaging. Before units deployed to Kosovo, Afghan– We had Kosovo missions, Afghanistan , AFRICOM missions, military– Or multinational peacekeeping Sinai, so we have a variety and then Kosovo, big, Afghanistan Iraq. So what we would do before a unit deployed back to this process of validating, it’s like getting your driver’s test for a unit and we would work with staff at our level and then below battalion they’d be in the field but what we’d do is we’d take them through what was called command posts, culminating training exercises, Kosovo as an example and I headed up a lot of those. They would see in 14 days of heavy duty training– Did a lot of it at camp Atterbury, very historic base south of Indianapolis, Fort McCoy, Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, Texas and El Paso. We would take a unit through 14 days of stress, so they would be deployed into Kosovo in this one example a 12 month rotation to Kosovo, in 14 days of simulation they would see six months of activity to stress them out, to see that that staff could use muscle memory to do their jobs and they came out sweating, and so did we because we were exhausted, and so I was the deputy branch chief for– During those four years, for most of those four years. (55:25) So I wasn’t the commander, I was the commander’s executive officer, and again fascinating, in charge of everything and I did both active duty mobilized I was mobilized in 2010 through 2011 and then back in reserve duty. Again you know common themes here Jim, just good people working hard for a great cause and you know the camaraderie, the sense of satisfaction, just you know when we see old glory flying we– There’s reverence, we just think “Wow, that means a lot.” Interviewer: “And what you’re doing with a unit like this a lot of the times you hear from the people who do deploy and go overseas and so they talk about the training sessions and programs they go through and the places they go and of course somebody’s got to be there on those bases doing those things and running the programs they’re actually in as you’re �Kenyon, Steve filling in actually a lot for a lot of these other stories in terms of how that larger system works and you tend to talk about the size of the tail versus–” The tooth, exactly yes indeed. Interviewer: “The tooth and that’s really all part of this big picture so that helps us to get a lot of that. Now today you’re kind of retired reserves so there’s still the remote possibility you could be called up for the next couple of years?” Well yes some of us think it is the hopeful call, I mean we want– I’m ready to go. So on this subject just real quick and this kind of gets into other less known realities for civilians and even people in uniform. Active duty retirement, 20 years of active federal service, a sailor, soldier, or marine, can start drawing retired pay right away and they are then of course, well they’re coming out at 20 years old, the actuary tables say they don’t get much because they’d be drawing forever. So similarly with reserve, and of course it’s one military whether you’re Navy, Army it’s all the same thing so reserve retirements likewise earned at 20 years– Oh and by the way this kind of gets back to again respecting, understanding, saluting those who served, 18 years of active federal service is zero retirement, 18 and a half years and there’s a couple of things, there’s– And again part of our job is– And I’ve experienced this one time, one of the toughest things I ever had to do when I was an infantry battalion commander is I had to– And this is a hell of a long, grinding, tough process but I had to kick a soldier out of the unit at 18 years, out of the United States Army and deny that female soldier a retirement cause it was necessary based on a whole lot of insubordination and all kinds of problem but likewise Army reserves that duty. (58:22) 16 years of 20 if you work for a corporation 16 years of a 20 year retirement or 30 year retirement is still worth some money that you can get and put into a 401k. That’s not the case in the military, you gotta cross the finish line that’s 20 years and you get something, all of us in the military, special it’s called the 20 year letter. As a kid I remember my dad talking about it “What? 20 year letter?” It’s that document, it's like a diploma that says you’ve got it, you’ve got it. Now do you keep on serving, do you add to that value, yes or no? So with– So again the difference between active duty and reserve for our reservist– And this kind of gets also back into respecting what they do and Army reservists who serve for 25 years or Naval reservist whatever, �Kenyon, Steve 25 years and then decide, you know if they’re enlisted they don’t get to just say goodbye until that enlistment contract anniversary, if you’re an officer you request retirement– Another thing with an officer we have– If we resign our commission we cut the strings, we also cut cost of living advance, but we cut the strings Uncle Sam cannot call us back. Most of us do not do that we go into retired reserve activity which means we will go if necessary and there’s a benefit to that. So a reservist though normally does not get to start drawing their retired pay until age 60, so there’s a lot of Navy reservists who retired at the age of 40 and they have to wait 20 years and guess what? They may not make that 20 years, there’s a survivor benefit program where a survivor’s spouse can get 55% but a lot of people don’t. So in my case now– And this is another really good thing that President Bush, George W. President Bush initiated changing our retirement system and now President Donald Trump is doing wonderful, wonderful things for the military and for America in furthering this but allowing active duty service mobilizations to provide a potential earlier retirement date gets into also the post 9/11 G.I bill where we can give our benefits to our children or our spouse, good, good things, long overdue. President Trump just recently enhanced this wonderfully, it’s good. So in my case to make a long story short I will, and there’s technical dating in there but, I’ll be able to start drawing retirement at age 59 versus 60. Benefits don’t hit until age 60, medical benefits along with some of those other things but– Oh no we don’t do it for the money Jim, we do not do it for the money, but that’s kind of nice we do get a little money out of it. (1:01:18) Interviewer: “We’re just to the very end of the particular tape which is about to shut off–” Yes sir. Interviewer: “But I think we managed to get you right down to the end of your career so thank you very much for taking the time to share the story.” It’s a pleasure. � 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 KenyonS2154V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kenyon, Steven P. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09 Title A name given to the resource Kenyon, Steven (Interview transcript and video), 2028 Description An account of the resource Steve Kenyon was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1960 where he graduated high school and attended Grand Rapids Community College. Kenyon then went onto Michigan State University before attending law school. He also went into the natural gas business before enlisting into the Army. He agreed to an eight-year service obligation as an Army medic with the 394th Station Hospital in Grand Rapids. For Basic Training, he was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, in July of 1980 during which he became a Platoon Leader for his training platoon. After Basic, Kenyon was transferred back to Grand Rapids where he graduated from community college and went onto Michigan State University and its Army Reserve Officer Training Course. Kenyon graduated from Michigan State in 1982 before attending Cooley Law School. Furthermore, he previously underwent Officer Basic Training Course at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. At the 394th Station Hospital, he served as a Commissioned Officer, and later as the S1 Personnel Officer, before transferring to the Army Field Artillery. He was reassigned and briefly served with the 4th Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment. For his first mobilization, Kenyon deployed to Germany during the conflict in Bosnia in April of 1996 as the Operations Officer for 370 medical personnel. His men also assisted medical efforts following the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. For his second mobilization, Kenyon deployed to Afghanistan with the 334th Medical Group as an Executive Officer during the Persian Gulf War. During one Medical Readiness Training Exercise in 2000, Kenyon was sent to Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras following the destruction of Hurricane Mitch where his unit participated in aid parties sent to remote villages. Kenyon later transferred to the infantry between 2004 and 2006 where he became a Battalion Commander for the reserve 339th Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. While he never deployed to Iraq, he did undergo training in an Infantry Training Battalion and organized the deployments of several companies overseas, as well as to other training centers. From there, he entered the Army Retired Reserve so he could be closer to his family while also resuming work within Michigan’s energy industry. However, wanting back into the military in 2010, Kenyon completed his last four years of service with the 75th Innovation Command as the Deputy Branch Chief, or the Commander’s Executive Officer. After leaving the Active Duty, he remained in the Retired Reserves. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1dfae166fe48c1398ebec6ef6d4f331.m4v a5254687118e05c71efdd2b9a221a140 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7a3290871b556825977b6200bb98de31.pdf b1e5c8a058779fb1083c97ea61822638 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Arthur Kerkstra World War II 58 minutes 53 seconds (00:00:12) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924 -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Father was a gardener -Had four sisters -Doesn't remember too much of the Great Depression, but knew it was a tough time -Father had steady work during the Depression -Had an uncle on welfare -Uncle was ashamed of that and didn't want people to know he was on welfare -Went to Ottawa Hills High School then transferred to Davis Technical School -Played basketball in high school -Graduated in 1943 -Graduated in March 1943 because so many young men were going to serve (00:02:42) Start of the War -When Pearl Harbor happened he remembers the paper boys selling newspapers in the afternoon -The attack came as a shock to him -Didn't know much about the fighting already happening in Europe and Asia -Wanted to enlist in the Navy shortly after Pearl Harbor -Father did not approve -Reasons being that Arthur could not swim, and he would get drafted eventually -Proved true when Arthur did get drafted -Had no idea how long the war would last -Knew that it was a serious conflict though (00:05:15) Basic Training -Got drafted in March 1943 and reported for basic training shortly thereafter -Sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training -Had no idea what to expect -Drill sergeants were good -Remembers one drill sergeant, Sergeant Peters, who had been in the Army for a while -Learned how to do hand-hand combat -On certain days went on marches outside of the camp -Started off with 4 miles, then 12 miles, and finally 25 miles -Carried 80 pound backs �-Received weapons training with the M1 Garand -Went on the rifle range -First time he ever held a gun -Awkward at first, but he adjusted -Wound up being certified as a Sharpshooter (00:08:54) Mortar Training & Assignment to the 78th Infantry Division -Transferred to a mortar unit at Camp Butner -Received mortar training -Had men carry the shells, one man carried the baseplate, and the other man the tube and tripod -Once they reached their assigned location they put together the mortar -Fix the tube to the baseplate for stability, attach tripod to tube for aiming -Learned how to zero in a target with the mortar -Fired one round past the target, one round short of target, and one hopefully on target -Adjusted well to the Army -Homesick at first, but got over it -Stayed at Camp Butner for a year -Basic training lasted two monts -Subsequent ten months were spent training and preparing for deployment -Assigned to the 78th Infantry Division (00:11:22) Deployment to the European Theatre -Deployed in spring 1944 -Shipped out of Boston on a Liberty Ship -Held two thousand men -Went over as a part of a convoy -Had destroyers and destroyer-escorts protecting them from U-Boats -Had no U-Boat scares -Thought he was seasick -Turned out to be appendicitis -Had his appendix removed on the ship -Had to be strapped to the operation table and the doctor tied to the table -This was so that everyone was secure during the operation -Pulled into Liverpool, England -Had to be carried off the ship because he was still recovering from the operation -Sent to a hospital in England to recover more -Heard the planes going over on the eve of D-Day -Knew the invasion of Europe had begun -Medical personnel wanted servicemen healed and back into combat as soon as possible -Units needed replacements and the hospital needed the space (00:17:25) Joining the 4th Infantry Division -Joined the 4th Infantry Division in France shortly after D-Day -He left the hospital and went over to France on a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) -Sailed from southern England to France -Dropped off in the water and had to wade ashore at Normandy �-Saw piles of gas masks on the beach -GIs learned that gas attacks were not a threat, so they discarded their masks -Got to Omaha Beach roughly one week after the invasion -Saw abandoned German bunkers and bodies in the water -Not too much debris on the beach -4th Infantry Division was trying to advance into France to link up with paratroopers (00:21:21) Fighting in France -Fought in St. Lo -After St. Lo had to fight through the hedgerow country -Germans pulled back to St. Lo on D-Day and were holding their position there -80,000 German soldiers in the St. Lo area -They surrounded the Germans and laid siege to St. Lo and the surrounding area -Mid-July 1944 -Killed any Germans that tried to escape -Germans eventually surrendered -Fired so many mortars that the tube was red hot -Despite the strategic advantage they still lost a lot of men -After St. Lo they advanced through the hedgerows -Had to take one hedgerow at a time -Slow advance mixed with retreats -Fought against well-trained German soldiers and had to deal with lone snipers in buildings -Initially had to fight without tanks -Tanks were eventually brought in and able to help them with the advance -Took part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944 -Had to wait four hours for General Patton so he could go into the city first -They rode on the backs of tanks into the city -Parisians greeted them in the streets and threw bottles of wine to them as gifts -Bivouacked in the city dump -Mayor of Paris gave GIs shots of alcohol as personal thanks for the liberation -Remembers the Parisians were joyous that they had been liberated -Crossed the Seine River -Germans had destroyed the bridges spanning the river -Meant they had to cross the river on boats -Engineers eventually set up temporary bridges so vehicles could cross too -Advanced northwest -Encountered sporadic German resistance -Held up their advance -Once in a while ran into SS units backed up by Panzer (tank) units (00:30:06) Fighting in Belgium & Germany -Entered Belgium in fall 1944 (specifically September) -Encountered some German resistance -Entered the Hurtgen Forest on the Belgian-German border in November 1944 -Faced stiff resistance from the Germans and had to get replacements �-He lost half of his replacements en route to the frontline -Lost a lot of men in the Hurtgen Forest -Got assigned to be a rifleman on the front line (00:34:03) Getting Wounded -Got wounded in late November 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest -Had dug a big foxhole that three or four men could sit in -Had been in it for three, or four, days -Objective was to repel the German counter-attack -Got cut off for two days until help arrived -They were on the eastern edge of the Hurtgen Forest near a German town -Every day they dug the foxhole a little deeper -Covered it with logs and sand to protect them from artillery -Thought they were pretty safe -Rotated where they sat because some parts of the foxhole were safer -An artillery shell hit their foxhole -One man was killed immediately, Arthur and his best friend, Leo, were severely wounded (00:37:29) Recovery -He and Leo were evacuated to a first aid station -From the first aid station they were moved to a series of aid stations in France -Leo eventually died from his wounds -Spent a couple days at each station -Transported by ambulance to a hospital in France -Requested a minister because he thought he was going to die -Took a plane to England -Doctors operated on both of his legs to remove the shrapnel -Placed in traction to pull his legs back to their proper shape -In England for three months recovering (00:40:40) Coming Home -Returned to the United States in February 1945 -Pulled into New York Harbor -Got to see the Statue of Liberty -Placed on a train and went to a hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan Most likely Percy Jones Army Hospital -Stayed in the hospital for fifteen or sixteen months -Gradually recovering and receiving physical therapy -Parents were allowed to visit him (00:43:04) End of the War -Couldn't believe the war in Europe was over when Germany surrendered -Remembers it was a joyous time, but muted because of Japan's persistence -People went crazy when Japan surrendered -Remembers people in the street celebrating the end of the war -Strangers hugged and kissed each other -Everybody was ecstatic that the war was over and life could return to normal (00:45:42) Living Conditions, Contact with Home, and Contact with Civilians �-Food was bad sometimes -Had to eat rations when they were in the field -Slept in foxholes in the field -Some men slept in occupied buildings, but he never did that -Difficult to write letters home -Didn't want to upset his mother who was a fragile woman -Had very little contact with civilians -Once in a while went through a small town and saw some people -Remembers a little girl giving him a pin when they passed through a town -As of 2015 still has that pin (00:49:33) End of Service -Got discharged in April 1946 -Spent the rest of his time in the Army recovering in Battle Creek -Met his future wife in January 1946 -Allowed to visit home after a while -Medical personnel encouraged visits home -Felt it would help soldiers readjust to being civilians -Got discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan in April 1946 (00:51:21) Life after the War -Only weighed ninety eight pounds when he left the Army -Proposed to his future wife in March 1946 -Wanted to get married in the summer of 1946 -Mother-in-law advised they wait at least a year so they could get more established -Took the advice and prepared more for the wedding -Got married in June 1947 -Took some night classes through the University of Michigan -Used the GI Bill -Got a job as a time keeper at a factory in Grand Rapids -Keeping track of how much workers worked and how quickly they worked -Worked that job for a few years before getting into sales -Sat at the window at night and heard German planes going over -PTSD caused by the combat he saw -Had children after the war -Leo's parents came from Pennsylvania to talk with Arthur about their dead son -Leo had been their only child -Corresponded by letters for a few years (00:56:22) Reflections on Service & Honor Flight -Didn't take too much out of his time in the Army -Calls it a time of sickness -Reference to his appendicitis and wounded legs -Couldn't talk about his experiences for a while -Is now more open about his experiences, what he saw, and what he did -Going on the Talons Out Honor Flight in May 2015 has helped him open up -Enjoyed that trip and encourages all veterans to go on 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 RHC-27_KerkstraA1857V Title A name given to the resource Kerkstra, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-07-14 Description An account of the resource Arthur Kerkstra was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. In March 1943 he was drafted into the Army and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training. He received rifle training and later mortar training. He was stationed at Camp Butner for a year with the 78th Infantry Division before shipping out in spring 1944. En route to England he was treated for appendictis and was forced to stay behind while the rest of his division went ahead. He reached France a week after D-Day and joined the 4th Infantry Division. He fought in St. Lo, in the hedgerows, took part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944, and fought in Belgium and the Hurtgen Forest. He was wounded in late November 1944 and was eventually evacuated to the United States. He received treatment in Battle Creek, Michigan and was discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan in April 1946. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kerkstra, Arthur 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/90d854782d167eb850b3912bbb23fb85.mp4 6b6a5800a886690db4eaa956bf80b6b6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/aabbea770882776be2a33a25d37b1271.pdf 3acd7a32ac0a627023cd27dd90661ea4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Fred Kerkstra (00:35:10) (00:10) Background Information • • • • Fred was born in Byron Center, Michigan in 1923 and grew up on a farm Fred did not go to high school and began helping his father with the farm after grade school He heard the news of Pearl Harbor on the radio, but had not worried about getting drafted Fred was drafted into the Army in February of 1943 (2:30) Training • • • • • He was sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, MI and then told that he was going to be sent into the Army Air Corps, rather than the infantry, because they were short on gunners Fred traveled to Miami, Florida for basic training for three months He then went to Colorado for gunnery and armory training and then back to Florida for advanced training They went through training in planes, shooting at targets in B-25s and A-20s Fred was a tale-gunner and trained all together for 13 months (8:00) Leaving the United States • Fred was assigned to a plane crew of five other men; a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, radio operator, turret gunner, and a tail gunner • They went to Hawaii for a few months and were not doing much work • They then went to Australia and continued to not do much • Fred enjoyed being in Australia and felt that the people were very nice (12:45) New Guinea • Fred was staying in a base near an airfield for three months and there were thunderstorms every day • On their missions they were mostly attacking Japanese planes and areas where ammunition was stored • Fred was hit only once out of the 40 missions he went on • They all flew for four months before the first plane was even hit (19:30) Moreton Island • Fred flew another ten missions near Indonesia and then took leave in Australia �• • • • • They were staying in tents in Luzon and attacking Chinese islands They had a crash landing in China during their last mission They crashed near a river bank and everyone was ok, but they were three hours away from the nearest America base The men stayed in a Chinese hotel and everyone was very nice to them It took them two weeks to get back to the base, then they flew in a B-29 back to Guam (27:50) The End of the War • Fred had enough points to stop flying missions and was sent back to the United States • He took leave for a month and then was sent to Santa Anna, California to start teaching classes, but never ended up doing so because the war had ended by the time he reached California �~. ����) ~.;/.c C:C?-o. 0-ey:;t0- --zf:.e /I/{/& ~1t'- <V.~- '-4~"",-_~ ~_l( )~j'-04"A~)-<' rt~~~:C2, /JL<.'L'1- ~j:[-i~,~'f~ ~f!~_ tttu> ~,~' i(;7~ ~~'C/£:~d?" r--yv-'~l P/(~V~ 7J--~­ '-'J-v~,~/' ~x- ~~~~~ ~r-n-,~~r ~,1-eJ ~.~ ~~ Vi/~/L ~/~'~ 4-d-~R ~t-cV''L/f!a--, {Lf~ L~1- ~ -it t2~~v."(f U~~;~ )~wrk ~ aJ!~ T;~ ~~~~~~~ d/_~{ ~ /gIl::v~~~ _2/~,,~ ~:&? ~/ ~_7,YrL.--st:tct/ G(, V\,~,\ ~ 4--~'-1- GL--4--- v r'-d/tf to-~~ ~:::~~'- /'\2-~'Y-.~'~""'~<--C:'<­ {r",.(,-~ ~~~V~-'-~~ ~) -Q.g-c.~u~-~ '~-~ O!--' ~Vl-- '/J-.J--~~(/K l.-v-O/J /~vC'Z-.,k-cf! ~v;t~ Cv ~,~ ;?k- ~ ~ ~- -v,'V 27:' e-{i~T ~~-c r--£;/~-r, ~~ ~T ~. .-~ .......~ 2-v ,-0U Ch"- /!~. 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'J =,-...--ti~ /f'~/k:'t( {~~d- o-~e-/~-cf0;,'~~, L-J'v'J /C/Vy\.-Gu C'-...G) -)-V'-e.. .-do-rJ-/vhro(f 'd-.--L.J!?£· ?or~. )".A.e.~ ~ f ~ ItYt-- ~-~ -3 -::l~c f~ '~.f<-' ~~;c:~ -I-; --''''''''<.-£2e, ~). .ci<-j(' ~ (reZ ~Ct:-- ~~ '.k Cu2-~~ o--c.~-, I ,.1 �� 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 KerkstraF Title A name given to the resource Kerkstra, Fredrick (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kerkstra, Fredrick Description An account of the resource Fred Kerkstra was born in Byron Center, Michigan in 1923 and grew up on a farm. He was drafted in February of 1943 and sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. At the time, the Army Air Corps was short on gunners and Fred and had been lucky enough to be transferred into the Air Corps. He trained for 13 months in Florida and Colorado and became a tail gunner on a B-25. Fred traveled to Hawaii, Australia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Luzon, New Guinea, Guadalcanal, and Formosa. Fred went on 40 missions altogether while in the Pacific. Personal narrative of military service is appended interview outline. 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 Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Air Force World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text 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 2008-05-20 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> 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/16142340db422155cbcf6c814c07f320.pdf 2af2400d6f4bc67f8f30d3c39ac51272 PDF Text Text � 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 Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. 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 Fasciculus medicinae [folium 35] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_035Ketham1495 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ketham, Johannes de, 15th Century Description An account of the resource One leaf of Fasciculus medicinae by Johannes de Ketham. Printed in Venice by Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis in 1495. [GW M14179; ISTC ik00014000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Venice: Johannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Ketham, Joannes de, 15th cent. Language A language of the resource la Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1495 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text