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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a134ad2c3d22329c381aae4e0ff04dea.pdf
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Michael McGregor
(2:23:37)
Background Information (00:03)
Born in Indiana on February 5th 1943. (00:04)
His father was a career soldier in the Army. He died in World War II. (00:10)
His parents met at a Military Academy were Michael’s father was running the ROTC. (1:25)
His brother was born in 1941 while his father worked at Fort Hayes, Ohio. (2:41)
He graduated from South Bend Central High School. (3:06)
He attended college with VA assistance and graduated in 1965. (3:15)
Michael majored in history and had the intention of becoming a teacher. (3:40)
He later began working for the U.S. public health service where he interviewed people
diagnosed with syphilis to help control its spread. (4:06)
He married his wife early to avoid the draft. (5:03)
He then began making fuel controls for the F111 at Bendix Aerospace. (6:25)
In September of 1966 Michael received his draft notice. (6:40)
In November of 1966 he reported at the Chicago induction center where he was processed.
(6:55)
Basic Training (7:20)
He began his basic at Fort Campbell, Kentucky (7:26)
The men stayed in World War II barracks. (7:55)
Basic lasted 8 weeks. The training consisted of close order drills, hand to hand combat, physical
training, and an emphasis on decline. (8:12)
If detractions were no followed, men were often “volunteered” for hand to hand combat
demonstrations. (9:14)
Michael’s company consisted mainly of National Guard and Reserve men. (9:55)
Being at almost 23 years of age, Michael was older than most of his fellow soldiers. (10:43)
While in basic, Michael was given a pay of 90 dollars a month, of which 50 dollars when home to
his wife. (11:37)
He was OCS (Officer Candidate School) qualified and opted for it. (12:25)
He was then sent to Advanced Individual Training for artillery at Fort Sill Oklahoma. He later
dropped this OCS training due to his wife’s unexpected pregnancy. As a result of dropping OCS,
Michael was placed in an artillery unit. (13:30)
Service at Fort Sill (14:00)
He trained in a brand new area with brand new barracks and squad bays. (14:01)
The training at Fort Sill was not as rigorous as his basic. (14:27)
He was placed in field artillery operations and intelligence. This trained Michael to locate
targets, and calculate quadrant and deflection for the gun. (14:41)
He was very good at this job, due primarily to his background in math and map reading. (16:14)
�
The training process at Fort Sill took 4 months. (18:04)
He was assigned to go to Germany. However, he preferred to stay stateside until the birth of his
child. Due to this, he was placed in a holding company. He was used primarily in training
exercises. (18:19)
On July 29th 1967 Michael’s son was born and he was given leave. After returning he assigned to
go to Vietnam. (20:14)
At the time of his deployment, Michael knew that Vietnam War was going on but he could not
fathom the reality of being sent there. (20:52)
At the time, he men that Michael knew from training who went to Vietnam went because they
volunteered to go. (22:37)
There were no newspapers readily available that the soldiers could easily access. (22:54)
He did not want to travel to Vietnam, but he was not willing to abandon his family to avoid
being sent. (25:34)
Voyage to Vietnam (26:01)
He was first sent to RVN (Republic of Vietnam) training at Ft. Sill for 3 weeks before being sent
overseas. This consisted of class room training were the men were instructed on cultures,
practices, and environment of Vietnam. (26:05)
In basic Michael was trained on the M14. In RVN he had to qualify with the M16. (27:04)
Anti-ambush training was also taught. (27:12)
After finishing RVN, the men were sent home on leave. (27:35)
While reporting in Oakland, California, Michael did encounter some protesters. (28:06)
He was sent out of Travis Air Force Base by plane to Vietnam. He left at 10:00 at night. (28:57)
At approx. 2 AM the plane landed in Honolulu, Hawaii. The plane then landed in Japan and then
Cam Ranh Bay. (29:39)
The heat and the humidity were the first things that the soldiers noticed. Michael was also very
scared. (30:10)
Arrival in Vietnam (31:30)
The base was much like any other army base. However, the building did look very fragile. (31:34)
Upon his arrival, Cam Ranh Bay did not seem to look much like a war setting; it was surprisingly
calm. (32:50)
It took 2-3 days to be processed. After being assigned Michael was sent to Camp Ratcliff where
he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. (33:06)
Every man joining the division had to go through a 1 week jungle school. (34:30)
The men were made to go through booby trap courses. (35:28)
While on perimeter duty at night, Michael heard what he thought was an enemy in the bush and
opened fire, only to be stopped by a sergeant. What he had heard was something known as the
“Fuck you Lizard.”(36:00)
The men repelled out of towers and then practice repelling out of helicopters. (37:53)
Michael was then taken by plane to the 1st Battalion of the 21st Artillery. (39:03)
Service in the 1st Cavalry (39:56)
�
The cavalry battalions had did not have any heavy weapons companies at the time but only 4
rifle companies. They were then given 4 howitzers. [McGregor's battery of 1/21 artillery was
thus attached to the 2/7 Cavalry] (40:25)
The Air cavalry had 3 practice maneuvers a day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, one
at night. (41:58)
He stayed in FDC (the battery's fire direction control) for about 10 days. (43:50)
Early Action in Vietnam : Operation Byrd (44:03)
During this operation the men went on “raids” or a “hip shoots.” This is when one or more of
the battery's guns were flown to temporary positions to support the infantry when they went
beyond the range of the guns in the more permanent position. A raid was completed in a day,
but on a hip shoot they would stay for one or more nights in the new position. After 10 days in
his unit, Michael was sent on a “hip shoot” here he was shot at. (44:20)
Often times the men went in with a senior NCO. The men would then assault the area and set
up a perimeter. (46:00)
There was often an artillery preparation before the men landed. (46:48)
The men often only had a matter of seconds to get off the helicopter before it would lift off
again. (48:26)
His first night on his first “hipsho0t” Michael fell asleep. He awoke to a trip flare. (49:29)
Michael and his unit were working to break the influence of the Vietcong in the area and
protect the rice harvest. (51:14)
There was a city near where Michael was stationed. This meant there was a large amount of
people who needed a large rice harvest. (53:26)
Because there was a town nearby, the men were able to get leave if they were good soldiers. In
town the men often drank. (54:29)
When he arrived in Vietnam, Michael had the intention of keeping a diary. (57:43)
He was in Phan Thiet form October 1st 1967- January of 1968. (58:55)
The native people didn’t pay much attention to the soldiers unless they were spending money.
(59:10)
There were only 2 rough incidents while in this area of Vietnam. (1:00:50)
There was some friendly fire. Several U.S. soldiers were killed by a napalm strike. (1:02:54)
Most of the heavy fighting was done with by the time Michael arrived. There were still some
snipers in the area. (1:04:58)
His unit was moved out of Phan Thiet in October of 1967 before the Tet Offensive stated. He
was moved near Bong Son in LZ Mustang. (1:06:41)
While at LZ Mustang the men were attacked almost every night. (1:09:11)
A U.S. trap set around the perimeter consisted of wire connected to claymore mines. (1:10:45)
Michael felt sympathy for a North Vietnamese soldier who was killed by a detonated claymore
booby-trap. He admired his courage to go and fulfill an objective that would most certainly get
him killed. (1:12:03)
The Tet Offensive (1:13:04)
The Tet offensive began while Michael was at LZ Mustang. He was later moved to the Northern
part of Vietnam to take part in the counter attack. (1:13:07)
�
His unit was given the task of blocking to the North. There was a bridge and a river that was to
be secured just north of Hue. Once secured, they were also to provide fire support. (1:15:10)
Michael was fortunate to miss the bulk of the fighting during the securing of the bridge. The
men did, however, come under fire on multiple occasions. (1:16:20)
The men spent approx. 1 week securing and protecting the bridge at Hue. (1:18:47)
Operation Pegasus (1:20:04)
Michael missed the initial deployment by one day due to his R&R in Da Nang. (1:20:15)
The North Vietnamese set up several strong points on hill tops anticipating the men to travel in
on the road. Instead they air assaulted in. (1:20:16)
He rejoined his unit at LZ Thor. (1:22:27)
Marines were sent in initially to clear the area. After hitting intense resistance they fell back.
(1:22:47)
When he arrived in Khe Sanh, it looked as though there had been some fighting a
bombardment, but most of its appearance was typical to any other LZ. (1:24:43)
The men were them moved to LZ Stud. While here several men hijacked the mess truck of
another company. (1:26:11)
Often, long delay fuses were placed on buried supplies such as nails from ammo boxes when the
men left an area. This was to stop the North Vietnamese form digging up the supplies and using
them in booby-traps. (1:27:05)
Operation Delaware (1:29:09)
After the completion of Operation Pegasus the men were sent back to Camp Evans. (1:28:09)
The one thing that Michael had heard about Vietnam was of a rescue attempt made in the A
Shau Valley. This was the location that Michael was sent next. (1:28:25)
He was first sent to LZ Pepper. While being dropped, the helicopter took fire and crashed. No
men were injured. (1:30:34)
Because the Vietnamese were caught of guard during operation Delaware, often times Michael
encountered enemy soldiers and had to fire upon them. (1:33:50)
For approx. 1 week, Michael and his unit still saw Vietnamese soldiers wander toward their unit,
ignorant to the fact they were there. (1:35:55)
Michael worked with 3 howitzers during this operation. (1:36:45)
His unit was in the A Shau Valley for approx. 2 weeks. Then he was moved to an area east of
Camp Evans. There the men simple secured the area. Often the men had to force North
Vietnamese out of tunnels. (1:38:00)
He stayed near the China Sea till he came back to the U.S. in September of 1968. (1:40:46)
While in Vietnam Michael had his hands cut up by barbed wire and took some shrapnel. Aside
from that, he was left relatively unharmed. (1:41:20)
Life in Vietnam (1:41:58)
His wife attempted to write him every day. His mom also wrote often. Michael had trouble
receiving mail only if he was being moved to another location. (1:42:01)
He worried that if his family knew where he was then they would be very worried about him,
more so then they already were. (1:43:15)
�
During some R&R in Hawaii in June of 1968 (after 9 months in Vietnam), Michael was able to
meet with his wife. (1:43:47)
The people in Hawaii were very gracious of Michael’s service. He was often offered discounts at
hotels and free drinks. (1:44:52)
Michael received a tape from his wife while in Vietnam. The reality of having a piece of his life
that was not in the Army was difficult to grasp. (1:46:53)
Discharge (1:48:50)
He landed in U.S. at Fort Lewis Washington at 9AM. At then PM of the same day he was
discharge. (1:49:32)
There were offers made to Michael to reenlist. He had no interest in doing so. (1:51:18)
Life in Vietnam (cont.) (1:53:00)
Because he went in to a unit of soldiers who have been in the field for a while, he joined a unit
of strangers. (1:53:01)
Michael did have some mentors which helped him get assimilated with the other soldiers.
(1:54:30)
The rotation of high command men was often viewed as ridiculous. The reason was that this
often resulted in the change of company structure every 6 months. (1:55:38)
There was a lot of resentment over what the higher command soldiers had verses the average
soldiers and the pay that different solders had. (1:58:44)
While napping before a flight in Cam Ranh Bay, Michael and one of his fellow soldiers was yelled
at by a Sergeant Major for napping and wearing dirty uniforms. The Sergeant Major was
dressed well and wore a flak jacket with shined shoes while Michael whore tattered clothes. The
conversation was then interrupted by a pair of pilots, who outranked the Sergeant Major, and
informed him that “where those men are going they shoot pricks like you.” (2:00:05)
The pilots then bought the two soldiers drinks and asked them about how well they thought the
air units helped them in the field, since they didn't get much feedback from the troops.
He felt that the inequality that existed in the military had the solders on the ground taken
advantage of. (2:04:57)
Life after Service (2:05:03)
When he arrived home he was greeted by his wife, some, brother, and sister in law. (2:05:26)
He began working in humans recourses. (2:07:24)
He was hired at a plant to instill a sense of discipline. He was hired due to his military
background and height being 6’4”.(2:08:01)
Michael was unable to take advantage of the G.I. bill after he returned to the U.S. a bill was later
passed that allowed him to take it. (2:09:36)
Thoughts on Service (2:11:20)]
He met a lot of good people and had a lot of good times, but he also had some of his worst
times while in the service. (2:11:24)
He wished he had gotten more contact information. When he left the military he recognized
some men only by their call sign. (2:12:12)
�
One man he did meet while in the Army he did keep in contact with later became an air line
Pilot. (2:14:00)
Michael was not exposed to much of the protests in the late 1960s. He did follow the war after
he was discharged. (2:16:39)
He did not know why the men were fighting in Vietnam. He came to the conclusion that it was a
colossal waste. (2:17:15)
He didn’t like how the protests vilified the soldiers. (2:18:54)
There was a lot of pride within the 1st Cavalry. (2:20:47)
�
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
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1914-
Rights
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<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
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RHC-27
Language
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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
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McGregorM0561V
Title
A name given to the resource
McGregor, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McGregor, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael McGregor, born in Indiana in 1943, served in the U.S. Army from November of 1966 through late 1968 in the 1st Cavalry Division in the Vietnam War. After receiving his draft notice, Michael trained at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was then sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he began his work in field artillery. In the fall of 1967 Michael was sent to Vietnam and was placed in the 1st Cavalry. He served in the Phan Thiet area at the end of Operation Byrd, and moved up to the Hue area after the start of the Tet Offensive, and later in the Khe Sanh area and the A Shau Valley.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV
WKTV (Wyoming, 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. Army
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
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2010-05-06
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0efb98cd5a83529f3e028bae2133d597.mp4
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
World War II
Lewis McDonald
Length of Interview (0:00:00- 1:23:17)
(0:00:00 – 0:03:10) Background
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December 1922 (0:00:16)
Went to St. Francis parochial school for 10 grades, and then South High School. Graduated
in 1940 (0:00:36)
Father was a streetcar operator, and after streetcars were taken off worked for the new bus
company in the shop (0:01:06)
After high school worked for the A&P grocery store (0:03:10)
(0:03:15 – 0:05:20) Enlistment
Motivation for enlistment (0:03:15- 0:05:50)
Decided to go into the service as sister was serving as a nurse, and brother was a gunner
(0:03:25)
Had heard about Pearl Harbor while at a bar, but didn’t initially think about going into the
service (0:04:15)
He and a friend chose to enlist so that they could possibly choose their branch of service
(0:05:00)
He enlisted in December 1942 (0:05:20)
Basic Training (0:05:20 – 0:10:20)
Went to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan, and completed basic training at Fort Sill,
Oklahoma (0:05:50)
Enjoyed the train trip to Oklahoma, states that war was not on anyone’s mind (0:06:20)
Once at the camp the shorter men were separated from taller boys for work placement, he
was placed with the taller group (0:6:50)
Had flat feet, but didn’t tell the doctor(0:07:25)
Was assigned to the mule pack during basic training for 4 months, spent a lot of time
outdoors, walking and traveling (0:08:30)
Air Corps Training (0:10:20 – 0:21;50)
Recruited for the Air Corps (0:10:20)
Trained for Air Corps at Wichita Falls, Texas (0:11:00)
From there went to Santa Ana, California (0:11:15)
Took a college course while waiting for cadet program to start (0:11:35)
�
Went to Santa Ana and started the cadet program, stayed in wooden barracks (0:12:08)
Went to school all the time, and then spent time flying PT-22 tandem front and back open
cock pit, over 100 horsepower engine monoplane (0:12:24)
The planes had no radios, so the radioman sat in the back and relayed messages through a
tube (0:13:05)
He and others experienced constant worry about getting “washed out” if you didn’t meet
qualifications (0:13:58)
Stayed for 8 months which included three training stages, primary, secondary, and
advanced (0:14:30)
In the classes learned about aviation, navigation, mechanics, and Morse code (0:15:00)
Advanced training was in Pecos, Texas (0:16:20)
Had the choice to fly fighters or bombers, he chose bombers (0:16:45)
Graduated as Class 44F (44 is 1944, the year he graduated, F was the number of the class)
(0:16:50)
From there he went to Roswell, Mexico for training in a B-17 (0:17:05)
Most flight instructors were civilians (0:18:20)
For entertainment, they went to bars and to dances (0:20:00)
At times there were USO shows (0:20:35)
First impression of flying a B-17 which had a 100 ft. wingspan, was it felt like flying the
house around (0:21:50)
(0:23:00 – Active Duty
Deployment to Europe (0:23:00 – 0:31:50)
Went to Tampa, Florida, as a flight officer, which is equivalent to a warrant officer. They
were not considered commissioned officers, but they were officers (0:23:00)
Once they got a crew together, went over on the ship Queen Elizabeth (1994) (0:24:25)
While on the ship the four officers were treated like kings while the enlisted men were not,
who packed five decks below (0:24:40)
Landed in Scotland and took a train to the base, 50 miles north of London in
Ridgewell(0:25:05)
During training practiced a lot of formation flying (0:25:25)
Bombing focused on German airfields and train tracks to cut out all methods of
transportation (0:25:50)
Never saw a German air fighter the entire time he was there (0:26:14)
Missions were often 10 hours long in duration (0:28:30)
His main base was at Ridgewell
The base had an officer’s club, a mess hall, a PX, and hospital, and Quonset huts for
housing(0:28:40)
Explains the importance of flying in formation, formation was a defense mechanism to
prevent fighter planes from attacking (0:31:52)
First combat mission (0:31:50 – 0:50:18)
�
For the first mission he flied Tail End Charlie, where you fly low below and behind
everyone in the squadron (0:32:40)
Describes missions as exciting, your adrenaline pumping (0:32:55)
Describes it as fun and thrilling, dangerous but still a thrill (0:33:40)
Describes shock at being able to fly a bomber while in his early twenties (0:34:22)
Did not lose many aircraft at this time in the war (0:35:00)
Lieutenant Bob Jankovic was the only one that the troop lost during this mission. His plane
was shot down, and he did not know it was Jankovic’s plane until 30 years later when he read
a history book on the Eighth Air Force, which was his combat unit (0:36:39)
Jankovic’s parachute opened too soon after he bailed from the plane, and caught on the tail
of the plane, though Jankovic landed alive, his leg was broken, and he was captured by
Germans and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp (0:38:12)
Mission to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia (0:38:50 – 0:45:00)
Pilsen, Czechoslovakia was a very dangerous place to fly because they had a big munitions
factory, The Skoda industrial plant (0:40:35)
He underwent training to be a squadron lead pilot (0:41:00)
While flying to Pilsen, the radio announced that the Eighth Air Force was coming in to
bomb the Skoda Works in Pilsen (0:41:20)
When the unit got there everyone at the works was prepared and on guns (0:41:45)
They dropped bombs on the secondary target (0:42:32)
As a bomber, he had no idea if he hit his target or not, so they would send planes overhead
before and after to take photographs (0:43:22)
Post European Tour (0:50:18 – 1:06:00)
His crew had been a replacement crew and the last one over, so they were to be the first
to leave and return to the United States to retrain with B-29s (0:51:25)
Went back to the States three weeks after the war was over in June (0:51:50)
Went to Tampa, Florida at MacDill Air Force Base where he started flying 29s (0:52:00)
The war ended before he ever was deployed again (0:52:40)
To get his 3 hours a month of flight time to get fly pay, he would fly an L-5, a field
artillery spotter plane around (0:52:00)
It took 200 gallons of gas to get off the ground, and was expensive (0:53:00)
Had a lot of fun flying, would go out Sunday morning to get flying time in (0:54:10)
Photo Reconnaissance Unit (0:56:00 – 1:00:00)
He ended up in Greenland as a crew pilot (0:56:30)
Any state that wanted mapping would contract the Army to get aerial photos (0:57:05)
Spent time in Little Rock, Arkansas doing mapping for a summer (0:57:10)
�Pause in tape at (0:58:10)
Joined a Photo Reconnaissance Unit to Greenland to make new maps of Greenland,
building a new base in Thule (0:58:15)
Took two B-17s to Greenland, spent a whole summer there (0:59:00)
The plan was to send all the photos back to the United States and make new maps from
them (0:59:40)
The base at Thule is now fully operating today, and the Strategic Air Command has a big
base there (0:59:40)
The base is built on refrigerated bases to keep the structure solid so it wouldn’t sink in the
spring and summertime (1:00:45)
Describes his and other reservists' relationship with West Point graduates as being
somewhat unfriendly (1:05:15)
Was offered three options after the war: stay in at his current rank and continue to serve
indefinitely, get out, or take the rank of a Master Sergeant and stay in the regular Army
(1:05:45)
Life after the military (1:05:50- 1:23:17)
He got out in January 1947, and began looking for a job (1:06:15)
Gave up hopes of being a commercial pilot because the job market was nonexistent and the
pay was low (1:09:15)
Became a plumber and began the apprenticeship program, and then joined his friend’s
company (1:09:30)
Stayed with his friend’s company for three years, then joined the union as a commercial
plumber, hoping to work on larger projects (1:11:00)
Was laid off after a year, and went to work for himself, working mostly remodeling and
houses for 35 years (1:12:11)
Describes of his time in the service: “You got to know people a little bit better,” says “it
was a great experience.” (1:16:45)
Ends at 1:23:17
�
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
McDonaldL0568V
Title
A name given to the resource
McDonald, Lewis (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McDonald, Lewis
Description
An account of the resource
Lewis McDonald of Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a World War II veteran who served as a pilot with the Eighth Air Force. Lewis was drafted in 1943 and went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for basic training. While there, he was recruited into a pilot training program, and was sent to England in late 1944 to be a B-17 pilot. He flew regular missions over Central Europe until the German surrender, at which point he was sent back home to train as a B-29 pilot, but the war ended before he was to deploy to the Pacific. After the war, he remained in the Army Air Corps for a year and a half, mostly flying B-17 on aerial photography missions, and spent the summer of 1946 doing this at Thule, Greenland.
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
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
2007-12-01
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/8a65df60409efd3c6f27dc37232cd754.mp4
ae2b3434d15e7649ac780e5afdc2e715
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7322a2dee99a90cb635f982dbe893719.pdf
7f0fb1ce689bfa8e0f2b2728386aec30
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Todd McCrumb
(22:20)
(00:17) Background Information
• Todd was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1965
• His father was a state policeman and was often transferred all over Michigan
• Todd graduated from high school in 1984
• He had not been interested in going to college right away and the unemployment
rate was at 16%, so he joined the Air Force in August of 1984
(2:45) First Days in the Air Force
• There were many angry people in the Air Force that he had to train with
• Training was intense and the drill sergeants were mostly left over from Vietnam;
they were all very mean
• Todd was sent to South Korea near the DMZ where he worked with the security
police guarding F-16s with nuclear weapons and U2 spy planes
• They also worked with the South Koreans
• There was one South Korean guard for every American that was there
• Every young man in South Korea has to join the military for two years after
graduating
• Much was lost in translation and problems were caused by miscommunication
(6:50) Every Day Activities
• Long distance cost about $3/minute so Todd preferred to write letters
• He made only $600/month and could not afford the phone calls
• They always got free rides on planes and had great food
• Todd said that it was “like eating at Big Boy every day,” and that he gained a lot
of weight
• There were many activities at the recreational centers, they received many free
concert tickets, and free hunting/fishing licenses
(11:15) The End of His Time in the Service
• A bill had recently been passed that sought to cut military costs and decrease the
size of the military
• Todd had though about re-enlisting, but wanted to be stationed somewhere other
than Montana because it was very boring
• He had even offered to go back to the DMZ in South Korea
• They told him that if he re-enlisted he would be in Montana for another 6 years
• Todd was off the base in Montana in 4 days and back in Michigan
• He was unsure of what he wanted to do for his future and had thought about
becoming a state policeman
• He later decided to take classes at Grand Valley State University, where he
received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree and is now a teacher
�(15:15) Effects of His Military Experience
• Todd is now much more involved in international news, but feels that much is
spinned to promote special interests
• There are some in the military that are just war-mongers and looking to kill
• Todd was trained more in helping people than in hurting people
• In the reserve he spent a lot of time working with first-aid and providing help
during disasters
• Todd feels that peace is not the absence of war, but the result of war because there
are a lot of bad people out there
�
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
McCrumbT
Title
A name given to the resource
McCrumb, Todd (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McCrumb, Todd
Description
An account of the resource
Todd McCrumb was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1965 and enlisted in the Air Force in 1984 shortly after graduating from high school. He had been unsure of what he wanted to do in his life, not ready for college, and unemployment in the area was at 16%. Todd spent time working with the security police near the DMZ in South Korea. He was later stationed in Montana. Todd did not re-enlist because he was told he would have to spend another 6 years in Montana. He later graduated from Grand Valley State University and is now a teacher.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Davidson, Matt (Interviewer)
Nosanvo, Catlin (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Air Force
Other veterans & civilians--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
2008-06-02
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/83ca9c502c623b8c503a114ca222a489.mp4
9d6e6748865e5685316aaba4824567da
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2212eb8aa430a7c9fb8619da7aa9aeae.pdf
72938683581d790aacac15d9a2cc1647
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Vietnam
Ted McCormick
Total Time – (01:34:22)
Background
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He was born in Standish, Michigan (00:31)
o He was born when there was not a hospital in town
He grew up in Flint, Michigan (01:06)
Went to Flint Public Schools
His father was in the automotive industry (01:15)
There were 4 children in the family
o He was the second oldest (01:32)
He finished high school in 1968
He worked at Buick in 1968 (02:11)
At this point, he was indifferent to Vietnam
o He believed it would be over by the time he would be at the drafting age
(02:32)
He knew others that had been to Vietnam
o They did not talk about the war too much
Enlistment/Training – (03:39)
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He received his draft notice in 1969 (03:47)
He went to Detroit, Michigan for his physical (05:11)
o The majority of the men getting their physical were looking for a way out
of going to the war
Not very many of them got out of it
After Detroit, he was bused to Fort Knox (06:54)
They arrived at Fort Knox in June, 1969
When they arrived, they got the typical rude welcome
He had no idea of what to expect when he got there (07:35)
They had to take aptitude tests, but they did not necessarily dictate where soldiers
went
Basic training was not very difficult for him (08:38)
He was familiar with weapons before he entered camp
o There were some men who found training extremely difficult (09:05)
The majority of the men in his training company were primarily from Michigan
o There were some blacks in his company (09:55)
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They made it a similar percentage to the population as a whole
Basic Training lasted 3 months (10:23)
After basic training, you receive your orders – advance individual training
He was then flown to Fort Polk, Louisiana (11:04)
Fort Polk was very similar to For Knox
o It was maybe more advanced in some areas
Fort Polk had mock Vietnam villages and mock scenarios for training (12:04)
The instructors were soldiers that previously served in Vietnam
o The instructors had a lot of apathy while training (13:34)
He was offered the option of becoming a helicopter pilot but he declined it
because he did not want to extend his two years (14:34)
He trained on the M16, M14, M60 machine gun, 45, grenade launchers, etc.
(15:20)
He spent 3 months in Advanced Individual Training (AIT) (15:39)
He was able to go home for Thanksgiving in November, 1969
After his leave, he was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington (16:12)
They were in Washington waiting to replace others in Vietnam
o It was extremely depressing – they were at the end of the war and many of
the soldiers knew what was going on
o They were waiting around for three days
Active Duty – (17:18)
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He is then sent to Vietnam via charter plane (17:25)
o They went through Alaska, Japan, and Cam Ranh Bay (17:37)
o The ride was extremely depressing
o There were stewardesses on the flight – they tried to cheer the soldiers up
(18:11)
They landed at Cam Ranh Bay during the day (18:29)
It was extremely hot
After he gets off the plane, they went to their replacement company (19:15)
They were taken on cattle trucks up the coastline of South Vietnam
o He was able to see how poor the people were and experience the culture
They had armed escorts in a convoy (20:29)
The drive took 3-4 hours (21:32)
He found out when he was in Cam Ranh that he was assigned to the 101st Infantry
He was first assigned to Bravo company 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment
(22:37)
There were men who took pills that they thought would give them symptoms of
malaria when they were out on the field
o All three of the men died soon after taking the pills (23:29)
The unit stayed for 5-6 days in the camp before heading out (25:06)
The new soldiers are shunned when they first arrived (25:28)
o You are considered an idiot until you have proved yourself
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The first mission he went on, he saw a woman hit with an M79 grenade round
(27:00)
o The round did not go off (27:06)
o The decision was made to not report the incident – the woman and her
child were both murdered
o This was part of an ambush outfit (27:50)
They were on high alert and the observation post shot
He initially operated in the Triple Canopy jungle (30:16)
When he is sent up to the triple canopy jungle, they were trying to locate
movement at night and locate positions or activity (31:12)
o They were the average recon unit
o The platoon was 30 men
On their reinforce recon missions, they were locating the enemy (32:33)
He remembers seeing a young soldier cut in half by an M60
The first time he was in regular combat situation was in April, 1970
There had been a previous company that had gone into an area and had been cut
up (35:42)
On April 14, 1970, his unit was being hit with mortars all day
The wounded could not be extracted from this fight because everything was
socked in (38:29)
His platoon went in to locate the base (38:41)
They could not find it for four days, so they sent out a dog ahead of them
The Vietnamese waited until his platoon walked into their position (39:58)
They were hit with napalm
There were 200 mortars electrically wired together to wipe out his platoon, but
because they moved in so fast, they did not have the time to set it up (41:13)
The order to attack quickly, though it sounded crazy, actually worked
o The Vietnamese did not have time to get ready
Just before the battle they were being resupplied (42:11)
When they went in, they were short on supplies (42:33)
The majority of his tour was spent doing many of these kinds of missions
They always seemed to use the same tactics (43:12)
o Move at night, reinforce recon, etc.
They were still operating in the triple canopy jungle
o He was primarily on the eastern side – Elephant Valley
Missions were meant to find any kind of contact activity (44:18)
He rarely saw the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) – they were extremely
disciplined
The NVA used bunkers and caves
He would spend 7-30 days on different missions (47:02)
o Depending on the commander, but they would often get a break after 30
days
When on patrol, the men in the platoon were generally extremely disciplined and
focused on the job (48:06)
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In order to stay safe while marching at night, you have to maintain contact with
the person in front of you (48:44)
o They would move on trails at night
o There were many problems with booby-traps and ambushes (49:15)
The point man would have to look for them
They seldom cut directly through the jungle
He remembers seeing rock apes and getting rocks thrown at them (50:42)
o There were tigers that caused troubles for troops
o There were extremely poisonous snakes
o It was like fighting in the Garden of Eden (52:14)
o There were fox bats that would turn the sky black (52:25)
It was extremely common for men to get diseases from being in the jungle
He developed cellulitis (53:25)
When men would return to camp, they would typically get drunk or smoke pot
(55:22)
o This was before heroin became available
o After heroin arrived, there were racial problems as well as many other
problems
o He noticed the heroin problem in August, 1970 (55:56)
o After returning from R&R, he noticed the heroin abuse
Before heroin there was some racial tension, but it was isolated – it was profound
once heroine addictions began
o The heroin did not follow the soldiers into the field (56:49)
There was a lot of marijuana abuse (57:11)
He got the cellulitis in February, 1970 (58:03)
Once he got sick, he was sent back to Camp Eagle
When he was on R&R he went to Sydney, Australia (58:55)
o He was able to pick his destination
o It was culture shock to experience Australia after spending nearly half a
year in Vietnam
o The Australians were extremely nice to American soldiers
o It was incredibly difficult to get back on the plane to go back to Vietnam
(59:40)
He did not have any idea what was going on with the war at large (01:01:19)
The last mission he remembers was in October, 1970 (01:03:09)
His unit was close to the Laotian border
o They were protecting the artillery units that were firing into Laos
One of the most dramatic parts of his service was the battle of Hill 882 along with
the 502nd infantry – the battle lasted from April until June (01:04:30)
o The 502nd infantry never had historical explanations as to what happened
to their unit
He believes the 101st underestimated the commitment of the NVA (01:06:20)
o The military changed from an offensive position to a defensive posture
He never lost respect for the NVA
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o Remembers seeing them standing up and trying to shoot down jets with
their AK-47s (01:09:42)
When he was out on the field, he typically carried a machine gun or an M16
The air support that the Americans would call in was superb
o The NVA would try to get as close to the Americans as possible in order
to negate the air power (01:10:58)
o They would sometimes have to call in air support on themselves
o They support was generally quick and accurate
After R&R, he went through a period of depression and remorse (01:12:34)
He was able to get close with some of the men in his unit (01:13:36)
Some of the sergeants he served under were “shake ‘n bake”, but they did the job
(01:15:45)
o The sergeants and lieutenants usually provided great leadership (01:16:17)
After the Service – (01:17:05)
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He was able to go home a little bit early from his tour – October, 1970 (01:17:13)
He spent a week in Phu Bai, Vietnam before he got on a plane to return to
America
o When waiting to find out when he would leave he just hung out (01:18:19)
o The atmosphere on the plane was extremely depressing (01:18:50)
His first landing was at Fort Lewis, Washington
He had changed out of his military clothing into civilian clothing
On his leave home, he spent time getting drunk (01:20:42)
After his leave back home he was sent back to Fort Knox
He was encouraged to re-enlist after he was discharged (01:22:46)
o They offered to make him a sergeant
In general, he had not had much contact with civilians in Vietnam (01:24:31)
There were Vietnamese spies within his units (01:25:20)
o There was an old man
o Some of the men were useful but some were not
He saw one of them selling heroin
When he came home, he went crazy for a couple of years doing crazy things
(01:26:34)
o He suffers from PTSD – it was dormant until it was triggered in 1976
It was triggered when he knew and saw someone that was hit by a
car
He was compensated for PTSD
He believes the Army made him have a deeper feeling for religion (01:32:37)
o He is not necessarily religious, but he understands it better now
o It has been one of the largest influences on his life
He does not like to dwell on the negative things in the war (01:33:13)
o He did certain things for his fellow soldiers not because he wanted to
�
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
McCormickTNoId
Title
A name given to the resource
McCormick, Theodore (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McCormick, Theodore
Description
An account of the resource
Ted McCormick was born in Standish, Michigan and grew up in Flint, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1968 and received his draft notice in 1969. He took basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Sent to Vietnam, he was assigned to an infantry company in the 101st Airborne Division. His unit went on patrols in the jungles of northern South Vietnam and encountered its share of firefights, ambushes and booby traps. In the last few months of his tour, which ended in October, 1970, he observed the effects of readily available heroin in the rear areas, and an escalation of racial tensions.
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
2012-04
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/a0d0bffb364664fda00bdcdefd1d48a1.m4v
47d4d1cc31fc5006de4b50082a71f166
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08dbc3c3bbf0e20bff5b8528295dc09c.pdf
4952d3f007fec17676d2434f645c3db0
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
James McConnon
Length: 36:08
(00:25) Training
James was drafted into the Army in October of 1971; he had been living in Caledonia,
Michigan
He went through many physicals in Detroit and then was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for
basic training for 8 weeks
James went through secondary advanced individual training at Fort Bliss, Texas where he
worked on an Air Defense Missile System
(3:50) South Korea
James was sent to South Korea to work as an Air Defense Artilleryman in April of 1972
He became squad leader and was working with vehicles that carried the missile launching
system
Most of the time in Korea James just spent field training at Camp Casey in the North
He worked on the Air Defense System near the DMZ for 14 months
James felt it was nice to live in a different country and learn about another culture
Plus his father had fought in the Korean War and James was able to learn more about
some of the things his father had experienced
(9:20) Average Days
The men used an HAM Radio to call home and James also wrote his friends and family
often
They had cafeteria style food, which wasn’t terrible, but they got sick of it pretty quickly
They were told not to eat the local food because they could easily get sick from it and
have serious health issues
James was able to see a few USO shows with Bob Hope
They men often played softball and other games on the base
(13:22) After Korea
After serving his time in South Korea James was shipped to Fort Hood, Texas and he
worked there for a short time before he was discharged
He did not enjoy working on the base in Texas because he had grown accustomed to such
a different environment
James then went to college and earned his Associates Degree and also became a member
of the American Legion
�
Being in the service helped him to become a more open-minded person and he was able
to work with many different types of people
James made many good friends in the Army and overall had a very positive experience
�
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
McConnonJ
Title
A name given to the resource
McConnon, James (Interview outline and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McConnon, James
Description
An account of the resource
James McConnon was drafted into the Army in October of 1971 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky for 8 weeks. He then went through secondary advanced individual training at Fort Bliss, Texas where he worked with the Air Defense Missile System. After training James was sent to South Korea in April of 1972 to work with Air Defense Artillery. James spent 14 months in the Northern area of South Korea working on air defense where he spent most of his time in field training.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Farhadi, Matthew (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
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
2009-05-29
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/742ade047db221ec0c5326d3efa42bb9.mp4
3286ed4dd1ef2ff8abd488b18cef7535
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08f90ed333dada156955a3c9c3d143f0.pdf
e7ec639ee85c9a76aea5b866172ce8e6
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project Interview
Vietnam War
Jim McCloughan
1 hour 44 minutes
(1:03) – Background
-Born May 30, 1946 in the hospital in South Haven, Michigan
-Parents took over grandparents’ farm in rural Bangor, Michigan
-Grew up in Bangor, MI
-Attended one room school house “about a mile down the road” until 6th grade
-Junior High School and High School in Bangor
-Graduated in 1964
-Went to Olivet College
-Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology as well as a teaching degree
-Played 4 years of football, wrestled for 4 years, and played 2 years of baseball
-Graduated in June 1968
-Told to report for a physical
-Had signed up for draft when he was 18
-Was told he would be drafted that July (1968)
-Had already signed contract with South Haven Schools in May to teach, desperately
needed teachers
-School board appealed to draft board, but the draft board said he had already had
his deferment
(4:17) – Basic Training (Fort Knox portion)
-Sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training
-1st week housed with 30-35 men
-E5 Spec. 5 Medic was in charge
-Medic finds out he has medical knowledge, most likely requested for him to be
sent to Ft. Sam Houston for medic training after basic
-Only one to go to Ft. Sam Houston
-Most medics were not draftees
-Training wasn’t very difficult (physically)
-Had to emotionally adjust to not being in a small community
-Mentally disciplined from sports, prepared him for distractions and drilling
-Appointed squad leader because he was older
-Sense of maturity, majority of draftees were high school graduates
-8 weeks of basic training ends
(10:35) Fort Sam Houston portion
-Rode on bus to Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas
�-Met Marty Romine
-Arrived 2 weeks early, attached to transportation unit in the country
-Had barracks to themselves
-Drove every kind of vehicle they had, said it reminded him of home
-10 weeks of medic training
-Lots of classwork
-Marty was training partner
-Learned how to give shots and apply bandages knew other basic medicine
from being in sports
-Interviewed to get a trainer position, thought he would get it and stay out of Vietnam
(13:00) Last Day of Training
-Deployment orders: Southeast Asia, Vietnam
-Thought it was mistake, asked command, not a mistake, Army regular (enlistee) got the
training job
-Offered to “re up” by joining Airborne, Special Forces, or OCS (Officer Candidate
School), but declined because it would mean an additional year of service
(15:15) More Talk about Training
- Prepared for hospital work as well
-Was assigned as a combat medic because the Army needed them
-Went to Ft. Sam Houston in November
-Got 2 weeks of leave for Christmas
-Graduated from medic training in February
-2 weeks leave in February
-Worked with wrestling team in South Haven for the championships
-Visited wife
(16:35) Deployment
-Sent to Oakland California
-Gates in sorting area locked to keep soldiers in
(17:35) More Talk about Training
-Had only one conscientious objector
-Some men claimed they were but in Vietnam that changed
-First time medics were allowed to be combatants
(19:10) More about Deployment
- Layover in Oakland for a few days
-Flew up to Alaska
-Brother lived in Alaska with wife and child, wanted to visit them, but the plane
was only there for 20 minutes
-Flew in military transport (very uncomfortable)
-First thing he noticed about Vietnam is that it stunk because it was humid mixed with the
smell of human feces
(21:20) (Added Step) Went from Alaska to Guam, and from Guam boarded military transport
and flew to Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam)
�(21:55) Arrival in Vietnam
-Orientation for 2 days
-Booby traps
-Snakes
-Division headquarters was in Chu Lai
-Part of 3rd Battalion, 21st Regiment, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd (Americal)
Division
-Introduced to Captain Jim Foster who was in charge of medics
-Taught him how to create a practical medical kit for the field
-Was attached to Charlie (“C”) Company just outside of LZ Center
-Flew out in helicopter
-Met the soldier he was replacing, one Pat Rocco
-First person he met in Charlie Company was Sergeant Doug Hatton who “talked
real slow,” “was missing a front tooth,” and “had his helmet on crooked.”
-Grew to like him
-“I was a kindergartener in fighting war, but he (Sgt. Hatton) had a
master’s degree.”
-Became best friends
-Company was stationed in a thick tree area, but not dense enough to be considered a
jungle
(27:50) First Contact
-Arrived in LZ Center on the 7th of March and the company was ambushed on the 10th
-In the ambush lost two men, but not from his platoon (2nd platoon)
-Immediately got used to hearing, and reacting to, people calling for a medic
(30:00) Basic Duties
-Was in charge of making sure that men took daily and weekly anti-malarial pills
-Tended to still healing wounds
-Impetigo was rampant (bacterial skin infection)
-Hydrogen peroxide and nitrous ointment used to treat it
-Took about 5 to 6 days to heal
-Also took care of sprains, strains, boils, and rashes
(31:19) Daily Routine
-Got up before dawn and started moving
-At sunrise stop and eat
-He (Jim) would go around and check on soldiers
-Get to destination and establish perimeter before dark
-More patrols meant less contact
-Normally moved as a company
(35:10) Conditions
-Rice paddies
-Jungle in the mountains
-Not a lot of civilians
-“Not a good country for a democracy”
-Very rural, very primitive
-In the beginning thought the people were friendly, over time sensed bitterness
-Booby traps in the rice paddies
�-OED’s (“other explosive devices”), not IED’s like in Iraq or Afghanistan
-Caused gruesome injuries
-Hated being in the rice paddies because of vulnerability and booby traps
-Occasionally fought alongside Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN’s)
-Inept and unhelpful soldiers
(43:40) Jungle Conditions
-Humid in the jungle, lots of leeches, lots of spiders
-Never saw snakes or tigers
(45:10) Return to LZ Center
-Return to LZ Center for a week
-Resupply
-Shower (only allowed 5 gallons of cold water)
-New set of clothes
-Get more rations
-Access to warm meals
-Got to sleep on a cot instead of on the ground
(46:40) Battle of Tam Ky (Prologue)
-4th Day of 7 Day rotation at LZ Center they were attacked
-May 12th at 1:30 AM the north end of LZ Center was attacked by North Vietnamese
sappers
-2 U.S. troops killed
-Evening of May 12th Lt. Carrier (company commander) was called into TOC (tactical
operations center)
-Being sent to Tam Ky (large town that was being attacked)
-No idea on enemy troop strength
-Lt. Carrier argued that the mission was flawed, but was threatened with court
martial if refused to go
(49:30) Battle of Tam Ky – Securing the Landing Zone
-Left for Tam Ky at 10:10 AM on May 13th via helicopter
-Landing Zone was “hot” (under fire)
-Had to jump from helicopters
-2 helicopters were shot down
-Established perimeter to help with extraction of wounded
-Helped one man who had managed to hurt himself in the jump
-Secured landing zone and regrouped
(52:30) Battle of Tam Ky – Nui Yon Hill Pt. 1
-At 4 PM command wanted scouting platoon to go to Nui Yon Hill
-Massive fortification south of Tam Ky
-About 1500 North Vietnamese
-Scouting platoon was made up of 19 U.S. soldiers and 1 South Vietnamese
interpreter
-Entered trench surrounding Nui Yon Hill
-Noticed two contacts stringing wire in the distance
-Opened fire on them with Sgt. Hatton
-Immediate NVA retaliation, point man killed
-2 soldiers wounded in the open
�-Went to help them, realized they were shell-shocked, not wounded
-One wound up getting killed, the other captured
-Left trench four or five times to retrieve wounded troops
-Airstrike was imminent, tons of crossfire
-Helped load wounded onto medevac
-Lt. Carrier suggests that he (Jim) goes as well since he was wounded
-Refuses, wants to stay behind and continue to help
(1:06:58) Battle of Tam Ki – Nui Yon Hill Pt. 2
-Next day was uneventful
-Hungry, tired, and wounded
-By evening the company was told to move, 1st Platoon would lead instead of 2nd
-Engaged again
-Goes back into crossfire again to retrieve wounded soldiers
-Spooky (AC 130 gunship) provided flares for light, and heavy covering fire
-NVA failed to win because they didn’t totally surround the U.S. forces
-169 NVA killed, minimal U.S. losses
-Extracted by helicopter
(1:12:15) Stand Down in June
-Returned to LZ Center for a break from the field
-Patrols and search and clear missions continued though
-Did not reach full company strength again until July
-Tried to welcome replacements, make them feel included
(1:15:10) Battle of LZ East
-LZ East was getting probed by NVA
-June 10th volunteers were asked to go assist LZ East in establishing a perimeter
-2:35 AM NVA sappers attacked
-Bunker hit, saved 2 men
-NVA began to bombard position with mortars
-Sappers effectively overran base
-Destroyed key positions
-Artillery
-Medical bunker
-High ranking officers killed
-Lost 17 U.S. soldiers
-Treated wounded NVA as well
-Fighting lasted 30 minutes
-Returned to LZ Center
(1:22:10) Deployment to Chu Lai
-Had to provide positive ID for rescued POW at the hospital in Chu Lai
-While at the hospital was offered position at the hospital in Chu Lai
-Asked Lt. Carrier for permission, response, “What the hell are you still doing
here?”
-Emotional, bittersweet moment
-Attached to 91st Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai
-Got own bunker and locker
�-Helped in the hospital
-Emergency room work
-Paperwork
-Interviewed patients
-December 1969 Bob Hope performed in Chu Lai, opted out of seeing him
-Occasional rocket strikes happened, but Chu Lai was relatively safe
-Extremely competent medical personnel
(1:31:25) Morale and Relations
-Morale constantly fluctuated between good and bad
-Troops nearing the end of their tour had high anxiety
-Competent officers improved morale
-No problems with insubordination
-Fairly high drug use
-Pills
-Marijuana
-No heroin yet
-African Americans kept to themselves out of choice
-Race relations were good though
(1:38:40) Coming Home
-Came into Chicago
-No welcome committee
-Father and wife were sent to the wrong gate
-Wanted to tell family and friends “goodbye” and “I love you” from then on
-Was not hassled, but not welcomed either
-People didn’t want to talk about Vietnam with veterans
-Rehired by South Haven Schools
-Head coach there for 38 years as well
-Coached 35 summers with the American Legion Baseball
-Worked a lot
-Loved his various jobs
-Staying busy kept his mind off memories
-Retirement allowed for the memories to start to come back
-Proud to have served alongside who he did
-Highest respect for those he served 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
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
McCloughanJ1554V
Title
A name given to the resource
McCloughan, James (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McCloughan, James
Description
An account of the resource
Jim McCloughan is a Vietnam War veteran who was born in South Haven, MI in 1946 and was drafted after college in 1968. He served with the 3/21st Infantry in the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23rd (Americal) Division as a combat medic. He fought in several major battles, including Tam Ky, and received two purple hearts during his tour.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV
WKTV (Wyoming, 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. Army
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
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
2013-10-24
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/8f8102e6706616e16bda56d9633165bf.pdf
7982921f1df87a8e863f93a3a89c28bf
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Richard McCarty
(7:17)
Background Information (00:35)
Before joining the Service he worked in the Printing department. (00:40)
At the age of 21 Richard received his draft notice. (00:51)
At the time of his draft, he was living in Grand Rapids Michigan. (00:54)
Training (1:05)
The first days in the service were very exciting for Richard. (1:06)
Richard attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (1:34)
Service (1:37)
After completing basic, Richard was assigned as a truck driver at Fort Leonard Wood (1:40)
The men would wake up every morning and run. Because of the heat, the men were made to
wake up an entire hour earlier (3 AM) to run. (2:00)
Richard was to be sent to Korea, however was discharged and aloud to spend the remainder of
his service in the National Guard. (3:39)
The men had very little free time while in service. (4:11)
Exiting Service (4:48)
Richard was very sick the day he was released from service. He was very happy to return home.
(4:52)
After being released, Richard served in the National Guard in Grand Rapids. (5:20)
He did make some close friends while in the service. He is no longer in touch with them. (5:35)
He is a member of the American Legion. (5:58)
Documents (6:08)
Discharge papers. (6:39)
�
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
McCartyRT
Title
A name given to the resource
McCarty, Richard (Interview outline), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McCarty, Richard
Description
An account of the resource
Richard McCarty served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War (approx. 1951-1953). After completing his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he was employed as a truck driver on base. Richard was assigned to be sent to Korea but was discharged before being sent out. He served in the National Guard after completing his military service.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kimes, Nathan (Interviewer)
McCarty, Richard (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. National Guard
United States. Army
Korean War, 1950-1953--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
2010-05-09
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/f0f9e8dddd753fdedb3eb69de598630f.mp4
3125be7c17987b80ebf570c42c19381b
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca0bd31b94ab41f77b41ced49b765f05.pdf
b49cca928b170c194789639591d19ccf
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Barry McAlpine
Vietnam War
Interview Length: (02:00:05:00)
Pre-enlistment Life / Training / Germany (00:00:16:00)
McAlpine was born in Cass City, Michigan in 1945, located in the “Thumb” region of the
lower peninsula of the state; McAlpine grew up in the “Thumb” region, living on a small
farm, the oldest of six children (00:00:16:00)
McAlpine graduated from high school in 1963 (00:00:32:00)
o After he graduated from high school, he briefly worked for General Motors before
attending Michigan State University (00:00:38:00)
However, his time at Michigan State did not work out too well and in 1965, McAlpine
received his draft notice (00:00:57:00)
o At the time, drafts notices were sent to everyone and both students and married
men had opportunities to use deferments; McAlpine chose not to use his student
deferment because he did not fully know what he wanted to do (00:01:11:00)
McAlpine viewed it was having a chance to serve in a war, which in his
mind, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (00:01:38:00)
McAlpine recalls sitting around the kitchen table talking with his
uncle and grandfather about their respective experiences serving in
the military and he always wondered if he would ever had a similar
opportunity (00:01:51:00)
The conflict in Vietnam was just starting to intensify and
McAlpine viewed it as a good time to serve (00:02:01:00)
McAlpine married before deploying to Vietnam and could have received a
marriage deferment along with the student deferment (00:02:12:00)
o McAlpine is glad that he chose the route of going into the military when he did
because the experience was very interesting and fun (00:02:42:00)
After receiving his draft notice, McAlpine first went through an induction center in
Detroit, Michigan before traveling to Fort Knox, Kentucky to begin his basic training
(00:02:59:00)
o Although he does not recall the exact reception he received when he arrived at
Fort Knox, McAlpine does remember that it was a far different world than what
he had known growing up on a farm (00:03:44:00)
o At the time, McAlpine was pretty independent and he did not understand the idea
of someone else giving him orders (00:04:02:00)
To that end, McAlpine had some difficult encounters with his drill
instructors and they were forced to break him down a little bit; although it
took some time, the instructors eventually broke him down and began to
“rebuild” him (00:04:22:00)
For example, McAlpine had never seen a two-way loudspeaker
system and one night, an instructors came over the loudspeaker in
the barracks and told the men something; McAlpine made a
�
flippant remark and he remembers the instructors running up the
stairs, placing a bucket on McAlpine’s head and beating the
“h***” out of the bucket (00:04:47:00)
Following the incident with the bucket, McAlpine had more respect for his
superiors (00:05:32:00)
o The basic training started out with McAlpine and the other men learning the ways
of the Army, such as marching, map-reading, how to fire and clean weapons,
proper radio procedures, etc. (00:05:47:00)
On a typical day, the men were training from six in the morning until eight
or nine o’clock at night (00:06:14:00)
o The men also went through a lot of physical training, namely running and
calisthenics (00:06:25:00)
McAlpine was in pretty good shape when he first went into the military, so
the physical training helped build his strength and stamina (00:06:37:00)
As well, because he had been shooting guns since he was eleven
years old, McAlpine was confident firing the weapons, because he
had played baseball at Michigan State, McAlpine could throw
grenades further than most of the other soldiers, and because he
had been in the marching band in high school, McAlpine already
knew how to march (00:06:51:00)
o Basic training lasted for a total of eight weeks, at the beginning of which
McAlpine and the other men took a series of test to determine what their MOS
(Military Occupational Specialty) would be (00:07:20:00)
McAlpine’s MOS was military intelligence, so he was assigned to regular advanced
infantry training, which was also at Fort Knox (00:07:43:00)
o Specifically, McAlpine was assigned to train in an armored division to train as a
scout, part of a new wave of military intelligence having greater interaction with
unit scouts (00:08:12:00)
o McAlpine does not remember too much about his advanced training, except that it
involved more map reading; at the time, the Army was still operating under
concepts from the Korean war, so the curriculum for the advanced training was
pretty old-fashioned (00:08:47:00)
At the time, McAlpine and the other men were still training with the old
M-14 rifle; McAlpine did not see an M-16 rifle until he deployed to
Vietnam (00:09:30:00)
The second course at Fort Knox lasted for another eight weeks, after which McAlpine
was able to go home for a month before deploying to Germany (00:09:45:00)
o Receiving the orders for Germany was a surprise to McAlpine because he was not
even thinking about serving in Europe (00:10:02:00)
o Once his leave ended, McAlpine remembers taking a bus to New York City,
where he boarded a ship for the trip across the Atlantic Ocean (00:10:14:00)
On the first night, the ship's crew gave the men chili for dinner and
McAlpine remembers that within a couple of hours, all the men were
seasick (00:10:25:00)
The journey over to Europe was in November and the traditional
November storms on the Atlantic were in full force; one time, McAlpine
�stuck his head out a window and saw that some of the waves were taller
than the smokestack of the ship (00:10:42:00)
The storms were such as bad experience that when McAlpine
finally got off the ship in Bremerhaven, Germany, he kissed the
ground and promised himself that when he went home, he was
either going to fly home or desert the Army (00:11:09:00)
o After McAlpine arrived in Germany, he was assigned to a unit stationed of the
West German border with Czechoslovakia (00:11:30:00)
When the other soldiers found out McAlpine had played baseball at
Michigan State, he was recruited to join the unit’s baseball team
(00:12:06:00)
Because he was on the baseball team, McAlpine did not have to
stand in formation, a fact that his company first sergeant did not
appreciate (00:12:16:00)
Apart from the baseball team, McAlpine tried out as the only white guy
for the unit’s boxing team (00:12:36:00)
One night after boxing practice, McAlpine was surrounded by
black guys and they wanted to teach him the lesson that he was not
allowed in their gym (00:12:50:00)
The black men “taught” McAlpine his lesson and he ended up in
the infirmary, unable to move his arms for several days
(00:13:03:00)
Because he was unable to try out for the boxing team and the baseball
season had ended, the first sergeant was waiting for McAlpine
(00:13:26:00)
Meanwhile, McAlpine had requested deployment to Vietnam,
which was denied; McAlpine put in another request and again, the
unit commander turned the request down, largely because the
commander wanted McAlpine on the baseball team (00:13:38:00)
Once baseball season was over, McAlpine was finally under the control of
the company first sergeant and when McAlpine returned to his barracks
from the infirmary, the first sergeant was waiting to give his bunk an
inspection (00:14:03:00)
When McAlpine’s bunk failed the inspection, the first sergeant tore
up the bunk, looked at McAlpine in a “funny” manner, then went
and locked the door to the barracks (00:14:25:00)
McAlpine knew he was going to get into a fight with the first
sergeant, so as the first sergeant walked back to McAlpine’s bunk,
McAlpine punched him (00:14:41:00)
The fight ended when a group of other sergeants broke the
barracks’ door down and separated McAlpine from the first
sergeant (00:14:58:00)
Soon after his fight with the first sergeant, McAlpine’s request for
deployment to Vietnam came through and he was sent to Vietnam
(00:15:06:00)
�
While in Germany, McAlpine was officially assigned to an armored
personnel carrier (APC) and on occasion, his unit would go into the Black
Forest to take part in war games; however, because he was on the baseball
team, McAlpine never had to take part (00:15:38:00)
McAlpine finally left Germany in early fall, 1966 and had another month-long leave at
home before having to fly to Oakland, California to deploy to Vietnam (00:16:08:00)
o McAlpine spent a few days in Oakland before boarding a military transport that
first flew to Hawaii to refuel then to several other islands, also to refuel, before
finally arriving in Vietnam (00:16:48:00)
Vietnam (00:17:24:00)
McAlpine arrived in Saigon in the latter part of fall, 1966 (00:17:24:00)
o McAlpine remembers the flight to An Khe, which was where his new unit, the 1st.
Air Cavalry Division was stationed; McAlpine remembers that the pilots wanted
to avoid mortar strikes, so they initially approached the airfield at a very high
altitude then rapidly descended (00:18:10:00)
Once the plane had landed, McAlpine and the other men were told to go
out the door and were quickly hustled off the runway (00:18:41:00)
After arriving in An Khe, McAlpine needed to wait for additional orders and once the
orders arrived, he received an assignment to the 1st (Squadron) of the 9th (Cavalry
Regiment) (00:18:57:00)
o Before McAlpine reported to his new unit, he and the other new arrivals stood in a
group and the question was asked if any of the men were married, with any
married men made to take a step forward (00:19:09:00)
McAlpine figured that the commanders were going to send all the married
men to relatively safe assignments, which he did not want, so he did not
step forward (00:19:18:00)
The two groups were separated, with the married men go off in one
direction, while the other men, McAlpine included, went in another
direction, which was when McAlpine received his assignment to the 1st of
the 9th (00:19:34:00)
o At the time, the 1st of the 9th was the “most ambitious” unit in the 1st Air Cav.,
having started most, if not all, the fights that the division had been involved in up
to that point; as well, the squadron claimed more than 50% of the entire division’s
enemy kills (00:19:47:00)
o The 1st of the 9th was divided into four “troops”: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta,
with Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie being helicopter-borne, with each troop having
roughly twenty-five helicopters (00:20:21:00)
Normally, the composition of each troop was divided between several
different groups, such as pilots and mechanics, as well as support
personnel such as cooks and supply clerks (00:20:38:00)
Of the ninety personnel in the troop, roughly thirty were ground
scouts while ten or fifteen were airborne scouts using small scout
helicopters; apart from the scout and transport helicopters, the units
also had helicopter gunships, with a pilot, co-pilot and a pair of
door gunners (00:20:47:00)
�
The gunships and scouts were designated as three groups: Red for
gunships, White for airborne scouts, and Blue for ground scouts; when he
arrived at the unit, McAlpine was assigned to be a Blue (00:21:16:00)
The concept behind the composition of the battalion was that at first, a
scout team would go out and either try to entice the enemy to engage them
or would look for signs that the enemy was nearby (00:21:49:00)
The men on the scout team would write the information down and
in the following day or two, several squads of Blues would insert
into the area to figure out what was going on; in a sense, the Blues
would start the fight with the enemy (00:22:16:00)
o The men in the Blues would wake up in the morning and
know that on one day, they would make numerous air
assaults; during one particular day, the Blues made a total
of eleven air assaults (00:22:29:00)
o When McAlpine arrived at the 1st of the 9th, he did not receive any type of
orientation (00:22:58:00)
McAlpine remembers that the first night he was with the unit, he was
laying in his bunk when he felt something on his chest (00:23:21:00)
He got out of his bunk and turned the light on, but nothing was
around; he turned the light off and got back into his bunk but soon,
it felt like something was back on his chest (00:23:28:00)
o McAlpine had decided that if he felt something on his chest
again, he was going to pull the cord for the light and turn
the light on but not get out of bunk (00:28:37:00)
When he felt something on his chest again, McAlpine pulled the
cord and on his chest was a rat (00:23:44:00)
As the rat scurried away, McAlpine hopped out of his bunk,
grabbed a gun, and started shooting at the rat, which did not go
over too well with the other men in the compound because he was
shooting inside the perimeter (00:23:54:00)
o During his first couple of days with the 1st of the 9th, McAlpine met with the
supply sergeants and was assigned his equipment, as well as his personal weapon
and ammunition (00:24:13:00)
The Blues were always involved in firefights and there was always a
constant needed for new personnel, so within a couple of days of his
arrival, McAlpine was flown to a landing zone and introduced to his
commanding sergeant (00:24:27:00)
McAlpine and another soldier, a black kid from Chicago, were both sent to
the landing zone and the sergeant was in need of soldiers because he had
had some men wounded or KIA the previous couple of days (00:24:57:00)
Both McAlpine and the black kid were assigned to the 1st Squad of
“B” Troop (00:25:13:00)
McAlpine was initially issued an M-16 rifle but that rifle was eventually
replaced by at CAR-15 carbine (00:25:28:00)
The CAR-15 was a little bit shorter and a little bit lighter than the
M-16 but jammed just as frequently (00:25:36:00)
�
McAlpine preferred the CAR-15 because he was doing a lot of air
assaults and the smaller the weapon, the better; as well, the
environment where he and the other scouts tended to work largely
consisted of elephant grass and jungle and a longer weapon, such
as the M-16, was not the weapon to have (00:25:43:00)
All the men had the choice of which weapon they wanted to carry,
from the M-16 and CAR-15 to shotguns or B.A.R.s (Browning
Automatic Rifles), although not too many men chose to use a
B.A.R. (00:26:03:00)
o It was usually left to the individual squad leaders to tell the
men which weapons they should be carrying (00:26:25:00)
For the early part of their time with the squad, McAlpine and the black kid
tended to stick close to the veterans in the squad (00:26:54:00)
McAlpine had been an outdoors kid while growing up and the
“Cowboys & Indians” aspect of the squad’s operations was a
perfect fit for him (00:26:59:00)
McAlpine remembers the squad leader selecting him to be a point
man, so for several days, McAlpine walked with the squad leader
and the squad leader taught McAlpine the finer points necessary to
be the point man (00:27:15:00)
o After walking with the squad leader for several days,
McAlpine walked behind the point man for several more
days to study how the point man moved (00:27:31:00)
o The squad always needed a skilled soldier as the point man
to avoid ambushes; McAlpine did not mind walking into an
ambush, so long as he was by himself but he never wanted
to lead all the men into an ambush (00:27:45:00)
McAlpine and the other men in the squad encountered the enemy every
day because that was their job, to start fights (00:28:11:00)
When McAlpine first arrived at the squad, the squad leaders and
the pilots would have a meeting with the troop’s S-2, who was in
charge of intelligence (00:28:27:00)
o At the meeting, the men would develop a plan of action for
the entire day, although often, the plans changed within an
hour anyway (00:28:56:00)
o When McAlpine arrived, the Blues operated as a platoon-sized unit under the
commander of a captain-level officer, although the platoon never had a captain to
command it (00:29:31:00)
The platoon was broken down into four squads, none of which ever had a
full compliment of soldiers; normally, a squad was supposed to have eight
or nine soldiers but the most they ever had was six or seven (00:29:49:00)
o McAlpine recalls several distinct situations happening during his first full month
with his squad (00:30:27:00)
At one point, the Blues were stationed at some rubber plantations outside
the city of Pleiku (00:30:35:00)
�
Prior to McAlpine’s arrival, the Blues had a pet monkey that
stayed tied up in the platoon’s tent (00:30:44:00)
When the platoon was stationed on the rubber plantation, the
jungle butted right against the outside of the tent, with only a
single strip of barbed wire acting as the perimeter (00:30:59:00)
Whenever the platoon returned to the tent, the monkey would
always jump on the men but one night, the men came home and
found the monkey had accidentally hung himself (00:31:35:00)
o McAlpine remembers guarding the Bob Hope Christmas Tour when the tour
stopped in Pleiku (00:31:55:00)
The platoon was on the outside perimeter and were only supposed to
prevent anything from getting inside; if something happened inside the
perimeter, then another unit had to take care of the situation (00:32:00:00)
o The terrain where the platoon was operating was largely jungle (00:32:38:00)
o When the platoon would go out on missions, they could insert via either landing
zones or rappelling out of the helicopters, although for the most part, the
helicopters would fly to a pre-determined landing zone (00:33:16:00)
The squadron’s commanding officer was a colonel and prior to operations,
would fly in a helicopter about 3000’ off the ground and pick out a
specific landing zone for the Blues (00:33:24:00)
If the operation was set to begin at first light, the gunships would prep the
landing zone before the Blues' helicopters would go into the landing zone
(00:30:38:00)
In reality, the Blues' helicopters never actually landed on the
ground; instead, the Blues developed a method whereby they
jumped off the helicopter as the helicopter flew through the
landing zone (00:33:54:00)
o The men had to be very precise when jumping off because
if an entire side jump off together, then the helicopter
would tip to the other side (00:34:03:00)
Normally, the helicopter would be several feet off the ground,
depending on the terrain, and would fly into the landing zone, slow
down as much as they could, would hear the soldiers jump off, and
would fly out (00:34:18:00)
The commanders never wanted the helicopters to land because it
was too difficult for the helicopters to take off again and it was too
slow (00:34:46:00)
The helicopter pilots never carried any weapons because they
knew they were safe with the other soldiers around; the soldiers
took care of the pilots and the pilots took care of the soldiers
(00:34:55:00)
The Hueys used to carry the men were often early models and did not have
the power to take off; the gunships were often late models and did have
the power necessary to carry around the extra ammunition (00:35:09:00)
�
o
o
o
o
The early model Hueys only had enough power to carry the two
pilots and seven or eight soldiers, who were often loaded up with
ammunition and supplies (00:35:34:00)
There was not a tried and true method for avoiding injury when jumping
out of the helicopters; for the most part, it depended on the terrain of the
landing zone (00:35:51:00)
Sometimes, the men would hit the ground and roll and other times,
they were able to land on their feet (00:35:55:00)
McAlpine does not know of anyone specifically who was hurt
jumping out of the helicopters (00:35:59:00)
For the most part, it was 50/50 between landing in a hot LZ (Landing
Zone) as opposed to a cold LZ (00:36:17:00)
The men knew they were being sent into a specific area to look for
the enemy; therefore, they never really expected to land in a quiet
area (00:36:19:00)
o Instead, they would go into areas where the enemy had
been seen (00:36:31:00)
If the Blues could handle the situation, that was fine, but if they
could not take care of it, then additional forces would be brought
into the fight (00:36:41:00)
As far as McAlpine can remember, the Blues never had an aborted
flight, which was sometimes a detriment to the men (00:37:06:00)
o Helicopters were shot down all the time but in the minds of
the officers, they were acceptable loses (00:37:16:00)
During his first week or two with the unit, McAlpine noticed that some of the
younger soldiers took certain situations for granted; the young soldiers would be
on an ambush all night then have to do a landing the next morning (00:37:30:00)
McAlpine remembers that he could not believe they would be coming into
a hot LZ, the enemy was shooting at the helicopter, and some of the
younger soldiers would be asleep (00:37:51:00)
Standing on the skids of the helicopter going into an LZ was such
“mundane, normal act” that the soldiers were trying to get thirty
seconds of sleep (00:38:03:00)
However, after serving with the platoon for several weeks,
McAlpine understood what the soldiers were experiencing; the
constant missions just wore him down (00:38:15:00)
When McAlpine first joined his squad, he was the only white guy in the squad but
by the time he left, there was only one or two black guys remaining in the squad
(00:38:34:00)
Every squad on the platoon had a radio, while the platoon commander had two,
one radio to maintain contact with the colonel circling overhead and one radio to
maintain contact with the squads (00:39:14:00)
After they would land at a landing zone, the platoon would form up and begin
moving towards their mission objective, such as a village where a couple of days
before, scouts had seen uniformed NVA soldiers (00:39:32:00)
�
If the men had deployed into the mountains, their mission might involve
investigating a hut where, two nights before, smoke had been seen coming
out of the chimney (00:39:47:00)
o For the most part, the platoon’s operations occurred in the An Lao, A Shau, and Ia
Drang valleys; McAlpine spent 90% of his time working on operations in those
three valleys (00:40:01:00)
Working in the valleys was fun because the men knew they were going to
get their money's worth from the enemy by the end of the day
(00:40:16:00)
o Once the Blues were inserted, they were expected to handle to situation but if they
could not, then they were supposed to call in reinforcements, such as artillery or
air strikes (00:40:29:00)
o One man in McAlpine’s squad carried an M-60 machine gun, which represented
the heavy firepower, while every other man carried at least two hundred rounds of
ammunition for the M-60 (00:40:35:00)
However, the M-60 gunner would use the machine gun five or six times a
day, so the men always needed re-supply (00:41:01:00)
st
o The 1 of the 9th was extremely high-powered and the squadron had its own
gunships; the gunship pilots often knew the names of the men in the Blues and
they were not going to allow the Blues to be overrun by the enemy (00:41:33:00)
The Blues would normally have a forward artillery observer with them
and prior to going out on a mission, the observer would set up coordinates
with the men, so that if the men did run into trouble, there would be no
problems calling in artillery strikes (00:42:06:00)
As well, four or five times a week, the men would call in air strikes on
enemy positions (00:42:21:00)
Overall, there was a different fighting philosophy attached to the 1st Air Cav. opposed to
many other fighting units and the 1st of the 9th had a completely different philosophy
compared to the rest of the units in the 1st Air Cav. (00:42:58:00)
o The 1st of the 9th was acting almost as quasi-guinea pigs for their fighting
methodology and the pilots knew that for the 1st of the 9th’s methodology to work
properly, they needed to provide as much support as possible (00:43:07:00)
o To that end, a ready reaction force of a couple hundred men waited every day, in
case the Blues made contact with the enemy but were unable to completely handle
the situation (00:43:28:00)
If the Blues started something they could not finish, the commanders
determined how many men from the ready reaction force were needed and
those men were brought into the fight (00:43:35:00)
It was common for the Blues to start a fight alone but soon have back-up
from any number of other squadrons in the division (00:43:43:00)
o On some days, the Blues would be pulled out of one area and told they needed to
make an insertion into another hotspot (00:43:59:00)
When that happened, the men would get a drink of water, get more
ammunition, then insert into another area (00:44:12:00)
The men spent all their time in the field, never in the base camp (00:44:38:00)
�
o The men might have had a stand-down once every month but it always seemed
like something would come over the radio, saying that there was an assignment
for the men (00:44:48:00)
For the most part, the men largely operated out of forward fire bases (00:45:02:00)
o Because the men were always involved in intense fighting, their commanders did
not want to leave them in the field overnight (00:45:07:00)
Normally, the commanders would try to pull the men back to a semiprotected landing zone and during the night, the men would either have to
defend the perimeter, put of a listening post outside the perimeter, or go
out on an ambush outside the wire (00:45:17:00)
Many times, McAlpine’s men would set out an ambush but they
would be so tired that they would fall asleep as soon as they sat
down in the elephant grass (00:45:38:00)
Although the commanders would have liked all the men to stay
awake during the night, the men could ration it out so that only two
men were awake at a time throughout the night (00:46:08:00)
When McAlpine received promotion to staff sergeant, it was his
job to make sure everything was taken care of during the night and
at least one person was awake; however, he can also guarantee that
at some points, everyone in the squad was asleep (00:46:24:00)
Normally, the men would move along trails in the field, although it often depended on the
environment and situation (00:46:48:00)
o Often, if a situation looked too good to be true, then chances were, it was too
good to be true (00:46:54:00)
o The point man would often walk down the trail while two other soldiers would
advance along his flanks (00:47:08:00)
o As well, there was always at least one helicopter above the men; however, instead
of hovering directly over the squad’s position, the helicopter would criss-cross
over the area so that the enemy had no definitive way of knowing where the squad
was (00:47:14:00)
The helicopter could also see what was ahead of the soldiers and could if
there was enemy activity (00:47:45:00)
o Often, the men did not encounter too much of the prototypical triple canopy
jungle; the enemy might lose track of the squad’s movements, which is not
something they wanted to do with that group (00:48:05:00)
o Booby-traps along the trails were common but over time, the soldiers developed a
sense for where the traps might be (00:48:22:00)
o When a soldier walked the point or on the trail, he could not think about anything
else other than walking point (00:48:35:00)
A young man might be twenty-years-old when he goes over to Vietnam
but within two months, he is a forty-year-old man (00:48:41:00)
The man is in touch with himself and with his senses and his
awareness of particular situations; he knows that if he is not right,
then the consequences are tremendous (00:48:48:00)
It took McAlpine about three weeks with the squad before he began
walking point himself (00:49:11:00)
�
The squad’s old point man got hit, which was not unusual, so
McAlpine took the man’s place and walked point for the remainder
of his tour, even once he became a squad leader (00:49:14:00)
o The men would get a feel for the terrain and were able to sense ambushes and
booby-traps before they happened, even by smell (00:49:44:00)
Although the enemy could place booby-traps anywhere, they often did not
place them far away from something, usually villages; often the boobytraps were punji sticks, meant to only slow the soldiers down so that the
enemy could get away (00:50:04:00)
o Some of the areas where the men operated had a large numbers of tunnels and
other areas, such as mountains, did not have as many (00:50:42:00)
However, there were some mountains that were all tunnels and McAlpine
recalls collapsing an entire mountain that the enemy had honeycombed
with tunnels (00:51:03:00)
The men filled the tunnels with explosives and when they set the
explosives off, the whole mountain went up then came down,
which was a beautiful sight (00:51:12:00)
Marine forces had arrived at the mountain before McAlpine’s men
but McAlpine’s men were inserted with orders to get to the top of
the mountain to examine what sort of tunnels they were dealing
with (00:51:25:00)
The men encountered several ambushes and firefights on the way
to the top of the mountain; by the time they reached the top, there
were only five men left in the squad and two of the men, including
McAlpine, were suffering from heat stroke (00:51:38:00)
McAlpine was pulled off the mountaintop and taken to a hospital
in the rear area, where the medics placed him in a large metal tub
full of ice (00:51:50:00)
After McAlpine was with his squad for a couple of weeks, he received a promotion to E3 (00:53:17:00)
o At some point, one of the sergeants was killed and McAlpine was selected to take
the sergeant’s spot on the flank (00:53:29:00)
o Eventually, the squad was involved in a firefight where most of the squad
members were either wounded or killed, including the squad leader, who had been
wounded (00:53:38:00)
McAlpine carried the squad leader out of the firefight but as he had the
man on his shoulders, the man was shot again (00:54:01:00)
o After the firefight, McAlpine was the old man in the squad and he received both
promotion to E-4 and command of the squad, which was normally a position
reserved for an E-6; therefore, he received promotion to an E-5, a sergeant
(00:54:30:00)
o Within a very short period of time after McAlpine received his promotion, the
lieutenant commanding the platoon was killed and there were no available
lieutenants, so McAlpine took over as platoon leader until there was another
lieutenant available (00:55:01:00)
�
There were several career-oriented NCOs in the troop and McAlpine
believes that his promotion to replace the deceased lieutenant might have
rubbed them the wrong way (00:55:28:00)
For the most part, the senior NCOs were often squad leaders
(00:56:08:00)
o Eventually, McAlpine returned to commanding his squad, still as an E-5 in an E-6
slot (00:56:24:00)
After a couple of months, the E-7 came to McAlpine and said he was
being promoted to E-6 (00:56:34:00)
The promotion to E-6 meant that McAlpine was earning over six hundred
dollars a month, all of which he sent home (00:56:55:00)
The men tended to live off the land and there were never any stores
to actually shop at (00:57:16:00)
On occasion, enemy soldiers would have money in their pockets,
so any new soldiers were told not to shot the enemy in the pockets
because there might be money in them (00:57:21:00)
Because the 1st of the 9th was a very aggressive unit and the men were fighting every day,
they fought against both NVA regulars and Viet Cong (00:57:59:00)
o If the men fought every day for four days, McAlpine figures they fought against
the NVA on four or five of those days (00:58:18:00)
o Although the NVA did not always wear traditional NVA uniforms, they would be
wearing NVA backpacks and using NVA weapons, which was how the soldiers
were able to tell them from the Viet Cong (00:58:32:00)
One time, the men had deployed into Cambodia with specific orders not to cause
problems by engaging the enemy (00:59:21:00)
o One way or another, the mission was compromised, the men got into a firefight
and killed six Chinese soldiers (00:58:29:00)
o The colonel, who was circling above the area as always, asked if anyone had a
camera and when McAlpine said he did, the colonel said he wanted pictures of the
bodies and wanted the men to take the Chinese weapons (00:59:44:00)
o One interesting thing was that all the Chinese soldiers were over 6’2”
(01:00:10:00)
o Going into Cambodia was not a common mission; on occasion, the men would
accidentally stray across the border but the helicopter pilots would call down to
alert them (01:00:38:00)
Decorations / Misc. (01:01:40:00)
McAlpine earned several decorations for gallantry, including two Silver Stars and a
Bronze Star (01:01:40:00)
o McAlpine’s first silver star was earned when his squad was moving through a
valley and were ambushed (01:01:41:00)
During the course of the ambush, the squad leader and several squad
members had been either wounded or killed; eventually, only McAlpine
and one other soldier were the only two men in the squad who were not
wounded or killed (01:01:53:00)
�
McAlpine was giving first aid to the wounded soldiers around him, mostly
stopping the bleeding and dragging them out of the killing zone
(01:02:04:00)
The only other uninjured soldier happened to be the platoon’s supply
sergeant, who had previously asked McAlpine if, at some point, he could
go out in with McAlpine’s squad so he could earn his combat
infantryman’s badge (01:02:32:00)
After about fifteen minutes of fighting, McAlpine and the supply sergeant
were the only two men left (01:03:27:00)
Eventually, McAlpine told the supply sergeant that they needed to
clear out the enemy, who had hidden in some rocks; McAlpine told
the supply sergeant to take the high ground while McAlpine took
the low ground (01:03:35:00)
As the two soldiers progressed through the rocks, McAlpine heard the
sound of an AK-47 then a groan, which he interpreted as the supply
sergeant being shot by an AK-47 (01:04:04:00)
McAlpine then heard the sound of an M-16 falling through the
rocks, so he suspected that the supply sergeant had been killed as
well (01:04:26:00)
As time passed, McAlpine slowly filtered his way through the rocks,
trying to stay alive while simultaneously killing as many enemy as
possible (01:04:50:00)
At one point, he saw an enemy soldier climbing down the rocks
backwards but at the same time, saw another enemy soldier
coming from a different direction (01:05:04:00)
o McAlpine shot the second enemy soldier then turned
around and killed the enemy soldier who was climbing
down the rocks (01:05:22:00)
McAlpine was eventually wounded in the knee by a ricocheted
bullet (01:05:31:00)
McAlpine did eventually receive some re-enforcements, including a friend
of McAlpine who was in another squad (01:05:37:00)
With the friend’s help, McAlpine was able to finish driving the
enemy out of the rocks (01:06:07:00)
o Firefights with the enemy happened every day and McAlpine believes that all the
men in his unit should have, at one point or another, received some type of
decoration for their actions (01:07:22:00)
o McAlpine earned his second silver star in May, when his platoon had followed
some communication wire into a village and found itself embroiled in a massive
firefight with the enemy (01:07:37:00)
The soldiers had just gotten off the helicopters when the pilots saw the
communication wire leaving the village; the communication wire was a
big deal because it usually indicated that there was a NVA command post
of some sort in the village (01:07:47:00)
McAlpine’s squad was advancing on the left flank while another squad
was advancing along the trail itself (01:08:08:00)
�
Once the other squad made it into the village, they accidentally sprung an
enemy ambush and lost three or four soldiers right away with a couple
more being wounded (01:08:19:00)
The firefight lasted for most of the afternoon and the men eventually ran
out of both water and ammunition (01:08:37:00)
Re-enforcements were constantly being brought in to the soldier’s
rear and air strikes were being called in constantly (01:08:48:00)
At one point, a relief helicopter was being flown to the men carrying more
ammunition (01:09:00:00)
As the helicopter flew in, the crew were pushing the ammo crates
off the side of the helicopter; however, the pilot had the helicopter
100’ feet off the ground and between McAlpine’s squad and the
enemy (01:09:20:00)
The enemy managed to shoot the helicopter down and as the
helicopter came down, the crew chief and door gunner, who were
not strapped in, managed to jump out and run over to where
McAlpine’s squad was positioned (01:09:28:00)
In the meantime, the helicopter was on fire and starting to set the
ammunition off (01:09:45:00)
o Both pilots were out knocked out cold or wounded and
were hanging upside down in the helicopter (01:09:50:00)
As the other crewmen were running towards McAlpine, he was
running towards them to try and get the pilots out of the burning
wreckage (01:10:01:00)
McAlpine and two other men cut the pilots out and dragged both
men back to where the rest of the squad had taken up their
defensive positions (01:10:08:00)
Eventually, the squad managed to give the pilots to some reenforcements who had come in behind them (01:10:37:00)
o McAlpine remembers a young soldier in the reenforcements running up to grab a body but he made the
mistake of standing straight up and sure enough, a splitsecond later, his chest exploded (01:10:43:00)
o At the same time, McAlpine watched as the reenforcements came in and one of the men standing on a
helicopter’s skid was shot and ended up falling all the way
to the ground (01:11:07:00)
o McAlpine also earned three Purple Hearts, including one from the ricocheted
bullet in his knee when he moving to clear out the rock formation when he earned
his first Silver Star (01:11:27:00)
McAlpine received another when a piece of shrapnel went into his foot
and ankle; the shrapnel itself did not come out of McAlpine until several
years after his time in the military, when he was taking a shower and
rubbing his ankle (01:11:41:00)
�
Another time, McAlpine had a hand grenade landed near his face;
although the hand grenade was a dud, it still threw stuff into McAlpine’s
face, causing him to bleed (01:12:08:00)
McAlpine’s friends thought he was dying but he could not feel
anything, so when he rubbed his face and saw the blood, it came as
a surprise (01:12:26:00)
Although McAlpine did not think he was hurt, the other men told him he
needed to be medevaced out, so he hopped in a helicopter (01:12:40:00)
Medievac helicopters would not come unless there had not been
any gunfire for several minutes but at the time, the firefight was
still going on, so McAlpine boarded one of the troop’s own
helicopters (01:12:56:00)
As the helicopter was flying away from the battle, they were flying
100mph+ down a canyon and as a bridge approached, McAlpine,
who was still laying in the back, kept willing the pilot to pull up;
instead, the pilot flew under the bridge (01:13:14:00)
Although he was originally supposed to receive two R&Rs, McAlpine only received one
and went to Bangkok, Thailand for a week (01:14:01:00)
o While in Bangkok, McAlpine ended up going to jail for two days, so he did not
have full, week-long R&R (01:14:13:00)
o Going on the R&R was a totally different experience than life in the field, where
the majority of the men fully expected to be wounded or killed (01:14:28:00)
o McAlpine remembers there was a merchant selling sugar cane from a cart pulled
by a donkey; McAlpine bought the whole cart and he and the merchant went
around, handing the sugar out to kids for free (01:14:54:00)
o Getting on the plane to go back to Vietnam was not difficult for McAlpine; he
was in jail and was happy to get out (01:15:35:00)
McAlpine was thrown in jail because he had a little bit of trouble at a local
nightclub (01:15:46:00)
The nightclub had an entire wall made of glass and McAlpine, who
had only ever seen glass in windows, accidentally knocked the
wall over and broke it; when the police were called, there was a
disagreement over who would pay for the broken glass
(01:15:56:00)
The police officers had McAlpine’s paperwork and knew he had to be at
the airport on a specific date at a specific time, so on that date and at that
time, the police made sure McAlpine was there (01:16:26:00)
As new men came into the squad, McAlpine and the other, more experienced men, felt
obligated to instruct the new men; however, McAlpine does have some regrets regarding
that particular process (01:17:05:00)
o Although the platoon was technically supposed to be military intelligence, none of
the men actually knew what they were going to be doing (01:17:13:00)
o When McAlpine would start looking for a replacement for his squad, he was
looking for a very specific type of individual (01:17:36:00)
At the base in An Khe, there was a large tent that all the soldiers stayed in;
McAlpine’s bunk was marked and the new soldiers were told they could
�
sleep anywhere but McAlpine’s bunk, since he would kick anyone’s butt
who slept in the bunk (01:17:43:00)
When he would periodically go back to An Khe, McAlpine would find out
who had slept in his bunk, because that was the type of soldier he wanted
in his squad (01:18:11:00)
o Once a new man joined the squad, McAlpine would train with the man every day
(01:18:36:00)
o If McAlpine needed a replacement, he would return to An Khe for a couple of
hours; however, he was eventually kicked out of An Khe and told that if he ever
came back, he would get thrown in jail (01:18:52:00)
McAlpine had such a bond with the men in his squad that he felt an
obligation to be fighting with them (01:19:40:00)
McAlpine would go into An Khe for a couple of hours, pick up two or
three replacements, then the group would hop aboard another helicopter
out to the squad (01:19:54:00)
Although McAlpine spent most of his time around An Khe, which was in the Central
Highlands and fell in II Corps’ jurisdiction, he also spent time further north, in I Corps’
area of operations (01:20:36:00)
One night, the platoon had set out for an ambush and while McAlpine’s squad was
supposed to move onto one side of a village, another sergeant was supposed to lead his
squad to the other side of the village (01:20:55:00)
o McAlpine remembers being told to go to radio silence and to only use the radios
if they ran into trouble (01:21:12:00)
o The other squad saw some enemy and decided to go into the village after them;
however, it turned out the group was a wedding, but the other squad did not know
this at the time (01:21:24:00)
The squad killed the VC soldiers in the group, shaved the head of the
bride, raped a couple of the women, and threw the dead VC bodies into a
well, along with a couple of grenades; at the time, everything except
raping the women was normal for the soldiers to do (01:21:54:00)
o When McAlpine later talked with the other sergeant and asked how everything
had gone, the sergeant said that everything was normal (01:22:48:00)
o A couple of days later, McAlpine was wounded and forced to go into the hospital
(01:22:52:00)
o As it turned out, the girl who had been getting married was the daughter of a
village chief; the chief complained to the MACV (Military Assistance Command
Vietnam, which oversaw American operations), who called up the 1st Air Cav.,
who came to the 1st of the 9th, and went through the after-action reports to see who
was in the village that night (01:23:01:00)
o Once McAlpine returned to his unit after healing for a couple of weeks in the
hospital, both his and the other squad were standing in line-ups (01:23:28:00)
The bride then came to identify the soldiers in the squads who had
attacked her (01:23:42:00)
The captain in charge of the company told McAlpine not to stand in the
line-up but when McAlpine asked why, the captain did not give him a
reason (01:24:01:00)
�
o The bride identified the other sergeant and his squad as having done everything,
so McAlpine’s squad was off the hook; however, the soldiers in the other squad
denied everything the bride said (01:24:18:00)
One of the men in the squad, who had been sent to infiltrate and
investigate the unit by higher command, given the unit’s growing
notoriety, subsequently stepped forward, identified himself, and said that
yes, what the woman was saying about the squad was true (01:24:37:00)
o The men in the other squad were supposed to be arrested but they were in the field
and the MPs did not want to come out there to get them because they were afraid
of the men (01:25:18:00)
Instead, the division asked McAlpine’s squad to guard the men in the
other squad; McAlpine’s squad said they would, so all they did for three or
four days was sit around their tent and play cards (01:25:30:00)
The MPs eventually came in force but the other squad surrendered and all
were sentenced to prison terms (01:25:57:00)
o Once the other squad had been arrested, the men in McAlpine’s squad drew
straws as to who would go to the rear area to kill the man who had turned the
other squad in (01:26:20:00)
Although he was the squad leader and controlled the straws, McAlpine
still drew the short straw (01:26:30:00)
o McAlpine went back to An Khe and began looking for the snitch; however, his
best friend from high school, who was serving as an MP, walked past
(01:26:49:00)
The friend asked McAlpine how everything was going and when the
friend asked McAlpine what unit he was with and McAlpine told him,
McAlpine saw a look of recognition on the friend’s face (01:27:06:00)
The friend offered the get McAlpine a cold Coca-Cola and returned with
four additional MPs, who escorted McAlpine to a general’s tent
(01:27:37:00)
The general interviewed McAlpine for a moment and asked why
McAlpine was in An Khe (01:27:55:00)
The general gave McAlpine a lecture and told him that if he ever
came back to An Khe again, then the general was going to put him
in jail (01:28:57:00)
The general had McAlpine placed on a helicopter and had him flown back
to his unit (01:29:06:00)
o It took a long time for McAlpine to get over the urge to settle the score with the
man who had snitched on the other squad (01:29:49:00)
When the squad would go into the field, they would encounter Vietnamese villages and
they would have to search through them (01:30:19:00)
o The soldiers also encounter Montagnard villages but because there was not much
action in those villages, the Montagnards were much more friendly towards the
soldiers (01:30:27:00)
Although McAlpine believes the NVA and VC constantly harassed the
Montagnards, he does not think that the NVA and VC set up specific
combat against them (01:31:03:00)
�
Just by looking at the Montagnards, the soldiers could tell that they were
ethnically different from the Vietnamese (01:31:31:00)
Late in McAlpine’s tour, his troop’s camp was moved north to I Corps; however, it was
not too long after that that McAlpine’s tour ended, so he does not recall too much about
the time in I Corps (01:31:59:00)
The various camps where McAlpine’s soldiers would spend the night only came under
mortar attack a handful of times (01:32:28:00)
o At one point, the squadron had just taken over an ammunition dump from a
Marine Corps unit and enemy forces had made it so that the Marines were unable
to get out of their own perimeter (01:32:38:00)
When the 1st of the 9th arrived at the ammunition dump, their arrival was
unlike anything the enemy soldiers had ever witnessed (01:33:09:00)
The daily kill ratio eventually reached one hundred dead enemy
soldiers for every one killed American soldier (01:33:27:00)
When the enemy began mortaring the ammunition dump, McAlpine took
his squad out and found the enemy mortar tubes, but not the enemy
mortarmen; the squad destroyed the mortar tubes then for the next couple
of nights, would slip out to there the tubes were, hoping to find the enemy
mortarmen (01:33:35:00)
o Although the enemy never launched mortar rounds onto the ammunition dump
again, they still managed to destroy the majority of the supplies being held at the
ammunition dump (01:34:36:00)
End of Deployment / Post-Military Life / Misc. / Reflections (01:35:44:00)
For the pilots in the unit, they were asked to go to the rear area thirty days before they
were set to rotate home; however, that was a luxury that McAlpine and the other ground
scouts did not have (01:35:44:00)
o McAlpine and the other the ground scouts never knew exactly when they would
be rotating out (01:35:58:00)
McAlpine remembers that on the day he rotated out, the first sergeant met him on the
flight line before the squad went out on its first assault and said that McAlpine was not
going out that day (01:36:01:00)
o When the first sergeant told him this, McAlpine started crying because he could
not believe he had made it through the tour (01:36:17:00)
o McAlpine said his good byes to his squad as the squad was flying off to do their
first assault of the day (01:36:34:00)
o After he said his good byes and the squad left, McAlpine returned to An Khe and
told the captain in charge of the rotations that he was going to be staying in a
bunker; McAlpine had made it through the tour and did not want to risk anything,
so he told the captain to just bring him food and beer (01:36:51:00)
The captain did as McAlpine requested but McAlpine got so drunk that he
missed his ride to the airport (01:37:10:00)
o McAlpine boarded a C-7 Caribou transport and the next thing he remembers, he
was in Fort Lewis, Washington (01:37:37:00)
�
McAlpine was the highest ranking person in his barracks at Fort Lewis, so
he was put in charge of making sure everyone in the barracks was in
formation in the morning (01:37:54:00)
At one point, a major want McAlpine to tell his men to police the area for
garbage but McAlpine said no (01:38:31:00)
From Fort Lewis, McAlpine flew to Chicago, where he took a taxi to Moline, Illinois and
began attending Palmer College the same day (01:39:09:00)
o McAlpine’s brother was already attending Palmer and had already enrolled
McAlpine, using McAlpine’s grades from Michigan State and from high school
(01:39:27:00)
While in Vietnam, McAlpine’s unit received mail usually once a week; however, getting
mail only once a week was not that big of a deal because all the men had more important
things to worry about (01:39:56:00)
For the most part, the men survived off C-Rations, although on occasion, when they
would return to their landing zone for the evening, there was a hot meal (01:40:18:00)
Although most all of the men suffered from one tropical disease or another at some point,
the men realized that there was not much they could do about it (01:41:01:00)
o After McAlpine had been home for a couple of months, he was talking with his
father about pain in his feet; however, his father waved it off, saying he had the
same thing working on the farm (01:41:09:00)
Having enough drinking water was never much of a problem because the men were
always operating near streams and rivers, so if they ever ran out of water, the could just
fill their canteens up there (01:41:36:00)
o Each man always carried two, if not three, canteens with him whenever the squad
went into the field (01:41:42:00)
o The monsoon season affected how well the squad could operate, mostly because
the low ceiling caused by the rain made it impossible for the helicopters to fly
properly (01:42:01:00)
Apart from assaulting positions, the squad was also assigned the job of
rescuing any downed pilots and securing the helicopters; however, the
monsoons made doing this job difficult (01:42:13:00)
At one point, one of McAlpine’s friends was shot down and the
rescuers could not reach him in time; instead, the friend was
captured and spent six years in the infamous North Vietnamese
POW camp, the Hanoi Hilton (01:42:47:00)
The friend was the troop’s flight surgeon and did not know what to
do once he was on the ground; his fear made him walk away from
the helicopter where, had he stayed there and hid, McAlpine and
his squad would have found him (01:43:14:00)
In the unit, it was more common for men to leave because they had been wounded as
opposed to finishing their tour (01:43:53:00)
o Almost everyone in the troop, at one point or another, received a Purple Heart;
McAlpine does not know of anyone in the Blues who did not receive one, or
several, Purple Hearts (01:43:57:00)
Receiving medals entirely depended on having an officer available to do a
proper write-up; McAlpine was twice recommended for the Medal of
�
Honor but both times, the decorations were reduced to Silver Stars
(01:44:17:00)
However, McAlpine did not even know he had received the medals
until he was on his way home (01:44:24:00)
Nevertheless, in his mind, the medals were less important than the
fact that he was going home alive, able to see and speak with his
parents and rest of his family (01:44:36:00)
While in Vietnam, the men vaguely knew a little bit about the anti-war movement in the
United States, but not too much (01:45:03:00)
o However, when he got back to United States and began attending college,
McAlpine did not comprehend the full extent of the anti-war sentiment in the
United States (01:45:06:00)
At first, McAlpine tried to ask the demonstrators why they were
demonstrating and what the problem was (01:45:18:00)
When the demonstrators could not give McAlpine a straight
answer, he tried talking with them but that method did not go
anywhere (01:45:26:00)
McAlpine would then physically confront the demonstrators, the police
would come, and McAlpine would go to jail (01:45:35:00)
McAlpine’s brother had to get McAlpine out of jail several times
because McAlpine was physically disrupting the demonstrations
(01:45:44:00)
McAlpine could not drive down a road and see people protesting about
something they knew nothing about without doing something, especially
having gone through what he had in Vietnam (01:45:59:00)
Although McAlpine initially tried to reason with the demonstrators, that
method never worked, so McAlpine eventually resorted to just grabbing
the protestors signs and posters and destroying them (01:46:24:00)
The police would inevitably be called and they knew McAlpine in
a very short period of time; although the police agreed with
McAlpine, it was still against the law for him to attack the
demonstrators (01:46:44:00)
o Eventually, the demonstrations stopped but McAlpine has still not calmed down
regarding the actions of the demonstrators (01:47:02:00)
When he returned home, McAlpine never openly talked about his experiences in Vietnam
(01:47:44:00)
o However, his reputation had preceded him to Palmer, where one of the
administrators had fought in the Korean War and had received the Silver Star, so
McAlpine had to talk with him (01:47:46:00)
When McAlpine pledged into his brother’s fraternity, a couple of the other
fraternity members called him Audie Murphy and McAlpine threw them
out a couple of windows; that was not a comparison that he wanted being
made about him (01:48:15:00)
o For the most part, McAlpine did not talk about his experiences because he did not
think anyone cared, which was true at the time (01:48:32:00)
�
o Those people who knew McAlpine had served in the military knew he was a man
of principles and would not break under pressure (01:48:36:00)
o More recently, McAlpine has done talks about his experiences at various colleges
and universities in Michigan, including Grand Valley State University, Michigan
State University, Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University, and
Hope College (01:49:04:00)
During on the recent reunions for the unit, McAlpine ran into one of the old helicopter
pilots; the two renewed acquaintances and stories, the friend mentioned he was looking
for a job, and McAlpine helped the man find a job in Michigan (01:49:59:00)
o At one point, the friend called McAlpine to say he was going back to Vietnam and
he wanted McAlpine to go with him and another pilot (01:50:27:00)
McAlpine said that he did not want to go and that he had no reason to go
back there (01:50:54:00)
The friend said he would call back the following week and when he did,
he told McAlpine that by the time McAlpine did want to go back, he
would be too old to appreciate going back (01:51:02:00)
The crack about McAlpine being too old hit home and McAlpine began
giving the trip serious consideration, eventually deciding it was a good
idea to go (01:51:18:00)
o McAlpine went with the two pilots back to Vietnam and the three had a great
time; during the trip, McAlpine saw Vietnam in a way that he had never seen
Vietnam before (01:51:37:00)
While serving there, he never saw a road or a city or electricity, never ate
their food or experienced their culture and, never saw them dressed in
anything other than black pajamas (01:51:45:00)
The trip rekindled a fire inside McAlpine that there was something in
Vietnam that he had missed while serving during the war and he owed it to
himself to look at the country differently (01:52:02:00)
o After McAlpine returned from the trip, he was asked to give a presentation to the
Rotary Club; one of the Rotary Club members was a Vietnamese expatriate who
was going to Vietnam in a couple of months and was wondering if McAlpine
would go with him (01:52:19:00)
The expatriate was going to Vietnam to do business, so McAlpine met
some Vietnamese business people (01:52:32:00)
While the other man was conducting business, McAlpine hired a car and
going up to Pleiku, visited a floor-making factory; having recently redone
the floors in his house, McAlpine saw how inexpensive production was
and formed the idea of starting a business (01:52:37:00)
McAlpine organized his finances, insured the entire operation and
began importing hardwood floors (01:53:16:00)
o The Vietnamese attitude towards the soldiers who return to visit Vietnam is one
of love and admiration (01:53:47:00)
o During one of his trips back to Vietnam, McAlpine traveled up to the city of
Hanoi (01:54:41:00)
McAlpine was working with a young lady as a guide and she took him to
the flooring company he was looking to do business with (01:54:50:00)
�
The head of the company wanted to know more about McAlpine,
specifically if he had been in the Army, had had served in Vietnam, and
had served near Pleiku (01:55:29:00)
The man’s father had served at Pleiku from 1966 until 1967 as the
general commanding the area for the NVA (01:55:45:00)
The man asked if McAlpine would like to meet his father and
McAlpine said he would love to; after questioning McAlpine, the
man said his father would be there in ten minutes (01:56:15:00)
Ten minutes later, the father showed up and he turned out to be a very nice
man; the father had not talked with an American since the 1960s, so his
son translated between he and McAlpine (01:56:50:00)
Looking back, when McAlpine returned home from Vietnam, he appreciated his family
more, as well as a hot shower and hot food (01:58:48:00)
o As well, McAlpine was more in tune, both with God and with himself; he
understood himself better and realized that he had been born as a warrior, could
control a lot of his own destiny, and he understands that he can control a lot of
things (01:58:58:00)
o McAlpine’s time in the service helped in defining him as a person (01:59:05:00)
�
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
McAlpineB1378V
Title
A name given to the resource
McAlpine, Barry (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
McAlpine, Barry
Description
An account of the resource
Barry McAlpine was born in Cass City, Michigan in 1945. After graduating from high school in 1963, McAlpine briefly worked at General Motors before attending Michigan State University. However, his time at Michigan State did not work out and in 1965, McAlpine received his draft notice. After going through the induction center in Detroit, McAlpine went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for his basic training. Once he completed the basic training at Fort Knox, McAlpine's MOS was military intelligence, which required him to go through advanced infantry training, also at Fort Knox. After finishing the advanced training at Fort Knox, McAlpine deployed to Germany, where he received an assignment to a unit stationed of the West German border with Czechoslovakia. McAlpine left Germany in 1966 and after a short leave, deployed to Vietnam. Once in Vietnam, McAlpine's orders sent him to "B" Troop, 1st of the 9th, 1st Air Cavalry Division. While with "B" Troop, McAlpine served as a member of the Blues, a ground scout section of the troop tasked with purposely finding and engaging the enemy. McAlpine spent his entire tour with "B" Troop, eventually becoming a squad leader. When his tour ended, McAlpine returned to the United States and began going back to college.
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
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
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
2012-04-26
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
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/8119b1417591fa316fa0637667bf4143.mp4
e1f4de5e9a8d825bbb9e5e889d1484a6
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4defcf1b10002d206173be6b60d64e06.pdf
fbb5ba96746dc5513dd8875fc488cc80
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Interviewee’s Names: Jack & Norma Mc Caulley
Name of War: World War II
Length: (00:32:49)
(00:20) Background Information
Jack was born in Woodland, Michigan in 1927
He went to school all over Michigan because his family traveled a lot
Norma was born on August 28, 1925 in New Auburn, Wisconsin
She went to a one room school house that taught 8 grades altogether
Jack quit school in 1944 and enlisted in the Navy when he was 16 years old
(6:25) Training
Jack was told by the Navy that “if you can shoot a gun, we will take you”
He was not old enough to enlist and his mother had to sign a release form for him
Jack was sent to boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois and he
quickly found that he did not like training
There was much physical training, hiking, and marching
They had pretty good food and he avoided KP by pretending that he had pink eye
Jack was sent to Camp Barry in Virginia for 2 weeks and then sent to San Francisco
He was preparing to ship out when he came down with scarlet fever
Jack was in the hospital recovering for about a month and his unit shipped out without
him
He was transferred to the 59th Seabees and later shipped out from California
(10:25) Pacific
They stopped in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Guam, and Saipan
They helped build an Air Force base for B-29s in Guam
Jack spent the last months of his service in the Marianas Islands where there was still
quite a bit of fighting going on
His job was to drive a large truck for the Seabees, delivering supplies across the islands
There were snipers hiding in trees all over the island
(15:10) After Service
Jack met his wife at a roller rink in Battle Creek, Michigan and they have been married
for over 56 years
Her family had recently moved to Michigan from Wisconsin
Norma had moved to Washington with her sisters during the war and they sang gospel
songs on the radio
�
Jack later got a job working for Post Cereal and he worked there for 36 years
They traveled a lot through their marriage and visited all 50 states
It’s hard for them to travel now because they are older and gas is so expensive
Jack has been part of the Masons in Battle Creek for over 50 years
�
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
McCaulleyJ
Title
A name given to the resource
Mc Caulley, Jack (Interview outline and video), 2005
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Mc Caulley, Jack
Description
An account of the resource
Jack Mc Caulley was born in Woodland, Michigan in 1927 and enlisted in the Navy in 1944 when he was only 16 years old. Jack went through boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois and then shipped out with the 59th Seabees. Jack worked as a truck driver delivering supplies on Pacific islands such as the Marshall Islands, Guam, and Saipan. Jack and Norma met after the war in a roller rink and have since been married for more than 56 years.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
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. 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
2005-07-16
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/e698ac1343b520c4d858a98e88759b9a.mp4
0f21052d0112e7ee36b0d433f3b8d09a
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d47237c6c8b6b431bf740497ef8610bd.pdf
48f4652691fdc00dd945a3ff7cfb3b1f
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Kay Maxson
Korean War Era
(53:12)
Background Information (00:14)
Born in Lowell, Michigan, in 1933.(00:18)
His parents were divorced when he was a 9 in 1942. (00:40)
He lived with his mother. (1:05)
He attended high school in Lowell. (1:23)
He graduated from high school in 1951. He enlisted in the Navy Reserve in January of 1951.he
had no intention of going to college. (1:45)
He moved to Galesburg, Michigan, with his father because it was closer to Grand Rapids
Michigan where he was stationed. (2:20)
In January of 1952 he was told he would be going into active duty. (2:30)
At the time of his enlistment (1951) he had 2 siblings enlisted in the military and was very aware
of the conflicts in Korea. (2:46)
Basic training (3:25)
He was at Great Lakes Naval Base for 8 weeks for basic training in January of 1952. (3:25)
Many of the soldiers he trained with were from southern states and other areas in the U.S.
(3:40)
In spite it being winter the men still did PT (physical training) outside. The men were also trained
in swimming, weapons and even how to fight oil fires. (4:04)
There was a great emphasis on discipline during basic. He didn’t have too much difficulty
adjusting to this. (4:38)
He had a lot of experience with water and boating before his naval training. (5:38)
After Basic training he was sent to Norfolk, Virginia by train. (6:20)
He served aboard the USS Oriskany, an air craft carrier. It was 189 feet long and 59 feet wide on
the flight deck and 40 feet to the flight deck from the water. (7:11)
Service aboard the USS Oriskany and in the Korean conflict (8:00)
The ship was originally supposed to travel through the Panama Canal but was 5 feet too wide.
(8:25)
The Ship stopped in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. (8:30)
While in Peru, the ship got a liberty boat. Due to storms the Oriskany could not keep the liberty
boat. (9:20)
The ship than stopped for 2-3 days in Chile. (9:50)
Most civilians had a positive outlook on the American sailors. (10:36)
The ship was “tight” for 3 days due to a horrible storm that was passed while going around Cape
Horn. (11:17)
�
The ship than arrived in California and got a “green squadron” or a new squadron of aircraft.
(13:12)
The ship then docked in Hawaii and stayed there for 1 week. Than the ship circled the island for
1 week in order to give the new squadron practice landing on a moving ship. (14:13)
Kay worked damage control. This included many tasks including refilling the CO2 bottles on
aircraft. (14:45)
During practice, several aircraft ran out of gas. The squadron lost planes but no pilots. (16:00)
After a week in Hawaii the ship docked in Hong Kong for a good will mission. (17:42)
Because this aircraft carrier was the first to arrive in Vietnam since World War II, the ship was
met with much celebration. (18:10)
He did not have the immediate perception that there were many Chinese refugees there.
(19:48)
Next the Ship Docked in Yokosuka, Japan. Here the men took R and R. (20:28)
The ship then moved to North Korea where they patrolled 7-8 miles away from shore. (20:41)
Occasionally the ship would be warmed of enemy submarines. (21:28)
The ship did have escorts including 6 destroyers. (21:41)
Due to an accident with a bomb on the ship, 2 men were killed, 7 were injured, and the ship was
damaged. After this the ship was out of commission for 24 hours. (21:30)
The carrier deck at this time (1952) was made of wooden planking. (24:42)
Kay had exact knowledge of what the ship’s mission was and what the air aircraft aboard the
ship was being sent out to do. (25:07)
Aside from enemy submarines, Kay himself was never under threat of enemy attack during his
service. (26:39)
Life and Experiences aboard Ship (28:00)
While ashore in Japan, he was surprised with how friendly the Japanese people were to
Americans. (28:45)
He did have 1 weekend in Tokyo. He traveled by train to get from port to Tokyo. (31:00)
While in Japan, there was little evidence that a war had recently ended there. (32:10)
He arrived on ship in April 1952 and got off in September 1953. (32:35)
There where black and white sailors aboard ship. There weren’t any discrimination problems.
(34:07)
Because he didn’t like seeing the big cities too often, he would often be paid to take other men’s
watch duty so that they could go into town. (35:30)
When charring supplies the men had to carry it on their shoulders because the hallways where
so narrows. (37:10)
The men pulled into Yokosuka to dock before heading back to the US. But on May Day (May 1st
1953) the men were supposed to come home. However because no one in Japan was working
on that day, the men left one day later (May 2nd) (39:54)
The ship did not stop often on its way back to San Francisco. (41:03)
He was given an early discharge in October of 1953 instead of February of 1954. (42:33)
Kay was given an opportunity to reenlist in the Naval Reserve; However, Kay turned it down.
(43:50)
Life after Discharge (43:00)
�
When arriving in San Francisco it was so foggy the men couldn’t see the Golden Gate Bridge.
(45:50)
After finishing his service he attended college on the GI Bill. He spent 2 years at Western
Michigan University in Kalamazoo Michigan and 1 year at Wayne State University in Detroit
Michigan. He studied mortuary science. (47:13)
He married a woman from Kalamazoo Michigan. (47:33)
Due to the GI bill he and his wife he actually made money while he was going to school. (48:55)
He worked for his father-in-Law. (50:04)
He received his mortuary license in 1957 and his insurance license in 1958. (50:20)
Thoughts on Service (51:00)
He thinks positively on the experience his military service gave him. (51:05)
He is particularly moved by his visit to Pearl Harbor.(51:30)
He believes his service made him a better student in college and gave him direction in life.
(52:20)
�
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
MaxsonK1168V
Title
A name given to the resource
Maxson, Kay (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Maxson, Kay
Description
An account of the resource
Kay Maxson, born in Lowell Michigan in 1933, enlisted in the Naval Reserve in early 1951, and was called to active duty in January, 1952. Trained in fire and damage control, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany. After he joined the ship at Norfolk, Virginia, it sailed to Guantanamo and to Panama, but the ship turned out to be too wide to get through the Canal, and had to go around the Horn instead to reach the Pacific, and was damaged in the processed. They stopped in Chile and Peru, then went to San Francisco to pick up its aircraft, and then went to Hawaii to train the pilots before going on to Korea. They crossed the Pacific and visited Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan, and patrolled off the North Korean coast before returning to port in 1953.
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. Navy
Korean War, 1950-1953--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
2011-09-20
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/c24c29ea3dc5c9a2f2c01c89f20a35c6.mp4
0855568b0ccdb62d32c58a1d1b5d67fb
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dfb039f93efa240bccdd172182ed7102.pdf
a6be20b5691835988e79b84f8ddf3c34
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Earl William Mather
(2:10:37)
(00:30) Garfield, Ohio
• Earl was born April 1, 1919
• When he was young he remembers many accidents on the railroad by his house.
They tended to be at night when the watchman was off duty. They did not have
lights in those days signaling problems or issues on the tracks.
• (2:40) Earl’s father owned a Delco plant. (Generator that produced electricity)
When they received electricity, one company ran from the north and another from
the east with an agreement that the first to wire a house in Garfield could service
the whole town. Earl’s father had already wired his home because he owned the
Delco plant, so when the company from the north arrived they hooked up to the
house and lit a 110 watt bulb to the front of the house claiming their stake on the
town. His father was told to never turn that light bulb off and run it 24 hours a
day.
• (4:15) When Earl was 10 years old his father installed a toilet in the house. It was
the first in the town to be installed. His uncle was a carpenter and thought that
was ridiculous. He said you use to do that outside and eat inside, now we do that
inside and want to eat outside.
• Earl’s father and uncle both worked together. When Earl’s father bought a Model
T Truck, his uncle refused to give up his horse. He said no working man ought to
own a vehicle. It took awhile before he gave up the horse to ride with his brother.
• (6:30) Earl’s uncle had barn raising parties on Saturday’s. The neighbors would
get together, men building and women cooking, and raise it in one day. He said
he didn’t make mistakes, they were oversights.
• The town of Garfield had the lowest taxes in Ohio because the railroad and the
street cars were paying taxes.
• (8:40) as children they played street hockey with an evaporated milk can that they
would smash flat and attach them to their feet and then smash a tin can and hit it
around with any stick with a bump on the bottom of it.
• His school house was a two room school. One class upstairs and one class
downstairs with two teachers. There was a furnace in the basement that kept the
building warm. Toilets were outside as was running water. The school held all 8
grades.
• (10:20) His mother was a school teacher and they had the first little red handbook.
It was distributed by Winston. Earl memorized the book but didn’t learn to read
it.
• Earl’s father wrote words down by how they sounded and Earl did the same thing.
• Earl graduated from the 8th grade with one extra credit in Music.
• Earl went to high school between Garfield and Damascus.
• (13:47) His high school had a basketball team but no football team. He was told
he should play basketball because he was tall but he didn’t like the sport. He did
�participate for a couple of weeks but decided he would never like it so he stopped
practicing.
• Earl did participate in both the Junior and Senior plays at school
• (16:00) Earl went to a Sunday school picnic at Westfield. He met his wife there
and took her out on a rowboat. She had never been on a boat before. It was the
first girl Earl dated.
• Earl graduated from High school in 1937.
• The depression years were pressing on everyone. Earl’s father was a self
employed contractor who would work mostly for farmers. He had a lot of people
owing him money since they had no money to pay him. They would often give
farm animals as payment or partial payment. One time he was given a cow as
partial payment and had her till the 60’s when Earl and his brother butchered her
while they were out of town.
• (19:30) They kept bags of wheat in the basement and would grind it in a coffee
grinder and get skim milk from the neighborhood creamery and make cereal for
breakfast. The creamery would give skim milk away for free because it wasn’t
worth anything.
• (20:30) Earl and his brother would go out and catch geese in grain bags and carry
them home to butcher. They also kept chickens in the cellar and would kill them
and eat them.
• Earl’s brother, Raymond, was a mechanic after high school.
• (24:20) Earl married at 19 years old to his present wife. She was the only girl he
dated and when they married they didn’t have a honeymoon. When her sister
married they went with them to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. By this time
they had one son, Jack.
• Jack was diagnosed with cancer on his spine and was diagnosed a paraplegic.
Jack was expected to live 6 weeks after they did surgery on him. Today he is
almost 67 and drives his own car, paints, welds and so forth. The doctors didn’t
believe it was the same boy when Earl and his wife brought him back to the
hospital. Jack loads his own wheelchair in his truck when he leaves to go places.
• (29:00) Earl built a house for his aunt who had been widowed and was moving up
from Pittsburgh. She didn’t like the darkness (no street lights) so she decided to
move. She loaned Earl and his wife (Millie) $700 for the down payment on the
house. Earl at the time was making either $2.50 a day or $25.00 a month. Their
house payment was $18.00 a month
(32:40) Military service
• April 1943 Earl was drafted into the service by letter. He says it started with
“Your friends and neighbors…”
• He reported to Cleveland, Ohio, and was sent to Indiana
• (34:10) While in Indiana he met a neighbor of his who was in the 3c’s, a training
camp who trained men in a job [Civilian Conservation Corps]. This friend told
him not to throw his socks on the ground at night but to lay them crosswise on his
boots so they would dry at night because he would be wearing them the following
day.
• In Indiana Earl was given the name of his outfit, the “Combat Engineers”
(36:20) Camp McCain-Mississippi
�Earl was fitted here with his uniform.
This was his basic training camp
While here Millie’s grandfather died, Earl was in radio school at the time, the
company sergeant told him what the telegram said. Earl returned to class.
Sergeant came back with a telegram from Earl’s parents this time. Earl was given
a furlough. He got in the jeep, took a shower, and a jeep took him to the main
gate. He was still 10 miles from town. Millie was already waiting for him at the
bus station. He caught a ride to a hotel across from the railroad station. Earl
bought railroad tickets so they could get home. The train was already moving by
the time they got on. They took a streetcar to Alliance where her grandparents
lived. They drove back down in a car (a Hudson) that had a hundred thousand
miles on it already all the way back to Granada. There was no place to live so
Millie and the two kids lived in the car for about two weeks. The racetrack made
gates into houses and Millie lived in one with the kids. Their car was the only
civilian vehicle in Granada at the time.
• (43:42) Earl flunked out of radio school because he was gone and became a
technical sergeant for his carpenter abilities. He was good at building things.
(44:45) Fort Polk, Louisiana
• Earl took his final training at Fort Polk.
• Because he was a Combat Engineer he had training for this and also light infantry
training that needed to be finished up before being sent into the field. They were
expected to carry a rifle on their back while doing their job.
• An anti-aircraft battalion went with them everywhere and encircled them while
they did their jobs. The battalion was able to shoot up at the planes to protect
them.
• There were balloons up in the sky on thin wire that would catch the aircraft above
them. Earl said you could see them but they were pretty far up there. The wires
were attached to an anchor in the ground and once the airplanes hit them they
could tear a wing right off of the airplane.
• (46:40) Earl remembers bringing down 9 aircraft with the balloons alone.
• Earl said that the balloons would sometimes bring down our own planes because
they were so hard to see. He remembers a P-51 coming up on them who must
have seen the balloons because he weaved his way through without a problem.
• Earl remembers one plane coming from the Rhine River and came down right in
front of them and they were too mesmerized to move out of the way. The two
people in the plane did walk away from the crash though. The two men were
Canadians who when they got out kept looking at the map wondering why that
wasn’t on the map.
(49:20) Crossing the Ocean-November 1944
• Earl remembers crossing the ocean on the biggest convoy they had ever
assembled. There were a total of 300 ships. Their ship was the biggest and they
had to move at the slowest ship’s speed so Earl’s ship had LST’s circling them
day and night.
• Aboard ship they were given orders to empty the ashtrays but didn’t hear word of
whether they had hit a submarine or not.
•
•
•
�Earl’s ship was a luxury ship, a sister to the Queen Mary. It was 6ft shy of the
Queen Mary, both owned by the same company. His ship was called the
Dominion Monarch
• Earl remembers being sea sick the whole time but did not ever vomit over it.
• They landed in Southern England
(50:50) Southern England-December 1944
• Once landed, Earl’s company walked a long ways.
• They spent about 4 months in England
• Once there, Earl was picked out of his entire company to be the MP. Two men
from each unit in the area were sent downtown to be the MP Unit. Because of
this, Earl did not receive much training while in England.
• (53:00) Earl’s unit was in England during the Battle of the Bulge but was not
suited as an infantry unit but an engineer unit. Earl didn’t qualify to help out
because of his training and his status as an MP.
(54:20) France-February 1944
• Earl’s unit reached France in February and the weather was very cold. He slept in
mud while there.
• Once there his unit moved rather quickly. They had a jeep with a red ball painted
on the back and took the red ball highway which was one way with no stopping.
His convoy traveled around 300 miles a day.
• Everyday they would send back a ration truck that would find a depot and then
chase them down to wherever they had made it to. The jeep could never find
them so they were down to the emergency rations, about a week under stocked.
The depots moved every two to three days which also made it hard for the jeep to
make it back.
• The medical officer realized they were low when men would get cut and the cut
would not heal. He stood at chow line and made them eat vitamin pills. At one
point they ran out of water.
• (56:40) They reached a town called Gelderen which was blown to bits and even
the brewery was demolished. The bank was blown up and the money was all over
the streets. They went into the brewery and found a few that had not been blown
up. They filled up every can they had full of beer. Earl remembers shaving with
beer. The beer was black beer.
• (58:15) Earl and his buddy were sitting at a table in a building they confiscated
playing cards when a guy walked over to them with a round jug full of clear
liquid. Earl’s friend filled his glass half full and drank it down and almost died.
Earl had to revive him and once he could talk again he said he thought it was
water. It was pure alcohol.
• (59:58) Earl’s company built about 5 bridges on the way. All five were exactly
alike.
• Many of the bridges the company built were blown out bridges that needed repair
but there were a few they built because they felt that there needed to be a bridge
there.
• Earl explains how they built the bridges out of wood piling. While building the
bridges, the excess wood would drift down stream and create a dam at the next
•
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
bridge that was blown out so the men would have to lasso the wood and pull it out
of the water.
(01:04:10) The men were being protected from the anti-aircraft units in case of
attack by the enemy. Earl’s unit never saw the troops but they knew they were
there. There were no ground attacks on their unit while building bridges.
The airplanes above were dropping leaflets stating that this area was being taken
over and that if you wanted no part of fighting to get out. This was the Allies
talking to the German people.
Earl makes a statement that they were not fighting the German people; they were
fighting Hitler and his army. Earl states that the German people around them
knew this.
(01:05:50) Once the leaflets were dropped, they had mortars and bombs that
would follow.
Each mortar would have absorbers attached to register where they would land.
This gave the man an idea on where to move it to hit the target desired. Every
crater overlapped the previous one. It would be as long as what you set up to hit.
This gave them 24 hours of bombing.
They would aim to hit every single building in the town.
(01:07:50) Earl’s unit’s main problem was getting through these towns that were
on fire safely. If there was not a street, they would make one.
They had bulldozers and chainsaws with handles at both ends available to them at
all times.
(01:09:40) Earl remembers that they did not know what country they were in half
of the time. One time a guy flipped over a sign that said Charleroi. They knew
then they were in Belgium. The guy was from Charleroi Pennsylvania and he
knew it was named after a town in Belgium.
It took an average of 9 to 10 days to build one bridge.
(01:11:10) The last bridge that they built, they were there for about a week before
the 9th army crossed the bridge. Earl was on duty till 4 this day. The German
Junkers 88 bomber got across the river to the Allied side. Earl could hear him
coming but couldn’t see him. The anti aircraft began to shoot up heavy as soon as
they spotted him.
The men chose to do four hours on and eight hours off instead of two hours on
four hours off like they were told to do.
(01:14:10) While napping, Earl heard a plane hit the building he was in. The
plane stopped about a mile away from the building and men inside the building
went to check on the plane. Earl was too tired so he stayed there. The plane held
one guy who looked about 18 years old and flying a Junkers 88 plane which was a
big plane. The kid died in the plane.
This spot was where the last bridge was built. The next night the sky was full of
airplanes all night long. Earl thinks millions. The next day they came back and
were flying low in friendly territory. Earl could see the men’s legs hanging out
waving at the guys below. Earl says there was always fuel but how they got it and
where they got it he didn’t know just that there was always fuel.
�(01:16:50) Earl remembers that when they were out of water, they would wash
there clothes in gasoline. That was how abundant it was.
• (01:18:08) From the Rhine they headed up to the Elbe River where they were told
to hold up because they were giving the Russians this territory. This seemed to be
close to where Germany surrendered.
• At this point the war ended in Europe but Earl didn’t have enough points to come
home
(1:19:50) Treadway Bridge Outfit
• Earl was transferred to a treadway bridge outfit at this point. They were sent out
on a 6x6 truck with a crane to lay a part of the bridge and get out of the way since
their job was over with. Then another truck would come and lay their part of the
bridge. Earl remained with this group until he came home.
• (01:20:38)While in Marseille, part of their outfit was in Nice, all truck drivers
were asked to volunteer to go to Nice. On the third day, they were demanded to
go if they could drive a truck so Earl volunteered to go. They spent one night in
Nice and had no fuel to go any farther. The sergeant was at his girlfriend’s house
so they could do nothing without his say. Finally, they were told if their truck
could make it a hundred miles to go home. Earl was lucky and headed back to
Marseille.
• (01:23:45) Earl had encounters with concentration camps while in Europe. They
were stationed in Essen, the steel city, and the camp was on an incline. The
people thought it was an officer training camp but couldn’t explain the truck loads
of prisoners heading into it. Earl thinks they just didn’t want to know what was
going on there. They went around to all the rooms and in the furnace room there
were hooks embedded in the walls. They would tie people’s hands and tie them
together and hang them on the hooks. Earl remembers the walls being bloody.
He said that the people were alive when they were on the hooks and that they
would try to get off but they were left there until they died. Then they would
throw them in the furnace.
• (01:26:45) In December 1945, Earl was told he would be going home and on
New Years Day 1946, he seen New York City and the Statue of Liberty again.
Earl is emotional about this point. He didn’t think this was possible with all the
situations he was involved in. He felt that survival was not possible so he began
living day to day. Being home was a miracle to him.
• Earl said that 24 hours you could hear bombs and planes during the war. He
could tell by the sound of the plane what kind of plane it was and who it was. He
said you had to sleep while bombs were going off and they were loud. He was
told to be comforted by the fact that if a bomb hits you that you wouldn’t hear that
one.
(01:28:50) Fort Belvoir, Virginia
• Earl was discharged here.
• He met up with his wife, and the following morning he took his car down the road
and a half mile down he got out and looked around the car at the tires to make
sure they were all there. The drive was so different from the jeeps in the service.
He knew it was him and not the tires.
(01:30:30) Home in Ohio
•
�Earl and Millie returned to their home in Ohio. During the war they had rented it
out and now they came back to live there.
• Earl returned to working for his dad doing carpentry work. He felt he should be
doing something that had to do with the war.
• He went to work for the Elias Machine Company building cranes
• He built houses with his dad till his dad died and then built houses on his own.
He laid bricks for the houses.
• (01:33:10) Earl and Millie went on to have 4 more children after the war.
Richard was third, then Bonnie, then Terri, and Tom.
• Earl volunteered for the fire department for 42 years. He was given a watch after
40 years that said Congratulations on 40 years as a volunteer firefighter. He was
80 when he stopped. Earl is still an EMT.
• (01:36:40) Earl said we need to remember that without everyone in the service
doing what they were told to do we wouldn’t be doing what we are doing today.
• (01:38:10) While in the service Earl said he was in charge of prisoners. They
were building a high tension line in a staging area. Every day he would get a
group of prisoners to help him and they enjoyed helping because they got out.
They would take back scraps to their buddy’s for a midnight snack. This was in
Southern France after the war was over. Earl went to the compound on the first
day for 6 volunteers. He asked if anyone spoke English and an older man did. He
actually spoke British. He interpreted a story of a 16 year old kid to Earl. The kid
said he was inducted into the army at the last minute with no training. He had a
buddy with one rifle between them. They hid most of the day and looked for food
one at a time. They had to surrender because they were starving. Earl kept them
working till about noon and let them go to get some food. They would wait by
the garbage cans and the service men would scrape their food into the prisoners
cans. The 16 year old boy got lost while they were moving and ran around trying
to find them again. The boy said he was scared he wouldn’t find them again.
• (01:42:25) Earl made friends with them. He said people fight wars because of the
government not the people. People are people where ever you go.
(1:43:00) Military Items
• Earl shows some items he still has from the service including Jurgen knives the
German military boys would carry pens, unit patches, German switch knives,
Italian razor blades, toilet paper and more.
• He shows a German paper dated 2-4-44
• Two notes saying from The Liberation of Buchenwald by Henry J. Herder.
• (01:44:55) Buchenwald Concentration Camp Weimar, Germany Liberated April
11 1945 Exterminated more than 56,000 victims
• A picture of two men holding Jewish prisoners hand and foot while he lay on the
ground. He was a survivor who had died.
• A picture of a trench dug at the concentration camp that was filled with bodies.
The picture shows German soldiers who were prisoners removing the bodies from
the trench.
• (01:46:28) A couple pictures showing survivors of the camp showing the allies
how they loaded the dead bodies in the furnaces.
•
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A picture of a pile of bodies
A building that was on the grounds with piles of dead bodies in front of it.
A picture with a cart full of dead bodies.
Two pictures of close up of the bodies.
(01:48:01) Earl is reading a paper
A picture of a bridge over the autobahn. It was 300 ft down from the top. The
span between each arch was 90 ft. The picture shows approximately 30 arches but
never gets to the end of the bridge in the picture. His brother in law was part of
the outfit that built the bridge over the autobahn. A man carrying capacity for the
bridge crossed over and the bridge was shut down immediately afterwards. Earl’s
crew was told to get over there and dismantle the very bridge.
(01:53:18) Earl has a man riding a bike, both that he built. It looks like it is
powering a generator but is not said.
The following are pictures taken during and after WWII [also in this collection]
��������������������������
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
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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
MatherE
Title
A name given to the resource
Mather, Earl (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Mather, Earl
Description
An account of the resource
Earl Mather served during World War II for the 1256th Combat Engineers Battalion. He served in Europe, France, Belgium, and Germany building bridges and repairing bombed bridges. He served during the Battle of the Bulge as a MP Officer and was involved in the freeing of Buchenwald concentration camp. His memories of the war are still vivid in his mind and his interview is remarkable. Earl and his wife still reside in Ohio where they originally built their home before the war. His file includes numerous photographs from the war and afterward.
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. Army
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/40df11e52ae38a937fb8bd10b22b7fcd.mp4
d337b167f84ffc947a74a6dd53dc7863
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d90bf10bb67539df7b2e68325294edc.pdf
b16643f646dcdd8f50e22d162a723fb8
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Warren Mastenbrook
(00:25:00)
Introduction (00:23)
Family and Pre-enlistment (00:27)
•
Born in 1923 in Grand Haven, MI. Mastenbrook grew up with 3 brothers.
•
His father ran a filling station and was a veteran of World War I and received
the Purple Heart. Also his mother was a school teacher. During the Depression
his father did all right. (01:24)
•
Didn’t graduate high school in 1941 because he lacked ½ credits.
Mastenbrook was 18 in June, 1941 and after working the summer decided to
join the Marine Corps because he didn’t want to go back to school.
Enlistment and Training (03:03)
•
Was sent to Parris Island where he underwent basic training in September
1941. Following that he was stationed at Quantico, VA. He was on his way to
Chicago when Pearl Harbor was bombed. (03:03) Served 6 months training as
a mechanic and then 6 months of aircraft training at Navy Pier in Chicago.
Combat Experiences (04:38)
•
Afterwards, he boarded a train for San Diego, CA, from where he was shipped
to Hawaii. Served as crew chief for a F4F Wildcat carrier-based fighter plane
with his BMF-211 outfit. Mentions various places marines were sent to:
Wake Is., Midway, and Honolulu, Hawaii where he was stationed. In
Honolulu, he joined up with his outfit and went 1000 miles west to
Kolombangara, an island in the Solomons which was significant because it
had an airport on it.
•
Mastenbrook briefly mentions that Pan Am at the time was trying to build a
hotel on Kolombangara, an island shaped like a horseshoe. (05:38)
Afterwards, he returned to Honolulu, Hawaii they were outfitted with a new
Corsair aircraft. They stayed there for training.
•
From there they went to Espiritu Santu and Guadalcanal but didn’t stay long.
They went from there to Bougainville where the Japanese made a stand. The
Japanese had a big base there. (07:24) Mentions the bombing runs that went
on there morning and afternoons. Gives a brief description of the American
�and Japanese positions on the island. Mentions that Japanese Zeros would
often counterattack making it difficult to position their aircraft. After a while,
they got off the island because of continual Japanese attacks.
•
Mastenbrook briefly mentions the fighting on Green Island, northwest of
Rabaul. (08:57) At this point, the Japanese had no planes. Mastenbrook
briefly describes his crew and a certain Colonel Lindberg. (11:22)
•
Mentions shooting down 26 airplanes [context not clear here, since he was not
a pilot] during the course of the war. Also, mentions losing an engine once
and having to fly back to Guadalcanal.
Going Home (12:29)
•
Afterwards, Mastenbrook mentions that he was sent back via a new Liberty
ship to San Francisco where he met up with a man from Grand Haven. They
exchanged stories.
•
Mentions that he was never wounded nor that his outfit encountered
kamikazes. Returned home in 1944.
•
From San Francisco he went to Santiago and then home to Grand Haven for a
period of 30 days leave. Afterwards, he went down Cherry Point, NC where
he worked pulling out on B-25 and Corsair engines. Gives brief description of
job responsibilities in some detail. (15:01) He was discharged on Dec. 20th,
1945.
After the War (15:20)
•
After being discharged, he went to Grand Rapids looking for jobs, but after
finding nothing, returned to Grand Haven. Worked in a variety of capacities for
the next few years; first as a factory worker and later as a service agent for
Pennsylvania Central Airlines for 3 years in Muskegon. Afterwards, he lived in
Traverse City for 11 years and returned to Grand Rapids. (16:31) Had 36 years
and 9 months worth of working. During his time with Pennsylvania Central
Airlines he spent 22 years on the big island of Hawaii. (18:09) Mentions that he
regularly attends Marine Corps Reunions every year around the U.S. (23:31)
�
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
MastenbrookW
Title
A name given to the resource
Mastenbrook, Warren (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Mastenbrook, Warren
Description
An account of the resource
Warren Mastenbrook is a WW II veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an aircraft mechanic from 1941 to 1945. In this account, he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training the U.S. and combat experiences in the Pacific, primarily in the Solomons.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer)
Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Marine Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives
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
2008-02-16
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/226b8e7fdf56f50cc7ec74b15affab81.mp4
6396fcb82dd7120a11af35c899f1f8cd
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/487202c34bc378eaedc9786f1ad2d831.pdf
32642b21de9cde3966803ce9050fa692
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Julius “Bud” Masinick
(01:29:46)
(0:09:25) Pre-Enlistment
•
•
•
•
•
•
Born February 5, 1925 in Maryd, PA, which is in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Father was a coal miner
Moved to Detroit in 1936, father worked at US Rubber
Finished high school at Eastern High School in 1942
Paid attention to some of World War II. Remembers Pearl Harbor.
At graduation, he was only 16, thus he worked for a time at Ford being a mailboy.
For 2 months. Worked as a foreman until he was drafted.
(0:06:00) Training
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(0:06:00) Drafted into the Navy in June, 1943.
Was then sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, where he did boot camp. He had
certain special duties, because he could type. He would take visitors from the gate
to the hostess house for visitors. He had the opportunity to work at the hostess
house instead of doing his basic training.
(0:11:32) Met Mickey Cochrane who got him a baseball bat and invited him to
practice with the base baseball team.
Went to service school at the Great Lakes Naval Station. There he got training in
reading and writing in Yeoman school.
(00:17:38) Did submarine school at New London, Connecticut. Attended so
called “Spritz’s Navy” where they did tests in various different things, like mental
and physical aptitude tests. They also did pressure tank tests and other tests to see
if recruit could stand escaping from a submarine.
Tests lasted about a week. After tests, they did training on very old submarines
from the early 1900s. In one episode, nearly fell off the ship during training.
They went out on old boats for most of the training, however, they did
occasionally used the newer S-Boats during their training.
There would also on occasion be those who could not mentally handle sub
training.
(00:27:55) Submarine school was 6-7 weeks, he then went to Key West for a
month to practice on sound and sonar equipment.
(00:28:38) His job was to be a striker. He did watches on top, and did lookout
duties. Also worked as first loader on 5 in gun, and captain on forward 40mm
gun. He also was the swimmer who helped to rescue aviators.
At were then transferred back to New London, where he prepared for
commissioning of USS Icefish. He got involved in baseball while he was in New
�•
•
London. He was then sent to Manitowoc, WI for the commissioning of the
Icefish.
(00:37:05) They then had to take the boat down the Mississippi. They took it
down to Chicago and then the boat was dry docked to be moved down the
Mississippi.
They took off from New Orleans to the Pacific Ocean
(00:37:54) Active Duty
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
When they were in the Caribbean, they saw a torpedo coming at them, and it just
missed.
(00:39:23) They did some trials when they were in Panama, and they spent a lot
of their time doing this training.
Most of the men on the ship had some experience on a submarine, so they had
mentors to help out the men who were inexperienced.
They then went from the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor, and they stayed there a
couple days. Saw a man who he knew while in Pearl Harbor who later was on a
ship that got sunk.
(00:43:40) 1 out of 5 men did not make it back from the submarine corps.
He remembers that the German submarines were very small and in bad shape
(00:47:15) They were sent to the Straits of Leyte in the Philippines after Pearl
Harbor. They attacked a freighter and a troop transport. They got attacked in
return and they were depth charged pretty badly. When a sub is under attack, the
first thing that they do is dive, and then become silent. In this case, they leveled
off at 300 ft. and they got hit by 13 depth charges and then got knocked down to
412 ft.
His job was to turn the rudder cranks manually during the silent running episodes.
In one episode, they had to use a mixture of different oils in the hydraulic systems
because the system failed.
(00:53:50) The routine was at night they would be on the surface, and during the
day they would be below the surface waiting for a target to show up.
They had various different problems with the ship. They had a rudder problem in
the Yellow Sea, and they had to make their way back to Pearl Harbor.
(00:57:00) They didn’t experience any number of depth charges like they did on
that first patrol. They also didn’t encounter any other large convoys like they did
on that first patrol.
(00:57:40) There were also occasions that they had to pick up downed aviators
near Formosa.
They sank a minesweeper near Bali as well.
(1:00:35) 1st Patrol Run was Philippines, 2nd Patrol Run was the Marshall Islands,
3rd Patrol Run was Guam, 4th Patrol Run was Australia, and 5th Patrol Run was
Home
(1:01:30) They stayed in Perth, Australia for some time, where he essentially
instigated a riot by getting into a fight with a British sailor.
�•
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•
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•
(1:05:20) In another incident, they surfaced near Java. There were several
Javanese fishing boats. They were supposed to fire a warning shot but there was
some confusion and they sunk the boats.
(1:07:13) In another instance, they captured a Japanese boat and the captain was
interrogated, and his job was to take notes of the interrogation.
He was a boxer in the Navy. He got into a lot of fights during his time in the
service. He learned to box at Great Lakes Naval Base.
A couple of times, they had to dive because of aircraft or the suspicion of aircraft.
(1:16:30) They sometimes rotated the crew, usually around 15% of the crew each
patrol.
One of his jobs was to be the swimmer. He went to talk to the captain about this,
and the captain noted to him that he may have to be left behind if they have to
dive.
He got back to US in September 1945, and he went home in April of 1946.
(1:21:14) In between returning to the United States and his discharge, they had to
decommission the Icefish. To do this, they had to bring it up to total compliment.
This meant that they had to get all of the equipment that belonged on the ship,
even if they didn’t have them during the tour. They decommissioned the boat
right where they tied it up.
(1:25:20) Post-Service
•
•
Right after his discharge, he spent some of his time travelling around the country,
and it took him quite some time, nearly a month, to get home. Arrived home in
May.
Worked at Ford, then played professional baseball for five years. Made it to AAA
Toledo Mud Hens before he retired from baseball. Finally went to college and
worked at one company until he retired.
�
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
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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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
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MasinickJ
Title
A name given to the resource
Masinick, Julius (Bud) (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
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Masinick, Julis (Bud)
Description
An account of the resource
Bud Masinick was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Detroit, MI during his childhood. After graduating high school, he was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He attended basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, and attended submarine school in New London, CT. He was then assigned to the USS Icefish, and patrolled the Pacific until the end of the war. After the war, he played professional baseball, making it to the AAA level.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum (Muskegon, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Navy
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
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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
2008-06-30
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d02f5b66adb97f6728206c5ed41250ce.mp4
d945d5909ef3f8623b08122694701560
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1e332e8deab56fb85ffc4ce4a65ee4a.pdf
ff1af726a497d4a20b82da99f4089e17
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Leon Marx
(46:30)
Disc One (1:02:04)
Disc Two (1:01:41)
(00:30) Born in Battle Creek, MI 6/29/1921
(1:45) Leon’s Parents
•
•
His dad worked at Fort Custer as the Chief Engineer
His mother was a registered nurse at the sanitarium, but stayed home most of the time to
take care of the kids
(3:25) His Father at Fort Custer
•
•
The Army of Engineers built a pontoon bridge behind their house to move a bulldozer
over the river in their back yard
The bridge broke and the bulldozer ended up in the river
(4:30) School
•
•
•
•
He went through the 9th grade at River Park School
There were thirty students per class and two grades per class
His friend and he pulled a prank fire drill and sprayed the extinguisher all over their
teacher
His favorite subject was mathematics, in which he received A’s
(7:00) Kellogg High School
•
•
•
The principal was his grandfather so he did not get into much trouble
He was his grandfather’s favorite grandson and could always borrow his car to go for a
ride during school with his friends
Leon has been driving since he was ten years old
(8:15) Past Driving Experiences
•
•
•
•
He first drove a Model T Ford with three pedals and ran it into a telephone pole
When he was younger, he lived on a farm and was allowed to operate a tractor
On the farm they raised over 1,000 chickens a year, which he and his brother had to feed
and take care of
They once captured five skunks and kept them as pets
�•
•
•
•
•
The skunks sprayed everyone except he and his brother; they had to get rid of the smell
with tomato juice
He once borrowed his brother’s Model A Ford to go to the prom, which his brother had
bought after graduation for $25.00
His brother once drove a car into a river on accident and his father had to buy a tractor off
a farmer down the road to pull it out
The tractor was hard to drive, but it was fun
It had steel wheels, and started with gasoline and then later switched to diesel
(13:45) The Prom
• Leon went to the prom with a junior when he was a senior
• He was not a very good dancer, but he danced to every song
• That night he met a Detroit Tigers baseball player
(15:20) Baseball
•
It only cost $1.00 for the whole family to go to a game
•
His grandfather had played baseball in college; he traveled and played with the Detroit
Lions, so many times they were able to get into games for free and sit right next to the
dugout
(16:25) After Graduation
•
•
He went to work at Michigan Carton Company
•
In 1941 he went to Western Michigan University for Aircraft Mechanics
•
It cost him only $20.00 a semester
•
He attended college until the war broke out
(17:25) Pearl Harbor
•
When the Japanese attacked he was on a ride with a girl near Lake Michigan
•
He heard the news on the radio and then hurried home
•
He had been living with his parents at the time
•
His father had been gone working at Fort Custer for two straight weeks because they
were already on alert
•
That previous August his father had been at a meeting in Chicago
�•
At that time his father believed they would be at war with the Japanese by Christmas
(21:55) The Aftermath of Pearl Harbor
•
His father had said that the soldiers who were not good at their job were being sent to
Panama
•
But when the war got serious, Panama was a strategic location so they started sending the
soldiers to Hawaii; his father believed that was why Pearl Harbor was attacked
•
Speaking of Pearl Harbor, Leon said “No wonder it went to hell.”
•
He and his brother enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor; they were sworn in December 20th
•
They then went to Jefferson Barracks together in Missouri
(24:40) Missouri
•
Before going to Missouri, they had to stop at Fort Custer where they were sworn into the
10th Infantry
•
Afterwards they went home for one last dinner before leaving; the memory made Leon
cry
•
They shipped out the first week of January to go to Missouri; they traveled on a train with
no heat and it was negative three degrees
•
The base in Missouri was similar to Fort Custer and there were about 50 men sharing one
room
(28:35) Basic Training
•
Leon had to pull KP a few times and clean the mess hall
•
There was no graduation party, but afterwards he was sent to Long Island
•
He learned the basics of plain engines in Long Island, yet while at college he had learned
about P24s
(32:10) Mitchell Field
•
He was at Mitchell Field until 4/1/1942 and then was assigned to a service squadron
•
The master sergeant there picked on him all the time
(34:20) Special Services
•
Leon began training for the OCS and it was very hard work
•
He was reprimanded for being out at night without a pass
�•
He had helped the cook cut up whole chickens and then he became the mess hall clerk
•
He was in the kitchen all the time
(38:45) 1942 Race Riots
•
The riots were in New York and each soldier was issued 60 rounds of ammunition
•
There was also another race in Detroit at the same time
•
There were blacks against blacks, but there were no guns; they were fighting each other
with bricks and bats
•
They started firing their guns and everyone quickly ran off
•
They were called out another time and given 120 rounds a week later
•
They had to play guard duty until the National Guard Rainbow division came to relieve
them
(41:50) The Trip to Iceland
•
Leon traveled to Iceland on a Santalina cruise ship
•
He had to sleep on the top deck to keep from getting sea sick; it was very cold
•
There were many storms during the trip and lots of people got sick
•
They did not eat very well; a meal consisted of 2 boiled eggs, 2 pieces of bread, and a cup
of coffee
•
Many people would sneak into the kitchen to steal food
•
Some would just eat a whole case of onions as though they were apples
•
They had to have guards on duty to watch the kitchen 24/7
(44:10) Iceland 1942
•
There was salmon being dried out on racks all over the coast and it smelled like fish
everywhere
•
They had to go through inspection because everyone on the ship had fleas
•
He got to bar tend for 3 days and he got drunk everyday; he got sick of bartending
quickly
•
He was transferred to guard duty
•
It rains a lot in Iceland and it is always cold
�•
In the summer it only gets to about fifty degrees
•
He enjoyed cooking more than guard duty because they got the first dibs on food, worked
in a warm environment and were able to take hot showers; they also got free laundry
service
(48:00) Guard Duty
•
At one point he had heard some Morse code and called Army Intelligence
•
The next night he was transferred to a different post so that Army Intelligence could
guard the area where he had heard the code
•
It turned out to be a German spy who was sending code to Germany every night at 11pm
•
Leon then received top security clearance
•
He guarded Roosevelt’s sons and the Russian ambassador
•
He was in Iceland for two years
•
He went back and forth from cooking to guard duty
•
Privates receive $21/month and guards receive $66/month and three days off
•
He never had to shoot anyone the whole time he was in the service
(54:05) 1944
•
He went with 32 other men from the Air Corps with the 101st Division
•
He was not going to volunteer to be a paratrooper, but they would not let him cook
•
He was assigned to a higher area to guard Eisenhower’s headquarters
•
In June he was able to start cooking again
(58:30) London
•
He cooked for the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expedition Forces, Eisenhower’s staff
•
He also cooked for George Patton, who was always out of uniform to visit his nephew
that cooked with Leon
Disc Two
(00:25) The Advantages of Cooking
•
They went out on the beach and found thousands of clams
•
They ate some and gave some to the captain, then they had to go back and get more so
they could make some for everyone
�•
They were able to go into town and eat at restaurants
•
Restaurants served horse meat in Iceland
(2:40) The Boat to England
•
They played poker in his room
•
They made lots of money and went shopping; he bought scotch in Scotland
(5:10) June 2
•
He started cooking again in England
•
On June 4th he saw a buzz bomb from Germany
(9:00) Normandy
•
On June 5th reporters were denying that there was any activity in Normandy
(14:00) Cooking School
•
He went to school for a while and was taught how to bake
•
The regular personnel did not get the good food that he was taught to cook
•
He cooked for Eisenhower and his staff
•
He cooked whole pigs for the king of England and for Winston Churchill
•
Leon was treated like a king by everyone because he could cook so well
(18:50) Russia
•
Secret Service asked him to go to Russia
•
They went to Italy first because the plain was having problems
•
They stopped in Greece after Italy to pick up a new radio for the plain
•
In Greece Germans were shooting at them on the runway
•
They then went to Egypt and stayed in a hotel
•
After that they went to Iran for a week
•
In Iran there was a slave market where they were selling Caucasian women for less than
$50
(42:00) POWs
•
In Russia they were supposed to get Americans who had been in prison camps
�•
They did not find many American POWs
•
After staying in Russia for a while, many men learned to speak Russian
•
Leon was sent to Russia because they did not have any good cooks
•
Leon cook turkey in Russia for Christmas
(46:30) Poltava, Ukraine
•
The city is on a big river near Kiev
•
He cooked here also until VE Day, for five months
•
He got drunk a couple of times in Ukraine
•
He found a Russian camera and took many pictures
•
US intelligence wanted the pictures and asked him to take more
�
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
MarxL
Title
A name given to the resource
Marx, Leon (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marx, Leon
Description
An account of the resource
Leon Marx served in the Army Air Corps during WW II, 1941-1945. He spent most of his time in guard duty and also cooked for high level officials while serving with the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. He received top level security Clearance and was able to cook for the King of England, Winston Churchill, and Eisenhower. While in the Air Corps Leon traveled to Iceland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Russia, and Iran. Leon did not experience combat while serving.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
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
2007-05-15
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/c159f33d01ce2d48dac78034b49d0578.mp4
fef4577eaede9f90bbe7956adf15213d
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/79f14533415c6c95b6a681e3ffe8de34.pdf
ca5259ea1d8c046120cc405872c2b57a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Douglas Martyn
(00:45:53)
(00:20) Background Information
• Born in Flint Michigan in 1925.
• Father worked in factory.
• Joined National Guard at 16.
• During high school, worked for National Guard on Saturdays only.
• Left high school before graduating to join military.
• Drafted in February of 1944.
(04:25) Basic Training
• Fort Sheridan, Illinois.
• He knew what to expect at basic training because of his prior training with the
National Guard.
(05:25) After Basic
• He helped people take the aptitude test for 6 months.
(06:30) Chicago
• The men would stay in hotels that were converted into servicemen’s quarters.
• Attended stage shows and movies in Chicago.
(07:50) Time as a Medic
• He worked in a medical dispensary.
• He doesn’t know what qualified him to become a medic.
• He was taught by a pre-med student all of the proper medical procedures.
• He had to sterilize and sharpen his own needles.
• He remembers men fainting while getting their inoculations.
• The men had to be on call during weekends to help with emergencies.
• The doctors in the dispensary were all civilian doctors.
(17:45) After Chicago
• Switched to the Air Corps.
• Based in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
• The base was very warm, especially during the summer.
• Limited contact with civilians, unless he ventured into town.
• Based at Lake Charles for around 6 months, until it was closed.
• Sent to El Paso, Texas.
• He would ride along with pilots over the oilfields of Texas.
(22:46) Alaska
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Was sent as a medic.
He was stationed in the western half of Alaska, near Nome.
It was a rather large base, due to fighting in Aleutians.
The men did a lot of fishing and hunting during their time in Alaska.
They burned oil to keep warm during the winter.
The oil would start freezing and become very thick because of the cold.
Moose were around the base, but never came near the men.
Mechanics, maintenance men and medics were the main groups of people stationed at
the base.
There were a couple of seaplanes on the base, but no major military planes.
(30:45) Important Leaders who visited the camp
• General Eisenhower came to the base to fish at one point.
• They built cabins at a far end of the base for the upper echelon of military leaders.
• Curtis LeMay, the future head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also visited the camp.
• He complained to LeMay, without knowing who he was, and soon after, some
engineers came and renovated some of the base.
(35:25) Other Duties in Alaska
• He helped build a floating dock for seaplanes to land on.
• Helped with a lot of small odd jobs, such as plumbing, around the base.
• Was stationed in Alaska for 20 months.
(37:00) Anchorage
• The men would take three-day leaves from the camp to go to Anchorage.
• There were recreation facilities for the troops in Anchorage.
(39:10) Thawing Water Pipes
• One of the men caught the pump house on fire while thawing the water pumps.
(40:00) After Alaska
• Was discharged in Great Falls, Montana.
• Returned home to Flint after discharge.
(41:00) Work
• Attended school at the General Motors Institute.
• Received an apprenticeship and then began working.
• He worked as an engineer.
(42:25) Grand Haven, Michigan
• After visiting relatives in Grand Haven, they decided to move from Flint to Grand
Haven.
��
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
MartynD
Title
A name given to the resource
Martyn, Douglas (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Martyn, Douglas
Description
An account of the resource
Douglas Martyn served in the US Army from 1944 to 1946. He initially trained as a medic in Chicago and worked in a dispensary and administered inoculations to new recruits. He eventually transferred to the Army Air Corps and was based first in Louisiana and then in Alaska at a base near Nome that Generals Eisenhower and LeMay visited because of the good fishing there.
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.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
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
2007-12-21
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/05c6067547228cd12240f16cc52cdf63.mp4
98892ad0a07fc538da6015098b0538b0
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8d66ee7e4161921240873a1a2d5c2bb0.pdf
291163b57ba72c89251fc39f7acc9b85
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Vietnam & Afghanistan & Iraq
Baltazar Martinez
Total Time – (02:11:52)
Introduction / Basic Training – (00:00:11)
Baltazar Martinez was born in Plainview, Texas on August 8th, 1952; he lived there for about
eight years until his family moved to Bovina, Texas (00:01:03)
His father was a farmer and his mother stayed at home to work on the fields (00:01:42)
◦ Baltazar was one of the last people drafted by the draft board in 1972 (00:03:16)
◦ He is the oldest in his family and has a younger brother and and two younger sisters
(00:06:00)
◦ Baltazar was planning on going to college to play football and used that as motivation to
keep up his grades (00:07:33)
◦ A couple colleges offered him football scholarships but he ended up receiving a draft notice
and his mother took it especially hard (00:08:54)
▪ Baltazar headed to Amarillo, Texas for a physical and other check ups and eventually
wound up in the Army (00:12:00)
▪ He went to Ft. Ord in California for basic training (00:13:28)
Baltazar was brought up in a very structured family and thanks his parents for that as
it helped him get used to the way of the Army (00:14:34)
Baltazar got sent off to become a 19 Delta (Cavalry Scout) (00:17:25)
A lot of the basic skills of the Army came natural for him; his father taught him how
to shoot a rifle- everything Baltazar did in Basic Training is what he wanted to do
(00:19:53)
Four to five weeks after he arrived at Basic Training, he was congratulated by the 1st
sergeant on being of the last people to be drafted (00:22:01)
Baltazar didn't know what a 19 Delta was when it was announced that's where he
was going to be; he finally learned that he was going to be at reconnaissance school
(00:23:37)
All of his drill instructors had combat experience and his 1st sergeant had served in
Korea (00:25:27)
◦ Baltazar left Ft. Ord for Ft. Carson in Colorado to be a cavalry scout (00:26:57)
▪ He learned how to set up ambushes, explosives, booby-traps, among other
things; he already knew how to work with a map and compass (00:29:13)
▪ The training at Ft. Carson took eight weeks; from there, Baltazar got orders
to go to Vietnam (00:32:01)
▪ After Advanced Infantry Training (AIT), he earned leave to go home for
about a week; he then reported to Travis Air Force Base (AFB) and flew
from there (00:32:48)
Vietnam (00:32:29)
He jokes that his time in Vietnam was so short that he just showed up, saw the land, and was
turned around to be sent back home at the end of 1972 (00:33:00)
They flew from Anchorage, Alaska to Japan and then Japan to Saigon; he was only there for a
�couple of days (00:33:54)
Back to the United States (00:33:57)
He was then assigned to the 1st of the 10th Cavalry at Carson (00:34:20)
◦ Baltazar mentions that the military is constantly training people and that's part of the
everyday routine- a lot of weapons training (00:36:29)
◦ He liked the training because he was never bored- he was constantly doing something
(00:37:19)
◦ Baltazar describes a situation when he was on a vehicle one time that was on fire and his
sergeant told him to keep driving; eventually the situation was diffused but quite nerveracking (00:40:29)
◦ He spent about two years with the 1st of the 10th Cavalry before he got his orders that sent
him to Korea (00:41:43)
Korea (00:43:30)
Baltazar was with the 1st of the 72nd Armor and was attached to combat support (00:43:41)
He was still a Cavalry Scout but was attached to his assigned unit; he spent 13 months there
(00:44:43)
◦ After Baltazar became the rank of E5, he was told that he needed to go to NCO school and
was sent there because of his character (00:46:33)
◦ He was getting ready for an inspection when North Koreans entered into the “No Mans
Land”; gunfire was exchanged but nothing major happened (00:49:27)
◦ Baltazar says he learned to always be prepared because you never know what's going to
happen- you must have flexibility (00:49:40)
▪ With about three weeks left in his 13 month tour, Baltazar explained a story about a US
chopper getting some bullet holes from North Koreans near the exhaust (00:53:55)
His parents let him make his own decisions once Baltazar turned 18 but said they
would always give him advice for whatever he chose to do (00:55:18)
Baltazar then enlisted for another three years with the Army (00:56:09)
He and his unit provided gifts for a local orphanage while in Korea (00:58:09)
◦ Other than providing for the orphanage, Baltazar didn't really have much other
communication with the local population but remembered a few words he
learned while he was there (00:59:44)
◦ Baltazar mentions another story about a time when locals got on to a restricted
area in their mortar range and how one of his NCO's chased them off (01:03:15)
◦ The weather in Korea was brutally cold but not a lot of snow (01:04:28)
◦ Sometimes the locals seemed to know more than the soldiers about alerts and
things like that as one certain local would set up shop for the soldiers because
she had heard about an alert before they did (01:07:43)
◦ When an alert would happen, his unit would resort to fighting positions and
again, it was a secret to the US but not to the local population (01:09:07)
▪ Baltazar put Ft. Hood, Ft. Carson, and Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Texas as his
number one destination- he laughs because he got sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky
(01:09:39)
Back to the United States (01:10:58)
Baltazar was sent to Ft. Knox, Kentucky after 13 months in Korea; he was assigned to the 1st
�
Training Brigade Unit (01:11:05)
He was still an E5 and was an Advanced Individual Training Instructor- about a year later he
was E6 (01:11:32)
◦ Baltazar was selected by a committee to go to drill sergeant school at Ft. Knox for about
five weeks (01:15:30)
◦ He received a score of 49 out of 50 and the person that graded him told him the only
mistake he made was that he wasn't perfect- Baltazar was humbled by that (01:17:57)
◦ Overall the quality of individuals of recruits were intelligent; he remembers a young man
that had a masters and was gung-ho as could be (01:21:22)
▪ The young man that Baltazar mentioned wanted to become a Chaplain and he wanted to
know why the man didn't just go through OCS and the man replied that if he didn't go
through the training, how would he know what the other soldiers are going though
(01:22:15)
▪ Baltazar did the training stint for three years which would have been around 1981 as his
enlistment was coming up (01:23:15)
The Marine Corps Years (01:24:47)
After nine years and three three-year enlistments, Baltazar decided he wanted to join the Marine
Corps (01:24:47)
His Command Sergeant Major told him he was going to make E7 soon and asked him why he
wanted to give that up and Baltazar replied that something was telling him to join the Marines
(01:28:04)
◦ He was told that he'd be brought down to Lance Corporal, an E3 position, as well as go
through boot camp and that was fine with Baltazar (01:29:42)
◦ Baltazar was brought in as the Marines were suspicious of his situation: they asked him if he
was related or knew any people in congress- they couldn't believe he wanted to come into
the Marine Corps as an E6 (01:32:08)
◦ He actually came back as a Staff NCO as an E6 in the Marine Corps at Ft. Knox (01:33:05)
▪ Some of his previous majors from the Army were sitting at the NCO bar as he walked in
(01:35:13)
▪ He was at Ft. Knox from around 1981 til 1983; he was then assigned to an inspective
duty over in Alameda, California (01:36:39)
▪ Baltazar finished a three year enlistment with the Marines and then went on Reserve
Status for three years (01:37:36)
He was thinking about himself and starting a family and that's a big reason why he
chose to not be on active duty (01:38:53)
Baltazar and his family lived in California from 1983/84 til almost 2000 (01:41:35)
Him and his family ended up moving to Marshall, Michigan in 2000 (01:43:28)
National Guard Duty (01:45:50)
In 2007, Baltazar joined the National Guard after his daughter entered college (01:45:50)
After the E6 and E5 slots were filled, he decided that he didn't need the rank in order to lead as
part of the National Guard (01:50:23)
◦ In 2010, Baltazar was deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan for six months (01:52:50)
◦ The deployment was an individual deployment because of Baltazar's expertise in weaponry
and prior combat experience (01:53:38)
▪ Kuwait was his main base and first flew out to Afghanistan; he was accountable for all
�▪
the heavy machinery (01:54:33)
He went back and forth from Kuwait to Afghanistan twice and would be gone from ten
days to 14 days at a time (01:57:19)
Baltazar was accounting for equipment in Iraq as the United States started to
withdraw troops as this made his job quite critical (02:00:00)
◦ He mentions that while he was in Iraq it seemed like the Insurgents were just
waiting for the US troops to get out (02:04:26)
Back to the United States (02:06:00)
Baltazar returned from Iraq in 2011 and wanted to return in 2012 but his aged barred him from
his deployment (02:07:27)
Baltazar came home to a loving family in 1972 when he got back from Vietnam and came back
from Iraq to a loving family in 2011 and that's what he believes keeps him grounded and sane
(02:10:05)
He feels like he can still perform for the military and be able to provide experience for young
men and women; to pass the torch on to the younger generation is one of his goals (02:11:17)
�
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
MartinezB1571V
Title
A name given to the resource
Martinez, Baltazar (Interview outline and video), 2014
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Martinez, Baltazar
Description
An account of the resource
Baltazar Martinez was born in Plainview, Texas, in 1952. He was one of the last people to be drafted into the Army in 1972. He trained as an armored cavalryman and was deployed to Vietnam toward the end of the year, but stayed only a few days before being sent home. He re-enlisted twice, and served in Korea and in different bases in the US until 1981. He subsequently served in the Marine Corps for three years, and then later joined the Army National Guard, and deployed to Kuwait, and Iraq in 2010. He currently serves with the 507th Engineer Battalion, but did not deploy with them to Afghanistan in 2011 due to his age.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
McGregor, Michael (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
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
United States. Marine Corps
United States. National Guard
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
2014-03-08
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/ad9c9cee515370899db77cd9c64d8be7.mp4
8a4fec83c382ecda506f91f14a8d9488
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/95c4c52190e91b36865061046ad43833.pdf
ecee4a5434d8867126ec0dae74ecb8ab
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: Vietnam War
Interviewee name: Alfred Martin
Branch of Service: Army
Length of interview (00:35:05)
(0:00:06) Pre-enlistment
Born in 1948, born and raised in western Pennsylvania (0:00:12)
Grew up in a family of farmers (0:00:25)
Has a high school education (0:00:32)
Did not work, drafted right out of high school (January 1969) (0:00:39)
Did not know much about Vietnam before joining (0:00:55)
Expected to be drafted (0:01:11)
(0:01:17) Enlistment/Training
Had to report to New Castle, Pennsylvania, then bussed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
for physical. Was sent home to wait for paperwork (0:01:18)
Went back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was flown to Fort Jackson, South
Carolina for boot camp (0:01:28)
No evidence of people trying to „beat the system‟ (0:01:41)
After boot camp in Fort Jackson, South Carolina he went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for
artillery training (0:02:01)
Learned familiarity with the rifle, emphasis on discipline (0:02:16)
He had a rough idea of the states his fellow troops were from (0:02:48)
He was in really good shape when he went through boot camp (0:03:01)
Basic training was roughly 6 weeks (0:03:22)
Artillery school consisted mainly of gun firing training (0:03:40)
Volunteered for NCO school because upon completion he would become a
sergeant, so he went to Vietnam as a sergeant instead of a private, and it would
give him the opportunity to make more money and have more time in the states
(0:03:52)
Artillery school was roughly 8 weeks long (0:05:05)
Had to learn about every weapon (0:05:18)
o 10 Deucer, back then was a 105
o 155 towed units
o 105, 10 Deuce SP
o 155 self-propelled
o 175
o Basically medium and heavy artillery pieces, both self-propelled and
towed
NCO school familiarized him with the gun, how to operate it and be in charge of it
(0:06:03)
155 unit had 13 men (0:06:27)
�o Gunner
o Assistant Gunner
o RTO [Radio Telephone Operator]
o Powder man
o Man that runs rounds
o 2 men run a loading tray
o 1 man running a ram rod
FDC [fire direction control] ordered them to PD (point detonate), delay or time fuse
(0:07:17)
Had leadership training, marching and drill (0:07:35)
Went from basic to AIT to NCO school, totaling approximately 1 year (0:07:46)
(0:09:04) Active Duty
Flew from Pittsburgh to Fort Lewis, Washington, and Fort Lewis to Vietnam
(0:09:09)
Landed at a base in Southern Vietnam (0:09:26)
In-country training consisted of “do‟s and don‟ts” (0:10:03)
101st Airborne unit, 155 artillery, unsure of assigned battery (0:10:25)
Joined 101st approximately January of 1970 (0:10:40)
The 101st was in I Corps when he joined them (0:10:57)
Was stationed on 12 or 13 bases (0:11:05)
Was assigned to the 155 Towed Howitzer, 2nd Battery, 11th Artillery (divisional
artillery, joined at a firebase) (0:11:13)
Assigned as a Gunner to E-6 Sgt. Davis (0:11:41)
Most challenging thing about the position was the responsibility of the men and the
possibility of losing one (0:12:06)
Had to adapt his training to combat because combat is much different (0:12:44)
Physical conditions of Vietnam were hot, dirty, no supplies or water (0:13:37)
Some firebases were more active than others (0:14:47)
Name of bases he can remember (0:15:00)
o Jack
o Granite
o Gladiator
o Ripcord
Once they land, they set up the pad, dig a pit, get bunkers ready and lastly the
hootch for living quarters (0:16:29)
A hootch is like a hole in the ground with sand bags over the top of it (0:16:51)
When they did come under fire, it was typically mortars, rockets and small arms
fire (0:17:39)
Some of the bases he was on before Ripcord were attacked by sappers (0:17:49)
They could see an RPG coming at them, and were authorized to return fire
(0:18:05)
They were required to pull guard duty 24/7 (0:18:20)
He carried an M-16 (0:18:37)
Sapper, mortar rounds, and RPG attacks occurred at Granite and Gladiator
�
(0:19:02)
Thinks the battery commander of Ripcord was Captain Baxendale (0:19:25)
Robert Kalsu (Bob Kalsu) a former pro football player was the Executive Officer
(XO), and the nicest guy you will ever meet and led by example (0:19:57)
He joined early in the Ripcord campaign, right when it opened up (0:20:29)
The Ripcord operation kept getting worse and worse every day (0:20:47)
o Guns were run almost 24/7.
o Infantry units in the field were taking a beating and calling for support.
o They slept when they could, and would sometime go days without sleep
No sense of how effective their fire was aside from body counts. They were not
privileged to that type of information, it was not filtered down to men with guns
(0:21:59)
Not much contact with infantry unit except for when they came back for supplies
(0:22:12)
There were problems with resupplies, they needed more of everything (0:22:54)
o Ammunition
o Food
o Water
Saw Lieutenant Colonel Lucas (Andre Cavaro Lucas) fly in and fly out quite often,
but Colonel Lucas did not come around the artillery often (0:23:08)
From the beginning to the end, he does not believe they were there to win the war
(0:23:56)
Had the sense at the time, that they were not supported properly (0:24:27)
The morale of the unit at Ripcord was low, but he had a good crew of good men
(0:24:58)
He stayed with the battery until November 23rd, 1970 after Ripcord ended, and then
got out and went home (0:25:22)
No recollection of how Ripcord ended- he was on R&R because he was wounded.
Spent 21st birthday in Sydney, Australia (0:25:32)
Was hit and wounded by a mortar round at Ripcord (0:26:01)
At Ripcord, sometimes ammunition supplies were hit and blew up. That is what
destroyed the 10 Deuce battery [the other artillery battery on the base] (0:26:17)
Was wounded on the 19th or 20th of 1970, right before they abandoned Ripcord on
the 23rd (0:26:45)
Enjoyed the 1-week R&R trip to Australia, went to Sydney and Hyde Park
(0:27:08)
Returned to Vietnam for the remainder of the tour, and the rest was a blur (0:28:23)
(0:28:34) After Service
Took a commercial flight back to the United States. They flew into Fort Lewis,
Washington (0:28:35)
Was welcomed back by his parents (0:28:51)
Was not aware of how Vietnam was being reported in the news while he was in
Vietnam and even before he left for Vietnam during training (0:29:06)
He did receive letters from family while he was in Vietnam, which was the only
�
communication while he was there. He would write back, but did not tell them
anything that was going on in Vietnam or that he was wounded (0:29:19)
His wound consisted of shrapnel in the thigh (0:29:38)
Was discharged at the end of 1970 and tried to find a job but there was not anything
available at the time (0:29:53)
o After the 1st of the year (1971) he got a job at a coal mine for a couple of
years
o Next he got a job truck driving, and that is the occupation he retired from,
he drove a truck for 32 years
People did not ask about Vietnam once he returned (0:30:24)
Went to a reunion in Fredericksburg, Virginia (0:30:28)
They were not exposed to civilians in Vietnam because they were typically isolated
out on a hilltop (0:31:52)
There was a little drug use on the firebase (0:32:16)
Race relations were not a problem at all (0:32:51)
o His best friend David Johnson served on Randy Burdette‟s crew
Everyone made an effort to get the job done (0:33:42)
Had a sense of responsibility toward the infantry men that were out in the field
(0:33:55)
�
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
MartinA1282V
Title
A name given to the resource
Martin, Alfred (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Martin, Alfred
Description
An account of the resource
Alfred Martin was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. He grew up in a family of farmers. He was drafted into the Army in January, 1969, not long after finishing high school. He completed Basic Training, Artillery School and NCO school before departing for Vietnam in January, 1970. He was assigned to 2/11 Field Artillery, a 155mm howitzer unit attached to the 101st Airborne Division. He served on several different firebases, notably Ripcord, where there was heavy fighting in June and July. He was wounded on Ripcord, and after he came back he continued to serve with his battery until he was sent home in late November.
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
2011-09-05
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/3d8b573226f1f27f0b0c022fb132dd6e.m4v
8db6c5b25363dd981ce79a58128ee9b9
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5032d0eff4e22bd90a6b2b6bfd58f3fb.pdf
f098924173cac1e5e9a0543bdaf5c700
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: World War II
Interviewee name: Robert Marshall
Length of Interview: 56 minutes
Pre-Enlistment (00:54)
o Childhood (01:04)
Marshall was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 17th, 1928. (01:06)
o Family (01:11)
At age, eight Marshall’s father died. He briefly mentions the fact that his
mother immigrated from Germany, whereas his father immigated from
Ireland. (01:20)
Growing up Marshall and his folks lived on the North Side of Chicago just
a few blocks from Wrigley Field. Mentions a few experiences there.
(02:05)
o Education (02:49)
Marshall didn’t finish high school but finished at a Lutheran parochial
school. (03:10)
o His Job (03:15)
Briefly mentions working in a cold-storage warehouse. Also mentions his
various jobs. (03:24)
Enlistment/Training (03:57)
o Background (03:58)
May 1944: FDR signed an Executive Order lowering the draft age for
inductees into the Maritime Service to the age of 16. (04:21)
Marshall briefly discussed how he joined the service. (04:51)
o Why he joined (05:12)
He attributes his joining the armed service in part to peer pressure, the
need to do his patriotic duty, and then that the maritime service was the
only branch willing to take a 16-year old kid. (05:18)
o Where they trained and what company they were in (05:30)
Went to Sheepshead Bay for basic training. Briefly describes the
discipline and regular routine of training and taking tests. Overall he had a
positive experience there. (05:57)
Next, Marshall landed up at Hoffman Island, New York in Nov., 1944
where he briefly describes the place and schooling he received there.
(08:21)
While still at Hoffman Island, New York Marshall learned Morse Code &
theory; how radios worked, and after mastering it graduated. (09:52)
o Living conditions (10:05)
Mentions spending much of his free time at a local church in New York
City and visitng various places too. (10:54)
Graduated from Hoffman Island in April 44’ and had a week’s leave of
furlough. (11:07)
�o Active Duty (13:03)
Background (13:05)
• Briefly shaers his thoughts as they made their way through the
Straits of Juan de Fuca the waters in the Seattle/Port Angeles area.
(13:37)
• From there his ship sailed to a naval base where they stopped and
loaded more cargo. (14:26)
• Mentions the excitement expressed in learning the ins and outs of a
sailor. (14:43) And then he also discusses briefly what sort of man
his British captain was like. (15:05))
• In April/May 45’ Marshall arrived at Eniwetok (15:59) Shares his
thoughts while there. (16:10)
Guam voyage (16:10)
• 2 weeks out, he was in Guam. On their way there, his ship sailed
sailed without a convoy escort; something rarely done. He
remembers how anxious the crew aboard ship were. Stayed in
Guam for a few days in July 45’. (17:26)
o While stationed here, the authorities issued a report that a
possible typhoon was going to hit the island. They issued
warning to ships to stay out to sea away from shore.
(18:44) Last minute, the typhoon missed the island and
they stayed a few more days. Marshall further mentions
hearing rumors going around of a possible U.S. invasion of
Japan. (20:20)
• Out to sea experiences (20:23)
o In one instance, Marshall mentions being on night duty
when he heard a bunch of Navy officers discussing the
treaty that was signed between Japan and the U.S. which
ending the war. (20:25) After arriving back in San
Francisco and being there two weeks, Marshall signed off
his ship. (20:26) Briefly describes his thoughts of VJ day.
(21:29)
• After World War II Years (21:30)
o Afterwards, Marshall and his friend Sid boarded a train for
Chicago. Upon arriving he decided to go to New York City.
(22:43)
o In New York, Marshall mentions reporting to radio
operations and being assigned to the USS Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow; a converted troop transport.
(22:54) While serving aboard her, Marshall mentions the
various calls to ports across the eastern seaboard and
Belgian ports that his ship came to call at. (23:07).
o In one instance, his ship brought back a bunch of men from
one of Patton’s HQ companies. (23:55)
o While he was in the European port city of LeHavre, France
(24:13) he learned about the poor economic conditions
�o
o
o
o
o
o
facing much of Europe in the post-world war. Briefly
shares his thoughts about it. (24:33)
Antwerp, as he describes, was a disaster zone in which the
currency among the local people was cigarettes which was
a lot like gold to them. (25:40)
Marshall mentions that the general feelings among
Europeans about Americans were ones of deep gratitude.
Further mentions that while he was aboard his troop ship
that their main mission was to bring troops back home and
not cargo to Europe. (27:19)
After serving a year aboard the USS Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, he signed off that ship and signed onto the
cargo ship, USS Steven W. Gilvary, which was operated by
the Atlantic Guilf & West Indies’ Lines (27:36) Operating
out of Savannah, his ship stopped in Maine and filled up
with a cargo of red potatoes which they brought to
Antwerp, Belgium. (28:28) On this occasion his ship
received orders to divert to Nova Scotia. (29:43) Mentions
that it took them 3 days to unload their cargo of potatoes.
Afterwards, they returned to Savannah for ship repairs and
upon landing Marshall and the crew were terminated.
(31:41)
Afterwards, Marshall signed aboard a Victory ship in
which he mentions making various runs to Belgium from
1946 to 1947. (32:52) Mentions that afterwards he went on
to radio and electronics school, while also taking general
courses in Math, English, and Composition with the
Merchant Marines. (33:47)
The next ship, Marshall served aboard was the C-2 USS
Crest of the Waves, which was a larger version of a Liberty
ship. While serving aboard her, he mentions making
varoius runs up and down the Caribbean; stopping at Cuba
& Panama. Served aboard her until mid-to-late 1947 when
he returned to land for a while and worked a factory job in
Chicago. (35:57)
After a miserable experience in factory life, Marshall
mentioned signing onto an old oil tanker named the Harry
S. Sinclair Jr. (36:22) Briefly describes the ship and it
being torpedoed during WWII. (37:33) After being put up
for auction three skippers pulling their resources bought the
ship for charter purposes. It was aboard this ship that
Marshall mentions various trips up and down the Eastern
sea board. (39:59) Briefly describes in depth what the
captain and his duties were like. (44:58)
After the Service (44:58)
o Adjusting to Home (44:59)
�
After being discharged he describes his brief period of installing teleivions
(45:01)
o Korean War (45:12)
Before long, the War Department called him back to the service. They sent
him out to Japan where he was put in charge of teaching a bunch of Army
signal people how to run and fix radars. (45:19)
Living in Japan for 3 years he served at Johnson Air Force Base. (45:55)
Mentions that while there, the experience rekindled some of his WWII
experience. (46:48)
o Life after after the Korean War (45:20)
Came back to the U.S. and worked for IT&T for 25 years. Briefly
describes his time with them. (47:04)
Briefly mentions several of his technical projects while serving with the
Strategic Air Command. (47:35) Some of the planes he was equipping
went on to be flown in flying missions over Hungary. (47:56)
Further mentions an encounter where he met a certain General
Montgomery. (50:16)
Marshall further discusses his other career pursuits. (53:08)
Finally, Marshall mentions how his time in the Merchant Marines had
benefited him. He describes it this way: the discipline, structure, and sense
of responsibility he received while there shaped the course of his life very
profoundly. (56:45)
�
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
MarshallR
Title
A name given to the resource
Marshall, Robert A. (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marshall, Robert A.
Description
An account of the resource
Bob Marshall is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Merchant Marines from November, 1944 to mid-1947. In this account, Marshall discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, and training in the U.S., and combat experience on the high seas in the Pacific. Marshall also ends up mentioning his participation in the shuttling of humanitarian supplies & medicines to European ports after WWII and much later his role as a radio teacher during the Korean War in Japan.
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
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Merchant marine--United States
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
2008-05-22
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/151840e44d1671f9daffd1027c331e90.mp4
2b76a3366b318f529aea169e9eaa4af8
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/85b3396f660c913336e6471368847c95.pdf
904f1e6e053ab74550a1dc12af1e2d52
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Iraq War
Justin Marshall
Interview Length: (00:26:11:00)
Life before the Army (00:00:09:00)
Before joining the military, Marshall was in his last semester of college (00:00:15:00)
o He figured this would be the best time for him to join because he did not have any
other commitments, such as a wife or kids. (00:00:25:00)
Marshall has a history of military personnel in his own family. (00:00:37:00)
o His father and both his grandfathers were in the army. The grandfathers served in
WWII: One in Southeast Asia and one in Europe. (00:00:39:00)
Marshall grew up in New Jersey. (00:00:49:00)
o While he was in middle school, his family moved to Vermont. (00:00:52:00)
o The family moved to Michigan sometime later, where Marshall finished high
school and attended Kettering University. (00:00:55:00)
When he confronted his parents about joining the military, Marshall’s father was very
excited while his mother was not. (00:01:07:00)
Marshall joined because he wanted to do something for his country and he was out of
shape. (00:01:40:00)
o Additionally, in regards to controversy over the war in Iraq, he never wanted to
make “uninformed statements” about why or why not Americans should be
fighting in this war. (00:02:22:00).
o “I joined to know a little bit more about myself” (00:02:41:00)
o “I wanted to be humbled.” (00:04:10:00)
Early Military Experience (00:04:15:00)
In January of 2004, Marshall enlisted in the United States Army. (00:04:20:00)
On July 27th, 2004, Marshall went to basic training. (00:04:30:00)
o This was a 9- week long program. (00:04:33:00)
Basic training is “just like you see in the movies”. (00:04:42:00)
o Marshall believes that the purpose of this program is “training you as a basic
soldier”, just as the title suggests. (00:05:00:00)
After basic training, Marshall went to Officer Candidate School which lasted for 14
weeks. (00:05:11:00)
o At OCS, “they teach you more about being a leader”. (00:05:20:00)
o At OCS your communication is limited as it was in basic training. He was able to
make 5-10 minute phone calls and use e-mail a few times a week. (00:06:02:00)
After OCS, Marshall went to Airborne School which lasted for 3 weeks. This was located
in Georgia. (00:06:35:00)
After Airborne School, Marshall attended an Infantry Officer Basics Course.
(00:06:52:00)
o This taught infantry tactics and extended leadership training. (00:07:01:00)
After IOBC, Marshall attended Mechanized Vehicles Course. (00:07:10:00)
o Here, he learned how to work certain military utility vehicles. He needed this
knowledge to become a platoon leader. (00:07:25:00)
�
The final course in which Marshall was enrolled was “Ranger School”, which lasted over
60 days. (00:07:40:00)
o The program consisted of 3 “phases” which were each about 21 days long. Each
featured a different kind of terrain that students would have to work in.
(00:07:48:00)
o He felt a particular pressure to complete this course because his father had been
an army ranger. (00:08:31:00)
He completed Ranger School in January of 2006. (00:09:10:00)
First Deployment (00:09:11:00)
Marshall joined his unit- First Battalion 6th infantry- in March of 2006. (00:09:12:00)
When Marshall joined the unit, they had already been deployed to Iraq and were waiting
in Kuwait for further instruction. (00:09:54:00)
o After a month in Baumholder Germany, Marshall joined the unit in Kuwait after a
1- week “train-up”. (00:09:58:00)
Marshall became a platoon leader on May 1st, 2006 as soon as he arrived in Kuwait with
his unit. (00:10:09:00)
o After remaining in Kuwait for 1 month, the unit was called to Iraq. (00:11:05:00)
The unit arrived in the city of Ramadi, Iraq. (00:11:12:00)
o Ramadi was a “hot spot” at the time of Marshall’s units’ arrival. Al Qaeda had
been recruiting people in the Southwest region of the city. (00:11:52:00)
Marshall remained in Ramadi for 6 months. (00:12:03:00)
o “I had bullets shot at me”. (00:12:10:00)
o Marshall’s unit also encountered roadside bombs. (00:12:15:00)
o Nobody in his platoon was killed, but one man was shot. Thanks to a “very well
trained medic”, the man’s life was saved. (00:12:20:00)
o However, two men were killed: one that was in Marshall’s company and another
that had previously been in his company and transferred to another. (00:12:42:00)
Second Deployment (00:13:00:00)
After Ramadi, Marshall’s unit was transferred to Baumholder, Germany. (00:13:02:00)
o They did another “train- up” for Iraq while there. (00:13:10:00)
After another short period in Germany, Marshall and the others were transferred to Sadr
City, Iraq. (00:13:17:00)
o “Sadr City was the urban slum in Baghdad”. (00:13:25:00)
o This city was only made to fit about 1 million people; however there was about 3
million there when Marshall arrived. (00:13:47:00)
o The Mahdi Army had been shooting rockets inside the “green zone”, or
“International Zone of Baghdad”. Marshall’s unit was put in charge of
constructing a blockade wall for the Green Zone. As a result, the opposition
issued a cease fire and rockets were no longer being launched at the protected
region. (00:14:03:00)
o After the construction of the wall, Marshall’s unit devoted effort to rebuilding the
slums of Sadr City. (00:14:34:00)
Other Military Experiences (00:15:20:00)
During his first deployment, Marshall and the other men that accompanied him did not
have a great amount of provisions.
�
o They had to build their own shelter from an abandoned house in Ramadi because
the outpost had not yet been constructed when they arrived. (00:15:22:00)
o The men used abandoned sleeping pads that Iraqi soldiers had left behind, which
were infested with fleas. (00:16:40:00)
o Marshall and the others used outhouses and wooden shower stalls. (00:17:05:00)
“During the second deployment, living conditions were good”. (00:17:48:00)
o The men were able to sleep in bunk beds. (00:17:51:00)
o After a month of being there, “trailer stalls” were delivered. These units included
bathrooms and showers. (00:17:58:00)
o Supplies came in fast enough to permit the men to eat hot meals every day, but
“every third meal was the same”. (00:18:55:00)
In terms of the civilians, “I’m not really sure how they felt about us”. (00:19:56:00)
o Marshall believes that the threatening appearance of the United States army
caused locals to be non-receptive. (00:19:58:00)
o He doesn’t think the military presence did much good due to the tension between
the army and the Iraqi people. (00:20:10:00)
o The hostile disposition of those in the United States army because “the enemy”
often hid amongst the civilians, disguised as such. Therefore, Marshall and the
others had to keep their guard up even when it came to common folk.
(00:20:35:00)
During the second deployment, “the civilians were not receptive” because the military
presence in the Shia community caused conflict amongst the civilians. (00:20:50:00)
o Once the U.S. soldiers began to help rebuild Sadr City, the tension diminished as
many people were being freed of extortion by the Mahdi Army, community
structures were being built, and public services were improved. (00:21:14:00)
One of Marshall’s favorite Army memories was playing whiffle ball on Thanksgiving.
(00:23:00:00)
Marshall handled many different weapons and always carried an M4 Carbine Rifle.
(00:23:30:00)
o He was also trained on M16 rifles, M240 Bravos, MK 19 Grenade Launchers
M249 Squad Automatic Weapons (SAW), and the weapons on the Bradley
Fighting Vehicle. (00:23:37:00)
Marshall earned the Bronze Star Medal for planning an assault. He administered the
helicopter route for the soldiers involved. (00:24:22:00)
Because he was an officer, Marshall was expected to use communication facilities less
than other lower ranked soldiers. Therefore he did not talk to his family and friends back
home very often. (00:25:30:00)
�
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
MarshallJ1219V
Title
A name given to the resource
Marshall, Justin (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marshall, Justin
Description
An account of the resource
Justin Marshall was born in in New Jersey and later moved to Michigan with his family where he finished high school. Marshall decided to enlist in the United States Army in during his last semester of college at Kettering University. In 2004, he was sent to basic training, after which he took a number of extra courses including Officer Candidate School, Airborne School, a mechanized vehicle course, and Ranger School. In March of 2006, Marshall joined the First Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, as a platoon leader, and later became a captain and company commander. On the first of his two deployments, he was sent to Ramadi, Iraq, which was a "Hot Spot" for Al-Qaeda recruitment. His second deployment was to the Sadr City area of Baghdad, Iraq, where Marshall and his comrades helped rebuild the struggling community and eliminate extortion by the Mahdi Army.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Wisdom, Victoria (Interviewer)
Murphy, Sydney (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--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
2010-11-13
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
-
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Frank Marshall
Vietnam War
1 hour 0 minutes 50 seconds
(00:00:11) Early Life
-Born in Philadelphia on February 2, 1949
-Grew up on the north side of Philadelphia
-Mother was a seamstress for Alfred Angelo
-Father was a truck driver
-Witnessed, first hand, the bombing of Pearl Harbor
-Served with the famous writer James Jones
-Graduated from Dobbins High School in 1966
-Worked in printing and plumbing after high school
(00:02:11) Awareness of Vietnam
-Paid no attention to Vietnam
-He knew that he would be drafted eventually
-Instead chose to focus on enjoying life while he still could
-Apathetic towards the conflict in Vietnam
(00:02:44) Getting Drafted
-Received draft notice between Christmas and New Year’s Eve 1968
-Had already completed the draft physical when he had turned eighteen
-Everyone had been trying to get out of being drafted
-Some men were able to successfully escape the draft
(00:03:39) Basic Training
-Sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for basic training
-Harsh reality set in upon arrival
-Considered himself to have been treated well
-Everything was fast paced, but he expected that
-Credits part of the ease of basic to the attitude he had going in
-Believed that it was just something that he had to get through
-Trained with other men from Philadelphia
-Basic training lasted eight weeks
(00:05:35) Advanced Infantry Training
-Sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey for advanced infantry training
-For him it was easier than basic training
-Seemed easier being close to home
-Able to go home frequently
-Less of a physical training focus
-Received weapons training there
-Most instructors were Vietnam veterans
-Felt that they did a good job preparing the recruits for Vietnam
-Mostly taught from the textbook though
-AIT lasted eight weeks
�(00:08:00) Noncommissioned Officer School
-At the end of AIT he was drafted into NCO School
-Sent to Fort Benning, Georgia
-Training did not go well
-He didn’t want to become a noncommissioned officer
-Training was difficult for him
-He wanted to fail out and get reassigned to Europe
-Informed that the Army didn’t send failed NCO’s to Europe any more
-Received orders for deployment to Vietnam
(00:09:17) Deployment to Vietnam
-Given thirty days of leave before being deployed
-He wasn’t worried
-Seemed to believe that the war would wind down shortly after he arrived
-Returned to Fort Dix and flew out of McGuire Air Force Base on October 8, 1969
-Flown to California, then Hawaii, then Guam
-Only allowed off the plane for an hour at each stop
(00:10:41) Arrival in Vietnam
-Landed in Long Binh, Vietnam
-The heat in Vietnam was shocking and intimidating
-Sent to processing center to be assigned to his unit
-Spent a few days there
-Got assigned to Alpha Company 2nd Battalion 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
-Sent north to Da Nang on a transport plane
-From Da Nang flown to Phu Bai on a Chinook helicopter
-From Phu Bai taken to Camp Evans on a truck
-Still didn’t have any gear, weaponry, or general equipment
(00:12:46) Arriving at Camp Evans
-Issued gear, equipment, and a rifle at Camp Evans
-Alpha Company was in the field tearing down old firebases in the north
-He was given two weeks of introductory training at Camp Evans
-Rappelling out of helicopters, patrolling, guard duty, basic information
-He was instructed how to make a backpack for the field and was then told to board helicopter
(00:14:21) In the Field Pt. 1
-Boarded a helicopter and went into the field to meet up with Alpha Company
-Met them at the landing zone
-Seeing the battle hardened veterans put the fear in him
-Placed in a section on the edge of the landing zone
-Told to watch for Vietnamese and to fire on them if necessary
-Saw six soldiers get chopped up by a helicopter blade due to a faulty landing
-Had to collect and body bag the remains
-Assigned to 1st Platoon and they made camp halfway up a hill
-Eventually worked their way up to a firebase
-Getting to know the other soldiers was tough
-Battle hardened
-Placed on point and wasn’t good at it which upset the other soldiers
-Given the M79 grenade launcher afterwards
�(00:19:20) In the Field Pt. 2
-Got into a firefight with a sniper
-Fired a few grenades in the sniper’s general direction
-Stayed in the field for a couple of weeks and then returned to Camp Evans
-There were a lot of new replacements waiting for them
-He formed closer bonds with them
-Still had no idea how to operate in Vietnam
-Stayed at Camp Evans for a few days
-Returned to the field and continued tearing down old firebases
-Stayed in that area of operations through December
-Ran into booby traps and snipers occasionally
-Fairly easy missions at that point though
-Had faith in the experienced soldiers and his officers
(00:23:05) Firebase Jack
-Once the monsoons set in they were moved to the flatlands
-Used Firebase Jack as their base camp
-Moved there in January or February 1970
-He was put on a rappel team
-Their mission was to go in first and create a landing zone for helicopters
-Enjoyed staying on Firebase Jack
-Had time to relax
-The only job was to guard the perimeter
-Patrolled the flatlands and swamps looking for North Vietnamese Army (NVA)
-NVA were trying to move troops down from the Ho Chi Minh Trail
-They didn’t find many NVA
-Had scattered firefights and no casualties
(00:26:07) Establishing Firebase Ripcord
-He was on the third helicopter in to establish Firebase Ripcord [March 12, 1970]
-The landing zone turned hot upon their arrival
-They lost their lieutenant and radio operator and took heavy casualties
-En route their designated landing zone had been changed to a different one
-Landed in the midst of North Vietnamese troops
-They started taking fire immediately
-Lost his equipment getting off the helicopter
-Moved into position to knock out a visible machine gun nest
-Had no ammunition
-Had run back up the hill to the landing zone to get ammo
-Eventually was able to mark the nest for a Cobra gunship
(00:30:05) In the Field at Firebase Ripcord
-Continued to operate in that area
-Jungle and mountainous region
-Tough moving in that area
-Stayed on the North Vietnamese trails
-They noticed a marked increase in enemy activity as the months went on
-Spent most of their time in the field
-Didn’t get to spend a lot of time on Firebase Ripcord
�-Had sporadic firefights and increasing casualties in the spring of 1970
-Higher presence of NVA
-American presence had little, to no, effect on the NVA
-He was in a major firefight at Hill 805
-Chuck Norris’s brother was with them when he was killed in action there
-Saw a Chinook helicopter crash at Firebase Ripcord
-They tapped into a Vietnamese communication line
-Learned that they were in the middle of two NVA bases
-Ambushed the NVA repairman
-Wounded him, but couldn’t track him back to his base
-They knew that Firebase Ripcord was getting hit hard and frequently
(00:38:13) R&R
-Went on R&R and the battalion was sent for a break at Eagle Beach
-He went to Taipei, Taiwan
-Only available R&R destination
-Welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed the respite from combat
-Given fifteen days of R&R
(00:40:07) Firefight on June 8, 1970
-He and his unit got into a severe firefight on June 8, 1970
-He was wounded in the fighting
-Had been sent forward to fire on an enemy bunker
-Took some shrapnel in the back as a result
-Sent to Da Nang hospital for three days of treatment and recovery
(00:41:06) Firefight on July 22, 1970-Overview
-On July 22 they were on a hilltop near Ripcord
-Ordered to get off the hilltop
nd
-2 Platoon advanced directly into a North Vietnamese mortar team
-Four hundred NVA soldiers were surrounding them
-By the end of the day only six Americans weren’t wounded or killed
-He was wounded three times during the fighting
(00:43:08) Firefight on July 22, 1970-Details
-The platoons had been separated moving off the hill
-The NVA were able to quickly take the hilltop and get the high ground
-They were eventually able to reestablish contact with air support
-Cobra gunship was called in to attack the NVA
-An F4 Phantom was able to come in and drop a 250 lb. bomb on their position
-Drove the NVA back for the night
-He was wounded by the concussion of a satchel charge detonating
-He was wounded from the shrapnel of an exploding rocket propelled grenade (RPG)
-He was wounded by taking shrapnel in the ankle
-After the third and final wound he was carried to safety and the bomb was dropped
(00:48:24) Firefight on July 22, 1970-Rescue
-They stayed awake all night
-Delta Company attempted to move in that night and pick them up
-The lack of a viable landing zone made it impossible
-At first light Delta Company was dropped into a better landing zone
�-Delta pushed through the NVA and made it to Alpha Company’s position
-Once there Delta created a landing zone at Alpha’s position and evacuated them
(00:50:11) Time in the Hospitals
-He was taken back to Camp Evans
-Spent six weeks in a variety of hospitals
-After Camp Evans he was taken to Phu Bai for preliminary examinations
-After Phu Bai he was taken back to Da Nang Hospital
-After Da Nang he was taken to the 483rd Air Force hospital at Cam Ranh Bay
-Felt comfortable and secure there
-After a few weeks he was allowed to walk again
(00:51:22) End of Deployment
-Returned to Camp Evans after the time spent in the hospitals
-He was supposed to return home in two weeks
-He was supposed to return to the field
-His congressman pulled some strings so that he wouldn’t have to
-Spent the last two weeks in August 1970 guarding the base and on latrine duty
(00:52:19) Coming Home
-Flown from Camp Evans to Phu Bai
-From Phu Bai went directly back to Fort Lewis, Washington
-Received a steak dinner upon arrival
-Remembers everyone celebrating when they entered friendly airspace
-From Washington he flew home to Philadelphia
-Returned home in uniform
-There were some protestors at the airports, but nothing dramatic happened
(00:53:30) Morale, Race, and Drugs
-Received a large amount of mail and care packages while deployed
-Received a birthday cake on his 21st birthday while in the field
-Had to assemble it in the field
-The unit was close knit
-Fought together from October to the end of his deployment
-If someone was wounded or killed it impacted everyone in the unit
-They worked well together in, and out, of the field
-Never experienced racial tension while they were in the field
-Prevalent issue in the rear
-Never dealt with drugs while in the field due to safety concerns
-In the rear drugs were used fairly liberally
(00:56:21) Life after the War
-Returned home and bought a Dodge Charger
-Got a printing job
-Kept that job for a year until he was laid off
-Got into roofing and started a roofing business
-Eventually got into real estate in New Jersey and worked in that for a decade
-Retired from real estate
(00:57:31) Founding of Ripcord Association
-When he came home nobody wanted to talk about the Vietnam War
-Other veterans didn’t believe that Ripcord happened, or had even heard about it
�-Began to get involved with veterans in 1985
-Part of a group that wanted to create a veteran’s memorial in Philadelphia
-Got out of that due to controversy surrounding the project
-Got in contact with surviving members of the Battle of Ripcord
-Started off with twelve veterans and it soon grew to two hundred
-Had their first mini-reunion in Seaside heights
-Local news picked it up
-More Ripcord veterans got involved
-Had their first organized reunion in 1986 in Whitney, New Jersey
-Now manages the website, newsletter, memberships and other general communications
�
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
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
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<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
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Identifier
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MarshallF1546V
Title
A name given to the resource
Marshall, Frank (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marshall, Frank
Description
An account of the resource
Frank Marshall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1949. He lived there until he recived his draft notice late in 1968. After basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and advanced training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he went to NCO school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He quit that program and was sent to Vietnam, where he was assigned to Alpha Company of the 2nd Battalion 506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division. He participated in shutdown operations in the A Shau Valley late in 1969, then operated closer to the coast in early 1970, and then took part in the campaign around Firebase Ripcord, and was wounded three times. He returned home in August and was discharged. He later became one of the founding members of the Ripcord Association, and remains actively involved with that organization.
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
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eng
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2013-10-11
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
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a179498aa32208fc2612a977fe92cc0d.m4v
6f21eb95b0dc4c41b8d40b4264688558
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/75de438e1b993dcd0173c20623b6aa51.pdf
7d1648d819c01505382c45a49e0c442a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Nick Marrone
(00:53:15)
Before the war (00:00)
Born in Italy in a suburb of Benevento, near Naples (00:15)
At the age of five he was brought to the US, in 1929, and became a naturalized citizen (00:30)
He grew up in the Bronx (00:45)
He moved to the US for financial reasons (00:50)
Father worked in Canada (02:15)
Father was an automobile mechanic (4:00)
Competitive city jobs (04:50)
The War (05:00)
Received draft notice on December 31 (06:00)
He reported to camp Buckton, Alabama, and then went to Ft. McClellan for infantry basic
training (06:15)
His training was physically demanding (06:45)
Went to camp AP Hill in Fredericksburg, Virginia (07:15)
Before the war he was working for $1.70 an hour running machines (08:30)
He transferred to the air corps because of his mechanical background (09:00)
Training for the air corps was about two months long (10:15)
Briefly went to Salt Lake City and then to a Point of Embarkation in Antioch, California (10:30)
He was shipped to New Caledonia, and sailed in a convoy (10:57)
Arrived at Guadalcanal (11:54)
Arrived at Guadalcanal in 1943 (12:48)
�6 months of training before going to Guadalcanal (13:30)
13th Air force was being assembled (13:50)
Air strikes every night on Guadalcanal (14:10)
Naval bombardment (14:40)
The elements and malaria (15:40)
He came down with Jungle Rot but no other diseases (16:05)
The Jungle Rot actually came back to him twenty-five years later (16:30)
He was sent to Cleveland Clinic were a form of vinegar was used to cure it (17:05)
He was crew chief with The 12th Fighter Squadron, which flew strafing missions and provided
cover for bombers (18:10)
A CO asked if anyone knew anything about radial engines, and so he was recruited to work on
radial engines (19:25)
They fixed up a radial engine plane and used it to fly everywhere, including R&R, and picked up
odds and ends (20:15)
While bringing back tomatoes, the tomato cans exploded because of the altitude and he had to
write a report on the exploding tomatoes (22:15)
Eventually they added cameras to the planes to confirm kills (24:30)
Every year the planes would become more advanced (25:00)
Currently there are memorial flights (26:40)
Japanese would attack from Buin (28:30)
Moved base to New Guinea (29:15)
Twenty-six land sea invasions in the Pacific (31:35)
Japanese atrocities (32:00)
His military duties consisted primarily of maintenance (34:00)
He remained in the Pacific for three months after the war had ended before shipping back to the
US (35:50)
Got on a ship in December and went to Antioch California (36:00)
�After the war he decided to leave the air force (36:15)
He worked in Biscuit Company for a short period (36:35)
He became a radial enjoin instructor (37:00)
He went to Hawaii and worked as the Civilian Line Chief for the Air Transport Command in
Honolulu (37:40)
Patients and planes with problems would stop in Honolulu (39:05)
The military build the biggest VA Hospital in the area (40:30)
He spent nine years in Hawaii (40:25)
Portuguese origin of the Ukulele (42:45)
After Hawaii, he came back to the US in Willow Run, Michigan (43:50)
He went to work for Kaiser Frazer Automobile (45:30)
His time in the service and his thoughts (47:00)
He was grateful and learned a lot and contributed a lot (47:00)
Lots of respect and camaraderie (48:10)
Twenty-five years after getting out of the military, he officially became a US citizen (50:00)
He has seven sons; some of them became Marines (51:30)
�
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
MarroneN
Title
A name given to the resource
Marrone, Nicholas (Interview outline and video)
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marrone, Nicholas
Description
An account of the resource
Nick Marrone was born in Italy in 1924 and came to the United States in 1929. He was drafted into the army, and was assigned to the Army Air Corps as a mechanic. He served with the 13th Air Force in the South Pacific from 1943 to 1945. H was a crew chief in the 12th Fighter Squadron, which was based on Guadalcanal and New Guinea.
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
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.)
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/d75a1b6c4ebb5037445bc7485f84d8c5.m4v
7df4400845edb493cdd0623ceff7ffbb
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b90e643d9ec11cb7188eb190b283ccaa.pdf
89046e691ec0fe2d7086007bdc84ea90
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Name of Interviewee: Harold Marks
Name of War: Korean War
Length of Interview: (00:46:00)
Pre-Enlistment
Born in Phoenix, AZ in 1931 (2:00)
Left AZ in 1936, moved to Detroit, MI (2:20)
Graduated from Arthurville High School in Saginaw, MI in 1949 (2:35)
Graduated from University of Michigan in 1953 and joined the Army (2:50)
Was 10 when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred (3:30)
Joined the Army on June 15th, 1953 (3:55)
Joined because it was during the Korean War (4:30)
Training
Basic Training was at Fort Breckinridge, KY (1:20)
Army Intelligence school at Fort Devens, MA for six months (1:25)
Enlisted so he could pick his duty rather than be drafted (4:45)
Thought Army Intelligence would be more useful because he had gone to college (5:15)
Spent three days in Kentucky getting sworn in and eight weeks in Basic Training (6:00)
Lost 30 pounds during that time (6:20)
Was taught how to shoot, clean and take apart a rifle (6:40)
Spent six weeks at Fort Lewis waiting to be shipped out to Alaska (9:50)
Each class had 30 people, and whoever finished at the top would be sent to California to
learn Russian and interpret (7:30)
Finished at the top of his class, was sent instead to Alaska (7:45)
Army Intelligence School
Enlistment
Was in the Army from June of 1953-June of 1956 (0:45)
Honorably discharged from the Army in 1961 (0:50)
Discharged as a Specialist Third Class (1:12)
Spent a year in Alaska in Anchorage and Nome (1:35)
Spent last year at Army Security Agency Headquarters in Arlington Hall Station, VA
(1:45)
Was a Morse code intercept, and his unit monitored the coast of Siberia (8:15)
The UN was monitoring shipping movements from North Korea and the USSR (9:00)
Was married prior to being shipped to Alaska, and wife was not allowed to come with
because Alaska was considered overseas, as it was not yet a state (11:20)
Spent 6 months in Nome, then sent to St. Lawrence Island for 3 months(12:40)
Only 12 miles from the International Date Line (13:00)
Lived underground, no plumbing or electricity (13:50)
�
Was sent to ASA Headquarters in VA for one year, wife was allowed to come with
(15:00)
Always was a Morse code interceptor at each base (15:20)
Describes his job, copying each USSR Morse code, and their style (16:00)
Saw no combat during his time in the service (18:45)
Memorable Events
Interacted with the Eskimos on St. Lawrence Island during a whale hunt (19:10)
One guy lost his mind on the island, went outside in his fatigues and bare feet (22:45)
Everybody had latrine duty at least twice on the island (24:00)
Once had to do maneuvers in the middle of the night in winter on the island (26:50)
Stayed in touch with family usually by letters, but was able to call home on leave in
Fairbanks (28:10)
Had cooks on the island and only 200 men, so they were fed well (29:30)
Entertained themselves with cards, played ping pong on the island, and played basketball
in Nome (30:00)
Did not receive any leaves while in Alaska (33:20)
Officers were very casual in Alaska. Very informal atmosphere, but disciplined once
back in the United States (35:00)
Service ended on June 14 1959, but had to serve 5 years in the Army Reserves on
inactive status (37:00)
Life expectancy for Eskimos on the island was only about 30 years because of the bad
water (43:00)
Post-Enlistment
Went back to college for a degree in accounting from Aquinas College (3:00)
Drove home to Grand Rapids after discharge (37:30)
Enjoyed his time in the Army, but enjoyed leaving (38:00)
Went into a family business a few days after coming home (38:30)
Made friends in the service, but did not keep up with them after he got out (39:00)
Proud to serve, but that may have changed if people were shooting at him (40:00)
Never attended a reunion for his unit (41:00)
�
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
MarksH
Title
A name given to the resource
Marks, Harold A. (Interview outline and video), 2005
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marks, Harold A.
Description
An account of the resource
Harold Marks was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1931. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Detroit, then to the Saginaw, Michigan area. Upon graduation from the University of Michigan, Harold enlisted in the US Army, and was on Morse Code Intercept duty from 1953-1956. Harold was stationed in Anchorage, Nome and St. Lawrence Island, Alaska before his final station at the Army Security Agency headquarters in Arlington Hall Station, Virginia.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Forton, Lindsey (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
Other veterans & civilians--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
2005-06-02
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/617618c44f4c3fe6420d419698bee4a7.mp4
6265b20da467e6fe5074f2c87a6d2823
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/373382a1431fb6c2c9eabc8e74a972f6.pdf
3a5698f00d956b35653f907aae8a14df
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
World War II
Glenn Marks
(50:16)
Background Information (00:04)
Born July 27th 1925. (00:05)
Glenn served in Germany in the medical field. (00:20)
Glenn attempted to enlist in high school but was unable to because he was too short. (00:33)
His family did not have any electricity growing up. (1:10)
Glenn was in bible school practicing ministry when he was drafted in January of 1943. (1:42)
Basic training (2:03)
Attended basic at Camp Grant, Illinois. (2:05)
Boot camp was quite a shock for Glenn. He recalls scrubbing floors weekly. (2:45)
When the soldiers maid their beds the sheets had to be so tight that a quarter could be bounced
off of them. (3:25)
Because of his ability to type, Glenn was assigned to typist school to be a clerk. This lasted 8
weeks. (3:55)
After returning from typing school, Glenn took a 15 mile forced march. He thought he might die.
(4:16)
On June 6th 1944 Glenn graduated from his training. (5:03)
Though Glenn was trained as a typist, he was assigned to a front line medical unit due to
demand. (5:31)
Service (6:00)
In November of 1944 Glenn was assigned too his unit in Europe. This group consisted of 3 men
and a jeep that was used to evacuate casualties from battle. (6:05)
While following a unit that was entering into Germany, the men crossed the Siegfried Line. The
unit had no casualties. But Glenn did see his first dead German. This image shook Glenn hard.
(7:15)
In another assignment, German soldiers began assembling in the yard of a castle that American
troops were staying in. the Germans later left trying to attack a gasoline dump rather than the
soldiers. (9:04)
The most intense combat that Glenn saw was when a unit was trying to capture a dam. The
Allied forces were afraid to cross the river fearing that the damn would be destroyed to flood
them out. (12:25)
Glenn followed an infantry unit in to the dam that was assigned to take the area regardless of
casualties. (14:32)
While picking up casualties from the dam the men ran into a road that had not been cleared of
mines. Glenn volunteered to walk ahead of the jeep so that the men could continue on their
mission. (15:20)
He also assisted the first units to cross the Rhine River. (17:15)
�End of Service (18:01)
Glenn, having a low point count, was kept to take care of wounded German soldiers while the
Allies were supervising German hospitals. (18:16)
Glenn thought the war was needed. He was glad to have served his part of the duty. (19:30)
Glenn was awarded the 3 battle stars, and the good conduct medal. (20:56)
Life in the Service (21:15)
Glenn wrote letters home consistently. (21:20)
He believed the food was fairly good. Although he admits that his expectation of the food was
very low. On Thanksgiving Day the men were given turkey. (21:53)
While in Europe the men stayed mostly in tents. (22:38)
He was surprised at how supplied he and the unit he was with were. Even during the Battle of
the Bulge. (24:30)
When free time was available, Glenn would often go walk and explore the area. He did this
particularly often in England. (25:54)
Glenn was awarded a 7 day pass to Switzerland. Here the men saw sights and even went skiing.
(26:50)
He believed that his officers were fairly good. (28:54)
The second lieutenants were the funniest for the enlisted men because they had just got out of
officer’s school and were inexperienced. (29:56)
Glenn finished his service as a Technician 3rd Grade. (31:22)
Life after Service (31:45)
Glenn returned to the U.S. in February, March of 1946. The seas were very rough but Glenn did
not get sea sick. (32:05)
Glenn was discharged at Camp McCoy Wisconsin. (33:15)
After about a month Glenn worked for his father who was builder. He did return back to bible
school. (33:44)
He transferred to a school in Indiana. He was going to school on the GI bill. (35:33)
Glenn and his brother did start a business while he was in school. It was very successful. His
senior year of college he made more than the college president. (36:25)
He was convinced t stay a minister because of his fiancé and drop the business. (37:51)
Glen began getting evolved with making new churches. (38:26)
Effects of Service (39:58)
Because Glenn was not around the same men very often he failed to make any long lasting
friends from his service. (40:35)
He is a member of the VFW. (41:08)
Being in the military has made him understand the acceptance of the military. No man likes war
but having a military is necessary. (42:10)
He once marched in a Memorial Day parade. (44:19)
�
His time in the military taught Glenn about discipline. He does not believe it had any negative
effect on him as a person. (45:29)
Glenn traveled to Omaha Beach for the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Prior to this experience Glenn
was unable to talk about his military experience and rarely said anything about it. (47:02)
While in Europe for the 50th anniversary, Glenn stayed with several other men in a French home.
(49:18)
�
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
MarksG1310V
Title
A name given to the resource
Marks, Glenn (Interview outline and video), 2005
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Marks, Glenn
Description
An account of the resource
Glenn Marks, born July 27th 1925 served in the U.S. Army in the medical field from 1944-1946 in Europe during World War II. While in training at Camp Grant, Illinois, Glenn was sent to clerical school where he was trained to be a typist. However, due to demand, Glenn was assigned to be a field medic recovering fallen casualties. Glenn traveled across Europe following units that were expected to have high casualty counts. At the end of the war, he stayed in Germany caring for German casualties until he was sent home.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Fitzpatrick, Shannon (Interviewer)
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
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
2005-06-02
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/711073b2c3442124548a11a9a04d03b8.mp4
aadc6a228b52ed64541269bbbf6ddae1
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2cacc587394ec78f22e118d60278d4fc.pdf
0d11cd8145ce42c1fc447802cc47a7c2
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley Journal of History
Veterans History Project Interview
Vietnam
Steve Manthei
Total Time – (01:36:35)
Background
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He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, on February 13, 1949 (00:31)
His father was policeman and security guard and his mother worked as well
There were three children (01:00)
He grew up in Janesville and spent a lot of time on his grandparents' farm (01:15)
He graduated from Janesville High School in 1967 (01:23)
At this point he was very aware of Vietnam
o He had friends that had already been in Vietnam (01:39)
o It was on the news and in the paper (01:48)
He knew around the tenth grade that he wanted to join the military
o His father had served in the European Theater during World War II
He had a love for horses (02:28)
o He wanted to get hired at the General Motors plant
He got hired at General Motors just out of high school (02:56)
o He worked at General Motors for some time before enlisting because he
needed to get his time in the union so he would have a job when he
returned (03:04)
He was drafted in March of 1969 (03:13)
His reaction to the draft notice was that he was surprised but excited
Men in his family had always “stepped up to the duty” (03:41)
He met a girl before he was drafted and married her
Enlistment/Training – (04:23)
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Once he was drafted he was inducted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (04:33)
He was then sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky (04:38)
He had gone through all of his physicals and testing at Milwaukee
o There were some men that would overeat
o He had some questions with his height (05:01)
o There were some men that did not want to go (05:17)
The reception at Fort Campbell was rude
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o It was a different kind of discipline than when he was a kid (05:46)
He was always in good shape and basic training was not that difficult for him
Before boot camp, his father told him, “Roll with the flow.” (06:37)
The training he received was much more rigorous and harsh than his father's
He enjoyed the majority of basic training
There were some of the men that had a difficult time adapting to the levels of
discipline (07:16)
o Those that he knew to only have a single parent were somewhat more
unruly
The men in his platoon were from all over the country (08:06)
o When someone did something out of line, everyone suffered
There was not a lot of tolerance among the men (08:36)
They would talk to the soldiers who would make mistakes and tell
them to stop
o There were a couple of men that were held back (09:01)
o One of the men should not have been there
He was “scared to death” (09:21)
The mental aspect was extremely difficult
Basic training lasted for eight weeks (09:45)
He hurt himself in one part of training and could not march during graduation
Basic training was the roughest discipline and training that he had ever faced
(10:36)
There were many references to Vietnam during training
o The sergeants and trainers had served in Vietnam
o He was told that he would be given a machine gun because the enemy
would see him from so far away (He was so tall) (10:57)
He laughed at it then, but there was a lot of truth to it
o There were some platoon sergeants that actually cared about the men
(11:18)
o The trainers emphasized the differences between leaders and boys (11:48)
He is then sent to AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Fort Polk, Louisiana
(12:14)
He was on limited duty for a month because of his knees
o He was a “gofer” for the men because he could not use his knees
All of the training was geared for Vietnam (13:23)
There were obstacle courses, Escape and Evasion games, and many other
activities
o He grew up in the country – he felt right at home (14:02)
They pressed the men to be able to “take the pain”
They were taught how to deal with the Vietnamese (15:05)
o Most of this came from talking with the platoon sergeants
His sergeant tried to teach them how to discern who the real
enemies are (15:25)
• His philosophy was that the Vietnamese were afraid of the
NVA
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• He said that the Vietnamese were good people (16:00)
There were trainers that actually cared and those that were doing what they
needed to do to get out of the service (16:28)
He was at Fort Polk during the summer (17:35)
o They were told that it would be similar conditions in Vietnam, only worse
He was designated as Combat Infantry (18:02)
He trained on the M60, 50 Caliber, M14, M16, M45, grenades, and the M39
(18:15)
After AIT he was sent home for thirty days
o He got married while he was at home (19:12)
o He was married on July 31
He was then sent to Fort Lewis, Washington on August 22 (19:41)
o There were only three soldiers that were going to the 101st Infantry
He was only at Fort Lewis for three days (20:26)
Active Duty – Part I – Beginning Experiences and A Shau Valley (20:33)
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From Washington, he traveled to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam
o They traveled to Japan before landing in Vietnam (20:51)
o The flights were extremely somber – Everyone knew that not everyone
would return alive (21:07)
They landed at Cam Ranh during the day
o It was extremely hot and smelled bad (21:26)
o He could tell which men had been in Vietnam for any amount of time
because they “looked hard” (21:48)
He received an orientation at Cam Ranh Bay and was then sent to Camp Evans
(22:26)
o Orientation consisted of explaining how operations occurred; they were
told that some of them would not return alive, and simply briefed on the
war
He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and traveled to Camp Evans by a
truck (23:13)
When they arrived at Camp Evans, they were welcomed by some and some others
just stared (24:14)
o They were called FNG’s (Fucking New Guys) (24:18)
At this point he was a rifleman (25:12)
o He was told once again that he would be targeted first by the enemy
(25:30)
o The enemy would generally go for the M60 and tall men first – he was
both
He joined the company after two weeks of training – it was roughly September
(26:23)
The 101st Airborne was in the lowlands at this point (26:41)
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o There were a lot of booby traps (26:52)
o His unit was in a firefight twenty-eight days after being there
They were no longer “cherries” or “FNG’s” (27:06)
His platoon leader was Sgt. White
o His company commander was a wild man
He was battle tested (27:43)
The first firefight was an ambush by the Americans
o It was extremely short (28:31)
It was surreal to go up and check the dead bodies to see if there is
any valuable information on them (28:49)
o It was “kill or be killed”
o He had gone from being “a religious kid to a killer” (29:14)
The first comrade that was wounded was difficult to see (29:40)
o Booby traps were extremely dangerous in the lowlands
He was then taken to Eagle Beach in Vietnam (30:37)
o At Eagle Beach they received hot meals, showers, and had shows at night
Captain Hale gave a speech to the men and got them “roarin” (31:02)
He was happy to fight with the men in his unit because he knew that they would
truly fight
The 101st Infantry was notorious for long outings (32:14)
He did not notice any of the men slacking when he first arrived at Camp Evans
(32:27)
Near the end of his tour there was a lot of conflict
When he was operating in the lowlands, they would get to their destinations by
marching or helicopters (33:08)
The 101st Infantry worked its way into the A Shau Valley, Vietnam (33:38)
He was on the first chopper into the A Shau Valley (33:49)
o They lost two men to booby traps in an ambush
When they were moving out, he felt a sniper shot go right past his ear and hit his
comrade in the shoulder (34:21)
He then became an AG (Assistant Gunner)
Before he went to the A Shau Valley, he had been sent home for his
grandmother's funeral (35:12)
o While he was home he found out that his wife had been doing things that
she should not have been and that she squandered all of his money (35:21)
o This happened in November of 1969
Lt. Wallace joined [as platoon leader] shortly after he arrived (36:42)
o Lt. Wallace was reserved, not very aggressive (could be if he had to be),
and he did things more intelligently (36:48)
o He did not rush into things and would sometimes fall back into things and
progress
When they were in the lowlands, they were in control (37:46)
o They “brought the heat all the time”
o They rarely saw the villagers (38:09)
o The ones that he did meet seemed very appreciative of them
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o There were some people that would not talk to them (38:44)
o When they needed to know where the VC were located, they would
simply find the village where the people would not talk to them
There were not many opportunities to participate with the local activities (39:45)
When he first went into the jungle in March, it was a different kind of area for
him (40:31)
o The terrain was extremely rough
o Some of the terrain was extremely beautiful (40:55)
o The soldiers knew that the beautiful scenery was deadly
o There was not a tree that did not have a bullet hole in it (41:08)
When the soldiers woke up in the morning, the first thing they did was burn the
leeches off of their bodies (41:37)
His unit was in the field for over a month at a time
The company split into platoons for the majority of the operations (41:58)
o There were some maneuvers with squads and four man recons (42:19)
He would only be on the recon teams for a couple of days at a time (42:37)
His job was primarily to find the enemy, observe them, and go relay the
information (42:52)
There were procedures to remain silent when in the field (43:09)
o There was not much the soldiers could do for the smell
o The soldiers did not want to make any noise with their materials
o They did not want anyone that snored (43:55)
o Soldiers that smoked had to do it under something
When he joined his platoon there were forty men in it (44:44)
o It was a typical platoon size
His platoon was hit on March 15, 1970 on a hilltop (45:31)
o The next morning a squad was sent over for an ambush
o They fought the enemy for a while
o One of his good friends, Steve, was shot in the head and killed (46:16)
This incident hit him hard
He was requested to take Steve home (47:12)
• They were going to be business partners after the war
When he met his dad, his father wanted to know how his son died
(48:03)
• He told his father that Steve had died quickly (48:11)
The funeral was extremely surreal (48:45)
His friend's father gave him a ticket home so that he could see his
family before returning to Vietnam (49:15)
o When he returned home, he and his wife decided to have a child – she
became pregnant (49:49)
While he was gone, Captain Vazquez became the company commander (50:02)
He noticed that his platoon had lost some men while he was gone
Active Duty – Part II – Firebase Ripcord, Firebase O’Reilly, and Hill 902 – (51:40)
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He went to Firebase Ripcord three different times (51:47)
The views from the firebases were incredible (52:09)
When they moved off the firebase and started humping around, the soldiers
realized that they were “in for something” (52:27)
He rejoined his company on Firebase Ripcord
o He was flown in (52:52)
o He was on Ripcord for roughly one week before being sent into the field
The terrain around Firebase Ripcord had many green mounds around it (53:21)
o When he got off of the firebase he realized that it was extremely rugged
He carried five hundred rounds with him for the M60 (53:46)
o He also carried eight grenades, trip wire, flares, and a claymore (54:04)
When they were patrolling they made some contact with the enemy
o It seemed like the enemy was trying to avoid them (54:28)
o They found a freshly dug enemy bunker complex – “It made the hair stand
up on the back of our necks.” (54:33)
Vazquez was then replaced by Hewitt
He is patrolling around Firebase Ripcord for the majority of May and June of
1970 (56:09)
o He is on and off of Ripcord during this time as well
His platoon was not taking any losses during this time (56:26)
o Some men had been lost to booby traps in other platoons
The lifestyle was extremely harsh – the soldiers were in pain every day (57:28)
o Soldiers would basically sleep in mud, deal with disease, and they were
always wet
The night procedures were dictated by the terrain (58:14)
o There were sometimes listening posts, circle types, and sometimes three
man positions
o The soldiers would take turns (58:39)
There was one man on guard that stabbed an ape (59:22)
They would “dig in” on the nights that they believed something was going to
happen (01:00:00)
o The NVA had been known to booby trap holes that had already been dug
They never went through the same place twice (01:00:35)
He remembers the bond and camaraderie that was formed between the soldiers
(01:01:50)
o They would talk about cars, their plans, girls, etc.
He and one another were the oldest men in the platoon (01:02:40)
o They made it a point to take the others under their wing
o They spent a lot of time with the younger men
Prior to occupying Hill 902, his platoon had sent recon up the hill and decided the
route that they would take (01:04:00)
o They took the hardest way up
o When they got to the top, they dug in (01:04:13)
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o It was extremely tense because they knew how many NVA were around
(01:04:31)
o The enemy was sending mortar rounds in the very next morning
(01:04:35)
They were hitting the back side of Hill 902
They shot a LAW (Light Antitank Weapon) rocket onto the enemy mortar
position (01:04:49)
The shot was “the best shot I have ever seen with a LAWS rocket”
The Americans were told that they had to stay on the hill for a second night
(01:05:23)
o They did not think it was a good idea to stay in the same location for a
second night (01:05:34)
It was not a very secure area
When the soldiers first arrived on the hill, some were using already dug holes
o He dug his own hole (01:05:56)
The majority of the men were new and had never been tested (01:06:13)
The Americans were strung out
o Troops were not being sent to them as they had previously been (01:06:52)
For the second night, the soldiers put out claymores, trip flares, and all other
weapons ready (01:07:02)
o The soldiers did everything they were supposed to do
He was on guard duty during the night (01:07:48)
o He heard on the radio that the enemy was near
o He went and woke up his platoon commanders (01:08:20)
When he was waking up his commanders, an explosion went off and threw him
down the hill (01:08:26)
Explosions were being caused by RPG’s and everyone opened fire (01:08:43)
o There were more RPG’s than he had ever seen
o He saw a G.I. standing in a spot one second and missing the next second
During the fighting, he got on the radio and told the other line that he needed
Cobra’s and help (01:09:45)
At one point an NVA soldier fell dead beside him – he knew at that moment that
the enemy was in the exact same area as the Americans (01:10:04)
o He popped a hand flare to see where the enemy was
When he saw where the enemy was, he began throwing grenades
in their direction (01:10:44)
The area that they covered was in a perimeter formation
His platoon was being led by Sgt. Danny Smith (01:12:43)
The firefight lasted for a long time
Once the Cobras came, they were able to see a perimeter that was made with trip
flares (01:13:20)
o The Cobras were told to open fire around the perimeter
After the Cobras came, most of the fighting died down (01:13:53)
Everything was extremely quiet the next morning
There were bodies strung out all the way down the hill (01:14:40)
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He realized in the morning that he was not able to hear
o He was shipped to the rear where they met up with Bravo Company
(01:15:14)
He had been hit with smaller pieces of shrapnel during the fighting
He was only in the rear for a couple of days
He was then sent back out and met his company on Firebase O’Reilly (01:17:09)
While on Firebase O’Reilly, they were told to head out to assist Delta Company
being defeated by the NVA (01:17:24)
o They were being sent to Firebase Ripcord area
He was on the last chopper off
o They were supposed to stay overnight but were gassed by the enemy and
forced to move out immediately (01:17:47)
o It was his last combat assault
He had only known that there were men who needed help – he did not know much
more than that (01:19:20)
If the Americans could have received the proper troop replacements and supplies,
he believes they could have driven the enemy back (01:19:56)
After Ripcord was abandoned, there was a lot less activity
There were recon missions where they could see a company go by and they could
not do anything about it (01:20:50)
o The Americans could not radio back while on the missions
o They did not even take a radio on the recon missions (01:21:31)
Near the end of his tour, he began counting down the days before he is done
His last week was spent watching movies, sleeping, counting the days, reflect, etc
(01:22:27)
After his week, he was sent to Cam Ranh Bay (01:23:14)
o The pilot on the plane home asked the men if they wanted to fly over
Vietnam to get one last look
o The amount of men on the plane going home was much fewer than when
he went to Vietnam (01:23:25)
After the Service – (01:23:56)
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He landed in Oakland, California (01:24:01)
When they landed, they were told to be careful of protestors
He wore his uniform the entire time because he was proud
On his way home he realized that he had lost his envelope with his five hundred
dollars, his pictures, and the addresses of all of his friends (01:24:51)
There was a big banner on his families garage when he returned home
When he returns home he begins at his old job at General Motors (01:25:31)
Before he returned to General Motors, he was forced to finish his service at Fort
Carson, Colorado (01:25:41)
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The majority of the time his activities were easy
o He had to play war games when he was there
o Because of this, he began experiencing flash-back nightmares (01:26:07)
o One time he jumped out of bed, swinging and screaming (01:26:13)
o He accidentally hit his wife one time
o When he went to sick call he was told that he had battle fatigue
After Fort Carson, he returned to work at General Motors and owned his own
horse business (01:27:30)
o He won the International Championship
He received a letter from the VA (Veterans Affairs) that denied all of his military
wounds (knees, ears, PTSD) (01:28:01)
o Because of this, many began mocking him and calling him a liar, lazy, etc.
(01:28:29)
He then began having flashback nightmares again (01:29:07)
o He missed one day at work
o When he returned, he was written up
o He was told that he was making up stories from Vietnam (01:30:00)
He called a psychologist and was told that was not able to be helped
His life began falling apart – his marriage was deteriorating, his business was
collapsing, filed for bankruptcy, etc. (01:30:43)
In April of 1974 he met his future wife and turned his life around (01:31:10)
The VA eventually made amends and acknowledged his experiences in Vietnam
(01:32:14)
He is upset about the VA and government not sticking up for the Vietnam
veterans
He does not believe that the military should have drafted men during the war
(01:34:58)
o The Army should be made up of people that want to be there, not just men
who need a job (01:35:24)
�
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
MantheiS1457V
Title
A name given to the resource
Manthei, Stephen (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Manthei, Stephen
Description
An account of the resource
Steve Manthei was born Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1949 and was drafted into the Army in 1969. After training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent to Vietnam. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and served most of his tour as a machine gunner in C Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. His unit operated in the area around Camp Evans, in the A Shau Valley, and finally on and around Firebase Ripcord in the spring and summer of 1970. On July 2, he was wounded when his company's position was overrun, but he returned to field a few weeks later at the end of the Ripcord campaign, after which there was much less activity. After his tour in Vietnam, he served out the last part of his enlistment at Fort Carson, Colorado.
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
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
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
2012-10-04
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