723 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15c033bb274588c43f3f04eed0ac16c5.mp4 a081d37c16a4a9923ddf1d06927b0d23 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/46dcc6251de35840bac8ee51d1bbd54b.pdf 090b85d9244d32e979d5202c9b7b33f5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Fred Garcia Vietnam War Total Time: 27:58 Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (00:18)     Born in Lansing, MI in 1948 Obtained a Masters Degree from Michigan State University in Administration Father was a World War II Veteran (01:20) Drafted into the Army in 1968 Training (01:48)    Attended Basic Training at Fort Knox, KY (01:55) Took Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, LA. (02:02) He was selected at Fort Polk for a special unit. To be selected, they had to score very well on both the IQ and PT tests. There were 30 men in this unit. They had special training while they were at Fort Polk. Active Duty (04:40)     He was sent to Fort Meyers, VA to work a desk clerk job and training ASA troops for night missions and duty. (05:38) He was then sent to the DMZ in Vietnam, but was then shortly sent to the DMZ in Korea. (08:02) He was involved in some brief firefights while in Korea. (09:10) They had some dog handlers in his unit. Post-Service (11:05)   He went to college after coming back from Korea, and worked as a teacher after he graduated. He has two sons. � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Garcia, Fred (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Garcia, Fred Description An account of the resource Fred Garcia was born in 1948 and served in the Army during the Vietnam War. Fred was drafted into the Army in 1968, and was trained as an infantryman. He spent his time on active duty as a desk clerk, training troops, and in the Demilitarized Zones in both Korea and Vietnam. After his time in the service, he worked as a teacher. 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.) 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 2008-06-16 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GarciaF1130V 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/114458b51f24920110166f4821b65941.mp4 6f3fb28353f41d53bb9bac7ae1a103ff https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/27a55b90bb62fe9d72e0290c39714ab9.pdf 51b702b3027ce6df3e0bdb070aa0901b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Subject: George B. Gane Interviewer: Dr. James Smither Interview Length: 46 minutes Introduction (00:15) Family and Friends (01:12) • Gane mentions that his father was a salesman. His father served in the Canadian Army during World War I as an ambulance driver. • Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Gane graduated from South High School in 1942. (01:33) Pre-enlistment (01:47) • Gane mentions that for a short time he worked in a machine shop and a packaging job. Joined the military in early 1943. • Afterwards, Gane mentions being sent to Fort Custer, MI. Further describes how one could which branch of service they wanted to serve in. He chose the air corps. Enlistment and Training (03:10) • From Fort Custer, he went to a Floridian country club. While there he took a few tests to determine what he was best eligible for. • Afterwards, they sent him to armory school at Buckley Field, 20 miles outside of Denver, CO. In one encounter there he tells of how FDR came and reviewed the troops. • Gane also mentions that they taught him how to put together guns and clean them and work with the turrets. • From there he went to a gunnery school in Texas. Tells of an encounter in which they would practice shooting targets on a railroad track. • From gunnery school, Gane mentions his time flying in the back of an 18.6 two-seater plane. These types of planes were what pilots usually started their training in. (08:28) • Gane mentions that from Texas he was sent to Walla Walla, Washington where he met up with all personnel to undergo more training. �• From Walla Walla, they went to Rapid City, SD where they flew out of there for a few months. (10:23) Gane describes his service with his lead crew. Tells of how each group has 8 crews; with 2 lead crews per squadron. • Gane describes his one year training going from base to base around the U.S. Mentions service at Rapid City, SD; Walla Walla, Washington; Redwood, OR; Nebraska; and Paiute, TX. • Doesn’t mention much about his crossing across the Atlantic. Gane does mention though that they first went to Newfoundland and then were sent to Britain. Bombing Campaign in Europe (15:05) • While in Britain, Gane describes his time as a waist gunner aboard a B-17. Gives a brief description of the different jobs that a crew aboard a B-17 had. He mentions that they usually flew at 25,000 to 30,000 feet. Also, discusses his crew in some detail. • Gane was based near Norfolk, England. He describes his time there briefly. Gane mentions that they started bombing raids in February 1944 over Europe. Most of the time he remembers getting one engine shot out 20-25% of the time by flak. Describes the general conditions of what being under heavy flak fire entailed. • Gane describes the relationship between bomber and fighter crews during the war in Germany. On their 2nd bombing run to Berlin he mentions that they lost three engines. Describes in some detail the 2nd attack over Berlin and getting credit for shooting down a German aircraft. (29:48) • Gane briefly mentions their bombing attacks in Poland. (30:58) He describes an encounter in which a friend of his got shot down over Denmark. He relates how he was rescued by the underground and smuggled to Sweden where he was picked up and sent to London, England where Gane had to come in to identify him. • Afterwards Gane briefly describes his service aboard a radar ship version of a B-17. Mentions that he did this from February to September 1944. (34:30) • He briefly mentions what life was like in England and that there were no problems with the local populace. While stationed there he supervised a skeet range and trained crews for a few months. At Christmas he went home. (37:44) Going Home (39:42) �• Afterwards, they sent Gane to a gunnery-instructor school in Paiute, TX. He describes how they put in charge of the training crews there. Briefly mentions that he flew 30 combat missions and got out in September 1945. After the war (41:18) • After Gane was discharged, he returned to Grand Rapids where he mentions working for Peter Pan Bakery for three ears as a bakery deliver going from house to house. Afterwards, Gane worked for 35 years at a local electronic parts house. Following that he moved to Owosso, MI and lived there for 10 years and came back. Shared his personal thoughts on his time in the service and what he learned from it. (44:50) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Gane, George B. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gane, George B. Description An account of the resource George B. Gane is a WW II veteran who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 92nd Bomber Wing from 1944 to 1945. In this account he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S., and bombing missions in Europe. 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. Air Corps 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 2007-06-25 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GaneG 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/6c5c85c682192afd4da4948469fd2989.m4v a819b331963fe0ef4e076caecbf61d63 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3e552cf0fb8852e65e0d95401af77fbb.pdf ad8b0d1a2a88a9b23c3e6ae71081f71f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Rosadell Galmish Wolf on Elvin Jay Galmish Background (00:00:00) 2nd Lieutenant, Army Air Corps Died September 5, 1944 in service of his country Born in Cochranton, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1921 Grew up on a farm Finished high school in Cochranton Training (00:01:13) He enlisted in the military when he was 21, Air Force  Interested in learning to fly Married his wife, Rosadell Galmish (the interviewee), in July before entering the service His wife went in to teach that year After enlisting, he waited until January for his notice (00:02:30)  Had a job during these months of waiting Went to the Aviation Cadet Center in San Antonio, Texas for training No telephones available freely at the time, very strict on its usage  Would be allowed calls once in a while No flight training at the cadet center, just basic training  Lots of testing: recognition and identification of different planes, instant recognition  Very strict training, couldn’t talk often to his family  Was in training for about 6 months, end of May went on to the next phase of training Flight Training (00:05:07) Flight training in Vernon, Texas. Rosadell traveled by train to join him there � She never traveled anywhere, especially never by herself  He had good grades in his training, so he was able to go into town during the weekend  They had planned to meet on Friday, but he wasn’t there  That weekend, Rosadell found out that his weekends now started on Saturdays instead of Fridays  The woman, whose house they would be staying at had gone to meet her, but had gone to the wrong train station  Rosadell stayed in the woman’s daughter’s room that was being rented out Elvin was having a hard time with flying because he would get air sick (00:07:35)  His instructor gave him one last time to see if he could overcome it  If he didn’t, he would be taken out of the program  He didn’t get air sick on that flight and could finish training Went to Enid, Oklahoma for the next level of training (00:08:30) Rosadell shared a room with another cadet’s wife Elvin would have to do night flights; he would sometimes fly over his wife’s apartment and he would dip his wings so she could see him (00:09:35) The woman she was staying with had a son and was worried about Polio and moved back home; Rosadell then had to stay by herself (00:10:00) Went to Frederick, Oklahoma for his next phase of training (00:10:46)  Took a car with another couple to get there  Rosadell taught at the school there, part-time November 3, Elvin got his wings (00:12:30)  Elvin had forgotten his uniform for the ceremony so he came back and visited his wife for a little while during school After graduation, Elvin was given time to go back home for 10 days; had been training for a year (00:13:40) �Delrio, Texas was his next destination; Rosadell couldn’t join him (00:14:04)  She eventually was given a guest room at the base; December 6  Was given the chance to fly in a B-76 In January, Elvin finished his B-76 training and went to Freeport, Louisiana; Barksdale Air Field (00:15:20)  Met his crew there  Permitted to live off base, but motels weren’t as common during the ‘40’s  Stayed at a cabin with another couple Rosadell tells a story about her sister coming in to visit her (00:16:49) Training completed there (00:19:25) Didn’t enter the war right away, stayed in Freeport (00:19:42)  Wanted to have some leave time so Elvin could get Rosadell back home; she was expecting a baby, at the time  Didn’t get the leave time, was scheduled to go to Europe  Last time Rosadell saw him was when he left to go back to the field, April His crew and he was sent to New Jersey until May (00:21:27) The day before his birthday, in May, his crew reached England (00:22:04)  Went by ship He was stationed in England but Rosadell doesn’t know where (00:22:43) He wrote when he could, can guess that it was a month before he started making flights (00:23:05)  All letters were censored, couldn’t talk about flights but could say little things  End of June, Rosadell can guess, is when he began flying (00:24:05)  Once mentioned, in his letters, that he had been in London (00:25:00) � Lived in a regular barracks, but never went in-depth about much because he wasn’t allowed  The only thing he ever mentioned, about flights, was that he could always tell how close the flak was because of his co-pilot He wasn’t involved in D-day, arrived too early (00:26:40)  Was able to push the Germans back enough to make a small airport  Elvin was stationed there, near Omaha Beach  Mentioned in a letter that he had been issued a helmet which he used it to clean his clothes  Rosadell was happy he wrote about this because when they sent his footlocker back, all of his clothing was discolored Combat took place mainly over Germany (00:29:10) At the end of the War, the tail gunner of Elvin’s plane had survived (00:29:25)  He told Rosadell that they were all set to be sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations, was glad they weren’t Elvin was awarded the Air Medal with three clusters and a Purple Heart (00:30:20) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Galmish, Elvin (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Galmish, Elvin Description An account of the resource Rosadell Galmish Wolf, wife of 2nd Lieutenant Elvin Jay Galmish, tells the story of her husband during World War II from her perspective. Elvin Jay Galmish enlisted in the Army Air Corps at the age of 21 and trained to be a pilot. His wife traveled with him during his training until he was sent to Europe in 1944 where died in service of his country. He was a bomber pilot, based first in England and then in France (so presumably with the 9th Air Force). Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Vandermyde, Nicholas John (Interviewer) Jacobs, Lucas Christopher (Interviewer) Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.) 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 Women 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 2009-06-09 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GalmishE 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/842bfe0caa44bae6967fb50b3337f75a.m4v a4eff80cbb5400f0ecc837d98da35217 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bbc7ba7eed9e667664525135d25af7d7.pdf f0afabf74b473a2d4afd7315d2ec2022 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Title: Galloway, Leonard (Interview outline and video), 2009 Subject: World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army Air Corps Description: Leonard Galloway was born on August 3, 1925 in Huron, South Dakota. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he was 17 years old because he did not want to be drafted and because he had always wanted to fly. Leonard went through basic training in Texas and then was sent to the University of Mississippi for training classes. The war ended just as he was getting into advanced flight courses and he was disappointed because he had really wanted to fly in Europe. Creator: Galloway, Leonard Contributor (Interviewer/Affiliation): Galloway, Carson (Interviewer); Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Date: 2009-05-27 Digital Identification: LGalloway � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Galloway, Leonard (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Galloway, Leonard Description An account of the resource Leonard Galloway was born on August 3, 1925 in Huron, South Dakota. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he was 17 years old because he did not want to be drafted and because he had always wanted to fly. Leonard went through basic training in Texas and then was sent to the University of Mississippi for training classes. The war ended just as he was getting into advanced flight courses and he was disappointed because he had really wanted to fly in Europe. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Galloway, Carson (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 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 2009-05-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GallowayL 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/e93c0f48797afe605c2f3f4a639d63ad.mp4 fabcf24b7ee41229e2f3913de8666b4e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2c0443c703ffa2de30fd1fdce8347be6.pdf 2d07b6d772c16e3bb27a73f8899452c4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Raymond Fischer Interview Length: (01:17:03:00) Pre-enlistment & Training / Deployment (00:00:27:00)  Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 27, 1924 (00:00:27:00)  Fischer’s father was a tool maker and during the hard times, i.e. strikes, he worked for the railroads (00:00:42:00) o His father managed to find work even through the Great Depression; he even received awards from the military for the best production and the longest work period without a breakdown (00:01:05:00)  Fischer went to school through the twelfth grade and then went to junior college; he graduated from Greenville High School, but because he finished in February, Fischer never went through the graduation ceremony (00:01:35:00)  Fischer eventually worked on a two hundred and twenty acre farm raising beans; however, in August and September, when they were supposed to harvest the beans, he was unavailable (00:02:04:00) o The government said that they needed him, so he ended up going to Fort Custer in Kalamazoo, Michigan and enlisted into the military in 1943 (00:02:27:00) o Greenville, the town where Fischer lived, had a factory that produced gliders and he worked there on a second shift; he worked on the farm in the morning and then in the factory until midnight (00:02:52:00) o Fischer’s father owned farm where Fischer worked; it was originally Fischer’s grandfather’s farm, but it came to be owned by his son (00:03:16:00) o Fischer tried to get a deferment but the government denied him and never gave him a reason why (00:03:38:00)  He had a younger brother, but he was born in 1940, so he could not work on the farm (00:03:56:00)  Fischer’s parents had also separated, which meant Fischer was essentially on his own (00:04:04:00)  Very little happened when Fischer went to Fort Custer; he got acquainted with everybody in the barracks and got his towel and toothbrush but he does not remember much after that (00:04:23:00)  After Fort Custer, Fischer went home for a short visit then went to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma for basic training (00:04:44:00) o Camp Gruber was like any other Army base of the period; the barracks were on stilts and although there were garbage cans everywhere, there were not a lot of flies (00:05:04:00) o The men had to make their beds to the point that a coin would bounce on top of them (00:05:43:00) �      o The men received some weapons training, but the training they received the most of was crawling on their belly while people fired over their heads to make sure that the men stayed down (00:05:58:00) o Fischer followed all the orders he received (00:06:20:00) After the war, Fischer went to Fort Hood, Texas and trained soldiers in the use of mortars, sanitation and other duties (00:06:34:00) Basic training last for three months and after the training, Fischer went home on furlough then went back to the main base (00:06:58:00) The men eventually ended up at Camp Phillips, Kansas just before they went overseas and the camp was nothing to write about; the buildings were nothing more than tar paper shacks (00:07:33:00) o Fischer does not recall sleeping in bunks at the camp; the men just slept on the floor (00:07:52:00) After Camp Phillips, Fischer and his unit sailed overseas from New York City, although he does not recall what type of ship it was or how large the ship was (00:08:19:00) o He does remember soldiers singing a song as they sailed over to England (00:08:33:00) o When they arrived in England, the English had set up tents for the men to sleep in; while in England, the damp weather caused Fischer to have to go to the bathroom at night more than he did in the States (00:09:12:00) Fischer arrived in England in April (00:09:46:00) o While on the voyage over to England, the convoy Fischer’s ship was a part of encountered very bad weather; at one point, they could not see the ship next to them because the waves were so high (00:09:55:00)  One man was smoking a pipe and he ended up getting seasick; the weather did not bother Fischer but he did not like it (00:10:04:00) o They did not have any U-Boat threats on the voyage; they had ships all around them and if one was attacked, Fischer did not know about it (00:10:28:00) o Except for the weather, as far as Fischer knew, the voyage to England went smoothly (00:10:45:00) o The men disembarked in Liverpool, England and ended up camping outside a small village that was a suburb of Liverpool (00:10:55:00)  The men were able to get out of their camp every once-in-awhile but not very often (00:11:36:00) Before they arrived in England, the men had been assigned to the 79th Infantry Division (00:11:47:00) D-Day / Combat (00:12:06:00)  On D-Day, the men were up early in the morning to get onto the boats; there were thick ropes that the men had to climb down to get into the flat-bottomed land craft [note: the 79th Division landed on Utah Beach shortly after D-Day, but not on June 6] (00:12:06:00) o Fischer was part of the second wave and Fischer does not know how it happened, but his captain allowed him to be with the kitchen group; some of the company was already on the beach when Fischer landed (00:12:41:00) � o The Germans had strung barbed wire and large “Xs” across the beach as obstacles that the men had to go around (00:12:58:00) o The men did not make more than a half mile from the beach and they stayed in their positions until July 3rd [note: by July 3, US forces had advanced well beyond he original D-Day beaches and had taken Cherbourg--the July 3 attacks were part of a major push south and Fischer's unit likely had been in position for some time], when they made an attack and all “heck broke loose” (00:13:12:00)  Fischer stayed mostly in the same position until July 3rd; they made some patrols and some of the captains leading those patrols died because of booby-traps (00:14:10:00)  Fischer just happened to land with the cooks; he did not actually work with the cooks (00:14:30:00) Starting on July 3rd, Fischer’s unit began advancing and fighting against German fortifications (00:14:38:00) o The terrain the were advancing through was swampy; at on point, water was up to Fischer’s chest and when he bent forward, the bottom of his helmet was just barely above water (00:14:56:00)  Because German machine gun fire was just over his head, Fischer kept his head as low as he could (00:15:08:00)  When they left the swamp, Fischer crawled on his stomach while the man in front of him went on his hands and knees and he ended up getting shot (00:15:15:00)  The men were not supposed to stop to help any wounded men, so they left the man behind (00:15:26:00)  The men kept moving forward and that night, the Army brought in the men’s sleeping bags (00:15:46:00) o Every night, the men were expected to keep advancing and they did (00:16:01:00) o At the time, Fischer’s company was taking a large number of casualties; there was replacement after replacement in the company (00:16:12:00)  One soldier was from New York, with a family, and he was leaning up against a tree while up head, the Americans could not advance because the Germans had dug a ditch (00:16:19:00)  The men was telling Fischer about his family when he was shot and Fischer went down closest to the ground as he could; the man was a replacement, so he did not know to duck (00:16:56:00)  Fischer told the replacements that whenever they were going to attack, they should stay out of the line of tracers; one soldier did not follow the orders and when they attacked the pillbox, he was shot (00:17:14:00) o The men could not use tanks while fighting in the hedgerows because they were vulnerable once their undersides were exposed; meanwhile, the Germans set their sights so mortar shells would land just under the tanks and explode (00:17:54:00)  One time, Fischer was in a hedgerow when mortar shells began dropping in a line; Fischer reasoned the next round would land near him, so he �  moved, and sure enough, the next round landed where he had just been standing (00:18:15:00) o Another time, Fischer was in a field about one hundred yards away from the Germans when they started firing at him at the same time his company was coming over the hedgerow; the company turned around and Fischer did not have contact with them for the rest of the day, that night, or the next day (00:18:45:00)  Finally, the following night, Fischer crawled on his stomach to the hedgerow, which he followed back to the road (00:19:15:00)  Fischer followed the road to a farmhouse that had a dog who barked at him; after awhile, he decided that was not a good place to be, so he continued down the road, got some leaves, laid his gun down and laid himself down on his raincoat (00:19:27:00)  He continued on the next day and found his own company (00:20:01:00)  While he was waiting, Fischer was sitting on the ground listening as British soldiers talked about how American uniforms made it easy for their wallets to fall out; Fischer stood up and sure enough, his wallet was on the ground (00:20:06:00)  Finally, some artillerymen decided to get Fischer back to his company (00:20:44:00)  When he got back to his company, Fischer wanted to be on one side of a hedgerow because on the other side as a three man outpost, which meant less sleep; however, a sergeant would not allow it and he put Fischer on the outpost (00:20:58:00)  That night, a German mortar round hit Fischer’s old foxhole on the other side of the hedgerow, so the sergeant, who was trying to spite Fischer, ended up saving his life (00:21:23:00) o After July, the men were on the move and fighting (00:21:46:00)  On occasion, the men took over a town and the soldiers in the town were Polish men in German uniforms, meaning they surrendered (00:22:20:00)  One time, Fischer was ordered to carry the anti-tank grenades, which he did; at one point, the men went into a town and a German vehicle was escaping, so someone grabbed Fischer’s weapons to attack (00:22:33:00)  Somehow, the pins on the rest of the rifle grenades were pulled and Fischer continued to carry them around unawares (00:23:04:00)  In September, the men received new shoes and when he set down the grenades, Fischer noticed there were not pins in the grenades, so he went and asked his captain what he should do; the captain recoiled away and told Fischer to bury them (00:23:16:00)  So Fischer went over to a tree on the downward slope of a hill, dug a hole, and buried the grenades (00:23:41:00) As the men went through France, they discovered the French women liked chocolate and silk stockings (00:24:12:00) The sewers ran right alone the streets and some places, there were stockyards right next to the house; to keep the houses somewhat clean, the French wore wooden clogs with slippers on the inside while they were outside and just the slippers whenever they were inside their house (00:24:22:00) �        While advancing across France, the Army would not allow the soldiers to go into Paris because they were not in the proper uniforms; however, Fischer did end up seeing the World War I trenches outside of Paris (00:25:22:00) During the advance, the men did not move into Belgium until the end of October / beginning of November (00:26:12:00) o There was a big push against the Germans in the sector and the Army wanted the 79th involved, so they moved the division up there (00:26:18:00) During the fighting in the hedgerows, the men were told not to drink the water because it could be poisoned; the soldiers had gas cans full of hard ciders and the French had fiftyfive gallon drums full of the cider (00:26:39:00) o One man drank too much of the cider and ended up charging across the river, although thankfully, the Germans had left; behind them, the Germans left cognac and other liquor underneath their beds in wire-mesh baskets (00:27:03:00) In September, Fischer’s unit was relieved by fresh troops and they received a box with food inside it; as they sat down to eat, the unit was called to re-enforce soldiers on a hill Fischer’s unit had already taken (00:27:39:00) o On the approach to the hill, the unit was hit with machine gun fire, but they still had another fifty yards to go; the men made it through the machine gun fire by running in spurts because they had figured out when the German gunners would stop firing to rest (00:28:28:00) o The men who had been on the hill left everything behind, including a bazooka; they heard the tanks coming and they did not want to face them (00:29:03:00)  However, Fischer’s unit did not know there were tanks in the area until it became dark (00:29:19:00) o The unit stayed on the hill and held out until the German’s retreated; the tanks never attacked but if they had, they would have buried the Americans alive (00:29:37:00) One time, Fischer was stationed in an outpost and the Americans were lobbing artillery over their heads; the men could hear the shells whistling overhead (00:30:06:00) o The colonel decided to keep Fischer busy by giving him a riddle involving an apple seller and how many apples he had after he sold a certain amount; about five minutes later, Fischer answered by determining what was possible (00:30:30:00) By the time they reached September, there was a small core of the Fischer’s company that had a lot of experience; only ten to twenty percent of the men were from the original company (00:31:59:00) o The rest of the men in company were replacements and if the replacements survived the combat, then they became better soldiers (00:32:06:00) The men only received a break from combat for a week; they were told the Red Cross had coffee and donuts and were told to bring their money, something Fischer thought was pretty low (00:32:46:00) o Fischer never went but that was what he was told (00:33:10:00) During October, Fischer’s unit remained on the hill they had helped recapture from the Germans in September (00:33:31:00) �    o There were trenches zigzagged on the hill, as well as a pillbox that the Germans were supposed to occupy, but instead they simply occupied a town at the base of the hill (00:34:16:00) o When the Americans attacked, the Germans caught the Americans in machine gun cross-fire; when the attack did not advance, tanks were called in and the infantry ordered to follow them (00:34:34:00)  One of the tank drivers became jittery and ended up going in reverse, running over some of the infantry who had gotten behind it (00:35:03:00)  Fischer had not seen the tank move, so he did not get out of the trench, meaning he survived (00:35:24:00) o They moved the original tank and brought in fresh ones a couple of hours later; the driver put the tank into high gear, the infantry followed behind, and the Germans retreated (00:35:38:00) As they were advancing across France, the men tended to walk (00:35:58:00) On another occasion, Fischer’s unit advanced up another hill that had been pounded with artillery; at the top of the hill, the men found the German lunch buckets (00:36:28:00) o What the Germans had to eat makes Fischer wonder; the Americans were supplied with the best food, although their water was not always the best (00:36:31:00)  One time, there was muddy water in his foxhole and Fischer scoped it into his canteen, put a filtration pill in, shook the canteen, let it sit for a minute, then drank it (00:36:53:00) o The Germans had bread and sausage, but not any mustard, ketchup, or peanut butter to put on it (00:37:16:00)  The Russians were in even worse condition; they had to wrap paper around their legs to keep warm (00:37:27:00) Eventually, Fischer’s division moved into Belgium (00:38:07:00) o Along the way, Fischer was able to go into the French Maginot Line; he saw the bunks where the men slept and the multitude of weapons in the line, including larger guns and machine guns (00:38:11:00)  Instead of attacking the line, the Germans simply went around it (00:38:37:00) o When Fischer’s unit arrived with tanks, Americans had already occupied the line; the Germans had not expect the fortifications to be taken quickly but the German soldiers occupying it surrendered anyway (00:38:49:00) In November and December, the division moved back into France then into the southern part of Germany (00:39:22:00) Patrol and Capture (00:39:37:00)  While in Germany, the unit came across a town that was on fire; still, some of the buildings were not on fire, so the men occupied them and were thankful for a roof over their head (00:39:37:00) o However, just as they were getting ready to go to bed at midnight / one o’clock, the men received orders to go out on a patrol, during which Fischer was captured by the Germans (00:39:51:00) �  o During the patrol, the Americans ran into a well-guarded German outpost, who fired machine guns across the road, but not at waist height; when Fischer wondered why, he realized the Germans had soldiers on the other side of the road as well (00:40:34:00)  The Americans did not know there were Germans on both sides of the road (00:41:03:00) o When Fischer went away from the machine gun fire, he went near the corner of a building and there were three Germans in front of him; one German stuck his rifle in front of Fischer’s face and after Fischer knocked the rifle away, the other two Germans grabbed him (00:41:09:00) o The Germans took Fischer to their commander, who asked if he was hungry or cold; Fischer replied no to both and he was eventually sent into a church basement with some other German soldiers who were lying around (00:41:34:00) o Fischer eventually talked to a German colonel and was sent into a fruit seller with a German soldier who had been to New York and could speak English; the soldier said that he did not like New York and he was upset that after five years in the German Navy, he had been transferred to the Army (00:42:23:00) o Eventually, other prisoners came to the church and the Germans ended up with seven total, including the lieutenant in-charge of the patrol, a man named Duncan; Fischer knew the lieutenant since training but most of the other prisoners were replacements (00:42:57:00)  The lieutenant originally began as a private like Fischer; he received the promotion because of the number of casualties the unit took (00:43:34:00)  Fischer was only promoted to sergeant because he was one of the few experienced soldiers left in the unit (00:44:19:00) o During the patrol, Fischer was a squad leader and when they went out, they searched for the enemy, but cautiously; when they heard a noise, they took notes (00:44:40:00) o The lieutenant had orders to make contact with friends and as they were patrolling, he heard a sound and asked “who it was and to come forward and be recognized”; after the third time, a German “burp gun” responded (00:44:57:00) o While in the field, the men did not see many road signs because they were moving through back-roads (00:45:53:00) One time, the men were set to move across a road and take the other field when they discovered Germans tanks in the field (00:45:59:00) o The Germans made quite a commotion when they saw the Americans; they were so shocked the Americans would attack the field, they ended up leaving (00:46:13:00) The Army always wanted to attack in the morning, which was a bad decision; the men wanted to attack in the evening when the Germans were preparing to go to sleep (00:46:29:00) o At night, the Germans had “Bed-Check Charlie”, a single engine plane that would fly around and look for any source of light; once he found a source of light, German bombers would bomb the area (00:46:49:00) �  Fischer once crossed a bridge while a German plane was dropping a bomb; the bomb hit the bank of the river and missed the men by fifty yards (00:47:02:00) o The Germans did not normally attack the Americans at night (00:47:33:00) On one occasion, Fischer saw a French woman dressed in German uniform and other times, he saw Russian women with machine guns on their shoulders directing traffic (00:47:36:00) POW / End of the War (00:48:14:00)  Fischer never discussed being captured with Duncan (00:48:14:00) o In the morning after being captured, Fischer and the other prisoners were taken out of the church and marched away; as they left the church, some German antiaircraft gunners yelled that it was a long way to Berlin and the Americans could not respond (00:48:27:00) o As they marched away from the church, something passed through Fischer’s system; whether it was relief or something else, he does not know but he was no longer on the front lines (00:48:58:00)  One man even shot himself in the foot while the unit was away from the front so he would not have to go back (00:49:26:00) o Fischer had seen other men try to surrender to the Germans (00:49:56:00)  On a patrol before the advance in July, Fischer went across a river; on the opposite bank was open field with some mounds of dirt (00:50:00:00)  When the Germans started firing, Fischer hit the ground and stayed there until he heard friendly forces moving behind him; he became scared because if the Americans attacked, he was going to right in the middle of the fighting, so he decided to get out of there (00:50:30:00)  In short spurts, he finally made it back to the unit (00:50:57:00)  While they were pinned down, one of the men put up his hands and went right for the Germans; Fischer never saw him again and he does not know what happened to him (00:51:22:00)  The prisoners marched about twenty miles a day before arriving at a jailhouse, where they ate pea soup out of their helmets; they continued marching from place to place before going to a prison camp with all nationalities (00:51:51:00) o The Germans had the prisoners separated by nationality and from there, the men marched some more before getting into box cars for three days; while in the box cars, the men only received a slice of bread and some blood sausage as their entire ration (00:52:31:00)  From the box cars, the men did more marching to another prison cam p and after about a week, thy finally reached the main POW camp (00:53:10:00)  The men received information one night as to the location of the American troops and the location of the Russian troops; the Americans stood still while the Russian soldiers came in (00:53:29:00) o One day, all the German women and children went into the American line and the next morning, they heard gunfire on the American side; the men decided the �  Germans were gone, so they went through the fence and into the village (00:53:56:00) o There was baker in the village and when the soldiers asked if they could each take a loaf, he agreed; however, when the Russians came into the village, they took the pigs and where ever they went, they ate everything (00:54:29:00) The Germans placed Fischer in the POW camp Stalag IV-B and all the men taken prisoner with Fischer stayed together (00:55:10:00) o Once in the camp, the men were sprayed and deloused before moving into their barracks; at first, the men slept on the floor and each barrack received on brick of compressed coal an hour (00:55:28:00) o One of the Germans told Fischer not to drink the water because it would give him diarrhea (00:55:50:00) o When they were finally in the permanent camp, the men received rations, normally seven or eight small potatoes, watery soup and a slice of bread (00:56:05:00) o There were different nationalities in the camp, including a Frenchman who knew how to fight with his feet; the other men could not even get close to him (00:56:41:00)  One time, the Frenchman and another man fought over potato skins; the Frenchman peeled his potatoes with the belief he would eat the skins later and the other man assumed the Frenchman did not want the skins (00:56:53:00) o Fischer does not know of any Russian prisoners in the camp; the only Russians the men saw was after they were “captured” by the Russians (00:57:22:00)  Fischer was never properly released because the proper person was not there to sign for either the Americans or the Russians (00:57:31:00)  Instead, the men went off on bicycles they had slowly built; four or five guys headed for the American lines and Germans told them where the American lines were (00:57:50:00)  One man eventually chickened out and returned to the Russians; once the men go to the American lines and said they were Americans, they and their bikes were carried across a bridge (00:58:20:00) When the prisoners arrived in one city, they went into a hall that was not destroyed, inside of which was a counter with Germans behind it; the men were told to take off their watches and jewelry and give the Germans their wallets (00:58:53:00) o The Germans dumped out the scrip into a pile while they took pictures of the prisoners; once the pictures were done, the Germans returned to now empty wallets and the prisoners’ dog-tags (00:59:25:00) o Prior to that, the prisoners were taken into a house and ordered to take off their packs by a German who asked if it was fair that he kept half their cigarettes and gave the other half back; most of the men did not have cigarettes but those who did had theirs divided amongst everyone (00:59:43:00) o Another time, the men were interviewed; each man went into the house individually, where they were asked who their company commanders were (01:00:24:00) �          Fischer said they knew just as much about it as he did; the interviewer continued, alternating between asking if Fischer wanted different amenities, such as food and a place to sleep, and who his company commander was (01:00:43:00)  Finally, the interviewer got out a book and traced Fischer’s deployment history, from New York to England to France (01:01:02:00) When he was captured, Fischer’s family was told he was missing in action and that was it; he does not know if they received word that he was a prisoner of war (01:02:41:00) While in the prison camp, one group had greater access to information and they would tell the other prisoners where the troops were (01:03:42:00) There were mounds of dirt in the camp that covered the potatoes and one time, one of the potatoes fell off the wagon and when someone picked it up, the Germans shot him (01:04:02:00) o Another time, the men were out on wood detail, picking up sticks to burn, and American airplanes strafed them; the men were marching and the pilots did not know any better (01:04:30:00) As far as Fischer is concerned, the German guards treated him fairly; however, from the beginning of the war to the end, the guard’s viewpoint changed (01:05:21:00) When the freed men met the Russians at a college, the Russians were guarding the perimeter; when the Americans said they would bring back cognac, the guard let them out (01:05:24:00) o Although they never found any cognac, the men searched the town and Fischer ended up getting some German money as a souvenir (01:05:41:00) o While the men were on the main floor of a building, there were Russians upstairs who came and saw them; one Russian had a sour look on his face but when he discovered the men were American, his mood changed (01:06:02:00)  For some reason or another, the Russians did not like the English (01:06:18:00) In the first part of the POW camp, the men had to sleep on the floor, head to foot, with around one hundred men in each barracks; in the second barracks, the men had straw bunks to sleep in, which was a little bit better (01:06:42:00) o The men had a bowel movement, but only once every three days and they had no other recreation; they could not go out and play baseball for example (01:07:29:00) That he knows of, no one tried to escape from the camp (01:07:47:00) o One time, after being interviewed in a house, Fischer and some others marched away from it and he considered escaping then; however, he questioned where he could go once he did escape, so he stayed (01:07:53:00) o The Germans kept the men in suspense, never knowing where they were going, so the men would follow orders better (01:08:43:00) During combat, Fischer was never injured, even when anti-tank guns fired bursts into trees the men were amongst (01:08:56:00) Fischer never saw the 79th Division again (01:09:42:00) o He and some other men eventually made it back to Liverpool by way of a rickety airplane from France; from Liverpool, the men got on a boat for the return trip to the United States (01:09:56:00) �o He does not remember most of the parts of his return journey (01:10:49:00) o The men landed in New York and immediately got on a train that brought Fischer back to Michigan (01:11:20:00) Post-Military Life (01:11:38:00)  Fischer’s official discharge from the Army occurred in Houston, Texas (01:11:38:00) o Once he got home to Grand Rapids, Fischer applied for unemployment and began looking for jobs in the area, including at General Motors (01:12:35:00) o He eventually found a job working at a machine shop, where he worked until receiving a call from General Motors (01:12:51:00)  He apprenticed in tool- and dye-maker and eventually started working at a tool- and dye- business (01:13:07:00) o He went back to General Motors when their workers went on strike, applied for a job, and was hired to work on the second shift; they decided the nurse would examine him the next day (01:13:24:00)  However, the nurse came out of the door and saw him, which must made an impression on her (01:13:48:00)  While he was an apprentice, Fischer got a steel chip in his eye and when the doctor went to take it out, he froze the eye; as it turned out, there were multiple pieces to take out (01:14:02:00)  When his mother asked what happened, Fischer explained it and she must have turned up a hornets nest because when Fischer went back to General Motors, the nurse saw him and told the doctor about Fischer; the doctor asked if Fischer had a medical problem and they discussed the incident with Fischer’s eye (01:14:26:00) o Fischer ended up not getting the job with General Motors and he eventually got another job working at a tool and dye shop (01:15:14:00)  In the service, Fischer discovered he could not trust anyone, he had to analyze a situation for himself; he also discovered that everyone had their own opinion and there was no point in arguing with them (01:16:14:00) o If they did not have to agree, but Fischer would tell his opinion and that would be the end of it (01:16:38:00) � 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 FischerR2 Title A name given to the resource Fischer, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fischer, Raymond Description An account of the resource Raymond Fischer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924 and after attending junior college and working in Greenville, Michigan, Fischer joined the military. Following training in Oklahoma, Fischer shipped overseas and as part of the 79th Infantry Division, participated in the Normandy campaign, fighting through swamps and hedgerows, in the advance across France and fighting along the German frontier in the fall of 1944. While on patrol at that time, he was taken prisoner, and he spent the rest of the war in a prison camp until Russian soldiers arrived. He and some other men left the camp on bicycles and made their way back to the American lines, and he was sent home from 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.) 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 2010-07-13 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 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80a6bae2160daf86edc7607f7bb76c0d.mp4 1e68f20a4814cd2ca30252b2d946318f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/84449272bd98cdc9d53c7e601db95cda.pdf 62f9c36437810bedd06e3796ce01d30b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Ray Fischer (01:33:15) (00:01) Background Information • • • • Ray was born in Grand Rapids, MI on November 27, 1924 He moved to a farm in Greenville, MI After high school he got a job making glider planes for the war Ray also did farm work and tried to get a deferment from the draft, but was denied (06:53) Training • • • • • • • He was drafted and sent to Fort Custer, MI Ray was sent to Camp Gruber, OK for basic training Basic training lasted 3 months from October of 43 He did small arms training and was able to go to town a few times Ray was then sent to Camp Phillips, KS for 1 month to prepare to go overseas They had horrible barracks He was sent to New York by train for deployment (18:29) Deployment • • • • Ray was in a large convoy and went through some rough waters There was an entertainer on board They landed in Liverpool, England Ray stayed in a tent from April until May (26:10) France • • • • • • • They went to France and had to wade through the water to get to shore He was in the 2nd wave as an infantryman [The 79th Division landed on Utah Beach on June 12, six days after D-Day, so “2nd wave” reference is unclear] They were under machine gun fire and had to take cover Ray was on the beach until July 3, 1944 [By this time, the division had participated in the attack on Cherbourg, and then moved to the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, which presumably is where the beach in question was.] He had to go on patrols of the beach On July 3rd they made an attack He was in the 79th Division, 315th Infantry Regiment, F company �(37: 25) Moving Through the Countryside • • • • • • They moved south of Paris and saw trenches from WWI His division was called to Belgium, but the siege [of Bastogne] was over by the time they got there Ray was sent to attack a pillbox, but was shot at by friendly fire They were told not to drink water from wells because the Germans were poisoning them Some of the soldiers filled gas cans with hard cider Ray spent June through December in France (49:17) Captured in Germany • • • • • • • • • • • • They went into the a small German town, which was on fire Their sergeant was shot and Ray was taken prisoner He was taken to the basement of a church and guarded by a German soldier 7 Americans were taken prisoner total They went from a house to a barn and were interrogated one at a time The Germans had information about where he trained and where he had been during the war He was sent down a gravel road and put into a jailhouse Ray was put in a boxcar for 3 days with no water and then moved to barracks The barracks were called Stalag 4B and they had straw mattresses They received 1 slice of bread, some small potatoes, and a small can of soup Someone would come in at night and tell them where the troops were One day they went through a hole in the fence and got some bread from a nearby bakery (1:02:55) Liberated • • A few days later they were liberated by the Russians, but had to wait to be released by the Americans They got sick of waiting so Ray and 2 others put together some bikes and rode 30 miles to the Americans (1:17:40) Discharge • • • • Ray went to Le Havre, France and boarded a ship to the US The military didn’t always tell them the truth about what was going on He was proud that he never retreated during the war After the war he went to work for GM � 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 FischerR1 Title A name given to the resource Fischer, Ray (Interview outline and video), 2003 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fischer, Ray Description An account of the resource Ray Fischer was born on November 27, 1924 and grew up on a farm in Greenville, Michigan. After high school he was drafted and trained in Oklahoma as an infantryman. He served in the 79th Division and fought in Normandy, France, Belgium and Germany. He was captured in Germany and spent a month in a prison camp before being liberated by the Russians. 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.) 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 2003-08-21 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/9292fd083f04b0e0c9191cf72a83bbdc.mp4 65ff037b7fa144a5f18d8360226bf74c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e224f6eff56a5ac2b5a473ae0f65109.pdf f7e98836d7e9897d44356364c5c0ab06 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University  Veterans History Project Interview  Name of War: World War II   Interviewee name: Raymond Fink   Length of Interview: 47 minutes  Pre‐Enlistment (00:11)   • Childhood (00:15)   o • Family (00:27)   o • Fink was born in what is now Kentwood, Michigan. (00:16)   Fink’s father was into farming and husbandry who owned his own land. (00:48)   Education (01:03)   o Graduated from Berlin High School. (01:13) While he was still in 12th Grade he enlisted  with the U.S. Navy. (01:23) His mother picked up his diploma for him. (01:35)  o As news of the war reached home, he did not pay much attention to what was going on.  (01:56)   Enlistment/Basic Training (01:58)   • Why he joined (02:06)   o • He discusses that hearing about the conditions in the foxholes discouraged him from  joining the Army. Enlisting in the Navy during the summer of 1945 at the age of 17.  (02:14)   Where and what company he was with (02:45)   o Fink was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois, where he was stationed with Company 693.  (02:50)   o While there, he learned the rules, regulations, and basic know how of naval weapons.  (03:45) Fink mentions that he was assigned to work with 20‐mm guns. (04:33)   o Describes one specific incident on Lake Michigan with weapons. (04:44)    o Training consisted of 8 to 9 weeks of training. (05:18)   o After serving at Great Lakes, Illinois, he took a leave of a few days to go home. (05:28)  Returning to Great Lakes afterwards he boarded a troop train for San Diego, California,  which took 4 to 5 days. Briefly describes what that experience entailed. (05:41)  �o •  Before this trip he had not traveled outside of Michigan. (07:01)    Living conditions in San Diego (07:13)   o While here for about a week, he heard news that that the A‐bomb had been dropped  over Nagasaki. Mentions that he was one of many soldiers to be picked for the invasion  force of Japan. (07:48)   o Had jobs as a fireman and a mechanic in San Diego, with some previous book knowledge  gained from Great Lakes, Illinois. (08:32) As of August 15th, 1945 Fink was still waiting to  get shipped out when the Japanese had surrendered. (09:17) He was set in position to  replace overseas Navy men already stationed in the Pacific. (09:35)   Active Duty (09:48)   • Background (10:20)   o Fink mentions that he went aboard a Navy attack transport, the APA [Onitia] loaded  with Navy men and some Marines. (10:13)   o Briefly describes their 13 day journey to Guam. (10:58)   • ƒ While traveling, Fink mentions becoming seasick for 2 to 3 days of his trip there.  (11:12)   ƒ Briefly shares some memorable stories on the high seas. (11:42)   Guam (12:10)   o Pulling into harbor, Fink boarded a landing craft for shore. Landing in Guam during the  rainy season (12:42), many of the American troops weren’t prepared for the weather  conditions. (13:02)   o One particular story, Fink relates is finding water running through his tent and a skull of  some kind. Briefly describes this encounter. (13:17)   o While there, his assignment involved generator watching. (13:59) His job entailed  keeping the caterpillar‐diesel generators in operation. (14:05) Briefly describes one  funny encounter. (14:17)   o After that he got assigned to the naval operational base and worked as a boiler  operator. Describes his duties in some detail. (15:20)   o Fink mentions that upon his arrival many Japanese on Guam still had not surrendered.  (16:16) Often American Marines on patrol faced the dangers of Japanese snipers picking  them off. (16:30)   �ƒ While living in [quanza] huts near a submarine base Guam Fink relates how a  Japanese soldier was stealing his laundry. (17:28)   ƒ To inform the Japanese that their country had surrendered, American soldiers  would drop leaflets into Japanese held areas and/or broadcast messages to  them telling them to surrender. What often was the case was that the Japanese  would not believe them and keep fighting. (19:15)   o For American families in particular, the death toll from American deaths because of  Japanese snipers was difficult. Fink mentions that he was based in Guam for 1‐year.  (19:49)   o Briefly mentions that Guam at the end of 1945 had been a staging ground for American  invasion forces on Japan. (20:53) Also mentions that Army vehicles were destroyed  after the war ended because they were no longer needed for the invasion of Japan.  (21:53)   o Over the course of his time in Guam, the 3rd Marine Division and some Navy Reserve  people were still stationed there until they were replaced. (22:35)   o Briefly describes his submarine experience in the Marinas Trench. (23:40)   • Living conditions on Guam (26:10)   o The Red Cross hosted different events for the troops or else the troops would horse  around. (26:19)  o Briefly mentions the chain of command and who he reported too.(27:23)    o Fink at he kept up frequent contact with his family and friends. (27:47)   o Also held a job unloading mail and sorting it in the mailroom. Briefly describes his duties  here. (28:06)   o Also enjoyed playing cards, hiking, or traveling with friends. (30:10)   o Briefly mentions the story of him and a buddy who got lost in the jungle during a  typhoon with the constant fear of Japanese snipers sniping them. (31:27)   o In another story he discusses his experience encountering the 7th fleet. (32:11)   • Returning home (33:09)   o A list was often published in a local newspaper sharing which naval ship personnel could  return home. (33:48)   �o Briefly discusses how the local Chamorros support of the Americans during Japanese  occupation were treated in Guam; the bombed out conditions of the local buildings and  the Pan‐American airport. (34:07)   o Left aboard the APA [Mackintower] for home. Briefly discusses some of his experiences  on the way home. (36:06)  o Upon anchoring in San Francisco harbor he boarded a train from there to Great Lakes,  IL. (37:47) From then on he was on inactive naval duty. (38:12)   After the service (38:21)   • Adjusting to Home (38:31)   o • From here on out, his perspective changed and he entered an electrical school in  Chicago, Illinois. Afterwards he went and worked for Consumer’s Power. (38:41)   Personal Reflection (39:29)   o Mentions how his perception and views of the world changed because of his time in the  service. (39:50)  o Briefly discusses various trips around the world that he has made. (40:05) Among them  he discusses his trip to Russia in some detail. (42:20)   o Also mentions a story of a German relative and his wartime experience in Leningrad  during the 2nd World War. (44:32)  o End (46:43)    � 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 FinkR Title A name given to the resource Fink, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fink, Raymond Description An account of the resource Raymond Fink was a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy Reserves from 1945 to 1946. In this account Fink discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training, and his active duty while stationed out in the Pacific. Fink was stationed on Guam and describes living conditions there after the war. 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 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 2009-04-14 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/47068c2b7dad0e9bcdabc9ac739018b0.mp4 620a54a7f765cbaae4b279894bc7cd94 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eda209ae8bac8c15fd16f4c1b674c419.pdf 25cb378c48597c3de24fc3ef0e82fac1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Rex Funnell World War II Total Time: 54:00 Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (00:01) • • • • • • • Born in Whitehall, Michigan in 1916 Father was a barber. Graduated high school in 1933 at age 16 and worked at a grocery store. Worked at the family meat market after his uncle had a stroke. His cousin enlisted in the Air Corps near the beginning of the war. He worked the midnight shift at the factory after the meat market. Was drafted into the Army Training (09:40) • • • • • • • • • • • • Reported for training 10 days after being, on July 16th, 1943. Was sworn in at Fort Custer, Michigan. (10:35) Was then sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina where he took basic training. He was one of the older men at the camp. Spent 6 months at Fort Bragg, and was then sent to Camp Gruber, Oklahoma where they began training for a mule pack. (15:45) He was then sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he continued mule pack training. (17:00) In training, they had to learn everything there was to know about mules and how to care for them. They then went to Colorado, where they did some training, and then went to California where they trained more. (19:10) They were assigned to headquarters at this point, so they did not have to participate in maneuvers. (20:05) The Army then decided that they only needed one mule pack battalion, so they were shipped to Fort Benning, Georgia and went through basic training again. (22:05) He was trained there to work in the message center, which controlled all of the messages going in and out. He was shipped out in December 1944. Active Duty (24:05) • He was sent to New York and then across the Atlantic on a converted cruise ship. The weather was very rough on the way across. It took them around 14 days to cross. �• (27:10) They landed in Le Havre, France and stayed in a camp with pup tents for around a month. • (28:25) The were loaded into trucks and sent to a village in France near the German border. • (31:05) Their unit was involved in quite a bit of combat. He did not see much, however, as he was in HQ most of the time. • Most of the towns that they encountered were still intact, however the cities were not. • (35:05) As they moved forward through Germany, the fighting got less intense because they were fighting older men and children. • (36:30) Their unit went through Nuremburg, Augsburg, and Munich • (37:35) Their infantry units liberated 2 concentration camps, one of which was in Austria. • (40:00) His unit ended up in Wels, Austria where they met the Russians. • He was in Austria for around a month before he shipped home. He was shipped back because his wife was seriously ill. He shipped from La Havre in France on a victory ship to Boston, Massachusetts. He then went to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where it took him 3 months to be discharged because of a hernia. Post War (47:00) • • Worked at a factory and then attended barber school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Has stayed in some contact with the men in his unit, but most were from other parts of the US so it was at times difficult. � 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 FunnellR Title A name given to the resource Funnell, Rex (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Funnell, Rex Description An account of the resource Rex Funnell was born in Whitehall, Michigan and was drafted into the Army during World War II. He was trained initially to work with mules for mountain pack hauling, but his unit's function was changed so they didn't end up working with mules in combat. He worked in the message center for his unit during his time overseas. His unit was in France and Germany during the war. 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 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 2009-06-16 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/20ba62d98a10653477534fb6fdbbc982.mp4 53805c570323b7b527970796be6247bf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0902c546327543f530d1902bdf6fe333.pdf 480cf8bd2a8bf537269f3e981befbc60 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Robert Fry (00:55:58) (00:40) Background Information • Robert was born in 1970 • He was a specialist in the Army during Desert Storm • Robert spent 2 years in Germany from 1988-1990 in the 8th Infantry Division • He also spent 2 years in Kentucky from 1990-1992 with the 101st Airborne (1:50) Boot Camp • Robert enlisted when he was 18 years old after graduating high school • He started boot camp in 1988 and thought it was fun, but very uniform • There was a lot of training and physical work like doing push-ups and running (2:40) Germany • The original flight to Germany was delayed and the men were stranded in the airport for 24 hours (4:50) Medals • Sharp Shooter • Army Good Conduct Medal • Overseas Service Ribbon for Germany • Army Service Ribbon • National Defense Service Ribbon • Combat Infantry Badge • South West Asia Service Medal • Army Accommodation Medal • Saudi Arabia/Kuwait Liberation Medal (7:25) Entertainment • Robert often made phone calls to friends and family back home • The men watched movies, played pool, and played cards in the recreational center (8:00) End of Time in the Service • Robert’s service ended two weeks early in June of 1992 • He was very happy to be done, but knew he would miss all the friends he had made (8:30) Current Employment • Robert is now working in armed security and spends time at the VFW (9:10) College �• Robert took advantage of the GI Bill to attend college at Kendall Valley and earned his associates in Security (11:30) Specialist • A Specialist is one rank above Private First Class • It is a junior non-commissioned officer and right below corporal and sergeant • There is a high level of responsibility; Robert was running his own fire team • There are 7 people per fire team and 2 fire teams per squad • A platoon is made of 4 squads • They were border patrolling in Iraq • It was 140 degrees during the day and 90 degrees at night • They did most of their work at night • Also they went on search and destroy missions looking for bunkers and bunker complexes (15:44) Mechanized Infantry in Germany • They worked on very old vehicles from the 50s • They had to fix them and keep them up and running so they could be used to train with (19:00) Thoughts on the Armed Service • Robert backs the military 100% and supports the Iraq War • He believes that the war needs to move at a quicker pace and things are currently moving to slow � 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 FryR Title A name given to the resource Fry, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fry, Robert Description An account of the resource Robert Fry was born in 1970 and enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating high school in 1988. He spent his time training in Kentucky and enjoyed boot camp. Robert earned many medals and ribbons during his time serving in Germany and in the Middle East. Robert led a fire team during Desert Storm, working on border patrol and search and destroy missions. After serving in the Army, Robert earned his associates in Security and is currently employed in armed security. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roberts, Lauren (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Air Force Persian Gulf War, 1991--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 2004-02-02 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/c07e076589afd0e53ed45dba8bfea9b1.m4v 7fbf8940238f2e49624c5186b9c9a8cc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e5a785349a593fbb37e7c51ab35aa293.pdf 20d34f87559dcc424404c8d79b4c36ce PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Name of War: World War II Interviewee’s Name: John Frens Length of Interview: 1hour 23mins. Pre-Enlistment (00:05)  Childhood and Education (00:10) o Frens was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 12, 1923. (00:13) o Attended Grand Rapids Christian High and went on to attend Calvin College upon his mother and sisters’ request to do so and stay out of the war as long as possible. (00:31) o The day Pearl Harbor was attacked his thoughts turned to the relatives who had already joined the armed forces. At about this time in 1941 he was 18. (01:02) Enlistment/Basic Training (01:33)  Why he joined up (01:52) o Caught up in the patriotic fervor, Frens joined up and went through the selective service process in Grand Rapids in November, 1941 [1942]. Was informed just how long he was to wait. (02:27) o After waiting three weeks, he reported to Chicago, Illinois where he was to join a unit of the Army Air Force. (02:53)  Where he went (03:35) o Officially sworn into the service on Dec. 11, 1942 Frens didn’t leave for Chicago until late February, 1943. (03:41) o Upon arriving in Chicago, Frens went to a warehouse where they put him and others aboard a train with no disclosed location given. He ended up in Miami Beach, Florida where the Army Air Corps had a base prepped for their training. (04:07) o Miami Beach, FL training (05:12) � Living arrangements consisted of staying in an apartment on the 7th floor of a building with a group of men. Their days were full of marching and training. Describes what this was like. (05:30)  While here, they were issued uniforms, however, the men serving there knew that they were going to be staying there for much longer. They continued to march and train with no idea where each one of them was going. (06:17) Was soon shipped off to college. (07:15) o Columbus, OH (07:23)  While here, Frens attended Capital University in an affluent part of Columbus. (07:30)  While here for a two month period, Frens describes how classes here compared to attending Calvin College. (07:43)  Was stationed here with men from around the U.S.A. One in particular was Hank Fileastra from New Jersey who he came to become very good friends with. Upon finishing school here he was sent to Nashville, Tennessee (08:55) o Nashville, TN (10:09)  The classification center back in the 1940s was the place trainees like him became pilots and received their classifications and were placed where they were needed. (10:20)  Took a round of tests in navigation, bombadiering, piloting, and other duties. He did not make it through the first line and so he had the option of going to navigational school instead. (10:40) o Fort Myers, FL (11:19)  Before going to navigational school he was sidelined and headed for Fort Myers, Florida where he attended gunnery school. Describes this training in some detail. (11:30)  Following this short period he was sent on to Selma Field for actual navigational training for a period of six months. (11:40) o Selma Field, Monroe, LA (11:50)  Describes what training was like here and that he graduated from here on May 20, 1944. (12:32) � Went home for a short time and then returned and was assigned to go on to Lincoln, Nebraska where he was placed in a distribution area to be sent to where he was needed. Briefly describes the feelings his family was feeling about him and his deployment. (13:04) o Other places he had trained/descriptions of bomber crew (14:40)  Further talks about his training in Pratt, Kansas, New Mexico and Kearney, Nebraska in some detail. It was here where he was given his equipment. From there he was sent to Fort Totten, New York where he was put aboard a C-46 bound for India. (14:50)  Backs-up and describes his training with 5 officers and 6 enlisted men while stationed in Pratt, Kansas and Clovis, New Mexico. Trained mainly with B-29 crews and supposedly his crew were supposed to be sent as replacements to India. (15:51)  Describes who his crew was and the responsibilities that each one of them played aboard the B-29. Further goes on to explain what the plain was like and its weapons’ compliment. (16:40)  Mentions that his flight pilot was well-equipped and experienced enough to teach his crew the ins and outs of each of their responsibilities aboard the bomber. It is because of this that they became one of the lead crews later on. (19:05) Active Duty (19:55)  China-Burma Campaign (20:13) o India (20:15)  Briefly describes his journey to India aboard a transport plane. Upon arriving in November, 1944; he and his crew were put in quarantine for 30 hours to be checked for potential diseases they may have brought over with them. (20:48) Afterwards, they went by truck to Kharagpur Air Base, near Kharagpur, India about 60 miles southeast of Calcutta. (21:05)  Frens describes what the heat was like, but doesn’t recall anything significant about the smells. (21:35)  While stationed in the area in and around Calcutta Frens describes what the homeless conditions were like there. (21:41) � The time there was spent practicing bombing runs on a practice island in the middle of the Ganges. (22:01)  Also mentions what living conditions were like: what his weekly schedule of activities looked like, and describes what the size of the compound was. (23:05)  On a weekly basis, Frens went through a rotation in which he did some flying and cleaning on other occasions. (23:47)  Many of the missions he went on were daylight ones. Before taking off he describes what the pre-flight procedures they ran through were like with a brief on each mission. (25:40)  Among the other duties he performed was recording and compiling data on what transpired on each mission. (26:55) o Pengshan, China– Western China (27:40)  Operating out of a base called A7 in this location his B-29 and others could reach distances as far as Kyushu Island, China. Also describes how hard it was to navigate and fly over the complicated terrain of the Hump (the Himalayas). (28:02) o Briefly describes what conditions his fist mission was like as they flew over the Assam Valley. (29:16) While flying over the Himalayas he relates how his bomber group was fighting two wars: the weather and the Japanese. (29:56) o Stayed in constant contact with a radio base at A7 in the event they had to make an emergency landing if mechanical failures occurred on the plane. (30:31) Relates how many B-29s were lost while flying over the Himalayas. (30:57) o Flew bombing missions over various sections of SE Asia which included Rangoon, Burma, Bangkok, Thailand, and Singapore. Among the things they bombed were bridges, transportation centers, and supply depots in Bangkok. (31:40) o In another instance, when the English pulled out of Singapore they left a dry dock which the Japanese began to use. Bomber crews such as his eventually bombed it sinking it. What is ironic about this is that the British later sent America a bill for bombing it. (32:49)  Attitude of the bomber (32:58) � When bombing the Japanese, the attitude taken by bomber crews was that they were bombing an enemy who were murdering the local population. (33:14) o The length of a bombing mission varied based on the distance from home base to the targeted area. (34:17 ) o On another mission his crew worked on a photo-identification mission of which they were up 30,000 feet when they were attacked by Japanese Zeros which they saw out of their eight o’clock position. Receiving only a few hits to their bomber no one ended up getting hurt. (35:50) o In cases where they were attacked, bomber pilots would sometimes turn into the enemy plane so that they would back off. Briefly describes what his crew was responsible for while the pilot was flying the B-29. (36:45)  Missions over China (37:53) o On one particular mission conducted in China his B-29 took off around dawn and headed for their target on Kyushu Island along the Yellow Sea. (38:12)  Describes what transpired in his bomber as they sighted some ships. Upon seeing them, the word was given and the bomb bay doors were open and the bombs dropped on the ships at a lower altitude. After this was done the bomb bay doors refused to close and so they flew all the way back to Pengshan Air Base in Pengshan, China. (40:10)  On their way back, it was difficult going with the navigating and so they called the base to get a reading on their position. (40:53)  Just as they landed two of their engines ran out of gas. Stayed two days while their B-29 was being fixed. (41:43) o On that mission, not a bomber crashed even though there had been an increased likelihood of this happening. (42:38) o Frens briefly describes how they identified the separation of officers and privates. As bomber crews they made no distinctions unless they were friends. (44:21)  Living arrangements in China (45:23) o Enlisted men and officers stayed in tents while they operated out of Pengshan Air Base near Pengshan, China. When off duty they would go into Chengdu to have a good time. Frens while here was a part of the 792nd Bomb Squadron, a part of the �468th Bomb Group; 58th Bomb Wing of the 20th Air Force which consisted of 10 to 12 planes. (46:28) o When on base, they would resupply other airplanes getting ready to fly over the Himalayas. Transport B-29s made regular runs over the Himalayas to drop off food and supplies since there was no system of communication. (46:54) o SEANAC a civilian organization with the Army Air Corps supplied his base out of Calcutta. India. (47:48) o Frens mentions serving with a Japanese American who helped to intercept Japanese messages. However when it came to reading messages on flying missions he could not come since he was a Nisei-(term referring to 2nd Generation Japanese immigrant) of American citizenship. (49:15)  The Marianas (50:13) o 30 days before being redeployed Frens mentions how the ground crews were deployed through Australia. Upon receiving orders one day, Frens and his crew were redeployed to Kunming for refueling and then sent on to the Philippines. Enroute to Tinian and Saipan they were diverted. (50:56)  Refueling was done by Chinese workmen as was the case at the base in the Chinese province of Chengdu specifically out of Pengshan Air Base. (51:21) o The purpose of their redeployment to the Marianas was that they would begin a 90-day blitzkrieg from May to August. (52:19)  By this time, the war in Europe was over and troops were en-route to the Pacific. The Air War in the Pacific was going well with 400 to 600 B-29s flying on a regular basis. (52:53)  Describes what the air field setup at North Field was like. (54:04) o Once out of Clark Airfield they were assigned to a single runway called West Field, Tinian with 40 planes operating out of there. (54:21)   With a difficult runway and sand dune on the edge of it, it was difficult often times to build up enough speed to take off. (55:20)  During this time, continual bombing of Japan was done to avoid a landing. (55:53) Bombing runs to Japan (57:39) �o While running missions, bomber crews received little Japanese air resistance but upon closer approach of the Japanese mainland they would come under heavy anti-aircraft fire. (58:49) o On one such run, his B-29 was forced to make an emergence landing at Iwo Jima. He describes what the crash landing was like while still enroute to Kobe, Japan, their target. (59:25) o Their plane was shot up pretty good but thankfully they didn’t lose anyone. When they landed on Iwo Jima the downpour made the runway very slick. The plane slide along it and then crashed into an embankment nose first. (1:00:30)  The only person to sustain injuries was the bombardier, who was later sent to Guam. (1:01:41) o Frens describes how the attitude between experienced men and substitutes was bad. Briefly took part in four sea-and-rescue missions for another crew out of Iwo Jima. Describes this experience in some detail. (1:02:46) o After this time, he was reassigned to his home B-29 crew. (1:03:46) o Briefly describes what the fighting was like on Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal that he heard from others. (1:04:24) o As the war in the Pacific began to come to an end the A-bomb was dropped. Apparently this came as a surprise to everyone since a crew operating out of North Field was responsible for the dropping. Finding out through the radio, Frens relates how five to six days afterward the 2nd bomb was dropped. (1:05:55) o Flew a few more missions after August 15th also. (1:07:03)  Attitude of air men (1:07:17)   Describes many of their reactions and how the initial attitude was to check and see how many points they had until being sent home. (1:07:31) Going Home (1:07:47) o Frens was sent home aboard a B-29 which stopped at Hawaii, and then Nathan’s Air Force Base, California where he and his bomber crew separated and were discharged. (1:07:54) After the Service (1:08:50) � Background (1:09:05) o Upon being discharged, Frens decided to keep his commission and stay in the Reserves. (1:09:25) o Was soon transferred to Fort McClellan after San Diego. (1:10:51) o His pilot and he split up in Spokane, Washington where he took a train to Chicago. While en-route they picked up some nurses in Coeur-d-Alene, Idaho. (1:11:22)  Readjustment to Home (1:12:14) o Upon coming home, the feelings among his whole family were very emotional and moving since his whole family had survived the war. (1:12:47) o Got home in October, 1945 upon which time he went back to Calvin College and completed two more years there. Upon completing college, he moved to Ann Arbor. (1:14:07) o Other military service (1:14:30)  Received a message from Reserves saying that if he wanted to keep his status he would need to do something. And so as an active member of the reserve he attended meetings and conferences so that he could maintain the required 30-pts to keep his status. He soon got a job in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport with a flying unit in the National Guard. Was soon redeployed to the Bahamas in 1958. (1:15:20) o Wraps up by mentioning that he had received his degree at Calvin in education and history. Afterwards he went on to get his Masters at University of Michigan in Business Administration and settled in Chicago. (1:17:10) o Further discusses how he had met his wife in college and their 54 years together. (1:17:30)  Interview ends (1:19:54) � 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 FrensJ Title A name given to the resource Frens, John (Interview outline and video), 2003 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frens, John Description An account of the resource John Frens is a World War II veteran who served out of the 792nd Bomb Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps from December, 1942 to 1945, and remained in the reserves until 1958. He served in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 navigator. His unit was based first in India, then later in China and in the Marianas. He participated in bombing missions against Japanese positions in Southeast Asia and China, and later in the strategic bombing of Japan in 1945. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 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 2003-06-25 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7d086047da9c1749375a75224c015956.mp4 1564900017cdee3b7fd3649838b0e9b7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/16ce4ace3ecda7cc1b5fabe6620551db.pdf 9bd33bb56c025378b3f0bf532f2f2ac9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam Earl Freeman Total Time – (31:31) Enlistment/Training · Enlisted because he had five other brothers that were in the military o He knew that he could get the G.I. Bill afterwards and go to school · He chose the Navy because he wanted to do as little of walking as possible and because they had technical, civilian related jobs (01:26) · He was living in Phillips, Maine when he enlisted (01:36) · When he got out of boot camp, he had to wait for more training (01:56) o Was in San Diego waiting for a ship to come back from Vietnam with repairs done to it · Stopped in Guam to train with Marines (2:27) · Served in the UVT Active Duty – (02:45) · When he got to Vietnam, he was transferred around on river boats (02:54) · Went by Tiger Island, Vietnam (Ong Ho) o It was an area with a lot of heavy gunfire · Get shrapnel in the sides of their boats o Were able to eventually weld the holes up (03:27) · His mailing address was the USS John S. McCain · Was sent with a reconnaissance unit to re-cover fighter pilot, John McCain o The Vietnamese captured McCain before his unit got there and he became a POW · Wore POW bracelets during the war in honor of John McCain · Went on a mission to recover a space capsule (05:25) · All higher ranking officers were on an aircraft carrier – where all of the astronauts were sent · All parts of his unit worked together in all of their jobs o Sometimes he would serve as gunner, sometimes he would drive the boat (06:27) · Orders were given all day long and he just had to obey them · He spent the majority of his time on the Cua Viet River and River Way (Mekong Delta) (07:45) · You did your orders no matter what o If you were told to shoot something, you had to shoot it (08:13) �· The rivers were very bushy and visibility was extremely low o The Vietnamese had holes in the ground with lids over them o When boats would guy by, the Vietnamese would come out and “light the sky up” (09:00) o He remembers that it was very scary · He never knew when he was going to get shot at · Saw a gun mount blow up that had someone in it o He heard the man moaning afterwards (09:47) · Was involved in earning the Meritorious Unit Citation (10:18) o He earned it by facing combat when transporting 2 Marine advisors, a South Vietnamese general, and Admirals o As they picked up these officials, they sustained heavy gunfire (11:10) o He was driving the boat – drove out as fast as he could § Nobody was hurt and they made it safely to their destination · In order to earn the unit citation, it cannot be just one individual (11:51) · He received the Combat Action Ribbon and the Vietnamese Service Medal – 4 stars for 4 years (12:17) · His mother wrote the captain a letter saying that she was upset that her son had not yet written her (13:32) o The captain then forced him to write letters home and he had to prove that he was sending them · Went to Japan for a couple of weeks for R&R (14:19) · Men entertained themselves at stations along the river o They had make-shift bars, pool tables, etc (15:35) · Traveled to Japan, Philippines, Hawaii, Thailand and Australia (16:24) · He got along with all of his fellow soldiers (17:02) o Never had problems with officers or enlisted men · Feels closer to his fellow soldiers than his own brothers o Always had to trust them – you would always watch each others back (17:48) · Has not seen any of his comrades in over 30 years · He was questioned for an entire day before he was discharged (20:05) · Had to go to see a career counselor that tried to get him to re-enlist (20:21) o Was offered a nice re-enlistment package, bonus, and higher rank of pay After the Service – (21:11) · · · · After he was discharged, he graduated from Wyoming Park High School (21:25) He eventually went to college Became a meat cutter for 14 years He went back to college to become a pipe fitter (21:58) o He has installed fire sprinklers for 15 years (22:10) · Enjoyed the trade school more than college �· After coming back, life seemed normal, everyday life (23:15) o Did not want unemployment because he did not think he deserved it · He is a member of The American Legion (24:34) o He chose The American Legion over other organizations because he felt they do more for veterans · He would like to see a President for the United States that has been in war, that has military experience (26:54) · The military helped discipline him (27:58) · He thinks young people should consider the military for the experience and the ability to travel (29:26) · He would like to return to Thailand (29:59) � 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 FreemanE1120V Title A name given to the resource Freeman, Earl (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Freeman, Earl Description An account of the resource Earl Freeman was living in Phillips, Maine when he enlisted into the Navy. He was greatly influenced by the military experience of all five of his brothers. After waiting for his ship in San Diego, Earl was sent to Guam for more training. From Guam, he was sent to Vietnam to serve in many capacities on the riverboats. The majority of his time was spent in the Mekong Delta. He saw a good deal of combat, and his unit received multiple citations. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Hirdes, Scott (Interviewer) Anderson, Melissa (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 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 2005-05-15 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/af65dec0f2170b0580a9b4f3ab654045.mp4 f7f6b227c26d580f73493f0e983d8f77 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d1a442c504e296ea637103a93952cd63.pdf d87ee49ae7890ef1e88a050805e63a0f PDF Text Text Interview Notes (Length: 0:51:29) Raymond Frederick World War II Veteran: Pacific Theater United States Navy: 05/44 – 02/46 (00:00) Early Years: ™ Born in Kansas during the height of “Oil Boom” ™ Father was an oil field worker, came from a ranch in west Kansas near Greensboro ™ Father lost job in 1939 in the oil fields and went back to the area with his family to farm ™ Worked on the farm at 14 years old (1:02)Pre-Enlistment Information: ™ Finished high school in Kansas ™ Married his wife in 1944 just prior his departure into the military. ™ After high school, it was very important to young men to join the military. ™ Hired by friend of his father for farming ™ Joined military in late spring of 1944 ™ Went from a small town in Kansas to the Chicago area ™ There for 10 weeks for Navy training (2:47) Enlistment/Training: ™ Boot camp type of training ™ Mainly conditioning for city people with little physical background ™ Needed to learn how to swim ™ Abandon ship exercises using generic boats ™ Rifle training ™ Lots of marching ™ Learning how to live away from Mom, Dad and/or wife (4:05) Discipline ™ He did not go on report ™ He did not like it that the group would get punished for what one or two people did ™ Night marching used for punishment ™ “Grinder” was the name given to the training ground ™ Some people had problems showering and with punctuality in his barracks ™ He did not have a problem with discipline �(05:27) Basic Training ™ He got a chance to come home for late October (Christmas time) ™ He was sent to Mississippi ™ Gunnery school was a big part of his training there ™ Selected because he had no background education in specialty areas ™ He was put in the Armed Guard, group of individuals to operate the gunnery protection for the individual shifts. ™ Had to be trained to use a five-inch 38, five-inch 51, three-inch 50, 20mm, and small arms weapons. ™ Was at Gunnery School at Louisiana for about seven to ten weeks ™ Fired ammunition over the Gulf of Mexico (07:23) Shipping Out: ™ Caught an LST out of “Treasure Island”, New Orleans to Panama Canal ™ Housed at Cristóbal Naval Base for less a week ™ Caught S.S. “Beruie” going west through canal on December 25, 1944 ™ Assignment to that ship for the next nine months (08:25) Experiences to New Guinea: ™ Hauled gasoline to New Guinea and went back to San Francisco ™ Got seasick, not used to large ships ™ Thought LSG was the worst vessel because it rocked a lot, was on one for about seven days around Cristóbal ™ Likes the ocean, but the vastness of it is overwhelming ™ Thought most beautiful water was the Coral Sea near Australia ™ The ship he traveled on was a solo vessel because the Japanese did not have a lot of submarines to be used as a wolfpack ™ A sister ship ahead of them was hit but they did not answer the SOS because it was often used as a trap for other vessels ™ Didn’t meet any enemy forces directly during voyage to New Guinea (13:09) Merchant Marine and the Armed Guard: ™ Merchant Marine had about 31 to 33 people on board ™ About 24 Navy Armed Guards in charge of protecting the ship ™ The Armed Guard consisted of a full lieutenant (the commanding officer), a Third-Class Petty Officer (Gunner classification), and rest were mostly Seamen. ™ Went from Seaman Second to Seaman First aboard the vessel ™ Jealousy between the two because the Navy was in charge of the protection of the ship and the difference in pay of government and civilian �™ Main mode of operations of the Armed Guard was to prevent enemy submarine crews from boarding and destroying their vessels ™ Merchant Marines did see the Navy as helpful for the most part. ™ The two forces did eat together in a common mess hall (17:22) Experiences at New Guinea: ™ Did not stop on the way to New Guinea, never saw land during voyage ™ He saw some mountains at the coast and surprised at the lack of sand ™ He saw plenty of sand in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean areas though ™ The supplies the ship unloaded were to be used for the push north to Guadalcanal ™ Had to wait two days for an opportunity to unload the cargo because of the traffic ™ While in New Guinea, there was an air raid over the mountains ™ He comments on the fact that if the bombing occurred at the harbor where the 200 ships were docked full of cargo, they would have hit the jackpot ™ Saw a squadron or two of big bombers (dubbed “Bettys”) (21:21) After New Guinea: ™ First went to San Francisco for new load of oil, then to the Admiralty Islands ™ At the Admiralty Islands, his captain got in trouble in the bay area of a small island for smashing things up because he was drinking ™ Damage consisted of a few ships ™ As punishment, the captain was sent to Iran – through the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf ™ Had to drop anchor in the Persian Gulf for a dust-off ™ Collected engine oil that was used for steam-operated ships at Abadan, Iran and transported it to Sri Lanka and New Guinea then to the States ™ Had to stop for food because a Merchant Marine on board took money for the food they were supposed to have, thinking they were going back to the States for more, when the captain of the vessel got in trouble and they were sent to Abadan ™ It was tough dealing with the food shortage ™ The officers in the Merchant Marines were sometimes unreliable ™ The Merchant Marine dealing in the food was in danger from the other Merchant Marines (25:17) Merchant Marines: ™ Most of the Merchant Marines were people were from around bodies of water ™ Two of them were from the Great Lakes area ™ The sea-going Merchant Marine and lake-going Merchant Marine are different because the lake–faring Merchant Marines thought the squalls on the lakes were worse than the ocean ™ Had good communication back then about weather conditions ™ Did not have radar, had to depend on eyewitness reports ™ Merchant Marines came from areas like New Jersey ™ Ship that they were on was built in Pennsylvania �™ Most were heavy drinkers, played poker all night ™ Most did not hold with a “long-range view” of the world (27:57) Second Mate: ™ Job of the Second Mate was to navigate the ship ™ Their Second Mate was very good at navigation ™ He also drank a lot and was temperamental ™ When they pulled into California, they had burned up the furnaces that heated the boilers ™ The equipment had to be replaced, so the boat was placed in a temporary dry-dock ™ After that was replaced, they went to the Admiralty Islands and then back to the States (about a 40 day trip) ™ On the return trip the Second Mate said that he was leaving the boat when they got back ™ He got extremely drunk right when he left the vessel at California ™ The crew shanghaied him and brought him back aboard the vessel ™ After the Second Mate slept it off, he was enraged about being brought back to the ship (30:07) Transferring Ships: ™ “Beruie” went back to Panama Canal and they disembarked and waited five days to catch a new vessel at Panama City ™ “Richard F. John” – Liberty vessel loaded with building supplies, some tanks, and military supplies ™ It headed to the Philippines at a very slow rate ™ Top speed of the vessel could not have been over 12 knots ™ Did not board vessel with the same group of Armed Guards, had two other people that he was with on the other ship ™ Different approach to life, different personality on board the new vessel ™ Merchant Marines did not like the skipper because he was too much like the Navy ™ Less congeniality aboard the new ship ™ Traveled from Philippines to southern part of Texas west of Houston (took about 65 days) (33:09) Off-Duty Time: ™ Drank Cokes and played Pinochle ™ Typically worked for four hours and off-duty for four hours ™ Not a lot of time for sleep ™ Had to stay on watch for renegade submarines ™ Given a rifle and had to watch for sharks in the Philippines ™ He finds it interesting that they were able to get Cokes by the case ™ Liked to play Pinochle because he did not gamble ™ They would also read, but no radio, had to maintain radio silence �(33:55) End of the War: ™ When the war ended their vessel was halfway between the Philippines and Panama ™ Received word over the wireless ™ Continued the same mode of operations even though the war was over ™ Nobody believed that the Japanese believed that the war was over ™ Some ships still got hit by the Japanese military even after the war was over ™ After he got back from that trip he left the ship and took a leave of absence for a month to go back home to Kansas ™ He was discharged from the service after he went back in February ™ He thought a little about staying the Navy because he did not have a job ™ His wife would have hated it if he stayed in the Navy ™ He decided to go back home to “Farm Country” ™ He did not have a lot of success at farming ™ He joined in a partnership with his father to run their farm, which required some business knowledge ™ After calling it quits with farming, he got a job in the oil fields with an oil pipeline company ™ He worked for them for five years, then after downsizing, he went to work for another oil pipeline company that was building a pipeline from Texas to Michigan ™ He then became a safety engineer and was shipped to Detroit where he lived for thirty years before moving to Grand Rapids (38:58) Reflection on Time in the Service and the Middle-Eastern World: ™ Gave him a broader view of the world ™ Did not go to a lot of big cities except New Orleans and a little bit of the West Coast of the United States ™ The Iranians he met were stony-faced, unsmiling and seemed hostile and found the same attitude from the Middle-Eastern population in Dearborn, Michigan ™ They seemed to have an attitude that they would not adjust to the world around us ™ He noticed while on the Euphrates River that on both sides there were people living in shacks and all they did was grow dates and they had no interest in learning about Americans ™ He also noticed that a lot of the Middle-Eastern people still grew dates in Dearborn even though they worked for Ford ™ He agrees that sometimes it takes a generation to become “Americanized” but it seems strange to him that the next generation did not show more interest in it ™ Observed that the Middle-Eastern population in Michigan made no apologies for 9-11-01. ™ Finds the culture very different from his own (45:39) Stories during the Voyages: ™ On the Indian Ocean, they had severe cyclones ™ They got caught in a 100mph wind cyclone and they were sitting high due to an empty hold �™ The captain ordered that the starboard tanks filled with saltwater and that saved the ship from capsizing ™ When they were tipped, the fires in the furnace went out and took about four hours to get the furnaces fired up again ™ He was really afraid and thought the ship was done for during this episode ™ The powerful energy of the storm would cause the ship to bow ™ The noise of the catwalk buckling was loud but it actually stayed together ™ There was a guy drafted called “Pops” because he was the oldest guy around ™ “Pops” got off the ship at Hawaii and got very drunk and could not even get himself on the ship so they had to sway a cargo net over the side and pick him up to bring him on board � 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 FrederickR Title A name given to the resource Frederick, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frederick, Raymond Description An account of the resource Raymond Frederick served in the U.S. Navy between 1944 and 1946 in the Armed Guard. He worked with the Merchant Marines in the transport of supplies throughout the Pacific Theater. He discusses what he was doing before the war, his experiences in working with the Merchant Marines, the various places he visited in the Navy and what happened after the war. He also expresses his views on Middle-Eastern culture, both from his exploits to Iran and in the United States. 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. Navy World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Merchant mariner Merchant marine--United States 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 2008-01-22 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/0ddc8eb117c857c7aa2fbe059f4b1c04.mp4 9028e140a839023a255c5e70465163d1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/96ab856cf833e20ccef37d9f93027115.pdf 3cf90677ab04769f3e2918fad1eb0395 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Patrick Frederick (14:21) Background Information (00:23)   Joined the service due to a family history of enlisting in the military. (00:25) Patrick enlisted in the U.S. Army due to his desire to become a Military Police Officer. (00:40) Training (00:56)   After enlisting, Patrick was sent by bus to Detroit, Michigan, where he was sent by plane to Atlanta Georgia. He was then sent by bus to Fort McClellan, Alabama were he did his basic training. (1:00) Patrick’s first day of training was his 18th birthday. He was scared. (1:24) Overview of Service (1:45)         He was given Basic training and Advanced Infantry Training. (1:50) He was first stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. (2:11) Patrick was also stationed in Korea, Honduras, and Panama. (2:30) While in Honduras, Patrick’s unit was fired upon. While in Panama his platoon also came under fire just before Operation Just Cause (December 1989). (2:37) While at Fort Carson, Colorado, Patrick pulled over a man who had a warrant out for his arrest for murder. The alleged criminal tried to fight Patrick. Though wounded, Patrick fought the man off until backup arrived. (3:43) While in Panama, two men in Patrick’s company were kidnapped by enemy forces. They were later released alive. (5:31) He was fearful while in a fight in Honduras. He felt ill equipped and caught off guard. (6:06) In Honduras Patrick’s unit was assigned to Black Hawk Helicopters. This was a common form of transpiration for Patrick. (7:19) Life in the Military (7:50)    While stateside, food was good. While in the field, the men almost always had field rations. (7:51) While in the field Patrick encountered many animals including lizards, snakes, spiders, jungle cats, and fire ants. (8:35) In Patrick’s off time he would often write home. (9:34) End of Service (9:50)    His service did prepare him for a career in law enforcement. (9:54) His last day in service was surreal to him. Patrick had been in the military since the age of 18, when he got out he felt like he didn’t belong. (10:28) After returning home, Patrick enrolled in a police academy. (11:10) �   Patrick did make several close friends in the service. He is still in contact with them in 2011. (11:45) He has respect for service members serving. (12:28) Patrick is not a member of any veteran’s organizations. (12:58) � 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 FrederickP1359V Title A name given to the resource Frederick, Patrick (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frederick, Patrick Description An account of the resource Fred was born in Wyoming Park, Michigan in 1920. Most of his family was also born and raised in the Wyoming area. He was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He served overseas in the Philippines as a truck driver. Fred delivered needed supplies to the troops such as food, water and other essentials. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Frederick, Tanner (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 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 2011-11-17 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/8808661ec001378f932a07d052adbb21.mp4 054da75fd6db626cb769ee60fab4dfae https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1391a78efdbb8876e7c45e085672046d.pdf a91bf352548178e17ee2b05b9be44377 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Vietnam War Interviewee’s Name: James Frederick Length of Interview: 20 minutes Pre-Enlistment (00:11)  Childhood (00:13) o Born in Plainwell, MI although he grew up in Allegan. (00:34)  Education (00:41) o Attended Allegan High School and then graduated from Michigan State University earning a Bachelor of Arts in Forestry. Later he would earn a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. (00:56) Enlistment/Basic Training (01:06)  Background (01:10) o Completed advanced ROTC training while attending Michigan State University in 1965. (01:15) o Was sworn in as a 1st Lieutenant in January 1966 and then called into active duty in March, 1966. (01:20) o Was commissioned into the armed forces as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. (01:36)  Why he joined (01:59) o Joined the U.S. Air Force out of a patriotic duty to serve his country during a time of war. (02:03)  Where he went (02:15) o Attended ROTC summer camp in 1964 at Bunker Hill Air Force Base near Kokomo, IN. Was here for a period of 4 weeks. (02:36) o Bunker Hill Air Force Base Training (02:40)  Briefly describes what sorts of exercises and training he underwent while in basic training. (02:55) � While stationed here, he details what classes were like and that they were specifically preparing him for his deployment to Vietnam eventually. At the time he was attached to the 820th Red Horse Squadron which basically was a heavy engineering construction squadron which was part of the Air Force’s Heavy Construction Squadron. (03:18) Active Duty ((04:03)  Vietnam (04:10) o His squadron was stationed at Thuy Hoa Air Force Base, Vietnam for 10 days. He and another engineer out of five in the unit were sent to Dà Nang, Vietnam. (04:39) o But because he was an augmentee he did not fly planes but flew with other soldiers. Backs up and mentions what bases he stationed at in the states before being deployed to Vietnam. (04:59) o Briefly describes his journey to Vietnam and then moves into discussing what his job assignment entailed as an assistant commissioned officer at Dà Nang. (05:53) o For the first six months he was there, he was a cantonments officer in charge of vertical construction of buildings, parachute towers, dormitories, and other building projects. (06:05) o Later on, serving as a field officer he was responsible for the building of aircraft revetments and shelters and did runway maintenance. (06:33)  Dà Nang,Vietnam (07:05) o Spent a total of 12 months in Vietnam of which he arrived three days before the start of the Tet Offensive. During Tet, he remembers bullets flying every which way with many rocket attacks as well. (07:17)  In one instance, a rocket exploded just 100 yards away from him. (07:50) o Over the course of his 27 years of military career he mentions receiving various campaign awards and citations. Contact with his family was done by letter, recorder, or signal-side band radio. (09:16) o Frederick describes how with the U.S. Navy’s access to the city they brought in a regular supply of men and supplies to the city. In general, the food was excellent from where he was standing. On a daily basis, Frederick worked 12 hours a day/ 7 days a week. (10:01) o Living conditions (10:08) � When not on duty on weekends, Frederick liked to relax, sleep, and listen to music. (10:47)  Briefly discusses what sorts of pranks he pulled while in the service. (10:58) o Describes what he thought of various officers and soldiers. And also mentions the deep sense of brotherhood felt by all. (11:38) After the Service (12:24)  Going Home (12:30) o Came in through Cam Ranh Bay but left from Dà Nang, Vietnam for home. Spent his last day with officer friends. (13:13) o Briefly describes his flight journey home, of which ended at Norton Air Force Base, CA near San Bernardino, CA. (13:40) o Soon afterwards, his brother picked up him up and he spent 3 weeks in Michigan before taking off again. (13:59 o A few weeks later he was stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (14:22)  Adjusting to Home (14:38) o For the next couple of years, Frederick went back to school and got his Master’s degree. (14:38) o Briefly mentions that he kept in close contact with a few military friends. (14:45) o Career-wise, he continued to serve in the armed forces until December, 1993 upon which time he pursued other career endeavors. (15:20)  Reflection (16:26) o Looking back at it, Frederick describes how his military experience influenced him personally. (16:48) o Upon further reflection, he mentions that he was 20 when he had joined up with the Air Force and then he relates his impressions of the men and women he knew and how they shaped him. (17:55) o Wraps up by challenging others to appreciate the sacrifices that our men and women in the U.S. Armed Services do to keep us free. (19:05) o Interview completed (20:27) � 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 FrederickJ Title A name given to the resource Frederick, James (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Frederick, James Description An account of the resource James Frederick is a Vietnam War veteran who served initially in the ROTC and then the U.S. Air Force from 1965 to 1993. In this account, Frederick discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment, and basic training in the U.S. Serving his active duty in Vietnam, Frederick gives one a brief but detailed perspective of what fighting in Vietnam, specifically during the Tet Offensive, was like and his part in it. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Sabri, Hannah (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. Air Force 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 2008-06-03 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/193a6b6b1c57bbb46bc30f6dcb6b7f53.mp4 0544a3347439f320de03b273d36324d4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8b87d1892dbe81161105be1b731a2ccc.pdf 346f8d02ce7200829ab1513474c037ef PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project John Fowler Vietnam War 52 minutes 9 seconds (00:00:20) Early Life -Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1947 -Lived there for a few years -He and his family moved around the country as he grew up -Father was in sales management -Spent three or four years in each city -He worked for Continental Can -Mother was a stay at home mom -He has an older brother and a younger sister -Went to high school for two years in Mt. Prospect, Illinois -Moved back to Kansas City and completed high school there -Graduated in 1965 (00:02:12) College -Attended the University of Kansas -Liberal arts education -Went to college for three years -In 1968 he dropped out for six months -Rejoined school in spring 1968 -Didn’t do well upon returning in 1968 -He knew that he’d be drafted sooner than later (00:03:03) Getting Drafted and Basic Training -Volunteered for the draft in the fall of 1968 -Entered basic training in November 1968 -Reported to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri -Training was tough -Cold weather -Flu -Affected his physical performance -Basic training was about two months -Given leave for Christmas -Finished basic training in January -His drill sergeant had been a Vietnam veteran (00:04:41) Awareness of the Vietnam War -Confused about what the war was really about -Saw Catholics and Buddhists fighting in South Vietnam -Heard about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident and knew that war was coming �(00:05:48) Advanced Infantry Training -Went directly to advanced infantry training (AIT) at Fort Lewis, Washington -Cold and snowy -Told that they would all be sent to Vietnam -His AIT specialization was infantry -About 70% of his training company had infantry as their job designation -Training lasted two months (00:07:20) Noncommissioned Officer School (NCO School) -Approached about NCO School three weeks before graduating from AIT -He signed up for NCO School to further prepare himself for Vietnam -This is in February 1969 -His unit wound up getting sent to South Korea -He was given two weeks leave and he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia -NCO School was the same training as Officer Candidate School -Focused more on fieldwork though, and less on classroom work -Training lasted three months -Became a platoon sergeant at an AIT unit at Fort Gordon, Georgia -Led troops through training -Given his sergeant stripes and orders for Vietnam at the end of training (00:09:55) Details about NCO School -He was glad that he was going to Vietnam with leadership experience -Still didn’t prepare you for the reality of Vietnam -He was tolerated by the other NCO’s at Fort Gordon -They didn’t have to work as hard with new NCO’s around -There was tension between older NCO’s (“lifers”) and newer NCO’s (“shake-n-bakes”) -The older NCO’s had a lack of respect for the newer ones -Adjusting to being in a position of leadership was difficult (00:14:06) Deployment to Vietnam -He was given thirty days of leave after Fort Gordon -He had to report to Fort Dix, New Jersey -Once there he was given jungle fatigues and specific deployment orders -Family was expecting him to be sent to Vietnam -He didn’t know what unit he was going to be in, or where he was going -Stayed at Fort Dix for three days -While there he was given more gear and basic advice (00:15:51) Arriving in Vietnam -Arrived in October 1969 in Long Binh, near Saigon -Given more gear and pulled basic duties waiting for his assignment -Assigned to 101st Airborne Division -Surprised because he always associated the 101st with paratroopers -Flown up to Da Nang then from there Camp Eagle -Given basic introductory training at Camp Eagle -Protocol and procedure in Vietnam -How to watch for enemy sappers -How to set up land mines and flares -Training lasted a week and made him realize how unprepared he was �(00:18:43) Camp Evans -Assigned to Charlie Company 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division -They were stationed at Camp Evans -Drove up there by truck -His company was still on the demilitarized zone covering the 3rd Marines who were leaving -They returned to base four days later -His company had seen fighting in the A Shau Valley, at Hamburger Hill, and the DMZ -Intimidating to try and relate to them and to assert his leadership -He wanted to prove that he was knowledgeable (00:20:42) In the Field-Overview -Went into the field shortly after his company returned to base -They patrolled the firebases in the area -Spent Thanksgiving and Christmas in the field -They had very little to no enemy contact -Stayed in the foothills and the mountains (00:22:17) In the Field-Details -Each soldier carried an eighty pound backpack that contained: -Weapons and ammunition -Fresh, clean water -Food to last their time in the field -They got close to running out of food a few times -Clothing -An empty M16 ammo can to keep important material dry -Claymore mines and grenades -They covered one kilometer to two kilometers a day in the mountain -They covered three kilometers to four kilometers a day if they were on easier terrain (00:25:52) In the Field-Conditions and Relations -If they went on hunter-killer operations they left their packs behind -Rain and mud made travel even more difficult than it already was -He always had a disconnect with the battle hardened soldiers -Bonded better with “greener” soldiers -He was able to gain their respect after a few months of proving his credibility -He focused on finding good positions -Focused on making sure they established secure perimeters at night -They ultimately spent three months in and out of the field during monsoon season (00:28:27) Beginning of Firebase Ripcord -He didn’t realize how close they were to the enemy when Ripcord was being established -He remembers seeing the bombardment and storming of Ripcord from a distance -Knew something big was happening -They were spared the details -When the establishment of Firebase Ripcord began they lost a soldier early on -Drove home the fact that the situation had changed -Accounts part of his survivability to Captain Vasquez (the company commander) -Former special forces -Knew how to lead troops �(00:32:48) Establishing Firebase Ripcord -His company moved up the hill and established Firebase Ripcord -Under Vasquez they made Ripcord a heavily fortified firebase -Moving up the hill was oddly easy -Once at the top they established security and started building -They had the high ground which made it easily defendable -All positions at Ripcord were underground -No above ground structures -First experience on Ripcord lasted three weeks (00:37:11) Conditions At and Around Firebase Ripcord -Patrolled the area around the firebase afterwards -His company was operating at two thirds strength -Casualties made them even weaker -And a lack of replacements didn’t help -Returned to Ripcord for about one week -Treated it like a base camp -Going back to Camp Evans felt like they were Stateside -Spent a lot of time looking for enemy supply caches and bunkers -Enemy contact was increasing at the time -Enemy was beginning to appropriate American weaponry -He was wounded by an enemy mine (00:42:01) Camp Evans and USS Sanctuary -He was sent back to Camp Evans for treatment -Sent to the USS Sanctuary (hospital ship) for one week -They determined that he was okay -Returned to Camp Evans and received word that his company had been “wiped out” -Wanted to go out immediately to help them -His company had lost eight soldiers and taken multiple wounded -His company was moved from Hill 902 to another one to provide security (00:46:09) Leaving the Army and Coming Home -He took R&R at Saigon and was advised to return to his company -Stayed with his unit until the second week of August 1970 -Returned home and was able to leave the Army -He had applied for an early out to return to college -The University of Kansas accepted him back in -Advised that there could be confrontations with the protestors -Never ran into problems with protestors at the airports (00:47:27) Life after the Army -Went from Vietnam back to school within nine days -He was underweight and nervous -Experiencing culture shock being home -Got an apartment and a car -Did well in school this time -Majored in English and business -Never graduated due to trauma from Vietnam -Got married �-Found a job in sales and marketing -Had a daughter -Later entered therapy to deal with his trauma -Wife recognized it early on -Glad that he was able to make peace with it -Glad that he is now able to reconnect with soldiers from Ripcord -Appreciates the interactions he can have at the reunions � 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 FowlerJ1533V Title A name given to the resource Fowler, John (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fowler, John Description An account of the resource John Fowler was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1947. He attended college at the University of Kansas and eventually dropped out. In the fall of 1968 he volunteered for the draft and was sent to basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and later AIT at Fort Lewis, Washington. After AIT he signed up for NCO school and in May he was promoted to the level of sergeant. In October he was deployed to Vietnam and was assigned to Charlie Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Evans. He and his unit participated in the establishment and operations around Firebase Ripcord until he was wounded in June, 1970. He left Vietnam in the second week of August 1970 and was discharged. 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 United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-10-10 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/1b9ecc71f3aa1e4e262f060db79e67f5.mp4 b832feba65593b15a64ba6440427f060 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/01d9483668b02b15aba290be13b8e33c.pdf 9621af61c772449b308c1185e6fb2e89 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Harry L. Fortier 43:23 Background Information (00:18)  Born August 5th 1952 in Ludington, Michigan (00:19)  Served in the Army Specialist 4th class (00:20)  Due to his father’s job, the family moved often.  He had lived in East Lancing, Ionia, and Saginaw where he spend the vast majority of his youth (00:38)  He was the oldest of 9 children. There were 7 boys and 2 girls (1:09)  Being the oldest, he often had a lot of responsibility. From age 12 and up, he was called upon to take care of his siblings at times (1:31)  Attended High school St. Peter and Paul area High School, a Catholic school in Saginaw, Michigan (2:06)  Did not enlist but rather was drafted. (Vietnam had been happening for 10 years approx. 1972) (2:19)  After receiving his draft notice he had been scared due to the high number of casualties occurring in the Vietnam war.(3:30)  He used the voluntary draft which allowed him to pick when he wanted to go into service and where he would do his basic training (4:02)  He had served in the Army for 2 years (17:10)  He got married to his wife Debbie after 1 year of service (17:15) Basic training (4:17)  Took Basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky (4:18)  He hoped that by training at this fort he would receive a military occupation that would not place him on the front lines (4:20)  Tried to avoid Fort Polk, Louisiana, or “little Vietnam”, if at all possible as many of the men who served here ended up being sent overseas. (4:50)  Ended up being a stevedore and was responsible for loading helicopters, trains, ships, ext. (4:55)  Basic training felt like harsh football training (5:15)  Basic training included training of weapons, utilities (such as gas masks and grenades) as well as following many orders (5:20)  He had witnessed some men intentionally hurt themselves or act insane so that they could be discharged. (6:00)  While working he had been exposed to Black service members from the city who he recalled would always play music they commonly heard in New York. He did not care for it. (7:20)  Arapaho and Apaches where also enlisted in the military and often these two groups would get in both physical and verbal arguments with one another. (8:00) �After training (8:40)  Was sent to Fort Bragg North ,Carolina (8:54)  Visited home once in August of that year (Approx 1973) and then returned back in September (9:10)  He spent Thanksgiving at Fort Eustis, Virginia, and Christmas at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (9:16)  This time had been very lonely for him (10:01)  Letters (and occasionally phone) had been the only form of communication between him and his family and loved ones (11:57)  He was able to tell his family almost anything about his training and whereabouts (13:03) Feelings and opinions about training (14:00)  He wished he had maintained more contact with men he had trained with (14:10)  He felt and still feels a bond of brotherhood between himself and others who had been serving in spite of the fact that he had never been in combat (15:55)  His only regret had been knowing what he knows now he could have been a bit better of a soldier (16:50) Life After service (16:58)  After his 2 years of service he traveled back to Michigan where they began raising a family. (Approx 1975) (17:17)  Due to his inability to make very much money, he quickly joined the Army reserve. (17:26)  Served 12-13 years in the Army Reserve (17:30)  Left the Army reserve after he was being asked to take on more responsibility but did not have the time to contribute to it (17:46)  He regrets having left the Army Reserve (17:54)  After the Vietnam War was over in 1975 and when he returned from the Army the war was still a very touchy topic and rarely discussed. (18:11)  His brother-in-law was spat on when he returned home from the Army (18:45)  After serving he had a college education benefit from the military (19:32)  Went back to college and got a degree (19:40)  He used V.A. benefits for home mortgages for his first home (19:46)  In college he studied industrial electronics and got an associates in applied sciences and industrial engineering (19:28)  While in college he was also in the Army reserve and had 4 children (21:00)  Some additional training was required for service in the Army reserve (21:54)  Was an M.P. (military police) while in the reserve (22:30) Service as an M.P. (23:05)  Served as a P.O.W. camp guard (23:11)  Was trained how to transport and deal with an “unruly” prisoner (23:30) �   He enjoyed this position (24:23) Some of the men he trained with were sent into the Gulf War in 1990 to run P.O.W. camps. They said it had been nothing like the training and that the prisoners were more subordinate (24:40) He was always on the edge of going someplace but never actually was deployed (25:55) Additional Military service info (26:11)  He knew of 2 men who deserted (26:15)  He never considered going AWOL however, he did consider going to Canada (27:08)  The training he received and where he went was mostly by chance. (27:46)  By extending time of duty often one could select the type of job or training they wanted. (28:00)  He did not feel that he would have liked to extend his serve due to the probability of him serving in Germany (rumored to be very hard on family life) (29:20) Added thoughts and memories (30:20)  Often visits the Vietnam memorial (30:30)  Often visits the Korean War monument (31:28)  Feels as though the contribution that the military makes is often taken for granted (32:18)  The military taught him a lot about independence and perseverance (33:32)  Took the core values of the military very seriously and helped him in life (34:29)  The military also exposed him to the “dark underbelly” of humanity such as drugs, addiction and self mutilation (36:10)  The training and connections with people were much appreciated (38:00)  Encouraged his children to go into service (38:20)  Also encourages other youths to enlist, and thinks the life lessons of the military are very helpful (39:40) � 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 FortierH1230V Title A name given to the resource Fortier, Harry L. (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fortier, Harry Description An account of the resource Harry L. Fortier grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, and was drafted into the Army in 1972. He served primarily at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, loading and unloading helicopters, and did not have to go overseas. When he left the Army at the time when the Vietnam War was ending, he experienced some of the same negative treatment that returnees from Vietnam went through. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fortier, Hallie (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 Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American 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 2011-05-31 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/fb242b73c3521404cd66f7956818044e.mp4 9d8bcb84921613c7d4fdaa88a65ba41d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d08ddd3886229de5412debf695d1fbbb.pdf 3a7f2ee432616d3e4717bfb7f31d7684 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Korean War Interviewee’s Name: James Follis Length of Interview: 32 mins. Pre-Enlistment (00:30)  Childhood (00:33) o Follis was born on April 2, 1933. He does not discuss anything from his childhood but focuses wholeheartedly on his military background and experience. (00:37)  Military Background (00:39) o Served as a corporal in the Korean War. (00:40) Enlistment/Basic Training (00:44)  Why he joined (00:46) o He enlisted because he wanted to have his choice of armed service branch rather than get drafted. (00:48) o Joined up with the U.S. Army’s Security Agency at the age of 19 because he thought it would be fun. (01:13)  Where he went (01:43) o Was shipped off to Fort Riley, KS where he had his first taste of military basic training. He discusses how his instructors always yelled at him and how it was in his best interest to just listen and obey them. (02:03) Active Duty (02:40)  Korea (02:46) o Once he had completed basic training he set off for Seoul, Korea where he landed. Was moved by BMZ from Tokyo, Japan to Seoul. Spent 11 months in Korea. (03:07) o Briefly describes his job as a radar operator with twelve others and its responsibilities in some detail. (03:42)  As he mentions all their work was classified top-secret. (05:16) �o Often, he could hear the sound of battle over the next hill while he worked. (05:38) o Memorable Moments (05:50)  Landing in Seoul. (05:55)  Kept in contact with his family by letter and (06:28)  Describes the holidays they celebrated and the food they ate while in Korea. (07:01) o While radio operators like him did not face much wartime stress they were very much shunned by others for being part of the Army’s Security Agency. (08:03) o On occasion, they could hear snipers shooting and would rush to grab their rifles and go out on patrol. He only did this on one occasion. (08:47) o Describes in detail, some of the pranks he and his unit pulled while in Korea. (09:41) After the Service (11:10) o Background (11:22) o When the war was complete, Follis mentions the various hunting expeditions he went on. (11:48) o Briefly mentions a few relatives and friends who served in Korea. (12:50) o While on leave, Follis went to Tokyo for some R&R of which he spent shopping and going to the bar. (14:01) o Backs up and mentions the various places he was stationed in the U.S. such as Fort Knox, KY and Camp Gordon, GA. (14:47) o Going Home (16:47) o During his first eighteen days in Korea, Follis describes how close his unit was to the frontlines. (17:18) o When he left Korea it took him 22 days to reach San Francisco, upon which time went to the payroll office, got his check, and then flew home. Describes what other soldiers usually had to do different than him because he was an intelligence officer. (17:49) o Other Stories (19:20) �o Briefly shares what troubles, security guards like himself had with Army MPs and tells a few stories to illustrate this point. (19:33) o It came to the point, when he was attached to an infantry platoon and was kicked out because of the pranks he pulled. (21:35) o High school interviewer mentions that the grandfather was part of a rebel unit. Briefly shares what living arrangements were like in Korea. (22:15) o Adjusting to Home (24:47) o He returned to the U.S. in March and did not get married until a year later. (25:07) o Afterwards, he went back to working for 7UP Distributing Co. and worked there for the next 17 years. (26:16) o Reflection (26:37) o Describes how his military service affected his life and how it enriched the rest of his life. Also mentions how his military experience affected his parents who had a son with an FBI level clearance working as an intelligence officer in Korea. (27:30) o Interview completed (30:31) � 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 FollisJ Title A name given to the resource Follis, James (Interview outline and video), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Follis, James Description An account of the resource James Follis is a Korean War veteran who served with the U.S. Army's Security Agency for a period of 11 months. In this account, Day discusses his pre-enlistment years, his enlistment and training in the U.S. During his service in Korea, although close to the fighting he did not take part in the fighting, instead his work as a radio operator and security required him to work with Top-Secret classified documents Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Strong, Heather (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. 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 2004-04-08 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/411b95fdbde45cd20a8cd40bdfc583cc.m4v 6163bbe55a88053bec2fad46c346e1ce https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/115438089b1ddffbbee292b1356d4635.pdf 5b2e7a4299e31fb54617b5bb4301292f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Name of War: World War II Name of Interviewee: Harold Folkema Length of Interview: 1hr 20mins. Pre-Enlistment (00:14)  Childhood and education (00:06) o Attended Burton School through the 10th Grade in Grand Rapids, Michigan and then joined the workforce. (00:19)  His Jobs (00:25) o Describes briefly what work was like during the Depression, how he met his wife, and married life. (00:45) Enlistment and Basic Training (01:53)  Background (01:55) o Was 21 when the draft was initiated. He got deferred for a little while because he was married until he received a letter to report and go into the service. (02:11) o Briefly describes how the draft worked and what happened once a recruit was selected. Mentions how men were put into either 4F or 4A. For Folkema, he was called into the service in 1943 and told to report to Detroit, Michigan, for preliminary physicals and testing. (03:10)   After his time here, he stayed in Grand Rapids where he waited for a notice to report. Once he received it, he went by train to Battle Creek where he was at an army camp for a week and then went by train to Florida to report for basic training. (05:09) Florida (06:20) o Went by bus to a training camp to be trained as an Army infantryman. During the course of his 13 weeks here he describes what sorts of weapons he trained with and his regular routine here. (06:31) o Mentions what his drill sergeants were like and that he received training in the usage of machine guns, carbines, .45 pistols, mortars, and hand grenades. Also �underwent under-fire exercises to prepare him for what he would face once he was overseas. (08:11) o During his training there, the men never knew where they were going to end up: the Pacific or Europe. They did however find out later that they were going to be sent to [fight against] Germany. (10:19) o During his 13 weeks of intensive training, he maintained a regular correspondence with his wife by letter mentioning how his experience was and what he was facing. Once out of basic training he went home, came back, fell sick and was in the hospital for 10 days and was on furlough again until he was shipped to his next station of duty. (11:34)  Fort Meade, Maryland (13:01) o He was soon redeployed to Maryland. Briefly describes what the camp was like here and what his regular routine consisted of. (13:11)  Journey to England (14:00) o Mentions what his feelings were on the way to England and what the journey consisted of. (14:25) Active Duty (15:22)  In England (15:26) o Arrived in Portsmouth, England where he was placed with the 1st Division as a replacement. From his comrades he found out that he was in the best division in the army. Later on he was part of the first wave to land on the Normandy beaches on DDay. Mentions that nobody knew when they were going to be pushing off for France. (15:47) o Describes briefly what training he received in England and what they did to prepare for the invasion. Mentions how they learned to transfer from a troop ship to a landing craft via a rope ladder carrying a carbine, bazooka, and a 40-pound pack. He further mentions that they would be compacted 40 men to each landing craft. (17:07)  Normandy Invasion (18:59) o D-Day (19:05)  Briefly describes what he saw and heard as the troop ships came closer to the Normandy shore as the warships fired on the beaches. As this was �going on, describes how difficult it was for many men to get on to the landing crafts via the rope ladder because the ship would be rolling up and down in the water. Also briefly describes what the mood was like as the landing crafts pushed towards the beaches (19:25)  Describes in some detail what occurred once the landing craft doors were dropped and how he and his comrades were up to water to what seemed to be up to their necks as they were being fired at with men falling everywhere around him with the screams and shouts of men dying. (25:18)  After spending [what seemed like?] hours in the water being fired at from the shoreline a nearby colonel ordered them to move forward and told them it would be better to die on the beach then in the water. As they moved towards the beaches, soaking wet, they got rid of their equipment and packs so that they would not be slowed down by the weight on their backs to reach the beaches. Slogging their way forward many of the men were killed by exploding land mines or machine gun fire. (26:31)  Once they came close enough to a pillbox they were out of range of the big guns and were able to use flamethrowers and grenades to explode them. Movement and attacking German beach defensives was done in a straight line. (29:08)  Briefly describes one encounter in some detail where he and three others volunteered to go get more ammunition from the dead on the beach. Mentions that while all this was going on that they were under heavy artillery and machine gun fire. (30:54)  They eventually made it back, distributed the ammo to the group of 10 or 12 there and dug in for the night. Describes what the events of the night were like. (33:25) o Events following D-Day +1 (34:53)  On the 2nd day of battle, he mentions that they ate K-rations salvaged from the dead. Mentions that they spent the entire first day without eating. (35:28)  As they slogged forward, Folkema mentions what the Normandy terrain was like that they fought in. All the while those men were moving forward, others were becoming casualties from exploding landmines and daily skirmishes with the Germans. Briefly describes what his mission �entailed as they were moving through the first town they made it through. (36:41)  Briefly goes into some detail of what the reactions of civilians to the Allies’ landing were like as they moved through the Normandy countryside. (40:53)  Briefly describes the different types of skirmishes they encountered facing the Germans. When faced with a German sniper in the area for instance they would call the tanks for assistance to clear out snipers and then move forward. (42:55) o The Hedgerow Country fighting (44:09)  Briefly goes into some detail about what the battle situation was like while fighting through the hedgerow country. Mentions facing off with French women sympathetic to the German cause and the Germany Army itself. (44:58)  It took them weeks to finally move out of the Hedgerow Country. The food situation during this time was eating K-rations and drinking water from streams. (46:51)  Once the kitchen staff caught up to the men he describes how the mood of the men changed after that. Further describes what the mentality of the men was like as they moved through the Hedgerows. (47:59) o Farming terrain they encountered once out of the Hedgerow Country (49:29)  Describes how French civilians reacted to the Allied presence in France and then mentions what the house-to-house fighting was like. Also, mention that time was measured in days and hours. (49:42) o Background to Battle of the Bulge/house-to-house fighting (51:28)  As they moved further towards Germany, he mentions how the fighting became fiercer. When moving forward they were equipped with light machine guns and then when taking defensive positions they would have heavy machine guns at their disposal. (52:01)  Spends a great amount of time describing the carnage on the beaches and water around Normandy. (54:03) � Briefly relates in some detail what resistance they faced while in and around St. Lo although he was stationed 20 miles from where the actual bombing was taking place in the town itself. (55:41)  On one encounter, when positioned in their foxhole in the Ardennes’ Forest he had to stop a buddy from running away from attacking German tanks. (57:02)  Describes several close encounters with German snipers in some detail. (58:00)  Describes another encounter where as they were clearing out a building they discovered a group of German soldiers who they promptly captured. Mentions that they middle-aged and older Germans would give up sooner than younger German soldiers would fight to the death. (59:32) o Siegfried Line (1:00:36)  Describes what his experience was like crossing the Siegfried Line before reaching Aachen, Germany. (1:00:45) o Battle of Aachen (1:01:35)  Describes how the fighting was house-to-house. The combat in some places consisted of hand-to-hand and other places from far away. Moving through this area they were given orders to use bayonets even though they didn’t actually use them in actual combat here except at the Battle of the Bulge. (1:02:05)  Briefly describes what the weather was like at the Battle of the Bulge and how they camouflaged themselves in different types of terrains. (1:03:20)  Describes one encounter where he and three buddies spent three days under a railroad bridge in Germany while on a reconnaissance mission separated from their unit. After three days, Allied forces moved through the region and picked them up. (1:04:55) o Moving towards Germany (1:07:25)  Once under Patton’s charge, he describes how the speed of the Army was faster. Describes some of the places they moved through during this time. (1:07:28) o Germany (1:08:09) � Goes into some detail about how he was wounded and events leading up to it. (1:09:02)  Before crossing a bridge on the Ruhr River, he stepped on a mine, upon which it blew his ankles apart and was then hauled by a buddy to a nearby half track. From here he walked back to a first aid station. (1:09:50) o Southampton, England (1:11:13)  Describes what they did for him at the way station and then his journey from Cherbourg, Germany where he had surgery in a field hospital, and then from there went by plane to Southampton, England where he had three months of recuperation. (1:11:25)  Spent much of his recuperation in a tent while area was bombed by V-2 rockets. One of the nurses he knew was deeply affected by this experience. Took two months to get back on his feet. (1:12:39) o Brussels, Belgium (1:14:15)  Was then sent to Belgium where he was attached to the Leavenworth Service. Was stationed in a shell building in Brussels where he was a maintenance sergeant over German POWs. Briefly describes what their duties were like. Also mentions that he had 85 points when the war ended. (1:14:20) After the Service (1:15:35) o Going Home (1:15:52)  Mentions that he was put aboard a victory ship for the states. Took 13 days to reach Boston, Massachusetts where upon landing he took a train to Indiana where he boarded another train for another train station. Briefly describes what the homecoming reception was like with his wife and daughter who had never seen him before that time. (1:16:46)  Celebrated the end of the war with a bowl of ice cream with a few buddies just as others were boarding ship to go overseas. (1:18:49) o Interview Ends (1:19:58) � 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 FolkemaH Title A name given to the resource Folkema, Harold (Interview outline and video), 2002 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Folkema, Harold Description An account of the resource Harold Folkema is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. In this account, Folkema discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S. and England. Assigned to the 1st Infantry Division as a replacement in May 1944, he participated in the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach, and fought through Normandy, northern France, Belgium and into Germany, where he was wounded by a mine. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 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 2002-08-23 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/9ba8c8cd448ab52e7ecf83645719bcca.m4v fc55c81336a5a17d11fdac9a58b190cd https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a47350cf0874b2c4ce6c9e727c12f8e1.pdf 141a38ee2113983ddc9f3bb2ec2a4344 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Dorothy Folkema Interviewer: James Smither Transcribed by Emilee G. Johnson, Western Michigan University Length: 35:42 James Smither: We’re talking today with Dorothy Folkema of Kentwood, Michigan, the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project. And Mrs. Folkema, can you begin by giving us some background on yourself, to start with, tell us where and when you were born. Dorothy Folkema: I was born in Grand Rapids, right on Knap????? Avenue, in fact, not far from, not far out of town, but we didn’t stay on that farm long, we moved into a small farm north of Lowell, in Keen?????? Township. James Smither: And what year were you born? Dorothy Folkema: I was born in 1922. James Smither: And then when did you move out of Grand Rapids? Dorothy Folkema: Well, I can’t even remember, I was just that young. James Smither: And then did you grow up out there in the country? Dorothy Folkema: Then, yes, then I grew up out there. Then we moved on a farm, and I remember that, a farm in ???? Township, and I remember taking the cattle, walking the cattle, 1:00 with my dad, and it was a small farm. And lovely neighbors and there’s where I grew up and went to grade school and, until I graduated, of course, in 8th grade. And then I came into Grand Rapids to live with my older sister and go to school. James Smither: Now, did your family keep that farm in the ‘30s, or? Dorothy Folkema: My dad, my [unintelligible], they kept that farm for a long, long time. We had a chestnut grove on the farm, and that was our way of making a good living. Paying our farm off, I’m sure, and then my folks, my father passed away. That was long after I was married. And then my mother finally had to sell the farm. James Smither: Did your father do any other work during this period, or? Dorothy Folkema: No, no. He was just a farmer. James Smither: And was it the chestnuts themselves or the wood from the trees? �Dorothy Folkema: No, the chestnuts themselves, and course, 2:00 they got a disease in them and were wiped out completely. And that was kind of sad because they were beautiful, they were a beautiful grove of trees. James Smither: And then you said, once you finished 8th grade, so did you go to high school, or? Dorothy Folkema: Then I went to, into Grand Rapids, in fact, right by the old Kent County Airport. And I stayed with, and I lived with my sister and her family and went to high school. James Smither: And which high school did you attend? Dorothy Folkema: Godwin. James Smither: And how far was that from your home? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, a mile. But my, I have a niece that’s two years younger than me, and she drove a Model T Ford back and forth to school. James Smither: Now, what year did you finish high school? Dorothy Folkema: I didn’t. I quit high school to go to work. Because I started to go with my husband, and of course, money was very short. 3:00 And jobs were very scarce and I found a job, and so I quit school to go to work. James Smither: All right. Now, when did you meet your husband? Dorothy Folkema: I met my husband in 1939. Yeah, so ’39. On a blind date. James Smither: Now, was he in school himself, or was he out working? Dorothy Folkema: He was out working. James Smither: And what kind of work was he doing? Dorothy Folkema: Anything he could get. Jobs were very hard to find. James Smither: And what kind of job did you find? Dorothy Folkema: I went to work at Veltman Cookie Company. Cause I could get a job there. James Smither: And what kind of work was that? What were you doing for them? Dorothy Folkema: We packed cookies. James Smither: Ok. What did that pay, do you remember? �Dorothy Folkema: .25 cents an hour. If I worked 54 hours, I made $17. James Smither: 54 hours? And did you do that regularly? Dorothy Folkema: Well, we didn’t get that many hours in. James Smither: And then when did you get married? Dorothy Folkema: We got married in ’41. In April of ’41. James Smither: And were you still working at the cookie company at that time? Dorothy Folkema: Mmhmm, but then I quit, because, oh, I couldn’t be working because, possibly, he could get called up for service, and it wouldn’t be a good idea I’d be working. James Smither: Well, why would that be a problem? Dorothy Folkema: It was if, well he, he claimed that he had to take care of his family. His father had passed away. Or, his father at that time was ill. And he claimed he had to keep, take care of the family to keep out of service. He did everything to keep out of service, I’ll be very frank. And it finally didn’t work. James Smither: No, it didn’t work. And we have an interview with him in our collection how he ended up on Omaha Beach on D-Day, so… Dorothy Folkema: Yep, he ended up on Omaha Beach on D-Day. 5:00 James Smither: So, basically, what you were trying to do, was sort of help with his deferment status. Dorothy Folkema: Yes, uh huh. And we stayed with his folks. James Smither: And then when did he get drafted? Dorothy Folkema: He went in in, see, ’43, September of ’43. Our daughter was born in February of ’43. James Smither: And so you were living at his parents’ house, you had a baby at home, and he gets drafted. All right. What did you do once he went off to train? Dorothy Folkema: Well I stayed with, continued with his father that had passed away in January, before our daughter was born. And then I stayed living with the family, there was three children living at home, now. And I had a family. I had it good, I had a wonderful family. �James Smither: Now, tell me about, just what, sort of, daily life was like, in that period before he’s gone. What kinds of problems or things 6:00 did you have to deal with then that people today wouldn’t be familiar with? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, I really can’t think I involved in, there was nothing. James Smither: Well, what about things, you had rationing at that time? Dorothy Folkema: I can’t remember what, possibly we did, but having three more children at home, rationing wasn’t… You couldn’t afford to buy much anyway, so. [laughs] James Smither: But did you have to use coupons to buy things like sugar? Dorothy Folkema: Yes, we had to use coupons to buy sugar. I don’t think flour, and I can’t remember, and shoes, and gasoline. Gasoline. James Smither: Now, were the kinds of things you needed for, you know, your baby or your children and so forth, were those relatively easy to get? Dorothy Folkema: Yes, I mean, I had no problem with that. I, yeah, you could get that, 7:00 not the best in the West, but, I mean, it wasn’t like you could get today. If you had a baby bottle, you didn’t throw it away. Cause there wasn’t, well, you couldn’t afford to buy a lot of things anyway. No, my baby was well-supplied with essentials that she needed. James Smither: Ok, and what did you do for fun on the occasions that you got to have any? What would you do for entertainment then? Dorothy Folkema: At that time? Go to relatives. Went to a sister’s house. We could go to a sister’s house and play cards. But we weren’t allowed to play cards at his house because they were “devil cards.” James Smither: Ok, and let’s see, did you go to church every week? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yes, went to church every Sunday. And grandma usually took care of the baby. Let’s see, she’d go in the morning, and 8:00 I’d go at night and she’d take care of my baby. James Smither: Now, did you have a lot of friends your own age that you saw much of, or did you not see much of them when you left school, or? Dorothy Folkema: No, I didn’t see much of them after I left school. Relatives, family, and course, my folks on the farm, we went out there. And my husband loved to go out �there because he liked to hunt. And we’d go out to the farm quite often, because he loved small game hunting. James Smither: Now, did you have a radio that you listened to, or? Dorothy Folkema: Yes, we listened to the radio, course, no television, at that time. James Smither: And were there particular programs or things that you liked to listen to or you remember, or? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, I can’t remember any particular thing. James Smither: Now, do you remember how you heard about Pearl Harbor? Dorothy Folkema: Yes. 9:00 We were out, it was on a Sunday, we were out to the farm, out to my folks, and we had the radio on in the car, on the way home. That’s when we heard it. And we knew. James Smither: Now at that point did you or your husband have siblings or relatives who were already in the military at that time, or? Dorothy Folkema: No, no. James Smither: There was a draft already. Dorothy Folkema: There was a draft already, oh, there, my husband’s birthday is October 13, or October 16, and he, they had to register, and he had to register on his birthday, he, yep. That was a sad day. James Smither: Now, before he was actually called up, did he go and report different places or do physicals and things like that? Dorothy Folkema: Bigelow Field on Division Avenue, that’s where, and I got to where I didn’t even want to ride down Division Avenue. 10:00 Because there was a fear of all those, the numbers were listed. James Smither: So the numbers were listed, you say, was there the equivalent of a lottery, or? Dorothy Folkema: Yeah, to get called up! James Smither: And they were calling up pretty large chunks of each group too, a lot of people. Dorothy Folkema: Yes, but they weren’t, they called singled first and then married men with, that had a dependent. I can’t just remember how it went, but, eventually, then, he did get called up. �James Smither: So he didn’t have a particular kind of job, then, that would give him necessarily a deferment? Dorothy Folkema: He worked at Kalvinator. He was doing war work at that time. But it wasn’t, they didn’t defer him. James Smither: At a certain point they just needed enough people to come in as replacements, so he did that. All right, and then what was your response 11:00 sort of, as a family, when you found out— Dorothy Folkema: We were all devastated. That he would be getting called up and he had to go in September. James Smither: And were you following the news of the war pretty carefully, or paying attention? Dorothy Folkema: No. I ignored it. That’s how I handled it. His mother did, she followed it, and it made a wreck out of her. And I, I’m in my married little life and my little girl and, she was spoiled rotten, and made the best of it. That’s the way you did it. No help, at that time, there was no help. People get all kinds of help today, there was nothing. Nothing. James Smither: And what kind of help are you referring to here? Dorothy Folkema: Like babysitting. There was no daycare centers. There was no place to take your child. You had to go to 12:00 work. He left. And I suppose I could’ve gone back home on the farm with the folks, but there was nothing there. I vaguely drove. I hardly drove before he left, I didn’t have a drivers’ license, and I said to, I got a job at Lear’s and I hitch-hiked back and forth to work, and I didn’t drive, because I didn’t drive much, I didn’t have a drivers’ license, and I said to one of the girls at work, “I need a drivers’ license,” and she said, “Well, I’ll go with you.” Bless her heart, her name was Irma, and she went with me, down on Hall Street, to a little brick building, Snyder, I think his name was, took me for a ride around the block, didn’t ask me to park [laughs], and gave me my drivers’ 13:00 license. That’s how I got my drivers’ license. James Smither: All right, I think a lot of people who go through driver education now would think that’s a pretty good deal! Dorothy Folkema: Oh, my goodness. There was no drivers education, course, there was no cars on the road, either. James Smither: Right. And he understood that you basically had to get to work, and… �Dorothy Folkema: Mmhmm James Smither: All right, now, tell me a little about the job. How did you get the job? Dorothy Folkema: You went and put in an application. I had a friend, her name was Nellie and she needed to go to work too, and I had to, so we both went and put our application in and was hired. And oh, then, by that time, they hired everybody. Anybody and everybody. James Smither: So what kind of work were you doing there? Dorothy Folkema: I did, I wound armatures. James Smither: Can you describe that, physically, a little bit for people who don’t know what that is? Dorothy Folkema: Well, it’s a little gadget that goes in a motor, that’s all I can tell you. And you wind wires in it and it’s precision work. And it was very, 14:00 very pleasant work. Everyone was very pleasant to work with and you had a quota to get out and I really enjoyed. James Smither: So did you work in a big room with a bunch of other people? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yeah, you had your table and chair. Table and chair and the girl brought your equipment to you and… James Smither: So did you talk to other people while you…? Dorothy Folkema: Oh yeah, you could, sure. Sure. James Smither: And about how many people working together in the same place, do you think? Dorothy Folkema: We probably had about ten or twelve. James Smither: Ok, so it’s not a gigantic… Dorothy Folkema: Well, there was people all around us in different sections working. James Smither: Right. And you had your own particular section. And what sort of people are working alongside you? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, just people like myself, some of them were single girls, some were married, husbands overseas, like myself. James Smither: But all women? �Dorothy Folkema: All women. Mmhmm. 15:00 The men, any man was young, under 18, or crippled that couldn’t go to the service. James Smither: Now were there men in other parts of the factory? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yeah, older men. James Smither: Older men. Dorothy Folkema: Older men, beyond going. James Smither: Ok, and what did this job pay? Do you remember that? Dorothy Folkema: .75 cents an hour. James Smither: Ok, so it was a lot better than packing cookies then. All right. Now was your husband sending money home or did part of his paycheck come to you? Dorothy Folkema: Well, the government gave you $50 a month. And you got $20 if you had a child, so I got $80 a month. James Smither: So were you able to save anything at that time? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yes! I lived on my money that I made and I, yes. Can I tell you this story? James Smither: Yes. Dorothy Folkema: We had bought 16:00 a house in May. Jane was born in February and we bought a little house in May. And it had renters in it, and we stayed, living with his mother, and kept the renters in the house. They were an old couple. And they paid $20 a month rent. So I got my $80 a month, and my $20 a month, and I put it together, and paid for the house. Yep, and then saved money after that. James Smither: Now, once your husband had headed off to go into training, did you write to each other? Dorothy Folkema: Oh yes, every day. We didn’t know what to write. I remember being so bored. What do you write every day? You go to work, you get up in the morning, you have breakfast, you go to work, you hitchhike, you get a ride with a truck driver, you get to work. It was the same old thing every day, it was so bored. 17:00 And he couldn’t write anything. He wrote practically all the time, if he could, but he couldn’t… James Smither: He couldn’t say much. �Dorothy Folkema: He couldn’t say much. James Smither: Now, when he did write to you, did his letters sometimes come back with things cut out of them? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yeah. James Smither: Blacked out? Dorothy Folkema: About all were blacked out. James Smither: And did he also use the V Mails? Dorothy Folkema: The V Mail. That was later, a little later on and then he used V Mail. James Smither: Can you describe what the V Mail was or what it looked like? Dorothy Folkema: It was a sheet of paper and it was, I think it was photographed. And you got the photograph copy. James Smither: So it almost looks like a negative copy, sort of white on black or whatever. Dorothy Folkema: Yes. James Smither: [unintelligible] Now those hold up pretty well. Dorothy Folkema: Oh yeah, yeah. I wish I’d kept more of them. James Smither: All right, now, did it help him to get letters from you, did he appreciate that? Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yes, uh huh. I remember once incident, I wrote him a letter, if you ever come home, I’ll rub your back every night. 18:00 And so he cut that out and saved it. [laughs] James Smither: Now, did he get to come home at all? Dorothy Folkema: Oh no, no, no. Well, when he was in basic, yes. Not when he was in basic. He was in basic training for six weeks, in Stark, Florida. And then after basic training he came home, and then was going to be shipped right out. And he would’ve been shipped to Italy, but then he got pneumonia, and was in the hospital, and then came home on a convalescent furlough. And then was shipped right out from there. And then he went to England, of course, I didn’t know that, but he went to England. James Smither: Well what was it like having him home again, just a little while after he got started? �Dorothy Folkema: Well, it was a pleasure, we had fun and went visiting, and course, we had the baby and… James Smither: And then once he heads out again, how long 19:00 did it take for you to hear from him? Dorothy Folkema: It was quite a while before I heard from him, and we were going to get this little thing going where he put my middle initial, but we never could solve it. It would be Dorothy I or E, or whatever, but we never could solve it. James Smither: And that was supposed to tip off where he was. Dorothy Folkema: Yeah, where he was, but he never could tell where he was. I had no idea whether he went to Japan or whether he went to Europe. James Smither: And then, you had mentioned before, you didn’t follow the news of the war, did that change once he was in, or? Dorothy Folkema: I followed to a certain extent, but no, when you have a family at home, how can you listen to a radio that much? His mother, of course, I remember invasion morning, 20:00 they were shouting “Invasion!” on the corner and selling papers and all the invasion, we knew then he was in Europe. We knew that. We knew he was in the invasion. And that was a dread. That was a hard time. James Smither: And then how long after D-Day was it before you heard from him? Dorothy Folkema: It was probably months. But a long time. James Smither: So you really had no idea where he was. Dorothy Folkema: I had no idea. James Smither: Now was this a period when they were sending out telegrams to people which…? Dorothy Folkema: Yes, they were sending out telegrams, I think that somebody delivered a telegram. James Smither: If they were told that somebody was wounded or somebody was missing or something like that. Dorothy Folkema: Uh huh. And we had girls I worked with lost their husband. Or their husband, as mine was, 21:00 wounded. James Smither: And do you remember getting that notification. �Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yes, I was a work and luckily that day, I had drove my car. Which was a rarity because you didn’t have the gas, my tires weren’t good, and you were always afraid of a breakdown. In fact, I worked on my own car, put in a head gasket. And washed it, and to this day, I wash my own car. A girl came up to me, the lead lady and says, you’re wanted at home. Well, I knew. It was in February. And it was icy and I fell and I cut my knee, trying to get out in a hurry, and I got home and the telegram was there, that he had been wounded in both legs and right elbow. That’s all it said. 22:00 That’s what you’re left hanging with for weeks. Then I got a little card that says, “progressing well.” Finally I got a letter from him, and it says, “[unintelligible], but I’m sleeping between sheets for the first time in months.” He was in the hospital. Then he was, the hospital was bombed, while he was in the hospital, and one of the nurses right next to him was killed. James Smither: Was that in England? Dorothy Folkema: Mmhmm, that was in England, on the buzz bombs. He’ll tell you about the buzz bombs. When you heard them it was safe, when they stopped, they were landing. And he was in the hospital for three months. James Smither: So pretty much until the end of the war, then, at that point. Dorothy Folkema: Then he came out, no— James Smither: Well, at least the end of the war in Europe. 23:00 Dorothy Folkema: No, no. He was in the hospital. Then he went into inactive service, and he went into Belgium. Went into Brussels, Belgium. And he maintain?????, a sergeant to a building there, and he told about taking Eisenhower up in the elevator. And he sent, then he sent things home, sent boxes home, he even had our little girl a white fur coat. And he got acquainted with the natives there, the Belgium people and was invited for dinner, and then, of course, he had it real good. Then, the war was over and he was mustered out, to his points, by his points. And we counted points. Got so many points for being married, so many points for having a child, so many points for every battle he was in. 24:00 Which he was in the Battle of the Bulge and the Hurtgen Forest, and… James Smither: Yes, I believe he was in the First Division, which did a lot of fighting. Dorothy Folkema: He was in the First Division, Sixteenth Infantry. James Smither: And D-Day, all the way into the Battle of the Bulge, and that would add up a fair number of points. �Dorothy Folkema: But he talks, he doesn’t, he talked more of the Hurtgen Forest, he said that was the worst. Worst of the Battle of the Bulge, to him, anyway. James Smither: Right, that was particularly unpleasant fighting and it went on and on and on. Dorothy Folkema: On and on. Mmhmm. James Smither: Yeah, at least D-Day was short. Dorothy Folkema: We used to go down in Florida to a memorial for Battle of the Bulge, and all the Battle of the Bulge guys, men, were there and it was fun to hear all of them, their comments, they all had stories to tell. James Smither: Now, your husband himself wasn’t much of a talker. Dorothy Folkema: No, no, no, no. You couldn’t get much words out of him. In fact, when he came home from service, I knew nothing of what 25:00 he went through. Not a clue. He went on with his life and never said a word. He never had any hang-ups, he never had any problems, a lot of women were saying, “Oh my goodness, my husband wakes up screaming,” never had that, never. I don’t know how I could’ve handled it, if I did, I probably would’ve but I didn’t. James Smither: That was one of the things at that time, the expectation was for a lot of these men that they would stay quiet and you didn’t normally talk about that kind of thing. Dorothy Folkema: He wasn’t talkative. James Smither: He wasn’t talkative to you. Dorothy Folkema: No. James Smither: That did eventually change, though, he did start to tell his story. Dorothy Folkema: Well, he did start that, when he started, then everybody, “Well! What’s happened here?” You know, he did. James Smither: Now, what sort of effect, do you think it had on you, 26:00 to kind of go through that experience of having your husband drafted and taken off and you’re having to just change your life and go in a different work and start to raise children on your own? What kind of effect did that have on you? Dorothy Folkema: I think it grew me up. [laughs] You grow up at kind of a faster rate, but still, back in those days, women depended on their husbands for decisions, and the first thing I wrote, I, in the house, which I was renting out, the furnace went, something had to be done to the furnace, so I write to him, in service, and ask him �what had to be done, was I to get a new furnace or get the furnace repaired? Well, I get a letter back, “do what you think is best.” Well, I guess I’ve got to make some decisions here. James Smither: So did you get used to that pretty quickly? Dorothy Folkema: Quite quick. [laughs] Quite quick. 27:00 James Smither: Did you, as you were trying to do that kind of thing, I mean, you’re managing property, you’re working at a job, and so forth, was it sometimes difficult to get people to listen to you or take you seriously because you were a woman or, was that…? Dorothy Folkema: I think people, I think the whole world started to change. The whole world started to change. Women were home, doing housework and taking care of the kids and I think women started to go out to work, they knew there was a world out there for them and they were shocked. The whole world changed then. There was no more of this little mouse in the corner. James Smither: All right, you kind of had to take care of yourself and you did. Dorothy Folkema: Yeah. James Smither: Ok, now, after he came back, did you quit your job, or did you stay working? Dorothy Folkema: No. You were immediately done working the war work was done. And I think I drew unemployment for a little while, no then I didn’t go back to work and wishing for another child, 28:00 which took me six years, for this one out here [points]. [laughs] So, finally then, I had another little baby, kind of spoiled her. James Smither: Now, what did you do for child care at that point, did your…? Dorothy Folkema: You mean during the war? Why, my mother-in-law. I had it made. I got up in the morning and went to work, she took care of my little girl. James Smither: Now, were there women you were working with who had more trouble finding…? Dorothy Folkema: Didn’t, they had a terrible time. And I heard horror stories. They didn’t know what to do, they couldn’t find, they had to go to work, they couldn’t find somebody to take care of their children, and some of them were mistreated, that one woman said her father was mean to her. She had to stay home. And I mean, she didn’t get the check through to help her. And I’ve heard 29:00 a lot of horror stories. I didn’t have that. I had a wonderful family, and we had fun and on �a very occasion we went out to eat, on occasion, and my mother-in-law and I’d take a little ride—a little ride, no gas, you know—and we’d go to the drug store, which drug stores had ice cream places then, and we’d have a sundae, that was our treat. James Smither: Did you go to movies, or? Dorothy Folkema: No. Not too much, no. I can’t remember ever going to a movie. James Smither: Was that something your in-laws didn’t approve of? Dorothy Folkema: I suppose, I suppose not. And how do you get there? There wasn’t that many around. James Smither: Right, cause you’re not right in town. Dorothy Folkema: No. James Smither: Right where the theaters were. Dorothy Folkema: Occasionally, now once a month, there was a church in Godwin Heights that 30:00 had a dinner, and the girls I worked with would give me a dime for gas, they’d pitch in a dime, and course, I don’t know how much gas was, couldn’t have been very much, and we’d go out to Godwin Heights for dinner, to a church. That was a treat. A big deal! [laughs] James Smither: All right. Now, if you wanted to compare, sort of, what life was like for young families then as opposed to now, what sort of basic differences would you point to? Dorothy Folkema: There was no help then. Young families now can get food stamps, they can get welfare help, they can get all kinds of things out there for them. There was nothing. There was no help. James Smither: Yeah, this was a [unintelligible] there had been 31:00 New Deal programs and things that had gone in, I mean, there were some beginnings of a welfare system or something like that. Dorothy Folkema: Well, it started a little bit helping, but it wasn’t advertised, or you didn’t know it. Things weren’t expensive then either. I remember a doctor appointment was $6. And I always paid for the doctor, I mean, I never ever walked out of a doctor’s office without paying the bill. Never. James Smither: Well, things were more affordable then, than they are now, I expect, for that. �Dorothy Folkema: You managed. That came first. In fact, when my husband came home, my daughter had eye trouble, and I had, we didn’t have insurance, there wasn’t even a doctor then. I did some research on that one, 32:00 finally found a doctor in Grand Rapids, that would take care of it, did for years, she still has eye trouble. James Smither: Now, to think back during that period when Harold was away and you were raising your daughter and so forth, are there particular events and things that happened, particular memories that come back to you? Dorothy Folkema: Yeah, my car broke down. [laughs] Yes. It wasn’t running good and there was a gas station on the corner and that man was very helpful to me. And I was scared to drive to the gas pump. I didn’t drive very good, you know. And my brother, young brother-in-law, would take the car over and get gas, well when the car wasn’t good, he’d give us some pointers. And he said, you’re going to have to put in a new head gasket. So my little sister-in-law and I, and I think she’s probably 16, 33:00 we tore that car apart. We fixed it, we put a new head gasket in it. And that man, that gas station man, his name was Cooper, he came over and tightened the head, the bolts down for us, cause we didn’t have strength enough to tighten the bolts down. [laughs] James Smither: Well how did you know what to do, to take the engine apart? Dorothy Folkema: I don’t know, we just knew what to do. [laughs] Just, he said, you got to take the head gasket off and you have to get a new head gasket, put it on. James Smither: Well had you ever worked on any machines out at the farm or anything like that, had some idea of what an engine looked like? Dorothy Folkema: No. But she was pretty smart on that stuff. James Smither: Ok. Dorothy Folkema: My little sister-in-law was pretty smart on that stuff. James Smither: Well that is another thing that’s a little bit different, you had a lot of people in your spare time to do things like take cars apart in those days. Dorothy Folkema: Oh, well. And cars aren’t complicated like they are now. And then I’d ask different ones, people to help me, and course, I always washed the car. Did it. 34:00 You just did it. You didn’t have any choice, you just did it. James Smither: Now were there shortages on certain kinds of things, were there things you wanted that you couldn’t get? �Dorothy Folkema: Oh, yes, you couldn’t get clothes, you couldn’t get shoes. Nylons! [shakes head] Oh, that was a disaster. I stood in many a lines to get nylons. My sister-inlaw and I’d go downtown shopping, we’d had a [unintelligible] right where we’d park by the railroad tracks, and we’d go downtown shopping and stand in line to get nylons. [laughs] [unintelligible] James Smither: Did it ever work? Dorothy Folkema: Yeah, oh sure. James Smither: You had the right line at the right time. Dorothy Folkema: Yeah. James Smither: Were there other particular things that you really missed, or didn’t get a lot of then? Dorothy Folkema: No, because you didn’t have it anyways, so you didn’t miss it. James Smither: Ok. All right. Are there other things you would like to add to the story here before we close out? 35:00 Dorothy Folkema: Well, I know I stopped using sugar in my coffee. Because they gave us a little pack of sugar and I kept… I’d go down to the dime store and get a cup of, get a coffee and whenever I got coffee, I saved the packet, and my sister-in-law did too, and then we’d make fudge. [laughs] James Smither: [laughs] That’d take a lot of sugar packets. All right then. Thank you for coming in and telling me your story today. Dorothy Folkema: Well, I don’t think it’s a interesting story, but it’s a story. James Smither: Well, all the information that we’ve got here is stuff that… You never know what someone will do with this fifty years from now. 35:42 � 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 FolkemaD Title A name given to the resource Folkema, Dorothy (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Folkema, Dorothy Description An account of the resource Dorothy Folkema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1922. She left high school after three years and went to work in a factory. She met her future husband, Harold Folkema, in 1939, and they were married in 1941. When the war started, she quit her job to protect her husband's deferment status, but he was drafted in 1943 and wound up on Omaha Beach on D-Day (see his interview in this archive). She had a child to take care of by then, and discusses different aspects of home front life while her husband was away. 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 Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Women 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 2009-10-27 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/d2dde65c408cb20c215ebd63ce8ec90b.mp4 0f41dd7fe58a171b0930deb28db91381 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/71bd0377bafb7999d4b8b6b85aad90a3.pdf cbb90a6d6eefee30b316b1e02f18c08b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Jack Floyd (129:15) Born in St Charles, MI July 2nd 1922 Pre Military Had to walk two miles to school in Lake Orion MI Family moved to Pontiac for only a year, then back to Lake Orion, Detroit area. He describes his friends. Played Football. Kid got killed playing football, he was not present. Left school in Tenth grade December of 1939 he was trapping Muskrats Got a dollar a hide, ate the rest. (12:15) CCC In January 1940 Enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps in White Cloud, MI. Camp on the White River Did surveying the “old fashioned way” measured and surveying via chains Lived in wooden barracks, he was 30 dollars per month, was issued cigarettes. (bought them at CCC) Discharged from CCC later that year. Father got him a job at a tool and die shop until September when he got laid off. Went back to trapping muskrats. Reenlisted in the CCC in December, worked as surveyor and clerk. (22:35) Pre-war Army Spring of 1941 enlisted in the army at Fort Custer. �Co. B/ 7th Engineer Battalion 5th Infantry Division “Red Diamond” Was made a clerk because he knew how to type Participated in field exercises in the lower Mississippi valley. 11th Infantry Regiment was sent to Iceland In September of 1941 Remained in Fort Custer. On December 7, he was listening to the radio with his future wife. (41:15) War Starts for Jack He remained a clerk. Went to Fort Hamilton, New York via traincar. Got Shots and inoculations, got on the boat. Large swells on the North Atlantic in January arrived in Iceland. He built fortifications (pillboxes), in Iceland for 19 months. He gives a description of his environs. Became a squad leader, became a squad leader, then a corporal. Victims of German submarines would wash ashore; it was his responsibility to bury hem. The rest of the 5th Division arrived in Iceland (54:55) England and Ireland Moved to England, and then transferred to Northern Ireland. Became sergeant in Ireland Training 82nd Airborne, 2nd Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Division. His unit loaded these divisions for the Normandy Invasion. The 5th shipped out towards the end of June. (102:15) Continental Europe Front was 12 miles from the shore when they arrived, they relieved 1st Engineers/1st Infantry Division Made supply sergeant immediately before crossing the channel �Disembarked 9th of July, immediately relieved the 1st Infantry Engaged enemy, allies began to run low on fuel. Took Paris Moving a 60 or 70 miles a day. The 3rd Army (Patton) created, with his division made part of it. Met Patton (But can’t remember where or when) Army ran out of gas at Metz. Buddy Alex got killed by surprise mortar attack. Jack narrowly escaped death. (1:19:00) Germans attacked on the 19th of December, the 5th ordered to link with the 101st in Bastogne. (END OF DISC) Disc Two (00:00)Bulge (cont.) Was stationed in Kaansdorf, just returned from chow, sat down shell landed nearby, threw him into air. Was stationed on the Saar River across from the Germans, talked to general Patton, was putting in minefield. (7:15) (8:20) Crossing the Rhine Unit crossed the River over reconstructed foot bridges. They reached their objective, only to run right into machine gun nest. He jumped into a depression, but was shot in his ankle. Due to his injuries, he was evacuated to 52nd General Hospital unit in England until April. Upon recovery he was sent Back to Germany via Luxemburg, stationed in Nuremburg replacement hospital. Reunited with his unit in Czechoslovakia Regular army members of the 5th were separated to form the peacetime 5th Infantry Division. Oberammergau passion play (20:30) Returned Home, Marriage �4th of August, Returned by boat to Newport News, VA Proposed and decided, and actually got license in the same day, in his military uniform. Went back to school, finished High School. (27:00) Reflections 3 sons eligible for the Vietnam draft. All except one went to school.   � 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 FloydJ Title A name given to the resource Floyd, Jack (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Floyd, Jack Description An account of the resource Jack Floyd served in the United States Army, 1st Engineers, 5th Infantry Division, during WW II. He was part of the Third Army and describes Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and General Patton. He also describes trapping, skinning and eating muskrats. He was involved in the Field Training exercises in the southern Mississippi River Valley, and was also stationed in Iceland, England, Ireland and continental Europe. 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.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Veterans 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 2005-09-01 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/862e229b1ff5975fb51489e11ec91ad3.mp4 ddfc021bbef5df3df05dd15020e23672 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6458b9fc531c5dd00e534149f7d49339.pdf d4665a9ef74d8c0f581c6f816f63a66d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview National Guard Jim Flowers – Part 2 Total Time (01:46:50) Re-Introduction / Review from Part I (00:00:02-00:07:52) Back to the United States & Beyond (00:00:40)  Before Jim Flowers and his unit went back to the United States, they spent seven to ten days in Kuwait as a period to just chill out from the combat they just saw; after Kuwait they headed to their mobilization station in Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin (00:01:26)  From Ft. McCoy, Jim and his unit took a cargo plane over Lake Michigan to head back to Michigan; they touched down at a municipal airport in Grayling, Michigan (00:03:27) ◦ As the plane was landing, he could see a parade of families waiting for the soldiers to get back from duty and Jim called it an emotional high point in his life (00:03:59) ◦ In October 2004, Jim got offered to work at Camp Darby in Italy for three weeks and he happily took the job (00:05:30) ▪ Although Jim and his men worked on major construction sites while at Camp Darby, he mentions it was a “job well done” congratulations for their time in Iraq (00:06:28) Training & Afghanistan (00:08:25)  Jim got picked up to do his first rotation in Afghanistan as an embedded trainer and advisor for the Afghanistan security forces (the police, army, or border patrol of Afghanistan) (00:08:41) ◦ Jim and his unit trained in Michigan where a lot of it was tactical; when you look into it, the training was really infantry training (00:10:25) ◦ The training in Michigan was primarily infantry training, small unit tactics, some marksmanship and a little close quarters combat fundamentals (00:12:19) ◦ From there, Jim went to Ft. Riley, Kansas where the training was more in-depth; he learned skills to train foreign forces, 120 hours of language training, cultural immersion training (00:13:24) ◦ The Department of Defense contracted Afghan- now US citizens did language training and cultural immersion training with the US forces; many activities would be roleplaying scenarios where the Afghans would critique the soldiers afterwards (00:15:46) ▪ Jim and his unit headed to Afghanistan in May 2007 (00:17:30) ▪ From the airport, Jim headed to Camp Phoenix which was located in Kabul; they were at Camp Phoenix for ten days where they were issued their assignments (00:18:22) ▪ By weeks three and four, Jim and the group saw the immensity of the training and advising missions; the facilities and equipment were bad and the discipline of the Afghan army was not much compared to the United States or NATO forces (00:21:18) ▪ Jim and his forces spent three months in Zormat to relieve the Afghanistan Police to Jalalabad for training (00:23:56)  Jim described an incident at Zormat where a day prior, there was an attack by the Taliban on the Afghan Police as he called it a reality check of what was to come (00:26:12)  The Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) commander understood his mission as primarily just to secure the district center in Zormat; but Jim had to explain otherwise as there was a sort of disconnect between the overall missions �(00:28:14) ◦ The month of January 2008 was a month long operation for Jim and his unit; they searched the greater Zormat area (20-30 miles in radius), the intent was to disrupt the logistics hubs of the Taliban so when they came back for their Spring offensive, they'd come back to empty hubs (00:33:43) ◦ Overall they were pretty successful, after they set up a few security perimeters around a village, Jim and the ANCOP team would go in and do searches for weapons caches (00:34:51) ◦ Jim's ANCOP people performed really well at these searches which were around 30-40 officers; Jim and the US were there more as an advisory role than a training role which is what they were trying to achieve (00:36:08) ▪ After Zormat, Jim went to assist another training team just South of Jalalabad; he mentions this group of ANCOP people weren't as eager to trainhe comments that different forces will behave differently (00:38:27) ▪ The Minister of Education for the location South of Jalalabad received supplies and was hoarding them and not distributing them; Jim and ANCOP went in and got the supplies and distributed them to the village quite peacefully- although Jim described it as a bit unnerving (00:41:13)  The Afghan attitude towards the United States really depended on what area you were in; the more remote the location the more you had to work to establish a relationship; it wasn't uncommon to have kids throw rocks at US vehicles (00:44:13)  By the time Jim and his unit did two months in the Jalalabad area, they were ready to pull out of Afghanistan; they staged some relief in place forces and additional ANCOP forces in Ghazni and other areas (00:45:39)  The last mission Jim did in Afghanistan was running a convoy of ANCOP down to Ghazni to get the ANCOP situated in their area of operation; this was around late April 2008 (00:46:26)  Some of the high points for Jim were capturing a Taliban leader in Zormat in addition to capturing around 40 fighters there as well, obtaining weapons caches, and response to numerous IED type incidents (00:47:23) ◦ Jim's unit never sustained any casualties and the ANCOP had a few wounded but overall there wasn't any casualties (00:48:07) ◦ He did have contact with people back home but the internet was spotty; he worked out a deal with his wife- he called his wife once a week on a satellite phone and normally e-mail her two-three times a week if possible (00:51:14) Back to the United States (00:52:35)  Jim went from Afghanistan to Kuwait, stayed a week there as they had a cool-down week to decompress, flew back to Ft. Riley, Kansas for out-processing, and then landed at the Lansing/Capital City Airport (00:54:08)  They arrived back home in late May/early June of 2008 (00:54:29) ◦ During the last couple months of Afghanistan, Jim knew he was going to fill a S3 Operations Officer position 507th Engineer Battalion, which is the battalion he commands today (00:54:52) �◦ In January 2009, Jim did a PCS move out to Ft. Leavonworth, Kansas to do a year long command and general staff course- his wife went with home and his kids were grown and out of the house at that time so it made the move a bit easier (00:55:41) ◦ At the time Jim was enrolled, the courses involved all branches of the military- army, navy, marine as well- there was also military officers from different countries as well (00:57:11) ◦ Prior to leaving the command and general staff college, Jim was notified that he was going to go into the executive officer position for the 507th Engineer Battalion- which was poised for a 2010 Afghanistan deployment (which was put on hold til 2012) (00:58:34) ▪ Jim also got picked up to be the Operations Officer for the 46th Military Police Command based out of Lansing, Michigan (00:59:16) ▪ Before re-deploying to Afghanistan, Jim had to do a commanders recon course; this took place in January/February of 2012 with a small contingent of people and the unit was to get in depth with the unit they were replacing and brief with them (01:04:14)  They were briefed on current tactics and procedures the Taliban were practicing (01:04:57)  A sapper company are all combat engineers- they specialize in mine fields, breaching obstacles, demolitions operations while a lot of the other engineer companies are construction oriented (01:06:54) Back to Afghanistan (01:07:30)  Jim and the unit mobilized out of Ft. Bliss, Texas in May of 2012 and then got into Afghanistan on June 6th of 2012- they departed from Kuwait and flew into Afghanistan (01:08:57) ◦ They met up with 14th Engineer Battalion who were right in the middle of a major operation (01:09:53) ◦ They were task-forced as “War Hammer” and took over the 14th Engineer Battalion after two weeks and were then in the middle of a major operation, called “Operation Shrimp Net” which was a large base closure and counter IED measure in South West Afghanistan (01:10:36) ▪ Jim talks of mine-resistant vehicles that they had for Afghanistan but didn't have for Iraq; if their vehicles were hit they would take some damage but the soldiers would walk away and that wasn't the case for the non-mine-resistant vehicles in Iraq (01:12:36) ▪ He mentions that some of the IED's could be detonated by somebody who was watching them (01:13:37) ▪ The detection rate for IED's for Jim's group was about 70-80%, so three out of ten they found the hard way (01:14:53) ▪ Sometimes Jim found himself in need of their vehicles to be fixed and in some situations contractors would fly out to where they were and fix what had to be done (01:18:21)  Camp Leatherneck and Camp Bastion hadn't sustained an attack for over a year when they were hit once again when Jim and his unit were there (01:20:02)  Around Herat, there was a particularly dangerous place called the “Devils Elbow” where there was IED after IED laid which was mostly done by opium growers (01:21:31)  Jim and the unit spent a year in Afghanistan; overall the situation stayed the same while they were there- they cleared about 250 IED's within a ten month timeframe, built a lot of bridges, repaired bridges as well, and the situation on the ground didn't change much if at all (01:24:42)  As far as clearing the area from the Taliban, Jim comments that it stayed pretty much neutral for that time period (01:25:35) �   The 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army had quite a bit of presence in that area as well- the ANCOP was present as well along with border patrol, regular Afghan Police Forces in place (01:26:00) Jim and his unit worked a lot with other American and NATO forces; specifically the 1st Marine Expeditionary Forces, the British Infantry units, and others as well (01:28:00) Between the NATO, the British, Spanish forces, Marines, Army, and Afghan Forces, each has their own perception of flexibility and time management as far as projects go (01:30:54) ◦ As a 2nd in Command, Jim had to deal with two soldiers killed in action while they were traveling back to Camp Leatherneck in a medevac vehicle; he personally had to do the body identification (01:34:37) ◦ The whole process of what Jim dealt with was one of the most emotional events that he had to deal with up until that time while in the military (01:35:12) ◦ There was one soldier who took the prior events very hard and had to be sent home and wouldn't have been functional for the duration of the deployment but overall there wasn't much battle stress or psychological stress (01:36:48) ▪ It was mandatory to spend two to three days in a battle stress clinic if an IED did hit you (01:37:02) ▪ The main bridging operations dealt with replacing bridges that the Taliban had previously blown up (01:40:07)  At the end of their deployment, they handed it off to the 307th Engineer Battalion out of the 82nd Airborne Division out of Ft. Bragg, North Carolina- they came in around February 2013 (01:41:29) Back to the United States (01:42:39)  Jim and his unit got back to the United States in March of 2013 and arrived at Ft. Bliss and went through all the same processing stuff as before (01:42:47)  They flew back into Battle Creek, Michigan and had a tremendous welcome by the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo population (01:43:44) ◦ A month after Jim got back from Afghanistan he found out he was going to take command of the 507th Engineer Battalion (01:45:01) ◦ He took command in June of 2013 (01:45:26) � 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 FlowersJ1565V2 Title A name given to the resource Flowers, James (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2014 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Flowers, James Description An account of the resource Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a few years in civilian jobs before entering the Michigan National Guard in 1991. Commissioned as an officer in 1993, he eventually took a full time position with the Guard, and deployed to Iraq in 2003 and to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012. He currently commands the 507th Engineer Battalion based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force 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 2014-01-23 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/827947c59451a08527b5ffb49a2a7b36.mp4 ce501f6593517aaa9bda28d309b3c98f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1f6f8704f342173c70b6cebb8bfb9e27.pdf 023a8b119878fa108df114b564ed5aa3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview National Guard Jim Flowers – Part 1 Total Time (01:40:56) Introduction / Basic Training (00:00:08)  Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963 (00:00:30) ◦ After graduating from high school, Jim entered the United States Air Force (00:01:06) ◦ Jim had one uncle serve in the Vietnam War and another uncle serve in the Korean War; but he primarily wanted to join because he was a high school athlete and sought out a physical challenge along with competition (00:01:35) ◦ He shipped off to basic training in the September of 1981 at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB) in Texas; after basic training Jim was assigned to Andersen AFB in Guam (00:02:44) ▪ His basic training was only six weeks long- physically there wasn't much of a challenge for Jim because he wrestled and ran cross-country in high school (00:03:06) ▪ He entered basic training with a few of his high school class mates and met up with even more recruits from Michigan whom he still keeps in touch with (00:04:28)  After basic training, Jim entered into Technical School Training; these were about four to five weeks long and dealt with instructions to the various types of heavy equipment (00:06:30)  After that training, Jim entered a six week course of Air Base Ground Defense; it was more of a mini-infantry school with heavy weapons qualification and instruction- it was Jim's biggest challenge thus far (00:07:26)  Once he completed training at Texas, Jim went through a series of administrative checks and travel instructions; from there he packed his bags and flew from Lackland to San Francisco, California to Honolulu, Hawaii to Guam- all his flights were commercial (00:08:59)  Jim remembers watching the news and hearing certain stories from his relatives about the general backlash towards the war in Vietnam and the Vietnam veterans (00:11:07)  He knew from a very young age that he wanted to go into the military and that backlash that permeated about Vietnam did not deter him from his decision (00:11:19) Post Basic Training (00:11:20)  Jim was placed at Andersen AFB in Guam which was a strategic air command base; they had several B-52 bombers, transient tankers and other aircraft as well that stopped by for fuel and maintenance (00:12:27) ◦ Jim's primary responsibility was to repair flight lines if needed and heavy equipment maintenance (00:12:48) ◦ He was also part of something called a “Red Horse” squadron which was a deployable air force engineer element that on order could deploy to nearby places (00:13:06) ◦ Jim worked with the 43rd Engineering Squadron while in Guam- around 500 squad members (00:13:29) ▪ For the most part, the squad was between the ages of 20 and 30 years old (00:14:10) ▪ They physical and daily routine of the job wasn't much for Jim to deal with at that age; �▪ he did not mind the climate of Guam and notes that the beaches were quite nice- overall he enjoyed his tour over there (00:15:37) Predominantly the military was well received by the civilians of Guam unless there was someone that misbehaved; unfortunately Jim notes that that was always an issue as certain servicemen broke laws and local ordinances (00:16:27)  Jim was part of Temporary Duty (TDY) which assigned him to Darwin, Australia to work with the Australian Royal Air Force (00:17:02)  Additionally, his Red Horse Squadron supported an exercise in Korea for a few weeks; they trained as if they were supporting a combat operation in Korea- they built runways and participated in some levels of demolition (00:18:02) ◦ When Jim initially signed up for duty, he signed on for six years; at that time he had a choice between four and six years and the six year enlistment had an immediate promotion to E3 (00:20:28) ◦ After Guam, Jim went to F.E Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming (00:20:55) ▪ Jim was still worked as a heavy equipment operator and worked on other civil engineering projects throughout missile fields (00:21:36) ▪ He was assigned to the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron and there was around 500 members or so- similar to the group in Guam; he was part of a squadron similar to Red Horse called “Prime Beef” which worked continentally (00:22:22)  Jim enrolled in Larimie County Community College in Cheyenne; he completed two years there and immediately enrolled into Chapman University to pursue a Bachelors degree (00:23:06)  Jim got out of the Air Force and graduated college in May of 1987 (00:24:04)  Jim remembers going through readiness exercises near the end of the Cold War several times a year (00:26:27) Civilian Life (00:27:00)  At the time of the end of his six year enlistment, Jim and his family made the decision to get out of the military and to use his degree for a civilian profession; he moved from Cheyenne back to Michigan as he took a job as probation officer in Muskegon (00:27:45)  Jim notes that the criminal justice system is a very challenging environment to work in and he knew we would not want to work there for his whole life- two years into it he decided it was not for him (00:28:22) ◦ After that, Jim worked at the Friend of the Court office which does child custody and child support enforcement; he did that for several years and picked up knowledge in terms of civil litigation areas (00:28:54) ▪ He decided to go to law school in 1991 and moved to Lansing, Michigan to attend Cooley Law School (00:29:14) ▪ At the time of Desert Storm, Jim decided he wanted to help the military out in some capacity; he talked to an officer and was put in a National Guard Armory 30 miles from his home (00:30:32) National Guard Duty (00:30:32)  Jim joined the Michigan Army National Guard in September 1991 (00:30:40) ◦ He focused and balanced working with his officer commission program and going to law �school at the same time- he graduated Cooley Law School in 1997 and passed the State Bar exam in 1998 (00:31:39) ◦ He was also commissioned as an officer as of 1993 (00:31:50) ▪ His first job as an officer was platoon leader of the 1432nd Engineer Company based out of Wyoming, Michigan (00:31:58)  Jim stayed with that company for a couple of years- until late 1995/early 1996 and then was reassigned 1436th Engineer Company out of Montague, Michigan (00:34:16)  Within a year, Jim was promoted to company executive officer- which was 2nd in command of the company; he had to focus on personnel and administrative logistics, maintenance and operational planning as well (00:35:15)  Jim stayed with the 1436 unit until 2000 where he was then assigned as the commander of the 1438th Engineer Detachment out of Camp Grayling, Michigan (00:36:41)  Jim's primary mission while in Montague was to be tasked to San Diego, California to reinforce the Tijuana border roads in anti-drug missions (00:37:11) ◦ Jim commanded the 1438th which specialized in utilities; his personnel was between 60 and 70 people where he had carpenters, plumbers, and other utility workers (00:38:40) ◦ By November 2001, Jim got word that his unit was going to deploy to Iraq (00:39:20) ▪ Jim notes that his unit did not receive a lot of details regarding their deployment to Iraq, which was not uncommon (00:40:57) ▪ He mentions he got his timeframe a little off and did not actually receive word of going to Iraq until 2003 (00:41:56)  He actually got word of deploying to Iraq in the November of 2002 where the build up of troops occurred (00:42:53)  The 1438th engineer detachment was sent to Kuwait to reach Iraq; Jim flew from Ft. McCoy in Wisconsin to Germany and then onto Kuwait International Airport (00:44:02) Deployment to Iraq (00:44:02)  Jim Flowers got the instruction to meet up with the 101st Airborne Division in Mosul, Iraq (00:44:37) ◦ Jim's equipment arrived two months before they did to Kuwait which meant other units pilfered through and used what they could- the equipment was already in use or in bad shape (00:45:36) ◦ He and his unit stayed at Camp Virginia which was close to the Kuwait/Iraq border; at that point it was a big staging area (00:45:59) ◦ Initially Jim led a reconnaissance mission from Kuwait to Mosul to familiarize with the routes and areas; it is a three day convoy (00:47:14) ▪ There was a culture shock for Jim as he crossed the DMZ border into Iraq as his unit went in on their own without protection (00:48:08) ▪ He notes that the area he crossed into reminded him very much of a 3rd world nation opposed to Kuwait (00:48:37)  Jim got a sense that they were immediately in a combat operation; seeing battle damage that occurred from the initial entry triggered this (00:49:30) �  While on their convoy, Jim's unit took mortar rounds while staying at Balad Air Base; this was his first exposure that he realized he was in a war (00:51:52) From Mosul to Balad, Jim and his unit encountered a few broke down Humvee trucks and picked them up; an iraqi truck spilled into them and fortunately their was not an explosion- to this day Jim doesn't know if they were insurgents or what (00:54:55) ◦ Jim and his unit made the return trip and pretty much encountered the same things as before- rocketed and or mortared which was a daily/nightly occurrence (00:56:11) ◦ It took no longer than a week for Jim's unit to become fully operational while they were in Mosul (00:58:42) ▪ The Mosul Air Field was their main mission- to maintain the civil engineering infrastructure on the air field (00:58:57) ▪ Jim comments that there was a lot of insurgency activity surrounding them; they were rocketed or mortared if not daily, every other day (01:01:08)  Jim and his unit were fortunate and never took any casualties while in Iraq- he did send some of his soldiers home with medical issues as he notes the drastic climate change between the midwest and the Middle East (01:02:09)  Equipment damage happened quite a bit; vehicles were sprayed with bullets and shrapnel as well as additional battle damage (01:03:29) ◦ Jim and his crew spent eight months in Mosul; from June 2003 to January/February 2004 (01:03:43) ▪ There was a shift in mood in Mosul after Uday Hussein (eldest son of Saddam Hussein) and Qusay Hussein (son of Saddam Hussein) were killed; a celebratory mood but a notion of who was going to run things next (01:05:00) ▪ There were celebratory firings into the sky after it was announced via radio that Saddam Hussein had been killed; part of this is the large Kurdish population in Mosul- the Kurds were part of targeted killings by Saddam previously (01:07:01) ▪ Maintaining basic services and utilities in Iraq was a tremendous issue at that time and probably so even now, comments Jim (01:09:10) ▪ Once the 101st airborne was finished with their assignment, Jim's unit was reassigned as well to the 2nd Brigade 25th Infantry Division in Kirkuk, Iraq (01:11:31) ▪ Jim's unit went in to areas where other army units needed defense perimeters and measures that were poorly built and fixed them up for them (01:13:35) ▪ The 65th Engineer Battalion based out of Hawaii was shorthanded and Jim sliced out different parts of his units to go and help them; they had the job of collecting explosives from Saddam's prior war with Iran and to blow them up (01:15:16) ▪ By April of 2004, it Jim and his units' time to push out of Iraq; they were replaced by a similar unit (01:16:48) ▪ Jim spent two weeks training the unit that was coming in to replace them (01:17:23) �▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Part of Jim's work was to work with local Iraqis in Kirkuk and Mosul to get local contractors to do work as well (01:19:09) Jim worked with interpreter's and notes that probably around 90% or more were university students that were ready and welcome to a change in Iraq (01:20:59) He felt more comfortable in the Kurdish capital of Kirkuk than anywhere else- you could pretty much guarantee that you were not going to get hit by IED's or insurgent attacks there (01:21:49) Opposite of Kirkuk was the Baghdad where he and his unit got glares from locals (01:22:22) For a few minutes, Jim explains an issue he had with a few insurgent trucks while leaving; his units hit an occupant of the truck and they called a medevac in to treat the wounded insurgent (01:27:14) Jim describes going from the Iraqi/Kuwaiti border as a high tension to a relaxed feeling (01:27:40) The military gave Jim's unit a few weeks to decompress in Kuwait and clean off the equipment (01:28:21) Post Iraq (01:28:59)  May/June of 2004 Jim and his unit flew back to Ft. McCoy to do some demobilization activities, medical things, and then were sent back home (01:28:59) ◦ Jim notes that even in 2004 the military didn't really know what they know today about mental illness prevention; there were some suicide prevention events and they met with social workers as well- once they got back to Michigan the National Guard did everything they could to take care of them (01:30:12) ◦ He felt pretty peaceful for the first few months after he got back from Iraq; nothing that was going on in the states was comparable to what happened in Iraq for Jim (01:31:23) ◦ After awhile, that feeling wears off and you have to kind of face the emotions eventually; the experience is different for every soldier Jim notes (01:31:46) ▪ Jim did another over seas deployment training mission several months after he got back from Iraq; He spent three weeks in Italy (01:33:06) ▪ He took his unit to Camp Darby in Pisa, Italy- they did their standard utility work; basic road repair and landscaping as well (01:33:31)  The Italians were quite receptive and some even employed by the military and worked on the base as well (01:34:20) ▪ In Jim's unit, about 10% of the soldiers were female (01:34:44)  He mentions that the female soldiers are just as capable as their male counterparts and are true assets to the military (01:35:37)  After Italy, Jim was promoted to Major and assigned as a logistics officer for the Engineer Brigade of the 38th Infantry Division- another Michigan National Guard unit (01:35:56) ◦ Jim was tasked to Afghanistan to work with a brigade sized unit who specifically were supposed to train the Afghan Army and Police force around 2007 (01:37:13) ◦ Jim and his unit trained at Ft. Riley, Kansas for four months; they trained on Afghan culture and 120 hours of training on the language as well plus additional �combat training (01:37:47) ▪ He mentions the Global War on Terror sent a message to the United States: Be adaptable, be ready to take on non-standard missions (01:39:38) � 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 FlowersJ1565V1 Title A name given to the resource Flowers, James (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2014 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Flowers, James Description An account of the resource Jim Flowers was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1963. After he graduated high school, enlisted in the Air Force and did a tour on a strategic air command base on Guam. Back in the US, he completed college while still in the Air Force, and then spent a few years in civilian jobs before entering the Michigan National Guard in 1991. Commissioned as an officer in 1993, he eventually took a full time position with the Guard, and deployed to Iraq in 2003 and to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2012. He currently commands the 507th Engineer Battalion based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force 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 2014-01-23 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/01c4bcf64db203d9ac063fb8e510db85.mp4 0fda8ad4e2baa2033ed4a63243d09637 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/89eb8a14c2231b51662158b839653718.pdf ea2a3f43be6646caacbbd6fa576aac5d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Notes Length: 24:00 Jack Henry Flory Vietnam War Veteran United States Army: 1968 to 1970 4th Infantry Div. (00:49) Pre-enlistment: • He went to Michigan State University where he graduated and soon after was drafted • Parents were not surprised by his enlistment, but a little worried • He felt it was something he had to do (1:23) Enlistment/Training: • After physical he was sent to Kentucky for basic training (8 weeks long) • Flew down to Ft.Sill, Oklahoma for artillery training • Learned to use 105mm Howitzer (range 11 miles) (2:54) Vietnam/Combat: • While in Vietnam, as an assistant gunner, he was wounded by an enemy mortar round • Mortar rounds are 82mm and are carried by infantry (10-12 rounds) • His position was the first to be hit by the enemy mortar • His position was defended with shelters made from sand bags • Moved every 5-7 days • In the attack on his position 25 soldiers were wounded and 1 was killed (5:20) Food: • Had a Mess Sergeant with 30 years experience • Always had good food like: eggs, bacon, sandwiches, soups, casseroles, pork roast, and beef roasts • It was unknown how the Sergeant got the ingredients “in the Army you don’t ask questions” (6:12) Free Time: • Waited for mail which came in everyday with supplies by helicopter • Did normal housekeeping chores (laundry, cleaning) • Cleaned M16 every 3 or 4 days along with the Howitzer • Played cards and talked with buddies (6:55) Mail: • Communicated with home only through mail • It took the mail 10 days to reach the US, and the same was true for mail coming to them in Vietnam • Sent letters daily if the fighting was not too intense �(7:38) The Howitzer (tactic): • Forward observers would look at a map with coordinates and call in the local of an enemy position • Artillery was aimed by way of a compass (360 degree circle) • All the aiming was done manually • First round was always a smoke round, and this was used to test their aim • If forward observer said smoke good HE (high explosives) next, that meant their aim was correct and that they were to fire their live rounds • There are 6 guns in a battery, and they would be aimed at an area the size of half a football field • Communication was done by radio between the gunners and the observer (9:52) Lessons Learned: • They learned how to make their own showers and how to use and fix their communication equipment • Built improvised shelters, shelves, bunks, and storage areas • Used ammo boxes for the improvised construction (11:00) Transportation: • They used Chinook helicopters to transport both their Howitzers and themselves • The used the Chinooks anywhere from twice a day to once every two weeks • His gun was the first to be put on the ground because he was the commander of the central gun • They would first drop off the infantry to protect the drop zone so that the Howitzers could land safely, and then they would bring in the command group (12:13) After Vietnam: • He left the service 730 days after he had joined it • Did not enjoy being enlisted but felt it was something he had to do • He was in Fort Riley Kansas when the war ended (12:35) Wounded: • Was moved to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia for two weeks • Was allowed to go home on convalescent leave • Then he had to go to Fort Riley Kansas where he became a finance clerk for the last 6 months of service • He would have been able to leave the service after being wounded , but he had more than 180 days left before his service was suppose to end (13:30) Friendships: • Did not make as many close friendships because people would come and go so much • Each person served only one year in Vietnam, and he was there for only 6 months • He left Vietnam so quick because of his injury that he did not have time to get contact info. from the buddies he did make while there �• When he served at Fort Riley he lived in an apartment complex with his wife in Manhattan Kansas where they did make many friends (14:36) After Vietnam continued: • Worked for GE as a sale engineer • Experience in the military had little application after the war (15:09) Thoughts on Current Military Service: • He thinks that people today in the all volunteer military want to serve and that is why they joined, but during Vietnam people who were drafted just wanted to get it over with (16:05) Veteran Organizations: • Member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) • Felt he should give back to those who sacrificed so much for their country • He gives money to DAV to help veterans who still need help because of their disabilities (16:40) Wounded continued: • Injured on Halloween • He was brought to the command bunker after trying to operate his Howitzer following being hit by shrapnel • A medivac helicopter came in and brought him to a MASH unit where he was treated • He had a collapsed lung and shrapnel in his intestines • He went from the MASH unit to a Air Force base and then to Japan for three weeks • From Japan he was sent on a hospital plane to Chicago and then on to Philadelphia • The force of the mortar explosion rolled him three times • You could hear the Mortars as they came in, but usually the first one was off target (21:16) Medals: • He got a Purple Heart for his wounds and a Bronze Star for his valor • He talks about why people got medals (22:21) Pictures: • Chinook helicopter transporting a 105mm Howitzer • Bunkers he helped build • Him standing next to M16s • The Howitzer • Him next to Howitzer • Military Payment Certificate � 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 FloryJ Title A name given to the resource Flory, Jack Henry (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Flory, Jack Henry Description An account of the resource Jack Flory served in the Army during Vietnam from 1968-70. A gunner in the 4th Infantry Division, he was trained to use a 105mm howitzer, and in this interview there is a lot that deals with the tactics and experience involved in transporting and operating that kind of artillery. He tells about being wounded in combat and the various locations he was sent due to his wound. We hear about his service after recovery. He discusses the difficulty in making friends in Vietnam, and how he and those he served with had to learn to improvise. There is some discussion in relation to his feelings about those who serve currently in the military, and we get some description of his involvement in veteran organizations. The interview ends with him showing some pictures of his howitzer, of a Chinook helicopter, and the shelters they constructed. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Blank, Bailey (Interviewer) Gill, Sabriye (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Veterans 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 2007-05-25 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/07ea3230fc9c81a209d4df31a8b5a326.mp4 c6fd69fd947e35ccf00c5f2f0c8842ab https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3aba1ca360e34ae5cee79092e6eb103e.pdf 222d2db86c1e178ecbfaf683947cad05 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Fred Fleischmann (1:04:30) Background Information (1:00) • • • • • • • Born November 17th 1950 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (1:05) Served in U. S. Air Force from October 1972-August 1976. (1:17) Because Fred had a low draft number he figured he would enlist and join the Air Force rather than be drafted. (1:35) The draft number was done by birthday. The lower a draft number the more likely a man was to be picked. (3:26) He believed that the draft did a lot of good as it took some low socioeconomic whites and minorities through education processes that helped them later in life. (4:30) Only approx. 20% of the men who were drafted (to Fred’s knowledge) were sent to Vietnam. (6:15) Fred was living in Grand Rapids. He had just graduated from Calvin College before enlisting. (7:32) Training (7:35) • • • • • • Fred attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. (7:36) Men who learned the skills in basic training quickly were bothered significantly less. (8:05) He joined the Air Force with the hopes of being a navigator. Unfortunately he could not do this task due to poor vision. (9:04) Fred was offered the position to be an education specialist where he would help select non educated solders to take high school classes and potential officer candidates to take college courses. This job was located in Washington D.C. (10:34) He assisted approx 300-400 men obtain their high school diplomas. (12:00) During the period of Fred’s service the Air Force was downsizing. Often men without educations would be sent away from service. Because of the need for additional education Fred served a vital position. (12:30) Training cont. (13:50) • • • • • On his first days of service Fred was sent to Detroit, Michigan, to be processed and then by bus to the airport where he was flown to Texas. He arrived at approx. 3 AM. (13:45) The men arrived at the base at 5 AM. The men then began their first full day of training. (15:13) Though the barracks had approx 5-8 toilets, often the men only used 2. This is because they needed several to stay spotless in case of surprise inspections. (16:39) During basic, the drill instructors were cautious about how long the men were in the heat as some cadets did pass out. (18:10) There was emphasis placed on discipline and cooperation with other men. (20:29) Service in the Air Force (21:40) �• • • • • • • • • • • • Arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in late December of 1972 (21:50) When the base received a contract, the money had to be spent or else the contract would not be rewarded the following year. Because of this ridiculous things often happened such as expanding an 18 hole golf course to 36 holes. (23:15) Because of Fred’s close interaction with officers with his education position. He heard much of the information about how the officers from Vietnam felt about the conflict. The officers were very frustrated about how the releasing of POWs was written in the peace talks. (25:17) In 1974 the county Fred was stationed in was desegregated. Because of this the black schools were closed. To compensate for the lack of space, the school system had to use Military schools. Fred had to assist with the desegregation as he was in charge of education for the base. (20:10) Black kids were moved onto on base schools. The black children reacted very joyfully. (29:56) The officer’s wives were not very happy that their children were going to school with black children. (32:39) Fred was also involved with protecting Richard Nixon during his second Inauguration at Union Station. (33:24) Machine gun nests were placed around Nixon’s parade route in case the protesters became rowdy. (34:00) The men were not given weapons while protecting Nixon. (35:24) There was a homosexual man who was assigned to the education department with Fred. He also had a man who was shell shocked assigned to him. He was eventually hauled off by several nurses who worked in the psychiatric ward. (36:00) Fred was encouraged to get a military driver's license. He did not like this idea as it would increase his chances of being called to drive if men or supplies needed to be moved. (38:30) To avoid getting the license, Fred purposely failed several driving exams. Eventually he was given the license. (40:20) Medals and Citation (40:55) • • • • He was made a small arms specialist in basic training. (41:16) He was also elected one of the 12 most outstanding air men of the year. (41:30) Fred was awarded the Air Force service medal. (41:47) Because Fred served alongside many officers who had served in conflicts, he herd stories of how close the Cold War actually came to being hot. (43:00) Life in the Service (43:45) • • • • • • Men kept in touch with their family via phone and letter. (43:47) The food was always fairly good and the men were well fed. (44:00) Fred does not believe that his particular position was especially difficult or stressful. (44:20) On Friday afternoons the education office was shut down. Then one man would run to the liquor store. The high-ranking officers then watched the low ranking men clean. This was often done for entertainment. (45:50) The men did occasionally play pranks on one another for entertainment as well. (47:38) The men who were drafted often had low IQs below 90. These men often took advantage of the opportunity to pursue secondary education. (48:17) Documents (50:00) �• • • • Fred kept the papers from Nixon’s and Gerald R. Ford’s inaugurations. (50:10) Once Fred and several other men met the Russian Olympic team. The team wanted Frisbees and blue jeans. The military could not afford blue jeans but did give the men Frisbees. (51:16) Photos of the Concorde aircraft. (52:00) POWs from Vietnam were often processed through Andrews Air Force Base. (52:44) End of Service (53:43) • • • • • • • • Fred was released 6 weeks early in August of 1976 so that he could attend the University of Maryland on the GI bill. (53:53) He earned a bachelor’s degree for business and economics. (54:16) There have been no reunions for Fred to attend. (55:40) Fred served as a trouble shooter for several organizations as a career after his service. (57:14) He also worked for 7 years in a linguistic department. (58:58) Fred’s wife worked as a professor at Grand Valley State University. (59:40) His opinion about war was not changed as a result of his service. He believes that is the United States’ responsibility to defeat oppressors across the globe. (1:00:00) After his service Fred found that he lost his time as a young man to begin a career. (1:02:11) � 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 FleischmannFNoId Title A name given to the resource Fleischmann, Frederick (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fleischmann, Frederick Description An account of the resource Fred Fleischmann, born November 17th 1950 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in U. S. Air Force from October 1972-August 1976 after the Vietnam War as an educational consultant. After completing his basic at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Fred began working at the education department at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, DC. Here he assisted men with pursuing secondary education and college courses. He also served on security details at major events, including two presidential inaugurations. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource West, Andy (Interviewer) Engelbert, Aaron (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Air Force Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource 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 2005-05-25 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives