726 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d96f2d1bba8b976be34351eeda25e25b.mp4 f328c66816264b260101d960158f5e40 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b4d1f5f75f2ed07946def03e4f58a743.pdf dc635f2f4dee4cb911da94336abeff41 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee: Henry Diedering Length of Interview: 00:32:48 Background           He was born in Drenthe, one of the 11 provinces of the Netherlands on July 6, 1926. After a few years his family would move to Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands, so his father could work in the coal mines. He would grow up in Heerlen. His father would not work as a coal miner, underground, but he would work in the machine shop. He would have 7 grades of education at a Christian school. That was the end of school and then he would start working. He would work on the vegetable market, selling vegetables, but was fired because he spilled some gas on the floor of the garage while trying to fill up the truck that was used to transport the veggies in. After that he began to work at a drug store. He would deliver medications to the village people on a bicycle. Before the invasion, he had no idea of what was going on in Europe. After France and England had declared war on Germany, it was assumed that the Nether lands would remain neutral. His home town would be close to the German border. When the Germans invaded, he remembers being in the 2nd story of his house and seeing the Germans come to invade through a field nearby and even saw them come out of the parachutes. There were not Dutch troops in the town that he saw, so the Germans just walked right in. German Occupation (3:50)       When the Germans occupied his home town, things would be very different. There was a shortage of food, and there were restrictions placed on the Jews in the town. He would graduate then and work at the jobs he described before. He remembers standing in the food line, waiting to get soup. At the time, he did not know of any resistance that the Dutch were trying to do against the Germans. Later on, he would find out of a group of people that he knew who were forming a resistance group, who were found out by the Germans. They would be sent to Germany and killed. His family would not have any trouble with the Germans. His father would keep a radio under the floorboards of the living room and listen to transmissions that were sent from England, in Dutch. �       When the Germans would come to check on the families, his father would go and hide in the field when they came. You had to be careful and could not even trust your neighbor. He remembers three doors down from his house was a collaborator, who would have told the Germans, if he had found out about the radio. About a year later, in 1941 or’42, the Germans would start taking things like radios, bicycles, food, and anything brass. They wanted the metal for the war. After the Allies had begun to attack Germany, he would see aircraft go by frequently. He would see big drones being sent over by the Allies to attack Germany. He would also hear a lot of V-1 and V-2 rockets that the Germans had launched to attack England. He knew that if they had gone quiet that they were coming down. There were no direct hits by any of the German missiles in his area. His life, more or less, changed drastically when he became 18, in 1944. When the men turned 18, they had to report to Germany where they would be placed in work camps, or they would help to serve the German Army by digging hole for them and such. He wanted no part of that, so all on his own he took a train to Rotterdam to look for a job. He would get one on a ship on the Rhine River. He would go up to Switzerland and back down to Rotterdam working his job. When the Allied Forces attacked Normandy and began bombing, his ship would get bombed in the process, leaving him without a job. This was in October of 1944. Refugee (8:52)         He stayed in the air raid shelter for a while, but was chased out because the shelter was only for the women and children. So then he became a refugee in Germany and tried to get back into the Netherlands. While he was there he had only the clothes on his back. He would survive by going into abandoned or blown up homes, eating any food that he could find, or sometimes going without. He would eventually find himself in a small German village, where he was more or less adopted. There was only one man in the village, a carpenter who had broken his arm. The rest of the men were working the anti-aircraft fire in the bigger cities. He would work in the village helping get the women and children to the shelter in exchange for food and he would bring cookies that the women made to the men in the cities. The men, in turn would give him cigarettes, which was more important than food for some. One day, a group of Canadian soldier would come to the town and one of them would speak Dutch. He would tell the man that he was a Hollander and that he wanted to go back home. They would help him get back to Holland in early 1945. As a refugee, he did speak the German language. He would learn most of it when he worked on the ship. He was supposed to serve in the German Camps, but since he went to work in Rotterdam, where there was not much control on checking the people, he was able to escape the Germans. After the ship he worked on was bombed, he and some of the others who worked on the ship would go to a nearby market, where a group of German soldiers would take everything from them, including their identification. �   The Allies would see them in a group and begin shooting at them. The Germans would run away and he and the others would scatter. He would not see any of them again. His family had no knowledge of him leaving at all. For a year, his family never heard from him and he from them. He would get back home in early ’45. He was there for 5 weeks when he saw a poster that advertised to fight the Japanese by joining the Marines and training in the United States. He would sign up for it, as he had no desire to stay home. To the United States; Training (15:00)             Via Belgium, he would go to England and then be shipped to the United States in an LST. He would ride to the US with a group of American soldiers who had served in Normandy. The ride over there was terrible. Some guys got in their hammocks and never left. Many got sea sick and the food was terrible. He did not get sea sick himself. He would arrive in Norfolk, Virginia and would be sent to boot camp for training. He would train with other Dutch Marines, in the Dutch Army. His expectation is that he would help with the invasion of Japan, but by the time his training was done, Japan had quit the war. He was trained to be a cook. He had cooked when he worked on the Rhine. He was not given a choice of his training. He would work as a Sergeant, 1st Class and would work as a cook, serving 250 Marines. He would get physical and weapons training while he was there as well. It was hard at first. They were pretty rough. He was being trained by Americans and knew very little English. He would then be shipped to Indonesia, where there was Japanese occupation. Just before he was shipped out, he had a week where he could go anywhere. He and his buddy would go to visit his buddy’s uncle who lived in Chicago. On the trip there, he was bitten by a bug and ended up in the Great Lakes Naval Hospital for a week. He asked for an extension but was denied. He would go back to North Carolina to rejoin the unit. And they shipped out from there to go to Indonesia. Indonesia (18:40)  They would travel by boat through the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, through the Indian Ocean and stopped at Calcutta, India.  He did have a chance to get of the ship there and remembers people dying of starvation on the streets.  They would continue on up to Singapore, but were not allowed to land there immediately. So they spent some time in a rubber plantation before being able to land in East Java.  He would be stationed in the town of Surabaya for almost three years.  When he first got there, he first saw a native, primitive lifestyle compared to the Netherlands and most certainly the United States. But the people there were friendly. It was the extremists and those who were fighting for their independence who gave them the trouble. �                The company that he was with would do some fighting and he remembers that they did have to bury some of the men. He would not personally see much combat, as he worked in the kitchen. A typical day was an early start, making sure that everyone got fed. He would also organize the activities for the day. He had about half a dozen people working for him in the kitchen. All of them were Dutch soldiers. He would move through many different towns. As his company would progress, he would move with them. It was very hot, every day there. It did not have a huge effect on the Dutch soldiers, though did not wear as many clothes as they normally would. They had problems with bugs. He got bit by a scorpion one time. There was good medical care, a few may have caught malaria, but most of them would be ok when it came to diseases. He did not take anything to prevent malaria himself. He would serve more inland, in not so swampy areas. The Dutch would finally get control of Indonesia, but the Allied Troops would eventually let them have their liberty. As a soldier, he could not tell much of what was going on politically. There were no major changes that occurred while he was there for the three years. He would personally have a lot of contact with the civilian population there, because he would buy stuff, or borrow dishes from them. There were also some Dutch people in the area, which had grown up there or lived there. Eventually they would get the orders that their time was up. They were all ready to go back home. Home (25:35)          They would head home on a troop transport ship. They got back to the Netherlands, but were ignored by the local people. It was comparable to the US locals coming back from Vietnam. They were never recognized as soldiers. The average person did not care about the whole colonial thing that was going on in Indonesia. He would go back to his home town for just a few weeks and then he would go to another town and stayed with his aunt. There he would get a job as a tool and die maker. He would do this from 1948-1950, until he was allowed to immigrate to the United States. He decided to go to the US because he had been here and he loved it here. There were also more job opportunities available in the US. His family did not care much about it. His family was not so much a “normal family” like most. His mother died when he was 10 and his father would marry the housekeeper. They would have two daughters and the sons from his previous marriage would be neglected. That’s why he moved out. In 1950, he would go to the United States. �           He would move to Chicago at first and lived with his buddy’s uncle for about three months. He had already met his girlfriend at the time, and eventually got sick of writing letters and moved up to Grand Rapids. He would work as a tool and die maker. But he had learned everything in centimeters and millimeters, not inches and feet. It took too long for him to do his job, so the boss had him sweep floors instead. Then he got a job dairy farm and he would become a milk man. After that he would become his own boss and he would make bread. His business would become the Harvest Health food store. His brothers would come over in 1955 and 1966. They came because he encouraged them to and they were not happy in the Netherlands. (29:50) Looking back at the time when his father had the radio, he did not know much about the war. He was too young to care. There were some Germans in the area, but not many. He did not see the war in the Netherlands actually happen as he was out of the country at the time. While he was there, there was simply not a lot of food for people to eat, though people did grow their own food. It would be more toward the end of the war, when he was in Amsterdam, den Haag and Rotterdam that he would see people starving in the streets. His life in the Marines would give him a sense of independence, but he already had that as a refugee and back home. � 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 Diedering, Henry (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diedering, Henry Description An account of the resource Henry Diedering was a teenager in the Netherlands when the Germans took over in 1940. He describes life in his home town under occupation, and of his efforts to avoid being impressed as a forced laborer by the Germans when he turned 18. He made his way to Rotterdam and got a job on a cargo ship on the Rhine River, and worked on it until the ship was damaged by Allied air attack. After that, he tried to make his way home, staying in damaged and abandoned houses, until he found a German village that had no able-bodied men in it, and where he worked for the villagers until the spring of 1945, when the Canadians took over the area. Seeing few opportunities at home, he enlisted in the Dutch Marine Corps and was sent to Indonesia, where the Dutch were attempting to reassert control, and was sent home after the Dutch agreed to leave. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.) BCTV 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. Marine Corps 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 2010-02-25 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DiederingH 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/6bfd15b5da21612e93f331d72c9119e3.m4v ffb7b2a8f1a8cc2812e8d96449217f2f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/899ad6baa4930f5d445e421988df6edb.pdf cf6836eb0df35d753dc8bf186ebc8bc5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Jake DeWitt Length of Interview (00:40:42) Background Born in 1922, Grand Rapids, MI Hall Street School Father worked for the Tanglefoot Co.  Made fly paper Family was large (four younger sisters) DeWitt was in an accident that broke both of his legs; put into an ungraded room in Hall Street School Sent to Davis Tech (on Division Ave.) to learn a trade  Learned typesetting and electric welding Got a job at Western Union; sister working at Bissell Went to get a job there, got it right away (15 years old, 1930’s) Heard of news about the war in Europe, didn’t pay much attention (00:03:40) Heard about Pearl Harbor over the radio, was shocked Knew he was going to be drafted soon; had lost his job when the war started  Went to the Recruiting Station with a buddy; chose the Navy Sent to Detroit for a check-up Chose the Navy because he didn’t want to be in the mud One of his friends (who was too old to be drafted) received letters from the other boys in the Army and other branches One particular friend, in the Army, had written about the poor conditions he was in �Assignment: USS Roper (00:06:05) Camp Green Bay, Milwaukee; went to New York, Pier 92 (Roper) During basic training: a lot of marching; learned to take orders Wasn’t bothered by basic training; in good physical shape No weapons training; no training about ships (shortage of sailors, out in 28 days) Joined to Roper in early 1943 (late 1942) Roper was a beautiful ship (a Destroyer) (00:08:00)  Excellent Captain; a career Navy man  Changed commanders after sinking a German U-Boat, the U-85  Built like a submarine; maneuverable, went faster than the newer battle ships being built  Very distinctive: four smoke stacks Had picked up a pregnant woman stranded at sea; gave birth to a boy The boy grew up to go into the Navy, as well First job involved sailing up and down the coast of Virginia (00:10:05)  Place loaded with German ships and submarines Assigned as Gunner’s Mate; usually on the galley deckhouse  Had a radioman who would update them during action (5 other men on the deck) PBY (flying boat); “Sub Chasers”  Would spot German subs and inform the ship  Would drop charges and oil would start coming to the surface if direct hit  Germans sometimes used decoys (oil spills, etc.) to simulate a hit Before DeWitt had come on, there was a chase dealing with a submarine which had surfaced due to lack of power (00:12:20) Didn’t keep track of time (months); followed routine (00:13:00) �Assigned to convoy duty; Straits of Gibraltar  Traveled with Liberty Ships (200-300 ships in a convoy); very hard to handle, would zigzag often  German torpedoes had difficulty hitting them Sometimes there were storms as they crossed the Atlantic  All that could be seen were waves; like a cork on the water  Terrifying experience, at first; got used to it  Navy life is repetitive After leaving France, went through the Panama Canal to Guam then Okinawa (00:15:25) Didn’t stay in the convoy long; left the “Frog Men” aka Navy Seals in rubber boats  Assisting them to land in Southern France (didn’t know where they were at the time) After dropping them off, picked up some North African soldiers in the French Army Didn’t go ashore often; Sicily, Italy The whole city (Naples) was leveled, cathedrals still stood  Stayed for six hours, not much time Convoy Duty: Straits of Gibraltar (00:18:00) Didn’t see any German submarines in the Mediterranean; saw them in the Straits of Gibraltar  Had sunk a couple there (when the convoy was with them)  Subs had sunk three ships while they were going out; ships peeled off When they got closer (to Europe) saw quite a few Bombers flying (American)  Incredibly loud roar whenever they flew over Didn’t see much of the local population when on shore, mostly personnel Received letters from his family; not married, yet (not until convalescent leave)  A lot of his letters were censored, cut up �After convoy duty, went to Charleston, South Carolina, made LS-20 (previously APD-147); two of the ship’s smokestacks were removed (00:21:15)  Sent to Okinawa afterwards  Carried four landing crafts on their ships; used for naval invasions Lived in the barracks in Charleston Wasn’t sure how long they were onshore; given plenty of liberty, couldn’t go home Guam (00:23:00) Sent through the Panama Canal to Guam  Lost one of the sailors there, didn’t get back on the boat (stayed on shore)  Sailed straight to Guam; didn’t always sail alone The new captain was considered a “90-day Wonder” (Lieutenant, fresh from the Academy); was a good fellow Officers kept to themselves, separated usually; DeWitt talked to everyone anyway (00:25:05)  Didn’t know much about the captain Stayed in Guam and loaded up for supplies before going to Okinawa; part of the first wave Ship was hit by an oil tanker trying to refuel; went back (to Guam)  Had been reported sunk as two of their landing barges were seen floating around  Had been too close to the tanker (10ft apart), so both barges were swiped off  When getting back to Guam, the authority there did not believe what had happened  The hull had a 12ft gash; the fresh water was put on the port side to make the ship lean on its side  Didn’t take too long to fix; didn’t replace their landing craft The “frog men” would come aboard only when they were needed to get to shore �Okinawa (00:28:45) It was hell over in Okinawa The Japanese would swim out from the islands with dynamite on them; on the ship, would have machine guns trained on the water, told to shoot whatever was floating  DeWitt shot six times and four of the six exploded Also being attacked from the air; all the time (300 miles from Japan)  Would use their own guns to shoot aircraft Ships were anchored (six or seven) and DeWitt’s ship was in the front; started a smoke screen Could only see a cloud of smoke; Betty’s (twin engine bombers) flew over and didn’t know where to bomb  Had to dampen towels and hold them over their mouths and noses in order to breath No kamikazes; attacked by fighters The tactics at the beginning of the War (by the Navy) were to turn broadside in order to have more firepower, were actually giving the planes bigger (and easier) targets Later in the War, would turn so their tail would face the plane, would make the plane pull up and miss DeWitt’s ship was hit by a plane (a fighter plane); had orders to not fire because Marines were having dog fights above their ships (00:31:35)  The plane that had hit them was actually on fire as it crashed into them  Hit the Chief’s Quarters  DeWitt was at the bow manning his gun (number one gun)  Plane hit the starboard (right side) of the ship  DeWitt and the other men were knocked off their guns by the impact o The Japanese pilot’s body actually landed where DeWitt was sitting before the crash  Broke his arm and had a bone sticking out from his skin �Recuperation and Discharge (00:34:10) Went to Hope, a hospital ship, but they didn’t have the technology to remove some of the bone fragments Sent to Guam; didn’t have the machine either Flew to Pearl Harbor; wound up in Oceanside, California, a Marine hospital  Arm was in a sling the whole time  Germany had surrendered the day DeWitt had his surgery (it was actually the announcement of the end of the war)  Wounded on the 25th of May  Stayed in the hospital quite a while; didn’t get discharged until around Christmas Sorted out letters at the hospital to get liberty (00:36:20)  Would just walk around mainly due to his injury o Memphis (had wound up there after his surgery) Married on October 26, 1945; had known her from before the war, had written letters (00:37:25) Went back to work for Bissell; stayed with them for 44 years Learned how to obey orders; how to get along with all kinds of people (00:38:45) Started going to reunions in 1991 Stayed in touch with some of the guys from his ship In the Navy, they never stood still, there was always something to do and they did them happily � 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 DeWitt, Jake (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeWitt, Jake Description An account of the resource Jake DeWitt served during the Second World War as a Gunner's Mate on the USS Roper, a destroyer from WWI. The Roper patrolled the Virginia coast where it sunk its first German submarine, then travelled to the Straits of Gibraltar for convoy duty. She was eventually struck near Okinawa when a Japanese fighter plane crashed into the side of the ship injuring DeWitt. Dewitt was eventually discharged after recovering from his arm injury. 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. Navy Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-02-16 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeWittJ 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/a3d187dac404755081bc6c7113f0e059.mp4 1da2ee31c150b701e2c15b9c36cfca9a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3eaabf892ef1f95c6095294d041288b2.pdf 7406a04c4a7a16c97dee95698afba76f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Arthur DeWitt World War II Interview Length: (01:01:59:00) Pre-Enlistment / Training / Deployment (00:00:26:00) · DeWitt was born in Lapeer, Michigan on October 1st, 1921; however, his mother died when he was three and his family then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan (00:00:26:00) o While DeWitt was young, his father worked for the Coast Guard; although DeWitt does not know where exactly his father was stationed, he believes it was in Grand Haven, Michigan (00:00:55:00) · DeWitt actually joined the Michigan National Guard before his senior year of high school, which caused him to miss out on his senior year (00:01:22:00) o When DeWitt joined the National Guard, he had been out drinking with two of his friends from high school, DeWitt got pretty drunk, and the friends managed to get him down to the enlistment offices; DeWitt was so drunk, he enlisted in the National Guard without even realizing it (00:01:43:00) § The next morning, people from the National Guard called DeWitt to inform him he had enlisted in the National Guard but he had no idea what they were talking about (00:02:03:00) · Once he had joined the National Guard, DeWitt went through his basic training in Kalamazoo (00:02:30:00) · When DeWitt first joined the National Guard, it was part-time until October 1940, when the National Guard was officially mobilized by the federal government; after mobilizing on Oct. 15th, the soldiers left for Camp Beauregard, Louisiana on Oct. 19th (00:03:17:00) o DeWitt cannot remember much about Camp Beauregard (00:03:47:00) § For the most part, DeWitt remembers the heat, being in the swamps, and having to deal with the local fauna, including alligators (00:04:26:00) · At one point, DeWitt’s unit was on a three- or four-day exercise in the field and one morning, he woke up and a coral snake was sitting next to his leg (00:04:43:00) o Another soldier killed the snake because DeWitt was barefoot and as DeWitt reached for his canteen cup so he could get a cup of coffee, a black widow spider crawled out of the cup (00:05:45:00) · As well, DeWitt was twice bitten by scorpions, once in Louisiana and once when he had deployed to New Guinea (00:06:01:00) o While at Camp Beauregard, DeWitt and the other soldiers went through various types of training, including bayonet and rifle training; basically, any training related to the infantry (00:06:30:00) § For the most part, the soldiers trained with World War I-era weapons, including the M1903 Springfield rifle (00:06:53:00) § Initially, DeWitt went through training to be a regular infantryman but was eventually converted into a B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) gunner; �however, DeWitt does not know why the decision was made to make him into a BAR gunner (00:07:12:00) · For the most part, nobody wanted to be a BAR gunner or a machine gunner because those two assignments tended to draw a lot of attention from the enemy (00:07:36:00) o DeWitt does not remember having too much trouble adapting to life in the military; for one, he was not very homesick because he and his parents were not close to each other to being with (00:07:55:00) o Every now and then, DeWitt and the other soldiers would receive passes to go into New Orleans, where they would go bar-hopping and to movies (00:08:42:00) o When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor happened in Dec. 1941, DeWitt and the other soldiers were on an exercise; when news about the attack came in, the men were called in from the exercise and listened on the radio as President Roosevelt gave his speech on the radio and declared war (00:09:38:00) § By the next day, the soldiers in the camp were sent out to defend various key locations in the local area (00:09:48:00) o At the time, the soldiers were being trained for the possibility of combat in the European theater (00:10:35:00) § In fact, DeWitt and the other soldiers made it as far as Boston, Massachusetts before General Douglas McArthur decided he needed their division in the Pacific; this meant the soldiers received training for both the European theater and the Pacific theater (00:10:51:00) · However, some of the training the men received for the European theater, such as bayonet training, was useless once the soldiers got into the Pacific theater (00:11:11:00) · DeWitt does not remember much about the various train trips he and the other soldiers took back and forth across the country (00:11:56:00) o Eventually, the soldiers made out to California, where they boarded the U.S.S. Lurline, which was a large cruise ship that the Navy had converted to be a troop transport (00:12:14:00) § DeWitt and the other soldiers experienced terrible living conditions on the Lurline because they were positioned in the hold of the ship and the heat and smell were tremendous (00:12:30:00) · Although the soldiers were technically not supposed to, DeWitt would crawl onto the deck of the ship at night to get some fresh air (00:12:43:00) · On the other hand, the food aboard the ship was pretty good; however, most of the soldiers were sea-sick off and on during the voyage and could not eat anything anyway (00:12:50:00) § The weather during the voyage was beautiful (00:13:17:00) § During the voyage across the Pacific, the Lurline was part of a larger convoy of ships; although DeWitt cannot remember the exact number of ships, he does remember there being U.S. Navy destroyers sprinkled in amongst the troop transports (00:13:39:00) · After the Lurline finished the voyage across the Pacific, the ship docked in Adelaide, Australia (00:13:53:00) �o Once in Adelaide, the soldiers stayed aboard the ship and DeWitt remembers being able to look out and see people on the shore; when the Lurline left California, DeWitt had no idea he would eventually end up in Australia, only that he was deploying somewhere overseas (00:14:06:00) § Years after the war, DeWitt remembers hearing the as the convoy the Lurline was a part of sailed through the Coral Sea, Japanese naval forces were actively trying to attack the convoy (00:14:47:00) o Adelaide was a nice city and DeWitt remembers there being a large number of churches in the city (00:15:08:00) § Although DeWitt managed to meet a couple of girls in the city, the Army kept pretty close tabs on all the soldiers (00:15:25:00) o The soldiers were not in Adelaide too long before they had to move up to Brisbane by train (00:15:32:00) § At one point during the trip from Adelaide to Brisbane, the grade of the railroad tracks was so steep that all the soldiers had to get off the train and help push the train up (00:15:52:00) o Once the soldiers were in Brisbane, they went through additional training, specifically focusing on jungle training because by then, the soldiers knew they would be fighting in the jungle (00:16:11:00) § The jungle training in Brisbane was different from the training the soldiers had already gone through; for the most part, the training focused on what the soldiers might encounter in the jungle (00:16:24:00) § However, for DeWitt, training was training and he could not recognize anything than was significantly different from the training he and the other soldiers had already done (00:16:38:00) · DeWitt does not remember any part of the training focusing on the tactics being used by the Japanese because nobody really knew about what the Japanese tactics were (00:17:01:00) · When it became time for them to leave Brisbane, DeWitt and the other soldiers boarded a ship that carried them to Port Moresby on New Guinea (00:17:28:00) o DeWitt does not recall a lot about Port Moresby other than maybe a couple of buildings (00:17:43:00) o After the soldiers landed at Port Moresby, they stayed in the town for awhile, which was when DeWitt was bitten by a scorpion for the second time (00:17:55:00) § From what the soldiers understood, the Japanese were about thirty miles away from Port Moresby when they landed (00:18:06:00) o DeWitt is not exactly sure how long he and the other soldiers spent in Port Moresby but he figures it was around a week (00:18:48:00) o Once they finally did leave the town, the soldiers headed towards the Owen Stanley mountains in the center of the island (00:19:03:00) § Some of the soldiers in DeWitt’s division flew part of the way then walked the remainder while other soldiers walked all the way from Port Moresby; DeWitt’s unit was one of the units that flew over the Owen Stanley mountains and landed at an airbase situated between the Owen Stanley mountains and another mountain chain and from there, the �soldiers walked the rest of the way (00:19:05:00) § DeWitt cannot recall the whole march up the second mountain chain, only various incidents, such as looking down from the top of the mountains and seeing a vast expanse of trees (00:20:13:00) · DeWitt does remember that the weather was extremely hot and muggy (00:20:13:00) § As they marched, DeWitt and the other soldiers were trying to carry their equipment and supplies as lightly as they could; almost every day, the soldiers “disposed” of something to make their loads lighter (00:20:45:00) · For the most part, DeWitt got rid of the supplies and equipment that he did not think would be necessary (00:20:58:00) § During the march over the mountains, DeWitt does not recall his unit ever encountering Japanese forces (00:21:36:00) Buna, New Guinea (00:21:54:00) · Eventually, the soldiers reached the area around the village of Buna and DeWitt remembers there being a lot of swamp land around the village (00:21:54:00) o DeWitt remembers that the Japanese attacked the night after the soldiers had arrived in Buna and settled into the village (00:22:24:00) § DeWitt cannot recall whether the American forces taking any casualties during the first Japanese attack (00:22:47:00) o It rained every night and would fill the foxholes that the soldiers had dug with water; if the soldiers had to go to the bathroom, the waste would be floating on the water because the soldiers did not dare get out of their foxholes (00:23:47:00) § The soldiers stayed in their foxholes out of fear of possible Japanese patrols in the area, especially at night (00:24:14:00) · DeWitt does not recall ever putting out anything that would make noise if an Japanese patrol was near (00:24:42:00) · DeWitt does not remember too much about the battle of Buna itself; he witnessed so much that he has tried to block part of it out (00:25:14:00) o DeWitt does remember that toward the end of the fighting, all the soldiers were fatigued and when a couple of soldiers started acting carelessly, giving away the position of the unit, so DeWitt, being one of the more experienced of the remaining soldiers, had to knock the soldiers out the butt of his rifle (00:25:47:00) o A couple of days later, DeWitt and the other soldiers had engaged the Japanese and DeWitt himself “lost his head”; he started charging towards the enemy but tripped and fell (00:26:24:00) § Another soldier helped DeWitt back to the main line and DeWitt managed to compose himself (00:26:53:00) § Most of the men changed while around Buna; having the being in combat daily, only eating what food they could find, etc., affected all of the soldiers to one degree or another (00:27:23:00) o Over the course of the fighting, DeWitt’s unit tried to make progress every day but the Japanese had strategically placed snipers and fortified pillboxes, both of which made any progress difficult (00:27:51:00) �§ If the soldiers had had access to either artillery or air strikes, DeWitt figures his unit could have successfully advanced into Buna in only a couple of weeks (00:28:14:00) § The division did have three small tanks and those represented the only heavy artillery available to the soldiers (00:28:57:00) · At one point, DeWitt was in the lead group of an attack being supported by the tanks and the next thing he knew, all three of the tanks were in flames (00:29:10:00) · None of the crewmen made it out and the fire was so intense that none of the infantry could get close enough to help (00:29:24:00) o During the Buna campaign, unlike most of the other soldiers, DeWitt did not get sick from one of the various tropical diseases (00:31:22:00) § DeWitt had made up his mind that he would not get sick and took preventative measures, so he was one of the last soldiers in his unit not to be sick and able to walk to the airplane once the unit was finally relieved by other American forces (00:31:43:00) · The remainder of the soldiers had either been wiped out by malaria or had been wounded during the fighting (00:32:01:00) · DeWitt does not remember the exact number of soldiers in his company who made it through the fighting at Buna completely unscathed, although he figures it was only around four or five total; the remainder of the soldiers in the company was either wounded, killed, or infected with a disease and had to be pulled out before the end of the battle (00:32:12:00) o Once the fighting at Buna was over, DeWitt was not allowed to go into Buna to see the Japanese positions; he was immediately pulled out and sent back to Australia (00:33:58:00) o Because of the nightly rains, the soldiers had a steady supply of water; however, what food they managed to find, they often had to take food carried on the bodies of dead soldiers as well as eat whatever food they could find, such as coconuts that had been knocked off trees by gun and mortar fire (00:33:20:00) § DeWitt ate so much coconut that when he finally got home, he told his wife never to have coconut in their house (00:33:13:00) § Apart from food, DeWitt also gathered up any spare ammunition from the bodies of dead soldiers (00:34:16:00) · During his time on New Guinea, although some of the other soldiers did, DeWitt did not have any contact with the native population (00:34:28:00) · Once DeWitt was finally pulled off of New Guinea, he and the other soldiers were placed on a boat and sent back to Australia (00:34:45:00) o Getting off of New Guinea was a great relief for DeWitt and the other soldiers because they knew they were going back to a land of civilization (00:34:58:00) o The ship from New Guinea landed in a small town in northern Australia and DeWitt promptly came down with malaria; through a series of circumstances, DeWitt ended up at a hospital in Sydney, Australia (00:35:20:00) § DeWitt was in the hospital for two weeks, at which point he learned he was being promoted to technical sergeant; however, he ran afoul of one of �the nurses in the hospital and ended up be re-assigned to a different division, which ended up costing him his promotion (00:36:06:00) · DeWitt was not happy in the hospital and accepted the reassignment so he could just get out of there (00:36:55:00) o Once out of the hospital, DeWitt was assigned to the 41st Infantry Division, which had yet to be in actual combat; when DeWitt first joined his new company, he was the only combat veteran in the entire company (00:37:03:00) § DeWitt got along real well with the soldiers in his new company, who treated him very well (00:37:18:00) § The division consisted of soldiers from New York state and other New England states (00:37:24:00) 41st Infantry Division / End of Deployment / Reflections (00:37:44:00) · When DeWitt left the hospital in Sydney and joined the 41st Infantry, the division had already deployed to New Guinea (00:37:44:00) o After DeWitt joined the 41st Infantry in New Guinea, the division launched an attack against the Japanese-held island of Biak (00:38:05:00) § Although the fighting on Biak was not at intense as the fighting around Buna, it was still rough (00:38:11:00) · One notable different between the fighting DeWitt did around Buna and the fighting he did on Biak was that Biak was all dry ground, unlike the swamps surrounding Buna (00:38:17:00) · Again, as with Buna, DeWitt does not remember the soldiers having any artillery or air support (00:38:26:00) At one point, DeWitt’s company was engaged with Japanese forces and he § had his BAR laying in front of him when the next thing he knew, the gun splintered from a 50-caliber round hitting it (00:39:01:00) · The loss of his BAR ended DeWitt’s time as a BAR gunner and he became a regular rifleman (00:39:18:00) o Following Biak, the 41st launched attacks against several different islands in the Philippines, including the island of Mindanao (00:39:32:00) § However, the fighting then was not too severe and the men saw very little actual combat (00:39:42:00) · In truth, the 41st Infantry saw nothing close to what the 32nd Infantry had to go through (00:39:50:00) · Nevertheless, the soldiers were still undersupplied and to resort to eating birds and coconuts (00:40:14:00) o While DeWitt was stationed on Biak, one day, his company had set up a defensive position for the night and three other soldiers who knew DeWitt had combat experience tried to get DeWitt to take them up a nearby hill; however, DeWitt was hesitant out of fear of a Japanese attack (00:40:41:00) § However, the other soldier eventually talked DeWitt into taking them up the hill and once the group was at the top of the hill, they ran into an empty Japanese camp with several bottles of sake (00:41:12:00) § DeWitt and the other soldiers started drinking the sake when DeWitt heard rustling sounds in the bush; DeWitt then alerted the other soldiers that they �had company and told them what to do (00:41:28:00) § DeWitt moved to the south and came upon an opening in the brush that had a Japanese soldier standing in the middle of it (00:41:48:00) § DeWitt initially froze but he thought the Japanese soldier was carrying a gun, so he pulled up his rifle, which promptly jammed; however, it was then that DeWitt noticed the Japanese soldier had not been carrying a gun but was carrying a stick (00:41:58:00) § The Japanese soldier charged at DeWitt, the two men got into hand-tohand combat and eventually ended up in the nearby river, where DeWitt was able to restrain the Japanese soldier (00:42:23:00) § DeWitt initially suggested taking the Japanese soldier prisoner but one of the other soldiers on the shore ended up shooting and killing the soldier anyway (00:42:45:00) o Another time, DeWitt jumped a Japanese soldier as he walked out of a cave because he wanted to take the soldier prisoner (00:43:41:00) § DeWitt and his company had just landed and they knew the Japanese were in the cave, so they used grenades and a flame thrower to flush the enemy out of the caves (00:44:20:00) § At the time, DeWitt and the other soldiers were under orders to take prisoners whenever they could so they could get information from them about the Japanese positions (00:44:38:00) § When the company returned to camp, the commanders wanted to courtmartial DeWitt but the following day, before anything could happen, the company was in combat (00:44:53:00) · During the fighting, DeWitt managed to save the life of the commanding officer, who then decided to drop to the court-martial against DeWitt (00:45:03:00) · DeWitt was actually court-martialed four different times; however, each of the four times, he was either in the United States or Australia, never near the front (00:45:34:00) o DeWitt was court-martialed because he kept going AWOL (Absent Without Leave) from his unit (00:45:57:00) o The punishments normally lasted only thirty days and during the second courtmartial, DeWitt was assigned to beating rocks with a sledgehammer (00:46:07:00) § It was hot and when DeWitt told the guard he needed water, the guard ignored him; however, the second time DeWitt said he needed water, the guard pointed his gun at DeWitt, so DeWitt hit the guard with his sledgehammer (00:46:34:00) § The other guard actually came to the defense of DeWitt and said that DeWitt had been asking for water but the first guard was not letting him have any (00:47:09:00) o None of DeWitt’s court-martials ever resulted from any serious type of an offense by DeWitt (00:47:32:00) · When DeWitt joined the 41st, he tried to tell the other soldiers in his company what advice he knew about fighting in the jungle (00:47:47:00) o Two of the biggest lessons DeWitt gave was telling the soldiers to use their �instincts and to not try to be a hero (00:48:10:00) o According to DeWitt’s advice, the soldier’s training would only take them so far and the rest was luck; the soldiers who were lucky were the soldiers who survived the fighting (00:48:26:00) · DeWitt’s company spent a month or two stationed on Mindanao before moving to the nearby island (00:49:31:00) o The fighting in the Philippines was much more docile compared to the fighting DeWitt had gone through on New Guinea (00:49:47:00) o Although he is unsure exactly how it happened, DeWitt somehow ended up being assigned to an intelligence section, which involved going on patrols with infantry units to find any useful information regarding the Japanese forces (00:50:07:00) § One time, DeWitt and another soldier from the intelligence section went out on patrol with a squad to investigate reports of the Japanese attacking a village to the north of the American position (00:50:22:00) § One day, two or three Filipinos talked DeWitt into going onto a hilltop with them and after four or five hours, the group made contact with Japanese forces; DeWitt started to give orders to position the group but when he looked around, everyone was gone (00:50:44:00) · Luckily, DeWitt was able to sneak out of the area and make it back to camp (00:51:17:00) o The local population was underfed, so DeWitt would go out with three or four canoes and use dynamite to fish (00:51:44:00) o When DeWitt was assigned to the intelligence section, he did not receive any formal training for the assignment (00:52:50:00) § There were eight soldiers in the section, with a sergeant as the leader and a corporal as his second-in-command (00:52:56:00) § The assignment was relatively safe, which meant none of the soldiers were ever killed; this was why, in a year-and-a-half of being with the intelligence section, DeWitt was never promoted (00:53:10:00) · However, the soldier did remain connected to the rest of the infantry and whenever the soldiers went out on a patrol, they had to carry a weapon (00:53:25:00) o While stationed in the Philippines, the twenty-year-old DeWitt ended up marrying a sixteen-year-old Filipino girl (00:53:44:00) § The girl’s father allowed DeWitt to marry his daughter only if DeWitt paid him fifty pesos (00:53:57:00) § Technically, none of the soldiers were supposed to marry any locals but DeWitt managed to convince a friend who agreed to dress up as a minister to perform the “wedding” (00:54:12:00) § DeWitt was with his new wife for about two weeks before he accumulated enough points to transfer home (00:54:20:00) · Before DeWitt transferred home, another soldier offered DeWitt seventy-five pesos for his “wife” (00:54:30:00) § Once it became time for DeWitt to rotate home, he was boarding a ship when someone told him some people were asking for him; as it turned out, it was his “wife” and her father, who was carrying a knife (00:54:51:00) �· · · · · · The girl figured DeWitt was going to bring her back to the United States but he had no way of doing so (00:55:16:00) The Japanese did not officially surrender until DeWitt had already left the Philippines; the official announcement came while DeWitt was still aboard the ship carrying from the Philippines back to the United States (00:55:45:00) One of the times DeWitt went AWOL, it was in Australia (00:57:02:00) o The civilians in the nearby town had come to like the soldiers and the soldiers would often go into the town to drink (00:57:09:00) o One time, one of the other soldiers ordered thirty beers, which caused DeWitt to question him, say they could not drink that many beers (00:57:30:00) § However, when the waitress brought the beers out, there were only twenty eight, so the soldier took the tray and threw it, and all the beers, against the wall (00:57:53:00) Once DeWitt returned to the United States, he went home and it was not more than three weeks before his father was pressuring him to get a job (00:58:17:00) o Initially, DeWitt briefly worked at a paper mill, then spent three months working at the local post office, then another company for three months, before settling in at Kalamazoo Paper, where he stayed for fifty-two years (00:58:42:00) Looking back, DeWitt would like to think that his time serving in the Army helped educate him, including taking some correspondence courses while he was deployed to the Pacific (00:59:21:00) o However, being in the infantry did not afford DeWitt too much time to think about getting an education (01:00:06:00) At one point, while DeWitt and the other soldiers were AWOL in Australia, someone mentioned see MPs and DeWitt, being by himself, took off running through the local neighborhood to get away (01:00:49:00) o Eventually, DeWitt hid in a women’s bathroom; as he hid, he told a nearby women not to tell the MPs where he was hiding but when the MPs did come up, the woman told them DeWitt was hiding in the women’s bathroom (01:01:12:00) o When the MPs took DeWitt back to the hotel to gather his belongings, around fifty people came up telling the MPs to let DeWitt go because he had been nice to them at some point (01:01:29:00) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource DeWitt, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeWitt, Arthur Description An account of the resource Arthur DeWitt was born in Lapeer, Michigan in 1921, and grew up in Kalamazoo. While a senior in high school, DeWitt joined the Michigan National Guard, and his unit, Company C of the 126th Infantry Regiment, was called up soon afterward, causing him to miss most of his senior year. His unit was sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana for training, and he became a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) gunner. In the spring of 1942, his division was sent first to Boston, then to San Francisco, and from there to Australia. They were shipped to New Guinea in September, and participating in the fighting around Buna. One of the few men in his company to get through Buna unscathed and healthy, he came down with malaria soon after returning to Australia, and was reassigned to the 41st Division. He served with the 41st on Biak, and then on Mindanao in the Philippines, and was rotated home shortly before the end of 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 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 2008-04-08 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeWittA0236V 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/54ab2b04cd154c3b44907388a1bd73e3.mp4 2c6b73d59010374570ef72bff2dac2bd https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/afe8728b09446016fe5a0bfc6a44e8d3.pdf eb200edc591377e708de5315bec2f1b5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Al DeWitt (01:00:02) (00:19) Background Information • • • • Al was born in Grand Rapids, MI in April His stepfather was in the gladiola business, but they lost their farm and had to move Al stopped going to high school so he could help his family with money He joined the Air Corps in 1942 and went into the cadets (04:55) Training • • • • Al was assigned to be a glider pilot in Roswell, NM He was sent to Walker Air Force Base and had civilian pilot training Al took a test not knowing what it was and then found out he had an IQ of 143 They had to do KPs even though they had too high of a rank because there wasn’t anyone else to do it (14:48) After Glider School • • • • • • • • • He was sent to Fresno, CA and then to Sioux Falls, SD for radio school Al didn’t want to go through basic training again, so he wrote a letter to a general to get back into cadets The general approved his request and he was sent to Denver, CO He didn’t do much in Denver, but he met some soldiers coming back from the war in Europe Al was then sent back to Santa Ana, CA and they let him pick up where he left of in cadet school He was sent to King City, CA to fly Stearmans and then sent to Drew Field in Tampa, FL In Tampa he got the badge for the 8th Air Force and flew P-51s Next he was sent to Bakersfield He then got out of the Air force and went home to start a family and buy a farm (31:40) Korean War • • • • • • In 1951 Al got called back into service because the Korean war He spent another 21 months in the Air Force Al was first sent to Roswell, NM where he was a test pilot He flew AT-6s and would sometimes bring people up to do acrobatics In December he was sent to Rapid City where they did training flights Al was a B-36 crew member �• • • • On one occasion an engine caught fire and they had to make an emergency landing in a field The B-36 was a large plane with 6 prop engines and 4 jet engines They simulated electronic bombings Al would fly over Russia at a very high altitude and the Russians didn’t have anything that could go that high (57:35) Discharge • • • Al left the Air Force in 1953 He Farmed in Allendale, MI The Air Force gave him discipline and made him strong � 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 Dewitt, Al (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dewitt, Al Description An account of the resource Al Dewitt was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and joined the Army Air Corps in 1942. Al was assigned to be a glider pilot and received his glider wings. He then trained as a fighter pilot but remained based in the US. He became a farmer after the war, but was called back into duty for 21 months during the Korean War. He was first a test pilot for the AT-6 and then was put on a B-36 crew. They did training runs and went over Russia at high altitudes, and Al survived a particularly dangerous crash landing. 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings 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 2008-08-07 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeWittAl 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/764075f45e1759a8e559d668aa6e5c34.mp4 c7439faced3f6f3b66f85da9b6d00017 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/566aef1290835da46e9d709f45878d9c.pdf 85b7007ace741655a2f632c12641db8e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Richard Devries (00:32:31) (00:15) Background Information • • • Richard was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and went to Saranac high school He enlisted in the Army in 1960 and became part of the mortar crew for the National Guard Before enlisting, Richard had previously lived on a farm (1:20) The Army Reserve • • • • • • Richard chose this area because he had a few uncles in the reserve He learned better discipline in training They traveled to Missouri for training in the summer and it was very hot Training was not too difficult for him because he had previously ran in track in high school and played baseball He had no combat experience He had been in training during the war in Vietnam but had never been called to duty (3:05) Army Title • Richard worked on a mortar crew and helped plot coordinates (3:30) Worst Experience • His worst experience while in the service was when he got poison oak in California and it took a very long time to go away (4:00) Richard had been awarded a sharp shooter badge (4:20) Activities • • • • • • While in California they were allowed to have the weekends off Many of the men would go to town on the weekends to hang out Richard was often homesick and wrote many letters If you do what you are told, then you will be treated well He went to church every Sunday morning and it always made him feel better He did not keep a journal or a log of his experiences �(7:50) Friends in the Service • • • • The men from Michigan hung out with others from Wisconsin He does not have many pictures to remember his experiences He was pretty good friends with everyone he worked with and the officers as well Some men in the service he worked with passed out after running for too long (9:45) The End of his Service • • • • He was discharged around 1965, or about 42 years ago, but it is hard to remember He then worked for 32 years at Steelcase It was easy for Richard to get back into his normal routine He made three really good friends while he was in the service (12:15) Experience in the Service • • • • Richard realized that you can’t control wars and that they are predictable He still attends some reunions The service taught him to appreciate what he left behind All the armed forces are very important and they help support our free country � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Devries, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Devries, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard Devries joined the Army Reserve after high school and worked on a mortar crew to plot coordinates. Richard trained in Missouri during the Vietnam War but was never called to duty. Richard enjoyed his time in the service and made lots of friends. After serving, Richard got a job at Steelcase and now believes that all areas of the service are very important to support our free country. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Led Better, Brandon (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 United States. Army Reserve Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American 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 2007-06-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DevriesR 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/023b2b2b57553b4fa412e0b6e07ac5d8.mp4 35f0a12bb824f5700af0e6e448140a0c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e776eb0894635c716e5be69027049ae.pdf 0096ca4c0382f9eb844314f0c4f73e87 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Milton DeVries (00:34:34) (00:00) Background • Born in 1918 • Father worked in a flooring factory • Mother died when he was six years old o Moved in with an aunt and uncle in Jenison, MI o Went to Sand Hill • Moved back to Wyoming after his father remarried • Graduated from Grandville High School in 1936 • Worked in the factory, with his father, until it closed in 1937 • Worked “odd jobs” from 1937-39 • Hired at General Motors in 1939, and worked in material handling (02:35) Joining the US Army • Drafted • Went to Fort Custer, Battle Creek, MI in April 1941 o Worked in “pits” – maintaining a shooting range • Went to Camp Beauregard, LA from Fort Custer o Underwent basic training o Member of Company F-127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division � Mostly new recruits in company � Most members were from Cheboygan, WI o Assigned to do “grunt work” – picking up cigarette butts o Was a newer camp, with tents used as room and board for recruits (06:00) Training • Simulated war • Weather was hot and rainy – similar to weather in Pacific Theater • Stayed from May 1941 until early-1942 o Was sent to Massachusetts • October 1941 – largest US army operation until that point o Was captured, and was a POW for a few days • Used World War I-era weapons and equipment • Soldiers had to walk • Went to Alexandria when he had weekend passes (08:05) o Describes Alexandria o 20-30 miles away from camp • Was a regular infantryman o Trained in rifle department �(09:35) Pearl Harbor • Troops had to be ready to mobilize quickly • Stayed in Massachusetts until February or March • Was scheduled to go to Europe on the SS Normandy o Normandy burned o Sent to help Gen. MacArthur • Sent to San Francisco o Prepared to be shipped out to Pacific Theater o Was a strange experience, because Mr. DeVries had never left MI (11:37) San Francisco and Australia • Stationed in Fort Ord o Issued new equipment o Stayed for a month • Shipped to Australia o Felt “fortunate” to be assigned to submarine watch duty � Did not have to wait for lunch • Got sick when he saw other soldiers getting sick (14:04) o Describes how other soldiers got sick • Landed in Adelaide, Australia in late-April, 1942 (15:00) o Was originally supposed to land in Sydney, but the Japanese found out about the landing o Stationed in Australian camps � Camps were vacated, because Australian troops were in Egypt o At first ate Australian food, such as mutton � Many men threw it away � Later bought bread from local farmers � Some men were able to get eggs o Stayed in Adelaide for three to four months o Went into town whenever he could � Describes Adelaide as a “nice” town o Did not do much training • Left Adelaide for Brisbane, Australia (18:18) o Troops had to vacate trains each time they approached a “state” border, because the railroads were privately owned o Underwent training, by American officers, in Brisbane (19:57) New Guinea • Went aboard a Liberty Ship – arrived right after Thanksgiving • Landed in Port Moresby o Describes it as a small town with “just a few buildings” o Japanese would bomb at night, but no casualties were suffered • Went to Japanese air field after it was captured by the 126th Infantry o Troops ordered to scatter after landing, to avoid being bombed o Lots of jungle surrounded the air field o Some trails were found around the air field �� � Japanese set up gunners on the trails US soldiers encouraged to walk through the jungle (22:45) Encounters with the Japanese and battle • Scheduled for action on Christmas o Rivers slowed the infantry down o DeVries was in the last boat that the Japanese let cross the river, before firing upon other boats o Joined by 30-40 men • DeVries “didn’t really see the Japanese” o Troops were ordered not to fire o His company was never directly attacked by the Japanese, at this point • Joined the siege of Buna mission in January 1943 o Japanese troops were well-fortified, causing US soldiers to attack Japanese soldiers from close-range o Except for a possible mortar, there was no artillery or air support o No support from Australian troops o Got “fire” from Japanese in tall grass on 2 January 1943 (27:58) � One of DeVries’ friends was killed � DeVries was shot while trying to throw a grenade • Went into shock • Was pulled back across the river, and taken to an aid station o Stayed 10 days o Had to have intestines sewed up � No pain killers � Could not drink – given a wet rag to chew on o His incision tore open on 14 or 15 January � No doctor was available at the aid station � Was taped and sewed up • Landed in Port Moresby on 16 January o Stayed in a hospital tent o Later boarded an Australian hospital ship • Went to Sydney from Port Moresby o Stayed in a hotel-turned-hospital until 1 May 1943 (31:15) Return to the US • Went back to US from hospital o Left when he was able to walk o Rode on a boat with Australians who were to be trained in Canada • Landed in San Francisco, and stayed in a hospital o Was transferred to a hospital in Battle Creek, MI • After the hospital stay, he went on a two-day tour of giving Bond-Selling speeches in Detroit o Talked about his experiences in the war o Spoke mostly to workers at the plants in Detroit �• o Was well-received o Returned to Battle Creek after the tour Discharged on 16 August o Got his job back at GM 30 days later � Another worker left for the military, so took over his bookkeeping job � Worked at GM for the next 30 years o Got married following his discharged (34:34) Reflections on his experience • Had nightmares for several months after he was discharged • He had drastically aged, physically, during his time in the service • Feels that he grew up a little bit in the army • Believes that “you can survive with pain.” • Feels that the Japanese soldiers were in the war for the same reason that he was � 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 Devries, Milton H. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Devries, Milton H. Description An account of the resource Milton Devries was drafted in 1941 and sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, to join the 127th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division. He served with this unit on New Guinea, where he was badly wounded at Buna. After an extended hospital stay, he saw duty in Australia and the United States before being discharged. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-10-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DevriesM 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/4627f039a4ccb193c6abeb6f40f9066f.mp4 bb9b176b56697f04b4d80b223a82f571 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dbc666c41b7c7d0ec7d0bcd68eb2fd97.pdf b12a01359ad39d89ee1bf6f8f9537674 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Air Force, Air National Guard: pre-Iraq, Iraq Autumn DeRoo Length of Interview: 52:36 (00:00) JS: We’re here today with Autumn DeRoo of Holland, Michigan. The interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State Veteran’s History project. Autumn, can you start by giving us a bit of background on yourself. For instance, where and when were you born? AD: I was born in 1979, in Holland, Michigan. So I grew up in western Michigan. JS: Okay. And can you say a little bit about your family background. AD: Well, I have parents who were divorced when I was young, and… ooh, what else. What would you like me to say? JS: Well, like your maiden name is Chavez, for instance. AD: Yes. It is. My dad is Hispanic and my mom is Dutch. So it’s a unique combination. So I grew up in west Michigan, Holland particularly. Went to West Ottawa High School, graduated in 1997, from there. I don’t know what else to say. JS: Well, from that point, did you join the Air Force from there? AD: I did. I signed up prior to graduating from high school. I knew very early on in high school that I didn’t want to pursue a college education. Because I didn’t really know how, because it was not available to me. My parents didn’t go to college. And that weren’t really familiar with that. It was, you graduate from high school and you go on into the work force. (01:17) JS: What kind of student were you in high school? AD: Not a very good one. (laughs) Not a very good one. I was quite bored a lot of the time. I wasn’t interested in a lot of the subjects. And I don’t think I was really well prepared at home, for schooling, whether it was the high school level or the college level. And so I was not real interested in the studies in high school. So…I didn’t really do much with that. JS: Okay. And where did you get the idea of joining the military? AD: Well, I have a family background, of the military. My great uncles, two of them, they had a full career. My dad was in the military. He served in Vietnam. My grandfather and my great grandfather were all in the military. I didn’t really think too much about it but my uncle, I spoke to him more and I got a little bit more information from him and he helped me to make the �decision on what was best for me. And, you know, as far as the branches and what the service could offer for me. (02:31) JS: So what was appealing to you about the Air Force? AD: Well, the biggest thing was it was a job and training. I didn’t really know about the benefits until much later. But that’s exactly what I needed. I didn’t want to work in a factory. I didn’t want to have my parents life, essentially. Cause that’s what you did at that age. You would go to high school and sometimes not even finish and then you would go straight into a factory and you know, do whatever job was available to you. But I knew that wasn’t really how to make a future for myself. So I really wanted to have some sort of training, some sort of skill. So I knew that the military, in speaking with my uncle, would be able to offer those skills to me, that training, and give me a career. So that’s my primary reason for joining and having that opportunity. (03:23) JS: Why the Air Force rather than the Army or the Navy or something like that? AD: Well, my original thought was to be a Marine. I really wanted to be one of those hard-core Marines and join more for the patriotic type, kind of my more naïve thought of that. But after speaking with my uncle, and of course, I was seventeen when I joined, so I needed both parents signature, and they were really against the Marines and any sort of combat job. So they signed off on the Air Force, and my uncle, of course, after speaking with him, he was in the Navy, and he thought that would be a good way to go, so I decided with the Air Force. JS: Okay. And once you sign up, what’s the induction process and so forth? What happens next? (04:19) AD: Well, you meet with a recruiter and they kind of give you a lot of information. Very overwhelming. You don’t know, if you go alone or if you don’t go with somebody who knows the process, you don’t really know what to expect and it’s kind of hard to thumb through all the information. But, I went with my uncle to the first meeting and I decided it was really for me. He gave me my options. Also, having my uncle there to really kind of walk me through the process and know what I can and cannot do, was very helpful. So you see the recruiter and you cedide whether or not it’s for you and you sign up. I was in the delayed enlistment program, which was, you sign up in high school and until you graduate and you’re ready to be shipped off. that’s what they call it, the delayed enlistment program. Then after I graduated I decided, I went to the military processing center in Lansing, and that’s where you decide, you know, what you want to do in the military. (05:29) AD: My uncle also mentioned that you really need to sign up for a guaranteed job, or they can throw you in categories and groups and you don’t know. And I really knew at that time in 1997, that I really wanted to do something in computers, in technology. I was really interested in that �portion of what was coming. And so I went for that career and I said this is the job that I want, and I don’t want to go in with just sort of an open field. I want to sign up for that job. So I signed up for that job. And then all of your dates are kind of around, scheduled around, what you want to do. So then after that you just kind of wait until you’re shipped off to basic training. (06:18) JS: Okay. Now do they do any kind of testing at this stage, you know, to find out what your aptitudes are, if you’re qualified for particular types of training? AD: Yes. Actually. I forgot about that. It’s called the ASVAB. Um, it’s a military standardized testing and they try to place people where they’ll be successful. It is an aptitude test. They have, well, when I went through, they had four different categories and they would test your skills, so they can put people where they’d be most successful, most comfortable, and where they would grow and work out. And, so, there’s a test that you do take, prior to going to the military processing center in Lansing to decide where your career is going to go. (07:05) JS: Okay. So when you’re meeting with them, they already have the tests results so they can be looking at that, or does that come in later? AD: Um, now I think it’s all automated. So, yeah, I think you do get it. When I took it, it was paper and pencil and [purple?] sheets. So I got a raw score the next day, but then my score would come later on. But, I’m almost certain that it’s all computerized now. JS: Right. Well, basically, you did well enough on that, despite the spotty school career prior to going into that, that you could go where you wanted to go. AD: Yes. Yes, I was able to meet the criteria for the career choice that I took. So… JS: And where then did they send you for basic training? (07:49) AD: I was in San Antonio, at Lackland Air Force Base. That is where the Air Force basic training is located at. JS: And what did that consist of? AD: Um, looking back, it all just seems kind of silly. Not the training. The training was intense. It was very serious and helpful and really was an incredible experience looking back. At the time, it wasn’t necessarily the most fun. JS: So what do they have you do? AD: Well, it’s a lot less intensive than the other branches, from what I’ve heard. You have your physical training. You have your mental training. You have a lot of different classes, as far as military history and, you know, kind of going over what the Air Force is about. You learn a lot �of the different regulations and policies and they just are trying to educate you, to make you understand about the military. And how we work and how we function. And they kind of go on with those kinds of classroom work. So you have classroom work, you have the physical work. You have the drilling. Which consists of the marching and those types of formations and whatnot. Then, goodness, I’m trying to remember, it seems so far back. (09:16) AD: Just a bunch of different trainings. Ultimately, they’re really trying to reshape you into a military minded person. They’re not trying to change you. They’re not trying to make you somebody different. They’re just trying to shift your values and how you live your life. And what’s important for the military. JS: Okay. How much emphasis was there on discipline and following orders? AD: Lots of discipline and following orders. So there was a heavy emphasis. I mean, ultimately that’s really what the military is about. The discipline is throughout your career. It’ll be throughout your life, if that’s something you take to heart. Um, following orders is very important. It’s not like what you see in the movies. That’s very extreme. It’s just very important, I mean, especially during intense times. And I’ve never been in a war situation, but I can imagine that those orders need to be followed without question. And that’s certainly something that they try to emphasize, because in times of war and intense moments, you would really have to, you can’t think about it and you can’t question it, you just have to do and trust that your officers and your non-commissioned officers, they really know what they’re talking about. (10:39) JS: Were you surprised by any of the stuff they had you do, or were there things that you didn’t expect, or was it pretty much what you thought it would be going in? AD: I can’t, ummm… as far as basic training, there was the cleaning. I mean, you had your details and whatnot and they were very focused on cleaning and laundry, and…you had certain people who did laundry, and certain people who cleaned the barracks and certain people who cleaned the latrines, certain people who did certain things, and so that was really interesting to me. But it builds a sense of that’s your job, you need to hold responsibility for it, not only to you and the person you’re working with, but to the entire group. Because if you are not successful, you know, sweeping the floor, it seems so irrelevant, but if you’re not successful with that, then the entire group is not successful. And so, even though if you’re not actually doing that, it may sound silly, but it really is a good exercise to bring a bunch of people who don’t know each other together and we need to work together as a team and really, um, you know, make this happen. So it was kind of a training exercise, which was, it was quite interesting. (12:00) JS: Okay. What was the most difficult or challenging of that first stage of training? AD: The mental aspect. You know, at seventeen, it wasn’t my first time away from home, but you know, you kind of get used to your life. To your, I don’t want to say freedoms, but you’re used to just coming and going as you please. It really gets mentally draining, as far as you know, �trying to go down that route. But at the end of training, you’re really, you’re used to it. And it’s something that is very important and it becomes a part of you, so the mental part and trying to get through the training, and worried about any sort of failure, I think that was my toughest obstacle in that part of the training. JS: So were you in good physical condition when you went in? So you could handle the exercise and physical training and that kind of thing? (12:58) AD: Yeah, I wasn’t in the best. I didn’t run, like four miles a day, or anything. But I wasn’t overweight or had heart problems or asthma or any of those types of problems that would become an obstacle to doing the physical part. I was just average. Average high school kid, McDonald’s and life, and non-exercise life, so… JS: All right. Now what kind of people were you training alongside of at that point? You know, where were they from, what kind of backgrounds did they have? AD: All over. I mean, I remember there was people of all ages. Seventeen year olds. There were people in their twenties and thirties. I want to say, oh, not at that point, we didn’t have the older. There was this one woman I knew, she was much older. Um, but, we had people who were in the civil air patrol. People who didn’t graduate high school, people who did college for a little while. It was, it’s just such an array of different people and different backgrounds, people in the training. There’s men, women, I mean, in my whole bunk or dorm or whatever it’s called, I can’t even remember, you know, it’s part of the barracks, the women’s barracks. I mean, it was full. We had sixty women just in my flight alone, so it wasn’t very limited on women, and I mean, there’s all sort of different people from different backgrounds. (14:29) JS: Okay. Now when you finish the basic training, what do you do next? AD: You go on to your technical training. They will send you to, um, whatever base your technical training is. It’s all over the United States, so um, that’s pretty much what you do next. You just go to directly into your career field training. JS: Okay. So where do they send you? (14:55) AD: Biloxi, Mississippi. Keesler Air Force Base. That is where the Computer Communications Operation is housed out of. That’s my career field and so that’s where home is for training. JS: And what kind of a place was it physically? In Lackland, we have a really big extensive base, so what was Keesler like? AD: It was much smaller than Lackland. Of course, Lackland is big. It’s over across a couple of roads, and you know, just ginormous. But Keesler is smaller. It’s right on the coast. Right �across the street is the Gulf of Mexico, so it’s smaller. But it’s still bigger in comparison to some of the bases that I’ve worked at, so it’s probably average. (15:45) JS: Okay. How many people were you training with? Did you have kind of a class or a cadre that you were with, or how did that work? AD: Yes, you do have, you have classes starting each week. And you have, I want to say an average sized class. Maybe fifteen. Twenty people, roughly. Um, but you would start out, you had one class starting out one week and the following week you had another class. And if you failed, then you would jump back into the other class. But, pretty much everyone stayed with their class and then at the end, you would have your graduation with your particular class that you were in. JS: Okay. So what actual skills or training were you picking up at this point? (16:29) AD: For mine, it was the computer communication skills. So we were doing a lot of work, hardware, software, networking, um, what else were we doing. We did a lot of the fundamentals and principles of technology, of computers in general. And the infrastructures of networks. We did a lot of that type of work. They cram it all into three months, so you were working quite long and a lot of homework and a lot of studying. JS: Now did you get any time off? Like did you go to the beach, or anything like that? AD: Sort of. Right after basic training, after six weeks of this hard drilling and away from everything, no phone calls, no sort of luxuries, you go into your technical training. So to prevent people from going completely wild, you graduate into steps into your luxuries. So, the first two weeks, you’re still wearing your full uniform. You have a certain curfew. You can’t do certain things. And then the next two weeks, you might be able to take your uniform off in the vening and wear civilian clothes. (17:49) AD: Um, but you still have curfews and stuff. So you kind of graduate into the different steps of what your luxuries are. Um, and then ultimately by the last step, you can go off base, you have extended curfews, you can do certain things. That’s the ultimate goal. But the reason they do that is so that you can just gradually step out of the hardcore basic training drilling and mentalities. So you kind of ease out of it. JS: What was the gender balance in your class? Was it about even, men and women, or more of one or the other? AD: No, it was more men. My career field definitely has a lot more men. I don’t know about today, but there was definitely a lot more men than women. I think there was myself and I want to say, two or three other women, in my class. �(18:51) JS: Okay. I guess part of it is we think of it as the computer science side of things, you have a lot more men, if you think communications, you might have more women in there, or something like that. But the group you were in, at that point, it was still largely male. Were there any issues with that dynamic or were you all just kind of in this together so it didn’t matter? AD: Well, we were all in it together, so I don’t really think that there was any sort of imbalance there. I mean, there wasn’t any “I’m doing this better.” There was a lot of, at this stage, there was a lot of we’re all working together, we all have the same goal, we all want to succeed and learn, so we’d ask each other questions. We very much worked as a team. But we also had retrainees in there, which ae people who are in the military and are changing their career field. And so we had a lot of some older presence in there. And some actual experience presence. Um, so that was good to know and have that network and support. And they were just really helpful in military knowledge in general as well as with the classroom. (20:03) JS: So that’s about a three month span, you said, that you’re there? AD: Yes. My class was a three month span. You have classes depending on the career that can be six weeks all the way to a year, two years, when you get into the extensive, like when you get into linguists. But my particular one was sixteen weeks. JS: And once you complete that, what comes next? AD: Well, towards the end of your training, you will get your first assignment. So then you prepare, you start preparing to go to that assignment. And so, it can be anywhere. You, they give you a dream sheet, is what they call it. Because ultimately, that’s what it is. It’s this is where I’d like to go. But they can pretty much send you anywhere. If you really don’t want to go overseas, I think that you can request that. Especially with your first assignment. I didn’t get an overseas assignment but I can’t remember really exactly how that works. But I ended up going back to San Antonio, at Brooks Air Force Base. And that was my first assignment. (21:10) JS: Okay. And what kind of work were you doing there? AD: Um, a bunch of different work. We had, I worked for the small computer center, which is basically a fixing of the computers. They really you know, they do the hardware and the software and they resolve any sort of issues there. I also worked for the inventory. We kept all of the base inventory. So we had to be responsible, be accountable for all the equipment on base. So I worked for them as well. Um, and I worked for the Help Desk a few times, just kind of filling in and whatnot. But those were my primary jobs, at Brooks. JS: All right. Again, what was sort of the routine like there? (22:00) �AD: Well, when you first come in as an Airman Basic, which I was, you have to live in dorms and you have to live on base until a certain time. So I lived in a dorm on base. Um, and so that was kind of incorporated into the routine. And then, you know, it was just very much a Monday through Friday, 8-5 job. Just go in and do work. That base in particular, didn’t have the odd shifts and hours. It was a very day job. Because they had a lot of civilians who worked there. Um, they did, what are those things called? They’re those machines that, um, gosh, I can’t remember. They’re those machines that they put you in it… JS: Are they flight simulators? AD: Well, they did have flight simulators, but they did some sort of, I can’t really remember. Like if you have some sort of injury and they put you into these. JS: Oh, MRI’s? (23:04) AD: No, there more of…I can’t remember. JS: Okay. AD: Sorry, I just can’t but it was a really interesting aspect of that base, but I didn’t work there, so it wasn’t really that important to me. I can’t rembmer what they were called. But they did have flight simulators. JS: What was, as far as you could tell, what was the main function of the base? What did they do there as opposed to Lackland or someplace else? AD: Um, pretty much the unit, that unit I was telling you about, that was their main function. They were really losing the functionality of the base. And it’s now a city base. I spoke to somebody the other day, and they now have a Best Buy on it, and it’s no longer a guarded air force base. I mean, like, they have shopping centers and whatnot on it. So it’s not really, I mean, it was being phased out, so there wasn’t a real strong mission there. (24:03) JS: I guess in the late ‘90s, generally, the military was doing a lot of downsizing, and so forth. Was that really noticeable to you, from your perspective at the time? Were you seeing that things were changing or shifting or is that something you figure out later? AD: I think it’s stuff that you figure out later. At that time, from what I understood, before I got there, they really weren’t getting a lot of new people. And once I got there, we were getting people all the time. So, I didn’t really notice it then. But then looking back at it now, it kind of made sense because ultimately the base closed, as kind of an air force base and is now a city base, whatever that may mean. (24:48) JS: All right. Now how long did you spend in that assignment? �AD: I want to say I was there from ’97 to ’99, so a couple of years. A little over a couple of years. JS: All right. And do they just kind of routinely move people around or do you request changes, or, what’s your next step? AD: I actually requested the next change. I was ready for a different job and to move on. They do occasionally have assignments that come out. You know, looking for someone of this qualification to go here. Um, or, when it’s time for assignments, you can be thrown in the mix and you’ll get assigned wherever. So this assignment came out to go to Colorado Springs, Colorado. And so I applied for it and I actually was assigned to, for that assignment. That’s where I ended up next. (25:45) JS: Okay. And then what kind of job did you have there? AD: Well, I worked for Cheyenne Mountain Air Base. Um, it’s the mountain complex that you see on Stargate SG-1. (laughs) So everyone is, is that where you were working? Is that the real one? It’s not the real picture, I don’t think. Um, but that was really interesting. The complex is inside the mountain. It’s on these huge springs. I mean, the building is on these huge springs. You have a couple of blast doors that you have to go through. And you have to take the bus inside the mountain, or you can walk, but it’s a long walk. So I was doing pretty much the same thing. I worked for US Base Command and NORAD. I worked on the help desk. For a few years. And I’ve done odds and ends. I’ve done different jobs here and there. Network administrator, NT administrator, just different jobs. (26:45) JS: All right. And what was the atmosphere like at this place, as opposed to the other bases you were at? Did it have a different feel to it because of the nature of duty there, or… AD: It did. I think that’s a good observation. I think, it maybe did feel a little more important. I don’t want to say that any mission is not important, because they all are, um, but being nineteen, at that time, it’s nice to feel like you have more of an importance that just doing an 8-5 job and you know, fixing computers. While that seems…that it still important, but at that time, I felt like this job was more important because of the nature of the US Base Command and NORAD, that’s who I was working for, (27:30) JS: And how long did you spend there? AD: Three years. JS: And were you still, now were you able to live off the base, or were you still on it, or what were you doing? �AD: I started living on the base. I was still a lower ranking. But at that time, I was at Colorado, I was eligible to move off base, and so then, yes, I did, transition to living on my own. JS: Now that’s also the area where the Air Force Academy is. Was there any connection, or back and forth, between the base and the academy, or… AD: I didn’t have any work connection with the Air Force Academy. Um, it’s a beautiful, beautiful base. The hospital, our military hospital is up there, so I have gone up there. But no work relation. Um, Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base, those two are very connected and I actually worked on both. Of Peterson and Cheyenne Mountain. And then there’s another one, Schriever Air Force Base, I’m not sure whether it’s still there. But so it was a large military community. (28:34) JS: Now, were you working at Cheyenne Mountain at the time of 9-11? AD: I was. I was. Very…um, everyone tells me it’s an interesting story, but it was my everyday life. So, um, I was thinking about that this morning. If that would come up. But, yeah, the morning of, you know, they talk about knowing where and what you were doing, Kennedy, Pearl Harbor, stuff like that. I mean, you don’t know that until you experience it, and you know, I can tell you exactly where I was sitting, exactly what I was eating. I had just come on for duty. Um, and next thing you know, two people came running down the stairs and flipped on the news, cause they had access to a tv, on the third floor, and so, all of this unveiled and happened and then we just pretty much had to sit and wait, wait for orders and wait to see what was going to happen. Um, they shut down the Mountain. Closed the blast doors. It was just an intense time. Because I worked for, I worked in the NORAD, where they watched the air and space and so we really had to make sure that everything was functioning properly. We really had to be on high alert, because of everything that was going on. Everything with the airplanes, and the whole air traffic, and so that was what the monitor, you know, of. And so that was a really interesting and tense time. (30:11) JS: Cause at that point, they basically emptied the skies. All aircraft had to land and get everybody down and so forth, and so you’d in part, be monitoring that. Now basically, you were just providing service. You weren’t necessarily watching the radar or anything like that, at that point. AD: No. No. We provided the service. I worked at the Help Desk at that time. And so if anything were to go down, or if anything was needed, that’s kind of what our function was. And we had to really be on the ball, especially with the communication factor. Because we had to make sure that our communications, obviously they’re secure. But we had, also we had to make sure that the communications lines remained opened and that they could have that communication outside to the necessary parties. Um, so we had to really make sure that everything was up and running and smoothly. JS: How long did you stay locked down? �(31:13) AD: Oooh, I think, this was about 7. Our shift was 7 to 3. I don’t remember getting out of there at 3. It was a while afterward. Um, they sent some people home. Some people were required to stay due to the nature of their job, but they did swap out the shifts because they didn’t know what was going to happen. I did stay past the shift, and they had to call in the next shift, but I can’t exactly remember how long, but it was quite some time. JS: And then did you do things at all differently after that, or were there other kinds of things that you had to do following up on all of this, or did life go back to normal pretty quickly? (32:05) AD: No. Life took a very long time to get back, and not to normal. It hasn’t been normal since then on a military base. Ultimately, all of the bases were closed down for days, I actually lived on base at that time, and I actually couldn’t get back on base, so that was kind of difficult. I had to find a place to crash for the night, you know, because I couldn’t get back home. So, you know, I mean, just really secure. Um, really intense and it stayed that way for a very long time. Our operations within work were very high paced, intense as well, and because of the somber mood of everybody, that was just something that we just really focused on work, and we just really made it happen, because you don’t, I mean, it was a tragic time. And that’s what you focus on. You want to make it right. And you want everything to work. And you don’t want anything to fail because you don’t want anything like this to happen again. So that was kind of the mood and the tone that was set. (33:20) JS: All right. Now, not too long after that, we launched the invasion into Afghanistan, all that kind of thing. Was that anything that had any kind of connection to what you were doing at Cheyenne Mountain? Or was that other people’s business and you just did your stuff? AD: That was pretty much other people’s, you know, missions and whatnot. And honestly, I didn’t really know a lot about what was happening in the Middle East until I was on my next base, in Europe. So until we actually launched the war, or the military operation on Iraq, so…I wasn’t really aware of what was going on because our missions were not directly related to that. JS: Okay. Now when do you switch to your next assignment, when do you move out? (34:11) AD: In 2002, is when I ended up going to my next assignment. Which was Lisbon, Portugal. It was a NATO assignment. So it was not necessarily an American geared mission. It was an overall NATO mission. JS: Well, can you talk a little about what was going on there, in Lisbon, what you were doing there? AD: Um, it was actually kind of the same as at Cheyenne Mountain. I was kind of working in a support department. But I wasn’t actually at a NATO base, I was at a Portuguese Air Base, that �had a NATO contingent. And so there were only four Americans there. Three officers and myself, an enlisted person. So there were four of us working. I did kind of the computer, techy stuff and they did their positions. And I worked very closely with the Portuguese military, that’s pretty much the majority who was there. I had one Spanish military person and one Italian military person, who I was working with too, so that was quite interesting. (35:24) JS: How was working in that situation different from working in an American base? AD: Well, um, that was, well…that was really an interesting time. The only women that were in this contingent, um, they were secretaries. There were two. They were secretaries and very much treated as such. So that was kind of interesting, trying to be taken serious and, um, being able to do my job, because, you know, it’s a different culture. So that was very interesting. And just the military, how they’re just relaxed with rules and regulations. I mean, we worked in a bunker, underground. But they all smoked. You can all smoke, as so that was certainly different. Coffee breaks were all the time, which I didn’t mind so much. They had good coffee, or [beaka], as they would it. And it’s certainly just a different mentality. It’s very relaxed. I mean, they’re very serious about their job and they take pride in their job. But it isn’t as intense…I don’t know, it’s more of a relaxed feel. And people are like, we have a mission, we have a job, but it’s also more of a peace mission, so it’s not intense. (36:58) JS: Now, what kind of activities were they serving or supporting out of that base? Were they connected to peace-keeping efforts in south eastern Europe, like that? Or could you not really tell what they were doing? AD: Well, a lot of it was hard, because even though the NATO language was English, um, I want to say 97 to 98 percent of the people who worked there were all Portuguese. So a lot of the conversations and whatnot took place in Portuguese. And um, so I really didn’t understand the mission fully. I knew that it was kind of like a NORAD mission, I mean you can see they had their monitors where they would monitor the air, but I want to say it was more that they were monitoring the military aircraft versus any sort of civilian aircraft. So, and they were connected to all of the other NATO combined operations center. And we were all kind of connected that way. But as for the actual goal and mission, it’s kind of fuzzy to me just because they all spoke Portuguese. (38:10) JS: Now did you live on the base or someplace else? AD: Off the base. All of the Americans over there, we didn’t have any sort of on-base housing. There is one other NATO facility which is actually considered the NATO base, in that area, that we kind of headquartered out of, in Oeiras. And that was kind of where our stuff was. But we all lived out in the communities. JS: So did you have an apartment some place? �AD: Yes. I had a condo in one of the small villages. Um, where a lot of Americans lived and whatnot. It was very accessible to trains and all of the tourist area, which was nice, cause they speak English. And it was located close to the beach, and really a lot of the nice area, so that was really nice, just to experience the culture in that way. (39:04) JS: Okay, and now, you’re working with a lot of European men and so forth, and you mentioned that they weren’t quite sure what to do with female military personnel, did that ever become a problem? Did you face any kind of harassment, or was it not at that level? AD: It wasn’t at that level. It wasn’t at any sort of harassment level. It was more of an irritation level and just being strong minded, I guess. I’ll put it nicely. They would, I would kind of…I wouldn’t necessarily be mean, but I would be verbally strong and hold my ground, so you know, let them know that I am here and I can do the job and whatnot. So ultimately, after a few months, you know, I don’t think from my personal perspective that they came to trust that, you know, but at least they didn’t just make me sit at a computer, and you know, try to make me be their secretary. (40:22) JS: Okay. So they would have wanted you to do things that weren’t part of your job description as far as little jobs for them, or… AD: Um, not necessarily for them. I think they just needed to employ me, but they didn’t want to employ me how I was supposed to be used. So I think it’s a big culture, and women in the military for them is recent. So I didn’t, at first, I took it a little personal, but then after learning more about the culture and stuff, I kind of figured out how I kind of needed to bypass that and I didn’t entirely do that. But, you know, I was able to do what was needed of me. And it worked. (41:16) JS: Okay. And how long did you spend there? AD: Two years. JS: Now, you’re there then when the invasion of Iraq starts, and all of that kind of thing. How did that affect what went on at the base when you were there, what you were doing? AD: It didn’t affect our mission. It did affect the person… I don’t want to say personalities. It did affect the mood there. You know, a lot of people that I worked with, they didn’t agree with Americans. They certainly did not like George Bush. And they made it, they were very vocal about it. They made that clear. Um, the best way I found was just to stay out of it. Not to really voice any opinion or side, or what I thought, or just let them talk about it, you know, let them at least talk to an American so they feel like they’ve been heard. So let them talk about it and that’s fine. Everyone has the right to their opinion. I mean, Americans have their same beliefs, which is what these people were saying. I mean, fine. You can have your opinion and whatnot and I’m not going to say that you’re wrong or unjustified. I’ll let you talk to make yourself feel better. So that was very interesting. I heard a lot of, you know, America this. But a lot of people were �really, they could see the bigger picture. So you had both sides. So it was kind of nice to see that you had both sides, of people viewing the bigger picture and um, really supporting and understanding of the United States. But then you also had people who were concerned, just like we all are. So that was kind of interesting. (43:05) JS: All right. Did they transfer people out, or did any of the Americans who were working during that period go somewhere else or did they get re-assigned, or were they in a different enough kind of assignment that the stuff didn’t really affect them? AD: We did have one. He was sent over to a NATO position in Turkey. I don’t know exactly what he was doing over there. I was actually supposed to go with him, but that kind of got called off or something. I don’t know really what happened with that, but the both of us were supposed to go over to Turkey and do some stuff over there, but he was over there, I wanna say, for only a month. And that was the only impact that my little contingent had. The rest of us we were not impacted at all. (43:59) JS: Right. Okay. Now, as you’re moving through these different positions, are you getting promotions or extra training, or things like that at this time? Cause you come out as a sergeant eventually. So where does that fit into things? Do you get additional training or courses along the way, or new certifications, or what happens? AD: Yes. You are constantly in a state of training. All the time. Um, you have, your first few ranks as airmen as pretty much automatic with time in service. But you have on the job training. After your initial technical training, you do course work by book. So you’re doing career development courses is what they are called. (44:45) AD: And then you have different training opportunities depending on your job. You can be sent on temporary duty, TDY, to a base for training, you can get it in house, you’re constantly, it’s a constant state of training and learning. Which is very beneficial. So that part is alays going to be happening, but as far as the promotion part, um, the first few ranks you are just automatically promoted. But then once you start getting to the sergeant ranks, E5, E6, all of those, you have to start testing. And so I was tested for Staff Sergeant my first time and I actually made it then. So I was a Staff Sergeant very early on. Five years I think. So that was a benefit for me. And then my last rank, an E6, which was a technical sergeant, I earned when I was in the Air National Guard. (45:45) JS: Okay, so now after you finish the stint in Portugal, what did you do at that point? AD: That’s when I decided to leave the military. Um, I still had a contract with the military but they had, at this point, it’s called fore-shaping. They’re really trying to minimize the force, I don’t know if it’s due to budget reasons or what. It seemed silly at the time, that they were doing this because of the war that was going on. But you know, the Air Force doesn’t have a lot of �mobility units that have direct relation to the war. A lot of communications and pilots and things like that, so I was able to get out, on the fore-shaping, and I decided to leave. And then I joined the Air National Guard, after. (46:37) JS: What motivated the decision to leave? AD: Well, I was bouncing around and moving around so much, I was just ready to be in one place and have a consistent job. I was ready really for consistency in my life. How old was I? Gosh, I don’t even know. You know, I was in my mid-twenties and I was just really ready, you know to have some sort of solid life. And so I decided it was probably in my best interest to leave. Um, and so that was the choice that I made. And I decided to come back to my home state of Michigan and see what opportunities were out here for me. (47:21) JS: All right. Now what were, what were your responsibilities with the Air National Guard? You just had to be on call or available at that point, or what did you do? AD: One weekend a month. Pretty much. And there were some exercises that they had, periodically. I was pretty much in the Air National Guard from 2004 ‘til last spring. So it was pretty much one weekend a month. I had time off and had times that I would go out to the base and work sporadically, but nothing with a significant chunk of time. JS: And what base would you go to? AD: Um, it was Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. Um, they have, I think that’s the closest one. Next to Detroit. (48:09) JS: Now, so then what else were you doing? You get back home and then what do you decide to do at that point? AD: Well, the military gave me a lot of skills and I was just really looking for a professional career in the technical field. And so I spent six months looking for a job, and doing interviews. And I interviewed with Grand Valley and they offered me a position in June of 2005. JS: So you didn’t actually choose to go to college, or to take a degree, or… AD: At that time, no. I had done college work previously. I’d taken random classes here and there. But I hadn’t really decided that I wanted to go to college. I was thinking about it. I had the Montgomery GI Bill. I was thinking about it, but at that point in my life I still wasn’t ready. And I didn’t really know the value of a college education at that point, either. (49:11) �JS: And do you find that you’re sort of able to do the kinds of work that you want to do, just coming out with your military experience and credentials? Does that get you where you want to go at this point? AD: It certainly has been beneficial to getting my career now. I don’t necessarily, I mean, I like my job but I’m very much a geek at heart. I really like to tinker around with the computers and really do get involved with that type of work. And that’s not something that is necessarily the focus of my job here. Um, but I really enjoy what I do. JS: Okay. When you were looking for a job was it an issue that you didn’t have a college degree, for any of the places you were applying, or… (50:02) AD: I know that that was a huge thing. They really wanted a bachelor’s degree. I, at that time, again, I was thinking, oh well, I have that eight years experience of high technology, so I was just thinking that should be beneficial, but also I think a lot of it, I didn’t know the civilian world. The only thing I know is the military, and I still struggle with that today, so going out there and looking for a job, interviewing, resumes, any of that stuff, I had no idea at all. And, um, the bachelor’s degree as well, that was a lot of the requirements for the jobs I was applying for. You know, that is, that is something that is needed out there, so again, the mentality from my family, you go out and you get a job. You don’t need a degree, a college degree. And so I still didn’t understand the value of a college education at that point. (51:03) JS: Okay. Now if you’re looking at your own experience, what do you think your time in the service did for you? AD: Oh, it did so much. It really gave me maturity. It gave me a sense of purpose. It gave me, it just gave so much to me, discipline, a work ethic. I mean, it made me stronger person. There’s just so much. And it’s not just the technical portion or my job skills, that’s not really what I feel the military gave me, even though they gave that to me. I feel it’s the life portion is really what they gave to me. They gave me a life and something that I didn’t necessarily have before. So I really value that. JS: Do you think it really made you a more independent person or someone who could really function better on her own, or… (52:00) AD: Definitely. Definitely gave me a lot of independence, a lot of confidence that, it’s okay, I can be who I am, I can be independent, as a woman I can be smart, or I can do this, or, you know, they don’t have the mentality where you’re going to fail. And they’re always, you can do it. I mean, you have to. You don’t really have choice. So I think that’s been really beneficial. JS: All right. Anything you’d like to add to the record before we close this out? AD: No, I don’t think so. �JS: You did a good job, telling your story. So thank you for laying it out for me today. AD: Thank you. (52:36) � 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 DeRoo, Autumn (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeRoo, Autumn Description An account of the resource Autumn DeRoo made the choice to join the Air Force at the age of 17 early in her high school career. Going into a technological field, dealing mainly with computers, Deroo was able to work at Cheyenne Mountain with NORAD and the U.S. Base Command in the States, and was there at the time of the 9/11 attacks. She later served on a NATO base in Portugal, where she was when the Iraq War started in 2003. She eventually left the military as a Technical Sergeant and now works at Grand Valley State University. 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 Iraq War, 2003-2011--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 2009-12-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DerooA 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/fc35a8b8a98c59a22c3561df0acfba19.mp4 651f0e3e33ac37a0f009eb6d79f5169b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/40841bc2d9e0c426f4dc68e7323bb474.pdf 4d8a383ba81cee0c3472eede4554afec PDF Text Text Grand Valley State Veterans History Project Valeria Dellinger WWII Veteran United States Army (42:03) (00:23)Detroit Michigan  Valeria was born April 4 1925 at her grandmothers home in Detroit  Valeria’s father worked for Ford Motor Company and her mother was a stay at home mother  Their house was on the west side of Detroit by St. Lawrence Church. Valeria remembers playing jacks on her porch when she was young.  (3:40)Valeria remembers starting pre-school in Detroit and attending a Catholic school for 6th and 7th grade. It takes two years of Catholic school to be confirmed.  (5:20)Valeria returned to public school for 8th grade and on thru high school. She attended Chadsey High School on the west side of Detroit. Valeria was 5’9” in high school so she played basketball and did very well at it.  She attended her senior prom with a fellow she can not remember his name.  She did graduate high school.  (7:40)After graduation she worked for Michigan Bell training to be a telephone operator  Valeria was 18 years old when she graduated  Valeria was at the movies when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Her mom told her when she returned home. She had no idea where Pearl Harbor was.  Her cousin went into the Coast Guard and his ship was bombed and died.  Her younger cousin went into the Coast Guard also and he didn’t weigh enough and was told to eat bananas so he would weigh enough. He came home safe  (10:00)Valeria also had a female cousin who was a year older than her that also went into the war. She says that her entire family was set on Japan not winning this war.  Valeria went to the movies twice a week and they would give newsreels about the war during the movies. She remembers seeing television for the first time and thought it was great to have the movies in her own home.  Valeria originally tried to enlist into the Marine Corps but was told they had enough women enlisted already. She wanted to serve her country anyway possible so she enlisted into the Army.  To enlist, she had to go to the recruiting office and be sworn in. Her parents also had to sign for her to do this. She remembers while in basic training she was investigated because she was supposed to go to Los Alamos. (12:20)Basic Training-Des Moines Iowa  Valeria’s uniform needed to be altered because she was tall and thin. She said they were nice uniforms though.  During basic training, Valeria attended classes, drilled and marched. She said there was no rifle training.  The Army had prior knowledge of her experience with the telephone company. �   Valeria was in basic training for about six weeks. (13:50)Valeria was in basic training in the spring of 1945. She was interviewed after basic training on where she wanted to work at. She wanted to be a nurse’s aide but was told they had enough of them. She was told they need switchboard operators in the south west. They did not tell in it was in Los Alamos.  Valeria took a train along with civilians and service men and women to Los Alamos.  (15:35) Valeria was surprised to pull into Santa Fe, New Mexico. She wondered where she was with such a small city.  Before going to Los Alamos they had to go to Oak Ridge Tennessee for a physical and a psychological testing to be performed. One female was traveling with her from basic training to Tennessee and to New Mexico.  Valeria was asked by the psychologist what company of people she preferred, men or women? She answered women. He asked if she planned on getting married. She said yes and he let her go. Her friend was asked the same question and answered men to the first question and he told her he needed to see her back again.  (18:00)She met her husband in 1946 [1945?] during the Battle of the Bulge while he was serving in the war. He was from North Carolina but recently died on Christmas Day. He put in 20 years in the service. (19:00)New Mexico  Valeria spent time her with dances, the movies, and at the PX where you could purchase Coca Cola. She said they could be involved with sports but she decided not to. All of this was on the base.  Valeria did not have to do KP duty. They had Mexicans doing all of those duties.  You were not allowed to listen in on conversations or ask questions. She didn’t mind because she wasn’t curious.  Valeria has a book about what was expected of them.  (21:10)She went to a dance with a fellow and met another guy from his barracks. He asked her to the movies and ended marrying him. She says she was very shy at the time so she double dated with her friend and her boyfriend.  Valeria’s husband had previously served in Germany but re-enlisted and was sent to New Mexico.  (24:00)Valeria’s husband’s brother was a prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge and escaped. She remembers her husband saying that he hated the Germans but figured that was a result of having to fight them in the war. She did not ask her husband much about the war thinking he probably would not have wanted to talk about it anyways.  She says she served until November 1946 when she was discharged. She was engaged at the time.  Her husbands name was A.G. She called him Bill. (25:33)Home in Michigan  Once Valeria was discharged she came home. She obtained clothes for their wedding and headed back to New Mexico. (25:50)Los Alamos, New Mexico  May 1947 she was married at Los Alamos where he was still stationed. She received a job for the civil service as a switchboard operator.  Valeria’s husband was transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico  Valeria had a daughter in 1948 and discontinued working at this point. �   Her husband was a security guard and MP at this point. In 1952 her son was born. (28:40)Valeria’s husband was asked to go to the Pacific for service. He did not tell her it was for Hydrogen bomb testing. At this point, Valeria returned home to Detroit. Her son was four months old at this time.  In 1953, Valeria said she saw it in the news that they had tested the hydrogen bomb. Her husband was there a year and she knew he would be coming home at that point.  (30:30)1953, Valeria’s husband requested to be transferred to North Carolina at Fort Bragg. Valeria moved to North Carolina till they divorced in 1956.  Valeria took her two children back to Detroit and did not remarry.  Valeria’s children are Linda and Alan.  Linda is a housewife with no children and Alan works with construction building new homes. He married a woman with two children but no biological children. There are two grandchildren Gabriel and Kylie.  (34:00) Valeria’s mother’s maiden name was Katherine Puskarz and her father was Joseph Wysick. Her grandmother’s name was Mary.  Valeria has two younger siblings, Raymond and Theresa. They called her Tessie.  (35:20)Valeria came to the Veterans home when she couldn’t take care of herself. She had an apartment in Farmington Hills. Her son lives in Rockford.  She said something happened to her mind that made things too complicated for her to handle alone. Her daughter found the facility on the internet.  (38:00)Her daughter in law comes and visits her once a week and does all her laundry for her and brings it to her.  Valeria enjoys being at the Veterans home. She says she is kept busy. She enjoys playing bingo. (40:50)Affects of the war on Valeria’s life  Valeria feels that the service made her more outgoing and met many women and men during her time in the service that became great friends. � 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 Dellinger, Valeria (Interview outline and video), 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dellinger, Valeria Description An account of the resource Valeria Dellinger was a veteran of WWII in the United States Army in 1945 and 1946. She served in Los Alamos, New Mexico as a switchboard operator for the military at the time of the development of the atomic bomb. She married her husband after she was discharged in 1946. He remained a MP for the military and transferred to the Pacific when they were testing the atomic bomb, while she stayed on at Los Alamos in the civil service for a while before moving to Michigan. 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army. Women's Army 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 2006-10-16 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DellingerV0226V 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/bfee8717107ab8137c7b89b197700106.mp4 79e43f77e701c5edf9da624825eec743 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/587dd550edd41e8c5474d86128db401f.pdf 735a9964bb63677d6f38a67f33bf0dd4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Frank Delfino 1:50:42 Introduction (00:22)        Frank was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 21, 1949. His parents were Frank and Dora. He has a younger brother and a much younger sister. His father was a World War II veteran. Franks‟ father worked as a construction insulator, and his mother was a hairdresser and a home maker. Frank graduated from high school on June 8, 1966. After graduating, he flunked out of college twice. In those days, everyone was thinking of how they could get out of going to Vietnam. (02:21) On his 20th birthday in 1969, Frank was working at the United States Postal Service when he delivered his own draft notice. (04:50) He began to train himself by doing push ups and other things to get into better shape before he went to basic training. He left for basic training on February 25, 1969 during a blinding snow storm. Military Training (05:37)             When he had his physical, he remembers people having letters getting themselves out of service, while others were eliminated from military service due to previous sports injuries like bad knees, ankles, perforated eardrums and other things. Frank reported to Fort Jackson, South Carolina after a 26 hour train ride from Boston. When he arrived, he was sick with an upper respiratory illness and was admitted to the infirmary. (07:45) Because of his illness, he was in the infirmary for three weeks. Frank was with a great group of guys who worked together and did well during basic training. (09:45) Looking back on basic, Frank and his group did not have any disciplinary issues. (11:39) The better they did allowed them to get liberties that were available such as four hours each Sunday. One drill sergeant was the army boxing champion and offered to teach boxing lessons for anyone who wanted them. Frank took him up on it and learned from him. Basic training lasted 8 weeks. After that, they stayed at Fort Jackson for AIT (Advanced Infantry Training). While there, they learned more about the army and weaponry. (13:37) Most of his instructors in both basic training and AIT had spent time in Vietnam. Much of the training was geared for Vietnam. They would be woken up in the middle of the night to perform marches and other things to get them used to being on the move at short notice. �                 In AIT they did lots of obstacle courses, rappelling and other physical conditioning that would prepare them for Vietnam. (15:54) The training not only built physical confidence for Frank but also mental confidence. He realized that he could be a leader, which led him to become a squad leader. While walking through the woods, they would have pop-up targets that they would shoot at with blank ammunition. During patrols they would have to cross rivers and streams up to their necks and learn to hold their rifles and other gear above their heads. (17:45) AIT lasted for another 8 weeks. After that, Frank signed up for mortar school. They asked for volunteers to go to mortar school and then be sent to Korea. Mortar training was also done at Fort Jackson, which lasted three weeks. Frank and his unit did so well; they broke every training record they could at mortar school. On May 10, 1969, the 101st lost a large amount of NCO‟s at Hamburger Hill. That battle changed the plan to send Frank to Korea. They were instead sent to the NCO training program at Fort Benning, Georgia and then on to Vietnam. (20:43) Frank and another man went in and spoke to their captain to protest the decision. They all ended up at Fort Benning anyway. After thirty days of leave, Frank reported to Fort Benning on July 20, 1969, the same day that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. (22:43) They were treated very well because they were soon to be non-commissioned officers and they did not start training until the next day because the instructors wanted them to all see the moon landing. There was no yelling or screaming while at NCO school; it was more like an Ivy League college. NCO school was enjoyable and Frank learned a lot while there. Most of the exercises were done in the field, and they had classroom instruction with movies. (25:45) NCO school lasted twelve weeks; Frank graduated in the upper third of his class on October 10, 1969. His dad and brother came down for his graduation and then he was given about a 12-14 day leave. From there, he was assigned to be the training NCO at Fort Riley in charge of physical training. (27:19) He was in charge of getting the officers up at 5:30 am and making them run and do other exercises. He was told by the colonel that he was in charge of physical conditioning of the men. Frank came up with a training plan that was approved by the commanding officer and he told Frank that if any of the officers had a problem with him running the show as a buck sergeant to let him know immediately. Frank always had the men fall out wearing baseball caps, white shirts, and bloused boots, but no rank. Frank stayed there until January, when he was given a month leave at home before he was sent to Vietnam. (30:10) Vietnam (30:20)  Frank went from Logan Airport in Boston to [McChord Air Force Base] in New Jersey straight to Guam and then on to Bien Hoa. He landed at 5:30 am February 8, 1970. �                  When he got off the plane and went into the receiving building, he saw five or six hundred men waiting to go home. One of them ran up to Frank, held him up, and yelled “Look! Fresh meat for Charlie!”. Frank was scared when he got to Vietnam because he had been watching the whole thing unfold since 1963 on television and he knew what was going on there. (32:47) They were processed in and stayed in a transitional barracks for two to three nights. They took incoming mortars that night and he was put in charge of a section of the wall on guard duty. The smell of the country was like body odor, fish, and extreme humidity. He also was in charge of KP duty and he had to pull graves registration, which was going through the bodies of the dead and checking them in. (34:47) Frank stayed in the transitional area for three days until they were all brought out to a staging area, some thirty guys in total. A sergeant came over and told them they were going to the 101st. (38:00) They were flown to Phu Bai and waited for four to five hours before someone came down from Camp Evans to pick them up. They were sent north in a convoy with several other vehicles that were all guarded. Since Frank worked at the Post Office, he was sent to the 101st mailroom and stayed there for two weeks. After that, he was given a combat assignment in the jungle near Firebase Ripcord. (40:40) When he landed in the jungle, his squad was waiting for him. Frank was considered an FNG „Fucking New Guy‟, and he could tell by the look on the faces of his men that they were worried. Right away, he told the men that he wanted to get out of there alive, and he wanted them to leave with him. Frank told his radio operator to babysit him for the first month and help him along. (42:25) Frank pitched in and helped with tasks like hauling the machine guns and other things because he wanted to establish unit cohesiveness. He was petrified for the entire time he was out in the bush and he did not get three hours of sleep for three and a half months. (44:45) It was the tail end of monsoon season, so it was wet and humid. Frank was so scared out there, but he never showed it because he had to lead his men. His mission was to search and destroy, but they did not get hit very often. They did get a lot of mortar incomings and they found booby traps. They worked along Highway One to the A Shau Valley. He would go out for a week and then come back in. (47:15) Franks experience in the field was that they never knew what was going to happen the next hour. Frank was with Charlie Company, 1/506th, 101st Airborne. He operated between Camp Evans and Ripcord. They worked the jungle, trails and some of the rivers. They would go out and set up camp, then see what they could drum up. They always moved in squad size and they had four squads. (49:36) For the first month, Frank lost a lot of weight and had a tough time acclimatizing to the climate of Vietnam. After seeing what the NVA and Viet Cong did to their own people for helping the Americans, Frank began to lose the fear of being hit and just wanted to get them back. �        They called Frank “Sergeant Kaboom” because he loved to call in airstrikes and then sit back and watch them come in. He was also great with a map; he always knew where he was and where everyone else was too. (51:12) Frank felt that once he got there, things were starting to wind down. From February to mid May, it was relatively quiet and he thought he had the enemy on the run. (53:30) He had a Kit Carson Scout with them that was a former Viet Cong and about 16 years old. Frank‟s mother sent panty hose, make-up, hair spray and many other things for the boy‟s family. After that, he was like Frank‟s body guard, he loved him. They also had a dog unit attached to them for a little while. Frank had three MOS‟s, Eleven Bravo (basic infantry), Eleven Charlie (mortar man) and Eleven Foxtrot (intelligence specialist). Because of his intelligence background, he was sent to Camp Evans to run the base defense at the Headquarters TOC. (56:00) He did not want the job, but he was told that he was the only man in the company with that MOS. When he left his men, Frank told them he would send them something back out. Frank knew what they needed so he sent socks, foot powder, food, beer, ice, boots, undershirts, shorts, shoelaces, candy, writing paper, and a few Playboy magazines. (57:44) For his new job, he coordinated base security and flights going in and out of the base. He would usually start around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, and work until 6 or 7 am. During that time, they moved personnel and material to and from the firebases. He also organized the wounded being sent back to the rear. (59:25) He did all this without any form of technology besides a rotary phone and two crank radios. They used shackle codes that changed every twenty four hours. These were passwords that everybody needed to know. Frank‟s call sign on the radio was „Boston Blackie‟. (1:01:05) Ripcord (1:01:35)          Frank knew that something was going on up at Firebase Ripcord, but he was so busy running the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) that he did not pay much attention to it. Because he did such a good job, he was more or less left alone by his superiors. (1:03:38) Frank worked with a man named Steve McCarthy, who was a good friend and helped him get through the experience. The daily routine for them was when they first got into the office they would check the logs from the night before for any activity, enemy contacts, reinforcement requirements and anything else that needed to be done. (1:05:24) Because he ran the TOC, he was able to get to know everybody in several different units and could acquire things if they were needed. He knew where everything was and how to get anything that someone asked him for. Once he got out of the field, it was much like a normal job. (1:07:32) Towards the end of Ripcord, it began to get his attention. Racial tensions came around June 1970 and a rumor came through that said the black soldiers were going to try to take the TOC. He went in to the colonel and told him immediately. He then went down to the armory and got an M-60 [machine gun] and he bolted it to his desk. Frank also contacted every unit and sent out a directive that said �     that anyone that went down to the TOC and tried to compromise base security would be shot on sight. (1:09:29) One day, he took a flight up to Ripcord around June and asked the men what they needed. He arranged to get the men what they requested. Frank only went up there twice, once for the meet and greet and to see what they needed, and then again to survey the area. (1:11:35) On July 4th, things really escalated and they really started sending a lot of air strikes and support up to Ripcord. On July 22 and 23, they began to organize a massive amount of helicopters to go up there and remove the equipment, guns and evacuate personnel. (1:14:23) Frank will never forget seeing the men that came off the helicopters when they returned from Ripcord. He sent everyone to the TOC to help get the wounded off the choppers and to the appropriate areas. The men looked like they had just looked into the face of the devil himself. (1:16:50) Life on Camp Evans (1:18:32)           Life on the base was very different than life in the field. He showered twice a week with hot water, which was great. There were no cuts, scrapes, leeches, pongee sticks and they had a mess hall. (1:19:28) Frank had a freezer in the TOC and he had his father send them popsicles from home. They would then use these as a medium for trade. He could get steak, lobster, shrimp and many other things for them. Being back in the rear, they also had to deal with people that wanted to stay out of the field. They also had „dope hooch‟ which was where people went to smoke dope. (1:21:42) Every night, Frank would go out along the line and check each bunker. He would find men sleeping while on duty or smoking dope and he gave each one an Article 15 on the spot. He told them that if he caught them again they would be sent straight to the brig. They also had a Black Power movement on the base. There were nine black soldiers that refused to go out in the field. They were referred to as the “Evans Nine”. The men were locked up until they were able to be sent to Long Binh Jail. (1:23:13) Heroin was two dollars a bag in the villages. Frank never did any drugs of any kind while in Vietnam. Camp Evans also had a lot of marijuana. (1:25:55) Morale was pretty good on base while Frank was there. They would get incoming mortars from time to time, but otherwise, since it was a big base the enemy couldn‟t do much to them. Once they were showing a movie on a Friday night, when they had incomings come in and they all just took off. (1:27:18) They had Vietnamese nationals that worked on the base, but Frank never trusted them and once they caught a worker stepping off the distance between the TOC and the other buildings. Frank caught the guy and had him arrested. Another worker that worked in the base laundry was a Viet Cong sympathizer. (1:29:27) According to Frank, the real heroes of the Vietnam War were the nurses and the scout dogs. �       Frank was in Vietnam for 10 months and 20 days. After Ripcord things really quieted down and they had a long lull. When he picked up the mail one day, he learned that he was going home on December 21st, which was forty days from then. He didn‟t tell anyone because he wanted to surprise his family. To pass the time he would commandeer a pilot and take helicopter rides around the area.(1:31:47) A friend of Frank‟s from Boston had an uncle that was a two star general. One day he called and told Frank that he was going to send a command helicopter down to pick him up and bring him to a change of command ceremony in Da Nang. Frank attended the ceremony with General Westmoreland, General Abrams, the Vice President of Vietnam and the American Ambassador. When he got there, a lieutenant was the door man and he told Frank to beat it before he had him arrested. Frank told the lieutenant to find General Collins, which he did and they had a great party. (1:36:56) Vietnam wasn‟t all bad for Frank, it was peaks and valleys. They had a Halloween party and a horrible excuse for a Christmas tree. Frank did lose four friends while in Vietnam. (1:38:27) Frank had a chance to go to Sydney, Australia on R&R, but instead he went home early. Back in the States (1:40:59)       Frank left Fort Lewis, Washington on December 24. He arrived home on Christmas morning at 9:30 am. He snuck in the house and he could hear his parents talking in the other room. He walked in and surprised them. Frank was so skinny when he got home, he weighed 118 lbs. (1:42:49) Once he was home, Frank began working at the Post Office again two weeks after getting back from Vietnam. He was put on the night shift, and because of the amount of stress he had been under, he did not get a full nights sleep until June. (1:45:08) At work, he started to exhibit anger. One of his supervisors at work was a Marine who served in Korea. He had it out for him and one day it came to fighting. A year later he quit the Postal Service and on April 1972 he began working as an insulator like his father. (1:47:15) Frank also began taking a few college courses which he was successful at. Looking back, Frank wishes he would have finished his education sooner. He stayed in the insulation business and retired in 2005. He has lived and worked in 41 states and has been a boss, general foreman and a superintendent. His service in Vietnam enabled him to look at any task with confidence and perform any task well. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Boston in 1989 with a degree in marketing and management. � 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 Delfino, Frank (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delfino, Frank Description An account of the resource Frank was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 21, 1949. He graduated from high school in June 1966 and had two unsuccessful attempts at college. He worked for the United States Postal Service and received his draft notice on his twentieth birthday 1969. Frank was drafted into the United States Army. After basic training and AIT, he attended mortar school and the NCO training school in Fort Benning, Georgia. He served for several months as the training NCO at Fort Riley before being sent to Vietnam. Frank was attached to Charlie Company, 1/506th, 101st Airborne and was stationed out of Camp Evans. Frank was involved with Firebase Ripcord and later operated the TOC at Camp Evans and was in charge of base defenses. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-10-10 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DelfinoF1547V 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/083702f9e400cbb7658068ad190113ec.mp4 1a383ce965436c627b86e1fe1bc71bc2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2c0062f586254d5a2566250abc7681d2.pdf faf6e0aa0bd5e1d1ebf56e0a47aa4ee5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Merle Delagrange Vietnam War 1 hour 17 minutes 2 seconds (00:00:17) Early Life Pt. 1 -Born in Grantwood, Indiana on January 23, 1950 -At the age of ten they moved to Ohio -He went to high school at Fairview High School in Sherwood, Ohio -Didn’t graduate -Met his wife in 1968 (00:01:18) Getting Drafted -Received a notice for an Army physical -Got married to his wife on March 8, 1969 -Two months later on May 6, 1969 he had to report for basic training -Drafted out of Cleveland, Ohio and sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky (00:02:07) Early Life Pt. 2 -Father was a farmer until 1962 -After 1962 his father drove concrete trucks for a living -Mother was a stay at home mom -He had eight siblings -Three brothers and five sisters (00:02:45) Awareness of Vietnam War -Older friends were being drafted and sent to Vietnam -Remembers hearing about a major battle on the radio -Had a feeling that he’d eventually have to go fight in Vietnam (00:03:30) Basic Training -Sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for basic training -At first didn’t care for basic training -Remembers that there was a competitive nature to everything they did -All drill instructors were Vietnam veterans except for one -They all worked to instill in the recruits lessons they had learned from Vietnam -Focused on hand to hand combat and other infantry training -Qualified with the M60 machine gun and the M14 rifle -Basic training lasted nine weeks (00:07:27) Advanced Infantry Training -Received his orders to report for advanced infantry training (AIT) at the end of basic training -For two weeks before AIT he spent that time in the hospital due to a broken shin -Saw critically wounded Vietnam veterans first hand -Graduated from basic and went to Fort Polk, Louisiana for AIT -AIT lasted nine weeks -Completely different environment than basic training -More relaxed in some aspects, given the weekends off -All while he was there he knew he’d have to go to Vietnam �-Remembers Fort Polk having a mock up Vietnamese village for training exercises -On the last day they were told they would be kept stateside (00:12:50) Fort Carson -After AIT he was sent to Fort Carson, Colorado -He was allowed to live off base with his wife -Stationed there for five months -While there he was assigned to th 5th Mechanized Infantry Division -Went on maneuvers in the Rocky Mountains -Worked with Vietnam veterans -They told him that the war was coming to an end -During the time there his wife got pregnant -After five months he received his orders for deployment to Vietnam (00:15:21) Deployment to Vietnam -After receiving orders for Vietnam he was given thirty days of leave -Shipped out of the United States from the Oakland Replacement Depot, California -Arrived in Bien Hoa Air Base on April 28, 1970 -Remembers the first thing he noticed was that Vietnam was hot and it stunk -Taken by bus from the airport to the Army base in Bien Hoa -Told that he and the other new soldiers would guard the bunkers -During that time he was able to write to his wife, but she couldn’t write back -He didn’t have an actual military address yet (00:18:14) Camp Evans Pt. 1 -On May 1, 1970 the invasion of Cambodia began -Some friends of his were sent to aid in the fighting -On the same day he received his assignment orders -He had been advised to try and stay out of the 101st Airborne Division -His assignment was to Delta Company, 1st of the 506th of the 101st Airborne -Arrived at Camp Evans on May 7, 1970 -Received introductory Vietnam training -Booby traps, surviving in the field, information about the Vietnamese, animals (00:20:17) In the Field Pt. 1 -On May 17, 1970 he was flown to Firebase Rakkasan -Being around Vietnam veterans at Fort Carson had helped prepare him a little bit better -Veterans in the field still avoided the new guys though -Safety hazard being around inexperienced soldiers -Made contact the next day in the field -Called in an airstrike -The bombs missed the enemy and almost hit them instead -He and his unit moved into the NVAs old position on the ridge and set up camp there -Had 155mm howitzers covering their position -That night started calling in artillery fire against the NVA near them -Remembers their position taking a direct hit -Quick thinking saved his life -Their unit lost a soldier that night due to friendly fire (00:28:23) Camp Evans Pt. 2 -He was wounded during the friendly fire incident and was sent back to Camp Evans �-In the field hospital he saw the severe wounds that other soldiers had sustained during the fight -He was eventually transferred to another hospital at Phu Bai -Stayed there temporarily -After he was released from the hospital he spent a tense night in Phu Bai’s training area -The next day he caught a convoy that took him back to Camp Evans -Once there he met with his sergeant and got placed on latrine duty for the time being (00:33:51) In the Field Pt. 2 -Three days after returning to Camp Evans he returned to the field and joined 3rd Platoon -Conducted a large amount of ambush operations -Moved through the jungle towards Firebase Kathryn -Spent a few days there in June 1970 -Remembers a friend from Alpha Company getting killed -Had known him and been friends with him since AIT -On June 20th another friend was killed by a booby trap -A defecting Viet Cong soldier had placed the booby trap when he “surrendered” -The unit turned him over to the South Vietnamese Army -Remembers finding a caved in U.S. bunker position -Soldiers inside had been killed when the structure collapsed -Sappers were getting more skilled at infiltrating their positions -On July 4, 1970 they were called up for a stand down -Returned to Camp Evans and enjoyed Independence Day there (00:41:20) The Battle of Firebase Ripcord-Landing -He and his unit were called up to go and support the forces at Firebase Ripcord -On July 19 they were flown up to Triple Hill near Firebase Ripcord -On the morning of July 20 they were flown from Triple Hill to Hill 805 -Dropped into a “hot” (under fire) landing zone -Had to immediately establish a defensive position -Operated as an assistant to the M60 machine gunner until the machine gun broke (00:46:14) The Battle of Firebase Ripcord-Extraction and Rescue by Delta Company -On July 21 at daybreak the NVA started to bombard their position with mortar fire -Later in the day there was a brief lull in the fire for them to change positions -The Vietnamese were able to follow and harass them as they moved -After a while they were able to move to a landing zone for extraction -As the medevac helicopters came in the Vietnamese were shooting at those as well -Delta Company 2nd of 506th came in to extract them (D/1/506) -Escorted by D/2/506 to an adjacent area for extraction -By the time they finally touched down at Camp Evans they had suffered severe losses -He was grateful to be among the survivors -Had another stand down at Camp Evans starting on July 21 when they returned from Ripcord -Able to visit their company’s wounded at a rear hospital (00:55:45) In the Field Pt. 3 -Had to lead his platoon through the Lowlands after losses suffered at Firebase Ripcord -Led his unit back to Firebase Kathryn -By October 1970 he had been promoted to sergeant -It took three weeks for his company to get rebuilt after Ripcord -Replacements didn’t know how to adjust to being in a unit that went through Ripcord �-Remembers being at Camp Evans when Firebase Ripcord was evacuated and demolished -Spent the rest of his tour at either Firebase Kathryn or Firebase Rakkasan -When the monsoon season began the unit went to Firebase Rakkasan -After the battle at Ripcord contact with Vietnamese combatants dropped significantly -Booby traps were still a prominent threat -Knew that the Viet Cong were still out in the jungle watching every move they made -Went to Camp Evans for a minor stand down before going on R&R (01:04:35) R&R -Towards the end of his tour he went on R&R -Son had been born on September 26, 1970 -His wife and three month old son were able to meet him in Hawaii -Remembers that leaving them to return to Vietnam was extremely difficult -Spent last part of December 1970 and early part of January 1971 in Hawaii on R&R -Remembers his wife being concerned because he acted disappointed upon holding his son -Later explained that it was foreign being around something innocent and alive (01:08:12) End of Deployment and Coming Home -Last part of his tour was fairly uneventful -Basic patrolling -Very little enemy contact -Left Vietnam out of Cam Ranh Bay -Arrived in Fort Lewis, Washington -Got discharged out of the Army there -Given a bonus at the end of his service due to making the rank of sergeant -Got home on March 28, 1971 -Met his wife, son, and mom at the Fort Wayne, Indiana airport -Never faced harassment when he came home -Knew friends that were abused by protestors -Flew into both airports at Fort Lewis and Fort Wayne without incident -Got his old job back as a house painter (01:12:54) National Guard -In 1976 he joined the Army National Guard on a whim -Signed up for a year -Wound up serving with other Vietnam veterans -Spent eighteen years in the National Guard -Retired as a sergeant first class -Spent twenty years all toll in the Army -He had been in the 193rd Infantry Company -Comprised mostly of combat veterans -Later on became a mess sergeant -Easier than being in the field after he broke his back in a car accident � 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 Delagrange, Merle (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delagrange, Merle Description An account of the resource Merle Delagrange was born in 1950 in Grantwood, Indiana. He was newly married and living in Ohio when he was drafted in 1969. After training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado until he received his orders to be deployed to Vietnam. He arrived in Vietnam on April 28, 1970 and was assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion. 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division stationed at Camp Evans. He was wounded in a friendly fire incident in early May, but soon rejoined the unit and was with them when they were heavily engaged Firebase Ripcord in July and had to be rescued by another unit. Throughout the rest of his tour he led a platoon on patrols until he left Vietnam and returned home on March 28, 1971. He joined the National Guard in 1976 where he stayed with the 193rd Infantry Company for eighteen years and retired as a sergeant first class. 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 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 2013-10-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DelagrangeM1532V 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/7c515748e2ca49673d2535e3ac0b9b0f.mp4 570444fb825631d34d3a07be9a103138 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f107b4c4bc82a25581a8f065487905c.pdf 1e9445a8ab64a5ff10ded8377811a6e7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project George DeBaar (1:22:08) (00:25) Background • (00:25) He was born in Grand Rapids, MI, on the Southeast side of town. He was born on Ewing Street, near the intersection of Hall and Kalamazoo. He was born on April 13, 1923. • (00:51) His father was a “huckster.” He sold fruits and vegetables out of a horsedrawn carriage, and later a truck. He had to add more services to the route later because of competition with grocery stores. He was also a garbageman. He and his wife had bought a house in 1927, and the Depression hit in 1929. They managed to keep the house. • (02:42) George’s mother was seven months pregnant when she married his father. Both of his parents had been previously married and lost their previous spouses to the 1918 flu epidemic. George had two half brothers, one from each parent. • (03:34) He did not finish high school before the war. He dropped out after tenth grade, probably due to boredom although he does not recall the exact reasons. He finished high school after coming back from the service. • (03:59) He worked at the Michigan Bakery on the corner of Division of Wealthy. He helped load trucks. He did not follow international events at the time. • (04:40) He heard about Pearly Harbor on the radio. Some of his friends enlisted after the attacks. His father advised him to not enlist early, but to follow through if he was drafted. • (05:23) He was drafted in January of 1943. He was inducted into the Army on January 15th, 1943. He signed up at Fort Custer in Battle Creek. (05:55) Training/Enlistment • (05:55) “Everything was a secret” in the Army. They were never informed of their assignments until the last possible time. They got on a train without knowing where they were sent. They realized lady they were being sent to Fort Brady in Sault St. Marie. They used a ferry to cross the Mackinac Straits as there was not a bridge at that time. • (07:08) Fort Brady was cold and very snowy. They had “real winters” at Fort Brady. He did basic training at Fort Brady, and was assigned to guard duty at the Soo Locks and the Canadian Locks. • (07:48) The main focus of basic training was getting into military physical condition and learning military discipline. His stomach muscles ached from the daily calisthenic routines. They exercised in a gym until the weather improved. • (09:00) The drill sergeants were stern, but fair and respected. • (09:48) He does not recall having disciplinary issues, but he thinks he probably had some minor issues. Most of the men adjusted to the military well, but there were some men who had issues adjusting. Just before they were to ship out overseas, some of the men held up a movie theater. �• • • (11:38) At Fort Brady, they joined a pre-established unit. It was originally the 131st Infantry, and was later re-named as the 156th Infantry. He was in Company F. (12:10) They left Fort Brady in August and were sent to New York. On September 5th, 1943 they shipped out. (12:40) The Soo Locks were a “showcase” and they had to keep their arms maintained especially well. They were to set “an example to the rest of the world.” They were established as guards, and had a different assignment each time. They were not Military Police, they simply served as guards. (13:43) Active Duty • (13:43) They were sent out the U.S.S. Alexander, which was a troop transport ship. They were sent out in one of the largest convoys of the war. Some of the men with a cynical sense of humor remarked “we’ll probably never see that again,” when they passed the Statue of Liberty. They didn’t, because they came back by a different route. • (14:14) They hit a bad storm and the ship sprang a leak. They lost three men overboard during the storm. • (15:35) They had funerals for the three men lost at sea. The waves were very severe, and sometimes the other ships would temporarily disappear underneath them. • (16:03) Their ship stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia to be dry-docked. They were put on the Queen Elizabeth, which already has a sizable load of Canadian soldiers. • (16:47) The Queen Elizabeth did not have a convoy, although it did initially have a fighter plane escort. The ship changed direction every seven minutes as well. • (17:25) They landed in Glasgow, Scotland. They were sent by a train to Elfricone, England, near the southern coast. • (18:00) They were trained for D-Day and trained in LCVPs, a type of small landing craft. He was issued an M-1 rifle, and was in a rifle platoon. • (19:49) They had several accidents in training. They were fired at with live ammunition, while sheltered by a bunker. They were shot at with enemy ammunition and friendly ammunition to learn the differences in sounds. During this type of drill, a machine gunner accidentally shot thirteen men and killed five of them. • (20:46) Most men were inexperienced in that they had not seen combat. However many of them were older recruits and had had more training. • (21:22) His unit was recommended to do guard duty in London because of their service as guards at the Soo Locks. (22:32) Guard Duty in London • (22:32) The CIA checked on them frequently. The blinds and curtains in all the windows were shut at headquarters. Sometimes the CIA agents would stage break-ins to see how quickly they were resolved. • (24:05) He learned to recognize many of the top-tier men. He remembers liking General Bradley. The guards had to check the identification of every man who �• • • • entered the central room, even when they had just left for a drink of water or to visit the restroom. Some of the officers under General Bradley resented being stopped for their identification, despite the fact that it was standard procedure. General Bradley simply followed procedure without comment. (24:56) He does not recall other officers specifically. He remembers it being a mix of American and British officers. (25:40) When he was off duty he would have a good time in London. (26:18) London was a temporary assignment, only until regular Military Police came to the area. It took a long time for the MPs to arrive. (26:41) Next they were assigned to Eisenhower’s headquarters. (27:45) Duty in France • (27:15) They guarded a headquarters building in Reimss, France for a while. • (27:55) Later they were sent to St. Germain with Eisenhower. They also guarded his home in Reims. His company was dispersed to serve as guards in a variety of places, usually guarded different locations of importance to Eisenhower. • (28:40) He went to London initially around the end of 1943, he went with Eisenhower around 1944. • (30:44) London had evidence of bombing from the Luftwaffe. They were still under attack while he was there. They went into bomb shelters frequently, not so much because of the direct blasts from the bombs because of the shrapnel. Women operated the anti-aircraft guns. • (31:47) Aircraft made large explosions when they crashed or lost parts. The buzz bombs were “terrible” as well. He was nearly hit by a buzz bomb after breakfast one Sunday morning. In the field they used trenches to avoid the bombs. • (34:04) Once there was an air raid while he was on duty. A large bomb was dropped somewhat close to him, but it was a dud. The Germans used phosphorous bombs, to make them burn better. There was an arms race in terms of the explosives. He was never close enough to a bomb to feel the shockwaves, but he did hear them very frequently. He did not see Eisenhower very often in London. • (37:51) They had come to France about twenty days after D-Day. They went to a French town called Bayeux, which was demolished. • (39:06) They went over beaches, and past hedgerows. The first night they used pup tents. The Luftwaffe came over them in the night at around 11:00 pm, and they felt vibrations. It turned out that they were very near an anti-aircraft cannon. During that night, he wondered what was going on. • (41:01) They kept going on through France, and stayed in tents mostly. • (42:20) They served as guard behind the lines, but sometimes not as far behind as he would have liked. They were never under artillery fire, but they were frequently under aerial bombardment. Some other men in his company were probably under artillery fire. • (43:00) They saw civilians in France. They did not communicate with them much, because of the language barrier. The outdoor public urinals in France shocked him. They were often greeted by French families. �• • • • • • • • • • • • (43:41) He remembers one of the men got eggs sometimes by trading them for cigarettes. The fresh eggs were a luxury, and they usually had powdered eggs. Sometimes he had better food when he was at Eisenhower’s house. (44:57) They did sometimes spend time with the English. (45:06) After Reims, he spend some time in St. Germain. He was there during the Battle of the Bulge. They met with the CIA each day for thirty three days. The CIA had used motorcycles. (46:56) Next he moved to Versailles, and he was again with Eisenhower. He had main gate duty, he thinks it might have been because tall. They usually knew who was coming to visit Eisenhower ahead of time. (47:57) He saw Patton once, but that was later. His company used two jeeps to guard Eisenhower. Motorcycles had been used previously, but they proved unable to endure the cobblestone roads. The men using the motorcycles were also hurt. (49:03) He was selected to drive a jeep; it was his favorite assignment. (49:49) He drove the jeep without the top on, and frequently drove it as fast as it could go. It went only about seventy miles an hour or so, and at one point he had trouble keeping up. He usually took orders from Eisenhower’s driver. (55:55) He was a PFC at this point. His supervisor commented that he should have a higher rank and offered to get it taken care of, but he declined. The reason he was only a PFC was because he had had some personality conflicts with a superior officer earlier on. (52:39) He had come up for Corporal in the Infantry, but he turned the position down. The commissioned officers and the non-commissioned officers had some conflicts, and he decided to side with his friends. His superior officer resented his rejection of the post, and gave him the duties of a Corporal without the pay or rank increases. (54:39) He went in to Paris a few times, the public urinals on the street shocked him. (55:13) The French weren’t usually after their money, but the English sometimes were. (55:54) He went under the Eiffel Tower, and passed the Arc de Triomphe and went to Versailles. He visited where the WWI Treaty had been signed. (57:40) Service in Germany/Post-War • (58:31) He went to Germany after the war ended. He was in Reims when the war ended. • (58:53) Eisenhower had his own cow in Germany. Sometimes he and Eisenhower exchanged pleasantries, but sometimes Eisenhower seemed weighed down by his responsibilities and did not speak much. • (01:00:06) Sometimes when Eisenhower was away, his men would drink too much and otherwise take advantage of the situation. • (01:00:43) He hated powdered eggs, and while with Eisenhower he sometimes got real eggs and real milk. • (01:01:37) He usually got the better food by being friends with the cooks. Some of the cooks were black. He sometimes saw black soldiers, but not often. �• • • (01:03:31) He did not see German representatives up close, but he sometimes saw them in cars. Eisenhower took over a train formerly used by the Germans. He would accompany Eisenhower on train trips occasionally. (01:05:51) Eisenhower had a Headquarters in Frankfurt, and a home elsewhere in Germany. The GI’s sometimes evicted Germans from their homes. Eisenhower had a very nice house in Germany. He also had several Cadillacs, one was armored. (01:06:42) There was to be no fraternizing with the Germans, even after the war was officially over. However, there was fraternizing, and frequently. This was “on the sly.” (01:09:04) Post-War • (01:09:04) He had Thanksgiving on the boat back home. The movements of the sea moved their food around on the tables. • (01:09:35) The Queen Elizabeth was the best ship. While on the Queen Elizabeth it was incredibly crowded. He did not have bad weather on the Queen Elizabeth. They took the Queen Elizabeth to Europe. • (01:10:54) Eisenhower took over the IG-Farben building in Frankfurt, which was at that time the largest office building in the world. • (01:11:48) He saw many displaced persons. They were transported about by train. He felt sorry for them, but he didn’t interact with them much. • (01:13:57) “The American people don’t know what war is, it is hell.” • (01:14:13) While in Germany they would rope off an area and search the homes. They would search for weapons primarily. They would first ask if they had any weapons, and if they were told truthfully if they had some, they simply confiscated them. There were heavier consequences if they were lied to. They also asked for any drawers or cupboards to be unlocked, if the Germans would not unlock them, then they would smash them. They didn’t usually find much. • (01:16:49) They were somewhat worried about a Nazi resurgence. While in England they had been taught for hours and hours “kill or be killed.” They had taught hand to hand combat. • (01:18:23) They landed in Boston, and he went to Chicago. He took a train to Kalamazoo, and then took a taxi to Grand Rapids with some friends. They split the cab fair. • (01:19:14) He was discharged December 8th, 1945. He arrived home on about the tenth. One of his friends came to his house, and then he and his family dropped his friend off at his church. • (01:20:09) He still sees his friend, Bill, for lunch occasionally. • (01:20:39) After the Army, he lived off his stipend for awhile. He did not go to school on the GI Bill. He worked at Keeler for thirty-nine years. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource DeBaar, George (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeBaar, George Description An account of the resource George DeBaar was born in Grand Rapids, MI, and was drafted in January of 1943. He served at Fort Brady at Sault St. Marie, as part of the 131st Infantry (later the 156th). His unit served as guards at the base, and near the Soo Locks and the Canadian Locks. Because of this experience as serving as guards, his company was selected to serve as Eisenhower's guards. He served in London, during which time the CIA subjected them to mock break-ins to ensure security. He also served as Eisenhower's personal guard in Reims. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-08-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeBaarG 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/997fe04ba46848accfba0ca7b8f015ad.mp4 3be1604de6b4e5e1f3d76e38b82c7f49 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dd8630a9a5e81a0bca48e1efd447b54f.pdf f261cc08c069b5d07525fff6e3c67ff2 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project William Deary (1:38:17) Background Information (00:07)            Born in Pontiac, Michigan on July 31st 1925 (00:09) William grew up in Pontiac. (00:20) His father was trained as a painter in England. He was a painter contractor until the Depression. At that time he began working in bakery car. (00:26) William graduated high school in December of 1943. (1:18) He learned of Pearl Harbor on the radio. (1:38) He was paying attention to the conflicts occurring in Europe during the early 1940s. (2:00) William thought that the war would be over before he would be old enough to be drafted. (2:30) William volunteered to be drafted into the U.S. (Army) Air Force in the spring of 1943. (2:56) While waiting for his request and tests to clear with the Air Force, William worked in a GM factory. (3:50) William entered the Air Force on December 15th 1943. (4:15) For basic, William was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois then Miami Beach, Florida. (4:26) Basic Training (4:45)       At cadet training in Miami Beach, William was assigned to be a gunner. (5:00) At Miami Beach the men were tested on coordination, and physiological wellness. (5:49) There was emphasis on physical training and discipline. (6:25) The men lived in a hotel during training. The beds were replaced with cots and the elevators were disabled so the men had to use the stairs. (7:00) There was a mess hall constructed for the soldiers in Miami Beach. (8:08) Miami Beach was not under blackout while William was there. (8:39) Gunnery School (9:00)          William was then sent to Laredo, Texas for gunnery school. The men were trained on the guns they would fire and how to fire on and at a moving aircraft. (9:00) To teach soldiers how to lead a target, the men were trained on skeet shotgun shooting, and shooting off of a moving flatbed truck. (9:35) The men were also trained on an automatic BB gun that shot at paper airplanes. (10:38) The men were in Laredo for 3-4 months. (11:14) The men were allowed to go to Mexico for 1 day. (11:26) After Laredo, William was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska were he was assigned to his crew. (12:35) After a week in Lincoln and a 1 week furlough, William was sent to Boise, Idaho were the crew trained. (12:43) In Boise the men practiced shooting at airborne targets. (14:00) The men stayed in Boise Idaho for approx. 3-4 months. (15:15) �    William was very close with his crew. (16:22) The turrets were assigned by height. The tallest person received the upper turret. The smallest person was given the ball turret. (17:00) William was assigned the nose turret. (17:29) Williams first time in the air was in Boise Idaho. (18:16) Voyage Overseas (18:50)            The men were to be sent off as replacements. (18:54) William was sent via Victory ship to Naples. Than he was sent by train to his base. (19:00) He sailed out of Virginia in the fall of 1944. (19:10) William traveled in a convoy and was required to wear a life preserver at all times. (19:38) The seas were rough and there was a constant fear of submarine attacks. (20:35) It took approx 1 month to get to Naples, Italy. (21:30) The ships stopped once in Sicily. (21:33) He went to the 450th Bomb Group. (21:53) William was assigned a barracks to live. (23:00) The radio man and the tail gunner had gone AWOL before they went overseas. (24:00) The men were put in the air almost immediately after arriving. (24:35) Service in Europe (25:00)            William and his crew flew 8 missions. (25:04) He served in a B-24 four engine bomber. (25:30) The first mission William flew was in Southern Germany. The flak on this mission exploded 100 feet below the bombers due to tin foil used to distract radar. (25:40) William was also assigned on a mission were a mountain was bombed to cause an avalanche over a rail road. (26:50) While attacking Vienna, the men experienced cloud cover and needed to bomb by radar. This caused confusion amongst the formation of bombers. (28:57) While bombing Albania, the men were assigned to bomb a bridge. The bridge was missed but the town beside it was destroyed. (30:04) On his final mission he was shot down after his bombs were dropped. The men bailed out in Hungary. (30:50) After he bailed out, William's parachute almost didn’t deploy. To his luck he landed in a muddy plowed field. (33:00) The copilot had died due to parachute complications. (34:30) William was eventually discovered by Hungarian soldiers. (35:50) After all the men were found they were transferred by German truck to a Hungarian air force base. (37:00) Capture (38:10)   After they were captured the men had their watches, hand guns, and other things confiscated from them (38:11) The men were fed with cabbage or carrot soup. (38:44) �                 One by one the men were taken from their cell and interrogated. The men were threatened to be shot if they were spies. (39:10) The men were then sent down to another cell were they found a Russian pilot. (39:50) William was held there for about three days. (40:47) The Hungarian guards admitted that they hated the Germans, but they hated the Russians even more. (41:30) After being turned over to the Germans, the men were sent to a larger town in Hungary where they stayed in a hotel-like room. Here the men were interrogated once more by a German sergeant. (42:11) After 3 days there, the men were given a ride toward Vienna Austria. (43:00) Once in Vienna the men were sent via passenger train to a Gestapo station. (45:21) While at the Gestapo station, French laborers their begged William for his food. When the French were spotted begging, they were beaten. (47:05) The men were then transported to an interrogation camp that had fliers from all allied forces aside from the Russians. (48:10) While at the camp, William was sent to a solitary confinement cell 10 feet long by 6 feet wide. This lasted 3 days. (48:40) The Germans knew lots of information about the men, such as former work records, in an attempt to scare them. (49:58) The men were not beaten. (51:07) When released to a transit camp in Frankfurt in the winter of 1944/1945 the men could hear guns for the Battle of the Bulge. (51:30) The transit camp was very nice. The men had flush toilets, springs in their bed and good food. (51:45) The men were also allowed to watch (movies of) the 1936 Olympic Games and had access to the library. (53:28) William voluntarily stayed at the camp with 3 of his other crew men. The men were later shipped by boxcar to Berlin, Germany, due to overpopulation of the camp. (55:07) The train was attacked by an air raid. (56:40) Prison camp near Berlin (58:04)      Orders changed and the men were sent 30 miles south to a ground force camp instead of Berlin. (58:20) The prisoners were quarantined for 2 weeks due to a break out of scarlet fever. (58:36) The men were fed pea soup, and artificial tea. The tea was often used for shaving because it was hot. (59:45) The men were also given straw mattresses stacked 5 high. Some of the beds were used for firewood. (1:00:50) After 3 months, the food began improving because the men were given Red Cross parcels. (1:03:05) �     The men had very little knowledge as to why the conditions of the camp were steadily improving. (1:04:07) There was a British compound on one side of the camp and a Russian compound on another. The British compound had a radio that gave news on the war. (1:06:25) The Russians were constantly being beaten at the base. (1:07:30) William never had to fire his gun while in the air. He was always afraid of encountering a German jet. (1:08:50) William’s camp was liberated by the Russians in early summer of 1945. (1:09:33) Life after Liberation (1:10:06)        The men from William's barracks were made the guards of the camp. Men were not allowed out or in. (1:10:06) He was ordered to stay in the camp several weeks after it was liberated before the men could leave. (1:12:14) The men walked 6 miles to an officers' camp that he was made to clean up for American officers who would be arriving. (1:13:20) While going back to his original barracks, William saw many dead bodies, in spite of the fact that the war was over. (1:15:15) A convoy came to pick up the American soldiers but the Russians did not allow them to leave. Because of this, William and 2 of his close friends escaped the camp and walked 40 miles to the U.S. line. (1:16:20) After being picked up by a convoy, William was transported to Camp Lucky Strike in France. (1:19:06) William traveled back on a converted ocean liner. The trip over was much faster and much more smooth than the one going over. (1:19:34) Return the U.S. (1:20:21)        After arriving in the U.S. William was given a 60 day furlough. It bothered him that many were not given a good physical. (1:20:25) William was then sent to Miami Beach. Here the men were given better physicals. (1:21:16) He was then sent to Laredo where William awaited his discharge. (1:22:40) William exited the military as a Staff Sergeant. (1:23:40) William failed his exit physical due to a spot on his lungs. He was transported to Denver, Colorado to be treated. (1:24:53) William exited the military in May of 1946. (1:26:06) His family was aware that William was missing in action. They were not told he was captured. (1:27:26) Life after Service (1:28:20) �  William first worked on the staff in a Boy Scout camp after his discharge. He also wanted to return to college. (1:28:22) While in prison, William watched smokers scrape tobacco off the floor just to smoke a few puffs. (1:32:00) Effects of service (1:33:30)  William believes his military experience made him more of a man. (1:33:33)  He did make many connection and friends while in the service. (1:36:00) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Deary, William (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Deary, William Description An account of the resource William Deary, born in Pontiac, Michigan in July 31st 1925. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943, and was sent first to Miami Beach for basic training, and then to Laredo, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, for training as a gunner. He was sent to Italy in 1944 and joined a B-24 squadron in the 15th Air Force. He flew eight missions late in 1944, and his plane was shot down over Hungary on the final mission. He was captured and moved through an assortment of interrogation centers and camps in Hungary, Austria and Germany before being assigned to a prison camp outside of Berlin. When the Russians who liberated the camp refused to let the men leave, Deary and two other men took off on their own and made their way back to American lines, after which he was sent home. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Air Corps 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 2011-08-26 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DearyW1180V 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/f878bf5d58452617914a6ba03df4d6fc.mp4 93a00f744f335795b8c6ba9a5dcbb03e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca4b50c32c4559d29023dc455f45b719.pdf 8f7a9f98e1ecc26a600b7cfd90a02335 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Ollie Dean World War II 41 minutes 7 seconds (00:50) Early Life -Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan -May 1, 1927 -Family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan during the Great Depression -Father opened an automobile radio business -Attended Ottawa Hills High School -Graduated in 1945 (01:23) Enlistment -Joined the Navy in early 1945 -Remembers Pearl Harbor -Sunday football game between Washington and Chicago was interrupted by news -Everyone was stunned at first before getting organized -During high school was in the ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) -Did basic drills -Target practice -Paid a lot of attention to war through radio and the newspapers -Enlisted because “it was just the thing to do” -Only 17 years old when he enlisted -Had to have parents’ consent (05:20) Training -Sent to Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago -Huge camp -Lots of marching involved -Made company commander because of prior involvement with the ROTC (05:54) Deployment -From Great Lakes was sent to Camp Shoemaker in California -Spent 3 or 4 days there -Boarded ship (06:10) More on Training -Had gunnery training -Quad 40’s, 5 inch, and 20mm -Had rifle training -Had boat training �(8:10) USS Cheleb -Auxiliary Cargo Attack (AKA) ship -Loaded with flour, rice and sugar -Went to Caroline Islands after a brief ammunition supply stop in Hawaii -Long voyage -Stayed in Caroline Islands at Ulithi -Warm -Headquarters for Composite Service Squadron -Massive dry dock for damaged vessels -Japanese still had a base at Trook -One night there was a kamikaze attack -One plane hit the USS Bonhomme Richard -Second plane crashed into a sandbar -Traveled north and passed through a typhoon -Lost some ships as a result -Got to Okinawa -Landing craft had been pushed about one mile inland from the storm (11:45) USS Mt. McKinley -Boarded the USS Mt. McKinley -Destination was the Inland Sea of Japan -Communications vessel -Most likely gathering intelligence for the planned invasion of Japan (12:10) More on the USS Cheleb -Traveled to Caroline Islands alone without a convoy -Did not zig zag -No worries about Japanese submarines -Went to general quarters half hour before sunrise and half hour before sunset -Prime time for attacks (12:45) More on the USS Mt. McKinley -Remembers traveling to the Inland Sea -Ordered to general quarters for a drill -Changed to “not a drill” -Attacked, but it wasn’t terribly serious, frightening though as he recalls -After this wound up in Vladivostok (discussed later) and rejoined the Cheleb -Details of the USS Mt. McKinley -Huge, repurposed cargo ship -Command and communication -Had a destroyer escort -Lots of electronics on board -Japanese Navy was nonexistent at this point, so it was relatively safe �(14:40) Sasebo, Japan -Spent some time in Sasebo, Japan -Post war/post Vladivostok on board USS Mt. McKinley (discussed later) -Had been a primary Japanese naval city -Massive cranes that could pick up ships -Massive submarines were stationed there -Saw the sub that sank the USS Indianapolis (15:50) Naval Duties -Manned a 5 inch turret -Couldn’t see much beyond the scope -Complex firing system -Had to keep triggers compressed and “bubbles” aligned to actually fire the gun (16:50) Vladivostok, Russia -Impressed by the women’s aid in the war effort -Introduced to vodka there -Departed from there for Tsingtao, China (17:35) Tsingtao, China -Went to Tsingtao on the USS Cheleb -Anchored 15 miles offshore because of massive tidal difference -Very modern city (18:40) Shanghai -Went from Tsingtao to Shanghai -Saw bodies floating in the Huang Ho River -Came in with a hospital ship -Tied up at Holt’s Wharf -Docked in front of a British hospital ship -Former British POW’s were on board being cared for -Mostly doctors and nurses that had been POW’s -Most were husbands and wives -Kept in good shape by the Japanese to keep other prisoners healthy -Invited their families on board the USS Cheleb for ice cream -Took part in the evacuation of White Russians -Met young woman and spent a leave with her -She was terrified about leaving -Destiny was either a prison camp in Russia or death -Stayed in Shanghai for three weeks -Not much prolonged contact with the Chinese population -Locals never bothered U.S. troops -Watched Chinese workers paint navy ships from their river boats -Unloaded sugar, rice, and flour -Doesn’t recall a Chinese military or police presence (23:33) Philippines (Some time after Hong Kong, discussed later) -First time seeing Japanese POW’s -They were large men not the stereotypically small men -They had been Imperial Marines from Korea -Had stopped at the isle of Negros for water �(24:45) Hong Kong -Complicated way of getting into the city -Sail directly towards a cliff, quickly zig zag, and once you’re around the cliff you see the city -Could not understand why the Chinese sector was called Victoria -British sector had a Chinese name -Only spent a week there delivering supplies -Allowed to go ashore briefly -Given a ration of three cans of beer -Played touch football (26:25) More on Shanghai -Remembers ripping pants getting into a rickshaw -Driver took them to a hole in the wall tailor -Told to sit on a stool on the sidewalk -Took off pants -Left sitting there while the tailor repaired the pants -Eventually got to see the simple, but involved repair process -Involved spit and a primitive iron -Couldn’t tell where pants had been ripped -While sitting there without his pants he attracted a small crowd -People just laughed at the absurdity of the situation -No harm was done -Chinese were orderly, courteous, and helpful (28:28) Formosa (After Hong Kong) -Went to the island of Formosa (now Taiwan) for water -Only stayed there for two days (28:45) Return Voyage -Stopped in the Philippines briefly -Went back to the United States (29:10) More on Sasebo, Japan -Stayed on the naval base there -Some sailors went ashore and visited area where atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima -Note: Based on Sasebo’s location, Nagasaki’s location, and Hiroshima’s location they most likely visited Nagasaki and not Hiroshima -Returned and said that the surrounding area had not been directly damaged (30:20) More on the Return Voyage -Went up to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and from there went down to Seattle, Washington -Tied up at Piers 90 and 91 (30:38) Seattle, Washington -Attached to a decommissioning detail -Had a crew of fifteen sailors -Removed critical equipment from ships -Sealed guns -Prepared ships for being towed to the boneyard at Tacoma -Mostly worked on cargo ships (“Liberties) and personnel ships -Stayed there for three months �(31:50) Back to Great Lakes and Coming Home -Returned to Great Lakes by troop train -Left over transportation from World War I -Told to buy three days’ worth of underwear -Threw dirty pairs out the window -Discharged at Great Lakes -Parents picked him up and he returned to Grand Rapids -High school diploma had been mailed to him (33:20) Post War Living -Enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College -Only stayed for a month because father had a massive heart attack -Took over business -After that went into sales -Worked in sales for fifteen years -Traveled a lot -Regrets not getting to see children grow up -Enrolled in college (at Aquinas) -Worked at a Kroeger’s warehouse at night -Wife worked at Aquinas -He and his sons got in for free because of this -She was the first Protestant to get hired by Aquinas -She was in charge of the dorms -1966 to 1970 were the best years -Going to college full time -Working at night -Building a cottage in Oceana County -After college got back into sales because of a lack of teaching jobs -Stayed in Michigan this time (35:20) Reflections on Service -“Grew up in a helluva hurry” -Got out of the Navy when he was nineteen -Upset that he couldn’t drink -Joined the VFW so that he could legally drink at meetings -Many young veterans were disenfranchised about the hypocrisy -Feels he had good timing -Feels that the Navy late in the war had been the safest bet -Sailing in boats had influenced his choice -Remembers never getting sea sick -Remembers almost getting pulled off the ship during the typhoon -Remembers black sailors being on board -Segregated, but treated fairly well -Used as servants to the officers -Segregation bothered him -Had been friends with a black kid in high school -Remembers going to Idlewild with him and seeing Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald there by happenstance � 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 Dean, Oliver "Ollie" (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Oliver Description An account of the resource Ollie Dean is a World War II veteran that was born in 1927 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In early 1945 at the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Navy and after training at Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago was deployed to the Pacific Theatre and Southeast Asia aboard the U.S.S. Cheleb, a Navy cargo ship. He also served on the U.S.S. Mt. McKinley, a communications ship, on a cruise through the Inland Sea of Japan and up to Vladivostok. With the Cheleb, he spent time in Shanghai and Tsingtao while the Japanese were being evacuated from China. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-11-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanO1558V 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/29f5b14e74af85baa1054700fd9b9271.mp4 bbe5c370d135734666f0534ffc96cead https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/501ac6fee8dbae63347281a27006a97e.pdf c017434d6666a193d5ac8245dd37ef0b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Lawrence (Larry) Dean (00:27:00) Introduction (00:13) Pre-Enlistment (00:21) • Born in Muskegon Heights, MI on June 30, 1934. • Father’s name was Oliver C. Dean and he was of German descent, while his mother was Catherine A. Robinson and she was of English descent. • His father worked for manufacturer Manning, Maxwell, & More and eventually became deputy sheriff. Remembers accompanying his dad to various places. (02:42) Father worked in sheriff’s department for 3-4 years. His mother was a housewife in the 30s. (04:06) • Describes briefly his time in grade school. Afterwards, he went to Muskegon Heights Junior High School. (06:37) During his time there he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Graduated high school but forgot to pick up his diploma the night of graduation. Attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for two years but couldn’t afford to continue and so didn’t graduate. Enlistment and Training (10:55) • Went to see the Army recruiter who told him that since he was 7 years free of epilepsy attacks he was able to join. (11:20) • Dean mentions that he took basic training in at Fort Sam Houston and San Antonio, TX and then served at Valley Forge Army Hospital. • Had 10 years prior experience before working as a surgical orderly. Briefly describes his time as an orderly. (13:05) Spoke to a nurse who told him about an opening in the Army Medical Corps. Mentions that the army saw his prior experience and sent him to work in that hospital. • Briefly describes basic training. Dean remembers crawling hands and knees, to the ground under barbed wire. (14:14) Didn’t receive additional medical training. Spent his 2-year service time in Valley Forge Army Hospital. �Brief Retirement Period and Enlistment Again (14:30) • Upon his discharge, Dean married. He worked for the cities of Chicago, Illinois and Pomona, Colorado as a garbage man for a while. (15:53) • In 1968, he enlisted and was in the service again for 3 months and was than dismissed by the army because he was an epileptic. After his Service (18:19) • Worked for Goodwill in Muskegon for a while and then was sent to Grand Rapids in 1981. (18:24) Was married for approximately 8 years and then was divorced. Briefly discusses how that came about. (20:01) He then moved back to Michigan and lived where he is now for 23 years. Briefly mentions his volunteer experiences with the nursing home. (26:48) � 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 Dean, Lawrence A. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Lawrence A. Description An account of the resource Lawrence L. Dean served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1957 to 1959 in the U.S. In this account he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his service. Dean concludes by discussing his life after the war and mentioning that he also served briefly for 3 months in 1968. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--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 2007-03-19 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanL 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/533427d4655e2ded132bc207e671aacd.mp4 d22bf7a9b8fa3e917b1f82fc02eaf3f3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/426029bc8aeb53a14bfdd753863445a4.pdf eaa4f15fbda877826befb4e03084203f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Douglas G. Dean (00:43:00) Introduction (00:28) Family and Friends (00:40) • • • Born in Detroit in 1946. His dad died when he was only twelve. Had no brothers or sisters. Lived with his mom in the same house for 57 years before selling it. From an early age he loved music. Went to grade school and high school in Berkley. Graduated Berkley High School in 1965. Briefly mentions his sports activities in school. (03:10) Pre-enlistment Years (03:15) • Dean mentions working for Berkley Lanes afterwards for 5-10 years. Got married his high school sweetheart in August 1965. Joined the army in November 1966 just after being married. Was informed by letter to report to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Enlistment and Training (06:37) • • Went to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he underwent basic training. Describes his time there. Prior to basic training he was in the hospital for two weeks because of pneumonia. Ended up making up those 2 weeks he missed. (07:52) Mentions wife’s reaction and life with his wife. (09:06) While at Fort Knox, he was trained for funeral/laundry/bath detail. Describes the responsibilities of his work. Afterwards, he goes on to work in grave registration in Vietnam. (10:28) Vietnam (11:45) • • • Was assigned to grave registration. Was responsible for the care of bodies. (10:55) Only served there for 3 months. Dean elaborates in some detail about his job in grave. His jobs entailed plugging the wounds of bodies and the taking off of clothes of the wounded in the hospital he worked for. Prior to the service he had volunteered on many occasions in hospitals. (12:40) Tells of one encounter in which one person he knew from basic training came in and was in pretty bad shape. �• • • • • • Describes in detail, how the wounded would come into the hospital. In one case, a wounded man came in with a mauled face and was screaming when he grabbed Dean’s arm. At that moment, he died right then and there. Dean had to pry the man’s arm off his arm because he died right then. (15:05) Shares his personal thoughts on the incident. Dean mentions that he had no dreams about the event after the war. He tolerated the work. Mentions that the work kept him up for 10-18 hours a day. (17:04) Also tells of how the personal affects of soldiers were put aside for the remains but also mentioned that the remains were sent back nude. (17:39) Dean mentions how they would fly the bodies out of Danang, Vietnam and from there fly them back to the states. Mentions that when bodies came to them they would clean and dress their wounds and then would be put in body bags to be refrigerated to wait for shipping back to the states. (19:12) Dean mentions that identification was sometimes difficult. Describes some of the horrific corpses that came in that he worked on. (20:35) His unit was responsible for the care of the bodies from the Vietnamese, Army, and the Air Force, while the Marines took care of the bodies from the Marines, Navy, and the Koreans. (21:03) Mentions how Marine morticians usually worked on 400-500 bodies a day. Describes one encounter in which a North Vietnamese soldier was brought in and had his arms and legs broken. Mentions what the heat was like and the state of the bodies after being exposed to it. (23:29) Still remembers the smell and heat of war. Korea (23:44) • • • • After three months he was sent to Korea where he worked in a mortuary. The majority of forensic technicians and pathologists he worked with were Korean. Dean mentions that he never knew what he would see next in Vietnam. Over 90% of the guys he worked on were under 21. (25:10) Never did come into any contact with any Vietnamese. While in Korea, he went on one search and recovery mission looking for an APC that exploded a few days before. Dean says that they found heads, a couple of feet, and boots. (26:04) Dean describes Korean funerals. They would beat their heads against the casket and cry a lot. Left Korea in 1968. Going Home (28:29) • After 13 months in Korea and a total of 21 months in the service, he mentions flying back to the states in a commercial airline plane. (29:11) Left from Cam Ranh, Vietnam and flew to California. From California, he flew home to �Detroit at which point he was out. (30:45) His mother was still alive at this point. After the war (30:51) • • After being discharged, he describes the time that he took care of his mother. Mentions his divorce briefly. (31:41) After returning from the service, he spent his time learning the carpenter and electrical trade upon which he found a job working for his wife’s sister’s man. Had no problems adjusting to civilian life. For a period of 10-12 years he worked for Neutron installing ceiling fans. Dean discusses his battle with pancreatitis and his surgery. Was in the hospital for 9 months. Shares his personal thoughts on the war. Recommends that youngsters spend a year in the military. (43:10) � 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 Dean, Douglas G. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Douglas G. Description An account of the resource Douglas G. Dean who served in the Army from 1966 to 1968. In this account, he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S. and combat experiences abroad in Vietnam and Korea. He served in a grave registration unit and was stationed in Vietnam and Korea, and describes some of his experiences in detail. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--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 2007-06-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanD 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/17fa563c2ea4b63a7daee27f0b439aa2.mp4 8c206dd029c3af907c8bcbf26a12276f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08d04b4e39a99905d94154d29aac7de0.pdf 5b6d5e5f87d5fc741b27f0269e07d4e7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Korean War Arnold De Loof Interview Length: (00:18:45:00) Early Life (00:00:01:00)  De Loof was born on a farm (00:00:35:00)  He had a family of 10 including himself, seven siblings, and his parents. (00:00:37:00)  Until he was about 11 years old, he had grown up during WWII. (00:00:48:00)  Went to a single-room schoolhouse as a young boy. (00:01:16:00)  De Loof spent his time ice skating, playing football, and general partaking in activities that didn’t require “a lot of money”. (00:01:28:00) o “Hardly anybody had any money in those days”. (00:01:31:00)  De Loof received up to a tenth grade education. (00:01:42:00)  His father passed away when he was nine years old. (00:02:03:00) o After his father’s passing, his mother had to go to work at General Motors in Grand Rapids to support the family. (00:02:10:00) o His grandmother began to live at the family home when his mother went to work. (00:02:50:00)  As he entered his teenage years, De Loof took on some small jobs such as mowing lawns and hauling hay. (00:03:14:00) o At 16, he got his first “real” job at a furniture factory. (00:03:27:00)  When he enlisted in the military, his girlfriend at the time left him because she did not want to date someone who wasn’t nearby. (00:03:52:00)  De Loof decided to enlist because he did not have a job at the time and wanted to “go see the world”. (00:04:30:00) o Until that time, he had only ever been to Texas and Mississippi. (00:04:041:00) Basic Training (00:04:57:00)  “We marched a lot”. (00:04:59:00)  As he was an Air Force trainee, he did not receive any foot combat instruction because those in the Air Force were responisble solely for airborne activity. (00:05:25:00)  The extent of De Loof’s training was “how to come and go in a military manner”. (00:05:40:00)  At first, De Loof was being trained to be a cook. After asking many times to be transferred to another training unit, he was placed in supply room squadron where he stayed for 6-8 months. He was transferred again after this length of time to be trained as a fireman, which title he assumed for the rest of his military days. (00:06:21:00)  De Loof’s department dealt with structural, chemical, and aircraft fires. (00:07:01:00) Active Duty (00:07:18:00)  One fire occurred at a “tank farm”, each of which held about 6,000 gallons of fuel, and took several days to completely recover. All the fuel was lost. (00:07:22:00)  De Loof kept in touch with his family by writing letters. (00:08:00:00) �        On the weekends, one of the mess halls on base would be turned into a “club” for the men’s’ enjoyment. They were able to drink beer and gamble on these nights, though De Loof never gambled himself. (00:09:33:00) o There was also a bowling alley, ping pong tables, and a gymnasium with spaces for various sports. (00:10:10:00) The place where the base was located was previously a home to an Eskimo village, which was moved north for the sake of construction. (00:10:40:00) o For this reason, the Eskimos did not wish to affiliate with the American troops. They also isolated themselves from the Americans to avoid illness. Some died due to intolerance of foreign disease. (00:11:10:00) De Loof made some friends that he was able to keep in touch with over the years. (00:12:10:00) o One friend, in particular, currently lives in Baton Rouge and De Loof pays him a visit once a year. (00:12:17:00) When he returned home, De Loof worked for Goodyear in Grand Rapids. (00:13:00:00) o His job was to install and recap, or rejuvenate, tires. (00:13:09:00) When he was dismissed, De Loof’s active military service time had expired but he was still required to complete four years on reserve. (00:13:40:00) o His reserve or “stand- by” time was loosely structured. De Loof was only required to “let them know where [he] was” so if he was needed for combat, he could be located with ease. (00:13:46:00) He started working one week after returning from South Korea. (00:14:20:00) o Besides Goodyear, De Loof also worked for a paper mill, a gas station, and a car dealership. (00:14:30:00) o He eventually bought a gas station that used to work in. His father- in- law was the previous owner, and De Loof managed it for 15 years. (00:15:00:00) o After closing the gas station, he began to drive cargo trucks for a living. He remained in this field until he retired. (00:15:11:00) De Loof never joined any veteran’s organizations. (00:17:00:00) o After he was ineligible for the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), he did not pursue any others. (00:17:00:00) o To be affiliated with VFW, one must have experience in a “war zone”. Even so, most of those involved in the Korean War had a hard time joining this organization because this was “not a declared war”. (00:17:17:00) If he had the choice, De Loof would join the service again. (00:18:20:00) o He did and saw things he would not have otherwise if he hadn’t enlisted. (00:18:23:00) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource De Loof, Arnold (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Loof, Arnold Description An account of the resource Arnold De Loof grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. After training, he was sent to Alaska and Korea, where he did supply work and eventually became a fireman. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Holmgren, Eric 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 Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLoofA1261V 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/99d7cc386ab20c05732a0a6029c87efb.mp4 effcff342bf5aea6923809d5e1601701 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e5cfaa3f0950278128ceb650cd27aa89.pdf ab12ee7e3b63d3205b56212c856b9d8c PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Walter De Leeuw (36:33) (00:01) Background Information • • • • • • • • • • • • Walter was born in southern Netherlands in 1934 He was 5 years old when the Germans came into his town The Germans took over the schools to use them as barracks His family had 9 children and it was hard for his parents to support them after the occupation Walter’s father was a captain on a tug boat 2 of his brothers were forced to go to Germany and work in a factory They could see V-1 and V-2 missiles go over their town Sometimes the missiles would malfunction and hit his town The Allies came into town and had to rebuild the bridges, but the Germans kept bombing them again Walter and his family were evacuated to a farm and their house was demolished They couldn’t buy much and were very hungry the last year of the war Some of the Dutch were communicating with the allies to try and help them (10:57) After the War • • • • The Allies took over the schools for a few months after the war ended There was plenty of food after the war The southern part of the Netherlands was liberated on November 5 and the north was liberated in December [parts of the north remained under German control until the war ended] Walter graduated from a tech school (16:45) Coming to America • • • • • Walter landed in NY and took a plane to Grand Rapids, MI He stayed on his uncles farm when he got there in the winter There wasn’t much to do on the farm and there weren’t any jobs until spring He found a temporary job at a marina Walter got a draft notice and decided to enlist in the Army (23:05) Training • • • • • He didn’t have any problems with going to basic training because he was in good shape Walter was sent to Fort Dix After Fort Dix he was sent to Frankfurt, Germany He had to go to field duty in southern Germany In the US he trained in a tank unit, but when he was sent to Germany they moved him to an artillery unit �• • • • • • • In the artillery unit they used 105mm howitzers The tanks he drove in the US were M-48s and they could go up to 40 mph Tank crews had 4 people While in Germany he could take leave and go to Austria, Switzerland, or France Walter went into the HQ company and drove jeeps for forward reconnaissance He arrived in Germany in 1959 and stayed for 2 years Walter got married while in Germany (32:45) After His Service • • • • Walter went back to the US and was discharged He started a job as a draftsman Then he worked at a factory He didn’t join a veterans club because he felt it wouldn’t be right since he didn’t serve during a war � 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 de Leeuw, Walter (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource de Leeuw, Walter Description An account of the resource Walter de Leeuw was born in the Netherlands in 1937 and lived there during the German occupation of the country. He later emigrated to the US, and served in the US Army between 1959 and 1961. He trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and served in Germany with armored and artillery units. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Montagna, Douglas (Interviewer) Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum (Muskegon, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Korean War, 1950-1953--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 Text Moving Image 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 2008-11-13 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLeeuwW 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/40df57f75b88ad92a5cc63d95e600c4f.mp4 e6c91cea0ffe74c4df8e4d68e320b04b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/20c01a77fa4da5b2b37bde4480ff88de.pdf a95c8d57300977593451413556a805ea PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project James de la Cruz (01:28:29) (00:15) Background Information • • • • • • • James was born in Texas in November of 1945 He described his parents as peasants and very poor They did not have any property or any of their own crops, but helped work on other’s lands His parents were from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas James moved to Michigan with his parents when he was one year old and his older brother moved to Mexico to live with his grandmother His father began working as a migrant worker in Bay City and later found work in Grand Rapids James grew up in a small shack in Grand Rapids, often moving around and going to different schools (13:30) Pending War • James graduated from high school in 1964 and was sure that he would soon receive a draft notice • He felt that he did want to serve, but not in the Army and on the ground in the jungle • James had taken ROTC in high school for 3 years and was well prepared for the service • He went through POW training, learned about foraging, being a leader and taking orders, map reading, and marksmanship • James enlisted in the Air Force in November of 1965 (18:30) Training • James left Grand Rapids on a bus after his induction in Detroit • They were sworn in and then brought to stay in a hotel near • Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas • They spent a lot of time keeping their barracks clean and in order, drilling, and marching • James quickly became a squad leader while a few others washed out • He tried to remain neutral and not join any specific groups or cliques; he just wanted training to be over as soon as possible • When he was finished training he was able to go back to Grand Rapids for a few weeks on leave (24:50) Tampa, FL �• • • • • • • • After training in Texas, James went to tech school for a short time in Illinois He learned about mechanics in repair classes and stayed in very old barracks that were very cold James was then sent to McDeal Air Force Base in Florida, which was like being on vacation The base was much nicer than the one in Illinois and they did not work too hard It was like a civilian job, working 8-5, and then they were free to do what they wanted James worked with equipment to help support aircraft, such as hydraulic driven bomb lifts, generator sets, AC units, air compressors, gas drivers, diesel drivers, and electric drivers There were about 30 air men working per shift; they were never overloaded, but always had plenty of work James spent 14 months living at McDeal Air Force Base (35:15) Thailand • James left with a small group of men from the base in Florida and headed over the Pacific • He had been looking forward to going overseas and had no fear of going • James was glad that he was not going to Vietnam and that he would not be fighting in the jungle • They had a very long commercial flight from California • They landed in Bangkok where there were many different GIs from other branches • There were also Canadians, Australians, and British people (40:20) Ubon • They flew from Bangkok to Ubon where many of the GIs already had learned to speak Thai • James was very impressed and wanted to quickly learn Thai himself • They stayed at a very old barracks on the base with 30 men per building • The weather was warm, tropical, and it rained every day • James was working on F-1 fighter bombers, KC-130s, cargo planes, small one man surveillance planes, helicopters, and black dragons • He was working on some very impressive aircraft and helping to maintain aircraft, similar to his duties in Florida (49:15) Tinker Air Force Base • James was transferred to Oklahoma and still maintaining aircraft, using mostly diesel equipment • He stayed with a mobile communications group living off base in tents in a field • They set up a mobile communications center with satellites, radar, radios… �(51:10) Thailand October 1967-1968 • There were aircraft often leaving from the base, but James never knew where they were going or any details of their missions • He only worked on engines, not plane weapons or armaments and did not ever communicate with the flight crews • Mechanics were only allowed to go to certain areas of the base; others were off limits • James was aware that some of the missions were flying out to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (56:40) Living on Base • They worked with some civilians on base that helped mostly with services and translation • James had gone through orientation when he first arrived and they were warned about traveling to certain areas in Ubon and to avoid certain activities • James had been up drinking in town very late and wondered to an area he had been told not to go to • He saw a bunch of people covered in some type of shawls and walking in a straight line • It was very strange, but he realized that when they got closer to him that they were all lepers • The Thai people had very different customs and culture from Americans; they were much more caring and considerate • There were some USO shows on base and the King of Thailand also came to visit (01:10:10) Bangkok • James only spent about six days in Bangkok altogether; 3 days when arriving in Thailand and 3 days when leaving • When he first arrived, much of his memory is a blur because it was all so exciting and different • He had not wanted to upset anyone and tried to be quiet on the sidelines, following military and societal rules • He had a more adventurous time when he was leaving the country • James went on a bus tour around the city with a friend, but the time went by very quickly • After all the time spent in Thailand James really missed pizza, drive-in theaters, and American women (01:14:00) Oklahoma • James had been living off base in a mobile home with other men in the military • There was not much to do in Oklahoma; they were in a college town that was full of bars • It was always hard to make friends in a military town with the regular civilians • It seemed like the people knew that the service men would only be there temporarily and did not want to make friends with anyone that would be leaving soon �• • • • James was starting to miss his family and wanted to go back to Grand Rapids He had signed up for 4 years of service, but was offered a chance to get out 9 months early He had been offered a promotion and bonus to resign, but declined, which he now regrets 10-15 years after being in the service James really began to miss his time in the Air Force (01:22:25) Discharged 1969 • After his time in the service it was easy for James to get a job and the economy was doing well • He worked for Central Air Lines for a while at the Kent County Airport in Grand Rapids • James also worked at the Metro Airport for North Central Airlines, and at GM for a while • He eventually ended up working for the US Postal Service and has been for 19 years; he is eligible for retirement now • James believes that the best experiences of his past were while in the Air Force and he would do it all over again � 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 De la Cruz, James (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De La Cruz, James Description An account of the resource James de la Cruz was born in Texas in 1945 and moved to Michigan when he was one year old. James spent 3 years in the ROTC while going to school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. James enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and was sent to Texas for basic training. He also spent time training in Illinois for mechanics training. His first duty station was in Tampa, Florida where he spent 14 months maintaining aircraft on base. James then left for Ubon, Thailand where he was stationed for a year maintaining aircraft. After Thailand, James was sent to Tinker Base in Oklahoma before being discharged 9 months early. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Air Force Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-11-13 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLaCruzJ 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/75e678e1d7fe8a11ef6e0390ab31f049.mp4 954f716c8c75c0987134e44306dee3fe https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8479b825f53894b8e16676efe6c37a07.pdf 9e17805bf7cf40bc0231d33f3945915e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Cornelius “Casey” DeJonge (00:46:06) (00:17) Background Information • Born in the Netherlands • Family (of 6 at the time) came to Grand Rapids, MI in 1929 when he was 9 years old • The move was sponsored by family they had in Grand Rapids • Came from a seafaring family- 11 past relatives had been captains of ships • Father had no job in Netherlands but was in construction in America then in his final years he was in the Muller Bakery Company baking cakes • Cornelius only went to school through grade 9 (1:57) Developments in Europe as Nazis began to take over • (1:57-2:12) Was on his way to Pontiac, Michigan doing a brick job when he got notice of Japan attacking • Had relatives still in the Netherlands when the Nazis took over o His niece was run over by a Nazi tank o Uncle (father’s brother) had a small boat which enabled him to be spared (2:49) Joining the Merchant Marine • Began a US citizen in 1935; went into the Merchant Marine in 1943 • Was a brick layer for government buildings and worked at a magnesium plant in Nevada which kept him from being drafted • Left Nevada because his wife had a baby and went to Michigan • He was going to be drafted then read an article that said that he could “sail the seven seas with other clean cut young men just like him in the merchant marine.” • To sign up, Casey hitchhiked to Detroit • Passed the test and went to Sheepshead bay New York to train • Training was 16 weeks and was the same as one would get in the army • After four weeks, if he wanted to go right away, he could go as a mess man or in the storage department so he did • Training was marching, pile out of bed at four in the morning outside in the nude, gymnastics, boxing • Was 24 during this time; there were younger men with him and older as well • Had no prior experience (5:05) The First Trip: England • Out of New York �• (5:18-5:31) Last trip took him through the Panama Canal to the Pacific to the Philippines and he was on an ammunition ship • The ship was the Joshua Thomas and it went to England • Unloaded in England then loaded back up to go to North Africa • The ship was a liberty ship • (6:10-6:21) Once went to Russia and the ship carried electric trains • The ship sailed in a convoy (all of the ships he were on did except the Pacific) • Not on this first trip but on a different one, there were 105 ships in the convoy, each one mile apart • This first voyage was mid-summer, 1943 • (7:04-7:35) Trip from New York to Alabama there was a big U-boat scare and “a lot of ships were sunk along that coast; I think a lot of American people aren’t aware of that.” • (7:35-7:53) The convoy was not attacked during his first voyage but when he went to Russia, one went up the Clyde River in Scotland and sank a ship at 8 in the morning • (7:53-8:15) Casey always chose the 4 to 8 watch because then he didn’t have to work (chip decks, paint etc) because the maritime union stipulated that one could only work between 8am and 4pm (8:15) The men of the Merchant Marine • A lot of American men but some foreigners • The Portuguese were a large group of capable seamen • (8:47-9:04) Portuguese and Hollanders historically do not get along but Casey had a good friend who was Portuguese • (9:08) Captains o Most were old o Sometimes they were drunks o Had chief engineers on every ship who never did anything • (9:50) Boat Problems o One problem: went to Russia and once electric trains were taken off the ship, the electric cables used to keep them in place were left to hang off the ship and got tangled in the screw • (10:40) When the boat left Russia it loaded up with wood crating material o Each piece of wood was measured by a Russian girl or sailors who wanted to get paid overtime ƒ One Russian girl was an artist and gave him a nice painted picture of a farm scene and she wrote on the back “To Casey, For Remember” • (11:48) Club where Vodka was served where men could meet girls • (12:39) Went to Archangel, not Murmansk o (12:44) Russian government gave merchant marines 60 or 100 rubles but could not give American sailors money so they gave them perfume �(13:28) The Trip to Russia • Trip began in Scotland • Convoy before them had 48 ships and only 4 made it back • He was issued very heavy material (rubber outfit) to keep warm in; if he had fallen in, he could’ve lasted 20 minutes • Friend who was a policeman from New York got sick, was sent to a Russian destroyer then later died and was buried at sea (14:55) Off Duty • Hired someone to take his place on the ship so he could get off in England for a dollar an hour or it could have been a dollar a watch • Casey spent a lot of time in English cemeteries looking a gravestones and also crossed the London bridge quite a few times o (15:45) Ended up helping to rebuild London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona later on in the 1970s (16:00) On the Ship • On duty jobs: Steering and lookout o Couldn’t see anything as a lookout and was never required to go up in the crow’s nest, they always were put either on the forepeak or the bow • (18:06) Off-Duty at Sea: Slept, spent time in mess hall o His crew of 45 men had a waiter that would bring their food to them and at every meal, they could choose from three different meats o Got paid on way back to New York one time to throw meat overboard because the next group of men on the ship wanted fresh meat • (19:50) Navy Personnel on the Ship o 8 20 millimeter guns, 1 3 inch anti-aircraft gun, 5 inch surface gun and Casey always volunteered to load 20 mm guns o Naval guns and smoke bombs only had to be used once when the ship was attacked in the Mediterranean and this is when he got a combat bar (21:00) Places Visited • London, England o Missed the ship one time and had to be transported by train through England • Algiers, Algeria o Went here right after the invasion but not much damage • Russia o Worst experience o Fish and cabbage was given out and stoves could only be used if four people were using them at a time and the people lived in dormitories • (23:48) Casbah, Algiers o Scary place where army servicemen were not allowed to go • (23:97) Could go to Iran �• (24:45) Unloading in Russia was done by women and it was the only place where there was a soldier at the end of the gangway and the worst thing someone could bring ashore was a magazine • (26:50) Allowed two days off for every week on the ship so he went home to see his wife o When he came back he would have to pick a new ship, and could only turn down 2, and if you did, you would automatically be on the third ship; Casey always picked the first and tried to get a ship headed to dry dock so his wife could come with him (28:00) Pay • 100 dollars a month was sent to his wife • Casey’s wife did not have a job • He got paid at the end of the trip in cash in the officers mess hall (29:23) Caribbean, Panama Canal, Pacific • Going through the Panama Canal was a surprise because everything in the ship had a UK label • They then loaded up ammunition in Alabama and went through the canal to get to the Philippines • Went in to Manila once or twice a week to get the mail • One time in Manila he got in a truck with other soldiers and the driver told him to lay down for awhile because they were going through “suicide pass” where there were still snipers because the war was still going on the 11 months he was there • Fake money was all over the streets in Manila • Filipinos were friendly and mostly Catholic • The only other place he went to in the Pacific was the Marshall Island atoll of Eniwetok o Casey had a few beers there was very popular when each person was given two beers because he did not drink (33:00) Returning to Civilian Life • Left Merchant Marine in 1946 because the war ended • Got off the ship in Seattle, went all the way home then was telegraphed to come back to the ship to get paid • Unaware as to how much he was paid • Had to buy his own clothes and transportation but was paid more than some naval personnel • Had a lack of benefits after he got out but today he has the VA which covers his numerous prescriptions • (36:00) One memory that stood out in Casey’s mind was when someone got murdered on the ship in Algiers; stabbed to death • The coast guard were the merchant marines policemen �• (37:19) One day the galley chimney was not working so there were no hot meals to go around o A British destroyer then came close to the ship and dropped two depth charges because the men on Casey’s ship said that they would not get out of their seats until they got a hot meal; the charges got them out of their seats • Experienced a major storm where the gangway broke o Casey was told to go up to the forepeak and lock the padlock in there because there were valuables there • One time in the Philippines, a Captain asked a steward if the laundry was being done onshore because a lot of blue bedspreads were gone; it turned out they were being sold for clothing, especially in North Africa (40:45) Reflection • He loved it and believed it was a nice way to live but he had to get back to his family • Became a foreman where he had worked before the war then went into business alone • Later he went to Bahrain with the church to build hospitals, then to Oman then to Basra, Iraq and built a 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/. Title A name given to the resource De Jonge, Cornelius (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Jonge, Cornelius Description An account of the resource Cornelius "Casey" De Jonge was born in the Netherlands, became a US citizen in 1935, and served in the Merchant Marines between 1943 and 1943. He tells of a series of voyages in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, including some difficult trips to Russia via the Arctic route. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Merchant mariner World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-03-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeJongeC 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/727fa9e77abfb241c783b9f8790e8d13.mp4 de875f5a5635dc6c3f4585b8f188c381 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4be26c81880a021172b035d79d6678f6.pdf 41e77aa8a880b01da56b889d59a55288 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Edward de Blécourt (01:22:46) (00:25) Background Information • • • • • Edward was born in Phoenix, Arizona on October 9, 1981 and later moved to Michigan when he was 5 years old Edward’s father was an electrical engineer and his mother stayed at home He graduated from high school in May of 2000 and joined the Army Reserve on September 11, 2000 because he wanted to travel and get out of Michigan Edward was in the Army Reserve while working two other jobs He had just started college and finished basic training when the towers were attacked in New York (2:30) Basic Training October 2000 • Edward was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training and AIT • It was freezing cold during training while they were drilling and working with artillery • Edward was training with all different types of people from all over the US • He began Advanced Infantry Training working with large trucks and tractor trailers in different types of weather and terrain • Edward trained for 6 months and then only had to report one weekend a month • He had been working with the 180th Transportation Company in Muskegon, MI (8:30) After 9/11 • Edward was called up for service after 9/11 into Fort Custer in Michigan • The atmosphere was very stressful and it seemed like no one knew what was going on • Many of the people there had previously fought during Desert Storm • All the rules tightened and everyone was more strict • In January of 2003 Edward was involuntarily transferred to Delaware and only had three days to get ready • They were sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey and taking tests before leaving • Edward was part of a new unit, the 946th and just getting to know everyone (14:20) Iraq • Edward received orders to leave in march and was on an 18 hour flight to Kuwait • They arrived on April 4, 2003 and the place smelled terrible • Landing was kind of scary and chaotic with everyone running all over the place • He had gone from training in the freezing cold to a very hot environment • They were staying in tents at Camp Wolf with no cots or sleeping bags �• Another unit had to move in also and the place was very crowded (21:00) Living Quarters • The Company began looking for somewhere else to stay and checked about three other camps, which were all full • They slept outside for a few days and then ended setting up in a huge warehouse that had about 18,000 people living in it • They began going on missions from Kuwait into Iraq and delivering fuel and gas • There were many people on the side of the road begging • They often got stuck in Iraq because it was too late to travel across the country • They would have to sleep outside near their trucks; it was very hot with many bugs and sandstorms (27:30) Progress of the War • Edward and others did not know anything about what was going on with the progress of the war • He would have to stand in line for four hours for a phone call and only had twenty minutes to talk • There was no Stars and Stripes for any news, just rumors • Edward continued delivering supplies, but often the AC in the trucks malfunctioned and the temperature could reach 140 degrees • They drove as quickly as possible to avoid being attacked and so that they could get back to their living quarters on time (39:30) QRF • The men continued to be told that they would be going home any time, probably next month • They were then told that they were doing so well that they would have to remain there for another 6 months • They were sent back to Kuwait and formed the QRF: Quick Reaction Force and basically guarding in Kuwait for 5 months in anticipation of an attack • They were very bored and there was usually no work to be done • Edward often played video games and it was nice because there was AC • He went into Kuwait City a few times and everyone there was very nice (47:30) Waiting to Leave • Edward had since learned a little bit of Arabic and some cultural customs • He went on a few humanitarian missions and got to know a few civilians • Many heard that they would not be in Iraq for a whole year so that the government would not have to pay them veterans benefits �• They were continually pulled off missions and replaced, told they were going home the next day, but then something would always go wrong (50:45) Back in the US • Edward left Camp Wolf and stopped in Amsterdam and then landed in New Jersey • They stayed at Fort Dix for two weeks and then were sent back to Michigan • It was hard for Edward to get back to civilian life and he continued in the Reserve until March of 2008 • Edward began attending college again at Davenport University and had to eventually get surgery on both his knees • Driving very fast for long periods of time over rough terrain had messed up his knees • The government paid for his surgery, but it took years for it to all get set up (1:02:10) Driving in the Desert • There were no roads in the desert or infrastructure • The roads that do exist are in very poor condition and have been through battle • Many trucks went into Iraq and were shortly completely destroyed • There was dust everywhere and often accidents • They always had to drive too fast to meet their deadlines • Sometimes they would be traveling in a convoy of 100 trucks (1:12:15) Looking Back • Edward was not part of an established unit, but would have like to have been working in a hierarchy with people he knew and trusted • Many times things were confusing and no one knew who was in charge � 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 de Blécourt, Edward (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource de Blécourt, Edward Description An account of the resource Edward de Blécourt was born in Arizona in 1981 and later moved to Michigan. He joined the Army Reserve in 2000 and was called to active duty after 9/11. He was sent to Kuwait in March of 2003 and served as a machine gunner on trucks that delivered fuel to bases all over Iraq, but primarily on the Kuwait-Baghdad highway. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.) BCTV Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army Reserve Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-09-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeBlecourtE 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/6b172811871820a013d0e4f270f4036e.mp4 892ceeec6e407878e6a69846dcb4c299 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e64eae7b242635538362e32917fb5926.pdf 764caf8501c220ec19b6b99acf2a4b1b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Operation Iraqi Freedom Interviewee’s Name: Mike Day Interview Length: 45 minutes Pre-Enlistment (00:30) • Childhood (00:35) o Born in Napa Valley, California in September, 1984. At age 2, he and his parents moved first to Whitehall and then Grand Rapids, Michigan. (00:37) • Family (0:42) o Growing up, his father worked as a fiber optics man on televisions. (00:51) • Education (01:08) o In high school, Day mentions being a small town boy involved in activities such as going to the beach and spending time with friends. (01:32) o When 9/11 hit, Day was age 17 and was in the principal’s office and he relates how he saw the World Trade Center being attacked. (01:41) Enlistment/Basic Training (02:03) • Why he joined (02:14) o Upon completion of high school, being that he was 17 and not quite eligible to gin up for the service, he didn’t know what he was going to do. In April, 2003 he walked into a recruiter’s office and signed up and was on his way to Fort Knox for basic training by May to be in the National Guard. (02:30) • Where he went (03:10) o Fort Knox basic training (03:17) ƒ Describes his attendance of basic training at Fort Knox in some detail. (03:23) ƒ Day mentions how his drill sergeants yelled at new recruits like him. (04:04) �ƒ Basic for Day lasted about 9 weeks in three phases: Red in which they underwent intensive training, White in which they eased up on a trainee and blue phase in which they allowed the trainee to make phone calls home. At the end of it, he was given a 1-day pass to visit family and friends. (05:00) o Fort Leonard Wood training (05:37) ƒ Was shipped for from Fort Knox to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he spent 5 ½ weeks training and learning how to operate trucks. Mentions this experience in some detail. (05:44) ƒ Day spends some time describing some of his military responsibilities with the big military trucks he worked with. (06:05) During his stay there, he received a letter detailing what he could expect when he was deploying to Iraq. After this experience he went home unsure if he was ready for school yet. (07:17) o Other activities (07:31) ƒ Briefly describes his work with 7up and the day he was called up by the National Guard to go to Detroit and then Grayling, Michigan to pick up his training equipment. (07:50) ƒ Briefly describes in some detail summer training and forward operation base experiences. (08:50) ƒ At about that time, he was still living with his parents when he received a call from his staff sergeant who told him to report to the 1461st Transportation Company(09:36) A week later he was attached to the 61st Transportation Company doing some drills, and then off to Camp Atterbury, Indiana. (10:20) ƒ His impressions of Iraq up to this point were all based on what he heard from the media. (10:45) o Camp Atterbury training (11:10) ƒ Went down to Camp Atterbury, where he trained for 3 months in 1st Aid and road marching. (11:18) ƒ Had a lot of training in the searching and disarming of IEDs before encountering them in Iraq. Day mentions what his body armor consisted of. (12:02) Once deployed in Iraq, he was issued an additional 20 pounds of body armor for the weak points in his vest. (13:23) �ƒ The type of weapons he trained was M-4s and M-16s. (13:33) ƒ After 3 months there, he was sent by air aboard a C-130 aircraft, making a brief stop in Germany and flew on to Kuwait. (14:48) Active Duty (14:55) • Where he went (15:05) o Camp Speicher background (15:10) ƒ Geographically, Camp Speicher is in Northern Iraq near Tikrit, Iraq. He briefly describes his impressions of Iraq. (15:14) ƒ Being attached to a heavy transportation unit his responsibilities included transporting Abraham tanks, heavy equipment, and other equipment places. (16:32) ƒ On base, he briefly mentions different interactions with other American military branches and British personnel. (16:52) o Military missions (17:35) ƒ On his first mission, Day went to Baghdad where he was pulled out of transport platoon duty because he was found to have computer skills and because of this he was put in charge to head up a MWR. (17:40) ƒ Afterwards, he received a mission from his CO to go to Camp Liberty in Baghdad. (18:13) ƒ • About that time, the level of danger was potentially dangerous. Sometimes they came across IEDs but rarely he was ever shot at. (18:52) • Briefly describes the setup of a typical convoy looked like and how to look for IEDs. His first mission took place at about November 2006. (19:58) • Got fired at by a bunch of tracers. Called in the men in the gun trucks who fired their 50-calibers. Briefly describes what transpires when a mine blows a tire. (21:14) • Briefly describes how an IED blows up a humvee, and/or a convoy truck. (22:52) Briefly describes his daily schedule. (24:03) �o Living conditions (25:39) ƒ Among the places, Day mentions being deployed are Camp Liberty in Baghdad; Camp Speicher near Tikrit; and Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. According to Day these camps each had their own feels. (27:43) ƒ Contact with Iraqi civilians was limited. The most he saw were shepherds herding their sheep until he got to the big cities where it was more heavily populated. (28:33) ƒ Was in Iraq for 11 ½ months with his National Guard unit. For the most part respect was shown all around with the various branches. (29:30) ƒ The unit his unit was to replace showed them their duties and responsibilities and where to go. (30:57) o Other activities (31:50) ƒ On one encounter, Day was attached to a unit an area called Area 51 a place where Kuwaiti civilians and refugees congregated. Attached with 5 others who were mostly interpreters he was responsible for the care of 500 internationals. (32:54) Briefly describes his time with them. (33:05) o Going Home (34:46) ƒ Before going home, Day trained the new replacements and then went back to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where he spent 4 days. Was then paraded onto a parade field in Jackson, Michigan with many other officers to hear Gov. Granholm and other generals speak to them and then to be discharged afterwards. (35:10) ƒ Mentions that he had a few more drills with the 61st before returning to the 1463rd unit out of Wyoming, Michigan. (35:54) After the Service (36:10) • Adjusting to Home (36:15) o Spent the first couple of days in shock and readjusting to ordinary life. Also spent time with friends and family. (36:31s) o Afterwards, he went on to attend MCC for a while and then to GVSU. (36:47) o While readjusting to civilian life, he relates how with the mentality of showing no emotions and surviving everyday ruined many relationships he pursued afterwards. (37:42) �• Military service after he was discharged (38:02) o Day is currently spending another 3 years in the military mainly because it offers him the chance for a payment bonus. To kids who might want to join the military he mentions how positive the training and discipline he learned as a result of joining the Armed Services. Also mentions that they should know what they are signing up for before joining. (38:40) o Day wraps by mentioning that the military forced him to grow up and briefly mentions what his future plans were. (41:43) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Day, Mike (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Day, Mike Description An account of the resource Mike Day was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who is currently serving in the National Guard. His recent term of deployment lasted about 11 ½ months. In this account, Day discusses his pre-enlistment year, his enlistment and training in the U.S. His term of active duty in Iraq has taken him to various camps and cities in Iraq as part of a transportation company. Among his duties included serving as a convoy truck operator transporting military equipment to their destinations. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Kentwood, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Iraq War, 2003-2011--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 2009-05-19 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DayM 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/73135690e5d1641abfb8e006e61f9a1d.mp4 d3034ddcc6d3543d11dcbe9f824d0904 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f091fa35239e20c5417f8bbd581fc920.pdf 43e8b521e5657402361c02c7db0ccb22 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Harold Day 38:52 Introduction (00:24)       Harold was born in Ava, Missouri on June 26, 1949. He grew up there with his family that was in the restaurant business along with farming. Harold went up to tenth grade in high school; he then moved to Kansas City and eventually began working for General Motors. He worked there for ten years before getting into the auto body business. Harold was drafted on April 8, 1969 into the United States Army. At that point, he knew that a war was going on and that people were getting killed. He went on with his life until they came looking for him. He had an uncle that was in World War I, but no other relatives that were veterans. Military Training (02:15)               Harold was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for his basic training. When they first got to training, they were given their uniforms and then the training started. The instructors were tough, but they needed to be to get them in shape. Harold did not have any trouble adjusting to military life, since he was used to having discipline growing up. Most of the instructors were likely Vietnam Vets but he wasn’t sure. Basic training lasted 8 weeks, followed by AIT (Advanced Individual Training). (04:12) While at AIT, each man was assigned their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), Harold’s was Eleven Delta, armored. AIT was conducted at Fort Knox, Kentucky. AIT differed from basic training because along with the physical aspect of training, they also learned their individual jobs. Harold was trained on the M114 (armored personnel carrier) and tanks (M48, M60). All aspects of the vehicle are learned such as being the mechanic, driver and other jobs on the vehicle crew. When he was drafted, he knew he was going to Vietnam. AIT was an additional 8 weeks. After that training was completed, Harold was sent home for thirty days and then was sent to Vietnam. Vietnam (05:58)  Harold went to Oakland, and was flown to Hawaii, Guam and then to Vietnam on a chartered commercial flight. �             His first impression of the country of Vietnam was hot and muggy. Their plane landed in Long Binh, a large base outside of Saigon. They landed during the day, and they were immediately sent through processing which included being issued their jungle fatigues. (07:06) The processing into country took about threes days, and Harold was then assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. They were based out of Lai Khe, which is located north of Saigon. The area around the base was farms, rice fields and a rubber plantation called “The Michelin”. Harold’s unit was an armored one that included M113 APC’s and M48 tanks. He was made a tank driver. He joined them when they were out in the field. He was trucked out to his unit and he began working. Before he went out in the field, he was given some initial in-country training about booby traps and other things to be mindful of while in Vietnam by the 1st Division. (09:46) In their area of operations, not much was going on, but they ran convoys and some shooting but not much. One APC was called out one night and while driving through a mud hole a command detonated mine was set off and injured some people. They primarily worked within their armored unit, and Harold did not feel in danger with the unit at that time. The civilians would come out and see the soldiers as they drove by in their tanks. They would ask for candy and c-rations. (11:54) The morale was good with the men, everything they did was routine and not to demanding. They did not have any big issues with drugs, and Harold let his fellow soldiers know that his number one goal was to get home safe and he would not let anything jeopardize that. Harold was with the tank unit from September till the first or second week of November. He did not like the tank commander on his vehicle, so he volunteered to go to sniper school. (13:48) Sniper Training and Operations (13:55)        Harold heard on the radio that they were looking for volunteers for sniper school so he decided to sign-up. As a boy, he hunted and was familiar with shooting. Out of 23 shooters that completed the course, he graduated 5th. Sniper training was a lot of shooting; they did not receive any training on missions or anything other than shooting. When he was given his diploma after graduating the course, General Wolf told the men that if they were misused, get a hold of him and he would get things fixed. After that training they were sent around in teams observing the country side in towers that were air lifted around the area. (15:48) While doing that, they did not see many Vietnamese, most likely because the tower was clearly visible to everyone, especially the enemy. �      Harold did not feel exposed or vulnerable in the towers because he could see and hit the enemy long before they could hit him. He remained with the 1st Infantry Division until they pulled out February 1970, then he was reassigned to the 101st Airborne. Harold knew that being sent to another unit that was up north was more dangerous because things were more hostile up there. They were flown on a C-130 north to Camp Eagle where the division headquarters was located. (17:38) With the 101st, they started using helicopters instead of trucks. Harold and one other sniper were put with a reconnaissance unit and missions began almost immediately. The first month of operating, did not have a drastic amount of enemy activity. They were operating around Hue City, A Shau Valley and Khe Sanh. (19:45) They performed various missions including basic reconnaissance, rescue operations and anything else that came up. The snipers basically operated as regular infantry and he got along great with the other men. Ripcord (21:28)            One day they came around asking for volunteers to go up to Firebase Ripcord for perimeter guard, they volunteered for 10 days but ended up staying for 30. This was in June when they were there. The base was in the mountains and was just like any other firebase to them. Harold and his sniper partner did not find out what really happened there until thirty years later. They began taking mortar rounds one day, and after the attack, they paced the hits off and one was 13 feet from his position and another was 9 feet. (23:28) As perimeter guard, Harold does not recall any targets to shoot at while there. In a five day period 10 men from his troop were killed, including 7 killed on July 8th. It still bothers him to this day, because he always wonders if there was something else that he could have done to keep them alive. They had more enemy in the area than they could have ever anticipated. Harold feels that the upper echelon of leadership truly cared about the men and they did everything they could to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Harold has learned more about this in the last few years after reading and studying on the subject and from attending the Ripcord reunions. (26:03) After Ripcord was abandoned, he continued to work in the area. When he had thirty days left in country, the First Sergeant came up and asked Harold if he could weld. He told him that he could so he had to make some kitchen sinks to keep him out of the field. 10 days left in country, Harold was sent out in the field and he was then asked to extend for 58 days and then after that he would be given an early out. He decided to go home and serve his remaining time in the states where he had a better survival rate. When Harold got home, he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and he served another seven months and then got out of the army. Looking Back (27:40) �        Back in the armor unit, when they would shut down for the night they would park the vehicles in a circle like a wagon train. They would then erect a protective fence that would catch RPG’s. Most of the time they were given hot meals, but when a vehicle broke down or something else happened they might miss it. Once, they got stuck in the mud and it caused them to miss their cold beers and hot meals. (28:52) When they got stuck, they would hook APC’s to the tank and pull them out. On one occasion it took ten APC’s back to back pulling to get Harold’s tank out of a mud hole. With the 1st Infantry Division, they spent most of their time out in field. When Harold was with the 101st, they used helicopters for entry and extractions. They also worked hand in hand with the Army Rangers. (30:28) 50% of his time in Vietnam was spent in the field. They were on base more than a regular infantry unit was. On their reconnaissance patrols they would find weapons, information and documents and they would find these in bunkers that people left behind. July 8th was the worst day for him in Vietnam because seven of his fellow soldiers were killed. (32:28) After July 8th, the morale of the unit went down due to the mourning of their losses, but they continued with their mission. Replacements were sent to replace the losses, but not right away. Back in the States (33:29)        When he was sent back to Fort Hood, a buddy of his told him in order to not pull duty for thirty days to stay gone, which he did successfully. They didn’t do much, they would run maneuvers in the field and chase deer with tracks but they had it easy. Harold did not pay much attention to the war protesters. He got his job back at General Motors in Kansas City and later got into auto body painting. After working in Kansas City, he moved down to Texas in the 1980s and once he retired he moved back to Missouri. (35:55) His military service made him more disciplined and allowed him to be able to handle the outside world in a better way. It made him tougher, and he would do it again if he could. Give him a gun and he’s ready to go. When he was living in Texas near Fort Hood, he met a Vietnam vet that got Harold in touch with General Harrison who was the commanding officer of the 3rd Brigade during Ripcord. Harold got to know him and his wife and he was invited to attend a reunion in Springfield, Missouri. This is now the third Ripcord reunion that Harold has attended. � 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 Day, Harold (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Day, Harold Description An account of the resource Harold was born in Ava, Missouri on June 26, 1949. He worked for General Motors in Kansas City before being drafted into the United States Army in 1969. After basic training, Harold was made a crewman on armored vehicles such as M114 APC's and M48 and M60 tanks. He was sent to Vietnam and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. Harold served as a tank driver before volunteering to go to sniper school. He graduated fifth in his class and was later reassigned with the 101st Airborne. Harold spent thirty days on Firebase Ripcord. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-10-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DayH1544V 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/fd7ee07a4371dd0ba6db7f06542cc6c4.mp4 ec1e8bbf639f81f0271ffd6e79f4469a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7511877d5ef0b2e85704d8b4d29cc49c.pdf 9099764bd120bee72b686eae98190571 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Wayne Davis (00:31:45) (0:20) The Early Years • Born in Benton Harbor June 6, 1957 • Had 1 sister and 3 brothers • Dad worked at Superior Steel and later at the Benton Harbor Public Schools from where he retired • Mom also worked and retired from the Benton Harbor Public Schools (1:24) Before Grade School • Went to Alabama during the summers to visit grandparents o One time Davis stayed a full year with his grandparents down in Alabama • Both sets of grandparents lived in Alabama o His dad’s father was named Claude or “Wig” because he was bald  Claude was a farmer and also ran a barber shop out of his home o His mom’s father was named Gus Shackleford  Gus worked at the paper mill (2:19) Alabama • Played with cousins • Segregation was extremely prevalent o Davis and his family still had to sit on the back of the bus o Separate washrooms • Played with cousins o Cowboys and Indians, army, rode bikes, etc. • Saturday mornings, Davis helped his grandpa Claude load up trucks with crops to take to market • Saturday afternoons, Davis sold peanuts his grandpa roasted in his grandpa’s barber shop o The barber shop was located right behind the house o It was more of a side business, opened mainly on Saturday afternoons and Friday nights (4:25) School • Elementary School o Went to McCoy which was 4 blocks from his house o Played the trumpet and also baseball • Junior High o Continued to play trumpet o Favorite class was math and typing  Liked typing because only boy in the class!  The reason he took typing was because during the summer Davis had broken his hip playing football; the typing class replaced Davis’ gym class • Benton Harbor High School �o Played in the band until 10th grade o 11th and 12th grade Davis worked at Jewel as a bagger and a stocker  Enjoyed job because got to meet a lot of people (8:20) School Dances • Attended many school dances • When missed his curfew, his mom would sit behind the door with a broom; when Davis would finally get in, his mom would hit him with the broom and then would have Davis’ father say a few words to Davis o Davis’ father would say, “Just try to make curfew and make Mom happy!” (9:50) Cars • First car = ’66 Chevy Impala • Second car = ’68 Buick Skylark (10:15) Enlisting in the Military • Spent one year at John Wesley College in Michigan but decided it wasn’t for him and that he was going to enlist with a few buddies • When returned home from college in April, told mom he was going to Detroit to visit a girl friend but instead Davis was actually going to Detriot to enlist • Enlisted in the Army • Day after enlisted, Davis was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky (11:25) Training • Felt a lot like football practice • Specialized in supply • Went to Virginia to attend Supply School • After school, sent to Germany for 4 years with the 42nd Medical Company (12:15) Supply School • It was a self-paced school that usually took 12 weeks to complete • Davis finished it in 6 weeks • Food was decent but the food in Germany was even better (13:10) Why Germany • Everyone who enlisted was asked where they would want to travel to • So Davis was sent to Germany on a plane o 10 hour flight on a DC-10 (13:40) Germany • Arrived in Frankfurt where Davis was assigned to the 42nd Medical Company • Davis and the Company were sent to Nuremburg • Stayed in the Merrill Barracks which were nicknamed the “Gangster Hotel” o One of Hitler’s old headquarters  All types of underground tunnels; the tunnels were blocked off so Davis was not able to go through the tunnels o Just down the road was a park called Duzendteich  There were 12 ponds that Hitler used as landing pads for his planes; he would drain the pond, land his planes, and then refill the pond with water. (15:00) Language • Language was not a problem �The younger people spoke both English and German so Davis never had to learn German (15:19) Other Places Davis Visited • Rome, Paris, Greece, and Spain (15:40) Rome and Paris • Rome o Took a tour bus around • Paris o Davis went on his own o Took a 16 hour train ride from Germany to Paris o Met up with his cousin who was playing pro-basketball o Stayed 30 days (Davis was on his 30 day leave) o Followed the team around (17:40) Responsibilities at Base Camp in Germany • At first, took care of dirty laundry, ordering clothes and shoes • Switched to the Motor Pool o Dispatched out ambulances  Kept track of mileage and scheduled maintenance (18:19) Places Visited in Germany • Went to one USO outdoor concert • Saw auto races • Olympic Village • Dachau (19:00) Dachau • Visited Dachau, one of Hitler’s concentration camps • Very interesting and very sad • Davis said he could still smell the burning flesh (20:20) After Germany • Returned home and served in the Reserves for 6 years with the military police o Returned to Germany one summer for training (20:55) Military Police • Stationed in: Denver, Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, and also in Little Rock, Arkansas • Arkansas o Was sent there for 2 months to guard the Cubans [from Mariel Boatlift?] o Scary situation but because members of the police force, they were allowed to carry .45s and guns unlike the National Guard o The military police were flown down to Arkansas and given riot gear to wear o Stayed in barracks right next to where the Cubans were being held  Cuban men, women, and children were living behind barbed wire fences in tents (23:40) Jobs • While in the Reserves, worked for Hugh’s Plastics for 2 years o Loaded trucks • �Also had a part-time job as a caretaker for John Stubbleson (?), who was considered the wealthiest man in St. Joseph (25:19) Marriage • Had a wonderful social life • Married twice • First time for 13 years and then divorced (no children) • Second time for 10 years and then divorced o Has one 9 year old daughter who comes and visits every other weekend (27:10) Other Jobs • Came to Grand Rapids in the early 1980s with his first wife • Became head custodian for Park Congregational Church for 7 years o Davis was there when the huge fire broke out o If Davis hadn’t closed everything up as he always did, the fire would have been MUCH worse o The fire was caused by arson; someone broke into the church • Became custodian in the Grand Rapids Public Schools for 15 years • Later, served on the Chamber of Commerce as a Supervisor of grounds keeping for 4 years • In 2005, got sick and came to the Veteran’s Home (30:35) How Service Affected His Life • Davis said that he got to see parts of the world he otherwise would have probably never seen. • � 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 Davis, Wayne Keith (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davis, Wayne Keith Description An account of the resource Wayne Keith Davis is a Veteran who served in the United States Army during peacetime from the late 1970s to the late 1980s in Germany and in the United States. Born in 1957, Davis talks about his childhood growing up in Benton Harbor and his summers spent in Alabama visiting his grandparents. In Alabama, Davis remembers facing segregation and also selling peanuts at his grandpa's barber shop. Upon enlisting, Davis went to Supply School in Virginia and then was flown to Germany where he became a member of the 42nd Medical Company. After spending his four year term in Germany, Davis returned to the United States and served in the Reserve for another six years as a member of the military police. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--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 2007-03-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DavisW 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/1282cebb72d25fa64552b1b73cbf368b.mp4 6403ee7e8c78c27cc64dd9b5c2f5ddeb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5927de4e44d279e1440b67f6a1b198c9.pdf ae65d69d5d218473352eb025c2037942 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Phil Davis Vietnam War Total Time: 08:38 Active Duty (00:40) • • • • Was in I Corps sector, in Northern Vietnam. Was a pilot in the Air Force. Joined the Air Force at the age of specifically because of the draft. Was in Kentucky when his service ended, and he remembers being very happy. Post War (5:30) • • Got a job when he got back to the United States, and tried to get back into education but by the time he would have been able to take advantage of the GI bill he was entrenched into his job. Joined the American Legion 20 years after he returned. � 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 Davis, Phil (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davis, Phil Description An account of the resource Phil Davis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He joined the Air Force because of his low draft number, and he was sent to Vietnam and served in the I Corps sector as a pilot. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Vanloon, Danielle (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. 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 2005-05-26 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DavisP 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