731 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/90f5cb9436f3f894717656dc60bfd9d7.mp4 8bafd23988a84fbf4c68195db7345230 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/076396f6b3039d955f02d8bef64b45ff.pdf 4ce7f6b04579d756361f69c5ba63c862 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interviewee’s Name: Fred Bernhardt Name of War: World War II Length of Interview: (00:40:00) Background  Born 2/6/1927 in Grand Rapids, MI. (00:14)  Went to Union High School. (00:24)  Enlisted at age 17 in the Marines, during WWII. (00:28)  Most of his friends enlisted. So many of his friends enlisted that he would not have many friends at home. He and a friend both enlisted in the Marines. (00:41)  Enlisted early March, 1944, the earliest he could enlist. (01:04)  About a month later, he had to have a physical, which took all day. (01:40)  The Marines avoided putting all the men from a particular region in the same unit. The reasoning for this was that if an entire unit was wiped out, the losses would be too great for the area. (02:06)  Sent to San Diego, Camp Pendleton for two months. (02:10)  He decided on the Marines after seeing a movie, possibly Guadalcanal Diary. (02:24)  He enlisted to avoid the draft, as draftees could not decide where to enlist. He needed parental permission because he was only seventeen. His parents reluctantly consented. (02:45)  After Camp Pendleton, he was sent out on a ship, and was not informed where he was being sent. (03:02) Training  Training was difficult. (03:30)  Had to wake up at 5:00 AM, attend roll call, and do drill-work, then the rifle range, which was exceptionally important. (03:34)  Practice at the range involved shooting at targets from various distances with an M-1 rifle. Men were divided into grades: Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert. He managed to attain the highest grade of Expert. (03:57)  After the rifle range, they were sent to practice with grenades, then automatic rifles, and then they were ready. (04:10)  Drill instructors were very strict and tough. The two months at Camp Pendleton were the roughest two months of his enlistment. (04:33)  He had an advantage over many of the men. He had been in ROTC for a year in high school, and knew the commands and formations. Other men had a hard time learning the formations. (04:53)  They did battlefield practice exercises with weapons, such as grenades, mortars and machine guns. (05:30) Deployment  Sent out on an APA troop transport, the SS Langford. It was a new ship. (05:44)  It was a thirty-day journey. (06:06)  The stopped at Pearly Harbor to refuel. (06:11)  There wasn't much left of Pearl Harbor. It was still a wreck, and had not yet been re-built as of 1944. (06:16)  Other parts of the Hawaiian Islands were all right. (06:37)  He was sent to Saipan. (06:50)  The trip was his first experience on a large ship. He became very ill and sea-sick. He was on �three ships during the war, and was only sick the first time. (07:02)  From Pearl Harbor they went to the Marianas. (07:23)  Stayed at the Marianas briefly, they were nearly sent to Iwo Jima. (07:32)  The battle on Saipan was mostly over, but there were some stragglers left. (07:56)  The Japanese troops were terrified of the Americans, and would often preferred suicide over capture. (08:07)  He helped some native (not Japanese) civilians hiding, because they were scared. (08:44)  His unit had to find hiding enemy troops. (09:06)  The Japanese Army did not treat the natives of the Marianas very well. (09:13)  He was on Saipan for about five months. (09:34)  They patrolled the islands. Once an island was secure, the air force would set up a base. The Marianas were vital for the “island hopping” strategy. (09:46) Atom bomb/Nagasaki  One day, his commander called out names for guard duty. (10:30)  [DVD freezes] (10:30-10:50)  They were instructed to shoot if any Japanese came by without the password. (11:03)  At the time, he thought the guard duty was just an exercise. He had been put on similar missions before, and did not believe the situation was very important. Later that day, the atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. (11:30)  He found out that he had been guarding the bomb. This took place the summer of 1945. (12:09)  He had arrived in Saipan around May or June. The bombs were dropped later. (12:24) Tinian  He was at the battle of Tinian briefly, but then back to Saipan, then to Okinawa, and then back to Sai-Pan. He was on Okinawa to set up a base for about a week.  The Marines would secure a beach, and then the Army would take over. (14:26)  Preparation for the battle involved a very detailed debriefing. They were shown maps, given a history of the area, informed about the geography, and of their objectives. They were also given an estimate on the number of Japanese civilians which were present. The Navy would begin the operation by bombing and bombarding the target. (14:57)  He watched the bombardment from a troop transport. They were sent in on tracked amphibious transport vehicles. (15:27)  He came in during the second wave of infantry. (15:51)  There were many explosions going on in the area. (16:10)  The Japanese resisted at the beach. (16:19)  It was a very rough ride. (16:50)  The landing craft came high in at a high speed. The front end dropped out, and the Marines ran out for the nearest cover, while being shot at. (16:57)  They were targeted by mortars and machine guns (17:14)  The Navy continued to shell the hills. The shelling was not successful as the Japanese entrenchments were too strong. (17:21)  The beachhead was only about twenty yards long, but very deadly as there was no cover. (17:41)  There were thousands of Japanese infantry in the hills. (17:57)  His objective as an artillery observer was to find a target—such as tanks or important equipment. (18:21)  He was then to radio the range to the instrument personal. (18:37)  The Navy would then fire one shell, to see how close they came. (19:03)  If the shot missed, he would provide closer coordinates, and so on until they scored a hit. Once a hit was scored, he was to instruct them to fire at well. (19:22) � He was supported by infantry, but did not have a gun himself. (19:45)  There were tanks at Saipan and at Okinawa, but not at Tinian. (21:02)  He did not stay at Tinian the entire time. Tinian was a less intense battle than Saipan and did not require naval artillery as frequently. He was only in the area for a day or two. (21:26)  Other men in his division stayed longer, to help secure the area. (22:17)  The Marines took high casualties. (22:30)  His unit had to call in reserves. (22:30) Okinawa  There was a delay between Saipan and Okinawa. (23:30)  The Allies needed Iwo Jima to proceed on Okinawa, which had air strips. (23:46)  He was not involved at Iwo Jima, but was nearly sent there. (24:06)  The pre-combat debriefing was similar as for Tinian. (24:40)  The information was given on the boat, a few days before the operation. They were not informed of their mission until just before it was to take place. (25:16)  His unit was in Okinawa for a few days, and then pulled back. Another unit took over. (25:34)  He had the same role as at Tinian, that of the artillery observer. (26:02)  He would provide the distance from the guns, not from his own location. (26:41)  The artillery was usually accurate, and sometimes hit the target on the second shot. (27:09)  He saw Ernie Pyle at Okinawa. (27:22)  The Marines were in the hills; Pyle was with them and taking notes. He had a uniform similar to a Marine, but his helmet had the word “correspondent” on it. (27:22)  The hill was being shelled, and the Marines told Pyle not to approach, and to take cover. (27:57)  Pyle kept coming, and was killed by a mortar shell. (28:11)  He had never talked to Pyle, and only heard it was him after the fact. (28:13) [Ed. note: Pyle was killed on Ie Shima, a small island near Okinawa, and by a sniper rather than by mortar fire.]  Correspondents were unusual; he only saw a few of them. (29:12)  He was at Okinawa for about a week. (29:27)  He saw very little of the natives, they took very few prisoners. Most of the Japanese troops preferred death to capture. (29:37) More on the Atom Bomb  At the time, he didn't know he was guarding the atom bombs. He was very confused afterward; he could not comprehend the scale of destruction. (30:11)  He had thought they were going to invade Japan. (31:37)  When the war ended, the men experienced “great joy.” (31:51)  There was no drinking allowed in the Marines, and there was no real way to celebrate on the island. Most of the men resorted to yelling as a celebration. (32:05)  A week or two later, he was sent do occupy Japan, as part of the treaty provisions. His unit occupied Nagasaki. (32:45)  Nagasaki had been reduced to rubble. Some parts were left standing, but there were no people. (33:06)  They used tents on the ground and tried to camp away from the bomb site, in a forest or on the beach. (32:33)  There were two to four men to a tent. (34:00)  He was in Nagasaki for about two months. (34:08)  Then he was sent to Isahaya, then Obama for the remainder. (34:16) Obama  Obama had been a resort during peace-time. (34:04)  There was a hotel, and various entertainment businesses. (34:50)  There was a nearby town called Unsen, which had a large sulfur spring. The sulfur spring in �                Obama was smaller. (35:01) The spring water was piped into the hotel. (35:30) His job was to make sure there was no trouble. (35:31) There was usually not much trouble to worry about. (34:45) He was part of the MP force. He trained for the position for about a week. (36:01) He was to watch the American troops, make sure they didn't get in trouble. (36:10) The Japanese police were very good at keeping order. They were a reliable contact if any Japanese civilians caused problems. (36:36) The American MPs had no power over the civilians. (36:39) He got to know many of the civilians very well, as they were very friendly. (36:24) The Americans were often invited into households for Japanese holidays, especially their New Year. (37:10) He was very surprised at their pleasant reception among the civilians. Discharged Japanese soldiers were very hostile however. (37:43) The civilian population was mostly relieved the war was over, and many of them had been opposed to the war. (38:12) Many Japanese citizens spoke English, which helped as most of the Americans did not speak Japanese well. (38:45) He remembers the civilians as friendly and helpful. He felt sorry for them. (38:51) He learned a lot about himself, learned discipline, and met many nice people during his career in the Marines. (39:25) Believes the Marines have the most rigorous training of any branch of service. (39:45) He was very glad the war was over. (40:04) Disc Two (36:31) (00:30) Marine Photographer  There were picture sets available to all those in the division for a price [this was discussed because Bernhardt bought a set of photos from Saipan from a Marine photographer, and this set is included in his file for this project—Bernhardt also states that he was in one of the pictures, which was how he met the photographer]  Service men were not allowed to have a camera and there was nowhere to purchase film  Fred was able to purchase a nice German camera from a man in Japan  He patrolled Japanese towns all day and was then allowed to go sightseeing with his camera once his shift was up  They stayed in a nice Japanese hotel with great Japanese food (8:20) Unsen, Japan  This as a large, beautiful resort town  They had community baths that were very hot and large  Fred and others watched stage shows that were similar to American plays  There were about 35 men in the unit, but not a lot of other military police in the area (14:45) Former Soldiers  There were many discharged Japanese soldiers that were not friendly to the American soldiers  They would not talk to the American soldiers or even look them in the eyes  A civilian who had seen the bomb go off from in the mountains about 20 miles away told him that they had no idea what was going on and it was like the end of the world � Many Japanese men were trying to get American soldiers to date their daughters and take them back to America  Some men did bring back women to the US (18:20) Duties in Japan  Fred had been working with the military police and keeping an eye on American soldiers  The Japanese police watched the civilians and they were all pretty tough  Fred spent 9 months in Japan while Nagasaki was being rebuilt (24:00) Transport Ship back to the US  The ship was crowded and the men had to sleep on cots  They stopped in Hawaii to refuel and this time Fred did not get sea sick  They landed back in San Diego and he traveled to the Great Lakes Naval base in Chicago (26:20) Life after the Service  Fred went back to visit his friends and took some time off  He did not even look for a job for about two months  He began working at the American Seating Company for about a year  Fred was then an apprentice for four years doing iron work and he eventually got his journeyman papers (29:15) Photography  Fred joined the Grand Rapids Camera Club and became more interested in the subject  It had been a hobby, but everyone he knew had encouraged him to turn it into a career  He began taking other photography classes and joined the Professional Photographers of America � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BernhardtF Title A name given to the resource Bernhardt, Fred (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bernhardt, Fred Description An account of the resource Fred Bernhardt enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17 in early 1944. He served in the Pacific Theater of WWII as an artillery observer for naval bombardments. He also served as a guard of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Nagasaki, and was part of the post-war occupation force as an MP in the Nagasaki area. 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. Marine Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-11-13 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f47559c9afa7e56de3f91d2e984d208.mp4 0639f8766cf19015c1987ecf2ff594f0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/34ddf3ab583a0906ea1303b410dba200.pdf a9f1da2f4cc6524187c432b30c234a08 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Len Berkenpas World War II Total Time: 0:43:15 Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (0:00:20) • • • • • Born in 1925 in Byron Center, MI Family was involved in farming Attended Byron Center Christian School until 8th Grade and then Byron Center High School, but did not finish. Father tried to get him a deferment for the service, but because his family had 6 other boys, he did not get the deferment. Was sent to Detroit, passed his tests, and was drafted into the service. Training and Active Duty (0:03:55) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Trained at Great Lakes Naval Station in 1943 for the Navy. This was his boot camp. He did not pass his swimming tests after Boot Camp, and this disqualified him from serving and he was sent home. The Navy made him take swimming lessons there so he could pass basic training. However, he applied to be a ship’s cook and became good friends with the pool attendants, so he didn’t really take any lessons. This was at US Naval Air Base Livermore, CA. (0:06:40) Was shipped across the country on a troop train from Detroit to San Francisco. (0:09:05)He was the cook at the Naval Air Base Livermore, CA. Shifts were 24 hours on 24 off. Attained the rank of Third Class Ship’s Cook. Stayed on the base and cooked. Soup was served at every meal, and some canned food and fresh food were used. (0:14:23) They sometimes used prisoners on the camp. They would use them for tasks like pealing potatoes. The biggest crowds of men they had to serve were around 3000. (0:17:30) Men would sometimes run into Livermore or San Francisco or for recreation. They had busses that ran back and forth. (0:21:50) Their base was not integrated. Never had any black sailors. There were some Jews on the base but that was about it. He reported to a Lieutenant and the other command structure above the Lieutenant. He applied many times to get off the base, but he was unable to during the war. However, he was assigned to the USS Iowa after the war was over, however he never went out to sea. �• (0:28:10) He was discharged in early 1946. He hitchhiked from San Francisco to Byron Center. Post-Service (0:35:40) • • • Stayed and worked on the family farm for 3 years and got married. After he left the farm, he got many different jobs. Ended up Box Board Packaging Corporation in Grandville, MI making corrugated cartons. He stayed there for 39 years. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BerkenpasL Title A name given to the resource Berkenpas, Len (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Berkenpas, Len Description An account of the resource Len Berkenpas was born in 1925 to a farmer in Byron Center, MI. Was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and worked as a cook at Naval Air Base Livermore near San Francisco, CA. He did not spend any time on a ship at sea. 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. Navy 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 2008-06-30 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/1944320e2b026994349c893cab9dfab7.mp4 d247433f99251adeccc64568c173556e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99f87986991e0eedc8d7d114ae42add9.pdf 7c63dbdb3ceb94ded284fcf9505bee17 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Ronald Bergin Length of Interview (00:42:55) Background (00:00:00) Born April 20, 1927 Served in WWII in the Navy as a seaman, 1st class Enlisted in the Navy because a lot of his friends died in the Army Had to join early because at age 18 you’d be drafted in the Army Training (00:02:00) Enlisted in 1944 18th birthday in April of ’45 so he had to sign up beforehand Was taken a month before graduating, still got his diploma Went to Great Lakes for 8 weeks of basic training Went back to California after a week of rest The rest of Bergin’s friends were given ships but he wasn’t Took combat training in California Had dropped the Atomic Bomb after combat training had finished Thought they would be going home, instead picked up the 4th Marine Division in Okinawa and go to Japan for the Occupation Got as far as Guam and was dropped off; never went to Okinawa Was on a troupe transport, very small, Liberty Ship; 1200 men in his unit Took 16 days to go over; got into some rough storms Barely any room; had to stay below deck, wasn’t allowed Spent first three days in storms, a lot of seasickness; taking on a lot of water, too �Almost went up to Alaska, a lot of mines set there When radar picked up signal of one, gun crew had to take care of it No more men were needed in Japan so they were dropped off in Guam Finished the rest of his overseas duty in Guam Guam (00:09:50) Not many living quarters, assigned to an abandoned camp Very hot and muggy climate Lived in tents the whole time he was in Guam The supply base was the second biggest after the Japanese took Subic Bay in Philippines Supplied the whole 7th Fleet in the Pacific All jungle there, large caves; the Japanese lived in these caves and would occasionally attack Bergin’s fellow soldiers A lot of insects and reptiles there The camp itself was rough, a rough way to live • Facilities for showers were always malfunctioning • They eventually built barracks, but that was after Bergin’s unit left Built floating docks, a huge harbor Guam has a lot of coral reef surrounding it, so the harbor rectified this No fresh food: powdered eggs, milk, etc. Everything was in tents There was a fungus from the jungle that affected a lot of men, they got used to it; a lot of infections, as well Was a company reporter (00:18:35) In boot camp, had a newspaper; had taken journalism in high school Paper was called the Great Lakes Bulletin, came out every two weeks �• Interviewed men; a lot of famous ball players, also a lot of high school kids • Bergin was considered one of the oldest even though he just turned 18 When in Guam, also wrote for the paper there Kept him out of guard duty Played a lot of ball: baseball and softball (00:22:10) Held a lot of tournaments for swimmers Movies every night; outdoors Didn’t have to worry about entertainment at the end of the day because you’d be too tired to do anything There were different areas where pool could be played There wasn’t much to do Communication was hard, but would write letters (00:25:07) • Many of the men in his unit were unmarried, so they mostly received letters from family • Ships usually brought the mail because the planes were being used for combat Going Home (00:28:43) Went back on a large ship; a luxury liner converted into a troupe transport Calm weather all the way home; made the trip in 11 days Landed in San Francisco, California, stayed there for two days then flew to Great Lakes to be discharged A lot of jobs were open About 10 million men had been in the service So men had trouble going back to a “normal” life Worked in the Engineering Department in Consumers’ Power (00:32:22) • Very busy, many farmers wanted electricity • Enjoyed doing it very much �Held Japanese prisoners in Guam (00:34:21) Two classes of prisoners: • Japanese Imperial Marines: under lock and key all the time; solitary confinement, prone to committing suicide before capture • Also held ordinary prisoners • Held 30,000 prisoners of the ordinary prisoners just as the war was ending • Didn’t let the Japanese Imperial Marines go Integration (00:36:50) Blacks had separate barracks, bathroom facilities, chow halls, etc. • Bergin thought this was silly Would still train together In all branches of military, this practice was pervasive When Harry Truman became president, he integrated Bergin’s base; 20,000 men Took one night to do this, on a Sundays morning • Would eat together, have the same bathrooms, but barracks were still segregated No problems occurred, except for an incident with seven southerners (00:40:02) • Went up to several blacks and tipped over their trays • MP’s took these seven men out, never saw them after that • Within a year, they integrated the barracks One of the biggest that happened, it was turning point in history � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BerginR Title A name given to the resource Bergin, Ronald (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bergin, Ronald Description An account of the resource Ronald Bergin enlisted into the Navy in the year of 1944. He was to be sent to Japan for the Occupation, but his company was instead sent to Guam. He describes the condition of the camps in Guam and the how their camp was used to test President Truman's idea for integration between blacks and whites. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Davenport, Ben (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-03 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b39dc5b93caeb729e333efc7de72062.mp4 022c24f414f2cf6704a641816ee619eb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc03898d62d9ca9c19992f01d1dae181.pdf a195a0a3916ffd19408d2ddaf8cd930b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Howard Bennink (01:25:02) (00:09) Introduction: • Born in Coopersville, Michigan. • Grew up on an 80-acre farm. • Attended one year of high school. (02:45) Before enlisting and depression: • Remembers being very poor. • All farm products dropped 50% in price. • Stayed on farm until he enlisted in the military. • He also worked on an excelsior plant in Grand Rapids. • He had no idea where Pearl Harbor was when it was bombed. • Remembers his mother saying that “Hitler was no good” long before he invaded Poland. (08:20) Enlistment: • Enlisted in Marine Corps. • Trained at Parrs Island, South Carolina. • Main thing about the Marine Corps was discipline by marching. • Received all WWI rifles and clothing. (12:40) After boot camp: • Received further training at Camp Lejeune. • Took a train to San Francisco. • Trained for six months before leaving the United States. (14:20) Ship ride to New Zealand: • Traveled by luxury liner 30 days from San Francisco to Wellington, New Zealand. • Many of the men got terrible diarrhea on the ship. • The ship was never attacked, although there was a submarine warning. (18:45) Wellington New Zealand: • Women built camps in New Zealand--male New Zealanders were fighting for Britain in Africa. • As soon as they arrived in Wellington, they started reloading the ships for combat and headed to Guadalcanal in 1942. (20:25) Guadalcanal: • Landed on Guadalcanal. • First offensive United States made against the Japanese. • Japanese landed on Guadalcanal but failed. • Served as a rifleman on the front line while on Guadalcanal. • Living conditions were reasonable. • Weather conditions were tough, very warm and humid. (25:37) Australia: �• • Headed for Brisbane, Australia. Most of the men had malaria after Guadalcanal, causing them to be incredibly weak. • As soon as they were on the ship, they drank Quinine for malaria treatment. • Arrived at a camp in Brisbane around Christmas time. • Left Brisbane for Melbourne, Australia. • After arriving in Melbourne, he contracted malaria again and was hospitalized for four months. • The hospital was very nice. • Once discharged from hospital, he was sent to Adelaide, Australia for two weeks. • He was then sent back to Melbourne where his division lived in a cricket stadium. (31:10) After Australia: • Traveled to Goodenough Island for three weeks. • Then to Finschaefen, New Guinea where they boarded their ships and sailed to Cape Gloucester, New Britain. • Received a Silver Star during fighting in Cape Gloucester. • The weather in Cape Gloucester was horrible; storms and rain the entire time. • Sent back to the United States after Cape Gloucester, on a thirty-day ship ride. (32:50) Furlough: • Sixty-five men were on ship along with sixty-five mental patients from the military. • Was able to keep in touch with family and received the Grand Rapids Press while in Pacific. • Received a thirty-day furlough after arriving stateside. • Did not hear about the European theatre much while in Pacific. (36:30) After Furlough: • While still stateside, he received his Silver Star at a ceremony and was promoted to sergeant. • Trained in the United States and then received more training in Hawaii. • Did not like Hawaii because of all the volcanic ash and the extremely cold showers. • Remained in Hawaii for four months and was then sent to Iwo Jima by ship. (46:19) Iwo Jima: • Remained on the island for three weeks until he was shot in the shoulder. • Most of the men around him were shot in the head and killed instantly. • The shot he received missed his carotid artery, grazed his spinal cord and went through his back. • As four men were carrying him on a stretcher, one was shot through the head. • After waiting for the Japanese fire to subside, he was taken to a Marine hospital. • He left Iwo Jima on a hospital ship to Guam, and then by plane to a military hospital in Hawaii where he had surgery. • He was then flown to Oakland, California. (57:53) Atomic Bomb: • Still recovering in a hospital in Great Lakes, Illinois when the bombs were dropped. �• Was relieved when they dropped the atomic bombs. (58:35) After Service: • Could only whisper after the service due to his injuries. • Received the 52/20 plan; 20 dollars every week for 52 weeks. • Worked as a barber for forty years in Grand Haven, Michigan. • Since retirement, he helps with landscaping work at his church and is currently on a one man mission to prevent overpopulation in the world. • He believes that overpopulation caused World War II. • His family has already compiled a written personal history of his service. �, I I I I I I I , FOREWORD In June 1994, on our way back from Sugar- Mountain, N.C., our grandson, Brent, then nine years old, spoke from the middle seat of the mini-van, "Grandpa, you were a Marine in the war, right? Did you have to shoot anyone?" Later he asked, "How far away were they?" On February 19, 1995, fifty years after the Marines landed on Iwo Jima, Howard and I attended a memorial program in Kalamazoo. It was what the Navy veterans remembered and what the Marine veterans didn't say that impressed m~. It was after our family doctor asked Howard why he was connected to the Veterans Administration and had sent for his medical records that I began to think of writing. Then in July of 1995, at a Guadalcanal Veterans reunion in Frankenmuth, Michigan, we met a man who was writing about his father, _an army doctor, who had worked on Guadalcanal. He hoped to meet-someone who remembered him and the hospital there. Of course, when the Marines were there, there wasn't any hospital and probably no doctor either. Finally, it was the radio/television cornrnentatorsand the newspaper editors and the critics, who weren't there but expressed their opinions that Pres~dent Truman should not have authorized the dropping of the atomic bomb, even if we had to invade Japan. The men who carne back alive had neglected to tell how it was! In-August, 1995, I began to write as Howard told me about his experiences. Elizabeth L. Bennink 1 �I I I , f I I I f I I ... ~., I I, I I, When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Howard was living at horne with his parents, Nancy and Harm Bennink, and working in a factory in Grand Rapids. He was nineteen years old. At the suggestion of a fellow worker, that he consider the Marines, he dropped in at a recruiting office in Grand Rapids. He didn't know any Marines personally and didn't know much about the Corps either. Most people in this area joined the Navy, but on January 6, 1942, he became a United States Marine. January 6, 1942 was a cold, stormy Monday. His father and. mother had driven him. to Grand Rapids. The newspaper article which Nancy' saved says that he was one of 23 young men ~ho were instructed by Staff Sergeant Lloyd Beattie. Fifteen 6f the men were from Grand Rapids and the remainder were from outlying areas. The picture shows the young men wearing suits, ~ies, overcoats and hats. Howard had not met any of them before. The group traveled to Detroit by Greyhound bus. He was given a physical examination which he passed in spite of "a displaced septal cartilage to the left, and old fracture of the nose and second degree flat feet". Howard "Bennick" was 73 1/4" tall and weighed 158 Ibs. His vision measured 20/20 bil~terally. His hearing was 15/15 in both ears. His chest measured ~4" at expiration and 38 1/2" at inspiration. Pulse was 80 before exercise, 98 after exercise and 82 after rest. His blood pressure was 136/88. He had blond hair, was blue eyed and had a ruddy complexion. Actually, it was his second examination. The recruiting officer in Grand Rapids had examined his teeth and asked if he had, or had ever had venereal diseases. Howard was sworn in after the physical. His serial number was 3 5 3 6 5 8. They spent the night in Detroit. The next morning, they left by train, a stearn engine coach for Beaufort, South Carolina. A camp bus took them to Parris Island and boot camp. The weather was milder in South Carolina. It was 5'0 - 60 degrees during the day and a cool 30 degrees at night. They lived in Quonset huts which housed 12 - 20 men. They slept on steel bunks and marched to the mess hall for meals. They got up in the dark. Back in Michigan, father Harm and brother-in-law John Dyke had put Howard's 1936, gray, Tudor Ford up on blocks in Aunt Altha Fitch's garage on Madison St. in Grand Rapids. This was Howard's second car. His first was a 1927 Chevy that he bought when he was sixteen. It cost $60.00. The Ford cost $250.00 in 1940. It was at Parris Island that they were given their initial wardrobe: Dungarees - pants and jackets Shoes - dress and boon dockers Dress uniform - greens and khaki Caps Socks Sweatshirts �I I I I I I I I ,I I :1 . ·'. . · :~ I ,I I E I ~t ~ Two blankets Skivie shirts Leather belt with a brass buckle Eight quart pail Six inch scrub brush Safety razor Bar of soap Toothbrush and toothpaste The first three weeks were taken up, mostly, by close order drill. The D.I. (Drill Instructor) was Cpl. Montplacer. It was the Platoon Sgt. that taught them how to make up their bunks and scrub floors. Howard says that he had no complaints in regard to treatment. The second three weeks were spent on the rifle range, where they lived in tents and ate rations (16 oz. cans of pork and beans, stew, and hash). The tents held six people. They slept on cots with a mattress. It was cold at night and even snowed once. . His closest associates in Boot Camp were probably Harold DeHaan from Grand Rapids and Paul Gammage from Ionia. Howard also remembers getting two haircuts during Boot Camp. He remembers too, how they craved sweets. They were allowed to buy one candy bar at the P.X. during the six weeks. Their first move was to Camp LeJeune, New River, North Carolina. According to the book "The Old Breed", a history of the First Marine Division in World War II by George McMillian, Camp LeJeune was 111,710 acres of newly bought land at New River, N.C. "111,710 acres of water, coast:al swamp and plain, thereto fore inhabited largely by sandflies, ticks, chiggers and snakes".' If I interpret the book correctly, until February 1, 1941, the Marines, all of them, were the First Brigade which grew in number when the organized reserves were called up in the fall of 1940. Quantico, the horne of the Brigade was now too small so the: land was bought at New River. The date, August, 1941, is mentioned as the time the First Division set up at New River. By December 7, 1941, the Division was still small; 518 officers and 6,871 men. By the spring of 1942 (April), it had grown to 15,000 men. The average age was probably not quite 20 years old and about 90% of them had enlisted since Pearl Harbor. The First Marine Division included the First Marine Regiment, the Fifth Marine Regiment, the Seventh Marine Regiment and the Eleventh Marine Regiment. Howard was in the First Marine Regiment, Third Battalion, 'I' Company, Third Platoon, Fourth Squad. Cpl. Morino was the Squad Leader, Sgt. Sylvester was the Platoon Sergeant, and Lt. Weiss was the Platoon Officer. The men had been issued rifles at Parris Island, a bolt action Springfield. They took good care of it. They carried it everywhere except on liberty. It was even in the bunk with them at night. They memorized the serial number, but now 50+ years later, Howard can only remember the first two numbers, 1 and 5. Howard's discharge papers say that he quallified with the Bayonet, 12 February, 1942 and Special Military Qualification, Scout - Sniper. L l'i 1 �They lived in Quonset huts that looked new. There were eight bunks on each side. The floor was wood and there were windows. Their Sgt. talked a lot about combat but Howard doesn't think that he really knew what he was talking about. As a part of their training, they crawled across 40 acres on their bellies. During breaks, the Platoon Sgt. would say that the smoking lamp was lit. That meant that the men could smoke. Howard had started to smoke on his way to Detroit from Grand Rapids. The obstacle course at Camp LeJeune did not amount to much, but one day the company hiked to the ocean. The bottom was covered with oysters and everyone had cut feet after they bathed nude in the salt water. The camp had a parachute group. Those men never walked, they always ran. They also had a Division Band. It practiced out under the trees and sounded good. On March 12, 1942, Howard was hospitalized with German Measles. The hospital had bunks stacked two or three high. A corpsman was in charge. Howard returned to duty on March 16, 1942. Howard remembers going on liberty twice. They went to Jacksonville where he had a couple"beers and caught a bus back to camp. They also went to New Berne once. There wasn't much to do there either, but there was a tattoo parlor and Howard received the small tattoo on his forearm which says U S M C - 1942. They also took a bus trip to Cherry Point about 15 or more miles away. Brick buildings were being erected for the Air Force. While at Camp LeJeune, Howard was promoted to a Private First Class. He is not positive, but he thinks that he got a raise of $6.00, from $18.00 to $24.00 a month. 4 �I I l I r l , I I I ~; I t··,~· l I. [ [ [ t [ 1 . Major General A. A. Vandegrift assumed command of the First Marine Division from Major General Philip Torrey on March 23, 1942. In mid April, a plan called Lone Wolf arrived at New River, ordering the Division to Wellington, New Zealand at the earliest possible moment. It was said that Vandegrift thought that the Division had not yet attained a satisfactory state of readiness for combat, but he was assured that the Division would not be expected to fight before January 1, 1943. An advance party of officers was dispatched to select a site. They found it on North Islarid, 35 miles from Wellington . ."The bush covered gorges' and ravines of the Tararu Moun tains are in "spitting" distance". The camp was built with green lumber by New Zealand women. New Zealand was a part of Great Britain which had been at war since 1940. Both labor and supplies were limited. By the end of April, the Division was ready to move (two weeks after the notice). On May 1, 1942, the troops went aboard trains at New River. Howard says their clothing and personal items were put into sea bags and thrown in a pile. It was the last time he saw them. He presumed that the ship carrying them had been sunk. At that point in time, combat loading was considered pointless and time consuming, so personnel and gear went into separate ships. . The Wakefield with General Vandegrift aboard left from Norfolk, Virginia on May 20, through the submarine menaced Atlantic and the Panama Canal. The men left by train for the Pacific Coast. Before leaving they were told not to write letters or make any contacts. The train was a Pullman with sleepers and diners. They carried their rifles and packs. The train zigzagged to San Francisco. They were told that they crossed the Royal Gorge but Howard does not remember seeing it. The last night on the train, they were told to set their boon-dockers out. Boon-dockers were their rough leather boots which were never polished, but the next morning the porter had them shiny. The men collected for a tip. When they got down to the docks and the ship, it was being unloaded of boulders. The pile of rocks was still on the docks when the ship sailed. The ship was the Ericsson, which was a German luxury liner that had been seized in the New York Harbor after the war began. It was a beautiful ship, privately owned and leased to the Government. Personnel were civilians. It had two swimming pools and beautiful paintings and wood carvings. Howard thought that perhaps the staterooms had been torn out because they slept on bunks, six high. He had no idea what part of the ship that they were in. They lived aboard for a week or more before sailing. During this time Howard rented a horse, a big, long legged one, and rode �~,: 1 r , t r i , I I. I ~I'- I f~ ~. l along the hills. '[he horse could not be ridden or led off the main trail. He remembers being on guard duty and needed his overcoat. Howard is not sure when they left San Francisco. His discharge papers say, "Asiatic Pacific Area, 22 June, 1942." Howard does not remember the dining room, but he remembers walking down the steps with rotten food on the tray. It seems that the refrigeration was not functioning properly. Here after, for the remaining three weeks, the men existed on Planters peanuts and Pepsi Cola in glass bottles which had replac~d the water in the pools. The men had to purchase the nuts and cola. Because of th~ illness arid inadequate diet, according to the book, the men lost as much as 16 pounds enroute. TheFirst Marine Division was living up to their nick-name the Raggedy Ass Marines. Howard does not remember any big guns on the ship. They were not part of a convoy, and crossed the ocean alone. They were not told of their destination until they were at sea. During the day porpoise followed the bow of the ship. At night, there were lots of lights in the water. They were told that it was phosphorous. In Mother Nancy's scrapbook is a small card which says: Piic ; Howard Bennink was duly initiated into the Solemn Mysteries of the Deep. 'Having crossed the Equator July 1, 1942. Aboard the R.S. John Ericsson during W.W.II. Davey Jones - His Majesty's Scribe Neptune Rex - Ruler of the Raging Main The initiation ceremony did not take place as submarines were sighted, but they were in line to be doused with water and get "a slap on the ass with a paddle." The trip lasted 30 days. Much of this time, they read. On June 26, while the Ericsson was still on the high seas, General Vandegrift was told that the Marines would invade, occupy and defend Guadalcanal, Florida and Santa Cruz Islands and that D. Day would be August 1, 1942. Vandegrift was upset, his Marines would not arrive until July 11th, after 30 days of inactivity. In addition no planning had been done and the only information available were naval charts which were made in 1910. It was obvious why Douglas MacArthur and his team had not done well in his part of the war. D. Day was moved to August 7, still not much time to gather information, plan, study, load 31 transports and cargo carriers, embark 20,000 men and 60 days of supplies, rendezvous with the Navy and conduct a set of joint rehearsal exercises. One of the first orders to come down, was to leave 1/3 of the supplies behind. It was winter in New Zealand with cold driving rain. Food supplies melted on the docks as they were unloaded from one ship and loaded on another, sometimes at the same time. Howard said that they lived aboard ship, but did walk into 6 �f, , ~. t r , ~ I ~ I r ~··t· I , the hills once. On July 25, 1942, Howard became 20 years old. Koro Island in the Figi's was selected for pre-invasion maneuvers. It was about half way between New Zealand and Guadalcanal, 'but it was not like Guadalcanal. It was a coral island. After several landing vessels were wrecked attempting to land, the practice was called off. The units spent their days, July 28-31, riding up to the reef and back. The convoy left Koro on July 31. Howard was aboard the McCawley. As they left, the men were told where ~hey were going. The men wondered, "Where the hell G~adalcanal was and why were they going there?" The men were uptight. It was the unknown. It was to be the first offensive battle of the Pacific War. "We never knew what the hell we were getti,ng in to." The officers who didn't know either, said that it was safer than at home on the highways. Howard remembers sharpening the bayonet to kill Japs but ended up using it to crack green coconuts to stay alive. The convoy was almost all of the effective striking force of the Navy in the Pacific. It consisted of three carriers: the Saratoga, Enterprise and the Wasp; the battleship, North Carolina; and some cruisers and destroyers. Guadalcanal was the first o:ffensive waged against the Japanese in W.W.II. The Japs had humiliated us at Pearl Harbor and we were helpless in our attempts to aid the men of Corregidor and the Bataan March. We had begun to think the Japanese were supermen. Howard remembers the trip on the McCawley to Guadalcanal. They ate, slept or lay dreaming on the deck. At daylight on August 7, 1942, the cruisers began shore bombardment. At 0647, under the cover of the shore bombardment and the planes from the carriers, the men began to go over the side and down the cargo nets into Higgins boats under full pack. The backpack contained the following: Mess gear Razor - bar'of soap Towel Blanket Poncho 1/2 of a pup tent Brush (which most of the men threw away) Food (if you had any) A shovel hung on the back of the pack. You thought of your pack as your horne and your kitchen. You used it all. You carried your rifle and wore a cartridge belt. Attached to it was a canteen full of water, a med pack in a metal can with sterile gauze and yellow vaseline gauze strips 4"x6" in a canvas pouch, ammo, and a bayonet inside a scabbard. They headed into the beach and landed on schedule, in fact, two minutes early, at 0908. They jumped over the side of the Higgins boats and into water waist high and waded in, carrying their packs and rifle. The beach was sandy, then grassy, then 7 �r f ", , 1 r I t r I f F 1'",'' ' ' :1 coconut trees with lots of nuts on the ground. Here they stopped- "Where were the Japs?" They opened a few coconuts with their knives. Howard cut his finger. They headed for the jungle, 200 men single file. The vines and branches had been chopped for a path. By perhaps 3 p.m., they were out of water. The temperature was about 100 degrees. If they had anything to eat it was probably a sort of chocolate bar. Sometime later" they crossed a creek. They filled their canteens and dropped the pill in it. By nightfall, they were out of water again and had to do without. That night, they.slept op the rotten, stinky, black dirt on the trail. The jungle was noisy and they were scared. ,Their lieutenant was bitten by a spider. They heard him scream and moan. They were told that he died, but Howard did not see him. When morning came, the Marines were proud. Although there was a lot of trigger-fingering, no one had fired. ' That was a sign of good training. The Japs couldn't find them. They continued on until the officers got orders to abandon the original orders, because theyhad the wrong information. There was no grassy knoll. There was only more jungle. By the time Howard's Company reached the beacp, the ships had already left, without unloading supplies. They had left before dawn the day after the invasion. It was said that General Vandegrift could not make his sen{or officers realize the disastrous effect. Howard's Company of 200 men spent the next two weeks on the beach guarding against Japanese attacks. The times are only estimates, He had no watch, calendar or any means of knowing other than sun-ups and sundowns. When they arrived on the beach, other Marines were walking by with Japanese souvenirs. A Japanese construction unit was discovered. They were building a large straw roofed warehouse, part of which would be used as a mess hall. It had canned fruit, lots of rice, clothing and glass bottles of saki . . It was open for the first two days and everyone ate well. Then it was declared "off limits" and guarded. It was here that Howard saw his first live Japs, in the stockade. Almost all were laborers and engineers. Some were Koreans. The two weeks on the beach were not bad and he remembers certain things that happened: During daylight hours, a Jap submarine out in the ocean would surface and fire. Our 1/2 tracks would tear down to the beach and fire at the sub but it was just out of range. One time the Japanese Commander came in too close, it may have been hit, but it submerged in a hurry. He saw Zeros fly at treetop heights. Once they saw a plane with a star (U.S.) followed by a Zero and watched it go out of sight. They watched dog fights over the water. Sometimes they I 8 1 �~ Ii': I f l (: ~. r I; ~ 1:..•,.' .• '! ~ I i ; .:.-~ .:L (!r.!.' ~I T could see the pilot through the canopy. Howard saw the first u.s. planes corne in at treetop level. The Marines were so surprised that they almost shot at them. The Marines noticed that supply ships were not corning in. This was bad. They saw flashes, lots of them, out over the ocean at night. The flashes were followed about seven seconds later by rumbles. We know now that we lost the Quincy, Vincennes, Astoria and the Chicago. The Canberra was so badly damaged that it had to be sunk. All 'together, we lost four cruisers and a destroyer was damaged. The Japs did not lose any and only two were damaged. This is now called the Battle of Savo Island. When the word got around that the Navy had left, the Marines learned the feeling of expendability, and that they would probably never get off the island alive. Then the Division went on short rations, two meals a day of captured Japanese food (fish heads and rice) . The air raids started and we had no way to oppose them. They would corne in high, in formation, and drop a few bombs. About midnight, a lone plane would fly overhead, drop a bomb and leave and then another would repeat the act. The Marines called this harassment, Wash Machine Charlie. There was talk about Tokyq Rose, but Howard said that he never heard her. He didn't know anyone who had a radio. The Japs landed 900 men, one mile from where the Marines were trying to hold the airfield. They did not have enough men and that left some places in the perimeter unmanned. The air strip was about 1/2 mile from the beach area. The battle started about 0100. Howard's Company was ordered to Right face, that is, to face the Japs instead of the ocean. A company has about 200 men. The Japs had lots of ammo. If they had broken through, it would have been bad, but they never did. The line had held. At daylight, the battle was over and Howard's Company moved forward and exchanged position. They walked through lots of dead men (the Battle of Tenaru), and upstream about a mile and set up a position of defense. This was right at the edge of a swamp and at the end of a runway for fighter planes. 'I' Company was in this position for a long time, maybe weeks. Rations of rice and coconuts were short. One day their Lieutenant got a can of Spam, about a 4 pound can. He cut it into 30 pieces and shared. It tasted so good! During this time, they saw Japanese bombers, silver colored, two motors, so high than they looked to be the size of a quart jar. Then they saw our fighter planes above them, about the size of a fist. They seemed directly overhead. The Marines did not hear the guns, but watched the bombers fallout of formation and spiral down. At least seven or eight fell, but they must have fallen into the jungle. They did not see any fires or see any fighters fall. Although the Company was less than 1/2 mile from the 'I' ~ 9 �f" t i r' I I~ r' [ (I Ii ~' [i ~"'~ airfield, no bombs ever landed near the Company. The dog fights were uneven. Usually five of ours to 20 - 25 of theirs but we were desperate. Dates and events were hazy as the Marines had no way of measuring time. Somehow, sometimes they moved to the other side of the airstrip and the Company would go on patrol. "We were ambushed on the Matamikau River. Our Lt. Weiss was paralyzed (still living today)." Bullets zipped around Howard but he was not hurt. The Company had a set of twins from Niagara Falls, one was killed and the other went psycho. "Somehow, we got away." But Howard has forgotten how they managed to do it. Another Company carne into the area and cleaned it up. Then 'I' Company went into the same area and set up a defense position on the river for perhaps days or weeks. Usually, they went on patrol in front of the lines with about 20 men. It was in this area than their Company was in battle. At sunset on October 21, the Japanese attacked with 9 - 18 ton tanks. Only one broke through. Howard's Company was supported by 2 - 1/2 tracks, 2 - 37rnm. guns, 2 - 50 caliber machine guns, besides the rifle men and light machine guns. The next morning seven Jap tanks were burning and when they walked across the river, they found lots of dead men (estimated 600). One man in Howard's squad lost a leg. . Supplies began to corne in by the last of the second month, but Howard was not in a position to see the ships. By September, Malaria was taking it's toll. Sometime in September it caught Howard. He remembers being in a big valley and the hospital was at the top of a hill. He was so sick and weak that he still wonders how he was able to crawl to the top. The hospital was a tent with the sides rolled up. He was given some liquid to drink which he promptly vomited. The act earned him a place under the canvas for a few days. They laid on their blankets on the ground. He does not remember being seen by a doctor, but he was given some pills. This is recorded on his medical history. The entry reads: 9/42 U.S.N.H. - Field Hospital Guadalcanal - Dysentery - Malaria. The average wight loss at this time was about 20 pounds per man. In October, 1,941 cases of malaria were reported. This increased the average weight loss to 60 to 70 pounds. In November, a naval battle claimed two more cruisers and four destroyers. Two cruisers and three destroyers were also damaged. The marines were in bad shape. Their clothes and shoes were worn to rags. They had had no shelter in four months. Their green blankets were white with the eggs of the big blue flies. Summer was corning on and it was hot, about 107 degrees. The Marines were tired and sick. They felt cornered and just existed. The Japanese were still landing at will, but after going �Ii ,I Ii I I t through the jungle, they too were starved and sick. That the Marines held under these conditions was a wonder and perhaps would not have, except for the fact they knew what would happen to them if they were captured. Every man kept a grenade to kill himself. Then one day the Army marched by. "When they saw us ,they asked where the Japs were - We, answered 'keep walking'." In November, the Marines had 3,213 cases of malaria with secondary anemia and to keep and maintain a combat line, each man was given 20 grains of quinine daily. On December 9, 1942, General Vandegrift turned over the ,command to General Patch,and the 2nd Marine Division. Two days later the 1st Division left the island. An inscription in the cemetery read: An whep he goes to Heaven to St. Peter, he'll tell another Marine reporting, Sir I've served my time in Hell. [I ~ [: fl.·... ,~' tl [ ;1" '. 11 �r I I I ( I (,: r,if'......... 'iii' [ ml" u " U :1 D This account is the memories of a 73 year old veteran that reaches back over 50 years. He is not a bitter man nor a particularly proud man, but he was a boy who became a man at nineteen by living through hell. The United States was not prepared for war when Pearl Harbor was attacked and even after, it was decided to put the war in Europe first. A Division is considered to have at least 15,000 men or maybe a few more, but in December of 1941, it had 518 officers and 6,871 men (enlisted men). The slack was made up with young enlistees. On departure for the Pacific, the average age of 90% was under 20 years of age. " The area that would become known as Camp LeJeune was purchased in May, 1941 and these men were the builders. Throughout the war, the First Division was first.and as good as the men themselves could make it. Time and materials were always scarce. In retrospect, if there was any planning for Guadalcanal, it was bad. General MacArthur was an Army man, who no doubt felt that the Marines were expendable. The services were uncoordinated. The Navy had been decimated in t~e Pacific and the Army was attempting defense after bitter defeats. The Marines were without support. They were dropped :off and abandoned, to live off the lay of the land. Here, were no reporters, no USO's, no Red Cross, no Salvation Army, no PX, no mess halls, no food or shelter. There were only young men who were sick, exhausted, and starved, trying to survive and they did! Some time later a personnel officer would say, "They were a strange breed, this bunch that came in after Pearl Harbor. Many of them, we discover, were officer caliber and could easily have gained that rank if they hadn't volunteered. There's no doubt about it but they wanted to fight. If we resented them at New River ... well, we learned better at the 'Canal." Howard became a Corporal on Guadalcanal, but he's not sure when. Sometime, somewhere, he was given a paper to that effect. They left the island on Navy manned boats from the same beach that they landed on. They were taken out to the American Legion. Howard was able to climb the landing net (cargo net) up to the deck, but could not make it over the railing. The Navy men took his rifle from him and pulled him over. He cannot remember anything more. He cannot remember what he ate or where he slept. Someone gave them liquid quinine. The Marines were not told where they were going and they didn't care. Later they were told that MacArthur wanted them to go back into combat in New Guinea but the Navy said, "No way, they are too sick." They went instead to Brisbane, Australia. Howard remembers the docks were up river with cow pastures on each side. They lived in tents and slept on cots. There was even a mess hall and �._<::_:::::=:lii!A·~· ~,.~~_. they sat at tables. They must have spent Christmas here, but Howard does not remember. There were lots of mosquitos at Bisbane, but the main reason for leaving after a couple weeks was because the men were ill and there were no' hospitals nearby. The Division's casualties were: 621 killed in action; 1,517 wounded in action; and 5,601 cases of malaria. The Japanese had 40,000 troops ashore. They evacuated about 10,000; 30,000 died on the island. The Reinforced 1st Division received the Presidential Unit Citation. On the way to Brisbane, Twining, a full Colonel and operations officer designed a shoulder patch. It had a red number one on a blue field surrounded by the stars of the Southern Cross. The word Guadalcanal in white ran the length of the #1. The men designed a medal of their own. They called it the George Medal to express their own sentiments, "Let George Do It". One side had an arm with Navy stripes dropping a hot potato into a helmet held by a tired Marine. The other side pictured the rear view of a cow with a whirring electric fan. This illustrated a well used Marine phrase, "when the shit hits the fan. " Howard says the Marines must have moved to Melbourne by ship, because he does not remember seeing much of anything at Bisbane. Melbourne would have been "heaven" if they had been well, but most of the men were sick. They set up camp on the cricket grounds, under the roofed section. Bunks, two high were set on the tiered seats, two legs on the higher seats and two legs on the lower seats or steps. Here again they lived like Marines. Their pants and shirts were rolled up and put "in the sack" while they slept in their skivvies. The next morning, the clothes were warm and wrinkle free, almost. Howard was sick. He remembers seeing' an Italian doctor and his medical reGord shows entries on 1-8-43 and 1-20-43 at the U.S. 4th General Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. On 1-25-43, there is a diagnosis of Tertian Malaria. On 2-7-43, he was discharged to duty, under follow-up. On 2-25-95, he was admitted with jaundice, acute infective and remained hospitalized until 6-11-43. The hospital was a new brick building, owned by the Australians and leased to the U.S. Army. It was six stories high with a roof garden and balconies. Howard was in a twenty bed ward. It had both showers and tubs. The food was good, but he couldn't eat. The care was good, given by U.S. Army nurses. He was treated with pills. Howard continued to get more sick with chills, fever, jaundice and pain. At some time he developed carbuncles on the back of his neck, which was extremely painful. Antibiotics were �I I I I r r r not yet in use. One day when the doctor visited, he asked Howard how he felt. He answered that he was so sleepy and that's when things changed. He was moved into a private room with private duty nurses and was given plasma, I.V. This was continued until he was able to· drink. His friend, DeHaan, from Grand Rapids visited him during this time. He came into the room, left and returned, asking if he was Corporal Bennink. He didn't recognize Howard. Dawson from his platoon was also in the hospital recuperating from a c Lr cumc i s i.on as well as malaria. As Howard improved, the nurses would push him in his bed out on the balcony. Others, less ill, made use of the roof gardens, even entertaining Aussie girl friends, until it was declared "off bounds" . Sometime during June, the two carbuncles were lanced and allowed to drain. He was still jaundiced. He was discharged on 6-11-43 and returned to the cricket grounds. Melbourne became a symbol of Civilization, the- men had left a home. It ~as a city of friendly people. The newspaper called the Marines the "Saviours of Australia". The songs "Mairzy Doats'" and ":Thanks for the Memories" came from this era. It was 'in Melbourne, that Howard met Nancy Raferty. Dawson, from Alabama, introduced her to him. He remembers going to a park where there was a Triumph car show. They went to a theater and saw "Gone With The Wind". Howard and Dawson were invited to Nancy's home· for a lamb dinner. They lived in the suburbs. Howard remembers the steak and egg breakfasts at the U.S.D. and the Pub, Young and Jackson, that had nude paintings hung high on the wall. A recent visitor says that it is still there and the paintings are intact. He was still in Melbourne when his five months of back pay caught up with him. It was about $400.00. It was a good time. No one wanted to work and that included the officers, Many of the men had girlfriends and spent little time in camp. There was a time that Howard in a group of about eight men went to sniper school. They were taken about 20 miles from camp, up in the hills. They were to get back to camp in five days and they did. They slept out every night, except one when they broke into a school house with a fireplace. Before they left the next morning, they cut and hauled wood to replaced what they used. Howard remembers a man in his Platoon (Jackson) who had scabies. He kept his fork from his mess kit hung on a nail near his cot as a scratcher. At mess call, he'd grab his mess kit and his fork and march to the hall. Howard never saw him wash the fork. Howard became 21, July 25, 1943. By the fall of 1943, Douglas MacArthur was remembering his 14 �I I I I I f , r " promise to return to the Philippines. To avoid being bogged down in New Britain's jungle, he called on the "Jungle Wise Marines" who were becoming ornery in Melbourne. It was to be a joint effort with his 6th Army, but before there was any understanding between the staffs, he ordered the Marines to Goodenough Island, 2000 miles away. The Division was moved by Liberty ships where they set up on the open decks. The date was about September 19, 1943. Goodenough was· a jungle,. but had more hills than Guadalcanal. Also, the streams seemed clearer. They walked through native villages that seemed vacant, but the Marines lived in tents. There were lots of, mosquitos, so their training consisted of lots of ditch digging, to drain the swamps. They loafed when no one was watching. One day they saw Fuzzy-Wussies erecting a grass roofed building. They were small, black people and "you could smell them before you saw them". The odor was caused by whatever they rubbed on their bodies to repel the insects. They were good coconut tree climbers and loved to ride on trucks. Both the men and the women were bare to the waist and wore grass skirts. The Marines were transferred to Finschhafen a week before D. Day on LCI's (21), LST's (24) and APD's (10). LCI's carried the infantry, LST I S carried tanks ,.. trucks and equipment. APD' s (LCT's) were able to carry one or two tanks and were able to land up on the beach. This time they were going on Army money. They were served their Christmas dinner on Finschhafen, but the turkey neck that Howard got tasted as if it was rotten so he threw it in the jungle. They boarded the ship on Christmas Eve. At 0600, on December 26, 1943, the cruisers and destroyers opened fire. Then the bombers flew over. The first unit (3rd Battalion - Howard's) landed at 0746. They were unopposed. The jungle growth extended to the ~each. This was supposed to be a damp flat, but the men fell into sink holes up to their waists. This was Cape Gloucester, New Britain. The naturalist's notes of the 1920's didn't mention this, but the northwest monsoons come to New Britain in late December and lasted for three months. 1943 was no exception. It started to rain in the afternoon of December 26th and a "terrific storm struck the Cape Gloucester area" in the early hours of the 27th. The rains continued for the next five days. The Marines were soaked and it is said that they never dried out. By the first night the Marines had moved to the airport and set up a line of defense. They stretched barbed wire in the front and tied tin cans on it. The men were spaced behind it. Sherman tanks were brought up for the night. The men were wet and cold and the large amounts of warm exhaust from the engines felt good, that is, until the Marine standing next to Howard passed out from carbon monoxide. He recovered. The next morning, they moved forward. There was no �opposition. One tank got stuck crossing a ditch. No way could be found to move it either way so the crew moved to the rear. The tank was equipped with a 50 caliber machine gun on the turret. This was of great interest to the Marines , but as many times as they tried, they couldn't get it to fire. That night as before, they set up their defense line and as before, there was no opposition. On the 3rd day, they ran 'into lots of machine gun fire. The Marines couldn't see them because of the heavy undergrowth, but a lot of men were getting hit.' Howard jumped on the back end of the tank and the crew opened a communication door. "I told them to fire into the undergrowth as they couldn't see it from the inside. Finally, the Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. McKelvy carne up to see what all the firing was about. 'What's holding you up?', he asked, and then sawall the dead and wounded men. He went back and called in 'K' Company (the support" company) with a platoon of tanks. We followed after 'K' Company." A newspaper article written by S/Sgt. Joseph L. AlIi, a combat correspondent wrote an article for the Associated Press: Cpl. Bennink was in charge of a squad detailed to support tanks making assault on an enemy strong point. After following for four miles, they encountered heavy resistance and machine gun fire caused the tanks' turrets to be closed. _ According to 1st Lt. Joseph Alessandroni Jr. of Philadelphia, PA, Cpl. Bennink jumped onto the lead tank, banged on the turret and guided him to the enemy pill boxes. "I saw him repeat that very stunt seven or eight times", Lt. Alessandroni said, "and I know he helped wipe out several other pill boxes." Altogether he guided the tanks to 10 or 12 of them. Some were occupied and some weren't. But all of them might have been and he was exposing himself to heavy machine gun fire every time he went near one of those tanks. That sort of work requires real nerve. After spotting each pill box, Cpl. Bennink abandoned his precarious perch, rejoined his squad and after the pill boxes had been blasted by 75mm fire, helped in the mopping up process with hand grenades and rifle fire. Cpl. Bennink, 21, is a veteran of the Guadalcanal Campaign. He was promoted to his present rank for Meritorious conduct while on volunteer reconnaissance patrols deep in enemy territory. Farther on, they saw a block house, half buried in the ground. Inside were six or eight Jap officers who had committed suicide by shooting themselves with rifles. A hundred yards or so further on they saw a lean-to that held two trunks, full of Japanese script. The airport was next. They counted about a half dozen planes and not too many Japs. They crossed the airstrip and set up defense at the base of the hills. 16 �( r r :1 ," Because they were a part of MacArthur's Army, they wore Army clothing and boots. They were also issued hammocks with mosquito netting, but without trees, they couldn't hang them up. It would have been dangerous to be up off the ground at any rate, so they laid them on the ground, crawled in, zipped them up and hoped that the Japs wouldn't come. On the defense line, they encountered "electrical storms and' winds, the like of which I never saw again", Howard said, "There was a 37mm gun about 50 feet away and the balls of fire bounced allover the gun." Howard remembered lots of anti-aircraft fire as Wash Machine ~harlie came over every night between two and three a.m. There was lots of fire, but he was never hit. Patrols made up of volunteers left the line and had close calls. DeHaan from Grand Rapids always liked that. Howard didn't volunteer anymore because Lt. Alessandroni told him that he was going back to the States. A couple of weeks later, a runner told him to "pack up your things, you're on your way. II They took two men and one officer from each Company. They were taken back to the beach by truck through lots of mud. The LST was waiting for them. Aboard ship, in his wet, muddy clothes, Howard walked past a galley window and a voice called out, "Hey Marine, would you like a cup of Coffee?1I liThe coffee had canned milk and sugar in it, and it was the best cup of coffee I ever had in my life. II The sixty men sailed to Finchhaften. There, they picked up another LST that took them to Milne Bay, New Guinea. 'They hitched a ride on an Australian refrigeration ship, that was hauling meat to the troops. They slept on deck and ate steak twice a day. There were no vegetables, just T-Bone steak. After three or four days their mouths were sore and they were back in Brisbane and living in tents. It was here that Howard met and talked to u.s. Army men who had been there for two years IIguarding Australia". At Brisbane the 60 stayed right in camp, they didn't want to miss the boat. One day, they boarded a Liberty ship with 64 other Army, Navy and Airmen with nervous breakdowns. The 64 Marines were supposed to guard them. Howard said that none of them were violent, so on good days, they brought them up on deck. On March 1, 1944, they arrived in Camp Elliott, San Diego, California. Before being given a leave, he was given a physical and his medical records say that he was physically qualified for transfer. Howard remembers that this was the first time they saw women Marines. As they were being examined for V.D., they asked the doctor if he also examined the women for V.D. He responded by saying yes and that it was called Port Hole Inspection. He also said that he called the men's examination Short Arm Inspection. Howard was given a 15 day leave and a form request for a 15 17 �f f [ f day extension which he could fill out and mail to an address in Washington D.C. Back.at Cape Gloucester, MacArthur held the 1st Marines until May 4th and then they went to Pavuvu. Howard said that Camp Elliott looked good after the jungle. He was finally out of the rain and dry. He slept in a bunk and had meals .at the mess hall. The train that he boarded in Los Angeles was a very dirty old steam engine. The tunnels and snow sheds were black with soot and even the coach smelled like it. Howard remembers that when he got home, his shirt was really dirty. When ~he train stopped in Reno, he bo~ght a rubber snake for the kids at home, but his father, Harm had lots of fun with it and the nephews did a lot of B.B. gun shooting. He arrived in Grand Rapids, on Sunday night, March 12, 1944. About a dozen relatives were waiting for him at the station. Mother Nancy kept a list of people who visited him at home. Howard remembers that he rode home in the car with his sister and brother-in law, John Dyke. John was about to be drafted. Howard warned him not to get in the Infantry. "I said, 'Take anything else'." John did get in the infantry and spent the next Christmas in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. Howard's own car was stil~ up on blocks, but Dykes let him borrow their 1940 Ford several times. He drove it to Grand Haven, and ,returned home. He used his 5 gas ration stamps to buy 5 gallons of gas. "Things were pretty dull around here." He also used his Dad's car. Harm had lots of tractor gas. He also had a flat .tire. Howard said he was almost glad to go back to California. He was to report to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Division, 27 Regiment at Camp Pendleton. He had been granted the 15 day extension and it had arrived while he was at home, and he forgot and left it there. When the S.P. (Shore Patrol) came through the train, he had only his 15 day furlough pass. He was 13 days overdue. Howard was told to consider himself under arrest and that they would take him off the train at Omaha, and they did. He was taken to a recruiting office and put in a room by himself for several hours and then let him go. Howard asked him for a written explanation in case he got back late, but the officer refused saying that if he hurried, he'd get there in time, and he did. The 5th Marine Division was activated on Armistice Day 1943 (November 11, 1943). At that time, the 1st Division was at Goodenough Island, it's advanced staging area in preparation for Cape Glouchester. The 2nd Division was on it's way to Tarawa. The 3rd Division was fighting in the jungle swamps of Bougainville. The 4th Division was in the States, but soon would leave for the Marshall Islands. The Marine Corps now consisted of 400,000 men, but the. end was not yet in sight so the 5th 18 �I I Division was activated. It was to be the best trained and best prepared division to date. It would be organized with all it's component units in place (engineers, artillery, medical, etc.). Squad, platoon, company, battalion and regimental training would follow in succession, in a detailed plan. The Division Commander was Major General Keller E. Rockey. The men came from boot camps San Diego and Parris Island, training centers of Elliott, LeJeune, Pendleton, Quantico and ship detachments. But last of all were hundreds of men who were veterans of earlier Marine campaigns to add combat experience and practical knowledge. Camp Pendleton was the largest of all the Marine Corps training cen t.ers ; Complete wi th barracks, administration buildings, sick bay, theater, post exchange and athletic facilities with a $25,000 recreation fund! It even had a Red Cross unit with 15 recreation rooms. The train took Howard to Oceanside, about a mile from Pendleton. He reported to the Sgt. Major at the 2nd Battalion Head Quarters. Howard promptly asked him for a 72 hour pass. The Sgt. Major refused saying, "Put your gear away, you just came back." Howard did not see him again for several weeks p Howard reported to Sgt. G~bson, the 3rd Platoon Sgt., who gave him a choice of being a squad leader or a platoon guide. Howard chose the squad leader,:and he still feels that he made the right choice. "They were'decent guys." Sgt. Graham became the Platoon Guide. He had been a paratrooper until that unit was disbanded. Many of the Sgts. were former paratroopers, including the Sgt. Major. Many others were former Raiders. The Chain of Command was well structured. The Captain and the Top or 1st Sgt. ran the Company. The Platoon Sgt. and Lts. ran the Platoons. The officers had little contact with the men. The first Sgt. relayed orders to the Platoon Sgts., who passed it on the Squad Leaders. It was bad if you had a poor Lt. or Platoon Sgt. As Howard remembers they had only one bad 'Lieutenant. Sgt. Gibson must have complained because he left. The Platoon Sgt. actually had a lot of power. Howard was in the 5th Division, 27th Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 'F' Company, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squad. The Top Sgt. was Wilber M. Burgess. The Platoon Sgt. was James Gibson Jr. The 1st Squad Leader was Sgt. Ronald E. III (a former paratrooper). The 2nd Squad Leader was Sgt. Jack W. Evans (a former raider). Howard was the 3rd Squad Leader. He had been a rifle man. Several weeks later Howard was sent to see the Sgt. Major who told him that he would be awarded the Silver Star and that the 1st Sgt. Burgess would instruct him on the ceremony. The event was held on a Friday. The Regimental Band played and the Battalion marched. The medal was awarded by General K. E. Rockey. While they were waiting to begin, the General asked �Howard' if he remembered who his Company Commander was on Cape Glouchester. Howard said, "No Sir, I don't remember. II General Rockey said these words: By the virtue of the power delegated to me and with the approval of the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, I take pleasure in awarding, in the name of the President of the United States, the Silver Star Medal to Corporal ·Howard Elvin Bennink, United States Marine Corps. The Citation: For distinguishing himself by conspicuous gallantry, and in trepidity in action against a.rmed enemy forces - Corporal Howard Elvin Bennink, U.S. Marine Corps, leader of a squad that was detailed to follow a tank making an assault on enemy pill boxes, repeatedly climbed upon the tanks, under machine gun and rifle fire, thereby attracting the attention of the driver, by hanging on the turret and directing him to the enemy positions, as a result of which the pill boxes were knocked out. His example of courage, leadership and devotion to duty were a great inspiration to all those with whom he came in contact and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the, Navy of the United States. T.E. Kinkaid Vice Admiral, tJ. S. Navy Commander Seventh Fleet At this time he was also given the Sgt. rating. The General said, "This man is now a Sgt." And then they all went on a 72 hour liberty.' Howard said that IF' Company was a pretty good company, everyone came back on time and so they had liberty almost every weekend. Pfc. Seaman (William) was a rebel, an unmanageable loner, a Canadian who had once been a Raider and a good one, but now he just didn't care. He was AWOL, so no liberty for"F' Company. It was then, that the men took off their belts and lined up 100 men facing 100 men and Seaman had to run the gauntlet. It was the only time Howard saw this happen. Liberty was a big thing and Howard met Fern. I think she made the memory of Nancy in Melbourne dim a little. Punishment for going AWOL was 2 weeks in the Brig, on bread and water. Seaman was a really tough guy and solidly built. He had decided that no one was going to tell him. No one ever got too close to him, although Howard's squad thought that he should take him on. The day that they were leaving Pendleton, the men fell in formation, 200 men with packs and rifles. 1st Sgt. Wilber M. Burgess (Top Sgt.) was standing on the top step talking to the men and down the steps came Seaman. Burgess must have said something that Seaman didn't like, because he threw down his �r I r [ #", . . . . .' rifle and pack. Seaman and Burgess slugged it out - - no one separated them. They fought until they both were tired and stopped. Burgess had a really bad looking eye. Howard said that he never saw Seaman again until Iwo Jima. After they had set up defense lines, he walked back about 100 yards. He saw a hole in the ground covered by a poncho. He lifted the poncho and there was Seaman reading a magazine. Beside him were empty bottles of medical brandy. The sick bay had been hit by artillery and a lot of their supplies were thrown around. Seaman should have been court martialed.· Howard said that he really didn't have any best buddy. He lived with his squad, but you were the Sgt. and assigned details and were Sgt. of the Guards, so it wasn't wise to have best friends. No one had ever told him how, he just tried to act like the other Sgts. Most of the NCO's in the outfit were older, probably in their 30's and married. Lots of the men were gamblers. Howard remembers going to the head at 2 or 3 a.m. and seeing two or three green blankets on the floor with men on their knees rolling dice. The money was allover. He remembers the Barber Shop on base with Mexican girl hair cutters. Howard remembers being taught .to put a fuse in a block of T.N.T. to throw into block houses or caves as a part of a demolition training course. During amphibious training, they practiced landings from the ocean. Howard was part of the offensive team and of course others had to pretend to be Japs. After the landing, they had to cross a highway and it was there that a live bullet hit the ground about two or three feet away. They were supposed to be using blanks. Later a man was killed, he had been shot. It was said that President Roosevelt made a visit to Pendleton to observe the units. Howard and his men did see a big black convertible on the ridge. Howard also remembers a 20 mile hike. Howard had a birthday, he was 22 years old. Early in August, the Division under Col. Worsham began packing and crating for overseas. One day near the ship at the dock, Howard noticed a man dive off the dock between the dock and the ship. The water was about 15 feet below the dock. Then they saw a sailor dive off the deck of the ship into the same area. The ship deck was about 15 feet higher than the dock, so they all ran to the dock to see what was going on. They saw a woman's purse floating on the water, with lots of bills. The two men were grabbing them up. It was quite a sight. Down on the dock were about 25 jeeps waiting to be loaded. They didn't need keys for their ignition, so Howard suggested that they take a ride and they did - - - until they were stopped by an M.P. at the guard post. He ordered them to report to their �I I I I I I I I I I ~"1' ( l Commanding Officer on the ship, which they did. He said, "Sgt., you should know better." The ship left at dusk and traveled in a convoy. There was a strict blackout at night. It took about a week to travel to Hawaii. The Division with General Rockey left August 12, 1944. The ships anchored at Hilo. Howard does not remember getting off the ship, but remembers riding on a narrow gage railroad through beautiful country. There were sugarcane fields on both sides of the tracks. Waterfalls came out of the hills, clear and cold. They saw a truckload of sugarcane back up under a waterfall to wash off the black dirt. The soil was black volcanic ash. In the distance they could see the Mauna Kea and the Mauna Loa. Camp Tarawa was about 65 miles in the north central Hawaii, about 12 miles from the coast. It was in the Parker Ranch. In December, 1943, the 2nd Marine Division had recuperated here after it had been withdrawn from Tarawa and had named this camp after it's battle ground. They had just left for assaults on Saipan and Tinian. Now it would be home for the 5th Division. When the sugarcane stopped, the train stopped too and the men walked. The tent city was 2600 fee~ above sea level and windy. It was warm and sunny during the day, but cool at night. .There were stoves in the tents, but wood was scarce. The men slept on canvas cots, under blankets. The tents held six men, ~o the 3 Squad Leaders (3) and the Platoon Guide and two Navy corpsmen also bunked together. Food was good, but they had an excess amount of canned spinach. When the men came in from the field, they were covered with black dust. They needed lots of showers, but the water was cold! Howard said that they got just wet enough to lather and then they had to work up courage to rinse off. There was never a line up for showers and this was. strange until they realized that only the Sgts.· were taking showers. The rest were taking baths in the tents with water that they heated on their stoves. The squad shaved with soap and cold water too, until they got smart and brought hot rise water back from the mess tent in their canteen cup. In the mess tent were three big cans of hot water which the men used to clean their utensils. The first one had hot soapy water, the other two held rinse water. The last rinse was quite clear and good for shaving. Everything on the island was off limits, except wh~n in formation, so they never got to the village of Kamuela. But across the pasture and over the wire fences, across a deep gully was a farm house. Eight or nine local women had big kitchen tables set up in the rooms and served steak, eggs and american fries, until some Marines got drunk and caused a disturbance. 22 �1 I ~ l I I I' I Ii ~., ... ~ [l II [I, The place was closed. It was too bad because the food was good and the women ran a clean place. Alcohol was a problem in camp, but especially for 2nd Lt. Clifford Fulcher. The scuttle-butt was that he came up from the ranks and that he made Lt. rank when he got an officer's daughter pregnant. He never talked to the men during regular hours, but he did his drinking in the Officer's Club across the ravine from the squad leaders' tent. They would see him stagger out. He always got lost and got in the tent with the other Platoon Sgts. Sometimes, he'd like to display his ample manly parts and brag a little. Howard saw him surrounded by the Platoon Sgts. with .machetes saying, "If you don't get the hell out of here, we'll cut it off." At least three times he got lost in the squad leaders' tent and he'd ask them for help, so they'd grab his arm and lead him back. He lived with a Lt. of a machine gun group. This Lt. was a "nice little guy." When Fulcher was drunk, he'd eye .up the Lt. and say, "I'm going to kick the shit out of you". When the squad leaders took him home, they'd always ask if it was alright to leave and they'd take off. The next day, Lt. Fulcher was as before, he never talked. The men though~maybe he wasn't as drunk as he appeared to be. Later on Iwo Jima, after landing on the beach and reaching level ground, Howard located Platoon Sgt. Gibson and had his squad headed in the direction, when someone said that Lt. Fulcher got hit in the foot. The men all thought that he shot ~imself. When Howard was a patient in Aiae Naval Hospital after Iwo Jima, he saw Lt. Fulcher. He was in the officers' quart:ers. He was dressed in pj 's and using crutches. Some nurses back from liberty had brought him some bottles. Howard thought that he probably should have counted the bones in his feet before he shot. Maybe there would have been a better place. After Fulcher was shot on IWo, Platoon Sgt. Gibson took over the Platoon. Gibson was very good. "We were lucky, actually, though Fulcher also was a good Lt." . On the edge of camp on a hillside, there were sand bags to sit on with a stage below. There they heard Bob Crosby, Bing's brother, and his band. Bob Crosby was a Marine. All of the women looked old to these young men but four or five of them danced and explained the movements of the hula to them. The officers weren't the only ones who couldn't hold their alcohol. On several occasions the NCO's were given 3.2 beer, usually 12 bottles per man. Sgt. Evans, the 2nd Squad Leader did not drink so Howard had his 12 also. A Sgt. from machin~ guns drank with him. About 2 or 3 a.m., they ran out and Howard knew where the Platoon Guide kept his beer under his cot. So quietly, he thought, he pulled it out, but Sgt. Graham woke up and gave Howard a kick. He landed against the stove and the pipes fell down. They told him that "he had enough", and put him to bed. 21 �• ~. I I I I I I I I I!~'-'''' I Ii [j The next morning while he was still pretty shaky, they had to see the 1st Sgt., Sgt. Burgess. They had forgotten to take their caps off and this is a no-no. Burgess knocked their caps off and made them stand at attention, then pick up their caps. They were not arrested. Sgt. Burgess was the sam~ man who fought with Cpl. Seaman at Camp Pendleton. The men did get to the beach a couple times and jumped in, but had to be careful because of the coral rock. Howard went on liberty in Hilo with Cpl. Dale Skidmore and Cpl~ Wayne Mittelstaedt, both from Wisconsin and unmarried. They­ walked up the hill to a tavern and met three officers from the Air Force coming down. The decided that tpey wouldn't salute them. They just got by when one of them yelled, "Marine." We turned around and "gave them a snappy salute." They said, "Don't you know that you salute all officers?" We said, "Yes Sir." In the tavern, they met some Air Force enlisted men who told them that they were bombing some little island between their base and Japan. It was probably Iwo Jima. The three of them, Howard, Skidmore, and Mittelstaedt also had liberty together in Honolulu. It was crowded and a .mess. All three were tattooed with black panthers. Both of the men were killed on Iwo. They were in the 3rd Platoon, but in different squads. , In November, the Marines were encouraged to sign up for life insurance. Howard increased his from $5,000 to $10,000. It cost $6.00 per month or $3.00 for each $5,000. He often wonder~d what Harm and Nancy would have done with it. At this time the Division received an additional 125 : officers and 2500 men for battle replacements. They would. use them as a shore party until they were needed as replacements. The 471st Amphibian Truck Company (Army) was attached to the 13th Marines. These were the first black troops that Howard saw in DUKW's on the beach at Iwo. One of the last days of training the Platoon Command was turned over to Sgts. and Squad Leaders to Cpls. and Pfcs . . It was known from previous Pacific battles that officer and NCO casualties would be heavy. Howard said that Platoon Sgt. Gibson did a good job.of talking to them. For Christmas, they had extra beer. I skipped over a big event back in the States. November, 1944 had an important election. If elected, Franklin D. Roosevelt would begin his 4th term. The Republicans had been out of executive power for 12 years. They accused the president for staging D. Day in Europe to coincide with the Republican Convention in June. They had many who were interested in running, but they also needed an outstanding man. General Douglas MacArthur was considered and MacArthur wrote Senator Arthur H. VandenBerg of Michigan that he would not campaign for any office, but would submit to the will of the people if he were drafted. His personality was so abrading that Thomas E. Dewey, 24 �I I I I I I I I [ :'#".~~. the Governor of New York was nominated on the first ballot. On November 6, F.D.R. won the election by taking 36 of the 48 states. Howard voted in the election on a paper ballot, but doesn't remember anything else. The 27th Marines boarded ships on December 27th and by January 6th, the entire 5th Division was assembled at Honolulu. Howard remembers the many ships tied up side by side in the harbor. Honolulu was a city of solid white Navy uniforms, even some British, and not much to do except drink. ~hey were allowed three drinks in each tavern, then if you tipped the waitress, she'd give you one more. After that, you went to another tavern. Howard never drank gin, but he did in Honolulu. That made him "mellow", and he went with his friends, Skidmore and Mittelstaedter to a tatoo parlor, where for $10.00, they got their big black panthers on the left upper arm. If they flexed their muscles the cat jumped. His arm was still oozing when·he landed on Iwo Jima. On January 22, 1945, the Marines left Hawaii and moved 4000 miles across the Pacific, stopping at Eniwetok to refuel and then moved into Japanese held waters. While on the high seas, they w~re told that the target would be Iwo Jima. It didn't mean a thing. No one had ever heard of it. There was a plaster relief map of the island which was used for teaching. The officers pointed out the beaches and the p'lan of battle. "They didn't tell us that it was all tunnels", Howard said. On February 5, the convoy reached Eniwetok, where the ships refueled. Two days later they left for Saipan. At Saipan, the men transferred to LST's (landing ship tank). Saipan's harbor was unsheltered and the waters were rough. Howard remembers the transfer and the one night they spent in Saipan. The LST's were anchored off the island. Sometime during the night, another LST bumped into their LST The Skippers swore a t each other, n ; - - damn you! . - - - don't you know how to . anchor a ship!" It was always very dark at sea (black out). You just COUldn't see anything up on deck. The Marines were on the open deck. They used their life preserver as a pillow and their poncho as a cover. If it rained, they slept under a truck. They were required to wear their life jackets and they did as long as it was light enough to see them. They were vest type and stuffed with cork or "horse hair". It was a four day run to Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima had been in Japanese hands since 1861 and was therefore off limits to Europeans and Americans. Its name meant sulfur island and there was a small refinery on the island. There was also a sugar mill. It was 7 - 7 1/2 square miles in size and shaped somewhat like a pork chop. The broad north side .25 �I I I I I I I : ~ -. .... , was rough and rocky with cliffs and boulders. The south tip had 554 foot Mt. Suribachi. The southeast beaches would be used for landing. There were two airfields on the island and another under construction. There was no water on the island. H. Hour was scheduled for 9 a.m. on February 19th, 1945. The 5th Division plan was for the CT 27th (Howard's) and the CT 28th to land abreast on Red Beaches 1 and 2. CT 28 would land on their left. The 4th Division would land on the 27th's right. The 3rd Division would remain in reserve on ships until needed . . The 5th Division (27th and 28th) would cut off Suribachi and then pivot north. Dawn was at 6:40 a.m. and the men got their first glimpse of Iwo. The water was full of ships. They could see Suribachi's cone. They had already had breakfast of steak and eggs and were topside to pick up their gear. They were given belt type life preservers which could be inflated by activating the carbon dioxide cartridges. When on shore, they would be unsnapped and dropped. The ships began to shell the island at 6:40 a.m. and continued until 8:05 a.m. At 8:05 a.m., B24 Liberator.s from Saipan and 72 carrier based fighters and dive bombers pounded the island until H minus 35 minutes, when the battle ships and cruisers started again. In the meantime the rifle companies moved down into the hull where the "alligator tanks" were waiting. While still on deck, Platoon Sgt. Gibson gave each of the three squad leaders a container with about 24 small white pills. If any of their men. broke down, wouldn't move, cried, or got scared, they should be. given a pill. Howard never used them and doesn't know what happened to them. The LST held 200 men, with their packs, equipment and rifles. They walked down a cat walk about three feet wide on the side of the ship. This was the first time the men saw the landing tanks. They had been manufactured in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They loaded on and went down the ramp into the water -, They all floated and best of all, no landing nets this time. Howard's was one of the first to hit the water. The tanks held about 15 or 20 men. They zig-zagged around the ships until all were out of the LST's, then moved away and circled the area. Between the tanks and the island Navy ships were shooting point blank into the landing beaches. The tanks stopped circling and formed three lines. The first line had a five man crew with 75 rom. short barrel guns and machine guns. Howard and the rifle men were in the first wave of troops. There were five waves of LVT's (tanks) with assault companies. Howard remembers heading for the battleships and when they were about 30 yards from it, they passed on the left of the stern and turned right under the guns as they were still firing. They could see the shell and the ball of fire right overhead. He �never again heard anything like it. This went on all the way to the beach, then it continued, but the barrels were raised so the shells landed further inland. At 0900, the seven battalions of the 4th and 5th Division hit the beach. It was better organized than the previous landings had been. LT 1/28 carne ashore on Green Beach with Lt. Col. Butterfield near Mt. Suribachi. Howard's LT 2/27 with Maj. Antonelli landed on Red Beach I and ·Col. Butler's 1/27 hit Red Beach II. The 4th Division landed on their north. There was no fire on the beach. As soon as the Arntracs stopped, the troops jumped out and sank to their boot tops in the ashy soil. They got up and scrambled up on the higher line as fast as they could. They saw a pill box. Cpl. Joseph Hotovchine got hit by rifle fire. He was about five feet ahead and talking to Howard. He was shot in the neck. The Platoon Corpsman who landed with the Platoon took care of him, but it made everyone leery. The men tried to dig in, there was lots of fire, both mortar and artillery from Suribachi and the north. Then the shells started hitting the beach area. This may have been when Lt. Fulcher was wounded. Pfc. David Snell (3rd squad) $potted two Japs off to the left protected by a mound of sand, in front of a dug out. They were firing at the 28th Marines. Snell lying on his belly, fired the BAR (browning automatic rifle) at them; the ammo consisted of. two regular bullets and one tracer bullet. He was over shooting the Japs and the bullets were dropping into the 28th Marines. Howard told him to stop. In retrospect, the mound of dirt and the dug out was an opening into the tunnels, but as yet the Marines did not know that they existed. The fighter planes were still overhead strafing. A Jap was in a flexible chair-seat in a harness attached to an anti­ aircraft gun. Our machine gun squad saw this going on and fired several rounds, but never hit him. "We were at a stand still. Platoon Sgt. Gibson said to move: out", so Howard told the machine gunners to hold their fire. When he got back to his squad, Gibson said, "Let's go." They didn't stop until they got to the other side of the island. The leading Companies (E and F; Howard's was F, 200 men) had orders to get across the island fast. They were to by-pass installations except those that threatened to hold up the advance. About four hours later, the tanks carne into the area. Then the Japs opened up from Suribachi. "The shells never did much damage to our line, and there were lots of duds." Howard noticed a mound of dirt with what appeared to be an onion crate upside down on top. The Marines were all "tight" to the ground, when a hand pushed a grenade between the slats. "I just looked at it, I didn't fire." It rolled down to Cpl. Frank 27 �i r Bolek's leg and exploded. "I don't know why someone didn't blow that crate off, it was probably an air vent, but no one knew about that." The Corpsman took Frank back to the beach and got him off the island. Howard met Frank Bolek again when they were at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Bolek lived in Chicago and Howard met his parents and the family. He came to Michigan several times and we visited him in St. Louis, where he worked in an Oldsmobile plant. He married, but did not have any children. He died several years ago, but several months before he died, he called and they had a long talk about the battles for Iwo Jima. The Japanese opened up on the beach with artillery. "Why they didn't fire among us, I don't know. Did they know that if they hit the vent, they'd kill their own?" The mound was about six or seven feet high. Bolek was Howard's only Cpl. and directly below him in the squad. It was a big loss. Sgt. Evans (2nd squad leader) was hit with phosphorus or star shells. They look like fireworks on the 4th of July, but burn into the skin for days. Howard saw him later in the hospital on Guam. The day was pretty much a pattern of get up, stumble a,few yards ahead and drop again. The conversations were pretty much the same, "We're spotted, lets get the hell outta here." Howard's Company moved north then pad to hole up to let the rest catch up. Back on the beach, the officers on the control vessels were coordina ting the landirw of the supporting uni ts and heavy weapons. Many of the tanks were knocked out by land mines. Three out of four rocket launching trucks were lost before they 'cou Ld fire a shot. The weasels (water carrying tanks), which were too small for much use in Europe were appreciated on Iwo. The waters edge was full of mangled Amtracs, LCM's, LCVPS and bodies. Debris piled up. The wounded arrived on the beach and were unprotected. Many were hit a second time. The first two boats bringing in litters were blown out of the water. By dusk. all the .reserve units were ashore and all the main elements excepts for Division Headquarters were on Iwo. Howard's unit was on the edge of the airfield. There were buried tanks, but none directly in front of them. In front of them were block houses, three to four feet thick, that had been knocked out by Naval guns. At night, the "Devil Dogs", Dobermans with their handlers came up. "It felt good to have the dogs." The ships off shore fired flares on parachutes continuously through the night. They were shot out in front of the Marine's line and kept the area as bright as a football field. That continued throughout the three weeks that Howard was on the island. Near the airfield the Marines saw slabs of concrete sloped so that rain water could run into tanks. It was the only source of water the Japs had. # , · ·.... 28 �Off to the right, all Howard could see was a wall of dirt, but here on the high ground was the airstrip (runway). They heard firing all day and all night. The 3rd Marines and a part of the 5th Division were at the airport and had the hardest part. It is difficult to remember specific times of events as days and nights blend, but one time Howard remembers rockets as big as garbage cans arching over them. They could see them corning and it looked as if they were corning right at them, but they never landed near them. Rations were good, or at least improved from 1942. They had cheese, crackers/ beef/ bacon, and cigarettes. Sometimes the canned bacon was enough for two people and with the canned heat/ they could fry it. They always had plenty of water. The temperature was not too bad and as they moved north/ if they scraped off the top two inches of soil/ the ground was warm. They had plenty of ammo. They were able to get some sleep at night. Thirteen men were on the line in an area as far as between our house and Sillman's (50 feet next door) and the 3rd Platoon was made up of "good steady guys" and "the 3rd squad had lost only Bolek." Casualties for the entire landing force of Marines for the first 58 hours exceeded 5/300. , Iwo Jima was no push over. After the battle, intelligence teams determined this was the list of Japanese guns: 12 - 320 mm. spigot mortars 22 - 150 mm. trench mortars 4 - 15 cm. coast defense guns 4 - 14 cm. coast defense guns 9 12 cm. coast defense guns 12 - 12 cm. short coast defense guns 30 - 12 cm. dual purpose guns 6 - 10 cm. dual purpose guns 5 - 8 cm. dual purpose guns 18 - 7.5 cm. dual purpose guns 1 - 150 mm. howitzer 4 - 120 mm. howitzers 6 - 10 cm. howitzers 4 - 90 mm. howitzers 5 - 75 mm. pack howitzers 17 - 75 mm. field guns 24 - 70 mm. battalion guns 70 - 90/81 mm. mortars 380 - 50 mm. heavy grenade dischargers 54 - 47 mm. anti tank guns 15 37 mm. anti tank guns 4 - 40 mm. anti aircraft guns 213 - 25 mm. machine guns 9 - 23 mm. anti aircraft machine guns 4 - 20 mm. machine guns '29 �168 - 13 mm. machine guns 350 - heavy machine guns 480 - light machine guns 30 - tanks 61 - flame throwers 10,000 - rifles 12 - search lights 3 - radar units 200+ - rocket launches All of this, in approximately seven to seven and a half square miles. While the 27th moved· north, the 28th ~as devoted to the capture of Suribachi. The attack of the Marines began on D+ 1. The Japs fought from a vast complex defensive system. The caves, like the pill boxes and block houses, with many entrances were linked to command caves with ammo, food, water and living quarters some 50 feet below ground. On D+ 4, Suribachi was scaled and a small flag was raised. This was replaced by a larger flag about four hours later and it was this raising that was shot by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press and became the most celebrated picture of W.W.II. Taking Suribachi cost the 28th, 904 casualties (7 officers and 202 men were killed) . After about two weeks on the front line, 'FI Company came back to the base of Suribachi to rest in a supposedly secure area. To the north east of their area, about a distance from our house to Witteveens (100 yards) was a group of Army Engineers rebuilding the airport. All of a sudden, the Marine's eyes began to burn and they heard a voice on the P.A. system directed toward the Engineers, "Evacuate to the beach." The Marines did not move. "It was the.most foolish words I ever heard." Some did gather up gas masks that littered the ground where they had been discarded. The masks didnlt have canisters, so were useless, and while there was some gas, there wasn't enough to bother. It drifted away. It was said that the Japs were still sneaking out of caves in the area, but Howard never saw any. ~here was sporadic rifle fire from among the Army Engineers. After two nights of this supposedly safe place to rest, they returned to the front line. Howard said that he felt relieved, "We knew what was what." They returned to the area to the north end of the island between the second and third airstrips. It was quiet. Then orders came to relieve another Company and that "didn't sound good. " They moved across the third airstrip and faced north, then moved into position on a brightly moonlit night. The relieved Company moved to the back. Howard and his squad walked through a narrow passage between �I two ridges; it was perhaps two or three feet wide. He looked up ad saw a Japanese officer standing on the edge and looking down at them. He disappeared before anyone could shoot. They moved into their position, the day light came. There was some firing, but the Marines couldn't tell where it was coming from so they didn't try to move. Then all of a sudden, there were shells or rockets or big mortars which landed among the squad and platoon. It may have been friendly fire from a Navy ship or a Marine artillery or even a rocket battery, but it was not Japanese. Two men in the Platoon disappeared, but no one in Howard'~ squad was hit. Sgt. Gibson, the Platoon Sgt. wanted the men to withdraw to a safer area around the corner of a ridge. Howard got his men going, telling them to "run like Hell." Pfc. Stanley Swartz stopped and said, "What? II He was hit in the wrist and through the buttocks. He fell or crawled into a shell hole. The corpsman must have seen it happen. He bandaged him and they made it out of the hold and around the ridge. That was the last Howard saw of Swartz until they met again in Great Lakes. I met Stanley Swartz once. They spent the night 'with us when we lived in the Barber Shop on Beech Tree St. It was probably in 1954. He was married and had a sCm about three years old. He had tried several jobs by that time and now was a scientific pig farmer. Later, we read that he was producing eggs ahd had an elaborate system of marketing. Shortly after that, we lost all contact. All our letters returned. I remember him as a tall thin man who seemed even thinner, because his pants kind of hung from his waist. It looked as if he had lost a lot of gluteal tissue. He also had some problem walking. I remember, as his wife and I were doing women's work in the kitchen and he and Howard were in the living room, we overheard him say, "How come, all of us tall skinny Marines marry short, fat wives?" and we both were that. The rest of the squad made it back behind the ridge. The Spearhead describes it this way. "CT 27 made limited gains during the day against an irregular ridge line - sometimes called Nishi Ridge - in the vicinity of Nishi Village. This was one of the strongest remaining defensive positions on the island. L.T. 27 advanced 200 yards to reach the high ground overlooking the North Coast of lWo, but after getting a blood bath from grenades, knee mortars and sniper fire from the high jagged rocks, the troops were forced to withdraw." A few Japanese phosphorous or mortar shells dropped behind the ridge and this made Howard nervous. He remembered that the face of the cliffs were packed with little black holes about 14 inches in diameter. About a half hour later, Sgt. Gibson received orders probably from the Company Commander to "resume our position." It was then that Howard made his "famous prediction", "We're all going to be Killed", but it was an order, and they moved out. �Howard again saw the black holes and investigated. He couldn't see anything, because of the darkness, but most of the fire seemed to come from that area. He still thinks that the Japs were inside and firing out. Then he noticed a small brush pile raise up about 'five inches and a machine gun stuck its barrel out and fired to the left. He didn't know if anyone was hit. The gun was withdrawn and the brush pile settled down again. This was about as far away as Ring's house (two houses from ours, 50 yards) from Howard's position. Some of Howard's squad were being hit, but were being cared for and as Howard looked to his left, he saw his BAR man, Pfc. Snell was hit by rifle fire. Howard went to him; He had been shot right through the head and been knocked into a crater, a shell hole about six fee~deep. "He was still quivering". On top of the ridge and to the left, Sgt. Gibson called down, "Can we help him?" I said, "No, he's beyond help." The next chain of events, I will record exactly as Howard told me. "I crawled through the crater and was on my belly on the side of the hole and looking at the holes in the cliff and aiming my rifle, my head cocked over the sight. All of a sudden, I was hit! It threw me back and I landed on Snell's legs, I could feel him quiver. Luckily for me Sgt. Gibson saw it happen. The Corpsman came in and shoved gauze under my jacket in the front and back (Frederick H. Alberty, Ph.M3C.). Four stretcher bearers carne in the shell hole with a stretcher. They loaded me on and started up the side of the shell hole. When I was about shoulder high, one of the stretcher bearers was shot. The others dragged me down into the bottom of the hole again. Another ""~earer came into the hole. There was lots of gun fire, but it was ~ot hitting us. They were successful in carrying me out and around the back side of the cliff and ridge. As they were carrying me, I looked around and up on the ridge I saw 1st Sgt. Burgess and two machine guns set just over the ridge and spraying bullets over the shell hole where we had been, and at the round black holes. There was a jeep close by and they shoved my stretcher on it. There was room for two, but I didn't see anyone else." "From then on, I had nothing more to do with 'F' Company, the ~latoon, or my Squad. I was taken to the Divisional Hospital which was an excavated area in the ground about two feet deep and covered by a tent. I was carried in and laid on the ground in a row with many others." "'Sometime, soon after, a chaplain stood over me and said, 'Are oyou sorry for your sins?' I said, 'I'm not Catholic.' He walked away." 0"1 didn't have much pain unless I moved, or I passed out. I don't remember the night at all. When I woke up it was daylight. Someone told me I was leaving the island and going to a hospital ship. They loaded a bunch of us on a DUKW, it had wheels and a propeller. As we were loading, I was asked if I wanted an apple. 12 ! �It was big and red, but I couldn't bite into it, I had no strength. I think I remember them carrying me up a ramp into the hospital ship on a stretcher. I was put in a bottom bunk. I just don't remember any of it except that just before we got to Guam the body cast was put on. It probably felt good, because I couldn't move." "When I was shot, it felt like I was hit by a sledge hammer in my chest and shoulder. I was weak and could only whisper. I thought, 'this is the way you die', and I had reason to think this." On D+ 20, the LT 2/27, the Regiment worn and casualty ridden was pulled out and was not used again in the campaign. Platoon Sgt. James Gibson, Jr. was a good Marine. He was wounded and received a Bronze Star. He was about 10 years older than. Howard and had been a paratrooper. He was of a sturdy build . . First Sgt. Wilber Burgess was also wounded in action. ·According to "The Spear Head", the World War II History of the 5th Marine Division by Howard M. Conner, Howard's squad finished Iwo in this manner: Sgt. Howard E. Bennink wounded Cpl. Frank M. Bolek wounded Pfc. David B. Snell killed. ­ Pvt. Kenneth C. Thomas wounded Pvt. Curtis C. Byrd ? Pfc. Stanley J. Swartz wounded 'Pfc. Malcom L. Waite wounded 'Pfc. Howard R. Williams wounded Pvt. Robert Torte wounded :Pfc. Harry S. Carothers wounded Pfc. Douglas N. Wallace wounded Pfc. Robert C. Smith wounded Pfc. John H. Whipple wounded Each squad was made up of a leader, a Sgt. and three fire groups of four men each headed by a Cpl., but Howard had only one Corporal. Carothers, a Pfc. was the acting leader with Wallace, Smith and Whipple. Stanley Swartz was an acting group leader with ~aite, Williams and Torti. Bolek was the only Cpl. with Snell, Thomas and Byrd. The Commanding officer of LT 27, Major John W. Antonelli was wounded on ~ 18th with three of his officers on the front line .. Lt. Jack Lummas of 'F' Company was mortally wounded by a land mine on D+ 17. Marine infantry losses were so heavy that gaps were filled with cooks, bakers, mortar men and communicators. Seventy percent of all the battle casualties occurred in the infantry regiments and their replacements. In July of 1995, we requested and received Howard's medical �.#', ...~' records. We were surprised to see how complete they were in the midst of what must have been complete chaos. For instance on Iwo Jima, casualties averaged over a thousand a day. There was no medical record of treatment on the beach at Iwo, but I saw another record, as I remember a handwritten one that we requested for Dr. Leland Swenson in 1959 or 1960 and if I remember correctly, he was given 13 units of blood and plasma. It was difficult to read and interpret. The new record seems to be bits of progress notes and discharge summaries. It is typewritten, but it has some written signatures. The Hospital Ship, Howard was on was the AH10, the Samaritan. The initial entry says 3-7-45 (date of admission) gunshot wounds of the side of the face and chest. Tetanus and gas gangrene shots given. This is followed by a description of the injuries; 1. Small wound, left submaxillary. 2. Left shoulder has two wounds - one anterior just over the outer end of the clavicle and the other (the point of exit) over the scapular spine. '3. x-ray of the face and skull = no fractures. 4. x-ray of the cervical spine shows a comminuted fracture of the right transverse process of the 6th cervical vertebra. There is' an abnormal curvature of this portion of the spine with a slight kyphotic curve, the apex of which is at the 5th and 6th vertebral bodies. 5. x-ray of the left shoulder shows a comminuted fractur~ involving the lateral 1/3 of the clavicle. On 3-10-45 wounds were redressed with sulfanilamide and vaseline gauze. A shoulder spica cast was applied reaching to the base of the finger on the left hand. Ho~ard says that he doesn't remember much about the ship, except having the cast applied. It was a body cast with an airplane: splint type of cast on the arm. These are the signatures on the reports from the Samaritan: A. R. Aronson, Lt. (MC) U.S.N.R. /s/ J. F. Belair /s/ E. L. Jewett H., J. Wiser, Cmdr. (MC) U.S.N.R. R. W. Hayworth, Captain U.S.N. Howard received a hospital number which accompanied him through t.he system, #2529 KJ"K" DNEPTE and a heading on many of the docuqlents: not misconduct within command work negligence not apparent wounded in action against an organized enemy received from 2nd Bn. 27 Marines Not all the injured merited the care of a hospital ship. An ex-Marine who was injured at Suribachi told how he was taken aboard a troop carrier. He was placed on the floor of a passage way while waiting to see the doctor. He had a shoulder injury and was worried about gangrene. After three days he got to see �the doctor and expressed his thanks for seeing a good bone man, but the doctor said, "But I'm not. At home I'm a kidney man." His arm was saved, but he had to learn to write with his left hand. I remember a doctor who told me that the day before he was inducted, he performed an appendectomy on a kitchen table in Conklin, Michigan. He was a psychiatrist in the army and thereafter. He helped Elmer Fisher adjust to his paralysis. On 3-11-45, Howard was transferred to a hospital ashore, which was Guam U.S.N.H. - 101, in a barracks type building. He doesn't remember much about this hospitalization either, except .that while he was there maggots crawled in and out of the cast. In time the maggots turned into flies and were really irritating. By pushing a stick in and under the cit near the wrist he could sometimes get the varmints out. Howard thought that the maggots had been planted as a treatment for dead tissue, but I think not. The Navy V~terans told about the clouds of big blue flies that they encountered as they neared the beach and the flies that covered the wounded and dead. On Guam, Howard saw Sgt. Evans, the 2nd Squad Leader, who had been burned by phosphorus. He had painful burns of his neck and arms. He came from one of the western states. He was married and,always kept his wife's picture in the tent. "She was a beautiful ,girl." Although, I am sure that it was a mutually sentimental reunion, Howard expressed it this way, "I couldn't talk and we were both tcio far gone." On 3-2{-45, they recommended transfer to U.S.N.H. in T.R. or "'Ccrntinentallimits of U.S. (T.H. means Territory of Hawaii). Howard left Guam by plane. The littersWere secured on racks. There were nurses on the plane as they had also been on Guam. He was the only patient on the plane who was ambulatory, so when the plane landed on Johnston Island for refueling, he was asked to go to breakfast in the barracks. Once there, they offered him anything he wanted, but he still couldn't eat. They gave him an orange, but he couldn't eat that either. On 3-24-45, Howard was admitted to the U.S. Naval Hospital, Aiea Heights, T.H. It was a large brick building about six stories high.; The record which we have seems to be a combination of the history and physical, progress notes and discharge summary. On admission after repeating the history of the injury it says, "he has been hoarse since injury and has 'vibrating' feeling in his throat. First week following wound pt. coughed with some hemoptysis. Dry cough· since. Voice very hoarse. P.E. negative except for: 1. Over carotid, in the left side of neck is palpable thrill synchronous with pulse and audible bruit. 2. Left upper extremity is immobilized in a brachial spica with arm at 45 degree abduction and elbow at 45 degree flexion. No ')5 �sensory or motor changes of the hands or fingers." 3-27-45, x-ray of left shoulder: There is a comminuted fracture involving the distal 1/3 of the left clavicle in which the fragments appear in fair position and alignment in the A-P view of the shoulder. A heavy plaster cast surrounds the shoulder joint and no definite bone injury to other bones or regions can be detected. There is no evidence of metallic foreign bodies. 4-4-45, x-ray of cervical spine: No foreign bodies can be made out in the neck. . Sometime after this Howard remembers that he and another patient were taken into a lecture hall, where their injuries were being discussed. The speaker (as Howard listened just outside the door) cautioned that injuries of this nature were being missed. 4-8-45, Operation Record: Aneurysm operated on. Common Carotid. Arterio-Venous aneurysm at bifurcation of common carotid. The carotid internal and external carotid, superior thyroid and internal jugular vein~ ligated and aneurysm excised. Wound closed without drainage. Operator· Dr. H. K. Gray. Howard remembers before surgery in gn anteroom, a nurse told him that she was from Lansing, Michigan. On April 11' 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. Howard has a faint memory of being told. 4-16-45, Sutures were removed. Wound clean. Pt. has a Horner's Syndrome, left side since operation. Voice is still ,..··~ry hoarse. Injury at time of accident. Horner's Syndrome is caused by a paralysis of the cervical sympathetic nerves. Howard has a droopy eye lid, a contracted pupil, and an abnormal sweating pattern. 4-20-45, Diagnosis changed this date to aneurysm (arterio­ Venous) left carotid #202 DNEPTE. Reason - Complication no misconduct~ 4-22-45, Electrocardiogram - normal. 4-25-45, Wound healed. Patient still has hoarseness with evidence still present of Horner's Syndrome left. Recommend evacuation to mainland for further treatment and disposition. Hospital litter - via air. 5-3-45, transferred this day to a U.S. Government transport to a u.S. Naval Hospital on the mainland, without formal medical survey in accorqance with Bu Pers Circular letter 99-44 of March 31, 1944. This section of the medical record was signed by: W. C.· Mulry, Lt. (MC) U.S.N., Acting Division Surgeon A. M. McDonald, Lt. Cmdr. (MC) U.S.N.R. H. K. Gray, Capt. (MC) U.S.N.R., Chief of Surgery. On May 4, 1945, Howard was admitted to Oakland, California, U.S. Naval Hospital. �:;x­ , , 5-5-45, Pt. received from overseas with the diagnosis of aneurysm, left carotid. This was surgically repaired. He also has gunshot wound trough the left clavicle and out the back with minimal drainage of both wounds. Let clavicle fractured. Pt. wearing a sling. Abduction to 90 degrees. Some numbness of left arm. Condition satisfactory for transfer closer home pending approval of peripheral nerve department. Howard was given the choice of a Naval Hospital in the State of Washington or Great Lakes near Chicago. While at Oakland, he and others were given a pass to a stage show. He remembers a "gut shot" Marine who required lots of attention. 5-23-45, transfer this date to U.S.N.H., Great Lakes, Illinois for further treatment and disposition. O. F. Johnson Lt. Cmdr. (MC) U.S.N.R. L. R. Reynolds. Howard traveled by train. He left the hospital and boarded the train alone and he had a sleeper. He arrived at Great Lakes on May 26, 1945. The admission physical describes his wounds. There is a scar six inches long over the left side of the neck, a draining wound, over the left mid clavicula spine and a healed wound on the left scapula. He has a harsh raspy voice since the injury. X-ray record - x-ray examination of the left shoulder shows an old comminuted fracture of the outer 1/3 of the clavicle with evidence of considerable calcium, but not solid union. "",'M' E.E.N.T. 6-13-45, This man has a dislocation of the left arytenoid. The dislocation holds the left cord in midline. His voice will probably improve still more after he gets compensated for the new anatomical position. Lab - cbc and urinalysis were essentially negative. 6-2-45, patient can abduct the shoulder to 90 degrees, as well as anterior and posterior motion to 90 degrees. Physio­ therapy was staited for improved muscular tone and increased motion. The physio-therapy involved dusting the vertical blinds in the Officer's quarters. 6-4-45, there was an orthopedic consultation - There is a draining sinus from the compound fractured clavicle. 1. Curettement of the scar. 2. Tyrothricin dressings to the wound. (this was a substance isolated from soil bacterium.) 6-5-45, The sinus of the left clavicle was curetted this date. 6-8-45, Increased motion of the left shoulder. There is less drainage from the clavicle. 6-12-45, Progress is satisfactory. Draining sinus of the left shoulder, curetted this day. Diagnosis was changed from aneurysm antero-venous left carotid #202 to fracture compound 37 �left clavicle #2529. 6-16-45, Drainage is subsiding. Shoulder is less painful. 6-30-45, Sinus in shoulder region healing. Drainage slight. Has some pain. Drainage really continued even after his discharge as bone fragments carne to the surface. There is a piece of bone that Nancy kept with his Medals. 7-10-45, Patient states that since injury, whenever he flexes his head on chest, he has tingling sensation in both arms'. X-ray of cervical vertebrae ordered to determine if fracture or dislocation is present. 7-16-45, Range of motion in shoulder is normal. Has some pain on abduction. 7-17-45, X-ray examination of the cervical spine shows old compression fracture of the upper plate of C-6. 7-21-45 - 8-8-45, On leave. This was not his first time at horne. He had been home for a short time in June. Howard does not speak of this' as an especially happy period in his life. He denies being depressed. Maybe he was just tired of being sick and tired at 23 years of age. Mother Nancy had already become hard of hearing, and could of course not understand his whispering. Maybe that too, had some bearing. Sometime during his stay at Great.Lakes, Aunt Grace Doornbos visited him and they watched Bob Feller pitch, but in Howard's words he, "Couldn't care less." He "didn't feel good, no energy." 9-10-45, It was announced that Hiroshima was destroyed by a single bomb and three days later Nagasaki was A. bombed. On August 14th Japan :surrendered. While Howard was in Aiae in ""1fawaii, the remnants of the 5th Division were recuperating and training for the invasion of the home islands of Japan. This was frightening. The 27th Marines had been battered. Colonel Wornham's regiment which had landed with 36 officers and 885 men, now had 16 officers and 300 men, including replacements. Okinawa had come and gone with like statistics. President Truman was the Savior of this generation. Instead of the invasion, they were part of the occupation and rebuilding of Japan. 9-10-45, Orthopedic Consultation - Good function of the left shoulder, although still slight weakness about the shoulder girdle muscles. This should improve with use. No further treatments indicated. 9-12-45, ENT. Consultation - Voice has improved very much. Dislocation of the arytenoid the same and always will be. 9-13-45, Presented with Purple Heart. Howard said that one day, a nurse asked him if he had received his Purple Heart, he said no so she gave. him one. 10-1-45, The Medical Survey Board met and declared the injuries had made him unfit for service and recommended he be discharged from the USMCR. The board was composed of: G. H. Castle, Cmdr. (MC) U.S.N. R. E. Diffenderfer, Cmdr. (MC) U.S.N. 38 �J. C. Becker, Lt. (MC) U.S.N. Howard was transferred to the Marine Barracks, Great Lakes Naval Training Center for discharge. Howard was discharged on 10-26-45. He had served three years, eight months and 28 days. The length of his foreign service was ~ year, ~ months and 23 days. Until he left the gates in his '36 Ford, he always had to think about "going back", but no more and he was happy! All this happened before you and I knew Howard. I know him better since I recorded his experiences and I hope you will know him better in reading them. Of course, this isn't the end of the story. He married and had three children, a son in-law and two daughter5in-law~, all of whom he is extremely proud, and they in return gave him six grandsons and one grand daughter, all fine children. How different the world would have been without Howard. #"·'·L. . .• 39 -----------­ �In October of 1995, Howard and I attended a 3rd Battalion Reunion at Camp LeJeune, in Jacksonville, N.C. We met Gambino from the 3rd Platoon and Abadolla from I I ' Company, both who Howard remembered. Gambino always bummed cigarettes. Abadolla spent many years as a wholesale green grocer and also owned a taxi service. Both men were living in New Jersey. They recalled that Frank Newell, from the 3rd Platoon who was married by the Chaplin at Camp LeJeune died about 10 years ago. Gambino had been best man. Others remember seeing Lt. Weiss Carried back from the front lines on the backs of his men. We met Griffin a machine gunner from III company. He was badly wounded on the Matamkau and had extensive facial reconstruction. Although he and Howard did not remember each other, they knew many of the same people. Capistran from the 4th squad became Fire Chief of Chelsea, Massachusetts. Dawson from the 3rd Platoon survived the war and was living in Florida. Elbert Kinser who came in as a replacement while the unit was in Australia, became a Platoon Sgt. and was killed by a hand grenade on Okinawa, May 4, 1945. He was awarded the Medal of· Honor. His hometown of Greenville, Tennessee named a street and a bridge after him. His brother, Charles, is the Chief of Police. After we returned home, Howard wrote Aaron Dawson a letter, :........... and within a week he wrote back. He and his family live in ' Frostproof, Florida. He too returned to the states, but went back to the Pacific and fought and was wounded on Okinawa. He had rejoined his old outfit right down to the platoon and squad. Just before he left, back to back typhoons raked the island and his medical records were lost, but he is still trying to get his Purple Heart. Little did we realize when we left· Camp LeJeune what would result from a chance meeting with local Marines across a breakfast table, when they asked if anyone served with the 5th Division. A short time after we returned home, Howard received an application for membership in the 5th Division. He returned it just before Christmas. The day after New Years, he received his membership card and the membership list. Under the letter "S" was David Snell, Lorain, Ohio. David was the man in the shell hole with Howard on Iwo. He was dead! After mulling over all the possibilities, it was still impossible, but Howard wrote a short note. Two weeks went by and then one afternoon, the phone rang and 4u �the voice said, "This is David Snell, Are you O.K.?II Both thought the other had died. --­ He was one of 27 men out of 230 who walked off Iwo Jima. He went to Japan with the occupation forces. The man who died was his ammo carrier. Yesterday, Howard received a packet from a Fox Company organization with other names including his Platoon Sgt. Gibson. What a start to a New Year! ~ ...... ~. 41 �./ {j) <, , I �#"' ........' '-,-1 ��.~ d.--YL- k .2Au- ~ - !1/LfUr'\../ ~ .-L/~ tz:«. t'nA~--"~--V1 cr) )..~ n-e-e ;;/~ ~ I)~ ~~ ~ ~ (A/-<.LL.k) J- (!4f-n~ ~Z­ ~ ~ ht-v/c ~ ~ 4-t:) ~fa-(,G ~..{;..~_~ t:lud:..- 11 ~ u j.j,(~.-L ar;~ ~ ~G /LtL' l-:«: - J.~' ~/~, YlLA.- � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BenninkH Title A name given to the resource Bennink, Howard E. (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bennink, Howard E. Description An account of the resource Howard Bennink enlisted in the Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Bennink trained for six months at Camp Lejeune before traveling to New Zealand. He served in fought on Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester and Iwo Jima during his tour of duty. He earned a Silver Star during fighting in Cape Gloucester, fought off several bouts of malaria, and was wounded two weeks into the fighting on Iwo Jima. Grand Haven Tribune newspaper article and personal narrative appended to interview outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer) Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Marine Corps World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-01-28 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/e35f31b993e0fb8f7f3e76fc6b778556.mp4 33d1948281c9fba6dde3fddc73e52424 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b45ce419bc109c5131e9f52a26c5da6f.pdf e717223e07fa5ee9f32e1060270ffc61 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Don Bennett Length: 1:22:46 (00:15) Background Information       Don was born in the upper peninsula of Michigan on January 23, 1925 His father owned a silver fox ranch that he opened in 1924 The business did very well until the Depression in 1929 They lived in the area until Don was 11 years old and then they moved to Cheboygan, Michigan Don finished high school there and graduated in 1942 He began working in a paper mill that summer and then began attending Albion College in the Fall (10:00) Drafted  Don received his draft notice in January of 1943, but was not very upset about leaving college because he had been receiving bad grades  Don was sent to Detroit in April of 1943 where he was inducted and given a choice of joining the Navy or the Army  Don chose the Navy and he was sent to Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago for boot camp  Once he arrived Don was assigned to a company and began setting up in his barracks  He spent 8 weeks there exercising, marching, and working on KP (16:00) Diesel School  After boot camp Don went through an outgoing unit for another week at Great Lakes  He was then sent to diesel school at Navy Pier in Chicago where it was very cold working on the water  They worked with different diesel engines, fuel pumps, ship engines, and engines of landing craft  While he was there a notice was issued in which they were looking for 50 men to volunteer for submarine training  About 500 men volunteered and Don was lucky enough to be chosen (18:40)Submarine School  Don took a train from Chicago to Connecticut and was assigned to a new Navy unit  They first had to train under an officer named Spritz, whom they all hated  Don worked on guard duty and other training for a few weeks while waiting to start submarine school �    Before beginning the men had to take different physical tests and visit a psychologist Once he began submarine school Don thought it was very interesting and he did very well in all his classes They were learning all the systems that worked together on the submarine; air system, hydraulics, electric, tanks and compartments The school was very intense and they went to class all day long for 16 weeks (24:40) The Sunfish  After submarine school Don went through submarine diesel school for another 8 weeks in Connecticut  Once he graduated he took a train to San Francisco, and was then sent to Hunter's Point to work with a relief crew on submarines for a while  They spent time refitting submarines once they were finished with a patrol, getting them ready for the next patrol  Don worked on 2 submarines before he was assigned to work on the Sunfish for its next patrol (28:45) First patrol  In June of 1944 the submarine went to Pearl Harbor and then stopped at Midway to refuel  They patrolled off some islands to the north of Japan, near a Japanese airbase and also near the tip of the Russian [Kamchatka] peninsula  They sunk many Japanese ships while in Russian waters and the Russians eventually got to be annoyed and complained  Don’s first patrol lasted a little less than 2 months; they would always have to be refitted once they ran out of torpedoes and food  They returned to Midway and rested there while the submarine was being refitted  They had much time to rest, drink beer, go fishing and swimming (43:55) Submarine Life  There were many times where they caught in emergencies and had to sink to low depths to try to hide  Collectively through all the patrols they were attacked with about 1,000 depth charges  Only about 75 of those depth charges were very scary  They were even a target for planes along with other ships  There were some very scary, silent moments while they were playing cat and mouse  The good on the ship was great; they had a chef and baker  Don went on 5 patrols altogether and sunk 42 ships (53:55) Traveling �   Don went on 3 patrols in a row in the East China and Yellow Sea, and then around Korea and then Shanghai His final patrol was from Tokyo to Northern Japan After Don’s fifth patrol he went back to California and then Michigan (1:01:20) After Service  Don got married on June 8, 1945 in Michigan and then had to go back to California for a few months to finish his time in the Navy before he could be discharged  They had to finish decommissioning the Sunfish in October before Don could be discharged  He had been supposed to be discharged a few months earlier, but had to add a few months to his service  Don really enjoyed his time on the Sunfish and got to know many friends in the crew who he still sees at national conventions  After he was discharged Don and his wife moved to Niles, Michigan  He started a boat business with his brother, but it did not do well and after 2 years Don decided to go back to Albion College to finish his degree � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BennettD2 Title A name given to the resource Bennett, Don (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bennett, Don Description An account of the resource Don Bennett was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1925. He attended Albion College for one semester, then enlisted in the Navy, and became a submariner. He served on five patrols, one in the Kurile Islands, three near the Yellow Sea, and a final one north of Tokyo. During this time they sunk forty-two enemy ships. He was discharged on December 18th, 1945. After the war, he finished school at Albion College. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2005-11-17 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/965cf06428bfea20cc5aafbf62b501d5.mp4 a241d78ba240fc7a91b428498a58ef24 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b88cdd4a18affbab25e19148a76e5c5d.pdf cb2fb6041de8b2b229e113f2ddcb24b1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Don Bennett (01:14:08) (00:31) Background • (00:31) His full name is Don A. Bennett, he was born in Holburton, Michigan on January 23rd, 1925. Holburton is in the Upper Peninsula. • (01:05) He recalls a childhood trip out West, and vaguely remembers Old Faithful. • (01:19) His father owned a silver fox ranch. His grandfather had owned a lumber camp, and supervised four hundred lumberjacks. • (01:41) The camp was about three miles away from town, and the business ended in 1923 or 1924. His father started the ranch in 1924. • (02:10) They stayed in Holburton for awhile. Everything was fine until 1929 when the Great Depression started. He went to grade school in Holburton. • (02:35) He remembers getting candy from John Hunter. John Hunter owned most of the businesses in town, and helped pull loose teeth from children, and gave them candy. • (03:26) The school in Holburton only went as far as the eighth grade, which was one reason why his mother wanted them to move. The winters were terribly cold, and were made worse by the wind. They used a potbelly stove for heat; they burned wood in the stove. • (04:44) They were dirt poor in the Depression, and then they moved to Cheboygan. When he was in the fifth grade. This was either 1935 or 1936. He finished high school, and graduated in 1942 at the age of seventeen. • (05:26) He played baseball and football in high school. He went to the prom. He also was one of the stage managers for the senior play, which was an operetta and had gypsies. • (06:12) He heard about the Pearl Harbor attacks on the radio, and was not aware where Pearl Harbor was at the time. Some of their friends had been in the Navy. • (08:14) His date to the prom was Phyllis, whom he later married. She was a freshman during his senior. He met her through the baseball team. That year the freshman girls were prettier on average than the senior girls. Three or four of the seniors had freshman dates. Phyllis would still be in high school while he was in the Navy. • (09:28) He went to work at a paper mill, and went to Albion College. He borrowed the tuition money from a friend of the family. He made it through the first term, and did not do very well. • (10:22) He received birthday greetings from the president when he turned eighteen. He knew he would be drafted soon. He decided to drop out. • (11:35) In the frat houses, men would laugh when others were drafted. (12:25) Drafted/Training • (12:20) He was inducted in Detroit, and went through various kinds of tests. He was given the choice between Army or Navy and chose the Navy. �• (12:47) He went back home, and the next week reported to Great Lakes naval base. He traveled by train. The train was a regular passenger train, but he was on troop transports later on. He had not really traveled before, except for the trip out west and to Detroit for baseball. He met some of the Detroit Tigers, and Jimmy Bloodworth and Charlie Gehringer gave him tips on playing second base. • (14:44) His first thought at Great Lakes was “what’s next?” He was issued clothing, and stayed there for two or three days. Then he was sent to boot camp. He was in a company of eighty to one hundred, and basic training lasted for eight weeks. • (15:50) They marched, and exercised. He was assigned to pool duty. Some of the men had to learn how to swim, and he watched over them. • (16:50) He was next sent to “outgoing unit” for one week, and then to diesel school at Navy Pier. They had good weather at first, but it kept getting colder and the proximity to the lake only made the weather worse. • (17:37) At diesel school he learned how to operate a diesel engine. They mostly learned how to use the engines on the landing craft, which was where he probably would have been assigned if he had not been assigned to submarines. • (18:11) He and three friends at the Navy Pier decided to apply for submarine duty. Of the 1500 men at the base, 600 or so applied, and there were only fifty positions open. He was somewhat reluctant to serve on a submarine, but he decided to join his friends to stay with them. He was the only one who passed. • (19:53) He was next sent to the East Coast, to New London, Connecticut. He went into “Spritz’s Navy.” Spritz was a surly Navy Chief, and he ruled the school. Everyone hated him because of his personality. The sub school was much easier than Spritz’s Navy by contrast, which might have been the point. • (21:43) He had to have multiple physicals, and was given a psychiatric exam as standard procedure. The main reason for the exams was to make sure the men had compatible personalities since they would be working in such close quarters. • (23:00) He graduated from college after the war, on the GI Bill. Sub school was difficult, and nothing in college was anywhere near as difficult. They had to learn about all the systems on the ship—the error system, the water system, the hydraulic and the electrical system. They had to learn all the components of the tanks, and the functions of all the rooms. • (24:32) Sub school was intense, and class went on all day. It lasted twelve or sixteen weeks. Subs are called “boats” in the Navy, there is a logical reason, but he does not recall it. • (25:35) After graduated from sub school he went to diesel school, this time for submarines specifically. Diesel school was easier since he had already had the basics. • (26:29) Next he was sent to the West Coast. He spent five days on the Challenger, a troop train. They stopped to get meals at train stations from “Harvey Girls.” Harvey Girls were women who sold food at stations. While on the rails, the transports had to pull off to the side for freight trains, which had higher priority. • (27:54) He next went to Mare Island, near San Francisco. He was sent to Hunter’s Point and put into a relief crew. The relief crews prepared themselves for active duty while the active crews patrolled. He worked on two submarines, the first �was the Sunfish. (29:45) First Submarine Patrol • (29:45) After being assigned to the Sunfish, they went to Pearl Harbor in April of 1944. His first patrol began in June. They next went to Midway to re-fuel, and were escorted out of the harbor and went to the Kurile Islands. The Kurile Islands are a north of Japan, and stretch almost to the Aleutian Islands near Alaska. • (31:40) They patrolled off of Parmaceru, a Japanese air base. They were near the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. It was a very cold, foggy area. They sank one lone ship, and also saw the raft of men who had been on the boat. The men claimed to be Russians, but they did not believe them and left them. • (33:14) Russian ships were supposed to travel in a straight course with their lights on. Japanese ships travelled with their lights off, and took evasive zigzag courses. The ship they had sunk had had the lights off, and was travelling in a zigzag pattern. • (34:02) Japan and Russia traded sometimes. Later, when the sub had come across the ships, they sent them a message: “IFF” which meant “Identify: Friend or Foe.” One ship identified as Russian, and one as Japanese. They fired on the Japanese ship, which took three torpedoes despite not being a warship. The ship sank in shallow water, and the mast was still above the surface. • (35:46) Later, there was a question of whether or not the ship had been in Russian waters or international waters. Nothing came of it, although the skipper had had to go to Pearl Harbor to discuss the matter. The Russians complained that the ship had been sunk in their territorial waters. • (36:31) They sunk three ships during that war patrol, and they also had a surface battle. During the surface battle, they used their guns instead of the torpedoes. They had a 4.0 inch gun, two 20mm guns, and a .50 caliber machine gun. The guns were kept inside the sub and attached to the railing when needed. Each gun had two men. • (37:44) The 20mm’s were near the tower, and the 4.0 inch gun was near the engine room. The cigarette deck was a portion of the tower deck that the men would go out on to smoke and have fresh air when they had permission. • (38:44) The first patrol was from July to August, and ended early because they ran out of torpedoes. They were often busy, but they did sometimes have quiet days. The patrols never lasted the full sixty days, which was the limit because of food and fuel limits. (40:19) Surface Battle/Rest periods • (40:19) Radar was key during the surface battle. They found fourteen or so enemy ships on their radar. They used their guns during the battle and sank all the enemy ships. The battle lasted about an hour or an hour and a half. During the battle, their periscope was shot, and their radio antenna was damaged. • (41:28) The small guns inflicted more damage on the enemy than the larger guns. The enemy ships were thirteen sampans (supply ships), and one trawler which had guns. • (42:30) They went to Midway after the surface battle. They went to a rest camp for a while. There wasn’t much to do, so they mostly watched “gooney birds”--- �albatrosses. The birds were clumsy fliers and were amusing to watch. They had a beer ration, and went swimming and fishing as well. • (43:45) They had a two-week break after each patrol. Ideally, after each patrol about one fourth of the men was transferred to another submarine, so that the entire crew was replaced every four patrols. However, some men were transferred out after one patrol, and one man stayed on for nine patrols. (44:56) Submarine Life • (44:56) They had to hide along the bottom of the ocean several times. They took about one thousand depth charges, of which seventy-five were particularly scary. They had a “lot of scary moments.” They also had to dodge kamikaze planes eight to ten times. • (46:27) Radar helped them avoid planes. They would wait until the last moment to dive, and would be fully submerged to avoid damage. • (47:24) They sometimes would go onto “silent running” and would put as many systems as possible on hold. They would also slow the screw to about forty rpms, and would speak very softly. Noise travels easily underwater, so they had to be very quiet to avoid detection. • (48:32) They usually operated in deep water, but sometimes they had to operate in shallow water. Shallow water was problematic because then the enemy could use depth charges more strategically—ordinarily they had to know where the sub was and at what depth. Shallow water eliminated one of the usual variables. • (49:28) The worst time was when they were being trailed by two ships. They had to go down to four hundred feet. They could hear the ships above them. A line of seven depth charges was dropped along them, and it created leaks in the torpedo room. The torpedo room was doubly sealed. • (50:51) The superstructure was damaged as well. The ship was put on “silent running.” • (51:34) The rough times usually did not last very long. • (52:09) Sinking a ship was always a joyous occasion, initially. It became very somber when they could hear the ships sinking and buckling, they knew that men were dying. It was a hard sound to listen to. • (53:02) During the war “no quarter” was given. He went on five patrols, four of which were successful. • (53:41) His battleflag shows forty-two enemy ships sunk. They were initially credited with sixteen based on Japanese records. Later, the practice of using Japanese records was abandoned because they were shown to be unreliable. • (55:00) The submarines operated more or less independently from the rest of the war effort. • (55:14) Their first mission was in the Kurile Islands. The next three were in the East China and Yellow Seas, near Korea and Shanghai. The fifth patrol was north of Tokyo, near Hokkaido. • (56:11) He was most afraid when they had to dive very deep. They went down to around four hundred and fifty feet, and they were pinned down by depth charges. The screws were slowed, and the slow speed made time drag by. • (57:38) They began to sink because of their slow speed. They could not keep afloat �• • • • • • • • • • • • at that speed. This was during their first or second patrol, he was an oiler. (58:20) He was sent to the lowest portion of the sub to check on the systems since water was coming in at a high speed. It was coming in so fast it could have cut his hands. The sub was at five hundred and fifty feet, but he was at about five hundred and eighty five. He could see the hull breathe from the pressure. He nearly gave up when he saw that. Eventually they escaped, and he was never sure how. He was frightened of the water pressure crushing them. He was nineteen at the time. (01:01:05) The Sunfish’s only major damage was to the periscope and radio tower. The other damage was due to the pressure, and was part of normal submarine wear and tear. Maintenance was performed at the end of the each patrol. Subs had soft plates to protect them. They had a thin outer hull, and a thicker inner hull. (1:02:19) He married on June 8th, 1945,while on leave. His wife came back by train to the base in California with him. She had written him many letters during the war. (01:03:25) The food on the sub was better than normal Navy fare, at least during the beginning of patrol. The fresher food was used up quickly, and after being refrigerated long enough the eggs would taste funny. (01:04:00 They had a baker, a cook, and some mess cooks. The officers ate the same food as the enlisted men. (01:04:26) The men served in three shifts, four hours on, eight hours off. The men were served meals according to their shifts. Battle stations or training would frequently interfere with the schedules however. When off shift, they read to pass the time since they didn’t have much else to due. (01:06:06) He mostly enjoyed his time on the submarine. The men were a close knit group, and he still maintains contact with some of them. (01:06:46) One of his friends recently passed away. (01:07:20) They had a crew maximum of eighty-five, but they usually had around seventy-eight. Later on, they had more crewmen because more equipment was added to the sub. (01:08:11) He and his wife went home after the war. He landed in Hunter’s Point in early September and they began decommissioning the sub sometime in October or November. (01:09:12) He was scheduled to get out early, but they needed more men to keep mothballing the sub. He was asked to stay on as a courtesy, but was made aware that he could be ordered to do so. Married men who had their wives were asked more often since the other men wanted to go home and the married men, had some portion of their normal life near them already. (01:10:10) He was promised that he would get home by Christmas, and he was discharged on 12/18/1945, and he managed to get home by Christmas. Phyllis was pregnant with their first child. (01:11:53) Post-War • (01:11:53) He was discharged in California. He did not join the reserves. He came back to Niles, to his mother and step-father’s house. He got a job working �with his step-father. • (01:12:37) He and his brother borrowed money from a woman named Hazel to start a boating business on Crystal Lake. Hazel had also lent Don the money for college. He made good on both loans. Eventually he decided to get out of the boating business, and he went back to college and graduated. His brother continued working in the boating industry � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BennettD Title A name given to the resource Bennett, Don (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bennett, Don Description An account of the resource Don Bennett was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1925. He attended Albion College for one semester, then enlisted in the Navy, and became a submariner. He served on five patrols, one in the Kurile Islands, three near the Yellow Sea, and a final one north of Tokyo. During this time they sunk forty-two enemy ships. He was discharged on December 18th, 1945. After the war, he finished school at Albion College. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Montagna, Douglas (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-10-09 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf 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/d846ce19f7af5056b8f843ea140f0f8d.mp4 570a0204ba81f4ef963314544c9cdf52 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1d037e4872bff46e83c5b9f49dea96cf.pdf a039909437c7979aa25409e16a8d0a89 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Interview Vietnam War George Calvin Bekkering Length of Interview (00:44:33) Military Background (00:00:23) Was a part of the Army and served in the Vietnam War: 1967-1968 • Arrived as an E-3, Private 1st Class, and came back as a Sergeant, E-5 • Base camp was in Chu Lai, South of Danang Background (00:01:03) Born in Byron Center, MI in 1947 At the age of 4, moved to Howard City, Michigan; lived there for ten years Service (00:01:20) Was drafted into the army after graduating from high school; October 1966 • Bekkering was living with his parents in Portland, Michigan, at that time • Worked for a construction company laying cement block prior to being drafted His first days in the service were a “learning experience” • Had to get physically fit and learn to take orders (in order to learn to trust in each other) • Trained to be a ground soldier, 11B Bravo was his MOS (a job classification) which meant light infantry (00:02:30) Vietnam (00:03:20) Vietnam’s climate was quite tropical, but in the mountains it was cooler (similar to Michigan). In the river valleys, there was more jungle (called triple canopy) • Had banana trees, pineapple groves, rubber trees, and a lot of rice paddies • At one point, a monsoon came through with temperatures near 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and no support could come through due to dense fog �Interacted with citizen very little (00:04:40) • Had a division camp in Chu Lai and traveled via helicopter to places called LZ’s (landing zones) where they would set up perimeters and build bunkers • There they would perform 1-3 day operations Combat (00:05:30) Since Vietnam was a police action, soldiers could not fire, “aggress”, unless they were fired upon first (00:06:27) January 17, 1968 received a Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor (00:06:50) • Was carrying a machine gun at the time • Ordered to run across a field to set-up the machine gun (Bekkering elaborates on this story later - look to section Bronze Star) At one point Bekkering and four men were cut off and ambushed (00:07:46) • Four civilian women, who were scared of the impending attack, walked with them • When the firefight began, someone ordered to shoot the women because they were in the way • It was not heeded, so Bekkering’s group were caught between two rice paddies • The women were lined up in front of them to prevent the Vietcong from shooting • As the Vietcong shot the ground in front of the women, Bekkering’s group kept shouting for them to stop until a jet dropped napalm on the aggressors 50% of Bekkering’s unit, during the war, were either wounded or died during battle (00:09:27) • Bekkering knew one man who, after being drafted into the Army, gained 3 Purple Hearts and had the choice of leaving the war. He stayed until gaining his 4th Purple Heart which he gained after being shot through the knee Bronze Star (00:10:40) Jan. 17, 1968, was in a Free Fire Zone • United State Army dropped leaflets to Vietnamese civilians telling them to vacate the area �In a “Ranger” type of operation, Bekkering and his unit were ordered to surround a village and go in to search it When his group was just going around the stone fences that surrounded a long open field, fire broke loose; ambushed from the right side The Lieutenant was in the middle of the field and was the main focus of the fire • The RTO (Radio Transmission Operator) and the men before and after him were also the main focus; life expectancy is considered to be 11 seconds for them in a firefight Lieutenant yelled for the machine gun, so Bekkering and his assistant machine gunner ran across the field while under fire After setting-up, he shot off many bursts effectively ending the firefight • Bekkering suspects the Vietcong backed off because they were low on ammunition; but he likes to think it was because of the machine gun Down Time (00:15:30) Communication Stayed in touch with family strictly through letters • No phones- could only be used in emergencies at home (U.S.). Could only use a telephone at the base in Chu Lai Food and Supplies Ate C-rations, similar to WWII • Always contained 4 cigarettes, book of matches, napkin, toilet paper, and a piece of candy (called Tropical Chocolate) Resupplied from behind, luckily there was no snow so resupplying wasn’t obstructed • Usually a lot of rice for meals. Milk came from Subic Bay, Philippines Had plenty of ammunition, good air support • Sometimes helicopters couldn’t land because of “Hot LZ’s”, which meant the surrounding Vietcong were too heavily armed Infantry were sometimes used to draw fire in which the Air Force was called in • If it was bad enough, a battleship, called Kennedy, would use its 16in. guns and shoot �• The guns shot 2000lbs, one ton, bullets (Bekkering compares them to a Volkswagen); accurate up to 20 miles • Jets would also come in and drop 500lb bombs and a lot of napalm Entertainment (00:20:15) When there was time, they would play P-knuckle in base camp • Bekkering would stand guard on his machine gun while the others did this • There were four men on machine gun and one always had to be on guard through the night • If there was a chance of being attacked, everyone had to keep watch all night • Would get mortared and have “sappers” try to sneak in often; “sappers” tried sneaking in by coiling the wires that surrounded the camp “Humor” (00:21:58) Bekkering finds that what was humorous during the war, is only morbid now You get “slanted” or ineffectual • One time, a man in his unit, who carried an M79 (grenade launcher), decided to shoot off a grenade straight up in the air while they were sitting; and they all laughed about it even though it was a dangerous situation Vietnam (00:23:23) Only interacted with civilians when they were being sold stuff • Vietnamese called G.I’s “bu co” which means “a lot” Bekkering never saw the bullets he shot actually hit someone, being a machine gunner probably made this happen • He is thankful for this because he does not feel the pain it would cause if he had The soldiers needed to trust each other, so his unit was really close during the war (00:25:14) • He compares friendships made in WWII and Korea vs. Vietnam • Is not friends with the men he went to war with now but has attended two reunions �Bekkering felt that the war didn’t feel like a war when he was there, was more like a police action; a “political war” (00:27:51) • Soldiers were told not to carry any rounds in their weapons unless they were shot at; this was very demoralizing • Few abided this rule; Lieutenant would try to enforce the SOP (Standard Operating Procedures): No rounds in the chamber • Medics and Machine Gunners had an 11 second life expectancy Leaving Vietnam (00:29:44) The night before leaving, his camp was attacked, and a mortar went off right next to his bunker (the Lieutenant and RTO were also leaving the next day) The Lieutenant called in a helicopter to transport the wounded in the middle of the night, which he directed into landing safely • Bekkering had never witnessed anything like that ever before; he was truly afraid that he was going to die that night, but what his Lieutenant had done amazed him The next day, at 10 AM, a helicopter took him back to Chu Lai; boarded a Fixed Wing Aircraft and flew to Saigon, then flew commercial flights back to the U.S. (00:32:40) Final discharge at an Army Base in the state of Washington After the War (00:34:36) Got a job as a Consumers Power Company two week after coming home Arrived home October 5, 1968 Was greatly influenced in his thinking of war and the military when in Vietnam (00:36:37) • Is not against war Bekkering displays the medals he earned during his time in the Army (00:40:00) • Bronze Star with “V” device, Distinguished Service Medal, Americal Division 198th Infantry Brigade (his division) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BekkeringG Title A name given to the resource Bekkering, George (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bekkering, George Description An account of the resource George Bekkering was drafted into the Army after graduating high school in 1966. He served in the Vietnam War for one year, 1967-1968, as a light infantry soldier in the 198th Infantry Regiment, Americal Division. His division camp was based in Chu Lai, which is south of Da Nang. He engaged in many fire fights and received the Bronze Star with a "V" device for saving his Lieutenant's life during an ambush. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Parker, Taryn (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. 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 2005-06-02 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a823f6b6db6abbb45716fe6f03e3fe63.mp4 07a8085113c3b783fa866fd870ed9a24 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c68a6b7340aa08fe99d0477155be18cc.pdf 04353ae37feddea5f6413ab304367623 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Richard Beimers Total Time – (58:55) Background · · · · · · · · · · · His dad worked on the railroad for many years (02:41) His grandfather gave his father ten acres of property to farm on His family paid taxes on the land of $8.88 a year (06:59) He had two brothers and a sister o He was the oldest child He was born in 1920 (07:45) His family did not have money but they were not poor – everyone was in the same position If he wanted meat to eat, they would go fishing or hunting (08:46) o Squirrel, raccoon, woodchuck, etc. He went to McBride School in Lowell, Michigan (09:12) o He went there through the eighth grade o He had to walk to school (09:27) o It was a one room schoolhouse § There were only eleven kids through eight grades o He was paid fifty cents to go to school early and start a fire so that it would be warm when others go there He had surgery on his eye in Grand Rapids, Michigan when he was in elementary school (11:40) He went to Lowell High School (13:10) He was not affected by the news of the war Enlistment/Training/MPEG Duty – (15:32) · He then got his draft notice (15:35) o He felt cocky because the State Police had not wanted him because of his bad eye · He was sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan (16:03) o They traveled there by train or bus o At Fort Custer, he had to do an eye check – he told them he could not see a thing (16:20) �o After some time, he was told that he was taken into the non-combatant service (17:49) · After Fort Custer, he was transferred to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin (18:26) o He was put in an MPEG (Military Police Escort Guard) (18:35) o In Wisconsin there was a German aliens camp for those that had not been legalized § The soldiers had to guard the Germans twenty-four hours a day (19:11) o He spent nearly three months there in Fall of 1942 · Before he had been sent to be an MPEG, he had been in basic training (19:51) o Basic training was full of marching, courtesy of officers, military information o There was marksmanship training as well o All of the soldiers in basic training were limited service people (20:20) Active Duty – (22:02) · After he served as an MPEG, he was transferred to Station Hospital at Fort McCoy (22:05) o He was put on ward duty § There were roughly sixty wards o He was in the contagious ward (22:39) § There was a disease called sleeping sickness that was going around o After he served in the contagious ward, he then served in a women’s ward § He was in the women’s ward for nearly a year and a half (24:22) · The war was beginning to heat up in Europe and Japan at this time (24:31) · After the women’s ward, he was transferred to another outfit called 156 General Hospital (25:28) · He left from that outfit to Fort Dix in New Jersey (26:05) o They stayed there for around a week until they received new uniforms o From Fort Dix, they were sent to New York where they got on the Queen Lizzy [Queen Elizabeth] (26:44) § There were 17,000 men on the boat § They were headed to Europe § The trip took just under five days § They arrived in Liverpool, England (27:37) · From Liverpool they took a train to Hereford, England (27:44) · They were supposed to set up a hospital in France · Instead, they were set up in a British hospital (28:09) o He was in Hereford for a year · He never saw any air raids, but he did see bombers flying over · They received two trains of patients every week (31:25) o Not all of them were in bad shape �· · · · · · · · · · · o Soldiers were either sent back to the battlefields or to ZI (Zone Interior) (32:08) § Zone Interior soldiers were sent back to the United States The hospital in England only lost seven patients the whole year he was there (33:06) When the soldiers would go out into the cities, it became apparent what civilians wanted to talk to the American soldiers and what ones did not He was overcharged for a beer the first time he went into an English bar o The English did not like the American soldiers because they were gluttons in the bars where beer was basically rationed (36:12) On a five day vacation in London, England, he could hear the Buzz Bombs flying over (37:22) o One of the Buzz Bombs fell three blocks away After the Germans had surrendered he was waiting to get sent back to the United States (38:32) He went five weeks without a bath, shower, or a shave (38:45) o All of their stuff had been sent elsewhere and they were just waiting for transportation Most of the wounds he saw at the hospital were in the buttocks (40:06) o It is the highest point that sticks up when a soldier is laying on the ground The worst thing he saw was an 18 year old who put his helmet over top of a grenade o The grenade took both of his arms off at the elbows (41:14) Once he left England, he was sent to Fort Dix before he was sent to Fort Crowder in Missouri (42:01) o They were sent there to prepare for being shipped to the South Pacific He was at Fort Crowder when the atomic bombs were dropped in Japan (42:31) o They were there for roughly five weeks doing nothing From Fort Crowder, he was sent to Camp Atterbury in Indiana (43:15) After the Service – (43:18) · He was discharged from Camp Atterbury · He received the Good Conduct Medal (43:54) · He also received the American Theater Ribbon, European Theater Ribbon, and a Victory Medal · His discharge was officially on November 17, 1945 (45:34) · He was married just before he left for Europe · His wife went to a beautician school to be a hair dresser · His first son was born two months after he left for overseas (47:03) · When he came home, he returned to Lowell, Michigan and then lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan for some time (47:15) · When he came out of the service he worked for a manufacturing company �· · · · · o He threaded tubes After he left his job at the manufacturing company, he worked at a spring and wire company in Grand Rapids, Michigan (49:49) He then went to work with a friend that offered him a job at a service gas station o It was his friends own business o His friend offered him the business in 1957 (51:35) His gas station provided the first car wash in Lowell After he left his station, he went to work for a delivery company (55:25) He eventually had his bad eye removed (56:35) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BeimersR1415V Title A name given to the resource Beimers, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beimers, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard Beimers was born in 1920 in Lowell, Michigan and spent his early life in the Grand Rapids, Michigan. After injuring his eye as a young person, Richard received a surgery that caused him to lose sight in his right eye. He was eventually drafted into the service and sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan where he learned that he would serve as a non-combatant service man. After receiving basic training, he was sent to Fort McCoy in Wisconsin where he served as an MP Escort Guard, guarding illegal German aliens. He was then transferred to Station Hospital at Fort McCoy where he served as a guard in the contagious and woman's wards. Richard was eventually sent to Hereford, England where he served in a hospital for one year. The hospital where he worked received two trains of patients every week but he only remembers losing seven patients during his entire service. He was eventually sent back to the United States and discharged in Indiana on November 17, 1945. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Blough, Ivan (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 2004-11-18 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/56feb5cb7375baf380d4ac976840e09c.mp4 78180687d0d809cf9d08f50c64133cc3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48ab79c01b643c1a4f9aa8ade25d637b.pdf 119d723721538d8d45677a2c1074e795 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Louis Begin (00:45:06) (00:05) Introduction (00:10) Childhood and Family • • • • • • • • Born December 18, 1921 in Springdale, PA—15 miles east of Pittsburgh Was 5 ½ years old when his family moved to Detroit Spoke only Hungarian until the first grade when he learned English Father spoke no English and mother spoke just a little. Parents emigrated from Hungary to Pennsylvania where they met and got married. Parents emigrated in 1919 Father was a core maker in a glass factory in Pennsylvania, and then worked in a Steel Mill in Detroit as a core maker, and then did menial jobs after the mill closed Went to Southwestern High School Was an only child (8:10) Early Adulthood • • • • Found out about Pearl Harbor, when he was playing card with his buddies (8:10) Played the Trombone in high school, and went into the Naval Reserve Marching Band in Detroit before the war. Tried to enlist in the Navy, but was sent to the Coast Guard recruiting station instead. Enlisted in the Coast Guard (11:30) (11:30) Service • • • • • • • • Ended up on a small escort vessel. Had a crew of ten men. Helped put convoys together in the Delaware Bay. The Convoys would then proceed on to their destination. (11:40) Would sail as far as Nova Scotia escorting ships Did this task for 2 years Entered the service March 2, 1942 (13:38) Went to boot camp at Camp May, New Jersey. (14:10) Worked out of Cape May Air Station, and there were blimps stationed there. Took basic training at Coast Guard Training Station in Baltimore, MD. Was at training for several months. (14:50) Never sank or saw a submarine. Their sole job was escort. �• • • • • • Had some problems, had to get decommissioned at Philadelphia, which was up the Delaware River. They had him working at a shop in Philadelphia working on engines, due to his background in mechanic work. (17:15) Was then assigned to a Captain’s boat, which was a 6 man vessel. His job was to move the Captain around from place to place when it was called for. (18:45) Was then moved to Flint, MI to go the General Motors Institute of Technology to learn diesel engines. (21:00) He also got married while he was in the service, in February of 1943. His wife then moved to the base with him in a two bedroom apartment. He was then transferred to an assault transport in New York. On his way, his train from Detroit was passing through Canada, when the train stopped, and the people outside the train were waving newspapers that said that the Japanese had surrendered. However, the train continued on to New York. In New York, he was told that he had enough points to be discharged, so he was then shipped to a Naval Armory where he was officially discharged. (23:41) (27:00) Post-War • • • • • • • • • After discharge, went home and went to work at Consolidated Gas Company as a pipe fitter. (27:00) During the war, had a baby girl and a baby boy. Has 5 Grandchildren and 7 Great Grandchildren Daughter works at an adoption agency, and son worked at Bell Telephone. Son was paralyzed in a car accident in 1988, and is confined to a wheelchair. He worked as a Detroit Police Officer for 25 years, retired from the force in 1971. (33:40) He worked at the Gas Company for a short time, and went for the police exam. He passed the exam and began his job in inner city Detroit for 17 years. He eventually attained the rank of sergeant. He also worked for 6 years as a firearms instructor at the police academy. He also worked educating many different firearms laws. Lived on west side of Detroit in retirement. Eventually settled in Gaylord, MI. Worked as a real estate associate for a few years. Wife worked as a nurse. Became a Mason in 1950 and a Shriner later. �" " , I II , I II I\ i I I j l.J) () I S � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BeginL Title A name given to the resource Begin, Louis (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Begin, Louis Description An account of the resource Louis Begin Jr. was born to Hungarian immigrants in Pennsylvania. His family then moved to Detroit, MI after his father lost his job. He enlisted in the Coast Guard after the attack at Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned to guard ships going in and out of the Delaware River. His ship was then decommissioned, and he was forced to work as a mechanic on engines in Philadelphia. Then he was transferred to Flint, MI where he was trained to work on diesel engines. A photograph of Begin in uniform is appended to interview outline. 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. Coast Guard 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 2007-05-24 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1e357bf75a3e348dd45b36c1854408a9.mp4 9de8d771cad0d9d67f6a0e52d3fecf78 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/43f59a3b862344c44f37e1d7f30738ac.pdf c7d523302be92886bb3f07f33c81f77d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Bob Becker (48:54) Background Information (00:14) • • • • • Born in Illinois in 1944. He had 4 bothers (00:15) His father was a plant manager. His plant built tanks during World War II and for this reason he was never drafted. (00:25) Bob graduated high school and then attended North Central College in Illinois. (00:50) Bob played softball often in his teenage years. (1:26) Bob was recruited by the Air Force. He was influenced to make this decision by a softball umpire. (1:45) Overview of Service (2:00) • • • • • • • Bob went to Lackland Air Force Base for his training. (2:00) He played on the Air Force softball team while serving. (2:45) Most competitors were civilian teams. (3:14) Bob was 22 when he entered the military in 1966. (3:40) He did manage to serve on the base newspaper after mentioning that he wanted to continue with journalism. (4:25) When Bob attended the Air Force Academy after basic training he worked on the newspaper there in the Sports information department. He attended all the football games for this job. (5:00) Bob was close with his training instructor as he played alongside him in softball. (5:37) Basic Training (6:34) • • • • • • • Bob was older than most of the other men he served alongside. He did adjust to basic better than most of the other men, primarily do to the connections that he had on the softball team. (7:00) Training was disciplined and structured but not too intense. Often the man had some times at the end of each day that was free. This was used mostly for general socializing and to complete tasks like shining shoes. (8:27) The recruits often had to perform task like cut grass. (9:00) Often times the men would be ask if they played any spots when they arrived on base. If they did they would often be placed on a base team at Lackland. (10:00) For transportation the softball team had its own plane. The men traveled and competed in tournaments in an attempt to build good will with the general public. (11:49) As a result of Bob’s impressive softball performance he was picked by the Air Force Academy with 6 other recruits to play for their team. (12:51) Training lasted 12 weeks. (13:57) Service at the Air Force Academy (14:10) �• • • • • • • • • • Bob was reassigned to the base newspaper at the Academy. (14:18) Bob was very aware of all the things that were happening in the country around 1968.(16:31) The general feeling among soldiers that Bob knew was that if they were going to be involved in Vietnam they wanted to “fight it”, not go there and have their hands tied by restrictions. (17:20) While traveling around with the softball team, they rarely ran into protesters. (19:20) Bob does believe that the attempt for the military to build good will with the people through the softball team was successful. (20:23) The team had 4 African Americans and 1 Hispanic player. (22:02) Bob was very impressed with the young men that he served with in the Air Force. (23:23) While traveling with the softball team the men stayed at an Army post and where harassed a little bit by soldiers. (25:00) Bob spent more time around high ranking officers than he did around cadets like himself. (26:28) He recalls that one of the cadets at the Air Force Academy the cadets managed to take an officer’s desk and set it up on a hill outside as a prank. (28:10) Work on the Base Newspaper (29:00) • • Bob had to cover the Olympic team that trained on the base. (29:10) He considered working in public relations and serving in Vietnam. (30:49) Life after Service (31:20) • • • • • • • • • • • After returning from service Bob began working at the Beacon News in Illinois and played for a softball team. (31:20) Bob began working in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1977. (31:49) Once he was done working for the news paper he went to join the Honor Guard. (32:00) He was Sergeant in Arms for the United States Veterans Council. (33:19) Bob set up a mail call program where men received letters form civilians and school children thanking veterans for their service. (35:00) He found that the efforts that Bob took to recruit men into veterans programs often encouraged others to talk about their service. (37:33) He organized an honor flight to bring World War II veterans to Washington to see the memorial there. He recalls while visiting Baltimore, there were 150 people to greet the veterans and a military unit that stood at attention. (40:00) The men also had the chance to meet Senator Bob Dole. (41:40) Bob tried but was unsuccessful with getting a corporate sponsor. (44:35) He thinks that time has changed. He sees civilians and families of veterans often who fail to dress up for services and do not have the respect of standing for taps. This may be due to ignorance of military procedures. (45:45) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BeckerB1386V Title A name given to the resource Becker, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Becker, Robert Description An account of the resource Bob Becker, born in Illinois in 1944, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1966 during the Vietnam War. While training at Lackland Air Force Base, Bob was recruited on to the base softball team. He traveled often with the team playing in tournaments against both military and civilian teams. He was then transferred to the Air Force Academy softball team and reassigned to the base newspaper. Here he covered sports stories including Air Force football games and the training of the 1968 Olympic team. After being discharged Bob continued his career in journalism working in sport in Grand Rapids Michigan and became very involved with veterans organization. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. 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 2012-06-28 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/7ea1f487cd559642e3958c17b3609bf3.mp4 703c878ee0e4b709211271773238748a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ff3c1034cea66de9280693cd75d9d9d0.pdf 1c6b14d333a7ea7b48b11f46301ea107 PDF Text Text GrandValleyStateUniversity Veteran’s History Project Operation Enduring Freedom Eric Beard Interview Total Time:  (00:30) Born on May 8th, 1979 in LansingMichigan  (00:56) Was an athlete in high school  (1:08) Graduated from Western Michigan University o Joined military afterwards to pay for student loans and save money for graduate school  (1:25) Mr. Beard’s father served in the National Guard, also had some uncles who served  (2:00) Before that, joining the army was never something he thought about  (2:25) He was stationed in New York, there was lots of training in the woods o At the time, they didn’t know if they were going to Iraq or Afghanistan o Prepared them for both settings  (3:00) Also did training in Ft. PolkLouisiana  (3:19) Mr. Beard’s job was Forward Artillery Observer o Learned how to call for more fire  (3:44) Says that basic training did a great job at getting people in shape o Says that when you’re overseas, there is so much work to do that sometimes people don’t realize if they’re tired or hungry, etc. o Lost 20 pounds overseas  (4:15) Served at Ft. DrumNew York o It was cold there o Also did a tour in Afghanistan  (4:30) It was 2003 when Mr. Beard went to Afghanistan �o At first, it was “seek and destroy,” o Did patrols to keep the Taliban and Al Qaeda away from the villages so they could set up their own government o Took supplies to villages, paid for wells to be dug  (5:13) Went on 1-3 patrols a day o Could last an hour to three days o Remembers working 40 + hours straight o Didn’t see a lot of action o Says the Afghan people were trustworthy and nice o Some people did have ties to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and they figured this out after a while  (6:03) It was difficult to communicate with family back home when overseas o There was a small outpost on the Pakistani border o Remembers calling his fiancé at the time o Received care packages   Companies, random people and families  They couldn’t use all of it, so they gave it to local people (7:15) Had 4 days of R&R o Says that he really didn’t want to be there; wanted to be with the rest of his unit o Drank nonalcoholic beer that was brought to them o Ate a goat one day  (8:30) Became close with the men he served with o Says they were fortunate not to have anyone die in their unit o Once they went back to the states, it became hard to stay in touch  (9:09) Remembers getting chased by a herd of camels when they were in a valley  (10:30) Met Lara Logan and Geraldo Rivera o When they were taking them somewhere, they hit a land mine o The 2nd vehicle in line hit it, but it was a smaller rocket �  Tore off a wheel, tipped on the side but everyone was okay (12:27) Says an area he was in was governed by tribal people; warlords, etc. o Was hard to tell who was good or bad o They were in one of their houses one morning, they seemed to be building a good relationship w/them o Came back at dusk and the people who they had tea with in the morning ambushed them  (13:26) Went back to the base on New Year’s Eve o They went back and arrested every male in the village  (13:45) Says he didn’t care about medals, etc., was in the military for three years o The one he did keep was from Colonel Garrett, given by a team leader in the army o The team leader went back to Afghanistan in 2006 and was killed trying to save one of the guys in his unit  (14:59) It was easy to readjust to civilian life in some ways, but in others, it wasn’t o Felt invincible; got a lot of attention o Had a bit of shell shock o Felt weird not to be carrying a gun all the time o Went back to normal in 1-2 years  (16:00) Currently works for GE, who is a company that supports veterans o A few years ago he was part of a VFW � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BeardE1199V Title A name given to the resource Beard, Eric (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beard, Eric Description An account of the resource Eric Beard is from Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army after college and trained in Ft. Drum and Ft. Polk, and spent time in Ft. Drum before going overseas. He served as an E4 in Afghanistan for 10 months. He and his unit patrolled villages and made sure the Taliban and Al Qaeda did not interfere with the Afghanis setting up their own government. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Thelen, Hannah (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-05-20 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2d4da598b7b23c8222c990560dd9a94a.mp4 6d368e825cb2638e91f3a0617b695aed https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/256fa240bc64747668dd0864fcf426c2.pdf a7fd9b99c416987503583009edb60207 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Robert Bostwick (15:31) Pre War • Born on April 7, 1933 (0:20) • Born in Home Acres, MI (0:55) • Attended and graduated from [Grand Rapids] Central High School (1:00) • Was 8 when Pearl Harbor was bombed (1:20) • Drafted in 1953 (1:35) • Lived in Grand Rapids (1:50) Enlistment • Received a letter to report for a physical and induction in Fort Wayne (2:30) • From there, transported by bus to Battle Creek, MI (2:25) • Flew to Alexandria AFB in Louisiana, then bused to Camp Hope for Infantry Basic Training (2:40) • Had 16 weeks of infantry training (3:20) • Was not sent to Korea, but to Maryland (3:30) • His instructor was a SFC, and probably did not have more than a year and a half in the service (4:00) • Finished his service as a personnel management specialist at Aberdeen Proving Grounds (4:50) • First started as a clerk typist, but worked his way up to Personnel Management Specialist (5:20) • Was awarded common medals, such as the Good Conduct medal (6:40) • Kept in touch with family through letters and phone calls (7:20) • Food was really good (7:40) • Did guard duty and KP duty on a regular basis (8:20) • People entertained themselves by going off base for dinner, going to Baltimore, MD (9:15) • Went home to Grand Rapids on leave (9:20) • Got along very well with his superiors and thought highly of them (10:30) Discharge • Was at Aberdeen Proving Grounds when he was discharged from the Army (11:00) • Went back to work for the same company he worked at before he was drafted (11:30) • Had several close friends in the service (11:50) • Did not join any veterans organizations (12:30) • Became an electrician for 40 years, then retired (12:50) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bostwick, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bostwick, Robert Description An account of the resource Robert Bostwick was born on April 7th, 1933 in Home Acres, Michigan. He was drafted in to the United States Army in 1953, while the Korean conflict was occurring. While in basic training, the conflict ended, and he was shipped to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, where he was a personnel management specialist until his discharge 2 years later. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Scheelz, Joel (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army 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 Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-12-10 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BostwickR 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/ce12a6d2b9e366808a930f345315c46d.mp4 cf15302b98ec857e34859351307c0012 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/60d66b1b93d4b4a4102c8cd8ae8327a1.pdf 9414b4545aee28a43e62f353f2abda89 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview William Bos Length: 49:11 (00:15) Background Information      Bill was born in Cascade, Michigan on December 18, 1922 and went to school there through 8th grade His father was a farmer and Bill had 13 siblings His father got sick when Bill was a teenager and he had to quit going to school to help work on the farm Bill received deferment from service in WWII because he was a farmer, but all his friends were being drafted and he was feeling left out He enlisted in the Navy after his two best friends enlisted in 1944 (4:25) Training  In June of 1944 Bill was sent to Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago, Illinois for boot camp  Bill did not find training to be very hard because of his experience on the farm  He did not really get homesick and got along well through the hard physical work (7:05) New Hebrides  After training Bill was sent to New York where the men boarded a troop ship and a huge crowd of citizens saw them off  They first went through the Panama Canal and then headed towards the New Hebrides  The ship was ran by the English and the trip lasted 44 days; they ran out of food for the troops and only had bread and water for the last 12 days  There were about 3,000 men on the ship and at one point they all had dysentery  Bill began working for a Marine base in New Hebrides  He was working on the base for 3 weeks before he was called up by an officer to inquire about farming techniques on the island  Bill then had a new job working in the gardens on the island and helping the horses get exercise (14:05) Traveling in Convoy  Bill was assigned to a new ship working with a gun crew to escort other ships and look for enemy submarines  They never ran into any Japanese submarines and first traveled to Guadalcanal where they patrolled for 3 months �     In January of 1945 Bill traveled to the Philippines for the Philippine Liberation and they continued patrolling along other islands in the Pacific They continued patrolling and gathering supplies and then headed to Okinawa where they worked on shooting down enemy planes for 3 months There were many kamikaze attacks in the area and many close calls that were very scary Bill worked traveling in convoys usually with hundreds of other ships He had R & R in New Caledonia and it was excited to get some decent food (26:00) Ship Life  No one over 35 years of age was allowed to work on the ship because it was felt they could not handle the hard work  Some men were on the same ship for 18 months before they were allowed to have a break  While traveling through the Pacific Bill was caught in 3 different typhoons; those were the only times that he was really scared and truly thought he was going to die  They ate tons of spaghetti, played cards, and sometimes were able to watch movies  They did not often have free time and there was always something going on in the ship to keep them busy  Sometimes when they stopped on various islands they had time to play sports and go swimming  All the men got along well and Bill made a few good friends that he still keeps in touch with (38:45) End of Service  While traveling through the Pacific Bill never really received any news regarding the progress of the war  He was in Guam when he did finally hear the news of the end of the war and later that night there were many fireworks  Bill was discharged in April of 1946 � 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 Bos, William (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bos, William Description An account of the resource William Bos was born in Cascade, Michigan on December 18, 1922 and went to school there through 8th grade. He had to quit school early to work on his father's farm when his father got sick and later received deferments from serving in WWII because he was a farmer. Bill grew anxious while his friends were being drafted and enlisted and decided to enlist in the Navy in June of 1944. After basic training, he was sent to the Pacific and endured a very long and difficult voyage to the New Hebrides, where he worked for several months on a Marine base and helped set up farms there. Late in the year, he was assigned as an anti-aircraft gunner on an escort ship and sailed to Guadalcanal, the Philippines and Okinawa, where he witnessed many kamikaze attacks. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Moore, Debra (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 2008-12-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BosW 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/3a46a590e2738401fc66fe44ecbacc4f.mp4 9a57470f2865a9994dbc09be878ae66a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d7732fe864918d92d89045ecc9a33b7.pdf 6fca0abdf96a5f32f7af2f6491f31488 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Interviewee’s Name: Joseph Borst Name of War: World War II Length of Interview: (00:12:04) (00:10) Background Information        Joseph was a sergeant in the United States Army during World War Two After high school he had been working in a bakery before he was drafted into the Army Training was not too hard on Joseph, but it was difficult for him to adjust to military life After training he was sent to Europe where he fought in France, Germany, and Luxembourg Joseph did not like fighting in Europe and felt that no human being should go through any war; it was very depressing There were bodies everywhere and it took a lot of willpower to not go crazy Joseph spent about 6 months fighting in Europe (4:10) Military Life  Joseph was in charge of two machine gun crews and they both showed him a lot of respect and followed orders well  He did not have much time to write letters and would have liked to receive more mail  He was in Luxembourg when the war ended and was then sent back to Grand Rapids, Michigan that December  It was very hard for him to re-adjust to civilian life and his wife later left him because he had become such a different person while in the war (7:50) After Service  When Joseph returned to the United States they landed in Virginia and there were many people there to greet the troops; it was the happiest day of his life  It took Joseph 10 years to adjust and get back to normal  He feels terrible for all the men that died in Europe that were not allowed to return 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 Borst, Joseph L. (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Borst, Joseph L. Description An account of the resource Joseph Borst was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He was sent to Europe after going through training and fought in France, Germany, and Luxembourg. Joseph spent about 6 months in Europe and had two different machine gun crews working under him. He did not enjoy fighting in Europe and had a difficult time working there. After the war Joseph returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan and it took him about 10 years to re-adjust to civilian life. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Van Dommelen, Kyle (Interviewer) Kelloggsville High School (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BorstJ 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/aa2f94fc02164710db46b97d48cfd191.mp4 c949f5637086a15f8599867d056fa302 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e41976f9e0c8cb07461c57b0518744e7.pdf d086562a2140f1bf42eb594e536cb600 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Eugene Borek Total Time – (01:26:41) Background      He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on January 27, 1925 (00:27) His parents were Polish immigrants His father was a farmer until they lost their farms in the Great Depression (00:51) o His father ended up as a carpenter – he worked in the furniture factory o His mother would clean offices (01:14)  There were five children in the family that she had to work to help support (01:19) He attended a parochial school – St. Adalbert until the ninth grade (01:28) o After St. Adalbert, he went to Davis Tech. (01:48) At Davis Tech. he studied machine shop Recruitment/Training – (02:00)      When he was in the eleventh grade, he was walking home and stopped in a recruiting station (02:15) o The recruiter asked him how old he was. When he said he had just turned 18, the recruiter showed him where to sign He signed with the recruiter in 1943 (02:47) He remembers hearing of Pearl Harbor when he was roller skating at the park (02:59) Before Pearl Harbor, he knew of the war in Europe because of his family that lived in Poland (03:45) o The Germans attacked his family – his cousin was captured in Warsaw, Poland  He was a POW for seven years (04:02) o He felt a familial responsibility to do something in the war effort o At one point he told his mother that he was going to join the Polish Army (04:13)  His mother told him, “No” (04:25) After he processed in Battle Creek, Michigan, he was sent by train to Camp Grant, Illinois for Basic Training (04:47) �             From Camp Grant, he was sent to the 78th Division at Camp Butner, North Carolina (05:15) o He spent roughly one year at Camp Butner Camp Butner was a tobacco plantation at one time (05:43) o It was a nice camp and a good division There were southern Sergeants and the new recruits were all Yankees (06:06) o The soldiers were given “certain chores” Training was very interesting and he enjoyed what he was doing (07:05) He was in Company Headquarters for some time – when he was with them they were in maneuvers in the Smoky Mountains He learned how to take care of himself in training (08:32) He knew after training that he was going to be in the mortar division Part of his training was learning how to run with the supplies, living in the mountains, etc. (09:16) o He believed that he was supposed to be going to the Pacific  He heard that MacArthur did not like the 5th Army – that was why they did not go to the Pacific (09:30) When he went on furlough and came back, he found out that he was in another division headed to Europe (10:04) During Basic Training he was able to go Durham, North Carolina and other areas where larger universities were (10:50) When he was at Camp Butner, he learned how to dig a lot of holes (12:00) o They thought it was pointless, but when they got to Europe they realized how important they were When he joined the 83rd Division, he was just another soldier in the E Company in Mortar Section (12:32) o The 83rd Division was short people when they got to Fort Pickett, Virginia (12:52)  The 78th had to be broken up He was happy going to Europe instead of the Pacific Active Duty – Part I – Carentan & Hedgerows – (13:17)   The trip to Europe was on a cruise ship (13:22) o He had to sleep in a hammock that was hung in the dining room (13:43) o The trip took 17 days o They were in a 100 ship convoy (14:03) o The trip was in April of 1944 o The weather was rough the entire time (14:42) o The food on the ship was terrible (15:15) o He preferred to spend his time up on the deck (15:40) When he got to Europe, he landed in Liverpool, England (15:51) o It was completely dark in Liverpool when they arrived o They were fed when they first arrived �             From Liverpool he was sent to Wrexham, Wales (16:57) o General Patton was in Wrexham, Wales with the 3rd Army (17:05) The soldiers did not dare walking out of their tents without having their gear on Close to the invasion of Normandy, France, he was reassigned to the 1st Army with General Omar Bradley (17:42) o He remembers watching the airplanes flying overhead just before the invasion He was then sent on a train from Wrexham, Wales to Portsmouth, England (18:20) o They traveled on a boat that held the entire Company o On their route to the mainland, they had to turn around and go back because of weather o They then boarded LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) (19:12) They landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France (20:04) o They landed in the latter part of June, 1944 The job of his division was to fight there way through to Carentan, France (21:02) o Carentan had already been taken by the American forces He spent some time in Carentan (21:49) There were a lot of paratroopers that were scattered around because they had been dropped in the wrong places He can remember one spot where they were cleaning out houses – two men would go in to clear a house – one would go upstairs and the other would go downstairs (22:52) o He would often go downstairs where there was no light (22:58)  He would have to go and feel around  It was scary, but it had to be done (23:38) They would sometimes wonder why they were sticking around in that area (25:31) o He was not simply clearing out rear areas, but they are also trying to move forward The hedgerows were terrible because soldiers never knew what to expect (25:56) o At one time, after they had just gotten new recruits, a new guy threw a hand grenade over the hedgerow – the grenade came flying back at them  They all hit the ground – the Sergeant told the new recruit to hold the grenade for three seconds after pulling the pin, then throw it (26:21) o The hedgerows were typically chest high  They varied based on the farmer (27:04) o The Americans lost more people in the hedgerow fighting than anywhere else (27:45) The Germans defended the hedgerows by using rifles, screaming mimi’s [Nebelwerfer rocket launchers], and other artillery and weapons (28:35) Fighting made the soldiers feel like they were not simply friends, but brothers (28:50) o Every time a soldier was killed, they not only lost a friend but they also lost someone to help them (29:11) �     For the majority of the time, he stayed fighting in the same place and did not advance much farther or capture any territory o He remembers looking at a map at one point that showed one of their objectives to be Saint-Lo, France (29:50) o The infantry was making a push to the peninsula so that they would have open country ahead of them They occasionally encountered German tanks (30:39) o There was often not enough room for the German tanks to pass o The tanks' turrents did not traverse like the American tanks (30:50) At one point he looked down the barrel of a German tank (31:22) o He was ordered to take a look around the corner and he saw the tank When they were in the bocage country, they slept outdoors (32:13) o He had very little sleep while he was there o At Camp Butner he learned that he should not sleep a lot (32:31) There were planes that would come through and try to drop bombs on them o When a scouting plane flew over them, a new guy shot at him and gave away their positioning (34:07) Active Duty – Part II – First Injury/Problems With the Sergeant – (34:29)      The day he got wounded was the day that they were making a big push to get to [out of?] the Cotentin Peninsula (34:36) o They were all ready with their ammo and guns when the Sergeant told them to go back and get some more o The Sergeant said it was time for him to go in front since others had gone in front before (35:17) o When they were running through a field, he was the last one to run – he was halfway through the field when he was shot o The bullet must have been an armor-piercing bullet instead of lead (36:12)  The bullet missed his spine by a quarter of an inch (36:24)  It missed his heart by an inch and a half  He felt like he hit a wall He yelled for a medic when he was down o He pulled out his micro-morphine shot (37:02) o He took seven sulfa pills without water (37:20) When he was picked up by the medics, the German took another shot at him and it grazed the front of his jacket o The medics dropped him and he hit the ground (37:50) When he go to the hedgerow he was put on a jeep and taken back to Omaha Beach o He had to go cross-country because the roads would have taken too long (38:37) When he arrived at Omaha Beach, the medics were great o He laid next to a tanker that was on his twelfth pint of blood (38:54) o The nurses were great – they were always there for him �               o The girls were just like infantry soldiers – the nurses deserve a lot of honor for their service (39:14) He was then put on an LST (Landing Ship, Tank) and tied down He ended up in a hospital in Birmingham, England (39:50) He was taken in very quickly and lined up like a food line He spent roughly one month in a bed (40:54) There was one nurse that he did not like and he would try to avoid her by hiding underneath his bed (41:23) He was one of the first people in the Army to receive penicillin (41:52) o It was always cold because it had to be stored in the refrigerator When a new doctor looked at his records, he said some smart remark and told him that he was going back to war (42:50) o His wound was still not healed When he was discharged out of the hospital, he was taken on a train to Le Havre, France (43:44) o Every time they stopped he had to have his bandage replaced He was expecting to go back to the 83rd Division (44:15) o He did not know where they were The train would only go as far as Aachen, Germany and he would have find his own way from there (44:25) o The Hitler Highway went from Aachen to Berlin (44:41) Once he got to Aachen, he went to a replacement depot that told him he was not going back to the 83rd Division o He said that he did not want to go to any other division, he wanted to be back with the 83rd (45:18) o They told him that he was going to go with another outfit and be squad leaders  They were squad leaders without rank (45:35)  He was never given the rank o The Sergeant that was in charge of him was “a horse's behind” (45:57)  They did not like one another  The Sergeant was killing people because of his stupidity (46:05) o His men liked Borekbecause he did not ask them to do anything he would not do himself They went on one mission where he and the Sergeant split – they ended up back together and he had all of his men while the Sergeant had only half of his men left (46:52) o The Sergeant was upset and reported him – he was taken off of squad leader and put in the Sergeants squad There were a lot of instances where new men would get others killed for unnecessary reasons (48:20) At one time the Sergeant decided that they were going to march down the railroad tracks that had banks on each side (49:01) o He told the Sergeant that the enemy was going to kill them He joined the 104th Infantry Division in September of 1944 (50:20) �  In November of 1944 he was not in an area with a lot of fire o There was a lot of fighting during this time in the Hurtgen Forest (51:02) o They got out of Hurtgen Forest as quick as they could He had three brothers in the service – he saw his brother Vic while he was in the field (51:36) o They were going to celebrate Christmas together (51:50) o When the Battle of the Bulge came, his brother had to go because he was in a tank destroyer unit that was being sent to help stop the attack (52:19) Active Duty – Part III – Second Injury/Remaining Military Service – (52:31)       The soldiers used to wade in the Ruhr [Roer?] River to check out the German movements When they got ready to move forward, the Germans blew up the dams and significantly raised the water level of the river (52:45) o The Navy then came in with their big boats – they ended up paddling across the river Once they crossed they went forward and took a town o They set up on the main road going into the town (53:34)  He was in the forward position  The infantry was ahead of everyone else (54:09) o He was wounded in the attack, roughly an hour and a half after the battle started (55:11)  Once it got dark that night, he was taken out and put on an ambulance o The men were in a butcher shop (55:52)  He was wounded when a shell hit the building – the ceiling came down and everything collapsed  He was hit with shrapnel all over his body (56:26)  His face is still loaded with it  “He keeps it for souvenirs”  One of his friends was hit as well  He had four kids at home (57:14)  He does not remember much of what happened after he was hit (58:26)  All he knows is that he was on an ambulance, headed for a train The train ride after he was injured took him a couple of days to go from Germany to Paris (59:34) When he arrived in Paris, he was sent to a hospital in Fontainebleau, France (01:00:00) o He was there for roughly two months (01:00:10) o His older brother was stationed in Paris  His brother came to see him in the hospital (01:00:38) The treatment in Paris was very good (01:01:13) �             o The doctors were great as well While he was in the hospital in Paris he was not allowed to move around in the hospital at all (01:02:04) o He could not get a shoe on because he had shrapnel in his ankle There was one doctor that got a bunch of the soldiers together and told them that if they get home, remember one thing: “talk about everything that you saw and had happened to you. Don’t let it eat you.” (01:03:13) o He always talked to his boys and girls about his experiences o One person told him that he did not think that he was actually in the war because he described everything so positively (01:04:29)  He told the man that he was there – that is why it is so positive After he was able to walk, they would go out to the Red Cross and go into Paris (01:05:36) After he was released from the hospital he was getting ready to go back to the 104th when a Captain told him that he had been wounded too many times o He was given the option of going back to the field or not (01:06:53) o The Captain told him that he was done He was then put in the Military Police (01:07:27) o He spent his time chasing G.I.’s “that were naughty” o He was able to travel around France a lot o At one point he was in the Vosges Mountains, he saw castles built in the mountains, etc. (01:07:55) o He went wherever he was needed o He never had to go back to any parts that he was wounded in (01:08:26) o He spent time in Luxemburg, Belgium, and many other places He spent a lot of time directing traffic and being on cathouse duty (01:09:27) He was in about four or five different MP outfits o A Captain told him that he would not go home until the war ended (01:10:16)  He told them that they were renowned infantrymen He spent a lot of time in Strasbourg, France o Strasbourg was on the border with Germany (01:10:53) o The German flag was out when the Germans were there and then the French or American flag went up whenever they were there (01:11:02) Switzerland was a leave center and the soldiers had to go through Strasbourg There were a lot of Muslim, African soldiers [serving in the French army] stationed around there (01:11:45) o They had a lot of problems with them There were Americans that would try to cheat Muslims out of their money (01:13:02) o They would sell them a carton of cigarettes with a block of wood in it There was one story that was told by a French Foreign Legion Officer of a time when four Muslims snuck up and cut off the heads of thirty German soldiers (01:13:48) The French people, after the war, were very happy o He was able to make friends with some of them (01:14:38) �     o They would sometimes give the French people some of their food A lot of people in France had no use for the people in Paris (01:15:13) o A lot of the people in Paris spoke English (01:15:28) The Rhine River was a bad spot for the Americans to operate in He remembers there being a lot of people that were forced labor workers o They would always go to the military police and ask for directions (01:16:30) o In one area he served as a Polish interpreter  He had gone to a Polish school and learned the language there – he is also Polish (01:17:29) At this point he still did not know much of what was happening in Poland His cousin was a POW in Germany for seven years – he was captured in 1939 (01:18:32) Leaving Europe/After the Service – (01:18:50)         Going home, he left from an airport just outside of Marseilles, France (01:19:09) o He went home on a boat in December of 1945 o He was on a Kaiser Liberty Ship (01:19:50)  There were 2,000 soldiers aboard o They landed in January in Newport News, Virginia (01:20:42) He left Newport News and went to Camp Atterbury, Indiana o At Camp Atterbury he got a ticket home  He was 20 years old when he went home (01:21:28) He got married in September of 1946 When he got back, he worked in a factory building door panels He then switched careers and worked in a tool and die shop (01:22:07) He eventually got into show business o They ran nitrate film (01:23:03) o He was the business agent for the local union He met Lena Horne through working in show business (01:24:18) o He also met Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, and many others When he went into the military he was a kid, when he came out, he was a man (01:25:28) o The service prepared him for future jobs  He was capable of making important decisions � 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 Borek, Eugene (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Borek, Eugene Description An account of the resource Eugene Borek was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925. He enlisted in the Army shortly after turning eighteen, and trained with the 78th Division at Camp Butner, North Carolina, until his unit was broken up and he was assigned to the 83rd Division. He sailed to England in April, 1944, and landed in Normandy in late June. He fought in the battles near St. Lo until he was wounded and sent to England. He was then sent as a replacement to the 104th Division in September, and fought near Aachen, in the Hurtgen Forest and western Germany until he was wounded again in early 1945. After that, he was assigned to a military police unit based in Strasbourg until he was sent home late in 1945. 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 United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-05-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BorekE1111V 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/8a83b985a92f7fdf28350f44992d11ea.mp4 1867053afab357a25883e13b90b20a0b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fade5a4b3fd1447564aadb4f16f2debf.pdf 4cfd55cee8a97f528eaead39497a9564 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Interviewee’s Name: Mike Borah Name of War: Vietnam War Length: (00:44:35) (00:00) Background Information    Mike Borah was a sergeant in the Vietnam War and served there from 1969-70 in the central highlands Mike worked in heavy weapons infantry, working with basically anything that someone could carry on their back, such as M-16s, shot guns, 12 gauges, 45 calibers and pistols He also worked with a mortar platoon that was heavily camouflaged (1:55) Living Conditions  The conditions in Vietnam were horrible and they had to sleep outside every night in the bush  They were not able to sleep in sleeping backs because they were outside for the “element of surprise” and the bags made too much noise  They got up early every day and their squad leaders met with the captain of the company  They then received their orders to move to a certain location, set up ambushes on the way and sent out patrols  A good day was coming off a mission from being out in the bush from anywhere from a week to a month  It was very hot weather, like stepping into hell when they got off the plane  It was always well over 100 degrees with terrible humidity that was unbearable and many men got heat stroke (7:25) Leaving Vietnam  Everyone was always excited to go home as soon as possible and keeping track of their time left on the calendar  Mike could not wait to go home and everyone else hated being in Vietnam also  It was very hard to leave through because he knew he would be leaving some men that would never make it home  No one was aware of all the negative feelings American citizens were harboring for the troops and it was a complete surprise coming home  Mike was spit on when he returned and refused from many bars, called names (14:00) Bad Conditions �      Mike was in the First Air Cavalry Division working on combat assaults and often getting rides on helicopters They usually walked 1-3 miles a day through swamps and rivers Mike thought the medevac workers they worked with were amazing and always there to help no matter how terrible the conditions were They always put their life on the line and the men really looked up to them While in Vietnam Mike missed bullets going through his backpack, the heels of his boots, but did catch malaria twice He was often near the spraying of Agent Orange, but has not experienced any side effects (26:00) Changing of America  Mike feels that the US government has gotten weaker and would have never been afraid to torture terrorists 40 years ago  He feels that there is not more pride or patriotism and the country is headed in the wrong directions, though it is neither the fault of Republicans nor Democrats  More and more freedom is being taken away from Americans and they are losing more rights every day (31:15) Working in Vietnam  The conflict in Vietnam was not declared an actual war for a long time, even after Americans were stationed there  Some areas of the country where Americans were stationed were not even paying combat pay  While in Vietnam the men were never harassed by Officers they way they were in the US  He was often on guard duty for 2 hours a night and then went to sleep  Mike enjoyed receiving letters from home and cherished the packages he received from his mother (39:10) Looking Back  Mike had enlisted in the Army with the hopes of getting into something better then the infantry  He ended up much worse, with heavy weapons infantry  Mike really enjoyed being in the Army, but did not enjoy his time in Vietnam  After working in Vietnam he was sent to Fort Hood, Texas and many tried to convince him to re-enlist  Mike was interested in continuing with the Army, but was told that if he did re-enlist he would be sent back to Vietnam right away, so he chose not to do so � 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 Borah, Mike (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Borah, Mike Description An account of the resource Mike Borah served as a sergeant in the US Army during the war in Vietnam from 1969 through 1970. He enlisted in the US Army with the hopes of getting a better assignment than he would get if he waited to be drafted, but things did not work out that way, and he spent his year in Vietnam with a weapons company in the First Cavalry Division and spent a lot of time in combat in the jungle. Mike enjoyed working in the US Army, but really hated his time in Vietnam and was even more displeased with the welcome he received from US citizens when he returned from the war. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Allen, Mark (Interviewer) Kelloggsville High School (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BorahM 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/25f41aa2f3509aca711ad09734d2e734.mp4 dd9a743384bcbf98296b40a63f282072 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8cfc74728fcac15f447fe14c6303a9bf.pdf 39ff3485b8cdf32178db8115ce8c8e31 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Lyle Edward Booth (00:20:20) (0:53) The draft • Just turned 18 and then drafted into the Army • Left hometown of Onaway, MI for Detroit where passed a physical and was inducted into the Army on April 10, 1945 • From Detroit went to Fort Sheridan, IL where received gear o There for 7 days • Went to a fort in Texas for infantry training o Learned to fire an M-16 [M-1] rifle • Went to Fort McClellan, AL o Trained in Heavy Weapons Field Artillery ƒ 105- Howitzer, known as “the big guns” ƒ Here for a few weeks and then had a 10 day leave home (3:12) Politics • Shortly after back from leave, FDR died and Truman became president o Authorized the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki o Signed peace treaty on a ship in Yokohama (4:10) October 1945 • Booth and men sent to Japan • 3,300 men sailed from California for 21 days to get to Yokohama harbor, Japan • Arrived in Yokohama on October 31, 1945 • Involved in police action o Main objective was to gather up all unused ammunition, guns, air planes, and other war materials and destroy them (4:44) November 1945 • Booth traveled to Hiroshima to see the aftermath of the atomic bomb o “something to see” o As far as the eye could see in every direction was rubble with an occasional tree stump or smokestack o Vast destruction (6:10) 77th Artillery Division • Went to Sapporo, Japan • Joined up with the 77th Artillery Division, who had been fighting in the Philippines o Those men shared many stories • Spring 1946, 77th Artillery Division was disbanded; men with enough points could go home o Booth did not have enough points so he had to stay • Went to Kyushu for rest and relaxation (7:12) Military police duty �• Given the choice to either join the Air Force or the 1st Cavalry Division o To join the Air Force, need to complete 50 jumps from a plane ƒ Booth did not want to do that so joined the 1st Cavalry Division • Went to Tokyo for military police duty o Spent the rest of time in service doing police action, road checkpoints, and inspections (8:14) Home • Went from California to Fort Sheridan, IL, where Booth was discharged • Spent a total of 2 years in the service (8:39) Opinions on the atomic bomb • By authorizing the atomic bombs, believes Truman saved his life o Strongly believes that he would not be here today at 80 years old had it not been for the atomic bomb • When see people today holding demonstrations about the innocent lives lost at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Booth wants to say that he was an innocent person too and didn’t want to go yet either. • Felt the atomic bomb was an answer to a prayer (9:58) More about being drafted • When 18, had to register • If physically fit, got a greeting from the government (10:46) Most memorable moment while in Japan • Destruction saw at Hiroshima and the people o The people of Japan were so poor – they literally had nothing o The cities were bombed out so badly; there was no food o Terrible to see the extreme poverty o Many times, would see old Japanese men with coffee cans standing at the end of the chow lines in the mess hall. Usually when soldiers finish a meal, they scrape the left over food from their mess tin into a barrel and then rinse the tin in another barrel of hot soapy water. Instead of scraping it into the barrel, the old men would stand there with their coffee cans and soldiers would scrape their leftovers into the coffee cans. When the cans were full, the old men would run off, bringing the food to their families. (12:57) Japanese reaction to American troops after the war • Welcomed Americans with open arms • A majority of Japanese people didn’t want a war any more than America did (13:35) Homecoming • Felt served country well • Very welcomed and well received, even upon returning a year and half after the war had ended • A band was playing the soldiers off the ship when they arrived in California • Men in uniform were always sent to the front of lines and treated with great respect (14:44) Boot camp • Did a lot of training with M-16 [M-1] rifles o Fields, woods, day and night, for many days at a time �o First experience crawling with backpack and rifle through field happened while shooting over them with big guns ƒ Guns sounded like rattling a brown paper bag ƒ Machine guns used tracer bullets where came awfully close to the soldiers • Field artillery training meant working with the big guns o Shells 6 inches in diameter (17:37) Japan • Felt safe when there • One of first groups there after the war • No casualties in unit (18:22) Other family members who served • Older brother, Harvey o 2 years older o Served in the European Theatre ƒ Was in the Battle of the Bulge ƒ Served under General Patton and General Eisenhower o Booth and Harvey wrote back and forth during the war o After the war, they would swap/compare stories ƒ Harvey received the Purple Heart and had shrapnel in his shoulder until the day he died ���������� 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 Booth, Lyle Edward (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Booth, Lyle Edward Description An account of the resource Lyle Edward Booth is a WWII Veteran who served in the United States Army from April 10, 1945 to March 30, 1946 in Yokohama, Japan. Although he was stationed in Japan after the end of the war, Booth's experience gives a clear description of the immense poverty and destruction present in Japan by 1945. In November 1945, Booth saw first-hand the aftermath of Hiroshima, which he describes in this interview. Booth shares how older Japanese men had resorted to standing at the end of the soldier's chow lines, quietly begging for scrapes. This interview captures not only the daily struggles facing the American soldiers serving in Japan but also that of the Japanese civilians. Photographs appended to interview outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Booth, Kelsey (Interviewer) Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans 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 2007-05-31 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoothL 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/3ca49895acfbc87124d8270a6723137b.mp4 cbf737c7d1efcbfc593b65b8f53b08bd https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/56f869786401b0f75a5e618c79dcd07f.pdf adc181c2ad604f4c34517dcb77f651c4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Interviewee’s Name: Robert Bonner Name of War: Vietnam War Length of Interview: (00:27:42) (00:10) Background Information        Robert was born on December 29, 1950 and was in the Navy during the war in Vietnam Robert grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan His father worked a couple of different jobs and his mother stayed at home Robert had 2 uncles that had fought in the Korean War whom he admired and influenced his decision to enlist in the Navy When he was younger he was interested in rockets and jets; he sent the Air Force many letters requesting pictures and diagrams and they always replied to him Robert spent 3 years in Army ROTC while in high school and was also in boy scouts when he was younger While in ROTC Robert learned about weapons and uniforms and did very well (3:25) Training  Robert turned 18 in 1968 and then went to a Air Force recruiting center, but the men in the office seemed lazy and he did not like them  He then went to a Navy center and liked the men there and decided to enlist in the Navy  In April of 1969 Robert was sent to Detroit for physicals and then was sent to Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago  Training was not hard for him because of his ROTC experience; he made company commander right away  2 weeks into training Robert was promoted to be a drill instructor to teach other commanders  Because of his promotion Robert was able to avoid a lot of hard physical training  He was later moved to the Naval Training Academy in Chicago to train to be a Navy engine man and spent another 20 weeks training  Robert really enjoyed training in Chicago (8:00) Philippines  After training in Chicago Robert was sent to the Philippines where he worked at the Subic Bay Naval Station  He was assigned to a service craft and worked with a harbor tug  It was during the height of the Vietnam war and they were busy 24/7 in the bay pushing ships in and out and transferring barges �  It was very hard physical work, but also fun working with the large aircraft carriers and barges Robert worked on the boat during 3 different typhoons and thought it was thrilling (9:40) San Diego  Robert was transferred to work at an amphibious base in California and began working for Boat Support Unit 1  Robert drove and maintained boats for the Navy Seals  They were all very high tech boats and Robert spent most of his time on the water  Robert later took a boat and group of Seals to Okinawa and he was stationed there for a few months working on boats  He was then sent to the Philippines again where he worked for 13 months training locals (12:05) Men in Service  Robert made a few good friends in Chicago who worked at other bases with him  He had a good friend in San Diego and they later moved into an apartment off base  Robert had made the rank of E5 and he was making more money (14:30) Motorcycle  Robert bought a motorcycle while in the Philippines, a large Honda 750 and he spent a lot of time riding it  The area of the base had a lot of mountains and nice scenery; he enjoyed riding the bike around the area  Robert had a lot of adventures with the motorcycle, but he eventually crashed the bike  He got it fixed for a very low price and then brought the bike back to California  Robert took many trips while in California to the zoo, Las Angeles, different hotels and beaches (17:00) End of Service  Robert shipped his motorcycle back to Michigan and cleaned out his apartment before he moved back  He was discharged on March 3, 1973 and had a fun goodbye party in California  Robert took a plane to Michigan and had plans to do more traveling on his bike across the country  His mom met him at the airport and said she already had a good job lined up for him, so he decided not to do any traveling  Robert had never liked repairing boats and getting dirty all the time  He had taken tests that suggested repairing boats would be a good job for him; they also recommended that he work as an interpreter or in communications �(23:01) Civilian Life  It was hard for Robert to re-adjust to civilian life without ranking status and paying for things again  He eventually angered his parents and had to move out on his own  Robert was no longer allowed to travel and was stuck in a boring job so he decided to go back to college � 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 Bonner, Robert Allen (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bonner, Robert Allen Description An account of the resource Robert Bonner was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 29, 1950 and enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18. He did well in basic training thanks to his ROTC experience, and then trained to service engines. He served at bases in California, the Philippines and Okinawa, repairing aircraft carriers, barges, tugs and other naval craft. He also worked in an amphibious base in San Diego before he was discharged in March of 1973. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Bonner, Alexander (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BonnerR 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/4bf5f1dec2acf9c0363078c4f7c684e1.mp4 af1f8c387173008f47768a8a77b4847a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f678926067e4b7b2f204c009adf84e85.pdf e51f8e9fadb6c8d523f847efab498fde PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Richard Bonge (1:05:24) Introduction (00:22)               Richard was born in Holland, Michigan on August 21, 1917. His father worked at a shoe factory for 16 years, once his health began to deteriorate he had to quit and buy a farm. The family moved to the farm in 1926. Richard lived at this farm until he left for the war in 1942. During the depression, it was “hard scratching” but they got by. Their farm was 40 acres, with 2 horses that both were killed in a barn fire along with five or six heads of cattle and a few pigs. The barn was a total loss. To make ends meet, Richard’s father worked a second job unloading coal from a train for 12-14 cents a ton. Richard was never able to finish high school; he made it through the first half of tenth grade. (2:36) During high school, Richard heard a state trooper speak, inspiring him to become a police officer, but because he didn’t have a high school diploma he was ineligible to be a state trooper. Instead he became the local constable in the township that he lived when he was 21 years old. Along with being the constable, he was also helping on the family farm. (4:35) He bought a used John Deere tractor, which he used to work on his families farm and also did custom work with it. Eventually making enough to buy rubber wheels to replace the original steel ones that came with it. Richard heard about Pearl Harbor being attacked the night of December 7th while listening to the radio. He immediately thought he would be drafted. His mother told him he wouldn’t because he had asthma. (5:48) Richard met Ruth in 1938, she lived in Chicago. She was 18 or 19 and he was 20 or 21. After dating for awhile, they were engaged in 1942. The schools taught current events, so people were caught up on Hitler and what was happening in Europe. (7:50) He was drafted in May 1942. Upon receiving his draft notice, he didn’t enlist, and instead let God have his way. Training (9:00)    After being drafted, Richard was sent to St. Louis, Missouri to Jefferson Barracks, he was there for three weeks. He was then shipped out to Lincoln, Nebraska. Before leaving Michigan, he was sent to Fort Custer. �              At Jefferson Barracks, he had to perform physical testing, written testing, general background knowledge, and he was sent to the rifle range for one day. He had fired a gun before, but never a high powered rifle like in the military. (10:36) While Richard was shooting, an officer that was standing behind him watched him fire several shots then told him “Damn good shooting, soldier”. In Lincoln he attended the Airplane Mechanics School. He was in the first class that was conducted at the base. He learned the basics of every aircraft. This school lasted seven weeks. Upon completion of this basic course, he was transferred to Chanute Field in Illinois to choose a specialty field, which was propellers. (12:09) He had four schools to choose from at the time: Power Plants, Propellers, Instruments and Parachute Rigging. Chanute Field was located 100 miles south of Chicago. Discipline and drill were not strictly enforced during this time. (14:13) The first instructor he had there would often say “Let’s don’t be for doing that”. All the instructors were military, not civilians. He was working on the propeller mechanisms, which can change the pitch of the aircraft. (16:11) While in Brazil, he witnessed a plane that had its propeller shatter on the runway. At Chanute Field, about 2,000 permanent personnel were stationed on the base. Bombers and transport planes would often fly into the base. (18:00) Richard was at Chanute Field for four weeks. While there he caught pneumonia, and he spent five weeks in the hospital. Once he had recovered, he had to finish his last two weeks of school. First Unit (19:00)      After he graduated from propeller school, he was sent to Love Field in Dallas, Texas. He was assigned to the 5th Ferries Command to the 62nd Ferry Squadron. They began transporting their aircraft to England. When he arrived at Love Field, he was placed on a detached service to the guard squadron. After two weeks he was sent to Florida where he learned that he had been transferred to the Corps of Military Police. They remained in Boca Raton for a month training. (21:00) Richard was then transferred again to the 1208th Military Police Company in New Orleans. After one week, the first Friday night after Easter in 1943, he boarded an old troop carrier that belonged to the United Fruit Company named The Algonquin. One of the sergeants in his company told him that he was sent to France during World War I on that same boat. They were sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They sat in the harbor for six days, and they were not allowed to leave the boat. The men would amuse themselves by throwing quarters over the side of the boat and watched as local children would dive down and bring up the coins in their teeth. (23:10) �     The ship then brought them to Trinidad, where they remained for a month. At Fort Reed, which was located inland, the men conducted training there in close-order drill, mechanics of arrest, and whatever the officers could think of to keep the men busy. Once his unit had received other orders, they boarded a much larger ship, the General Clem. Clem was a Michigan volunteer who rose to the ranks of General in the Civil War. Richard claims that Clem wanted to reenlist for World War II, but was told he was too old. [John Lincoln Clem died in San Antonio, Texas in 1937 at the age of 86] (25:05) His ship sailed in a convoy that consisted of around 15 to 20 ships. Once they had a U-Boat scare when one of the ships began dropping depth charges. He never knew if they got it or not. They were on the first ship for 21 days, and 14 days on the second. Natal, Brazil (26:48)                 They were sent to Natal, Brazil which was the home of an Air Transport Command Base that was in the early stages of being built. (27:08) The base was about five or six miles outside the city limits. The military sharpened tree saplings, which was supposed to be a defense against parachuting Germans who might try to attack the base. Two runways were also being built there, each a mile long in the form of an X. Natal was used to ship supplies all over the world, to such places as Europe, North Africa, India, China and Burma. (29:20) Surrounding Natal, the area was very poorly with some people earning 15 cents a day. Richard was earning $50 a day, once a month. (31:05) Shortly after being in Brazil, Richard was promoted to Staff Sergeant and was commander of the guard. At the base, the MP’s were in charge of security, with one company designated for town patrol, which would keep order in the nearby town amongst the men who were there on leave. Natal was a very poor town that only offered whorehouses and beer establishments for the men stationed there. (33:18) A USO was built later, but he rarely went there. Richard was never on town patrol, until the last three months he was in Brazil. He was sent to a different base where he was in charge of town patrol. He had to work from noon till around 11pm. The town was Sao Luis, close to the Amazon. This base also had Blimp Duty for one week at a time. The landing crew had to assist in helping the blimp land. Richard was in charge of getting the crew to and from the landing zone. (36:12) In Natal, security risks ranged from men jumping the fence and going to unauthorized villages, getting killed or contracting a venereal disease. Once he found the Navy Base Commanders [?] and tried to arrest them, one of the men ran, Richard ordered the man to halt and then fired a shot and the man hit the ground. Thinking that he hit the man, he asked where he had been shot. The man replied that he hadn’t, rather he had tripped and fallen over a barbed wire fence. (39:38) The man was later found guilty and was sentenced to ten days for resisting arrest and assaulting a superior. �            Richard mentioned that the base in North Africa was shut down for two weeks due to a malaria outbreak. Once it had been cleared, the base continued operations and people stuck in Natal were shipped out. (41:23) He had quite a bit of contact with the locals, and learned a lot a Portuguese. He still remembers some of it today. The base had many Brazilian civilians that worked there doing laundry and working in the mess hall. Once he was called to an accident that occurred off base, involving a 6x6 truck carrying local workers. The driver lost control and rolled the truck, which had an open back. It was carrying around 25 or 30 people and Richard crawled underneath the back end to look for any survivors but couldn’t find any. (44:40) The base had around one plane crash a week. Most of the time there were no survivors. One crash involved a B-24 that crashed and was engulfed in flames. The plane was carrying ammunition. The survivors were removed and taken to the hospital before Richard got there. (46:58) Another crash that he remembers was a B-29 that was hard to find, and when he did find it, they were unable to access it because of the swamps. Richard was told to stay at the road and not let anyone pass except fire and ambulance crews. Two men approached him, he told them “You can’t go there” but they continued to advance, he sharply yelled “Halt” and he pulled out his weapon. Finally the two stopped and he found out that it was the commander of the base. The officer that posted Richard there assured him he would not be in trouble for following orders. (48:52) Richard was married on October 10, 1945. (51:06) They were married in Evergreen Park, Illinois. He was discharged in November 1945. Richard just spoke with a man he served with who just turned 91. They had a tornado where he lives in Georgia. This man often served on town patrol, and he once got into a fight with a drunken sailor and had his nipple bitten off, but it was later reattached. (54:31) Richard recalls that his commanding officer, Lieutenant Glass, was sending home a .30 caliber carbine rifle. (56:26) He was sending it home in pieces, and Richard reported it. The postmaster in Miami, Florida was contacted and he stopped the package and sent the others back. The man was court-martialed and he pleaded not guilty. He was found guilty and convicted. Later, it was discovered that he had sent home many other things as well. They had the FBI search the man’s parents' house and his wife’s house, and discovered the items. (59:09) Brazil had many tropical diseases, and malaria nets were used to keep away the mosquitoes when he was in a transient camp. Back in the States (1:01:51)   After the war, Richard worked for his brother at a wheel alignment shop. He was sent to school to learn about alignment and he worked the job for about three years. When business there slowed, he got a job working for the Holland Police Department and continued with that job for 15 years. (1:02:43) �   Many of his calls were domestic disputes and he was sent without back-up. At the time, many officers had been killed on such calls so he eventually quit. After he quit the police department, he worked for 14 years at General Electric. He was forced to retire because of arthritis in his upper spine. Looking back on his military service, [video cuts off before interview is finished] (1:05:23) � 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 Bonge, Richard (Interview outline and video) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bonge, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard was born in Holland, Michigan on August 21, 1917. He was drafted into the Army in 1942. He was sent to aviation mechanics school and specialized in propellers. He was stationed at Love Field in Dallas, Texas as a part of the 5th Ferries Command to the 62nd Ferry Squadron. Shortly after arriving however, he was attached to the guard squadron and eventually was transferred to the 1208th Military Police Company in New Orleans, Louisiana. Richard was sent to Brazil where he worked as base security in Natal. He remained there until his service ended in 1945. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BongeR0121V 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/57aacb08905f449f89b3c32467b3e301.mp4 0cc1b90dc25c91fe1629ed7af5a036a0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/94dcc0f15ab633f81d5acdbe8e0b2da0.pdf 1475df7446bf496246f5c3e7b59d2fe8 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Other veterans and civilians Interviewee name: Harry Bolthouse Length of Interview: (00:06:20) Pre-Enlistment  Background o Born in Grand Rapids, 1930.  Family o Had four brothers. o Mother was a housewife; father a carpenter.  Education o Was in school before enlisting. o No other family who served in the military. Enlistment and Training  Why he joined o Doesn’t remember why he joined.  Where he went o Thought that the departure was horrible, went by train. o Went to Fort Meade, Maryland.  Living conditions/Training o Trained in Tank Driving. o Didn’t like the food and the social-life was non-existent. o Was the only one in his barracks to attend church. o Has cerebral hemorrhages since he was five; has lost a lot of memories so he doesn’t remember much. Active Duty/After the Service  Became worse after having brain surgery/ � 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 Bolthouse, Harry R. (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolthouse, Harry R. Description An account of the resource Harry Bolthouse is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1948 to 1949. Although unable to recall much of his service experience, due to his cerebral hemorrhages, he was able to share pieces of his pre-enlistment and enlistment. Among the things he does remember and discusses briefly are his days in basic training learning how to drive a tank while at Fort Meade, Maryland. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mitchell, Whitney (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-30 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BolthouseH 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/14f75be5cb8093113e594921434cf68c.mp4 9d8deacc26d85525d2604875fe8a11f9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/454499cae243bd83b44b55f28dc78fa5.pdf c53e3f8c8ce97cf129c2303651186645 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Martin Henry Bolt (01:21:00) Interviewer: “Can we have you name and when you were born.” My name is Martin Henry Bolt. I was born on Griggs Street Grand Rapids, MI. From there on I proceeded to move out of there and we went up on Hall Street and I lived there all the time I was in the service and when I returned I got married and moved on. 4:36 Interviewer: “Tell us something about your early childhood and your early schooling here in Grand Rapids.” Well, I started out at Hall Street School in kindergarten because Holy Name Parish didn’t have a kindergarten. From there I went to Holy Name Parish for 8 years and from there I went to Catholic Central and graduated from Catholic Central in 1937. Then I did one fall semester at Davenport College and decided I didn’t want to do office work and went out and took construction. 5:11 Interviewer: “Who were your parents and what were they doing for a living?” My mother and father were both born in the Netherlands and my father came here in 1889 and took a job in a furniture factory and saved up enough money to send for my mother. They arrived at the depot and from there right to St. Joseph’s Parish and got married on the same day she arrived. 5:41 That was quite a few years ago, back in the 1800’s. Interviewer: “Right after your first semester there at Davenport, what were your options and what were you planning to do with your life?” Well, if you recall, 1937 was a bad year. We had just gotten through the depression and jobs were not readily available so the first job I took was at a drug store and I lasted there about 9 months and I put my application in at the gas company, the telephone company and at Page Hardware. All 3 of them responded within a week for interviews. I took the interviews and I had my decision to make and I asked my father, “where do you think I should go” and he said, “I’ve never seen a telephone man without a job. They work through all periods” so I ended up in the phone company. 6:44 Interviewer: “Now what happened next that was a big step in your life?” Well, I guess the biggest step was, I met my wife in 1936. We both had different schools to attend. The girl’s school was on one side of Jefferson and the boy’s on the other. Crossing the road one day, I seen her coming toward me and I felt a sensation like being hit with electricity and I said, “ooh, what’s this?” I got across the street to the buddy I was walking with and I said, “do you know those 2 girls?” and he said, “ya, their the cutler sisters.” I said, “oh boy, I gotta find out who that one is.” 7:32 Then the rest of the school year I got acquainted with her and we started dating. I’d already gotten the job when I bought an engagement ring, presented her with the ring and up until the time, we were planning on getting married when I got my draft notice, so we delayed it. 1 �Interviewer: “Tell us about getting a draft notice.” 7:58 Well, I was down in Lansing working and I came back to Grand Rapids to register, which I did, went back to Lansing to work and I got informed that my draft number was 1037, which was pretty low and when I got back into Grand Rapids after working there in Lansing, the job was finished, I went to the board and asked what numbers they were at and they were pretty close to mine. They were probably in the 400’s. 8:32 He was a Dutchman and he said,” ve go through all these numbers and ven ve get 10 good names, ve take em 10 at a time”. I said, “Oh, ok. How long will it be?” and he said, “oh, you got until summer”. It didn’t work out that way. They called me up in April and I got my letter from them saying that, “you have been selected”. That made a complete change in my life and my future. 9:02 At that time it was only a years draft, 12 months, so I would have been out April 21st of 1942, so we planned on marrying first and my parents and her parents said, ”oh it’s a good test of your love, wait a year and if your still in love with each other then get married”. 9:25 they didn’t want us both down there in another city, her being a wife to a military man. I guess they were right in that respect. Interviewer: “What was the mood like around you? You were not in a war yet, but there were there sounds of war on the radio and in the newspapers and all that? Did you have any sense that now that you were in the military, you were going to go to war?” 9:50 No I didn’t. I just thought it was a years training and in the event we did get into a war, we would be experienced enough to fight the battle, but I didn’t worry about it at that time. Interviewer: “So you said goodbye to your family and you said goodbye to your future wife”. Yes, on a Sunday. I went down to the Union Depot and they loaded everyone on a train. There were probably at least a hundred of us at that time going in. We went to Kalamazoo overnight, I said goodbye of course to my family and my girlfriend, we went to Kalamazoo overnight and the next morning, it was Monday, they took us to Camp Custer, did a physical and after that they said “your in the service” and they swore us in. 10:43 A few of them failed their physicals and were sent back, so on April 22nd I was a member of the military service and I took my oath to serve my country loyally. Interviewer: “Did you have any voice in terms of what branch you were going into?” Not really. I guess about the only thing I can say about the choices is they told us after you got to your army base they would go through the records and see where we would do the best to serve our country. 11:20 Interviewer: “so where did you go for basic training?” I went to Camp Livingston, Louisiana and we had 6 weeks of training down there and we were confined to the base. We could not leave or do anything and after our basic training was over, then we could get our first pass to go to town. 11:43 2 �Interviewer: “What was the it like? You’re from Michigan and you arrive in Louisiana and you have never been to Louisiana before. You arrive in Louisiana and you’re about to be insulated in this little area. Can you give us an idea of this young mans impression as he came into the barracks and onto the grounds of this training area?” 12:02 Well, I realize a military installation; we had sidewalks made of shell and tents. Six men in a tent and it was basically just living with what they presented us with. We had very good meals and they had movies for entertainment. They had a gym and a few other places we could go for recreation. It seemed like the 6 weeks went real quick. I knew one of the Sergeants, Sergeant Merrin, who worked at the phone company. He was a National Guard so when I got down to I company, he called me up to the First Sergeants tent and he said “Bolt, we want you for a B.A.R. Gunner and I said, “what is a B.A.R.”? He said “it’s an automatic rifle that weighs about 20 pounds” and he said, “it has a tripod”. He said “you’ll learn about it”, so I went out to a training ground and a Lieutenant stood out there telling me all about a B.A.R. He said, “the average life of a B.A.R.Gunner is 6 seconds in action”. I said, “he made a mistake, he means 6 minutes”. 13:18 I waited until the presentation was over and he said “any questions?’ I said “ya”and I raised my hand and said, “you said the average life of a gunner is 6 seconds. I think you meant minutes” and he said “no”, I said it right. When I got back to the company it was still peacetime, I went up to Al Merrin and I said, “here’s your gun back. With a Corporals rating, I don’t need it”. That was a little bit of the humor that came while we were being trained. 13:46 Interviewer: “Was there any sense of camaraderie or sense of getting to know these guys around you?” Well to honest with you, the National Guards were all friends and knew each other. They had been down there from November and they kind of stayed together in one area and the draftees visited back and forth and became friends. Yes, there was some. Interviewer: “ In terms of your previous experience with the phone company, was there any thought of you going into that element or were you training just to be an infantryman?” Well, I trained from April until about August as an Infantryman, then they put a notice on the bulletin board that they needed some communication men and that school was going to start, so I offered to go to that class. 14:39 We spent 3 weeks, of course I was knowledgeable to what they were telling us and I already had experience climbing telephone poles, so I did pretty well in the class. I got my diploma and I made my first mistake. It said your going to the 5th Army and I said, “I don’t want to go there and meet all new people. I’m used to these kids and I have a lot of fun with them”. I stood there and looked at the diploma and a guy by the name of Brown, who also worked at the phone company, said, “what did you get?” and I said, “I got to go over to the 5th Army.” He said, “are you lucky.” and I said, “you want to trade?” and he said “ya, I’ll trade with ya.” We went up to see the Major and told him what happened and he said, “sure we’ll change it.” The kid went to a rear base and I went with our men up to wartime. 15:39 Those are things that happened. Bad decision. 3 �Interviewer: “The other Red Arrow veterans that I have talked to said that the training that you actually got was really more WWI based. Tell us a little bit more, one thing about the training itself and whether or not it had any application to what you actually got into.” There was nothing, the training we got was for civilian type countries where you go from city to city using highways and side roads, which is understandable, we didn’t realize the war was going to be in a jungle. So we had no training at all in jungle warfare, none what so ever. 16:26 Interviewer: “So after you made this decision, you are now in the 5th Army, what was the next step? Did you get a notice you were going somewhere? What did you do next?” Well, we stayed right at Livingston, we got a 72-hour pass and went down to New Orleans; there were 5 of us. On December 6 we arrived in New Orleans and slept in a car, all of us in a car, got up the next morning and there were some nuns coming down the street going toward a church and we asked them for a little bit of information about going to church and she said, “you got another hour” so we went to a restaurant and thought we would get a cup of coffee and a donut and there was nobody at the counter to wait on us. We hollered, “where are ya, where are ya” and he said “shh, I’m in the back room here, I’ll be right out.” He came out and told us that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. 17:35 All of us said “where is Pearl Harbor”? He said, “well, the Japs bombed the whole city and we lost a lot of boats and ships and quite a few men were killed and you have to go right back to your base.” So we took off for the base. The people down in the south didn’t want much to do with us, they didn’t invite us into their homes per say and didn’t offer to buy us a round of drinks or anything. On the way back we stopped and had a couple of beers and they offered to buy everything for us. 18:18 It just changed overnight. Interviewer: “Was there any sense, and I realize this was a long time ago, but was there any sense at the time of where you are going to go? You guys are heading back to base, the war has started, any idea where you were going to go?” No idea. I’m sure the officers had that information, but they didn’t pass it to us. I got back to the base the night of the 7th and the morning of the 8th they said, “load up were going to go down to New Orleans on guard duty until we get a different assignment”. So we came right back and I was stationed at Lake Ponchatrain camp down there and went on guard duty on the bridges and that lasted about 4 weeks, probably a month, then we got our orders. Interviewer: “ Today’s audience, if you will, thinking about guard duty in the United States, would probably think in terms of guarding Fort Knox or something like that, so let’s try and get a better idea of guarding. What were you guarding and why were you guarding it?” Well, they were afraid of sabotage and that’s what we were out there to do, to protect the area that we were assigned to and to be alert in case you see anything suspicious. 19:43 Cars would be stopped and searched to see if there was something in the trunk. They would pull them over if they were suspicious of anything. Just basically, keep an alert 4 �eye on the civilians and be sure that they weren’t going to do anything like the terrorists are doing today. Interviewer: “I think that is a good connection there. It’s hard for even someone like myself to even fathom that we would have guards in the streets of New Orleans or St. Louis or any where else, but that actually did happen at that time. 20:17 Once the guard duty period was over with, what was your next assignment? Where did you go?” Well, we got orders to go back to our camp and await the next assignment. So we were back there about a month, no not quite a month, we were there a couple of weeks when we got notice that we were going to go to Fort Devens in Massachusetts and I stayed, there was always a fore echelon, a main body and a rear echelon and I was assigned to the rear echelon. So, the first group went out and the second group went out about a week later and we were to follow up. Well, in the meantime, while we were waiting this period of 2 or 3 weeks to get notified to go ahead, they put a sign up on the bulleting board, “cooks and bakers school”. Well the unit I was with was an artillery unit so I said, “ok, that’s for me, I’m going to go there and get some education rather sit on the company street.” So, I went to school and while I was at school, they called the rear echelon up. They didn’t want to break our classes up, there were about 10 of us from this company that were in this school, so we stayed behind to get our diplomas, which was about a week or 10 days, got our diplomas and they wanted us just like that, overnight, straight to Devins. 21:53 They loaded one complete railroad car, passenger coach, and highballed all the way across the United States to catch up with them. Well, I got up there about Ash Wednesday during holy week and I went to the barracks I was assigned to and in about 4 days they gave us the notice to go down to the docks, we were going to Europe. I guess everyone knows the history of that, we didn’t go to Europe, the Japs had broken through at New Guinea and were marching toward Port Moresby and Australia was in danger of being invaded. Well, Macarthur wanted the 1st division that was ready to ship and that was us. We turned back, got on trains and headed right on back to San Francisco. 22:48 We were there about 5 days, they loaded us on the boat. I went on the Lurline, a passenger ship; ironically it was April 22nd when I boarded it. One year and one day in the service. We stayed in this convoy, the complete division was shipped all at once, the first time that was ever tried, and we arrived May 14th in Adelaide. We were scheduled to go to Sidney, but because of the Coral Sea battle and the secrecy, they didn’t know if the Japanese won that battle or the Americans, they were really sailing to get us, they intended to hit that convoy I was in and as it was the Americans won, but as a defense maneuver, instead of going to the middle of Australia, we went down to the base which was like Florida compared to New York. 23:48 We went there and trained there for a while. Interviewer: “Martin, how old were you at this time?” Well, I was 22 years old at this time. Born September 7th and we landed in May, so I was just 22. 5 �Interviewer: “Now when you arrived in Australia, a 22 year old kid from Grand Rapids, Michigan, what was the reaction of the Australians? Did you have any contact with them at all?” Yes I did. When we would get a pass and go into town, they were very receptive; they invited us into their homes. Most of their soldiers were prisoners, I guess at Holbrook where they fought, and they treated us very nice. 24:35 Interviewer: “What was your training like there?” Learning how to eat mutton. We had a lot of different food when we arrived there. Not as much beef as we had in the states, but our training was basically the same thing as it was in the states, maneuvering, out there setting up CP’s, which is a command post, and just waiting for the next assignment to move forward. 25:05 Interviewer: “what were your rank and your position, your job so to speak, within this organization?” Well, of course, I went in basic as a Private as everybody does unless they have had military training or been to a school. I was in basic until I got into communications then I ranked up as a Private First Class. So I stayed as a Private First Class the first year and a half or two years. After we got out of action I got a Corporal assignment. Interviewer: “But you were a Private there in Australia?” No, I was already a First Class. Interviewer: “You were in communications?” Yes, I was in communications, switchboard, I tried for radio, but couldn’t pick up the Morris code quick enough so I stayed right where I was. 26:03 Interviewer: “Let’s get an idea of where you fit into the scheme of things. The training is beach landings or you said setting up command posts. What were you doing though while this was going on?” Until we went up to Camp Cable, which was in the middle of Australia, Brisbane, we didn’t do more than I already mentioned, but once we got up to Camp Cable, we started stringing wire up in the woods and camps up there. We had to string wire from every company back to the command post. My training then was mainly just switchboard, maneuvering and stringing wire, beach defenses and things like that. 26:50 Interviewer: “Because it has relevance later on, in New Guinea, what does stringing wire consist of? What all is involved in doing that?” Well, it’s a paired wire that came on reels about 18 inch drums and about 6 inch in diameter. It was a field wire and you would climb a tree or a pole, whatever was in the jungle, of course there were no poles in the jungle, but at Brisbane we had some there. You would climb up, get it above the height of trucks or any equipment that was going to go through, tie it in and bring it all the way out to a company like I or K that was based about a half mile away from regimental that I was at. Regimental was a command post and everything had to go through us in order to be completed in their assignment. 27:44 6 �Interviewer: “With your experience in the telephone company, you could climb trees fairly easy. Did you have any kind of equipment that you had to use?” The same equipment, spurs and a belt. Interviewer: “So you would go up a tree and string it high enough so it doesn’t interfere with trucks and all that, come back down, walk the wire to the next tree and climb that tree?” There were usually 3 men climbing at a time, so the first man would tie in, the next man on the next tree would pull it up tight, tie it around the tree and the 3rd man then all 3 of us would come down and go on. The Jeep was right behind us. We had two types of field wire, a heavy one and a light one, but we used more light than we did the heavy because it stands to reason, a heavy reel, heavy wire is 10 times heavier than the smaller reel. 28:39 Were talking 80 pounds probably. Interviewer: “ did you have, I mean your climbing up a tree, your wiring stuff up, your going up and down, there’s a Jeep behind you, I realize your mind is geared towards your work, but did you have any sense at all of, your going to go into battle and do this?” No, I guess none of us ever feared or ever gave it consideration. We figured that eventually we would get into action, but that looked like it was a long time down the road. Basically because we didn’t get the maps and the information that the officers were getting. They didn’t want to alarm us I guess. Interviewer: “Did you have access to radio broadcasts, news papers, did you have any idea what was going on in the world?” Very little. Most of the information that I got came from home, people writing back to me and telling me what was going on. It wasn’t the day of the cell phone, where I could just pick it up and say “hello”. Interviewer: “I guess what I’m trying to get across is that particular period of time was really the dark days for America and all over Europe and all over Asia. Did you have any sense at that time, actually we were losing, was there any sense of that?” Well we got a little G.I. newspaper out once in a while and there would be information on the battles in there, but we never had a total picture. 30:18 Interviewer: “so what happened next?” Well, “where did I stop? Did I stop at training?” “Ya.” Interviewer: “You were stringing wires in Australia.” We were there about 6 or 7 months and we got a notice to pack up, we were going to go to New Guinea, of course they didn’t tell us where we were going. We got on our trains and went down to the boats and loaded up and in about 4 or 5 days we arrived at Port Moresby. After landing, we went to an area, there was a large hill behind us, background, and we stationed down below and set up camp there. It wasn’t more than 3 or 4 days and the flies were just horrible and we started getting dysentery, so it wasn’t long before they started calling it “dysentery ridge” up there because everyone was 7 �getting sick. Eventually we overcame it, got better rations there in the kitchen and from there they started assigning companies to go over the mountains. 31:38 Interviewer: “Let’s spend some more time on Port Moresby. This arrival into New Guinea, I take it, was much different than your arrival into Australia? Primitive, would that be accurate?” That’s pretty close to it. We’ve seen the first natives. Interviewer: “let’s talk about that. You arrive there on the beach and what do you see?“ Well, there was a little town called Port Moresby that had a few buildings and a few hotels like any other city, but we were stationed about 4 miles out from it. We would go into town once in a while with the wire Jeep to get supplies and come back. That was our only contact with the city at that time. Back where our bivouac area was or where we were camping, the natives were curious and would come in and we were curious to see them too. 32:39 One of our men from town here, Eddie Zelinski, got a parrot out of a cocoanut tree and boy those natives went wild. They couldn’t communicate, but they wanted that bird in the worst way. So we gave them the bird. They took a little cocoanut husk, lit that and held it over temporary and ate the remains of that bird. I guess they burnt the feathers off and all of us gagged and left. 33:09 The whole thing went too quick, we were moving out and were told we were going to fly over the mountain, well the 1st Bat---, I’m not sure, was it the 2nd Battalion that went over the mountain? I forget which one it was. They were able to walk across or tried to walk across, because the Japs were halfway up the trail and it took them 49 days. They secured the area, the Japs were in retreat, they flew us up to Dubador and we landed there, we flew in 40 hours while it took them 49 days to go through mud and rain, water and mountains. Then we had to walk 11 days to get to Buna. 33:59 Interviewer: “Let’s start with the arrival of your aircraft. You landed at an airfield? Give us an idea of what you’re seeing around you.” Well, I saw a lot of jungle on the flight going over and crossing those mountains. There was a grass field where the natives had trimmed the tall grass down. It was a rough landing, but it was land able. They had pretty smooth ground there for the approach, but as you got into where the grass was, it became a little rough and bumpy. 34:38 Our particular plane, as it came in, the right wing hit a branch out of a tree and it put a dent in it about the size of a football. The pilot said, “we were lucky, we didn’t lose the wing”. He took it gradually and the rest of us sat there shaking our heads. We landed and the first thing we see is wounded on a stretcher. They had carried him back that far and some of them came back on a Jeep on a trail that was built. We had now gone and talked to the guys that were wounded and that was our first taste of what it was like ahead. 35:25 We spent half of the day there organizing and then started up the trail. Interviewer: “How many men are you talking about?” In my company there were at least 250 men. Wartime strength. I would say 4 other companies came in and landed the same day we did. Probably close to 1,000 men. Interviewer: “What was the weather like?” 8 �It rained every day. All of a sudden a storm would come in, lightning, thunder. We always had sun immediately afterward. Your uniform would start steaming. 36:16 Interviewer: “Lets talk about what you’re wearing and what your carrying as your walking these 11 miles.” When I landed I was wearing fatigues that were green in color. A fatigue hat plus my full pack, a helmet and a trenching tool. We started up the trail, started going over another mountain, I was probably number 40 in the trail going up and by the time we had walked 2 days, the first night it started raining in the jungle and I sat in-between a tree that had fins like, my back against it, my shelter half on, sat there most of the night trying to get some rest. At that time I smoked and I used to light a cigarette under the poncho and just smoke so it wouldn’t show and to keep it dry too. We marched for about 3 days to get over this mountain. It was muddy, terrible conditions, you had to pull yourself up on trees or vines or whatever there was. We chopped out steps that the natives had made long before we arrived. Interviewer: ‘so there was some semblance of a trail?” Oh, yes, going up that part. I prided myself at that age; I was 6 feet tall and probably 180 pounds. I said, “I’m going to beat everybody up this mountain”, and I did lead, I got there within 100 yards of this village where they had a ration drop. When one of the cooks went bye me like I was standing still and the chuckled all the way. He said, “I was going to beat you really”, and I came in second anyway. Interviewer: “You mentioned ration drops, what is that?” Well, you can only carry so much food with you, so they would have a designated village and they would come over the village and kick out rations on parachutes. 38:20 Everybody would re-supply with the rations. In fact, I think that was one of the first causalities, one of the airplanes the Colonel was on crashed into the woods. There is quite a history about that flight. There is a place in Ohio, Franklin, Ohio that has a museum, General Gill, our commanding General, who was in charge at this time, it was his hometown. We would just; we couldn’t imagine what it was like ahead of us. We knew where we were at the present, but we knew we were going toward combat because we saw the Australians they had carried back. 39:14 The Australians were engaged and we took over the war from them. We relieved them. Interviewer: “did you hear the sounds of battle as you are walking?” No, not until we got up to the Buna area and Sanananda, we didn’t hear anything. No gunshots or artillery fire or anything like that. On the 11th day when we got there, we were in the rear of the Australians, they told us we were going to relieve the Aussies and take their positions over. That’s when we drove up, walked up into the positions. We had to string wire now because those outposts out there needed information. Sadly, there were no maps. Those officers that were civilians had nothing really, to work with, just a little plantation map showing where the cocoanut trees were, where the rivers were, where the trails were and the rest was all jungle. 40:21 Interviewer: “What was your job when you arrived there at that encampment in Buna?” 9 �The first thing everybody did was to dig a fox hole o you had a place to go in case there was any strafing of the enemy and by the enemy and after that we set up a switchboard probably 36 inches long and about 18 inches wide with about 12 drops across, which caught a crank and a little lever would drop down. Well, on the back of it were 2 posts where we had to put our wire and our Sergeants told us where to go. 41:00 Interviewer: “Now what was that hooked up to, in terms of the wire? Where were they going? Did you know or did you have any idea?” Oh yes, through the training we had, we knew we were going to put field phones out there for the officers and Sergeants to use. They would go out to all the companies. They would go out to outposts where artillery observers were spotting or air cover, so at times we’d be beyond the enemy lines or in back of them where the outpost was, so they could observe the enemy when they moved. 41:41 Interviewer: “In today’s age of digital phones and all this kind of stuff, lets try to get a better, clearer idea of – you are now in Buna, you’ve got this switchboard which has the ability of plugging in and that plug ties you into a wire which goes out to an outpost or goes out to another area?” That is correct. Interviewer: “this is physical wire, so if a bomb goes off and blows it us, you no longer have the connection.” That’s right. Interviewer: “So your now there, the wires are set up, what were you actually doing? Were you taking phone calls? Were you plugging in? I was never a switchboard operator. There were certain men that were assigned for that, but if you can visualize the switchboard having a little crank, if you crank it and it went around easy it meant there was something wrong, no one would answer on the other side, that wire was broken either by one of our troops stumbling over it or it was broken by an explosion or deliberately cut and until that happened we stayed right back in the command post. Once the Sergeant came up and said, “Bolt, Revada, you got to go out, the lines open”, so we’d go up to the switchboard, “which line is it? It beeps red, ok.” The lines were all tagged, we knew which one to follow and they would give us a 12 man squad to protect us while we were doing the looking for it and repairing it. That’s strictly what my duty was at that time. 43:33 Interviewer: “Now are you talking about actually leaving headquarters, following visually a wire until you come to the point where it is broken and then repairing it-----?” And coming back to the regimental headquarters. Interviewer: “Give us an example, do you remember the first time you had to go out?” I have to think for a minute. Interviewer: “If not the first, perhaps one of the memorable.” 10 �They were almost all similar, we’d get a rifle squad and follow it out and repair it. A couple of times we got ambushed, the rifle squad would do their job; they were assigned to spread out while we were repairing it. We always had a little bit of slack in the line so they could pull it back to the trail. When we strung it, as the company moved forward, we would always walk off the trail about 3 or 4 feet trying to conceal it, just stretch it on the ground. At that time we didn’t put it in trees in the jungle when you’re in action because obviously they would see it. 44:41 We would try to string it back off the trail. Interviewer: “Let’s talk about the ambush.” Well, an ambush is just what the word means. It’s the enemy sitting out there waiting for you, deliberately cutting the wire, you’d come out with your squad and they’d have 2 or 3 men on the trail set up with a machine gun and maybe half a dozen off the trail waiting for you to come through. I know of one incident that we got ambushed. Baker and Spencer from that rifle company were shot in the head, both of them. The Sergeant in charge said, “they’re dead, they’re hit in the head and there is no sense getting their bodies now, we’ll come back later.” So, we withdrew and sat there and called for mortar fire, mortar fire is a shell that is put in the barrel and flung forward, and they usually do the first round in smoke to see how close they are to you and maybe another round of smoke. All the mortars are adjusted to the degree and height and the Sergeant would say “fire” and maybe 50 to 100 shell would go in the jungle and they would take off and you could hear them screaming when it got in to close to them. 46:23 On one occasion, if you visualize a triangle, the wire was cut on the A-side, we got up to repair it when the lead scout held his hand up and said, “They’re setting up a machine gun!” I, being anxious to get back to the base said, “let’s charge them and throw grenades at them and get out of here.” The Sergeant said, “Oh no, no there’s too big of a company there.” So, in the triangle were going to walk back across to the B-side of the triangle and try to go up that way. Well, when we went down through the jungle, down off the trail, we walked through an area where they had camped overnight and it gave us a lot of information on the number of fires, cold ashes, their rations, rice and stuff they were eating, so they estimated probably 100 men were in that group. We got back to B-side, called in the information, told them we were coming back on the B-side and not to fire at us. That’s when the engagement started. I didn’t have a compass, but fortunately Sergeant did and he knew how to read it and he got us back safely. We still had to go up there and repair that wire. Well, when they threw all those mortar shells in there, that cleared a lot of that area, so then we went back that afternoon and repaired the wire. They estimated that they had killed about 40. I didn’t go onto where the shell were, the riflemen did. I did my job and went back. 48:13 That’s the type of ambush you could run into. Some days you could go out there and there would be nothing, but the wire broke because something, they needed a piece of wire for equipment or cut it, or grabbing it and walking up there, they might have broken it. Interviewer: “You were talking about calling back in, were you using crank telephones?” Yes, field phones. 11 �Interviewer: “So, you’ve got a wire that’s strung out there and it’s cut at a certain point. You would ---“ We would put it on our phone, the 2 terminals and just hand crank it, which had a small generator in it, and that would go to the switchboard, that current and it would drop a little square lever maybe and inch by inch and the operator would plug in and get the information from us. Interviewer: “Where did you go from there?” From Buna? Interviewer: “Ya.” Well, we stayed in Buna for something like a month and a half or 6 weeks and another division came up to relieve us, from Pennsylvania, and we were pulled to a rear area and spent New Years and Christmas in the rear area. If we had a little connection with the medical department, we could get some G.I. alcohol and make a little drink up with the orange synthetic juice they had there. From there we went back to Australia to regroup and rebuild and get paid, we hadn’t been paid in months and they took us down to a resort area, Tweeda and Coolingada and we were on that beach for about 5 weeks recuperating and enjoying the Australian cities. 50: 23 We would grab a train or a bus and go into the city for recreation on the week-end. We were issued new sweaters and new cottons and we really looked good compared to the way we looked 4 months ahead of that. We slept many a night with wet clothing and wet shoes that never dried out. Your feet looked all shriveled, so this time we were really living it up. 50.48 Interviewer: “Did you see combat again after that?” Oh yes, I stayed with the division from New Guinea we went back in January of 1944. We went to Saidor and made a landing there, went to Kope and made a landing there. Interviewer: “Lets talk about these landings.” Well, You would get on a LCI, a landing craft, and from a safe base you would start out for Saidor and make a land division, it’s just like the sound of it, it’s the same thing. The LCI would go up to the beach, drop the front end down and you would run out of it and up the beach. It usually was softened by artillery fire from the navy, air fire, air bomb, bombing and once you hit the beach you’d have an assigned area to secure. There was always a red, blue and white beach and whatever one you were assigned to you’d go in there and that’s where you set up your post, your command post. 52:00 Interviewer: “ Was there much resistance when you first arrived?” I can’t say there was any great resistance. There was fire of course and soldiers were hit and killed. They were not that heavily mechanized. The first wave always got the original fire. I was coming in on either the 2nd or 3rd wave of boats that were in there. It’s hard to tell you because people aren’t acquainted with any of it. Actually it was everyone running for safety to get up in the jungle. 52:39 It’s just what you have to do, you have to do. 12 �Interviewer: “So when you hit the beach, you’re hearing gun fire and I suppose you’re seeing guys getting hit?” Not too much, the first wave was pretty much up into the jungle already. Yes, we seen the ones that were killed laying on the beach. Interviewer: “Then you get into the jungle itself and you secure your area, what happens next?” Well, that’s where the battalion commanders call back and tell them what they’re facing. Then the headquarters officers stationed with us, the Colonels, they make a decision which way to move, which way to go, to call for artillery, or to call for bombing. On one occasion we were supposed to set on the red beach and when we went in and got maybe a mile into shore we heard planes approaching and we said, “oh, oh, here they come”, and it was our own planes bombing an air strip. The ground was just like jelly, we were laying there and we said, “this isn’t right, they’re almost hitting us.” Then the Captain came up behind us and said, “what the hell are you doing up here?” our Sergeant turned around and said, “ were trying to get to red beach” and he said, “you’re not even on red beach “, so we landed, we landed right, but instead of turning right, the Sergeants and officers took us to the left. 54:27 For once we knew what it was like right up at the front where the bombs were hitting. Interviewer: “So in terms of what your job was, were you running wire at this time or were you just part of the group moving forward?” We were part of the group that was moving forward and we were going to set up the command post, but after we told where are beach landing was over there, we razzed our Sergeants and officers quite a bit, set up our command post, dug our fox holes and waited for further orders to advance. 55:10 Interviewer: “You got the further orders to advance? Yes. Interviewer: “ Where did you go from there?” Well, we’d go up further into the jungle to drive the enemy back. Sometimes you would sit there 2 days, 3 days before you would move, before they found out how to get through the line and how to surround them. Remember again, they didn’t have no great maps like they did in Europe or any other country. Interviewer: “Some of the other Red Arrows were talking about the snipers as a constant threat, did you have a problem with the snipers?” Yea, we did. We had 3 or 4 sharp shooters in our company and we drew fire from the snipers and a couple of our men got hit and they got this sharp shooter up there to fire up there into the tree, they would wait for him to fire so they knew where he was. They would pick them off, but most of them would fall out of the trees into the earth, but some of them were tied in with a rope or vine or something. They were probably cautious; afraid they would fall out of the tree. 56:27 13 �Interviewer: “So, that particular battle was actually won, right? You guys got through?” Yea, they cut a line between the Aitepe and Saidor and the enemy were divided. We had them surrounded so they made an effort to get through and they picked them off as they came through. 57:08 Interviewer: “From there that island was secured?” Yes. Interviewer: “So, where did you go from there?” After we left Saidor, we went to Aitepe and from Aitepe we had the same experience there. We were there about 100 days, 3 months at Aitepe and from there we went to Morotai and did the same procedure, fight the enemy. Then from there we went to Morotai and at Morotai we were told we were going to be part of MacArthur’s division when he landed for returning so we practiced marching. Would you believe it, in the jungle? For about 2 weeks we were marching completely every day to make us look sharp and organized. 57:58 Well, that ‘s where were going to go, were going to go to Manila, but in the meantime on Leyte Island the Japs had broken through the defenses there and they needed another division. That was us, we were ready to go so we got rid of our cottons and all of our nice looking wear and put on the old uniform again. We made a landing on leyte in January of 1945 and secured the beach, went up the tail and it wasn’t long after that that we got into an engagement with the enemy. 58:41 We drove them back, you have to remember we were forced to face the most, well the Japanese Imperial Army was just like the marines best division, they’ve never been defeated and any obstacle they went to get they were successful. The 32nd division was the first division that defeated them completely every place we met them. 59:06 Interviewer: “I have talked to obviously to the infantry guys and other members of the “Red Arrow”, but when you go into an engagement with the enemy, what actually are you doing?” Well, what were actually doing is, communication was so vital because one Colonel had to know what one company is doing and what another company was doing so they could maneuver through the jungle and get behind the enemy lines, or wait for them to come down the trail. 59:37 I would string the wire, we would string the wire out so you had communications. They also had a radio operator with them with the old hand crank generator. They would send out Morse Code. Well, we’d wait until we got orders to move forward again to another area. 59:59 Interviewer: “I guess it may not be clear to people the kind of danger you were in, because while an infantry guy is literally there with a gun and he is looking to defend himself or his fellow soldiers, your mind has to be focused on that, but your also focused on getting the wire out into the jungle.” That’s true. Well, it’s a duty you have to perform. I was very fortunate that I was never hit. I was shot at, but I never was hit and I can honestly say I can’t remember ever killing an enemy Jap directly. I fired into the jungle like I was told to do, like I was supposed to 14 �do, but I never really walked up to a body and said, “this is one that I got”. By the grace of God I got through the way that I did. 1:05 Interviewer: “Now, that particular battle was what? You only alluded to it and it was a very fierce battle. You were up against the top Japanese force and your group overcame, that’s one of the reasons why the “Red Arrow” is so well known, because of that. Did you find that your enemy was as their reputation deserved, that they were a fierce enemy to fight against?” 1:33 They were very well trained, they were very clever and they were very well camouflaged. They use to come out of spider holes; you never knew where they would be next. Our division took great pride in that we accomplished as much as we did. At all our reunions, we get together we occasionally talk about it. Yes, we walk with pride. 1:59 Interviewer: “You know one thing that is kind of hard to get across is that if you’re in an environment that Europe for example, your fighting house to house, jungle fighting is completely unique. You have the weather against you, major tropical diseases, malaria and what not. We haven’t even talked about malaria and things like that. Were there people around you who were affected? Were you affected?” Well, I fortunate in one way, there was myself and a man by the name of Bonzell, we were the last 2 to get malaria in our company. 2:39 Strange as it must be, I got malaria in the hospital. I was taking my pills faithfully, they were atabrine, it’s like synthetic quinine and it kind of controlled the mosquito bites. I went into the hospital for yellow jaundice and while I was in there, about 2 weeks, I woke up one night with the shakes, cold then hot. I hollered out to the ward boy and he came down and said, “what?” I said,” can I have some medicine, I got a fever?” He said, “OK’ and he brought me medicine and they wrote it in the report. The Captain came down the next day and talked to me. He said,” have you ever had malaria before?” I said,” never” and he said, “have you been out of the hospital?” I said, “no I haven’t, I stayed right in the hospital.” “Have you had any visitors?” “No.” He said, “oh nuts.” I said, “what’s the matter?” He said, “I’ve got to call for spraying the whole hospital area because you got malaria right here in the hospital” 3:54 So the rest of the day they were spraying the whole area with planes to get the mosquitoes that were in there. I also had a amoeba dysentery, it’s the worst kind of dysentery you can get. It’s a little parasite that clings to the bowel wall and ulcerates it. It eats away at the bowel and I had that. It took something like maybe 4 months for it to clear up. It’s unbelievable how miserable you can be with all these diseases and illness. Interviewer: “One of the things that is really amazing that I heard from the other members of the “Red Arrow” group was that even if you did have malaria on the line, that didn’t necessarily you were going home or into the hospital.” No, it didn’t help you a bit. You had to stay. I can remember my buddy, Joe Ravadas, in the fox hole next to me, he was a Corporal at that time and my boss, he had a 104° fever and I took care of him and brought him canteens of water, I tried to give him food to eat, but you had to have more than 105° to get back to the base to the hospitals. 5:13 There were times we had maybe 50 to 100 men in the front on our flank and most of them had malaria. They just had to sweat it out. 15 �Interviewer: “And still fight. That is the hard thing. Malaria makes you so weak that a gun becomes very hard to handle and still having to shoot it and defend your life, it’s hard to even imagine.” 5:35 It’s possible the human body can stand that much pain and misery and still be able to fight, you’re right. Interviewer: “what happened when you got out of the hospital?” Well, I had lost, I was probably down to 120 pounds, I’d grown a mustache and I went back to the company street where they were based in leyte and walked up the street and I hollered “hi Jim how are ya?” and the guy said, “who are you? Are you a replacement?” and I said, “no, I’m Bolt” and he said, “no you’re not Bolt, I don’t recognize you.” I said, “I am” and he said, “you’re so skinny.” That’s what happened, that diarrhea did that. In fact they had me on baby food for something like 30 days to see of they could stop it. I wasn’t allowed any solid food. 6:35 They hand out a yellow slip for the baby food and a red slip for the meat, so when you went through you had to give a slip. I traded a couple of times with guys who were playing cards and didn’t want to go to dinner. I said, “give me your red slip, I got to have something to eat solid.” That is some of the humor that happened down there. 6:55 Interviewer: “So after you got out of the hospital, you went back to your unit. What happened then?” Well, I got back to the unit; they were in a rest area cleaning their equipment and doing the things that you do in a rest area when we got orders to leave Leyte and go to Luzon and to go up the Villa Verde trail. Around January of 1945 we went up to the Villa Verde trail, our landing was safe because it had already been secured, and we came in and talked to a few of the natives in this village while we waited for further orders and the enemy had a bonsai attack, which is an all out attack. They scream and they run at you and fire at you. I kind of figured they took a little dope to get that high they really worked them up. We had to go forward to get the land we had lost on the trail, so we went forward, our division did and we started our mopping up from May of 1945 to August of 1945. That gave us a total of 660 days of combat, which no other division had done. 8:19 That’s where I discharged or started my return, at Luzon in the Philippines. Interviewer: “So you never got a chance to watch MacArthur’s return?” No, I didn’t see it. Some of the men of our division did get to see it. Interviewer: “Yes, Janicki told me he was on the beach when he came.” Yea, he was on the beach when he came. Interviewer: “That was a great story he told by the way, you’ll have to watch it. Let’s talk about these banzai charges. I know what one is, but try to give us an idea for someone who has no idea what that means.” Well, it’s an all out attack. The Japanese soldiers work themselves into a frenzy. “Do you know if they were using dope or anything? You don’t know either?” We suspected 16 �that they did because they came charging at us like they were insane, just disregarding their lives at all; they just keep coming, charge, charge. Interviewer: “Were these like bayonet charges or fire?” Bayonet and fire, they were running. Interviewer: “They just come out of the jungle? Tearing at you and you have to just shoot and shoot?” Yea, I didn’t get in on the shooting end of it. 9:44 From the stories I heard from the other men, they would fire their machine guns, the barrel would get red hot and they would have to either replace the barrel or get another gun. They just kept coming. Interviewer: “Where were you when these were happening? You were at the command post?” Yes, I was at the command post. Interviewer: “So you’re actually part of the team that is hearing this.” Yea, were about ½ a mile behind the line. We could hear the firing and the shelling and grenade explosions. It wouldn’t last too long, maybe 15 minutes and we were either successful or defeated. 10:26 Interviewer: “Was there any sense throughout, I know this is a very difficult question to answer, but you were listening to all the different communications and your part of the communications team, was there any sense at all that you guys were winning or losing?” Well, we knew we were winning because we were advancing. As for the information that was fed back to us, it was very little except casualties, a couple of times we had to help carry them out, grave registration was part of our company. They would go out and dig the holes, take the dog tags, mark it on a map where the bodies were so you could recover them later. It was difficult only because where we were we knew that a company was successful or not, the rest of the information was just passed down verbally. 11:28 Interviewer: “So, finally you get a chance to go home?” Ok, I had—the first group that went out had—I think, if I remember correctly, had to have 88 points or something like that. You got points by the time you were in the service, the number of months you were in combat. Unfortunately if you were in the hospital that didn’t give you 2 points, it only gave you 1 point, so I wasn’t one of the first ones to get out. 12:04 We got mail from the guys that were the first ones out with the higher points. The National Guard would have higher points because they were in the state longer than we were. I was up on the front when I got informed that I would be going out in July, first it was June, then they, in the period of the month of June, they changed the procedure for points and that’s when I lost points because I was in the hospital, so I got the feeling that I would never get home. 12:42 I had written to Virginia, the girl I was engaged to, I wrote to her and told her that she should get on with her life because I was never getting out. I was discouraged, depressed and she wrote back, “I’m going to wait no matter how long it is”. So, that kept me going and made me feel better. Finally July came and I was called up and they said, “we want to give you 17 �your staff Sergeant rank, I was a T5, they said, “ were going to give you a Staff Sergeant rank”, and I said, “What for?” and they said, “Well, you going back and there’s a rank open.” I said, “I don’t want the rank, just get me out of here.” So, I went back to Manila in July and waited for the boats. We were there about a week and they loaded the boats and I started home. 13:44 We arrived at Hawaii about the 1st of August, maybe the later part of July, we sat in the harbor there while they took on water and supplies and we weren’t allowed to go into Hawaii, just a certain designated group that probably were Colonels or higher up or Captains were permitted to go. That of course caused a lot of distress and hollering, the guys were yelling at them when they got on the boat to go into shore. 14:20 We were there only overnight then the next morning we took off and arrived at San Francisco about the first of August. We were taken to an auditorium and we were offered a 30 day vacation in Miami Florida then get a discharged later, lose that wanted to didn’t go to Miami, they only had 6 men stand up out of about 1,000 in the auditorium that took the vacation and we kind of booed them and told them there would be another 30 days, but I think they kind of won up because I got out of the service on August 6th. I had a couple other buddies with me and they said, “where are we going to meet you?” We went alphabetically and their names were lower than ours. We said, “at the first subway station and the first bar that is closest to the subway station under the stairway. We’ll wait for you there.” So, we did. We got out about 1:30 that afternoon and they arrived about 3:30 and they wanted us to stay and have a few drinks and we said, “no, were going into Chicago and we’ve got to hurry.” So, we went into Chicago and unfortunately the train schedule wasn’t in our favor. It was already loaded and we had to stay overnight. 15:46 So, all of us had a party that night and we got haircuts, massages, facials and all that, the whole works. The next day was August the 6th, I forgot august the 6th was the day we went into Chicago. I told you about the atomic bomb being dropped, well that’s the day I got out of the service. The papers said it would be over within weeks and they were right. Then we got into Chicago and left on august the 7th on a train for Grand Rapids and of course it was a milk run, every station we had to stop, railroad station. I got to Grandville oh, about I’d say just about dark, dusk about 7:00 at night and I knew the next stop was our Union Depot here and of course I had my barracks bag with me and my supplies that were in the bag, things that I had saved. 17:02 Interviewer: “ In uniform?” Yes, in uniform. When I arrived at the Grand Rapids depot I was going to walk and my legs were shaking, I couldn’t walk so I threw the old barracks bag over my shoulder and started running down the tracks. I was able to run better, I ran into the depot and there was my mother and father, Virginia, my wife to be and her family, all my relations and friends that were there waited for us to come and from there we went to my folks house and had coffee and cake. 17:38 That was the end of my military career. I was finished. Interviewer: “I know it is very difficult, but just for the families record, not the historical record, try to give us an idea of what it was like when you ran into that depot and there they all were?” Well, it was something I was waiting for, for years. My heart was racing and I looked at my folks, they were 5 years older, 41/2 years older, my dad was in his topcoat, he looked great, he had a hat on and a cigar in his mouth. My mother had her big hat on and she was crying of course, I hugged them both and my sisters were there and I hugged them. I 18 �didn’t find Virginia, and I thought,” where is she?” She was hiding behind someone to see if I would ask for her I guess, I had a sinking feeling right ten and there that there was something wrong if I didn’t see her, I though, “ oh, oh she’s married to somebody else and didn’t tell me or something.” It turned out all right. 18:51 Interviewer: “Well Martin, I just want to say thank you very much, not only for the interview, but as I say to a lot of vet, my father was one as well, we wouldn’t have the freedoms that we have today if you had not done the things that you did for us and for your country. Were going to end with a request that you made about setting the record straight about the name Bolt. I didn’t forget, I didn’t forget.” It was interesting when my sisters went into nurses training, nobody could pronounce the name Bult, it’s B U L T, so she went in to register at nursing as the name Bolt so she told her dad about it and he said, “that’s ok because your name will change anyway when your married.” All the girls continued with Bolt, it sounded better than Bult and I went in service, I went to school under Bolt, when I went into the service, I went in under Bolt and while I was in service the FBIO came up to the house and said, “where’s Minzol Bult?” That’s the Dutch name for Martin. “Where’s Mr. Bult, he didn’t register and we can’t find him”, and she said, “my son’s in New Guinea”, they said, “no, no”, they didn’t believe her at first. Finally they talked to some other witnesses and neighbors and civil authorities they knew and they realized that I was in the service. 20:30 When I got home I went back to the telephone company and I had to show, to get my job back, I had to show my birth certificate to make sure, it was some form they had to have, so I brought my birth certificate over there and he said, “what’s this? Is that a typo error?” No, I said,” it’s Bult and he said, “you can’t be employed here other than under the name of Bolt, you’ll have to get it changed legally”, and I thought, “ oh no, not that”. He said, “all your insurance papers, all your discharge papers, everything on the record is under Bolt so your going to have to change it if you want to continue working here or go under Bult”. 21:11 So, I went home and told dad the situation it was and he said, “don’t bother, just go change it and legally make it Bolt, I can understand it.” So, I went back down to the city hall and had it changed legally to Bolt. There is quite a bit of difference between Minzo Hindrick Bult and Martin Henry Bolt. Interviewer: “That’s for the record, thank you so much, that was wonderful.” . 19 � 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 Bolt, Martin (Interview transcript and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolt, Martin Description An account of the resource Martin Bolt served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division, during WW II. This interview covers his training and army life in both the US and in Australia. He tells of his unit's campaigns through New Guinea, Morotai, and the Philippines. Bolt's main job was to run communication wires from unit headquarters to the front, often close to the front lines or along jungle paths suited for ambushes. He offers detailed observations regarding a variety of aspects of jungle conditions and warfare. This interview was used in the documentary, "Nightmare in New Guinea." Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Michigan. National Guard. Infantry, 126th 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 2007-07-20 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoltM 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/1ca689bc28bb437e9dc2a51dd02b596d.mp4 4a19dd93c1397cf82fa76cde34c698ab https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4c58d88bd343f40702284de1e82383c4.pdf 9597be4461b22a23a1680416b89f03a3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Robert Bolinder (01:46:00) Introduction (00:17) Family and Pre-enlistment (00:44) � Born in the Bronx, NY in 1923. His family moved to NJ a year after he was born. For many years his father worked as a sales representative at Union Flight Waxing Company. Bolinder graduated high school in 1940. � Took a year at Newark College for Engineering and then began taking night classes at NYU his 2nd year. At the same time, he worked for a gyroscope company training making gyroscopes, the predecessor to radar. � Bolinder mentions the patriotism that Americans displayed with the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. He mentions that just about every man he knew went and joined the army soon thereafter. (04:07) Enlistment and Training (4:20) � The U.S. Government at the turn of 1940 did away with the requirements that college kids needed to be 21 yrs of age and have 4 years of college to join the army. They moved the age down to 18 yrs of age. After passing his entry exams Bolinder was accepted into the Army Air Corps as of Feb. 6th 1940. (04:39) Was put on furlough between February and August at $21/month and 44 cents in rations a day. The point of this was to keep these servicemen available for active duty. � Went to Santa Ana, CA for pre-flight training. His training consisted of mathematics and drilling. While there he trained with PT-22 planes and was able to go solo in the allotted time of 9 hours. While training here, his mother requested he come to his sister’s wedding upon which he refused because he was still in the transitional stage of training with B-25s. � After training there he went to, Colorado where he learned how to operate twin engine planes. (08:26) While there he got his 2nd Lieutenant’s commission and graduated from there on May 20th 1943. Mentions that a month before graduation he and 19 others signed up for night fighter training. (14:51) � Bolinder goes on to mention that many of his friends went on to join the heavy bomber squadrons that were flying over Europe. Many that went to Europe did not survive. (15:58) � Went to Orlando, FL soon after and trained with A-20 aircraft. While there he mentions doing such exercises as flying low-level dives at 500 ft. and going through simulated flying situations. Spent about a month in Orlando before being sent to another base in FL. (21:12) �Bolinder describes that they had had switch pods instead of lights for markers when landing. He and other trainees lived in tents. � Briefly mentions that his CEO had previously flown with observational planes before joining the night fighters. Also mentions that he was part of a program called AFSAT (Air Force School of Applied Tactics) The airfield he was based at served as the headquarters for this program. � Describes his thoughts on how fast the U.S. government mobilized an effective air force. Bolinder mentions that he was in Florida from the middle of August 42’ to January 43’. At that point, the government decided to move the program to Saluditos, CA. For the next few months, Boldiner spent his time flying and taking an airplane identification class. (29:59) � After this, Bolinder boarded a troop train from California which went to Camp Kilmer, NJ. He was there a week getting last minute shots and training before joining his squadron. While there, he briefly mentions that a radar observer accidentally shot himself in the foot while cleaning some side-arms. � From there, they boarded troop ships bound for Europe on March 23rd 1943. Describes the journey across the ocean in some detail. The reception they got from the people of Glasgow, United Kingdom was warm and cordial. It was decided while in England to increase the number of fighter planes from 20 to 30 per squadron because it would be more efficient. (38:36) � Bolinder mentions that he spent some time at a base near Bath, England, from April to midMay. After their time there they were stationed at Darlington, about 70 miles north of York. Based at a base called Scorpion they started training with AT-17s. About mid-June they had worked up to training with P-61s. These planes he mentions could go 420 mph at 20,000 ft. Bolinder mentions that they flew 5 out of 7 nights a week. � On one occasion, a British pilot flew one and came back and said that it was the worst plane he had ever flown. His report caused so much of a stir amongst the chain of command that that there was a competition between the British Mosquito of the 422nd and the P-61 of the 423rd Night Fighter Squadron. (43:30) Combat Experiences (45:31) • • • About 6 weeks after D-Day they started flying missions out of the city of Cherbourg, FR. He mentions that they served as the defensive force behind the 1st Army for the course of World War II. Bolinder mentions that air force squadrons remained in frequent contact with ground control. Every time an unidentified aircraft was spotted ground control would report their exact location to air squadrons so they could drop down quickly and eliminate the target. Bolinder describes his time going on interceptor missions in July 44’. At Chateaudun, he describes getting ready for a battle that never came. Makes the observation that throughout history Paris is known as the city that was never ransacked. Shares his thoughts on the liberation of Paris (49:43) �• 3 weeks following the liberation of Paris, he was stationed in Belgium. At that time the airports in Belgium were repaired enough for airplanes to fly out and support Patton. All the missions he flew out of there were night missions into Germany. (50:12) Describes the missions he flew out of Belgium. • On Sept. 15 1944, he mentions that he began to see more German activity taking place. Mentions that the city of Aachen had switched hands over 5 times. (53:10) • Bolinder describes his time flying A-10s and going on precision bombing missions. He mentions that German aircraft often avoided American A-10s to go after the British heavy bombers flying to and from the Rhone Valley. Also mentions that British heavy bombers usually had no fighter cover in combat and that they would be easy targets for German aircraft. Also mentions that he did some interceptor missions on buzz bombs. Eventually other methods were developed to deal with them such as shooting up a wall of flak and distract the bomb so that it would explode in route. (01:02:00) • Briefly mentions an encounter in which one of his friends shot down a buzz bomb which ended up destroying an American supply depot and killing quite a few American servicemen. On another occasion a buzz bomb exploded a quarter of a mile from his position in a village. • After Feb. 1945, he left for England and checked into a hospital where he underwent a physical and was told that he could no longer do combat missions because his eyesight was bad (01:03:13) but still could fly. • Afterward, he was transferred to the flight section of the 9th Tactical Air Force in March 45’. At about this time, served as an operations officer. Briefly mentions events happening on the Eastern Front. One night, he was informed to cease all night missions from 7pm to 10pm. The next day he found out that the Allies had crossed the Remagan Bridge into Germany. Was informed by an intelligence officer later that if the order had been given to attack two targets near the Remagan Bridge, that they would have bombed the 9th Armored Division crossing the bridge. (01:05:39) • Bolinder mentions that he served aboard a C-47 carrying Gen. Hodges of 1st Army and Gen. Sterling of his division on their trip to an airfield north of Leipzig, Germany. For fear of the airfield being mined he was told to land in the grass. After landing, he joined the company in a jeep which drove 20 miles to Torgau, Germany where they met with Marshall Zhukov. This was the first official meeting between Americans and Russians. (01:07:55) • Mentions have a brief dinner with the general of the 69th Inf. Division. Describes the experience in some detail. (01:11:25) Was then chosen by Gen. Sterling to be his personal pilot. Served in this capacity for about 2 months. Then heard that his squadron was heading back to the states to receive training in the invasion of Japan. • He describes the events leading up to the Battle of the Bulge. Mentions that the assumption by Allied intelligence was that the Germans were going to conduct a counter-offensive in the spring of 44’ but instead were completely surprised when they attacked in winter through the Ardennes region. �• The night of Sept. 16th and 17th Bolinder mentions that he was conducting routine patrols when he came upon a German Focke-Wulf190 which he quickly shot down and saw go down burning. After returning to base, he reported the kill but was not credited for the kill. Two months later it was finally verified that a unit saw the pilot from the aircraft parachute down and was quickly captured. (01:19:42) • In another instance, Bolinder communicates to GCI at seeing a lot of activity. He mentions shooting down a Heinkel 111, an ME 110 and possibly another Heinkel 111. (01:23:34) Didn’t receive the Silver Star until May 45’. Mentions that everybody was there doing the job they were trained to do not to receive some reward. Going Home (01:24:00) • About the 1st of July Bolinder’s squadron was transferred from Castle, Germany to Rheims, FR. While there the atom bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The situation after that changed what happened next dramatically. (01:25:18) Stayed in Rheims for the month of August 45’ but was then moved to Camp Herbert-Torrington up near Le Havre, France for a month waiting for a boat. • From there, he boarded a Liberty ship and crossed the Atlantic in 14 days. Upon landing in Boston on Oct. 5th, 1945 he was met by a welcoming party. Went to a camp right outside Boston and about a week later his squadron was disbanded. By Monday morning, he boarded a troop train bound for Fort Dix, NJ. (1:26:55) Upon getting off, he was able to obtain a pass to visit his parents who he had not seen in 2 years. (01:27:30) After the War (1:28:44) • After being discharged, he went on to marry his wife and shares briefly how they met. (01:28:44) Then describes his time in the Reserves and service in the Korean War. In 1951, he was stationed in Panama, FL and then Biloxi, Mississippi undergoing more training. (01:32:24) Briefly mentions his time there. From there he was transferred to Waco, TX where he was stationed for a little while. • After the service, he worked for Union Carbide for many years until he changed careers and went into the publishing industry working for Zondervan and Tyndale Publishing Companies. Finally, shares his personal thoughts on the army and how it helped him to grow in maturity. (01:46:01) �, MILITARY HISTORY FOR CAPT. ROBERT G.BOLINDER Bob was born June 6,1923 in New York, NY. He moved to Teaneck, NJ with his parents and sister when he was one year old. He grew up in Teaneck and graduated from Teaneck High School in June 1940. He attended Newark College of Engineering, Newark, NJ. He remembers well our country's "day of infamy," December 7, 1941 . ."His four closest friends joined the Army, on December 8. Bob volunteered for pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps on January 3, 1942, even though he had never been up in an airplane. He was sworn into the Air Corps on April 6, 1942 and called to active duty to become an Aviation Cadet in early August, 1942 training on the west coast. He graduated from Advanced Multi-Engine School May 20, 1943. A month before graduating, he along with 19 other graduates, volunteered to enter the new, mysterious, Night Fighter program. After two months of multi-engine transition training at La Junta, Colorado, flying B-25's, night fighter training commenced in Orlando, FL. There he "connected," with his Radar Observer, Flight Officer Bob "Shorty" Graham. They would be crewmates for the balance of the war. Training was completed the end ofNovember, 1943. We trained in twin engine, single cockpit P-70's, the Night Fighter version of the A-20. He joined the422nd "Green Bats," Night Fighter Squadron in Bath, England in March, 1944. In April, the Squadron moved to Scorton, England, north of York in April. In May, we finally received our P-61 Black Widows. Here, we intensively re-trained for about 6 weeks to familiarize ourselves with the P-61. The 422nd,s first combat was to engage the German pilotless V-I "Buzz Bombs." Four were destroyed in 1 week. The Squadron moved to Cherbourg, France in mid-July. Where the Allied position was still a "beachhead," About 10 days after we arrived, General Patton's Third army "broke through," the enemy lines at St. Lo, France. nd . The 422 moved about 1 week later to Chateaudun.Erance where we were expected to provide "night cover," for the battle to liberate Paris, However, the Germans abandoned Paris and in early September, the 422nd moved to Florennes, Belgium, about 60 miles south of Brussels. Here, we "settled in," to provide "night cover," for General Hodges 1st Army as we all battled to defeat the Third Reich. The 422nd,s big battle was the Battle of the Bulge, which started on the night of December 16,17, 1944. That night Bob Graham and I flew 2 missions, engaging 4 enemy aircraft. We destroyed 3 and probably crest} @j ed1:he"'~. rf' •• ".,.._ �( th destroyed the 4 . During this great battle, which lasted about 3 weeks, our squadron flew "night cover," for the 101 st Airborne Division which was surrounded by the German army. After 1 week, Gen Patton's 3rd army broke nd through the enemy lines to rescue the 101 st. The 422 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for protecting the 101 st and for destroying a total of 17 enemy planes during the Battle of the Bulge. Bob Graham and I were awarded the Silver Star medal by the United States and the Distinguished -, Flying Cross by the British government, .( o v- d .... It" « -< P /" ,. ~ ~ /.0') "",e. , f- ;)~~. /6./ r; In March, 1945 my vision deteriorated and I had to wear glasses when I flew. I transferred to the 9 th Tactical Air Force Flight Section and finished the war as a Mission Pilot. I had the privilege of flying General Hodges and his Staff in a C-47 to Torgau, Germany for the first official meeting with Marshal Zukov and the Russian Army. Later I became the personal pilot to Brig. General Stearley, Commanding Officer of the 9 th Tactical Air Corps. nd I rejoined the 422 Night Fighter Squadron to return to the United States in June, 1945. By the time we got back to the United States, the war in the Pacific was over and I was discharged at Fort Dix New Jersey in early October, 1945. In February, 1951 I was recalled to the new United States Air Force. I flew another 1,000 hours in B-25's training Radar Observers for F-89's and F­ 94' s. I was separated from this 2nd tour of duty in July, 1952 �� 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 Bolinder, Robert (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bolinder, Robert Description An account of the resource Robert Bolinder is a World War II who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 423rd Night Fighter Squadron from February 1941 to October 1945. Bolinder describes Robert Bolinder is a World War II who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps with the 423rd Night Fighter Squadron from February 1941 to October 1945. Bolinder describes the specialized training for night fighter pilots, the missions he flew over France, Belgium and Germany. Toward the end of the war, he was removed from night fighting because of vision problems, but could still fly, and wound up serving as the pilot for the commander of an infantry division, a duty that took him to Torgau, Germany, for the first meeting between US and Soviet generals. Personal narrative and pictures appended to outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. 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 2007-06-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BolinderR 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/27e020a254a115ecb363065b4133e40a.mp4 f8cf058bf76d8653d3a7f1fb44425dbc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0e5c3d1c2b3775ccf93ed3b870f701a3.pdf 55cae4be3924f1d293e02d82817b58a8 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Korean War Murl Bogert (15:18) Background Information (00:08)    Served in the Korean Conflict (00:09) Enlisted in the Marine Reserve in 1950 prior to the outbreak of the Korean War. (00:28) He was deferred from going overseas for 1 year due to his physical condition (00:45) Overview of Service (1:04)            He attended basic training for 6 weeks at Parris Island, South Carolina. (1:04) After basic he was sent to California for 2-3 months for Advanced Combat training. (1:11) He was sent to Korea aboard a troop ship. (1:26) He landed in Korea on July 4th 1952. (1:35) Murl was then sent to P’anmunjom Korea. (2:08) He spent 6 months at P’anmunjom where he sent supplies to troops in the surrounding area by train. (2:33) Murl was in what was considered a peace radius. Men were not supposed to carry ammunition in this radius. There was, however, a tank battalion next door to Murl’s position. (3:10) He was then sent to Ascom city where he did more supplies transport. (3:52) He was given a 30 day leave while in Korea. (4:26) On January 1st 1954 Murl was discharged. (4:53) Discharge papers. (5:28) Medals an Memorabilia (5:54)        He received an award for being an outstanding recruit in boot camp. (5:54) In 2003, Murl won a lottery to send several veterans of the Korean War to Korea for week. (6:50) In 1953 Murl thought Seoul Korea was in shambles. When he saw it in 2003 he was taken aback by how nice it was. (8:14) Campaign ribbons (Korean Service Medal, Presidential Citation Medal, and National Defense Service Medal). (9:06) This medal was received through the American Legion. (10:30) Pictures of service. (10:40) He was awarded a medal by the Commanding General of the Marine Corps when he was in Korea in 2003. (11:18) Slide Show of Pictures (12:37) � 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 Bogert, Murl (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bogert, Murl Description An account of the resource Murl Bogert enlisted in the U.S. Marine Reserve in 1950. After the Korean War began, he was sent to Parris Island South Carolina for basic training. While in Korea, Murl served in P'anmunjom and Ascom sending out supplies by train to other Marine units. He was discharged in January of 1954. In 2003 he revisited Korea. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Murillo, Cleyde (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine 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 2012-02-12 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BogertM1354V 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/77671942fade869c61c1e2b19497c178.mp4 5f731edb69551a712e93be3006df49c8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5363c53e8f0fbc4981b9aed883117409.pdf ac3a460dfc039105317de98f0defbc62 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Orville Boerman Korean War (33:40) (00:25) Background Information      Orville was born on October 22, 1933 in Allegan County, Michigan His parents were farmers, but lost their farm during the Depression His father then worked for another farmer and was able to buy his old farm back in 1942 Orville quit school when he was 16 and began working in a factory and helping his father on the farm He was drafted into the Army in May of 1953 (03:05) Training  Orville was sent to Fort Knox, Tennessee for basic training and often had guard duty  They spent a lot of time marching, working with artillery, and he also had KP  Orville was in basic training for 8 weeks and then went through truck mechanic school for another 8 weeks  He worked on jeeps, ¾ ton Dodge pick-ups, and 2.5 ton trucks  Orville had one week on leave to go home before he was sent overseas and he got married while back home in Michigan  In March of 1954 he was sent to Germany on a troop ship and they experienced very bad weather on the way (10:15) Germany  There were some parts of Germany that were sill bombed out from the war, but the countryside was very pretty  Orville worked on a base about 45 miles from Frankfurt with a transportation company  They helped move around an artillery unit and its supplies  Orville was in charge of maintaining 10 trucks  They had alerts about once a month to train for a Russian attack  They would train near the Czechoslovak border and could hear Russians on the other side blowing off cannons (15:40) Living on Base  They did not have not much contact with civilians  Orville did not like to drink so he did not go out much, but did like to go bowling and travel around the countryside and saw quite a few old castles �    There were some Germans working on their base, but mostly just service work Orville wrote letters back and forth with his wife and called her on Christmas; it cost $24 for a 3 minute phone call He did get to see the autobahn and thought it was very impressive The trucks he worked on did not break down very often, but there was a lot of routine scheduled maintenance (21:45) End of Service  Orville had been stationed near the Rhine River and when his time was almost up he planned on taking a week off to visit France, Belgium, and the Netherlands  Right before he was about to leave, his trip was cancelled because he had to stick around for yearly IG inspection of all the vehicles and equipment  Most men in Germany had to stay one year before being sent back to the US (26:30) Discharged  Orville left Germany in April 1955, though many had tried to get him to re-enlist; he was told he would be promoted to sergeant and that his wife could live with him in Germany  Orville went back to his old job working on the railroad, but was later laid off  He began working in maintenance at a hospital and then later for Grand Valley College  Orville eventually got a job working in a GM plant in Coopersville, Michigan and later retired � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor 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 Boerman, Orville D. (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boerman, Orville D. Description An account of the resource Orville Boerman was born in 1933 in Allegan County, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army in May of 1953. He trained as a mechanic and was sent to Germany where he served in a transportation company supporting an artillery unit, helping them move around and transporting supplies. 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 United States. Army Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource 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 2008-07-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoermanO 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