733 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b1259e0592b340754f598d500f699348.pdf c3508c46b4cc671b453b92b8519b0d7b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Jarvis Brink Cold War Interview Length: 11 minutes 9 seconds (00:00:04) Early Life and Overview of Service -From Zeeland, Michigan -Attended Holland High School -Graduated in 1953 -Joined the Army in 1954 -Served for two years -It was a whole new experience serving in the Army -Strange experience to leave the small town environment for the first time -Feels that it is, in some ways, emotionally similar to leaving for college -Surviving basic training relied on learning how to follow orders and accept the rules -Initially difficult for him to adjust to that -Spent a few months training in Kentucky -Stationed at Fort Hood, Texas for eighteen months -Worked as a mechanic in the motor pool of one of the Armored Divisions -Service made him mature and taught him how to accept authority (00:02:07) Volunteering for the Draft -After graduating from high school he had a job -Not a very good job though -Better jobs refused to hire someone if they hadn’t completed draft service yet -He went to the local draft board and volunteered for the draft -Meant that he would be drafted sooner as opposed to later (00:03:03) Basic and Advanced Training -He was trained to be a gun mechanic after he completed basic training -Trained how to repair the .30 and .50 caliber machine guns mounted on tanks -Training for that was in Kentucky and lasted eight weeks -Difficult to adjust to military living while in basic training -Lived in cramped, older barracks at Fort Knox, Kentucky -Had to live by the Army’s schedule -No personal time during two months of basic training -Had no money during basic training -Only got paid $78 a month -Eventually was granted some weekend leave while being trained to be a gun mechanic (00:05:09) Deployments while in the Army -Took basic and advanced training at Fort Knox, Kentucky for four months -Stationed at Fort Hood, Texas for eighteen months -Returned to Fort Knox for further training on being a gun mechanic -He wanted to have an overseas deployment -Wanted to visit Germany -He would have had to reenlist to be granted that and was not interested in that �(00:05:48) Personal Relationships While in the Army -He formed temporary friendships while he was in the Army -They were not long lasting friendships and faded after he was discharged -Wrote his parents a letter once a week -Wrote letters to, and received letters from, his friends back home -Only used the telephone a handful of times during his two years of service -Used it to call his parents -Calls were expensive -Telephones were generally reserved for special occasions and emergencies (00:06:56) Peacetime and Returning Home -He wanted to do his service while there was no warfare -The Korean War had ended about six months prior to his joining the Army -Had to use trains to get across the country -Took a train from Fort Hood to Chicago -Eighteen hour trip -Had to sleep in the seat because there were no beds on the train -He was allowed to return home on leave every six months -He was treated more like an adult by his friends and family whenever he came home (00:08:22) Involvement with Other Veterans -He has made connections with other veterans -Not the people that he served with though -Feels that having a connection with other veterans has been good for reminiscing -Also good because they understand and experienced the same things he did (00:08:46) Reflections on Service -Feels that it made him a better person in terms of loyalty -Instilled in him a sense of commitment to his nation and his fellow countrymen -Taught him that there is more to life than making money -Instilled in him life values -Honesty, integrity, self-reliance, and confidence (00:09:48) Parents’ Reaction to His Service -He was the first in his family to serve in any branch of the military -His induction into the Army was difficult for his parents -He was an only child -They wanted him to wait as long as he could to get drafted (00:10:37) Final Thoughts on Veterans -Glad that we now show respect for our veterans and current members of the military -Feels that combat veterans especially deserve respect -Especially those that suffered greatly in combat Interview ends at 00:11:09 � 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 Brink, Jarvis (Interview outline), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brink, Jarvis Description An account of the resource Jarvis Brink is a Cold War veteran from Zeeland, Michigan where he attended Holland High School and graduated from there in 1953. In 1954 he joined the Army and served for two years. He received basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas for eighteen months working as a machine gun mechanic on tanks in the motor pool for one of the armored tank divisions stationed there. During his time at Fort Hood he returned to Fort Knox and received more training on how to repair the .30 and .50 caliber mounted machine guns. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Scholl, Amanda (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-05-25 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrinkJ1497V Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/88e0ee41c6004326c21cc6de861fecb2.mp4 2ad7bed00d6efad6459c037c0abc2f54 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2c44802df60fda0bcb7d87f779c8c5fe.pdf e78f25fe8aa8fce86639c67663f94c6a PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview EMT - Iraq War Dianne Brigalia Length of Interview: 19:11 Name of interviewer unknown. Using XX to signify interviewer. (00:02) XX: This is Dianne Brigalia. And you served as an EMT, right? In Iraq. And we’re interviewing at about 5:00 (p.m.) on May 29, 2009. So, why were you interested in becoming an EMT in the military? (00:17) DB: Um, I was interested mainly because I knew I wasn’t ready to go to college yet, so I chose to join the Army. I always wanted to be a doctor, so I knew I wanted to do anything in medical, so that’s why I decided to become a medic. XX: So what was your training for becoming a medic? DB: Well, first we had to do the nine weeks of basic training, just like everybody does. There’s all different MOS’s or jobs there. And then for our training we go to Fort Sam Houston, in Texas, for about three months. And there we first learned CPR, and got certified in CPR. And then after that we did our EMT certification, which was most of…most of the class was the EMT certification. And got licensed in that. It was a lot of hands on training, with CPR. And giving patients shots. Starting IVs and how to assess patients. And they mainly focused on doing these in the field, without having the conveniences that you would have in the real hospital. You would have to build your own hospital and learn how to work with nothing, basically. (01:48) DB: Mainly a lot of hands on, and problem solving and working with what you have. XX: So basically in was like a simulation for out in the field? DB: Yep. We did field training also. That was the last week of our training, was out in the field. XX: So how was your military life? How was food, sleeping arrangements? DB: The food in the field was not bad. The MREs, which is the food in the bag, basically. But a lot of the time, they bring the food to you, in the field, which is really nice, so you get real food. It’s not like eating at home, of course, but it really wasn’t that bad. But, like, when I got to Fort Riley, Kansas, we had our own food, so it was nice, cause we lived in our own house. So, a lot different than Korea and anywhere else, where you had to eat out of the dfac. But it wasn’t bad. �(03:05) XX: All right. So, where did you serve? Can you describe where you got shipped to, or… DB: My first duty station was Korea. Which was where I met my husband. I was in 2nd Engineer Battalion, which was on [unclear]. I worked mainly in the aid station on post. And we also had field problems there. And I would get sent to different units to help them with their field problems. And at Fort Riley I worked in the hospital, which was a lot different. It was a nice break. But there, I worked in the surgery center and I worked in the emergency room, for the rest of my time there. So it was a good experience. XX: So, were most of your cases like bullet wounds, mostly? (04:04) DB: We had a few. (laughs) Yeah. Mainly, we did like sick call and took care of easy stuff. But yeah, we had bullet wounds and more difficult stuff. And there’s a lot of older men in the military, too. So we had a lot of heart attacks and stuff like that. XX: Did you have any cases with diseases? Like, I don’t know if there was like malaria there… DB: Um, there’s actually a lot of STDs, that we saw. (laughs) A lot of STDs. So, I learned a lot about STDs. I never thought I would learn about those in the Army, but I did. And it was interesting. Other than that, no, there’s really was not many other disease. (05:17) XX: What about friendships? You know, would you get really close with your battalion? DB: That was…that was really hard for me. ‘Cause I get really close to people and I don’t like…it’s bad for me, saying good-bye. But. My husband, obviously I got close to him, and we got married, but yeah, I had, every place that I went, friends. And they’re always coming and going, which makes it really difficult, but… XX: So how did you stay in touch with people that you knew back home. With letters, or email… (05:56) DB: Um, there were a lot of letters. We didn’t really have computers in Korea, so it was hard to do the email thing. But a lot of letters. And we had cell phones. Once we got to Kansas, we…there was more email. But a lot of letters to begin with. And then email and phone calls. XX: What does it feel like to get a letter and say, oh my gosh, you know… DB: Well, I can relate that to basic training, because it was like gold, really. It was the best feeling to get a letter in the mail. Which seems small to some people, but it was a big deal. It made you feel really good. Especially when you can’t have contact with anybody. �(06:50) XX: Did you get, like, packages from like schools…I know in like elementary school, we did a package that we sent to a guy in the military. DB: Yeah. My mom sent…well, my mom is a bus driver, so she had a kid, and a teacher that really liked her, and my mom…she found out that she had a daughter in the military. So they one time sent me a box of all these cards from a second grade class. It was really cool. It was really cool. So I wrote them a letter back and everything. So, yeah, I got one of those. It was really cool. XX: That’s cool. So, what did you do when you were off-duty? (07:34) DB: Um, we did a lot of relaxing and hanging out, really. We…I was on a softball team, when I was in Kansas. I don’t know. Well, in Korea, we went out and saw the country. We went anywhere that we possibly could, so that was really cool. Other than that, we just relaxed, had barbeques. Hung out and had a good time. XX: So what was the return home like? DB: When I got out completely? XX: Yes. (08:23) DB: Oh. Well, it was a really long drive. With a baby, and two cars, and a cat and a dog. But, it was really cool coming home. They had a surprise party for us when I got home, and I cried like a baby, of course, cause I totally wasn’t expecting it. But, it was after that, after the honeymoon phase of coming home was over, it was actually really hard. I found it really hard to get a job. I still haven’t been able to get a job. Mark got a job, like six months later, but, it was really weird. It’s weird coming home and not having the job and the insurance and everything that you had before. And living life in the real world. The civilian world, as we called it. Um, it was, it was a lot more difficult adjustment than I thought it was going to be. But it was good in the end, because I was glad to be home. (09:30) XX: So how do you think serving in the military has affected your life? DB: Well, it gave me my family. Um, I learned a lot. I’m in nursing school now and my experiences in the Army and all my training, it’s prepared me for what I’m going to do next. Um, it definitely gave me people skills, that made me not quite as shy as I was, which I’m happy about. It basically was the biggest learning experience of my life and I’m glad that I did it. XX: So what kind of life lessons have you learned? �DB: Um, well, (laughs). I don’t know. I learned a lot about myself and that I am very easy to get addicted to things. Like alcohol and stuff like that. Well, alcohol. Well, when you’re in the Army…when I was in the Army, you have a lot of free time and people drink. And I got in trouble a few times and I learned a lot from it. I don’t know if this is good for high school stuff, but (laughs), um, that was probably my biggest lesson, actually. Was learning that I’m easily influenced by things like that. And I had to take a step back for a while and re-evaluate what I wanted to do with my life, because if I was going to accomplish anything, I had to grow up. So, I had to grow up really fast, which is a good thing. (11:36) DB: Um, I don’t know other than that what life lessons. I think that I’m…I think I learned that family is important. I think I took people in my family for granted before I went into the military, but I learned that it is very important and you need those people there, because they’re your biggest support. XX: So what did you have to do…like if you got in trouble, what was your punishment? DB: I got in trouble a couple of times, in Korea. When you get in trouble, you have to talk to your commander, and your first sergeant and your NCOIC, the people above you. You have to have, basically, it’s a meeting that you have to have with them. And a lot of paperwork. And, um, the first time I got in trouble, they took pay from me. They can actually take your pay. They took my rank from me, so they lower me from a PFC back down to a private. Which also takes your pay, cause you’re going down a pay grade. And they can give you extra duty, which is basically doing chores around post. As soon as you get off work, and, until whatever time they tell you to do it. Like, raking, or cleaning things. Mowing the lawn. Anything they can think of. It’s not fun. So that, too. They can make you go to alcohol classes. All kinds of fun stuff. (13:13) XX: So, back to your family. You said you met your husband in Korea. DB: Right. XX: So do you want to tell us a little bit about that, your relationship, or how it was influenced by you guys being in different places maybe, or anything like that. DB: Um, we met there, and we pretty much decided that we were going to get married, so, um, so we actually were really good friends before anything. We were both with different people. So…somehow it came together. He actually extended for an extra year in Korea and I ended up going to Fort Riley, and that was really hard. We had already decided before that that we were going to get married, but um, that was really hard being away from him. It was awful, actually. And then he went back to Korea, and he was there for another six months and I was in Fort Riley, planning a wedding, by myself. And it was really hard. And then he actually got orders to Fort Riley, so we were stationed in the same place, which is a good thing, cause I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. But we got married and he had to go to Iraq three months later. Which was awful. But we made it through that year. And we got out and now we’re here. �(15:04) XX: That’s good. So you guys got married while you were both in the military, while he was still in the military? DB: Yeah. We were both in the military when we got married. And we were both in Kansas when we got married. Yep. And we both pretty much got out at the same time, so there was never one of us in or one of us out. XX: That is a good thing. DB: Yeah. XX: Well, I think that’s about all I have. Like if there’s anything else, like if you wanna talk about your uniform a little bit… DB: Um…sure. (gets up to get uniform) I’ll bring it over here. This is my uniform. It’s missing a couple of awards, and this is my specialist rank (points to pin on left sleeve). I was a sergeant and I got pregnant and I didn’t wear this when I got promoted because I was pregnant, so I never changed my rank. (Points to patch on upper left sleeve) This is the unit I was in. My last unit, for Medac, because I worked in the hospital on Fort Riley. (points to bar on lower left sleeve) This is just for the three years I was in the service. Every three years, you put another one on. This is the medical insignia. They are different on every uniform, depending on what your MOS was. This is my badge for M16. That’s sharp shooter. And this is my 9 mil. My 9 millimeter metal. Those are for shooting on the range and you have to qualify and you get a certain ranking. (17:05) DB: (points to bars) And these are my awards. I’m missing my ARCOM and my AM, but this is a good conduct metal. You get that for being in the military for a certain amount of time. These we got after…these are for the global war on terrorism, so we got these after we went into Iraq. Everybody got those if they were in the military at that time. Um, this is my Korean defense metal, I believe. I don’t remember. This is the one you get when you graduate from AIT, which is my medic school. And this is for going overseas. And, that’s about it. XX: Do you know what the pins are, there on the shoulders? (18:13) DB: Oh, these are my unit insignia, also. Um, we have a beret that we wear and that goes on the beret, also, too, so you know when you walk by someone what unit they’re in. so everyone will have different ones of these, too. Depending on what unit they’re in. XX: And one last question about your uniform. DB: Sure. �XX: Does it still fit? (18:45) DB: (laughs) Not so much. I don’t know, I haven’t tried it on but I’m sure it fits. Just without buttoning it. Um, I don’t know. But I don’t think so. I’m not going to embarrass myself and try either. (laughter) (19:09) XX: All right. Well, thank you very much for letting me interview you. � 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 Brigalia, Dianne (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brigalia, Dianne Description An account of the resource Diane Brigalia enlisted in the Army after high school because she had always been interested in becoming a doctor, but was not yet ready for college. She went through 9 weeks of basic training and then was sent to Fort San Houston in Texas for EMT training. They mostly focused on field simulations and learned how to put together make shift medical centers and basically work with very few materials. Diane was stationed in Korea after she finished training and worked at the field station with the Second Engineer Battalion. She met her husband in Korea and they later got married when they were both stationed at Fort Riley in Texas. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Ober, Samantha (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Women Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrigaliaD 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/2ee2831d802042be1ea09c879369e83e.mp4 d9f9863818e95ee6cf4287e4b7ce1a1d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7ac53a918d24b2f8bc1e3f47b8b10b17.pdf 6efa807032fcc8f86affbf9c089e2812 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Fred Breuninger Length: 34:43 (00:03) Background Information and Training • • • • • Fred was born on April 22, 1922 His father was a banker He enlisted in the Air Force He had gone to Castle Lake Military Academy so he knew how to do all of the drills and marching The basic training was in Midland, Texas and then he was moved to Sheppard Field, Texas (5:25) Deployment • • • • • • • • • • • • Fred was sent to England with the 8th Air Force He went over on a troopship called the Queen Mary [converted luxury liner] Fred stayed in a state room above the water level Once they got to Europe they had B-24 bombers He was with the 446th bomb group There were about 50 bases each with 50 bombers Fred was part of the HQ company Most of the activity happened early in the morning He was in the S3 operations part of the HQ During his stay in England he would work nights one week and days the next There wasn’t much down time, they just worked and slept Fred stayed in an officers’ hut (22:10) War Ends • • • • • They packed up the base and Fred flew home in a B-24 Everyone thought they were going to Japan next When they got to the US they were told they were going to be discharged Fred took a plane to South Dakota and was discharged He went back to Michigan and became a traveling sales manager � 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 Breuninger, Fred (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Breuninger, Fred Description An account of the resource Fred Breuninger was born on April 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Air Force during WWII. He had gone to Castle Lake Military Academy, and was put into a HQ company. Fred was sent to England with the 8th Air Force in the 446th bomb group that used B-24 planes. He was part of operations in the HQ Company. They would work 14 hour shifts and alternate from days one week to nights the next. After VE day Fred went back to the US and thought he was going to be sent to Japan, but was discharged and returned home to Michigan. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Dion, 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. Air Force 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 2008-06-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BreuningerF 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/ee3a09f69be9367a363e1cec1d526bac.mp4 cc960ec6292baacdf3a10b2a33a651ba https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/991eab97791ee426e2850e6e05abd6bb.pdf 5bca74b6fd69c267babef0b8f733eb92 PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW DONALD BRAZONES TAPE III Born: Racine, Wisconsin Resides: Byron Center, Michigan Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, August 23, 2011 Interviewer: We’re continuing our conversation with Mr. Donald Brazones of Byron Center, Michigan. We got to the point in your story where you had been shot down over Germany, fished out of the Rhine, and taken by the German police and turned over to the Wehmacht and the Luftwaffe. You were just being held at this point, in town, and a bombing raid begins and they take you out of your cell and into a bomb shelter and we pick-up the story there. Who was in there with you? First of all I have to restate that. I was not in a bomb shelter; we just went across the road and into another building. This building was more bomb proof than the one we were in and I’m not exactly sure, but we went down into the basement where maybe this other one didn’t have a basement. I don’t know why they took me over there. 1:13 Then while I was in there, and there were many people in there and I suppose they were employees of whatever was there, I don’t know. I didn’t feel very comfortable because I had a German guard there and yesterday I dropped all these bombs on these—I didn’t drop them—we didn’t because we got shot down before we could drop them, but anyway, the air force dropped the bombs there. Here again, I was nervous about the crowd. I wasn’t worried about my guard; he was a very nice guy as far as I was 1 �concerned, but I’m always concerned about the crowd and what they might think or do. 2:09 Interviewer: Did they know who you were? I have no idea because there was no discussion at all there. The bombs, when they started bombing that place—first of all I don’t know what that place was. I wish I did because I was in the aid center or hospital or whatever it was and I couldn’t figure out why they were bombing this, so it must have been something else or the bombs were spread out. Anyhow, down in the basement the bombs started coming down and it was just absolutely devastating, the concussions of the bombs and although they were concrete walls when they hit it felt almost like rubber. 3:10 The walls would actually move like rubber and also, they dropped incendiary bombs because the incendiary bombs came down where we were. They came through the vent window down into the area where we were and were burning this phosphorus was burning. The Germans had obviously gone through this before and knew all about it and yelled, ―sand, sand, sand‖. They had to get sand to put over those bombs and it looked to be routine, but me, being new to being bombed, I was scared out of my pants. 4:02 Then, after the bombing, my guard took me out and we walked over to the road and the first thing he did—when the first car came down he flagged it down and there was a German officer in there, and he went and said something to him and I don’t know what. He said, ―OK, come get in‖, and I got in the car and we rode out of the area. I guess they thought the bombing was over and went back to their normal living. We went to, I believe it was Frankfurt, and we got out of the car and we went into a restaurant and had our lunch and our lunch was potato soup and a beer, he bought me a beer too. I thought it must be German because their beer 2 �is like coffee or something, so that was enjoyable, and then—I don’t know if I’m getting mixed up here or not, but then, I think, we went to Oberursel, which is just a little outside of Frankfurt. 5:51 Oberursel, I’m not sure what that name means in German, but it was an interrogation center and apparently the prisoners were taken there. They took me there and put me in a room with just a little low bed, and the mattresses on those beds are straw, and they closed the door and it’s dark in there. 6:28 They have shutters on the windows, sliding shutters, and the only light that came in was through the cracks between the boards. I just lay there with nothing to do, nothing to read, and nothing to do anything you just lay there. 6:50 Interviewer: I have a question for you. When you bailed out and you landed in the river, you took off your boots, what did you have on your feet by this time? I had shoes, they fit over the shoes Interviewer: You did have shoes? Yeah Interviewer: I was wondering about that because I had visions of you going around in stocking feet the whole time. Thank god I had them, and in fact later, when you’re up there in the Baltic, I wished I had some boots there. Interviewer: They have you in the cell and it’s dark except for the light between the slats. Then three times a day they come in and give you some food, and the food—at breakfast time it’s usually a piece of black bread with jam of some type on it and I can’t remember what we had to drink. I don’t know if it was tea or what it was, I can’t remember, but we 3 �had something to drink. 7:54 Then at noon you would get a bowl of cabbage soup, no meat in it, just cabbage, and that was ok because I was getting hungry about this time anyhow. In the evening, I can’t remember exactly what we had there, but normally it’s just a piece of black bread and water, but nobody talks to you and the next day, the same thing, nobody talks to you. You lay there, and the third day it’s the same thing, and then the fourth day you get your turn at interrogation. 8:43 The interrogation officer, they take you into his office and you sit there and he, of course, speaks perfect English and knows about the United States, and apparently has been doing this for a long time. You go in there and you sit down and he’s very, very kind and asks me if I want a cigarette and I said, ―No, I don’t want a cigarette‖. I didn’t want to be chums with him at all. So then we start talking and I can’t remember much of the small talk, but apparently he could notice that I was relaxing a little bit or something because he offered me the cigarettes again. I said, ―ok‖, and I took it and he sort of smiled when I did that. He had done this for so many years and of course, it was my first time. 10:05 So, then we start talking and he brings out a big book and it’s a book on the 91st Bomb Group, and he pages through it and he has pictures of the hangar and the runways and everything, and a list of all the personnel. Before that he was trying to get me to say what I was and what I belonged to and I just said, ―I’m in the air force, in the air corps in the United States, and I was shot down on a bombing mission‖, and then he brought out this big book with all the information on the 91st Bomb Group. 10:59 He said, ―We’ve been at war for five years and we know as much about you as you know about us and you can’t tell me anything that I don’t know‖, and I said, ―fine‖. I think that was—Oh, did I tell you, when I wouldn’t tell him anything to start with, I just told him my name and I was with the 4 �American air force, he said, ―ok, we’ll just have you shot as a spy‖, and I said, ―you know I’m not a spy‖, ―no, I don’t know that, you could be a spy‖ he said. I’m not speaking all this out loud; I’m doing a lot of thinking on my own. 11:59 I’m thinking, ―if you’ve been at war for five years, you know damn well I’m not a spy, I was just shot out of the air this noon‖, so anyhow, that was the end of that. He took me back to my room and then the next morning I saw that my door was open a little bit. I think I forgot to say at the beginning, when I went there they took your shoes and your belt, so if you escaped you were going to have to hold your pants up and find someplace to walk, so that’s pretty smart. I looked out, nobody said anything, but I heard a little action out in the general area there, there were rooms all around there. 12:52 I looked outside and there were my shoes and belt and nobody said anything to me, but if they were there they were meant for me to put on, so I put them back on. Then people started gathering out in the central area, other prisoners and guards. Nobody said anything to be, but if they’re there I’m going to go there because that’s getting out of this place. I think back today, that if I only knew what the Germans were doing over there, as far as gassing people and killing them, I don’t think I would have gotten into a line unless I knew where it was going. Of course, me being ignorant of that, I just got in line and said, ―fine, we’re getting out of here‖. 13:53 That’s when they took us over to a train depot, I think, and then we got on the train and this car, and I don’t know how many other cars, but in our car it was just all prisoners, recent people who got shot down. The German trains, and I don’t know if it’s that way all over, and I think it was too in England, but the trains are built so they have the walkway on one side of the train and then the compartments are along there. They put us, I think eight of us, in this compartment and there are two seats 5 �and you sit and look at each other and that was it. 14:55 There had to be guards outside, I don’t remember seeing any, but the train started moving and going and I think it probably took two days to go up to Barth, which is up on the Baltic Sea in Pomerania. On the way, and at that time, the air force, the P47’s and the P51’s had a good time shooting at trains and sure enough we could hear one coming down, yak,yak,yak,yak, and he was apparently spraying the train and we all hit the floor. 16:07 You tried to protect yourself as much as you possibly could, but that only lasted a few minutes and that was over. The thing that happens is, when that train gets hit the doors get locked and the guards leave because they don’t want any part of that, and I can understand that. Anyhow, we got up to Barth, which is where Stalag I was and I think they disconnected our car from the rest of the train, so our car was the only one at the dock there, at the depot. 17:07 They got us all out, we’re standing there in a line, and a German officer comes up and I can’t really remember what he said or anything, from there on we could see the city of Barth because it’s—Barth had this, I’ll call it a cathedral or a church of some kind, and you could always—there was a significant identification of Barth. We saw that and they didn’t take us there, they took us away from there and into the barracks area of the prison. 18:04 I don’t think there’s anything very important from there, you’re just in a room, at barracks and a room, and the room, our room at the time, had fourteen prisoners in it. They had double bunks and the room was about 14x20, so you were kind of cozy in there. At least by this time you felt sort of secure getting there after all this havoc coming down into getting there. 19:03 You felt kind of secure. The prisoners who—this part of the prison camp was being built at this time, this was a new barracks we went into, and there were some prisoners in that barracks, but not all the 6 �rooms yet, and that’s why they were taking us in there, but the prisoners that were there, of course, were very kind and very considerate. They knew we were hungry, so they would bring out some of their food and they would share it with us. The one thing I got was a can of salmon about that big, and I said to myself, ―you don’t like salmon‖, but they opened it up and I ate the whole damn thing. 20:05 It wasn’t what I liked, but I was hungry, and it was actually very good that day, and I still love salmon. Interviewer: Did the prisoners explain to you what the rules of the place were, or how you had to act or behave, or what you had to watch out for? I believe so, I really can’t remember specifically. They had to because they were there and we just came, yes. I’ll just explain the daily life there. At least once a day a horse drawn wagon was driven into our compound and on it were big piles of potatoes, or rutabagas, and water, and they had special kettle, and it must have been for the field mess, maybe I should call it, that they would heat. 21:39 They would heat barley, and they had big pails of barley, maybe like a milk pail, so they would come and dump that and each barracks would come up and take their share of what there was, and also some black bread, so that was our meals and subsistence for quite a while. In addition to that though we were allotted one Red Cross parcel, now the Red Cross parcel, that was made up by the International Red Cross in Switzerland, but it was the American Red Cross. 22:38 In that they had good foods that we liked, and that’s where that can of salmon came from, or we’d get a can of pate, which is a liver spread, a big can of oleo margarine, and that’s significant and I’ll talk about that later, and a can of Spam and what you call D bars, about that size and very thick and very dark chocolate. 23:32 I guess it was made with good stuff, vitamins or something in them to help you. They had those in K-rations 7 �for the army, the American army they were in the K-rations. You were supposed to get one, supposed to get one Red Cross parcel per person per week—that’s right, there were also five packs of cigarettes in there, and cigarettes became very important because that was your money—I better not get off track here, but let me continue with that as long as I went there. In this compound you always—and when I found out what being in the service is, it’s really an experience because there are so many different people in the service and they all have different talents. 24:40 Sure enough, in our compound we had some guys who set up a store and you would have your cans of salmon, spam and cigarettes and everything in there and you could go in and buy stuff with cigarettes. One cigarette would buy you a can of something, or something like that, so I just wanted to explain that. Interviewer: You were talking about the daily routine, so they bring you the food, and did they actually give you the Red Cross parcels? Oh, yeah, they had the Red Cross parcels and then the barracks captain would distribute so many to each room and then the room would really put everything they had in the, away in a cabinet, so when it came time to eat we would distribute some of this food. 25:58 For instance, a can of Spam, you know how big a can of Spam is, about that big, and you would have to slice that in fourteen even slices. Later, the camp got more crowded and they had to accommodate the new prisoners, they came in each room and put a third bunk high, so now we had twenty people in our room, in the same room 14x20. You got very friendly, and then when you had this feast of Spam, you had to cut it in twenty slices, so the slices got smaller. 26:47 That was the only meat you had and you treated it like roasted Spam, not like an old Spam sandwich. Anyway, then your 8 �meals were—this was supplementing the German rations, which were very, very scarce. If you had to live on German rations, you wouldn’t live too long. We experienced that after Christmas. I got shot down in September and then in December, Christmas, we had a gorgeous meal and the main entrée was roasted Spam, and about that time too they stopped giving us potatoes. 27:47 They probably ran out of them, I don’t know, but then we got rutabagas, great big rutabagas like that, and some of the men in the camp were apparently farmers or knew about farming, and they said, ―usually you feed these to cattle‖, but we were just happy to get them. From Christmas to Easter the Red Cross parcels got spread out farther and farther, and instead of getting, well, we got hardly any—we got some, between Christmas and Easter we got some, but we mostly got rutabagas. The only meat you got was, they said it was horses, horsemeat. 29:02 Of course the stories go around that when a horse gets killed on the front, they bring it in here and feed it to the prisoners, so we don’t know about that except that was the only meat you had and it was very, very little of that. There was one day we got some meat and we don’t know what it was, but –I’ll tell you another thing. The way you cooked and kept warm in your room was, there was a stove, a coal stove or a wood stove about that long and that wide, sort of a narrow one, and then you would get a ration of coal briquettes a day, they were whatever your allotment was, ten a day, or whatever it was, so you used that to keep warm and to cook. 30:18 It was the only way you could cook anything, so during that period, that starvation period, we got so hungry that when we boiled the rutabagas, we decided that nothing was going to go to waste, so when we took the rutabagas out of the water, we drank the water thinking that maybe there was something good in the water. Rather than throwing it out on the ground, we drank it. 9 �Interviewer: Why was the oleomargarine important? Oh, I got to tell you that and I’m glad you asked. In our barracks there were no lights, I guess there was one, one light with a pull chain in this big room. 31:23 At night you had to close the shutters on the windows, you could not have them open, so we’re sitting in the dark, so somebody again figured it out that if they took their belt and cut a piece off of it, we had web belts, the GI belt, and stick it in the oleomargarine and light it, you would have a lamp. That’s what we had for light at night, burned the oleomargarine. Interviewer: What sort of contact or interaction did you have with the German guards? 32:10 The German guards would come in generally at roll call, every morning they had roll call and everyone had to get out of the barracks. They would line us up and then the guards would count and then they would report to the commandant there. If they were off you had to stand there and they had to recount and check the barracks. Well, they always left a barracks guard in there and they left a barracks guard in there for two reasons, he could usually speak German, and when the guard came in they became real friendly and then they would barter with the German guard about something, whatever it was you wanted to get. 33:19 Here again, I think the mode of payment was cigarettes or it could have been food from the parcels we got. That’s how the exchange would happen and that’s how you got different things in your barracks and rooms that were not GI issue. Interviewer: How was the health of the men in the camp? Were the men getting sick or having problems? I would say generally that the health was ok. 34:08 What happened to me though was—soon after Christmas, I can’t remember exactly when it was, I had a very sore 10 �throat, so I went on sick call and the doctor was British, the doctor was a prisoner also, and there were quite a few British in our camp. They were probably there first because they were fighting a lot longer than we were. This British doctor came and looked at my throat and he screamed out AH! I thought he meant for me to say AH, but he said, ― No, no, that was just an exclamation of what I saw in there‖. 35:15 My tonsils were just all coated with something, so they took me out and put me in isolation. It was just a room and there were two beds in the room and both of us were quarantined. They said I had Diphtheria, so the treatment for Diphtheria was Diphtheria serum or whatever it is. They came and they had a syringe, it had to be that long and, of course, as you’re looking at a syringe the size always gets bigger, and it was amazing because they filled it up and in by butt they squeezed the whole thing, left the needle in and unscrewed the reservoir and got it filled up again and screwed it back on and gave it to me again. 36:28 I remember how much it was, it was 30,000 British units or something like that and that was my treatment. Within a day I started puffing up all over my body. I was just puffing up and the Dr. came in and looked and I had a reaction to the stuff that they gave me. He came in and gave me one shot in the arm too to counteract what they had given me. The swelling went down and from then on I never got anything that I can remember. 37:24 I must have gotten medication every day, I don’t know, but I was in there about a month though. Then when I went back to the barracks they gave me a very wonderful thing. It was a can of cod liver oil. I don’t think that there would be enough money to make me take a spoon of cod liver oil when I’m normal, but I had to take that three times a day and being in the condition my body was, I just looked forward to the time when I could get some more cod liver oil. 38:18 11 �Interviewer: Well I hope it has some interesting nutrients in it. Probably more than rutabaga juice Interviewer: Most likely I’m sure that’s why they were giving it to me, to build me back up. I read stuff about fish oil being so good for you, and cod liver oil at that time, and I don’t know if it was in your youth, but at that time it was quite common. Interviewer: It was just going out of style, and as far as I could tell it was probably a good thing at that point. I was just—maybe that became popular during the depression or something, I don’t know. Interviewer: An old cure all kind of thing and it had a lot of vitamins and stuff in it. They keep talking about fish oil and anyhow, I think the point I’m trying to make here is that I was so darn hungry anything like that would really taste good, so I was looking forward to it every day. 39:24 Finally when the can was empty I got sad. Interviewer: In general you really didn’t have much contact with the Germans? They just left you alone in the compound most of the time? No contact with the Germans at all. In our compound there was a, I’m going to guess, and I heard this someplace, ten acres was our compound, and around the compound was a double barbed wire fence about ten feet tall and between the two fences they had an entanglement of barbed wire. 40:05 On the inside part of the wall, twenty feet from the inside of the barbed wire, they had one single strand of barbed wire, nailed to a post about this high, all the way around the compound. The reason why they had that was for the security of the Germans and anyone that crossed that single barbed wire was shot. 12 �We had guard towers all around and they would shoot you. You were told that, not to go over that fence and I never did, but when you walked around the compound you would walk right next to the fence all the time and that was our exercise and entertainment and everything was the walk. 41:12 We walked and walked and walked around that compound all the way, all the time and everybody did, so it was like a big parade. Interviewer: While you were there, were there people who would actually go over the wire or try to get out or by then were they behaving themselves? I would guess that they were behaving themselves more and I have no idea what it was earlier in the war, but I do to, and I’ll tell you about that. Oh, yeah, we heard one story, I did not see it, but I heard a story that—you know, we would have air raids too. The British and Americans would come and bomb around there and when the planes came, when these big planes, and our planes too, came they would blow the siren, and we had to get back into the barracks, close the shutters on the windows and stay in the barracks 42:22 One time, a person apparently did not hear the siren, so he came running out of the barracks and as he got out he realized that there was nobody out there and went to go back, but they shot him from the tower. I didn’t see it, but that’s the story that went around and I have no reason to believe it’s not true. 42:52 Interviewer: What shows up, at least in the history book, is that earlier on there were various escape attempts and those got dealt with harshly enough that eventually orders came from the outside, and said that the American and British prisoners were not under any obligation to escape and they should just stay where they were, so you had an earlier phase and by the time you got there, some of that 13 �may have kicked in, so you understood you would just mostly stay there and not try to crawl out or anything else like that. Well, if that is true that is a good thing, because in Stalag III they had this great escape and they dug down. Our barracks were up on stilts, the compound I went in, the barracks were up on stilts and in previous compounds they weren’t, so what would happen is, they would take this stove that was in the corner, take it off and put it on the side, and then they would take up some bricks, the stove had a brick bottom there, and then they would dig down from there. 44:17 If a guard was coming or anything they would take the stove and put it back up there and twiddle your thumbs while he’s walking around. I’ve read stories about this, so they had a very sophisticated method of digging and tunneling and when they would dig in that dirt, then the prisoners would take the dirt and put it in their pockets and then when they were walking around the compound they would get rid of the dirt, and they had to get rid of the dirt somehow. 45:17 I’m thinking, they had to be sure to spread it so the color of the dirt didn’t change otherwise they would suspect, but of course, they’re always suspecting someone tunneling out and getting out of there. In Stag Luft III, it was a very sophisticated tunnel and you would almost think that they were miners or something. Interviewer: They may have had some miners and they did have some miners in the camp. They went down there and they built some rails so they could crawl on their belly to the next area and very, very sophisticated. 46:12 One day they decided that it was time to dig up, so they could escape, and they went up, and I have to sort of guess at this, but their tunnel that came up was not far enough away from the outside, so the Germans, in 14 �fact, saw it and when all of the prisoners came up and spread themselves out, all of a sudden they were all captured, recaptured and they were all shot. Interviewer: When they recaptured prisoners, they didn’t always kill them, but they did often enough and it was just hard enough for any of them to get out of Germany at all, that the allied commanders decided they didn’t need to do that anymore, but as far as you can tell, the time that you were in the camp that you were in, there were not any organized efforts to escape or things like that, you were just waiting? 47:26 Not with me, and anyone that was anyone that was connected, of course, would be tight lipped, you don’t broadcast that to anybody. Interviewer: We talked about different aspects of the conditions in the camp. The food supply goes down over the course of time, and aside from walking, did you have any kinds of things for entertainment or recreation? Did you organize any kind of events or do things like that? Well, I went into the camp in September of 1944 and the invasion happened in June and the allied forces were getting closer and closer to Germany and in fact, when I got shot down I guess, they were at the German border. 48:30 There was not too much stuff going on, playing I mean, before that. They played ball, the prisoners played ball, they put on plays, and I wouldn’t doubt if that they had a band. The closer we got to the end of the war, and when the Germans had less and less, I mean, I don’t think the people in Barth had much more than we had. 49:33 Interviewer: They were getting short on food. So, there wasn’t a whole lot more going on there and you weren’t getting anything interesting coming in. What kinds 15 �of things did they trade? When swapping and bartering with the guards, what kinds of things could they get? Well, I think one of the things I remember was a radio and it was probably one of the most important things that they bartered for. I don’t know, but I guess I have to guess, if I was a German I would be smart and I wouldn’t give them a whole radio, I would give them a part of a radio. Give me some more food and I’ll give you another part of the radio, and I sort of think that’s the way it was, but I don’t know. 50:28 So, we had a radio and we could get, when I say we, I mean the whole prison, broadcasts from the BBC. Then they would take this information and write it out on a sheet of paper and— how would they copy that? Maybe they just---they had to have more than one sheet of paper, so they had to do it many times, because this got passed around to all of the prisoners in the barracks, so every night you would wait for that, someone to come and give you that paper, so that would tell you what you never get out of the Germans, you would get out of the BBC. 51:25 Where the troops were, what they captured, mostly about the war. Interviewer: Did you get any letters from home or could you write? I got letters from home, yes, and it took about three months before I got my first letter. I wrote some, but you can’t have much to say really. Even on the incoming letters, they were read by German censers because parts were all blacked out and you could see it, and I don’t think the American censors would do that. I wrote a few letters home, but they never got any of them. An interesting thing, and I don’t know if you’ve heard this before, but at that time, when you first became a prisoner, you had a chance to send a message home and you sent that message home by, I guess the Red Cross handled that, and you 16 �wrote the message that you wanted to send home to your parents and they would broadcast this over short wave. 53:29 There were a lot of short wave people, operators. Interviewer: Ham radio operators? Ham radio operators on the east coast, and they would pick-up these messages and go to find the families. This is what we heard last night, this is what we got and I got some of those yet. They would also write a letter to your parents telling them what they heard, ―your son might be a prisoner of war‖, so that was interesting. Interviewer: Were there other details or parts of the prisoner story? Yeah, this—when you first became a prisoner, they would give you a bowl about like that, a cup, and a knife, fork and spoon. The knife, fork and spoon being the normal tableware that you have here, and that was it. 54:44 But again, these different people as prisoners, they figured out that wasn’t enough and how could we cook our food because we have no pans or anything. Another thing that was in the Red Cross parcel was a can of klim, milk spelled backwards, and it was powdered milk. After that was gone, and somebody had figured out years before, that if you took that knife and put it down into that empty can, you could get the bottom out real nice. 55:43 So, then you had a nice flat piece of metal and I’ll just say they made it so you could put it together. They would take one end and bend it up and take this one and bend it up an put it together and put pressure on it, and you end up with a sheet of metal from cans. Then they would turn up the edges and had a pan, so that’s how you could cook your food. Interviewer: Now, were you able to do things like shave? Did you have razors or anything like that? 17 �I was twenty years old then and I didn’t have to shave very much. I can’t tell you because I don’t remember. 56:44 Interviewer: Did the men around you grow beards and things? No Interviewer: So, somebody was able to shave if they needed to. Yeah, but I don’t ever remember seeing safety razors, so they had to have it. Interviewer: The Germans were letting you have metal things, knives and forks and spoons, etc., maybe they weren’t too worried about you having sharp objects and things like that. Well, they were because again, it didn’t take prisoners very long to learn that if you rub that knife on a rock you can make it nice and sharp and pointed and it would become a lethal weapon, so that’s what they did. 57:30 There’s another thing here that—talking about the ingenuity of the prisoners—the bunks were wood framed and the bed part was framed, but then to make a bottom in it, it wasn’t solid. It had seven wood slats about that wide and long enough to fit into the bed frame and then you had the straw ticking for a mattress, so what you would have to do was space those seven slats so you wouldn’t fall through. Some of the, not very many, a few of the prisoners, if I had pictures it would be interesting to see, would make different things from these slats. 58:42 Well, I don’t know if they stole them from other people’s beds or their own, but they used these slats, and of course, what kind of instruments did you have? What kind of tools did you have? A knife, a fork and a spoon, so they would take this knife and they would take a rock and make big teeth in it, so now it became a saw and you sawed pieces of it out of this bed slat for the size and shape for anything that you wanted, you would do that. One 18 �man there, one boy there made a violin and I have a picture of that too. I think it’s in the museum now. Can you imagine that, making a violin? 59:47 Interviewer: He had a lot of time on his hands I guess. With the limited tools and everything, it looks just like a store bought violin. Interviewer: This tape is just about out and have you covered most of what you can think of? Well, they did have a library and there were various books in the library and I didn’t visit that very much. What else? That’s about it I guess. Interviewer: Now, as the war went on, you’re in the eastern part of Germany and the Soviets are getting closer and closer to you, was there a point at which they made you all get out and leave the camp for the west, or did you stay at the camp until the Soviets got there? : 43 That’s interesting, with the radio, we knew what was happening in the war. We knew where the American were and where the Russians were. As the war went on, we would get some news that the Russians had advanced some more, and at night some of these guys would open up their shutters and open up their windows and yell, ―come on Joe‖, calling for Joseph Stalin. We knew exactly what was happening and so did the Germans, of course. 1:46 One day all of the Germans left, they all left the camp. No more guards, no more nothing and guess what, the next day Joe comes, the Russian army is there and they go—these troops came from Stalingrad and they were hard soldiers. They had seen a lot and they were hurt a lot and they came on horses, which is interesting. 2:41 When they came into Barth, the story goes, they would go into a house and they would take their gun and point it at whoever answered the door and say, ‖Schnapps‖, and 19 �they had to get some Schnapps for them. Then, this one afternoon—we were up on the Baltic Sea, right on the shores, and there was a peninsula that went out like that and here’s this Russian going down on the peninsula, we could see him, as fast as he could go on a horse and he had a machine gun in his hand and he’s shooting off the bullets as he’s going and I thought, ―oh, my god, this is really something‖. We were more scared of the Russians than we were of the Germans because we didn’t know what they were going to do. 3:41 Interviewer: What did the Russians do? When they got to your camp did they just wave at you or go on or what? Well, they raided the city first and did what they wanted to do there and then they came up to the camp and they said, ―ok, we’re going to take you back to Russia and we will repatriate you to Russia‖, and our officers in charge said, ―no, we’re not going to Russia, we’re going to wait here until our troops get here. We’ve already notified the air force and they’re going to come in and fly us out‖, and somehow they made this guy understand that. 4:37 I’ll tell you one other thing though, what they did do for us is that, a day or two after they came there, they put on what we call a USO show, and song and dance and everything, and it was amazing. You would see these Russians do that Russian dance where they cross their arms and kick their feet like that, and it was a good show. We couldn’t understand anything they said, but their dancing was interesting. Then, it must be a day or two after that, and I can’t remember how long it was, possibly a week from the time we were liberated until the time the 8th Air Force flew in there. Interviewer: So, there was an airbase somewhere in the area they could land at? 5:30 20 �There was an airbase right outside of Barth. I don’t know how much you know about Barth, but the other thing about Barth is that it was some sort of a sub-depot for the Luftwaffe, that airbase. Also, in the city there was a concentration camp and we didn’t— I should say we did know because at times you would see some people out there in the field working and they had on striped suits and these hats, I think you would call them a tam for us, and stripes, and they were hauling stuff out of the flak zone, there was a flak zone there, and airplane parts, they would take them and distribute them out in the fields, and I don’t know why. 6:53 Maybe to keep the prisoners-Interviewer: There were prisoners held in the town and there were you guys outside of it. There must have been and I don’t know where they were held. Interviewer: At least there was a labor camp in the area of some kind? Yes, and like I say, a concentration camp was right in the middle of the city, and when the Russians liberated us, our officers in charge went around and they found in the city of Barth, prisoners being held in the basements of buildings and they were chained to the wall and some were dead and some were alive. 7:48 They released—those that were dead, they got rid of them, but those that were alive, our officers made the Germans do this, the German civilians in the city. ―You get out and clean up that place‖. It was a stinking mess and they made it there and they knew it was there. They got them to clean it up with a bunch of tears in the eyes of my men. I’m kind of mixing this up, but when we were leaving we had to all march down to the airport, to the runways, and when we saw this concentration camp in the city, that was the first time we knew it was there, there 21 �were bars on the windows and everything, and we walked by it then. 8:51 What was your question? Interviewer: I was asking you how you wound up getting out? Oh yeah, our air force came in and flew us out, and it was interesting because it was the 91st. Bomb Group that came and got us. The planes were all lined up and flying in, in a line, landing, coming around, sitting like that, shutting off two engines, we piled into the airplanes, filled it up, they started the two engines again and went and took off. Interesting because you read articles about that. They took us into France to a camp called Camp Lucky Strike, and we got showers and deloused and some food, some good food. 9:59 Interviewer: Did you have any problems getting adjusted to eating good food again? Well, we didn’t, because before the Russians came, somehow or other we got a bunch of Red Cross parcels, so we had a lot to eat and we got sick. The body wasn’t used to that kind of food, especially that much of it, so a whole bunch of us were sick, but that was about a two week period and we were already on our way to recovery by the time we got to Lucky Strike. 10:58 We had good food there and it didn’t bother us, but it bothered other people. Interviewer: When they got you out and they took you to Lucky Strike, did anyone debrief you? Did anyone ask you questions about your experience or anything like that, at that time? They just brought you in there and? They brought us in there and as I remember, we had choices of going home or you could go back to England and go home from there. We decided, me and a couple of my friends 22 �there, we’d go back to England. And one of the closest friends I had there was from New York, but his father was Scottish, so he wanted to go up to Scotland to see where his father was born and raised, so I went with him. 12:08 I’m not sure how long we were gone, but we were gone and then we went to, also in Scotland they have—do you know anything about Scotland at all? They have this castle up on the hill and the Scottish army puts on a show and it’s unbelievable, it’s really good. Interviewer: Edinburgh 12:45 We went back there after the war and saw another one, and Laraine had her picture taken with one of these guards. From there we—where did we leave from? It might have been Scotland. Interviewer: Did you take a ship home? Yeah, it couldn’t have been Scotland it had to be-Interviewer: Well, you could have gone out of Glasgow. All the troops weren’t up there, just a couple of us, anyhow, we got back to London, or wherever it was, maybe we left fro Liverpool I’m not sure. 13:51 Interviewer: Liverpool is quite possible. Anyhow, we got on a ship to go home, that was another-Interviewer: So, you sail out of Liverpool. Do you remember what kind of ship you were on? Was it a regular transport or Liner? Well, when we got up there, I’ll always remember, that in the harbor was the Queen Mary and man, we thought we were going to go home on the Queen Mary because it’s so nice, so they march us out, we go onto the dock, and onto a liberty ship that apparently carried sugar up there because there was sugar spilled around and the bees were flying 23 �around. 15:00 We said, ―what the hell are we doing here, we’re supposed to go home on the Queen Mary‖. That was our ride home, the liberty ship, and it was empty so it rode kind of high in the water and we had some pretty good rides as we were going up and down like this. It was kind of interesting and many, many of the guys got sick. I won’t even say this on the—anyway, our ride home was on this liberty ship, an empty liberty ship and it was not a very nice ride home. 16:11 Interviewer: Did they have bunks built into it or hammocks? What was it? I really can’t remember, so I really don’t know. Interviewer: But it was not the Queen Mary? No, it was not the Queen Mary she was in the harbor. Interviewer: Do you remember where you landed in the U.S.? Yes, we landed in Boston. Interviewer: From there did they let you get on a train and go home or did you have to go someplace to be discharged, what did you do? We went home, I think we got home somehow. I was home and I had a ninety-day leave, I think, so I had time to get reaclimated to civilian life in the United States. 17:17 However, the war in Japan was still going on and after my experience, I decided that I was going to do no more fighting with anyone, so I did everything I could to extend the time of my vacation. That’s why I stayed in England two or three weeks longer than I had to. I did not want to go to Japan and I don’t know of any prisoners that did, but it’s possible, I don’t know that. I didn’t want to take a chance. 24 �Interviewer: Well, they had the point system in place and they could calculate is you had enough to be discharged. Presumably, if you were a POW you would have had quite a few. 18:18 I think I was short a few of them. You needed 85 and I had 83 or something like that. I was thinking how I could get two more points. When I was shot down and I was in the plane and the plane lurched forward like that, the equipment in the plane came down and hit us, and it hit me on the back of the leg here and it drew some blood, but mostly a bruise. In order to get a Purple Heart you have to shed some blood and you get five points or something like that, and I was trying to figure out how I could get those points and get out, but I never did apply for it. 19:24 I decided there were too many other guys that really deserved the Purple Heart. Interviewer: Did the war with Japan come to an end before you had to go back, so that took care of it? Yes, my home was in Racine, Wisconsin and I was there, and one night I was out playing cards with the boys and drinking a little beer and when it was time to go home, I started driving, and I wasn’t driving too far, and all of a sudden this policeman is in back of me and he pulled me over. I didn’t think I did anything wrong and he comes over and he said, ―quick, turn on your radio, I think the war is over‖, so he got in my car and listened. 20:29 ―The war is over and isn’t that super?‖ That was kind of interesting. He wasn’t worried about how much beer I had; he just wanted to listen to the radio. Interviewer: Once the war ended, did you still have to go and report someplace to get officially discharged? 25 �Like I said, I was on a long leave and after that I had to go to North Carolina to get discharged. I went there and they took your history and everything and got your discharge papers. 21:08 Interviewer: Now, once you’re finally out, what do you wind up doing at that point? Do you go to college or go to work? Well, I first went on what was called fifty-two twenty. Fifty-two weeks you get twenty dollars unemployment and it wasn’t a year, maybe it was twenty-six twenty, but I think they extended that. I fooled around and I played golf and I felt sorry for myself, so I thought, ―I spent all that time in the clink, I’m going to enjoy myself a little bit. I’m not going to rush into work or anything as long as I can, I’m just going to enjoy myself‖, and there was a friend of mine that I went to high school with, and he was with Patton’s 3rd Army and he was home, so we caroused around for a few weeks. 22:25 After that I went to work. I went to work in a factory, both of us did, and we were assembling big hydraulic jacks and that was just something to do. Later I decided to go to college and the University of Wisconsin had opened up an extension in Racine where you could go for your first two years, in Racine. 23:25 After that I went to Madison and graduated in 1949. Interviewer: What did you have a degree in? I had a split—I had a degree in business, I had a split major of marketing and finance. I was always conniving; I got a split major because I could get out of college six months earlier. There was one required subject that I had to take for a marketing degree, but it wasn’t offered in that semester. I didn’t want to fool around for a semester, so I took a split major and got out of there, so that’s what I did. 24:19 26 �Interviewer: All right, once you had the degree, what did you do? There are two things I did real quickly, and the first one was to marry my beautiful wife. Before that I applied for a job at Oscar Meyer and Company and they accepted me and I told my boss, ―I can’t go to work for another couple weeks because I’m getting married tomorrow‖, or the next day or whatever it was. So that was that, we got married, we went on our honeymoon, we came back and I went to work for the Oscar Meyer Co. 25:04 Interviewer: Now, to look back on the whole thing now, and this is maybe too big a question, how do you think that whole experience in the military wound up affecting you? Were you a little different person or saw things differently than you would have if you hadn’t gone through that? That can’t be answered because I was eighteen when I went in, I was twenty when I got out, twenty-one when I got out, and those are kind of the tough years for a boy growing up , so had I not gone in there, I don’t know what would happen to me, I don’t know. I know that my experience in the service was good. I enjoyed it even though I had some interesting things happen. Interviewer: There are certainly parts you would not want to repeat. 26:03 No, but the service was good for me and I enjoyed the service. I’ll tell you one more thing. My son that was here the other day and he must have been about eighteen when the Vietnam War was going on and he said he wanted to go in the service and fight in Vietnam, and I said, ―no, you can’t go there. I’ll pay your way to Canada, but you’re not going to Vietnam‖. I felt Vietnam was a rotten war and we never should have been there killing all those innocent people. Interviewer: Did he not get drafted, so it wasn’t an issue? 27 �No, he didn’t get drafted and it’s too bad too because the service would have done him good. He would have enjoyed the service I think, and maybe not, at least I think he would. 27:10 Interviewer: I talk to quite a few veterans and the majority of them say that it’s a good experience and something that everyone aught to go through, or have, but a lot of them will say except for the war part. If you don’t have to fight a war, then it’s a pretty good thing. I really hate war and I think it’s the most stupid thing that mankind can do, people shooting people, why? Why are you doing that? Interviewer: You go and you look at the reasons for it and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If you look at where Japan is today opposed to what they thought they wanted to be when they wanted to build themselves and empire, and they didn’t need an empire, they got out of it. Look at Germany, what did we do? We defeated them and then, bam; we flew all this food into Germany. Germany, I can understand, I can understand that war, that maniac really had to be stopped and obviously there was no one else who could do it. In fact, we had a hard time preparing for it, so I think war is stupid. 28:36 Interviewer: One thing you learn when you talk to enough people who have been in it, it really is a pretty terrible thing and you do your best to avoid it. Part of the point of this whole project, in a way, is to let people who really don’t know anything about it, understand how bad it really is and how much goes on beyond what we see in the movies or other kinds of places. 28 �Well, I was thinking that the best place I could have served this war was in the air, and the nice part about that is, you don’t see the gory part of war. You don’t have to take your rifle and point it at this young man’s head just because he’s using a different uniform or different kind of helmet. I don’t hate that guy, why should I kill him; it doesn’t make any sense to me. I wish, I hope, I really think Obama will get us out of this damn war mentality. We’ve been in it so long, I don’t know. 29:50 Interviewer: Well, the country is pretty tired of it, you’re not alone in that sentiment, and that’s part of why he got elected. Certainly anybody who can recognize what a problem it is will want to get it out. It’s a little bit beyond our control here, but in the meantime, what you have done, is you’ve told us a really remarkable story and it’s a very valuable part of our collection. I want to thank you again for taking the time to talk to us. Well, thank you for being here. 30:13 29 �30 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brazones, Donald L. (Interview transcript and video, 2 of 2), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brazones Donald L. Description An account of the resource Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Donald Brazones enlisted into the Army Air Corps at the age of 18 in retaliation to the Japanese's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Brazones trained to be a navigator and was sent to England to fly missions over Europe. On Brazones' 18th mission, he was shot down and captured by German Officers. His interview is a detailed recollection of his time in the service, especially his memories from the day he was shot down, and his subsequent capture, imprisonment and release from captivity. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-04-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrazonesD2 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/a59ea5b59f5e20f2538db732f678d06b.mp4 d4f078866cd1cdae813f1fee7faa9b68 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b608bc5dc402bfc2196120edcd11e934.pdf 78451e997ee1e8f1b9812216cdc8927b PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW DONALD BRAZONES TAPE 1 Born: 1924 in Racine, Wisconsin Resides: Byron Center, Michigan Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, August 15, 2011 Interviewer: Mr. Brazones, can you begin by telling us a little bit about your own family background? To begin with, where and when were you born? Sure, I was born in 1924 in Racine, Wisconsin and I was the middle child of seven children. I went to school in Racine and I stayed there until I left. The first time I left was to go into the service. Interviewer: What did your father do for a living? My father was a factory worker. Interviewer: Was he able to keep his job during the depression, through the thirties? No, he worked with the WPA and I think that was the only thing he worked with at that time, and that was the only income we had at the time. We had seven children, so that was kind of tough. 1:45 Interviewer: Did your mother or the older kids kind of pitch in and earn some money? There really wasn’t anywhere to go to earn money. Actually I started my first job when I was nine years old. I sold Liberty magazines and they sold for a nickel and it was very, very difficult to get a nickel out of anybody. I was a protegé of a little friend of mine, but I was really good at selling and we would usually stand by where a streetcar stopped, 1 �there were no buses at that time, they were all streetcars, and when the people got off the streetcar he would latch onto one of those guys and he might walk two blocks with him and finally get that nickel for that magazine. Well, I wasn’t that kind of a salesman, so after he sold all of his, he would take and sell mine because he was my sponsor. 2:55 Interviewer: All right, so you had to make do and sort of get by in the thirties. Did your father get a job again in thirty-nine or forty, as things picked up? Yes, he worked in a factory in Racine after the—I suppose there was—I’m not sure when that picked up, but I suppose it was just before the war. I can remember now, I can remember. We were listening to President Roosevelt, I think it was in 1939, and he was saying that they were going to build a hundred airplanes a day, or a week, but I can remember that, so I think things must have started picking up in 1939. At that time I was fifteen or so. 3:48 Interviewer: You were able to stay in high school and finish rather than leave after the eighth grade or something like that? Yes, I went to high school. Interviewer: Now, when you were in high school in 1939, 40 and 41, before Pearl Harbor, were you paying much attention to what was happening in the world? Were you aware there was a war in Europe and all of that? No, I was worried about playing basketball and of course, I was working then too. I had a paper route. I wouldn’t skip, I was excused from the last period in school, so I could get down and get my papers and get those peddled. 4:31 Interviewer: So that, now when Pearl Harbor happens and we are at was, that is a little bit of a surprise? 2 �Yeah, well it was a surprise and it happened, as you know, on a Sunday. My friends and I were playing basketball and we played on Sunday afternoon. I was there and all of a sudden one of my friends came and said, “The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor”, and I said, “Where’s Pearl Harbor”? I didn’t know anything about that, but the next thing that happened was that the newspapers put out what they called an “extra”, and the only communication you had with the public was by radio and the newspaper. 5:36 I just loved it when there was an “extra” because the paper cost five cents rather than three cents. The regular price of the paper was three cents, and what you would do—you would take your bundle of papers that you had and you would walk up and down the street yelling “extra, extra”, and the people would come out and ask what’s happening and you would sell them a paper. Interviewer: How soon after you learned about the news were you out there selling “extras”? The same day, as fast as they could get them printed, yeah Interviewer: So, it’s extra work for the paperboy and extra money. Yes Interviewer: When this all happened, did you figure that you would probably wind up in the service then, or did you think the war would be over in a few weeks and it wouldn’t matter? 6:31 Well, there were two friends of mine that were seniors in high school and we got talking the next day and we decided that what we were going to do was to go and join the Marines and we were going to go and kill Japs. My two friends went and told their parents what they were going to do and I went and I told nine. I said, “I’m going to join 3 �the Marines, Art Moen, Searle and I, we’re going to join the marines and we’re going to go and kill Japs”, and my mother said, “you’re going to go to school and you’re going to get your diploma and no killing Japs, so that’s what I had to do. They went into the service, they went into the Marines, and I went to school. 7:30 Interviewer: And of course, you were only seventeen at the time, so you couldn’t enlist without your parent’s permission. I guess do, I don’t know. Interviewer: Your mother said so, so that took care of it. All right, now, once you graduated did you go right away to enlist? I went—I graduated in June and I went in, in August. Interviewer: When you enlisted, did you have an opportunity to choose what branch of the service you went into? Yes, I was enlisting, so I could go wherever I wanted to go. Interviewer: What did you choose? I chose the air force; it was the Army Air Corps. Interviewer: So you could specify that? Yes Interviewer: Where did they send you first once you enlisted? 8:14 Well, the first place I went was to Great Lakes in Illinois. I was there for—I can’t remember. Interviewer: Great Lakes in mainly a naval base. Was it possible they sent you someplace else? 4 �I went to Great Lakes when I was getting out of the service. Maybe I—I was going to say St. Louis, Missouri is where I went to training. Interviewer: So, there’s Jefferson Barracks near there. Jefferson Barracks, that’s exactly where I went. Interviewer: What was the boot camp experience like? It was not very good because you—St. Louis in August, at that time of year, gets kind of warm. And when you have formations it was very common, when you’re standing at attention, that someone would keel over. 9:18 That wasn’t very pleasant. In fact, none of boot camp was very pleasant. It’s your first experience in the service, you’re just a young kid, and then you have to go through all of this nonsense. At the time we thought it was nonsense, but you feel kind of proud to be able to do it anyhow, because now you were in the service. Interviewer: You at least were in pretty good shape when you went in if you played a lot of basketball, so you could handle most of the physical stuff ok. How did you do with the military discipline, was that hard? Was it hard to learn or did you catch on pretty fast? I was eighteen years old years old and the discipline never bothered me a bit. I liked discipline and you can ask my son. 10:10 Interviewer: Did the drill sergeants seem to be people who were pretty fair, or did they vary a lot? They were not what you see on TV where these guys are yelling and everything. That’s for TV and that wasn’t the way it was, at least when I was in there, that wasn’t the way it 5 �was. Drill sergeants had a job to do and you had a job to do. You had to learn how to march and that’s one thing that you did. Interviewer: About how long did you spend in boot camp? Was it eight weeks or twelve? I would guess it was eight or twelve, yeah, I can’t remember. Interviewer: Now, at that point did they send you someplace for air corps training or what happened next? 11:06 From boot camp, I believe that you had of choice of where you wanted to go and what you wanted to do or you were just assigned, I’m not sure, but I don’t think you had too many choices at that time. I was assigned to armor school and I was sent to Denver, Colorado at Lowry Field, just a very nice place. Interviewer: What were they training you to do in armor school? You’re trained to—I could take a 50 caliber machine gun apart and put it back together blindfolded, and you also had to load the airplanes with bombs and that was about your job as an armor soldier [armorer]. 12:18 When I got out of there, instead of going to an active duty outfit, the officer on the base there decided he wanted me to work in the office. So, I graduated in armor and I was working this office and I wasn’t real happy about that, but that’s the way life is in the military. Interviewer: Why do you think he picked you to work in the office? I rally don’t know and I didn’t question it. 13:08 Interviewer: How long did that last? How long did you stay there? It lasted some months, I’m not exactly sure how long, but at that time they opened up a B-24 transition school in Denver, at Lowry Field. Everyday I would see these B-24’s 6 �coming in and landing and taking off and landing and I thought it would be more fun to fly one of those things than to work in this office. I decided to apply for the Aviation Cadets, and I did and I got in, and then I was sent to Santa Ana, California for a few weeks of hell. 14:11 We were restricted to the base. We went there for six weeks and in order to keep these young kids out of trouble, they put us to work. Every day we had to scrub the barracks and you had scrub brushes and mops and everything and you had to hang them up just so, and the mops were all cut even, so when you hung them up they were in line. The officer who was in charge would come in and inspect it and he said, “well, this looks pretty clean, but it doesn’t shine just right. Do it again tonight”. I don’t know how many times we scrubbed that damn floor. 15:15 Interviewer: What were you doing the rest of the time? Were you in classes or learning about aviation at that point or aircraft? No, this was basic training for the Cadets. Interviewer: Were the Cadets expecting to be pilots or were you training to be navigators? The point in Santa Ana was to take tests to see what you were qualified for. Whether you qualified for pilot training or navigation or bombardier or whatever it was. You would go through various tests, including co-ordination and trying to learn how to fly an airplane and doing all those machines. 16:17 Then you were classified and then you sere sent off to your particular school for whatever you’re qualified to do. They classified me as a navigator and I didn’t like that because I wanted to fly one of those things, so I went before the review board and I said, “I was classified as a navigator, but I would like to be a pilot. I prefer to be a pilot”, and they asked, “Why do you want to be a pilot?” I said, 7 �“Well, I want to fly one of those airplanes”, and they said, “What the hell do you think you do, navigate from the ground?” They said, “you either go to navigation school or the infantry”, and I said, “Where’s this school?” 17:18 When I think back now, had I been pushed out of there, I would have been hitting the beaches at Normandy. Interviewer: Or who knows where else in the Pacific. That’s right, that’s right Interviewer: Flying in a bomber over Germany wasn’t always such an easy thing either. They were all pretty dangerous jobs and not easy. No, not very much fun. Interviewer: Where did they send you for navigation school? I went to Hondo, Texas. Interviewer: Where in Texas is that? It’s about seventy-five miles west of San Antonio, out in the desert or whatever. Interviewer: Out in the wide-open spaces. Ok, what was the base its self like? What kind of a place was it? It was a bunch of barracks out in the desert and that was it. 18:20 Interviewer: What did your training consist of? What were you learning there? You were learning, I hope I get this, learning how to be a navigator. You would go on training flights and we had, I think they were called AT 10’s I believe, and you would have three navigators in this plane, students, and you would take turns directing the flight and following where you were going. Each navigator would take a leg and that’s what it was. 19:19 Interviewer: What kinds of tools did you have to navigate with? 8 �At that time you had an altimeter, a speed indicator, and you had a computer, which was called an E6B computer that was just like a slide rule really. That was a computer at that time. Interviewer: Did you work off maps? Yeah, we had maps. Interviewer: Did they teach you to navigate by the stars too? Yes, I took celestial navigation. Interviewer: About how long did you spend in navigator school? 20:20 I would guess, nine to twelve months, I can’t remember. Interviewer: That’s a long time. Did you get to go home at any point during the training process or were you just our there the whole time? I was out there the whole time, I think. Interviewer: Your out there at the base for a long time, you’re not in basic training anymore, so you can get off the base once in a while. Where would you go and what would you do? I would go to San Antonio. Interviewer: What was there to do in San Antonio? The thing to do was you could get some beer there; of course you could get beer on the base too, so that didn’t make any difference. It was getting away and out of jail, out of confinement for a while and you could say no to somebody and didn’t have to worry about it. 21:24 Interviewer: Did they have any facilities in San Antonio, Red Cross or USO to kind of help the servicemen or were you just on your own? 9 �No, they had the Red Cross and the one thing that sticks in my mind about San Antonio is that they have a river going through and a river walk. I remember we use to spend time there at that. Really, about all I can remember about San Antonio is that it was an impressive thing. Interviewer: That’s still there and it’s one of the things that San Antonio’s still famous for. What kind of guys were you training with? What sorts of people were in that school? In that school they were all in their early twenties. I believe, if I remember right, that you had to be under twenty-seven years old. If you were over twenty-seven you were an old man and couldn’t train in flight school. 22:34 It was all young guys and I was probably one of the youngest. Interviewer: Did a lot of them have some college already? I suppose so, I don’t know. I can’t tell you that, but I would imagine so. Interviewer: Were they from all over the country at that point? Yes, from everywhere Interviewer: What kinds of planes did you train in? You mentioned the first one. AT10 I think Interviewer: Was that a twin-engine plane? Yes, it was a twin-engine plane. Interviewer: Was that the only kind of plane you trained in, in San Antonio? In the navigation school, yes Interviewer: Was that complete now? 10 �There was one other, and I remember we took our final exam flight in a bigger plane. I can’t remember exactly what it was. 23:34 Interviewer: Once you complete the navigation school, where did you go next? Then I went to Ardmore, Oklahoma, and in Ardmore, Oklahoma we were assigned a crew. Pilot, co-pilot, navigator and everything and then you would start flying as a crew and try to get acquainted with all of your duties and how to fly as a crew. Interviewer: Now, what kind of a plane were you in? They were B17’s 24:15 Interviewer: Now, is this the crew that you would go over to England with? That is correct Interviewer: Can you tell us a little bit about the men in that crew? Well, there were four officers, pilot, co-pilot, navigator and bombardier. My pilot was the oldest of us, he must have been twenty-five and Bob Curtis, I’m not sure how old he was; he could have been a little older too. Interviewer: Was he the co-pilot? No, he was the bombardier and the opera guy. The co-pilot was a young guy too. Interviewer: You had enlisted men who were the gunners? Yes, and they lived separately from us. 25:26 It was interesting because—I’ll go back just a little bit—when I decided to go into the air force, a friend of mine from Racine had already gone into the air force, and when I was going I went over to see his mother and told her I might find—I might run into Don sometime, he’s in Texas. She said, “do you know how big Texas is?” She said, “from the bottom of it to the top of it is as far as from the top of Texas to Canada, and your chances of being with him are so slight”. Low and 11 �behold, where do I go? I go to Hondo, Texas and he’s a mechanic on those planes there. 26:29 The screwy thing about the service at that time, I don’t know what it is now, but when I got there I said, “oh boy, now I’m in Hondo and I can go and see my friend”, and I asked the officer, as he was getting us acclimated to the base and the rules and regulations and what was happening. I said, “I have a friend here, enlisted man, how can I go and see him? Where can I go?” He said, “well, maybe you could arrange to meet him outside someplace”. Officers could not talk to enlisted men and that was beyond what I could understand, so I saw him anyhow and I didn’t get put in jail. 27:29 Interviewer: Can you describe a little bit what you did as a crew as you were learning to fly the plane? How did that go? Well, you would have certain missions and as I think back, I think the training could have been better than it was, and particularly from my standpoint because I had to learn how to navigate. The pilot would say, “this is where we’re going to go and you tell us how to get there”, and he was also learning to fly the plane and he was also learning how to work with his co-pilot and visa versa. The bombardier also had to learn to drop bombs where he was supposed to, so all of us were trying to learn something in a very short period of time with the minimum amount of training, really. 28:42 One thing we did do in Ardmore, Oklahoma—those poor people in that city, it was just a little village, but with the B17 transition school there, they had all these young cowboys flying these airplanes. What they did, and what we did, was fly down like that and fly down Main Street. You could look up and see—I don’t know what those people did in that ton, but I guess everyone that went through that school decided that was the thing to do. 29:32 Interviewer: I suppose they got used to it after a while. 12 �You can, but how the hell do you get used to those four engines going down Main Street, Oh God, it was terrible. Interviewer: Were there problems with accidents and things in training? Did any crash? Oh yes, yes there were and I don’t know of any specific ones, but I know I heard of crashes. In fact, I’ll tell you—we were assigned one mission, so when we got in our plane—normally what you would was, you would take off from this field and you would climb to altitude like that and when you would get to your altitude you would level off and fly. 30:26 Well, in navigating it’s a little difficult to navigate at these various altitudes because the winds change and you don’t know exactly what they are ahead of time. We were going on one mission and the pilot said, “well, I’ll help you out today, I’m going to go to altitude right over the base and then we’ll fly on the mission”. That was fine and I could start navigating right from here then instead of trying to calculate all of that. Unfortunately somebody else was doing the same thing and we were coming around like that and just about met each other, but both guys dove off like that and I think the pilot was scared for the rest of the flight. That was not too smart. 31:31 Interviewer: Did the pilot ever play any games with you or do things that scared you? No, he had a job to do and we had a job to do and we just did it that’s all. Interviewer: Wasn’t there one occasion there at Ardmore when you were flying without a pilot? You were mentioning that before the interview. We were on a bombing training mission and on one day, all of the enlisted men had some bad food or something and they couldn’t fly because they had other things that were 13 �interrupting their flying, so they were all grounded. Just the four of us, four officers, were in the plane and took off in the plane. 32:38 The bombardier and I are down in the nose section and we were flying along and all of a sudden I looked around and here’s the co-pilot saying, “hi guys, how are you”, and blah, blah, blah and that’s fine you know. Then all of a sudden I turned around and here comes the pilot and I thought, “holy Mackerel, this is not good”, so he went right back up there again. He was the old man and he should have known better, but we were all in our teens and he was twenty-five or so, so he was an old man. Anyhow, after we got down he admitted that it was a dumb thing to do, but I guess he just couldn’t resist it. 33:33 Interviewer: Did these planes have an autopilot feature of some kind? Yes, he set it on autopilot and it flies by itself. Interviewer: Did you also have a Norden bombsight on this plane? Yes Interviewer: That is something were you can actually turn it over to the bombardier at a certain point to control the plane? You have—when you’re on a mission it’s all mapped out where you go and how you go and as you approach the target they have a place that’s called the IP or the initial point, so as you’re flying you fly over this initial point, you turn it into the target, and then the bombardier would take over. He would crank up his bombsight so that it would zero in on the target, and then he was under control of the plane. 34:32 He was flying the plane because he wanted it to go where his bombsight was pointing. He would do that and he would keep control of the plane until he dropped the bombs and then the pilot would take over. 14 �Interviewer: In training, how well did that work? Was he able to be pretty accurate with it? Yeah, he did pretty well. We didn’t do very many bombing missions though. Interviewer: You didn’t have a whole lot of practice then? No, very little Interviewer: We have been talking about your training with the flight crew in Oklahoma. Now, once you completed that stage were you ready then to be shipped overseas? Was that the next step? 35:25 Correct Interviewer: Did they let you go home first? I don’t think so Interviewer: Where did they send you? From Oklahoma where do you go? We went to Kearney, Nebraska Interviewer: Did you pick-up a new plane there or did you just take your old one? I’m not even sure how we got there. From Kearney we went to—that must be where we were assigned bases in England. 36:38 From Kearney we went to the port of debarkation in New York and we took a boat across. Interviewer: So you did not fly a plane over? No Interviewer: What kind of boat did they put you on? We were on a British boat, which was very nice. Interviewer: Was it a big passenger ship or a smaller ship? Did they use things like the Queen Mary to carry guys over? 15 �No—let me back up here a little bit. In Kearney we got—ok, we all got onto the ship and then we went down into the ship where there was a sort of big area almost like a mess area or something like that, and you all packed in there and sat by these mess tables and waited for everyone to get onto the ship. 38:24 We were all packed in there at these mess tables or picnic tables and we thought they were going to wait until everyone got on the ship and then send us up to our separate room to travel over there. It wasn’t too long after everyone got on the ship and there came an announcement over there—“Ok gentlemen, this is your home for the next two weeks until we land in England”. “Where are our rooms?” “Here are your hammocks, find someplace to attach them to and that’s your home for the next several weeks until you get overseas”. 39:43 Interviewer: Did you sail in a convoy or did the ship go by its self? We shipped in a convoy. Interviewer: What do you remember about the trip over? Well, the main thing that stays in my mind is that we were sailing along and there was an explosion on one of the destroyers in the convoy. These destroyers keep going up and down trying to keep you safe from submarines, but there was an explosion and one of the destroyers just staying there and we were going on, so he just disappeared over the horizon. 40:41 What we learned later was that a submarine took him out, so actually it was kind of scary until we got the heck out of there, but it was uneventful from then on. Interviewer: Was the weather reasonably good? Yes, as I remember Interviewer: Did you have a lot of guys get seasick anyway? A lot of guys got seasick and I didn’t. I was lucky I could take that. 16 �Interviewer: When you’re packed together that tightly it might have gotten ugly a few times. Well, you weren’t packed like sardines all the time. When you were sleeping that’s when you had to—you didn’t have a stateroom, your stateroom was your hammock you had hanging there. 41:34 Other than that—yeah, there were a lot of people on that ship. Interviewer: Were most of them army guys or air corps? Air force, all air force being assigned to basis in England. Interviewer: Where did they land you in England? We landed at Liverpool. Interviewer: What did that look like to you when you got off the ship? I can’t—apparently it didn’t make a big impression on me. Interviewer: Where did they send you then? What base did you go to? We went to the 91st Bomb Group that was in Basingbourne. 42:30 Interviewer: How would you describe the base there in Basingbourne, what was it like? I was a combat base and you flew your missions from there. The base I was on, in Basingbourne, was a previous Royal Air Force-Interviewer: Bomber Command base/ Yeah, well it was a British base and all of the buildings on there were permanent buildings. They were stone and brick and everything and the accommodations were very nice because it was a permanent base. A lot of the combat troops there live in Quonset huts, but we had it pretty nice there. 43:28 17 �Interviewer: Can you describe the first mission you went on? When was it and what did you do or did they split you up and put you with different crews the first time? No, the pilot flew two missions with another experienced crew, so he would know what happens. What happens is, you’re assigned a spot in the armada that’s going to be going over and bombing, so you would get up in the altitude, you would seek out the group that you should be flying with, so you would get over there and you would get in formation with them. 44:29 Interviewer: Had you done things like that, the fly in formation stuff when you were training back in Oklahoma or was this kind of new for you? There might have been one or two missions in Oklahoma, but I really don’t remember. Interviewer: So, this was relatively new for you too once you had to start to do it as a navigator? Well, it was brand new and I had been out of school for quite a while and not really doing much navigating at all and then you get to England and it was a completely different system of navigating and you were at war and that wasn’t much fun to think about either, so you had other things to think about besides navigating. 45:46 Interviewer: When did you fly your first mission over Europe? My first mission, I think, on June 4th or June 5th. It must have been prior to D-Day, a few days prior to D-Day. Interviewer: Shortly before D-Day, and do you remember where they sent you? Over—we went over onto the continent and we went in to bomb one gun site and came back. That was almost like a training mission. 46:47 18 �Interviewer: Was there much anti-aircraft fire over there? No, not on this mission Interviewer: A small enough target, so it wasn’t as heavily defended as something else might be? I think that’s a good analysis, yes. Interviewer: So you get there and you’ve joined up with your group right before DDay and at D-Day they used the heavy bombers which normally flew over Germany and things like that to attack defenses around the beaches themselves. Is that what you were doing then on D-Day? We dropped—on D-Day we dropped, supposedly the way we planned, from the shoreline in and strung out the bombing as they went in and we were one of the last groups bombing on D-day and it was like twenty minutes or so before the troops were supposed to hit the shore. 47:52 We were just in front of the troops. Interviewer: This was not the kind of mission those planes had normally flown. They didn’t usually— Oh sure, we flew many like that. Do you mean to support ground troops? Interviewer: I mean that particular kind of targeting against the coastline because they, most of the bombers missed by several miles? No, I wouldn’t say that Interviewer: That’s what the military historians and the bomb survey after the war said. You guys got better at it, but they didn’t hit the coastal defense at Omaha. No, you’re getting the 8th Air Force mixed up with the British. 48:37 The British were flying night missions. 19 �Interviewer: I’m speaking—in the history of D-Day this is pretty well documented. They put the 8th Air Force on a support mission and the idea was to bomb behind Omaha Beach. They were also bombing other stretches of the coastline, but the ones who went into Omaha missed and almost all the bombs went well inland and the German defenses were not hit by the bombers and the naval guns missed too, everybody missed. You know things that I don’t know. Interviewer: But, they weren’t telling you things and you wouldn’t know things like that, and when you flew a mission you wouldn’t know exactly what got hit or didn’t get hit unless you could physically see it yourself. 49:20 You had a—not a movie, you knew where your bombs went and how they recorded that I’m not exactly sure. Interviewer: They used different things, there were aerial cameras sometimes and sometimes you could visually see where they landed. I was thinking about recording it, but I’m not—I don’t know how it was recorded. Interviewer: Describe a little bit what you do as a navigator on one of these bombing missions. What was your job or responsibility? You’re, except for the lead navigator, your job was to follow. First off, at your briefing you were given maps and routes as to what route you were going to fly to get to your target, but the only plane or crew that led the rest of the air force were doing the actual navigating. 50:46 The rest of us were following and I lost my train of thought. 20 �Interviewer: You were describing what a navigator did, so most of the time, if you were on a mission and you were not the lead plane, the navigator didn’t have that much to do, at least as long as you stayed with the formation. You had to know where the heck you were at all times because who knew if you were going to stay with the formation or not. The lead navigation plane, of course, had what they called a “Mickey” and was radar. The rest of the planes had nothing. 51:45 When you got over the continent the enemy radar could pick you up and know where you are. What we would do, on the planes we would have what is call chaff and it was like foil strips and they would throw it out of the airplanes to try to goof up their radar. Interviewer: So, basically as a navigator, you’re still following, and checking where you are, and keeping track of your altitude, speed and direction, and you’re trying to plot out where you are with maps and that sort of thing even when you’re still in the formation? 52:42 That’s right because you don’t know when you’re going to be out of the formation. Interviewer: Did you have any other duties or responsibilities on the plane? I was a gunner. Interviewer: What gun would the navigator man? There was one on each side of the nose, two fifty-caliber machine guns. Interviewer: Now, you’re flying these missions in the summer of 1944 primarily. Did you see much in the way of German aircraft? Did they send fighters after you at all? On my eighteen missions and were never attacked by German aircraft. 21 �Interviewer: Now describe a little bit—you flew a series of missions over France and you did some over Germany too, but the ones over France, what kinds of targets did you have? What were you going for? 53:29 Like I said, on D-Day you were concentrating on a gun and after D-Day we were concentrating on bridges beyond the front lines, so you could—two things I guess, stop additional enemy forces from coming up and stop some from getting out too. We had sent a whole group of planes over to get one bridge. 54:06 Interviewer: Now, if you were trying to hit a bridge in a B17, how high did you fly when you would drop the bombs? 25,000 feet Interviewer: A bridge is a pretty small target and was the idea to just enough bombers over the area that somebody would hit the bridge? You don’t have a very good opinion of the air force do you? We hit the bridge and we hit it good. Interviewer: That campaign was actually very effective and it worked. I was just curious as to how it worked. The assumption was, usually, for the smaller target you would fly lower or send in smaller planes, twin-engine bombers or things like that. 54:42 I don’t know, I was in a B17 and it was a high altitude bomber and that’s all I know. Interviewer: That’s the idea, to find out from you, what did you do? What kind of missions you did get. We hit bridges, and we would hit gun placements Interviewer: Did you ever hit submarine pens? 22 �No, I said no, but I think there was—go ahead Interviewer: How bad was the anti-aircraft fire over France most of the time? Was that a serious problem were you losing planes on some of these missions? It was terrible, and the longer I was there the worse it got and the more accurate. As far as the Germans were concerned, it got better and as far as I’m concerned it got worse. 55:39 Interviewer: I suppose some of the bridge targets and things like that, might not been as heavily defended as a place that was fortified like when you flew over Germany. Eventually as the campaign moves forward, the Germans are retreating out of France, so you may still be attacking some of the bridges as they’re on their way out, but eventually you also fly some missions over Germany too. We flew very—the only time we went after a bridge was on D-Day and immediately after D-Day. You’re correct, you know heavy bombers, you can send fifty-four bombers off to hit one bridge. Normally you had your targets were airfields, factories and things like that rather than tactical, more strategic. 56:37 Interviewer: Did you also attack railroad centers and that kind of thing or was that not on your list? I don’t remember any, so they must not have been on the list. Interviewer: Where were the worst places to fly, at least in your experience? When you would hear about a mission going someplace, which ones would you not want to have to go on? Well, I did not want to go to Berlin. Interviewer: Why was Berlin particularly bad? 23 �I was defended; they didn’t want you to bomb Berlin. Their anti-aircraft and their aircraft were defending Berlin and they didn’t want you to bomb it, of course they didn’t want you to bomb anywhere, but Berlin, number one, was a long trip and number two, it was very heavily defended. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, August 18, 2011 Interviewer: Now, we’re talking about your career as a navigator with the 8th Air Force bombing over Europe. You start that basically in early June of 1944 and when were you eventually shot down over Germany? Yes, when I first got there I flew thirteen missions in eighteen days and you get kind of worn out after that. Then I lost my crew. There was a navigator who had one mission left on his tour and then he could go home or stop flying combat anyhow. He wanted to take my place, so that was fine as far as I was concerned and I just wanted a day to sleep. I was just really exhausted, so he took my place. There was one plane that didn’t come back that day and that was my plane that I was supposed to be on. 2:20 I learned later that they had crash landed in Spain, or they thought that they had crash landed in Spain, but nobody really had any confirmation of that yet. So, for the what did I say, thirteen missions in eighteen days and then five missions in about three months, I think, from early July to September I flew five missions, so I’m a man without a crew. 3:03 Interviewer: So, you got assigned as a fill in or replacement for different crews? Yes, that’s right Interviewer: Let’s do a couple things, first of all, the bomber that you were originally with, do you remember the name? 24 �Yes, it was “The Heavenly Body”, now “The Heavenly Body” , and of course we had a nice gal sitting on a crescent moon, that was the nose art, but “The Heavenly Body”, I was responsible for that name because in navigation you called the stars heavenly bodies and I thought that would be a good name for us. Interviewer: Did you find out eventually what did happen to the plane and the crew? 3:53 Yes, I found out, and in fact somehow or other I got word that they were in London, the crew was in London, so I went there that night and I met with—I met with them and I went back to the base and I flew the next day and I got shot down, so that’s what happened. Interviewer: Now, can you tell us a little bit more about the missions that you flew as a replacement? When you were off camera, you mentioned an interesting one where you flew with a bunch of brass and it was a training exercise of some kind. 4:38 In fact I did very little training and that was, I think, one of the unfortunate things because when I arrived there you are getting ready for D-Day and of course everybody had to be in their—you didn’t have any time for training. You got training, on the job training, so tell me your original question. Interviewer: You mentioned something about flying with some higher-ranking officers. Well, when they wanted to go—well, I had one mission, it was called “Melcron” and it was over France and it was—I can’t remember what we had to hit, but that’s when the General was the pilot commander on the ship and who else did we have? I don’t know, a 25 �Colonel, I guess, as the co-pilot and the navigator was a Major and I went along as the second navigator. 5:58 Just in case the first one-Interviewer: Got lost? Yeah, but that was—it could have been better than that because the second one would have been lost too. You’re sitting back there, you know, and you don’t see anything and it’s really tough work. Interviewer: What kind of a mission was this? What were they doing? You mentioned something about colored smoke or something like that? Say that again Interviewer: You were talking about colored smoke. This was an orientation, I would say, and I didn’t know it at the time, for the mission to Saint Lo. 6:47 At that time the American troops were sort of bogged down. They couldn’t get out of Saint Lo, so when we viewed the mission, it wasn’t a mission, it was just a trip in England from one base to another and this other base is where they were demonstrating what it was going to be like in Saint Lo, so apparently the ground troops would light these flares, colored flares, and each group was assigned an area between the red and the green, the blue and the yellow, so you could cover the whole area and not cover one area five times, but cover five areas, so that’s what I—at that time I didn’t know any of that though. 7:47 Interviewer: They were trying to figure out how to hit particular area targets on the ground if they want to bomb the German positions, so they do it better than they did it before. One of the runs they made at Saint Lo they hit a lot of American soldiers. 26 �Well, I’m trying to think of the General’s name there. What happened, according to the Air Force, not the infantry, the Air Force, is that at the bombing was so accurate and so intense that the ground officer, the General, I can’t remember his name—8:40 Interviewer: Do you mean the famous one that got killed? Yeah Interviewer: General Mc Nair, who was head of the infantry? Yeah, he got over enthused about this bombardment and he couldn’t wait until the rest of the bombers bombed and he started going in ahead of time. Now, that’s the Air Forces story. I don’t know what the infantry’s story is. Interviewer: But that was a process, right? Tell us a little bit about flying over Germany. You flew a couple of missions over Hamburg? That was one of the places you went? Yes, that was not nice and Hamburg was—I can’t remember exactly what the target was there, but it was very heavily defended and the anti-aircraft was very intense and very accurate. It took, the plane that was flying off our wing, it had a direct hit and broke the plane in half and it went down. 9:55 I can still remember my pilot, he got on the intercom for some reason and said, “oh my gosh, right in half’. He was an older man, he was an older boy, and doing something like that of course, gets everybody excited. You’re excited enough and you don’t need that kind of stuff. He really felt bad after he did that, but obviously it was an emotional thing. Interviewer: Can you describe a little bit the physical conditions of being up in the airplane, you’re flying a mission twenty-five thousand feet up, or something like 27 �that, how did you keep warm? How long do the missions go if you go over Germany? What is it like to be up there? 10:50 Well, it wasn’t any fun at all because when you fly at twenty-five thousand, or higher, it’s colder than heck. It could be twenty-five degrees below zero and your body doesn’t operate like it does when you’re in this living room, so it’s very difficult to move and to think and to operate. It’s very tough. Interviewer: Did you have to wear oxygen masks? Oh yeah, from ten thousand feet on they say you have to wear oxygen. Interviewer: How did you keep warm? Well, you had a-Interviewer: Did you have a heated suit? No, I didn’t—they had heated suits, but I had, what the hell do you call it? I had a fleecelined suit. Is that right? It was like an overall with a big bib up here. 12:04 They kept you warm, sort of, and you wore big boots, fleece lined boots to try to keep warm. Interviewer: Why didn’t you have a heated suit? Were there not enough of them or what? I guess I just didn’t want one. Interviewer: So, you chose not to have one, all right. It’s another one of those things that show up in the history book. They say, well the first guys that flew over in B17’s, they were really cold etc. Then they had the first heated suits and then those set fire to themselves and things, but eventually they got better, so everybody had one and it was no big deal. Maybe not everybody is wearing them or you just 28 �didn’t think you wanted one, ok. If you flew, say, as far as Berlin, how long would you be in the air? Was it all day? 13:04 Five or six hours maybe and on my gunnery I would write down the length of time, but that was the time that you got credit for and that was when the wheels left the ground and when the wheels touched the ground. You’re going to have to excuse me. Interviewer: We were talking some about what it was like to be flying on these missions and being up in the aircraft etc. Did you basically have to spend most of your time as navigator, just constantly tracking stuff and keeping track of where you were or were there period when you could just not pay attention? Not while you were flying, you better pay attention because even—it was extremely difficult. They say at altitude you’re mind isn’t working the same. It’s very hard to write and you can’t see the ground. 14:22 You don’t have much to look out of anyhow, just the Plexiglas nose, so it’s extremely difficult to know where the heck you’re going. Interviewer: Were there occasions when you did have to leave formation, when you had to actually navigate your way back home? Yes, we had one mission that was aborted and thank God, it was a mission to Berlin and the pilot said that he couldn’t get one of the engines to function the way it’s supposed to and decided we would abort. 15:01 We were all the way up over the—up into the Baltic Sea when he said we had to go back, so we went by ourselves and when you get back, it’s amazing, they have about four or five officers meet that airplane when it stops and they want to know why the hell you came back and they check it out to make sure you just didn’t decide you didn’t want to go on this mission. 29 �Interviewer: Now, you had that period there, after you had lost your crew, when you only had a small number of missions over an extended period of time. What did you do the rest of the time? Did you sit around the base a wait for an assignment or could you go off base? I went off base and I went to—I went to Cambridge, which was north of us, and I went Christ’s College and I would go into their library and I would get books to read and it was nice because you’re away from it all when you’re in this quiet room and doing something different from what you were doing. 16:20 I think, and I didn’t have a crew, so it was uncertain when I would be flying, so I spent a lot of time there. Interviewer: Did you go down to London at all? Not by myself Interviewer: Had you gone with the other guys before? I’m trying to think. I went to London one time and I can’t exactly remember when that was, after all my missions or what, I just don’t remember. 17:03 Interviewer: Now, can you tell us about the mission when you’re plane got shot down? It was your last mission. Yeah, from the beginning? Interviewer: Just tell us what you remember about it. Well, as I was saying, this is sixty-seven years ago, but it’s so unusual that, that mission is burned into my scull, into my brain. And I can just about remember every single little thing that happened or didn’t happen that day, so if you want me to start from the beginning I would be happy to. Interviewer: Sure, go-ahead 17:52 30 �When we—for some reason, I was nervous that whole day, from the middle of the night when they woke us up to the time we got shot down. I got up, you get dressed and go to the mess hall and eat your breakfast, and then those who wanted to would go see the priest to get your blessing before you went off. Hoping God will watch over you and bring you back. So, that day the chaplain didn’t show up, he overslept or something I guess. 18:55 That just got me a little more excited and I couldn’t figure why that was happening, so after breakfast I went into the, I’ll say locker room, to get dressed for my flight. I would put on the heavy clothes and then your fleece lined boots, these big boots, you put them on, and as I was stringing one of those up the string broke, or the—excuse me, oh, the zipper broke, I think, and in the zipper pull, they have a little leather strap, so I took that strap out and instead of going and getting a new boots I thought to myself, “well, I don’t need these after today anyhow”. 20:05 I took that and put it around my boot and tied it into a knot to tie my boot on and that was a crazy thought to have going through your mind anyway. Interviewer: It wasn’t like this was going to officially be your last mission. It was number eighteen, which is not a magic number. It was not official anything except that to me, it was a different mission. The target was Ludwigshafen, Germany and we had a normal flight to the target, actually. 20:55 On the way I had this premonition that something was going to happen and that I better get ready for it if it does happen. I decided that what I would do when we got hit, and when you’re flying you have a helmet and a big sun shield, it’s not glasses, it’s a shield, and when you’re with that, you can’t see down here at all because of the shield. 21:50 So, I was trying to figure out what I was going to do and I said, “I better get ready for this”, so 31 �you also wear a flack apron, I call it an apron because one part comes down in front and one that goes down the back and it snaps at the shoulders. You have a red tag down here and when you pull it, it releases those fasteners up on the shoulders, so it falls off you. What you do is, you wear a parachute harness and the straps snap here and also the leg snaps up like that and the shoot itself has—the harness has two hooks here that are friction hooks. 23:23 Your parachute is a pack about that big and it’s all packed up real tight and on there you have two rings and the thing to do is to hook those rings into those hooks and then you have your parachute. Well, on my first few missions I would just put that pack by the side and not even—until I woke up and said, “this is not the United States, this is dangerous and you better”, so what I would do from then on, I would take that chute and hook it on one side here and then it would hang down like this and I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I had some protection there in case flak comes and maybe that will protect me from flak. 24:18 I had the flak suit on the front and the back and that side and on this side I would get kind of close to my instruments on the table there, but that wouldn’t have stopped the BBs, so anyhow, that’s what I started to practice and I said, “well, the first thing I’m going to do when we get hit is to pull this thing, so my flak jacket drops off, and then it will expose my harness, my parachute, and it will expose this ring, so then I can just pull this up and snap it in there, and now I’m ready to go”. You also have an oxygen hose out here and communication lines, so you have these lines out there all the time, and so I would practice. 25:20 I wasn’t doing much navigating, I’ll tell you that. I said, “OK now, when we get hit the first thing I’ll do is get rid of these lines, so I’ll just grab them and jerk them off of my face. The next thing is, I have to get rid of my flak jacket, so that flies, and I have to take my chute and bring it up 32 �and poke it into the ring there”. I would practice that, so I could do it without fail. So, sure enough, here we’re going over the target and that day I had a camera, it’s a big old thing like this, with a crank handle like that and the pilot told me to take pictures of this trip. 26:26 As we hit the IP, which is the initial point, and we turned to go into the target, I just scrunched down hoping that I wouldn’t get hit, or I was at least protecting myself as much as I could while going over this target. It’s really difficult to fly that airplane into this target area because the sky black and it’s just all bursting out there, and it’s turning black and you know that those black things, they’re just shooting metal all over the place. 27:24 Really bad news, but you can’t dodge those; you have to keep going right straight into the target. So, the pilot, he can’t do anything because he’s flying off the wing of someone else, so there isn’t anything you can do, you just sit there and pray to God that you don’t get hit. Well, I think God takes that just so many times and decides that this is your day, so we’re headed right for the target and going through all this hell and all of a sudden I see this black puff of smoke right in front of the Plexiglas nose. 28:25 You know that those 88’s, they go boom, boom, boom, boom, four of them, so it didn’t hit anything there and the next one I heard right here and POW it blew and at that moment the plane seemed to put on its brakes up there in the air. We were just sort of staying there for a second or two and then we just went over like that and from the time of the explosion, I don’t know if I said this, but I’ll repeat it. At the time of the explosion I went through all of my motions and got my chute on and I was ready—I guess I said that. 29:22 But, in the navigator’s and bombardier’s compartment in the nose of the airplane, there’s a bulkhead right behind us and an opening. You go through that bulkhead and right on the floor there’s a door that we used to get in and out of the 33 �nose section. I said, “What I’m going to do, I’m going to get all this junk ready, get my chute on and I’m going to lean back and I’m going to go out that door”. Well, I did all that and I leaned back like this to go out the door and that’s when the plane got hit and both of us just went down—the bombardier and I were just crushed into the nose and as this plane is going down in a spiral like this, the centrifugal force just pushed us into this nose. 30:21 Then we’re going down and I knew there wasn’t anything you could do about it , and this is your last day on earth. The first thing I did, of course, was to make peace with my God and I knew I was going to die. The funny thing is, you’re not very scared because you’re going to die and there’s no way of getting out of it. Thoughts go through your mind as this is happening, obviously your mind doesn’t stop, and I thought of my family first. 31:22 They’re going to be really sad when they find out that I got killed and I just sort of waited there to hit the ground and I said, “Gee, I wonder how much it’s going to hurt when we hit the ground?” Dumb things like that and all of a sudden as we’re going down like this I feel this pressure against your body, and all of a sudden I could see a little space between the Plexiglas nose and the metal body and the nose blew off. 32:17 The bombardier and I were blown out that nose. Well, it’s a very peculiar feeling when you’re first of all, falling through the sky. I look up and I could see that the planes were still going, they were going to go home. “Damn, I’m not going home with you today”, so I just kept falling and falling because you’re trained to delay pulling your chute until you can just about see windows in buildings because that will tell you that’s the height you should pull your shute. 33:12 The reason for delaying that is that is that you will not be detected for such a long period of time and when you hit the ground you can do your best to escape. If you pull the chute way up here, they’ll be 34 �watching for you and greet you as you touch the ground, so that’s the reason for that. Finally, when I falling through the air, I saw this chute up there and I said, “you know what, that’s enough”, and I pulled my ripcord. I pull my ripcord and the chute opens up and I’m floating down and I look down and I can see this building and the flames are shooting up out of it and I said, “oh God, I hope I don’t land in that”. 34:13 I’m coming down and all of a sudden I hear this roar and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I thought it was a plane, it’s one of the Luftwaffe, and he’s going to come here and he’s going to shoot me out of the sky. I turned around like that and looked and it’s not the Luftwaffe at all, it’s all these bombs and they are going down like that. It was just—I don’t know how far away from me, but not very far. When you can pick up little bombs and everything, that’s when you know you’re pretty close, and the roar of the bombs falling. In a bomb, I don’t know if you know it or not, there’s a little propeller that they put in the nose part of the bomb and it’s held in there by a wire. 35:14 So, it won’t spin until that wire is pulled out and when you lead the bomb in the plane, you load the bomb on some racks and then you take that wire and put it through a hook up here that will hold that wire while you drop the bombs. When you drop the bombs you pull that wire out from holding that propeller, and that propeller goes around until it’s off and then when the bomb hits it’s ready to explode. Without that it wouldn’t explode, so I imagine that was part of the noise I heard, I don’t know, but it was very, very scary. 36:13 Fortunately, at least as far as I could tell, that was the last group that was bombing, so I didn’t have to worry about that any more because you’re in the air and the wind is taking you and from then on it was kind of uneventful. I’m looking down and trying to figure out where the heck I’m going to land and what I will do, and as I’m coming down I could see there was 35 �a pretty darn good chance of me landing in that river, the Rhine River. So, I’m going down and sure enough, sure enough I’m going down into the river, so I take and unhook this tip part of my parachute harness and your Mae West, which is your life preserver. 37:15 It’s made of rubber and it has two CO2 cylinders down here and when you want to inflate it you just pull these two tabs and it releases the cylinders and the cylinders blow the Mae West up. So, I’m in the river and woof, I pull those off and it blows up and I hit the river. People who are not jumpers, and the one timers like the rest of us in the air force, do not realize the speed that you’re falling with a parachute, and as a result many of the guys in prison camp have sprained ankles and broken ankles. I could tell when I hit that river I really hit it, so if I was on the ground I would have gotten smashed up, too. 38:13 Interviewer: Was the parachute still attached to you or had you unhooked that completely? No, the only thing I did was unhook this and I kept it with me until I hit the water. I wasn’t going to get out of that thing until I hit the water. When I hit the water I still had these two straps holding me, so I just turned over on my belly and swam out of the chute, swam out of the straps. The wind took the chute and I went down with the current of the river. I said, “the factory’s back here, Ludwigshafen Ovens, and the river’s going that way, I’m going to stay in here a little while and get the hell out of the target area”. I did for a little while, it had to be a minute or something like that and I decided to row over and get the heck out of that river. 39:16 So, I started to swim over to the shore and as I hit the shore, get to the shore. I started to crawl up the embankment and I look up and there’s a guy standing there. I thought, “Oh jeez, I wasn’t free very long”. He was not a 36 �German he was a slave laborer and he said, “come, come, come”, so I followed him and what choice did I have, but anyhow, I presumed he was a friend because he was not in uniform and he was taking me. He took me over a little ways and then there was an opening in the ground and a ladder going down in this opening. 40:18 You go down the ladder and when you’re underground there was a big metal tank with a door on it and you would get in that tank and that would be your bomb shelter. That’s what they used for bomb shelters. So, he put me in there and just made some motions and left. He can’t talk my language and I can’t talk his, so we’re going through sign language like that. A few minutes later he comes back and he has a loaf of bread. He rips off a piece of that bread and handed it to me. “Thank you, but I can’t eat, I’m not in the mood for eating right now”, so he took it and he goes back out and another guy comes down. Aha, he saw this prize they had just gotten. 41:29 They could speak a little language and they had a leaflet. We would drop leaflets, and he said two words that I could understand, “soon here, soon here”, and the leaflets showed where the front lines were and where Patton was and they were right, “soon here”. So, they motion like this again and they go back up and a few minutes later, I don’t know how long it was, this one guy comes back down and he’s all excited, “comrade, comrade, comrade”, and I thought, “something’s going on here”, and I didn’t know if it was good or bad or what, but it didn’t sound good. 42:30 I followed him over to the ladder and he crawled out and I crawl out and as I look up here’s a German in a black uniform. At the time I thought it was an SS trooper, but I found out later he’s a policeman. So, he’s holding the gun down there and I come out. I didn’t tell you one of the interesting things about when I went into the river or did I? I couldn’t swim or anything with those big heavy boots on, so I got rid of the boots. I 37 �unzipped the one, but the other one was tied on, so I just took that thing and broke it and kicked it off. 43:26 I sort of said, “no sense in getting new boots because you wouldn’t need them after today”. That was kind of dumb because I could have used them in prison. We were up on the Baltic Sea and it was pretty darn cold up there. Anyhow, that’s the way it worked. Interviewer: So the policeman arrests you and what do they do with you once they have you? They took me—we were sort of on a, it was an open area by a factory, the factory was right there, and we walked across this open area and onto a street, then he marched me down this street. I had my hands up in the air like this and the gun in back of me, and we’re walking through this rubble and stuff and people are running in and out of buildings and I thought, “oh, oh, this is probably the end of me”. 44:47 I was one of those guys that just bombed their home there, their city. There’s no question about it because I got my hands up like that and I said, “boy I’m not going to be able to walk very far before I get shot, I know that”, but apparently nobody shot me, or obviously thankfully nobody shot me. 45:22 He took me into an office, but this office was down underground also. We walked down some stairs, I mean it was not like the dungeon I was in, but it was a funny office all underground. Apparently after years of war they started burying stuff. We went in there and the first thing the policeman does, he said, “take off your clothes”. He didn’t say it, he just motioned to take them off, so I took them off and I had my shorts on and he motioned for me to take of my shorts too and I thought, “ok, you’re the boss”. 46:21 So, I had to take off my shorts too and everything’s all wet , of course, and they had to go through everything to make sure I 38 �didn’t have any weapons of any kind. Then he gave me back my clothes, so I put on my clothes and just sat there for a while and he’s sitting there with this gun pointing at me all this time. We’re just sitting there, obviously waiting for something, and I didn’t know what, but he’s just pointing it there and finally he takes and he releases the hammer and puts it down, so the least little movement up until then and I would have been a dead cookie. I was happy to see that he relaxed a little bit too. 47:21 Then we just sat there for quite a while and then another man dressed in a suit and everything, not a uniform, but he had a business suit on. He came down and he said, “Oh my boy, my boy, what has happened to you today?” I said, “I was shot down”. They go through this every damn day and they know what’s happening. “Where are you from, where did you come from?” I said, “I come from the United States”. “No, no, no, where did you come from today?” I said, “I’m an American, I come from the United States”, so he got a little angry with me about that and said, “all right, all right”, and he leaves. He didn’t have to ask me that, he knew who I was. 48:26 He leaves and I think the next thing is that this soldier comes down there and we get out of that office building. We went to another area and went into another building, an aid station, I don’t think it was a hospital, but it was an aid station. 49:49 I went in there and then this German officer was in there and he was going through some of my things and one of the things I had was an escape pack, it was about like this and that high, and in it, it had something to put into water to purify it, so you could drink it. It had some candies in there, and I don’t know if they were potent candies or what they were, but there were candies in there and he offered me some at that time. 50:50 He was paging through that and there was also a cloth, almost like a silk, and there was a map printed on it, so in case you got shot down in enemy territory you could 39 �figure out where you were and how to get back out of there. What else was in there? I don’t remember much else, but those were the important things, I think. Then they took me and put me in a cell, I’ll call it a room, but it was a room with no windows or anything in it and I just stayed in there. 51:44 I think that’s where I stayed, for the night I stayed in there—I’m trying to figure out when I was turned over from the Wehrmacht to the Luftwaffe because that was a very important point. You could just about see day and night between the two. The Wehrmacht would just as soon shoot you, where the Luftwaffe had sort of camaraderie with the Eighth Air Force flyers. 52:40 So, I guess we didn’t have the experience on the ground with the soldiers, so we weren’t that hardened, so he was very nice to me and he was appointed to be my guard. I was glad to get rid of that other guy and I went into this room, windowless room, and there was a bed in there, not the kind of beds we know, but it was something I could lay down on and that’s where I stayed that night. 53:27 I went to sleep and the next morning, I don’t know what time it was, and I imagine it was around noon because that’s how long it takes for our planes to get back, and the Eighth Air Force came back and bombed Ludwigshafen again. I don’t know why they hit us, I didn’t think we were in Ludwigshafen, but we must have been close to it. When the sirens went off my guard comes running into the room and said, “come on”, and we go outside and we go across the street into another building and go down into the lower level of that building and here’s a bunch of people there and all of a sudden the bombs start dropping. 54:32 You just can’t imagine what it is to be bombed. You’re in this place, the bombs are dropping all around you, the big explosions—you’re just about scared out of your skin and the 40 �bombs start coming down and then all of a sudden an incendiary bomb comes down through the vent window and it’s burning there. 55:30 They cry “sand, sand sand”. Continued on Tape 3. 41 � 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 Brazones, Donald L. (Interview transcript and video, 1 of 2), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brazones Donald L. Description An account of the resource Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Donald Brazones enlisted into the Army Air Corps at the age of 18 in retaliation to the Japanese's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Brazones trained to be a navigator and was sent to England to fly missions over Europe. On Brazones' 18th mission, he was shot down and captured by German Officers. His interview is a detailed recollection of his time in the service, especially his memories from the day he was shot down, and his subsequent capture, imprisonment and release from captivity. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-04-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrazonesD 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/d33120685eed7ff15b821feea8e8183f.mp4 01801c81bb1423e2a126799583b766a1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/24967c4492ba63c27dfc71f4c43a84c1.pdf 01b060bef4047ac4ae2130d4c42af20d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Loren Brand Length of interview (02:05:07) Background Information: (00:30)      Born November 23, 1943 in Niles, Michigan Currently lives in Ludington, Michigan Interviewer served with Brand in the Marines and FBI for a number of years Brand was a Marine Officer, discharged at the rank of Captain Served in the Aviation end of the Marine Corps. Pre-Enlistment: (01:50)  Entered the Marine Corps in 1966  Was in college at Michigan State University, transferred from North Texas State University in 1963  After 5 years in college, he was sent notifications about the draft. He had registered for the draft in Texas, (02:56)  Received notification to take his pre-draft physical (03:47)  While walking across campus he came across the officer recruitment agents. He checked with the Air Force and Navy but was told that his Business major did not really qualify him with enough mathematics and science. (04:54)  Remembers the Marines being very impressive. He “loved the uniform”, and was told to take the exam. (05:22)  Did quite well on the exam, decided to avoid the draft by signing up to join the OCS after graduation.  Was assigned to an Officer Candidate Class in October of 1966 (05:51)  Had a summer off after graduation before entering the Marine Corps, in which he met his wife and became engaged to her. (06:11)  Had injured a knee while attempting to get in shape during the summer and so had a difficult time with the physical training. (06:28) Training and Flight Training: (06:30)  After completing training, became a Second Lieutenant on December 16th of 1966—also was married the next day to his wife, Tamara, who he has been with for 43 years. (06:54)  Was then assigned to Flight School in Pensacola, Florida after a 20 day leave. (07:04)  Upon arrival in Pensacola, the aviation classes were full, so he needed to wait almost three months. o Classes were 50 per squadron o Went through Primary Flight, then into flying the T-34 Mentor (07:52) �o o         Each class was made up of Navy and Marines Took the physical test there (08:37)  Running the obstacle course, doing pushups and situps Entered the first stages of flight school in April of 1967 (09:28) Remembers the entrance meeting to flight school (09:37) o The meeting was standard, guest speakers, expected behavior o “Brought in a hero to get us pumped up” o „Hero‟ was a Lieutenant Commander who flew F-8 Crusaders. He had been assigned to a photo-reconnaissance unit, who would make a low, fast pass to photograph the damage done during bomb runs. (10:31) o Was a very dangerous job. o Remembers that the man‟s first statement was that he wanted to address the Marines in the audience. He said “I want to tell you something right now, gentlemen. Look to your right, and look to your left. One of you three is not going to make it through alive should you get your wings.” (11:11) Remembers his first landing o After logging 9 hours of flight, he was able to land his aircraft solo. (12:51) o The tradition afterwards was to buy your instructor a bottle of their favorite liquor o Then came other training, such as aerobatics, maneuvering (14:17) Describes another plane he flew: o T-28 Trojan, equivalent to WWII fighters. Further describes the plane in detail. (15:10) o Describes flight route (15:46) o Also flew VT-2, description (16:05) Did very well in the first few stages of flight training and was assigned to a VT-3 (16:42) o Completed the VT-3 training in 10 months o Remembers this stage being very stressful as his wife was pregnant during Scored the highest ever scored on one of his flights, something that had never done before (19:07) At the end of training, your total composite scores from pre-flight, primary flight, advanced flight were taken into account, and a number score was assigned. o Talks about the scores necessary for certain jobs in certain branches. (20:45) Only one Marine was taken for actual planes, the rest were told they could drop out of flight school or join rotary wing, and fly helicopters. (21:55) Helicopter Training: (21:56)  The first helicopter used for training was the Bell TH-13-M. o Was the classic „bubble‟ helicopter that can be seen on MASH (22:14)  Describes the helicopter further  An incident during training, Brand was scheduled for a solo flight; he was there on time and did everything he was supposed to. (23:34) o He went out to a practice area, (Pensacola, Florida) and there was no one there (24:34) o He completed his training and headed back, and notices that everything is tied �     down; the only people around are a few frantically waving ground crew. o As soon as he shut down the helicopter, he was told by Navy personnel, to see the commanding officer immediately. (25:40) o He was immediately yelled at, and after explaining that he was scheduled for a flight, and had a green light from the tower, and he was told that he was lucky to have returned alive, because all flights had been canceled due to monsoon activity. The next stage of flying was the H-34, describes the helicopter Tells of the incident of his final flight check, where his instructor was very distracting and attempted to make him lose concentration. Shortly after he passed the check, he was awarded his wings (30:11) Brand‟s wife had flown home to have their first son, Jefferson, due to the threat of some complications which never occurred Brand had his wings ceremony on May 10th of 1968 (30:39) o Afterwards, Brand collected his family and went to his first post in South Carolina, where he was to train in the CH-53 Became a first lieutenant while in South Carolina, and then was scheduled for leave and then to depart for Vietnam. (32:13) Vietnam (32:34)  Flew out of South Bend Municipal Airport for San Francisco to go to Travis Air force Base  Brand thinks that was when it hit him that he was going to Vietnam, he had been prepared for the inherent dangers of flight, but not for the dangers of warfare while flying  The flight itself took about 20 hours, but was uneventful. o Landed in Okinawa, Japan for about a week before going to Da Nang, Vietnam (34:24)  By the time he arrived in Da Nang, it was a very powerful military presence, and not usually attacked, but he was ready to be attacked at any point  Describes the different kinds of transportation sent for the different branches of the military.  Not 45 minutes after arriving at the Marine base called Marble Mountain, there was an enormous explosion, and while they ran to the bunker, the captain knocked himself out when he hit his head on the overhanging door. (38:48) o The explosion turned out to be dynamite from the mining of Marble Mountain, and the men hadn‟t been there long enough to know the difference between mining explosions and artillery.  The next day they were told the only way to get to their duties, some 75 miles north, was to find their own ride. (40:20) o They found a CH-46 and “hitched a ride” o Checked into their respective squadrons—he joined HMH463 (40:57) o HMH stands for Helicopter Marine Heavy (41:06)  First Flight in Vietnam (41:58) o Heavy Lifters were to fly ammunition to a remote landing zone on the DMZ at night o Carrying sling-loads of 155 artillery rounds �o             The only light they had to maneuver by was a single flashlight on the ground (43:24) o His partner, a warrant officer, told him they would, instead of moving the ammunition to the landing pad, would move it to the gun site Brand only flew about 25 missions (44:06) He and 5 others were called into the CO‟s office and were told they were needed elsewhere (44:28) o More experienced pilots were needed for the squadron Brand remembers that only he and a captain, out of the six, came out okay (45:39) The six of them were moved over to the CH-46 squadron o Squadron 265 Brand was preceded into Vietnam by “a matter of three weeks” by one of his best friends (47:15) o William Hale was his name—nicknamed “Willie T”  The only bachelor in the group of Brand‟s six military friends, their wives were always trying to fix him up  He was very cheerful and always upbeat (48:27) o Brand flew out to see Hale about two months before Hale went to Vietnam  Brand remembers for the first time since knowing Hale, he was “despondent”  There were problems with the tail-end of the CH-46 falling off, which Hale was to fly (49:46)  Brand reassured Hale—“Flying in combat is 90 percent boredom and 10% stark terror” (50:36) Brand had been sent to the new squadron to replace William Hale, who had been killed (50:56) o When Brand checked in, he received all of Hale‟s bedding, his locker, helmet, ect. o Brand remembers being very religious, and praying during spare time for his safety (52:42) Brand began getting “Maintenance Hops” to learn how to fly the CH-46 o A maintenance hop is when a helicopter has been repaired, it has to be tested o Brand had less than 50 hours of maintenance hops (54:19) Brand tells a story of a combat mission (55:02) o Brand was not technically in command, but called all the shots (57:15) o The major with them was frightened the entire time, although they were not hit (57:59) A few weeks later an entire crew was lost o The hydraulics went out and there was no way to land safely (59:00) Brand remarks on his religious attitude at the time (59:58) o “The off-time was worse than the flying time” Brand made Aircraft Commander by early November, only a few months after he had transitioned to the CH-46 (01:02:35) o Flight Commander by January o Division Commander by late February Brand had a couple crew-chiefs wounded (01:03:13) �        o Story about inserting troops into a “hot area” Military had designed the Ziploc bag for holding documents (01:09:25) Worked in the flatlands and in the DMZ (01:16:12) o When the weather became cooler, they could fly at higher altitudes o 1969: told he would be trained as an Embarkation Officer, explained o Was told when he was training in Okinawa, his wife could stay with him Brand returns from training in Okinawa and resumes his duties. o Flight story about a difficult maneuver (01:21:02) o Army “Rule of Flying” (01:27:21) June of 1969- moved to Iwo Jima (01:29:02) o “Bald Eagle” missions o Vietnam at night had no lights, had to fly without aircraft lights Story about another marine, John Prombo (01:33:51) o Unusual weather pattern o Last they ever heard of that flight Story about the end of Brand‟s tour (01:39:24) o 2-3 weeks until the end o “Button Hook Landing” explained (01:44:21) Once Brand left the marines and joined the FBI, he was talked into going back to church (1:51:32) o Story about getting his faith back Returned home in October of 1969 (01:55:01) o Rejoined a tactical squadron that supported the western White House, flew the Secret Service, Presidential baggage o Put in for a regular Marine Officer, and also for the FBI—1970 Finishing Remarks  Brand talks about his sons (01:58:35) o Elder son graduated from the Air Force Academy o Younger son joining the FBI � 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 Brand, Loren (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brand, Loren Description An account of the resource Loren Brand entered the Marine Corps in 1966, and attended college at Michigan State University and North Texas University. He was trained in aviation and served in the Vietnam War as a helicopter pilot. After the war he became an FBI agent. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Erichsen, Wallace (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. 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 2009-05-15 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BrandL 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/b712e7c8af4ace4ee570701dc38a26cf.mp4 eb4cde0f38744b3e3bcc8fbfc37af9ce https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1d81a6c7469e0b35d60e784c2be3d5a7.pdf 0b3dc8880c4a0d19fc53fcf978e5a2e9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Other veterans & civilians Interviewee name: Robert Brady Length of Interview: (00:16:28) Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Robert Brady Length of Interview (00:16:28) Background and Training (00:00:00) Born in Toledo, Ohio, 1934 Went to college Wasn’t drafted, nor enlisted because he joined the Naval Officers Training Corps in college (00:00:25)  Allowed him a deferment until finishing college; given commission Had to do two years of active duty and six years reserve duty  Did this when he was 22 or 23; in the U.S. Navy Planned on going to Graduate School, but had to give it up Went through various training (00:01:38)  ROTC: took a three hour college course to learn Navigation, Combat Information Center, various Naval procedures; three years  Did training during service not during college Trained as Atomic/Biological/Chemical Warfare Officer, protects the ship from these type of attacks (00:02:20) Took training on how to fix damage aboard ship Boat Wave Officer, as well (00:03:05)  Made sure the other ships hit the line of demarcation, all in line, and hit the breach at the same time �Oxford, Ohio for four years of course work; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for training (00:03:30)  In training for six months There was no conflict at the time (00:04:06) Stationed at Little Creek, VA where the amphibious force was located (00:04:15) Lebanon (00:04:30) Was once shipped out to Lebanon due to civil unrest occurring there  Six hundred Marines to “deter” them Was in the Mediterranean during the conflict Onboard an LST, 11-71 (00:05:34)  A big empty tank deck that carried tanks, trucks, and missile launchers; a very large ship that could be beached Was turned around and anchored in Crete (a Greek Island), instead; waited for the conflict to dissolve Base Life (00:06:43) Enjoyed living at the base; had a bachelor’s office Got married after a year and moved off the base Had good food both at the base and onboard  Had Filipino cooks on ship Had a normal workdays, 8AM-4PM, onboard; sometimes “officer of the deck”, steer the ship and radar (00:08:08)  Would watch movies and play cards in spare time  Didn’t have much spare time, too many duties  When on base, would go off-base during free time in Norfolk Made many close friends (00:09:30)  Had to be close because they depended upon each other �During the Lebanon Conflicts, they would have sent in 600 Marines plus tanks; had been relieved when turning back to the U.S. (00:11:00) After Service (00:11:35) Went back into Graduate School after service and got a degree in Oxford, Ohio Had to cancel his Wedding once because of the Lebanon Conflict (00:12:25) Got a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and a Master’s Degree in Business and wanted to work for and Oil Company but worked at a Pharmaceutical Company, instead (00:13:23) Matured when in the Navy, mainly because of the duty “Officer of the Deck”; responsibility for a multi-million dollar ship and 600 lives (00:14:35) Most memorable moments: cancellation of his wedding and when being discharged (00:15:20)  Had to be “clothes-lined” to another ship when being discharged from the Mediterranean � 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 Brady, Robert Howes (Interviewer outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brady, Robert Howes Description An account of the resource Robert Brady took ROTC training while in college and joined the US Navy in 1956. He served for three years in various capacities, including duty on an LST in the Mediterranean during the Lebanon Crisis. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Combs, Cam (Interviewer) DeVries, T.J. (Interviewer) McMannus, Susan Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--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 2009-06-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BradyR 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/0f2babb29d6ae5ebc3968ce8da9756a0.mp4 f43b35943cc5ff45a50c199d2068f1f4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/251aeecae97961c7a3b437aba5e4be8d.pdf 511339b3da0e46b24a4fcfe0ec4c6399 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam Bruce Brady Total Time (01:15:00) Background • • • • • • • He was born October 17, 1949 in Welch, West Virginia (00:20) His family moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina when he was seven years old (00:30) o His father was a coal miner and the mines had shut down in West Virginia His father then became a barber (00:39) There were four boys in the family and he was the third (00:58) He finished high school in Kernersville, North Carolina (01:03) o He graduated in 1967 He was very aware of Vietnam and the draft o His older brother had been drafted and signed up for an extra year (01:25)  He worked in supply When he finished high school, he worked part-time jobs and tried to go to school at night (01:55) Enlistment/Training – (02:06) • • • • • • He was drafted October 6, 1969 (02:12) He was sent to Charlotte, North Carolina for his physical examination (02:32) o There were nineteen in his group o He was aware of men attempting to fail their physical They were then bused to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and arrived at 01:00 A.M. (03:21) o When they arrived it was extremely loud o It quickly went from civilian life to military life When he got to Fort Bragg, they began with processing and testing (04:05) o He was offered helicopter school o His mindset was that he would take what they would give him (04:34) His group was immediately stationed to a bunk where they received two or three hours of sleep (04:50) Once the processing was done, basic training was a lot of class time, physical training, weapon training, and other busy activities �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • o He was in good shape when he entered (05:27) The discipline was not hard to get used to because he was a quiet individual (05:45) There were other men there that were having a much harder time o Some of the men had a hard time with the physical part and others that could not keep up with the mental aspects (06:07)  There were some men from Puerto Rico that had been drafted • They were straight from Puerto Rico, rather than Puerto Ricans from New York or elsewhere (06:39) The majority of the men were from the Northeast and the South There were very few black men (07:27) His drill sergeant was an E-6 o He was an extremely fair sergeant o He was an excellent teacher When he grew up he did some hunting and trapping which helped him in basic training (08:19) o He was using the right techniques His sergeant had been in Vietnam but did not say much about it (08:41) He was sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama for Advanced Individual Training (AIT) (09:24) Fort McClellan was in much worse condition than Fort Bragg had been In AIT, there was little class work and the physical training was much more difficult (10:13) o Every Saturday they did a 20 mile forced march, during the week they would do escape and evasion, river crossings, helicopter training, etc. (10:23)  During escape and evasion they would have men actually looking for them His instructors were men that had been to Vietnam (10:55) o One of them had been shot in Vietnam and received a wound in the neck  His picture was on the cover of LIFE magazine in February of 1966 (11:17) All of the training was geared for Vietnam The training in the mountains helped him physically but the other training was completely different from the reality of Vietnam They trained on all small arm weapons, M-16, M-14, M-60, M-79, .50 caliber machine gun, and many others (12:47) The forest where he trained was dense (13:45) o There were areas that were swampy as well  Some of the men would fall through the ice in the swamps during training o He was never caught in escape and evasion during his training (14:40) The AIT was from December until April (14:54) o He then received a leave until Vietnam �• • • • • • He flew out of Greensboro, North Carolina and traveled to Oakland, California (15:16) o He was in Oakland for two days o They had instructions to not bring much to Oakland In Oakland, the troops stayed in one place and were there until they heard their names read off (16:00) At this point he had no expectations of Vietnam He remembers serving food to returning soldiers and they appeared to be “spacey” He then took a commercial aircraft with 250 other GIs (17:21) o Soldiers were in their jungle fatigues (17:35) His flight path was from Oakland to Anchorage, Alaska, to Tokyo, Japan, and then on to Vietnam (17:47) o In Alaska there was a two hour layover that he was able to get off the plane for Active Duty – Part I – (18:08) • • • • • • • • • • • • He landed at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam (18:15) o They landed during the day On the plane's descent, because of his window seat, he could see small arms firefights (18:28) o He realized that “this was the real thing” When the door opened the heat was stifling and could almost take a persons breath away (18:46) When they exited they were processed and began Vietnam training o They were learning about the climate, sickness, etc. and how to deal with them (19:06) They were then assigned to their units He remembers taking a shower at one point and then realized a Vietnamese woman was cleaning the shower He spent three or four days in Cam Ranh Bay (20:17) He knew that he was in the 101st Airborne When he received the travel orders, he was told to go to an airstrip to see if any aircraft were going in the direction that he needed to go in (20:39) o He first took a C-130, which took him part of his way north When waiting for his next plane, he could hear the bombing, fighting, and air strikes o He also noticed that they were bringing in body bags (21:32) o He did not dwell on it From there he was taken on a chopper another 30-40 miles north (22:02) He was approached by a Loach pilot and was asked if he would go and help him load supplies in the field (22:19) o There were three cases of dynamite � • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • He was supposed to throw two cases out of the right and one out of the left o One of the units threw smoke grenades so that they knew where to throw the dynamite packages (23:06) o By the time he was at the third package he was struggling because it was so heavy He eventually found a ride to Camp Evans (23:52) At Camp Evans he had been assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment (24:10) All of the companies were in the field when he arrived (24:18) They remained in their hold pattern until they were assigned to a platoon (24:38) He was sent out to join a unit in the field He was flown out by a supply chopper It was very mountainous and jungle-like (25:28) o There were bare spots in the land where he realized where that was where they would land When they landed, they were approached by their platoon leader (26:21) o He did not know it, but the soldiers in the field hated to be resupplied because it gave away their position (26:30) He is introduced to all of the other soldiers and then they disperse They are told by their platoon leader that they are going to become RTOs (Radio Transmitter Operators) (26:54) o He was already carrying all of the weight that an infantry soldier was loaded with  He told Lieutenant Noll that he was not sure if he could carry all of that weight when Lt. Noll responded, “Well, you can walk point.” (27:21)  He realized that he would become the RTO His platoon stayed at the LZ for the whole night (27:39) They were hit the next morning because of the supply chopper the day before o They were hit with RPG’s (Rocket Propelled Grenades) (28:00) The first night in Vietnam he was scared but he also thought that they were all in this together At this point he is working as the RTO After the initial RPG hit, his platoon got up and were on the move (30:08) o The weather was absolutely miserable – it was hot and it was at an average of 100 degrees o It rained every day at 16:00 (30:25) o The terrain was extremely mountainous (30:39) o They would often have to cut their own trails o There were vines that had a hook on it that would catch on soldiers  Soldiers would have to freeze and reverse their steps to get the hook out otherwise it would rip you open (31:01) o The insects were horrible (31:09) His company commander was Captain Burkhart (31:23) �• • • • • • • • • • • • o He forced the company to make safe movements (31:57) o There was contact under Cpt. Burkhart, but it was lighter and less frequent than others He stayed in the field for 90 days (32:22) Cpt. Burkhart was with his unit for nearly two months (33:19) The daily routine was moving every day o They were occasionally hit – it was always a hit and run (34:31) o One time they were on the ridgeline of a bombed hill where an individual was hit in the thigh from an air strike 1,500 meters away o There were times where they would sit for some time and ambush the enemy (35:14) His unit had many injuries There was one occasion where they were digging in for the night and half of the soldiers would go out and set claymores and trip flares (36:18) o One soldier accidentally tripped a flare and the sergeant threatened to kill the soldier (36:46) o He then took his M-16 and put it in the ear of the sergeant who was threatening the other soldier (37:12)  The Sergeant was taken out of the field soon after that As an RTO, his objective was to follow Sergeant Ames, his squad leader (37:54) o All of the communication was through the platoon leaders He was eventually switched to serve as the RTO for Lt. Noll Lt. Noll was very good and level-headed, seemed like he cared about his troops, and he was calm and collected (38:40) The majority of the RTO communication came at night (40:17) o They would call in every hour to make sure their position was secure He averaged around four or five hours of sleep every night (40:49) o He was an extremely light sleeper One night his platoon set up further up the hill than the NVA o The NVA began firing mortars up the hill at Ripcord  Lt. Noll called in gunships – the firing stopped after that (42:20) The majority of the nights were quiet even though it was the most feared time o It was very helpful when there was a full moon at night because the soldiers could see around them (43:03) o When the moon was not out, it became extremely difficult to see anything Active Duty – Part II – (43:25) • When Lt. Hawkins took over the company, they became more aggressive (43:30) o He initially thought that it was too aggressive because they were losing too many men o They were going out on ambushes more often (44:00) o He was forced to go out on the majority of the ambushes because he was the RTO �• • • • • • • • • • • • During one ambush he saw some lights in the distance and called them in to the base atop the hill o The base fired rounds on the lights and they eventually went out (46:35)  He called and told the base that the lights had gone out o Nearly an hour later the lights came back on  They fired another round that hit the tree that he was sitting at (47:03) o The men his platoon woke up and were screaming (47:16) o They fired nearly ten more rounds and the lights never came back on o The enemy had been moving ammo during the night One day they came across a bunker system that was underground (49:28) o They spread powder gas that would not allow the NVA to use the bunkers for months At this point he was concentrating on his job and not necessarily on the enemy (50:54) o Communication was extremely vital o He was carrying the radio, multiple batteries, eleven quarts of water, and all of his regular equipment as well (51:16) o He carried the same equipment as a rifleman They were resupplied by choppers every three or four days (51:50) o They would catch water from rainfall o When they crossed rivers some of the men would fill up their water bottles  Some of the men did not use iodine tablets [to purify water] and got sick (52:07) He knew about Firebase Ripcord at this time (52:25) o He knew of other Firebases as well Soldiers were often times taken out of the field and stationed at a Firebase for thirty days to get some kind of a break (52:59) He was then stationed at Firebase O’Reilly (53:04) o He was at O’Reilly from the end of June until July 10th or 11th  They were taken off because Charlie Company had been hit hard  Charlie Company had been hit hard on Hill 902 on July 2nd (53:24) When he was on O’Reilly, they received intelligence that Firebase Ripcord was going to start getting hit around July 1st (54:18) At this point they were all thinking that it could get bad He was then sent back out to the field He was only on Firebase Ripcord for one day (54:43) o He had gone to Ripcord long before they had been sent to Firebase O’Reilly When he left O’Reilly, he went near Hill 805 (55:46) o At this time he did not know what their mission was o They were supposed to take Hill 805 and began operating from there (55:58) o There were already fox holes in the area from previous units being there o When they arrived they were ambushed (56:16) �Active Duty – Part III – Ambush and Final Days of Service – (56:17) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The ambush was against Lieutenant Noll and the RTO’s (56:28) He was able to duck into a foxhole where he gave the radio to Lt. Noll and he was able to fire against the enemy (57:02) o When this happened there was an explosion off to the side that hit both of them with shrapnel (57:13) o The enemy hit and ran – the fight did not last long o When the medic came over he said, “Brady, this is your ticket out of here.” (58:01) o Lt. Noll had been hit in the back of the leg He is taken out by medevac and the wind was extremely rough (59:30) The flight out was extremely rough on the trip out He was taken to Camp Evans at a field hospital (01:00:11) They were taken into an aid station where he was then transferred to Da Nang, Vietnam (01:00:22) o He was on a litter and knew that he should be at Da Nang when he looked over his side and only saw water (01:00:50) o He had actually been taken to a hospital ship He was taken into a medical room where a doctor looked him over (01:01:09) He asked why he was there and the doctor just told him that they were going to take care of him They eventually sent him to Da Nang and then on to the 249th Hospital in Tokyo, Japan (01:01:30) In Da Nang he saw a man that was burned from head to toe (01:02:15) o He had traveled to Tokyo with the man to make sure he was comfortable At this point he was bandaged up (01:02:44) o They would change the bandage three times every day Once he arrived in Tokyo, he was placed in ward with 100 patients o The doctor and the registered nurses would come around at least twice a day (01:03:26) o When he first arrived he had to give blood He eventually had to go in for surgery When he was there he would get up and help the other soldiers that could not move (01:04:20) He remembers many wounded men from A Company coming in as well He was in the hospital in Japan for thirty-one days (01:06:18) When he was on recovery he was told that he was being sent to a re-assignment station the next morning (01:06:49) o When he arrived at the re-assignment station he goes to check in and was told that, because he was drafted, would not have to go back to Vietnam because he had been in the hospital for over thirty days (01:07:18) He was told that he could end up in five different locations o He told them that he would take any one of them (01:07:55) �• • • • • • • He found out that he would be stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado He was told to report to Fort Carson on September 1, 1970 (01:08:17) When he was processed he was told that he had another year to go and did not have any leave time remaining o He had his convalescent leave taken from him (01:08:44) At Fort Carson they played war games o He was on a mechanized APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) (01:08:55) o The first week he was out he woke up and had four inches of snow on him He was with the 4th Infantry at this point (01:09:20) o He was a rifleman o He would pull guard duty, KP (Kitchen Police) duty, and other E-4 duties (01:09:38) He was left at an E-4 because the military believe that he was going to get out of the service One morning the draftees were told to pull to the side and clear post in five days (01:10:44) o He cleared post in four hours After the Service – (01:11:04) • • • • • • • • When he went home he had to find work because he had a wife and child to provide for (01:11:14) He went to an electrical contractor and became an electrician o He went through a four year apprenticeship (01:11:33) o The G.I. Bill helped pay for this o He was working during the day and doing the apprenticeship at night During Vietnam he did not have contact with his family members (01:12:00) o He had contact with his wife but no family members While he was gone his wife was still in school and eventually finished when he was in Vietnam He finished his career as an electrician (01:12:48) He worked eventually began working in the [VA] hospital system (01:13:00) o He was a two point preference employee because of his service and Purple Heart o He saw many patients from war – he saw soldiers from Korea and some from Vietnam His wife left him and he became a single parent with two children (01:13:36) o He changed jobs because he thought moving closer to his wife’s family because he thought it would help the problems – Unfortunately it did not work (01:13:57) He is extremely thankful for his time in the service and tries to treat everyone very respectfully o He still hurts over the men who were lost (01:14:39) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Brady, Bruce (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brady, Bruce Description An account of the resource Bruce Brady was born in 1949 in Welch, West Virginia. His family was forced to relocate to North Carolina where he eventually graduated from high school in 1967. He was drafted on October 6, 1969 and was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and to Fort McClellan, Alabama for training as an infantryman. Sent to Vietnam after training, he was assigned to A Company, 2/506 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. On joining his unit, he became a radio operator for his squad, and later for his platoon. His unit participated in the campaign around Firebase Ripcord for several months. He was wounded in an ambush in July, 1970, and sent to Japan for treatment, and served out the last part of his enlistment at Fort Carson, Colorado. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-10-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BradyB1447V 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/3f8ce963738c07d4630b02653b3ed84c.mp4 be674a4cd24e597d4fc8e266556edc55 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b7c73e2ec7212abf0d73474e5ef40f7.pdf fe62d9f7007a0d7d3b94233324e76d8f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee name: Gerald Bradley Length of Interview: (00:42:47) (00:15) Pre-Enlistment  Childhood o Gerald was born in Madison, Michigan on April 22, 1922.  Family o His father had an 80 acre farm and later worked for a machine company during the war.  Education o Gerald went to Sunnyside elementary school through 8th grade. o He then went to high school in Hudson where he played basketball and football. o Gerald graduated from high school in 1938 and began working on the family farm, as well as the machine factory with his father.  (13:06) Pearl Harbor Attacked o Gerald had been with his girlfriend and her family when Pearl Harbor was attacked. o They heard the news on her father’s car radio; at the time most cars did not have radios in them. o Gerald had been shaken up and went straight home to see his family. o His family was worried that he would soon be drafted. (14:30) Enlistment and Training  Background o Gerald had attempted to enlist in the Navy and Coast Guard many different times, but they had told him they could not take him because of his bad eyesight. o He was later invited to a town meeting by the Draft Board; at the meeting officers from all branches were telling him that he was the type of man they needed. o Gerald chose to enlist in the Army and ignored the other services that turned him down.  (16:50) Training 1943 o Gerald was sent on a train to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for training. o They often had night training exercises in the woods and were not able to catch up on sleep the next day. o They only trained for about a month before being sent across the Pacific. (20:20) Active Duty  (20:25) Australia o Gerald boarded a converted passenger ship and was assigned to the bottom deck. �o His bunk was right next to a large area that had been filled with concrete because it had been hit earlier in a torpedo attack. o They landed in the Northern part of Australia and the ship had got stuck in a sand bar. o Australian tug boats had to help get them out of the sand bar. o Gerald had been part of the 495th Engineer Battalion. o They traveled from Townsville to Brisbane, where they stayed for months working on stacking lumber.  (25:50) New Guinea o Gerald set up shop with other engineers where they worked on cars, tractors, etc... o They often had to build new gears for tractors because the old ones often failed. o Gerald worked about 30 hours a week and the tractors that took up most of his time were eventually discontinued. o He had never actually been in a combat zone, but could always hear firing in the distance. o They were issued weapons, but not given any ammunition and their officer only had one round. o Gerald worked on the island for one year, watching many planes and battles overhead. (34:05) After the Service  Going Home o After hearing the news that bombed had been dropped over Japan, Gerald and many others celebrated and drank for a week. o He arrived back in the US on Christmas Eve in 1945 and landed in San Diego. o Gerald took a train to Chicago where he was discharged.  Life later on o He then began working at Hillsdale Steel making auxiliary transmissions for trucks. o Gerald got married on April 20, 1946 and had two children. o He is now living at the Grand Rapids Veterans 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 Bradley, Gerald G. (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bradley, Gerald G. Description An account of the resource Gerald Bradley was born in Madison, Michigan on April 22, 1922. He graduated from high school in 1938 and attempted to enlist in the Navy and Coast Guard. Gerald was rejected due to his eyesight, but eventually enlisted in the Army in 1943. After training Gerald traveled with the 495th Engineer Battalion to Brisbane, Australia. They remained in Australia for months working before finally being transferred to New Guinea. In New Guinea Gerald worked for about a year repairing tractors and other machinery. 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Coast Guard Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-09-08 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BradleyG 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/081b69200371179e9c53bb9e60671fd2.mp4 6dcbc128aaa35b09136a3ae11d43896f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/32398f19d95f02f67384d3b028f5f857.pdf 14c8d9b4637a6bafbcb8288635900691 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Melvin Bowser (00:49:47) (00:05) Introduction • Born outside Toledo Ohio, 9/11/1944 • Stayed on farm until he was around nine years old. • Moved into Toledo. • Was expelled from Catholic school in seventh grade after striking a nun. • Moved out his parents’ house when he was a junior, and moved in with his older brother until he graduated from high school. (07:48) Joining the Air Force • Joined the Air Force in 1962. • Served four years in the air force, until 1966. • Received training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. • One D.I. had a very hoarse voice after attempting to hang himself. The men could barely hear or understand his orders. • The D.I. came into the barracks drunk and began throwing the men’s things around, Melvin was on guard duty and the men got in a fight. To cover his tracks, Melvin and other men carried him out into a ditch outside of the barracks. The D.I. never knew what happened. (11:10) Basic Training • The weather was very hot during his basic. • He enjoyed the day-to-day routine of the military. • Believes the Air Force training is more mental than the physical trainings of the Army and Marines. • When he enlisted, he was promised work in electronics, but did not receive it. (13:05) After Basic Training • After Lackland, he was sent to Selfridge Air Force Base in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. • He worked in heating while at Selfridge. He shoveled coal into ten hand-fired furnaces in the barracks to heat them. • He began working in the boiler plants after passing examinations. • While sand blasting a building on a scaffold, the scaffold was hit and he fell thirty feet into a pile of cinders. He injured his spine. However, he did not receive a medical discharge. • After 8 months of pain, he was sent to the hospital to find out what was wrong with his spine. He received an operation to correct the spine injury. • Once returning to Selfridge after surgery, he could not perform his usual duties. • He organized a repair group, men on the base who could repair all of the electrical problems on base. �Met his wife, who lived in Mount Clemens at the time he was serving in Selfridge. (27:36) Having a family • His wife already had a small child before marriage, who was in an orphanage. • He had another daughter shortly after marriage. • He left the service after the birth of his second daughter. He did not want to have to move his children around all of the time. • Seven years later he has another daughter. • His daughter Claudia developed a mental impairment after an extreme fever. • He worked as a maintenance man after he left the service. • He did use his military training with boiler work in his future endeavors as a maintenance man. • � 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 Bowser, Melvin (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bowser, Melvin Description An account of the resource Melvin Bowser served in the US Air Force from 1962 to 1966. He trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and was then stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan. There he worked as a furnace tender and maintenance man on the base, and later switched to electrical work after being injured. 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. Air Force Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-02-25 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BowserM 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/49f4ecf84005d13423af7b913c86a499.mp4 24d537f457e70235e995b394015f75aa https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d41c5adf3df87a2b7c3167f3cf6cb7fb.pdf a56a3c08112d3d9a0235388d22c34d78 PDF Text Text Jeffrey Bowman (45:04) (00:15) Background Information    Jeff was born in Muskegon, MI on May 27, 1954 His mother worked for Spiegel Catalog and his father worked for Continental Motors He went to Christian school and played basketball, graduating in 1972 (5:50) Enlistment in the Army      Jeff had training at Fort Dix where he spent time marching, running and doing calisthenics They had to get up every day at 4:30 a.m. Jeff was stationed at Fort Dix for two years, driving trucks His squad was sent to Pennsylvania during a massive flood They helped rebuild houses in the area and transport equipment (12:45) Discharged      Jeff was discharged after two years and began driving for Mayflower He worked there for five years, traveling to 48 states and Canada He then began working in Texas transporting computers Jeff began having medical problems and could no longer drive He now lives in the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans (18:35) Marriage    Jeff got married to a woman in Virginia in 1980, but it only lasted one year He was married again in 1985 to a woman from Louisiana, which lasted five years He was married three times and never had any kids (22:50) Trucking Experience   Gerald has made friends all over the country He was able to visit his family members in GA, CA, and TX (27:30) Family Members    Jeff and his sister were both adopted His sister has three sons and lives in FL His mother passed away in 1996 from a heart attack and his father died recently � 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 Bowman, Jeffery (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bowman, Jeffery Description An account of the resource Jeff Bowman was born in Muskegon, Michigan on May 27, 1954. He went to Christian schools in Muskegon and played basketball. Jeff graduated in 1972 and then enlisted in the Army. He had basic training in Fort Dicks and was stationed there for two years. During his time in the Army, Jeff drove trucks and continued to do so after being discharged. Jeff currently lives in the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-05-15 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BowmanJ0135V 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/ec5c2941f35dfae0ab63d4ecc2b1f11b.mp4 53397b6632ea63b23976d6e7b185f755 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/118293003e7d1b6ee202c166975f3c67.pdf 6fbe74beb93137b303e2520e7f49623b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Chester Bovee Length: 44:13 (00:15) Background Information        Chester was born in Michigan on June 10, 1923 and later grew up in Wisconsin The Depression was hard on his family and his father worked in general labor After graduating from high school Chester began working in an electrician apprenticeship He had wanted to go to college, but did not have the resources to do so Chester had wanted to enlist and fight in the war as soon as he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor His father did not want him to enlist because he had fought in WWI and been wounded Chester enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps when he was 19 years old (6:55) United States Army Air Corps  Chester went through pilot training school where they flew B-29s and were getting ready for a raid over Japan  They also worked with Stearmans, twin engines, B-25s, and B-17s  He received his wings and was then sent to Roswell, New Mexico before he would be sent to the Pacific  Chester met his new crew in New Mexico, but they had declared the war over before they left (13:10) Contra Field  Chester was sent to San Angelo in Texas where he was working as an electrician for about 1 year before he passed tests to become a pilot  The Air Corps was looking for volunteers to be pilots, bombardiers, and navigators to fight in the Pacific  Chester scored high enough to become a pilot, but not a bombardier or a navigator  He was impressed with his score considering he had not continued his education after high school (15:40) Flight Training  Chester was sent to the University of Montana after he volunteered to be a pilot  They were taking mathematics, history and many other classes that did not seem to have anything to do with flying  After taking courses at the University of Montana he was sent to Santa Ana, California for pre-flight school �    There they learned basic flight rules, commands, and how to communicate with other crew members Chester learned how to lead a crew and became a airplane commander He then went to Thunderbird Field in Arizona where they began working with Stearmans Chester had met his wife in California, who had been working for GE, and they got married in Arizona (20:55) Primary Flight School  Chester was able to fly his first plane alone and it was a thrilling experience  His instructor recommended that he go through bombardier school because he was very accurate  He was told he would be a good bombardier, but would never make it as a fighter pilot  It was easier for him to understand the mechanics of the planes because of his electrician experience  Chester liked flying B-25s better than UC-78s; it was a light bomber with lots of muscle  He liked the B-17s even better, which they flew in bomb training through ranges at Norden Bomb Sight (31:55) B-29s  Chester did not enjoy flying B-29s because they were so large  They could reach an altitude of 37,000 feet, flew faster than B-17s, carried more bombs, and had a longer range  B-29s could fly from the US through the Pacific and back without having to refuel while many other aircraft would have to refuel (33:40) End of War  Chester had been very excited to leave with is new crew and bomb Japan, but was never able to fly with them  He felt that hitting the Japanese with the atomic bombs was a big gamble and that it is still a big problem  He really enjoyed training at Thunderbird Field the most because of the background and scenery  Chester studied very hard to pass all his tests and get promotions  He was in Roswell when he first heard the news that the war was over  Chester was only there for another 3 or 4 weeks before he was discharged (37:45) After Service  Chester moved to Wisconsin with his wife and baby and then later moved to Michigan �  They did not like living in the South because they felt like they were still treated unfavorably because of the Civil War Being in the service had helped to boost Chester’s ego because he proved to himself that he could be a pilot against many odds � 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 Bovee, Chester (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bovee, Chester Description An account of the resource Chester Bovee was born in Michigan on June 10, 1923 and enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps when he was 19 years old. He went through basic training at Contra Field in Texas where he also worked as an electrician. Chester later got a high enough test score to move on to be a pilot and was sent to the University of Montana to take academic courses. He then went to pre-flight school in Santa Ana, California before he was sent to Thunderbird Field in Arizona for primary flight school. After training he had met his new crew in Roswell, New Mexico and they were getting ready to go to the Pacific before they heard that the war was over. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-11-17 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoveeC 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/3ac18aa7436d97eed79ba4336468f474.mp4 5ad3873d18de181b1bef470daa34b1a1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e37fc9b6f626d3ad33524481a4792bfa.pdf 9b8a04b64584c86ace1ff321d094512e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II - wife Betty Bovee Length of Interview: 27:33 (00:00) JS: We’re talking today with Mrs. Betty Bovee of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The interviewer is James Smither, of the Grand Valley State Veterans History Project. Now, can you begin by telling us where you were born, where you grew up. That sort of thing. BB: I was born in Lansing, Michigan. And then from there I ended up in Leslie, Michigan, with my grandmother. JS: Okay. Now what year were you born? BB: April 29th, 1923. JS: Okay. And when did you go to live with your grandmother? BB: My father and mother were born in Lansing. My father and mother took me to Montana, and for some reason they separated. And my father got me and brought me back to his mother. That was my grandmother. JS: And how old were you when you made that move? BB: Ah, probably, I might have been a year old. JS: Okay, so then that’s well before anything that you remember. BB: Yes. JS: So, basically, so were you raised by your grandmother then? BB: By my grandmother. JS: Okay. And were they on a farm? Or in a town? (01:09) BB: Yes, it was on a farm. And we stayed there for quite…and I went to school. And I stayed with her all the time. JS: Okay. Now, did your grandparents, were they able to keep their farm through the ‘30s, through the Depression era? �BB: Yes. They had eighty acres. And they were able to keep it. JS: And what were they growing there? BB: Well, mostly, my grandmother…they had cows and chickens. Things like that. And then they had eighty acres of fields, but mostly that was it. (02:15) JS: Okay. Now, where in Michigan is Leslie? Is it close to Lansing or is it somewhere else? BB: It’s close to Mason. It’s between Mason and Jackson. JS: So it’s kinda south-central Michigan. BB: Yes. JS: So pretty good farm country down there. BB: Yes. Very good. JS: All right. Now, what kind of school did you go to? BB: I went to a country school for several years. That was in Leslie. And then eventually, we moved to Mason. Because my father’s parents had died and so we went to their home. And I started going to a country school there until I was in the sixth grade. And then I went downtown to the school in Mason. JS: Okay. And then did you finish high school? (03:19) BB: Yes. JS: Okay. And what year did you graduate from high school? BB: 1941. JS: All right. And what did you do upon graduation? BB: I went…my grandmother had a sister in Los Angeles and she used to go, well that’s when I was younger, we used to go visit her. And I loved Los Angeles. So after I graduated, I went out there again and I decided I was going to stay. Because I liked it so well. And I stayed with my aunt, that was her sister, and she went back home, and so I got a job and went to work and that’s where I met Chet. (04:21) �JS: Okay. Now did you take that job before Pearl Harbor? Still in ’41, but before the war starts? BB: Ummm, I’m trying to remember. Because at that time, I didn’t think much about it. You know, what was going on. JS: But do you remember hearing about Pearl Harbor? BB: Yes. JS: Do you remember where you were when you heard about it? BB: Yes. JS: Well, where were you? BB: Well, I stayed with my aunt, and you know, I heard about all that but it seems like I just wasn’t involved. JS: Right. BB: You know, just mostly involved with my own life. JS: Did you have any brothers? BB: No brothers. No sisters. JS: Okay, only child. So it wasn’t like you had brothers that might be drafted or anything like that. So you’re not really thinking about those things so much. Okay. Now what kind of job did you take? (05:21) BB: It was a business type job. When I started, I was just working in the mail department. And then I went into filing. And then I went into where I was working for several of the gentlemen there. And so that’s where I was when I met Chet. JS: Okay. And when was it that you met him? BB: He was in Santa Ana, California and the soldiers used to come into Los Angeles a lot. You know. And so, they came in. And there would be dances. There would be different things that they could go to. And so I happened to meet him there. And again, when he was in Santa Ana. We liked each other. (laughs) And at the time, he wanted me to come to Santa Ana. At that time, you went on a bus. I wasn’t too sure the first time, so I didn’t go. But he came and found me again. And I liked that, that he was…you know. So this time, the next time, then I did take a bus to see him. �(06:51) BB: To Santa Ana. And then he asked me to marry him and I said yes. JS: Okay. Now how long was it between the time you met him and when he asked you to marry him? BB: Hmmm. Not very long. (laughs) Male voice: I was afraid I’d lose her. That scared me. JS: He said he was afraid he’d lose you. BB: (laughs) Yeah, he said he was. It wasn’t very long. And then of course, now as it progresses, the thing we need to know is you’re maybe three months at each place, so that’s maybe why different things happen. JS: Right. (07:41) BB: So, I quit my job and umm, that’s when, in Phoenix, I had my father and my step-mother. He had married again. And so, I quit my job and went there. And he was stationed there and we were married there. With my family there. JS: And then once you got married, what kind of living quarters did you have? BB: Um, well, at the time there, he wasn’t…I couldn’t live with him at first. And so I just, I had a room there and I stayed there until eventually I could start going where he was. JS: Now did you eventually get to a place where you could live in an apartment that was off the base that he was stationed on? (08:56) BB: Not really. Not for quite a while. After he went, I went to Bakersfield, and I just stayed there. But I could see him on the weekends, but I couldn’t see him during the week or anything. JS: Right. BB: So I stayed there, and, um…if I saw him, if I saw him on the base, I wasn’t even supposed to say I knew him. So I stayed there and it was like a small apartment and there were other women there. That their husbands were there. And so I stayed there for quite a while, with another girl. And then eventually, I went to Bakersfield. JS: Somewhere in this process, you also had a baby, didn’t you? (10:18) �BB: Well, I went to Bakersfield, and like I said, it might have been three months or so, one of the soldiers that he knew, his wife’s mother lived in Denver and so I went there and she took me to the doctor and I was pregnant. So I went back. And I eventually went back to Arizona, to Tempe, because that’s where she was born. Donna. And he was stationed there too, at the time. So, um… let me see… (11:44) JS: Okay. So the last place that you went to was Roswell, in New Mexico. So when he was there, were you all living together or… BB: Well, first of all, we went to Hobbes. And then, yes, then I could be together with him. And then, we went to Roswell. And I like that real well. And of course, then, Donna was little. You know, she was small. So then the time came when he thought he was going to go overseas, so I went back to my grandmother’s, because I thought he was. And took Donna. But he didn’t have to go overseas. So then eventually, he came back, and we went back to where he was born in Marionette. And we stayed there for quite a while. I had two more children there. In Menomonie, where the hospital was. And he had a job there. And we lived there for quite a while. Eventually, we came back to Lansing. Of course by then, I had three children. Had Donna and Faith and Linda. And then…we were…we were in Marionette for quite a while, but he decided he was going to go back to where he had worked. (13:55) BB: So we went back there and stayed for…and at that time, we lived on a place that used to be an army base. It had small little homes, you know. So we lived there. Eventually, because his mother wasn’t well, we decided to go back to Marionette. JS: Okay. Now, I want to take the story back into the years of the war period for a couple of different things. One of them was, in that time there, before you were married, when you were living in Los Angeles and working and so forth, what was life like at that point? You know, for single women and so forth, at these places. What did you do for fun? What problems did you have to deal with? (14:52) BB: Well, I mostly worked, like I said. At that time, you had to take, they had street cars. Which I liked. And I had a girlfriend. And we just really didn’t do much. It was mostly working. JS: But you must have gone to dances, occasionally. BB: Well, there were things you could go to. I wasn’t too much into that, though. JS: Okay. BB: No, not too much. �JS: But you did go to at least to one, because you met your future husband there. And who was running that? Was it a USO thing, or was it some other group? BB: What? JS: Was that a USO dance, or some other group? (15:46) BB: I was with my girlfriend, when I met him. And he was with a friend of his, too. JS: But as I was asking, the USO sometimes sponsored dances and events. And the Red Cross did, and other groups did. So was this…do you remember who was running this function, or was it just some place that you went? BB: No, just some place we went. JS: Did you go to movies very much? BB: Yes. I did like movies. I did like movies. JS: Okay. Now this is a period when there was a good deal of rationing in place. Were there particular things that you had trouble getting, that you wanted to get? BB: At that time when I was in Los Angeles, my father and step-mother, he had married again, lived in Phoenix, wasn’t it? They lived. So we would trade things. Like you were allowed certain things like coffee and all those different things. And so I would trade, I’d send them coffee and they’d send me nylons. (laughs) It worked out real good. At the time, that’s what we did. (17:03) JS: Okay. Now, since you were working in an office and that kind of thing, were you expected to wear nylons to work? Was that part of… BB: Yes. JS: But was there any sort of provision made in the rationing for that sort of thing or did you just make do? BB: Ah, no. JS: Aside from the nylons, were there other things that you had trouble getting or couldn’t get enough of, at that time? BB: Well, I can’t remember too much. I really, like I said, I lived…I had a place I lived and I really didn’t need much else, you know. �JS: Yeah. So you didn’t need things like gasoline or tires, or some of those things that were a problem. BB: No. JS: Some people have mentioned shoes being a problem. Or clothing. Could you get enough of what you needed for that? BB: Yes. I didn’t have any problem getting those things. I didn’t have much money to get much either. (18:05) JS: All right. Now, once you got married, were there particular difficulties or problems that you had or encountered, because you were having to follow your husband from place to place, as he went through his training. Were there… BB: No. Wherever he was, I would go. On the bus. And they were usually at a place for three months. So I’d find a place to stay. I just…every place he went, I went there. JS: And was it ever difficult to find a place to stay? Or were there people who were in the business of providing rooms for wives and things? BB: I can’t remember having much trouble with that. JS: Now, as you were moving around to these places, were you able to make friends or have other women to kind of talk to, that were in the same situation that you were? (19:11) BB: Well, um, I don’t remember that, too much. JS: But you at least had roommates or people you were sharing houses with. BB: Sometimes. Sometimes I did. JS: Now, over the period there when you were married, were you able to save any money out of his salary, or did you need most of it just to cover expenses? BB: Well, he got a certain amount. That way I could pay for where I was staying. That’s what we did. JS: But were you able to save much, so that you could use that after the war was over? BB: No. �JS: Okay. You just kind of needed what you got. Okay, now, once the war is over, how quickly did things change as far as civilian life? Did things go back to normal or did they stay kind of strange, or just become different? (20:27) BB: Well, like I said, we started our life, of course. And that’s when we went back to his home. And had two more children. And so we stayed there for quite a while. And then eventually, eventually he wanted to, one of the places that he had been, he worked as an electrician, and they had always said, if you want to come back, we’ll find you a place to live. So that’s what we did. And, uh, so we went there. And I had three children. And they found us a…actually, it wasn’t an apartment. But everything was different back then. It was like one big huge room, was everything. And so, like I said, we stayed there and he worked as an electrician. Until we went back to his home. (21:55) JS: All right. Are there particular events or things that happened to you, that you experienced, that tend to come back to you? That you think about or remember, that stand out in your mind? That you haven’t mentioned here yet. BB: Well, when you were going from base to base, of course it was different, and like I said, sometimes I couldn’t say anything to him, you know, if I saw him. So, I’m not sure that anything stands out too much. JS: How would you have wound up on one of these bases? I mean, you said you saw him on the base, you couldn’t acknowledge each other. Did you ever get jobs on the bases or you just visited? (22:50) BB: I did, I remember, at one…if you didn’t have children, you were supposed to work. Now, I was in another room, with a friend of his wife, and she had a child, so she didn’t have to work, so I worked in the cafeteria, serving food to soldiers. JS: Okay. And what was that like? BB: Scary. (Laughter) JS: Why was it scary? BB: I wasn’t used to that. But it worked out good though. I went there, first of all, I was out in the back, washing dishes. I didn’t want to do anything. But then eventually, I got over that and I started behind the counter, serving food. JS: Okay. Now were you mostly working with other women, or were there soldiers doing KP duty alongside you? (23:53) �BB: No. Ususally, if I was living with someone, it was another girl, or something like that. JS: And how did the soldiers behave, when you were serving them? BB: Oh, they were always fine. Never had any trouble with any of them. JS: All right. And were there people watching after you, or looking and making sure that everybody behaved? BB: No. JS: And who did you actually answer to, or report to, when you were working on the base? Ws there a mess sergeant or someone? BB: No. Wherever I was staying, I just stayed there. I never had to answer to anyone. JS: Okay. So were you just basically with a civilian contractor or somebody like that? Somebody that was hired as a group to do the food on the base, or… BB: No. JS: They were just individual jobs that were there that you could apply for? (24:56) BB: Um, that’s the only job that I think I had. Usually, I would, I know that one time I stayed with another girl and we shared the room. But then like that. But that’s the only time I worked. JS: Okay. Now, did any of the bases that you went, did any of the bases have any kind of accommodations for children? Was there any kind of daycare available, or did you just have to deal with that yourself? BB: Um, I don’t think that there was, then. I think that if you had a child, you just took care of the child yourself. There wasn’t anything like that then. JS: Right. And did some of the women help each other out, and look after each other’s kids, and that sort of thing? BB: Not really. Not that I know of. (26:05) JS: And I guess in your situation, you move around so much… BB: Yes, that’s it. JS: It’s hard to have those networks there. �BB: Yeah. Each time he went to a different base, then I went. Eventually, it was so that we could be together. But it wasn’t at first. JS: Okay. Now, when the news came that the war was over, what was your reaction to that? BB: Oh, I was glad. (laughs) ‘Cause I knew he was coming back to where I was, too. JS: So you weren’t disappointed that he didn’t get to go bomb Japan, then? BB: No. (laughs) No. I wouldn’t have liked that. (26:49) JS: A little bit different side of it. Okay. Well, you’ve done a good job of sort of filling in the other side of that story, so people watching these two interviews together, will get that much more out of it. Is there anything else that you’d like to put on the record here, before we close out the interview? BB: Well, I found that it was very interesting that I was able to go around to the different bases, and see places that I would not have seen otherwise. And something that you always remember. You always remember where you were, what happened there. So I’m glad it happened. JS: Well, thank you for taking the time to tell it to me today. (27:33) � 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 Bovee, Betty (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bovee, Betty Description An account of the resource Betty Bovee was born in Lansing, Michigan on April 29, 1923 and later moved to a small town where she grew up on a farm. She graduated from high school in 1941 and moved in with her aunt in Los Angeles, California. Betty spent the majority of her time working while in California, until she met her husband Chet. She quit her job once they were engaged and they got married in Phoenix, Arizona. Betty followed Chet around on different bases that he was stationed at for the remainder of his time in the service. They had three children while he was in the service and they moved back to Michigan once he was discharged. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-11-17 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoveeB 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/43ba8eac693ebd834fae08a0579dcf63.mp4 0412cf8f90b32d7eca6becac1b7b0828 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/23fc7ffb458b1b7fce475e2757f0e45e.pdf 3b33a440c7ce57e23bd11e29ae79ba80 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project The Michigan National Guard Gary Boucher Interview length: (00:40:17:00) Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:50:00)  Born in 1953 in White Cloud, Michigan (00:00:50:00)  Grew up in White Cloud and graduated from White Cloud High School in 1972 (00:00:56:00)  Eventually moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and began working a job at General Motors, where he worked until he retired (00:01:04:00)  Just missed the draft for the Vietnam conflict (00:01:15:00) o While he was in high school, Boucher kept getting draft cards and his number finally came up while he was a senior in high school (00:01:36:00) o The whole senior year, he was number four to go to Vietnam and he knew that he was going to be go and there was no way out of it (00:01:48:00) o He prepared himself and they had Army recruiters there for the enlistees and he ended up going to Detroit for his physical (00:02:04:00)  Boucher was raised with his grandfather and they watched the war on TV; the war was hard to explain because they heard different things, such as “we were there but we should not be there and we should get out of there” (00:02:34:00)  One “R” on a draft card meant “one ready” and the numbers of the draft cards corresponded with someone’s birthday and a random drawing (00:03:50:00) o All the men had a number and they knew where they were standing (00:04:24:00) o The person in charge of the war effort decided how many people they would need at the present time and if a man’s number was chosen, then he was drafted (00:04:35:00)  When Boucher found out that the draft was ending, it was kind of a relief because he was young and scared (00:05:08:00) o He could still go to Vietnam for whatever reason, but he was never called up through the draft (00:05:34:00)  Boucher had some friends in the National Guard and he had read up on some of the benefits that they had, such as money for college education, and he viewed the National Guard as a good way to learn about some of the operations of the Army (00:05:49:00) o The Guard was also a good place for a man to go “to grow up and learn that there were other bosses besides you” (00:06:21:00)  He ended up joining the National Guard in February, 1978 (00:06:46:00) o He joined mostly from the accumulated information he had from his friends in the Guard and from his own research (00:07:07:00)  Boucher served in a bridge unit, which was very exciting to see how the bridges were put together (00:07:18:00) o The bridges that the unit used were the newest design that the Army had, called the “medium girder bridge” (00:07:28:00) �      When he joined the Guard, Boucher went to the local National Guard post in Grand Valley and enlisted (00:07:47:00) o He had to sign papers and go to testing to see where he stood in terms of what unit he could go into or if he wanted to be an officer or NCO (00:07:56:00) After he signed up, Boucher went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he spent fourteen to sixteen weeks in training (00:08:17:00) o The base was a “neat” place; the men had new barracks and Boucher recalls seeing photos from the world wars when “you could see through the walls” of the old barracks (00:08:42:00) o The men were shipped from one part of the base to another, based on where they would be staying for a period (00:09:03:00) o Upon arrival, the men were put into units; Boucher’s unit was Alpha 22, which corresponded with his location on the base (00:09:11:00) o Eventually, the men received assignments to drill instructors (00:09:27:00)  When Boucher got off the bus at the Fort, he had all of his possessions with him and when the drill instructors told them to do something, the men did it and they had to run and do the assignment quickly (00:09:33:00)  However, there were so many men there that Boucher could not run and he was doing push-ups before he even got to the door (00:09:45:00)  The drill instructors made the men well aware that they were going to be the men’s mother and father for the next fourteen weeks, so they had better pay attention to detail (00:09:53:00) Boucher was twenty-four years old when he went into the Guard, making him one of the oldest men out of a group of around ninety trainees (00:10:18:00) o At that time, the Army was taking men who could not live in the real world, who were given the choice of either prison or basic training (00:10:30:00) o It took Boucher a little while to adjust to the military lifestyle (00:10:41:00) o Boucher learned to do whatever the drill instructor said and before long, he became a squad leader (00:10:57:00)  As a squad leader, he was treated well, he was responsible for other people and he had privileges (00:11:10:00) There were numerous many tasks that the men had to do, such as learning about the M16, field training, and medical training, etc. (00:11:20:00) o Every month, the men had to go through testing and if they could come out well and pass the tests on everything that they learned, then they were rewarded (00:11:44:00) o The rewards included more leisure time, which Boucher earned by putting his mind to work and following details (00:12:20:00) Boucher was in training representing Michigan and he wanted to be a leader in the National Guard; therefore, when he returned to Michigan, he had the opportunity to go to two military academies that allowed him to continue working up the ranks (00:12:37:00) Being a little older and little wiser was not so much of a benefit; when he went in, Boucher could have been an eighteen year old because he had no clue what he was getting into (00:13:17:00) �   o Whether he was eighteen or twenty-four, he had to go in and start from the beginning (00:13:30:00) There were men who Boucher trained with that had come straight off the streets and were troublemakers (00:13:54:00) o Boucher had a couple in his group and when they had liberty on weekends, they would go out and have a couple of beers (00:14:00:00) o One guy, who was very nice, ended up coming back drunk and it was Boucher’s responsibility to perform a lights out; the man ended up going down to the showers with Boucher (00:14:17:00)  The man ended up getting in Boucher’s face, which the drill instructors did not like and as the classes went on, the man wanted to get out of the Guard (00:14:47:00)  The drill instructors said that they would allow him to get out, but as the paperwork processed and as everyone else went out on the weekends, the man had to stay behind and dig holes in the thick Missouri clay (00:15:03:00)  The drill instructors made him pay one way or another and by the time graduation came around, they had his papers ready; the situation was just the matter of needing an attitude adjustment (00:15:20:00) o At different times in the training, there were people saying that they wanted to kill themselves (00:15:49:00)  When Boucher first got to training, there were men trying to hang themselves; other times, men rolled down some steps in a barrel in an attempt to hurt themselves (00:15:54:00) o On the other hand, if a man was a volunteer, then he knew somewhat what he was getting into for the training (00:16:29:00) During the testing at the beginning of his training, Boucher was told that he could go into a job at headquarters (00:17:12:00) o There were a lot of different jobs that he could do if he was going to the regular Army; however, because he went to the Grand Valley armory and all they had was an infantry unit, a medical unit, and an engineer unit, Boucher wanted to join the engineer unit (00:17:20:00) o He signed up for the engineer unit and was sent to Fort Leonard Wood because it was the engineer training school (00:17:44:00) While in training, Boucher learned about the different bridge layouts and the different types of embankments needed for the process to work (00:17:55:00) o Over the summer, the men were more or less graded on the proper layouts for the bridges (00:18:28:00) The National Guard (00:18:53:00)  As soon as he graduated from basic training, Fort Leonard Wood received the new “medium girder bridge” and Boucher helped unpack them, which gave him knowledge of how to unpack them; when he returned to his unit in Michigan, the bridges were waiting in packages there, so he was one of the first men in his unit to know how the bridge went together (00:18:53:00) �     o When his captains and lieutenants went out recruiting, they took parts of the bridge with them so that people could see (00:19:26:00) o It was a good feeling when they would ask Boucher to go out and help set up the bridge for display because he knew how to do it (00:19:42:00) On the first weekend of every month, the men went to the Grand Valley armory and their sergeants had a meeting to decide what the men would be doing for that month; the tasks changed every month (00:20:20:00) o One month might be learning about gas and the different houses for the gas and antidotes if the men were caught in a gas attack (00:20:40:00) o As well, the men had maintenance reviews; their trucks had to be in a condition that if they were called, the unit could be ready to go anywhere within five minutes (00:21:06:00) o The men would go into the field and would construct the bridges (00:21:28:00)  Most of the times that they went into the field, the men went down to Battle Creek, Michigan and Fort Custer because there was more room at the fort for them to practice building their bridges (00:21:40:00)  The men trained enough that they became quite proficient in setting up their bridges (00:21:50:00) At one point, Boucher went to a basic NCO academy at Fort Custer; the course was two weeks and it was a lot of drill and ceremony, as well as classes that the men had to do every day (00:22:04:00) o The classes involved learning how to become an NCO and involved things such as knowing themselves and their capabilities and what training that they would be going into; the training was building the men up for their next rank (00:22:32:00) Boucher got through the first academy and then went to an advanced training academy in Grand Rapids (00:22:48:00) o At this academy, the training was all bookwork; it was a lot of map reading and busy work that went on every day in his unit (00:22:59:00) o This academy required six drill weekends and once he finished it, Boucher had accumulated enough schooling to become a sergeant first class (00:23:19:00) Boucher served with men who had fought in the Korean War and some who had been wounded in the Vietnam War; the older men were in the Guard just to finish up their time in the military (00:23:42:00) o Once the older men finished their twenty years and reached retirement, they tended to fade away (00:23:59:00) o Boucher also had young men in his squad that were in the Guard for college; there was the money as well as the opportunity to learn about the military (00:24:04:00) Of all the units that he has seen, Boucher believes that his, the 1432nd, had the highest morale (00:24:52:00) o They had great commanders and Boucher’s captain eventually moved through the system and became a two-star general (00:25:04:00) o The men all worked as teams and the moral was wonderful (00:25:24:00)  The maintenance people were there if Boucher needed a bridge picked up or he needed something moved (00:25:30:00) �    They all worked hard and at the end of the day, all the men were happy with what they had done (00:25:41:00) o On their last year with the “medium girder bridge”, Boucher’s unit broke the Army record as far as time setting up the bridge (00:25:52:00)  They could set up different sizes of bridge, but they still had to be up in a certain amount of time; one time, the unit was told that a tank unit was coming and they had to have the bridge up, because the tank unit was coming across and they were not going to stop (00:26:01:00) Boucher’s unit had what where labeled as “mother units” and “sister units” (00:26:42:00) o One of the unit’s “sister units” was in Kansas and men from Boucher’s unit would go to Kansas to train and exchange information with the men in the Kansas unit; the men would spend a week in Kansas several times a summer (00:26:48:00) o If Boucher’s unit went to war, then they would be going to war with the Kansas unit (00:27:17:00) Boucher served fourteen years in the Guard and got out in 1992 (00:27:42:00) o There was nothing major going on in the world at that time and when Boucher went in during peace time, he was told if there was a war, then the regular Army would go and fight the war and the National Guard would stay stateside and take over where the regular Army was (00:28:01:00) o During the First Gulf War, the men were watching the news; because Boucher was a combat engineer, that did not mean anything (00:29:01:00)  He was trained in other things and they could put him in some other type of unit and send him to the war (00:29:11:00) Like anything else there were exciting thing, such as seeing the bridges built or doing training in front of generals (00:29:44:00) o However, there was always the down time and Boucher did not always care for some of the training that they had to do (00:30:09:00) o The bottom line was that the men had to do all of it because the Army was training them to save their lives (00:30:25:00) Post-Military Life (00:30:42:00)  When Boucher left the Guard, people in his unit were being spread out and there was some “head-butting in the unit” (00:30:42:00) o At that time, Boucher had a decision to make; he had a young family and a job that was working a lot of overtime, which he missed due to his Guard commitments, and he had to weigh staying in the Guard versus caring for his family (00:30:09:00) o He never regrets join the Guard (00:31:33:00)  Boucher already had a job when he joined the Guard, so he was set in that regard and he was learning from college teachers that the Guard brought (00:31:53:00) o As well, he learned how to pay attention and how to work side-by-side with people as a team, lessons that he has brought into his everyday life (00:32:06:00)  He believes that every young man should go into the Guard and serve his time because it really helps (00:32:33:00)  While at General Motors, Boucher was a machine operator and was in inspections; ultimately, he did a lot of jobs while at the company (00:32:43:00) �    o As far as some of the engineering aspects, they taught him how to pay more attention to detail, which he used in both the Guard and at General Motors (00:33:04:00) Boucher gave everything that he had and his superiors recognized that fact and rewarded him and it made him feel good to stand up there and receive them (00:34:03:00) o The ability to meet high-ranking officers as an enlisted man was a big thing and he was able to go to the national military balls (00:34:24:00) o He just wanted to build himself up and he did not worry so much about others; instead, they built themselves up and the sense of accomplishment helped build their moral (00:34:58:00) The ability to see what they had done helped with the sense of accomplishment that the unit had (00:35:49:00) o Once they had complete the measurements, the men wanted to watch as the bridge was built piece-by-piece was the biggest accomplishment (00:36:26:00)  There were so many things that could go wrong, such as the bridge being off center or something not working right (00:37:13:00) On occasion, things did not work out well (00:37:50:00) o There were a lot of pins to complete the bridge and if sand got into the pin holes, then the pins would not go in and then they had problems (00:37:53:00) o Little things like that slowed down the process (00:38:09:00) o There were times when teams were sent out that should have known how to set up a bridge and Boucher would go out and realize that the chosen position would not work to build the bridge (00:38:25:00)  On a couple of times, they found out too late and everything became stuck and their superiors came down hard on them (00:38:45:00) Boucher had an experienced bridge sergeant who knew the job and after a meeting with the other officers and high-ranking NCOs where they would decide the location of the bridge, Boucher would tell the sergeant, who would get all the trucks and trailers ready (00:39:08:00) o All the training that Boucher had he could pass on to others (00:39:44:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Boucher, Gary (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Boucher, Gary Description An account of the resource Born in White Cloud, Michigan in 1953, Gary Boucher just missed the draft for the Vietnam War. However, based on input from several of his friends and his own investigation, Boucher joined the Michigan National Guard in 1978. Following training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he served in an engineer unit whose main mission was the construction of bridges. Boucher served in the Guard for fourteen years and left in 1992. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. National Guard Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-10-20 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BoucherG 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/0323733507bec532e6f0c4dbde246aa7.mp4 02862ee9e8066b7e043424929d7f9c93 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/253ddd4017871d9a7fcada255597d0e1.pdf 257dfb62691e9413babfdb2973c990c5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Steve Byers (00:17:12) (00:34) Retirement from Service • • • • • Steve retired from active duty in August of 1997 He entered the Navy Fleet Reserve and could be called back to duty at any time Steve officially retired from the Navy in 2000 He was sad when he left the service and knew that he would miss many of the friends that he had made He had to adjust to a new way of life after his time in the service (2:00) Going Back to Work • • • Even at work it was hard to adjust to civilian life In the military, you always knew where you stood and who you could trust He became an aircraft structural mechanic (3:40) Experience in the Service • • • • • • Steve found that time in the service allowed him to have more of an open mind He traveled from the far East to the Mediterranean to Mexico, experiencing many different types of cultures He can now more easily relate to other’s experiences Steve thinks the news is highly sensationalized He feels more empathy for people in desperate situations Regardless of his political views, he will always support US troops 100% (6:15) Lessons Learned in the Service • • • • • He found that safety is a high priority Every young man in the US from 18-20 should have mandatory time in the service Steve acquired new and useful skills from about 50 different Navy courses that he took He gained respect and has worked in many exciting jobs There are better conditions in the Navy than the Army, and it is even better if you go in with a college education � 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 Byers, Steven R. (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Byers, Steven R. Description An account of the resource Steve Byers had been in the Navy for 20 years when he retired in 2000. He discusses the benefits of military life and some of the differences between military and civilian experiences and attitudes. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Byers, Zach (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans United States. Navy Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-04-23 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ByersS 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/0590b43d105665fb98c56a08ca477a75.mp4 381caa12ab6472827e6840ad233a676e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6aba79fdc8dcbdd35340bdc4ea9edd79.pdf 8d9aa4bee0d9cf24e6b244991de80b24 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee: Russell Buys Length of Interview: 00:44:30 Background  Born December 27th, 1922  Served in the Army during WWII  Highest rank was platoon sergeant  He enlisted in the Army [Michigan National Guard, 126th Infantry Regiment] in 1940, because a couple of his friends had joined the armed forces.  He originally wanted to join the coast guard, but his father said no. Then he suggested the Navy, but his father said no to that too. So, they decided to join the Army.  After they graduated from high school in June 1940, they signed up and were sent out to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, to train for the summer.  While they were there they heard rumors that they were going to be activated. After they got back, in October, they were activated.  He was aware of what was going on in Europe, especially when he was started training. (2:10)  When he went in, he became a cook for two and a half years. Eventually though he was reassigned.  After [during?] the Buna campaign [New Guinea, 1942-43], he decided that he wanted to do more than just cook. (3:15)  One day, when he went to go look for rice, he walked right into a firefight and got shot in the shoulder. Training (4:50)      He would describe training as crude. When he joined the Army in 1940, they were still using WWI equipment. His first uniform was something that looked like it came from WWI. After they got activated, then they began to use more up-to-date equipment. He was in heavy weapons when he first went in, and they would practice using an old stove pipe because they did not have any equipment. They lived in tents and their kitchen stoves were all wood fed. No one knew what they were getting themselves into at the time and he found the experience very adventurous. He did not mind at all. Active Duty (6:15)   After he was activated, he would go to Australia [May 1942]. He landed in the southern part of the country, and they would be headed to New Guinea. �                          He took a train all the way up the coast [and camped for some time near Brisbane], and took a boat to New Guinea. While they were at sea, the Coral Sea Battle broke out [this was earlier, when they were going to Australia]. (7:05) They would escape it by going around it. When he arrived, he thought Australia was quite a strange country. (7:40) Everything there was years behind the United States. He remembers being in a hotel where they still had barrels of beer. They were not so far behind us, but it was interesting. The people there were wonderful and treated them very well. They knew what they were over there for, but no one had any idea of when they were going into combat, or what it would be like. (9:00) After he left Australia, he would go to Port Moresby, New Guinea. Their battalion, the 2nd battalion, 126th Infantry, 32nd Division, would go be part of the Ghost Mountain Boys, who would cross the [Owen Stanley] mountains in New Guinea in order to fight the Japanese. It was terrible. The equipment was very heavy and difficult to carry. They did not have any food either. Any food that was sent to them would go down the mountain and they would not get it. The trip was terrible, but he’s happy to say that he made it. Once they made it over the mountains, then the real combat started. (10:30) That was very traumatic. You would be doing your job, and suddenly the guy standing next to you would just fall down, because he got shot. One of his friends got shot and he picked him up and got him out of there, but he would die two hours later. That was their introduction to what combat is. Those were the kinds of memories that stayed with him forever. Nowadays they call it PTSD; then they called it TS, tough shit. McArthur, who was a very controversial figure of the time, would do a lot of island hopping. He would chase the Japanese, and when they vacated the island, the Americans would take it over. (12:00) When they would get to a new island, they would take control of the ports, so the Japanese would not be able to get supplies. Consequently, many of them would starve. After finishing in New Guinea, he would go to the East Indies; to Leyte; to Luzon. They were defeating the enemy as they went, which was their ultimate goal. He has no special memories or recollections of his time in the military. (14:25) He would be awarded a Bronze Star, but did not know it. It was not until he got back to the States and after a few years, someone had pointed out to him that he had earned a Bronze Star that he knew he had one. He would get a copy of the paperwork and talk to his congressman and eventually get his award. They were fighting a battle in Luzon, earning the award. But by the time they had gotten the award down, he had already gone home. He would also win the Purple Heart twice and a silver star. He would also earn an award for courage. �                          The Japanese fought much differently than the Americans did. (16:45) They would fight at night, while the Americans would not come out of their fox holes at night. One of the last gun fights he was in was a banzai attack, in the middle of the night. They came up over the hill, just screaming, trying to scare the men. I had worked for some. While they were fighting in the Philippines, they had to fight in the mountains, which were completely different from their jungle fighting, which they had been used to via training and his previous combat experience. He would start out as a private in the Army and would eventually work his way up to a platoon sergeant. (9:05) He would be in charge of the 3rd Platoon of his company. They never had a full platoon. Instead he would be in charge of 30 men most of the time, though sometimes it would go way down. He would keep in touch with family through letters. (21:10) Sometimes it would take a while, but he was patient. They army would also go through the letters and sensor them. One time his buddy had died, and he wrote the man’s wife a letter. He would get it back, with a lot of it scratched out. He learned to keep his distance from the other men, just in case something happened. (22:35) He said that it was something you had to learn, because you spend every day with these men, and they were suddenly gone. It was terrible, but you had to live with it. There was nothing lower than infantrymen. Even when he had gotten some time off, it would not last. When he did get time off he would play cards. They also had baseball, boxing, horseshoes, and write letters. (24:30) He would see Bob Hope while he was there, and he was bored to death. There was someone else who came, but he can’t remember. They also had movies to entertain them and church services to attend if they wanted to. They would also do more training in down time as well. He would say that morale was high amongst the men. (26:50) He did witness some tension between the officers and soldiers. The stress would begin to get to both the soldiers and officers, and some of them would begin to kill other soldiers and people. One soldier started to go a little crazy and he sent the man to the medic. One officer there was doing awful stuff to him men, so they got the word out and he was taken away to have a couple days off. He saw men get hurt, but the saddest thing to him was seeing men lose their minds. (29:05) Some of them would keep a personal diary, but he did not. He would read a diary of one of the men he traveled with, and he remembered some stuff that he had forgotten. He would receive his discharge papers in June; the war would end in August. He saw that the war was coming to an end by that time. He never felt the advantage going into battle, but they had confidence. �Post Duty (32:45)                   After he left, he was put on a Navy ship and they stopped somewhere, can’t remember where. Then they would go through the Panama Canal, and landed in West Virginia. He smiles when he came home and remembers the parades and welcome home that he received. (33:10) From there he was shipped to Fort Sheridan. And from there he was given $25 and told to find his way home. He would take a train to Milwaukee and then take the Clipper to Muskegon. When he finally made it back to the USA, he was happy to get back. But that ran out of gas soon after. He was told to run a patrol, but he really didn’t want to, so he tried to talk his way out of it. His folks had picked him up and his mom had his bedroom all ready when he got home. Of the six children that his parents had, five of them were in the service, all at the same time. He was the first one home. One brother was in Hawaii, another was in the Air Force in Mississippi, another was in England on D-day, and the other was in the infantry in Okinawa. (36:20) Then when he got back, his younger brother would join the Navy, so there were still five of them in there for a while. It was somewhat difficult to readjust to civilian life. The hardest thing was adjusting to a sleep schedule. When he got out, he was free. So he and his buddy bought a convertible and saw the country. He would go into construction, and work with his dad. He stays in contact with other veterans who served, but there aren’t very many left anymore. They also keep in contact with wives and widows as well. (39:10) Most of the guys who had gone in with him were older, so many of them are not around anymore. After reading some of the stuff that historians got it right, he finds they were pretty close. (40:00) He can’t read anymore, because of bad eyes, but he used to read a lot, mostly about the war stories that people wrote about. He enjoyed military life. In 1950, he had a chance to go back in the guards, and he would make 1st sergeant pretty quickly. He would serve again for 3 years. He has a grandson who serves in the Air Force. Been there for 12 years now. (44:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Buys, Russell (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Buys, Russell Description An account of the resource Russell Buys enlisted in the Michigan National Guard shortly after graduating from high school in 1940. A few months later, his unit was activated and sent to Louisiana to train. He initially served as a cook with the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division. He sailed with them to Australia, and was then shipped to New Guinea, where he and his battalion marched over the Owen Stanley Mountains toward Buna. Toward the end of the Buna campaign, he decided that he wanted to do more than cook, and became a rifleman and got himself wounded in the shoulder. He recovered and stayed with the unit through further fighting in New Guinea and the Philippines before rotating home in 1945. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Bolthouse, Marvin (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-05-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BuysR0060V 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/1155a9d4773db85aa02a013cdc7fb358.mp4 d11dd6b82bbe313910ea848b75e5c71f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0adecce799b2165c21d6710609f08ef5.pdf 80f0ee8aa0e667e7dfa937edd920ac14 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Oliver L. Butler (29:49) (00:06) Grand Rapids Michigan • When Pearl Harbor was hit, Oliver was working at Imperial Metal Products • Oliver enlisted in the military after the attack (00:37) South Pacific • He was stationed throughout the Pacific Theatre • He flew over enemy installations and took pictures of the targets and then returned to bomb them • He said he flew combat missions but didn’t serve in action where the bombs were being dropped • Oliver was a Staff Sergeant at the time • Oliver was attached to a dive bombing squadron and on call with them whenever he would need to go take pictures of a strip or camp that needed to be bombed • He had 5 brothers that were also in the military • Oliver first found out about the Atomic Bomb after it was dropped (4:10) Midway • The food was brought in from Australia, mutton, and boiled in big pans. He said that there would be inches of lard on the top and raw meat still below. He will not to this day eat mutton. • He said the guys tied together gas cans and created a boat to go on the ocean and they would drop grenades and grab the fish that came up to eat them. They had to be careful because there were sharks out there also. (5:50)VD and VJ Day • They were very happy about the end of the war that they stayed up and danced all night long. This was also when he and his now wife set a wedding date • Everybody was very happy about this. He states that he would not join the war today if he was the same age when he entered World War II because the politics of war have changed. • During The Korean War, he was in reserves and missed being called into war because he was in the service recovering from malaria. He said that during the Korean War they couldn’t make bullets fast enough to fight against them and it was realized too late. �• • • (8:30)Oliver says he lost at least half of his friends to the war. Very few came home but luckily for his mother all of her sons came back alive. After the war ended it took Oliver 4 months to get back to the states Oliver went through photography school in Pensacola, Florida (11:00)Midway • His unit spent 4 hours on and 4 hours off patrolling the island. He was detached from his squadron so he was not associated with the targets that he pictured to be bombed. • His primary job was escorting the submarines into Midway and would take pictures if needed • On one mission they couldn’t get the wheels down on the plane so they landed ‘belly up’ and he rolled out over the wing and messed up his knee. They sent him to Pearl Harbor for 6 days to recover and then back to his squadron. He states that he couldn’t get back in the plane when he returned so the captain came out and put him back in the plane. • (12:50) Mail was delayed many times, so receiving it was rare. • (14:30) Oliver talks about his opinion on the war we are in at this time and talks about the inadequate training being given • During Korea he was a Training Sergeant in the reserves in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the trainees had no respect for the Sergeant over them. (16:00) Pictures are shown about his squadron • He talks about diving in a plane at 15000 feet saying that your nose will bleed, your mouth will split blood, and your eyes will be in pain. They call it 14G’s that the pull is so strong you can not raise your fingers up. • Curtis Helldivers, A25,’s is what he flew. He shows pictures of this also. • (19:26) Newspaper article showing the 3rd wing that Oliver was attached to in the Grand Rapids Haerald (newspaper) It was the 3rd wing that he was attached to when in was in photography school. The article was about a guy in the service that committed suicide because of the pressure during the war • (20:20) Clipping when his squadron went over Truk. They were the first squadron to take pictures of Truk before they dropped the bomb on Japan. • Oliver’s pictures made the maps of the strips all over the island that showed the positions of everything from the terrain of the island to the defenses they had to protect the island for the military • (21:49) He has a piece of mail that he explains how they had to address the letters when they wrote home. • (23:15) Oliver spent a total of 13 months on Midway Island �• • (25:00) He says that he didn’t get home for about 3 years and neither did two of his brothers who were both as active in the war as he was. One was on a LST ship which Oliver calls a sitting duck ship because they were a major target during the war. (25:39) Something that happened to his Commanding Officer of the Polish Squadron, BMSB 332, he was on loan till they formed the 9th Marine Division, he talks about something that happened to Commanding Officer Christenson off camera ��������� 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 Butler, Oliver J (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Butler, Oliver J Description An account of the resource Oliver Butler was an aerial photographer for the Marines during World War II and was based on Midway Island. He spent 13 months here taking pictures of terrain and enemy defenses. He remained in the reserves during the Korean War where he was a Training Sergeant. Photographs appended to interview outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Snuder, Britany (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Marine Corps World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-05-24 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ButlerO 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/c1540986baa190a277b57abeef0d3ba0.mp4 ebe4fe2afd45e57885642f16de73d087 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7b817637ef06a9f082b0f7fc7d3cb57f.pdf e49988b9d683ebb07543b6ca4a5f04ab PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project James Butler (59:05) (00:11) • Born in Cleveland, Ohio 1946 • His father was in the Navy in World War II. • His mother worked at the bomber plant in World War II. • When he turned 17, he had began getting calls for the draft. • Drafted into the Army. • There was a two-week period where he could join another service, he decided to join the four year Navy. • He began basic training in 1965. • After basic training he was promised to be sent to school. • He was placed in the seabees. • He was trained with the Marine Corps for combat training. • Went to California, and learned how to operate heavy equipment. • He was assigned to M Seabee Six, Which was serving in Da Nang, Vietnam. • After he was finished with Basic, he saw that there was a notice for volunteers to go to Antarctica. • He decided that penguins couldn’t shoot, and decided to take the assignment to go to Antarctica. (03:48) Draft Notice • Right after high school, his entire neighborhood was sent draft notices, including seven boys who received them on the same day. • His basic training was at the Great Lakes training facility. • Doesn’t remember basic training being very hard. • Believes the military gave him a lot of organizational training. • He was in basic training for twelve weeks. (05:58) • It was more intense, because the marines do not like the navy men. • It was also more intense because it was all combat training. (06:30) Antarctica • He was scheduled to fly to Da Nang in a couple of weeks, when he saw the notice for the Antarctica trip. • Because of his acceptance to the Antarctica program, he did not have to go to Da Nang. • He worked construction in McMurdo, Antarctica. • They built buildings and warehouses for storage. • He flew to Antarctica. It took two weeks. • They flew to Rhode Island, to California, to Hawaii to Pago Pago, to Tahiti, to New Zealand, • He spent six months in Antarctica. • His unit, Seabee Unit had about 100 people. �• He rebuilt tunnels in Byrd Station, Antarctica. • At Byrd, the highest temperature was 20 below zero. (10:50) School and Second trip to Antarctica • Went to Blasting School after Antarctica in 1967. • He became a blasting expert for the Navy. • He went back to Antarctica on a coast guard ship. • He spent his six months in Palmer Station. • Built a scientific station in Palmer, three stories high that could house thirty people. • He used explosives to make piers and docks for ships. • Only dealt with British and New Zealanders while in Antarctica. (14:45) Vietnam • Was about to go back to Antarctica, and was sent to Vietnam. • He was married, and then three weeks later sent to military training to go to Vietnam in 1968. • He was flown from California to DaNang. • Remembers DaNang smelling absolutely horrible. • Most of his time in Vietnam was spent doing construction. • He built mainly roads and piers. • More bombing began to occur after the end of the bombing campaigns in the north. • The airbase had been hit, delaying his return to the United States. • He believes he had a pretty decent experience in Vietnam. (17:50) Time in the Military • Enjoyed the four years he spent in the Navy. • He made good friends while in Vietnam. • He has Antarctica reunions every other year. (19:00) • Went to Baldwin-Wallace College. • While in school, he joined the Naval Reserve program. • He stayed in the reserve for two years. • After graduation from Baldwin-Wallace, he applied to be an officer, which he was denied due to staff cuts. • He then joined the Army Reserve and spent four years at an Army hospital unit, the 256th hospital unit. He was also denied an officer position there after four years as being a Staff Sergeant. • He joined the Coast Guard as an enlisted man. He applied for the OCS school and was accepted. After graduating from OCS school, he was commissioned as an officer. • He worked in Muskegon as the coast guard group, and then was transferred to Grand Haven. • He worked in both administration and search and rescue programs while in the Coast Guard Reserve. • He retired from the Coast guard as a lieutenant commander. (23:06) Vietnam Continued • He lived in screened barracks. �Showers were provided. It was very hot in Vietnam, reaching 120 degrees. He would work at a catholic orphanage in DaNang helping the orphans during their free time. • They spent Christmas with the orphans. • Some of the Vietnamese nuns could speak English. • He worked with many Koreans while in Vietnam. • They worked with him on construction. • His unit was awarded the civil action ribbon. • They saved some children from being burned to death in a trash fire. • He would write letters to his wife, and she to him while he was in Vietnam. • Compared to Antarctica, where he could speak to his wife via Ham radio. • He went to Hawaii for R&R with his wife, and then had to go back to Vietnam, he describes this as the worst part of his service. • He had Sundays off from work, and would spend those days either on the beach or in the orphanage. • He was able to listen to news while in Vietnam. (32:46) Work and memories of the Coast Guard • Spent 24 active years in the military over a 33-year span. • While he was not in the military, he worked construction, but there was very little work. • He also worked in materials purchasing and sales for construction companies. • During his search and rescue work in the command center, the entire west side of Michigan had to report to his office. • His most memorable search and rescue experience included a couple that skinny dipped off the side of a sailboat, and could not keep up with the boat as it moved through the water. They were in the water for a day and a half, but were rescued. • • • � 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 Butler, James (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Butler, James Description An account of the resource James Butler served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He evaded earlier tours of Vietnam, by serving on two missions to Antarctica as part of a construction crew. However, he eventually served time in DaNang, Vietnam, once again as a construction member. After his active service, Butler served time in both the United States Naval Reserve and the United States Army Reserve. After failing to secure an officers position in either branch, he joined the United States Coast Guard Reserve. He became a Lieutenant Commander and served until his retirement. 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. Navy Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-03-22 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ButlerJ 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/c5d678573174e5abfc69f3360eb7a31f.mp4 a4e4cdd5f7876a5d18fcdd64ad0332d0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bfc2dc422cdf5ecbfebc2fefa3d3f950.pdf 2875fe76f690880c2d5b176f1e5194f3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Charles “Chuck” Butkus Korean War Total Time: Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (00:30) • • • • • • • Born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1930 Father was an electrician Remembers getting information from the radio during World War II. Finished high school. Attended college to become an engineer. Entered Marquette University, however learned that he drew a low draft number for the Korean War. Decided to join the Air Force. Training (04:52) • • • • • • • • Attended Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and while he was attending the training there was a huge influx of men who needed basic training, and the base became quite crowded. During the winter, they were in temporary tents. They were given 3 choices and he chose meteorology. (06:45) He was sent to Chanute Air Force Base and had to wait around for several months for a spot to open up in the meteorology program. When they did finally get in the school was 16 months. (08:25) He was then trained to use weather balloons, which involved more training. They would send up the balloons with gauges and measuring equipment that would send back a signal to the ground so that they could be recorded. Stayed at Chanute for 7 months total. He was able, on several different occasions, to hitchhike home from the base, as they were very close in Central Illinois. Active Duty (12:30) • • • Was shipped to Camp Stoneman, and was then sent to Hawaii by boat. They were shipped on the USS Mauer. And it took them 4 days to get across. In Hawaii, he was based at Hickam Air Force Base until his clearance passed and he was able to. (15:15) He was then shipped to the Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where they were assigned to take weather observations. They took four readings a day. They were doing this for general weather observations. �• • • • • • • • • • (20:05) They were there in for two nuclear tests, where he had to run weather tests every three hours. He experienced the tests first hand from ships that were far out at sea or on the islands. He was then moved to Hawaii to be a drop sonar operator. These operators would drop instruments from planes rather than from balloons. (26:05) Their squad flew retrofitted B-29s which were made specifically for their weather observation duties. (28:50) Their real objective, rather than weather, was radiation. They monitored the air for radiation to figure out whether the Soviets. He lived in barracks during his time in Hawaii. His missions were 3 day missions. The first day, they would prepare the instruments, the second day they would do the flight, and the third day they would analyze the data. The flights would usually take 14 hours and they would normally fly 2 missions a week. (35:00) After 18 months in Hawaii, he spent another 18 months in Eniwetok for the Castle Thermonuclear Test Project (38:29) He ended up being exposed to radiation during the tests. He volunteered to go back to the test island to relieve the other weathermen on Bikini. His job while there was to take basic weather readings. He did that four times, and took heavy doses of radiation. He ended up having cancer in several places and melanoma, which might be traceable to this radiation. They never collected the film radiation test strip that they gave him to measure his exposure, which he still has. There were six Hydrogen bomb tests done during his time there. After this service, he was discharged in Hawaii as a Tech Sergeant. Post Service (43:37) • Went home and bought a car once he got back. • Worked as an IBM programmer for a year after he got back. The computer took up a floor of the Great Lakes Naval Station. • Worked in the Telecom industry for 20 years. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Butkus, Chuck (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Butkus, Chuck Description An account of the resource Charles Butkus served in the Air Force as a meteorologist during the Korean War. He was born in Waukegan, Illinois, and his father was an electrician. He completed high school and some college before he joined the Air Force due to his low draft number. He specialized as a meteorologist, and served in the South Pacific during the atomic testing program and in Hawaii taking readings from weather balloons. 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. Air Force Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-02-03 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ButkusC 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/1bac57a49cc290f3ae24df22bab0f995.mp4 de4732265ece703cce4acd90ad6b63c0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/81ea3c9f213b63f4f758da1ca4665ff0.pdf 75b1bbd3240fc8a28a90cca438ff699f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Donald Buteyn (01:46:00) Introduction (00:16) Family and childhood (01:46) • Buteyn mentions that he grew up in Wisconsin, about 20 miles south of Fond du Lac. His parents were both trained morticians. He mentions that after a while his dad took a job working for a casket company in Milwaukee, WI and that he was on the road for 52 years. Buteyn briefly describes his family history. Tells of how his grandfather on his dad’s side had been a Dutch immigrant who had originally been a guard guarding the Haag. Also mentions that his grandfather on his mother’s side had been a pacifist in Belgium and had immigrated to the wilderness of Wisconsin in the 1870s. (0:02:40) • Pre-enlistment (0:02:41) • Graduated high school in June 1942. Buteyn shares his thoughts about the Nazis invasion of Poland back in 1939. Started college in Ripon, WI where he joined a fraternity of 39 guys. (0:04:37) Buteyn mentions that the day of Pearl Harbor he was listening to FDR’s speech on the radio. Shares his grandfather’s thoughts on Pearl Harbor and the Dutch Navy. Afterwards, he talks about how he and his frat buddies joined the ROTC at Ripon College. Briefly describes Silas Evans, college president, and the type of man he was. Buteyn mentions that they started training with broomsticks and eventually received 21 World War I Enfield rifles and practiced with them. • • Enlistment and Training (0:07:29) • In December, 1942 Buteyn mentions that he and his frat buddies enlisted and were sent to Great Lakes Naval Base where they received their medical shots. • Buteyn describes his time at Great Lakes Naval Base and the short visit to his parents to Milwaukee. Was stationed there for 10 days. From there he boarded a train to Denver where he changed trains and took another train to Fort Warren, Wyoming. (0:10:33) • While at Fort Warren he describes his basic training in some detail. He mentions learning how to march and fire a gun. Was stationed there for about �a year. (0:12:45) Also, mentions his time at Fort Worth for 3 months where he did more training. • First started training with water-cooled machine guns and mortars when he served with the 303rd Reg., Company M, at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Buteyn describes how he would have to crawl on the ground under barbed wire while getting shot at. (0:14:10) • It was at Fort Leonard Wood that Buteyn mentions becoming a cadre (trainer for other recruits). Recounts a story of a man’s encounter with a rattlesnake while practicing being under fire. (0:18:11) Was based at Leonard Wood for 9 months. • Tells of an encounter in St. Louis while on leave of where he served as a firefighter to put out the blaze at Mark Twain National Park. (0:19:21) • After 9 months there, he was sent to San Luis Obispo, CA in the spring of 1944 where he and 20 others were interviewed for an ASTP assignment at the Univ. of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD. Briefly describes his 8-month stay at the Univ. of South Dakota where he got math and science credit. (0:24:08) From there he was sent to Camp Cook Army training Base for amphibious training under Marine commanders. • Buteyn mentioned that after 6 weeks there they were at the Marine base near San Diego conducting amphibious exercises aboard the USS Hunter Liggett off St. Nicholas Island where the navy would practice with them in how to storm an island. (0:27:58) In December 1944 they were supposed to be transferred to the Pacific from Los Angeles but then got orders telling them that they were being shipped out to New Jersey by train. • Buteyn mentions how he spent Christmas in New York City. He describes shipping out on New Year’s Day, 1945 out of New York Harbor with 53 vessels and describes their 13 day voyage across the Atlantic to France. • While crossing the Atlantic, Buteyn recounts how they lost 3 freighters to Uboat attacks and how they dropped depth charges to scare the U-boats off. Then Buteyn mentions his arrival in Le Havre, France and the sinking of his ship in the harbor in January of 1945. (0:32:33) France (0:32:34) • While stationed near Le Havre, rations were short and guards were assigned to guard the cook tent. From Le Havre, Buteyn mentions boarding an old freight car and being shuttled through Brussels, Belgium to the edge of the Netherlands. �• Buteyn described how during the 1st week of February the British had tried crossing several rivers with no success because of German artillery. Also mentions finding 88mm shell casings in the apple orchard ¾ mile away from the church he was at. Further mentions that for a short time his company was under British command, U.S. 7th Army, and then U.S. 9th Army. (0:37:04) • After this experience, they were moved to the west bank of the Rhine near the city of Bonn at the end of February 1945. Rumor had it that Eisenhower had told Bradley that the Germans were evacuating their trucks over the bridge at Remagen into Germany. (0:39:01) • Detailed description of the events that took place at the Remagan Bridge and the crossing into Germany. Buteyn explains the condition of the bridge and the difficulties involved in crossing it, as well as observing engineers construct pontoon bridges for vehicles to cross. (0:42:05) He mentions that it took them 4 to 5 days to get their equipment over the Rhine. Germany (46:07) • Buteyn describes how for several days he and his company stayed hidden while the Germans on the 700 foot bluffs shelled their position with heavy artillery. Afterwards, more help arrived and Bradley got the go ahead from Eisenhower to push forward which they did and got down to the city of Calhoun. (0:46:07) Briefly tells of how the Nazis instituted slave labor in their factories. Buteyn mentions that he was part of the the force sent south from Remagen to surround large numbers of Germans, who then surrendered to them. (0:50:28) Buteyn describes the poor conditions of the German veterans and young German high-schoolers who surrendered. • While in the city of Cologne, Buteyn mentions that they were ambushed by SS troops who were held up in closed houses. With a few bazooka rounds they silenced their guns. (0:56:05) • On the march to Dusseldorf, Germany he tells of how SS troopers set up antiaircraft guns to fire shells which would explode and unleash shrapnel on U.S. soldiers. Buteyn mentions that his squad was separated from their platoon and ran into two wounded Germans. • Buteyn describes how his unit was pinned down by enemy artillery and how he went back across a muddy field to get more ammo. On his way back to his men, he describes how he was wounded in the right ankle by a piece of shrapnel. Later mentions that 3 men carry him back to safety and take him and the two Germans back to a house. (1:00:51) They were held up in that house for two days. �• Buteyn describes in brief detail his involvement in Germany in liberating over 200 Nazi-occupied concentration camps. He remembers that while liberating the concentration camp at Flossenburg [ed. note: probably a different camp— Buteyn was wounded before US forces reached that camp] he learned that Dietrich Bonhoeffer had been hung. He describes the horrific experiences that he witnessed while librating people from Nazi concentration camps. Relates how he had nightmares about his experiences later. (1:24:42) • Buteyn mentions an encounter with a man in one of the concentration camps who came up to him and told him, “Jesus Christ will prevail.” Later on he mentions running into this same man at a lecture series about concentration camps at Berkeley CA in 1960. [ed. note—Buteyn met Martin Niemoller in Berkeley, but Niemoller was not freed by allied forces until May, and was not at the camps in the area where Buteyn was.] (1:29:17) • Buteyn tells of an encounter with a German widow who let them borrow her short-range radio and from that heard that FDR had died on April 12, 1945. (1:02:53) Buteyn then mentions being picked up by an ambulance and taken to a German field hospital. Recuperation Period (1:09:01) • While at a field hospital in occupied Germany, Buteyn remembers seeing 122 men with at least one amputation. Also mentions in some detail how he was the only American there who escaped surgery. Was there for 5 weeks. (1:09:01) Afterwards, he mentions being sent to an English hospital across the channel for 4 to 5 days and then transferred to Cambridge hospital where he was until the war ended. • Buteyn describes the victory celebrations and parades that the English people in Southampton threw the night the war ended. Fully expected to be sent to the Pacific but instead was interviewed by a colonel and asked if he wanted to become a part of a program aimed at forming a British-style West Point. Buteyn mentions that he ended up in command of 13 dance bands and all military cinemas in Britain. He mentions briefly his stay with a British family during Christmas, 1945. (1:15:04) From June, 1945 to March 1946 he was involved in this special program. • After this experience, Buteyn was stationed in Southampton where he was assigned to process British war grinds. (1:17:02) Going Home (1:17:03) • Upon arriving home in El Pan, WI he was discharged. From there Buteyn boarded a train and met up with his parents at a little junction called South Beaver Dam, WI. Spent 2 weeks at home. Then went back to Ripon College �for a semester. After a semester there he transferred to Hope College where he joined the ministry. Shares his thoughts about joining the ministry. After the war (1:30:01) • After this experience, Buteyn briefly describes his 55 years as a pastor and 8 yeas as a professor at San Francisco Seminary. Describes in some detail the events of the student uprising at Berkeley in 1968 where he was a professor. Buteyn mentions his involvement of quelling these uprisings. Describes in great detail how the city council of San Francisco handed authority over to the church to restore authority to the city. • They set up a rally where over 15,000 people from various groups like the Young Socialist Alliance and Communist groups came. Buteyn mentions that after 6 months there was no more rioting. Also shares his thoughts about the lessons he learned from the war. (1:46:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Buteyn, Donald (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Buteyn, Donald Description An account of the resource Donald Buteyn served in the US Army from 1942-1945. He served as an infantryman in the 303rd Regiment, and saw action along the Dutch/Belgian frontier early in 1945 and took part in the crossing of the Rhine at Remagen. He later participated in the closing of the Saar pocket and in the capture of Cologne and Dusseldorf. Before being wounded in April, he participated in the liberation of three concentration camps for political prisoners. His wartime experiences helped him to decide to go into the ministry after the war. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Veterans Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-01-08 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ButeynD 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/124384bc8fda0dccc8e8f13eb1ccab05.mp4 bdcf0ba9ef095719df19e4a57b2bca6b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1c655753075227a0a5bb567b781ebc85.pdf 1c1124b54e487bdaae2d49492063d4c1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Interview World War II Maurice Buskers Length of Interview (00:25:47) Pre-enlistment (00:00:21) Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 15, 1925 Father worked in the furniture factories in Grand Rapids Had three sisters, two older and one younger Grew up during the Depression • Only one other person that lived on his block, a man who worked for the government To make ends meet, his Father did odd jobs and his Mother did house cleaning Graduated in 1943 from Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids Remembers Pearl Harbor happening (1941) • Felt that he would become a part of the war, eventually Enlistment (00:2:13) Two weeks after graduating, 1943, Buskers enlisted In high school, he took tests which determined whether or not he could get into a V-12 Program (officer’s training) Ended up in Central Michigan College for two semesters of basic training If Buskers had graduated from the V-12 Program, he would have become an officer in the Navy Transferred into the Air Corp. instead If he hadn’t passed the test into the V-12 Program, Buskers would have enlisted because he did not want to be drafted into the Army Held an interest in boats so he joined the Navy • Would often go boating in the lakes around Grand Rapids when he was a kid �Training (00:04:25) Schooling from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM • Wore Uniforms • Was paid by the Government because he was enlisted In order to switch into the Air Corp. and out of the V-12 Program, Buskers may have taken tests that would prove him physically able to Sent to Groselle Air Station to warm airplanes up for cadets already flying • Located south of Detroit, Michigan Buskers lived on the base A lot of physical and mental training • Navigation, engines, mechanics of an airplanes, “Rules of Flying” • Did not fly, only warmed up the planes for other cadets Stearman’s (the planes used): open cockpits, bi-planes, (reputation with being easy to fly) • One seat for the instructor and one for the cadet Instructors were people who had earned their license and were good pilots; no civilians as instructors Spent three months a Groselle Navy Training (00:08:13) Transferred back to the regular Navy because they didn’t need more pilots Sent to Great Lakes for four weeks of boot camp • Boot camp was more “severe” than his officer’s training • Many of the men in Buskers’s Company were previously part of the Navy, “washed out” pilots Was given tests for assignment into something suitable Did very little while waiting to be assigned, took four weeks • Went to Chicago every weekend to watch games at both baseball fields �Submarine Base (00:10:12) Assigned to a Submarine Base in Key West, Florida where he took training as a Soundman (Sonar) • Arrived there by a troupe train, took three days to go from Chicago to Miami Was a submarine operating base (00:11:25) • Foreign submarines would come in from France and Britain; for repair or refueling His job was to watch movements of other ships by tracing the echoes of the sonar “pings” sent out by the submarine (00:11:50) Went out on wooden ships, minesweepers; prevented mines from detonating due to lack of metal (00:12:25) • About 60ft long; strictly for training For training, submarines would be sent out, then training ships. A dirigible would follow from above to watch the ships (used to spot submarines) (00:13:06) • Some ships had “anti-submarine” equipment for training • Trained Buskers to be an operator on Sonar gear for a Destroyer or a Destroyer Escort Buskers once picked up a submarine echo that wasn’t supposed to be there and a 1st Class trained officer figured it was an enemy submarine; it got away after being chased up the East Coast (00:14:16) South of Key West, conveys would form and sometimes they would be destroyed by enemy ships (00:14:52) • Still some enemy (German) ships out in the Caribbean; 1944 and early 1955 (00:15:05) Off Duty (00:15:33) Would often swim in the ocean, attend theaters (Truman’s White House, name of theater during war) Was still at Key West when Roosevelt died and Truman was elected At home on leave when the war (WWII) ended (00:16:11) Air Corp. (00:16:32) In between Pre-flight training and flying, Buskers had been transferred back into the Air Corps. �Attended University of Iowa • Trained in Navigation, positions of stars and constellations, all the basics of flying • No flight simulators, just taking classes If the war had not ended, he would have continued to learn primary flying in Iowa Was able to get back into flight-training due to the increase of deaths of pilots during the war Early 1945, when he had begun flight-training End of Service (00:18:28) Had the choice of staying in the Air Corps, going back to the Navy, or discharging when the war ended • Wanted to continued flying and was signed in, but changed his mind into discharging 30 minutes before the deadline (12:00 PM); had three buddies that decided this (00:18:45) • Thought about home and didn’t want to stay an additional three years Regrets not staying in flight school but wanted to stick together with his buddies (00:20:13) Experience (00:20:45) Feels like everyone “grew up” after going into the service; young men now-a-days should go into the service to gain discipline Helped Buskers learn how to get along with all kinds of people and the many outlooks they have on life Side Stories (00:22:00) Knew a man, from Central Michigan College, who was listed as MIA (missing in action) because he had been on a ship that had sunk; hadn’t known he was MIA When he arrived home, the man’s mother fainted • Communication was not as it could have been, this happened periodically Buskers became a Soundman because a school band teacher gave him “Doppler Tests” that he always passed with “flying colors”; correlated with his later training as a Soundman because of his acute hearing (00:23:09) When World War II first started, Buskers’s History class would listen to the radio; he would also watch news reels in the theater (00:25:12) � 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 Buskers, Maurice (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Buskers, Maurice Description An account of the resource Maurice Buskers enlisted into the Navy after graduating from Ottawa Hills High School in 1943. He was originally a part of the V-12 Program that would have made him an Officer of the Navy, but he decided to transfer into the Navy Air Corps instead. He was to become a pilot but was sent to Great Lakes for Navy training because there were too many pilots at the time. Buskers never saw battle because World War II had ended before he finished training. 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. 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 2009-03-24 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BuskersM 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/c682c9f4ab2913735ac28b6a24e00bf8.mp4 e6849dcc15487470e47f7275dac41fa3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/05bdd3ae76aa44af673b4d227700c167.pdf 60b34f689f7801b87d9f5808bb43fc05 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Paul Bush (37:31) Background Information (00:02) • • • • Born January 21st 1931. (00:02) Served in the early to mid 1950s. (00:02) He was drafted into the Army several months after he finished college (approx. 1953). (00:22) Paul’s brother served in World War II in the Navy. (1:00) Training (1:59) • • • • • • • Basic training lasted 8 weeks. It consisted of physical training, weapons training, and emphasis on discipline. (2:00) He had basic at Fort Knox, Kentucky. (2:34) Rather than going into advanced infantry training, Paul and his friend decided they would sign up to be cooks. (3:33) Paul and his friend were placed in a barracks by themselves for 3 weeks before being assigned to truck driver school. (4:10) The men were trained on how to drive trucks up mountains. Paul did not care for this part of his training. (5:21) There were many college graduates in Paul’s platoon. The platoon regularly had checks of barracks to see who had the cleanest barracks. If a barracks won, the men got passes. (6:05) Paul and his friend were eventually sent to Southern France. (8:07) Service in France (8:40) • • • • • • • • • • • • The Army didn’t know what to do with the unit. Most of their time was spent doing KP or guard duties. (9:14) Paul’s friend, having received a masters degree from the University of Michigan, received a job on base catered to his perceived knowledge. (10:48) Paul was made the assistant to the chaplain’s aid. (11:30) Paul served as the chaplain’s aid in Southern France for approx. 6 months. (12:17) The chaplain’s aid was immune from guard and KP duty. (12:45) After 6th months, Paul and the chaplain was sent to central France to a large base. There they had little to do as there was already a chaplain and a chaplain’s aid. They stayed there for 1 month. (13:57) The men then went to Germany. They stopped at an old German air force base. (15:03) The base was formerly used to launch rockets at England. (16:00) The basement of the base was used for storage. (17:59) Paul and the chaplain spent 2-3 months in Germany. (18:25) If a man was in the military on a two year stint they were able to get out early if they were returning to school. (19:36) Paul was given an early out in order to obtain his masters degree (approx. 1955). (20:14) �Travel Back Home (20:40) • • • Paul was flown from Germany to Ireland to Finland then to New Jersey. (20:40) The aircraft experienced engine problems while return home. The pilot didn’t repair it but rather ordered men aboard the aircraft to watch the engine to ensure it didn’t fail. (21:32) The plane landed in Chicago Illinois. Paul hitchhiked his way home to Michigan. (22:30) Teaching in Germany and in Italy (23:00) • • • • • • • • • • • Paul went overseas to teach school in Germany after completing his schooling in the U.S. (23:00) He applied at the University of Miami, Florida, for a chance to teach overseas. He could go to Japan, Italy, England, Germany, and Norway. (23:57) He was picked to be sent to Okinawa. His wife did not want to go there so he was reassigned to Germany. (25:20) Paul served as a teacher in a high school in Germany on a base. His wife did not have a job. (26:07) Paul spent 2 years in Germany teaching. (28:15) He was then sent to a small jr. high on a base in Italy. He was in charge of teaching several subjects. (29:17) Paul’s first son was born while he was in Italy. He taught there for 2 years. (30:13) He couched a foot ball team while teaching in Italy. (30:48) In the following spring, Paul was made a track coach as well. (33:36) After teaching in Italy Paul returned home and was discharged. (34:40) There was a PX on base where Paul did most of his shopping. (35:57) � 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 Bush, Paul (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bush, Paul Description An account of the resource Paul Bush, born January 21st 1931, was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly after completing college in 1953. Paul completed his basic at Fort Knox Kentucky. Upon its competition, Paul was then sent to Southern France. Here he was made a chaplain's aide, and served with the chaplain on several bases in France and Germany. Paul returned to the states to receive a teaching degree. When he finished he worked through a military program to return to Europe and teach in schools on military bases in Germany and Italy. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Delaney, Matthew (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-05-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BushP1394V 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/e6c12f970e25041410ecfda42fdebd2d.mp4 d6c059490dc34005369803674321570a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7927e45a8ca0069261f9e39acf454d7b.pdf 4af27a2b5fc267371ba2aec1eca5dc5f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Jimmie Carrol Bush Vietnam War Total Time: 17:45 Pre-Enlistment (00:24) • • Went to Thornapple-Kellogg High School in Middleville, Michigan. Was 18 years old when drafted in January 1967. Training (00:50) • • Went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for Basic Training . Chose the Airborne because he wanted to jump out of an Airplane. Active Duty (03:10) • • • • • • • • • Was in the 82nd Airborne Division of the Army Was in multiple different locations across Vietnam during his service, including Da Nang and others. They would be put on a helicopter and be dropped off and then picked up in a month. Spent most of his time in the hills and jungle around Vietnam. He carried an M-60 machine gun (04:33) They were attached to the 101st Airborne for a while, and they took heavy casualties during this time period. Was able to communicate with his family via letters. His mother would send him care packages. On leave, they would get to go into the city and tour. (15:55) Had the opportunity to meet and eat with John Wayne. Post-Service (11:31) • Worked as a bricklayer after the war. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bush, Jimmie Carrol (Interview outline and video), 2005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bush, Jimmie Carrol Description An account of the resource Jimmie Carol Bush was drafted into the Army in 1967, and served in the Vietnam War. He joined the 82nd Airborne Division, and was involved in heavy jungle fighting. His job in his platoon was to carry the M-60 machine gun. His unit spent most of its time being transported by helicopter. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fischer, Brady (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 2005-01-16 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BushJ 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/d9bb3b487e9b7eb5aebaff9484cb9f98.mp4 5000795b9fd10beee8f81ce1abec0146 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/348e5f49942be1a9c13bf2dd11f1c2d0.pdf 5e77c494e315b5cda368af3be07fd3f5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Ted Burzynski (55:57) Background Information (00:20) • • Ted was born in Michigan on April 18, 1916 He has been living in the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans since 2004 Las Vegas (1:30) • • • • Ted was approached by a man for a trip to Las Vegas in 1993; he had to pay $500 up front He spent $100.00 in quarters on slots, but did not win any money He then started playing on the Stars and Stripes machine and won a jack pot of $25,000 When he went to the bank they questioned him about the money and thought that it was a stolen check Joining of Senior Citizens, Young at Heart (7:15) • A friend had asked Ted to join this group • They traveled together on another trip to Las Vegas • Ted spent $1000 this time, but did not win any money Vacation (15:10) • Ted traveled to Israel and went to the area where Christ had carried a cross and met Peter • He had to travel to Chicago for his passport, which was signed by the Secretary of State • Ted went to Israel in February and then went to Rome in October • The whole trip cost him $2300 and he was also able to see the Pope • He had to stop in France on the way because there was a snow storm Pearl Harbor (26:55) • Ted was drafted after Pearl Harbor was attacked • He got married in 1940; they had a Polish wedding that lasted for 3 days • They lived with his wife’s parents for 6 months while he was looking for a job • They liked to watch silent movies in theaters; Charlie Chaplin was everyone’s favorite actor • They were in a theater when Pearl Harbor was attacked and the movie was stopped in the middle of the showing • Ted had been working in a factory as a union leader and figured that he would be drafted soon Draft Deferment (36:50) • Ted had a high position at the factory and every time that a draft notice was sent to him, the company somehow got his service deferred • He had two children when he was actually drafted in 1943 �Training (39:15) • Ted was sent to Camp Sheridan in Chicago, but had not other news of what was going on • He was on board a troop train and made many friends; they soon figured that they would be going to Europe and not the Pacific • Ted went to Camp Shanks in New York and then to Fort Dix and took a ferry across the Hudson River The Trip to Europe (44:40) • Ted boarded the Sea Devil and traveled to France • His wife was working in a candy factory in Detroit while he was gone • He had to go to a very crowded hospital because many bullets had hit the top of his helmet and had punctured his skin • Ted was in Germany on VE Day • He was very glad that he never got sent to the Pacific • Many men became POWs in Japan and had to work in coal mines • Ted was Corporal with General Patch’s 7th Army of the 3rd Infantry 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/. Title A name given to the resource Burzynski, Thadius (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Burzynski, Thadius Description An account of the resource Thadius Burzynski was born in Michigan on April 18, 1916. Ted was married in 1940 and expected to be drafted after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Ted was deferred from service many times because of his work in a factory. Ted was drafted in 1943 and then traveled to France for his time in the service. He was in Germany on VE Day. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-06-18 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BurzynskiT 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