George Kuiper was born in February 1926 in Holland, Michigan. He grew up in Holland and in February 1944 he received his draft notice. In June 1944 he reported for duty at the draft board in Holland, was processed at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and was…

Harry Kooyman was born in the Netherlands in 1944 and his family moved to the United States when he was four years old. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and after high school he enlisted in the Navy in 1962. He received basic training at Great…

Ryan Klingeman was born on November 2, 1981, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2002 he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, and in summer 2003 he went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. He volunteered to be a rifleman and…

Jim Keatley was born in Bremerton, Washington, in 1945. In the summer of 1966 he received his draft notice and received his basic training at Fort Ord, California. Upon completion of basic training he was sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for Advanced…

Cornelius Jonker was born in September 1924 in Rusk, Michigan. When he was young his family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan and he grew up there. After turning eighteen he received his draft notice and was sworn into the Army on March 18, 1943. He…

Frank Jones is a Vietnam War veteran that was born on February 15, 1950 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school in June 1970 he was drafted into the Army in August 1970. He trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Polk, Louisiana;…

TJ Johnson was born in Chicago on October 19, 1952. Due to growing up in a challenging and often dangerous environment he decided to enlist in the Army (most likely August 1972). He received basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and field artillery…

Dwight Jamison was born in Big Rapids, Michigan on February 15, 1928. He served in the Michigan National Guard as a teenager and enlisted in the Army in 1946. He received his basic training at Camp Polk, Louisiana and after that was deployed to…

Franjo and Etela Ivkovic are a Yugoslavian couple that fled Yugoslavia during the Yugoslavian War. Franjo was born in Yugoslavia on March 19, 1964, and Etela was born there as well on May 24, 1967. The two of them left for Hungary temporarily when…

Bob Elliott was born in Hart, Michigan on November 22, 1948. He enlisted in the Marines in March 1966 and began basic training in late July 1966. He received his basic training in San Diego and Infantry Training at Camp Pendleton, California. He…

Thornell Billingslea was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 29, 1947. In 1966 he was drafted and received his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He volunteered to be a paratrooper and received his Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Gordon,…

Tom Bilecki served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did two tours, one in 2004 and another in 2012. He was stationed at Forward Operation Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar. He served as an…

Joseph DiLorenzo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948. He enlisted in the Air Force in April 1967 and reported for basic training on August 2, 1967. He received his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and for two and…

Kathryn Bulkley was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1919. During World War II she worked in the Continental Motors factory in Muskegon for a few years building aircraft for the war effort. In 1948 she enlisted in the Air Force. She received her basic…

Willard Brock was born on June 8, 1936 in Gaines Township, Michigan. Around the time that he turned 18 years old he enlisted in the Army. He received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and medical training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and…

David Bluem was born in Saginaw, Michigan on December 13, 1944. He was drafted into the Vietnam War while attending grad school at Central Michigan University. In basic training he was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for the US Army. Thereafter he was…

David C. Bloye was born on September 2, 1940, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In September 1957 he enlisted in the Navy Reserve and began his active reserve duty while still in high school. After graduating from high school he received two weeks of basic…

Lin Bashford was born in Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska, on August 20, 1946. He was drafted in April 1969 and went to Fort Ord, California, for basic training and later advanced infantry training. He was selected for Non-Commissioned Officer School and went…

Margaret Akines was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938. She married Bill Akines in 1978. He was one of the 317 men that survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and in this interview she tells about his experience surviving that…

Emil Hurbanis served in the U.S. Army from approx. 1969-1971 in the latter half of the Vietnam War. Emil spent 1 year in country. He was first assigned to the 1st Infantry Division where he worked with unattended ground sensors on the Ho Chi Minh…

Annemarie Hortman was born in Rangsdorf, Germany, on April 14, 1939. When she was only a year old she moved to Ingolstadt and stayed there until September 1940. At such a young age and that early in the war she remembers getting off a train during an…

Ernest Homrich was born in Alpine Township, Michigan on April 13, 1925. He was drafted in late 1944 and went to Texarkana/northeast Texas for basic training. After 17 weeks of basic training and a short leave home he went to San Francisco to board a…

Kyle Herring was born in Frederick, Maryland on October 11, 1987, but grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted in the Michigan National Guard when he was 17 years old in spring 2005 and drilled during his senior year. In January 2006 he…

Earl O. Henry Jr. was born in Mayfield, Kentucky, on June 19, 1945. He attended Vanderbilt University and the University of Washington, and while in college was in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. After graduation he was commissioned as an…