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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: Iraq
Interviewee Name: Michael Adams
Length of Interview: 00:30:35
Background
He wanted to be in the armed forces since he was six or seven. In his junior year, he
began researching the different branches and decided on the Marines.
Training (1:02)
He trained in boot camp in San Diego, CA. He was there for 13 weeks.
While he was there he spent about 80% of his time in a classroom. It is just a myth that
when you are there you run all the time.
At first it was hard to get used to someone yelling at you inches from your face, but then
by the last third of boot camp, it became humorous.
After boot camp he spent eight weeks in infantry training. There he learned how to fight
and use his weapons.
He would then proceed to a specialty school for three weeks, in which he learned antitank assault.
He would then be transferred to Chesapeake, VA where he would learn security force
assault training, or SWAT school, after which he would work SWAT on and off for three
years. He would go back and forth to VA for three years going to school and getting
more training. (6:10)
When he worked on the SWAT team, they would train all day and then work out in the
evenings.
Active Duty (10:25)
In spring of 2003, he was sent to Kuwait, to serve in “Operation: Iraqi Freedom”
He spent six weeks at Camp Ripper, and trained for chemical warfare while they waited.
When it was time to invade Iraq, they actually heard that they were invading through a
broadcast over the BBC before they were told by their commanders.
When they were in combat they spent most of the time on the offensive because of their
aggressive colonel.
His first experience on Iraqi soil was coming out of an Amtrak and seeing a woman and
her child there. He did not expect any civilians.
While he stayed with the civilians, he found that they were very pro-American. (15:45)
When his team entered Baghdad, his team was greeted by the local population who asked
them to tear down the statue of Saddam Hussein, so they did.
His team never stayed in one place more than two days and they always slept in foxholes.
When they got to different cities they would enter, sweep through it and clear it the best
they could and left. The units behind them would occupy the cities. (20:23)
�
When the statue came down they thought the war was over, so they set up camp in the
middle of the desert and ran security for six weeks.
When he was there the whole Marine Corps unit was stopped by a huge sandstorm. It
was difficult to keep everything clean. Most could not go outside their vehicles or they
would suffocate in the sand.
After six months of service they took Kuwait public buses back to Kuwait and flew home
to CA in civilian planes.
After Active Duty (25:45)
When he was home he and his team spent their time preparing to go back. Most of his
team did end up going back but he got out of the Marines a year after returning.
The last four months he spent going to different funerals for the people who were killed
in his unit.
He spent some time visiting injured Marines as well.
�
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
Adams, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adams, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael Adams was a marine who served in Operation: Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He served as a security forces specialist who would be one of the first team of Marines to enter Baghdad. He reports observing the destruction of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. His unit mostly patrolled in the desert after the fall of Baghdad, and he does not report problems with local civilians.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Oberlin, Cody (Interviewer)
Higley, Blake (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. 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
2010-05-13
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AdamsM
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
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application/pdf
video/mp4