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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
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Jonathan Richard Bates
(00:30:04)
(0:34) Background of Army career
• Joined in 1983 when in college
o Wanted to serve country
o Other family members had served
o Wanted to learn new stills
o Money for college
• Part of the Michigan National Guard
(1:41) Job assignment in Iraq
• Army Advisor with the Iraqi Army from 2004-2005
• Saw combat
(2:14) Most memorable moment
• Spent a year in Iraq
• Imbedded with the Iraqi Army as their American Liaison
• In 15 missions with them and over 200 patrols
(3:40) Casualties
• In Bates’ company of 60-plus men, 2 killed and 17 wounded
o Those injured/killed were from rocket or mortar attacks and sniper fire
when on patrols
o Bates is proud because compared to other companies, his did not lose
many men
(4:40) Provisions
• At the American base, plenty of provisions
• When with the Iraqi Army would get food from markets, locals, street, the army
itself
o Ate spam, bread, goat brains, pigeon, etc.
(6:10) Free time
• Used laptop or iPod
• Get to know Iraqi soldiers; became great friends
o Talked about family, friends, politics, religion
o Danced, sang
o Shared culture
o Practiced for combat- first aid training and basic land navigation
• Usually not a lot of free time because a lot was going on in the area
• Still in touch with a lot of Iraqi friends by email
(8:40) Holidays
• Bates was in Kuwait during Thanksgiving; just ate Thanksgiving dinner in the
mess hall and then went back to his tent
• Spent Christmas in Iraq where he played dominos
• Celebrated a lot of Iraqi holidays
�(10:17) Skills learned
• Language – learned a bit of Arabic
• Tolerance
o Their democracy won’t be the same as US democracy because we are two
different cultures
o There are a lot of parallels between there struggle for freedom and our
struggle for freedom from Britain
o Rich in history, tradition, and wonderful people
(12:37) Outside of the military
• Teaches elementary school
• Musician
• A dad
(13:27) Lessons learned
• Tolerance
• More worldly
• Time in military made him more aware of the things going on in the world
• Only 2% of the US population serves in the military; wishes more would serve
(14:59) Bates’ absence and the impact on his family
• Family had a great support system
o The church was instrumental as was the school
• Bates was gone for 12 months
(17:42) Homecoming
• Awesome to get home
• Very difficult to leave Iraq because formed like a “Band of Brothers” with the
Iraqi soldiers
• Celebration at the airport; lots of family and friends as well as a few television
stations
(21:55) Going to Iraq
• Just started teaching PE
• Got a phone call that said, “You’re going to the sandbox.”
• Went with the 98th Division of NY
• Had one month to prepare which was longer than most soldiers get
• The elementary school he was teaching at was wonderful
o Told he could have his job back when he returned and that they would
take care of his family in his absence
o Allowed Bates time off before he left and also when he got back
o Threw a big celebration for him upon his return
(24:20) Training for the Army
• Was a college music major and joined the National Guard Band
o Also trained in combat
• In college joined the ROTC program to be an officer; wanted to be a pilot but that
didn’t work out so went to band and then became a drill sergeant
o Trained in infantry
o Went to various schools like NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical), etc.
• Bates is a professional soldier
�(26:10) Life now
• Still in the Army
• In back of mind, worries will be sent back to Iraq
• Feels Iraq is a worthy cause and is willing to die for it
• The US has done good things in Iraq; got rid of Saddam Hussein just as the WWII
generation got rid of Hitler
o Iraqis say that Saddam Hussein was worse than Hitler
• Wishes people would not call the war pointless or stupid because the men and
women serving this country are sacrificing so much
�
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
Bates, Jonathan Richard (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bates, Jonathan Richard
Description
An account of the resource
Jonathan Richard Bates is a Veteran of the Iraq War and has been serving in the United States Army since 1983. In this interview, Bates discusses his recent tour of duty in Iraq. As an Army Advisor for the Iraqi Army, Bates has unique insight into the Iraqi culture and people. With the Iraqi Army Bates went on 15 missions and over 200 patrols. His story is one that shows although Iraq and the United States are two different cultures, each has a rich history that often parallels the other, such as the fight for democracy.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Page, Ashley (Interviewer)
Forest Hills Eastern High School (Ada, Mich.)
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
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-06-04
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BatesJ
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
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Matthew Brong
(40:55)
(00:20) Background Information
•
•
•
•
•
•
Matthew was born on September 22, 1983 in Petoskey, MI
He enlisted in the Army and was in Iraq from August 2006-May 2007
Matthew graduated from high school in 2002 and went through ROTC at Michigan State
University
His grades were not very good, so he joined his brother in the Army in May 2004
Matthew had always wanted to join the Army and it has been a family tradition
His brother was a captain, his father had been in the Air Force during Vietnam, and his
grandfather was in the First Armored Division in World War II
(3:10) Infantry Training
• Matthew began training at Fort Benning, Georgia and was there for three months
• He spent a lot of time doing push-ups, sit-ups, and running
• All those in training had to have a diploma or GED and no criminal record
• Matthew then went to airborne school for four weeks and then received his wings
• They learned how to properly exit military air craft
• He then went through the Ranger Indoctrination Program for the 75th Ranger Regiment
• He broke his foot shortly after and was medically dropped from the program
• Matthew was in hold over and healing for 3 months before he received another
assignment
(7:00) Fort Bragg February 2005
• Matthew joined the 82nd Airborne Division, which was a rival of the Ranger Regiment
• Speaking of the Ranger Regiment, he noted that “they are the most heavily armed
fraternity.”
• They were deployed in September 2005 for hurricane relief in New Orleans
• It was strange working to help victims of Hurricane Katrina because no one knew the
correct procedure for stateside peace time operations
(11:20) Deployed to Iraq August 2006
• Matthew was told he would be in Iraq for only 180 days, then 12 months, and it ended up
being a tour of 15 months for most people in the service
• It was hard for him leaving friends and family, especially his four month old son
• They could communicate in Iraq through phones, internet, and mail
�•
•
•
Whenever someone was killed or injured, all modes of communication were “blacked
out” until that person’s family had been contacted and notified
All received 16 days of rest and recreation for their 15 month tour
Matthew visited his family in March 2007 for his son’s first birthday
(17:40) Injured May 26, 2007
• It had been near his three year anniversary in the Army
• He had been traveling in the last of four trucks in caravan
• The last truck was blown up and 3 of the 5 inside died
• Matthew had multiple fractured vertebrae and had titanium rods surgically implanted into
his back
• He also suffered moderate to severe brain injury that resulted in memory loss
• Some doctors called his problem post-traumatic amnesia and others called it retrograde
amnesia
• He lost about fourteen months of his memory at first, but most of it came back
• After the explosion, he was flown to and aid center in a chopper
• He had back surgery in a few hours and then was flown to Germany
• The other survivor of the explosion had very similar injuries
(23:30) Washington, DC
• From Germany, Matthew was flown to Andrews Air Force Base in DC
• He then was transferred to the Walter Reed Medical Center
• He was there from June 1-June 27 and then sent to a rehab center in Virginia
• Matthew has no memory of being in Walter Reed and had to re-learn how to walk
• Matthew was in Richmond Virginia recovering for 1.5 months and then was discharged
(29:25) After Being Discharged
• Matthew moved to Fayetteville, NC with his wife and son
• He continued to take classes to work on his speech and memory
• He continued to have regular medical visits and would never be as physically strong
• Matthew still suffers from short term memory loss
• He can no longer be in the infantry because he can only carry half the weight
• He is now back in the Army, but not doing as much physical work
(32:25) Looking Back
• Matthew would not do anything different even with his injury
• Matthew had many positive experiences in the Army, especially while in New Orleans
• He enjoyed seeing Cheney and Bush in New Orleans and received many thanks from the
civilians
�
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
Brong, Matthew (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Brong, Matthew
Description
An account of the resource
Matthew Brong was in1983, received some ROTC training at Michigan State University for a while, but dropped out because he was not getting good grades. He joined the Army in 2005 and was sent to Iraq in August of 2006 with the 82 Airborne Division. May 26, 2007 Matthew was injured when the truck he was traveling in ran over a road bomb. He experienced back injuries and memory loss. He was discharged and it took him quite a while to recover from his injuries. Matthew later re-enlisted in the Army, but can no longer endure intense physical activity.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Brong, Genna (Interviewer)
Riley Street Middle School (Hudsonville, Mich.)
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
United States. Army
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-06-02
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
BrongM
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fc3f0423fa905e90e4f741c8f31c7651.m4v
6f0f32278e6b863b3c990d2d26015cc3
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Ken Bucy
Vietnam War; Cold War; Iraq War
30 minutes 49 seconds
*Note: Times in the outline coincide with timecode in interview
(00:18:24) Early Life
-Born in Anderson, Indiana, on April 25, 1947
-Went to a famous church in Anderson (note: possibly Church of God)
-Grew up in Anderson and through two years at Anderson College
-Planned on getting a liberal arts degree so he could become an Air Force pilot
-Kicked out of the college after his second year because he didn’t have enough money
(00:19:19) Enlisting in the National Guard & Assignment to 151st Infantry Regiment
-Planned on attending the state college, but received his draft notice
-Decided to enlist in the National Guard
-Assigned to an airborne infantry unit, the 151st Infantry Regiment of the 38th Infantry Division
(00:19:42) Deployment to Vietnam
-After basic training and advanced infantry training, the 151st Infantry Regiment was mobilized
-Removed from the 38th Infantry Division and became a Ranger unit
-Sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for more training
-Deployed to Vietnam in late 1968 after Christmas
-Only National Guard unit in Vietnam
(00:20:40) Missions in Vietnam
-Operated out of a basecamp about 30-40 kilometers north of Long Binh
-Established the base when they arrived in Vietnam
-Operated as Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) units (Company D, 151st Infantry)
-Six-man teams that went into the field for a week
-Watched rivers and trails for enemy troop and supply movement
-Intelligence they gathered went to II Field Force Vietnam
-Sent out large infantry units to intercept and disrupt enemy movement
-Primary objective, aside from gather intelligence, was to stay quiet and avoid capture
(00:22:17) Casualties & Bond
-Lost six men out of his 206-man company
-Extremely low compared to other infantry units
-His unit was different than any other infantry unit in Vietnam at that time
-Comprised of brothers, cousins, brothers-in-law, and friends from school
-Formed a close bond, making them more effective
-It also meant they took their losses much harder
-Still have monthly association meetings at Camp Atterbury, Indiana
-140 men still alive as of 2016
�(00:24:42) Returning to United States
-Returned to the United States and was placed in the inactive reserves
-Arizona State offered him a scholarship, and he accepted
-College paid-for by GI Bill and scholarship
-Fell in love with the state of Arizona
(00:25:25) Reenlisting in the National Guard – Band
-Joined the Arizona National Guard after graduating from college
-There was a National Guard band near the unit
-Wound up spending a total of 17 years with that band
(00:26:00) Seminary & Chaplain Assistant
-After 12 years in the National Guard, he felt the calling to attend seminary
-Went to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth
-There was a National Guard unit four blocks away from the seminary
-Headquarters unit for the 2nd Brigade of the 49th Armored Division
-They needed a chaplain assistant, and he took the position
-Took the chaplain assistant course by correspondence
-Introduced to the chaplain
-Outstanding man and enjoyed serving with him
-Worked together for 3 ½ years
(00:28:16) Army Reserve Instructor
-Didn’t like the new chaplain, so he became an instructor in Army Reserve school system
-Returned to Arizona
-Trained noncommissioned officers in the chaplain assistant reclassification course
-Served as an instructor for 12 years
-Had gotten certified during a conference in San Antonio
-Learned that he enjoyed teaching
-Got promoted to the rank of E8 (1st sergeant, or master sergeant)
-Taught the chaplain assistant course seven or eight times during his 12 years as an instructor
-Some of the chaplain assistants he taught went on to become chaplains
(00:30:48) Field Exercise at Fort Hood
-As a chaplain assistant, he went to Fort Hood, Texas, for a field exercise
-Went into the field with the chaplain
-Chaplain had to drive the jeep so Ken could offer “protection” from the passenger seat
-Turned out, the chaplain enjoyed cross-country driving
-One day, they got an order to go into the field because a soldier wanted to see the chaplain
-Drove out to that unit’s location and parked under a tree
-Walked 300-400 yards, then low-crawled the rest of the way
-This was so that they didn’t alert the “enemy” to the unit’s presence
-The men of that unit praised Ken for following protocol
(00:36:00) Returning to the Band in Arizona
-After 12 years, the school he taught at reorganized, and he didn’t like it
-Returned to Arizona to resume service with the band in Arizona
�(00:36:25) Voluntary Deployment to Iraq
-In 2003, his band played for three units called-up for service in Iraq
-Deeply moved him
-Knew that a chaplain, somewhere, needed an assistant
-After a week of deliberation, he decided to volunteer for deployment to Iraq
-Contacted the National Guard, and they said they had no opening for him
-A few months later they called him and said they had an opening
-Assigned to an infantry brigade in Louisiana that needed a chaplain assistant
-Spent a total of 19 months with them
-One of the most rewarding times during his career in the Army
-Knew he was exactly where he needed to be
-The chaplain he served with had been in that unit for 19 years
-Younger men related to Ken because he had prior combat experience
-Trained at Fort Hood, Texas, for six months
-Trained at Fort Irwin, California, for five weeks
(00:39:52) Tour in Iraq
-Travelled from the United States, to Kuwait, to Iraq
-Built their own chapel
-Originally held services in a tent without air-conditioning
-He was picked to supervise the construction of their chapel in Camp Victory
-Helped by Army Engineers
-Made a baptistry out of 1,000-gallon water tank, cut in half
(00:42:08) Retirement & Life After Service
-Retired from the Army in 2007
-Taught Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets for three years
-Permanently retired after that
-Enjoyed teaching, especially with students that wanted to be there
-Involved in local politics since 2010
(00:43:33) Reflections on Service Pt. 1
-He didn’t become an Air Force pilot, but he made the most out of his experiences
-Feels his time in the Army showed the efficacy of a good non-commissioned officer
-He was offered the chance to go to Officer Candidate School
-Declined, because he wanted to be on the ground with the troops
(00:44:22) Basic Training
-While in basic training, he knew how to march due to his experience in marching band
-Picked to call cadence and lead his training platoon during marches
-Sergeant tasked him with “procuring” two new mops from another unit
-He, and a few other squad leaders, went out at night and got the mops
(00:46:37) Barbeque Party in Vietnam
-In Vietnam, they had two or three extra vehicles in their motor pool
-During the tour, they lost a copy of their communications/electronics operating instructions
-Basically, all the secret call-signs used by units in radio communications
-As a result, all the units were called in to the basecamp until they got a new CEOI
�-A couple soldiers took one of the extra jeeps and a trailer to Saigon to get meat and beer
-The soldiers used six, 55-gallon drums to make a giant barbeque pit
-Had a three-day party
-Still has no idea where the extra vehicles came from
(00:48:47) Reflections on Service Pt. 2
-Company D of the 151st Infantry Rangers were the most decorated infantry company in 1969
-Proud to have served with them
�
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
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RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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RHC-27_BucyK2054V
Title
A name given to the resource
Bucy, Ken (Interview outline and video), 2016
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-10-28
Description
An account of the resource
Ken Bucy was born in Anderson, Indiana, on April 25, 1947. He enlisted in the Indiana National Guard and was assigned to D Company of the 151st Infantry Regiment of the 38th Infantry Division. Upon completion of basic training and advanced infantry training, the 151st became a Ranger unit. He received more training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was deployed to Vietnam after Christmas 1968. They conducted long-range reconnaissance patrols out of a base north of Long Binh. After returning to the United States, he was placed in the inactive reserve and studied at Arizona State. He joined the Arizona National Guard after graduating from college and served in a National Guard band for a total of 17 years. After 12 years in the National Guard, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and became a chaplain assistant in the 2nd Brigade of the 49th Armored Division. He served with them for 3 1/2 years, then served as an Army Reserve instructor for 12 years. He returned to the National Guard band in Arizona and served with them until he volunteered for service in Iraq in 2003. Ken served in Iraq as a chaplain assistant in a Louisiana infantry brigade. He retired from military service in 2007.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Bucy, Ken
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Keizer, Herman Jr. (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Type
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Moving Image
Text
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>
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
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Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e44c6978405063b4feef61d89b27547e.mp4
d8935429d3ea62c311ef4200898c5601
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/17a2eaffb517520ffe5052a09d7c218d.pdf
e7bd9bad0d83b9452c0654585a39a2bf
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
War in Iraq
Ben Cardenas
Interview Length: (01:27:59:00)
Early Life/ Early Military Experience (00:00:07:04)
Born in 1981 in Saginaw, Michigan, where he spent his childhood (00:00:07:00)
Both parents worked in the automotive industry (00:21:00)
Grew up in a family of 4 children (00:00:34:00)
Following his graduation from Bridgeport High School in 2000, attended Grand Rapids
Community College for one semester (00:00:42:00)
Joined the Marines in 2001 (00:01:05:00)
o Was drawn to the idea of enlisting to follow the generational family tradition
(00:01:26:22)
o Significant military history within his family including Spanish- American and
Mexican- American wars (00:00:40:00)
Did not expect to become heavily involved in U.S. military duties (00:02:30:26)
o Wanted to keep his lifestyle by maintaining a reserve membership, not active duty
(00:02:30:00)
After the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, began active training at the Marince
Corps Recruitment Depot San Diego on November 13th, 2001 (00:03:11:00)
At the boot camp, they “strip you of your identity” (00:03:40:00)
o Here, recruits are taught to be purely obedient (00:04:09:12)
o Found it very difficult to adjust to the lifestyle (00:04:46:25)
o Punishment was a collective burden to all recruits (00:05:18:00)
o Camp used “incentive training” on recruits, which is similar to what is known as
“hazing” (00:05:35:27)
Those in charge at the boot camp were “machines” (00:07:23:06)
o Very demanding of the recruits, installing both respect and fear in new soldiers
(00:07:35:00)
o Appreciated his authority’s’ demeanor because at boot camp, he felt he had
“something to prove” (00:07:43:00)
Certain pattern of diversity at the boot camp (00:08:00:23)
o Boot camp population split largely between Michigan and Texas (00:08:01:12)
o Most between ages 18 and 20. Anyone older than 20 was uncommon.
(00:08:37:21)
Marine Corps boot camp lasted 13 weeks (00:08:59:19)
o First week is an “administrative” week, where recruits are disciplined as a group
(00:09:05:00)
o Then comes “black Friday” where recruits are introduced to who and what the
camp will actually involve (00:09:17:15)
By human nature, recruits would try to find “loopholes” (00:09:51:00)
o Intensity must always be high, so new soldiers would “act” in a way that pleases
the authorities (00:10:00:00)
o Camp activities are “from sunup to sundown” (00:10:33:12)
�o Camp activities are purposefully made more difficult and uncomfortable for
recruits (00:10:43:00)
The goal of boot camp is to graduate as soon as possible (00:11:41:00)
o Marine Corps is built on tradition and graduation ceremonies are highly respected
events (00:13:10:00)
After boot camp, had 10 days of vacation and then went to the School of Infantry in
Camp Pendleton for 8 weeks
o More relaxed than boot camp, although it took time to detach from the boot camp
mentality (00:13:58:00)
Infantry School included a significant amount of classroom time, contrary to popular
belief (00:14:23:10)
o Required pupils to learn things in mathematics, geometry, physics, and other
fields (00:14:35:00)
Infantry school had fewer guidelines than the highly disciplined boot camp (00:15:16:00)
o Authorities still managed to find ways to instill fear/respect in pupils
(00:15:22:00)
There are 3 main weapon systems the platoon used: M-240G, M-2, & Bart 19
(00:15:41:24)
At the school, they were taught to handle the guns in groups(00:16:10:00)
o The teams consisted of 3 members: a “Team Leader”, a “Gunner”, and the
“Ammo Man”. All positions are held, respectively, according to level of
experience (00:16:13:00)
o The team leader, being the most experienced, deals with the most technical
aspects of the weapon’s use (00:13:58:00)
The training terrain was mostly mountains and beaches, making the simulations much
more treacherous (00:13:58:00)
Difficult to keep up with current events/location of deployed marines while in Infantry
School (00:18:25:00)
o Limited free time (00:18:27:00)
After Infantry School, you are assigned to a unit (00:21:06:04)
Went back home in May 2002 (00:21:58:00)
Active Duty (00:22:30:00)
On December 26th, 2002, was alerted of mobilization (00:22:40:00)
o Was only given 3 days’ notice, unlike today’s deployments, which are more
scheduled (00:22:43:00)
Unit, (Alpha Company, !st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment), reported to Grand Rapids
for 3 days, then was transported to Germany for a few weeks (00:23:02:00)
o In Germany, the unit was simply waiting to be transported again (00:23:25:06)
o Was activated quickly because of outstanding health records (00:23:31:16)
Was then sent to Djibouti (00:24:20:00)
o Throughout the transportation from place to place, the unit was confused as to
why they were going there (00:24:22:00)
o Stayed there for 9 months doing force protection, which is simply guard duty,
during which time the invasion of Iraq was already under way (00:24:44:00)
Used chartered, commercial flights to travel (00:24:52:26)
In Djibouti, everything had a menacing quality (00:25:16:09)
�o The wildlife was exotic and potentially dangerous (00:25:27:00)
o Very hot climate (00:25:56:00)
Used tents for most of the time, as there were no established facilities when they arrived
(00:26:24:00)
o Things were being built around them, but they still had to live with minimal
standards (00:27:15:00)
o Despite unpleasant living standards, they were the only ones doing any real work
on duty and thus were able to get some “perks” (00:27:41:00)
Did many humanitarian projects while in Djibouti (00:28:03:00)
Civilians also worked on the base (00:28:12:00)
o Both men and women worked, as their culture was not very strict on gender roles
(00:28:23:00)
There were some places to go for leisure in the town in Djibouti (00:28:50:00)
o Had supervised trips into the city to the markets/etc. (00:29:01:13)
Took 6-7 months to establish effective means of contacting people back home in the
United States (00:29:20:15)
o Before other ways to communicate were found, “3 phones, 3 computers for…4
thousand people” (00:29:37:00)
After 9 months in Djibouti, got to come back home in September (00:29:52:04)
o Everyone in the unit wanted to be stationed in Iraq very badly because the rest of
their battalion was already there (00:30:08:19)
Stayed home for about 3 years (00:30:35:26)
o During this time, there were several incidents where the men were told they
would be deployed to the Middle East, but this never actually happened
(00:30:40:00)
At home, continued to prep for what could await them in Iraq (00:31:35:00)
o Tried to educate himself by attending military courses including advanced
infantry, squad leader classes and went to the Defensive Language Institute for
Iraqi dialect (00:31:38:20)
In May of 2006, was sent to Camp Pendleton for 4 months before going to Iraq
(00:34:05:00)
o Had to fill a training requirement before able to go to Iraq (00:33:22:00)
o Also had to learn about how to handle civilians (00:35:50:00)
Deployment to Iraq (00:36:49:00)
In September of 2006, was sent to Fallujah (00:36:51:00)
o Was flown into Kuwait first, where the unit was then put onto military planes
(00:36:50:00)
o Then traveled to a desert region west of Fallujah (00:37:07:00)
First thing noticed when off the military plane was the very distinct smell (00:37:18:00)
Was then loaded onto a military utility truck and drove to Fallujah, which was a very
frightening experience due to the regional fighting that they had to travel through
(00:37:51:15)
Upon arrival in Fallujah, was surrounded by a “parade” of security forces (00:38:37:20)
Fallujah is similar to what happens when you have a “nice middle eastern city and step on
it” (00:39:10:21)
o The Battle of Fallujah left “almost nothing” (00:39:15:00)
�
o The population was about 300,000, were trying to repopulate the area after the
battle of Fallujah (00:39:33:00)
First job in Fallujah was called SASO (Security And Stability Operations) (00:39:58:00)
o Job was basically “whatever they needed us to do” (00:40:05:02)
o Collected a census, where they walked door- to- door and kept track of who was
in each home (00:40:13:00)
Because had language skills, was a military advisor as well (00:40:22:00)
o Was part of a “MIT” team (Military transition team) (00:41:25:00)
o Did this for two months before becoming involved in SASO (00:41:35:20)
o This job involved doing “whatever the Iraqi captain wanted to do”, and operated
separately from other forces (00:41:40:00)
o Difficult to communicate because of the language barrier between Americans and
native Iraqis (00:42:01:00)
The environment was more dangerous because the equipment was not the best and they
were often in the city, which was the least safe in the area (00:42:33:24)
o Was called the “Iraqi Death Box” (00:42:30:00)
o Area was laden with Sheiks and Sunni hostility (00:43:08:21)
o Police were very corrupt (00:43:26:00)
Every day at noon, their living quarters were mortared (00:44:06:27)
Was happy to be attached to an Iraqi force because they were able to help make
improvements (00:44:49:04)
o Being in Iraqi company allowed a “loophole” for Americans that could not
perform certain necessary duties (00:45:23:08)
o Shared American technology with the less privileged Iraqis (00:45:40:00)
The Iraqi company was then moved, so the Americans were not needed after that and he
was moved back to join the rest of the American company (00:46:11:29)
o Began to do the same duties as the rest of the company such as the census,
patrolling, raids, and arrests (00:46:29:00)
o Instead of just trying to find something to do, was now a part of the company
mission (00:46:47:00)
On Christmas day, had a raid mission in Alpha company (00:47:07:00)
Was never able to get heavily involved in the missions of Alpha company (00:47:17:00)
o Mostly assumed an advisory position, and was “never really on the offensive, I
was always on the defensive” (00:47:19:09)
Was with Alpha company from Christmas until late April of the following year
(00:47:48:20)
The company was divided into different tasks by platoon (00:48:03:09)
o One task was the “long ops”, where men would “live off the land” for roughly 2
weeks and gather intelligence (00:48:08:00)
o Another task was the “short ops”, where men were stationed at the FOB,
[Forward Operations Base] or “base”, on Euphrates River where they would also
gather intel on short missions (00:48:22:00)
o Another task was FOB security (00:49:10:00)
o Another task was entry control, where men were in charge of who was entering
the region (00:49:19:22)
Company was frequently subject to open fire (00:49:56:24)
�
o According to procedure, FOB security was the first to react when under attack.
This was generally the point when the opposing forces would cease fire
(00:50:17:02)
Difficult to get permission to use alternate sources of weaponry (00:50:41:24)
o All the men stationed knew how to use firing support, but were unable to use
them. Much potential for the community was lost because of this (00:50:43:10)
o In time, were able to use equipment more freely (00:50:05:00)
A village called Hasa was particularly hostile towards those directly involved in the
fighting each time American troops went there (00:51:46:00)
o Did not follow typical Iraqi fighting styles, and actually wanted to put up a fight
(00:52:11:00)
o In this situation, were able to call upon heavier weapons company (00:52:50:00)
o Regardless of Hasa’s bold demeanor, the company was always able to maintain
control in action (00:54:01:26)
Company lost a total of 5 killed with another 25 wounded out of approximately 160 men
(00:54:41:17)
With all the basic equipment, any given man had to carry about 60 pounds of gear
(00:56:20:13)
o With other things such as the “daypack”, or backpack, a man’s gear weighed
around 80 pounds (00:50:40:00)
o All of the gear was evenly distributed on the soldier’s body, although the weight
still made it difficult to move about (00:56:54:00)
Large temperature fluctuations made it difficult to adapt to the environment
(00:57:20:00)
Uniform material was “old fashioned” and didn’t take well to moisture or provide much
heat (00:57:51:10)
Men were “everyday sick” (00:59:05:00)
o Being “sick” did not excuse you from duty. You had to be in critical physical
condition, such as loss of a limb (00:59:17:00)
Dust, a geographical characteristic of Iraq, was an issue for both weaponry and the
men’s’ health (01:00:01:00)
o Soiled instruments and weapons were not replaced when got extremely dirty.
Marines were expected to do what was necessary to keep them functional
(01:00:30:00)
American troops began to make “friends with the enemy” after responding to trouble in a
tribal city West of Fallujah (01:01:20:00)
o In one region of the city, there was an especial amount of open fire due to a lack
of peace between the local leaders and the Al Qaida leaders, who were mostly
foreigners, when the latter party began to try to force their beliefs on the
community (01:02:07:00)
o At first, did not know who the two fighting parties were because there was “no
friendly party” (01:03:07:00)
o Americans began to seek intel from the local Iraqis, who were technically an
enemy, but not in this situation (01:03:47:00)
o Was difficult to accept the same people who had tried to kill them as a source of
valid information (01:05:45:00)
�o This alliance quickly mended the situation and helped things get on track towards
peace (01:06:32:00)
o In this situation, Americans “weren’t even the targets”, as a truck full of chlorine
gas drove right past some marines and detonated it in the village (01:07:50:00)
o Started to trust the Iraqis at this point, and began to use language skills to form a
stronger alliance with them (01:08:43:00)
o Wouldn’t have done anything to gain the support of the village population or
perform regular procedures because then, the Marines would have become targets
and casualties would have increased (01:09:14:15)
o Building an alliance with other coalitions made intel easier to gain (01:09:53:00)
Americans and Iraqi alliances would coordinate things together (01:10:27:00)
o The “good bad guys” had a leader who had sit-downs with Marine leaders
(01:10:30:00)
o Marines would show the Iraqis the “hot spots” (01:11:00:00)
The alliance really worked (01:11:34:00)
o Didn’t know if the Marines did something technically wrong, but the system
worked (01:11:36:00)
o “We won our war” by empowering the local government and restoring authority
(01:11:40:00)
Post-Deployment (01:12:30:00)
Was overseas until April 2007 (01:12:30:10)
After that, went back to California (01:12:34:00)
o Did some brief training there, and then “I was done” and went back home
(01:12:40:00)
After leaving Iraq, was always following current events (01:13:20:00)
o Especially interested in where had been stationed (01:13:25:00)
5 months after leaving, the city of Fallujah had become peaceful (01:13:35:10)
o A general was able to walk down the street without any armor (01:13:36:00)
o A Kentucky Fried Chicken was built (01:13:41:00)
Had news reporters tag along while on missions (01:14:16:00)
o Would “make them miserable” just for the fun of it (01:14:17:00)
o Reporters were always professional and stayed out of the way of the soldiers
(01:15:02:00)
o Was only able to see the documentary of the Christmas Day raid (01:15:13:00)
o Seemed like Baghdad always got the attention in the media, and it wasn’t really a
hot spot at the time (01:15:43:00)
“I left a good example” during the time overseas (01:16:40:00)
o Got to solve many problems (01:16:46:00)
Becomes a part of the VFW, or Veterans of Foreign Wars (01:017:45:00)
o Works there full time after returning home (01:17:53:00)
o Involved in all sorts of operations including non- profit and financing
maintenance (01:18:00:00)
Would like to become educated in journalism or economics (01:18:22:00)
o Before enlisting, was going for chemistry, but is not interested in that anymore
(01:18:27:00)
�
One hard thing about adjusting as a war veteran is losing all the authority you had
overseas now that you have returned to society (01:18:56:00)
o Become something of a “kid” compared to where you stood in the foreign lands
(01:19:17:00)
o Economically difficult too because few skills transfer over into an American trade
(01:19:47:00)
War is highly glamorized by popular media, especially movies (01:20:37:04)
o It’s not a captain who is calling all the shots, it truly is a “corporal’s war”
(01:20:45:00)
Marine Corps is “forever” (01:21:37:20)
o Coming out of Iraq, everything has “slowed down” compared to how life used to
be (01:22:00:00)
o Tough to come back and feel that you may not ever be as important as you were
overseas ever again (01:22:13:10)
o Veterans are now the easiest to get along with (01:22:21:00)
o Feels like “I can accomplish so much that nobody really knows about."
(01:23:10:00)
“Older” than the people who were not Marines (01:23:48:00)
o Marines do not look like they are portrayed by stereotypes. They look young
(01:24:11:00)
o “The world looks at us differently” (01:24:58:00)
“I’m proud of what I did” (01:26:10:00)
�
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
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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
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Cardenas, Benjamin (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
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Cardenas, Benjamin
Description
An account of the resource
Ben Cardenas was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan. , he joined the Marines in 2001 after one semester at Grand Rapids Community College. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, he was sent to Djibouti in 2001. He remained there for 9 months where he was primarily involved in force protection. He returned home for a brief time and was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in September of 2006. While in the Middle East, Cardenas was involved greatly in military advisory because of his advanced communication skills. He and his comrades were able to gain a level of trust within the community, which became a catalyst for the city's advancement and unification. 5 months following Cardenas' retreat to the United States, Fallujah became a completely peaceful and functional city. Cardenas stayed in Fallujah until April 2007 when he returned home.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Publisher
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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
United States. Marine Corps
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2011-09-08
Identifier
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CardenasB1248V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9624108968526b25d03d04bb485173d9.mp4
7c47b775020bd9adad34e675ecd684f7
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/29c161ef2361c50654dda1acecebcd86.pdf
7372a4d5d40f719686f2dc362656ae4b
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Iraq
Sherman Christensen
(1:21:52)
Background information (00:14)
Born in Covington, Kentucky, on February 24, 1988. (00:15)
Sherman was adopted. At age six he moved to Utah where he and his family stayed for 10 years.
Finally they moved to Petoskey, Michigan. (00:20)
His father worked teaching college level courses. (1:00)
He attended high school in Petoskey he graduated in 2011. (1:09)
On 9/11 he remembers being in the car and having the radio cut with a breaking news
announcement. (1:55)
He wanted to see what was happening. But his house did not have a television. (2:30)
Sherman does not recall the invasion of Iraq as clearly as he does 9/11. (4:03)
He was a big fan of history growing up and read many books about iconic early Americans. This
inspired him to go into the military. (4:56)
Sherman began talking to a Marine recruiter when he was a sophomore in high school. He
originally wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force but was unable to because of his eyesight. (5:56)
His parents were unsupportive of his choice to go into the military as they were hoping he
would serve on a mission for his church. (7:24)
His parents were generally unsupportive of his choice throughout the entirety of his military
career. (8:28)
Sherman signed up for the Marine Corp. reserve in February of 2006. He started training in the
summer of that year. (9:21)
Training (9:36)
Sherman was first placed in a program to ready the men for basic training. (9:38)
Sherman was in this program for six months before being sent to boot camp. (10:22)
He was then sent to California for his basic training.
Sherman’s training was completed in a three months long stint with basic and advanced training
included. (11:20)
When he arrived in California, they had to wait at the airport for buses to pick the men up.
(12:31)
Once the men arrived in the base, the drill sergeants immediately began yelling at the trainees
and placing them in platoons. (14:05)
The Reserve tried to get the men ready for boot camp but it was inadequate.(15:09)
The first week of boot camp involves a lot of paper work, medical checkups, and ends at a basic
test. (16:21)
When tested for his aptitude he qualified for many specialized jobs, but he wanted to be in the
infantry. (18:15)
By the end of boot camp men were able to understand how things work in the military but
Sherman never entirely was used to it. (19:22)
�
Sherman trained only along men. There were some men who were defiantly older as the
common recruit which was just out of high school. These older men in their late 20s seemed
psychologically stronger than the common recruit. (20:24)
For most of the recruits, it seemed common for them to have a history of military service.
(22:40)
Sherman was able to adapt to boot camp and the military fairly well. (23:40)
If a soldier was washed out, they will with be completely discharged or have to start training
over again. (25:42)
First phase of training is basic learning of physical skills like marching and emphasis on discipline.
The second phases is when weapons training and long hikes occur. The third phases consisted of
guard duties and the more complex workings of the military. (28:20)
Advanced training (30:30)
After boot camp in January of 2007, Sherman was given 10 days on leave. (30:30)
Sherman’s infantry training took place at Camp Pendleton and lasted two months. Here is where
he got his basic MOS. (30:45)
In the first week the men will cross train on various weapons. (31:33)
Sherman served as a mortar man. This was still a simple weapon and worked much like it did in
the Vietnam era. (33:46)
It was odd being in Infantry training because the men were technically marines but also still in
school. (35:21)
There was a physical element of training that was used in order to teach the trainees particular
lessons. They were not deliberately beat up. (37:29)
Arrival and in Country Training (38:55)
Sherman was assigned to Bravo Company 124 and was attached to Weapons Company. (38:38)
In August of 2007 Sherman was told his unit was headed overseas. They left for Iraq in
September of 2007. (40:54)
Before being sent into combat, Sherman’s unit had to go through a series of training exercises
judged by another unit to see if they were ready for combat. (44:38)
Sherman was given basic language for Iraq service. (46:10)
When being sent to Ira the unit was flown to Germany then to Kuwait. (49:20)
The only thing the men were issued where their personal weapons such as rifles but no
ammunition. When they were issued ammunition they were issued one magazine. (49:56)
The heavy weapons such as mortar systems, .50 cal machine guns and grenade launchers were
exchanged between units. (53:20)
In-Country Training (54:30)
For the first several weeks in country the replacement unit is taken out by another to be shown
how to carry out patrols and intended tasks. (54:40)
The men often encountered small villages while traveling in country. Though the areas were not
dangerous, IEDs were very prevalent. (55:46)
The Iraqi army and police were frequently in contact with American soldiers. (57:20)
�
The 81mm mortar, the weapon that Sherman worked with, was not allowed to be used in
country due to the amount of damage it was capable of causing. (59:31)
Sherman was assigned on his first time out with an experienced unit he was made the driver of a
humvee during a night assignment without any night vision equipment. (1:02:24)
M-raps, armored trucks, were used but Sherman never had to drive one. (1:04:35)
The purpose of a night mission was to established what the streets looked like at night and how
they acted when they ran into U.S. solders. (1:05:17)
Service in Iraq (1:06:00)
Most assignments were simply to patrol areas and check for IEDs and weapons caches. (1:06:03)
One of the hardest parts about the war was that it was not uncommon to help someone out
who would soon shoot at American soldiers or had been shooting at them. (1:07:00)
Money was able to get a lot done in Iraq. Paying for information was easy. (1:07:57)
Company commanders would occasionally come out to see how particular companies were
running. (1:08:47)
The unit did have a wanted al-Qaeda list. The men often captured these persons of interest. At
times the unit joked that they were police men as much of their duties included policing and
arrests. (1:09:27)
Snipers did become a problem but not with Sherman’s company. (1:10:26)
Life in Iraq (1:11:12)
Sherman was in Iraq for 11 months. (1:11:12)
The Marines lived in wood “huts” with bunk beds and no air conditioning. (1:11:15)
Lunch and dinner were provided. (1:12:01)
Parts of Sherman’s unit worked at an Iraqi police station. (1:13:00)
It was understood that marines, particularly those from the reserves, would not be overseas for
more than seven months. (1:14:11)
Sherman’s unit did have several casualties from IEDs. But for the most part his unit was very
lucky and relatively untouched. (1:15:54)
More often than not there was an internet station that was available and working for the
soldiers. (1:16:45)
TQ would have some forms of entertainment. Sherman’s base did not have any amenities.
(1:16:52)
Life after Iraq (1:17:21)
When the men returned they had accumulated a month of leave. When they returned back in
country the men could either take the leave or the military would purchase this time off of
them. (1:17:33)
Sherman returned to the U.S. and Michigan in August of 2008. At this time he had three and a
half years reaming on his service. To finish it he served one week a month and two weeks during
the summer. (1:18:10)]
He began his major in Psychology at Grand Valley State University. His goal is to go to Law
School. (1:19:01)
Sherman finds it easy to pick out veterans in his classes. (1:19:55)
�
He finds that the service had made him much more disciplined and a bit more critical of other
individuals. (1:20:34)
�
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
Christensen, Sherman (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Christensen, Sherman
Description
An account of the resource
Sherman Christensen, born in Covington, Kentucky, in 1988, served in the U.S. Marines and Marine Reserve stating in February 2006 and served 11 months in Iraq in 2007-2008. He joined the Marines out of high school in February of 2006. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton as a mortarman, and was assigned to Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 24th Marines. During his service in Iraq, Sherman mostly patrolled and looked for road side bombs and IEDs.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (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
United States. Marine Corps
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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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
2012-09-27
Identifier
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ChristensenS1443V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/126138f799fba9e10ede9632c53b83c5.mp4
498dfa695f71c3b5806c93c0c3f2c4d3
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/de00fc575d3f16f166477424107b23c0.pdf
cd04d5bb24a751fd0ce695f808b35df1
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
James Cooley
Iraq War
Total Time: 25:30
Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (00:25)
•
•
•
•
•
Born in Wyoming, MI
Joined the Army in March, 2003 at age 17
He joined the day after the United States invaded Iraq
Joined because he wanted to serve the country and that they would help pay for
school.
Joined the National Guard because he was not old enough to be in the Regular
Army,
Training (02:13)
•
Basic Training was 13 weeks long during the summer between his Junior and
Senior years of High School at Fort Benning, GA.
Active Duty (03:55)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In Iraq, worked in a transportation unit. He operated a 50 caliber machine gun on
a truck with guarded the convoys.
Arrived in Kuwait at an airstrip and then boarded a bus which convoyed up to
Camp Taji in Central Iraq.
He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.
He was able to stay in touch with his family by letters, by phone, and email.
His duty was to keep the trucks up to standard and keep their weapons in working
order.
They would run their missions at night, and during the day he would watch
movies and eat junk food.
Spent most of his time traveling around Kuwait and Iraq.
Didn’t really interact with the local population while he was there.
He was in the same company as his brother, and he trained the Iraqi Army.
Return Home (0:20:50)
•
•
•
He flew from Iraq to Fort Riley, KS and then to Grand Rapids when he came
home.
Got a job upon returning home, and then began attending Grand Rapids
Community College a month later.
Due for another year long deployment.
�
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
Cooley, James (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Cooley, James
Description
An account of the resource
James Cooley joined the Army National Guard in 2003 at age 17, and served in the Iraq War. He worked in transportation while he was there, specifically he operated the .50 caliber machine gun on a truck that guarded convoys. He served a yearlong deployment, and at the time of the interview is scheduled for another year tour of duty.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Lenartz, Michelle (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
United States. Army
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-05-29
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
CooleyJ
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0d3bc190fb0364a98e34d7ae969e5cfb.mp4
e6a74ffc2c530a3eee53105a6234c111
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1a6371fb060feedf3303f42573d1f3b3.pdf
0ae773cdcdd2f24232d685b7d31f2a1a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans' History Project
James Cooley
Iraq War
43 minutes 39 seconds
(00:00:24) Early Life
-Born on March 6, 1986
-Grew up in Caledonia, Michigan
-Involved in sports in high school
(00:00:44) Enlisting in the Army Pt. 1
-Shortly after he turned 17 years old an Army recruiter called him about enlisting
-This was in 2003
-Sister had joined the Army six months prior to him turning to 17
-Father served in the Air Force, grandfather in the Marines, and cousins also served in the Army
-Patriotic duty, family history of service, and paid-for college encouraged him to enlist
(00:01:44) Training
-Took basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia in the summer before senior year of high school
-Came back home and completed high school after taking basic training
-Received Advanced Individual Training after graduating from high school
-Completed his AIT and received a month of leave before deploying to Iraq
-Basic training was a different experience, but a great experience
-Learned how to shoot a rifle, throw grenades, and rappel down walls in basic training
-Highly competitive atmosphere during basic training
-Didn't know what to expect when he started basic training
(00:03:15) First Deployment to Iraq Pt. 1
-On his first deployment to Iraq he worked in transportation
-Drove trucks between bases delivering food, supplies, ammunition, and vehicles
-Average daytime temperature was around 130o
-Body armor and fatigues made it feel like 145o
-Hard to breathe outside
-A lot of the missions took place at night when the temperature was between 100o and 110o
-Had to contend with dust storms and the rainy season
-Found that the majority of Iraqis lived in mud huts with tin roofs
-There was trash everywhere and civilians formed little villages in the garbage dumps
-Made him more grateful to live in the United States
-Civilians weren't hostile
-Most appreciated the American presence
-Insurgents coerced civilians into fighting the Americans
-Threatened with their family being executed
-Initial mission in Iraq was to depose Saddam Hussein and secure the Iraq/Afghanistan border
-Didn't think about the politics of the mission
-Just tried to do his job and do the most good as possible
-Helped vaccinate Iraqis and provide them with better healthcare and better schools
-At the time he was still angry about 9/11 and it was a huge motivator for him as an 18 year old
-There was a lot of ambiguity when it came to combat in Iraq
-In a convoy they had limited defenses if attacked by Insurgents
-Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were a common threat to convoys
�-Insurgents used hit-and-run style attacks with rifles and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs)
-There were a lot of situations where they had to engage in combat despite not being infantry
-Felt nervous on his first convoys, but he grew more confident
-Trucks did not have armor on his first deployment
-Lined the bottoms of the trucks with sandbags to give them protection against IEDs
-If you were running 15 minutes early or 15 minutes late you might avoid an ambush
-In that case the Insurgents hit the convoy before his or the one that came after his
-Created a sense of invincibility at cheating death
-Learned to accept the randomness of death
-Easier to accept the prospect of your own death than the death of comrades
-Made close friends and they became like brothers
-Still friends with them
-Has stood at their weddings, spends time with them, and closer than his civilian friends
-Found a lot of his stress on his first deployment came from leadership problems
-Being ordered to do something you wouldn't have to do if not given an order to do it
(00:14:37) Coming Home Pt. 1
-Struggled more with coming home than the actual deployment
-Brother was in the same unit as him which made the deployment easier
(00:15:11) Deployments
-First deployment lasted almost a year
-Second deployment lasted nine months
-Two years between deployments
-On both deployments he went with his brother
(00:15:45) Combat in Iraq
-Didn't know who the enemy was in Iraq
-Combat was similar to the Vietnam War
-Had to abide by the Rules of Engagement
-Not allowed to fire unless shot at by a combatant holding a weapon and shooting at them
-Hesitated to shoot at the enemy
-Afraid of accidentally killing a civilian and being sent to jail
-Just wanted to defend his convoy and go home alive
-Insurgents hid among civilians
(00:18:20) Coming Home Pt. 2
-Spent a total of 18 months in Iraq for both deployments
-Friends from high school had gone to college, so he had no friends around when he came home
-Veteran friends lived all over the country, so it was difficult to connect with them
-When in Iraq someone was always ready to do something no matter the time
-Civilian friends were busy with their own lives and couldn't meet up at any time
(00:19:45) Enlisting in the Army Pt. 2
-Parents were scared, but supported him
-Mother signed the paperwork allowing him to enlist as a 17 year old
(00:20:10) Second Deployment to Iraq
-On his second deployment he was a Detainee Payroll Manager
-Gave him experience with computers and he had an associate's degree
-Allowed him to get practical job experience for a civilian job
-Some men were able to bring skills home while others were not so fortunate
(00:22:24) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Pt. 1
-Had mild post traumatic stress disorder
-Optimistic personality helped him cope with the PTSD
�-Had trouble with heavy drinking every night when he came home
-Unhealthy part of his life
-Counts himself lucky for overcoming his PTSD
-On average, 22 veterans commit suicide every day
-Has met veterans struggling with more PTSD
(00:23:40) Reenlisting
-As of 2015 he is trying to reenlist as an officer
-Service related injuries might prohibit from reenlisting though
(00:24:00) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Pt. 2
-Moved in with a friend and they had deep conversations about the war and his service
-Helped him cope with his PTSD by having those conversations
-Speaks at colleges about his time in the Army and in Iraq
-Also helps him by talking about his experiences
(00:24:53) Changes in the 2000s
-Had Myspace, AOL Instant Messenger, email, and letters to communicate with home
-Now, soldiers have a wider variety of ways of keeping in touch with family and friends
-Realizes that a lot of younger people don't remember the September 11th Attacks
(00:25:47) Reflections on Service Pt. 1
-Learned to take a situation and make it positive
-You chose to make the situation positive or negative
-A lot of learning opportunities in Iraq
-Learning how to control emotions
-Learning to make important decisions as a young man
-Grew up quickly
(00:27:10) First Deployment to Iraq Pt. 2
-Iraq is roughly the size of California
-Moved supplies from base to base all over the country
-Longest mission was 17 hours of travel without any breaks
-Southern Iraq is mostly desert while northern Iraq is more mountainous
-Rainy season caused more problems in the north than in the south
-Water and oil on the roads made travel hazardous
-Difficult driving at night because of sleep deprivation
-Caused accidents
-Given free Red Bull to help the soldiers stay awake
-Had only a few engagements with enemy forces
-Convoys were intimidating which kept away enemy forces
-Had .50 caliber machine guns and Mark 19 automatic grenade launchers
-Truck itself was imposing
-At the time they were trying to help look for the sniper al-Zarqawi
-Pulled some guard tower duty at bases
-Insurgents tried to use drive-by attacks to hit bases
-Guard towers lined the roads and each guard tower had a radio in it
-Allowed guards to report an enemy vehicle and intercept it down the line
-Insurgents were unorganized thugs and untrained civilian conscripts
-At first, he feared Iraqi children coming up to him
-Learned they weren't a threat and usually just wanted candy from a soldier
-Had to be cautious though
-Insurgents used women, disabled people, and children as suicide bombers
�(00:32:40) Opinion of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
-Feels that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is an abomination
-Funded by the sex slave trade
-Carries out brutal executions
-Could have been snubbed quickly had the U.S. stayed in Iraq
-Iraqi government wasn't stable enough to hold off ISIS
-U.S. leaving created a power vacuum for ISIS to occupy
-Will probably have to send in ground troops to Iraq, again
-ISIS will probably not just go away and the longer they exist, the more resilient they'll become
(00:34:16) Advice to Future Soldiers
-Before you join, pick a job that will give you experience in the civilian workplace
-Try to do something that you'll enjoy in the Army, and enjoy as a civilian
- Stay positive
-In the Army you can gain rank relatively quickly
-If you want to go to college first, join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps
-Will allow you to enter the Army with the rank of 2nd lieutenant
-Have more leadership responsibilities and have more influence
-Army needs more officers with experience and good leadership abilities
-As experienced officers leave they're being replaced with incompetent officers
(00:36:43) Iraqi Civilians
-Civilians wanted to help, but were afraid of retaliation from Insurgents
-Tried to give soldiers tips whenever possible
-A lot of civilians just wanted to live their lives
(00:38:15) First Deployment to Iraq Pt. 3
-During the first couple weeks he had trouble staying calm
-There were still unsecured cities in 2004/2005
-When he returned to Iraq in 2008/2009 those cities had been secured
-At least once a week Insurgents tried to attack bases
-Infiltrators, mortar attacks, rocket attacks, or drive-by attacks
-Got desensitized to it
-Remembers one soldier watching a war movie on his laptop in the middle of the night in the barracks
-Quickly instituted a headphone rule at night after that
-Slept outside when they were at other bases
-No light pollution allowed him to see every star in the sky
-Better than sleeping in dirty transit barracks
-Slept on the top of the engine compartment to keep warm
-Days started with checking the trucks
-Made sure the tires and engines were in working order and if they needed any maintenance
-Kept the trucks ready to go at a moment's notice
-If he had no other duties or no mission to go on then the rest of the day was his
(00:42:23) Reflections on Service Pt. 2
-Doesn't regret joining the Army
-Great for him at that point in his life
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
CooleyJ1820V
Title
A name given to the resource
Cooley, James Peter (Interview outline and video), 2015
Description
An account of the resource
James Cooley was born on March 6, 1986 and grew up in Caledonia, Michigan. In 2003 he enlisted in the Army. He received basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and after that Advanced Individual Training. He deployed to Iraq and served with a transportation unit, moving food, ammunition, supplies, and vehicles to bases around the country. He also helped with the distribution of humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians. After nearly a year he returned to the United States and spent two years in the United States. He redeployed to Iraq and worked as a Detainee Payroll Manager. His first tour was in 2004-2005 and his second tour was in 2008-2009. His enlistment ended after his second tour, but as of 2015 he is trying to reenlist as an officer.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Cooley, James Peter
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Vansuilichem, Michael (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. National Guard
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
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>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-05-21
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b172811871820a013d0e4f270f4036e.mp4
892ceeec6e407878e6a69846dcb4c299
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e64eae7b242635538362e32917fb5926.pdf
764caf8501c220ec19b6b99acf2a4b1b
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Interviewee’s Name: Mike Day
Interview Length: 45 minutes
Pre-Enlistment (00:30)
•
Childhood (00:35)
o Born in Napa Valley, California in September, 1984. At age 2, he and his parents
moved first to Whitehall and then Grand Rapids, Michigan. (00:37)
•
Family (0:42)
o Growing up, his father worked as a fiber optics man on televisions. (00:51)
•
Education (01:08)
o In high school, Day mentions being a small town boy involved in activities such
as going to the beach and spending time with friends. (01:32)
o When 9/11 hit, Day was age 17 and was in the principal’s office and he relates
how he saw the World Trade Center being attacked. (01:41)
Enlistment/Basic Training (02:03)
•
Why he joined (02:14)
o Upon completion of high school, being that he was 17 and not quite eligible to gin
up for the service, he didn’t know what he was going to do. In April, 2003 he
walked into a recruiter’s office and signed up and was on his way to Fort Knox
for basic training by May to be in the National Guard. (02:30)
•
Where he went (03:10)
o Fort Knox basic training (03:17)
Describes his attendance of basic training at Fort Knox in some detail.
(03:23)
Day mentions how his drill sergeants yelled at new recruits like him.
(04:04)
�
Basic for Day lasted about 9 weeks in three phases: Red in which they
underwent intensive training, White in which they eased up on a trainee
and blue phase in which they allowed the trainee to make phone calls
home. At the end of it, he was given a 1-day pass to visit family and
friends. (05:00)
o Fort Leonard Wood training (05:37)
Was shipped for from Fort Knox to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where
he spent 5 ½ weeks training and learning how to operate trucks. Mentions
this experience in some detail. (05:44)
Day spends some time describing some of his military responsibilities
with the big military trucks he worked with. (06:05) During his stay there,
he received a letter detailing what he could expect when he was deploying
to Iraq. After this experience he went home unsure if he was ready for
school yet. (07:17)
o Other activities (07:31)
Briefly describes his work with 7up and the day he was called up by the
National Guard to go to Detroit and then Grayling, Michigan to pick up
his training equipment. (07:50)
Briefly describes in some detail summer training and forward operation
base experiences. (08:50)
At about that time, he was still living with his parents when he received a
call from his staff sergeant who told him to report to the 1461st
Transportation Company(09:36) A week later he was attached to the 61st
Transportation Company doing some drills, and then off to Camp
Atterbury, Indiana. (10:20)
His impressions of Iraq up to this point were all based on what he heard
from the media. (10:45)
o Camp Atterbury training (11:10)
Went down to Camp Atterbury, where he trained for 3 months in 1st Aid
and road marching. (11:18)
Had a lot of training in the searching and disarming of IEDs before
encountering them in Iraq. Day mentions what his body armor consisted
of. (12:02) Once deployed in Iraq, he was issued an additional 20 pounds
of body armor for the weak points in his vest. (13:23)
�
The type of weapons he trained was M-4s and M-16s. (13:33)
After 3 months there, he was sent by air aboard a C-130 aircraft, making a
brief stop in Germany and flew on to Kuwait. (14:48)
Active Duty (14:55)
•
Where he went (15:05)
o Camp Speicher background (15:10)
Geographically, Camp Speicher is in Northern Iraq near Tikrit, Iraq. He
briefly describes his impressions of Iraq. (15:14)
Being attached to a heavy transportation unit his responsibilities included
transporting Abraham tanks, heavy equipment, and other equipment
places. (16:32)
On base, he briefly mentions different interactions with other American
military branches and British personnel. (16:52)
o Military missions (17:35)
On his first mission, Day went to Baghdad where he was pulled out of
transport platoon duty because he was found to have computer skills and
because of this he was put in charge to head up a MWR. (17:40)
Afterwards, he received a mission from his CO to go to Camp Liberty in
Baghdad. (18:13)
•
About that time, the level of danger was potentially dangerous.
Sometimes they came across IEDs but rarely he was ever shot at.
(18:52)
•
Briefly describes the setup of a typical convoy looked like and how
to look for IEDs. His first mission took place at about November
2006. (19:58)
•
Got fired at by a bunch of tracers. Called in the men in the gun
trucks who fired their 50-calibers. Briefly describes what transpires
when a mine blows a tire. (21:14)
•
Briefly describes how an IED blows up a humvee, and/or a convoy
truck. (22:52)
Briefly describes his daily schedule. (24:03)
�o Living conditions (25:39)
Among the places, Day mentions being deployed are Camp Liberty in
Baghdad; Camp Speicher near Tikrit; and Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq.
According to Day these camps each had their own feels. (27:43)
Contact with Iraqi civilians was limited. The most he saw were shepherds
herding their sheep until he got to the big cities where it was more heavily
populated. (28:33)
Was in Iraq for 11 ½ months with his National Guard unit. For the most
part respect was shown all around with the various branches. (29:30)
The unit his unit was to replace showed them their duties and
responsibilities and where to go. (30:57)
o Other activities (31:50)
On one encounter, Day was attached to a unit an area called Area 51 a
place where Kuwaiti civilians and refugees congregated. Attached with 5
others who were mostly interpreters he was responsible for the care of 500
internationals. (32:54) Briefly describes his time with them. (33:05)
o Going Home (34:46)
Before going home, Day trained the new replacements and then went back
to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where he spent 4 days. Was then paraded onto
a parade field in Jackson, Michigan with many other officers to hear Gov.
Granholm and other generals speak to them and then to be discharged
afterwards. (35:10)
Mentions that he had a few more drills with the 61st before returning to the
1463rd unit out of Wyoming, Michigan. (35:54)
After the Service (36:10)
•
Adjusting to Home (36:15)
o Spent the first couple of days in shock and readjusting to ordinary life. Also spent
time with friends and family. (36:31s)
o Afterwards, he went on to attend MCC for a while and then to GVSU. (36:47)
o While readjusting to civilian life, he relates how with the mentality of showing no
emotions and surviving everyday ruined many relationships he pursued
afterwards. (37:42)
�•
Military service after he was discharged (38:02)
o Day is currently spending another 3 years in the military mainly because it offers
him the chance for a payment bonus. To kids who might want to join the military
he mentions how positive the training and discipline he learned as a result of
joining the Armed Services. Also mentions that they should know what they are
signing up for before joining. (38:40)
o Day wraps by mentioning that the military forced him to grow up and briefly
mentions what his future plans were. (41:43)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Day, Mike (Interview outline and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Day, Mike
Description
An account of the resource
Mike Day was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who is currently serving in the National Guard. His recent term of deployment lasted about 11 ½ months. In this account, Day discusses his pre-enlistment year, his enlistment and training in the U.S. His term of active duty in Iraq has taken him to various camps and cities in Iraq as part of a transportation company. Among his duties included serving as a convoy truck operator transporting military equipment to their destinations.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
WKTV (Kentwood, Mich.)
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
United States. Army
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-05-19
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DayM
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/727fa9e77abfb241c783b9f8790e8d13.mp4
de875f5a5635dc6c3f4585b8f188c381
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4be26c81880a021172b035d79d6678f6.pdf
41e77aa8a880b01da56b889d59a55288
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Edward de Blécourt
(01:22:46)
(00:25) Background Information
•
•
•
•
•
Edward was born in Phoenix, Arizona on October 9, 1981 and later moved to Michigan
when he was 5 years old
Edward’s father was an electrical engineer and his mother stayed at home
He graduated from high school in May of 2000 and joined the Army Reserve on
September 11, 2000 because he wanted to travel and get out of Michigan
Edward was in the Army Reserve while working two other jobs
He had just started college and finished basic training when the towers were attacked in
New York
(2:30) Basic Training October 2000
• Edward was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training and AIT
• It was freezing cold during training while they were drilling and working with artillery
• Edward was training with all different types of people from all over the US
• He began Advanced Infantry Training working with large trucks and tractor trailers in
different types of weather and terrain
• Edward trained for 6 months and then only had to report one weekend a month
• He had been working with the 180th Transportation Company in Muskegon, MI
(8:30) After 9/11
• Edward was called up for service after 9/11 into Fort Custer in Michigan
• The atmosphere was very stressful and it seemed like no one knew what was going on
• Many of the people there had previously fought during Desert Storm
• All the rules tightened and everyone was more strict
• In January of 2003 Edward was involuntarily transferred to Delaware and only had three
days to get ready
• They were sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey and taking tests before leaving
• Edward was part of a new unit, the 946th and just getting to know everyone
(14:20) Iraq
• Edward received orders to leave in march and was on an 18 hour flight to Kuwait
• They arrived on April 4, 2003 and the place smelled terrible
• Landing was kind of scary and chaotic with everyone running all over the place
• He had gone from training in the freezing cold to a very hot environment
• They were staying in tents at Camp Wolf with no cots or sleeping bags
�•
Another unit had to move in also and the place was very crowded
(21:00) Living Quarters
• The Company began looking for somewhere else to stay and checked about three other
camps, which were all full
• They slept outside for a few days and then ended setting up in a huge warehouse that had
about 18,000 people living in it
• They began going on missions from Kuwait into Iraq and delivering fuel and gas
• There were many people on the side of the road begging
• They often got stuck in Iraq because it was too late to travel across the country
• They would have to sleep outside near their trucks; it was very hot with many bugs and
sandstorms
(27:30) Progress of the War
• Edward and others did not know anything about what was going on with the progress of
the war
• He would have to stand in line for four hours for a phone call and only had twenty
minutes to talk
• There was no Stars and Stripes for any news, just rumors
• Edward continued delivering supplies, but often the AC in the trucks malfunctioned and
the temperature could reach 140 degrees
• They drove as quickly as possible to avoid being attacked and so that they could get back
to their living quarters on time
(39:30) QRF
• The men continued to be told that they would be going home any time, probably next
month
• They were then told that they were doing so well that they would have to remain there for
another 6 months
• They were sent back to Kuwait and formed the QRF: Quick Reaction Force and basically
guarding in Kuwait for 5 months in anticipation of an attack
• They were very bored and there was usually no work to be done
• Edward often played video games and it was nice because there was AC
• He went into Kuwait City a few times and everyone there was very nice
(47:30) Waiting to Leave
• Edward had since learned a little bit of Arabic and some cultural customs
• He went on a few humanitarian missions and got to know a few civilians
• Many heard that they would not be in Iraq for a whole year so that the government would
not have to pay them veterans benefits
�•
They were continually pulled off missions and replaced, told they were going home the
next day, but then something would always go wrong
(50:45) Back in the US
• Edward left Camp Wolf and stopped in Amsterdam and then landed in New Jersey
• They stayed at Fort Dix for two weeks and then were sent back to Michigan
• It was hard for Edward to get back to civilian life and he continued in the Reserve until
March of 2008
• Edward began attending college again at Davenport University and had to eventually get
surgery on both his knees
• Driving very fast for long periods of time over rough terrain had messed up his knees
• The government paid for his surgery, but it took years for it to all get set up
(1:02:10) Driving in the Desert
• There were no roads in the desert or infrastructure
• The roads that do exist are in very poor condition and have been through battle
• Many trucks went into Iraq and were shortly completely destroyed
• There was dust everywhere and often accidents
• They always had to drive too fast to meet their deadlines
• Sometimes they would be traveling in a convoy of 100 trucks
(1:12:15) Looking Back
• Edward was not part of an established unit, but would have like to have been working in
a hierarchy with people he knew and trusted
• Many times things were confusing and no one knew who was in charge
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
de Blécourt, Edward (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
de Blécourt, Edward
Description
An account of the resource
Edward de Blécourt was born in Arizona in 1981 and later moved to Michigan. He joined the Army Reserve in 2000 and was called to active duty after 9/11. He was sent to Kuwait in March of 2003 and served as a machine gunner on trucks that delivered fuel to bases all over Iraq, but primarily on the Kuwait-Baghdad highway.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
BCTV
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
United States. Army Reserve
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-09-02
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DeBlecourtE
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/787da269f88be88bf3b8898fc58ef5f0.m4v
08621cc2f04cd9c639092fc76c4c36ee
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd3582d6cee632a92f294fbe3e33fb09.pdf
87afc4b36db43713979a65872818cb07
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Afghanistan and Iraq
Jeff DeLange
Length of Interview (00:21:10)
Background
Born in Grand Rapids, MI; attended Caledonia High School
Father worked at Steelcase and mother was a real estate agent; has two older sisters
First family member to serve in the military
Was called by a recruiter and thought it was a good idea; went into the Army (00:01:05)
Didn’t consider any other branches after being called
Would have considered the Air Force due to their higher quality of life while deployed
Basic training was a lot of work and little sleep (00:02:50)
Very difficult at the beginning, homesick; did basic training in Georgia (3-4 months)
Trained in Fort Benning, Infantry Training
Infantry, 11-Bravo
Had to adapt, no choice
Joined when he was 18, was quiet
Saw plenty of people get in trouble (mostly because of cell phones and cigarettes)
Not too much of a social life; had to be tough
Food was never good
o Every day had the same thing for breakfast: eggs, biscuit and gravy, sausage or
bacon, cereal; had very little time to eat (10 minutes for the last person in line)
o Lunch and dinner would change; half the time it was chicken
o Would drink water, no pop (not recommended)
�Afghanistan/Iraq
Served in Afghanistan March 2006-November 2006; in Iraq November 2007-January 2009
(00:06:15)
Worst feeling was the week before thinking about where he was going; one year of no break
Trip was a 24 hour flight, total; not a good feeling
The weather in Afghanistan (March) was still cool and rainy; stayed in one FOB (base) with no
showers and go every 2-3 weeks to another place eight hours away to take showers
End of May, had to leave the FOB, hotter temperatures
Remembers going on patrols during summer, would up to 100 degrees; had to wear a lot
of gear
End of November (2006), began raining a lot, got to mid 40’s
Iraq in November (2007) was the same way; even snowed one day (00:08:50)
Summer was painful heat
In Afghanistan, had a chow hall, less structured schedule; Iraq had more strict schedule
(00:09:30)
In Iraq, his patrols were scheduled from 4PM-12AM, always missed dinner
Would eat local food sometimes in Iraq, not in Afghanistan
Civilians he met in Iraq were often beggars (00:10:50)
Afghanistan was a less developed country, but didn’t have as many people begging
Never used his gun in Iraq; once in Afghanistan (00:11:40)
Thought they were going home in July (Afghanistan), but was extended another 3
months; before then, went on patrol in Mid-July (10th)
Were going through a mountain valley next to a river before being attacked; went on for
seven days
o Had gone through the area a month before and had been attacked
Lost one of the men there
Was a 10-day mission called Operation Perth
�
Thought they would be going back to America; one week later, stay was extended for
three more months
During combat, have to keep one’s head down and shoot; comrades are counting on you, as you
are counting on them (00:13:15)
Met a lot of friends (his best friend had just been deployed one week before this interview)
Stays in touch with a lot of his friends from the Army
In Afghanistan, didn’t have as much opportunity to contact his family; Iraq wasn’t as difficult,
would call every night
Longer missions during Afghanistan
Remembers calling his father about the extension
Played a lot of cards in Afghanistan, and watched DVDs (00:15:25)
Didn’t want to do too much (especially because of the heat) after patrols, during
preparations, cleaning gear, sleeping
Remembers 4th of July, had basketball courts set up, but didn’t have enough time use any
of them
Afghanistan/Iraq: Re-Deployment (00:16:20)
Re-deployed in November; opened up a FOB called FOB Warrior (Battalion he was in called
Warrior)
His platoon was one of the last to leave; had to teach the new people coming in, patrols
Iraq: JSS (Joint Security Station), turning Iraq over to the Iraqi people
Working with Iraqi National Police and Iraq National Army; showed them what they did
Flown back afterwards, 22-26 hour flight (00:18:05)
Remembers coming home from Afghanistan, had friends he celebrated with
Didn’t have too much difficulty readjusting back to civilian life
Has about 10 friends from the Army he still keeps in touch with
The Army taught him independence, how to work hard, teamwork, how to be adaptable
(00:19:45)
�Doesn’t regret joining the Army; learned and experienced lot, made a lot of great friends; it was
hard, but has no regrets
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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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.
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1914-
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<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
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
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<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
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Title
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DeLange, Jeff (Interview outline and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
DeLange, Jeff
Description
An account of the resource
Jeff DeLange served in the Army for a total of five years as an infantryman and toured in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2006 and 2009 where he conducted patrols and later helped with the turnover of operations to the Iraqis.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Miller, Hayden (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
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
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
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eng
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2009-11-01
Identifier
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DeLangeJ
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
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video/mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4627f039a4ccb193c6abeb6f40f9066f.mp4
bb9b176b56697f04b4d80b223a82f571
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dbc666c41b7c7d0ec7d0bcd68eb2fd97.pdf
b12a01359ad39d89ee1bf6f8f9537674
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Air Force, Air National Guard: pre-Iraq, Iraq
Autumn DeRoo
Length of Interview: 52:36
(00:00)
JS: We’re here today with Autumn DeRoo of Holland, Michigan. The interviewer is James
Smither of the Grand Valley State Veteran’s History project. Autumn, can you start by giving us
a bit of background on yourself. For instance, where and when were you born?
AD: I was born in 1979, in Holland, Michigan. So I grew up in western Michigan.
JS: Okay. And can you say a little bit about your family background.
AD: Well, I have parents who were divorced when I was young, and… ooh, what else. What
would you like me to say?
JS: Well, like your maiden name is Chavez, for instance.
AD: Yes. It is. My dad is Hispanic and my mom is Dutch. So it’s a unique combination. So I
grew up in west Michigan, Holland particularly. Went to West Ottawa High School, graduated
in 1997, from there. I don’t know what else to say.
JS: Well, from that point, did you join the Air Force from there?
AD: I did. I signed up prior to graduating from high school. I knew very early on in high
school that I didn’t want to pursue a college education. Because I didn’t really know how,
because it was not available to me. My parents didn’t go to college. And that weren’t really
familiar with that. It was, you graduate from high school and you go on into the work force.
(01:17)
JS: What kind of student were you in high school?
AD: Not a very good one. (laughs) Not a very good one. I was quite bored a lot of the time. I
wasn’t interested in a lot of the subjects. And I don’t think I was really well prepared at home,
for schooling, whether it was the high school level or the college level. And so I was not real
interested in the studies in high school. So…I didn’t really do much with that.
JS: Okay. And where did you get the idea of joining the military?
AD: Well, I have a family background, of the military. My great uncles, two of them, they had
a full career. My dad was in the military. He served in Vietnam. My grandfather and my great
grandfather were all in the military. I didn’t really think too much about it but my uncle, I spoke
to him more and I got a little bit more information from him and he helped me to make the
�decision on what was best for me. And, you know, as far as the branches and what the service
could offer for me.
(02:31)
JS: So what was appealing to you about the Air Force?
AD: Well, the biggest thing was it was a job and training. I didn’t really know about the
benefits until much later. But that’s exactly what I needed. I didn’t want to work in a factory. I
didn’t want to have my parents life, essentially. Cause that’s what you did at that age. You
would go to high school and sometimes not even finish and then you would go straight into a
factory and you know, do whatever job was available to you. But I knew that wasn’t really how
to make a future for myself. So I really wanted to have some sort of training, some sort of skill.
So I knew that the military, in speaking with my uncle, would be able to offer those skills to me,
that training, and give me a career. So that’s my primary reason for joining and having that
opportunity.
(03:23)
JS: Why the Air Force rather than the Army or the Navy or something like that?
AD: Well, my original thought was to be a Marine. I really wanted to be one of those hard-core
Marines and join more for the patriotic type, kind of my more naïve thought of that. But after
speaking with my uncle, and of course, I was seventeen when I joined, so I needed both parents
signature, and they were really against the Marines and any sort of combat job. So they signed
off on the Air Force, and my uncle, of course, after speaking with him, he was in the Navy, and
he thought that would be a good way to go, so I decided with the Air Force.
JS: Okay. And once you sign up, what’s the induction process and so forth? What happens
next?
(04:19)
AD: Well, you meet with a recruiter and they kind of give you a lot of information. Very
overwhelming. You don’t know, if you go alone or if you don’t go with somebody who knows
the process, you don’t really know what to expect and it’s kind of hard to thumb through all the
information. But, I went with my uncle to the first meeting and I decided it was really for me.
He gave me my options. Also, having my uncle there to really kind of walk me through the
process and know what I can and cannot do, was very helpful. So you see the recruiter and you
cedide whether or not it’s for you and you sign up. I was in the delayed enlistment program,
which was, you sign up in high school and until you graduate and you’re ready to be shipped off.
that’s what they call it, the delayed enlistment program. Then after I graduated I decided, I went
to the military processing center in Lansing, and that’s where you decide, you know, what you
want to do in the military.
(05:29)
AD: My uncle also mentioned that you really need to sign up for a guaranteed job, or they can
throw you in categories and groups and you don’t know. And I really knew at that time in 1997,
that I really wanted to do something in computers, in technology. I was really interested in that
�portion of what was coming. And so I went for that career and I said this is the job that I want,
and I don’t want to go in with just sort of an open field. I want to sign up for that job. So I
signed up for that job. And then all of your dates are kind of around, scheduled around, what
you want to do. So then after that you just kind of wait until you’re shipped off to basic training.
(06:18)
JS: Okay. Now do they do any kind of testing at this stage, you know, to find out what your
aptitudes are, if you’re qualified for particular types of training?
AD: Yes. Actually. I forgot about that. It’s called the ASVAB. Um, it’s a military
standardized testing and they try to place people where they’ll be successful. It is an aptitude
test. They have, well, when I went through, they had four different categories and they would
test your skills, so they can put people where they’d be most successful, most comfortable, and
where they would grow and work out. And, so, there’s a test that you do take, prior to going to
the military processing center in Lansing to decide where your career is going to go.
(07:05)
JS: Okay. So when you’re meeting with them, they already have the tests results so they can be
looking at that, or does that come in later?
AD: Um, now I think it’s all automated. So, yeah, I think you do get it. When I took it, it was
paper and pencil and [purple?] sheets. So I got a raw score the next day, but then my score
would come later on. But, I’m almost certain that it’s all computerized now.
JS: Right. Well, basically, you did well enough on that, despite the spotty school career prior to
going into that, that you could go where you wanted to go.
AD: Yes. Yes, I was able to meet the criteria for the career choice that I took. So…
JS: And where then did they send you for basic training?
(07:49)
AD: I was in San Antonio, at Lackland Air Force Base. That is where the Air Force basic
training is located at.
JS: And what did that consist of?
AD: Um, looking back, it all just seems kind of silly. Not the training. The training was
intense. It was very serious and helpful and really was an incredible experience looking back.
At the time, it wasn’t necessarily the most fun.
JS: So what do they have you do?
AD: Well, it’s a lot less intensive than the other branches, from what I’ve heard. You have your
physical training. You have your mental training. You have a lot of different classes, as far as
military history and, you know, kind of going over what the Air Force is about. You learn a lot
�of the different regulations and policies and they just are trying to educate you, to make you
understand about the military. And how we work and how we function. And they kind of go on
with those kinds of classroom work. So you have classroom work, you have the physical work.
You have the drilling. Which consists of the marching and those types of formations and
whatnot. Then, goodness, I’m trying to remember, it seems so far back.
(09:16)
AD: Just a bunch of different trainings. Ultimately, they’re really trying to reshape you into a
military minded person. They’re not trying to change you. They’re not trying to make you
somebody different. They’re just trying to shift your values and how you live your life. And
what’s important for the military.
JS: Okay. How much emphasis was there on discipline and following orders?
AD: Lots of discipline and following orders. So there was a heavy emphasis. I mean,
ultimately that’s really what the military is about. The discipline is throughout your career. It’ll
be throughout your life, if that’s something you take to heart. Um, following orders is very
important. It’s not like what you see in the movies. That’s very extreme. It’s just very
important, I mean, especially during intense times. And I’ve never been in a war situation, but I
can imagine that those orders need to be followed without question. And that’s certainly
something that they try to emphasize, because in times of war and intense moments, you would
really have to, you can’t think about it and you can’t question it, you just have to do and trust that
your officers and your non-commissioned officers, they really know what they’re talking about.
(10:39)
JS: Were you surprised by any of the stuff they had you do, or were there things that you didn’t
expect, or was it pretty much what you thought it would be going in?
AD: I can’t, ummm… as far as basic training, there was the cleaning. I mean, you had your
details and whatnot and they were very focused on cleaning and laundry, and…you had certain
people who did laundry, and certain people who cleaned the barracks and certain people who
cleaned the latrines, certain people who did certain things, and so that was really interesting to
me. But it builds a sense of that’s your job, you need to hold responsibility for it, not only to you
and the person you’re working with, but to the entire group. Because if you are not successful,
you know, sweeping the floor, it seems so irrelevant, but if you’re not successful with that, then
the entire group is not successful. And so, even though if you’re not actually doing that, it may
sound silly, but it really is a good exercise to bring a bunch of people who don’t know each other
together and we need to work together as a team and really, um, you know, make this happen.
So it was kind of a training exercise, which was, it was quite interesting.
(12:00)
JS: Okay. What was the most difficult or challenging of that first stage of training?
AD: The mental aspect. You know, at seventeen, it wasn’t my first time away from home, but
you know, you kind of get used to your life. To your, I don’t want to say freedoms, but you’re
used to just coming and going as you please. It really gets mentally draining, as far as you know,
�trying to go down that route. But at the end of training, you’re really, you’re used to it. And it’s
something that is very important and it becomes a part of you, so the mental part and trying to
get through the training, and worried about any sort of failure, I think that was my toughest
obstacle in that part of the training.
JS: So were you in good physical condition when you went in? So you could handle the
exercise and physical training and that kind of thing?
(12:58)
AD: Yeah, I wasn’t in the best. I didn’t run, like four miles a day, or anything. But I wasn’t
overweight or had heart problems or asthma or any of those types of problems that would
become an obstacle to doing the physical part. I was just average. Average high school kid,
McDonald’s and life, and non-exercise life, so…
JS: All right. Now what kind of people were you training alongside of at that point? You know,
where were they from, what kind of backgrounds did they have?
AD: All over. I mean, I remember there was people of all ages. Seventeen year olds. There
were people in their twenties and thirties. I want to say, oh, not at that point, we didn’t have the
older. There was this one woman I knew, she was much older. Um, but, we had people who
were in the civil air patrol. People who didn’t graduate high school, people who did college for a
little while. It was, it’s just such an array of different people and different backgrounds, people
in the training. There’s men, women, I mean, in my whole bunk or dorm or whatever it’s called,
I can’t even remember, you know, it’s part of the barracks, the women’s barracks. I mean, it was
full. We had sixty women just in my flight alone, so it wasn’t very limited on women, and I
mean, there’s all sort of different people from different backgrounds.
(14:29)
JS: Okay. Now when you finish the basic training, what do you do next?
AD: You go on to your technical training. They will send you to, um, whatever base your
technical training is. It’s all over the United States, so um, that’s pretty much what you do next.
You just go to directly into your career field training.
JS: Okay. So where do they send you?
(14:55)
AD: Biloxi, Mississippi. Keesler Air Force Base. That is where the Computer Communications
Operation is housed out of. That’s my career field and so that’s where home is for training.
JS: And what kind of a place was it physically? In Lackland, we have a really big extensive
base, so what was Keesler like?
AD: It was much smaller than Lackland. Of course, Lackland is big. It’s over across a couple
of roads, and you know, just ginormous. But Keesler is smaller. It’s right on the coast. Right
�across the street is the Gulf of Mexico, so it’s smaller. But it’s still bigger in comparison to some
of the bases that I’ve worked at, so it’s probably average.
(15:45)
JS: Okay. How many people were you training with? Did you have kind of a class or a cadre
that you were with, or how did that work?
AD: Yes, you do have, you have classes starting each week. And you have, I want to say an
average sized class. Maybe fifteen. Twenty people, roughly. Um, but you would start out, you
had one class starting out one week and the following week you had another class. And if you
failed, then you would jump back into the other class. But, pretty much everyone stayed with
their class and then at the end, you would have your graduation with your particular class that
you were in.
JS: Okay. So what actual skills or training were you picking up at this point?
(16:29)
AD: For mine, it was the computer communication skills. So we were doing a lot of work,
hardware, software, networking, um, what else were we doing. We did a lot of the fundamentals
and principles of technology, of computers in general. And the infrastructures of networks. We
did a lot of that type of work. They cram it all into three months, so you were working quite
long and a lot of homework and a lot of studying.
JS: Now did you get any time off? Like did you go to the beach, or anything like that?
AD: Sort of. Right after basic training, after six weeks of this hard drilling and away from
everything, no phone calls, no sort of luxuries, you go into your technical training. So to prevent
people from going completely wild, you graduate into steps into your luxuries. So, the first two
weeks, you’re still wearing your full uniform. You have a certain curfew. You can’t do certain
things. And then the next two weeks, you might be able to take your uniform off in the vening
and wear civilian clothes.
(17:49)
AD: Um, but you still have curfews and stuff. So you kind of graduate into the different steps of
what your luxuries are. Um, and then ultimately by the last step, you can go off base, you have
extended curfews, you can do certain things. That’s the ultimate goal. But the reason they do
that is so that you can just gradually step out of the hardcore basic training drilling and
mentalities. So you kind of ease out of it.
JS: What was the gender balance in your class? Was it about even, men and women, or more of
one or the other?
AD: No, it was more men. My career field definitely has a lot more men. I don’t know about
today, but there was definitely a lot more men than women. I think there was myself and I want
to say, two or three other women, in my class.
�(18:51)
JS: Okay. I guess part of it is we think of it as the computer science side of things, you have a
lot more men, if you think communications, you might have more women in there, or something
like that. But the group you were in, at that point, it was still largely male. Were there any
issues with that dynamic or were you all just kind of in this together so it didn’t matter?
AD: Well, we were all in it together, so I don’t really think that there was any sort of imbalance
there. I mean, there wasn’t any “I’m doing this better.” There was a lot of, at this stage, there
was a lot of we’re all working together, we all have the same goal, we all want to succeed and
learn, so we’d ask each other questions. We very much worked as a team. But we also had retrainees in there, which ae people who are in the military and are changing their career field.
And so we had a lot of some older presence in there. And some actual experience presence.
Um, so that was good to know and have that network and support. And they were just really
helpful in military knowledge in general as well as with the classroom.
(20:03)
JS: So that’s about a three month span, you said, that you’re there?
AD: Yes. My class was a three month span. You have classes depending on the career that can
be six weeks all the way to a year, two years, when you get into the extensive, like when you get
into linguists. But my particular one was sixteen weeks.
JS: And once you complete that, what comes next?
AD: Well, towards the end of your training, you will get your first assignment. So then you
prepare, you start preparing to go to that assignment. And so, it can be anywhere. You, they
give you a dream sheet, is what they call it. Because ultimately, that’s what it is. It’s this is
where I’d like to go. But they can pretty much send you anywhere. If you really don’t want to
go overseas, I think that you can request that. Especially with your first assignment. I didn’t get
an overseas assignment but I can’t remember really exactly how that works. But I ended up
going back to San Antonio, at Brooks Air Force Base. And that was my first assignment.
(21:10)
JS: Okay. And what kind of work were you doing there?
AD: Um, a bunch of different work. We had, I worked for the small computer center, which is
basically a fixing of the computers. They really you know, they do the hardware and the
software and they resolve any sort of issues there. I also worked for the inventory. We kept all
of the base inventory. So we had to be responsible, be accountable for all the equipment on base.
So I worked for them as well. Um, and I worked for the Help Desk a few times, just kind of
filling in and whatnot. But those were my primary jobs, at Brooks.
JS: All right. Again, what was sort of the routine like there?
(22:00)
�AD: Well, when you first come in as an Airman Basic, which I was, you have to live in dorms
and you have to live on base until a certain time. So I lived in a dorm on base. Um, and so that
was kind of incorporated into the routine. And then, you know, it was just very much a Monday
through Friday, 8-5 job. Just go in and do work. That base in particular, didn’t have the odd
shifts and hours. It was a very day job. Because they had a lot of civilians who worked there.
Um, they did, what are those things called? They’re those machines that, um, gosh, I can’t
remember. They’re those machines that they put you in it…
JS: Are they flight simulators?
AD: Well, they did have flight simulators, but they did some sort of, I can’t really remember.
Like if you have some sort of injury and they put you into these.
JS: Oh, MRI’s?
(23:04)
AD: No, there more of…I can’t remember.
JS: Okay.
AD: Sorry, I just can’t but it was a really interesting aspect of that base, but I didn’t work there,
so it wasn’t really that important to me. I can’t rembmer what they were called. But they did
have flight simulators.
JS: What was, as far as you could tell, what was the main function of the base? What did they
do there as opposed to Lackland or someplace else?
AD: Um, pretty much the unit, that unit I was telling you about, that was their main function.
They were really losing the functionality of the base. And it’s now a city base. I spoke to
somebody the other day, and they now have a Best Buy on it, and it’s no longer a guarded air
force base. I mean, like, they have shopping centers and whatnot on it. So it’s not really, I
mean, it was being phased out, so there wasn’t a real strong mission there.
(24:03)
JS: I guess in the late ‘90s, generally, the military was doing a lot of downsizing, and so forth.
Was that really noticeable to you, from your perspective at the time? Were you seeing that
things were changing or shifting or is that something you figure out later?
AD: I think it’s stuff that you figure out later. At that time, from what I understood, before I got
there, they really weren’t getting a lot of new people. And once I got there, we were getting
people all the time. So, I didn’t really notice it then. But then looking back at it now, it kind of
made sense because ultimately the base closed, as kind of an air force base and is now a city
base, whatever that may mean.
(24:48)
JS: All right. Now how long did you spend in that assignment?
�AD: I want to say I was there from ’97 to ’99, so a couple of years. A little over a couple of
years.
JS: All right. And do they just kind of routinely move people around or do you request changes,
or, what’s your next step?
AD: I actually requested the next change. I was ready for a different job and to move on. They
do occasionally have assignments that come out. You know, looking for someone of this
qualification to go here. Um, or, when it’s time for assignments, you can be thrown in the mix
and you’ll get assigned wherever. So this assignment came out to go to Colorado Springs,
Colorado. And so I applied for it and I actually was assigned to, for that assignment. That’s
where I ended up next.
(25:45)
JS: Okay. And then what kind of job did you have there?
AD: Well, I worked for Cheyenne Mountain Air Base. Um, it’s the mountain complex that you
see on Stargate SG-1. (laughs) So everyone is, is that where you were working? Is that the real
one? It’s not the real picture, I don’t think. Um, but that was really interesting. The complex is
inside the mountain. It’s on these huge springs. I mean, the building is on these huge springs.
You have a couple of blast doors that you have to go through. And you have to take the bus
inside the mountain, or you can walk, but it’s a long walk. So I was doing pretty much the same
thing. I worked for US Base Command and NORAD. I worked on the help desk. For a few
years. And I’ve done odds and ends. I’ve done different jobs here and there. Network
administrator, NT administrator, just different jobs.
(26:45)
JS: All right. And what was the atmosphere like at this place, as opposed to the other bases you
were at? Did it have a different feel to it because of the nature of duty there, or…
AD: It did. I think that’s a good observation. I think, it maybe did feel a little more important.
I don’t want to say that any mission is not important, because they all are, um, but being
nineteen, at that time, it’s nice to feel like you have more of an importance that just doing an 8-5
job and you know, fixing computers. While that seems…that it still important, but at that time, I
felt like this job was more important because of the nature of the US Base Command and
NORAD, that’s who I was working for,
(27:30)
JS: And how long did you spend there?
AD: Three years.
JS: And were you still, now were you able to live off the base, or were you still on it, or what
were you doing?
�AD: I started living on the base. I was still a lower ranking. But at that time, I was at Colorado,
I was eligible to move off base, and so then, yes, I did, transition to living on my own.
JS: Now that’s also the area where the Air Force Academy is. Was there any connection, or
back and forth, between the base and the academy, or…
AD: I didn’t have any work connection with the Air Force Academy. Um, it’s a beautiful,
beautiful base. The hospital, our military hospital is up there, so I have gone up there. But no
work relation. Um, Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base, those two are very
connected and I actually worked on both. Of Peterson and Cheyenne Mountain. And then
there’s another one, Schriever Air Force Base, I’m not sure whether it’s still there. But so it was
a large military community.
(28:34)
JS: Now, were you working at Cheyenne Mountain at the time of 9-11?
AD: I was. I was. Very…um, everyone tells me it’s an interesting story, but it was my
everyday life. So, um, I was thinking about that this morning. If that would come up. But,
yeah, the morning of, you know, they talk about knowing where and what you were doing,
Kennedy, Pearl Harbor, stuff like that. I mean, you don’t know that until you experience it, and
you know, I can tell you exactly where I was sitting, exactly what I was eating. I had just come
on for duty. Um, and next thing you know, two people came running down the stairs and flipped
on the news, cause they had access to a tv, on the third floor, and so, all of this unveiled and
happened and then we just pretty much had to sit and wait, wait for orders and wait to see what
was going to happen. Um, they shut down the Mountain. Closed the blast doors. It was just an
intense time. Because I worked for, I worked in the NORAD, where they watched the air and
space and so we really had to make sure that everything was functioning properly. We really had
to be on high alert, because of everything that was going on. Everything with the airplanes, and
the whole air traffic, and so that was what the monitor, you know, of. And so that was a really
interesting and tense time.
(30:11)
JS: Cause at that point, they basically emptied the skies. All aircraft had to land and get
everybody down and so forth, and so you’d in part, be monitoring that. Now basically, you were
just providing service. You weren’t necessarily watching the radar or anything like that, at that
point.
AD: No. No. We provided the service. I worked at the Help Desk at that time. And so if
anything were to go down, or if anything was needed, that’s kind of what our function was. And
we had to really be on the ball, especially with the communication factor. Because we had to
make sure that our communications, obviously they’re secure. But we had, also we had to make
sure that the communications lines remained opened and that they could have that
communication outside to the necessary parties. Um, so we had to really make sure that
everything was up and running and smoothly.
JS: How long did you stay locked down?
�(31:13)
AD: Oooh, I think, this was about 7. Our shift was 7 to 3. I don’t remember getting out of there
at 3. It was a while afterward. Um, they sent some people home. Some people were required to
stay due to the nature of their job, but they did swap out the shifts because they didn’t know what
was going to happen. I did stay past the shift, and they had to call in the next shift, but I can’t
exactly remember how long, but it was quite some time.
JS: And then did you do things at all differently after that, or were there other kinds of things
that you had to do following up on all of this, or did life go back to normal pretty quickly?
(32:05)
AD: No. Life took a very long time to get back, and not to normal. It hasn’t been normal since
then on a military base. Ultimately, all of the bases were closed down for days, I actually lived
on base at that time, and I actually couldn’t get back on base, so that was kind of difficult. I had
to find a place to crash for the night, you know, because I couldn’t get back home. So, you
know, I mean, just really secure. Um, really intense and it stayed that way for a very long time.
Our operations within work were very high paced, intense as well, and because of the somber
mood of everybody, that was just something that we just really focused on work, and we just
really made it happen, because you don’t, I mean, it was a tragic time. And that’s what you
focus on. You want to make it right. And you want everything to work. And you don’t want
anything to fail because you don’t want anything like this to happen again. So that was kind of
the mood and the tone that was set.
(33:20)
JS: All right. Now, not too long after that, we launched the invasion into Afghanistan, all that
kind of thing. Was that anything that had any kind of connection to what you were doing at
Cheyenne Mountain? Or was that other people’s business and you just did your stuff?
AD: That was pretty much other people’s, you know, missions and whatnot. And honestly, I
didn’t really know a lot about what was happening in the Middle East until I was on my next
base, in Europe. So until we actually launched the war, or the military operation on Iraq, so…I
wasn’t really aware of what was going on because our missions were not directly related to that.
JS: Okay. Now when do you switch to your next assignment, when do you move out?
(34:11)
AD: In 2002, is when I ended up going to my next assignment. Which was Lisbon, Portugal. It
was a NATO assignment. So it was not necessarily an American geared mission. It was an
overall NATO mission.
JS: Well, can you talk a little about what was going on there, in Lisbon, what you were doing
there?
AD: Um, it was actually kind of the same as at Cheyenne Mountain. I was kind of working in a
support department. But I wasn’t actually at a NATO base, I was at a Portuguese Air Base, that
�had a NATO contingent. And so there were only four Americans there. Three officers and
myself, an enlisted person. So there were four of us working. I did kind of the computer, techy
stuff and they did their positions. And I worked very closely with the Portuguese military, that’s
pretty much the majority who was there. I had one Spanish military person and one Italian
military person, who I was working with too, so that was quite interesting.
(35:24)
JS: How was working in that situation different from working in an American base?
AD: Well, um, that was, well…that was really an interesting time. The only women that were in
this contingent, um, they were secretaries. There were two. They were secretaries and very
much treated as such. So that was kind of interesting, trying to be taken serious and, um, being
able to do my job, because, you know, it’s a different culture. So that was very interesting. And
just the military, how they’re just relaxed with rules and regulations. I mean, we worked in a
bunker, underground. But they all smoked. You can all smoke, as so that was certainly
different. Coffee breaks were all the time, which I didn’t mind so much. They had good coffee,
or [beaka], as they would it. And it’s certainly just a different mentality. It’s very relaxed. I
mean, they’re very serious about their job and they take pride in their job. But it isn’t as
intense…I don’t know, it’s more of a relaxed feel. And people are like, we have a mission, we
have a job, but it’s also more of a peace mission, so it’s not intense.
(36:58)
JS: Now, what kind of activities were they serving or supporting out of that base? Were they
connected to peace-keeping efforts in south eastern Europe, like that? Or could you not really
tell what they were doing?
AD: Well, a lot of it was hard, because even though the NATO language was English, um, I
want to say 97 to 98 percent of the people who worked there were all Portuguese. So a lot of the
conversations and whatnot took place in Portuguese. And um, so I really didn’t understand the
mission fully. I knew that it was kind of like a NORAD mission, I mean you can see they had
their monitors where they would monitor the air, but I want to say it was more that they were
monitoring the military aircraft versus any sort of civilian aircraft. So, and they were connected
to all of the other NATO combined operations center. And we were all kind of connected that
way. But as for the actual goal and mission, it’s kind of fuzzy to me just because they all spoke
Portuguese.
(38:10)
JS: Now did you live on the base or someplace else?
AD: Off the base. All of the Americans over there, we didn’t have any sort of on-base housing.
There is one other NATO facility which is actually considered the NATO base, in that area, that
we kind of headquartered out of, in Oeiras. And that was kind of where our stuff was. But we
all lived out in the communities.
JS: So did you have an apartment some place?
�AD: Yes. I had a condo in one of the small villages. Um, where a lot of Americans lived and
whatnot. It was very accessible to trains and all of the tourist area, which was nice, cause they
speak English. And it was located close to the beach, and really a lot of the nice area, so that was
really nice, just to experience the culture in that way.
(39:04)
JS: Okay, and now, you’re working with a lot of European men and so forth, and you mentioned
that they weren’t quite sure what to do with female military personnel, did that ever become a
problem? Did you face any kind of harassment, or was it not at that level?
AD: It wasn’t at that level. It wasn’t at any sort of harassment level. It was more of an irritation
level and just being strong minded, I guess. I’ll put it nicely. They would, I would kind of…I
wouldn’t necessarily be mean, but I would be verbally strong and hold my ground, so you know,
let them know that I am here and I can do the job and whatnot. So ultimately, after a few
months, you know, I don’t think from my personal perspective that they came to trust that, you
know, but at least they didn’t just make me sit at a computer, and you know, try to make me be
their secretary.
(40:22)
JS: Okay. So they would have wanted you to do things that weren’t part of your job description
as far as little jobs for them, or…
AD: Um, not necessarily for them. I think they just needed to employ me, but they didn’t want
to employ me how I was supposed to be used. So I think it’s a big culture, and women in the
military for them is recent. So I didn’t, at first, I took it a little personal, but then after learning
more about the culture and stuff, I kind of figured out how I kind of needed to bypass that and I
didn’t entirely do that. But, you know, I was able to do what was needed of me. And it worked.
(41:16)
JS: Okay. And how long did you spend there?
AD: Two years.
JS: Now, you’re there then when the invasion of Iraq starts, and all of that kind of thing. How
did that affect what went on at the base when you were there, what you were doing?
AD: It didn’t affect our mission. It did affect the person… I don’t want to say personalities. It
did affect the mood there. You know, a lot of people that I worked with, they didn’t agree with
Americans. They certainly did not like George Bush. And they made it, they were very vocal
about it. They made that clear. Um, the best way I found was just to stay out of it. Not to really
voice any opinion or side, or what I thought, or just let them talk about it, you know, let them at
least talk to an American so they feel like they’ve been heard. So let them talk about it and that’s
fine. Everyone has the right to their opinion. I mean, Americans have their same beliefs, which
is what these people were saying. I mean, fine. You can have your opinion and whatnot and I’m
not going to say that you’re wrong or unjustified. I’ll let you talk to make yourself feel better.
So that was very interesting. I heard a lot of, you know, America this. But a lot of people were
�really, they could see the bigger picture. So you had both sides. So it was kind of nice to see
that you had both sides, of people viewing the bigger picture and um, really supporting and
understanding of the United States. But then you also had people who were concerned, just like
we all are. So that was kind of interesting.
(43:05)
JS: All right. Did they transfer people out, or did any of the Americans who were working
during that period go somewhere else or did they get re-assigned, or were they in a different
enough kind of assignment that the stuff didn’t really affect them?
AD: We did have one. He was sent over to a NATO position in Turkey. I don’t know exactly
what he was doing over there. I was actually supposed to go with him, but that kind of got called
off or something. I don’t know really what happened with that, but the both of us were supposed
to go over to Turkey and do some stuff over there, but he was over there, I wanna say, for only a
month. And that was the only impact that my little contingent had. The rest of us we were not
impacted at all.
(43:59)
JS: Right. Okay. Now, as you’re moving through these different positions, are you getting
promotions or extra training, or things like that at this time? Cause you come out as a sergeant
eventually. So where does that fit into things? Do you get additional training or courses along
the way, or new certifications, or what happens?
AD: Yes. You are constantly in a state of training. All the time. Um, you have, your first few
ranks as airmen as pretty much automatic with time in service. But you have on the job training.
After your initial technical training, you do course work by book. So you’re doing career
development courses is what they are called.
(44:45)
AD: And then you have different training opportunities depending on your job. You can be sent
on temporary duty, TDY, to a base for training, you can get it in house, you’re constantly, it’s a
constant state of training and learning. Which is very beneficial. So that part is alays going to be
happening, but as far as the promotion part, um, the first few ranks you are just automatically
promoted. But then once you start getting to the sergeant ranks, E5, E6, all of those, you have to
start testing. And so I was tested for Staff Sergeant my first time and I actually made it then. So
I was a Staff Sergeant very early on. Five years I think. So that was a benefit for me. And then
my last rank, an E6, which was a technical sergeant, I earned when I was in the Air National
Guard.
(45:45)
JS: Okay, so now after you finish the stint in Portugal, what did you do at that point?
AD: That’s when I decided to leave the military. Um, I still had a contract with the military but
they had, at this point, it’s called fore-shaping. They’re really trying to minimize the force, I
don’t know if it’s due to budget reasons or what. It seemed silly at the time, that they were doing
this because of the war that was going on. But you know, the Air Force doesn’t have a lot of
�mobility units that have direct relation to the war. A lot of communications and pilots and things
like that, so I was able to get out, on the fore-shaping, and I decided to leave. And then I joined
the Air National Guard, after.
(46:37)
JS: What motivated the decision to leave?
AD: Well, I was bouncing around and moving around so much, I was just ready to be in one
place and have a consistent job. I was ready really for consistency in my life. How old was I?
Gosh, I don’t even know. You know, I was in my mid-twenties and I was just really ready, you
know to have some sort of solid life. And so I decided it was probably in my best interest to
leave. Um, and so that was the choice that I made. And I decided to come back to my home
state of Michigan and see what opportunities were out here for me.
(47:21)
JS: All right. Now what were, what were your responsibilities with the Air National Guard?
You just had to be on call or available at that point, or what did you do?
AD: One weekend a month. Pretty much. And there were some exercises that they had,
periodically. I was pretty much in the Air National Guard from 2004 ‘til last spring. So it was
pretty much one weekend a month. I had time off and had times that I would go out to the base
and work sporadically, but nothing with a significant chunk of time.
JS: And what base would you go to?
AD: Um, it was Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. Um, they have, I think that’s the closest
one. Next to Detroit.
(48:09)
JS: Now, so then what else were you doing? You get back home and then what do you decide to
do at that point?
AD: Well, the military gave me a lot of skills and I was just really looking for a professional
career in the technical field. And so I spent six months looking for a job, and doing interviews.
And I interviewed with Grand Valley and they offered me a position in June of 2005.
JS: So you didn’t actually choose to go to college, or to take a degree, or…
AD: At that time, no. I had done college work previously. I’d taken random classes here and
there. But I hadn’t really decided that I wanted to go to college. I was thinking about it. I had
the Montgomery GI Bill. I was thinking about it, but at that point in my life I still wasn’t ready.
And I didn’t really know the value of a college education at that point, either.
(49:11)
�JS: And do you find that you’re sort of able to do the kinds of work that you want to do, just
coming out with your military experience and credentials? Does that get you where you want to
go at this point?
AD: It certainly has been beneficial to getting my career now. I don’t necessarily, I mean, I like
my job but I’m very much a geek at heart. I really like to tinker around with the computers and
really do get involved with that type of work. And that’s not something that is necessarily the
focus of my job here. Um, but I really enjoy what I do.
JS: Okay. When you were looking for a job was it an issue that you didn’t have a college
degree, for any of the places you were applying, or…
(50:02)
AD: I know that that was a huge thing. They really wanted a bachelor’s degree. I, at that time,
again, I was thinking, oh well, I have that eight years experience of high technology, so I was
just thinking that should be beneficial, but also I think a lot of it, I didn’t know the civilian world.
The only thing I know is the military, and I still struggle with that today, so going out there and
looking for a job, interviewing, resumes, any of that stuff, I had no idea at all. And, um, the
bachelor’s degree as well, that was a lot of the requirements for the jobs I was applying for. You
know, that is, that is something that is needed out there, so again, the mentality from my family,
you go out and you get a job. You don’t need a degree, a college degree. And so I still didn’t
understand the value of a college education at that point.
(51:03)
JS: Okay. Now if you’re looking at your own experience, what do you think your time in the
service did for you?
AD: Oh, it did so much. It really gave me maturity. It gave me a sense of purpose. It gave me,
it just gave so much to me, discipline, a work ethic. I mean, it made me stronger person.
There’s just so much. And it’s not just the technical portion or my job skills, that’s not really
what I feel the military gave me, even though they gave that to me. I feel it’s the life portion is
really what they gave to me. They gave me a life and something that I didn’t necessarily have
before. So I really value that.
JS: Do you think it really made you a more independent person or someone who could really
function better on her own, or…
(52:00)
AD: Definitely. Definitely gave me a lot of independence, a lot of confidence that, it’s okay, I
can be who I am, I can be independent, as a woman I can be smart, or I can do this, or, you
know, they don’t have the mentality where you’re going to fail. And they’re always, you can do
it. I mean, you have to. You don’t really have choice. So I think that’s been really beneficial.
JS: All right. Anything you’d like to add to the record before we close this out?
AD: No, I don’t think so.
�JS: You did a good job, telling your story. So thank you for laying it out for me today.
AD: Thank you.
(52:36)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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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
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DeRoo, Autumn (Interview transcript and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
DeRoo, Autumn
Description
An account of the resource
Autumn DeRoo made the choice to join the Air Force at the age of 17 early in her high school career. Going into a technological field, dealing mainly with computers, Deroo was able to work at Cheyenne Mountain with NORAD and the U.S. Base Command in the States, and was there at the time of the 9/11 attacks. She later served on a NATO base in Portugal, where she was when the Iraq War started in 2003. She eventually left the military as a Technical Sergeant and now works at Grand Valley State University.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
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. Air Force
United States. National Guard
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2009-12-01
Identifier
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DerooA
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4