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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/750cc5aeb6e71507f4ccb5a1a4ce5bea.mp4
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Les Alcumbrack
(01:02:00)
Background
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Full name is Lester Alcumbrack (00:14)
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From Kentwood, MI (00:31)
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Born in Grand Rapids, his family moved to the corner of 32nd and East Paris when he was about
five years old. (00:44)
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He was in the #8 District school, which had one teacher. (01:03)
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The school was about five and a half miles away. (01:14)
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He went to Godwin High School, as did all of his siblings. He was the youngest of five
children. (01:21)
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They usually walked to school. Sometimes his father dropped them off on the way to work.
(01:34)
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His father worked at a laundromat. It was initially called “U.S. Laundry,” and the name was
later changed to “American Landry.” (01:53)
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Les worked on nearby farms after graduating high school. (02:08)
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Graduated 1939. (02:27)
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He didn't pay much attention to international affairs, or WWII, he was too busy at the time.
(02:40)
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He heard about Pearl Harbor in Silver Lake. He and his girlfriend were delivering calendars for
his sister's church, and they heard about it on the car radio. (02:55)
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At the time, he didn't think about being drafted or enlisting. He was very afraid. (03:33)
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Later on, he attempted to enlist and was rejected because he was set to be drafted very soon.
(03:53)
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He was drafted a few weeks later. (04:16)
Training
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Went to Fort Custer. (04:38)
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He was given written aptitude tests. (04:47)
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Next, he was sent out to Yuma, AZ in the middle of the desert. (05:15)
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The trip to Yuma was his first cross-country trip. It was a long train ride. (05:27)
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At this time, he was not yet assigned to a company. (05:43)
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The dirt in Arizona was black, powdery and very dusty. (06:21)
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He had his winter clothes on because he had left Michigan in September. Arizona temperatures
reached the hundreds, and his clothes made him even hotter. The dust stuck to his sweat.
(06:21)
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They were split into four companies, A through D. He was in company A. (06:46)
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The base was in a mountain. (07:03)
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Basic training was in Yuma. It was mostly field hikes, and rifle training, but he missed most of
it as he was very sick. (07:10)
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He felt sick, and passed out in front of the doctor's office. (07:50)
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He had a fever of one hundred and four. (08:18)
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He was rushed to the hospital tent. (08:25)
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His sickness may have been infection from the water. He was hospitalized for forty-nine days.
(08:45)
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He didn't do much, but eat and sleep. He gained a lot of weight during his hospital stay. The
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lack of activity was a drastic change to his life at home on the farms. (09:00)
A man wanted him to change units. (09:18)
He talked with his superior officer about a transfer, and was denied. (09:42)
He didn't find out about his duty until after basic training, which he had not still finished.
(10:00)
He drove a truck, and took care of garbage on the base. (10:30)
Later on, he filled gas cans. There were about twenty truck drivers. (10:55)
Patton trained his men nearby. Les brought fuel to him, and took the empties back for refill.
(11:09)
Patton was training a large armored unit, which used large amounts of gas. (11:32)
Les' grandson later trained in the same area as a Marine. (11:48)
Still in Yuma while he was driving trucks. (12:14)
Big trucks brought in gasoline, which they pumped into five gallon drums. (12:18)
Sometimes trains brought the gas instead of trucks. (12:40)
He spent six months in Arizona. (12:49)
Next he was sent to Fort Preston, FL for amphibious training. (13:00)
He was assigned to a unit responsible for supplying gasoline. (13:12)
During the amphibious training he had to be able to swim two miles and climb a mock ship.
(13:25)
He didn't practice climbing down nets onto landing craft. (13:54)
He went from practicing on a fake ship to practicing on actual ships. (14:04)
He practiced loading ammo cases filled with sand onto amphibious trucks called “ducks.”
(14:17)
The exercises didn't have much to do with driving trucks, but he followed the orders despite the
seeming impracticality. (15:04)
He did not have a discipline problem. (15:21)
Some of the men had problems with discipline, but not many of them. (15:30)
Many of the men disliked digging foxholes, including himself. (15:45)
He once was training in foxholes, and found a pre-made foxhole. He planned on using the
foxhole, but decided to make a new one when he noticed the rattlesnake inside. (16:07)
Fort Pierce was about fifty miles north of Miami, halfway between Miami and Jackson. It was
on an island. (16:33)
The base being on an island made it hard to get into trouble. (17:06)
He was in Fort Pierce for about six months, late 1943. (17:19)
He was next sent to Camp Pickett, VA for more training. They had marching and an infiltration
training course. (17:29)
As part of the course, they had crawl up a hill on their hands and knees around fake land mines.
The “mines” were very noisy and startled. They activated with strings. (17:55)
He did well on the course. (18:33)
The Army usually sent about ten men through the course at a time. (18:44)
His training was not related to truck driving, it was in case of capture. (18:54)
By this time, he was in a company which he trained with. (19:06)
He had a fourteen day furlough. He spent most of it with his girlfriend. (19:21)
He had asked his girlfriend to marry him before he was drafted. He then asked her father for his
approval. Her father preferred them to wait as Les had been drafted. Les decided to follow his
advice, and believes it was the correct decision. He didn't want to start out on the wrong foot
with his in-laws. (19:42)
He frequently received letters from his girlfriend, but did not answer them often as the Army
kept him very busy. (20:40)
�Deployment/Scotland and Wales
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He was at Fort Pickett about two months, and then shipped out at Boston. (21:04)
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The ship was an old gambling ship, the Evangeline, the ship came to Boston from New Orleans.
(21:16)
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The ship had been converted to a troop ship, but it still had many accoutrements from its life as
a gambling ship. The dancing floor was still intact. (21:44)
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The ship held 300-400 men. The bunks were stacked about three high. (22:22)
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The ship was not very crowded. (22:34)
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He was shipped out fall or winter of 1943. (22:42)
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Once, during the night, the ship supposedly scraped sides with another ship in the convoy. He
didn't hear the scrape, and didn't see evidence of it. (22:50)
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The ship was bound for Glasgow, Scotland. They took the long way around to avoid U-boats.
(23:27)
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The convoy was large and involved about twenty ships. (23:54)
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The weather was cold, but the sea was probably calm as he doesn't recall being sea-sick.
(24:15)
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Next, he was put on a train to South Wales. (24:51)
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He stayed in South Wales, but didn't do much. (25:02)
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They were in tents, in winter, in Wales. It was very wet, but not too cold. (25:15)
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The tents were set up off ground a bit. (25:41)
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There was a lot of mud. (25:52)
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Trucks brought in sand to counter-act the mud. (26:00)
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They were waiting for the invasion of Normandy. (26:18)
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They also made roads, and improved the base. (26:30)
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There were not many towns in the area. (26:46)
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Swansea was the nearest town in the area, but he didn't go. (27:08)
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His company was the only one there at the time. It was a small unit. (27:29)
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They were sent to Plymouth, as a “holding tank” before the invasion. They were only there for
a week. (28:05)
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The invasion was soon underway. About sixty “ducks” were sent, but only about sixteen made
it. (28:48)
Service on the Continent
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He was in Plymouth during D-Day. There were many German planes flying over that day.
They didn't drop bombs; he assumes they were reconnaissance planes. (29:04)
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He landed on June 23, he didn't remember a storm. (29:46)
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Landed at Omaha Beach. (30:20)
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France had many hedgerows. (30:36)
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He drove the truck off of a landing barge, an LST with a drop down door [probably an LCT—
ed.]. (30:48)
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He dropped into water about four feet deep. (31:18)
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Some of the later trucks partially flooded after dropping off. As each truck dropped off the
transport, the transport floated higher in the water because of the lost weight. Each truck
dropped from a higher point, and as a result the later trucks were splashed with water. (31:40)
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Before the landing, he had to waterproof his truck with a layer of grease. After the landing the
grease had to be removed. (31:45)
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The ordinance outfits set up a tent. (32:05)
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After they captured the area, they had to pick up loads and distribute them. (32:38)
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Two men were assigned to each truck, one drove at a time in shifts. This way they were able to
drive in forty-eight hour stretches. (32:50)
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The beach was sandy. (33:12)
There was not much traffic, some roads were just trails. (33:33)
He mostly transported food supplies. He only drove, other men loaded and unloaded the trucks.
(33:50)
After they took St. Lo, the travel distance increased. (34:16)
Some WWII movies were very accurate, and brought back memories for him. (34:42)
He drove along a road one day, and went to turn when about a hundred yards away he saw a
cannon. The cannon had fallen over, and was pointing right at him. It scared him badly.
(35:42)
The Americans had a pipeline for gas which went through the English Channel. (36:58)
The first time they used the pipeline, the gas was about ninety percent water. He got blamed for
it. (37:55)
Most supplies continued to come from Normandy, as it was the best place for a base for a while.
The train tracks had been destroyed and could not be used. (38:55)
A German bomber dropped a “blockbuster” bomb near his truck, sending large fragments of
clay near him. (39:24)
Back at the base, large tanks of water were used for showers. The tanks warmed in the sun,
providing a warm, but not hot, shower. (40:13)
He never had a problem with food. (40:42)
Sometimes he stole food out of the trucks with his friends. Canned peaches were a frequent
favorite. (41:05)
He had to deliver gas to a nearby unit. (41:55)
The unit wasted gas, the soil was moist from it. Some of the men got lead poisoning and lost
their legs because of the gas. (42:07)
As the troops moved forward, so did his supply trips. (43:18)
He stayed in France until they entered Germany. (43:29)
He supplied Patton's Army. After the war, Patton was killed near the area. (43:38)
His unit began using refrigerated trucks after the war. (44:06)
He was not in much danger, aside from the bomb incident. (44:26)
He observed very little of the action, but knew how the war was going. The Army kept him
informed. (44:40)
Once, they had an emergency at an airfield. One of the planes couldn't get its landing gear out
in time. He saw the pilot’s body in a nearby tree. It sickened him. (45:08)
He met some of the French people, but didn't like them because he thought they were dirty. He
believed they had low morals, and he was also not impressed by their public latrines. (46:36)
He was once set to the outskirts of Paris to pick up empty gas cans. (47:38)
He went to Paris on furlough once, and was not impressed. (48:28)
He thought Germany was cleaner, despite the wreckage of Mannheim. (48:50)
Some of the men moved into a nearby building, which had been an old girl's school. They used
the classrooms as bedrooms. They played basketball in the gym, and used the showers and
footbath in the basement. (49:29)
He drove refrigerated semi-trucks later on. He had never driven a semi-truck before. (50:41)
He went from Mannheim to Heidelberg, and a few other small towns. (51:42)
The trips were about sixty to seventy miles. (52:06)
He carried food supplies around in the semis. (52:10)
When they stayed at the school, the officers put on a party which had a lot of alcohol. They had
a dance, and brought in a few girls as well. The party helped him keep his mind off the war.
(52:38)
He left Europe shortly after, and arrived home Christmas Eve. (53:54)
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He went from Manheim into France, and disembarked on a Liberty ship from Marseille,
through the Mediterranean Sea. They passed the Rock of Gibraltar. (54:27)
Before leaving, the commander announced a storm was on the way. He asked the men if they
wanted to try and beat the storm or wait it out. The men decided to go right away. They beat the
storm. (55:12)
They landed in Boston, it was cold. The ship was covered in ice from water that had splashed
up at sea. (56:02)
When they arrived home, they were given fresh milk. They had had powdered milk in Europe.
(56:45)
He called his brother to pick him up to avoid using a bus or a train. His brother was initially a
little reluctant because it was the Christmas season. His brother offered to bring Les' girlfriend
along, but Les advised him not to as the car would be full of men. His brother was also picking
up a few men in his outfit who were from Grand Rapids. His brother thought she would be
miffed at the exclusion, but went forward with it anyway. (57:29)
His girlfriend/wife knew some of the men from school. The other men were from Grand
Rapids, but from other parts of it. (59:20)
He married January 30th. (59:52)
He worked at a lumber company for twenty seven years, counting the years before the war. He
started in 1939. (01:00:03)
The company closed, and then he worked with a hi-lo. He only had two jobs, aside from
working on the farms. (01:00:28)
He doesn;t think the service changed him all that much, but it was a good experience.
(01:00:42)
Believes enlistment would help some kids with discipline issues. (01:01:10)
�
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.
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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
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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Alcumbrack, Lester (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alcumbrack, Lester
Description
An account of the resource
Lester Alcumbrack was drafted into the army in 1942. Les became very sick during basic training, and became a truck driver. He trained as a fuel truck driver and received amphibious training. He began duty in Scotland and Wales prior to the Normandy Invasion, and continued to serve as a truck driver in France and Germany during and after the Invasion. After the German surrender, he spent his last months working with a refrigeration unit delivering food to US occupation troops.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
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
United States. Army
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Language
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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
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2008-02-28
Identifier
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AlcumbrackL
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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application/pdf
video/mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/136c5948de33ed53617b0f693eb15a95.mp4
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72ada9503b21a03deff53495fba5eb72.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
World War II
Charles Aldrich Interview
Total Time: 1:50:34
Background
(00:11) Mr. Aldrich was born on February 7th 1925 in Hastings, Michigan
(00:35) He and his family lived on the farm
(1:00) After living on the farm for a few years, they moved to the Cascade area, SE of
Grand Rapids
(1:25) Rented property, they had their own gardens
o the property had cows, chickens, grew their own vegetables
o picked apples and peaches
o (2:00) They didn’t necessarily farm, but had gardens for their own personal use
(3:15) His father signed for him to enlist in the Navy at age 17
(3:26) Has younger twin brothers, 8 boys in his family altogether
(4:36) His brother Harold was in the Air Force
(5:11) Another brother was in the CCC
(5:30) Most of their information regarding the war, Pearl Harbor, etc., came from the
Grand Rapids Herald newspaper
(5:57) Mentions that they didn’t have electricity in their house, so no radio
Enlistment
(6:11) Mr. Aldrich was just 17 when he enlisted in the Navy
(6:30) Enlisted because he didn’t finish high school, didn’t have anything in particular to
do
(7:20) Remembers his father taking him to the recruiting office at Reed’s Lake
o Physical
o Papers OK’d while father was on the job at WPA
(8:00) Took a train to Detroit for another physical and to do more paperwork
(8:20) After that, took another train to the Great Lakes, north of Chicago
�Training
(8:45) Says that Great Lakes was a “mammoth place”
(9:43) It was busy, you were always kept busy from morning until night
(10:00) Had classes about Navy procedures, lots of marching
(10:24) Instilled the idea of following orders
(10:32) Blue Jacket Manual, they were supposed to read it and learn the rules and
regulations
(10:50) On Sundays they marched to another base to go to church
o Included a Catholic and Protestant church
(11:11) After 5 weeks of training, they were put in an Outgoing Unit
(11:44) Didn’t have a hard time adjusting to his training, thought of it as a job
o (12:18) Mr. Aldrich noticed others having trouble with this
o If someone decided they didn’t want to go through with it, they would jump over
the fence, but eventually caught and put on trial
(13:20) After the first 5 weeks, and after the week in OGU, they were sent to Little
Creek, Virginia
o Gunnery school
o Different training for different guns
o Different sized guns
o (15:34) Gunnery training was for service on merchant ships, but could be used
on different ones as well
o (15:55) They were being trained to be Navy Guards on merchant ships
o (16:36) Stayed at Little Creek for about 4 weeks
o (16:55) They were allowed to explore the area a bit, went to Norfolk and Virginia
Beach
o (17:29) The people in Norfolk weren’t necessarily fond of sailors because there
were so many around, some felt they were disruptive
(19:00) They were supposed to get boating experience, but the boat happened to be
broken down at the time
(19:17) Sailing experience was new to him
(19:38) After his training at Little Creek they took a ferry to Newport News, and took a
train to New York, then went to the Armed Guard quarters at Brooklyn Navy Yard
(20:16) Brooklyn was where they were stationed until they were assigned to a ship
(20:30) While waiting, they got to visit New York a bit
�Shipped Out
(22:18) Was in the Armed Guard Center from July 30th to August 4th
o Shipped out on the John Penn
(22:27) John Penn was a Liberty ship, carried cargo
o (22:56) Went out of New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
o Picked up more ships
o Assembled in the ocean
o Went to northern Scotland
o Waited here for orders to proceed
(23:36) When he first got on the ship, he says there wasn’t too much to remember
o They were replacements, Mr. Aldrich and another man
o (24:26) His first night on the ship he slept in a bunk, had to get up at a certain
hour
o About 34 guys from the Armed Guard on the ship
o (26:12) They took turns standing on gun watch; 4 hours on, 4 hours off
(27:00) Accommodations on the Liberty ship:
o Bunk beds, some underneath the bridge, some under the stern
o About 4 bunks per room
o Each had their own locker
o (28:05) They had their own lunchroom: gun crew, merchant marine,
o Mess boy would deliver food
o Says it was good food
(29:07) Mr. Aldrich remembers getting seasick once
o They ran into a 72 mile an hour gale
o He was on watch, getting sprayed with ocean water, was told to come back on
the bridge because of the weather
o One of the lifeboats was lost
(30:28) They didn’t have any U-boat scares on the way to Halifax or Scotland
o Remembers the ocean being beautiful
o (31:12) Mr. Aldrich remembered on the way to the British Isles the fog prevented
them from seeing things, and once it cleared they had to get their convoys lined
up again
o This was the only problem they had
(32:23) He was put in a convoy at the British Isles and started heading over to the Soviet
Union, it was PQ-18
(32:33) PQ-18 was escorted by a number of British destroyers
o Remembers having a British cruiser in the convoy
o Was told there was an aircraft carrier
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o They had a convoy master
o Near Iceland was where they experienced the 72 mile an hour gale
o (33:40) This was when they made a turn
(33:57) On the morning of September 13th Mr. Aldrich remembers two ships being hit
and sunk within 15 minutes
o These were slower ships
o (35:03) A submarine was also hit and sunk
(35:13) Later that day, after everybody had lunch they went back on watch
o About 3 pm a bunch of JU-88’s came out and sent torpedoes
o This brought down some ships, the John Penn was one of them
o (36:04) Mr. Aldrich was a first loader during this
o His job was to put a new shell into the gun every time they fired it
o (37:06) After numerous firings, the gun was lowered on the surface level and he
could see a bomber flying over the convoy
o The bomber blew up in pieces that flew all over
o (38:09) His ship got hit just a few minutes after this
o He infers that the bomber is the one who hit them with a torpedo
o (38:44) He was looking in the opposite direction as they were hit
o (39:22) In a matter of minutes, they announced “Abandoned ship!”
o Mr. Aldrich couldn’t hear this, but he turned around and saw everyone running
o (39:58) Remembers all the lifeboats being gone, there were 5 guys (including Mr.
Aldrich) left
Remembers one was hanging on a pulley near the water
(41:18) They got in the lifeboat, and it was filled with water
o (41:35) It was snowing during this time, so it was cold water, temporarily
couldn’t move his legs because they were so cold
o (42:20) A British destroyer picked them all up from their lifeboats
o (43:00) There was oil in the water, his clothes from the waist down was soaked
and had oil on them
(43:33) They were all given food when they got on the ship
(43:45) Legs were starting to warm up, remembers getting help walking around for a bit
o (43:57) Thinks they didn’t know his rank and one man thought he was an officer
o Ate with the officers during this time
(44:30) After this, they were far enough into the Russian territory that the British escort
left the convoy, and the Russians took over
(45:11) 7 British Destroyers got their formation together and went back to Scotland,
taking the rescued men with them
o (45:37) They stopped and refueled in Iceland
�
(46:39) Got on a train to Glasgow
o (47:12) Remembers getting new uniforms here
o They went to the Red Cross Center and got a British uniform
o (47:43) They were free to travel around Glasgow for awhile, and then they were
transferred to a training base for the Marines
o (48:18) They stayed there until they got their next assignment
(49:15) Remembers a Scottish castle being used as the training base for Marines
(49:56) While they waited for their next assignment they marched around with the
Marines
o (50:12) They were US Marines
(50:21) They had Navy shoes, and they weren’t good for marching, so they got army
shoes.
(50:43) They gave them M1’s, which were 30 caliber rifles, marched them around and
taught them how to shoot the M1’s, load, unload, etc
(51:18) Mr. Aldrich and his buddy took a bus to Glasgow in between all this
(51:48) They packed up and went to the dock, and were headed towards Oran, Algeria
in North Africa
(52:38) They were put on a troop ship, which was British transport
(53:30) They got to Oran in March of 1942 [1943]
(54:20) He worked in Oran Harbor
(55:30) His duty was to go back and forth between harbors and pick up supplies off of
the merchant ships and bring them back to Oran
(55:56) The distance between the two harbors was about a mile and a half
(56:30) He remembers being in a schoolhouse in Oran while awaiting a new assignment
and they were allowed to explore the area again
(57:25) Remembers seeing French and Arab people, had dinner with a French family one
night
o (57:53) They could speak English too
(58:11) Everyone seemed to be friendly in Oran
(59:30) Remembers troops coming in to get the wounded transferred back to the US
Leave
(1:00:18) Mr. Aldrich was given a 30 day leave
o Went home and back to Brooklyn again
(1:00:58) Not a lot going on back at home
o His brothers tried to entertain him as much as they could
o They took him to shows, introduced him to girls
�
(1:01:36) There were dances at halls, included drinks
(1:02:00) They didn’t question age when they were drinking, he wasn’t quite old enough
(1:02:22) Went back to Brooklyn, then took a train to Detroit, and Canada
o (1:02:45) Mr. Aldrich enjoyed riding trains
(1:03:16) After a short period of time in Brooklyn he was assigned to an oil tanker
New Assignment
(1:03:29) The oil tanker was in Chester, Pennsylvania
o The ship was new and hadn’t been in the water yet
o Guns had to be cleaned
(1:04:01) They went to New Jersey, loaded up with oil, and went to Port Arthur, Texas,
unloaded the oil
(1:04:25) Next stop, they loaded up with gasoline, then picked up a convoy and headed
out for England
(1:04:55) First stop in England was Bristol, where they unloaded the gasoline
(1:05:20) The trip over was quiet, except for the fog again that made it difficult to see
(1:06:03) Mentions that when tankers hit rough water, they sort of bounced
(1:07:22) His job was to use the 20 mm gun
(1:08:36) After the 3rd trip, he was assigned back to Brooklyn
(1:09:01) Mr. Aldrich mentions on their final trip, they were told they were going to fire
their guns
o (1:09:33) 20 mm’s were supposed to fire at balloons
o (1:10:02) But never saw any German aircrafts or submarines
(1:10:22) After 1943, they had more escorts, the Atlantic got safer
(1:11:09) To get from Curaçao to England it took about 15 days
(1:11:20) In England, they were also given the opportunity to travel around
(1:12:47) Eventually took out a war bond, and remembers sending $10-$15 a month
home
(1:13:26) After doing the 3 round trips with the tanker, he was assigned back to
Brooklyn
(1:13:42) He was then sent to Pier 92 in New York
(1:14:12) Mr. Aldrich was assigned to the USS Montcalm; a tugboat
(1:14:30) Took the train from Grand Central Station to Key West, Florida
(1:14:49) Went to Key West Air Base
(1:14:57) Then transported to a minesweeper, which took them to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba
�
o This is where they were assigned to the USS Montcalm
(1:15:34) They went to many other islands and picked up empty barges and took them
back to Cuba
(1:16:31) They hauled a target from a destroyer from a Caribbean island
(1:17:00) Remembers Guantanamo City, Cuba, being a “liberty port”
(1:17:43) Went to Puerto Rico and San Juan a couple of times, also Kingston, Jamaica
(1:18:24) Remembers being assigned to Trinidad
(1:18:46) There was two Armed Guards on a tugboat that he knew of
(1:19:30) Got points towards discharge for sea duty, and also for being on land
(1:20:39) The war was over when he got back from Cuba
After Cuba/After Germans Surrender
(1:20:51) Came back to Norfolk, Virginia
(1:21:02) Mr. Aldrich was given another 30 day leave
o Came back home, spent his 30 days there
(1:21:25) When his 30 days were up, he reported to Detroit
(1:21:38) From there he was shipped to Bellingham, Washington
(1:21:50) While waiting for his assignment, he worked in the Navy laundry
(1:22:27) Was able to travel around Bellingham
(1:22:55) Eventually put on another ship
(1:24:12) Went to the deck officer, got bunk assignments
(1:24:29) His duty was to wheel watch
(1:25:09) There were two man on the wheel, they would switch back and forth
(1:25:40) They headed for Okinawa, which took 30 days
(1:25:58) Believes the atomic bomb was already dropped when he was on leave, so
Japan had surrendered
(1:26:20) They unloaded in Okinawa, and saw that a typhoon went through there
(1:27:06) Saw all the damage in Nagasaki from the bomb
(1:28:12) Also transported people from one port to another
(1:28:43) Didn’t see much of the Japanese people
(1:29:07) Remembers seeing Japanese kids on the docks to see what was going on, and
saw rifles sitting there
o Mr. Aldrich took one
�
(1:30:25) When he got back, he was asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes
(1:30:40) Packed up his sea bag and was gone within an hour
Going Home
(1:30:55) He got on an American destroyer, was taken to another transporter, then
went to San Francisco, then to Treasure Island for awhile
(1:32:38) Remembers eating dinner with a fellow seaman and his wife
(1:33:10) Didn’t have a specific assignment at Treasure Island
(1:33:29) Taken to Oakland, then took a train, remembers sleeping and waking up in
Utah seeing snow
o (1:34:36) Went through Denver, then to Great Lakes
o (1:35:40) Remembers a sailor getting beer, almost missed the train and lost half
of his beer
(1:36:10) Got a physical again at Great Lakes
(1:36:38) His only problem was hearing, which didn’t require any special treatment
(1:37:02) Finally got back home December 22nd, 1945
(1:37:15) Family knew he was coming home
(1:38:13) Once Mr. Aldrich was back home, he registered with the local draft board to
make sure his discharge papers were registered with the county clerk, he was given
unemployment compensation until he could find a job
(1:39:02) Continued living at home in the Cascade area
(1:39:30) Worked for a manufacturing company that made die cast parts for
automobiles, refrigerators, etc
o (1:40:09) He worked as a buffer
o (1:40:20) Eventually switched to polishing
o (1:40:54) Worked there for 29.5 years until they closed up in 1975
(1:41:10) He was on unemployment for about a year after that
(1:41:22) The last job he had was as a handyman
(1:41:48) Married twice
�o (1:42:02) First got married in 1959, he was almost 25 years old
o (1:42:21) 2nd marriage was in 1960
Wife passed away two years ago from this interview
(1:42:43) Had 5 kids from his first wife, 2nd wife had 3 from a previous marriage
(1:43:10) Has many grandchildren
(1:44:15) Has great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren
(1:44:40) Being in the Navy helped him have more respect for people that were worse
off, also had respect for the Japanese, and other soldiers
(1:46:19) Had a brother in the Air Force, another in the Korean War
(1:46:34) One of his sons was in the Army, drafted during Vietnam War
o Had a lot of experience in the armed forces
(1:47:48) He would still join the Navy all over again
(1:49:05) Mr. Aldrich advises young people to take a chance on the Navy, says there are
many opportunities
�
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
Aldrich, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aldrich, Charles
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for merchant ships. On his first voyage, he was on the Murmansk run with convoy PQ 18. He shot down a German bomber, but his ship was sunk by a torpedo, and he was rescued by a British destroyer. He then spent time on a US Marine base in Scotland, Oran, Algeria, on an oil tanker In the Caribbean and Atlantic, a tugboat in the Caribbean, and finally on a cargo ship in the Pacific after the end of the war, visiting Okinawa and Japan.
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
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-09-29
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AldrichC1266V
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/b5c5dadf64bb89413521f07ba0725bf3.mp4
1bf6c022169a474c9f9a2e8a73f0ef8c
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fd2a2e98e40bf9d6e4f0aa66b1b69b0.pdf
335e794fd81af4ca796e189082af036a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Floyd Alexander
Vietnam War
57 minutes 40 seconds
(00:18) Early Life
-Born on October 29, 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois
-Went to first four years of grade school there
-Moved to Dow, Illinois
-Graduated in 1968
(00:53) Army Enlistment
-February 1969 enlisted in the Army
-Wanted credit for a new car
-Bank refused to give him any credit because of being draft age
-Did not know much about Vietnam
-Two cousins served in Vietnam but didn’t talk about it
-Requested to be an MP (military police)
-Wound up being placed in artillery
(02:20) Basic Training
-Sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
-Greeted by a drill sergeant
-Screamed at the recruits
-Intimidated them
-Had “zero week” for processing
-Placement tests
-Documentation
-Physicals
-Was in a “fat farm” for overweight recruits
-Had to run everywhere, walking was not allowed
-Always got recruited for “special” jobs
-Very difficult to adjust to military living
-Never had trouble with other recruits
-Drill instructors were all Vietnam veterans
-Told that they were fat and stupid and thus would get people killed
(05:16) A Quick Note on His Parents
-Father worked for a flour mill
-Family raised small livestock
-Helped family raise the animals
-Helped with being disciplined, somewhat strong, and having some stamina
(06:15)Advanced Infantry Training
-Went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for AIT (advanced individual training)
-He was told that the majority of the recruits there would go to Vietnam
-Only one recruit did not go to Vietnam
-Training consisted of field maneuvers and firing the howitzers
�-Learned how to calculate range for the guns
-Trained on the 105mm howitzers
-Was trained how to do everything artillery related
-Loading the guns, firing the guns, calculating ranges, etc.
-AIT was just as difficult as basic training in terms of actual training
-Not as emotionally taxing as basic training
-Wasn’t harassed by drill instructors in AIT
-AIT lasted eight weeks
(08:53) Deployment to Vietnam
-After AIT was over was given a thirty day leave to go home
-Dad was a WWII vet who was upset about enlistment and deployment
-Mom got draft notice five days after he left for basic
-Both parents knew that he was going to be sent to Vietnam one way or another
-Sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for deployment
-Went from Washington, to Alaska, to Japan
(10:07) Arrival in Vietnam
-Arrival date was December 22, 1969
-Landed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam
-Country had a weird smell to it
-Kept in Cam Ranh for a “zero week” waiting for deployment orders
-Also got booby trap training at this time
-Assigned to Bravo Company of the 2nd/319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division
-Flew up to Camp Evans via Chinook helicopter
(11:40) Brief Overview of Timeline
-Sent to Bravo Company for an amount of time
-Helped move guns to Firebase Ripcord
-Attached to Alpha Company of the 2nd/506th under Captain Burkhart
-Infantry duty as an RTO (radio telephone operator) in the field
(12:59) Firebase Jack
-Met up with Bravo Company at Firebase Jack
-Great reception
-Looked for soldiers that were also from Illinois (found two)
-Assigned to a gun crew
-Gun 5 (out of 7 or 8 total gun crews)
-Guns stayed there for a while until being moved
-Firebase Jack stayed relatively calm
(14:38) Firebase Ripcord
-Moved to Firebase Ripcord around May to help move 105mm howitzers there
-Nothing serious happened during the transfer of the howitzers
-Loaded the guns onto a Chinook helicopter
-Traveled with the guns
-Surrounded larger artillery (155mm guns) with smaller howitzers
-Had to reinforce and barricade their positions
-Fired countless shells every day
-Job was a “loader”: physically put rounds into howitzer
-Wasn’t quick enough once and the recoil hit his leg
�-Got sent to Camp Evans for medical examination
-Stayed there for one week
-Thought he would get to go home
-Had to physically move the ammunition around
-They had beehive (shrapnel-projectile) rounds, illumination (flare) rounds, and white
phosphorous (incendiary) rounds
-Stayed on Firebase Ripcord for about a month
(19:53) Alpha Company-General Information
-Got assigned to Alpha Company at this point to be an RTO for Lieutenant Brennan
-Flown out to the field via helicopter
-Job was to figure out coordinates and call them in via radio that he carried
-Never had to walk point in the field
-Called in heavy firepower on enemy positions
-Artillery and gunships
-Miserable walking in the jungle especially during monsoon season
-Hunkered down and stayed quiet at night
-Captain Burkhart’s replacement, Captain Hawkins, was an equally good leader
-Had one 2nd Lieutenant who was reckless and wanted to be a war hero
(26:12) July 22, 1970 Pt. 1
-Before major engagement on July 22 there was a sense of deterioration around Ripcord
-More contact with NVA, helicopter crash, artillery positions was blown up
-Does not recall anyone from his gun crew dying because of the battery exploding
-Found an NVA communications line shortly before fighting on July 22
-Encountered small arms fire and satchel charges
-Hunkered down on the hillside with officers
-Started losing officers
-Rescued wounded soldier from NVA fire
-NVA were advancing rapidly down the hill
-NVA were executing wounded Americans
-Played dead and laid on top of soldier
-Got kicked in the head by advancing NVA
-Blacked out
(30:30) July 22, 1970 Pt. 2
-Woke up from being blacked out
-Went to get help for wounded man
-Found Captain Hawkins who helped move him
-He (Floyd) and Captain Hawkins began to call in fire again until Capt. Hawkins got wounded
-Pinned down by the NVA for the entire day
-NVA pulled back at nightfall after relentless airstrikes
-Had to dig in for the night
-Delta Company came in the next day and evacuated the survivors
-Came right to Alpha Company and created a landing zone for the helicopters there
-Started to take fire as they pulled out, he was one of the last ones to leave
(35:50) Post Ripcord Vietnam
-Sent to Firebase Rakkason for a debriefing
-Kept separated from other soldiers
�-Didn’t want to damage morale
-Sent to Camp Evans after Firebase Rakkason
-Stayed with the infantry until he left the country (December 1st 1970)
-Bitterness in the wake of what happened at Ripcord
-All other contact with the NVA seemed to pale in comparison
-Spent a lot of time in the field
-Only got to be in the rear for five days (besides leg incident)
-Wanted to take an R&R to Australia
-Resupply helicopter that would have served as a transport was shot down first try
-Fog kept everyone grounded on his second try for R&R
(39:30) General Morale in Vietnam
-Never saw drug use in the rear or in the field
-Never saw racial tensions
-Served alongside African American soldiers in the artillery and in the field
-Seen as equals in battle
-Wrote home almost every day
-Mom, aunts, cousins, dad, brothers wrote back
-Three to four day wait time
-Care packages were very common
-Got half a case of baby food after mentioning fresh fruit in a letter
(42:14) Leaving Vietnam and Coming Home
-Got a “Santa Claus Drop” from Richard Nixon
-Got sent home before Christmas (December 1st to be exact)
-Landed in Fort Lewis, Washington
-Flew in in the middle of the night
-Options were a steak dinner then leave, or getting “dress greens” then leaving
-Opted to forego the steak dinner and just go
-Encountered protestors in Dallas, Texas
-Got called a baby killer by one of them
-No violence, no retaliation, just walked away
-Welcomed home extremely well in Illinois
(44:18) Fort Hood and Honor Guard Duty
-Sent to Fort Hood
-One of the six highest decorated men in his battery and was made an honor guard
-Felt guilty not being able to tell families what had happened to the soldier
-One mother was so bitter that she refused to accept the flag
-Was not attached to any other duties at Fort Hood during his time as an honor guard
-Took turns carrying a loaded casket using an honor guard for the sense of realism
(47:46) Life after the Army
-Army wanted him to re-enlist
-Offered him money, promotion, and retirement plan
-Catch was that he would have to go to Vietnam for another tour
-He refused to re-enlist
�-Went back to his place of work before the war
-Was being turned away because he was a Vietnam veteran
-Union president got involved as well as the VA and got him his job back
-Worked there until he retired
(49:50) Reflections on Service
-Views service as having a positive impact on his life
-Not a good time, but there were good times during his time in the Army
-Had a temper coming home
-Arrested for disorderly conduct
-Has to see psychiatrist to keep emotions in check
-Wife and family have a noticed a positive impact from therapy
-Thirty two years after Vietnam he finally decided to seek therapy
-Hated and resented the government
-Disgusted by the fact that the Battle of Firebase Ripcord was covered up by Congress
-Never talked about his experience in Vietnam with anyone
-Couldn’t get loans from banks because of being a Vietnam veteran
-Joined Ripcord Association after being contacted about it
-Book was written and published in the early 1990s about the battle
-His name was mentioned in it
-Association wanted him to join because of this
�
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
Alexander, Floyd (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alexander, Floyd
Description
An account of the resource
Floyd Alexander was born in 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois. He grew up in that area and joined the Army in February 1969. He trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be a part of the artillery. He was deployed to Vietnam in December 1969 and attached to Bravo Company of the 2nd and 319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division and later Alpha Company of the 2nd and 506th as a radio operator. In Alpha Company he saw action in the Battle of Firebase Ripcord and served in Vietnam until he was released early on December 1st, 1970. After the war he returned home and served as an honor guard at Fort Hood during the last part of his enlistment.
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
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-10-12
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AlexanderF1452V
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/3ecafaabda501ef8202123912f316cb8.mp4
aad90eb132ebb355b73a5f2894be4319
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a95d30044212c4fd8c93c0fe91b0b725.pdf
4787cda7e32a7d30120bb0eda120b2dd
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Michael Alioto
Vietnam War
Interview Length: (02:01:49:00)
Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:27:00)
Alioto was born on December 19th, 1947 at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan
(00:00:27:00)
o While he was growing up, Alioto and his family alternated living in East
Dearborn, Michigan and the west side of Detroit (00:00:34:00)
o Apart from himself, Alioto also had two younger sisters (00:00:41:00)
o While Alioto was growing up, his father had a drinking problem, which did not
always manifest itself in pleasant ways (00:00:55:00)
Alioto’s father worked in a series of different jobs; when he initially got out of the service
following World War II, having served as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps, he took a
job as an inspector for the city of Dearborn (00:01:05:00)
o After working as an inspector, Alioto’s father held a series of jobs as a salesman
until his death in 1973 (00:01:20:00)
Alioto attended twelve years of Catholic school in Detroit, followed by (in no particular
order): Henry Ford Community College, Wayne State University, Central Michigan
University, Arizona State University and the University of Michigan (00:01:48:00)
o Alioto attended some of the college before his service in Vietnam, although the
majority came after he left the military (00:02:17:00)
o Alioto graduated from high school in 1966 (00:02:23:00)
After Alioto graduated from high school, instead of just going straight to college, his
father convinced him that he could work full-time at Ford Motor Company and still go to
school full-time, doing his homework on breaks (00:02:29:00)
o At the time, a man had to be taking twelve credits in order to receive an
educational deferment for the draft (00:02:46:00)
During his first semester, Alioto ended up taking seventeen credits, which
on top of working full-time, was almost an undoable task (00:02:49:00)
o Alioto initially attended Henry Ford Community College and did relatively well
the first year, maintain around a 2.5 G.P.A. while still working full time at Ford; it
was roughly the same for Alioto during his second year in college (00:03:08:00)
Although he still had his educational deferment, Alioto was accidentally drafted during
his second year in college (00:03:31:00)
o Alioto called his draft board and explained he had a deferment; the draft board
said that happened all the time and all Alioto needed to do was bring in proof of
the deferment to them (00:03:41:00)
o Even though he said he would bring the proof down, the more Alioto thought
about it, the more he hesitated; the only reason he was in school in the first place
was to avoid going into the service (00:03:50:00)
However, Alioto had always scored high on the standardized tests in
school, so he knew that if he went into the service, he would test into a
�
clerical position or some other relatively easy position and sail through the
two years of military service (00:04:02:00)
Earlier, Alioto had applied to the Michigan National Guard; however,
when the Guard called in 1968, Alioto turned them down because he did
not want to go to training at that time (00:04:19:00)
Alioto officially entered the service on June 26th, 1969 (00:04:48:00)
o At the time, Vietnam was up-front in the news and as a college student, Alioto
was very aware of what was happening (00:04:54:00)
From Alioto’s experience, a significant portion of the other students in
college were there, taking twelve credits, for only one reason, to avoid the
draft (00:05:02:00)
In order to avoid joining the Army or Marines, men also tended to
join the Reserves or the Air Force or Navy; some men did join the
Army but under the condition that they be allowed to choose their
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) (00:05:12:00)
o If someone voluntarily enlisted, they had a three-year
enlistment and could choose their MOS; if someone was
drafted, they had a two-year enlistment but were subject to
the will of the military in terms of their MOS (00:05:39:00)
During Alioto’s junior year in high school, his history teacher gave
Alioto’s class a two-question test; the questions were: What is the capital
of North Vietnam and What is the capital of South Vietnam (00:05:58:00)
All Alioto could remember was one of the capitals was Hanoi, so
he put that for both and received a 50% on the rest (00:06:17:00)
However, Alioto’s father was astute and well-read and had warned
Alioto that he did not want to end up having to go to Vietnam to
fight (00:06:39:00)
Alioto had friends who were in the service in Vietnam and who were
writing letters home (00:07:02:00)
After finally joining the military, Alioto went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for his basic
training; in order to get to Fort Knox, Alioto ended up taking a bus from Fort Wayne in
Detroit (00:07:12:00)
o Once they had arrived, Alioto and between two and four hundred other recruits
were herded into a large auditorium and they all went through their aptitude
testing (00:07:22:00)
A couple of weeks into the training, Alioto’s training company
commander called Alioto in and told him that Alioto had earned the
highest test scores in the company, about 200 recruits (00:08:01:00)
As a result of the high test scores, Alioto was even more confident
that he would receive a reasonable MOS; although he might go to
Vietnam, he would not have an assignment that would put him in
harm’s way (00:08:17:00)
o Prior to being drafted, Alioto went through his Army physical around his
nineteenth birthday at Fort Wayne in Detroit (00:08:59:00)
�
During his physical, Alioto did not pay too much attention to whether
other men were trying to cheat and get themselves disqualified from
having to serve (00:09:27:00)
However, if any of the men really wanted to serve, they could have
enlisted, so if they were doing their physical for the draft, they did
not really want to go (00:09:30:00)
o A lot of the men talked about having bad knees, asthma,
high blood pressure, etc. in order to get themselves
disqualified (00:09:48:00)
Alioto did not try anything to be disqualified, partially because he
was drafted while still on deferment, so he was not exactly sure if
he would have to serve or not (00:10:32:00)
o Even if he did serve, Alioto was fairly certain that he would
end up with a fairly cushy job (00:10:44:00)
o There were about forty other recruits in Alioto’s training company at Fort Knox
and Alioto could not have met forty nice men (00:11:07:00)
There were a lot of bright kids in the company, which was not what Alioto
had expected going in (00:11:29:00)
o Nevertheless, the training was demanding and the intensity of the training really
depended on the individual training company commanders; in some training
companies, during the nine-week basic training, the men received up to seven
twenty-four to thirty hour weekend passes (00:11:41:00)
Conversely, during the nine-week period, Alioto’s training company
ended up receive only one weekend pass, from noon Saturday until six
p.m. Sunday (00:12:09:00)
Because he arrived at Fort Knox in June, Alioto did not have to worry
about it being cold; Alioto liked this fact because although he could stand
the heat, he did not like the cold (00:12:18:00)
Having played a lot of sports while he was growing up, the physical rigors
of the training were not a problem for Alioto (00:10:32:00)
There was a large emphasis placed on discipline and following orders and
pretty much all of the soldiers followed them (00:12:45:00)
For the small percentage who chose to “fight the system”, the drill
sergeants knew several methods to convince the men to follow the
rules (00:12:52:00)
o One of the most popular methods was for the drill
instructors to punish all the other men in the platoon who
were not acting up, who would in turn dole out their own
punishment (00:13:04:00)
The facilities that the recruits were using were older but were still nice and
clean, albeit very spartan (00:13:26:00)
The men would wake up early in the morning and go through PT (physical
training) before going to breakfast; if the men got dirty doing the PT, they
had to go back to the barracks and change into a clean pair of fatigues
before going to breakfast (00:14:06:00)
�
Each of the men were given two pairs of boots, one pair of which
were marked with red dots; the soldiers would not wear the same
pair two days in a row, which forced them to spit-shine the boots
every night (00:14:36:00)
o Most of the training platoons had a head drill sergeant along with three or four
other drill sergeants; some of the drill sergeants were career soldiers but a large
portion were sergeants who had returned from Vietnam and had to finish out their
enlistments (00:15:11:00)
The head drill sergeant in Alioto’s platoon had already served a couple of
tours in Vietnam in the infantry, was hard-as-nails, and did not tolerate
any nonsense (00:15:42:00)
When Alioto graduated from the training, the drill sergeant shook
his hand and told Alioto to go home and tell his mother that he had
made her proud (00:15:57:00)
o At the end of basic training, the men lined up in formation and went through
graduation (00:16:21:00)
While the men were in formation, the various MOS assignments were
given out; eventually, the commanders reached Eleven Bravo Ten and all
the men crossed their fingers and hoped that they would not be assigned to
medics or infantry (00:16:45:00)
From what Alioto can remember, only a small number were called
for Eleven Bravo Ten, only around eight or so; however, the first
name that was called was “Alioto, Michael” (00:17:08:00)
o Up until that point, Alioto was convinced that he was just
going to coast through a two-year enlistment (00:17:24:00)
The gravity of his situation hit Alioto the following day, when he and the other Eleven
Bravo Tens flew from Fort Knox to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which was colloquially known
as “Tigerland” (00:17:48:00)
o All the soldiers who went to training at Fort Polk knew their odds of going to
Vietnam were immense (00:17:56:00)
o One of the reasons basic training was relatively easy was that some of the men in
the training with Alioto were National Guardsmen and Reservists (00:18:32:00)
However, when Alioto arrived at Fort Polk, out of the two hundred men in
his training company, he believes all of them were draftees (00:18:45:00)
A large portion of Alioto’s training company were either Southern
whites or Southern blacks and because that was the era of the Civil
Rights movement, there was a tremendous amount of hatred from
the Southern blacks towards the Southern whites (00:18:57:00)
o From Fort Polk until the end of his time in the service,
whenever he arrived in a new area, Alioto was told about
where to go and when to go in large groups (00:19:27:00)
In a sense, it was code that if someone was planning
to go to the areas where black soldiers tend to hang
out, either don’t go or go in a large group
(00:19:43:00)
�
All the men at Fort Polk knew where they would be going, knew
what they would be doing when they got there and knew there was
a very good chance they could be wounded or killed (00:19:58:00)
A lot of the men were unhappy they had to be at Fort Polk, given what
training their signified, which made the mood very dissimilar from what
Alioto had experience during basic training (00:20:30:00)
As much as he had enjoyed the training at Fort Knox, Alioto
disliked the training at Fort Polk (00:20:39:00)
o For the most part, the training at Fort Polk was a replication of the training Alioto
had received at Fort Knox; during basic training, almost everyone trained to be an
infantryman, although not all of them would be regular infantry (00:20:47:00)
Once at Fort Polk, all the recruits trained with M-16 rifles, M-60 machine
guns, LAWs (Light Anti-Tank Weapons), etc., as well as anything else
that was combat-related, such as in-the-field medical training and a lot of
night training (00:21:06:00)
A lot of the men skipped out on the night training; the training was much
more chaotic at Fort Polk and a lot of the men figured out that when the
men got on the buses at two in the morning to return to base, the
instructors did not take a roll-call (00:21:24:00)
A lot of the men, Alioto included, would be marching to the buses
to go out to night training and as soon as they could, they would
drop out of the line and go do something else with a couple of
friends (00:21:44:00)
A large amount of the training was replication of what the men had
already learned and there was only so many times the soldiers
could do the same things without being bored (00:22:04:00)
One part of the training was combat courses where the men were
taken into the field and told to march three miles to a location;
meanwhile, instructors would be all along the route trying to catch
the men and if they did catch any, the instructors would “torture”
the men to see if they would learn any information (00:22:14:00)
o A portion of the men figured that the best way not to be
caught was to not go out in the first place (00:22:32:00)
Although they did manage to occasionally get out of the night training, the
men still had to go through training during the day, so they did not miss
much (00:22:50:00)
Instead of being a nine-week basic training course, the training at
Fort Polk was like an eighteen-week basic training course
(00:22:55:00)
Given Fort Polk’s location in the swamps of Louisiana, the terrain and
weather were comparable to what the men would eventually experience in
Vietnam (00:23:05:00)
o Despite the training Alioto and the men received, one of the first things they were
told when they arrived in Vietnam by the men who had already been deployed
was to just watch the veterans and do what they do; after a couple of months, the
new guys would know everything they needed to do to survive (00:23:37:00)
�
The training at Fort Polk was strictly about getting the soldiers combatready for Vietnam (00:24:03:00)
o The training at Fort Polk lasted for another eight or nine weeks, although unlike
the training at Fort Knox, the men had weekend passes every single weekend and
Alioto would take the passes and go into a small nearby town with three other
soldiers (00:24:15:00)
Once Alioto finished at Fort Polk, he was supposed to go to Vietnam; however, he
decided to attempt to go through more specialized training, with the hopes that when he
finished that, the Army would re-issue him orders and send him to Korea or someplace
other than Vietnam (00:24:55:00)
o Therefore, after Fort Polk, Alioto went to Fort Benning, Georgia for specialized
training, although the training turned out to be almost another nine weeks of basic
training (00:25:14:00)
o When Alioto went from Fort Polk to Fort Benning, he was given a pass and soon
after he arrived at Fort Benning, the soldiers were given a two-week pass to go
home for Christmas (00:25:26:00)
Alioto finished the training at Fort Benning in March, the Army re-issued him orders, and
still sent him to Vietnam; all Alioto had done was delay the inevitable (00:25:44:00)
o The advanced training consisted of more infantry training; although there was
some leadership training, it was not to the level of NCO (non-commissioned
officer school) school (00:25:54:00)
o Throughout Alioto’s entire training, the instructors pushed him to go through
officer training (00:26:23:00)
At the time, there were three different OCS (Officer Candidate School)
programs: Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Engineering at Fort Belvoir,
Virginia, and Infantry at Fort Benning (00:26:36:00)
Alioto told the instructors that he would extend his enlistment for a year
and go through OCS if and only if they could guarantee that he would go
through engineering OCS (00:26:45:00)
However, there was not a need for soldiers to go through
Engineering OCS (00:26:56:00)
When Alioto finished the advanced training at Fort Benning, he received another leave
home and returned home around Easter (00:27:17:00)
o While Alioto was on leave, his family went snowmobiling in the northern part of
Michigan, Alioto got a little reckless and drove his snowmobile into a tree; Alioto
was thrown from the snowmobile but his feet got caught and he initially assumed
that he had broken a leg (00:27:28:00)
Alioto laid in the snow, actually hoping that he had broken one of his legs;
however, it was only bruised (00:27:44:00)
Deployment to Vietnam (00:27:58:00)
When he actually deployed, Alioto first traveled to Fort Dix, New Jersey and from Fort
Dix, he flew first to Alaska and to either Tokyo or Manila before arriving at Bien Hoa Air
Force Base, which was just outside of Saigon (00:27:58:00)
�o Once he was at Bien Hoa, Alioto was placed into a massive holding area with
other soldiers who had just arrived in-country; at that point, Alioto still did not
even know what division he would be joining (00:28:21:00)
o When Alioto arrived at Bien Hoa, it was around mid-to-late morning and his first
impressions of Vietnam were how oppressive and enveloping the weather was
and how secure the surrounding area was (00:28:39:00)
In part of his mind, Alioto believed that he was going to get off the airliner
and immediately have to start ducking enemy gunfire (00:29:01:00)
o From Bien Hoa, Alioto and the other soldiers were bused to Long Binh, where
they stayed while they waited to be assigned to a unit (00:29:06:00)
Typically, the men had to wait three or four days before they received
their individual assignments; while they waited, the men would go to bars
at night and played basketball during the day (00:29:26:00)
While waiting on the base, some of the men were assigned to do guardduty at night, which was a scare experience for them; although Alioto
looks back and realizes it was extremely safe, he was still new in-country
and feared there was an enemy in every bush (00:29:57:00)
o Every day, the men would go out and look at a large board to see if their name
was up their; one day, Alioto saw his own name and next to it, it said “Phu Bai”
(00:30:26:00)
Alioto did not know what Phu Bai was, so he asked someone what it was
and the other soldier said Alioto was not going to like it; when Alioto
asked why, he was told that Phu Bai meant he was assigned to the 101st
Airborne Division (00:30:39:00)
(00:30:58:00) – (00:32:42:00) : Technical Difficulties
o In order to get to the 101st Airborne, Alioto flew aboard a C-130 transport from
Long Binh to Phu Bai; once in Phu Bai, Alioto was assigned to the 1st Battalion of
the 501st Airborne Regiment (00:31:56:00)
Once Alioto was assigned to a company within the battalion, he met the
company first sergeant, was sent to the company supply sergeant, given
his equipment, and told to go to a helipad the following morning, so he
could be taken out to his company (00:32:42:00)
Prior to when Alioto arrived at the battalion area, his company had been
involved in serious fighting with the enemy and was down in manpower;
therefore, when Alioto went into the field, he went with three other
soldiers to a join 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company (00:33:07:00)
o When Alioto joined his platoon, they were operating in very mountainous terrain,
in either the A Shau Valley or an area contiguous to the A Shau (00:33:27:00)
Alioto’s battalion did not have a set area-of-operation but were passed
around the division’s area-of-operation; this meant that ever five or six
days, the men were moving to a new firebase (00:33:57:00)
When they first arrived at the platoon, Alioto and the other replacement
soldiers received a very poor reception from the other solders already in
the platoon (00:34:11:00)
�
When Alioto got off the helicopter, the platoon was actually
involved in a small fire-fight and the first words the four men
heard were “Get Down, A******” (00:34:18:00)
Alioto dove behind a nearby log and from what he can remember,
nobody approached him for around three hours; all Alioto
remembers think was if that was a daily occurrence, how could
anyone make it for 365 days (00:34:33:00)
After the first day, nobody was warm to the new soldiers; more than
anything else, Alioto attributes the cold reception to the immaturity of
twenty-year-olds (00:35:00:00)
o After two weeks, Alioto and the other new soldiers were not receiving all that
much more respect from the other soldiers; after one month, there was more
respect and after two months, Alioto and the others were considered veterans in
the platoon (00:35:15:00)
Alioto never forgot the experience, so when he became a “veteran”, he
was always welcoming to any new soldiers (00:35:29:00)
o It was an uncomfortable experience for Alioto when he was a new guy; it was bad
enough that he was over there but the weather was traumatic and the mission the
men had to do were tiring (00:35:45:00)
In the year Alioto was with his platoon, the platoon never once did operations from a
firebase; instead, the platoon remained in the field, constantly doing search-and-destroy
missions (00:36:28:00)
o Initially, there were twenty-five men in the platoon, although if there was a lot of
combat, that number could be whittled down to as few as sixteen; conversely, if
the platoon was re-supplied and kept up regularly and did not face combat for an
extended period, that number got as high as thirty-one or thirty-two (00:36:38:00)
o On a typical day, the men would wake up in the morning, march through an area,
and to set up camps on any of the higher hills in the area (00:36:54:00)
When set-up the camp, the platoon would set up on a trail, ring their entire
area with flares and claymore mines, and set out two guard posts, one at
either end of the trail, each supported by a squad (00:37:11:00)
Although they were in the field, most of the men were asleep by
eight o’clock (00:37:35:00)
The men never dug in once and for the most part, they never set-up any
protection over their heads; if it was raining, they would make tents out of
their ponchos (00:37:54:00)
During the night, one man would be awake and on-guard from eight
o’clock until nine o’clock, when he woke up another man; the cycle
repeated every hour (00:38:15:00)
In the morning, the men would wake up, one of their squads would
leaving their heavy equipment with the rest of the platoon and go into the
jungle for a three- or four-hour patrol (00:38:32:00)
The patrol would return around noon, eat lunch, and the entire platoon
would saddle up, to move out, stopping and setting up another position
around six o’clock in the evening (00:38:46:00)
�
For the most part, if the soldiers did find any enemy forces, it was
almost always accidental (00:39:04:00)
o Every seven or eight weeks, the soldiers were pulled out of the field for about six
days (00:39:17:00)
On Christmas Eve, 1970, the men received a hot meal; however, it was
only mostaccioli without any meat and Alioto would have just as soon
eaten regular C-rations (00:39:34:00)
During the entire year, Alioto received two beers, which also came out on
Christmas Eve (00:39:52:00)
When the opportunity presented itself, Alioto was one of the men selected
from his unit to go see a Bob Hope comedy show; however, because his
platoon was a in bad area, they were unable to get a helicopter in to get
Alioto out and he ended up missing the show (00:40:05:00)
o For the most part, the things the soldiers did on a daily basis was very repetitive,
search-and-destroy patrols day-after-day-after-day (00:40:29:00)
During the first couple of months Alioto was in the battalion, the battalion moved on a
nearly regular basis, shifting to a new position every six or seven days (00:40:42:00)
o At one point, Alioto tried to figure out how many times the battalion moved and
from what he counted, it was seventy-eight times (00:41:03:00)
o The reason why the battalion moved so much was there thirteen total battalions in
the division and Alioto’s battalion was frequently used as support for whichever
battalion was involved in the worst fighting (00:41:17:00)
o Alioto’s battalion remained the “bastard battalion” for about six months and he
remembers one night that information was passed around that the battalion was
finally going to receive an area-of-operations (00:41:34:00)
o Soon after, the battalion was given the AO (Area-of-Operations) that surrounding
Firebase Birmingham, which was the “cushiest” area-of-operations that the 101st
Airborne had (00:41:51:00)
The way Alioto looks at it, the battalion receiving the AO around
Birmingham was a “make-up” for all the stuff that the battalion had gone
through in the first six months he was there (00:42:01:00)
o The battalion ended up staying at Firebase Birmingham for around three months
and although the men were still operating in the field, it was much easier than
what they had been doing (00:42:14:00)
Birmingham was a very large firebase and when the men spent six days
there, it was almost like a vacation (00:42:33:00)
At the time, Birmingham had 175mm artillery guns stationed on it, which
were massive guns; as far as Alioto is aware, Birmingham was the only
firebase in Vietnam to have 175mm guns (00:43:17:00)
The men were on the firebase over Thanksgiving and were able to have a
traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, dressing, etc.; while on the
firebase for Thanksgiving was the only time Alioto ever saw a “Doughnut
Dolly”, an American girl who worked for the Red Cross (00:43:29:00)
Alioto clearly remembers his first firefight, mostly because the platoon “ran into a buzz
saw”; over a four-day period, the platoon suffered thirteen casualties out of the twentyfive soldiers, with three killed and ten wounded (00:44:05:00)
�
o For the most part, the wounded came as the result of friendly fire from American
artillery (00:44:22:00)
o Math had always been a strong-suit for Alioto but it did not take much to figure
out that if his platoon lost over half its strength in only four days, it did not bode
well for him going forward (00:45:56:00)
o Still, out of all the combat Alioto saw, there were only three other times where the
fighting was as gruesome as those first four days (00:45:16:00)
o In Alioto’s platoon, the platoon lost well over 100% of its soldiers, either
wounded or killed; from what Alioto can figure, approximately half of the
platoon’s casualties were a result of friendly fire (00:45:38:00)
At one point, mortars were called in to assist the platoon but they ended up
landing on the platoon’s position; Alioto still gets chills thinking about the
sound that the mortar rounds made, which shows just how close the mortar
rounds were (00:46:06:00)
During his tour, Alioto had two other soldiers die in his arms
(00:47:24:00)
In one case, the soldier was a fairly new, having only been in the
field for a couple of weeks, and had not gotten himself fully
acclimated to being in the field (00:47:39:00)
o Alioto has always felt a little responsible for the soldier’s
death because Alioto had told the soldier to go help bring
back some water from the base of a hill (00:47:43:00)
The hills were extremely large and tough to climb;
Alioto had gone through nearly nine months of
training and even he was not in shape to climb up
and down the hills (00:47:57:00)
o The platoon went out on patrol and all of sudden, the
soldier snapped and started waving his gun around, saying
there were NVA; the other soldiers had never seen him act
this way, so they thought he was trying to get a psychotic
discharge (00:48:55:00)
o All of a sudden, the soldier started breathing oddly and
although the other soldiers tried everything they could,
there was nothing they could do (00:49:13:00)
o That particular soldier’s death was the only time Alioto saw
someone die without being wounded by a bullet or artillery
or mortar round (00:49:35:00)
Alioto actually went into the field in April of 1970 (00:49:54:00)
During his first couple of months in the field, Alioto had never heard of Firebase
Ripcord, although as far as he knows, he might have come within several miles of the
firebase (00:50:24:00)
o At one point, his unit was flown into an LZ (Landing Zone), LZ Kelly, but was
socked in by bad weather, which prevented even re-supply helicopters from
coming in (00:50:38:00)
�
It eventually reached the point where the men were literally out of food;
the unit had a scout dog and there were a lot of jokes about killing and
eating the dog (00:50:56:00)
o Once the unit finally made it out of LZ Kelly, they were moved to an AO near
series of firebases adjacent to the South China Sea; on the 4th of July, the men
were taken onto one of the firebases, Firebase Tomahawk, and were treated to a
steak cookout (00:51:06:00)
o After Firebase Tomahawk, Alioto’s unit went for a stand-down, the first it had
had since May (00:52:01:00)
Whenever he was not in the field, Alioto was a heavy beer drinker and a
big card player, and he remembers that by around six in the morning on
the third day of the stand-down, he was playing cards when someone came
in and told he and the other men to saddle-up because one of the other
battalions was being hit (00:52:12:00)
Even though he was still drunk, Alioto got his gear and went out to the
helipad (00:53:06:00)
Eventually, the men were flown out to an in-active firebase about four or
five kilometers away from Firebase Ripcord called Firebase Gladiator
(00:53:23:00)
o Once there, the men began rebuilding Gladiator; as they rebuilt the firebase,
Alioto realized the gravity of the situation because that was the first time he had
ever seen any officer in the field above the rank of captain (00:53:41:00)
There were two generals on the firebase and Alioto remembers that as the
men were digging in, the generals walked up; although most of the men
stopped and saluted, Alioto did not and kept digging (00:54:03:00)
Another officer with the generals asked if Alioto did not know how
to salute and Alioto replied that he did not have time to salute;
when he said that, one of the generals commented and said that
Alioto was a smart soldier (00:54:32:00)
Later in the day, the Vietnamese began walking mortar rounds up the hill
where Gladiator was located and when Alioto ran to one of the only areas
that had been dug in, he found it so full of soldiers, there was no place to
go (00:54:50:00)
Instead, Alioto laid on the top of the hill, without any cover or
anything, and to try to keep his mind distracted, he read a small
copy of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (00:55:06:00)
The men continued rebuilding Gladiator, with heavy engineers eventually
called in to remove tree-stumps (00:55:45:00)
At the time, Alioto’s platoon had a young, eager 1st Lieutenant and at one
point, when the commanders wanted one of the platoons to fly from
Gladiator to fly off the firebase and support Ripcord, the Lieutenant
volunteered Alioto’s platoon (00:56:09:00)
The Lieutenant figured it was safer to be supporting Ripcord than
to be on Gladiator, which was sure to be hit by enemy mortar
rounds every night (00:56:41:00)
�
o Although the Lieutenant may have been right, Alioto would
have rather stayed on Gladiator (00:56:46:00)
At the time, Alioto was carrying an M-60 machine gun as his
weapon and traditionally, whenever his platoon moved, one of the
platoon’s two M-60s and one of the platoon’s medics were always
in the first helicopter (00:56:55:00)
o The two M-60s alternated who went on the first helicopter
and when the platoon moved to support Ripcord, it was
Alioto’s turn to be on the first helicopter (00:57:19:00)
As the helicopter was flying into the area around Ripcord, it was
shot down; the helicopter was hover about thirty feet to land and
the enemy gunfire knocked the rotors off, which caused the
helicopter to drop like a rock (00:57:48:00)
Apart from Alioto, there were four other soldiers on the helicopter,
plus a pilot, co-pilot, and two door gunners and when the
helicopter crashed, Alioto was the only one of the nine who was
not injured (00:58:09:00)
o They were unable to send in a second helicopter because
Alioto’s helicopter was still burning and cooking off
ammunition (00:58:21:00)
o The medic was doing his best to help people although he
was injured and Alioto’s ammunition carrier was hurt
severely (00:58:32:00)
o Eventually, other medical personnel made it into the crash
site and managed to medi-vac the wounded, although
Alioto’s ammunition carrier, the medic, and one of the
other soldiers never returned to the field (00:59:04:00)
Even though they were clearly in a dangerous area, Alioto and the
other men in the platoon were not allowed to leave until a special
group from the rear area came out to investigate the helicopter
crash wreckage to see what exactly had happened (00:59:34:00)
While the men waited, they moved off the landing zone and took
up a position on a nearby hill; the men knew that the enemy knew
they were there but they did not know how many men the enemy
had to use (01:00:01:00)
o The men began doing patrols and spent the following night
on the same hill, which was something the men almost
never did (01:00:28:00)
o The platoon eventually stayed on the same hilltop for three
or four nights but never saw another enemy after the
helicopter was shot down (01:00:46:00)
o After three or four days, an inspection team still never
came to look at the crash wreckage (01:01:26:00)
The triple canopy jungle where the platoon was operating was so immense that a large
enemy force could only be a couple of miles away but it might have been comparable to
being a state away (01:02:01:00)
�
o For the most part, the men almost never encountered signs indicating enemy
soldiers (01:02:35:00)
o The soldiers were very regimented in terms of making sure they did not leave
anything behind, so whenever they would move positions, they would try to make
it seem as though no one had been there (01:02:48:00)
o Whenever the platoon hit combat, it was because they had walked into the
fighting or, during the first six months, they were flown into an area to support
another unit (01:03:22:00)
For the first six months, there was a lot of combat, followed by three
months of little combat and three months of intense fighting when Alioto’s
battalion was moved out of the area in and around the A Shau and north to
an area near the DMZ (01:03:53:00)
While his platoon was near the DMZ, Alioto ended up going on an all-night patrol with
just six other soldiers along the South China Sea, just south of the DMZ (01:04:38:00)
o During the patrol, the soldiers watched as what looked like an old school bus
drove across the DMZ and dropped off around forty enemy soldiers
(01:04:44:00)
o Although they could have bombarded the enemy soldiers, the men on the patrol
made the decision not to and the enemy group eventually marched off to the west,
away from the South China Sea (01:05:18:00)
o It was interesting that because they were operating in the same area for nine or ten
months, the soldiers became acclimated to that area and although the area near the
DMZ might have been safer than the A Shau Valley, the area was not as
comfortable for Alioto (01:05:53:00)
After his first month in-country, Alioto considered re-enlisting the Army
just so he could receive a new MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and
after two months, he would have never left his platoon (01:06:40:00)
Misc. Reflections (01:07:21:00)
From Alioto’s experience, there were three types of officers: those who had gone
through OCS, those who had gone through West Point, and those who had gone through
an ROTC program (01:07:21:00)
o On a scale of one to ten, the officers who had gone through OCS were all tens,
while West Point officers were often mediocre at best and the ROTC officers
were a joke (01:07:32:00)
o Officers rotated more quickly than enlisted personnel and during his twelve
month tour, Alioto’s platoon had five different 1st Lieutenants; still, the platoon
never had a 1st Lieutenant who was not very good (01:08:24:00)
As the lieutenants rotated, it always seemed as if the replacement was
smart enough to go to the sergeants and other veterans in the platoon to
ask for advice and assistance (01:09:13:00)
None of the lieutenants had the attitude that they were the officer
and the other soldiers should defer to them (01:09:32:00)
o Often, even with the sergeants, if an E-6 (Staff Sergeant) who had never been in
combat came into the field and worked with a pair of E-4s (Corporals) who had
been in the field six months, the E-6 deferred to the E-4s (01:10:38:00)
�
Alioto would characterize the morale of the platoon was phenomenal; all of the men got
along and although there were occasionally petty arguments, there was never anything
physical (01:11:14:00)
o For the most part, the ethnicity of the soldiers in the platoon were white; there was
never a large contingent of black soldiers in the platoon, with the most being only
three or four (01:11:36:00)
Nevertheless, whenever the unit was not in the field, Alioto could always
sense a racial tension (01:12:47:00)
When Alioto was working in the Ford factories prior to his service, the
racial divide in some of the areas was almost fifty/fifty; as well, playing
sports while growing up had given Alioto experience in being around
black people (01:13:08:00)
However, for the soldiers who had come from the northern
suburbs, they had zero experience with black people; these soldiers
tended to make comments, such as their best friend being black,
that the black soldiers saw right through (01:13:38:00)
While Alioto was in a training, there was one point when a couple
of black recruits in the unit went to one of the white National
Guardsmen in the unit and asked what state he was from and what
he did in the National Guard there (01:14:29:00)
o As the recruits talked, one of the black recruits snapped his
fingers and said, “Oh, I know, you guys kill n****** don’t
you” (01:15:06:00)
Something Alioto hopes will change about the American public’s perception of the
soldier in Vietnam was that he was sitting in the field, high on drugs (01:16:20:00)
o In his twelve months in the field, Alioto never once saw an incident of anyone
ever using drugs (01:16:32:00)
There was a sense of responsibility amongst the soldiers and they knew
that there was no way they could be doing what they were doing if they
were high (01:16:44:00)
That being said, whenever the platoon went on a stand-down, as soon as
the men were out of the field, one group would go wherever they needed
to go to get a beer while another group went wherever they needed to go
to get drugs (01:17:01:00)
o From what Alioto saw, the drug use amongst the soldiers was largely restricted to
the rear area(s), which happened to be where the bulk of the soldiers in Vietnam
were stationed (01:17:48:00)
Alioto’s platoon almost always had a Vietnamese scout assigned to it (01:18:16:00)
o However, given the types of operations that the 101st Airborne was operating at
the time, working in the triple canopy jungle, Alioto never once saw a Vietnamese
village (01:18:32:00)
If the men saw human life, it was either an American soldier or an enemy
soldier (01:18:56:00)
o Still, there was a large contingent of Vietnamese civilians who worked in the rear
area(s) and by and large, Alioto got along great with them (01:19:07:00)
�
Alioto never had concerns that the Vietnamese working on the bases were
enemy personnel (01:19:46:00)
The experience of the soldiers in the field was so strong that just the experience of getting
out of the field for six or seven days on a stand-down was more enjoyable than a week’s
vacation in Florida (01:19:52:00)
Alioto was fortunate enough to receive an R&R (Rest and Recuperation) to Bangkok,
Thailand in the middle of his tour; even better for Alioto, he ended up receiving a nineday R&R instead of the standard seven-day (01:20:25:00)
o Alioto took his R&R in September and in the following January, his company
received a new First Sergeant (01:20:47:00)
Several years before Alioto deployed, a band named the Hollywood
Argyles had release a song titles “Alley Oop” and for the majority of his
tour, Alioto was called “Oop” by the other soldiers (01:20:56:00)
o Eventually, the new First Sergeant came up and asked if Alioto had been on R&R
yet; almost immediately, Alioto formulated a complete thought and said he had
not (01:21:34:00)
Alioto decided to drag it out for a little bit and the First Sergeant
eventually said that Alioto’s best friend in platoon was going to Hawaii on
R&R and there was an extra spot open (01:22:18:00)
At the time, the in-demand R&R spot was Australia but soldiers
had to wait eight or nine months to receive an R&R there
(01:22:55:00)
o Alioto ended up going to Hawaii with his friend, who was trying to convince his
wife, who had sent him a Dear John letter, to come meet him (01:23:15:00)
There were a large portion of men in Alioto’s platoon who were married
and many of whom had married only a month or two before they
deployed; from what Alioto can remember, almost half of the married men
ended up receiving a Dear John letter (01:23:29:00)
When Alioto and his friend arrived in Hawaii, they got a hotel room for
cheap and the friend got in contact with his wife, who was at a bowling
alley at the time (01:24:00:00)
The wife said that she was not going to come to Hawaii and about
a minute later, she said that she had to go because it was her turn to
bowl (01:24:44:00)
When the wife said that, the friend slammed the phone down and swore at
the wife before ripping the phone off the wall (01:25:37:00)
Meanwhile, Alioto was hoping to find the first girl he could and
strike up a conversation between her and the friend (01:26:25:00)
The two eventually went to a bar and came across a group of four girls,
who they started talking with; however, one of the girls eventually
mentioned that her father was in the military, which set the friend off
again (01:26:42:00)
Around three in the morning, the two made it back to the hotel and Alioto
passed out, only to be woke by someone shaking his shoulder; when he
opened his eyes, he saw it was a black prostitute that his friend had gone
�
out and hired for him by way of apology for messing up the evening
(01:27:19:00)
When Alioto first arrived at Bravo company at the beginning of the tour, there was a
black First Sergeant who interviewed him (01:28:38:00)
o The two men hit it off and as it turned out, because Alioto had the highest test
scores out of anyone in the company, the First Sergeant offered Alioto the
company position when the current company clerk rotated home (01:28:49:00)
o After the soldiers were pulled off of LZ Kelly, they were flown into some lowlands, where it was warm and sunny and they were told to take off their boots and
socks to dry them out (01:30:01:00)
All the soldiers had jungle rot on their feet and for Alioto, for almost a
year after his tour, he had to take his shoes off and leave them outside
because they would stink so bad (01:30:28:00)
As the men were drying off, the company medic was walking around,
checking the soldiers’ feet and when he got to Alioto, he said Alioto had
the worst case of trench foot he had ever seen (01:31:14:00)
In reality, Alioto did not have trench foot; he had just been laying
in the sun for so long that his feet were sunburned (01:31:28:00)
The medic sent Alioto back to the rear area with two other soldiers
to see a doctor and when the doctor saw them, he said there was
nothing wrong with their feet (01:31:35:00)
Alioto talked with the first sergeant, who told him to take a helicopter out
to his unit; however, Alioto knew how disorganized everything was in the
rear, so he figured he could get away with spending a couple of days in the
rear and nobody would be the wiser (01:31:52:00)
After a couple of days, Alioto finally took a helicopter out to where his
company was supposed to be, around Firebase Bastogne; however, none
of the company was there (01:32:29:00)
When Alioto finally caught up to the company a day or two later, nobody
said anything (01:33:03:00)
o Eventually, when the company made it to Firebase Tomahawk, the first sergeant
flew out and called in Alioto to talk (01:33:22:00)
When Alioto walked into the hooch where the first sergeant was, he
remembers the first sergeant waging his finger and saying that Alioto was
not going to be the company clerk (01:33:48:00)
When the first sergeant said that, Alioto realized that he had traded
two days for eight months; however, as it turned out, it was
probably for the best because Alioto was a better soldier in the
field than out of it (01:34:04:00)
Carrying the M-60 was exhausting work and when Alioto first joined the company,
another soldier was carrying the machine gun; however, the soldier said that the next time
a big soldier came in, he was passing off the M-60 and as it turned out, that soldier was
Alioto (01:34:43:00)
o Once Alioto managed to pass the M-60 onto someone else, the remainder of his
tour was much more palatable (01:35:32:00)
�
In total, there were only five or six major fights that Alioto was involved with during his
entire tour in which his unit suffered significant casualties (01:36:08:00)
o Alioto’s unit never once had a situation where the enemy tried to probe their
position and/or send sappers against them (01:37:20:00)
o Alioto’s unit did encounter enemy bunker complexes but it was always after the
enemy had gone; the men would often take a hill and it would be obvious that
there had been an enemy position there (01:38:01:00)
During one time, the unit finally managed to take a hill that they had been
attacking for around four days (01:38:56:00)
One of the first men at the time of the hill dropped some grenades
into a hole, thinking there might be some Vietnamese hiding in
them (01:39:04:00)
Instead, the hole turned out to be a Vietnamese latrine that
proceeded to explode straight up and cover the soldier in feces
(01:39:17:00)
o It was May, which meant the weather was getting warmer
and the soldier had no way of getting the stench off apart
from canteens of water (01:39:31:00)
o The platoon eventually went down a day or two later and
the soldier cleaned himself off in a pond (01:39:39:00)
80% of the time, the soldiers ate C-Rations while in the field while the other 20% were
LRP (Long-Range Patrol) rations; Alioto himself always carried a bottle of Tabasco
sauce and made sure his food was drenched in it (01:40:14:00)
o For the most part, Alioto tried to eat the same three meals as much as possible;
whenever they were re-supplied, the men took turns pulling out meals and if any
of his meals were there, Alioto took them (01:40:41:00)
The men were re-supplied every four days, so Alioto typically carried
eight meals on him, as well as thirteen quarts of water (01:41:08:00)
After a re-supply, Alioto was usually carrying about 100lbs of equipment
and supplies and by the time the next re-supply came in, he was down to
around 60lbs (01:41:15:00)
Alioto was only wounded once in the field, when he was nicked by a piece of shrapnel
from an American artillery round (01:42:16:00)
o As weird as it sounds, a large portion of the men who were injured in Alioto’s
unit were injured either marching up or down the mountains (01:42:32:00)
Alioto never counted down the days he had left until he got out of the field; he always
knew the day and roughly how many months he had left but that was it (01:44:27:00)
Because of the incident where he stayed in the rear area longer than he should have,
Alioto was not taken out of the field when it came close to the time when he would go
home (01:44:43:00)
o When the time came for Alioto to leave, he was pulled out of the field and began
going through out-processing; however, the soldier who was doing the outprocessing said there was a mistake because Alioto still had three weeks left in the
field (01:44:52:00)
�o Alioto went to the company first sergeant and told him what had happened; when
the first sergeant told him to go to the helicopter pad to rejoin the company,
Alioto refused to (01:45:07:00)
o Eventually, Alioto was given the job of escorting a prisoner from the base to a
base in Da Nang (01:45:23:00)
Once in Da Nang, Alioto met up with some Air Force personnel who he
had met during his R&R and he stayed at their barracks for two weeks;
when he finally made it back to the unit, the first sergeant asked where he
had been and Alioto merely said that he could not get a helicopter for the
ride back (01:45:52:00)
End of Enlistment / Post-Military Life (01:46:11:00)
Once Alioto finally left Vietnam, he did not have much time remaining on his enlistment;
he returned home in March 1971 and was discharged in August 1971 (01:46:11:00)
o During the last remaining months of his enlistment, Alioto was mostly stationed
at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, although for two months he was stationed at an Army
base in Germany (01:46:18:00)
When he arrived in Germany, Alioto asked if there was any way that he
could be assigned to a job in the rear area; eventually, Alioto was given an
assignment was an MP (Military Police Officer) (01:47:11:00)
When Alioto reported for the duty, the commanding officer said
that before Alioto could go out on an assignment, he needed to
have a German driver’s license (01:47:32:00)
Alioto took the test and flunked it on purpose so that he would not
have any assignment; ergo, until the next test, Alioto had nothing
to do except read, watch movies, and go to local bars
(01:47:58:00)
o Alioto ended up flunking the exam the second time he took
it as well (01:48:52:00)
Once he was back in the United States, Alioto went to Fort Sheridan and
bided his time until his enlistment was over (01:49:04:00)
Alioto got out of the Army on August 24th and was back working at a Ford plant just after
Labor Day (01:49:34:00)
o After he was out of the Army, Alioto had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder; if
he drank too much, he would occasionally be a little obnoxious with some of his
friends (01:49:47:00)
Alioto figures that part of it was he did not know anyone else who had
gone through the same experiences he had (01:50:03:00)
During Alioto’s first night home, he was sleeping in one of his sister’s
rooms and when he woke up in the middle of the night, he saw a
Styrofoam and immediately thought it was an enemy soldier; he started
yelling and both his parents had to come in to settle him down
(01:50:19:00)
Alioto figures it did not take much more than a year for him to become
acclimated to civilian life (01:51:12:00)
�
o Alioto did not receive much in the way of a negative reception when he returned
home (01:51:22:00)
At one point, Alioto was hitch-hiking from Fort Sheridan and was picked
up by a group of hippies (01:51:28:00)
o When Alioto returned from Vietnam, he first flew into Fort Lewis, Washington,
then to Detroit Metro Airport, and he hitch-hiked home from there (01:51:47:00)
Once Alioto got home, he went into his house, took a shower, put on
civilian clothes, and walked to where his mom was working; when he
arrived, he told the secretary to tell his mom that the man she had met in
the bar the night before was there to take her to lunch (01:52:26:00)
The secretary called Alioto’s mother, who worked on the second
floor of the building and when she came out, Alioto thought she
was going to fall over the railing (01:52:47:00)
o For Alioto, it was not so much that anybody treated him poorly; instead, what
bothered him was mostly that people did not acknowledge what he had done,
apart from his family (01:53:14:00)
Alioto’s younger sister had gotten him a membership to the VFW;
however, when Alioto went there for a beer, he received a very frosty
reception from the World War II veterans (01:53:32:00)
Alioto worked for Ford off-and-on through 1978, when he was laid off during the oil
embargo, at which point he attended Arizona State University (01:54:23:00)
o In 1976, Alioto met a young man in a bar who worked as a businessman/trader
and the two eventually became roommates; for three years, the friend pushed
Alioto to get into what the friend was doing but Alioto did not have enough selfconfidence to do that type of work (01:54:46:00)
o Eventually, Alioto did go in for an interview with the friend’s manager, who said
that in two months, he would hire Alioto (01:55:37:00)
o Alioto told the friend what the manager had said and the friend suggested Alioto
go for another interview at one of the firm’s other offices; (01:55:52:00)
Alioto went to the second interview and when asked, he said his sales
experiences was limited to selling newspapers and golf balls; when the
manager asked how Alioto did selling the newspapers and Alioto told him,
the manager said he wanted Alioto to take an aptitude test (01:56:08:00)
Alioto took the test and answered all one hundred questions
(addition of fractions) on the test and took another test where he
had to write as many words as he could that began with the letter
“T” in the three minutes (01:56:46:00)
The firm sent Alioto’s test to be graded and when it came back, he went in
and the manager said that although the company was going to hire him, it
was not going to be in sales (01:57:10:00)
When Alioto asked why, the manager said they had never seen
anyone score so high on the aptitude tests and they feared Alioto
was not going to be able to work with everybody; Alioto pointed
out that he had spent ten years between the Army and working for
Ford and had gotten along with everyone (01:57:24:00)
�
o As it turned out, after he took the job, Alioto eventually ended up becoming the
number one person in the entire firm (01:58:18:00)
Alioto believes that the time he spent as an infantryman made him extremely secure in
himself (01:59:15:00)
o A lot of people have asked Alioto how he could endure being in combat for a year
and Alioto’s answer was that his parents did a great job raising him, the Army did
a great job training him, and he acclimated to anything (01:59:31:00)
Alioto knew that if he was able to go through Vietnam and acclimate to
that, he could acclimate to anything (02:00:02:00)
o Looking back, if he was twenty years old and had to do it again, Alioto would
serve (02:00:02:00)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Alioto, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alioto, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael Alioto was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Despite having a college deferment, he received a draft notice in 1969, and rather than argue the issue, he decided to go into the Army anyway. Despite his high test scores, he was trained as an infantryman, and was deployed to Vietnam in April, 1970. Assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, he spent most of his year in Vietnam on patrol in the northern part of South Vietnam, usually in or near the A Shau Valley. His platoon took heavy casualties in a number of firefights, and participated in the Ripcord campaign in the summer of 1970, reopening Firebase Gladiator to support Ripcord while it was under siege. When he tour of Vietnam was up, he was sent to Germany briefly, and then completed his enlistment in the United States.
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. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2013-03-05
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AliotoM1480V
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/a1e2e55cc41c89c86f686e5f03a5c670.m4v
e51843ac1db7a5aa38c9db45143f6dff
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Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Richard Alkema
World War II
52 minutes 33 seconds
(00:00:10) Early Life
-Born in 1926 in Detroit, Michigan.
-Located very near to the Detroit River.
-Father was an engineer on the Wabash Railroad.
-Has a history of railroad workers in the family.
-Able to keep busy with work throughout the Depression.
-Attended South Western High School in Detroit.
-Graduated 1944.
-Sold newspapers as a teenager.
-Likely heard about Pearl Harbor from the papers.
-Father was from the Netherlands.
(00:05:00)
-Decided to enlist in the Navy after high school.
-Received permission from a Federal judge in order to enlist.
-His mother very hesitantly signed for his enlistment.
-The fact that certain family members were in the military helped to influence him toward
joining the Navy.
-Two brothers in law that were involved in the military in Italy, and later Germany.
-Another relative that was in the Navy.
Training and Locomotive Engine Delivery to Europe
-Sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for basic training.
(00:10:00)
-Next, sent via train to Norfolk, Virginia for gunnery training.
-Boarded the Seatrain Texas ship.
-At that point he had about a week of basic training, and a week of gunnery training.
-Upon leaving there was a 100 ship convoy.
-Left from New York Harbor.
-Destined for England.
-England was in need of locomotives.
-While crossing the Atlantic, the ship was shot at but the torpedo went underneath their ship.
(00:15:00)
-However the ship was damaged.
-Docked at the Falmouth, England.
-Delivered two locomotive engines.
-Next, crossed the Mediterranean and went to Naples, Italy.
-Delivered two locomotive engines.
-Baldwin engines made in Pennsylvania.
-Finally the last two engines were delivered to Marseille, France.
�-They knew how to use the anti-aircraft guns, however there wasn’t extensive instruction given.
Pacific and Transporting Japanese Civilians
-Next headed to the Panama Canal with a destination for Japan.
-Travelled with some other ships to Panama.
(00:20:00)
-Left the Seatrain Texas ship to board the LST 801 headed for Japan.
-The goal was to pick up Japanese that were remaining from the War.
-Japan had surrendered by this point.
-Many of them were women.
-Eventually the boarded Japanese were to be repatriated back to Japan.
-Picked them up at Okinawa.
(00:25:00)
-Usually on guard duty.
-Took up laundry duty as well during certain times.
-Refused to swim in the ocean because of the dangerous sharks etc.
-Guards with guns would keep watch for sharks while other crew members swam in the
ocean.
-Experienced some bad storms on the LST.
-Sea sickness amongst the crew was common.
-Threw their trash overboard from meals etc.
(00:30:00)
-Situations to fire anti-aircraft guns to attack were seldom at that point.
-During their time at Falmouth they were able to go into town.
-Did not have transportation to get around.
-English citizens were welcoming to them.
-Did not go into town at Naples or Marseille.
-At Okinawa they were able to go ashore to town.
-However it was not common.
-In Japan they were unwelcome to go into town.
(00:35:00)
-The trip from Okinawa to Japan was short.
-So the interaction between the crew and Japanese being transported was limited.
-Communication to the US at home was not very feasible.
-Sent mail to their base.
-Socialized with his fellow guard members.
-Only one person was a closer friend of his.
-His duration in the Navy lasted about two and a half years.
-Discharged in 1946.
Post War Life and Misc.
-Relieved to be sent home when the War was ended.
(00:40:00)
-Certain ships would have the luxury of a shower stall while others did not.
-LST vehicles were extremely cramped.
-A lot of movies to watch to keep the crew entertained.
�-LST featured showers with desalinators.
-Priority was to use the pure water for laundry and drinking not bathing.
-After leaving the military he worked with his father on the trains.
-Made good money.
-At that time their family was using one car amongst them.
(00:45:00)
-His work with the railroads lasted about 10 ~ 12 years.
-Took flying lessons to be certified to fly a plane.
-Didn’t continue on to fly as a habit or as a pilot.
-Some of his friends were casualties that never returned from War.
-Didn’t enroll in college after being discharged.
-Became a police officer as well as working security jobs.
-Worked for about 12 ~ 15 years.
(00:50:00)
�
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
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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
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27_AlkemaR1905V
Title
A name given to the resource
Alkema, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2015
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-12-03
Description
An account of the resource
Richard Alkema was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1926. After graduating high school in 1944 he enlisted to the Navy. For his brief basic training he was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois. In Norfolk, Virginia he was trained to use the anti-aircraft guns to be a guardsman. Thereafter he traveled aboard the Seatrain Texas ship to Falmouth England, Naples Italy, and Marseille France to deliver locomotive engines. The ship next passed through the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor where Richard boarded LST 801. Their next destination would be Okinawa where they transported Japanese to the mainland in the aftermath of the War. His time in the military lasted two and a half years and he was discharged in 1946.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alkema, Richard
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
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/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran's History Project
US Navy
Paul Allen
Total Time (01:23:00)
Introduction (00:00:19)
Paul was born in 1926 in South Boston; his heritage includes some Irish and English (00:00:34)
His father served in WWI for the US Navy where he met his future wife in Belfast, Ireland
(00:00:46)
Paul graduated from high school on February 1st, 1942; he was only 15 when he graduated as he
skipped a couple of grades (00:02:19)
◦ He mentions that in middle school and high school that he was aware of what was going on
in the world due to the Boston school system (00:04:15)
◦ Although he wanted to go to Harvard, Paul knew he would eventually end up in the military
so he became a welder until then (00:05:42)
▪ Paul took the naval aviation exam and passed it- from there he went to Dartmouth
College for mechanical engineering (00:07:00)
▪ Due to a small color blindness issue, Paul was sent to the Supply Corps by 1945; he
went to school in New Jersey by the time the war was just ending (00:08:56)
▪ After he graduated from that school, he was stationed to the battleship New Jersey as the
dispersing officer (00:09:07)
While he was at Dartmouth, Paul received naval and military training; in addition he
took 15 hours of classes each semester (00:10:29)
Paul was the youngest officer on the New Jersey at the age of 19 (00:11:11)
◦ As a supply and dispersing officer, Paul arrived in San Diego to a pretty bad
situation which he had to resolve which involved getting cash, equipment, food,
and clothing for the men on board- they were headed to China for four months
(00:15:08)
Overseas & Beyond (00:15:08)
On the way, Paul mentions they had to refuel at Hawaii and Japan for several weeks; he
mentions the trip was cold and torturous (00:16:40)
Paul said that he was almost killed while in China when it was Chiang Kai Shek's birthday but
his rickshaw driver talked the men who held them up out of it (00:19:23)
◦ He didn't decide to make a career out of the Navy at that point as he mentions he was quite
fed up with his captain at the time (00:22:00)
◦ Once he got back to San Diego, Paul decided to put in his papers; the Navy guaranteed he
would get a masters degree out of it if he stayed on so he changed his mind; this was in
1947 (00:23:43)
▪ His next assignment was to join a destroyer based out of his hometown of Boston
(00:24:05)
▪ At this time Paul held the rank of Lieutenant, which took him eight years to do
(00:25:45)
▪ He was stationed on the USS Power at the time (00:26:13)
Paul trained at Guantanamo Bay for six months while he held the positions of supply
�
and dispersing officer (00:26:58)
He was on the USS Power for a year and a half; after Guantanamo, Paul says they
did fleet exercises after that (00:28:22)
In 1948 after the USS Power, Paul was asked where he would like to go next and
told them he wanted to be stationed at a shipyard in Boston (00:28:49)
Korean War & Beyond (00:31:06)
Paul arrived to the Eastern theater during the Korean War the day the United States invaded
Inchon, South Korea on September 15th, 1950 (00:31:06)
He was primarily based out of Yokusuka, Japan at this time (00:32:05)
◦ Paul's future partner was one of a few hundred nurses that was flown over to Yokusuka; this
was during the last week of November in 1950 (00:35:03)
◦ He mentions that the military was downsized considerably from World War II to the Korean
War and says that there were only a few divisions from the Army and Marines as these
divisions would be sent back to combat even after you were injured or received purple
hearts if you were healthy enough to return to combat (00:37:52)
▪ Paul's brother joined the National Guard in Minnesota and was sent to fight in the
Korean War; his brother lost seven platoon leaders in three months and became the
sergeant major of the battalion at the age of 23- he passed away at the age of 59 from
cancer due to the effects of contracting malaria while in South Korea (00:40:39)
Back Home & Eastern Theater (00:41:35)
Paul became the deputy chief of petroleum logistics for the Navy while he worked in the
Pentagon (00:41:35)
He served in the Pentagon for two years; he helped set up fueling stations throughout the rest of
the world in case of another war breaking out (00:43:35)
Paul served on the USS Essex from June 1954 til 1956 as the aviation supply officer (00:44:53)
◦ After being stationed near Taiwan, Paul and the crew of the USS Essex were sent to
Thailand as he mentioned it being a very touchy place; most of the missions were
diplomatic and he mentions the natives of Thailand liked them being there (00:47:27)
◦ Between training and deployment, Paul says they lost 13 aircrafts and five pilots (00:49:40)
▪ After the Essex, Paul was the logistics and planning officer for the naval air force pacific
fleet; he was stationed in San Diego, California (00:52:18)
▪ At this time, he made the rank of Lieutenant Commander (00:52:37)
Paul was stationed on Subic Bay in the Philippines; his wife and three of his children
were there as well- he was stationed there from 1959 til 1961 (00:53:42)
He went to Monterey Bay Naval Postgraduate School; from there he went to the
aviation supply office in Philadelphia- he did this from 1962 til 1964 (00:55:37)
◦ Paul mentions that when the Vietnam conflict finally came along he realized it
was a big mistake (00:58:46)
◦ He made rank of captain and had a small staff of about 20; four of them were
commanders and the rest were high ranking civilians (01:02:10)
◦ Even after Paul aired concerns about overspending on supplies in one event, the
military went ahead and did it anyways (01:08:30)
▪ After one of Paul's flights to Da Nang, Vietnam was cancelled, a gentlemen
at the hotel bar offered Paul up a seat on his flight (01:11:37)
▪ Paul's impression of Vietnam at that point was that the people were very
�unhappy; people were getting killed for no reason over there (01:13:22)
Back Home Again (01:13:50)
After Vietnam, Paul decided to leave the Navy and came back to the states to head the
international logistics at the supply systems command as a primarily diplomatic job (01:14:18)
Paul looked for a civilian job and was hired as the head of information systems and became the
chief deputy of social services for the state of Michigan (01:15:14)
◦ Paul's time in the service made him a person with integrity, honesty, and it gave him a great
education (01:18:49)
◦ The service also taught him to ignore extraneous things and turn the other cheek (01:19:26)
�
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
RHC-27_AllenP1652V
Title
A name given to the resource
Allen, Paul (Interview outline and video), 2014
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014-06-23
Description
An account of the resource
Paul Allen was born in 1926 in South Boston. His father served in World War I for the US Navy. Paul graduated high school at the age of 15 in 1942. Although he wanted to go to Harvard, Paul knew he would end up in the military
he wound up being stationed to the battleship New Jersey as a dispersing officer where he would be the youngest officer on the ship at age 19. After a few years on a few different ships, Paul would arrive to the Eastern theater during the Korean War as he was primarily based out of Yokusuka Japan in late 1950. He later served assignments at the Pentagon and aboard the carrier USS Essex (1954-56), and later had assignments in the Philippines and at the naval base in Da Nang during the Vietnam War.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Allen, Paul
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
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/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ace1c97f7a623577a06847c044ec3393.mp4
e9c2f779bfa0ce4277bfe0cfec52180a
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Ronald Allen
Vietnam War
24 minutes 45 seconds
(00:00:01) Overview of Service and Training
-In the Air Force from 1970 to 1974
-Worked with the Airborne Air Rescue Recovery Service
-Better known as Air Force Pararescue
-Worked as a crew chief on the Sikorsky HH53 helicopter
-Started off with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah
-Spent his first year there
(00:00:36) Deployment to Vietnam
-In April 1972 he was assigned to the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron
-Stationed at Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam
-Joined the squadron just after a rescue crew was lost during Bat 21 rescue attempt
-Also joined prior to a major operation carried out at Quang Tri
-Massive evacuation of South Vietnamese Rangers and Americans
(00:02:18) Daily Life at Da Nang
-Rocket and mortar strikes were a common occurrence
-Lived on the north side of the base in the old Marine compound
-Heavily fortified position that also had a hospital
-Allowed them to get to the helicopters and to launch quickly
-Had to wear body armor at all times for the most part
-Ate mostly C rations even while on base
-Worked in conjunction with the other maintenance teams
-Insured that the helicopters and other aircraft were working properly
-Formed a deep bond with each other
-Worked with two Coast Guard pilots that were stationed at Da Nang
-Being involved in the missions made him feel like he was playing a major part
-Day to day life could be boring
-Weather was always hot and humid both during the day and at night
-Mosquitos were also a constant annoyance that he just had to get used to
-Involved in a large number of missions
(00:06:49) Involvement with the Army
-Worked with the Army on occasion
-Got invited to fly in a Cobra attack helicopter once
-Took the opportunity to fly along the South China Sea coast and got target practice
-Upon landing he was severely reprimanded by a superior officer
-He was definitely not allowed to ride along in a Cobra
(00:08:54) Enemy Attacks
-Remembers on August 19, 1972 the base was hit by a sapper and rocket attack
-Happened at night
-Blew the doors off the hut where he slept
�-The next morning, August 20, they were hit again
-Attack happened at 6:30 in the morning
-120mm Vietnamese rocket made a direct hit on the helicopter he worked on
-Destroyed the helicopter
-He was uninjured though
(00:09:58) End of the War Pt. 1
-His unit was deactivated in December 1972
-He was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard
-Remembers flying over the Ho Chi Minh trail as they left
(00:10:36) Typhoons
-During his time in Vietnam he was a part of two typhoon evacuations
-Once to Saigon
-Once to Thailand
-Considered to be somewhat of an R&R period
-Chance to rest for a couple days while the storm blew through
(00:11:32) End of the War Pt. 2
-War was winding down when he was deployed to Vietnam
-Army was being withdrawn
-Firebases in the north were being overrun by Vietnamese forces
(00:11:52) Involvement with Other Aircraft
-Bombing missions were being flown out of Da Nang on a daily basis
-He could feel the ground shake when the bombs were dropped in the distance
-Search and rescue teams from his unit would follow the pilots out
-Circled the area of operation in case a jet was shot down
-Always a celebratory event when a pilot was recovered and returned to base successfully
-Saw a B52 bomber land at Da Nang
-SAM (surface to air missile) was stuck, unexploded in the wing
-Vietnamese pilots would come into Da Nang and have to make crash landings
-Remembers a rocket attack that destroyed several Marine F4 Phantoms
-Marines suffered losses because of that
(00:15:49) End of the War Pt. 3
-Towards the end of the war a large amount of soldiers were being moved to different positions
-He and his unit were pulled out of Da Nang because of eroding security in the area
-Also part of the political maneuvering that occurred
-He was transferred to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron in Thailand
-Worked with them for a few months
-Remembers a large number of B52s flying out for bombing runs
-Remembers one that crash landed upon its return
-The crew ejected safely
-In February 1972 he was pulled off the base in Thailand
-Given twelve hours to pack and get ready to leave
-Part of the Paris Peace Accords of 1972
-Flew out of Bangkok, Thailand back to the United States
-Returned to the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah
�(00:18:52) Enlisting in the Air Force
-Enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army
-He had a low lottery number which meant he had a high chance of getting drafted
-He had a fascination with aircraft and the Air Force since a young age
-This also played a major part in influencing him to join the Air Force
-Had to travel from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana for his induction
(00:19:49) Mascots of the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron
-The pararescue unit’s mascot was a boa constrictor named “Stretch”
-It was a real boa constrictor that had been taken out of the jungle
-Fifteen feet long
-His maintenance crew’s mascot was a dog named “Dash”
-He got hurt by shrapnel from a Vietnamese rocket attack once
-Pararescue soldiers gave him stitches and brought him back to health
-Dash received the Purple Heart for his wounds at an on base bar
-They lost track of him during the evacuation of Da Nang
-Never knew what happened to him
-Stretch was taken with the unit to Thailand and released back into the wild
(00:22:52) Reflections on Service
-He felt that the war was an important part of shaping himself and his generation
-It was difficult being a soldier or a veteran during the war
-Despite the negative aspects of service he is glad that he was a part of the war
-Feels that it was worth it because he was able to help save some lives
�
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
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Title
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Allen, Ronald (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
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Allen, Ronald
Description
An account of the resource
Ronald Allen served in the Air Force from 1970 to 1974. He enlisted in the Air Force to avoid getting drafted into the Army and had a deeper interest in serving with the Air Force and working with aircraft. After travelling from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana he was inducted into the Air Force and was sent to basic training. He was deployed to Da Nang Air Base, Vietnam in April 1972 where he served with the 37th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron after he trained with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah. During his time in Vietnam he was involved in a large number of rescue missions and had multiple incidents involving enemy artillery fire. In December 1972 his unit was deactivated and he was flown out of Da Nang by the Utah National Guard and attached to the 40th Air Rescue Recovery Squadron stationed in Thailand. In February 1972 he returned home and continued to work with the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing in Ogden, Utah.
Contributor
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Cullison, Jennifer (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
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Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Air Force
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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2013-05-21
Identifier
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AllenR1495V
Source
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<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/4b9c0673624e7551151b2582120bfcd7.m4v
ab9f70b804b73ea01d411e40b5db451a
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0eb17cea2f38fd5949739fb3be6929cf.pdf
319b31f43aed03c593c87b36fea8c510
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans' History Project
Don Alsbro
Cold War, Vietnam War, Peacetime
(00:00:11) Early Life
-Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 20, 1940
-Moved to Plymouth, Michigan in 1944
-Grew up there
-Father was a travelling claims adjuster for the Pere Marquette Railway
-Went to the scene of train wrecks for insurance purposes
-Family was allowed to travel with him
-Got to see New York City and San Francisco
-Father died suddenly in 1949
-Traumatic experience for Don
-Fortunately, the railroad had a retirement fund set up
-Father had also purchased a small apartment complex in Detroit to rent
out
-Fund and income from rent made it so his mother didn't have to
work
-Spent summers at the family cottage on Whitmore Lake
-Graduated from high school in 1958
(00:02:55) ROTC at Western Michigan University
-Went to Western Michigan University
-Encouraged by his machine shop teacher/track coach to do something he loved
doing
-Inspired him to go into teaching
-Had been accepted by the University of Michigan and Michigan State University
-Chose Western because it had the best teaching program in the state
-There was a two year requirement of phyiscal education or Reserve Officer Training
Corps
-There were 1500 ROTC cadets at Western
-Decided to be in the ROTC
-Only had to wear his uniform once a week for drill
-Had to apply, and be accepted, for two extra years of ROTC
-Encouraged to sign up for the extra two years
-Told he would only have to do six months active duty
-Also told he would be commissioned as an officer in the Army
-Due to the Cuban Missile Crisis the six months of active duty was extended to two years
-Took a semester off to deliver a car to Phoenix, Arizona
-Allowed to return to Western and continue with the ROTC
-Received orders to go to West Germany for three years at the end of ROTC training
-Drove to Phoenix in spring 1961
-Commissioned and graduated in January 1963
(00:11:33) Teaching and Infantry Basic Training
-Went to Infantry Basic Training from June through August 1963 before going to
�Germany
-Did some substitute teaching in Kalamazoo, Michigan before Infantry Basic Training
-Trained for 10 weeks at Fort Benning, Georgia
-Learned how to be an infantry officer
-Summer was bad in Georgia
-Wound up at Martin Army Hospital due to heat exhaustion
-Had gotten married in May 1963
-If he took an extra year of service he could bring his wife and stepdaughter to Germany
-In December 1965 he got an invitation to teach at Comstock Park, Michigan
-Requested release from the Army
-Could only leave early if he served a tour in Vietnam
(00:15:42) Stationed in West Germany Pt. 1
-Served at Larson Barracks in Kitzingen, Germany with the 3rd Infantry Division
-Became the athletics and recreation (A&R) officer for the 3rd Infantry Division
-Coached the 3rd Infantry Division baseball team
-Coached the brigade basketball team
-Assistant coach for the brigade football team
-Played against teams from all over Europe
-Army wanted soldiers to play sports to avoid getting into trouble
-Offered a chance to stay in the Army and work as a coach
(00:18:06) Deployment to Vietnam Pt. 1
-Received orders for Vietnam in February 1966
-Once he was done he could leave the Army
-Didn't know much about Vietnam
(00:19:10) Stationed in West Germany Pt. 2
-Germany was a good place for American servicemen and their families
-Not always enjoyable, but good for the most part
-Baseball team played a championship game in Nuremberg
-Same stadium where Jesse Owens ran in the 1936 Summer Olympics
-Note: Most likely played in Berlin, not Nuremberg, or was at Nuremberg stadium
used for famous Nazi rally in film Triumph of the Will
-Basketball team played the Air Force teams
(00:20:19) Deployment to Vietnam Pt. 2
-For 90 days he was attached to the 15th Infantry Regiment for infantry training
-Allowed to return to the U.S. in July 1966
-Assigned to be the Civil Affairs Officer in the 11th Aviation Group in the 1st Cavalry
Division
-More helicopters in the 1st Cavalry Division than trucks or jeeps
-Sent a welcome letter by the 1st Cavalry Division
(00:22:32) Arrival in Vietnam Pt. 1
-Spent two days in Saigon being processed
-Took a helicopter to An Khe
-Would spend a year in An Khe working as the Civil Affairs Officer
(00:23:17) Deployment to Vietnam Pt. 3
-Spent 30 days of leave in the U.S.
-Received 15 days of Jungle Training at Fort Sherman in the Panama Canal Zone
�-Taught how to rappel and cross rivers
-Tremendous experience
-Spent one week in the barracks and one week in the field
-Taught how to build shelters and identify poisonous snakes
-Returned to Charleston, South Carolina
-Had to get to California on his own
-Returned to Michigan to spend a few days with his wife and stepdaughter
-Went to Chicago O'Hare International Airport
-Boarded an Air National Guard C-130 at O'Hare Air Reserve Station
-Took him five or six days to get to California
-Landed in California and was processed in Oakland
-Flew out of Travis Air Force Base
-Flew between Travis AFB and Vietnam aboard a C-130 six times
-24 hour trip one way
-Stopped at Clark Air Base, Philippines to refuel
-Went to Vietnam as an individual soldier, not as part of a unit
(00:29:54) Arrival in Vietnam Pt. 2
-Landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon
-Received three days of orientation in Saigon
-Not a lot of training for officers
-Learned about the country
-Culture and geography
-Traveled in a school bus with grates on the windows to stop grenades
(00:31:26) Stationed in An Khe with 1st Cavalry Division
-Flew to An Khe
-Near Highway 19, in II Corps, and inland
-Arrived in June 1966 along with soldiers from South Korea
-Stationed at Camp Radcliff and took a bus to his unit
-Didn't get to meet the officer he was replacing
-Had a sergeant serving under him that had been shot down seven times
-There were 400 helicopters in the 1st Cavalry Division
-Had a South Vietnamese interpreter
-Spoke excellent English and was college educated
-He was part of a Civic Action Team
-Medic, sergeant, interpreter, and himself
-Worked from 9 AM to 10 or 11 PM in the village inside Camp Radcliff
-Villagers were moved one mile away to a place near a river
-Each villager was paid $300 to move
-Enough money to build a permanent house with bricks
-Moved off base for security reasons
-Had a medic in his Civic Action Team who treated civilians six days a week
-Very primitive area
-No running water, no electricity, and no sewers
-Had a hospital in An Khe that they could use
(00:41:57) Interactions with Vietnamese Civilians
-Worked with the village chief, the two hamlet chiefs, and the local police chief
�-Set up a shower system to deal with the rampant impetigo in the area
-Built a basketball court, volleyball court, softball diamond, and playground with
engineers
-Played games with the villagers
-On Friday night showed movies to the villagers
-Showed them footage from space
-On Monday nights had English classes for the children
-20 to 50 children came on average
-On Wednesday nights they provided math classes to the children
-On Christmas they brought gifts to each household in the village
-Got so comfortable with the villagers that he didn't carry a rifle
-Never had a problem in the entire year that he was there
-Brought the village 18 piglets to bolster their economy
-By June 1967 the village had 150 pigs
-Gave the girls dolls for Christmas and boys sports gears
-One soldier dressed up like Santa Claus
(00:49:21) Working with South Korean Soldiers
-South Korean soldiers put on a tae kwon do show for the villagers
-Chopped bricks in half with their bare hands
-For a few weeks after they treated a lot of children with broken hands
-They had tried to emulate the South Korean soldiers
-Showed the Vietnamese that the Koreans were formidable soldiers
-By extension, it also meant the Americans were formidable as
well
-Prior to June 1966 a lot of American soldiers were killed on Highway 19
-He routinely traveled between An Khe and Qui Nhon to get supplies
-Never had a problem thanks to the South Korean soldiers
(00:53:06) Reenlisting in the Army
-Initially planned on getting out of the Army after his tour in Vietnam
-In October 1966 he decided to stay in the Army
-Wife supported the decision
-Requested transfer to the Adjutant General Corps
-He was accepted and would be sent to the Adjutant General School after June
1967
(00:55:50) Travel
-Went to Saigon a couple times for paperwork
-Went to Qui Nhon
-Went to Hawaii for R&R in February 1967 and got to see his wife
-Went to Tokyo near the end of his tour in 1967
(00:57:05) Getting Shot Down
-Experienced getting shot down while on a Caribou transport
-Went to a leprosarium (leper colony) run by the Catholic Church to deliver presents
-Incredibly clean
-Ate dinner with the priests and nuns
-Boarded the Caribou with his interpreter and sat down in a seat near a window
-Heard a voice from nowhere say, "Don't sit there"
�-Moved to a different seat and the plane took off
-Shortly after take off he heard a "ping"
-Gunshot had gone through the plane and hit the plane's hydraulic line
-Looked out a window and saw the ground coming up fast
-Saw his life flash before his eyes
-Able to land back on the runway, but it was a rough landing
-Learned that a .51 caliber round had gone through his original seat and hit the hydraulic
line
-Spent a night in the field
-Didn't sleep well that night, but they didn't get attacked
-The next day a plane came in and they were able to leave
(01:04:17) Building a High School
-The 1st Cavalry Division donated $9000 to build a high school for the villagers in An
Khe
-Villagers could only get a 6th grade education before the high school was built
-High school had 12 rooms and two stories
-Supposed to get two cement mixers to build the school
-Only received one
-Went to Da Nang to ask about the other mixer
-Learned that the mixer had been moved to the Monkey Mountain Facility
-Note: Located at the peak of Son Tra Mountain
-Went to the Marine signal unit stationed there to ask about the
mixer
-Found it and was able to move it down the mountain
-A week later they got the mixer to An Khe and proceeded with construction
(01:09:38) Adjutant General Corps
-Returned to the U.S. and was sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana
-Took the Adjutant General Career Course
-Seven month course
-Adjutant General Corps was in charge of paperwork in the Army
-Mail, personnel action reports, punchcard processing, and court martial
processing
-Sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois for Adjutant General duty
-Headquarters for the 5th Army
-Took care of 50 colleges in that area with ROTC
-Processed commissions and ROTC paperwork for one year at Fort
Sheridan
-Had a lot of say in whether or not someone was qualified
-Didn't run into a lot of anti-war problems
-Lived in Zion, Illinois
-Near Great Lakes Naval Station
-Almost in Wisconsin
-Enjoyable time living in Illinois
-His second year at Fort Sheridan he ran a printing plant
-Had 40 civilians and 10 or 15 soldiers working for him
-Had presses and cameras
�-Responsible for book binding
-When former president Eisenhower died they dealt with press for his funeral
(01:17:15) Redeployment to Vietnam
-Didn't anticipate having to return to Vietnam
-Told he had to do a tour as a member of the Adjutant General Corps in Vietnam
-Returned to Vietnam in August 1970
(01:18:10) Stationed in An Khe with the 4th Infantry Division
-Assigned to the 4th Infantry Division in An Khe
-When he returned to An Khe in 1970 he was not allowed to leave the base without
protection
-This was as opposed to being able to go into the village without a rifle
-Didn't return to the village of An Khe
-Wasn't allowed to and didn't want to see what had become of it anyway
-Processed paperwork as the 4th Infantry Division prepared to return to the U.S.
-Processed paperwork sent to senators and representatives from soldiers
-Issues and complaints
-Every issue from the trivial to the serious
-Usually took a month for an issue to be addressed and dealt with
-Processed paperwork concerning men that went on leave and didn't return for duty
-Men that went on leave in the U.S. and decided not to return for service
(01:24:55) Stationed in Chu Lai with the 23rd Infantry (Americal) Division
-Sent to the Americal Division/23rd Infantry Division in Chu Lai
-Unit strength: 22,000 men
-Worked with them for eight months
-Worked as the Special Actions Officer
-Cut orders for men going home on emergency leave or on R&R
-Processed special orders
-On one occasion he received a top secret message that had 150 copies
-149 were accounted for, but one had gone missing in Da Nang
-He went to Da Nang to the South Vietnamese headquarters there
-Successfully found it and had it signed for
-Responsible for producing the daily bulletin for the division
(01:29:52) Morale & Drug Use
-Morale changed during his second tour
-Didn't see any evidence of drug use on his first tour in Vietnam
-On his second tour he saw evidence of drug use
-Soldiers still did their jobs without resistance on his second tour
(01:31:39) End of the War
-Remembers sitting in the chapel on Easter Sunday 1971
-Heard that Firebase Mary Ann had been overrun by the Viet Cong
-Marines were pulled out in spring 1971
-Didn't think too much about what would happen to South Vietnam after the U.S. left
(01:33:11) Interactions with Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)
-Had positive encounters with soldiers from South Vietnam
-Felt that South Vietnam had been left to be conquered at the end of the war
-Didn't have proper funding from the U.S. to defend itself after U.S. troops left
�-Friends with a South Vietnamese colonel
-Had fought alongside the French forces in the First Indochina War
-Able to get out of South Vietnam via Saigon in April 1975
-Left on the last helicopter out of Saigon with his family
-Resettled in Corpus Christi, Texas
-All 10 of his children made it out South Vietnam before it fell
(01:38:42) End of Active Duty
-At the end of his second tour in Vietnam he was ready to go home
-Had orders for Fort Bliss, Texas
-Drove to Texas with his family
-Spent seven or eight months in Texas
-In February 1972 he received a letter saying Army was reducing in size
-Meant that his active duty was coming to an end
-Active duty ended in April 1972
(01:39:53) Army Reserve
-Drilled with an Army Reserve unit in Kalamazoo starting in May 1972
-Spent five years with the hospital unit there
-Worked as an executive officer for seven years at Fort Sheridan
-Part of the 149th Medical Detachment
-Went on active duty in the summers
-Did four summers at Camp Ripley, Minnesota
-Did four summers at Camp Grayling, Michigan
-Got promoted to the rank of colonel
-Spent 31 years in the Army (active duty and reserve)
(01:41:22) Civilian Work
-Had teaching jobs while he was in the Army Reserve
-Owned a horse farm in Niles, Michigan
-Raised horses and went to shows
-Got his doctorate in teaching
-Coached a track team at Lake Michigan College and worked as their athletics director
-Developed "Dump Your Plump," an international weight loss program
-Team based, goal oriented, competitive program
(01:43:38) Lest We Forget
-Part of Lest We Forget
-Patriotic organization
-Collects the stories of veterans
-Have collected the stories of 300 to 350 veterans
-Educates people about American military engagements
-Conducts war reenactments for World War Two, Korean War, and Vietnam War
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
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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/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27_AlsbroD1899V
Title
A name given to the resource
Alsbro, Donald E (Interview outline and video), 2015
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-11-17
Description
An account of the resource
Don Alsbro was born on May 20, 1940 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1958 he attended Western Michigan University and enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, received his commission in January 1963 and graduated in June 1963. He received Infantry Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia and was stationed at Larson Barracks in Kitzingen, Germany from 1963 to 1966 working as the athletics and recreation officer of the 3rd Infantry Division. In February 1966 he received orders for Vietnam and in summer 1966 he deployed to Vietnam. He served as the Civil Affairs Officer in the 11th Aviation Group of the 1st Cavalry Division at An Khe promoting the welfare of the Vietnamese civilians in the area. He left Vietnam in June 1967 and received Adjutant General training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana and served at Fort Sheridan, Illinois for two years. In August 1970 he returned to Vietnam for a second tour where he served with the 4th Infantry Division at An Khe and the Americal Division at Chu Lai. He returned to the U.S. and served at Fort Bliss, Texas until his active duty ended in April 1972. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Camp Ripley, Minnesota
and Camp Grayling, Michigan. Don served for 30 years and attained the rank of colonel.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alsbro, Donald E.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
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/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d477cace4c921d4510e4efadbd528cda.mp4
3e5ddfe5e742e923d514965f803035fb
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bce3383305a62b5fcf9e0bcc37987aca.pdf
bd2cb2d49f8b6915351d41814a15ba1e
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
All American Girls Professional Baseball League
Veterans History Project
Interviewee’s Name: Isabel (Lefty) Alvarez
Length of Interview: (00:37:11)
Interviewed by: James Smither,
Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, June 30, 2010
Interviewer: “Can you begin to tell us a little bit about your background? To start
with, where and when were you born?”
I was born on October 31, 1933 in Havana, Cuba.
Interviewer: “What did your father do for a living or what did your family do?”
Well, my father was in the marines and then in the police force for fifty years.
Interviewer: “So he had a regular job. How many children were in your family?”
My brother and myself only
Interviewer: “When did you start playing baseball?”
I think very—my mother was all sport orientated and she knew it was healthy, so baseball
they played in the street you know and she let me do the sports, but she didn’t let me do
any other things. 1:14
Interviewer: “What other sports did you play besides baseball?”
Fencing, soccer and baseball most of all
Interviewer: “Now, when you played these games, were you mostly playing with
boys or were there a lot of girls too?”
In the fencing there was women, it was well organized and directing the fencing was
people from the government.
Interviewer: “Did you have fencing tournaments and did you travel around?”
At the time, in fifty-- it was the time, I can’t remember the exact day, but we were going
to go to Europe for fencing and I had to make up my mind if I wanted to go to Europe or
come to the United States to play baseball, so I decided to come here and I would like to
know the date, I can’t remember. 2:09
Interviewer: “Well, when did you first have contact with American baseball?
When did you start playing either with or against American teams?”
1
�In 1947 when they went to spring training and we had an exhibition game and to let you
know, I pitched that one game.
Interviewer: “How old were you when you pitched in this exhibition game?”
I was fourteen years old. In 1947, now I figure it out.
Interviewer: “If it was in the spring of 1947, you were probably thirteen.”
Thirteen, I can’t imagine.
Interviewer: “How did you do?”
I did very well, that’s what my mother told me. She was at the game and that’s the first
time my mother saw me play. 2:54
Interviewer: “How did they get the team together? How did you wind up on the
team?”
The owner of our Cuban team was a—he was the owner of a wine distillery and he had a
lot of connects with tourists and how he get to know Max Carey and the commissioners
of the league, I don’t have any idea, but he had a lot of good connections and a lot of
money and we had a place to go and train. I love it you know because we even stayed on
weekends and had food and everything. 3:33
Interviewer: “And do you remember at all what happened in that game that you
pitched against the Americans? Your mother told you, you did well.”
Well that’s when they decided they were going to bring four Cubans to the United States
and the President came to my house to my mother and said I wasn’t old enough to come
to the United States, you had to be fifteen, so I waited until 1949, I was fifteen then.
Interviewer: “You really knew from 1947, that you wanted to go.”
Yeah, the manager said, the Cuban manager, “you’re going to be next”, so I knew and it
was anxiety you know. 4:16
Interviewer: “So then when it gets to 1949 and you’re going to go to America, how
did they get you over to the states and where did you go first? Do you remember
about going over?”
The first time I step here in the United States to go to play for—it was Chicago and I—
coming fresh from Cuba at that age, I didn’t even know I was in Chicago.
Interviewer: “How did you get from Cuba up to Chicago?”
By—how did I get over there? A plane to Miami and then drive to Chicago.
Interviewer: “You drove to Chicago?”
2
�No, I didn’t drive—how did I get over there? That’s a funny thing, how did I get to
Chicago?” 5:08 We fly, we had to fly. We flew yes.
Interviewer: “Now, were you all by yourself when you did this or did you have
someone with you?”
There were three Cubans with me.
Interviewer: “So, a group of four Cubans go together?”
Yes, together, that’s how we first started in 1949.
Interviewer: “So, the time you came to the United States did you speak any English
yet?”
Not very much, my mother was tutoring me with words and works and everything
because my mother was right, to learn English. There was a professor in Cuba, a
neighbor, he was supposed to learn, to teach English and my mother sent me to him for a
week . He thought I could learn English in a week. I don’t know, so then my brother,
when I came over here he said, “well you knew English when you came to the United
States”, and I said, “I did not know the English much in a week”. 6:09
Interviewer: “What happened once you got to Chicago? What did they do with you
then? What did you do?”
They assigned us to a team and I was assigned to the Chicago Colleens.
Interviewer: “Did the team make any provision to help—were you the only Cuban
player they had or did all of you go together?”
No, there were four of us.
Interviewer: “All four of you to one team?”
Yes, two, there were two teams, the Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies.
Interviewer: “So two went to each team?”
Yes. 6:45
Interviewer: “You had somebody else there from Cuba.”
Yes, those years, Madelia, the older one. She was the one who helped a lot with the
language because she knew pretty good English when she came.
Interviewer: “How well did you get along with the other players on the team?”
3
�I had no problem with getting along because I was happy to be here and I knew that I had
to get along because my mother was right there and she wanted me here in the United
States, so I better—I don’t know, it was something natural. I was trained to like the
United States from my mother and I think it’s good. 7:36
Interviewer: “At this point you were a pitcher?”
Yes
Interviewer: “Primarily pitching, all right, now was the game you were playing
here any different from the game you played in Cuba in terms of the style of play or
the equipment used or anything like that?”
The ball was a little bigger, but I don’t really—I got adjusted so well, I feel, that I don’t
have any knowledge about it that I had trouble because I was here to play ball and that’s
what my mother wanted me to do.
Interviewer: “Ok, and how successful were you as a player at that point? Did you
Pitch well and win games?”
Well, I don’t –all those years back, they got some scores—I got some baseball cards, but
my records, they don’t show that I was a real, real great ball player. 8:41 I don’t
consider myself that great.
Interviewer: “How long did you play in the American baseball league?”
Six years.
Interviewer: “Six years, you stayed in the league all that time?”
Yeah
Interviewer: “So you were apparently good enough to do that?”
Right, and I had the chance when the Colleens folded, I had a chance to go to Fort
Wayne, they picked me up to go to Fort Wayne and that’s the biggest opportunity I had.
Interviewer: “Did you like playing in Fort Wayne better than Chicago or was it
about the same?”
Well, we were in a group and we would ride the bus all together, everything was all
together, but when I went to Fort Wayne I was just on my own and it took me a little
longer time to start getting use to it, but it wasn’t anything that I disliked. You’re just in
a strange place all by yourself. After coming from a group and going to Fort Wayne you
didn’t know anybody and they were older. The girls in Fort Wayne that were playing,
they were older than I was. 9:59 I got along and I think I did very well.
4
�Interviewer: “Tell me a little bit about the experience of just kind of traveling
around with these teams. When you’re going to play how did you get from one
game to another? What did they do? Did they put you on busses or trains?”
Yes, busses and oh yeah, we had more fun and I sat in the front, in the front seat, so I
could have the big window in the bus and then I can read the signs where we were going
and the manager was sitting in the other side and he was a mixed Cuban. I would read a
sign and he helped me to pronounce it better. 10:46
Interviewer: “Who was your manager at this time? What was his mane?”
Mitch Skupien, I might not be pronouncing it right, but he was really, really nice.
Interviewer: “When you were playing at these games, did you get a lot of fans who
would come to the games in Fort Wayne or Chicago?”
Yes, and I always had a lot of good—a lot of fans, they liked me, but everybody was
always nice. I have a lot of respect for the people here, but I was brought up that way.
Interviewer: “The league had a lot of rules for how the players were to dress and
act and all that kind of thing, was it easy for you to follow those rules or did it not
make any sense to you?” 11:48
No, No, it was because I was raised differently. My mother you know, different, and I
didn’t, my mother always pampered me a lot with lipstick and combing my hair and my
dress, she just couldn’t let me out of the house without being dressed nice. I didn’t go to
school there because the schooling was in 1943 and by 1949 they didn’t have those strict
rules. 12:26
Interviewer: “So it wasn’t quite the same as it was when the league started by the
time you got there?”
It was different it was just different.
Interviewer: “Were there particular friends you had on these teams or people you
got to know really well and stand out in your memory?”
Yes, I had a—it was more they get close to the Cubans you know and we always had that,
the players being very, very nice. I had pretty good luck in that and we had fun because
my English was broken and they laughed and I laughed with them because it was funny.
13:13
Interviewer: “Ok now, when you think back about the time that you spent in this
league playing these games, are there particular events or things that kind of stand
out in your mind or that come back to you a lot, good things that happened to you at
certain points along the way?”
5
�On the touring or on the whole?
Interviewer: “Anything about that whether it’s on the tour or in a game or off the
field.”
Well, I mean what—I’ve been lucky, I don’t know if it’s the right word because—
Interviewer: “If you hadn’t had the opportunity to come to the United States to
play baseball, what do you think you might have done over that period of six years
instead?”
You mean in Cuba?
Interviewer: “If you were back in Cuba, yes.”
Oh my dear, I don’t know, my mother would have been crying, but she would cry
because that was her ideal, the baseball, she loved baseball. She use to—in our house she
was one of those little old ladies and she would sit there and listen to the Cubans baseball
playing. She was, there was a team names Allemandes, their blue, and she would light a
little candle, she loved baseball. 14:38
Interviewer: “That really was her dream, that you go and do this?”
Exactly, she probably would have liked to play ball herself.
Interviewer: “Did she ever come up to the United States to see you play?”
Never
Interviewer: “Did anyone from your family come up at any point?”
No, they never could because at the time it was hard to sponsor anybody. I couldn’t
sponsor anybody, so it was rough.
Interviewer: “So there were immigration rules and things that made it difficult to
come up?”
You had to have a sponsor and I was very lucky in 1953 when Mr. And Mrs. Blee,
they—I met them through their daughter at a ball game. I met them, they took me home,
to their home, they gave me a room and then, because they knew I was a Daisy then you
see, and anybody who was a Daisy player, they had to be good people, and more or less
from Cuba. 15:37
Interviewer: “So, what kind of living—did you normally live with people’s families
in their home?”
Yes
Interviewer: “Did you do that in Chicago too?”
No, we stayed in hotels.
6
�Interviewer: “So, when you got to Fort Wayne you would go and live in people’s
houses?”
Yes
Interviewer: “So these people essentially sponsored you so you could stay in the
states?”
No, this was after the first year when I went to Fort Wayne in 1951. I already knew who
I was going to live with, I think the league set it up. The fans would take ball players in,
so I went to—with them, and this time in 1951 and in 1954 I went back to Fort Wayne
and where was I staying in 1954? 16:24
Interviewer: “I was asking, how did you wind up staying in the United States?”
Oh, yes
Interviewer: “You talked about people sponsoring you.”
In 1951, when I came on, I was rooming there for doing baseball and then in—I met
someone at a ball game for some reason. It’s a long story and I don’t know if you want
to hear that?
Interviewer: “We’re interested, yes.”
I was at the ball park watching some—I wasn’t playing ball, and there were some kids
playing softball and I went to the ball park to watch them, so I was sitting there, I was
very fresh from Cuba and I even had a little pocket with money that my mother always
said to put it in between your bra, and for some reason, I have some pictures, and I knew
I was a Daisy, so then that time I had some pictures with me and the kids were all crazy
about looking at my pictures and suddenly I don’t know where everything was. 17:31
My money, the money that I had, I must have—I don’t know and the pictures, I couldn’t
find nothing I was—so one of the girls from the ball team, she was the one that helped
me, she called the FBI and we were going to call the police to see if these kids have taken
the money and run, and guess what? That morning that was finding the police, the FBI
she said and I went to the ballpark and you know I found everything, the pictures and the
money, that little pocket. Somebody get scared and throw it around and I was very lucky
because I had about a hundred dollars and then she took me home to meet her mom and
dad and that was it. They give me a home and they applied for citizenship in 1953
because they knew I was—I was kind of lost really that year, it was in 1952. 18:47 I
went there and I stayed with them and became friends and this friend, it wasn’t a friend,
she was the one who helped me, she went into college and I stayed with her mom and dad
and I was sleeping in her room upstairs while she was in college, so I never saw this
friend, I never saw her very much. 19:16
Interviewer: “Now, the league shuts down after the 1954 season, so when that came
to an end what did you do at that point?”
7
�See, in 1953, Mr. and Mrs. Blee, I applied for citizenship paper, so in 1954 I had my
residence, so I didn’t go back home.
Interviewer: “What did you do for a living at that point?”
They give me a job I was a carhop. They call in the drive-in and he says, “I got a girl
here from Cuba and she don’t speak English, but she needs a job”, and Don Holt said,
“bring her over “, so they drove me in there and they give me a job and I could hardly
even speak English, but they were helping me. I use to go and take the orders you know
you put a tray in and sometimes I miss the tray drops and sometimes kids they laugh at
you. 20:25 I go inside, take the order and go inside and call it and the manager he saw
me coming and he grabbed my slip and said, “I can read it faster than you can call it”, but
you know what, I never got mad at him, I thought he was great, he was a good manager.
20:50
Interviewer: “How long did you wind up working there?”
I don’t know how many years, but I worked quite a bit until. Right, and then I went to—I
worked on the 401 Tailoring Co. also, so I really worked all through my whole after
baseball. I worked and I always had a job. Years ago you know they helped me to go
and get a job, they aren’t going to support you.
Interviewer: “If you look over that whole experience you had playing baseball etc.
How do you think that wound up affecting you? You talked a little bit about how,
and obviously your life was different because you came to America and stayed, did
it change you as a person? Did you otherwise?” 21:44
No, it probably made me better because I was raised that America was a good country
and you had that in your mind to respect.
Interviewer: “Have you paid much attention to what has happened with women’s
sports in this country over the past fifty years? You see more women on television
doing different things, basketball and that kind of thing.”
It is great and I think your mother and father have a lot to do with getting their son’s and
daughters to start playing sports and supporting them, but the mother has to have the
incentive like my mother did otherwise I wouldn’t be here because my dad said, “why are
you going to go over there where it’s cold?” It would have broke my heart if they would
never take me to come to the United States. 22:53
Interviewer: “Aside from just being on your own, were there aspects of just
adjusting to living in the states that were a problem? Did the cold bother you or
anything like that?”
No, I never did complain about the weather. As a matter of fact, I didn’t complain about
much of anything because I was here best and complain, ‘holly cow”. I never was that
type either, but I made a lot of friendships and that’s one thing and I don’t know I’m just
8
�myself, but my friends have made my world. In Fort Wayne too, I don’t have no enemies
I don’t think so. 23:53
Interviewer: “I can see why you wouldn’t. Do you have anything else that you
would like to put on the record here before we close out the interview? Anything
that you would like to say about the league itself or playing?”
Well, I am so thankful and I have been very lucky because of all the Cubans that came. I
believe that I—let me see how I’m going to say it, I just, the appreciation that I have
being here. 24:48
Interviewer: “Now, were their other Cubans that came and joined the league after
you did? Did you meet anybody new or were you the last group?”
Yes, and there were some that came before earlier.
Interviewer: “Alright, there is something I did want to get in here and ask you a
little and that’s, did you normally have a spring training session of some kind?
What did you do to prepare for a season from one year to the next?”
When I use to go back home or here?
Interviewer: “No, from one year to the next, while you were playing baseball, did
you go home in the winter?”
Yes
Interviewer: “Ok, you go home in the winter and then you?”
From 1949 until 1953 I use to go back home.
Interviewer: “When you came back, did you do spring training games before the
regular season?” 25:53
Yes, just a spring training practicing.
Interviewer: “Where did you do the practicing? Was that wherever your team was
based?”
Yes, and when I was in Chicago, in the morning we use to practice and on tour, the
touring team, we practiced the same and it’s a mostly in the morning we did our
practicing.
Interviewer: “Was it 1949 and 1950 that your team was touring?”
Right, we did a lot of practice.
Interviewer: “When you were touring would you play just any local teams from any
community you went to?”
9
�We had two teams, the Springfield Sallies and Chicago.
Interviewer: “They just toured together and played in different places.”
Yes, and they would advertise in the paper that we were in town and we had the tryouts
for the one, just like in the movie you know. 26:50
Interviewer: “As you were touring, how far away from Chicago did you get when
you were traveling? Did you just stay in the Midwest mostly?”
Yes, let me see, about—I had that written down how many places we went. I had a map
and right now I just can’t tell you because I—sorry.
Interviewer: “But there were a lot of different towns, not just two or three places?”
Oh yes
Interviewer: “Were they in a few hours of each other or did you have really long
trips sometimes?”
We played and we also left that same night sometimes. The traveling was heavy you
know and the many towns in the states; we had quite a few, close to fifty, fifty-six I think.
27:54
Interviewer: “You said you would hold tryouts when you went to these different
places?”
Yes and there was one lady, one of the girls, she’s in our team and she’s here today. We
pick her up in Cuba for Arkansas and she was a good pitcher and she came with us and
she had to leave home and she was--said English and we became friends because she was
sitting in the same seat. Can you imagine what she thought, I can’t speak English and she
was from Arkansas. We got along fine and we’re still good friends now and she stayed in
the league and she is really the only one we picked up that I can remember.
Interviewer: “Did they recruit women to play? At some point they had to through
junior teams or things like that. Did they recruit people for those teams or just—“
To play for us, yeah they had three and they had to be pretty good and she was, she was a
good pitcher and we always need pitchers.
Interviewer: “As far as your own playing career goes, you were a pitcher. Now,
were you a starting pitcher or were you a relief pitcher or both?” 29:32
I was a starter and relief both ways.
Interviewer: “And did you play any other positions?”
Outfielder.
10
�Interviewer: “So it wasn’t like the baseball teams today where the pitcher only
pitches and is sitting on the bench the rest of the time?”
No, no and also, the pitcher never get in hitting practice very much. I can’t imagine that,
so supposedly when you run the bases then they bring you your coat and that was real.
The pitcher was given great care and the chaperone would message your arm. 30:24
Interviewer: “So they did try to do what they could at that point to make sure you
didn’t blow out your arm or anything else like that?”
Right, they were very, very good.
Interviewer: “Now, did you ever get hurt while you were playing? Did you ever
have an injury that kept you out of the games?”
Yes, in 1954 in Fort Wayne.
Interviewer: “What happened?”
Trying to second base and I twisted my leg, so that was it. I went to the hospital and they
put me in traction and they left me in traction for one month, can you imagine this?
Interviewer: “That’s what they did back in those days.”
I lay there and I didn’t know nothing you know, so I never went back in the game
because I had to have surgery. 31:10
Interviewer: “Now, when you heard about the league shutting down, were you sad
about that or were you planning on going back?”
No, I wasn’t going back, I was just here, I was glad I had my residence. If I never would
have met those people I would be back in Cuba yet. My mother would cry then, but I’m
so thankful, you just can’t imagine how lucky I’ve been. I think I have been, of all the
Cubans and I’m not bragging, I have been the lucky one.
Interviewer: “It certainly sounds like you had a good time and you tell good stories
and thank you for coming in and talking to me today.”
Thank you thank you. 32:05
11
�
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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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a>
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sports for women
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives
Oral history
Baseball players--Minnesota
Baseball players--Indiana
Baseball players--Wisconsin
Baseball players--Michigan
Baseball players--Illinois
Baseball for women--United States
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401
Identifier
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RHC-58
Format
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video/mp4
application/pdf
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Language
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eng
Date
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2017-10-02
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
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-58_IAlvarez
Title
A name given to the resource
Alvarez, Isabel "Lefty" (Interview transcript and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alvarez, Isabel
Description
An account of the resource
Isabel Alvarez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1933. She grew up in Havana and played baseball with the neighborhood kids and was also involved with other sports. In 1947, she pitched her first exhibition game in American baseball and was picked by the All American League and sponsored to come to the United States with three other Cubans to play baseball in 1949. She played pitcher for the Chicago Colleens from 1949 through the 1950 season. When the Chicago Colleens folded, she went on to play for the Fort Wayne Daisies during the 1951 and 1954 seasons. Upon getting her citizenship in 1953 she stayed in the United States permanently. During her six-year baseball career she also played utility outfielder and also played briefly with the Battle Creek Belles (1951); Kalamazoo Lassies (1953); and the Grand Rapids Chicks (1954).
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.)
Video recordings
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives
Baseball for women--United States
Baseball
Sports for women
Baseball players--Illinois
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Baseball players--Indiana
Baseball players--Michigan
Women
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-09-26
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8669d4646ceaf826380b8a24f3d48267.m4v
49155b33c4b2a588fc1cf1aa117ff10b
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e1a4ebebbc5e7959cb84604c1d6f1053.pdf
7d64c85d056e8d02c2ae70bda670a9d1
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Willard "Bill" Alverson
Korean War & Vietnam War
1 hour 55 minutes
(00:00:43) Early Life
-Born in 1929 in Olympia, Washington
-Grew up in Olympia
-Planned on living in Olympia for the rest of his life
-His father worked in saw mills
-His mother was a housewife
-He had one brother
-His father didn’t have steady work during the Great Depression
-They had food and a house though, so he didn’t pay much attention to it
(00:01:44) World War II
-He was chopping wood when he heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been bombed
-Immediately after the start of the war everyone in Washington was anxious
-Believed that Japan would mount an invasion of the West Coast
-Civilian Defense groups were formed
-He was a bicycle messenger and took part in the drills
-Remembers a Japanese family that he was close with being interned during the war
-Never saw, or heard from them again
-He hoped that the war would go on long enough for him to be able to fight in it
-Felt that he owed something to his country
(00:04:17) College & Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
-Went on to attend college at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington
-It was a Land Grant School which meant he had to take at least two years of ROTC
-Received leadership training and map reading courses
-There was a six week summer camp that consisted of basic military training
-A milder form of basic training
-Received weapons training with rifles, pistols, machine guns, and mortars
-This summer camp took place between his junior and senior year
-There were 2500 ROTC cadets at the camp
-Took place at Fort Lewis, Washington
-Graduated from college in June 1951
(00:06:27) Becoming an Officer
-After college he was offered a commission to become an officer in the Army
-Initially declined because he just wanted to get out of the Army
-He was eventually convinced to accept the commission
-Told that he would be on a fast track to getting promoted
-Went to Fort Benning, Georgia for an officers’ training course
-Lasted four months
-Consisted of more weapons training, leadership training, and navigation training
-Introduced to the discipline and physical conditioning of the Army
�-He tried to go to jump school (paratrooper training), but was declined
(00:08:20) Deployment to Korea Pt. 1
-Left the United States in January 1952
-En route stopped in Yokohama, Japan
(00:08:44) Assignment in Japan Pt. 1
-Before going to Korea new second lieutenants were assigned to a unit in Japan
-Six months of learning how to command a unit before going to Korea
-It was a chance to get introduced to being an officer
-His assignment was on the island of Hokkaido, Japan
-Attached to the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division
-The commander was tough, but a good and fair man
-He had served in WWII and during the 1950 march into North Korea
-Focused on squad (10 soldiers) and platoon (40 soldiers) tactics
-Most of the enlisted men he commanded had already seen combat
-The sergeants under him taught him how to be a good and effective officer
(00:11:14) Deployment to Korea Pt. 2
-In Korea he was assigned to Easy Company 15th Infantry Regiment 3rd Infantry Division
-When he arrived in Korea he had a rifle, but was not given any ammunition for it
(00:11:58) Assignment in Japan Pt. 2
-While he was in Japan there was a lot of training and very little downtime
-Trained near the town of Sapporo, Japan
-Only went into the town once while on duty
-Part of courtesy patrol to pick up unruly soldiers and bring them back to base
-He had little, to no contact with the Japanese civilians
(00:12:49) Deployment to Korea Pt. 3
-When he arrived in Korea he saw firsthand the devastation
-Poverty, poor sanitation, and pitiful people were everywhere
-He was sent up to the frontline in August 1952
-Stationed near a little town called Cheorwan south of the 38th Parallel
-Located in a valley about fifty to sixty miles from the coast
(00:14:31) Conditions in Korea and Unit Organization
-Originally there wasn’t any action when he arrived
-The most fighting happened during patrols or when communist forces charged their line
-Lived in foxholes and bunkers
-The bunkers were sturdy and well-defended by barbed wire and landmines
-Easy Company was understrength
-His platoon consisted of three different groups of soldiers
-Regular American GIs
-South Korean soldiers
-Puerto Rican soldiers from the 65th Regiment
-He had an outstanding platoon sergeant while in Korea
(00:17:31) Enemy Contact and Fighting in Korea
-Went on patrols about once, or twice, a week
-Most patrols were conducted at night
-More difficult and dangerous than the daytime patrols
-Objective was to gather intelligence and put pressure on the North Koreans
�-Patrols were generally quite costly
-A few men were taken prisoner, killed, or wounded during them
-Mostly went up against Chinese soldiers
-Noticed that North Korean soldiers were far more aggressive when they fought
-Enemy activity increased as the war went on
-Both sides were jockeying to establish the best defensive positions before the war ended
-There were battles at Outpost Harry, Jackson Heights and White Horse
-During fighting they held their position and the communists held their position
-There was one point during the fighting where they were taking at least one casualty a day
-He had access to artillery and air support
-The artillery support was excellent
-The air support was a little lacking especially in the area of accuracy
-Chinese troops would attack in waves
-The first wave had weapons, and the second wave would pick up the dropped rifles
-Used a lot of fanfare while charging (whistles and trumpets)
-They were persistent, dogged soldiers
-They were never able to break through the American perimeter
(00:23:16) End of Deployment and Miscellaneous Details
-Left Korea on May 1, 1953
-A friend of his was killed, saving his life, in Korea
-There was a high turnover of U.S. troops coming and going
-He eventually got to know the South Koreans that he served with
-Felt bad for them because they couldn’t really leave the fighting
-It was their country and they were stuck there
-He had a South Korean assistant machine gunner who was a good man
-He called him John
-During the Chinese charges they would sometimes run out of ammunition
(00:26:40) Rear Duty and R&R in Korea
-Generally didn’t want to go to the rear for duty
-Being in the rear meant not getting combat pay
-Also meant doing menial tasks like digging ditches
-They would get rotated off the line occasionally
-Command tried to give everyone somewhat of a break around Christmas
-He got an R&R to Japan
-Given three minutes to call his wife and his family
-Went up to a resort near Mount Fuji
-Got a chance to have some drinks and relax
-He had the chance to get a few more days of R&R
-Wound up declining because the regiment needed him
(00:29:33) Making a Career out of the Army
-His initial commitment to the Army was for three years
-He fully intended to resign after his third year of service
-Eventually decided to stay in and make a career out of it though
-Started to think about leading soldiers as being similar to being a football coach
-Before serving he had originally wanted to be a high school football coach
-He began to enjoy being in the Army and wanted to strive to be a fair leader
�(00:31:33) Stateside Army Career
-His first assignment after coming back from Korea was at Fort Lewis, Washington
-Three year assignment
-Served as a rifle company commander there
-He got selected to be the regimental football coach
-The draft was still on while he was at Fort Lewis
-They were mostly just ordinary men
-Some of the draftees had been convicted of various crimes
-Serving in the Army was their way out of jail
-Men from a variety of backgrounds were being drafted
-Learned that the key to successful leadership was having mutual respect
-His next assignment was at Fort Benning, Georgia
-Took the Infantry Officer Course there
-Nine month course
-Coincided with the normal school schedule
-Allowed for his children to not get pulled out of school in the middle of it
-Part of the process of getting promoted from a captain to a major
-There was a lot of competition between the officers to be the best
-Mostly consisted of classroom training
-Also received some more weapons training and navigation training
-He completed the course and went to jump school (paratrooper school)
-His next assignment was being a trainer for the ROTC at Washington State University
-Requested that assignment to be close to his family
-His father was dying of cancer and he wanted to be near him
-Three year assignment
-The hours were terrible
-Felt strange to be on an 8 – 5 schedule
-Completed that assignment in 1960
(00:36:02) Army Ranger School
-After the ROTC assignment he went to the Army Ranger School
-The training was difficult
-It was the only course where he was an honor graduate
-Started at Fort Benning, Georgia then went into the mountains, then to swamps in Florida
-Each area consisted of three weeks of training
-Learned how to go on patrols in the mountains and in the swamps
-Only allowed to have seven hours of sleep per week
-Some men would fall asleep standing up and then fall over
-Started with 225 men and only 83 men completed the course
-If they were hurt, or washed out, they could not recycle and try again
-Most didn’t want to try again anyway
-The training required a lot of physical and mental stamina
-Graduated from the Army Ranger School in the fall of 1960
(00:38:52) Assignment to Germany
-Sent to Frankfurt, Germany to serve with the 3rd Armored Division
-Three year assignment
-Defending against a possible Soviet invasion of West Germany
�-Served as a rifle company commander
-Became the operations officer of one of the brigades of the division
-His unit had good morale
-Led by General Creighton Abrams
-They were immediately put on alert during the various Cold War crises that developed
-His wife and children were in Berlin when the Soviets put up the Berlin Wall
-They were able to be evacuated out of Berlin without incident
-His unit and the West German government reacted immediately
-If there was an invasion he knew that they wouldn’t be able to hold out for long
-Even with tactical nuclear weapons available to them
(00:42:27) Interactions with German Civilians
-The Germans held various opinions of Americans
-Some were pro-American, others were not
-Germans knew that American had money and spent it, which they liked
-He rented a house from a German man and his wife
-He and his wife got to be good friends with the couple
-No German man wanted to admit that he had been in the German Army during WWII
-He was just curious to see what it had been like
(00:44:00) Cuban Missile Crisis and Other Alerts
-The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very big deal in Germany when it happened
-Checked their equipment and immediately went on alert
-Some units were sent to an assembly area to prepare for a counterattack
-They were better prepared than they had been during the Berlin Wall Crisis
-There was not as much tension as the Berlin Wall either
-For about two to three weeks they were ready for a Soviet attack
-After about a month they relaxed and the routine returned to normal
-They had monthly drills to check their preparedness
-Always made sure to treat each drill as if it was the real thing
-In a way he always kind of thought that World War III wouldn’t happen
-Knew that even if it did his unit would be prepared
(00:47:05) Attending the Command General Staff College
-His time in Germany ended in June 1963
-He left the day that President Kennedy came to Germany
-He was sent to attend the Command General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
-It was the best family assignment
-Had his nights and weekends off
-It was a nine month course
-He was in class when President Kennedy was assassinated
-Classes were cancelled and the college was shut down
-Everyone behaved appropriately
-Everyone was shocked that it had happened
-Any planned festivities for the weekend were cancelled
-No matter what a person’s political orientation was, they mourned the loss
-While at the College he paid attention to the situation developing in Vietnam
-Some of his classmates had already been to Vietnam
-Completed the Command General Staff College in 1964
�(00:50:45) 6th Army Headquarters
-Sent to 6th Army Headquarters in San Francisco, California
-It was first and only time that he couldn’t get along with his boss
-He worked there for a year as a staff officer
-In charge of inspecting the division and evaluating them
-Wound up failing them
-There were politics involved and he was told to reassess and pass them
-He refused which hurt his career
(00:51:47) Volunteering for Vietnam
-He volunteered to go to Vietnam
-He was initially assigned to be a staff officer in Vietnam
-Once he arrived he requested a change of assignment and was granted it
-Became a Ranger Commander for a South Vietnamese Ranger unit
-Went to the Military Assistance Training Advisors Course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
-Learned about the culture, language, and climate of Vietnam
-Also learned about the organization of the South Vietnamese military
-The MATA Course only lasted one month
-He was sent to the Army Language School
-Learned at least enough Vietnamese to be able to give orders in Vietnamese
-It was a six week rudimentary course
(00:54:40) Arrival in Vietnam
-He landed at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Saigon, South Vietnam
-Tried to talk to the Vietnamese bus driver in Vietnamese
-Bus driver told him, in perfect English, that he had a Hanoi accent
-Hanoi being the capitol of communist North Vietnam
-He flew over to Vietnam on a military aircraft
-Arrived in Vietnam in early January 1966
-Kept in a hotel while he was being processed
-His initial assignment was as a staff officer in Saigon before becoming the Ranger Commander
-Assignment lasted three weeks
-He was sent up to Pleiku to join a South Vietnamese Ranger unit there
-Flew up there via helicopter
-In Pleiku his job was to serve as an American advisor
-This gave him access to artillery and aerial support
(00:58:30) Working with the South Vietnamese and Going on Raids
-They normally didn’t have time to prepare for an operation
-They would just have to get up and go
-The South Vietnamese officers were generally incompetent
-Used their authority to abuse their power
-Conducted raids against the Viet Cong
-Mostly targeted Viet Cong supply depots
-Also went out on missions to kill Viet Cong soldiers, or take prisoners
-Operated in mountainous terrain and in some of the lowland areas
-Preferred to work in the mountains and not in the swampy lowlands
-Enlisted (non-officer) South Vietnamese soldiers had to provide their own food
-Even in hospitals their families had to come to take care of them
�-Remembers seeing in one hospital two Vietnamese soldiers in one bed
-Went on raids about once a month
-Spent a lot of his time trying to convince officers that they needed to constantly train
-Sometimes they would be helicoptered into the mission area, other times they had to walk
-Vietnamese helicopter pilots would take breaks
-Even if there was a wounded man needing evacuation they wouldn’t go
-American helicopter pilots would react immediately if the situation presented itself
-He saw more combat than he thought he would
-Remembers once during a village clearing mission they ran into an ambush
-Ultimately able to maneuver out of the situation
-Some of the South Vietnamese were excellent soldiers, while others weren’t
-There was always the suspicion that they were Viet Cong
-If you got to know South Vietnamese soldiers they were ultimately trustworthy
-He wasn’t close, but was at least cordial, with the South Vietnamese Ranger Commander
-There were a few close calls while he was in Vietnam
-Once was during the village clearing mission
-Another time was when the enemy attacked their position at Pleiku
-The enemy ran out of ammunition and he had access to heavier firepower
-There was resentment between the U.S. and South Vietnamese troops
-The South Vietnamese wanted better equipment
-Americans wanted the South Vietnamese to be better soldiers
-He spent the majority of his time on the base at Pleiku
-The South Vietnamese soldiers were allowed to bring their families to the base
-They were also allowed to bring them with them on patrols
-The Viet Cong would use that to their advantage and attack through the civilians
-Prevented the South Vietnamese from returning fire
(01:10:13) Opinion of War during Deployment
-Felt that the American media’s portrayal of the war was grossly inaccurate
-There were allegations that U.S. troops were wantonly killing civilians
-Civilians did die, but they were not being specifically targeted by U.S. troops
-At the time he honestly thought that the U.S. was winning the war
-Didn’t know when it would end, but knew it would eventually come to an end
-He feels that the politics involved is what caused the war to be lost
-On the ground it seemed like the U.S. was going to push through to absolute victory
(01:11:52) R&R to Hawaii
-During his time in Vietnam he was given an R&R to Hawaii
-Spent five days with his wife in Hawaii
-Going back to Vietnam after that R&R was terrible for him
-Remembers on the return trip flying across Vietnam when the airplane began to have trouble
-Eventually made it back to the base at Pleiku without incident
(01:13:34) Assignment to Command General Staff College
-After Vietnam he was initially given a new assignment to the 11th Brigade in Hawaii
-His orders were changed and he became a staff member at Command General Staff College
-His specialization was to advise on how to fight in Vietnam
-Three year assignment
-Trained officers on how to fight in Vietnam
�-Most had already been to Vietnam and offered their own input as well
-At the time he was frustrated by the leadership and the country as a whole during the war
-No one knew exactly what they wanted to do; fight the war, or don’t fight the war
-Wondered why we stopped the bombing campaign when it was weakening North Vietnam
-He wound up speaking out against the indecisiveness of the American leadership
-He was promptly advised not to do that
-Thought that Nixon was a good leader, but was a dishonest man
-Felt that one of his redeeming qualities was his expertise of foreign policy
-Felt that Abrams replacing Westmoreland was a good move
-Felt that Westmoreland’s competence was deteriorating along with the war
-It was interesting to discuss Vietnam with the men who had also served there
-Especially those who had seen the worst years of the war
-Offered different perspectives
(01:20:23) Working with a Volunteer Army
-There was always the expectation that he’d go back to Vietnam for a second tour
-Before returning he was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
-Working as a trainer for a Special Forces Battalion
-Stayed at Fort Bragg for one year
-Felt that a volunteer based Army was going to have lesser quality
- The Army was trying to make itself appealing for volunteers thus lowering standards
-Felt that high standards should be maintained no matter what
-The reason the Army lowered its standards was because volunteering was unpopular
-The soldiers he worked with at Fort Bragg were more motivated than the average soldier
-Felt that if anything was going to keep high standards it was the Special Forces
(01:24:30) Redeployment to Vietnam
-He was on the list to become a colonel
-He hadn’t received an assignment when he should have
-This led to him going to graduate school at Washington State University
-Went into guidance counseling and graduated from that course
-After finishing graduate school he was selected to be a logistician in Vienam
-Assigned to be the Army Airbase Commander at Can Tho in the Mekong Delta
-As the logistician he handled all the supplies for the base (gas, food, clothing, etc.)
-Also oversaw the transportation of supplies and troops
-On the base had access to propeller aircraft, helicopters, and classified recon aircraft
-He got most of his information about the war from the recon pilots
-Base was located on the edge of the city of Can Tho
-The base had perimeter lights which he felt was a strategically bad idea
-Allowed for the enemy to know exactly where they were
-There was one incident where South Vietnamese Rangers hacked into the American generators
-They were drawing electricity from the generators to feed Can Tho
-He (Bill) invited the provincial chief to the base and brought him to a rooftop
-Showed him that the U.S. still controlled the electricity
-Did this by completely powering down, then restarting, Can Tho
-Arrived in Vietnam in August 1972
-At the time of his arrival had an Air Cavalry Squadron and a South Vietnamese Division
�(01:32:25) End of Vietnam War
-By January 1973 more U.S. troops left as part of the drawdown
-By February 1973 most of the base’s barracks were empty
-One problem was that there weren’t enough troops to patrol the perimeter
-Had to hire local people to maintain security
-Didn’t even have South Vietnamese troops to protect the base
-Troops had stripped the base of its electrical and plumbing components
-As a result the South Vietnamese commander refused to take over the base
-Said that the U.S. was trying to give him an incomplete base
-Bill threatened to burn down the base if the commander wouldn’t take it
-The commander eventually cooperated
-Remembers when the Four Powers Peace Commission came in for negotiations
-There were Canadians and Indonesians representing the U.S. and South Vietnam
-There were Hungarians and Poles representing North Vietnam
-One of his jobs was to set up housing for the officers from those countries
-The Hungarians and Poles had to get approval from the Soviet Union
-Remembers arm wrestling with the communist Hungarian colonel
-At the end of the war there was very little enemy activity
-They would receive a mortar round from time to time
-The last mortar fired on their base was a dud
-The Air Cavalry would still go out on missions to support U.S. troops in the field
(01:37:24) Discipline and Morale Problems
-He didn’t see any drug problems during his second tour in Vietnam
-Knew that it was more of a problem for support units, not for combat units
-Combat units just simply didn’t have the time to get high
-The soldiers knew that the end was near which caused some problems
-The primary focus became getting home and not so much the war
-Only had to court martial one officer for dereliction of duty though
-Soldiers still followed the orders they were given
(01:39:35) Ceasefire Incident
-During the ceasefire a U.S. helicopter was shot down
-Resulted in seventeen U.S. servicemen being killed in action
-He was responsible for getting a team together to go out and recover the bodies
-He had trouble getting the necessary personnel organized
-Simply didn’t have enough of the right people to do the job
-Once they were out there they started receiving fire from an enemy ground force
-Led to having to send out troops to protect the recovery personnel
-Ran into a reporter on the base that had written a false article about the incident
-Said that U.S. troops were refusing to follow orders and recover dead soldiers
-Had the reporter thrown off the base
(01:42:52) Race Relations in the Army
-In Can Tho there was a mixed population on the base
-Never saw any major race problems
-Knew that if there were issues they were on a small level and dealt with
-One of the finest soldiers he served with was a black soldier in Korea
-Most men just wanted to work with each other to have the war end on a decent note
�(01:45:10) Leaving Vietnam
-When it came time to leave he had to make sure that all U.S. personnel were accounted for
-Had a head count every day
-By the last day there were only thirty three U.S. troops left on the base
-They all flew up together to Saigon
-When they arrived Saigon was chaotic as U.S. troops collected in the city
-He still has the last U.S. flag to fly over the base at Can Tho
-The evacuation went smoother than he thought it would
-Left Vietnam in 1973
(01:47:04) End of Army Career
-Stayed in the Army for five more years
-During those last five years he was promoted to the rank of colonel
-He was offered three assignments:
-Work at the Pentagon, command Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, or ROTC duty
-He chose the ROTC duty
-He wanted to have a positive effect on young, new officers
-Sent to Pocatello, Idaho to serve at Idaho State University
-There was a large anti-war movement there
-Resulted in not having enough ROTC volunteers
-There were good junior officers that had a great work ethic in the ROTC there
-While at Idaho State University had a run-in with a hippie
-He was accused of killing civilians and words were exchanged
-Always embarrassed for having even engaged the protestor
-The ROTC cadets did face some harassment from protestors
-It was an overall enjoyable assignment though
-After completing his duty at Idaho State University he retired from the Army
(01:50:57) Life after the Army
-He drove a school bus
-First time that someone talked back to him which was a surprise after being a colonel
-Sold light airplanes for a while
-Worked for a credit company based out of Denver, Colorado
-Helped establish credit collection bureaus in small towns
-Became a team chief and worked with his wife
-He was eventually placed in charge of maintenance for a school district in Olympia, WA
-One of his sons got married to a girl in Michigan, had two children, then retired
-Bill and his wife moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to be closer to the grandchildren
(01:53:15) Reflections on Service
-Feels that his service in the Army made him more conservative than when he began
-Made him appreciate some of the problems that politicians have to deal with
-In a way it made him a more tolerant person
-Taught him how to work with people, especially young people
�
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
RHC-27_AlversonW1675V
Title
A name given to the resource
Alverson, Willard (Interview outline and video), 2014
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014-10-02
Description
An account of the resource
Bill Alverson was born in 1929 in Olympia, Washington and grew up there. He completed ROTC training in college and was commissioned in the Army in 1951. He went to Japan in January, 1952 and trained for service in Korea. He served as a platoon leader in E Company, 15th Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division in Korea during the last year of the war. He left Korea on May 1, 1953 and began a career in the Army serving at Fort Lewis, Washington
Fort Benning, Georgia
completing paratrooper training, being a trainer for the ROTC at Washington State University, and completing Army Ranger School in the fall of 1960. He served in Germany during the time of the Berlin Wall and Cuban Missile crises and studied at the Command General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In 1965 he volunteered to go to Vietnam and was sent over in January 1966 to be an Army Ranger advisor for the South Vietnamese Rangers in Pleiku, South Vietnam. He helped carry out raids against the Viet Cong during his time there. After his deployment to Vietnam he returned to the United States and served at the Command General Staff College and at Fort Bragg, North Carolina helping train Special Forces. In 1972 he was redeployed to Vietnam and arrived there in August 1972. He was assigned to the Army Airbase near Can Tho in the Mekong Delta commanding the Air Cavalry Squadron and South Vietnamese Division there. The second tour ended in March 1973. He returned to the U.S. and served as an ROTC instructor at Idaho State University until his retirement in 1978 retiring with the rank of colonel.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alverson, Willard
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
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/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b46df14b4b13d4523402b92406294764.mp4
2d13c540054f3cdd7e2d00df9f75eced
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08818f8aa62e7ae9d3f6d1a82b774eb4.pdf
0a91e2a98ca64eb36da350fb9bf780f9
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Title: Ambrose, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2010
Subject: Korean War, 1950-1953-–Personal narratives, American; United States.
Marine Corps
Description:
Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and
initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to
serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of engagements on the
Imjin River and in the Punchbowl. He learned to use field radios and transferred to a
signal company, and at the end of his tour he served near Panmunjom.
Creator: Ambrose, Thomas
Contributor (Interviewer/Affiliation): Montney, Bobby (Interviewer); Caledonia
High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Date: 2010-06-05
Digital Identification: TAmbrose
�
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
Ambrose, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Ambrose, Thomas
Description
An account of the resource
Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of engagements on the Imjin River and in the Punchbowl. He learned to use field radios and transferred to a signal company, and at the end of his tour he served near Panmunjom.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Montney, Bobby (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
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-06-05
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AmbroseT
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/9791825c9f4d33c809d504735184521a.mp4
4f33d3a87181a932d68234f4a43553de
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6312dfd72f5f38d472a64189b9922835.pdf
e85d2fdc3d683db146c22b8ce957b222
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Name of Interviewee: Mitch Amlotte
Name of War: Vietnam
Length of Interview: (00:39:18)
(00:21) Alpena Michigan
Born July 13 1950
Hillman is his hometown. His grandfather settled the town
He played in the woods as a kid. He remembers as a kid, stripping a girl naked and
painting her red with barn paint
(2:22) His first day at school his teacher was a large lady and she spent most of the
day pulling his ears. It was a one room school that use to be a garage. There was about
18-19 kindergarteners in the building.
Mitch says he was the class clown. He was in trouble a lot. He used to sneak critters
into school. One time he fell backwards and hit his head on a chair and got stitches.
He went to a new school built for K-12th grade.
He walked to school
(5:30) Remembers having a crush on his teacher
Figures he didn’t ask for studies so he didn’t care for them
He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school
(7:30) Mitch started playing percussion in sixth grade thru high school
Was involved in sports during school. Baseball, Basketball, and football
Went to U of M for games and played there
His father worked for Besser’s in a factory and mother was a homemaker and
eventually went to work in a factory when Mitch was in fifth grade
He has two older brother, younger brother and a sister
(10:13) Mitch had no plans after school so since other guys were getting drafted he
figured he would too so he volunteered for the Army
Visited a recruiter with his cousin on the buddy plan. Wanted to join the military
police and was told they qualified. Signed up for 4 year hitches
(11:17) Fort Wayne Michigan to Fort Knox Kentucky
Basic training
When it came time to get their AIT orders he went to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which was
the gateway to Vietnam. A military personnel seen he was guaranteed MP upon entry
into the military so instead of sending him to Fort Polk, they sent him to Fort
Benjamin Harrison Indiana to postal school. Graduated and was sent to Germany
�
During training he was hit with a Pugal stick and blew his eardrum out. Pugal sticks
look like big Q-tips used to practice for bayonet training
Went to Louisville on a weekend pass and slept in a hotel for two days and two
nights. It was his first contact with black people and he was scared and tired.
(14:50) Said he could never live in a big city.
He said his company was not happy that he was back and looked at him as a coward.
He said he had no problems going but send him to MP school first and then send him
to Vietnam
(16:40) Germany-Rheine-Main Airbase
He flew over there. It was his first time on an airplane. He was brave at one point
and looked out over Ireland and said it was beautiful. Flew over to Rhein-Main
Airbase
Two guys met him there in the middle of the night and took him to Heidelberg to the
4th Base Post Office
Heidelberg 4th Base Post Office
Was here for a year
He sorted mail and payroll checks for all of the European theatre
On off time he bar hopped
Went to Frankfurt and was offered a chance to go to Rome, Italy. Went to the
Catholic Chaplain and got administrative leave and nobody could countermand it
except for the Attorney General of the Military. Mitch took 120 days of
administrative leave. He would take children of military personnel on field trips.
(20:00) He got to travel quite a bit and two weeks at a time. Went to Czechoslovakia,
Scandinavia, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland
Met two girls while in Czechoslovakia who were in an AFC club and wanted to go
home and see their parents. The guys took them to the border and hid the car and
walked 4 ½ miles to her home town. On the way back they were being tracked and
ran 1 mile and outran their pursuers.
Mitch said he didn’t chase women too much. He likes history so he spent time at
Museums and seeing castles while he was overseas.
He went to Neuschwanstein Castle. Walt Disney designed his castle after this. He
went to Hindenburg Castle
(22:45) Went to France trying to do a family tree. Found names but never met any of
the people
Mitch said civilians were very standoffish. The men he found hated them and he lost
rank a few times for getting into physical fights with them. He ended up in German
jails for fighting
Mitch said Commanding Officers just wanted to know if he won or not. Took a stripe
�
away and told him he would get it back shortly that it was just a formality.
(24:40) Mitch spent a little over 2 years in Germany
His enlistment was cut from 4 years to 3 years since they didn’t get to go into MP’s
(25:00)Came Home
Mitch thought about re-enlisting in the military but Dad talked him out of it seeing
that his next tour of duty would be Vietnam
His father promised to get him a job at the factory he worked at and since it was the
best paying job in the town he thought that was a good idea
His dad never got him the job
Mitch went on a drunk binge for a few months
His dad died at 93 and his mom at 76. They died one year apart from each other.
(28:00) He married an old friend. Went from job to job. He had two kids and
Divorced in 1988
Married a new girl. Had custody of his kids at this time. Married for 12 years this
time.
January last year he talked to a friend and was asked how he was handling the news
of getting divorced. He had no idea he was getting divorce. Both his kids were grown
at this time.
He found out he was suffering from severe depression dating back to his first
marriage
He packed up and headed to Philadelphia where his daughter lived. She eventually
kicked her husband out and separated so in May he headed back up to Michigan to
live with his sister
(33:09) Moved to Farwell to live with sister
Mitch had nowhere to go when he sister told him his time was up and nobody else
would let him live with them.
August he moved to the Veterans Home in Grand Rapids. He does not like being
there and feels they don’t treat him well but with his medical problems he can’t get a
job
He says that the military made a man out of him but it was thrown away when he got
out and couldn’t get a job. He states in the interview that his second biggest regret
was not staying in the military.
He is being treated for depression and says he rarely sees his family
�
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
Amlotte, Mitch (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Amlotte, Mitch
Description
An account of the resource
Mitch Amlotte volunteered for the Army in 1968 to escape a bad home life. He was sent to postal school and then to Germany. He volunteered to travel with the children of military men on field trips and spent much of his time seeing different countries. He was released from the military after 3 years would have re-enlisted except that he did not want to go to Vietnam. He encountered an assortment of personal and medical problems after his discharge, which he discusses at some length.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (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
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-05-22
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AmlotteM
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