Bond, Bruce (Interview outline and video), 2014
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Bruce Bond was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1950 and grew up there and attended high school there. After graduating from high school in 1969 he enlisted in the Army. He trained at Fort Gordon, Georgia, as an infantryman, but when he went to Vietnam he trained as a scout dog handler and was assigned to the 58th Infantry Platoon (Scout Dog), which was part of the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Camp Evans. He and his scout dog, Jim Dandy, served on patrols with different units of the brigade, and took part in the actions around Firebase Ripcord in 1970. Bruce was wounded on June 30, 1970, and was sent to the US for treatment. He requested reassignment to Vietnam, but wound up as a scout dog instructor at Fort Benning, Georgia, for the remainder of his enlistment.
Bond, Bruce
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
In Copyright
Boersma, Bert A (Interview outline and video), 2015
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Bert Boersma was born in Moline, Michigan in 1925. He graduated from high school in 1942 and was drafted in early 1943. He reported at Fort Custer, Michigan on February 26, 1943 for processing, and was then sent to Camp Roberts, California for basic training. His training lasted ninety days, and after that he went to join the 130th Infantry Regiment of the 33rd Infantry Division. He was stationed with that unit in Hawaii for nine months receiving jungle training before moving on to New Guinea in May 1944 where he stayed for six months conducting patrols and handling cargo from ships. He moved on to the island of Morotai in December 1944 where he saw his first action routing the remaining Japanese troops. He moved on to the island of Luzon in February 1945 and saw major action there at Hill 1802 and Mount Bilbil where he received a Bronze Star. After the war ended he was part of the occupation force in Japan in Nagoya and Himeji. He stayed in Japan until November 1945 and was sent home and got discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois in December 1945.
Boersma, Bert A.
Boerman, Clyde Allan (Interview outline and video), 2005
United States. Navy
Clyde Boerman served in the Navy in World War II. He was part of a Torpedo Boat that served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. He worked manning the torpedoes on the boat. He participated in D-Day as part of the Naval team that assisted with the landings and he also served in the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies.
Boerman, Clyde Allan
Blough, Lloyd H. (Interview outline and outline), 2005
United States. Army Air Corps
Lloyd Blough was born in Michigan on August 25, 1915 and drafted into the Army in 1941 when he was 26 years old. He went through training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan and was transferred to Virginia two weeks after Pearl Harbor was attacked. In Virginia, Lloyd went through advanced training to become an airplane mechanic, working with P-39s. Once he was finished training, Lloyd was sent to Africa where he worked on different planes in Algeria and Tunisia. He spent a total of two years overseas and also worked in France, Italy, and Ireland before he was sent back to the United States to finish the other two years of his service.
Blough, Lloyd H.
Beukema, Duane "Duke" (Interview outline and video), 2015
Duane Beukema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1928. After graduating from high school in 1946, he and his best friend enlisted in the Army. They both received basic and field artillery training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and completed that training in November 1946. They were both scheduled for deployment to Japan, but got separated in California. Duane wound up being sent to Japan in January 1947 and assigned to H Company in the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division in Sasebo, Japan. He received infantry training in Japan, regularly pulled guard duty, spent a considerable amount of time traveling (getting to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki only two years after the atomic bombs were dropped), and also getting to meet many Japanese civilians. In December 1947 he received orders to go home, and on the return voyage reconnected with his best friend. They were both discharged in Seattle and back in Grand Rapids by Christmas Eve 1947.
Beukema, Duane
Berles, Robert A. (Interview outline and video), 2007
Robert Berles was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was drafted in 1943 during his sophomore year at Aquinas College. Robert volunteered for a Navy program after receiving his draft notice that would allow him to finish his sophomore year before his time in the service, and also allow him to finish up college afterwards. Robert began officer training at Western Michigan University, where he attended classes all day long and physically trained. He served on a troop transport ship in the Pacific, and his ship was hit by a kamikaze off Luzon, the aftermath of which he describes in detail.
Berles, Robert A.
Bajema, Melvin (Interview outline and video), 2014
United States. Air Force
Mel Bajema was born in England in 1946. His father was in the Army Air Corps (later the Air Force once it became its own branch) and his mother was an English "war-bride." His family soon moved to the US and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After high school, Mel enlisted in the Air Force, and served between 1964 and 1968. He trained in supply, and served between 1965 and 1967 at Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, and then requested assignment to Southeast Asia. He went to South Vietnam and was based at Da Nang, where he eventually switched from supply to ground control work. While there, he witnessed the attack on the base during the Tet Offensive.
Bajema, Melvin
Aronson, Marc (Interview outline and video), 2014
Marc Aronson was born in 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended a military academy in Virginia and graduated in 1968. In September 1968 he enlisted in the Army in Pittsburgh and soon after he began basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina where he also completed Army Driver's Training. After the eight weeks of basic training he attended artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma beginning in December 1968 where he received training on the 105mm howitzer and also attended Noncommissioned Officer School there making him a sergeant and also making him the crew chief for a gun. In September 1969 he was deployed to Vietnam where he served with the 1st Infantry Division operating out of Di An. After four months of service he was transferred to B Battery of the 319th Field Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division. During his time with the 101st he was transferred to Firebase Ripcord where he witnessed the battle and eventual fall of Ripcord. After his time with the 101st he was transferred to the 25th Infantry Division where he worked with 8 inch and 175mm self-propelled artillery tanks near the demilitarized zone, and returned home and was discharged in 1971.
Aronson, Marc
Alverson, Willard (Interview outline and video), 2014
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States--History
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
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.
Alverson, Willard
Allen, Paul (Interview outline and video), 2014
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.
Allen, Paul
Solecki, Nicolaus (Interview outline and video), 2016
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Nicolaus Solecki was born in October 1990 in Flint, Michigan. He joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Flushing High School in 2009. After his basic training, Nic was stationed in Okinawa, Japan
from Okinawa, his unit (1st Battalion, 7th Marine Division) was sent to the coast of North Korea, as well as the Philippines. In early 2012, Nic's unit was sent to the Sangin Province of Afghanistan. His mission was to assist in the training of the Afghan National Army
this task was made increasingly difficult by lack of operational effectiveness that the Afghan soldiers often displayed. Nic would return to the United States in October 2012 and enroll at Grand Valley State University.
Solecki, Nicolaus
Fisher, Kent E (Interview outline and video), 2016
United States. Coast Guard
Kent Fisher was born on July 1, 1946 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in the summer of 1968 and was called up for service in December 1968. He received his basic training at Cape May, New Jersey then received further training at Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle, North Carolina. From Emerald Isle he went to Governors Island, New York, where he attended Yeoman School. He returned to Emerald Isle and worked on the Coast Guard cutter, USCGC Verbena. He was promoted to the rank of petty officer second class and received orders to join the USCGC Munro. He was selected for Officer Candidate School, graduated with the rank of ensign, and was then promoted to lieutenant. He joined the USCGC Tamaroa in January 1974 and served aboard the ship until he was reassigned to the Coast Guard Atlantic Area Rescue Coordination Center, where he helped plan the search and rescue operations for the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. He was then given command of Coast Guard Station Cape May, New Jersey and from there was transferred to the 9th District Commander's Office in Cleveland, Ohio. He also served at Coast Guard Station Muskegon, Michigan, and ended his career at Governors Island, New York, as the Chief of News & Photos. He retired from the Coast Guard on May 1, 1990 after 22 years of service and with the rank of lieutenant commander.
Fisher, Kent Edmonson
Windmiller, Bernie (Interview outline and video), 2016
Bernie Windmiller was born in Gary, Indiana, on July 3, 1932. The Army drafted him in 1954 and he received basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, then field radio training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was deployed to South Korea where he served on the demilitarized zone and at Daegu. He decided to become a chaplain, and upon completion of seminary, he reentered the Army as a chaplain. His first assignment was at Fort Riley, Kansas, with 3rd Battalion of the 47th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division. He was deployed to Vietnam in January 1967 and was originally stationed at Bearcat Base. Shortly after arriving, he was reassigned to 4th Battalion. During his time in Vietnam, he operated in the Mekong River Delta and went on combat missions with the troops. He returned to the United States in January 1968, and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He then served in West Germany for three years with the 5th Missile Battalion of the 6th Air Defense Artillery (Nike nuclear missiles). He returned to the United States in 1973 and took the advanced course of chaplains, then got his master's degree at Long Island University. He served at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, with the 212th Artillery Brigade then went to Duke University.
Windmiller, Bernie
Whorton, Charles E (Interview outline and video), 2015
Charles Whorton was born on January 2, 1947 in Mobile, Alabama. His family moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan when he was young. In 1966, Charles was drafted into the United States Army and trained as a radio operator. When he arrived in Vietnam in December 1966, Charles was placed in K Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. K Troop traveled through the jungle with tanks and armored transport vehicles. Since they were a search and destroy unit, they frequently came into contact with the enemy. When Charles returned from Vietnam, it was difficult for him to adjust to civilian life.
Whorton, Charles E.
Warren, Jerome (Interview outline and video), 2017
Jerome Warren was born in Byron Center, Michigan, on November 11, 1926. He enlisted in the Navy on November 11, 1944 and received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He was selected for signal training, and received that training at Sampson Naval Training Center, New York. In late spring 1945, he went to Camp Shoemaker, California, and eventually boarded a Dutch merchant ship bound for the Philippines. After stopping in Hawaii and Samar, he arrived in Manila in August 1945. He was assigned to USS APL-19, a ship used to house personnel in transit. Aboard the USS APL-19, he served as a guard and as a signalman. In 1947, USS APL-19 was towed back to the United States, and was decommissioned at Jacksonville, Florida. He spent the final month of his service at Watervliet Arsenal, New York and was discharged at Great Lakes Naval Station.
Warren, Jerome Charles
Vickers, Robert C (Interview outline and video), 2016
Robert Vickers was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on September 25. 1944. He was in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Eastern Kentucky University and received a commission as an officer in the combat engineers of the Army in 1965. He decided to become a chaplain and attended seminary for three years, then went to the Chaplain School in 1969. He stayed in the Army Reserve until January 1975 when he went on active duty. His first assignment was at Fort Carson, Colorado, with the 1st Battalion of the 77th Armor Regiment, for 15 months. He was stationed in Wiesbaden, West Germany, with the 76th Infantry Brigade from March 1976 until June 1979. He studied at the Advanced Course for Chaplains at Fort Wadsworth, New York, then went to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, in January 1980. He left Fort Devens in May 1983 to study at Vanderbilt University then serve at the Chaplain School. He was stationed at Fort McPherson, Georgia for four years, then did a tour in South Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division. Robert's last two assignments were at Fort McClellan, Alabama, and at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he retired in 1996.
Vickers, Robert C.
VanEssen, Willard (Interview outline and video), 2017
Willard Van Essen was born in Nobles County, Minnesota, in 1927. He was drafted in 1951 and received his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. At the end of basic training, he was selected to become the new sergeant in charge of the records department at Fort Gordon. During his time at Fort Gordon he processed incoming recruits, sorted recruits into training companies, sorted them into specialized training (radio, military police, or infantry) and ultimately decided where men were sent for their deployments. Many of the men had to be sent to fight in Korea. He was discharged from the Army in 1954, but served in the Army Reserve for an additional eight years going to drill at Battle Creek and Houghton, Michigan.
VanEssen, Willard
Swim, Vernon G (Interview outline and video), 2016
Vernon Swim was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1935. He entered the Army chaplaincy in 1962 and completed his basic chaplain's course at Fort Slocum, New York. His first assignment was in South Korea with the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, and he served there from 1964 to early 1965. Upon returning to the United States, he was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, as the artillery chaplain. After Fort Carson, he served at the 98th General Hospital in West Germany for three years with his wife who was an Army nurse. Vernon served a tour in Vietnam as the chaplain at Long Binh Jail, working with the American soldiers imprisoned there. After his tour in Vietnam he was sent to the American Institute of Family Relations to get his master's degree in marriage and family therapy, which allowed him to be a family and marriage counsellor at Fort Lee, Virginia, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He did a second tour in Germany at a retreat center in Berchtesgaden. He ultimately served in the Army chaplaincy for 24 years (most likely retiring in 1986).
Swim, Vernon G.
Sturim, Harriet (Interview outline and video), 2015
Harriet Sturim was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York in 1943 to German immigrants that had fled the Nazi persecution of Jewish citizens in the 1930s. She met her husband, Rick Sturim, in a Jewish youth group as teenagers and reconnected while in college. They married on June 12, 1965 and moved to Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois the next day (where Rick was receiving Aircraft Maintenance Training). She moved to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico with Rick and worked at the Department of Defense school as a speech therapist and was part of the Wives' Club (extension of the Officers' Club). They stayed at Ramey Air Force Base until August 1968 and then moved to Kincheloe Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where she continued to do activities with other officers' wives. Rick was discharged in 1969 and they eventually moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1977. She has been involved with numerous veterans' organizations in the Grand Rapids area including the Cost of Freedom Tribute (Vietnam War memorial movement), the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, the Veterans' Affairs Clinic in Wyoming, Michigan, and the "No Veteran Dies Alone" program at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.
Sturim, Harriet
Sturim, Frederick P (Interview outline and video), 2015
Rick Sturim was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 21, 1942. He attended college at the Newark College of Engineering and joined the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He graduated in 1964 and was commissioned in that same year as a 2nd lieutenant. He was trained as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois from December 1964 through June 1965. In August 1965 he was assigned to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico where he helped maintain the nuclear weapon-armed B-52 bombers at that base. In August 1968 he was assigned to Kincheloe Air Force Base in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and stayed there until August 1969 when he was discharged from the Air Force.
Sturim, Frederick P.
Stauffer, Robert J (Interview outline and video), 2015
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
Robert Stauffer was born on May 4, 1971 in Lansing, Michigan. After graduating high school in Caledonia, Michigan, he joined the United States Navy. Throughout the majority of his time in the service, he was a payroll clerk on the USS Underwood. He took part in drug operations as well as rescue missions. Robert also discusses the aftermath of the Gulf War, and the various duties he had while at sea.
Stauffer, Robert J.
Siggins, Gordon Donald (Interview outline and video), 2016
Gordon Siggins was born in Highland Park, Michigan in 1925. Prior to serving he worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant outside of Detroit from summer 1942 to summer 1943. He registered for the draft when he turned 18 and joined the Marine Corps. He took basic training in San Diego which began in October 1943. Upon completion of basic training he joined the Marine Raiders and trained at Camp Elliot, California. On February 28, 1944 he deployed to the Pacific Theater with the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and trained at New Caledonia for a month. The Raiders were disbanded and he was assigned to C Battery of the 11th Marine Regiment of the 1st Marine Division. He took part in the invasion and battle of Peleliu from September 15, 1944 to November 27, 1944. After resting on Puvavu and training on Guadalcanal he took part in the invasion of Okinawa and the battle for that island from April 1, 1945 to June 22, 1945. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 he went to Tientsin, China in September 1945. From China he returned to the United States, landing in San Diego, California on February 27, 1946. Shortly after getting back to the U.S. he was discharged from the Marines.
Siggins, Gordon Donald
Romeyn, Gelmer W (Interview outline and video), 2005
Gelmer Romeyn was born on March 24, 1923 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the early 1940s he joined the Michigan State Troops (a state defense force) and in November 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Force. He reported for basic training at Miami Beach, Florida in February 1943 then received college training at Duquesne University, Pennsylvania. He was classified as a pilot and received flight training at Maxwell Field, Alabama
and Moody Field, Georgia. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and a pilot on May 22, 1944. He trained on the C-47 transport plane. He spent six months in Casablanca, Morocco flying transport missions to Italy. He was transferred to Oran, Algeria for the remainder of his time overseas. He returned to the United States in December 1945. He was discharged at Newport News, Virginia and was released from active duty in February 1946. Gelmer remained in the Army Air Force Reserve and then served with the National Guard as a 1st lieutenant for two years.
Romeyn, Gelmer Willis
Reed, Sherman R (Interview outline and video), 2016
Sherman Reed was born in Jasonville, Indiana, on June 24, 1941. He originally served in the Air Force before becoming an Army chaplain. He received his interceptor weapons control training at Keesler Air Force Base, Missouri, then was assigned to the 848th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Norton Air Force Base, California. During his time with the 848th, he was deployed to a base north of Clark Field in the Philippines to assist with the buildup in Vietnam. He decided to become a minister, and he attended the Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from there in May 1971. While at seminary he was part of the reserve at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base. He resigned his commission with the Air Force and began the process of becoming a chaplain in the Army in 1977 He served at Fort Carson, Colorado, and worked with the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade in West Germany. Sherman retired from the Army in 2000, and as of 2016 is national chaplain for the Reserve Officers Association.
Reed, Sherman