Lantz, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2015
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Raymond Lantz was born on September 26, 1922 in Washington, Illinois. He was drafted in Grand Rapids, Michigan in November 1942 and went to Camp Grant, Illinois for processing. He was sent to Camp Beale, California for basic training, and then became a cook in B Company, 83rd Medical Battalion, 13th Armored Division. He was stationed at Camp Beale for a year, and then went to Camp Bowie, Texas where he was reassigned to the 54th Evacuation Hospital. He stayed in Texas until late 1944 when the unit was sent up to Seattle to be deployed into the Pacific Theatre. They sailed to Hawaii and he was stationed at Schofield Barracks until late summer 1945. They sailed up to Japan and arrived on September 4, 1945 two days after the formal surrender of the Japanese. He was part of the occupation force in Japan for a few months working as a cook. He returned to the United States in early 1946 and got discharged at Camp Grant, Illinois in February 1946.
Lantz, Raymond
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
In Copyright
Lakowicz, Bernard (Interview outline and video), 2015
Bernard Lakowicz was drafted in February 1943. He went to Kalamazoo, Michigan (most likely Fort Custer) for processing, and from there went on to Camp Grant, Illinois and then on to Fort Lewis, Washington for basic training. Joined the 44th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis and was stationed there for nine months. In November 1943 he volunteered for the Army Air Force and trained at Sheppard Field, Texas and Kansas State College, Kansas. Prior to D-Day he was removed from the Army Air Force and was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for infantry training where he joined K Company, 386th Infantry Regiment, 97th Infantry Division. He received amphibious training at Camp San Luis Obispo, California and Camp Callan, California. He and the rest of the 97th deployed to the European Theatre out of New Jersey in early 1945 and landed at Le Havre, France in March 1945. The 97th moved up to the frontline and crossed the Rhine River at Bonn, Germany in April 1945 and advanced steadily through Germany closing the Ruhr Pocket and taking thousands of German prisoners of war. The unit stayed briefly in Czechoslovakia and then got redeployed to Japan for occupation duty. He was sent home in early 1946 and got discharged at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin.
Lakowicz, Bernard
Kuzawa, Marion (Interview outline and video), 2015
United States. Navy
Marv Kuzawa enlisted in the Navy in 1942 at the age of 21. For basic training he was sent to Camp Perry, Virginia. Eventually he was placed in the Seabees and sent to Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska to construct infrastructure for the War. After being transferred to the 14th Construction Battalion, Marv was sent to Honolulu Hawaii to build Quonset huts where the effects from the Pearl Harbor attack were still evident. In May of 1945 Marv arrived in Okinawa Japan to construct infrastructure for the ongoing invasion, and he was present in Okinawa during the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In November 1945 he left Japan on the USS Topeka and coincidently met up with his brother as they were both discharged at Great Lakes military base in Illinois.
Kuzawa, Marion
Kowalewski, Alfred Eugene (Interview outline and video), 2015
Alfred Kowalewski was born on Memorial Day, 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In July 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for basic training. He went into Chicago for Diesel School then on to Little Creek, Virginia to receive amphibious training. In March 1944 he boarded the USS Cheboygan County (LST-533) and sailed to England. En route he witnessed the sinking of multiple ships in their convoy. He trained in England preparing for the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 and on D-Day took part in the invasion. He served aboard a Higgins boat as an engineer and helped land troops at Easy Red Sector at Omaha Beach. He helped with supplies on Omaha Beach after the beachhead was secured and then operated out of England helping transport supplies and troops to mainland Europe and also bringing German prisoners of war, and freed Allied prisoners of war back to England. During the Battle of the Bulge he transported supplies to Allied forces in Belgium. In late May 1945 he returned to the U.S. and prepared for the invasion of Japan. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 he was stationed on the East Coast until he returned to Great Lakes Naval Station in March 1946 and got discharged there.
Kowalewski, Alfred Eugene
Klooster, Donald (Interview outline and video), 2015
Donald Klooster was born and raised in Munster, Indiana. He was drafted into the Army after turning 18 in March 1943. Donald attended basic training at Camp Atterbury Indiana. Afterward he moved onto Fort Benning Georgia for jump school and was assigned to Headquarters Company, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. His unit would be sent to the Philippines where they trained in flight jumps on Mindoro Island, and then jumped into combat for the invasion of Corregidor Island. When all was said and done he had encountered General MacArthur, survived Japanese grenade attacks as well as a tunnel cache explosion, and finally became wounded in combat from some explosive round shrapnel. He was awarded a bronze star with the Philippines liberation ribbon and sent home in the summer of 1945 due to his wound. After being discharged in 1946 he graduated from Calvin College and worked at a furniture company.
Klooster, Donald
Kleinjans, Barry (Interview outline and video), 2015
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Barry Kleinjans was born in Holland, Michigan in October 1942. After graduating from high school in 1960 he enlisted in the Navy. He received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois then received sonar training at Key West, Florida. While at Key West he also helped with recovery from the aftermath of Hurricane Donna. He served aboard the USS Thomas J Gary (DER 326) on the Distant Early Warning Line searching for Soviet submarines and bombers, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the search for the USS Thresher. He left active duty in 1963 and worked as a Navy recruiter in the Navy Reserves until he returned to active duty in 1980. He served aboard the USS O'Callahn (FF 1051), received advanced sonar training in San Diego, and served aboard two Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigates and helped with the evacuation of personnel when Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991. He worked as an instructor in the U.S. until he retired in 1997.
Kleinjans, Barry
Kiefer, Donald David (Interview outline and video), 2015
Donald Kiefer was born on December 20, 1948 in Delta, Colorado. He was drafted while at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and reported for induction in February 1970. He received basic training and infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington. He was deployed out of Fort Lewis and arrived in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam on July 1, 1970. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Evans and arrived there in mid-July 1970. He joined Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. On July 18 he went into the field and joined 2nd Platoon. He operated around Firebase Ripcord during the siege of the firebase from July 18 - July 23 and was evacuated to Camp Evans after Firebase Ripcord fell. He spent seventy days in various hospitals recovering from a wound to his arm and rejoined Alpha Company in October 1970. In February 1971 he was assigned to guard duty at Camp Evans and stayed there until mid-June 1971. Donald returned to the United States and served at Fort Riley, Kansas until he was discharged in early October 1971.
Kiefer, Donald David
Kerkstra, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2015
Arthur Kerkstra was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. In March 1943 he was drafted into the Army and was sent to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training. He received rifle training and later mortar training. He was stationed at Camp Butner for a year with the 78th Infantry Division before shipping out in spring 1944. En route to England he was treated for appendictis and was forced to stay behind while the rest of his division went ahead. He reached France a week after D-Day and joined the 4th Infantry Division. He fought in St. Lo, in the hedgerows, took part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944, and fought in Belgium and the Hurtgen Forest. He was wounded in late November 1944 and was eventually evacuated to the United States. He received treatment in Battle Creek, Michigan and was discharged at Fort Custer, Michigan in April 1946.
Kerkstra, Arthur
Houghton, Milo (Interview outline and video), 2015
Milo "Mike" Houghton was born in Sand Lake, Michigan in 1924. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the Navy in December of 1941. At Great Lakes Illinois he received his brief basic training. He was bound for the USS Sperry departing out of San Diego, California where they headed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place so recently that ships were still smoking. There he was relieved to encounter his brother who was injured in the attack, but survived. Next the Sperry took him to Brisbane, Australia where they remained for some time. Eventually the Sperry returned to San Diego and Houghton would next be departing on the USS Kittson. In 1944 the Kittson traveled the South Pacific and on then to Okinawa. It was at the battle of Okinawa in 1945 where Houghton worked to ferry members of the Army to and from the ships. Although on board the Kittson and prepared to invade Japan, the end of the War made this unnecessary and he was soon honorably discharged thereafter.
Houghton, Milo
Guild, Fred E (Interview outline and video), 2015
Fred Guild was born on October 2, 1925 in Gratiot County, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army in July 1943 and reported for duty at Fort Custer, Michigan on August 1943. He received basic training and infantry training at Camp Wolters, Texas until December 1943. He volunteered for Airborne Training and received that training and demolition training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was deployed to the European Theatre in May 1944 and arrived in England prior to D-Day. He was assigned to a demolition platoon of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. He trained in England with the 506th through the summer of 1944. He participated in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. In April 1945 they moved through Germany and captured Berchtesgaden and were in Zell am See, Austria from May 1945 to August 1945. He stayed in Joigny, France until December 1945 then returned to the U.S. from Antwerp, Belgium. He was discharged in January 1946 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He briefly served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina from April 1946 to October 1946.
Guild, Fred E.
Groggel, Richard W (Interview outline and video), 2015
Richard Groggel was born on July 22, 1924 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In March 1943 he was drafted into the Army. He received basic training and anti-aircraft training at Camp Hulen, Texas before being reassigned to the infantry. He received infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia before receiving officer training at Fort Davis, North Carolina. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and trained soldiers in California before being assigned to an infantry unit. They deployed out of Fort Meade, Maryland in fall 1944 bound for the European Theatre. They moved from England to France and took up positions on the German frontier. During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 Richard and his platoon were captured by Germans. He was moved to prisoner of war camps across Germany and Poland, he marched 350 miles across Poland and witnessed the failed Task Force Baum raid on Hammelburg prisoner of war camp. He was liberated from Stalag VII-A on April 29, 1945, and after recovery at Camp Lucky Strike, France he returned to the United States. He was discharged in August 1945 shortly after Japan's surrender.
Groggel, Richard W.
Grams, Leonhard (Interview outline and video), 2017
Germany. Army.
Leonhard Grams was born on May 20, 1920, in Adamow, Poland. After war broke out in 1939, his family moved to German-occupied Poland because they were ethnic Germans. On February 2, 1941, he was drafted into the Luftwaffe and served at Tempelhof-Berlin Field in Berlin. He served as part of an antiaircraft crew and witnessed multiple bombings of Berlin. He was sent to the Russian front in 1942, and was later wounded and sent to a hospital in Austria, went back into the army and was taken prisoner by the French at the end of the war.
Grams, Leonhard
Gerville-Re'ache, Gaetan (Interview outline and video), 2015
Gaetan Gerville-Reache was born on October 8, 1976 and served in the United States Navy from 1998-2002. He was deployed to the Persian Gulf as a part of Operation Southern Watch and served as the main propulsion officer on the USS Benfold. The objective of the operation was to enforce a no-fly zone and embargo on Iraq. He visited the ports of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Kuwait. In addition to his experiences in the Persian Gulf, Gaetan recounts September 11, 2001 and how the navy responded to the attacks thereafter.
Gerville-Re'ache, Gaetan Edward Alain
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Eppinga, Stuart Dirk (Interview outline and video), 2015
Stuart Eppinga was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 17, 1925. After graduating from high school in 1943 he was drafted into the Navy. He received basic training at Camp Peary, Virginia and got assigned to Naval Air Station Bermuda Annex, Bermuda where he helped with maintenance, went on anti-submarine patrols in PBY-3s, and witnessed the capture of six Italian submarines and one German submarine. After eighteen months he requested reassignment and was sent to Guam. On Guam he oversaw Japanese prisoners of war being used for work, and was stationed there for six months. At the end of the war he had enough points to go home and returned to the U.S. by way of the USS Enterprise.
Eppinga, Stuart Dirk
DuBois, Joseph (Interview outline and video), 2015
Joseph Dubois was born in Avery Island, Louisiana in a family with 11 siblings. He worked at the local Mc. Ilhenny Tabasco Sauce plant in town. Joseph completed basic training in Little Rock Arkansas. He was placed in the 89th Infantry Division as a Platoon Guard, and continued participating in training combat maneuvers in California and North Carolina. In January of 1945 he arrived in France, travelling through Luxembourg, Austria, and Germany. After crossing the Rhine River, the 89th liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp. Eventually at the border to Czechoslovakia, he awaited with his Division for the Russians to arrive at the end of the War. Once the War had ended Joseph was stationed at Camp Lucky Strike, and then later Austria until leaving Europe for home.
Dubois, Joseph
Doering, Max H (Interview outline and video), 2015
Max Doering was born in 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After Pearl Harbor he was drafted into the Navy in 1942 and had boot camp at Great Lakes in Illinois. After training as a hospital Corpsman, he volunteered to serve with the Marines and was placed in the 22nd Marine Regiment. He participated in the invasions of the Marianas and Okinawa.
Doering, Max H.
Diekevers, Donald (Interview outline and video), 2015
Donald Diekevers was born in 1937 in McBain, Michigan. He decided to enlist into the Army at 17. At Fort Knox, Kentucky he received basic training, while further training took place at Fort Carson, Colorado, and later at Fort Bliss, Texas. Their training involved the use of 90mm artillery and lengthy 70 mile marches. Eventually he would be stationed in Washington D.C. for the last part of his service. In 1954/55 he met his wife and they finally married after being discharged from the military in 1958.
Diekvers, Donald
Carlson, Oscar (Interview outline and video), 2015
Oscar Carlson was born in 1920, or 1921 and raised in Northport, Michigan. On December 8, 1941 he enlisted in the Army in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was processed at Fort Custer, Michigan and was sent to Camp Joseph. T. Robinson, Arkansas for basic training. While at Camp Robinson he was assigned to the 43rd Infantry Division. He trained in the United States for the majority of 1942 in Arkansas and Mississippi before deploying to the Pacific Theatre in October 1942. He was stationed at New Zealand before taking part in the occupation of the Russell Islands in February 1943
the liberation of Vangunu, Rendova, and New Georgia through the summer of 1943
securing Aitape, New Guinea in July and August 1944
and the liberation of Luzon, Philippines in January-August 1945. After the war ended he returned to the United States and landed at San Francisco. He was sent to Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and was discharged there in October 1945.
Carlson, Oscar
Breidenfield, Jane H (Interview outline and video), 2015
United States. Army. Women's Army Corps
Jane Breidenfield was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on August 23, 1921. She joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (which would later become the Women's Army Corps) in 1943 and was trained at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Jane spent her term of service in Orlando, Florida where she plotted bombing missions, sold war bonds, and worked as a teletype operator. Selling war bonds allowed Jane to participate in many theater related activities which she enjoyed and often continued in her free time. After the war ended and she was released from her duties in Orlando, Jane returned to Grand Rapids where she joined the Army Reserve.
Breidenfield, Jane H.
Breen, Raymond Jay (Interview outline and video), 2015
Raymond Breen was born on February 4, 1925 in Zeeland, Michigan. When he was eighteen he registered for the draft, and six weeks after registering he was drafted in March 1943 and went to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training. He participated in maneuvers in Tennessee and was eventually promoted to the rank of staff sergeant and placed in charge of a mortar squad of eight men. In fall 1944 he left the United States with the 310th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Infantry Division and arrived in England on October 26, 1944. He stayed in England for further training before sailing to France, arriving at Le Havre on November 22, 1944. He fought in the Hurtgen Forest, crossed the Rhine River at Remagen, and helped clear the Ruhr Pocket. Near the end of the war he helped save four wounded Americans and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. After Germany's surrender in May 1945 he was part of the occupation force in the Ruhr Pocket and stayed in Europe until January 1946 when he was sent home and dishcarged from the Army.
Breen, Raymond Jay
Becker, Dwight Wendell (Interview outline and video), 2015
Dwight Becker was born in Grandville, Michigan on March 25, 1924. He received his draft notice in January 1943 and reported for service in March 1943. He went to Camp Grant, Illinois and was assigned to Camp Butner, North Carolina for basic training and medical training. He was assigned to the Medical Corps in the 310th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Infantry Division. He trained at Camp Butner until October 1944 when the 78th went to Camp Pickett, Virginia then Camp Kilmer, New Jersey where they boarded the USAT George Washington and sailed for the European Theatre. They arrived in England on October 26, 1944 and trained there until they went to France on November 22, 1944. He was attached to D Company and they took up positions on the Siegfried Line in early December 1944. He treated wounded soldiers and wounded prisoners of war during the Battle of the Bulge, the crossing of the Rhine River, and the advance into Germany. On April 11, 1945 he was wounded and after being stabilized in Europe he returned to the United States in June 1945. He recovered at Percy Jones Hospital in Fort Custer, Michigan and was discharged from the Army at Fort Custer on September 26, 1945.
Becker, Dwight Wendell
Baumann, Edwin (Interview outline and video), 2005
United States. Army Air Forces
Edwin Baumann was born on June 19, 1923 in Stockton, California. In April 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Force to become a pilot and began training in August 1942. He received training at San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, Texas then went on to train at Hicks Field, Texas and Lubbock, Texas, graduating with the ability to fly twin engine aircraft. He was trained with a B-24 crew in Mountain Home Air Base, Idaho and survived a crash there before being assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group at Hammer Field, California. In January 1944 he and his crew were deployed to the European Theatre and were stationed at Toretto Field, Italy. He flew bombing missions over Yugoslavia, Romania, and Hungary and got shot down on a bombing raid on Ploesti in May 1944. He was captured in Yugoslavia and became a prisoner of war for eleven months placing his liberation as sometime in April 1945.
Baumann, Edwin
Barrett, Robert William (Interview outline and video), 2015
Robert Barrett was born in Ohio in 1925. In 1943 he enlisted in the Navy and received basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois. He went to Gunnery School in Gulfport, Mississippi and received training with pistols, rifles, and larger ship guns like the 20mm cannon. He was assigned to the SS Alcibiadie, a Merchant Marine vessel, as one of forty five Americans on the gunnery detail. They operated in the Gulf of Mexico transporting fuel and in the Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Guinea refueling ship. In August 1944 the ship was acquired by the U.S. Navy and became the USS Andrew Doria. They continued with refueling operations then took part in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945. Refueling operations continued until the end of the war. In early 1946 they returned to the U.S. and the USS Andrew Doria was decommissioned in Mobile, Alabama in late February. Robert was discharged in March 1946.
Barrett, Robert William
Bakker, Lee Richard (Interview outline and video), 2015
Lee Bakker was born in Wellsburg, Iowa on October 14, 1924. After graduating from high school in 1943 he was drafted in fall 1943. He was inducted in Des Moines, Iowa and received basic training at Camp Roberts, California. After basic training he tried to be a paratrooper and received the training at Fort Benning, Georgia, but broke his leg. He was then sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he trained with 81mm mortars and was assigned to the 70th Infantry Division. He left the U.S. in November 1944 and arrived in Marseille, France in December 1944. He was assigned to H Company of the 275th Infantry Regiment of the 70th Infantry Division and fought in France, and Germany (liberating the city of Saarbrucken) and crossing the Saar River. He was stationed in Germany for occupation duty until he threw out his back and returned to the United States. He received treatment at O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri and got medically discharged in September 1945.
Bakker, Lee Richard