Stecker, Walter (Interview outline and video), 2007
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Navy
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Video recordings
Walter Stecker was able to avoid being drafted into the services during the beginning of World War II because of his work for the aircraft industry in industrial design. He was eventually drafted into the Navy and worked on illustrations for the assembly of aircraft, blue-prints, and maps. He worked on top-secret projects and even presented some of his findings to the US Senate.
Stecker, Walter
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
In Copyright
Stebbins Jr, Phillip (Interview outline and video), 2013
United States. Marine Corps
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Phillip Stebbins Jr. is a United States Marine Corps veteran living in Michigan who served during peacetime as a demolitions expert and recruiter as well as during an evacuation of American diplomats from Albania in 1998 after a terror threat, and during unrest in Albania. He was involved with the Marines at a young age through the Young Marines and is still heavily involved with the Marines community today through involvement in the Marine Corps League.
Stebbins Jr, Phillip
Staples, Flate (Interview outline and video), 2008
Flate Staples was born on September 4, 1924 in Mississippi and moved to Michigan in 1931 because his mother had found a better job there. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in May of 1943 when he was 18 years old and went through boot camp in North Carolina. Flate trained for only 6 weeks before he was shipped to New Caledonia on an LST. He worked on supplying the front lines in New Caledonia for about a year and was then sent to Guadalcanal to do the same. At the end of the war he was sent to Okinawa and worked with the Army of Occupation for about 3 months before he was sent back to the Unites States.
Staples, Flate
Stanton, Christal Gayle (Interview outline), 2012
United States. Army
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Christal Stanton served in the U.S. Army from approximately 1974-1976 as a typist. She attended basic training in Alabama and served most of her time in the army as a typist on a base in Colorado.
Stanton, Christal
Stafford, Raymond (Interview outline and video), 2008
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Raymond Stafford was born in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in 1937. He enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to a mine sweep boat, but later moved down to the Panama Canal Zone to be on the security force. After that he went on the SS Iowa, the SS Galveston and the USS Sierra battleships and trained on the east coast. While he was on the USS Sierra he took part in the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1968 Raymond was sent to Columbus, Ohio and made chief petty officer. He went through the survival, evasion, resistance, and escape program and was sent to Vietnam to be in charge of a patrol boat river unit. Raymond spent 2 years in Vietnam and was sent back to the US.
Stafford, Raymond
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
Stafford, Darwin F. (Interview outline and video), 2007
Darwin "Gabby" Stafford served in the United States Army during WW II in the Mechanized Calvary from January 1945 to June 1946 in Kansas and California. In this interview, Gabby discusses life on a farm during the Depression and the first time Social Security was introduced. He shares stories of his time in the Army including one about being treated to dinner at a chicken farm as a reward for returning a wallet, and being "volunteered" for kitchen duty while on the train to Fort Riles, Kansas. Gabby was a Mason for over 50 years.
Stafford, Darwin F.
Spruill, Wayne (Interview outline and video), 2012
Wayne Spruill was born in Cleveland, Mississippi, in 1949. He finished high school, worked for a while and then decided to enlist in the Army, and wanted to be in the infantry. He trained at Fort Polk, Louisiana, and went to Vietnam in 1969. He spent his first six months of his tour with D Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division, which was operating out of Camp Evans in the northern part of South Vietnam. He then went to sniper school and was reassigned to the sniper unit in E Company of the same battalion, and spent the next several months working as a sniper attached to different companies of the battalion operating around Firebase Ripcord. He was transferred to the rear shortly before the base was abandoned and eventually rotated home and completed his enlistment in Colorado.
Spruill, Wayne
Spring, Norman A. (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Norman Spring served in the US Army during the Korean War. He enlisted in 1951, and spent much of his time as an MP, first in Japan and then in Korea, before persuading his superiors to assign him to a combat unit. In Japan, he served as a prison guard and dealt with both American servicemen who had committed crimes while overseas and with Japanese war criminals from World War II. In Korea, he eventually joined the 31st Infantry Division and was involved in fighting near Pork Chop Hill. Normans fifty anniversary speech appended to outline.
Spring, Norman A.
Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.)
Spoelstra, Phillip (Interview outline and video), 2008
United States. Army. Air Corps
Phillip Spoelstra was born in Wyoming, Michigan in 1923 and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1939. He graduated high school in 1941 and joined the Air Corps in 1942. Phillip trained mostly in Oklahoma and became part of a bombers unit. He was deployed to Foggia, Italy and assigned to the 5th wing of the 15th Air Force in the 97th bomb group in September of 1944. It was their job to strategically bomb German supplies and transportation. He was in Foggia until the end of the war and then was sent home.
Spoelstra, Phillip
Splan, Tanjore (Interview outline and video), 2009
Tanjore Splan was born in St. Ignace, Michigan and grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He served in the Korean War. He joined the Army at age 17, and decided to specialize in filed artillery. He trained at Fort Bragg, NC where he trained for the airborne and was then shipped to Korea, where he served with the 5th Regimental Combat Team in operations against the Chinese and North Koreans throughout the Korean Peninsula from Pusan into North Korea and back in 1950 and 1951.
Splan, Tanjore
Spencer, Fred S. (Interview outline and video), 2008
Fred Spencer joined the Michigan National Guard in 1940, and served in Company C, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division. His unit was mobilized in October, 1940, and he went with them to train in Louisiana. From there he was shipped to Australia and then to New Guinea in 1942. Fred was wounded by a sniper at Buna, New Guinea, and spent over a year recovering first from the wound and then from malaria. He was finally sent back to the US, where he completed his service guarding German POWs in the southwest.
Spencer, Fred S.
Spaulding, Fred (Interview transcript and video), 2011
Fred Spaulding was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in April 1940. After high school, Spaulding waited a year before enlisting. Initially rejected by his first choice, the Marine Corps, Spaulding enlisted in the Army and went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training then to Fort Benning, Georgia for advanced training. Once his initial enlistment ended, Spaulding left the Army but soon returned and received a deployment to Korea to serve first as part of the U.N. honor guard in Seoul then as part of the newly-formed 8th Army honor guard. While with the 8th Army honor guard, Spaulding spent in brief period in Vietnam as an advisor. Following Korea, Spaulding returned to the United States and joined the 82nd Airborne Division. While with the 82nd Airborne, Spaulding participated in the invasion and occupation of the Dominican Republic. Eventually, Spaulding attended OCS at Fort Benning, graduating in 1967, after which he joined the Special Forces and attended language school in Monterey, California before joining a Special Forces group based on Okinawa. While on Okinawa, Spaulding took part in several missions to Vietnam. Following Okinawa, in order for Spaulding to advance up the career ladder, he needed a company-level command, so he received an assignment to the 101st Airborne. Once he finished his time as a company commander, Spaulding first moved to S-3 at the battalion level then S-3 at the brigade level. While at the brigade level, Spaulding participated in the operations in and around Firebase Ripcord, including oversea the evacuation of the firebase. Once his tour in Vietnam ended, Spaulding returned to the United States expecting to continue up the career ladder. However, because he a disagreement with the officer in-charge of officer personnel at the Pentagon, who happened to be the commander of the 101st Airborne, Spaulding instead received discharge papers. After spending several years in the National Guard and Army Reserves, Spaulding eventually rejoined the Regular Army, finally retiring in June 1987.
Spaulding, Fred
Southerland, Bradford (Interview outline and video), 2007
United States. Air Force
Bradford Sutherland is an Air Force veteran who entered the military after completing two years at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI as an art student. His introduction to the military was through an officer's training course that was required by the university, causing him to take an interest in having a career with the Air Force. He spent his time in the US Air Force at bases in Texas, Washington, and in England. In this interview, Sutherland describes his experiences in the service, including the time that he spent traveling throughout Europe. Sutherland also describes many of the hardships that veterans endure once their time in the service has expired.
Southerland, Bradford
Sondy, Dominic Patrick (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008
Dominic P. Sondy served in the U.S. Army with the 662nd Field Artillery from April 1943 to January 1946 during World War II. In this account, Sondy discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his combat experiences in France and Germany. Personal narrative is appended to the interview outline.
Sondy, Dominic Patrick
Sodeman, Harold "Buzz" (Interview outline and video), 2011
Buzz Sodeman served in the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1970. After serving for several months as ground crew on a Naval Air Station in California, he was sent to Memphis, Tennessee, to train on ejection seats. From there, he went to San Diego, where he maintained aircraft and trained other personnel on ejection seats. He was sent to Vietnam in 1969, and served his tour at the Naval base at Binh Thuy in the Mekong Delta, where he worked as a parachute rigger. He describes daily life there in some detail, and also discusses some of the physical and psychological issues that he had after his return.
Sodeman, Harold "Buzz"
Sobotka, Harry (Interview outline and video), 2008
United States--National Guard
Harry Sobotka was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1918. After graduating from high school he joined the National Guard. In October of 1940 Harry got called up for active duty and went to Louisiana for training. He became a sergeant and commanded 4 mortar crews. After training in Louisiana he went to Officer Candidate School. Harry was deployed to England and then landed on Omaha Beach in the fall of 1944. He went towards Alsace-Lorraine and helped capture the town of Metz. He was the executive officer in charge of the HQ and handled 3 Howitzer Platoons. Harry helped out at the Battle of the Bulge after Metz. He was sent home and discharged in December of 1945. Harry accepted a job with the technical program in the National Guard and retired in January of 1975.
Sobotka, Harry
Snyder, David (Interview outline and video), 2011
Dave Snyder was born in 1949 in Painesville, Ohio. After graduating from high school in 1967, Snyder held a series of jobs before receiving his draft notice in 1969. After processing into the military in nearby Cleveland, Snyder went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for his basic training. From Fort Campbell, Snyder moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for advanced training in field artillery then attended Non-Commissioned Officer School, also at Fort Sill. Once he finished NCO school, Snyder spent a few months in a training battalion stationed at Fort Sill before deploying to Vietnam. Once in Vietnam, Snyder received an assignment to Alpha Battery of the 2nd of the 11th Field Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division. The main weapon of the 2nd of the 11th was the 155mm artillery gun and once in his gun section, Snyder received the position of gunner. After Snyder arrived, his battery moved to several different hilltop firebases before finally arriving at Firebase Ripcord. While stationed on Ripcord, the battery participated in the weeks-long siege of the firebase by enemy forces. Once the siege ended, the battery moved to another firebase, where it was when Snyder's tour ended and he rotated back to the United States.
Snyder, David
Snowdeal, Lloyd (Interview outline and video), 2008
Merchant mariner
Merchant marine--United States
Lloyd Snowdeal was born in Rockland, Maine in 1927. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the Navy. Lloyd went to radio school after training and became a Radio Officer. Lloyd went on trips across the Pacific in a large convoy on a repeater ship. His job was to repeat changes in the course from the commander ship to all of the other ships in the convoy. After the war was over in the Europe, he brought replacements across the Pacific to Japan. Lloyd was discharged and then on February 23, 1950 he enlisted in the Air Force for the Korean War. He became a Bypass Specialist and was assigned to a B-29 squadron. Lloyd became sick and went home, but later volunteered to go back overseas. He was stationed at a service and repair depot and then spent the rest of his time in the Air Force close to home in Bangor, Maine.
Snowdeal, Lloyd
Smock, Lloyd and Grace (Interview outline and video), 2005
Women
Lloyd and Grace Smock were both born in Wyandot, Michigan. Lloyd served in the Army during World War II. He served in the 56th Signal Repair Battalion. His unit was initially sent to France and Belgium, however after VE day they were sent to the Philippines. Generally, they spent their time destroying enemy electronics stockpiles and equipment. When Lloyd returned, he met and married Grace. Lloyd worked at a bank and Grace worked in the legal business.
Smock, Lloyd
Smock, Grace
Smith, Zena (Interview transcript and video), 2012
Zena Smith was born in 1926 in Birmingham, England. As a teenager, she experienced the effects of war on her community. She had a job at an office after completing public school that made tanks for the North African Desert War. There were often sirens heard throughout her community to warn them about air raids. She contracted diphtheria at one point and had to stay in a hospital for eight weeks and was there when a bomb hit her hospital. She took a job with a defense plant and saw Winston Churchill and General Montgomery when they visited it. Mrs. Smith met her husband, Ken Smith, in 1944 and dated a year before marrying. Her husband worked at Packington Park and was an assistant during autopsies. After getting married and at the end of the war, she traveled on the Queen Mary to the United States.
Smith, Zena
Smith, Richard LaVern (Interview outline and video), 2005
Richard Smith enlisted in the United States Army shortly after he graduated from high school. He served in the motor pool at various bases throughout the United States, including Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and Fort Eustis in Virginia. Upon his release from the Army in 1957, he continued his service by way of the active reserves until he was released from that service.
Smith, Richard LaVern
Smith, Mabelle Vincent (Interview outline and video), 2012
United States. Army Air Forces
Mabelle "Barry" Vincent Smith was born in Syracuse, New York in 1920. Her two older brothers were pilots during World War I, and encouraged her to learn to fly. She took flying lessons, and then enlisted in the WASP program during World War II, primarily as a flight instructor at Lackland Army Air Force base in San Antonio, and served with it for a year until it disbanded late in 1944.
Smith, Mabelle Vincent
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
Jason Smith served in the U.S. Army during operation Iraqi Freedom in the early 2000s. He interacted often with civilians and believes that his service has lead him to appreciate what he has in his own life. He discusses losing close friends while serving.
Smith, Jason
Dion, Sam (Interviewer), Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Smith, George (Interview outline and video), 2008
George Smith was born in Coopersville, Michigan on April 28, 1922. George was drafted into the Army when he was 20 years old. He was assigned to the 105th Artillery and mostly trained in Georgia. George landed in France and moved into Germany where his job was to support the infantry with artillery. His unit was pulled off the front lines in Germany to help out in Bastone, Belgium where he was wounded by a mortar. George was put in a horse arena that was converted into a hospital and got gas gangrene. He lost his left leg and his big toe on his right foot. George was sent home and spent over a year at a hospital in Texas.
Smith, George
Spring Lake District Area Library (Spring Lake, Mich.)