32 24 1541 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5e6552fd02bfa2fab29cc43595db8839.mp4 0ccfb37015b847838136f34c856c4547 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76653924e80ec623447ea0257b732c49.pdf 2507f8e8c9c75fd322db2a4dec0de491 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Jim Roach Vietnam War Part 3 & 4 1 hour 51 minutes 7 seconds (00:00:18) Early Life -Got back from his first tour on December 6, 1968 -Got married on December 26, 1968 -Didn‟t have any personal experience with harassment from protestors -Family was neither for, nor against, the war -Moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey with his wife -Assigned to an advanced infantry training company as a trainer -Didn‟t particularly respect some of his superior officers there (00:02:43) Redeployment to Vietnam -Knew that he would have to go back to Vietnam if he stayed in the Army -Wanted to get out of Fort Dix -Wanted to get his second tour over with -Volunteered for a second tour to Vietnam after about three or four months of being home -Had deployment orders within forty eight hours -Wife wasn‟t happy, but understood the reasoning (00:04:11) Arrival in Vietnam for Second Tour -In June 1969 he returned to Vietnam -Promoted to the rank of captain in the first part of April -Arrived right after the major battle at Hamburger Hill -Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division -Same unit that he had served in in his first tour -A lot of the soldiers from the first tour were still there -Assigned to an operations section -Chance for commanders to see if he could be a competent captain -Spent three weeks there -Located at Firebase Airborne in the A Shau Valley -Overlooked Warehouse 54 -Major supply staging area for the Viet Cong (00:07:44) Conditions as Delta Company Commander -Assigned to lead Delta Company -Seemed to have a lot of disconnected battalion commanders -Created frustration among the troops -Remembers their gear being battered and nondescript -Fatigues didn‟t have many, if any, patches and their boots were beaten and dirty -Being an infantry soldier operating in the field meant he lived in a different reality (00:14:10) Operating in the A Shau Valley -During the June of 1969 the 101st Airborne Division was operating in the A Shau Valley �-High amount of enemy activity -Prior goal was to deny the Viet Cong access to the Laotian border -When the monsoon came in the fall the division was poised to leave the valley -The rains made it impossible for helicopters to get into, or out of, the valley -Had to close down firebases for the season -Delta Company wound up in Firebase Bastogne in September/October -Artillery guns and most equipment had been moved out -They lost contact with the rear during their time there -Radios didn‟t have the range to reach the rear -Left cut off and vulnerable to enemy attacks -Fire team (4 or 5 troops) was sent out a mile with a radio to act as a radio relay -Eventually got extracted out of the A Shau when the weather broke after about 3 or 4 days (00:19:17) Operating in the Lowlands -In late fall and into the winter the unit was moved to the Lowlands -Moved up to take over from the Marines being extracted -Operated in mountainous terrain -Difficult to create landing zones for helicopters -Susceptible to surprise attacks due to the predictability of their movements -In late October they took heavy enemy mortar fire -Got lucky because the Viet Cong missed the helicopter that was trying to land -They took forty mortar rounds during the barrage in a very short time -He was able to find cover and avoid the attack -Command and control helicopter near them spotted the mortar team -Cobra gunship helicopter was sent in and neutralized the threat -Still lost two soldiers due to a direct mortar strike -One of the dead men had been a good friend (00:29:07) Conditions in the Field and Being a Commander -Most enemy contact was brief and sporadic during the summer and the fall -His unit was able to carry out a few successful ambushes near Camp Evans -Not being able to see the dead bodies of the enemy was frustrating and demoralizing -Never felt like they were making any progress -Rare to have more than one hundred men in the field operating as a company -Soldiers got wounded, cycled out, or killed -Led to the men in the company forming an incredibly strong bond with each other -During the summer and fall worked as platoons -Way of looking for the enemy more effectively -Sometimes groups as small as squads (10 or fewer men) were sent out on patrols -Stressful being a company commander -Had to maintain a balance between being an Army leader and being a comrade -Had to act according to military protocol, but also with a level of humanity -After a short time sent to China Beach -Navy fuel depot on the coastline -Spent two weeks there providing security and resting -Had a responsibility to keep the men in his command alive (00:37:47) Deployment to Camp Evans -In late November 1969 he was rotated out of being Delta‟s company commander �-Part of the Army‟s rotation schedule -Sent to Brigade Headquarters to be an Assistant Brigade Officer (major) at Camp Evans -He was rapidly cycled out of the field after training his replacement -Worked in the 3rd Brigade Tactical Operations Center at Camp Evans -Worked there for a few months (00:40:30) Assignment to Charlie Company 3rd of the 187th -Charlie Company 3rd of the 187th commander was being rotated out of the field -He was selected to be the replacement -He was flown into Phong Dien in early February 1970 -He was first hand witness to a scandal involving an allegedly gay commander at Phong Dien (00:45:50) Leading Charlie Company -Started to notice a lot of activity around Firebase Ripcord during this time -Placed in command of Charlie Company of the 3rd of the 187th of the 101st Airborne Division -Found out that Delta Company had been a better company to lead -Delta had been organized and cooperative -Found that Charlie Company was argumentative and disorganized -Engrained in the personality of the company -Further found out that a breakdown in communication with base camp led to inefficiency (00:50:20) Problems in Charlie Company -Racial tensions were a problem in Charlie Company -Black soldiers wanted to work as a group and not with the company as a whole -Had a lot of “shake n‟ bake” sergeants during his second tour -Rapidly trained, non-career officers -Tried to change the company by leading by example -Didn‟t want to force change within the company -Losing the battalion commander to a Viet Cong attack led to a further lack of communication -New battalion commander was out of touch with the soldiers on the ground -Had problems with marijuana -More of a problem in the base camps and in the cities -Easily accessed due to exposure to the Vietnamese populace (01:01:55) In the Field with Charlie Company (may have to split into two parts) -Not wholly aware of the situation around Firebase Ripcord -Knew there was enemy activity in the area and in the mountains -Operated in that area -Worked primarily around Firebase Rakkasan -Primary focus was the pacification of the Phong Dien Province -Trying to work with the Vietnamese civilians against the Viet Cong -Providing security and support for the South Vietnamese military -Led to him noticing a lot of corruption within the South Vietnamese Army -Officers paying for their assignments and ranks -Large black market -Searched villages in the area -Noticed personal conflicts flaring up between the Vietnamese -Worked with Viet Cong defectors that were working as translators -There was a high amount of Viet Cong attacks in the area -Remembers an operation north of Camp Evans �-Created ambush for advancing Vietnamese forces -Abandoned ambush because a sergeant fell and impaled his butt on bamboo -Remembers being on the demilitarized zone during the monsoon season -Rain made the low temperatures feel even colder -Had to huddle and sleep together for warmth (01:15:46) End of Second Tour and Deployment to Fort Benning -His second tour ending in June 1970 -Went home and bought a car and drove to Fort Benning, Georgia -Spent six months in the Battalion and Brigade Operations Division -Worked with his commander from his first tour -Consisted of a lot of reading -Went into the advanced course in December 1970 which lasted nine months -After the advanced course was selected for Biological and Nuclear Targeting Officer Course -Focus was on studying the potential effects of a biological or nuclear attack on an area (01:18:18) U.S. Army Rangers -Went to Ranger School after the Biological & Nuclear Targeting Officer Course -Graduated with honors -Attributes that to the infantry experience he already had -Got assigned to the Fort Benning Ranger Department -TAC (Training, Advising, and Counseling) Officer -Focus was on training small unit tactics more precisely and meticulously -Originally “small unit tactics” was a vague phrase and fluid concept -His job was to make it more specific -Had to introduce training standards by which to base training off of -Had a difficult time introducing the concept to Ranger Schools -He was placed in charge of reducing the dropout rate and getting it down from 30% -Found a correlation between poor physical test scores and dropout rate -Tried to give the soldiers more physical training -It only made them more tired and led to more soldiers washing out -Having the enlistment option didn‟t help with the dropout rate -People could enlist directly into the Rangers without doing any time in the regular Army -This led to the dropout rate soaring to 85% -Spent four years working in the Ranger Department at Fort Benning (01:27:43) College at St. Martin’s -Began attending college classes at night in 1975 -During 1973 and 1974 the military was being downsized -Wanted to be prepared in the event of being discharged -Went to St. Martin‟s College -Afraid of failing out of college like he had before -Focused and was motivated this time around -Got on the dean‟s list -Graduated in 1976 -Being twenty nine years old he noticed a lot of the immaturity in the freshmen (01:31:45) Special Forces School -After St. Martin‟s College he went to Special Forces Training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina -Graduated with honors �-Attributes that again to experience he had in the infantry and in the Rangers (01:32:25) Bad Tolz, Germany -Sent to Bad Tolz, Germany -Coveted assignment -One officer offered to trade his Corvette for the assignment -Located south of Munich -Learned to ski when he was in Germany -Worked with senior noncommissioned officers from WWII -Worked with displaced persons (refugees) that were serving in the military for citizenship -Conducted cross border recon and intelligence missions -Spent three and a half years in Bad Tolz (01:35:45) Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and Marine Corps Staff College -After Bad Tolz he returned to the States and worked with the ROTC in Springfield, Missouri -Small town in southwest Missouri -Enjoyed his time there -While working with the ROTC he was selected for a Command and Staff College position -Got sent to the Marine Corps Staff College -Eventually graduated from there (01:40:25) Latin American Deployments -After the Marine Corps Staff College he was selected for an assignment in Spain -Started learning Spanish through the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey -After only two months the program was shut down -Wanted an assignment in a Spanish speaking country and was sent to Panama -Worked through Southern Command out of Florida -After Panama he was sent to El Salvador and stayed there from 1984-1986 -Served as 1st Salvadoran Brigade advisor, Strategic Security advisor -Served as a part of an Operational Planning and Training Team -Able to live with his family during his time in El Salvador -Primary goal was to train the Salvadorans how to improve their military -Had to work with limited defense funds -Was able to increase the defense fund but noticed an increase in corruption -Later learned that one Salvadoran officer was a kidnapping kingpin -Salvadoran officers didn‟t treat the Salvadoran enlisted men well -Officers were from the city and the enlisted men were from the country (01:46:00) Other Work in Latin America -Worked as a trainer and gathering intelligence in Colombia out of the US Embassy -Did that job for nine years -Also worked in Peru and in Mexico -Mexico was a mess and incredibly hard to deal with -For the last two years of his job he worked in Afghanistan -Worse than trying to work in Mexico (01:47:20) Other Army Assignments -After El Salvador he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion 1st Group in South Korea -Had three exercises a year in South Korea -After that he went to the War College -He wound up being selected to serve in the „Secret Army‟ of Northern Virginia �-Highly secretive Special Forces group tied to the CIA -Served with them as a deputy commander -Wanted to get a deployment to a Spanish speaking region -Given a position personally by General Thurman from the Pentagon -Special position for Spanish speaking officers -Later worked as a defense attaché in Colombia -Picked to be a Special Forces Group Commander -Slated for the 10th Group in Europe -Wound up in the 7th Group in Fort Bragg, North Carolina instead -Served as the Director for Doctrine and Training � 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 RoachJ1452V3 Title A name given to the resource Roach, James (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Roach, James Description An account of the resource In the second part of his interview Jim Roach covers his second tour in Vietnam (1969-1970), where he initially commanded D Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in the A Shau Valley and other parts of I Corps. After six months, he rotated to a rear area assignment, but was then sent to command a company in the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment and get it into shape. His second tour ended in June 1970, after which he served with the U.S. Army Rangers, attend college at St. Martin's College, went to Special Forces School, and also worked in Latin America aiding several Latin American countries in improving their militaries. He also served in South Korea and in Germany and was also selected to serve in the elite Secret Army of Northern Virginia. Towards the end of his career he was selected to be the Special Forces Group Commander of Group 7 stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 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 Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Other veterans & civilians--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 2013-07-05 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6e4d4ccebeffe25e67efa080de6f1b04.mp4 129bcbc7f535d6bdc14bc931250765a8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e19b2ae550166deb4384b322d41b95cd.pdf 39ae8f918d07514c4ca83aae1668e295 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Jim Roach (2:03:33) Background Information (00:25) • • • • • • Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1947. (00:30) He grew up in Delaware County in the suburbs of Philadelphia. (00:41) His father worked for the Federal Government in the forestry service. Neither of his parents had completed high school. (1:07) Jim was the oldest of 5 children. (1:50) After graduating from high school he attended a seminary but struggled in and dropped out after his first semester. (2:30) Jim began working a job at a hardware store. In 1966 he realized he would probably be drafted, instead he enlisted in the army to be a helicopter pilot. (3:00) Basic training (3:30) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Jim attended basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana (3:30) There were about 150 men in his training company. Of that, approx 12 men had high school diplomas. (3:50) Jim was flown from Pennsylvania to Texas. They were then sent on a prop air plane to Fort Polk, Louisiana. (5:01) The men were then sent to the reception where the men did KP and were issued uniforms. (6:37) Jim’s experience in Catholic grade school helped him adjust to the discipline of the military. (7:35) Jim was in Fort Polk in late May of 1966. He was sent to Fort Jackson South Carolina for Advanced Infantry Training (AIT). (9:30) After completing AIT Jim was made a drill sergeant while waiting to be sent to OCS. (10:07) There were 5 platoons set up in Jim’s company during basic, each having 3 drill sergeants. (12:02) Jim was one of the only members in his training outfit that was from above the Mason-Dixon line. (12:46) Less than 10% of the training outfit was black. (14:04) The black soldiers seemed to like to segregate themselves from the other soldiers while in the field. (14:48) Fort Polk was specialized for Vietnam combat even as early as the summer of 1966. (16:00) The AIT consisted of weapons training that trained on more than just the M1 [M14?] rifle. (16:31) There were more people from the north during the advanced training than in basic. (18:33) Quite a few of the men training Jim had already served in Vietnam. (19:29) Basic and AIT lasted 8 weeks each. (20:35) Advanced OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia (21:02) �• • • • • • • • • • • OCS [Officer Candidate School] was a 6 month program and was used to make many officers in a short period of time. (21:21) The men repainted their platoon area every month. The soldiers had to purchase the paint themselves. (22:23) Jim was the youngest man in his company by 3 years. Most men had a college degree who Jim was training with. (23:22) Jim finished in the top 10% of his class. (24:24) Jim was given a commission but he initially didn’t take it because he was 19 and needed to be 21 to be an officer. (25:30) When Jim was sent to his division he was still shy of 20 but looked 15. Because of this, the men didn’t believe he was an officer. (26:30) There was tactical and field training. Jim thought this was easier than being on base becase there was actually less to do there. (28:12) The men had spit shine floors and their things were set for inspection. The men tried very hard never to walk on the floor. (28:50) In the spring of 1967 all the men in OOCS were hoping for something else but expected Vietnam. (31:14) Jim completed OCS on April 25th 1967 and was sent to jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia, after being assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. (31:35) The program lasted 3 weeks; Ground week, tower week, jump week. (33:02) Service in the 101st Airborne State Side (33:05) • • • • • • • Jim was sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky ,in late May of 1967 where the 101st was stationed. (33:09) It was announced that Jim’s battalion would be sent to West Point for the summer to aid in practice exercises. (33:59) The officers of the 101st were assigned to instruct graduating seniors about what it’s like to be a platoon leader. This was problematic for Jim as he had only several weeks’ experience of being a platoon leader. (35:17) Jim was moved up to headquarters and informed that he was to be sent to Vietnam in December of 1967. (37:45) Many officers in the 101st were lost because of the Army policy that men who have already served in Vietnam did not have to redeploy there. (38:00) Jim was assigned to Bravo Company where he took trained mortar men and made them bush men in the field. This service lasted from January-June of 1967. (39:41) Jim served as platoon leader in all companies (Alpha, Bravo, Delta,) of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th (41:30) Early Service in Vietnam (41:50) • • • Jim was sent to Vietnam in a cargo aircraft. This was nice as there was often space for soldiers to lie down. (41:55) The cargo aboard ship needed to be weighed before being placed aboard the plane. This duty was give to Jim. (43:51) The aircraft left from Fort Campbell and stopped in Guam for one hour to refuel. Jim landed in Bien Hoa. (46:11) �• • • • • • • • • • • • There was supposed to be enough ammunition on each plane for the soldiers aboard. (46:36) Shortly after landing most men were sent to other locations via a truck convoy to go to Phuoc Vinh. (47:36) Jim and his Sergeant were placed in charge of getting mules (flat topped tracked vehicles used for moving supplies) to the base. This process took 3 days. During this time Jim found an M113 armored personal carrier and took it. (48:00) When Jim arrived in Phuoc Vinh in December of 1967, he learned that his unit was not allowed to have the 113. The 113 was then traded for 3 cases of beer and 3 cases of coke to another unit. (49:55) There was a month long in country training program given after the troops arrived. During these training exercises, Jim was shot while practicing a squad ambush. (51:42) 15 meters of parachute cord acted as a tug line between men’s position in the company. (53:25) After Jim was shot the platoon moved so their position would not be found. After the soldiers moved their location was hit by mortars. (55:30) For punishment, the man who shot Jim had to buy beers for the company. (57:08) While traveling through the bush the men found 15 pallets of rice. The men scanned the area and eventually engaged in a fire fight. (58:57) There was a friendly fire casualty during this engagement. (1:00:05) After waking up from a nap, Jim found his platoon at the air field to be moved. Though they didn’t know it, they were being moved for the Tet Offensive (1:02:15) The men were taken to Bien Hoa Air Base before being sent out. (1:04:22) The Tet Offensive (1:05:00) • • • • • • • • • • • • • The men could see green tracers, a sigh of enemy fire, once landing in Bien Hoa. (1:05:40) On base, all the men’s weapons were locked in a storage locker. (1:06:39) Some aircraft were destroyed but not many. (1:07:37) After the firing ceased, Jim and his platoon were sent to Bien Hoa village to flush out any enemy troops. (1:09:07) The clearing of the village was a very difficult 3 days. 10 casualties were taken. (1:10:40) One of his men needed to be medevaced because he had shot himself as the result of a joke with another soldier. Jim was asked to write up the citation for the Silver Star which enraged him and did not write him a good citation. (1:11:50) At this time the men were not engaging Vietcong. (1:14:40) Often rifle companies had less than 100 men in them often companies had as low as 60. There was a 5:1 wounded to kill ratio. (1:15:25) As a platoon leader, many men did not like that they had to go into the danger to solve what was occurring. (1:16:24) In the summer of 1968 Jim and his company were engaging enemy left over from the Tet Offensive. A third of the company’s casualties came from this summer. (1:17:31) Jim believes that the reason the press took the Tet Offensive so poorly was that it was the first time that the media has ever seen real combat up close. (1:18:00) Jim does believe that he was on “the right side” of history in terms of what he did as a soldier. Many of the Vietnamese did not understand the concept of a citizen. (1:20:17) After 2 weeks in Bien Hoa the division was moved North and then to the central highlands of the country where they spent approx. 1 month. (1:23:30) �Service in Cu Chi (1:24:31) • • • • • • • • • • • Jim's Platoon was then moved to Cu Chi where they served under the 23rd Infantry division. There were a lot of booby traps in the area. Often when booby traps were triggered there was no time to react. This was psychologically stressful to the soldiers. (1:25:26) Often the enemy fired upon the platoon in defense. They often didn’t engage U.S. soldiers as they were aware of the superiority of their fire power. (1:27:00) Often villages they encountered around Cu Chi had signs of being used for VC bases. Many had large surplus of rice, thought to be used to feed VC. (1:28:31) The Vietnamese civilians were afraid of the U.S. solders. Often solders tried to help the poor civilians who had very poor living conditions. (1:30:00) He was made a Recon Platoon leader in June of 1968 (1:33:35) A normal field uniform did not have any patches. This was because when showers were set up, men would give their uniform to the quartermaster to be washed, take a shower, and then when exiting the shower, were given washed uniform that were not the ones they turned in. (1:35:12) When the rainy season started the river flooded, which flooded the camp with manure. This resulted in many men getting sick. The barracks did collapse because of the rain. (1:37:34) The new Brigade Commander came to visit Jim’s platoon from the fire base. When he did, Jim was yelled at for not having a “proper” uniform. (1:39:20) Jim went to the hospital in Cu Chi. While visiting the hospital, Jim visited the officer’s club. He talked with several nurses at the club. It was clear they were ignorant as to what Jim’s world was like in the field. (1:41:31) Jim was in the Cu Chi area from mid June to late August of 1968. Then he was sent to be placed under the control of the 101st Airborne. (1:43:40) Life in Vietnam (1:44:20) • • • • • • • • • • The men were transported in a C-123. No men had seats. (1:44:20) Jim and his unit was moved into Camp Evans while the 1st Cavalry moved to Phuoc Vinh (1:45:00) The men were then sent into the mountains where the soldiers often cuddled together for warmth. (1:46:30) Jim was the only man to finish an entire year of service in the field being Lieutenant of the 2nd of the 506th. (1:48:05) The men serving over Jim were often rotated out just as men in the field were. (1:48:50) On one assignment the men were kept in a company as opposed to a platoon. (1:50:55) There was some prostitution while in central Vietnam however it was less common as they moved north. (1:53:32) He heard of one [Vietnamese?] man who paid $10,000 for his position. Jim was an idealist at the time and came to sense that corruption was common with in the military. (1:54:10) Drugs, primarily Marijuana, were a problem. He had one soldier who used drugs while in a security position. When this man was being transported later on, he jumped out of the helicopter at 300 feet. (1:55:18) Problems associated with drug use were much more prevalent in the rear. (1:57:07) �• When the men arrived in country, morale was high. By summer, morale was low, due in part to the loss of more experienced soldiers. (1:57:26) End of First year in Country (1:58:37) • • • He left Vietnam on December 7th 1968. (1:59:40) Jim was engaged before he left. When he returned they got married on December 26th 1968. (2:01:34) He didn’t see any protesters upon his return. He did fly in civilian clothes however because it was more comfortable. (2:02:37) � 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 RoachJ1452V Title A name given to the resource Roach, James (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Roach, James Description An account of the resource Jim Roach, born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in 1947, served in the U.S. Army starting in 1966 and ended his first tour in Vietnam in December of 1968. After completing basic training at Fort Polk Louisiana, Jim was then sent to Advanced Infantry Training (AIT) at Fort Polk Louisiana as well as OCS school at Fort Benning Georgia. In December of 1967, Jim was sent to Vietnam, where he served as a platoon leader in several different companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 506th Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division. His unit was based initially at Phuoc Vinh, went to Bien Hoa after the start of the Tet Offensive, and then later moved north to Cu Chi. Unlike most officers, he spent his whole first tour in the field. 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 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 2012-10-04 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/77a0e960a7e200c90c500bc7c45b9e73.mp4 de6c09b01f2513e0f4579a268b9f73ad https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/58591c426aed815aecc9feb6eed22759.pdf 147491065cc60cdd7eed6dcb0af1ff2c PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Duane Ritsema Length: 9:32 (00:30) Background Information   Duane was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and went to school in East Grand Rapids He enlisted in the Marine Corps on March 13, 1964 because he had wanted to avoid being drafted into the Army (2:25) Vietnam  Duane went through basic training for 3 months and then went through advanced infantry training for one month  He was then sent to Vietnam and landed at the Da Nang Airfield  They traveled to China Beach and worked there for about 8 months  Looking back Duane is now glad that he enlisted because it gave him the opportunity to travel and he had many interesting experiences  He also had many tough times while in the service and his friends helped him get through things (4:15) After Service  After his time in the service Duane went back to Michigan and was surprised that he was not greeted with hostility  His return was uneventful and he thought that by the looks of thing you would have never known that there was a war going on � 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 RitsemaD Title A name given to the resource Ritsema, Duane (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ritsema, Duane Description An account of the resource Duane Ritsema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Marine Corps on March 3, 1964 because he had wanted to avoid being drafted into the Army. Duane went through basic training for 3 months and then spent 1 month in advanced infantry training. He was then shipped to Vietnam and worked near China Beach for about 8 months. Duane was later discharged and sent back to Michigan where he found that the country did not appear to be fighting a war at all. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rossin, Tori (Interviewer) 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. 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 2008-03-12 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a8f663da29d3cab5d8663c65ae5a73b2.mp4 c1d1b78e03549ffdf9c61aeb1291aa05 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b543d02ed850bb2e996efe7dd929cfd.pdf 33a3b3bf39c511760955d0036c7542ef PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Cornelius Ringnalda & Richard Herrema (00:42:27) (00:30) Background information • • • • • • Richard was born in Michigan in the early twenties and grew up in Grand Rapids He worked on his father’s farm and was drafted into the service after high school Because he worked on a farm, he was given the choice of deferment, but went into the service right away because his friend had done so also Cornelius was born in Grand rapids, MI His father was a carpenter and Cornelius left school when he was 16 years old to work with his father He was later drafted into the military (3:30) Training • • • • • • • • Cornelius was inducted in Chicago and was then sent to Camp Fanning in Texas He was in Texas for 6 months where they mostly did a lot of drilling and marching Richard was inducted in Illinois and began infantry training in Arkansas for 14 weeks He then volunteered for the Air Force Cadet program and was sent to Florida He went to classes at a college in Ohio for 4 months, working on math, history, English The classes were all very hard and they also had to work on flight training He was later sent to Texas for classification and then to armament school in Colorado Richard became a gunner with a B-29 outfit and was assigned to a crew in California (11:20) Overseas • • • • • • Richard was sent to the South Pacific from Washington in January of 1945 Cornelius had been given a 10 day furlough after basic training before he was sent into the Pacific They stopped in Hawaii and then Saipan before landing in Okinawa to replace other troops Many men had been lost and it was the fourth day into the invasion Cornelius was working in Okinawa for 4 weeks and thought it was a beautiful island He had been assigned to the 383rd Infantry Regiment, but it always seemed like no one had any idea of what was going on (20:20) Richard’s Trip Overseas �• • • • • • • Richard had flown over the Pacific on a civilian air craft They landed in New Guinea and stayed there for about 30 days They were flying from New Guinea and bombing Japanese depots and other areas where they were hiding in the hills He was assigned to the 13th Air Force and sent to the Philippines They were staying in tents with Navy Seabees There were many civilians living in the surrounding hills of their base and they were all quite primitive They flew missions at least once a week and Richard had flown on 21 missions altogether (27:50) Cornelius is Wounded • • • • • Cornelius had been in Okinawa for about 2 weeks when they were able to secure the area from a large hill He had left camp to go fill up his canteen when he and others were attacked and he was shot in the arm A friend helped him back to camp, but it took quite a while because everyone had declared them MIA Cornelius was sent to an aid station and then taken by plane to a hospital in Guam where he stayed for 2 weeks He was later sent to a hospital in Colorado and was there when the war ended (34:45) The End of the War • • • • Richard had been in the Philippines when the war ended Everyone was preparing to go home and bring all the equipment back They ended up waiting there for about two months with nothing to do and ended up taking a liberty ship back to San Francisco He was back in Chicago on Christmas day and then took about three months off before going back to work � 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 Ring-Herr Title A name given to the resource Ringnalda, Cornelius and Richard Herrema (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ringnalda, Cornelius Herrema, Richard Description An account of the resource Cornelius Ringnalda and Richard Herrema were interviewed jointly. Ringnalda was born in Grand Rapids in the early twenties and drafted into the military after high school. He served with the 383rd Infantry Regiment and fought on Okinawa in the early stages of the campaign, and was wounded after about two weeks of combat. Herrema was born in Michigan in the early twenties and was also drafted after high school. He joined the Air Force Cadet program and was assigned to a B-29 crew with the 13th Air Force, and flew 21 missions from bases in New Guinea and the Philippines. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.) BCTV Subject The topic of the resource 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 Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-07-09 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/19966e0d748f0271e3182e7d17eb8318.mp4 266743aba91d541af1a921e0bb54e107 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1c076e71617b805f3a6156b7242b3ae4.pdf 87d0d520cb1126471155562ef809f4c3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Robert Richmond Length: 39:55 (00:15) Background Information       Robert was born in Shelburne, Indiana in 1924 His father was a coal miner and later became a farmer Robert helped his father work on the until he was 18 years old He went to a small school and played football and basketball Robert graduated in 1942 and then began working for a delivery truck company He was drafted into the Army on in March of 1943 (6:40) Training  Robert went through basic training for 13 weeks at Camp Wheeler in Georgia  He had not really ever traveled before and was really amazed by the size of the camp and all the people there  Robert was already used to working hard from growing up on a farm and training was not that hard on him  He spent 3 weeks in field training and then 10 weeks training to be a mechanic  Robert also went through infantry training and often went on 30 mile hikes  He then went to a camp in Pennsylvania for another 3 weeks and then was shipped overseas (12:10) Italy  Robert’s trip lasted 14 days and they traveled in a zig zag course in order to avoid enemy submarines  They landed in Oran and then bivouacked for 3 weeks and worked on unloading supply ships  They left the area and went to Sicily and moved across Italy  There was barely any need for his mechanical help and Robert began working with heavy weapons instead  They fought at the Battle of Salerno and the Germans put up quite a fight  The Americans ended up chasing the Germans to the North of Italy (19:15) Wounded  Robert had been working as a first gunner and many men around him were hiding in fox holes  A bazooka shell fell into a fox hole near him and exploded �    Robert was brought o the hospital and spent 8 months recovering He then went back to Naples and was shipped to North Africa to stay at the 114th Station Hospital for another 3 weeks Robert stayed on a hospital ship in Casablanca and then finally took a troop ship back to the US The trip only lasted 7 days because they were no longer trying to avoid enemy submarines (26:15) Back to the US  They landed in Virginia and then Robert was sent to a hospital in Georgia  After his time in the hospital Robert had limited service for one month at Fort Dicks in New Jersey  Robert was then transferred to a Signal Corps Photographic Center in New York City  He then signed up for one more year of service because he was not sure as to what he wanted to do when he was done in the service (30:25) Discharged  Robert got married and had one child during the last year of his service  He began working in carpentry and found that not many jobs were available  He and his family moved back up to Indiana and Robert began working for GMC  Robert worked for GMC for 30 years and then retired � 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 RichmondR Title A name given to the resource Richmond, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richmond, Robert Description An account of the resource Robert Richmond was born in Indiana in 1924 and graduated from high school in 1942. He began working for a delivery truck company and was drafted into the Army a year later in 1943. Robert went through basic training at Camp Wheeler in Georgia and then went through mechanical training. After 13 weeks of training Robert was sent to North Africa and later traveled through Italy. Robert was wounded in combat and later sent back to the US and signed up for one more year of service. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) 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. 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 2007-09-10 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9f98e2fcff62df4f4a5c11dc8a341fff.mp4 835ce25ad2230aa37d3d189386310bdc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/64a73e1c15ce8b5269fe146da5867672.pdf 5e4be89054b2f1e7cc6e5d1ce97da535 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Raymonde Richardson (00:46:44) (22:20) Background Information • Raymonde was born in Paris, France • Her father worked as an engineer and her mother stayed at home • She grew up during the depression and food was quite scarce • Raymonde would get up at 5 AM to wait in the food line, and would be replaced by her sister at 8 AM so that she could leave for school • Her family had not talked much about the impending was so as not to scare their children (4:20) Beginning of the War • The German invasion all happened very fast; no one had been scared at all and then there was widespread panic • The French had first thought that they could protect themselves and hold off the Germans with the Army fortifications • Her family left Paris to live in the country, but were forced by German troops to return back to their home in Paris • There was no longer and fuel and everyone was riding their bikes around • There were German soldiers all over patrolling the streets (14:00) Life during the War • Raymonde spent time dancing, seeing movies, swimming, and basically sneaking around the Germans so they could have fun • All the colleges were closed, so her future had been put on hold • There was nothing else to do and no where to work, so her parents sent her to a training school where she learned to sew, cook, and took a few basic classes for 2 years • There were many Germans staying in the expensive French hotels • Some of the French Resistance had been captured by Germans, where they were tortured or murdered (18:40) A Turn in the War • Raymonde remained in Paris throughout the war • She remembered hearing news of a pending US invasion • The Germans confiscated all their radios because they did not want them to know that the Germans were losing • The French Resistance continued fighting in Paris • Soon Americans entered France and it was like everyone was going crazy • People were dancing in the streets and running mad all over Paris • It was a fantastic time �(24:15) Post Invasion • French took revenge against those that had collaborated with the Germans • The transportation got better and the food supply increased slowly • In 1946 Raymonde moved in with a good friend in Normandy that helped her get a job with the US Army working in graves registration (32:40) Life After the War • Raymonde met her husband in Paris in 1955; he had been working there as an engineer • She had been working as a secretary before meeting him and he had been in the Army • They moved to Clarksville, Michigan, which was a very small town compared to Paris • Her husband owned a farm and she was a housewife • They had five children and the change was not hard on her • Though she did find that Americans are quite different in the way they are not very serious and take everything so lightly (39:40) Present Day Paris • Raymonde visited Paris two years ago with her son, and the young people spoke a different type of French • It is frustrating that Americans sometimes can’t understand her because of her accent and young French people can not understand her either • In Paris everyone spoke English and could understand her son • There were many immigrants from China, India, Africa, and the Middle East • There were also many homeless people all over the streets begging � 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 RichardsonR Title A name given to the resource Richardson, Raymonde (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richardson, Raymonde Description An account of the resource Raymonde Richardson was born in Paris, France and grew up during the depression. Food was very scarce and she would have to stand in a food line for five hours a day. She describes the German conquest of France and her experiences as a teenager living in German-occupied Paris. After the war, she worked in graves registration for the US Army in Normandy after the war and later met and married an American Army officer and moved to Michigan. 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 Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, French Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Video recordings 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 2008-06-24 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/19ffe7306d4e9b7a528630ca52dcbce8.mp4 4120dec0370db5bdbe4a399cfcb5342d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6f23892d48154271861aed917ff9d6ca.pdf 90250aa7d4d907020ba8f696bec75de9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Ray Richardson (1:40:43) Background Information (00:59)                  Born November 13th 1920 in Winterfield Township, Michigan. (1:00) Served in the U.S. Navy Reserve and served as a lieutenant junior grade(2:00) He attended grade School in Hazel Park, Michigan. (2:46) His family moved to Marion, Michigan where he attended school through the 7th grade. (3:17) He attended Marion High School. (3:56) He was the president of his class all 4 years of high school. (4:10) He graduated in 1938. (4:20) His father worked for General Motors, and then became a farmer during the Depression. (4:50) He attended College after high school at Central Michigan College in Mount Pleasant. He graduated in 1942. (5:20) He has 1 brother and 3 sisters. (6:03) The home he lived in at the time of this interview (August 2011) Ray built himself. (7:22) He took music lessons on the banjo as a child. He and his brother would play in square dances for entertainment. (8:00) All through high school and college he and his brother played in a dance band to help make money. (8:53) He worked in a bomber plant for 1 summer in Ypsilanti, Michigan. (9:29) As his draft number approached, Ray enlisted in the Navy before he was drafted in November of 1942. (9:50) He joined the U.S. Naval Reserves. (11:10) He was then sent to New Philadelphia, Ohio, to take flight training. (11:26) Basic Training (11:30)            The program was 6-8 weeks. Upon completing the course he was rewarded his flight license. (11:56) After receiving his license he returned home until January 1943. he was then called into active duty and told to take pre-flight training. (13:26) Pre flight training was given at the University of Iowa. Here there was only physical training and school work. This was approx 6 weeks. (13:55) He was a cadet all though training. (14:25) He does not recall to many men from his military career. (16:15) He was then sent to Pensacola Naval Station. Here he had primary training. (16:50) After completing primary training he was assigned to Bronson, Iowa. (17:10) A man could not be married and be in the cadet program. (18:05) He completed his training in January of 1944. (19:00) At Bronson he learned how to fly much larger aircraft and use other forms of navigation. (21:15) He also had many classes on how to identify German and Japanese aircraft. (21:57) �   Aboard the PBY Catalina (which Ray flew) there was a pilot, a copilot, a navigator, and engineer, a gunner, and a radio man. (22:17) His education in college meant he was older than most cadets and more educated. This led to Ray being placed in more leadership positions. (23:56) He was commissioned into the Navy in January of 1944. (25:10) Service as an Instructor (25:44)                After graduating, Ray was sent to Atlanta, Georgia, for a short class on instrument flying. Then he was sent back to Whiting Field Naval Air Station as an instructor. (25:50) He was married in January of 1944 in Michigan. (26:30) His wife came down to Pensacola in June of 1944 after completing his training. (28:00) He spent about 8 months as an instructor in instrument flying before he was transferred over to the Seaplane base at Pensacola. (28:38) The instructors were required to land the plane at night before instructing at the seaplane base to ensure they can do it. One of the aircrafts crash-landed on a beach during theses exercises. (29:20) While testing a cadet an aircraft continuously stalled because it had been tampered with. (32:19) After serving as flight instructors, the men were moved out onto fleets. (34:16) The day that Ray left for his fleet was VJ day (August 14th 1945.) (35:12) In order for Ray to continue his military career he needed to be in the Navy not the Naval Reserve. He chose to be discharged. (35:50) He was discharged in late summer of 1945. (36:36) Instructors had the responsibility of patrolling certain portions of the gulf where cadets would “challenge” or test them on what flags to run up to communicate with the aircraft. (37:05) An instructor was assigned several cadets whom he saw through sea training. (39:24) When finding that a cadet was not in the area of the plane he designated them too, Ray gave them one strike before reporting them. (41:20) The PBY Catalina was used for air sea rescue and look outs after the war. (42:11) During the war the Black Cats (PBY Catalina) would bomb sea targets. (42:33) Life after Service (43:48)    He looked to see if there were any flying jobs available after exiting the Navy.(43:50) Both he and his wife received teaching jobs in Alpena, Michigan, in 1947. His wife taught Spanish and English at the high school. (44:27) A representative form the FBI came to Alpena Michigan looking for recruits. Ray was accepted into the FBI and called up on July 7th of 1947. (45:30) Service in the FBI (45:50)   His new agent training was at Quantico, Virginia. It lasted 3 months. (46:59) After completing training he was assigned to Portland, Oregon. (47:25) �           He was assigned, like other new agents, on a “road trip” where he recruited and tracked fugitives. (49:10) He tracked and caught a man involved in a deserter case. (51:53) He bought a felt hat because (FBI Director J. Edgar) Hoover at the time wanted all the FBI agents to have felt hats. (54:05) After 8 months in Portland he was transferred to Seattle, Washington, where he spent about 8 years before being transferred to Detroit. (54:50) Ray requested a resident agency after arriving in Detroit. He was sent to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he spent 8 years. (55:35) The Resident Agency in Grand Rapids Michigan was in the Post Office. (56:25) He arrived in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1960 and left in 1968. (57:50) In the summer of 1968 Ray was transferred to Marquette, Michigan. (59:09) While in Grand Rapids, Michigan he recalls there was a bank robbery where the perpetrator was dressed as Santa Claus. (1:01:14) He retired from the FBI in May of 1973. (1:02:29) He retired to Winterfield Township. (1:03:33) Life after Retirement (1:04:23)     He served as the township supervisor for Winterfield Township for approx. 10 years. (1:04:23) He aided in zoning the township as well as repairing the township hall. (1:05:30) As Supervisor, Ray had to oversee township assessments. (1:07:14) He retightened as supervisor after his wife retired (approx 1984). (1:07:56) Thoughts on Service(1:08:15)                He did not keep in contact with fellow soldiers after service. (1:08:20) After his father was wounded in a car accident, Ray contacted a service man (John Goodman) at an air field and flew his father to Michigan to a better hospital. (1:10:00) While in Seattle he Joined the American Legion.(1:12:30) He joined post 40 in Seattle Washington. (1:13:18) He has changed his legion Membership to Harrison Michigan since living in Winterfield Township. (1:14:03) He joined the VFW but is not active. (1:14:25) He has not attended any reunions. On one occasion he did go and visit the museum at Pensacola. (1:15:28) Ray had 3 girls. (1:17:12) One of his daughters, Rosemary, went to acting school and attended school in New York City. (1:20:26) Rosemary ultimately worked for a bank. (1:22:55) Rosemary married and lived in Puerto Rico for several years before divorcing. (1:24:00) Another daughter, Sharon, also taught a bit of school but ultimately ended up working for a phone company. (1:25:32) Sharon has 2 children. (1:26:32) His first wife died in 1991. Approx. 1 year later he married Shirley. He and Shirley were married approx. 15 years before she passed due to lung cancer. (1:28:04) He still is in touch with several agents who he severed with while in the FBI. (1:30:02) �Documents (1:33:28)        A notice of separation form service (a release from active duty).(1:33:30) Ray and his wife Eleanor. (1:34:19) Wedding picture from Central Michigan University. (1:34:48) Training log book for pilot training. (1:35:16) A report of a flight (flight instructors report). (1:36:47) Aviation flight log book. (1:38:15) The final page of the log book lists 1,311.9 hours. (1:38:42) � 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 RichardsonR1293V Title A name given to the resource Richardson, Ray (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richardson, Ray Description An account of the resource Ray Richardson, born November 13th 1920 in Winterfield Township Michigan, served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1942-1943 and then in the U.S. Navy from 1943-1946 as a flight instructor during World War II. As a flight instructor, Ray trained cadets on the PBY Catalina in Pensacola Florida. After completing his service, Ray served as an agent in the FBI from 1947-1973. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Erichsen, Wallace (Interviewer) 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. Navy World War, 1939-1945--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 2011-08-05 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/df1ce63d0c4e8cdfa3e011a125256680.mp4 45c2f4c2c933c58930dcc5d386d2f185 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f6d4ece02f8a6e4ca86d4613675d29f9.pdf 9ee0c02c00a9ea22e11afd834afb94e1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Matt Reusch War in Afghanistan 1 hour 18 minutes 44 seconds (00:00:50) Early Life -Born in Port Huron, Michigan on July 12, 1985 -Dad was in the Coast Guard -Moved around a lot -Washington, New Jersey, Texas, and Colorado -Came back to Michigan in 2000 -Attended Forest Hills Central -Graduated in 2004 (00:01:23) Enlistment -Enlisted in the Army on March 17, 2003 -Did basic training and came back for senior year (military deal) -Family’s background, escapism, and Army history motivated decision (00:02:35) Basic Training -Did basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia -Intense -Still pretty “hands on” with the drill sergeants (old school training methods) -Intense -Made it clear that you were going into a combat zone overseas -Expected some it, but not other parts -Teamwork was foreign at first -Eventually came together -Myriad of types of people: young recruits, re-enlistees, and an Irish marine -Recruits were drawn to the infantry because of the prospect of promotion -Engaged in team building exercises -Punishment exercises to encourage discipline -Obstacle courses -Lots of physical training -Obstacle courses -Running -Requirement to be in infantry is to be in shape -Some people washed out, some went AWOL (absent without leave) -Also did AIT (advanced infantry training) in Fort Benning, Georgia -Lasted three and a half months (00:09:45) Post Training, Pre Active Duty -Interesting to go back to high school -Able to waive a gym class -Wanted to graduate and get into duty -Worked as a hometown recruiter for the National Guard -Training was limited in the Guard �-Transitioned from a heavy weapons company to a light weapons company -Guard was underfunded -Worked with basic weaponry -Most powerful gun was the SAW (squad automatic weapon) -Stayed in the National Guard for two years -Counted as full time job -Michigan National Guard was not being deployed in the wars -Was not deployed until 2005 -Wanted to go into active duty -Talked to active duty recruiter -Got approval to go active duty (00:14:22) Fort Drum, New York -Sent to Fort Drum in upstate New York -One hour northeast of Syracuse -Home of the 10th Mountain Division -3rd Brigade was being sent to Afghanistan -Rapidly introduced -Given a “sponsor” that walks you through getting processed and acclimated -Some soldiers had been in for a couple years to a decade already -National Guardsmen were viewed with disdain -It was a mix of mentoring and self-teaching -Spent two weeks at Fort Drum -Gathering gear -Filling out medical paperwork (00:16:50) First Deployment to Afghanistan-FOB Salerno, Khost Province -Left in January 2006 -Went from Fort Drum, to Germany, to Manes Air Base Kazakhstan -Landed in Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan -Had to catch a ride to deployment afterwards -Stationed in Khost Province at Forward Operating Base Salerno -Near northeast Pakistan -Dry, arid, mountainous region -Expected to patrol a sector that was the size of Rhode Island -Less than fifty soldiers to patrol the area -Heavy infantry platoon (anti-tank capacity) -Patrolled using Humvees -Carried out cordon searches, presence patrols (search people, and draw out enemy) -Interacted with village people -Dirty, averted their eyes, didn’t talk to women, played with the kids -Very tribal, very traditional -Encountered small ambushes and larger ambushes -Noticed a gradual increase in IED’s (improvised explosive devices) and small artillery -IED’s were resourceful and effective -Could destroy a Humvee -Trip wire and pressure plate designs were the most difficult to deal with -Encountered suicide bombers �(00:23:19) First Deployment to Afghanistan- In the Field -Lived out of a Humvee -Positioned trucks to provide the utmost security at night -Worked with Afghan police and camped at their checkpoints sometimes -Had Afghan interpreters with the -Afghan locals taught English -Viewed as traitors by the locals -Some were trustworthy, others not so much -Not much interaction with the Afghan military -Only used during major operations -Drawn from all over the region -Not very useful, considered a nuisance by US and Coalition troops -Stayed in the Khost Province up until they were supposed to go home (00:26:55) First Deployment to Afghanistan-Kunar Province, Chawki Valley -Time in Afghanistan was extended -Moved to Kunar Province to build a new COP (combat outpost) -Chawki Valley -Different terrain, different fighting -Noticeably more intense -Fighting the Taliban: locals and foreign fighters -Equipped with basic gear: AK 47’s, RPG’s, traditional dress for uniforms -Moved quickly -Knew the land very well -Had old Russian heavy weaponry at their disposal -Built their outpost in a geographic “fishbowl” (essentially a vulnerable canyon) -Attacked five times a day -Moved the outpost two hundred meters -Still grossly exposed -Observation posts on top of the ridges were helpful, but even more vulnerable -Three or four soldiers left up on the hills on their own -Had heavy firepower at their disposal -.50 caliber machine guns, Mark 19 grenade launchers, mortars -Supporting artillery from forward operating base -Airpower -Apache helicopters, F-16’s, A-10’s -Very gratifying sight in a firefight -Taliban would always initiate contact -Tactics improved over time -Superior firepower was instrumental against them (00:32:45) First Deployment to Afghanistan-Life in Chawki Valley -Stayed there for six months -Situation stayed pretty monotonous -Occasionally went to a forward operating base for resupply and R&R -Platoon became close -No one was killed; some took gunshot and shrapnel wounds -Always wore body armor and helmets �-Patrolled on foot -Took part in meetings with tribal leaders -Trying to get the Taliban out of control -Difficult because the Taliban used intimidation and brute force against villagers -Ate MRE’s (meals ready to eat) in the field -Some guys bought local food -Living was primitive -Took pride in it -Heat, rain, monsoons, dust storms, and snow -Everyone stayed healthy -Maintain hygiene, stayed hydrated, and took anti-malarial drugs (00:38:04) First Deployment to Afghanistan-Leadership -Switched platoon leaders four months in -Promotions didn’t prompt much change -Only saw company commander during companywide operations -Localized leadership in the form of platoon leadership -Platoon leader was a college graduate -Platoon sergeant was a well-seasoned veteran -Kept troops safe -Wanted to retire without incident (00:40:15) First Deployment to Afghanistan-Morale and Details -Would go back to Jalalabad for downtime -Small city -Basic amenities (phones and showers) -Opportunity to get mail -Not much communication in the field -Had a satellite phone -Too expensive -Allowed two minutes on the phone on Mother’s Day -Hand was crushed -Pulled radio watch at forward operating base for a couple weeks after that -Played mud football on Christmas Day -Got to be inside -Got to sleep all day -Chance to decompress -Morale was good and bad -Nobody lost their sanity -Resigned to their fate -Suicide did happen in other units -Not much of a supply chain for them in the field -Just had to be resupplied once and a while -Complex logistics reserved for forward operating bases �(00:44:23) Coming Home from First Deployment -Tour lasted eighteen months -Relieved by the 173rd Airborne Brigade -Returned to Fort Drum -Arrived in June 2007 -Given two weeks to be with family (00:44:56) More Training at Fort Drum -Had to report back to Fort Drum for further training -Had become team lead -Introduced recruits to Army living -Prepared for Iraq which turned into preparing for Afghanistan again -Classroom work and paperwork -Classroom work consisted of language courses, terrain, culture courses, and first aid -Allowed to go further in first aid and become a certified EMT -Mostly common sense knowledge -Went off post for larger scale training -Partied together as a platoon -Part of bonding -Never had disciplinary problems -Platoon sergeant retired and replaced by a new one -Good leader, but not as good as their old one -Being on base meant more distractions and more opportunities to get in trouble (00:49:31) Second Deployment to Afghanistan-Kunar Province -Returned to Afghanistan in 2009 -Moved to a scouting company -Made team lead of scouts -Different missions, different work -Mix of veterans and new recruits -Went back to Kunar Province -Area of operation had expanded to include Nuristan -Terrain was more mountainous and verdant (trees and rivers were present) -People were more isolated -Taliban was very influential -Only fifteen kilometers from Pakistan -Job was to collect intelligence -Go in before anyone else did -Traveled via helicopter to insertion point -Walk the rest of the way, carry out mission -Get extracted by helicopter or on a road -Encountered locals, wildlife, and enemy forces -Operated at a much smaller level -Picked battles carefully if at all -Used for reconnaissance and to hunt down snipers -Taliban and al Qaeda had an impressive human intelligence network -Made it almost impossible to show up unannounced -Had up to six soldiers in a scouting team �(00:54:26) Second Deployment to Afghanistan-Barge Matal -Fighting was more intense in the second tour -Fought in Barge Matal District -Charged with clearing out and occupying the town -Barge Matal -“A bad place” -ROE (rules of engagement) were lifted to further deal with threat -ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) had enforced ROE -Changed that at Barge Matal -Physically had to root out the Taliban -House to house fighting -No way to discern combatants from non-combatants -Goal was to secure town so that civilians could return -Surrounded by corn fields which made for perfect hiding places for the Taliban -Civilians did not return -U.S. Army, Afghan forces took over the town -Taliban were much more adept due to proximity to Pakistan -Lost three American soldiers -Took wounded as well -Lots of Afghan forces were killed -Some Latvian soldiers were also killed (00:59:46) Second Deployment to Afghanistan-Coalition Relations -Latvians were good fighters, tough -They didn’t like to fight alongside the Afghan forces -Korean, Egyptian, Saudi, British, German, and French Foreign Legion, Canadian military also (01:00:45) Second Deployment to Afghanistan-Other Details -Only stayed there for a year this time around -IED’s were still a severe threat -Placed in trees, buried, stuffed into animal carcasses, decoys were coupled with real ones -Spotting them was extremely difficult -Had to be vigilant to spot them -Primary mission as infantry was to clear and secure areas -No way to effectively do so -Kill all the Taliban in an area and they would just came back -“You have watches, but we have the time” – Afghan saying -Politics didn’t matter in the battlefield -New soldiers adjusted over time -Team leaders were very helpful -If you went back to your FOB you could keep up on world news -Usually a TV with CNN on -Remembers hearing about the Fort Hood Shooting -Limited sense of world awareness �(01:05:47) Morale in the Field during Second Deployment -Allowed to send emails or make phone calls after mission -Some missions could last up to a month -Married soldiers had a greater emotional strain -Couldn’t be there for their families -Was given a mandatory two week leave -Went to Las Vegas both times -Visited family -There was culture shock in returning to the United States -Returning to the U.S. was difficult -Worried about friends during leave -Returning to Afghanistan was a bizarre relief (01:08:40) End of Tour -Very beginning and very end of tour were very dangerous times -Soldiers got relaxed and complacent -Most casualties were taken at this time -End of tour procedure amongst troops -Arranging vacations -Buying cars -General packing up of gear (01:09:32) Coming Home -Coming home (permanently) is happy, but strange -Release of troops is staggered -Takes 1-2 weeks for battalion to get home -Flew into Fort Drum -Took a bus to McGrath Gym -Released to families and secured gear -Given a 48 hour leave after that -Had to return after that to wrap up work -2 week leave after that -Came home in March 2010 -Had no time left in enlistment -Decided to stay out and not re-up -Army wanted experienced soldiers to stay in as trainers, recruiters, or Rangers -Wasn’t sure what to do after military service -After initial uncertainty decided to go to college -Slim to no assistance for veterans -School benefits were easy to get -Medical compensation was almost nonexistent -Wounded Warrior Project was far better for that -Was only given a two day class about readjusting to civilian life -Impractical, most troops just wanted to go home -Strange feeling walking out of Fort Drum for the last time �(01:15:24) Reflections on Service -Keeps combat experience low key -Saves it for the VFW meetings and other veterans’ groups -Received better than Vietnam veterans -Getting a job was not particularly easy -Turned away because of impracticality of expertise, not because of animosity -Focused on leadership experience when looking for employment -Service made him conscious of how good the United States has it -Biggest struggle is picking up where you left off -People need to remember that there is still a war being fought in Afghanistan � 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 ReuschM1555V Title A name given to the resource Reusch, Matt (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reusch, Matt Description An account of the resource Matt Reusch was born in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1985. He joined the Army during his senior year of high school and served briefly with the National Guard until his deployment to Afghanistan with the 3rd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum in January, 2006. He served two consecutive tours there as part of a heavy weapons company and a scouting company specifically in the Khost Province, Kunar Province, and at Barge Matal. In March, 2010 his enlistment was complete and he returned to Michigan. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American United States. National Guard 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 2013-10-31 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/64694bda2815d6befd0dbaeb13de9e5a.mp4 af6f2c935d4a0e94b7e30fcd3507091d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fcc7a3a0403fecea14c9d1f6fec4833.pdf 09d812f9aa0a2273d73cf1d35b456e0f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam Mike Renner Total Time – (01:25:00) Background • • • • • • • • • He was born in Sigourney, Iowa on October 1, 1950 (00:22) His father held many different jobs and his mother cleaned homes He graduated in 1968 (00:54) He played football in high school and had a job at the local grocery store (01:27) He had four sisters and a brother growing up His father was in the Coast Guard during World War II (01:57) o His father was from Iowa as well When he was in high school he knew a lot about the war (02:55) o It was extremely difficult to get away from the war o “It was everywhere” (03:10) o The news of the war was always on the television Many of the kids that he knew growing up were getting drafted He knew he would not get drafted for quite a while so he decided to enlist (03:44) o There were fourteen boys out of roughly fifty in his graduating class that were involved in the war Enlistment/Training – (04:12) • • • • He enlisted for a two year enlistment (04:20) o He enlisted in the infantry He was put on a bus and was taken to Des Moines, Iowa until he reached Fort Des Moines Station (05:24) o He was processed there for one night o He received his physical there as well  There were many draftees at the Station alongside the enlisted men (05:45)  He did not notice any soldiers trying to get out of the service When he was processed through, it was basically just a physical examination (06:39) All of the branches of the military were in Des Moines (07:22) �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • He was then sent from a plane to Fort Polk, Louisiana (08:14) The soldiers landed at Fort Polk around 02:30 A.M. (08:20) When they got off the plane there was a man screaming at them to get in a “Police Call” (08:24) They were forced to march to the processing center o Later they were put into their companies for basic training (09:01) In his company there were five platoons (09:17) o He was in the fourth platoon o There were twenty to twenty-five in each platoon o The entire fifth platoon was Texans (09:35) His school teacher was in his basic training company o He was in the third platoon The racial composition was mixed (10:40) o There were whites, blacks and Mexicans o The majority of the men were draftees (11:03) The morale of the men in the platoon was great (11:34) He was in basic training for eight weeks (11:45) o He learned how to fire a weapon, how to tear the weapon apart, bayoneting drills, and a lot of calisthenics (11:50) He enjoyed basic training There were not any parts of basic training that were particularly difficult (12:15) o The P.E. Test was a little more difficult He trained on the M14 and M16 (13:09) o The soldiers had to qualify for the M16 One of the men went AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) during basic training (13:37) o He was having marital problems There were soldiers that were in poor shape o There was a “Fat Farm” where they would send the soldiers having problems with the physical training (14:14) All of the drill instructors were extremely serious (15:01) There were mock Vietnamese villages set up during basic training (15:36) After the eight weeks of basic training are over he was assigned an MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) (15:58) o He received the 13 Alpha MOS  It was an artillery assignment He graduated from basic training in the middle of August (16:40) When he went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he asked to be changed to infantry (17:35) o He was told that he would remain in the artillery assignment o He had knowledge about the infantry and wanted to have that assignment instead (17:58) His reception at Fort Sill was similar to Fort Polk The next morning they were assigned to their positions o He was assigned to Echo Company 61 (18:43) His training at AIT (Advanced Individual Training) �• • • • • • • • • • o He trained on a 105mm split trail howitzer  When he was in Vietnam he was put on a 155mm split trail and they were extremely different (19:02)  He only had one day on a 155mm during basic training o He enjoyed basic training much more than AIT (19:22) AIT consisted of preparing a howitzer, firing it and closing it back up (19:41) o There was no hands-on training with artillery positions  There told what the positions were but received no actual training (20:01) o There was a lot of boring classroom training  He did not feel that it was relevant (21:01) He graduated on October 10, 1969 He was sent on leave for roughly twenty days before leaving for Vietnam (21:37) His time at Fort Sill was pretty relaxed Many of the men got in trouble because they had so much time on their hands o Soldiers were able to leave the camp around the sixth week there (22:27) He reported in Oakland, California (24:28) During his travels he did not recognize any anti-war protests (24:41) o He did not understand why anyone would want to hassle a soldier (24:58) o He did not understand the hippies – “They thought they had a tough day. They should have been in ‘Nam one day. That’s a tough day.” (25:05) His orders for Vietnam were simply to report and not specific to any unit (25:21) He stayed in Oakland, California for three days doing random activities He flew from Oakland to Hawaii, unloaded and stood at attention, got back on the plane and headed to Vietnam (26:18) o They landed in Long Binh, Vietnam (26:30) Active Duty – First Impressions & Various Firebases – (26:35) • • • His first impression of Vietnam was that it was smelly and hot (26:39) o There were barrels that were burning [human waste with diesel fuel] that smelled terrible o He remembers seeing a small Vietnamese child that had his leg blown off (27:05) o He thought, “What in the hell is this?” When he was at the Replacement depot he was assigned to a work detail o He had to cut Elephant Grass with a machete (27:49) o His name was then called for the 101st Airborne Division (28:00) He was then sent to Phu Bai for SERTS training (Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School) (28:05) o SERTS training taught them how to identify the enemy, booby-traps, how to keep you alive, guard duty, and many more activities o The training was extremely beneficial for his time during the service (29:34) �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • He then traveled to Camp Eagle, Vietnam (29:54) o He stayed at Camp Eagle for a few days before being sent to Firebase Rakkasan (30:14) At this point he is assigned to a 155 Split Trail Howitzer Unit (30:23) The artillery battery that he was a part of consisted of six 155’s, FDC (Fire Direction Control), Captain, Lieutenant, Gunners, and Assistant Gunners o There were six men for each gun (31:08) o The FDC would call down firing data for gunmen (31:27)  They called on a field telephone No one had any concerns that they had not been officially trained on the 155’s (32:10) The rounds weighed 98lbs. and a firecracker weighed 118lbs. The ammunition was stored in a bunker (32:38) Firebase Rakkasan had the 105 battery, the infantry was around the perimeter, and mortar men (33:13) The ammunition was brought in by a Chinook (33:27) Every soldier had an M16 – there was an RPG and a M60 machine gun for every gun section (33:53) They served on a two man guard rotation o Everyone except the Section Chief would have to do guard duty The responsibility of the gunner was to set up the right section and quadrant for the gun (35:34) o The gunner had the responsibility to make sure the gun was not fired until he was fully prepared Every gun crew had a Section Chief He left Firebase Rakkasan at the end of February, 1970 (36:15) After he left Firebase Rakkasan he was sent to Firebase Jack (36:18) o The sun was out only one time on Rakkasan o They were extremely wet from the rain o When they were at Firebase Jack, the soldiers were able to dry out and see the sun (36:42) The battery would move by helicopter – they moved by truck one time o The Chinook would pull the guns (37:23) o The units would ride on separate choppers They were on missions nearly every night (37:39) o They shot a lot of H and I’s [harassment and interdiction] and Delta Tango [defensive fires] fire missions (37:55) There were very few times where the infantry units engaged with the enemy The Delta Tango’s were defensive units There was no significant contact with the enemy when he was at Firebase Jack (39:00) He was hit with shrapnel on May 18, 1970 o They had a twenty-four hour ceasefire on this day because it was Buddha’s birthday o The ceasefire was to honor their Vietnamese counterparts (39:33) �• • • • • • • • o Some of the NVA violated the ceasefire and sent RPG’s against the Firebase The level of activity was similar at Firebase Jack (40:13) o They would shoot 40 rounds between five targets – they were always shooting the enemy o There were not many incoming attacks (40:40)  On Firebase Granite there was an attempt by the NVA to take control of the American Firebase (40:53) • There were nine Americans killed in the fight His unit was typically paired with a 105 unit (41:19) At Firebase Granite, the NVA had breached the perimeter (41:28) o The Americans captured an NVA soldier and found out that there were four hundred enemy soldiers preparing to attack the Firebase (41:38) o The Americans called in ARA and Cobra’s They would shoot flares to light up the area (42:30) He did not use a Howitzer His injury from the shrapnel at a previous Firebase was not very serious (43:45) When his wound was being checked out, a Major told him to take five days and go with other wounded soldiers to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam (44:36) o In Cam Ranh Bay, he relaxed, watched movies, ate three meals a day, body surfed, and enjoyed himself On the firebases he would occasionally get hot meals (44:24) o The other meals were C-rations o There were no mess facilities on the firebases Active Duty – Firebase Ripcord – (46:44) • • • • • • After Cam Ranh Bay he rejoined the battery on Firebase Ripcord (46:48) There was a lot of shooting on Ripcord every day and night While on Ripcord he would shoot over 100 rounds on each mission (47:34) o There were always a lot of rounds to shoot When they first arrived on the firebases, the soldiers would have to build the bunkers and all other facilities (48:21) o They would fill empty 105 ammo boxes with dirt and stack them, place a band over top and then place sand bags on top of that His first impression of Ripcord was that it was “just another firebase.” (49:33) o They “shot and shot and shot” until July 1st when they started receiving returning fire (49:51) o It continued to get more and more intense They shot a lot of high angle rounds (51:12) o The high angle rounds were able to hit the reverse slopes of surrounding hills �• • • • • • • • • • The ammunition was brought into Ripcord by a helicopter and was dropped as close as they could (51:52) o Through July, 1970, they would face heavy fire (52:14) o Every man from his gun would hump ammo o Every morning they would have to clean up and clear away the extra powder (53:09) He was hit by shrapnel when he was taking extra powder to the dump He noticed Firebase Ripcord to increase in activity in the very beginning of July (55:01) o They received incoming rounds on July 4, 1970  They were receiving a lot of mortar rounds (56:10)  There were mortar rounds that landed in their battery area o It was constant mortar rounds He would have to pull perimeter duty when he was on the firebase (56:51) o The crewing was at the six level o Four of the six men were eventually medevaced out His gun was disabled towards the end of July (57:39) o They lost two men in their battery unit The enemy was wearing down the strength of the Americans (58:35) o The soldiers were becoming hungry, thirsty, and angry o The soldiers averaged “cat-naps” (59:01)  There was too much to do to sleep The soldiers did not have a shower for twenty-three days (59:23) His gun was hit after he had been hit with shrapnel for the second time o He was going to dispose of extra powder when a mortar round blew material from the dump (01:00:00) o The material hit him in the arm o He did not have to be medevaced  The doctors were extremely busy (01:00:40) He was chewed out by his sergeant when the mortar destroyed his artillery weapon (01:01:25) o He was yelling at him about “preventative maintenance” o There was not much that he could say to him (01:01:55) o While he was being yelled at, a mortar round hit nearby and killed some of his friends  He pulled one of his friends out of a bunker and found out that he had been killed (01:02:39)  He then saw another friend, picked him up and ran him over to the aid station (01:03:12) o His gun had been completely destroyed o Because many of his men had been medevaced, he stayed and helped carry many of the wounded (01:03:52) There was a Chinook that was hit by a 51 caliber machine gunner and crashed on the base o When it came down, it crashed on a load of ammo (01:05:06) o The fire from the crash destroyed six guns [the entire 105 battery] �• • • o It was a mess (01:06:24) Once his gun was disabled and helped in the aid station, he talked with a captain that told him they expected to be overrun (01:07:23) o They emptied the ammo supply bunker  The attack never came  They were extracted the very next morning (01:07:46) He served as a director on the lower pad of the extraction area (01:08:13) o He told the men to get ready to leave o When the chopper touched down, other men were evacuated instead of him and his men o He later found out that those men had been killed (01:09:30)  One of those men [Lt. Colonel Andre Lucas, the infantry battalion commander on the base] had been given the Medal of Honor He was extracted later that day (01:10:48) o It was July 23 (01:11:30) Active Duty – Remaining Service Time – (01:11:35) • • • • • • • • • From Firebase Ripcord, he ended up at Camp Evans (01:11:40) He was then sent to Camp Eagle (01:12:02) o There was a big party at Camp Eagle  There were dancers, steaks, and ice cold beer  He and some other men grabbed some beers and went to sit on some sand bags (01:12:35)  They did not even want to get drunk • “There was too much to figure out” His battery reorganized at Camp Eagle (01:13:07) He went to Sydney, Australia for R&R o It took him a while to remember how to walk on concrete sidewalks (01:13:39) o He felt like he was losing his mind o He remembers running into one of the chopper pilots at an Australian bar that helped his men off of Ripcord (01:14:22) At the end of his R&R, he was getting bored and wanted to go back to Vietnam Once he returned from R&R he jumped around a few firebases with his battery (01:15:42) In November of 1970, he extended his tour by seventy-five days so that he could get a six month early out o November and December were awful with the monsoons (01:16:26) He was sent to Camp Eagle to process out (01:16:40) o He never had to do the full seventy-five days After he left Camp Eagle, his plane stopped in Japan where he bought a 35mm Canon camera (01:17:27) o They then flew to Fort Lewis, Washington (01:17:37) � They processed in Fort Lewis o He flew from Seattle, Washington and flew home to Des Moines, Iowa on December 22, 1970 (01:18:08) After the Service – (01:18:17) • • • • • • • • • When he returned, he “bummed around and didn’t do a lot of anything” (01:18:43) He slowly eased back into society He was not welcomed home by a lot of people (01:19:02) o Any job application where he wrote that he was a veteran, he would be declined the position (01:19:17) o When he was asked if he was a veteran, he would respond that he was. They would respond with “Well, we just can’t use ya.” (01:19:41) He worked construction for his career (01:20:08) He owns his own construction company o His sons work with him As he reflects on Vietnam, he believes that it taught him to be himself (01:21:08) Vietnam defined his entire life (01:21:42) It took him a long time before he told anyone about his experiences When he went to join a veterans organization, one man said, “I’ll tell you one thing you little son of a bitch, at least we won our war.” (01:23:39) o He immediately left the building � 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 RennerM1449V Title A name given to the resource Renner, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Renner, Michael Description An account of the resource Mike Renner was born in Sigourney, Iowa. He enlisted in the Army in 1969 to stay ahead of the draft. After training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent for artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sent to Vietnam in early 1970, he was assigned to Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery, a 155mm howitzer unit in the 101st Airborne Division. He served on several different fire bases in the northern part of South Vietnam, including Ripcord, where he served during the siege that took place in July, 1970. His own gun was destroyed by enemy mortar fire during the siege, but he helped out as best he could until the base was abandoned. He remained with his battery for the rest of his tour, and returned home in 1971. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McGregor, Michael (Interviewer) 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 2012-10-05 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e2ce5c8ed45ef94fb3cad9479e08f4cb.mp4 5107ecce3d93426a3c644c6a5dda4f9b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6a5567e5840ffe718c1433edb04a7fa4.pdf b78f0d8a19f7410cf369cbd654c7073d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of Interviewee: Ray Remus Name of War: World War II Length of Interview (00:39:24) (00:04) Pre-Enlistment • Worked at an ice cream place, making ice cream in the Muskegon area. (00:10) o Moved from Illinois to find work with his sister who owned the ice cream place. (00:33) o Grew up in Gilberts, IL (00:52) o Was rejected from the draft the first time due to his eyesight. (01:04) o Brother got him a job in a grocery store in Florida. (01:16) o Returned home in 1942, received a second draft notification to get another physical examination and passed. (01:25) o Learned about Pearl Harbor while at a bowling alley in Florida and decided to return home. (02:01) (02:55) Basic Training • Was in about six different camps before departing overseas. (02:55) • First went to Fort Warren, WY. (03:05) • Basic training included a lot of drilling and rifle practice. (03:22) • Went to Camp Crowder, MO after basic training. (04:07) • Then went to [Tennessee Maneuvers], between Nashville and Chattanooga. (04:12) • Continued to Camp Pickett, VA for more training (04:23) • Sent to the Mohave Desert in California. (04:34) Returned to Camp Pickett, and then went to Fort Pierce, FL to practice amphibious landings for the invasion of Sicily. (04:40) • Went back to Camp Pickett before heading overseas. (04:55) • Despite rumors, they had no idea where they were being sent. (04:58) • Was not very fearful at the time, figured he would make it out one way or another. (05:24) Service in Italy (05:48) • Outfit went into the town of Scoglitti and eventually through Sicily and into northern Italy. (05:48) • Landed on D-Day after infantry had gone ahead. Remembers seeing several dead Italians alongside the roads. (06:46) • At this time, his job was to drive the ration truck. Had to travel to the Depots at night. Didn’t have much to do during the day. (07:14) • Was never a target, but remembers an explosion at a bonfire. Two men were killed and several were injured, but most had left when the ‘chow whistle’ blew. (07:44) • Went into Italy as far as Rome. (09:05) �• Outfit was a labor battalion, responsible for repairing roads. (09:13) • Worked as a mail clerk for awhile. Considers himself very lucky because he didn’t have to do any heavy labor. (09:22) ‘ • Troops received mostly C rations, which was typically a stew. Wasn’t very good, but it was something to eat. (09:41) • Outfit traveled to Naples to repair the air fields that had been bombed. Some men went to fix the harbor. One of the men had been an engineer and designed a ramp to go over the sunken ships. (10:54) • Were supposed to live in vacant buildings that had been available for a big national fair. However, the Germans eventually bombed them. Describes his experience. (11:47) • Germans had a strong presence in the air during the entire Italian campaign. (13:40) (13:54) North Africa • Outfit was in Naples for about a year before leaving for North Africa by LST. (14:10) • Describes conditions on the LST during their one week trip. (15:52) • Traveled for ten days across North Africa by train. (16:22) • Arrived in the same place they had been to organize their Sicilian invasion around August, 1944. Planned to head to southern France. (17:05) (19:21) Service in France • Traveled up through central France as far as Lorraine, cut into Germany, then headed south near the Bavarian and Austrian boundaries. (19:27) • Unit was behind the lines repairing roads, hospitals, and air fields. (19:47) • Had to travel to various towns as a mail man and company clerk at this time. Was never shot at. (20:21) • There were several air raids, even in France. (20:41) • Didn’t get to meet many civilians because they didn’t speak the language. (20:57) • Had no idea who had the upper hand in the war. (21:28) • Describes his experience being invited to join a French family for dinner. (22:11) • Describes visiting the family 32 years later. (22:48) • Routine didn’t change after VE-day. (27:26) • Left France within a few months of the war ending. Outfit was near the Austrian border when the war ended. Traveled to La Havre to depart. (28:15)(30:24 Post-Service • Got married once he returned home. (30:30) • Went to a trade school in Chicago for two years. (30:42) • Graduated and began working in refrigeration in Elgin, IL for about a year. (31:24) • Moved in with his brother in Florida, working for $1/hour during the winter. (31:57) • Returned home to work in refrigeration for a man that his wife had known. Worked for him for 15 years. (32:27) • Took over the refrigeration business when his boss passed away. Ran the business for 10 years. (32:52) • Was appreciative that going into the service gave him an opportunity to go to �school. (33:07) • Describes revisiting Hitler’s ‘Eagle Nest’ in the Alps, which had been made into a fine restaurant. (35:15) • Has been involved with the VFW Post in Muskegon for two years. Describes his volunteer work. (36:03) • Doesn’t know what he would’ve had without the service, because it gave him the opportunity to get an education, a steady job. (38:40) � 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 RemusR Title A name given to the resource Remus, Ray L. (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Remus, Raymond L. Description An account of the resource Ray Remus, from Gilberts, IL, served in the army during World War II as a mail carrier and company clerk in an engineer unit. His unit traveled throughout Italy, France, and North Africa working to repair roads, hospitals, and air fields. He was in the service for three and a half years, which gave him the opportunity to get an education and a steady job. Today, he is involved with his local VFW Post in Muskegon. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Montagna, Douglas (Interviewer) 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. 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 2009-08-12 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5ea5564e83383a4290e27b1e647a9a57.m4v 0f146d1afa82b16732cb027fc90cf63c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/47bf2a90d879e0471cedb4b21aa22362.pdf 99f55b811684b711bca297ef11cebbd7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II - WACs Lillian Remus Length of Interview: (00:09) DM: This is Douglas Montagna from Grand Valley State and I‟m here talking with Lillian Remus about her experiences during World War II. The first question is if you could speak a little bit about what you were doing before World War II. LR: Before World War II, I was in the restaurant business. And so I can remember the rationng that we had, gas rationing, and shoe rationing. Meat rationing. I can remember all that, but we had plenty because of being in the restaurant business. We were rationed but we had stuff. But I do remember that, I remember when war was declared, I remember being at bar where I was working, when that was declared. And so I remember quite a bit about the different things that was going on, at that time. (01:04) DM: Do you remember, did the Great Depression hurt your restaurant business or were you able to still do well during that time? LR: Well, I always thought the Great Depression was back in the „30s…see, we weren‟t in the restaurant business yet. See, I was a farmer, a farm gal. Because I graduated from high school in ‟36, and that was almost the end of the Great Depression. And I remember that being a farmer, and I say, my dad, he raised chickens mainly, and then the other, we always had food. We had fruit trees. We had an eighty-acre farm. We had fruit trees, vegetables, we always had food. It might be rice, applesauce, things like that, but we always had food. And we shared it with our neighbors that did not have any, I remember that so much. But, yes, I can remember the Depression, and how we felt, we had a lot. There were eight of us children. And we felt we were very well loved, very well taken care of. And that we did not miss anything. I guess we knew no better. Because we just didn‟t get to town, so we didn‟t know what was out in that wild, wide world. I think that‟s why, looking back, I think that‟s why I joined the WACs. To get out and see what‟s in the wide world. (02:35) DM: Do you remember Pearl Harbor and the day of Pearl Harbor, when you first heard about it? LR: Uh, I don‟t remember that much. I remember it happening and it coming over the radio. I remember that. And, say too much, now that, with the young men around, that was when, yeah, I would have been in the restaurant business already. Wasn‟t Pearl Harbor…I‟m trying to think what day that was… DM: December 7, 1941. �LR: Yeah, see, that was before…no, it wasn‟t. I was in business already, because I opened up in ‟38. So, yeah. And that‟s maybe what got me thinking more, yeah, that I could go out and do something else besides being in a restaurant like I was. (03:27) DM: Um hmm. Can you talk a little bit about the circumstances that most encouraged you to enlist and join the WACs? LR: I think I always was adventurous. I‟m always that type. Because when I was going to college, I took…I had one year of college. I was taking up home economics, cause I wanted to travel. I had said then, if I could get in with some company, do demonstration work, and travel. That was my main thing. So, then, when I had this other girlfriend that said she‟d like to join the WACs, how „bout me? And I said yes, but my folks were in Florida, who run the restaurant, and I did not ask them. I just joined up and went. And then they were notified, and then because of them, then I came back home after six months. But I‟d say it was wanting to get out. Wanting to get out and see more of the world. (04:34) DM: Do you remember if people around you, your friends, customers, co-workers, what did they think about you joining the WACs? LR: They wondered why I would go. They wondered why I would go, because some of them felt I had it made where I was at. And I did have… a lot of friends, a lot of support, but again, I‟ll say, I had no steady boyfriend and I was 23, and so I had no reason that I had to stay home. Cause all my younger ones, my younger sisters, were all gone, so I and my brother were the only ones living on a big farmhouse. Six bedroom farm house, where when Mother and Dad took off for Florida, we were the only two there. So I just wanted to get out, and see the other parts of the country. And I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it very much. I don‟t regret going at all. (05:38) DM: Do you remember what your parents attitudes were? LR: They were ah…they just wondered why I would leave. See…I don‟t know what the word is, but they wondered why I would leave and not stay home and support my dad. Because with him telling me that he would put up that ice cream place for me, if I would run it, and he would pay me, if I would run it, instead of going to college. And so he put up the restaurant for me. I did run it. They put it up and it opened in July of ‟38, and then I signed up in ‟43. So I‟d run it for quite a while. And had a very good business. And a lot of friends. But I just decided I just wanted to get out and see more of the world. And I will say, we have traveled extensively, my husband and I. We have traveled. We‟re not home people. We‟re busy people, out and going. (06:47) DM: And, then…can you talk a little bit about how you joined the WACs, and the process by which you got into it? LR: What do you mean, how I… �DM: Did you, where did you go to sign up for it? Did you go immediately? LR: Oh, oh. We went to Muskegon and then we were taken down to Detroit. I think it was Detroit. We had our physical at Kalamazoo, and then we went on to Chicago, I got. (lloking down at paper.) „Cause I got “On February 23rd, 1943, went to Kalamazoo for our physical and there was sworn in. Then we went to Chicago, and from there to Daytona Beach, and was down at Daytona Beach at the Clariton Hotel.” And, I got, “everything was running good.” But my girlfriend and I, we were put in different companies. We were put in different companies, so I heard from her for a while, but she stayed in. When I got out, she stayed in. (07:56) DM: What was the training like? LR: The training, I thought the training was great, because I enjoyed cooking. And I enjoyed experimenting. And I learned to cook with dried material. How to serve dried, and how to serve in big quantities. And how to do a lot of cooking, baking. And I kept recipes for a while, but I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the cooking very much. DM: Did you do much of what we associate with men‟s basic training? Drilling, exercising, marching? LR: Yes. I enjoyed that also. Because I also did a lot of walking, biking, because… of course, I had a car when I was working, but before that I did a lot of bicycling with another friend of mine. We had our bikes. We had our rollerskates. We had that, being on the farm. We had things like that for amusement. And so I did enjoy the regimentation, with the marching. I did. (09:08) DM: And… you were in Florida. Did you stay…where did you stay? Did you stay in Florida your whole time? LR: Yes. We were at the Clariton Hotel, which was quite a place. We were at the Clariton Hotel, all the time I was there. All the time I was in, was at the Clariton Hotel, staying around there. And I said, it was in dormitories, but it was just in big rooms, there. At the hotel. It was great. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the comradeship with the other girls. And wrote to them for a while. I just always have enjoyed being out like that. I like to be disciplined. I mean, I can see discipline and I can give it. I can take it and I can give it. (10:05) DM: So you were mostly training, learning how to cook dried food and so forth. LR: Yes. Yes, I mostly learned how to cook. DM: Now, had you stayed in, what were some of the things or places you could have gone, the things you could have done? �LR: I was going to go out as a mess sergeant. See, this is what they had told me. That if I stayed in, you will be going out as a mess sergeant. But, again, they did not say where I would be going. If I would be given a choice. But I would be going out as a mess sergeant. (Interruption from outside room.) (10:54) DM: Was there any sense of danger among the people that were in the WACs? I mean, was there any sense that something dangerous, that you could get killed or injured? LR: No, not as far as I was. Because we were still in training, you see. If someone went out afterwards, yes. DM: Then there was… LR: Yes. Again, I was in training. And it wasn‟t that great, yet. Things weren‟t…because we were not in the Army. See, we‟re just auxiliary. DM: Even if you had become a mess sergeant, would you have been in the Army, then, or would you have been auxiliary? LR: Yes. Yes. Cause you see, I would have had to sign back in, and say, on this certain day in August, that you had to go out the back door, from what I remember, come in the front door, and sign up. And my superior, I don‟t know what her name was. I know I got a picture of her. She advised that I did go home, as long as my parents needed me so bad. That I did go home and help my parents. Instead of staying. So that‟s about what I did. (12:03) DM: Was there anything in your six months in the WACs that you remember as being especially interesting, or anything noteworthy that happened while you were in the WACs, or pretty much routine? LR: No. Pretty much routine. Pretty much routine. I can remember sitting on our cots. I can remember sometimes going into town, like we did. To go along with the trucks, go in town and that. But as far as doing much, no. We were right there. We were right there. DM: Okay. Then your parents helped convince you to go back and help with the family business? LR: Right. Correct. If it wasn‟t for them, I would have never gone back. I would have stayed in, and wonder what would have happened. You can always wonder, what would have happened had you stayed in. (12:54) DM: Was that a tough decision for you at the time? �LR: Uh…yes, I think it was. I was going to say, yes and no, because I did appreciate my parents and I knew how much they needed me at home. But I was giving up my life for theirs, more or less. For what they wanted. And that‟s what some people still do. You give up what you really want to do for … your parents. DM: For family members, yeah. (13:23) LR: That‟s what I did, yeah. DM: Were they… with you gone, did they have a hard time replacing you? LR: Yes, they did. Yes, they did. Although my dad always told me that everybody can be replaced. In some way. But they did not make the pies in the way that I made. I remember when I got home a big, big sign on the window, of the dairy bar, “Lillian is back! Her pies are back!” And so I must have made special pies, I don‟t know. But I must have. And so, that‟s what I would say, I was very much appreciated. That I came back. That I come back. So, I was glad that I came back. And I will say that when I got home, then here was a letter from this guy, that I had met years earlier, hadn‟t gone with him. Met him. And for some reason, he had carried my address with him. So here was a letter that he wrote, I think he was in Sicily or some place, and wanted to know had I married the guy I was going with. And this and this and this. (14:35) LR: And then I corresponded with him for two years, until he come home. And then we got married. DM: So it‟s possible if you had stayed in, you never would have pursued your relationship? LR: Yeah. You don‟t know. He would have been in, I would have been in, what it would be. One never knows. (14:55) DM: And, then, when you got back, were you still, did you still pay attention to the war? Did you follow the war on the news? LR: Yes. Yes. Very much. Very much so. Because, especially, writing to him. Then you followed it quite close. Then I followed it close, yeah. And then, things were not that good as far as your rationing. Your food. Things going like that. You had to have all of that, from what I remember. Plan all of that. DM: And then could you…just briefly talk about what you did later on in life, after you got out of the WACs and went back to the restaurant business for a while. (15:41) LR: Well, after I got out, when I was in the restaurant business for a while, and then got married. And as far as never having any children, always had been active…I took care of children in my �home for a while. I worked at a Y(WCA) and taught crafts. And then I started hiking, a hiking group. And my picture‟s in the paper, three years ago this fall. When I was 87 years old, they thought that was old for still leading hikes in a state park. And I was still doing that, I still am doing that, and so at my 90th birthday, there was quite a party for me, again. For leading hikes, leading them and having the people come out. I had thirty-five of my friends come out for my 90th birthday, for the park. So, ah, I have been very active with the public. Very active with the public. Right now, we are raising monarch butterflies and black swallowtails and painted ladies butterflies. And we had people come in yesterday, we had a mother come in with extra girls and to show the butterflies, how they‟re raised, from their eggs…and, so I still teach and be very active with the children. (17:14) DM: Sounds… LR: So it‟s great. We enjoy it. DM: Okay. Is there anything else to say, or… LR: No. I think that‟s about it. (17:23) � 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 RemusL Title A name given to the resource Remus, Lillian (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Remus, Lillian Description An account of the resource Lillian Hansen grew up on a farm in Michigan during the Depression and graduated from high school in 1936. She then worked in her parent's restaurant for a few years before enlisting in the Women's Army Corps (WACs) on February 23, 1943. She trained at a hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida and cooked for the troops. After training Lillian returned home to help her parents run their business. She began writing to Raymond Remus, an old friend from high school, who was fighting in Italy. They got married when he returned 2 years later. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Montagna, Douglas (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army. Women's Army Corps Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army 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 2009-08-12 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6a7bb092168ff2b8b5ca1c40fea52191.mp4 9e5222f51b6e3626ccec4a3e1c7ce101 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/721bd6d46260b5c507cad918e66ccc76.pdf 44d4cf316daf7e618e1308e4c3d93a82 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Joe Reiss Length of interview (1:23:09) (0:36) Background Born October 3, 1920 in Cheshire Township, Michigan (0:48) Father worked as a blacksmith in town of Agnew, Michigan (3:12) Father died when he was 10 years old (5:15) Highest formal education achieved was 8th grade (3:20) Before the war, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps for 9 months (4:00) In CC, he planted trees and stood watch for fires at night (8:51) Working at American brass in Grand Haven, Michigan when Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was bombed (4:45) Wanted to defend his country so he joined the Marine Corps (5:44) Had to wait until after Christmas 1941 before he enlisted (6:10) (7:00) Training Went to Parris Island, South Carolina for basic training (7:15) Learned discipline, marching, and physical training (7:36) Had good drill instructors didn’t bother him much (7:45) Then he went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for additional training (8:45) Training was pretty easy for him, got experience from the CC (11:15) Developed good marksman skills from hunting rabbits as a child (14:14) More interested in shot grouping, rather than bulls eye (15:00) From Camp Lejeune he was shipped to San Francisco, California (15:30) (16:00) Active Duty Assigned to Company E, 2nd battalion, 1st Marine Division (2:09) From California they went to New Zealand for 3 days to restock supplies (16:00) Japanese were building an airbase on Guadalcanal to bomb Australia (16:32) Did an amphibious landing on Guadalcanal, encountered no resistance (17:15) The only people there were workers building the airstrip (18:41) His ship, U.S.S. Elliot, was bombed and caught fire; had to be sunken (19:55) Set up camp on a grassy knoll and had to keep the position (20:00) Didn’t see any resistance for a couple weeks, then the Japanese came (24:03) Suffered little casualties and killed about 1400 Japanese (25:15) Assigned to scout sniper, used a M1903 Springfield Rifle (25:25) Stayed at Guadalcanal for about 4 months and didn’t have much food (26:45) After Guadalcanal they went to Australia to rest and resupply (27:55) While in Australia they got new uniforms and received well balanced meals (28:25) �(29:00) New Britain In the summer of 1942 [1943] went from Australia to New Britain (29:12) Landed on the southern part of the island on New Britain in December 1943 (32:40) Encountered little opposition when landing, but camps were everywhere (33:11) Stayed at New Britain for about 6 months (36:20) Could shove a pipe into the side of a mountain and get fresh warm water (36:33) Had a few battles at New Britain, but they never took the island completely (37:45) Next they went to island of Pavuvu near Guadalcanal (38:30) On the island there were a lot of mosquitos, rats and small crocodiles (39:10) After Pavuvu, they were shipped to island of Peleliu (41:00) He was put in charge of 2 battalion groups [?] as a Private First Class (41:28) (41:30) Peleliu He was part of the first wave that landed on Peleliu and made it fine (41:45) Japanese figured they could let 1st wave land, and get them later (42:00) Only on Peleliu for a couple days before he was wounded (45:00) He was shot through the arm and hand and got shrapnel in his hand (46:25) Made his way back to the ocean and was evacuated by ship (47:15) Transferred to the U.S.S. Henderson and then went back to Guadalcanal (47:30) Treated at Army hospital in Guadalcanal before going back to California (47:56) Flew from California to Great Lakes Hospital in Illinois (48:00) He got out of the hospital the day that the war ended (48:45) While on Guadalcanal they were not able to get the proper supplies (53:00) On New Britain while making a shack, bitten by tarantula and got malaria (55:00) While in Australia the United Services Organization visited the troops (57:30) (49:00) Post Service Used to wearing uniforms; civilian life took some getting used to (50:15) Received a Purple Heart Award for being wounded (51:07) Wasn’t able to keep in touch with his family while overseas (51:45) While he was serving his brothers also joined the armed services (52:15) Never doubted that the United States was going to win the war (56:14) Had a lot a respect for his fellow marines and commanders (1:04:00) Got a job at American Brass after he was discharged (1:05:00) Made a lot of close friends while in the service, he the only one left (1:06:00) Joined the Veterans Foreign Wars (VFW) for a while but quit (1:08:09) Member of the 1st Marine Division association and Guadalcanal association (1:08:00) Worked at Bastian-Blessing for 25 years making kitchen appliances (1:09:12) Married Louise Davis in 1948 and had five children (1:10:56) � 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 ReissJ1373V Title A name given to the resource Reiss, Joe (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reiss, Joe Description An account of the resource Joe Reiss was born in Cheshire Township, Michigan, in 1920. He enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after Pearl Harbor, and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division as a rifleman. He went with then to train in New Zealand, and was part of the initial landing on Guadalcanal, where he became a sniper and served for about four months. After rebuilding in Australia, his unit landed at Cape Gloucester on New Britain, in 1943, and on Peleliu in 1944. He was wounded on Pelelieu and sent back to the US, and got out of the hospital the day the war ended. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Erichsen, Wallace (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Marine Corps World War, 1939-1945--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 2012-02-16 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4bbfd6ef8442720fad49f635e45f7ba5.mp4 4e0a27afaf6f503a4319e638d7f0fea4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d82e3f422ffc45086e25950124201187.pdf cb361ed39bd81f74d92956383c89b8d4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project John Reilly Vietnam War Interview Length (00:48:11:00) Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:14:00)  Reilly was born in Kittery, Maine on December 5th, 1946 (00:00:14:00) o When Reilly was born, his father was stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire as a member of the U.S. Navy and Reilly was born in the naval hospital on the base (00:00:24:00) o Shortly after Reilly was born, his family moved to New Jersey, where his father, who was a doctor, set up a medical practice (00:00:31:00)  According to Reilly, New Jersey was a great place to grow up and spent all of his life there until going to college in Pennsylvania; after completing college and his military service, Reilly returned to New Jersey and has lived there ever since (00:00:43:00) o Reilly’s mother worked as a nurse; his parents met in New York City, when his father was an intern at a hospital and his mother was an RN (00:01:17:00)  The couple married before Reilly’s father enlisted in the Navy to serve during World War II (00:01:25:00) o After finishing high school, Reilly attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Social Science in 1968 (00:01:36:00)  Prior to graduating from college, Reilly had a student deferment (00:02:07:00) o Because his draft number was so low, only in the upper fifties, Reilly was faced with a decision shortly after he finished his degree in regards to his military service (00:02:14:00)  Reilly ended up enlisting in the U.S. Army in July 1968 (00:02:28:00) o When he enlisted, Reilly was given the option of joining the three combat arms of the Army: infantry, armored, or artillery (00:02:44:00)  Reilly chose artillery and was initially scheduled to go into the Officer Candidate program (00:02:56:00) o Reilly did not actually report for his training until November 1968, so for a threemonth period between his enlistment in July and actually going in November, he worked a job in New Jersey (00:03:03:00) o Reilly had signed up for a three-year enlistment consisting of: basic training, advanced training, and officer training, followed by a two-year commitment when he received his commission (00:03:23:00)  Once he finally joined the Army, Reilly went through basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where Reilly stayed for about eight weeks (00:03:37:00) o After completing basic training, Reilly was sent to the Army Artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for his advanced training (00:03:51:00)  Once he finished the advanced training, Reilly stayed at Fort Sill and completed his officer training, which he began in March or April 1969 (00:04:07:00) � At the time, individual sections of the advanced training was not specifically geared towards officers; although a number of the other men in Reilly’s section went into the artillery OCS (Officer Candidate School) with Reilly, not all of them did (00:04:27:00)  During the training, Reilly trained in a variety of different methods, from training on the actually artillery guns to working in an FDC (Fire Direction Center) (00:04:54:00) o When he finished the advanced training, Reilly was given some leave and he returned home to New Jersey to see his family before reporting back to Fort Sill for OCS (00:05:12:00) o After Reilly had been in OCS for a period of time, he made the decision to opt out of the program and just spend the remainder of his enlistment deployed in Vietnam (00:05:28:00)  Prior to actually doing so, Reilly was told that if he opted out of OCS, he was definitely going to be sent to join an artillery unit in Vietnam, which was fine with him (00:05:37:00)  Reilly made it six weeks into the six-month OCS program before deciding to opt-out (00:05:56:00)  Based on his advanced training, it was fairly clear to Reilly that when he deployed to Vietnam, he was going to be assigned to work in an FDC (00:06:21:00) Vietnam Deployment (00:06:21:00)  After opting-out of OCS, Reilly had a thirty-day leave to return home before flying in June from New Jersey to Fort Lewis, Washington; Reilly spent a brief period of time at Fort Lewis before deploying to Vietnam on June 22nd, 1969 (00:06:52:00)  Although Reilly did receive some training at Fort Sill specifically in regards to Vietnam, from what he can remember, it was largely an orientation as to what the men could expect when they deployed (00:07:43:00) o Reilly received more specific training when he arrived in-country at Cam Ranh Bay (00:07:53:00)  When he arrived in-country, Reilly was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division and was sent to a training facility in Biên Hòa for a week to ten days of orientation about what to expect once in the field (00:07:58:00)  When he first received orders for Vietnam, Reilly did not know specific unit he would be joining when he deployed; the decision to send him to the 101st Airborne was based on the needs of the units in Vietnam in terms of training and background (00:08:32:00) o Reilly could have been assigned to one of six or seven different divisions and he ended up in the 101st Airborne, which just happened to be the most active division in Vietnam (00:08:45:00) o When he was sent to the orientation in Biên Hòa, Reilly knew he was joining the 101st Airborne; however, he did not know which specific unit within the division he was be assigned to (00:09:24:00)  At the time Reilly went through the orientation, there were maybe thirty or forty other soldiers in the course (00:09:28:00) �   When Reilly first arrived in Vietnam, his first thought was “I hope to God that I make it through this year”; Reilly was not exactly sure what he was going to face (00:09:58:00) o Prior to deploying, Reilly had heard a lot of stories about what Vietnam was like from friends who had served in either the Marines or Army (00:10:04:00) o Although he was apprehensive, as anyone would be, Reilly had a feeling that everything would work out (00:10:31:00) Being that it was 110° in the shade and around 100% humidity, going to the orientation in Biên Hòa helped Reilly become acclimated to the weather (00:10:54:00) After completing the orientation course in Biên Hòa, Reilly was placed onboard a C-130 with a group of soldiers and the entire group was flown from Biên Hòa north to Phu Bai, which was the airport located next to Camp Eagle, which was the home of the 101st Airborne’s headquarters (00:11:15:00) o Once at Camp Eagle, Reilly was assigned to join 2nd Battalion of the 11th Field Artillery Regiment (00:11:48:00) o When Reilly arrived at Camp Eagle, the 2nd of the 11th had their rear headquarters on the base, as well as a fire direction center, the headquarters battery and a supply battery (00:12:09:00)  Apart from the unit at Camp Eagle, the battalion also had three batteries in the field: Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie; each battery was assigned to a different fire base with orders to support the infantry units operating in the field (00:12:37:00) o When Reilly arrived at the battalion headquarters, he met the First Sergeant incharge of operations, who asked Reilly about his background and assigned him to the headquarters battery (00:12:54:00)  However, shortly thereafter, Reilly was sent out to joined Charlie Battery, which was stationed on Firebase Airborne, to be a member of the fire direction control on the firebase (00:13:11:00)  The firebase was near the Laotian-Vietnamese border, right on the edge of the A Shau Valley (00:13:34:00) o Each battery in the battalion and each battery had six 155mm howitzers as its main armament (00:14:05:00)  When Reilly joined, Charlie Battery had all six of its howitzers stationed in the top of a mountain, Firebase Airborne, and had orders to support infantry operations in the A Shau Valley (00:14:18:00)  When Reilly arrived at the battery, he was assigned to work in the FDC; the job of the FDC was coordinating with the actually artillery guns to make sure the guns were pointed in the right direction and were hitting the proper target(s) (00:14:37:00)  Although the men in the FDC had access to computers, they sometimes, if the computers were down or they wanted to doublecheck, had to compute the firing data manually (00:15:40:00)  Apart from the three or four soldiers in the section, there was also an officer and the officer would sign off in the data before sending the data out to the guns (00:16:05:00) o Technically, all the firing data the FDC computed had to be signed off by someone from battalion headquarters; �  normally, the FDC just called the battalion headquarters with the firing data and an officer there would doublecheck it before signing off (00:16:30:00)  Obviously, the men in the FDC tried to compute the firing data as quickly as possible when a request would come in (00:17:08:00) o Normally, computing the firing data took only a matter of minutes, although sometimes it was less and sometimes it was more; the length of time it took to get the firing data largely depended on extenuating circumstances, such as the locations of units and the possibility of friendly forces being in the area (00:17:19:00)  Although Reilly does recall it happening a couple of times, it was not too often that the battalion would call back and say that something in the firing data was inaccurate (00:18:11:00)  There were a number of different jobs within FDC itself, from calculating the deflection of the guns to calculating the elevation of the targets (00:18:49:00) o Usually, the men who had been in the field longer would be given the more complicated parts of the calculations; therefore, when he first arrived, Reilly might have only been looking at elevations (00:19:24:00) o As Reilly spent more time in-country and gained more experience, he moved up in terms of the calculations he would perform (00:20:45:00) Reilly only spent about six weeks stationed on Firebase Airborne before the firebase was closed down (00:21:03:00) o However, as the rest of the battalion left, Reilly was selected to be part of a small group of men from the 2nd of the 11th who stayed behind on the firebase to help the infantry close the firebase down (00:21:10:00)  Once the firebase was officially closed, Reilly and the small group were airlifted out (00:21:27:00) o In order to get the howitzers off the firebase, Chinook helicopters were flown over and they carried the guns to a different firebase (00:21:53:00)  Sometimes, the new firebase location was near the old one and sometimes, it was many miles away (00:22:27:00) Once he finished helping shut down Firebase Airborne, Reilly moved to Firebase Berchtesgaden, which was located in another part of the A Shau Valley, and was assigned to FDC (00:22:47:00) o By the time Reilly arrived, the firebase was already established and apart from 155mm howitzers, there was also a group of 105mm howitzers and an infantry mortar group (00:23:10:00) o Although he had moved to a new firebase, the procedures that Reilly had to do were pretty much the same as the ones he had done on Firebase Airborne; all the officers were the same and the FDC team was pretty much the same (00:23:45:00) � o The number of fire missions the FDC would process in a day varied quite a bit, anywhere from two to five a day, with five missions being uncommonly high for a single day (00:24:09:00)  On occasion, interdictory missions where scheduled and those involved the guns firing into the jungle at night to locations where intelligence indicated enemy forces might be located (00:24:22:00) o While stationed at Berchtesgaden, Reilly’s unit came under enemy mortar and rocket fire; while the unit was on Airborne, although there were threats of attack, none actually happened (00:25:02:00) Reilly was stationed on Berchtesgaden for about a month or so before he was recalled to the battalion headquarters (00:25:24:00) o The day after Reilly was recalled, the entire firebase was overrun by North Vietnamese forces (00:25:34:00) o When Reilly was recalled, there was a job opening at the battalion headquarters that required someone with a fire-direction background; from that point until the end of his tour, Reilly served in the battalion headquarters (00:26:18:00)  During the entire time Reilly was stationed at the battalion headquarters, from Sept 1969 to June 1970, the headquarters never moved its location except for one time, when a small section of the unit traveled north to the DMZ (De-militarized zone) on a raid (00:26:41:00) o In theory, the roles of the personnel at the battalion headquarters were the same as those personnel stationed on a firebase (00:28:14:00)  However, the operations at the battalion headquarters tended to be more by the book and followed more of the pre-set procedures (00:28:28:00)  The personnel in the battalion headquarters tended to react more to what was happening in the field and providing the proper support, which meant they were more cognoscente and aware of the needs of the units in the field (00:28:55:00) o While at the battalion headquarters, Reilly worked seven days a week, twelve hour shifts each day; each shift ran from either two in the morning until two in the afternoon or two in the afternoon until two in the morning (00:30:30:00)  About once a month, the commanders would alternate which soldiers worked on which shift (00:30:49:00)  In Reilly’s experience, he worked with a great group of soldiers who all worked well together and they had a good group of officers; all in all, Reilly believes they did a good job providing support to the infantry units already in the field (00:31:06:00) o While Reilly was there, the battalion headquarters was resupplied both by air and by road (00:31:28:00)  Camp Eagle was a major base camp, with upwards of 10,000 soldiers stationed on it, so resupply was often down with trucks bringing in supplies that had been brought in either using transport airplanes to Phu Bai or cargo ships along the coast (00:31:34:00)  A lot of the supplies brought onto the base were either ammunition or food, although it was not limited to that (00:32:00:00) �  o While Reilly was on Camp Eagle, the battalion headquarters was responsible for guarding a certain portion of the Camp Eagle perimeter and Reilly recalls being stationed in bunkers during the middle of the night on guard duty (00:32:32:00)  Normally, Reilly would have a chance to go on guard duty once every three or four weeks (00:33:07:00) o On occasion, soldiers in the battalion headquarters would be rotated out to one of the batteries in the field; typically, soldiers were not brought from a battery in the field to the battalion headquarters unless someone at battalion headquarters was rotating home and there was going to be a personnel vacancy (00:34:24:00) During the fighting around Firebase Ripcord, Reilly and the other soldiers in the FDC were very aware of what was happening at the firebase (00:35:44:00) o They would talk with personnel stationed on the firebase over the radio; although the soldiers talked with personnel stationed on all the firebases, it was around Ripcord that the most action was occurring (00:35:50:00) o Ultimately, the major action around Firebase Ripcord did not happen until Reilly had already rotated home (00:36:04:00) o Although he never got involved in the drug use himself, Reilly saw other soldiers using marijuana, especially when he was stationed at Camp Eagle (00:36:41:00)  Although Reilly heard rumors about soldiers using stronger drugs, he never really saw any significant use of them (00:37:13:00)  Reilly avoided drugs because in his mind, he had enough challenges just being in Vietnam without needing to use drugs (00:37:28:00) o Reilly did have some contact with local Vietnamese, in particular Kit Carson scouts assigned to the various units in the area (00:37:38:00)  Reilly also had contact with local Vietnamese who would do menial tasks around Camp Eagle, such as cleaning or doing the soldiers’ laundry at a Laundromat located on the base (00:38:12:00)  The Vietnamese who worked on the base were supervised to a degree, mostly to ensure that they did not try to bring a gun or grenade onto the base (00:38:40:00) o Reilly was able to get off-base on a couple of occasions and often, he would go to Eagle Beach, which was a guarded beach area that the soldiers could go to for a day or two (00:39:08:00)  Going to the beach was a nice diversion from what Reilly was doing on a day-to-day basis (00:39:29:00) The racial make-ups of the units Reilly served with were mostly divided between whites, especially at the officer level, and African-Americans; there were some LatinoAmericans but the majority of the soldiers were in the former groups (00:40:15:00) o Reilly detected racial tension amongst some of the soldiers, as well as a certain apathy amongst others, who would often look the other way and not try to address the racial tensions (00:41:08:00)  Reilly personally never had any problems with other soldiers; in his mind, they were all soldiers, they were all serving their country, and they should all try to help each other out, if not as friends, as comrades (00:41:22:00) � Although soldiers would not outright disobey commands, Reilly saw different situations where soldiers were not responsive to the commands or would respond in a different manner (00:41:57:00) o The interactions between the different racial groups varied with the soldiers; some of the soldiers natural congregated with their own racial group but others had no problem integrating with the other groups (00:42:36:00) o On several occasions, Reilly saw fights break out that could have had racial motives but there was never anything major (00:43:16:00) o According to Reilly’s perspective, the command structure was reluctant to address the racial issues within the unit (00:43:49:00)  However, even if the officers had tried to address the issue, Reilly does not think they even knew what they could do; it was a difficult time in the United States racial and the military was a reflection of that (00:44:24:00) End of Tour (00:44:47:00)  When Reilly’s tour ended, he was sent from Camp Eagle back to Cam Ranh Bay; it was a good feeling when Reilly boarded the flight out of Vietnam because he realized that he had made it (00:44:47:00) o From Cam Ranh Bay, Reilly flew to Fort Lewis, where he stayed for a day or two before flying home to Newark, New Jersey (00:45:11:00)  Reilly remembers that when he got home, his father had hung a large banner on their house that said “Welcome Home John” (00:45:21:00)  By the time Reilly arrived at Fort Lewis, he had less than five months remain on his enlistment and according to procedure, he was given an “early-out” and received an honorable discharge (00:45:40:00)  Re-enlisting was not at the top of Reilly’s list; he had a great job waiting for him in New Jersey and he knew what was happening back in Vietnam through letters from his friends (00:45:57:00)  Although he was happy that he made it home, Reilly still felt for the soldiers who were still in Vietnam (00:46:34:00)  Once he was back in New Jersey, Reilly went back to his job working for Prudential Insurance (00:46:52:00)  Reilly had mixed emotions about his time in the service; although it was a tough experience and he had friends who served as well who were killed or wounded, Reilly was personally very happy that he had served (00:47:26:00) � 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/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ReillyJ1272V Title A name given to the resource Reilly, John (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reilly, John Description An account of the resource John Reilly was born in Kittery, Maine, in 1946, and grew up in New Jersey. After graduating from college in 1968, he decided to enlist in the Army before he was drafted. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Reilly went through the Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Although initially slated for officer training, Reilly dropped out and deployed to Vietnam in June 1969. Once in Vietnam, Reilly joined the 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Trained in fire direction control, he served at Firebases Airborne and Berchtesgaden in the latter stages of the 1969 campaign in the A Shau Valley, and later served with the battalion headquarters at Camp Eagle, where he was stationed at the start of the Ripcord campaign. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McGregor, Michael (Interviewer) 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 2011-10-07 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/af3f56ec929b372209e42fc2c222182d.mp4 5b6c9671e0254f02288e24b000fb80e6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d6bdf176aa5ea64ced39fd0ce90f3c2b.pdf d8aa9d27ebe3b9bce701cb26babede8e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of Interviewee: John Reeves; (2nd) Name of War: World War II Length of Interview: (00:37:20) (00:25) Last Mission         John Reeves had already done an interview, but later recalled his last mission and wanted to make sure that it would also be documented During his last interview he had left off around June of 1945 John’s last plane mission turned out to be a rescue mission They left early in the morning in order to find an Australian cruiser that was headed towards Borneo as a submarine escort (01:22) They were flying at about 4,000 feet until the cruiser got to the island The rest of the planes in the group were just flying over the airfield in Borneo One of the planes was hit by a shell in its tanks and fuel began spilling out of it (03:51) It was then being escorted by another aircraft, but they were not sure where to land (05:10) Plane Down  John had wanted to help, but his plane would need more fuel if he was to do so  He continued with the Australian cruiser until they reached Borneo  John made a short field landing and loaded up with gasoline very quickly and was back up in the air again within a half hour  He spotted the wreck in the ocean; there were rafts and debris all over the place  It was strung out within about 11 miles and there were 35 foot swells (11:51)  The sun was setting very fast and it was getting dark  Rescue boats began to arrive while they were leaving and John had enough fuel to land at Morotai (15:25) (15:45) Reunion  They arrived back at about 3 in the morning and had been gone for 23 hours  Moving forward to 1985, John had traveled South to see an air show  Some had asked why there were not any B-24s, and John began speaking with the man  They found out they were both in the 13th Air Force, and John began telling about his last mission  The men had actually been in the plane that went down, and John had rescued him  They found other men that had been there that day and decided to all meet the next year in Nashville (17:58) �  The men had all though they had been rescued by the Navy; they had never gotten a chance to meet John They still have reunions every year now (22:30) Training  At the time of the crash, some PT boats had gone back to the area and some B-24s because they thought there were 2 men missing, but they were never found (22:35)  John had been trained for high altitude bombing and not for skip bombing (24:55)  The mission to Borneo was new to them and they had not been trained for such flights  John had many missions come up in which he had not been properly trained; they just had to figure things out as they went along (27:50) Lack of Targets  In June of 1945 the fighter opposition had practically disappeared  Anti-aircraft was their biggest problem and they were running out of targets (28:15)  The Australians had been using bow fighters as fighters and could not keep up with the faster planes or work well at low altitudes (29:31)  There were a total of 12 aircraft that had been lost in the area and only 2 had been rescued (31:17)  They had many search missions, but there was never a trace or any clues as to the mission aircraft Interview Ends (35:16) � 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 ReevesJ2 Title A name given to the resource Reeves, John (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reeves, John T. Description An account of the resource This interview adds new material to the original interview, specifically focusing on his efforts to help rescue the crew of the downed B-24 crew in the waters off of Borneo. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) 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. Army Air 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 2009-02-14 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/18fbbbd7232c91d6924882a30c9c81fb.mp4 afeb7a102f2c9f3e6249ecc6de7d695a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f756d30fad10062e6865ef8da78290c1.pdf 6d641f585b180b5b30074dc70b6a3713 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project John Reeves (02:24:23) (01:01)Lawrence Michigan • John grew up on a 50 acre farm • Born March 18 1924 • Went to school in a one room school house until second grade • Went to Lawrence Public Schools thru 4th grade • Went to Paw Paw Public Schools • Graduated in June 1942 • Heard about Pearl Harbor on radio between the orchestral programs and had to tell his parents what was going on • (4:05)John was 17 when Pearl Harbor was attacked • John had a fascination with airplanes since he was in 5th grade. He use to build model airplanes as a child • Started teaching flying for a man who owned an airplane and gave rides to kids. John had previously flown in the man’s airplane. • (6:13)John says he was not a very good swimmer so he chose the Army Air Corps over the Navy Air Corps (06:55)Joined Army Air Corps • John had to pass a physical and IQ test upon entry • He was put into the Enlisted Reserves to be called up at any time • Was able to pursue college until called up (07:20)Michigan Tech • Enrolled on a scholarship • Started in September for one semester • Joined ROTC • February 1943, was called up to duty • Had to report to Chicago and took a train to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then off to Florida (08:40) Miami Beach Florida • They were put up in a hotel for the night • Basic training was for months on army cots in bunkers • Learned march, formation, weapons training • Shot 1903 model Springfield rifles at sand dunes • (10:30) John says that there was a mixture of southern and northern boys on base which caused some personality conflicts. He said they would go rounds about the civil war. The northerners said it lasted a few months and the southerners said it still wasn’t over. • Cultures were all mixed except for there were not any blacks mixed in yet • John believes that everyone passed basic training which lasted for 6-8 weeks �• • Upon graduation they took a battery of aptitude and IQ tests for placement Most of the men were assuming they would be pilots (15:00)Rowley, North Carolina • North Carolina Tech School • Formed a band and had Sunday parades which a General would attend once in awhile • After 2-4 months depending on test results they went to a classification center (17:02)Nashville, Tennessee-Classification center • Divided into pilot, navigator, and bombardier • Some were sent to radio school or gunnery school if they couldn’t make it into the first three categories • John explains some hand eye coordination exercises • John experiences for the first time some apprehension of whether he would make it into flight school • John made it to flight school as a pilot and was asked what he wanted to fly. He says a B-24 • In high school John had shop class where he learned all the different planes and Morse Code (21:54)Montgomery, Alabama--Maxwell Field • Cadet training school-two month course, one month lower classmen, one month upper classmen classes • The group was intentionally broken up at this point into four groups and sent in different directions • They were shown barracks, received clothes and shown field for training exercises • Suited up in class B uniforms and told to fall out • Eight men in a room with double decker bunks with a bathroom in the middle • (24:50)Honor system--this was stressed here and nobody could cheat or they could be kicked out of the school • John remembers one incident where all 20,000 cadets were lined up and one man’s name was called out and told he cheated and was immediately discharged from the cadet school and sent to another part of the military • Loud speakers on base kept the guys updated on news of the war. Even movie theatres ran air bulletins from the military on news of the war • Maxwell field was a B-24 transition base-they were constantly taking off and landing on base • They had Saturday night off and parts of Sunday to go into town for free time • Disappointing food on base but had waitresses waiting on them • Rigorous training course called the Burma Road. This was during July and August with 105 degree temperatures • (29:20)Classroom training-aircraft recognition, they had fans in the room but windows were shut and covered. They were to recognize silhouettes of airplanes and six digit numbers that went along with the plane. They were also tested on Morse Code and expected to get up to 13 words a minute �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Meteorologist and aircraft classes were given. Also Officer training was given at the same time (32:00)They were continuously being tested. Every so often someone would come up missing and presumed to be washed out They were here for two months before sent off to flight school They had postings on where you were going and what you were going to do (33:06)McBride, Missouri-flight school Eastern flying training command-there was three total training commands. Central and Western were the other two. Everything they owned went into a barracks bag as they traveled from base to base The primary bases were civilian operated They got Steerman P-17 planes The commandant on base clarified to the new men that they were not invited and that they could leave at anytime and he would do his best to make sure they wanted to leave (38:20)Food was better here. They had ladies from town waiting on the guys and a PX to get goodies from Their first instruction was acclimatizing themselves to day to day operation. They had classroom time, walk around time by the planes and would be assigned a pilot teacher, they were assigned parachutes etc. They trained in a Gosport II--there was no radio communication in the plane. They had a tube coming from the pilot back to the cadet telling him instructions but not vice versa. They learned the basics to acquired a pilot’s license Sentiments (41:26)The theme from Gone with the Wind used to play over PA systems back at college detainment center. It holds a strong place in John’s memory and he says it was a long time later that he seen Gone with the Wind that he realized the song came from that movie. (42:08)Primary flight training-arrived in October. Around Christmas time they would sing White Christmas because their group was named B-white so they would emphasize in the song where it would say ‘Be white.’ If the guys went solo they would have to go jump in the pit filled with cold water and then buy a cigar and smoke it. John got sick off of smoking the cigar. McBride Flight School Once you went solo you went thru maneuvers such as spins, stalls, aerobatics, rolls, snap routes, Ruben eights. They would do falling leaf where you would cut engine and fall side to side. John says the ground comes up fairly fast so you had to watch that. (44:50)They also did spot landings because they were going to have to land on some areas on land, not on ships John was in a plane doing spot landings and they almost crashed with another plane. John was the only one who saw it and he thrust their plane down under the other one. Even the pilot was surprised by this because he didn’t even see them. There was a ‘See and Be Seen’ training where you are always suppose to be looking around to see what is around you �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (47:35)Started on basic instrument link training for about 2 hours (47:40)Basic training flight school starts Trained with a Vultee B-13, a low wing airplane with fixed landing gear and a 450 hp 2 speed propeller on it with a flat pitch and a high pitch. One is more powerful for takeoff when you’re slow, the other for cruise. It was a tandem airplane with a canopy on top They learned to fly planes at edge of their capacity at different altitudes and speeds Received night time flight training and cross country navigation Learned instruments and instrument recovery They received flight checks every 15-20 hours Received 60-65 hours at these bases They had no casualties at flight school that John remembers. He says that is quite unusual but people were dropping out more and more here Barracks were tar paper shacks with stoves in the center of them. They had showers in the central area. (53:25)Advanced flight training--Stuttgart Arkansas John asked to go to single engine school--ends up going to twin engine school in Arkansas John says they had bigger tar paper shacks here Everything was set up to be very temporary bases They were here for 2 months-graduation was on April 15 Now they had an Beechcraft airplane made of plywood with retractable gear, 2 speed props, a full instrument panel, an autopilot, and 220hp engines. He learned to fly twin engine aircraft in tight formations, and to use a lot of instruments, and learned radio procedures and radio navigation Once solo they would swap between pilot and co-pilot, wasting no time here sitting still (56:37)John says they didn’t have much time to think about the war although they were hearing about it and planes would drop in that needed looked at. One had an engine out and was flown by a female pilot. (58:15) Received their wings in a public ceremony--many families could not make it for financial reasons. One guy whose family did make it didn’t get his wings and stayed in the barracks. Upon receiving their wings they got two weeks off for leave One guy on base bought a car and he, John, and another fellow drove home. They got as far as Illinois and ran out of gas. They were also out of ration cards so they stopped at a gas station and told them who they were and they were trying to get home so the guy gave him 4 gallons of gas and that got them back to Chicago so they could get home. (1:01:14)John arrives home--everybody hugging and crying. Spent most of the two weeks seeing relatives that he hadn’t seen in years but made time to sneak away to see his girlfriend and his friends who couldn’t get into the military Nobody talked about the fear of him dying, and at that age, John was invincible. After two weeks he took a train to Chicago and then on to Nashville. He had received a radio by now so he brought that with him John had a parachute bag for clothing and a B24 bag for suits �• Had to find a bus in Nashville that would take him back to the base. There was no instruction on your daily activities you were on your own and it was up to you to get you where you needed to be • (1:03:50)Report to your superior, go through exit and entrance physical, head to mess hall, get a haircut if needed. Report to flight line, meet instructors, start ground school and introduction to B-24’s. • B-24’s have 4 engines of 1200hp, tricycle landing gear, and are physically hard to fly • They were put in groups of students and most paired up, usually 2-4 students on board and they would take turns being pilot with the instructor being co-pilot while the other student watched • The planes had no turrets on the nose, they had returned from service in Africa and returned for training students • 87 octane gas [well below octane levels for regular aviation fuel] meant that they could only pull ¾ power off of the engine, created hazardous conditions while taking off • John got through B24 training in 6 weeks instead of 2 months • (1:08:00)John was offered to head off to California • • • • • • • • Lamoure, California Assignments of crews were made here This included the navigator, bombardier, engineer/gunner, radio operator, radial gunner, tail gunner (1:10:00)Each group of 10 heads out to a training base There were four bases, Riverside, California, Muroc (Edwards Air force Base), Tonopah, Nevada, and Walla Walla, Washington which moved to Blythe, California during the winter time At this point nobody knew where they were going John was at Riverside Night flight practices here. On one of these they had an engine catch fire on takeoff (1:14:08)John receives word in late July early August that they are going to Hamilton Field, San Francisco before heading overseas to the Pacific • • • • (1:16:12)Hamilton Field San Francisco They were here majority of September waiting for orders to go overseas. They were trying to get flying in so they could get flight pay Issue gear to take overseas, issued B10 winter flight jackets Received orders to go to New Guinea. They didn’t get to fly their own aircraft; they headed over on a C54 transport. Stopped in Hawaii and landed on Canton Island (1:18:37)Beginning of October finally arrived at Guadalcanal They left the C54 at this point Boarded a C47 plane for Nadzab, New Guinea • • (1:19:40)Nadzab, New Guinea Reassignment center 16 sq ft tents • • • �• • Ate in a mess hall with their own mess kits. John says it was getting pretty primitive at this point Almost everyone there was new to the area getting their first reassignment Received After a few weeks there they picked up new aircraft down in Townsville Australia and they had to fly it back. The aircraft had already had problems known to the men before they had to fly it. It began having problems immediately upon take off. (1:22:55)Flew the plane to Nomefor base in New Guinea. One squadron was still there waiting to move on to Morotai Delivered the plane to Morotai Received new orders assigned to 371st bomb squadron • • • • • 371st squadron Arrived right at the end of the oil bombings Took squadron to the Sulu Sea and lost 47% of their squadron (1:24:23)They were getting air raids every night at this point Reassigned to 858th snooper group back at Nomefor for radar training Sent back to Morotai to the 424th squadron • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (1:25:25)424th squadron Received first mission over Central Philippines- bombing raids-they flew with a experienced pilot and they were co-pilot Flew out in a formation every third day They went from co-pilot to left seat to flying by themselves There were 24 B24’s in each group. Seven would go out on serious raids. 13 to a squadron so they would send six and have a spare ready while they worked on the others Had fighter escorts in the Central Philippines. Engagements with Japanese planes were fewer than what you would think. They found out there was a Japanese lookout on one of the mountains. When the B37’s didn’t go out they had more engagements than if they did or even if they had to turn back. John completed 16 missions here. (1:30:35)After 1000 hours of flying the bombers would be retired. They wanted to get assignments called Shipping Searches to break the routine they were in. Two aircraft would take off early in the morning at low altitudes looking for shipping One of these shipping searches they were going out to photograph ships on route to Central Celebes they hit 90 knot head waves, got to Makassar Straits and radar picked up 7 ships in formation, unusual to see Japanese ships in formation around this area so they found a break in the clouds dropped down to 4000 ft and seen it was an auxiliary cruiser heavily armed and they began shooting at them. They dropped 3 delayed fuse bombs on the biggest ship and had to come back, and the second plane didn’t follow instructions and didn’t bomb. They had to get to the assignment they had and tried to contact submarines no one answered, couldn’t get communications back to the main base. As they headed over the air field they surprised them. 4 fighters came out after them but they hid in the clouds and never saw them again �• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • (1:36:00)They were the first group to go up into the fields of Manila Bay where they got no fighter escort because it was 900 miles one way. Bombed Corregidor, Grace Park and others. They met anti-aircraft fire only a few times, but when they did it was fierce. (1:38:10) They were actively involved in the capture of the Philippines. One reason they captured Morotai was to actively be able to reach islands in the Pacific. There were also major oil facilities in Borneo and to take this field meant depriving them of fuel They did initial softening up of the islands to suppress what was there to protect the flank-the Philippines John was aware of the bigger picture that they were involved in (1:42:05)Australian foreign controller-he is the farthest forward in the line and instructs everyone else on where to go and what to hit Protocol before a briefing-they would gather in a briefing room the night before a mission, told where they were going, what the bomb load was going to be, how much ammo, whether they had a escort or not, the weather, take off time, then they separated for individual briefings, they went to bed and woke up at 3:00 a.m. and ate, boarded a 6x6 truck headed to flight lines (still dark), checked airplane and talked to ground crew and boarded plane. They had a sequence to fire up and did final check when they were on the runway path before takeoff. (1:46:10)They would take off on parallel runways with no lights on them. They took off individually and had a rendezvous point There were 6 in each squadron and 24 in a group They had tight formations. 90 % of their bombings were right on target. Didn’t have much fuel to fly in formations. It took more to do this. They would have to head off home after short missions Were required to give reports of their bombing over frequencies. Didn’t have to code it if you hit the targets (1:48:50)Didn’t always know if you hit the target if it was night. Most night raids were harassment raids where they would have a bomber go every thirty minutes or so and drop something on the fields. They would do this for four to five days before an invasion to make the people tired and jumpy They had good milk runs which were runs where you went out in formations dropped the bombs and went home (1:51:30)John’s crew never collided with other aircraft but there were serious close calls where they would get lost in clouds and had to hold their breaths till they could see each other again. If you flew 35 missions there you could go home John wanted to fly ‘Flight Leads’ so he had to fly 45 missions (1:52:48)John gave orders that his flight crew not fly with anyone else. This happened and they ended up losing 2 members of their crew (1:56:57)They received a 2-3 week rest leave down in Australia cut short by plans to expedite the war against Japan which they found out they had volunteered to do. By now we were in Okinawa Japan and they didn’t go out in big groups any more, just with 2 or 3 planes at a time (1:58:12)Were involved in the Brunei Bay Battle in Borneo with the Aussies. They had to fly down the beach, all four squadrons, just before the ships landed and drop the bombs on the beach. They had 10 minute time span, no word from control center for ok. Tried �• • • • • • • • • • • this three times before they lost formations and each other, with John only left they received word to drop and John does. Hits the target alone (2:02:20)Last mission. Down south, Japanese airfield all grass suitable for fighters. This was call the ‘B24’s fighter sweep’ later on. (2:07:44)John’s rank at this time was still 1st Lieutenant. He had 3 or 4 air medals by this time due to amount of missions he was on. He had 7 battle stars also (2:10:07)Back in the states Brought home on a Danish troop ship. John was mess officer on board. The ship was headed for San Pedro, California. VJ day was already celebrated before they arrived in port. Boarded a train to Camp Hahn in southern California where they were processed and shipped his things back home otherwise he had to turn them back into the military Boarded another train to Seattle where his high school girlfriend was Went to air base in Boyne Field. Took northwest air flight back home to Chicago and took a bus that went right by his farm (2:15:49)John said his experience he would not trade for anything but would not want to repeat it Had to return to Santa Ana California after one month for reassignment Had to get flight time before going through separation (2:19:15)1956 finally receives promotion to Captain John says his experience in the military grew him up fast but didn’t change much in his life since what he was going to do before going in the military he completed when he returned home anyways. Says he knew they were involved in something great but his experience would definitely be different than one who was in daily combat � 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 ReevesJ1 Title A name given to the resource Reeves, John (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reeves, John T. Description An account of the resource John Reeves was a B-24 pilot in World War II where he flew 45 missions in the Pacific. He provides a detailed account of training and of missions over New Guinea, the Philippines, Okinawa and the Netherlands East Indies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Air Force World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-06-26 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/be0792d6ccd86148f59e698d818e4d26.mp4 1ac520563e841deee79e136e2fcb657f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/50005469f5061c4f24983ec62b808428.pdf f7cadef54093b6101d7e975136c77131 PDF Text Text GVSU Veteran’s History Project Korean War Dave Reeg Interview Total Time: 36:22               (00:28) Born in 1932; served as an artillery sergeant (00:40) Had 5 siblings (1:30) Had an older brother who served in World War II (1:45) Mr. Reeg got involved with the Korean War in 1952 o Had another brother who was in the Reserves, but didn’t go overseas (2:16) Remembers his father working in a coal yard and later worked into a factory (3:16) Before joining the army, Mr. Reeg worked at Union Steel (4:21) Trained in Camp Atterbury, Indiana o Trained for infantry o When he arrived, there was 110 people; not enough for infantry company (usually 200) o This is when he began training in artillery o Trained on 105 Howitzers o Was about 20 years old at the time (7:09) Mr. Reeg didn’t personally have any problems adjusting to military life, but knew of others who did (7:50) At the time, you signed up for 6 [3-4?] years in the service (8:19) There was a time when he got into a fight with someone in the mess hall o Was working in the mess hall at the time o Sergeant instructed how much he should give people who came to get food; there was someone who had a problem with it o Wasn’t punished for the fight o The guy he fought with was in his platoon (11:55) Remembers someone sitting in front of a bunker and a mortar round landed 50 yards away from him o Shrapnel hurt him; Mr. Reeg alerted the medics to help him o Remembers another guy who was hit in the hand by a piece of shrapnel (15:00) Knew most of the guys from the 1st Platoon (15:50) Tried to write a letter at least once a week o Got letters from his mother often (17:08) By the time the war ended, he had been in the service for about 17 months o Stayed in one area in Korea for this length o Heard about the ceasefire from the lieutenant �               (19:18) Discharged at a naval base in Chicago (19:47) Remembers his brother picking him up in Chicago (21:09) Remembers having a girlfriend that he wrote letters to while overseas o Ended up being his wife (21:23) To some degree it was hard to readjust to civilian life (23:02) One of the main things he learned about was rank – there was always someone one rank higher (23:57) Mr. Reeg was a sergeant (24:23) He was transferred at one point o There was a time where his unit was discontinued and they were sent to different artillery places o Ended up getting to use even bigger Howitzers o Said he didn’t know anything about these weapons (26:40) Said they never saw the enemy face to face (27:00) Talks about how bright the sky was when they fired; night looked like daylight o The bad part was that snipers could find them (27:28) The worst thing he ever saw was a mother and father carrying a small child who lost part of his leg (28:26) Heard about their own shells backfiring and hurting their guys o He never saw this happen but he heard about it before they got there (29:43) Remembers a 17 year old who joined the service and was in their bunker o The guy walked outside after a bomb was let off o Ended up being okay (33:22) Enrolled in school at CMU awhile after returning to the US; this was in 1955 o Was a teacher o Majored in physical education and a minor in health education as well as industrial arts (35:00) Said people he served with had different feelings about their experience – Mr. Reeg didn’t mind (35:45) Really enjoyed learning about industrial arts � 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 ReegD1412V Title A name given to the resource Reeg, Dave (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reeg, Dave Description An account of the resource Dave Reeg served in the army as an artillery sergeant during the Korean War. He was trained on 105 Howitzers in Atterbury, Indiana. At one point in his service in Korea, the unit he was in was discontinued and he was sent to different artillery locations. Mr. Reeg was in Korea for about 17 months when the war ended. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Denton, Whitney (Interviewer) 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. 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 2012-05-24 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/104f0dabb40ddc8f424d3db408775d0b.mp4 2cd197e01511b18a23961e87a34ee596 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/37d7fc9688d9f618b14b3e69bf61408c.pdf a690718e0528159e5425c6ce6e67693f PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW GERALD REDWINE Born: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1933 Resides: Caledonia, Michigan Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, May 12, 2014 Interviewer: Mr. Redwine, can you begin with some background on yourself, where and when were you born? I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Henry Street S.E. in 1933. Interviewer: Did you grow up in Grand Rapids? I did, I attended Henry elementary school and then I went on to South High School. Interviewer: What did your family do for a living at that time? Well, I was raised by my grandparents and my grandfather, at the time, was working at McKay Tower downtown. He was a custodian. Interviewer: Do you remember when WWII was going on, you were a kid, you were in school, did you pay much attention at all, or did you just worry about your own stuff? No, we did a lot, we had the bond drive in our school and I was one of the leaders of the bond drive at the time in 1944, and we raised bonds. 1:05 I had about four uncles who were in the service and one cousin who was in the Marine Corps. Interviewer: The schools in Grand Rapids at that point were effectively integrated weren’t they? There were white kids and black kids, at least in high school? Interviewer: Yes they were and in grammar school also. I don‘t ever recall going to a segregated school, I mean, they might have been there, but I don‘t recall. 1 �Interviewer: They kind of self-segregated in the late sixties when white people moved into Christian schools and things like that, but to go back to the forties, there were not separate systems. No, there were not separate systems. I don‘t recall, but I had all white teachers though, I didn‘t have any black teachers. Interviewer: Alright, when did you graduate from high school? I graduated from high school in 1952. I was mid-term, I was between terms, and I came out in February of 1952. 2:04 Interviewer: Alright, and then what did you do at that point? I went on to what they called Junior College, and now it is Grand Rapids Community College, and I was there January through March, before I went into the Marine Corps. Interviewer: What motivated you to join the Marines? Really, I was going to school and five of--four of my buddies who were not going to school got their draft notice and I was a different qualification than they were, so they came down to school one day and they met me in the cafeteria and they said, ―Hey, we‘re going to go and join the service. We all got our draft notice and we all want to go in together, so how about coming with us? ‖ So, we all went in together and there were six of us going in together, and we went to the recruiting office to go into the Air Force, and the Air Force recruiter said he couldn‘t take all of us. 3:00 We didn‘t understand what he was saying, but eventually we found out he said he couldn‘t take six black people at that time, that‘s what he was really saying. He said, ―We can take two of you‖, and we said, ―No, we all want to go in together‖, and he said, ―I can‘t take all of you‖, so we said, ―Well, we‘ll go over and join the Navy‖, so we went over to the Navy recruiters and 2 �he said, ―I can‘t take all of you, but I can take two of you as stewards‖. We said, ―We don‘t want to be stewards‖, and he said, ―Well, that guy over there, he can probably take all of you‖, and he was a Marine. So, we went over and talked to him and he said, ―Yeah, I can take all of you‖, and we said, ―Okay, but we didn‘t want to go South Carolina, we wanted to go to California, to the naval marine base out there in San Diego‖, and he said that he could arrange that, so we all joined and we all went to San Diego. 4:00 Interviewer: What did you know about South Carolina at that point, what motivated you to say that? Because we knew there was a marine base there called Montford Point Marine Base, and that‘s where they trained black Marines, they didn‘t integrate, it was segregated and we didn‘t want to go there, and we knew that San Diego was not. Interviewer: You’re at a point where Truman has started to desegregate the military, back in 1947, at least that’s when the first executive order came out, but overall the armed forces are still in a kind of transition phase here in the early 50’s. The Korean Was put more pressure on there to get more guys in, so you’re in a situation where some of it’s segregated and some of it isn’t. The Navy only wanted you as stewards and that’s the way they did it in WWII, but they set it up to get you to San Diego instead. Right Interviewer: So, when did you get out to San Diego? You know, that was our first experience with segregation for most of us. 5:02 We caught a troop train from Detroit and went to San Diego, but we had a stopover in Kansas 3 �City, so we all got off the train because there was going to be a four hour stop, so we all got off the train and walked into town and went to a theater. By this time we‘d picked up two white guys from Grand Rapids, so we said, ―Let‘s go kill some time in the movie theater‖, so they went and got their tickets and one guy got his ticket and then one of us stepped up, I don‘t know which one it was, but the lady said, ―I can‘t sell you a ticket‖ and we asked, ―Why not?‖ She said, ―I just can‘t sell you a ticket‖, so then she called the manager and the manager, so the manager come out and told us, ―You can‘t go in that theater‖, so the two buddies from Grand Rapids, and our white friends, said, ―Well, we‘re not going either, so they got their money back and we all went straight back to the train an didn‘t get off the train for three hours, we just sat there. 6:00 We played cards and things until we got to San Diego and we got to San Diego, I think it was about the thirtieth of March. Interviewer: What sort of reception did you get when you arrived at the Marine base? It was typical, stand on this line, step on this pair of shoes they had, and just stand there while the drill sergeant went up and down the line just chewing us out, you know, maybe because you weren‘t looking straight, or so forth. Other than that, we were just all Marines, and actually, at boot camp everybody was treated the same. Interviewer: How easy, or hard was it for you to adjust to military life? It was easy for me, because I was in the boy scouts here in Grand Rapids, so I knew how to stand straight and tall and I knew how to say ―yes sir‖ and ―no sir‖. 7:00 The majority of us did and nobody really got in trouble for that and the drill instructors were really tough and they really put the fear of God in you, so no problem. 4 �Interviewer: Were they consistent? You knew what you had to do and if you did it they treated you one way? You followed the orders and did what they told you, and yes, it was. An incident I‘ll tell you about was, we went to a swimming class and five of us could and one of us couldn‘t. We knew the guy that couldn‘t swim, so after we qualified they put us over to the side and we were talking, me and a friend from Grand Rapids, he knew this guy couldn‘t swim and we saw him in the water. They pushed you in the water to see you swim, and when he came up he started laughing and that was the wrong thing to do. 8:01 It was up the tower, we had a tower there and he said, ―Get up the tower‖, so we went up the tower, Floyd, and I forget his name, so we jumped off, so he said, ―I didn‘t tell you to jump off, go back up the tower‖, and I think we went up that tower six times and when we came out we were beet red from hitting that water from twenty feet up in the air. It was a lesson that we learned quick. Interviewer: What sort of physical training did you get in boot camp? We had a lot of PT, physical training, that was most of it, and weapons training with other weapons, and at that time they called it Jiu Jitsu, you had to go through Judo, and bayonet training in boot camp, and we did that at San Diego. 9:00 Then we went up to a place they called Camp Mathews, that‘s no longer there, for three weeks of rifle training and other weapons. Interviewer: Was that still part of the basic training chunk, or was that now advanced training? 5 �That was—at that time it was just a combination, it wasn‘t called advanced, it was just all training and it was ten weeks duration for the whole boot camp period. After that, we came home in June of 1953 for ten days of liberty. Interviewer: What happened after that? Then we went back to Camp Pendleton and joined the 3rd Marine Division and we were there from 1952, the latter part of 1952, and went over to Japan in 1953, I think it was January we headed over to Japan. We weren‘t going to Japan, we were going to Korea. Interviewer: Had you expected, pretty much, all along that you would wind up in Korea? 10:02 Yes, one of us out of the six went directly to Korea and he went with the air wing of the Marine Corps. The other five of us went with what they call the ―grunts‖, and we went from the 3rd Marine Division to, on boats, on a ship. We went on an APA and it‘s very crowded. You‘ve got a whole battalion of Marines on one boat and it was a WWII boat. I think it went about twenty knots, if it went that fast, and we were on the ocean for twenty days. Interviewer: Did a lot of the guys get sick? Oh yeah, terribly sick, everybody got sick. I think it‘s a get go when you go out, because as soon as we got out of San Diego harbor everybody got sick it seemed like. Once we got onto the water and were out there four or five days, we were doing okay. 11:03 We even went through a typhoon, so it was okay. Interviewer: I don’t know, when in the middle of a typhoon did you start to wonder if you were going to survive to the other end? 6 �Oh yeah, everybody got scared and like everything else and that‘s when you pray to God, but they put you in these holds and they have a lockdown which is water tight doors. It‘s not fun in there, because everybody‘s having their breakfast come up and some people don‘t go to breakfast because of that. When we got—we didn‘t know we were going to Japan, we thought we were going to Korea and when we got near—I don‘t know when the order came, but they diverted us to Japan. Interviewer: When did you arrive in Japan? I don‘t know the exact date, but it was in the winter. We got to Japan and we were put in tents, because they didn‘t expect us there. 12:04 Interviewer: Did you find out why it was you were diverted from Korea over to Japan? Yeah, we did, we found out that the armistice was coming and they said they were not going to send any more troops in country at that time. I don‘t know, I‘m assuming the Captain of the ship got orders to go to Japan and we ended up in Gifu Japan and some of us ended up in Sasebo Japan and some of us ended up in northern Japan called—I don‘t remember the name of the base up there. Interviewer: You were traveling as a unit. You were not just going in as We replacements; you were traveling with your specific battalion. We were a whole battalion, yeah, we were the 3rd Marine Division, so units going from San Diego were all going on different ships, so in our convoy, I think there were six ships. 13:00 Interviewer: Now, you go into Gifu and what was it like there? 7 �It was a shocker at first, because at the camp that we went to, it still had holes in the walls from guns that would fire at the base. It was a Japanese airbase at one time and it still had the holes in the walls and everything, and we didn‘t expect that, this is 1953. We didn‘t expect that and then we saw signs around the base saying ―Americans go home‖ and all that bit, so it‘s kind of scary. Then there were certain areas you couldn‘t go into. They said, ―These are communist areas and you can‘t go in there‖ and the Mayday celebration, that was pretty much a big deal over in Japan and we didn‘t like that. There were a whole lot of things we had to get used to, and then the customs like you don‘t wear shoes inside some places, and they had temples they didn‘t want you to go into and things like that. 14:03 More restrictions than you had in the United States. Interviewer: But, they were restrictions on all the Americans not just you. On everybody, yeah Interviewer: So, what did you spend your time doing while you were in Japan? Most of the time, if we weren‘t in training, most of the time we played cards, just stayed on the base, watched movies and things like that. Interviewer: So, they didn’t have anything in particular for you to do except just to be there. Kill time, just kill time Interviewer: How long did you wind up staying there? I was Gifu until I went to a unit called Sub Unit One Provisional Casual Center in Kyushu, Japan and I went up there, and they were part of the 1st Marine Division in Korea. 15:00 We were the hospital unit, really, and we interviewed the guys that came 8 �from Korea that had to be medevaced. We had to interview them and report what was wrong with them and things like that. Interviewer: How did you end up with that assignment? I reenlisted in Japan. I was on my way back and like I said, I went in in 1952 and this was almost 1954, or 1955, so I extended and I didn‘t release at that time, I extended my tour to stay over there. Interviewer: Were they making much of an effort to encourage people to extend, or reenlist, or was it just an option you got? No, every time you got close they would ask you to reenlist and they were trying to keep people in. It depended on your rank and I kind of accelerated a little bit went I went in there. I went from—I left there a private and I was a sergeant in a couple years there. 16:05 So, I went right to Gifu, Japan and I was a sergeant. Interviewer: Why did you want to stay in the service? The reason I stayed in—I called back to Grand Rapids and talked to my dad, and said, ―What‘s the job situation in Grand Rapids?‖ He said, ―Poor‖, and he said, ―If you want to work in a factory, fine‖, and I said, ―I don‘t want to work in a factory‖, so I said, ―I‘m going to stay in the Marine Corps, I like it here‖. I enlisted the first time for three years and by that time I had six years in the Marine Corps after that enlistment and I said, ―I‘m just going to stay, stay for three‖. It‘s a funny thing that at that time the top pay for a sergeant was a hundred and seventy –five dollars a month, and that looked pretty good at that time. Interviewer: So basically then, you pretty much decide you’re going to go with and have a career with the Marines, now what impressions did you have of the Japanese 9 �people themselves? 17:00 You mentioned some of it, that there was some antiAmerican sentiment there, but overall, what was it like for you? The Japanese people treated me well. They taught me how to play a card game they have called Hanafuda, and I played that game with the Japanese people and I had a—I was fine with them, no problems at all. Interviewer: Did they send you then back to the states? Yes, I came back to the El Toro Marine base, that is no longer there, around Santa Ana, California and I stayed there approximately four, or five months and I didn‘t like it. I told them I wanted to go back overseas and they sent me to Okinawa. Interviewer: What were you doing at El Toro? At El Toro I worked with the MP‘s. 18:00 My field was admin, but I worked with the MP‘s at El Toro, and me and the gunnery sergeant, we didn‘t get along and I said, ―Well, I don‘t want to stay here‖, so I asked to go back over. Interviewer: When you go over this time, where do you go? Okinawa, a place called Camp Zukeran, Okinawa and I was stationed there for fourteen months. Interviewer: What duties did you have there? I was the admin chief of the battalion, and while I was there I didn‘t like the outfit I was with, really. I went to the weapons company and I think that‘s when I first realized the segregation coming from the officers, because I was Weapons Company Admin Chief. 19:00 And my first sergeant—the Marine Corps had a way of grading from zero to four for people who were NCO‘s, and four being the top and zero being the bottom. Well, there were three sergeants in my group that were under the first sergeant and our 10 �company got the highest rating for admin, and my first sergeant was proud of it, he was proud of it, and when I took my record book in for the Captain to give me my grade, because the captain had to put the grade in there, the other two sergeants got 4.0‘s and I got a 3.0, so when my book came out, my first sergeant looked at it and he took it right back in there. 20:00 There was a big argument and I could hear them and when it came back it had a 4.0, so he told me what happened, the first sergeant did. I knew we were good, our company was good, because earlier the battalion commander wanted me to come over and be the admin chief for the battalion, and I told him he had a staff sergeant there and I‘m a sergeant. I said, ―You got a staff sergeant that‘s admin chief‖, and he said, ―Well, I want you to come over‖, and I said , ―I can‘t take his job‖, and what I really was counting on was, ―Hey, promote me to staff sergeant and I‘ll come over there‖, but I didn‘t want to go over there that way, so I told him I didn‘t want to come over there that way and he said, ―Okay‖, and he understood. Our company commander, he was bad, he was bad, and he marked all the black Marines low. Interviewer: Now, was he a southerner? Yup, he was from the south. 21:00 Interviewer: As far as you could tell, at that point, being in the Marine Corps in the “50’s”, over the course of a number of years, did you have a sense of what proportion of officers, and so forth, had that kind of attitude? Did you think—was that unusual for you, or was that pretty much the norm? Well, at that time, we only had one black officer in the Marine Corps, and that was Colonel Peterson and at that time he was a Lieutenant, I think. At El Toro, while I was there, he was refused to go into the officers club, and he had to come back and get, what 11 �we call, the officer of the day who is in charge of the base, to get him into the officers club, because they wouldn‘t let him in there. He did get in, but the officers in the Marine Corps when I was in, in the 50‘s, all--the majority of them were southern officers and there was resentment there. 22:03 Interviewer: Was there pressure on them from above to adjust and get used to it? Well, the senior Marines were NCO‘s and a lot of them were from Montford Point and they knew about the segregation, but the Marines from the north, we weren‘t really accustom to that and we had to get used to it. They would tell us about the officers, ―Stay away from him and stay away from him‖, the senior NCO‘s that were from Moffett Point, and it was hard for us to pick up on that. Interviewer: Now, does the climate change as you go into and through the 60’s, is there a point where more and more of the Marine officers, and so forth, are simply accepting of the black soldiers and pitting them based on how they perform? 23:03 During the 60‘s it did change and it got a little better each year and you didn‘t have to prove yourself, but I had a Marine Captain tell me that he would never promote a black person, because he said, ―They have to prove themselves to me‖. He was a Polish man from, and his dad was from Poland, and I said, ―Where are you from?‖ He told me, somewhere back in New York, and I said, ―Where was your dad born?‖ He said, ―Poland‖, and I said, ―My dad was born in Michigan‖, and I said, ―Where was your grandfather born?‖ He said, ―My family is from Poland‖, and I said, ―My grandfather was born in Michigan‖, and I said, ―I‘m and American‖, so I was really resentful of that. He really got angry with me and shut me up real quick. 24:00 12 �Interviewer: Alright then, how long did you spend—fourteen months in Okinawa, was that it? Fourteen months and I came back in 1957 and then in 1958 I went, I‘m sorry, I went to school over at Parris Island, South Carolina. An incident happened there where me and a white sergeant were both staff sergeants, we got on a plane in California, flew to Atlanta Georgia, walked into the waiting room, I paid no attention and I walked into the waiting room with him, we both sat down waiting for our plane to go to South Carolina, and a man walks up to me and he said, ―Where are you from?‖ I looked at him and I said, ―Well, I‘m from Grand Rapids, Michigan‖. He just looked at me and he walked away, so my friend said, ―Look at that sign‖ and the sign said, ―White Waiting Room‖. 25:00 I said, ―I guess we better get out of here‖, so we both got up and walked out. We just waited outside until the plane got there and went on. Interviewer: What was the school or training? It was the advanced admin training school and I think there were about forty of us in the class, and as we graduated from that we went our separate ways and everything. Although we had a couple of incidences where we got followed back from Savannah, Georgia one night and a couple of cars followed us all the way back to the gate and the MP stopped them at the gate and things like that. Interviewer: Did you go off the base much? I did, and I only went off, I think, twice to Savannah, and there was one of our sergeants, he was a staff sergeant like me, and he said, ―I am never going off this base again‖, after that night we got followed back. 26:03 The only time he went off was when we flew 13 �out of South Carolina. My friend and I, we went back to southern California, he was from northern California, but we went back to southern California. Interviewer: That has to be kind of a strange experience to go in and out of sort of a segregated society and having some people treating you one way and others a different one. Did you think, “Well that’s just how it is right now?” Yeah, we did, you know, and then when this happened to us you just absorb it and say, ―Well this is the way things are and they‘re going to be that way‖, but I went from there, after school, I went back to El Toro base and it was my mistake for enlisting, for the first time, for six years, because they wanted drill instructors and I didn‘t want to be a drill instructor, but I enlisted for six years and I had a six year obligation. 27:04 they said, ―You‘re going to drill instructors school‖, and I said, ―I don‘t really want to go‖, but I went. I finished the frill instructors school and my first platoon that I had down there was an honor platoon and I had a little run in with a little General called General Krulak. He was five foot two, my first General in the Marine Corps when we were on the field, and I was on the drill field one day with my platoon and I was the only one out there and I tried to stay away from General Krulak. San Diego‘s got a real long strip and his office was at the end. The Colonel of our outfit, who is six foot four, and when you looked down there you could see Krulak and the Colonel, because one was six four and the other was five two. 28:00 I saw them walking towards me, so I turned my platoon and went the other way, and they turned. I said, ―Oh, shoot‖, so I turned them again and came back and here came the Colonel, he was running and calling, ―Sergeant, sergeant, stop‖, so I stopped them and General Krulak walked up to me and asked me to put the platoon through certain drills and I did. He said, ―How do you like being a drill instructor?‖ My 14 �mouth got going too fast and said, ―I don‘t like it‖, and that was the wrong words, and he got right up in my face and his stars looked like they were that big and he had two stars. He said, ―Do you want to be relieved sergeant?‖ I said, ―General, do you mean right now?‖ He said, ―Right now‖, and I said, ―No, sir‖. I said, ―I‘ll do my job‖, and he said, ―Alright‖, and I took my platoon and got out of there. 29:00 Anyway, when my platoon graduated, we had what they called the ―drill instructors mess hall‖ and I was sitting in the mess hall for breakfast, and he knew--when he, when General Krulak came through the door, I saw him and I put my head down hoping he wouldn‘t see me, but he did. He walked over to me and he said, he knew my platoon had graduated as an honor platoon, and he said, ―How do you like being a drill instructor now sergeant Redwine?‖ I thought, ―Oh, oh, he knows my name‖, and he didn‘t know my name the first time, he knows it now, so I said, ―I don‘t like it, but I‘ll do my job‖, so he pushed his chair back and said, ―Well, that‘s all I can ask‖, and I said, ―Well‖, and that was it. Interviewer: How long did you last as a drill instructor? Three years, I was there during 60, 61, and 62. 30:04 Interviewer: Did you, as a drill instructor, did you have any ideas of how you were going to go about it in terms of how you were going to treat your men and things like that? Did you have good, or bad, examples in mind from your own experience? We had a—no, I did not, we had a plan of the day and we went by that plan. You had to get up at a certain hour, you had to basic rifle marksmanship for an hour, you had to go to classes at a certain hour and there‘s so many platoons that you had to be on schedule and you had to be there at that certain time and be at that certain time and so forth. It was dictated along the day, what you would do, and at one time I had two platoons. That was 15 �when the Vietnam war had started and we had two platoons and three drill instructors, and we would go home, change clothes, and come right back. 31:01 We took one platoon through it, go home and change clothes, and come right back, because you had to have two drill instructors with a platoon all day long. So, that means one person got to go home, so when your uniform felt like it was getting dirty, or something, you would say, ―I gotta go home and change clothes‖, so that guy went and the other guys stayed. So, it was really rough there during that last part of my time. Interviewer: What years were you a drill instructor? 1960, 61, and 62 Interviewer: At that stage, we didn’t really have any significant number of combat troops in Vietnam. No Interviewer: But, I guess the cold war was getting interesting in a lot of ways, so maybe they were building up the Marine Corps at that time. I think we had troops there, but I don‘t think they were recorded. Interviewer: In any case it created business for you. Yeah, we had a thing called CACK, and I don‘t know what the correct acronym really means, but it was an outfit over in Vietnam before they built up so bad. 32:03 That‘s when the Marine corps started drafting, is when we got our two platoons, because they weren‘t drafting before that. Interviewer: So, how do you manage to get out of being a drill instructor? Finish the tour, and then I went to Bellingham, Washington to the I&I staff up there and I was up there for three years. 16 �Interviewer: So, what is and I&I staff? It is called Inspector Instructor staff. You work with the reserve units of the Marine Corps and I went up there and I ran into a bunch of my recruits that I had in boot camp. They all knew me up there, so that‘s really another story of when I ran into segregation. Bellingham, Washington had one black person in it and it was a woman married to a white man. 33:01 I went up there ahead of my family, because I‘d married when I was down in San Diego, and I asked her about it and she said, ―they don‘t like us here in town‖, so I said, ―I don‘t understand that, because I rented a place here, right here and the man didn‘t say anything about it and he rented me a house‖. So, anyway, she said, ―They don‘t like us here‖, and I said, ―Okay‖, and I went back to my office and talked to my Captain and he said he was from Oklahoma and he told me, he said, ―I didn‘t know you were coming here‖ ―I don‘t understand‖, I said, ―I know you got advanced word that I was coming here‖, and what he was telling me, was that he didn‘t know a black man was coming. So, he said, ―Well, they don‘t like you here‖, and he said, ―Let‘s go down town and see what kind of a reception we get‖. 34:00 Well, he wasn‘t aware that I came up a week ahead of time and went to an office up there, went right downtown to the hotel, sat right there and got my room and everything ad left. Then I came back and reported in, and he wasn‘t aware of that. So, when we went down there, people are saying ―Hi‖ and I was saying ―Hi‖ to them and he said, ―They seem to know you‖, and I said, ―I‘ve been here, I‘ve been here before‖, so he said, ―Well, I guess it‘s okay‖, and I said, ―I don‘t understand what you‘re talking about‖, so we went back to the office and I stayed there from the last part of 1963 until the early part of 1966. Interviewer: What was life up there like? 17 �It was nice, my wife was a registered nurse, my first wife, she was a registered nurse, and when we got there, she went to the Bellingham Hospital and told them she was a registered nurse and they said, ―Can you come to work tomorrow?‖ So, she went right to work. 35:01 We were there and they loved her up there. Bellingham was a—I had no problems in that city. Interviewer: What did your daily duties consist of up there? Mainly we were, we were at an office up there, which was right on the bay, which was an administrative office, and we had the reserves in there every week. Some were there for a week and then some were there for a whole week-end. We took them to training and we went up to training with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, we had a training outfit up there with them, a session, and we took the troops to Camp Pendleton twice for training. Flew them down, and flew them—so basically our job was just to train them when they came in on the week-ends. 36:00 They called them ―week-end warriors‖, and that‘s what they did, they came in on the week-ends and we had training for them. Interviewer: Now, over the course of the time you’re there, they are now starting to send Marines in significant numbers over to Vietnam. Now, were you following that, or paying attention to that news, or just minding your own business? I wasn‘t until I found out they were sending Marines over there in groups, real big groups, and then they said they were forming the 5th Marine Division and I thought, ―Boy, this is getting big‖, so we got orders to disband and we disbanded the 56th Rifle Company, that‘s what it was called, and then, us who were on active duty went to Camp Pendleton for the 5th Marine Division. 18 �Interviewer: By and large the reservists were not being called up to go to Vietnam, so the guys who were training weren’t going to go, but the active personnel were all available. 37:02 Now, the reservists could go if they wanted to go, but most of them didn‘t go, but we had no choice, the active duty people had no choice. I was a staff sergeant when I got there and when I got down to Camp Pendleton I was a gunnery sergeant, and I was the senior enlisted black person in the outfit. Interviewer: Then, what specific unit were you assigned to? I was assigned to the 3rd Battalion 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Interviewer: How long was it before you go over to Vietnam? Well, when we left Washington State, I brought my family back here, and I had a wife and two children at the time. Then I went to Camp Pendleton and took over the 3rd Battalion 26th Marines. Interviewer: Then, how long did you stay there before you go to Vietnam? I think we were there from July through August and we went over to Vietnam. 38:04 We went aboard ship, I think, in September was the time, of 1966. Interviewer: What was that voyage like? That voyage was a lot different. Like I said, I was a gunnery sergeant then and a little senior, so the Navy has a rank of E7 and above and they call them chiefs. At that time it was E7 only, so I was a gunnery sergeant, so I was up there, so I could go into the chief‘s quarters. They put us aboard an APA, a ship to take us across, and we went through a typhoon again. This time we went through the typhoon it was a little different. While I was on ship, my boss was a Major and I was a senior enlisted man. 39:00 He called me 19 �on the APA and I had to report to him of the troops, the condition of the troops. He told me, he said, ―Give me a report every day‖, and I said, ―I will sir‖, so the Navy was getting me across this water and it was rough, so I said, ―Don‘t we have a PA system here?‖ He said, ―Yeah‖, so I said, ―Well, let‘s use the PA system, I don‘t like going across that deck‖. All that water, the water‘s up here and then down here, and up here. We had a carrier with us and sometimes you could look down and see the carrier and sometimes look up here and the carrier‘s up here, you know, the swells are so large and everybody was sick. One day he called over and he said, ―I want to know the condition of those tanks‖, well, I said, ―Okay‖, so I called the gunnery sergeant who was in charge of the tanks and I said, ―Go down and inspect the tanks‖. I said, ―I‘m not going down that hole‖, so I told him, because I was senior and I didn‘t have to go down there. 40:00 So, he went down there to inspect the tanks and when he came up he was upchucking and everything, you know, because of the gasoline and the fumes down there. One of our tanks with a blade on it had come loose and it punctured the side of the ship at little bit. Anyway, we were outside of Okinawa and our ship split two inches at the seam. The Captain came on and he said, ―All hands don your life jackets‖. Now usually, they put you through a drill, and they say, ―All hands don your life jackets‖, and then they say, ―This is a drill‖, so when he said, ―All hands don your life jackets‖, everybody was waiting for, ―This is a drill‖, and it never came, so everybody got scared, ―Whoa, what‘s happening?‖ He said, ―We have a split in the seam of two inches, but I think we can make it to Okinawa‖. 41:00 We were thinking, ―I hope we can make it to Okinawa‖, and he said I think, ―We‘re only going to be making seven knots‖, and he said, ―There‘s another typhoon coming behind us‖, and all the Marines on there said, ‗We can swim 20 �faster than this boat can move, let‘s go in the water‖, and we said, ―No, he thinks we‘ll make it‖, and they said, ―Well, we hope we do‖, well we did. They had to tow that ship back to the United States after we got off it, and we got off in Okinawa and went abourd a carrier called the Wasp and the Wasp took us to Vietnam. Interviewer: Where did you land in Vietnam? We landed at a place called—we ended up at a place called Dong Ha, but we got off the ship in the ocean and got into a small boat, and we went up the river to Dong Ha. 42:00 I was at Dong Ha, from when I got there, until about six months. I was there six months, I think. Interviewer: Alright Then I left and went to Phu Bai, which is a base in the same province, but a little bit south. Interviewer: At Dong Ha, what was the situation there when you got there, as far as you could tell? What was your unit doing? When we first got there we were fine, we were fine. I think we were a surprise to the NVA‘s. Anyway, we did not receive a whole lot of fire. We did see fire, maybe, a week after we got there. We went into places called Kobe, and Ton Ton, it‘s two villages and we were in between them and we got shot at from there, and our Colonel called in the village chief and told him, ―We‘re here to protect you and if we get fired on again we‘re going to have to fire on you base, on your village‖. 43:02 So, one night we noticed— our intelligence told us that people were leaving the village and to be prepared to fire, so as soon as one round came out of there--and we had a battery called ―Charlie Battery‖, 21 �big guns, and as soon as that shell came out, ―Charlie Battery‖ just fired in there, because they were all ready for them and we knew we were going to get hit. Interviewer: Were you the first American troops into Dong Ha then? I think we were the first Marines, I don‘t know if the army was in there or not. Interviewer: Were there American, or South Vietnamese, troops in the area? Were there other bases around? There were South Vietnamese south of us, because they used to shoot overhead, and we had to finally ask them, I didn‘t ask them, but, of course, the Colonel asked them, not to fire over the top of us, because they had what they call short rounds. 44:01 They didn‘t make it all the way, so they were firing into the north, because Dong Ha sits right here and there‘s the water and there‘s North Vietnam, so they were just shooting over the top of us into North Vietnam. So they had to stop them from shooting over there, because those short rounds were landing on us. Interviewer: Okay, were you patrolling out into the countryside and up to the DMZ or what were you doing? We patrolled the whole area there in Dong Ha right along the river, and I don‘t know where we were, actually, all the time, but I can tell you we were out there and a couple times we were very, very close to NVA. We had a lot of, not NVA, but Vietcong running around our place. 45:01 They were running around all over. Interviewer: What were they doing? Sabotage, all of the trucks would be flat and some of the engines destroyed. We never got a direct fire from the, and I just remember one incidence where standing there, there was a man standing on our base and all the Vietnamese stayed away from him and he 22 �moved and they moved away from him, so the MP‘s went over and got him, and he had a grenade on him. That was close, and I had a Vietnamese approach me and he started walking towards me and I‘m sitting in my Jeep and he walked towards me and I told him to stop. He said, ―I‘m one of you‖, and I said, ―No you‘re not, stop‖. He was not a Marine. 46:02 I said ―Stop‖, so he wouldn‘t stop, he kept coming, so I had to pull out my pistol and point it at him. I didn‘t shoot him, I just pointed it at him and he stopped. He said, ―I‘m one of you‖, and I said, ―You‘re not, stay where you are‖, so my driver was getting anxious and said, ―I think yo ought to take him out‖, and I said, ―Let‘s just move‖, so we moved on. Interviewer: Now, at this time, what kind of orders do you have, or to what extent were you being told what you were doing there? Not a lot, we didn‘t receive a lot of information. The only reason I had some information was because I was, like I said, an admin and I worked in the G3 and had contact with the G2‘s and the G1‘s. I only know one night I was sitting there one night and a G3 and a Major called and said, ―We have to shoot, because we got NVA‘s coming at us‖, and that was during a Tet. 47:01 He said, ―We have to report, because they‘re two hundred of them a hundred yards away‖, or something. I know they came back and said, ―We can‘t shoot them‖, and it was because of the celebration, and he told them, ―If we don‘t shoot, we‘re going to be overrun‖, so that was the scariest time I was there, because my Lieutenant got hit and I was on the ground. Interviewer: So, you did come under fire at that point? Yeah, they were shooting at us. Interviewer: And was this small arms fire, or mortars? 23 �Small arms fire, mortars, we call mortars small arms. Interviewer: So, this probably would have been a Tet 1967, the big Tet Offensive is in 1968. This was in 1966 Interviewer: But, in 1966---well This was not a Tet offensive, but NVA‘s coming over. Interviewer: Coming in and attacking while you were there. So, basically what happened that night, or what do you remember about that? 48:00 The only thing I remember about that night is that we fired back, Charlie battery opened up and fired back. I know they went out and did what they call a body count and I did not go out. I had a couple of guys get hit, my people, and I went to the hospital. Like I said, my Lieutenant got hit, got killed. Interviewer: That’s the first time you had really seen combat casualties, or anybody you knew get hit? Yeah, it got really bad, because my staff sergeant got shot and he had to go to Okinawa, they flew him out he was so bad, but other than that—I didn‘t get hit, I didn‘t get a scratch. 49:00 Interviewer: At this point, what kind of defenses did the base have? To what extent were you dug in, or fortified while you were there? We were all dug in, we all had foxholes right next to us and we stayed in them. Everybody was just dug in. You would walk around and just see people lying in foxholes and things, trying to stay alive, because Dong Ha got hit really badly. 24 �Interviewer: A little bit later on there was a fairly substantial battle that went on in that area. Yeah, I was down at Phu Bai at that time and I didn‘t—I know a Lieutenant I was stationed with at San Diego, he called down, and I didn‘t realize who he was until he said, ―Is this Staff Sergeant Redwine? I said, ―Yeah‖, and he said, ―This is Lieutenant Boyd, I‘m now Major Boyd‖, and I said, ―Oh, okay‖, so I knew who he was. Interviewer: Alright, so you’re there in Dong Ha for about six months. 50:02 You have one, reasonably, serious attack during that time. There was more than one. Interviewer: Okay, was it jut periodically they would just come in close and start shooting at you? Ah, you would hear them all day long, shots being fired, like sniper fire, you‘d hear it all day long, and somebody would shoot back. Another incident I had there, at the time, this was in February and my wife had twins, and the Red Cross sent me a message out in the field saying that my wife had twins—no, they didn‘t say my wife had twins, they said my wife had delivered. So, I went to the Red Cross and I said, ―What do I have?‖ They didn‘t say what it was and I already had two boys, so I said, ―What do I have?‖ 51:01 They said, ―It doesn‘t say‖, so I said, ―Can you wire back and ask?‖ It came back, ―Wife fine, children fine‖, and I said, ―Well, what did I have?‖ They said, ―We don‘t know‖, so I said, ―How can I find out?‖ They said, I had to go to Da Nang, so I asked my boss, ―Can I go down to Da Nang?‖ He said, ―Yeah, if you can catch a plane‖, so I said, ―Okay‖, so I went over there and caught a plane and flew to Da Nang. I went into the Red Cross and them to wire back and see what I had. So, they came back the same way, 25 �―Wife fine, children fine‖. I said, ―Look, I got two kids, ask them what gender, what it is that my wife had‖, so then it came back, ―Boy and a girl‖, and I said, ―Thank you very much, I got twins‖, because my wife didn‘t know she was going to have twins, and we didn‘t get mail up there too often. 52:00 I had twins, so I flew back to Dong Ha and on my way into Dong Ha, we were getting sniper fire from the ground, so the pilot told me he wasn‘t sure he could touch down, so I said, ―Hey, I‘ve got to get there‖, so anyway, we went back to Da Nang and I got an army plane, the guy was coming up to Dong Ha. I don‘t know what kind of army plane it was, but it was a twin engine plane. He said, ―I‘m going to Dong Ha‖, and I said, ―Well, can you drop me off?‖ He said, ―Yeah‖, so I got on this plane and went to Dong Ha. Well, he came in on the runway, he hit the runway and turned around and said, ―Get out‖, and the plane was still moving. I said, ―We‘re moving‖, and he said, ―Get out‖, so I jumped out and zoom, he was gone, and I hit the ground rolling. Right after that mortars came in, you know and he got out of there just in time, so he wasn‘t staying around. Interviewer: So, you’re there at Dong Ha, does your unit move, or do you just get moved to Phu Bai? 53:02 I‘m the only one that left and went to Phu Bai. Interviewer: What assignment did you have in Phu Bai? In Phu Bai I was division, I was division adj—not division, I was division admin chief. I stayed there until I came back in November of 1967. Interviewer: Now, what did your duties consist of as Division Admin Chief? Moving people, moving people from--according to their MOS, as to where they should go. If a person came in and he had an infantry MOS, we had to find out which company 26 �needed him and if he had a cooks MOS, we would find out who needed him and then we would move him in there, we moved him into there. Interviewer: What was life like there on the base? Day to day, what were you doing? Phu Bai was like an R&R camp after coming out of Dong Ha. It was, ―Boy, this is nice‖. 54:01 You can walk around in the daytime without our flak jackets on. I just remember, I had to go back to Dong Ha one time and this Major asked me to go with him and because I was from Dang Ha he wanted me to go with him, because he wasn‘t there. I went with him and I said, ―I really don‘t want to go up there Major‖, and he said, ―Well, I can order you‖, so I said, ―Okay‖, so I went with him. I put a flak jacket on and went up there and rode in the back of the Jeep with a shotgun, you know. Then we came back and I was scared all the way up and all the way back, but we never got any hits, or anything like that. But, Phu Bai was nice, we had a Marine go crazy over there and shoot up the General's house he had. The commanding General got killed, not by him, but the commanding General got killed, I don‘t remember his name, but it was in a helicopter crash. 55:00 I stayed at there Phu Bai until October, or somewhere around there. They said, ―You‘re going home in November‖, because we had these rotations and it was my time to go, so I went to Da Nang and flew out of Da Nang. Interviewer: Now, while you were in Vietnam, I guess first of all, how would you characterize the morale of the units you were serving with? You had difficulties in Dong Ha in the headquarters when you were working there. Well, the older Marines, it was okay with them, but I found out that the younger Marines were real nervous, real scared and really didn‘t know what they were doing, and you had 27 �to direct them all the time. The senior NCO‘s were more adept and handled the troops. 56:03 Although, we did have a NCO‘s that were scared to death. I remember one sergeant, a master sergeant, he was scared to death to be there and he ended up—they just moved him out, he couldn‘t handle it. He was a W—I‘m sorry, he was a Korean vet and they had called him back. He was scared, so they just moved him out and sent him back home. Interviewer: So, it didn’t necessarily matter that they might have had combat experience before, in terms of who wound up being affected this time, or not. No, it did not, because those who had combat experience before were just as scared as the others, but I think the scariest part was, they didn‘t know who they were fighting, because they were fighting, sometimes, a person who was out in the rice paddy during the day time, out there pulling rice right next to the camp, and in the night he was a gun and fighting. 57:01 Interviewer: What impression did you have of the Vietnamese themselves, to the extent that you had contact with them? I know you‘re putting this on film, but I‘ll just have to tell you that I was really—didn‘t want anything to do with them. I didn‘t associate with any of them, and all the time I was in Vietnam I ate food out of the mess hall, or out of my kit. I drank water out of a water buffalo, which was warm water, it wasn‘t cold, but we had experiences where the Vietnamese were taking glass, grinding it up and putting it in water and Marines were drinking that and I didn‘t want that, so when I went to the water buffalo I got my own water and everything like that. I didn‘t associate with them at all. Interviewer: Did you have Vietnamese working on the bases? 28 �They were working on the bases, but none by me. 58:00 Interviewer: Now, while you were in the states and Okinawa at different times, you had noticed some issues regarding racial tension and the like. Now, was there much of that in the ranks, or so forth, or in Dong Ha, did it not matter? It didn‘t matter in Dong Ha and it didn‘t really matter in Phu Bai either. We didn‘t have the racial problems that we had back here in the states. They didn‘t need this over there. Interviewer: Was drug use becoming an issue yet? I never got involved with the issue of drugs. I had a platoon of men on guard one night and I caught one of the men smoking marijuana and I just sent him home, not home, I sent him back to the offices and said, ―He‘s relieved, I don‘t want him, so send me somebody else‖. 59:03 that was the only one, I‘ve never run into an issue of drugs, or anything over there. Interviewer: How well would you say that the units you were with were at performing, or doing their jobs, while you were with them? Our unit did well. Our unit was very good and it was good to be associated with the 3rd battalion of the 26th Marines, they were very good. I didn‘t hear of any Marines that were doing bad, all of them were doing good. While I was there, when my Lieutenant got hit, I had to sort of act as the adjutant and I had to go over and look at the bodies, and I think, the worst one I saw was a guy that didn‘t have a head. The worst one I‘d seen, and then we had a warrant officer who had to take what he had, to what they call graves registration and all he had was a head. 00:05 He didn‘t have any part of the body, just the head. I did see bad, bad things happening to our people. Interviewer: But, on the whole they were doing their jobs pretty well? 29 �Oh, they all did, I didn‘t see—there was no cowardice, no—nothing like that. Interviewer: Now, did you do the thing where you were counting down the days until you got to go home? Yeah, I did, and I had a deck of cards like everyone else. Fifty two cards and when it got to fifty two days I started throwing them away, you know, and we counted right down to the day we had to leave. Interviewer: So, you finish, in late 1967 you finish your tour in Vietnam. Now, do you get to go home for a while, or what do you do next? I did, in 1969 I came home, and I‘ll tell you, when we were at Da Nang we were going to get hit that night. 1:02 Word was out that we were going to get hit, so the plane was sitting on the tarmac and I‘m sitting in the—what do you call it? The place where people wait and I didn‘t get on the plane right away, so the crew chief came over to me and said, ―Are you going to go with us?‖ I said, ―Yes I am‖, ―Are you ready to go?‖ I said, ―Yes I am‖, so I ran over to the plane and we took off. When that plane got about to an elevation, I guess of about, I guess, five thousand feet, or so a sigh of relief came over the plane and the guys started crying and everything and it was just ―Whew, we‘re out of here‖, because we didn‘t know if we were going to get hit or not, because it was night and we were supposed to get hit and everybody was scared. 2:00 I came back to the states and I was at San Diego and they were going to put me back on the drill field, but I was selected for the first sergeant. I came back and I had a medical problem. I had hypertension, so they told me I can‘t go back on the field. So, I stayed around San Diego for a while and then they sent me to Camp Pendleton. 3:32 30 �Interviewer: So, we’ve, basically, gotten you back to the states again and assigned back to Camp Pendleton. Was that where you went? Camp Pendleton, yes Interviewer: Now, did you stay there for an extended period of time? Well, I was at Camp Pendleton and I was a gunnery sergeant with base motors and at that time I applied for, and they commissioned me 2nd Lieutenant, so I went from being a first sergeant to being a 2nd Lieutenant. 4:04 Interviewer: Did you then have to go to officer training school, or what happened? No, I went to the brig, which is the jail. I was first sergeant of the 1st Motor Transport Company and when they made me a Lieutenant I went to the brig and I served there, I think, for a year. Interviewer: Now, did you just decide on your own to apply to get promoted, or did people encourage you to do that, or how did that work? Yeah they did, I had a friend of mine who was—we were both E8‘s, three of us really, and we said, ―There‘s this program here, let‘s apply for it and see if we can get it‖, and we were all black, and we applied for it and we all got it. It was something we just did on a whim to see if we could do it. 5:01 Interviewer: Now, does doing that obligate you for a longer time to stay in the service, or you were going to stay in anyway, so it didn’t matter? At that time I had seventeen years in and I had planned to get out at twenty anyway, and in order to retire as an officer you have to serve ten years as an officer, but reserve time counts, so once I transferred to the reserves, after the ten years they promote you to your 31 �highest rank, so I was a 2nd Lieutenant in the brig and then I got orders to go to Okinawa again. Interviewer: Talk a little bit about the duty with the brig. Were you in charge of it? No, I had a Major in charge and I was the admin officer of the brig, but I had a compound. They had five compounds there and they had five officers and each officer had a compound, so we were in charge of the compound. Interviewer: So, how busy was it at Camp Pendleton while you were there? 6:00 Oh, it was terrible, it was very busy and we had over a thousand Marines in the brig. We had everything from a guy going AWOL, unauthorized absence, to murders, and they put me in charge of what they call the maximum security unit, so I wouldn‘t have to go out and check on them all the time, I knew where they were and they couldn‘t go out of the compound. I was in charge of that unit and I had about, I had about a hundred and fifty men and then I had about six guards. Interviewer: Was it a different situation than what it had been a few years earlier? Were there a lot more men, now, in the brig do you think, or do you not know? I don‘t know, but I think that at that time there were a whole lot of men in the brig that shouldn‘t have been in the Marine Corps. 7:07 I don‘t know how they got in the Marine Corps. Interviewer: A lot of them got drafted most likely, and there was, also, the “Project One Hundred Thousand” that had gone on, trying to take in people, who didn’t qualify for the military, being brought in as well. 32 �And you know that at that time, back then, a lot of those guys were given a choice to go into the service, or go to jail and some of them chose the service, and we shouldn‘t have taken them, but they did. Interviewer: Did you have an idea—were they being held there until they would get on trial, or were some of them just there to serve out a number of days and then go back to their units? Some were there for-- like a week-end, some were there for a week, some were there because they had general court marshals, which is the highest you can get, and they were there for years, but we transferred those people to Portsmouth. 8:02 Every month we would transfer Marines to Portsmouth. We‘d fill up and we‘d transfer them to Portsmouth. The long term people who had thirty, forty years of jail time coming. Interviewer: I guess with maximum security, you’d get the hard cases. I had the hard ones; I had the maximum security ones. The other guys got the guys that went over the hill for a certain period of time and everything, but I had the hard ones, but I didn‘t really deal with them a lot, I let the sergeant‘s deal with them and everything and I was just the officer in charge. Interviewer: Now, did you have your family out there living with you, in California, at that point? I did, they were living in San Diego. In fact, one time, I was the officers ditches , the person in charge of the brig, and about two o‘clock at night, no two o‘clock in the morning and the sergeant called me up and said, ―There are two prisoners missing‖, and I said, ―How long have they been gone?‖ 9:01 He said, ―I don‘t know, they‘ve been gone since the last count‖, which was two hours earlier. It was in the morning and I 33 �started to get up and I said, ―Well, I think those guys are gone, so I‘m not going to worry about them‖, so lay back down and I thought, ―Well, let me go down and check‖. I got up and got dressed and got a sergeant with a shotgun and I said, ―Come with me‖, and we went down to the compound, so we looked all around the compound and we couldn‘t find them. I went back to do my report, because I knew I was in trouble, so I went back to do my report and on the way back the sergeant told me, ―Lieutenant, I hear somebody by the fence‖, so I said, ―Okay, you go one way and I‘ll go around‖, and there‘s this guy lying between fences. The prison was set up where-- the brig was set up where I had two, I think it was about fifteen feet apart, fences, two fences, so he got over the first fence, but he couldn‘t get over the second one, because the tower would have seen him. 10:02 The tower guards. So, I walked over there and we—he was lying on the ground and I said, ―Get up off the ground‖, and he got up, and I said, ―Climb back over the fence, because you‘re going back up to jail‖, and he said, ―Am I going to maximum security?‖ Which was my unit, and I said, ―Yes you are‖, because he wasn‘t in there for that, and I said, ―But you‘re going to maximum security now, because you tried to escape‖, but I didn‘t explain all that to him, I just said, ―Yes you are‖. So, he said, ―I‘m not going there‖, so I told the sergeant, I said, ―Shoot him‖, so the sergeant cocked his shotgun and he came over the fence. I said, ―Now, where‘s your buddy?‖ He said, ―I don‘t have a buddy‖, and I said, ―Where-is-your-the man who escaped with you?‖ He said, ―He‘s down by the sign‖, so I went down there and I told him the same thing and he came over the fence, so I took him up and put him in maximum security. Well, my duty ended at eight o‘clock in the morning, so I went home. 11:02 I got home and my wife had a message that the commanding General wants to see me—the chief of staff called and wants me to call him 34 �back, so I just got home and Camp Pendleton and San Diego, there‘s about ninety miles there, so I said, ―yes sir‖, and he said, ―You‘ve got to come back up here, the General wants to see you‖, and I said, ―What for?‖ He said, ―Come back up here‖. The Colonel tells me to come back up and I‘m a Lieutenant, ―Yes sir‖. I change uniform and go back up to the base and the General walks in and he says, ―You did a good job‖, and I said, ―Thank you sir‖, and I felt like saying, ―Is that all you wanted? I could have told you this over the phone‖, you know, you could have told me over the phone, ―Thank you‖, so anyway, I went back home. I drove ninety miles up and ninety miles back, ninety miles up again, my God. 12:00 Well anyway, it so happened that another night, and I was the officer in charge and we had a riot in one of the compounds and there were about two hundred prisoners in there. We had a riot squad that we called up when we had a riot, so I called this Lieutenant up and I said, ―Get your riot squad up here, we‘ve got a riot‖, so he brought his riot squad to the brig and they surrounded the compound. I told the Lieutenant, I said, ―We got to go in there and get my men out of there, I got three sergeants in there and we got to get them out of there‖, and he said, ―I‘m not going in there‖. He was a 1st Lieutenant and I was a 2nd Lieutenant, so I‘m junior, so I said, ―We got to go in there and get my men‖, and he said, ―I‘m not going in there‖, so I said, ―Well, okay, but I‘m going to have to report this in my log‖, and he said, ―I don‘t care, I‘m not going in there‖, so I got two sergeants and I said, ―I want a path right to the house and they put there shotguns down, creating me a nice path and I walked right straight through to the prisoners. 13:03 I went up to the door, knocked on the door and told the guys—they said, ―Who is it?‖ I said, ―Lieutenant Redwine‖ and they said, ―Okay‖ and I said, ―Come on out‖, so they came out and I walked them right back out. I told the 35 �Lieutenant, ―You can take your troops back, I got my men, take them back‖, so I put that in the report. The same thing happened on the following day. I go home and the General wants to see me, my God, so I go back up to the base and the chief of staff says, ―You can just go in and have a seat in his office‖, so I went in and had a seat in his office and I‘m sitting there, so he walks in and I jump up and he says, ―Sit down‖ ,and he came over to me and he said, ―Good job you did last night‖ and that was the second time. It was over a period of time, and he said, ―That Lieutenant that you told to go in there‖, he said, ―He‘s no longer in the Marine Corps‖, and I said, ―Oh, yes sir‖. 14:00 Interviewer: He didn’t do his job. He got him out of there and it surprised me, because he was a 1st Lieutenant and I was a 2nd Lieutenant, but he didn‘t do his job and he got him out of there and he‘s no longer in the Marine Corps. Interviewer: Do you have this duty, basically, for about a year? About a year I was there and then I was transferred to Okinawa again. Then I went over to what they call, the third provisional, third FSR, 3rd Force Service Regiment, and I was the only black officer in the regiment, and that‘s another time when we had—they would—I would—we had what they call meritorious promotion bundle and I was to get people together for the meritorious promotion, so the companies would send in people they wanted promoted meritoriously and I never saw a black person, so this Major, who was the EXO, we got along pretty good. 15:05 He walks in and I said, ―I don‘t have any black people here again‖, and he said, ―You don‘t?‖ I said, ―Yeah, now this is about three, or four months this has gone on‖, and I said, ―Evidently they don‘t get promoted‖, and a long story short, after that we started having some. The commanding officer there 36 �accused me of being—wait a minute, the General, General Jones put out an order that you could not do the ―Black Power‖ sign, raising the fist, I didn‘t, I never did it, but I walked into the mess hall and there was a black officer sitting over there, he was a warrant officer, he was sitting over there near the sign, and I knew him from the states, so I threw up my hand to him like that and I said, ―I‘ll be right there‖, and it got back that I did the ―Black Power‖ sign. 16:00 So, my Colonel calls me in and he says, ―I understand you did the ―Black Power‖ sign in the mess hall‖, and I said, ―When?‖ He says--I forget what morning it was—I said, ―No, I didn‘t do a ―Black Power‖ sign‖, I said, ―The black warrant officer‖, and I told him his name, ―was sitting over there and I just threw up my hand to him, I just recognized him and said ―hi‖ to him‖, and he said, ―Well, this other warrant officer said you did the ―Black Power‖ sign. I said, ―Well, let‘s let him come up here and tell me that I did that. Who said that?‖ He said, ―I‘m not going to tell you‖, and I said, ―You‘re not going to tell me who said it? Well, bring him up here and let him tell me in front of me that I did it‖, and he said, ―I‘m not going to do that‖. Anyway, the Major, who was the XO, spoke up for me and told the Colonel, he said, ―I will investigate this and see what happened, so let‘s see what happens‖, so he went and investigated it. About a week later the Colonel calls me in and said, ―I apologize, it was not the ―Black Power‖ sign, I don‘t know why he said that‖, and I said, ―I told you I didn‘t do it‖. 17:03 So anyway, in the mess, in the officers mess in Okinawa, a friend of mine, a Lieutenant, we were sitting there at the mess and his wife was there, his wife had come over from the states for Christmas, and nobody was dancing with her. She said, ―I want to dance‖, and I said, ―I‘ll dance with you‖, so I got up and I danced with her. When I came back to the table the two officers that were with me said, ―Come on, let‘s 37 �go‖, and I said, ―Go where?‖ They said, ―Let‘s get outa here‖, and I said, ―Okay‖, so we went out and when we got outside they said, ―You better go back to your barracks right away‖, he said, ―There‘s two officers sitting there talking about, what they call, ―frag‖. There are two officers there talking about killing you, because you danced with that white woman‖. 18:00 I said, ―What?‖ Now, this is in 1970. I said, ―What?‘ they said, ―Yeah, they were talking about ―fragging‖ you‖, and I said, ―I‘ll be darn‖, so I went back to my quarters. Well, after that incident passed, I didn‘t worry about it and my Colonel didn‘t say nothing to me, or nothing and nothing happened, but we had a female Lieutenant Colonel, who I knew from the states, we were sergeants together, and she called me up and she said, ―I want you to come to my party‖, so I said, ―What party? Why are you having a party? Is it your birthday?‖ She said, ―No‖, and I said, ―Did you make ―bird‖?‖ She said, ―Bird Colonel, ―Chicken Colonel‖, so I said, ―Okay‖, so I asked this one officer to go with me, because I didn‘t want to go—it was the 1st Marine Division and I was not in the 1st Division, I was the 3rd FSR. 19:03 So, we went over to the party and when we walked in she came up and she hugged me and everything, and I said, ―Congratulations‖. Well, she left and this General came up and said, ―Who are you?‖ I said, ―I‘m Lieutenant Redwine‖, and he said, ―You‘re not one of my officers‖, and I said, ―No sir, I‘m from the 3rd FSR‖, and he said, ―Well, I‘m General Wilson‖. He later became commandant, and He said, ―I‘m General Wilson, and I‘m from Tupelo, Mississippi‖, and I said, ―Well, I‘m Lieutenant Redwine and I‘m from Grand Rapids, Michigan‖. After that, ―Fish‖, the guy that was with me, Fisher, he says, ―Let‘s go‖, so we left and when I got back to my base, my Colonel called me in and he said, ―Who‘s this Colonel you‘re over there hugging?‖ I said, ―Hey, she‘s a friend from way back. I 38 �knew her when she was, way back, a sergeant and now she‘s a colonel, so it‘s got to be a long time‖. 20:05 So anyway, a month later I got orders to go back to the states and my tour was not up. I got there, I think, in June, or July and my tour was supposed to be fourteen months and this was May, so they sent me back to the states in May. Interviewer: What assignment did you get then when you got back? I went back to what they called a schools battalion and served at Camp Pendleton and I was there, but that was strictly because I was black and they moved me out of there. The guy that relieved me wasn‘t even there yet and they don‘t relieve you until the replacement comes. Interviewer: So, that kind of stuff is just still going on and showing up in various places? It‘s amazing that it still shows up, because my cousin from Grand Rapids here was a Marine Corps officer. 21:05 He was a 1st Lieutenant and he went in, I think, in 1985 and he told me that when he---he was stationed in Okinawa, and when he came back he told me his commanding officer called him and told him that he doesn‘t promote black people and as long as he‘s in his outfit he will never be promoted and he was a 1st Lieutenant. He told him that, and he told him, he says, ―If you repeat this conversation I will deny it‖, and he served his time and got out, so it‘s still there. I‘ve talked to many Marines who said that it‘s still there. Interviewer: Now, so you get back, is it 1970 when you get back then? 22:00 I get back in-Interviewer: Early 1971? 1971 39 �Interviewer: Okay I went to a place called schools battalion at Camp Pendleton and then I was, not demoted, but my rank went back—I only served two years as an office and I went back to first sergeant and then I retired in March. Interviewer: Now, was this a point when they downsized the military and sent officers back down to the enlisted rank they had come out of? It was and the officer rank that you had was temporary, so they went back to their enlisted ranks, a lot of them did. When I went back to my enlisted rank I went back— they moved me from Camp Pendleton to the El Toro base and while I was there, they came out with a thing called ―project transition‖, where your last thirty days in the Marine Corps, they let you look for a job outside. 23:04 I think it was thirty days, it was thirty days, or two months, I forget what it was. Anyway, I applied for it and they denied me, so I sad, ―I request mass with the next officer up, senior officer up‖, and my colonel told me, he said, ―Well, you know they‘re going to deny you‖, and I said, ―I don‘t know why, we got other people n ―project transaction‖, why can‘t I get it?‖ He said, ―They don‘t allow E8‘s and E9‘s to go on ―project transition‖, so I requested mass with my next—he went in there, and I see the Colonel and he says, ―No, you can‘t go‖, and I said, ―Well, I request mass with the General‖, and he said, ―Okay‖, so I went to see the General, who was a two star General. He told me, he said, ―I don‘t allow E8‘s and E9‘s to go on ―project transition‖. 24:00 I said, ―General, I got five E8‘s and E9‘s in my outfit working for Disneyland‖, and he said, ―No you don‘t‖, and I said, ―Yes I do‖, so the Sergeant Major of the base was standing there and he told him, he says—he told the Sergeant Major to investigate to see if I was telling the truth and that really hurt me, 40 �because I‘m the first sergeant of an outfit and he as to see if I‘m lying to him. Anyway, we went back to my outfit and he called me a week later and he said, ―You do have the‖, and I said, ―Yes sir, and there‘s other outfits around here that got them working there too. There‘s a lot of E8‘s and E9‘s on ―project transition‖, and he said, ―Well, I‘m not going to let you go‖, and I said, ―Well, then I request mass apacom on the Marine Corps‖, and he said, ‗Are you going to do that?‖ I said, ―Yes sir‖. 25:02 He said, ―What would you think if I went to the commandant and told him that I wanted ―project transition‖?‖ ―General‖, I said, ―You got two stars and I‘m a first sergeant‖, and he said, ―Get out of my office‖, so he ran me out of his office. He called me back, he had the base Sergeant Major call me back and I had to go back in and see him again, and he said, ―I‘m going to let you go on ―project transition‖, but you got to use up all your leave and all your time‖, and I felt like saying, ―Well, why me? You didn‘t do this to the other people, so why me?‖ So anyway, I didn‘t do it, I said, ―Let it go‖, so the Sergeant Major, he told me, he said, ―First sergeant, let me tell you what this General‘s doing for you‖, and I really got mad then, and I let him have it. I said, ―The General is doing nothing for me‖, and that‘s not the words I used, but I said, ―This General is doing nothing for me‖. 26:00 I said, ―It‘s an order from the commandant of the Marine Corps, that enlisted people can go on ―project transition‖, and I said, ―I don‘t need to talk to you no more either‖, and I left his office. He was denying I‘m an E8, but I wasn‘t worried about that, because I‘m through. Anyway, I did get my ―project transition‖, and I went to work for the phone company. Interviewer: Now, was that out in California, or did you come back? It was out in California and I worked for the phone company for twenty years afterwards. Interviewer: All right, and then you also stayed in the reserve for ten years? 41 �I was in the reserve, but I was in inactive reserves and I did not have to report for anything. Interviewer: But, they--ultimately you retire out and you got the rank of 1st Lieutenant at that point? Yes, I retired in March of 1982 and they promoted me to 1st Lieutenant for my retirement. 27:00 Interviewer: Now, when you look back at that kind of career you had in the Marine Corps, how do you think that affected you, or what did you take out of the experience? You know what, I‘m proud of what I did, and if I had to do it all over again I wouldn‘t do it. I did not allow my son to go in the Marine Corps. He wanted to go into something and I talked him out of it and I talked him into going into the air force. He wanted to go into something and I told him, ―Don‘t go into the Marine Corps‖, and I gave him reasons why he shouldn‘t go into the Marine Corps, and I‘m glad I did, but like I said, ―I‘m proud of my service‖, but if I had it to do all over again, I would not go in the Marine Corps. I just have that feeling. Interviewer: I think that kind of gets us about to the conclusion here, and I would like to thank you for coming in and telling your story and being as forthcoming as you were about it 28:01 Some of the stuff might get people hot lining here, but it’s important that people know. 42 �43 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RedwineG1289V Title A name given to the resource Redwine, Gerald (Interview transcript and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Redwine, Gerald Description An account of the resource Gerald Redwine was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1933. After graduating from high school in 1952, Redwine was attending Grand Rapids Junior College when a group of five of his friends suggested they join the military. After both the Air Force and Navy refused to enlist the entire group, due to all the men being black, the group finally enlisted in the Marine Corps. Once Redwine completed boot camp in San Diego, he joined the 3rd Marine Division, which in 1953, received orders to deploy to Korea to participate in the Korean War. However, the brokering of the armistice ended the war and the division re-routed to Japan. After Redwine's deployment to Japan finished, he briefly served at El Toro Naval Air Station in California before transferring to Okinawa. Redwine spent fourteen months on Okinawa and when he returned to the United States in 1957, the Marines sent him to advance training in administration at Parris Island, South Carolina. After finishing the training at Parris Island, Redwine returned to California and went through training to be a drill instructor, a position he held for three years. In 1962, Redwine transferred to Bellingham, Washington to work with the Marine Corps Reserves. After spending a further three years in Washington, the Marines recalled Redwine in 1966 and placed him in the newly-formed 5th Marine Division, which soon deployed to Vietnam. Once in Vietnam, Redwine served in administrative positions in bases at Dong Ha and Phu Bai. When his tour ended in Vietnam, Redwine returned to the United States and worked in the brig at Camp Pendleton, California. Following a year working at the brig, Redwine transferred again to Okinawa as part of the 3rd Marine Service Regiment. When his time in Okinawa ended, Redwine transferred back to the United States, spending time at both Camp Pendleton and El Toro. Finally, in 1972, after having served the mandatory twenty years necessary to earn a pension, Redwine left active-duty. Due to his ethnicity, Redwine faced numerous incidents of discrimination during his time in the military from officers blatantly telling him he would not receive a promotion based on his race to people confronting him when traveling in the South. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Marine Corps Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Other veterans & civilians--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 2011-11-03 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/adb559ee554aba9cd71e78746e1754f5.m4v c080af80e64bef13fa39d45191e62af3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9483473329503f8bc57a16ad85356d16.pdf 8062437760627ae83e7d6d5a484ba277 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Thomas Reddington Length: 20:18 (00:35) Background Information     Thomas was born on May 7, 1924 and later became a first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps during WWII Thomas enlisted in the Army Air Corps because he did not want to be drafted into the Army He took many tests in Chicago and passed into the Aviation Cadet program Thomas had always been interested in flying when he was younger (2:05) Training  Thomas went through basic training in Miami Beach, Florida and then was sent to Fayetteville, Arkansas for ground school and navigation training  He went to San Antonio for pre-flight selection and made pilot  Thomas graduated from flight school and then went through more training in Kansas  He went through advanced training at Eagle Pass in Texas and was commissioned to 2nd Lieutenant  Thomas went to Utah for fighter training and was then sent back to Texas for more advanced training  He got caught in a mid-air collision while training and had to sit in the hospital while his squadron was deployed without him (3:50) Europe  After getting out of the hospital Thomas joined the 511th Fighter Squadron and was sent to England in January of 1945  They later moved on to Belgium, but were not involved in much combat because the war ended 4 months after they arrived  Thomas spent time in Germany during the end of the war and worked with the Army of Occupation  Thomas is glad that he enlisted in the service, but would never do it again  He made some great friends while in the service and lost many friends also  He was often bored while in Europe and wrote many letters to his family  His fighter group was working on ground support so they traveled with the front line as it moved  Thomas traveled from England to Belgium, then Germany to the Hungarian border  They were often short on supplies and food because they were traveling so often �(8:45) Men in the Service  Thomas worked with many fine people and all the men got along well  There were high casualties in his squadron and they lost many men  He tried not to become good friends with anyone because they could be gone the next day (10:05) End of Service  Thomas was done with his service in September of 1946 and left Germany on a ship  He then began working again at his old job when he arrived back home  Thomas later got a contract to work on oxygen altitude regulators on aircraft  His opinion of the service has not changed and he enjoyed his time in the service (12:30) Pictures  Thomas took pictures while in Europe and developed them himself  He dug a deep hole in the ground and covered it with an old plane wing to use as a dark room  They flew mostly P-47s and a few P-51s and took many pictures of the planes  Thomas had time on R & R in Belgium with two other men and also took many pictures of their short vacation  He also had pictures of his best friends from cadet school � 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 ReddingtonT Title A name given to the resource Reddington, Thomas (Interview outline and video), 2003 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Reddington, Thomas Description An account of the resource Thomas Reddington was born on May 7, 1924 and later enlisted in the Army Air Corps because he wanted to avoid getting drafted into the Army. He went through basic training in Florida and went through a series of many different flight classes all over the country until he became a fighter pilot and made 2nd Lieutenant. After a delay due to injuries from a crash, Thomas was deployed in January of 1945. The war ended 4 months after they arrived in Europe, so Thomas spent about a year in Europe working with the Army of Occupation. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mangione, Nathaniel (Interviewer) 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. Army Air 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 2003-10-31 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9c3b9dd833c3019135f8bfbf2f6103b3.mp4 f8bf99baf424c6da6cb027d28c080951 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d06263abf6a9f4503f673519fbbbec4.pdf ea7ad1068501ee68a8ffe9015efa80c7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Delbert Rector Interview Total Time: 1:06:57 Background  (00:16) Born in Cedar Springs, Michigan in 1918  (00:38) Lived with grandparents in Grand Rapids after parents got divorced  (00:54) Father was a professional painter – painted cars, furniture, etc. o Was able to keep working during depression years  (1:20) Mother was a housekeeper  (1:29) Mr. Rector graduated high school in 1938  (1:34) Worked at Grand Rapids Cabinet Company, wanted to get into the drafting room, but didn’t get to  (1:49) Worked for Lear Inc. in the drafting room  (2:34) Described a time when he worked at the gas station, he and co-workers drew straws to see who would join the National Guard first  (3:20) October 15th, 1940, they were mobilized after joining After Mobilization  (4:17) Went to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana  (4:39) Slept in tents with wooden floors  (4:55) Here, they were training  (5:07) Was chosen to go to a school at the camp for training  (5:19) Transferred to 3rd Battalion Headquarters Company, 126th Infantry Regiment  (5:26) In the Headquarters Co., Mr. Rector was in the S2 section o Later became sergeant of the S2 section  (5:40) In the S2 section, they went on patrols, intelligence missions  (6:11) Mr. Rector didn’t feel that adjusting to military life was hard  (6:27) He liked military life better than civilian life o Described living with parents separately; was a hassle o In the Army, he was with the same group of people all the time  (6:54) After Beauregard, they were moved to Camp Livingston, Louisiana  (7:05) They still lived in tents, but they were on platforms and had side walls, screens, fresh air, etc.  (7:40) Was in Livingston during the summer of 1941 �   (8:00) Summer of 1941, they were on maneuvers all the time (8:13) Mr. Rector said he was lucky as the “Battalion Commander’s Chauffer” o Drove a Weapons Carrier (9:45) Most of the guys that joined the National Guard were younger than Mr. Rector, who was 22 at the time [although there were men who had been in the unit longer who were a good deal older] Pearl Harbor Attack  (10:15) Heard about Pearl Harbor on a Sunday afternoon o On the radio  (11:46) Moved from the camp in January of 1942 [left permanently several months later] o Sent to Ft. Devens, Massachusetts, but then ordered to the Pacific  (12:25) Sent to San Francisco, and then to Australia  (12:43) Train took them to San Francisco o Housed at the Cow Palace  (13:28) Mentions that they had weekend passes in Louisiana to go to New Orleans o Went two or three times o Went by bus o Also went to Alexandria o They went to bars in these towns  (14:46) Stayed in state rooms on the ocean liner from San Francisco to Australia o Never got sea sick  (16:00) Went to Sandy Creek in South Australia o Camped here o This eventually became a POW camp, brought Italians here  (16:26) Went on hikes in Australia, did a bit of training as well  (16:49) Moved to Brisbane o Got here by train o Train was open on the sides o Seemed to be an old steam engine  (17:47) Set up camp in Brisbane o They were in a big barracks o Went on marches  (18:38) From Brisbane, they went to New Guinea o Went by LST’s o They were very crowded on these ships  (19:31) Port Moresby �             o One building; headquarters o Camped outside of Port Moresby (20:00) Remembers flying over the mountains in New Guinea (21:15) Was supposed to be on a plane called the Flying Dutchman, but it was packed, so Mr. Rector got on another plane o Found out later that the Flying Dutchman had crashed o Lost several men from the company o Found out about this a couple days later (22:30) The country was very mountainous (25:08) As they marched towards Buna after flying over the mountains, they saw Japanese planes flying over o Started seeing signs that they were in a war (25:31) At this point, Mr. Rector didn’t see casualties (25:41) When they reached the area outside of Buna [the Japanese were dug in there], they set up camp, Mr. Rector was in the headquarters company still (25:51) Companies put in different areas (26:25) Went on patrols almost every day – during night and day o Disliked night patrols; hard to know where he was going o Described a time where he and a captain were lost (28:04) Once, they were going through the jungle and stopped on a path going out o Japanese officer stepped out from behind a tree and held a gun to Mr. Rector’s friend o But the gun didn’t fire o They got out, went back to camp (30:38) Mr. Rector got malaria o If a guy had a fever over 106, he was sent to the hospital, if it was under 106, they stayed o It was very hard to work with a fever o Got dysentery, jaundice, even had maggots on his leg at one point o They had quinine, which controlled symptoms of malaria, but ran out at some point o Not prepared to be in jungles; no training (32:47) Mr. Rector said they learned later some of the “tricks” of the enemy o Wasn’t right on the front lines all the time, because he was in headquarters (33:26) The Japanese tried to come into the lines at night o They didn’t get close to Mr. Rector personally, he was in headquarters most of the time (34:22) Was ordered to use a machine gun at one point �                 o Had to crawl about 100 yards through kunai grass to get to L company o In a pit 25 ft in diameter o At the bottom of the pit were Japanese soldiers who’d been killed (35:43) Mr. Rector felt that the patrols he went on helped their battalion move forward; got the job done (36:28) Over time at Buna they got more supplies delivered by aircraft (37:20) For food, Mr. Rector remembers getting three kinds of C-Rations o One had pork and beans o Sausage links o Beef o And a disk of something (38:06) Didn’t see a lot of Australians here at Buna, because they were in a different area (38:26) The Australian soldiers were well trained and very good (39:00) Great reception from Australian citizens, even recently (40:26) There were about 50 men from Mr. Rector’s battalion left at the end (40:44) After Buna, they traveled Australia on R&R o Coolangatta, Queensland o Stayed here for a couple of months (43:04) Went to a hospital in Buna with malaria at one point (44:48) After the unit was rebuild, they got on an LST, landed at different spots along the coast of New Guinea o Japanese were here, they drove them up into the hills o When they landed on the coast, there were fire fights (45:52) The condition here wasn’t different than Buna – Mr. Rector still went on patrols, etc. (46:24) Had different battalion commanders (46:45) Commander at Buna was Major Irwin (47:00) Mr. Rector remembers seeing the battalion commander almost every day (47:12) Because Mr. Rector was in headquarters, he knew more about what was going on in the war than the others in their battalion (47:38) There were times at Buna when the fighting was very bad (48:00) Mr. Rector said he never liked General MacArthur o He said that MacArthur wasn’t trustworthy; didn’t know what was going on o When they were in Australia on beach landing training, Mr. Rector was an observer  Had a telescope, looked over the coast �      MacArthur landed A few weeks later, his mother sent him a picture of MacArthur landing, saying “I have returned,” but it was him landing in Australia, not the US o Very unpopular among men in the 32nd division (49:55) Remembers Eleanor Roosevelt visiting Australia o Didn’t enjoy standing in the hot sun listening to her talk (50:29) At one point, they landed on Morotai, north of New Guinea o Not much different than the other landings o Same terrain, etc. (50:58) One Thursday morning, Mr. Rector was loading the troops up to go to Luzon, was on rotation o Got orders to return to the United States o Will never forget, because when the troops went up to Luzon, many were killed in fights (51:34) For each month, so many points were earned for service over seas o Mr. Rector had enough points to go home twice, but now it was his turn Going Home  (52:38) Got on an airplane, flew down to Milne Bay, New Guinea o Got on a ship and came back to the US  (52:51) Went home on a troop ship  (53:20) Weather got bad sometimes, but it didn’t matter to them since they were on their way home  (53:46) Remembers one ship that was going from Brisbane to New Guinea got torpedoed  (55:59) Once Mr. Rector arrived in the US, there was a month’s delay route  (56:27) They went to Florida, then assigned to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma  (56:53) At Ft. Sill, Mr. Rector was assigned to the communications section o Sergeants reported to him o At Ft. Sill, people were still being trained in field artillery  (58:10) Mr. Rector was home by the time the Japanese had surrendered  (58:30) Was home in the summer of 1945  (58:54) Got married on May 12th, 1945 o Still officially in the army at this time  (59:20) Knew his wife while he was in the service, but they weren’t engaged while he was away  (59:39) Mr. Rector went to work as a draftsman, made grinding machinery �        (59:59) Went to Lear, worked on aircraft accessories (1:00:05) Left Lear and went to a different company and did design work o Stayed here until 1980 and then Mr. Rector retired (1:00:33) Mr. Rector said his time in the service made him appreciate life a lot more (1:01:16) Mr. Rector said in the war they didn’t see a lot of Japanese alive, occasionally a prisoner (1:02:30) Americans got along with natives in New Guinea and Australia very well o The natives would carry their packs o Enjoyed cranking generators to send messages (1:03:11) At the time, Mr. Rector hated the Japanese for what happened to Pearl Harbor o These feelings carried on a little bit after the war (1:03:50) Remembers when he worked at Lear, they had an office in Japan, and there were Japanese workers o One worker asked Mr. Rector if he was in the service o The worker was also there in New Guinea; a friendly man, Mr. Rector said (1:06:27) Mr. Rector was very happy to get home o Kissed the ground when they landed in San Francisco � 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 RectorD1173V Title A name given to the resource Rector, Delbert (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rector, Delbert Description An account of the resource Mr. Rector was born in Cedar Springs, Michigan, in 1918. After graduating high school in 1938, he went to work and joined the Michigan National Guard. They were mobilized in October, 1940, and sent to train in Louisiana. He was assigned to the Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment. Early in 1942, they were sent first to Massachusetts, and then rerouted to San Francisco and sent to Australia. Here they trained for several months, and were shipped to New Guinea in September. Rector's unit participated in the attack on Buna, and remained with his unit through their later fights in New Guinea and Morotai, but was rotated home before the unit went on to Luzon in the Philippines. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) 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 World War, 1939-1945--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 2011-08-11 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7695e74824f0ab9a4d621123eae8c70e.mp4 99a7a31eb590816077616629ed47ef08 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4569a65ddc071cbb3ff68a5161f9e429.pdf 28843d74c074dddc28a68120dc321ad4 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Name of Interviewee: Jeannette Rearick Length: (01:01:25) (00:30) Background Information • • • • • • • • Jeannette’s husband John fought in WWII; they had gotten married on November 17, 1942 She was born in Indiana in 1920 and he was born in Indiana in 1921 John was in the Army Infantry and later became a captain Jeannette grew up in a small town; her father owned a bar and her mother stayed at home She had a brother and sister that were 10 and 12 years older than her it felt like she was an only child Jeannette met John in the 3rd grade when he had first moved to town; they began dating in 11th grade Her brother was in the Navy and John’s father had fought in WWI After high school John began going to college and later enlisted in the Army (7:40) Training • John was sent to Fort Benning in Georgia for basic training • He later began training with heavy weapons and became part of the 307th Heavy Weapons Regiment • It was difficult for him to take machine guns apart and put them back together quickly • He was later sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina and working with the 77th Infantry Division, working on hand to hand combat • John was always homesick and they missed each other very much • He was anxious to be done with the service and get back to college • John and Jeannette got married in South Carolina in 1942 (10:45) Traveling • After getting married John was sent to West Virginia for mountain climbing • He was then sent to Virginia for ship loading and unloading of supplies • John was sent to Camp Heider in California • Jeannette lived with him there off base and worked for a telephone company (12:40) Overseas • John received orders to be shipped out from California and to fight in the Pacific • Jeannette moved back in with her parents and began working at her father’s bar • John fought in Guam, Okinawa, and 3 other small islands �• He also traveled to the Philippines and made many good friend while he was in the service (25:30) Guam • John had a pet parrot while overseas to keep him company and sent Jeannette pictures of them together • They wrote each other often, but it took about 2 weeks for each letter to be delivered • John had first been sent to Guam where they fought the Japanese in the jungle • He collected a few swords from Japanese that he had killed and brought them home to hang on their mantle • Many of his good friends were killed there during their first week in battle • John was wounded, with a gash in his head, shot in the leg, and torn ligament in his arm in 1944 (36:40) End of Service • John had received orders once he was healed that he would serve with a group to be replacements for Marines in Japan • He had been in Okinawa when the war ended and his previous orders were rescinded • He was happy to be back to civilian life and anxious to start law school • They later traveled to Guam and other islands in the Pacific for the 50th reunion ceremony (47:55) Looking Back • The war tore John and Jeanette apart and also brought them closer together • They always thought they would never see each other again and looked forward to every day together • They were married for 65 years and John is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery � 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 RearickJ Title A name given to the resource Rearick, Jeanette (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rearick, Jeanette Description An account of the resource Jeanette Rearick is World War II wife whose husband served in the U.S. Army. She re-accounts his pre-enlistment, training and enlistment, and service experience. She retells briefly what John Rearick, her husband's service experience, was like in the Pacific. What is memorable about him is his experience fighting the Japanese in the jungles on Guam. After his service experience, John went to law school and traveled with his wife a little bit. She concludes by mentioning how her husband's war experience made them closer. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Wesenberg, Perry (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) 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. Army 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 2009-05-31 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/87a9f14883a6df347a7b8f8ab0c0405e.mp4 6449932768c9900ddbbdb80157f9e849 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/554deb4a2ff5ae2dc4da7cfee8291ee8.pdf 1599a145ed90350c516a6d2dc2617865 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Frederick Rawsthorne (42:20) Pre Enlistment Born in St Helens, England, June 6, 1922 Family immigrated to America when very young Returned to England with Mother and Father few years later, back to St Helens. Returned to the United States to find Work. Ecorse, Michigan (1929 6:08) Father Was Foundry worker Five to Six sisters of father migrated to same area. (5:03) Depression Father was unemployed for long periods of time during great depression Family was on welfare for long time, father finally found work at Wyandotte Chemicals Moved to Wyandotte, began to attend public schools. Moved several places within city, attended several different schools. Enjoyed English, chemistry didn’t like math. Was in glee club, tried for swimming team, played role in an Operetta. (11:20) War Started working at gas station for 12$ a week for uncle. Attended apprentice school for Tool and Dye Didn’t finish, Joined Marine Corps in 1942. (14:40) Service Boot Camp in San Diego went home on furlough via train. Was stationed in San Diego, and worked as a Machinist in the reclamation Salvage Dept. Year later he was sent to Camp Pendleton, was moved to Hawaii until reassigned for a few weeks. He was reassigned to Guam, and given a mobile machine shop. �2nd Marine Division 2nd Amphibian Truck Company, vehicle repair. Later moved to Saipan, always just behind the big battles. Was still on Saipan when Atomics where dropped on Japan. He was stationed in area of Nagasaki. The surrounding and was devastated. Japanese were polite and did not give the military any problems. (24:12) After War Shipped home April of1946. No serious relationships. He joined the Masons in 1967. Went Back to Ford, finished his apprenticeship. Was laid off, didn’t have job for period of time. Took Postal examination around Christmas 1949 (30:24) Post Office and Masons Started at the bottom level, eventually achieved Post master Status by appointment. He retained position for 20 years since JFK’s presidency. Became master of Lodge in of Trenton, MI ‘77 They initiated 2-4 candidates a week. (38:20) Family Met wife in Trenton in ‘46 Had Boy and a Girl Daughter Beth is a school teacher in River View Son is a Doctor. They paid for their children’s first four years. (42:20) Reflections on Life Service had little impact on his life. Did not join any Veterans organizations �Masonry helped him a great deal. Wife developed Alzheimer’s Ended up in nursing home in 2005.    � 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 RawsthorneF Title A name given to the resource Rawsthorne, Frederick (Interview outline and video), 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rawsthorne, Frederick Description An account of the resource Frederick Rawsthorne was born in St. Helena, England, but migrated to the United States at an early age with his family. He returned to England with his family, then ventured back to the United States, with his family yet again. His family struggled to support itself during the Great Depression. Frederick found work, and then became a machinist's apprentice at Ford. During his apprenticeship, he joined the Marine Corps and was stationed in noncombat zones throughout the Pacific, eventually Japan. After WWII he became a full time machinist. He was laid off in 1949 and went to work at the post office in Trenton, MI. Eventually he rose to high status as postmaster of his town and master of his Masons' lodge. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine Corps Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-08-08 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8844a1ba50348a9de225d372349b03ba.mp4 366d131a40e9515068ff331ae3126eed https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e2827be825bb2f84f83669345690d2a3.pdf fff22452a29fcb7c5437604a2bf5915a PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW MICHAEL RAUDENBUSH Born: Harvey, Illinois Resides: Rockford, Michigan Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, January 21, 2013 Interviewer: Mike can you start us off with some background on yourself and to begin with, where and when were you born? I was born in Harvey, Illinois on August 5, 1944. Interviewer: Now did you grow up in that area or did you move around? We moved around, my mom moved to Philadelphia for a job in 1945, and we lived in that area for four years. My mom was--well very honestly, my dad took off and my biological dad, they were married, but I don‘t consider him my dad. 1:07 I never saw him and my mom got divorced and she met my dad who adopted me. They got married and we came—my dad worked for the Railway Express in shipping. They shipped mail and everything, but that was starting to go out back in 1949 and he got laid off. They talked it over and they decided they were going to go to the Chicago area, where my mom was born and I was born and she grew up there, and see if he could find a job. 2:00 On the way there I had an uncle and his family in Grand Rapids and we stopped for a three day visit. That was in august of 1950 and my uncle said to my dad, ―You know they‘re hiring like crazy for jobs right now‖ because the Korean War had started and they were taking healthy young men out, so my dad went out with him for a day and came back with a job working for a bakery. From then on we lived here. Both of my parents have passed away, but we lived here the rest of the time. 1 �Interviewer: Now, were you in the city of Grand Rapids when you were growing up? Yes Interviewer: What high school did you go to? 3:03 Well, I wasn‘t in the city for the whole time growing up. For the first three years we were and then we moved, which is well part of the city now, we moved by—not far from the—just off Ball Avenue from the Kent county Jail, which wasn‘t there when we first moved over there. It was a new housing project at that time and my parents got a home. I went to a very small school, a grade school, five class room, the only—the Kindergarteners and the eighth grade were the only ones that got their own room. The others were in two classes, and we were not in any school district then, we were just outside of the city limits. 4:02 My parents--we had been going to the Trinity Methodist Church all the years we lived there and my parents knew a lot of people‘s kids went to East Grand Rapids High School and I could go anywhere, so they decided I was going to go to East. I went to East for two years and then we got annexed to the city and I ended up two years at Central High School, so I graduated from Central in 1963. Interviewer: All right, now what did you do at that point? I lettered in football in—and I ran track, but I didn‘t run track in my senior year because I got a job at downtown Grand Rapids, was downtown Grand Rapids where everybody shopped. 5:00 I got a job working in a meat market down there, Beazley‘s Meat market, so I was working at the meat market and I don‘t know what to say after that. Interviewer: Well, you wind up in the army at some point, how did that happen? 2 �Well, it had to do with the meat market. I had no intentions of going in the service, it wasn‘t even on my mind, and at that time there was, except for the cold war, there wasn‘t a lot going on. Vietnam was a little thing once and a while in the paper, and I became friends with this one other guy that worked. He was going to Creston High School and had just graduated and wanted to go into the army because he had been in high school ROTC. 6:05 Where Beazley‘s was in town, there was a little—between us and Sears next door was a little alley. If you went out the back of our meat market and down the alley and came out, they had the army recruiting right there. He was talking to me and he said, ―You know, I‘m going to go over there and see about enlisting. Could you just come, I‘m nervous, and just help me?‖ I said, ―Sure‖, so we went over there and I just sat down away from him talking to the recruiter and he‘s talking to the recruiter about this and that and I‘m just looking at things. 7:02 The recruiter turns to me and the recruiter says, ―What do you want to enlist in?‖ I said, ―Nothing, I‘m not here to enlist. I‘m just here because he asked me to be moral support‖, and the recruiter says, ―Well, what are you going to do?‖ Like I said, I had already been accepted at JC, which is now Community College, but I said that I really wanted to be a minister at that time. He said, ―What if I send you some material?‖ Well, he said, ―Did you ever think about going into the service?‖ I said, ―No, I want to be a minister‖, and he said, ―Well, you know we have a thing called Chaplain‘s Assistant. You could go in the service and be a Chaplain‘s Assistant and see if you like it?‖ I said one more time, ―No, I‘m not going in the service‖, and he said, ―What if I just send you some literature on it?‖ To get him off my back I said, ―Fine‖. 8:03 Two weeks later, it was summertime, and I came home from working and I walked in and my parents were just sitting there and my mom said, ―You 3 �didn‘t tell us you joined the army‖, and I went, ―What?‖ She said, ―We got a phone call from the army recruiter said that he‘s got you all set up and you leave August 15th. They got the bus ticket for Wayne, Detroit where they check people in and that‖, and I started to say, ―I didn‘t sign anything and I‘m not going‖, and they said, ―You will not go in the service‖. 9:01 Unfortunately, I was a just turned, just turned nineteen year old, and I went, they couldn‘t tell me what to do, so like an idiot I went. There were a lot of nights there that I went, ―What did I do?‖ But that‘s how I ended up in the service. Interviewer: Okay The whole thing was, being a volunteer you could—you went through all the physicals and everything and then the Captain came in to swear us in and he said, ―All of you that are volunteers, at this time, have the right to walk out that door, we‘ll give you a bus ticket home, but if you‘re drafted you have to take the oath‖. 10:03 I‘m looking around and thinking, ―One person, one person walk out and I‘m gone‖, well, nobody did, so I ended up in the service. Interviewer: Did you have any sense of what portion of them were draftees or were they not talking about that? Oh yeah, the draftees, they wanted all the persons that were volunteers to know that they‘re stupid, they‘re volunteering, you know. Interviewer: Were there a lot of draftees there when you were doing the physical or just a few of them? I would say two thirds were draftees. Interviewer: Had you had any expectation, before you wound up accidentally enlisting, that you might get drafted? 4 �No, it wasn‘t even on my mind, you know. At that time, again, it was just the cold war and I didn‘t really know that many people that got drafted. 11:00 Interviewer: There was a draft, but it wasn’t taking huge numbers of men at that time. No Interviewer: So you might well not have to worry about it anyway, and planning to go on to college and so forth. If you were in college you were exempt anyway, while you were in college. Interviewer: So there you are—did the draftees make an effort to find a way to get out of it at that point? Were they trying to fool the recruiters or mess with the physical or anything like that? Not that I saw, no, they were understanding that they were drafted and I think, from what I saw, they must have been pretty patriotic, you know. They just took their fate. They did talk about, ―Just two years and I‘ll be out of it‖. Interviewer: Now, when you went in, had he, had the recruiter set things up so you would get a particular variety of training or did you get option for what kind of training you would get going in? 12:05 Well, he kind of set me up for—to see if I could get in Chaplain‘s Assistant—kind of , and in my eight weeks of basic, I think it was the sixth week, they called out all those that—there were four companies, I think, of trainees going on at the same time, and we were sent down to be interviewed by the base Chaplain. 13:00 I walked down there and there was just a whole bunch of—and I realized talking to these people that, I‘m just a 5 �high school graduate, and the next person had two years of college and the rest were three years graduated, you know, so, needless to say that I didn‘t make the cut. Interviewer: Did you talk to the Chaplain or did you just turn around and leave? I talked to him and you know hope springs eternal and somewhere there was this little maybe, but I didn‘t get it and again, there was only a couple, even with all these people there was only a couple of vacancies. So, I went back and I was going to go to clerks‘ school because my mom made sure I took typing in high school and all that besides my other classes. 14:08 I was going to be a clerk and when you go in the service you take a battery of tests, at least back then a battery of tests. It turns out I scored, I couldn‘t believe it, but I scored pretty high on leadership and all these other things, so I got interviewed for possibly going into the ―ninety day wonder‖ group, you know, and take the ninety days of Officers Candidate School. Here I am a nineteen year old and I passed the first round of questioning. 15:05 I passed the second round and I was getting to the—pretty close into the group, and then they sent in the ―who can we scare guy‖, you know. Again I‘m just nineteen and these other guys are twenty one, twenty two, and have been around a little bit. He started talking about all the harassment and that, and he said, ―You know, if you want to think about it you can sign this paper and at any time you can say, ―you know, I‘d like to take a crack at it‖‖. That wasn‘t really the truth, and once you signed that paper you pretty much were not in it anymore, so I ended up being sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana as a heavy weapon [specialist], mortars and the 106 recoilless rifle. 16:05 Interviewer: Let’s back up a little bit to your arrival at boot camp. They send you to Fort Knox. 6 �Right Interviewer: What sort of a reception do you get when you get down there? This was still the old army and you took this bus all the way straight to Knox from Detroit. They get you off at—early in the morning and to kind of set this up, Bobby Bare--I don‘t know if you know who Bobby Bare is, but he‘s a singer and he had several hits back in the early sixties and one was ―Detroit City‖, ―I want to go home‖, you know and just as—they had a radio that played music, you know, a radio station on the bus and just as we‘re getting in, driving into Knox, that‘s what they played. 17:04 I said, ―This is some kind of a thing telling me, ―you shouldn‘t be here‖‖, but as soon as that bus hit, the training sergeants were out there, ―boom‖ you‘re here. Not being too nice for a training site, and I don‘t understand that, but they put you to your company and off you went. Interviewer: Are they shouting orders at you as you arrive? Oh yeah, oh yeah—the first thing they did once they got you, they marched you right over to the barber. 18:00 And we had this guy from Detroit on our bus that had long curly red hair and that was his pride and joy. When we got to the barber shop guess who they took first? The barber went, you know, ―How would you like this?‖ He goes, ―A little here‖, and the barber goes whish, whish, all gone. He got up and he looked in the mirror and he cried, you know, and I went, ―Oh, man‖, but I kind of knew this was going to happen. My uncle, my mom‘s youngest brother, had served in the army in the Korean War and that and he said, ―Just know that these things are going to happen and just take it in your stride. They‘re just trying to break you in so you take orders and that‖. 19:00 Then we went to basics. 7 �Interviewer: What did they have you spending most of your time doing in basic? What kind of training were you getting there? Pretty much marching, close order drill, learning how to use—at that time it was the M-1, a lot of military classes on proper military etiquette and a lot of PT, a lot of PT. Interviewer: How much emphasis was there on discipline? A lot, which brings me to a little story--we were out learning close, learning close drilling, marching, and I‘m out there and I‘m sneaking a peek at the guy ahead of me. 20:03 Trying to make sure I stayed in step because the first sergeant was leading the drill and he‘d change directions, you know, so I‘m glancing down and he catches me. He decides this is a good time to have a little lesson learned for everybody, so he pulls me out and he says, ―Soldier, you‘re standing—you‘re marching looking at the guy's feet. You can‘t march and look at the guy‘s feet, it doesn‘t work. You get behind me and I‘m not giving any orders, I‘m just going to change and you‘ve got to change too‖, and I made the mistake of keeping up with him. 21:00 And that night we were up in the barracks and we had an inspection the next day, and I‘m in there, and I got my foot locker and your underwear has to be rolled just the right way and I get it all done and it‘s looking good. He comes walking in, he‘s usually home, but he comes walking in and it‘s about nine at night, he‘s looking around and he gets to mine and says, ―I‘ve never seen such*#! looking locker in my life‖, and he took it and threw it. My clothes, and just everything, went all over, and he said, ―Soldier, redo that locker‖, and I learned a lesson right then. Never show up a higher ranking person. But it was—of course everybody else was gaping and they learned a lesson too. 8 �Interviewer: Aside from that particular incident, how easy or had was it for you to adjust to life in the army there? 22:06 To me it was easy and I don‘t know why. Interviewer: You were in pretty good shape when you went in though. Yeah, I played sports in high school and not like I am now. Of course I‘m much older, but I—we actually, we had to run and make at the end, and if you didn‘t pass all of your things you were recycled, in other words you had to redo the whole thing. We had this guy from New York, he was more than slightly overweight and he tried like crazy, but he was not really going to make a good soldier. He had joined the National Guard there in New York to keep from having to serve the two years. 23:04 He was a drummer in a popular singer‘s, in his band we, another guy and I on the run, we almost helped carry him to get him under the time and he just got under the time. I didn‘t want to see the guy fail, you know. But, that kind of stuff—my dad was a strict person, so I was use to rules and that, and you know, I didn‘t grow up doing whatever I wanted to do, so I didn‘t have that big of a problem. Interviewer: Within your company there, were the soldiers all white or did you have some black guys in there? Oh yeah, we had a mixture. We had a group, two white guys from New York and two colored from New York, and they could all harmonize well, and they did. 24:16 they drove me crazy because there was this one song, something about ―Don‘t let your mama come knocking on my door‖, it was a song that was popular back then and I got—I listen to the oldies once and a while on the radio and that, and when that comes on I say, ―Oh 9 �no, they‘re trying to torture me‖. We pretty much—I don‘t remember any racial problems in our company. 25:00 I never heard a slur. Interviewer: So, the drill sergeants didn’t use them or anything like that? No, no, you got to remember Kennedy was in office and he was pushing civil rights pretty good, so it got pushed pretty good in the service. Interviewer: In the military, yeah, they had been a little bit ahead of that game, in terms of desegregation anyway. There were blacks in the regular army units since the 40’s. Yeah Interviewer: You get to the end of basic training, they send you down to Fort Polk, and how do you get down there? Train Interviewer: What do you remember about that trip? That we were not allowed in the cars that had the general public, and that‘s one thing I remember. 26:03 Well, we—I had several guys that I went to basic with, they were my basic platoon and they were gone to the same place, so I had people to talk to. Interviewer: How long did it take, do you think? I‘m saying two days, I think one night. Interviewer: Did you ever get out of the car? Did it stop places or do you think you were in there most of the time. It stopped in a couple of places, let off people and picked up people, and no, we weren‘t allowed off the car. Interviewer: Physically, what was Fort Polk like? 10 �A lot of people hate Fort Polk. 27:04 I don‘t, I had a pretty good time there. There was no big buildup at the time I was there. Interviewer: At this point, this is a little bit before the big Vietnam buildup. There was a point where an awful lot of guys who went in, went in after you went through Fort Polk for AIT, and it had all kinds of reference to Vietnam simulation and that kind of stuff. For you, what was it about fort Polk that you liked? Why did you have a good time there? Well, after AIT I was sent two blocks, like I talked earlier to you, two blocks to the assistant instructor of the 106 recoilless rifle, anti-tank weapon, and I got treated like I was a regular higher rank because I was a trainer. 28:03 Interviewer: So, you went from trainee to trainer almost overnight? In a couple days—it was unbelievable, you know. I had one thing a lot of people did, I still had to pull KP, but I also had several people from my heavy weapons platoon in AIT that went with me, so I had a built in friendship too, and I was lucky enough to—our sergeant, our barracks sergeant, he was from Detroit and he had only been in the service a couple years, but he was fantastic in sports and he won the base several titles. 29:00 Baseball, football, football back when they had rivalries with other bases and that, so his rank went up every time they won another championship, he got another stripe, you know. But, he took me under his wing and he went—he explained thing to me, he went, ―Michael, you don‘t just want to spend time going into Leesville‖, which is the town right outside of—he said, ―Find a way to get away, get twenty, thirty, forty, fifty miles away, and when you do that don‘t act like some stupid idiot, and don‘t put down the people because they talk different from you or do different things‖. And I took that 11 �into—I believe that today and it happened that one of the guys that was in basic and AIT with me, he was a draftee, and he went home and got his car because he could then, he was permanent party. 30:07 And we‘d go on weekends to a place called Ville Platte, about forty miles from the base. They had a bar with a band and that, and the thing was nineteen year olds could drink down there, and I met a girl there and at the same time, my buddy with the car met the girl's girlfriend, and we‘d go up on a Saturday night and the parents—were kind of leery of me at first, but they decided they liked me and allowed me, him and I, to sleep on their couch and that. 31:05 Making sure that the daughter was---which I would have done too as a father. We had a good time it was just—I enjoyed my work, I enjoyed teaching the 106, I enjoyed the life, I loved the live fire we did. At the end of training, what we did was, we had a range out, I guess its called North Fort now, but it was just out, and we‘d fire live rounds and the 106, I don‘t know if you‘re familiar with it, but it‘s got two different types of rounds and they‘re twenty one and twenty three, if I remember right, it‘s been a long time, but in weight, pounds and weight. 32:07 Its got a modified M-50 machine gun, so it only fires one time, and it‘s got a back blast because you put these charges in and it‘s got a back blast that will go back to about up to twenty feet, depending on what you got, and you know the sits on, the gunner sits on the mount and he looks through this scope and then he pushes in and the machine gun bullet goes out and its phosphorus and if it hits the tank then he knows he‘s in and he fires the real round. 33:02 But I had to grab a whole bunch of guys that were the loaders—we spent time, we‘d show them, we‘d fire a round and show them the back blast and then they would get—they were standing right behind me and you had to go, ‗Don‘t shoot, don‘t fire yet‖ and pull them off. 12 �Interviewer: They directly behind the barrel of the gun, right where the back blast would hit them. Oh, it would kill them, kill them in a minute. Interviewer: Do you have any idea how you wound up becoming an instructor out of that? Were you just good with the weapon when you were training on it? Well, I got good grades and everything, as far as the training, but it was the luck of the draw in some way, it really was, it was just kind of the luck of the draw. Interviewer: When you were growing up, had you done any hunting or shooting, or things like that or were you new to guns when you went into the army? No, back in 1955, at the age of eleven, you could go hunting, at that time, with hunting licenses if a parent was with you. 34:10 Where we lived, now it‘s all kinds of buildings and everything else, condos and you name it, but at that time, we walked down to the end of our street, across Plymouth, which was a road that went this way, and it was all woods. We would go pheasant hunting, my dad and I went two years and my dad got mad because we never shot any and we never went hunting again. I had nothing against weapons, except that I don‘t think weapons should be around where little kids are. Interviewer: But you didn’t have a lot of experience with them before you went in the army. 35:06 A couple of years of hunting with my dad and that was it. Interviewer: But without much to shoot at. Well yeah, but you know, we did some target practice. You have to learn to shoot before you can go out there and try hunting, so we did target practicing and that, but I just liked firing a weapon, I don‘t like firing at people. 13 �Interviewer: How long did your assignment at Fort Polk last? Let‘s see, I graduated the week before Christmas, and I went to Berlin in August. 36:08 Interviewer: So, about eight months or so? Yeah Interviewer: Did you just—was it normal for them to take people who were assigned to things on the base and then just give them orders to go somewhere else? Oh yeah, it was the army and whatever their need is, you know. I just thought I was blessed getting that time there and the people I met. Interviewer: Had you—did they ask you if there were places you wanted to go, or if you had preference for overseas assignment? Not back then Interviewer: So, basically one day you come in and you have orders to go to Berlin? I had orders to go to Germany, and I had a thirty day leave and I had to go to Fort Dix, New Jersey and we were going over by boat, or ship, excuse me. 37:11 I just had orders for that and I got to have my leave and got to Dix and I got orders for Europe and we sailed to Bremerhaven and they lined us up, and actually, I got a group number on the boat the day before. These are the people you‘re going to be with. We got off and some went to, you name it, in Germany and my orders said Berlin. Interviewer: Okay, what kind of boat did you go over on? 38:02 We went over on a liberty ship. Interviewer: Did you have an easy ride or a rough one? Oh, it was August and I slept on the deck most of the time. Seriously, it was great going over, however, coming back. 14 �Interviewer: So, you get to Bremerhaven okay, and you go to Berlin. Yes Interviewer: do you remember, did they fly you out or put you on a train, how did they get you there? No, there wasn‘t any flying at that time--by train through East Berlin [East Germany], which I found very interesting. Of course, they pulled down the shades and they‘d come in and check everybody‘s ID. Interviewer: East Germans? Yeah, it‘s their territory Interviewer: Because you had to cross through East Germany to get to West Berlin. Yeah, yeah Interviewer: So, when you hit the boarder they stop the train and they come in and they check everything. Yeah 39:05 Interviewer: All right, then what kind of an assignment did you have when you got to Berlin? I ended up in a 106 squad in—I‘m trying to remember. Interviewer: Was that when you were with the 1st Armored Division, was that the parent unit? No, Berlin Brigade is a unit itself, yeah; it‘s a unit by its self. Interviewer: So, you were basically an anti-tank guy? I was, I was that for a while and then they needed mortar men and I was in mortars, and then one day I get called to see the company commander. 40:03 He said, ―I got orders 15 �to send you to headquarters in Headquarters Company for an interview for the room to be an honor guard, I got accepted and my job was to guard the Allied Kommandantur, which was the old Gestapo headquarters and they had three guards. The French had a unit of offices, you had your British and you had your Americans, and we had a place set up and cleaned every day, and set up every day, for the Russians if they decided to come back. 41:05 In there we had an armed French, a British MP, and us, and it was twelve on and twenty four off. Interviewer: Were you just standing guard basically? Well, we had two rooms, one on this side of the steps, big steps, you go up, big Oak door, and then you went up another set of steps, then you came in and they had, it looked like mirrors, but they couldn‘t see us, but we could see them. Then whoever‘s month it was on the desk would check ID‘s and that. 42:03 One time I went--we got three pistols here, pistols—we got the army--anyway, their pistol 1914 was it? Anyway, and that fired a total of nine rounds, the British had a pistol and I think his shot six rounds, and the French had one and it fired somewhere around six. I‘m thinking, ―We‘re gone‖, you know, but in the back they had a full tactical squad of German police heavily armed, heavily armed, so that was good duty. 43:13 Interviewer: Did you have a lot of high ranking officers or VIP’s going through there? Oh yeah, that job was to control the airways, the land, and the sea. Yeah, we had a lot of diplomats because it was basically where most of the diplomats were. Interviewer: Now, did you see anybody that was famous or heard of at the time? 16 �It wasn‘t there, but I got to meet Natalie Wood. 44:07 You know, we were on headquarters grounds and across the street was the base theater where all the high ranking people went, so they had ―Sex and The Single Girl‖ with her and Tony Curtis in that, and I got to escort her in, which was the highlight of my military career. I grew up idolizing Natalie Wood. Interviewer: What kind of accommodations do they give you when you’re in the Berlin Brigade? We had rooms; we had three-man rooms, which is much better than the base. 45:06 Interviewer: In general, how did the people in West Berlin treat the American soldiers? Excellent, I never ever had a fight; I never ever had a problem. The only funny thing was, I never met a German guy that fought in WWII that fought against the allies, except they all fought the Russians. Interviewer: An awful lot of them did. I know, I just thought it was funny, there had to be one, but we also, on holidays, because the Allied Kommandantur would be closed, I would guard the headquarters there. I saw a lot of high ranking Generals in my time there. 46:02 Interviewer: Did you ever go into East Berlin itself? Yes Interviewer: What was that like? Night and day, night and day—you had to get a security clearance to do, but that was easy because I was doing security stuff. So, you go in and they check you at the border and the East Germans made sure that you—you had to buy their exchange for their marks 17 �and that, and they checked you all out. Then you go in, you go in uniform, and there was always somebody right close to you because they didn‘t want their citizens to be talking to you. 47:08 I went twice and that was more than my fill. Interviewer: what condition was East Berlin in physically? How did it compare to West Berlin? Again, night and day—they still had ruins that they hadn‘t cleaned up and we were a modern new city. What worried me was, between us, the allies; we had three tank companies, one American, one French, and one British. They had thirty tank divisions between us and West Germany.48:00 We were given three minutes to live if they decided to attack us. One night—our barracks were kind of like this (in a circle), and in the middle we had a track and a football field, and they dropped a dud mortar round right in the middle of that field one night. Diplomatically they apologized, but they were sending a message that ―we gotcha‖, but luckily nothing ever happened. Interviewer: How long did you spend in Berlin? Eighteen months Interviewer: Was sort of that a normal length for a stay at that time as far as you can tell? Were guys rotating in and out at about that pace? Most were Interviewer: When did you leave Berlin then? I left two days—the 26th, 27th of February. 49:09 I didn‘t get on the USS Patch until the first day of March. Interviewer: In what year? 1966 18 �Interviewer: The USS Patch, was that a naval ship or another troop transport? Another old liberty ship Interviewer: What was that trip like? Awful, again I was on the last floor, or the first floor, whichever way they count a deck, and right at the front of the ship, and going through the North Atlantic at that time of year was awful. 50:07 You had to climb up all these steps to get-- and, of course, all these waves were coming over, so they ropes and you had to hold on to the rope, and I‘d get to the mess hall and I‘d smell it and It‘s not that anything was wrong with the mess, I was just so sea sick that I‘d get there and say, ―I can‘t eat‖, so I lost a few pounds on the way back. Interviewer: How long did the trip take? Thirteen days Interviewer: Was it stormy the whole time, or rough seas? Up until we got close to New York, the old Brooklyn naval yard. Interviewer: From there did you get to go home for a while? I did, I got thirty days Interviewer: Then what’s your next assignment after that? Fort Hood, Texas Interviewer: What unit was based down there, who did you join? 51:06 I was, I don‘t remember the name of the unit now, but I got it in my paperwork there, but it was a—they were just starting a—go back to training a whole companies for--it was a training unit, for sending over to Vietnam all together one unit. I got there and because I could type--was the company commanders‘ driver, part time clerk, you know, that kind 19 �of stuff. Once in a while I‘d actually give a training thing to the recruits on Molotov cocktails and how to do that if you had to, you know. 52:03 I had a good time at that time. Interviewer: You were—you did fairly well there at Fort Hood, right? You got some special recognition. Yeah, I was there over a month and I got called into the company commanders‘ office and the first sergeant was there and they said my platoon sergeant had put me up for ―company soldier of the quarter‖, and I said, ―What‘s that?‖ Seriously, I didn‘t know and he said, ―Well, all four platoons put up there candidate and we select one as the best soldier for that quarter in our company‖, and I went, ―Okay‖, so I said, ―What kind of questions di you ask?‖ 53:07 He said, ―All military, it could be weapons, it could be etiquette, document, what‘s going on in the news about the military‖, so I went, ―Okay‖, and one day, it was just a couple days before we had the interviews, I was walking by the, not trying to listen, but we didn‘t have air conditioning, so they had the window up in the—and the first sergeant and the company commander were talking about what is coming up and the company commander asked the first sergeant if he‘s got any real tough ones and he said, ―I always ask the same ones‖. 54:06 I always ask, ―What army document is A-2?‖ the company commander said, ―I never heard of it‖, and he said, ―That‘s because nobody ever looks at their military ID‖, and I went, ―Okay‖, and of course he asked that and I came up with the answer and I think that got me it right there, because he kind of looked at me like, ―Nobody‘s ever answered that before‖, but I was told that I got two weeks of battalion rights, so I—but he said, ―You have a partner now‖, because the NCO for the quarter for the company they select too, and we studied 20 �together, you know. He was really sharp. 55:03 I hope I was pretty helpful to him too, but we both went up and guess what? We both made it, so now we went to battalion. Interviewer: Brigade Brigade, I get these things mixed up anymore, but anyway, I made it again , and so far I‘m—I get a little thing in the ―Daily Orders‖ thing saying that, but what am I getting out of it? Not anything that I see, but I went up then for division level and I‘ll be darn if I didn‘t get that one too. For Division soldier of the Quarter I at least got-- in the Killeen paper I got an article and I finally got a twenty-five dollar bond, which is only twelve fifty. 56:12 I did get a chance to become the brigade commander driver and that was a good duty. Wherever he went and whatever he did, he was a full bird Colonel, I got to go along If he had a meeting with a luncheon, I got to sit and eat what everybody else did, you know. It was a good job, but it also led me into Vietnam. Interviewer: What’s the connection there? I got close to my ETS, you know, end time service, and I had to see a recruiter. 57:07 Well, I saw the recruiter and the recruiter was trying to get me to –and I went, ―No‘, and he said, ―How do you like your job?‖ Knowing how I like my job, and he also knew that I was dating a girl not far from there, and he said, ―Do you ever think about extending for a year? The Colonel likes you and you got your job and you see a girl.‖, and I went, ―Mmm, I don‘t think so‖, and the next thing you know I‘m thinking, ―Well‖, and he said, ―It‘s guaranteed in writing, in writing, that you will stay here‖. 58:00 I went and talked to the Major and the Colonel and the colonel swore me in and I took an extra year and things were going good. One day I had a friend that had a 1956 T-bird, something I had always wanted to have as a kid growing up and he got orders for Vietnam and he talked 21 �to me and said, ―Mike, I don‘t think I‘m coming back and I know you like my car and I want somebody to have it that will enjoy it‖. We talked it over what it would cost me and I needed two hundred more, so I went to see a bank loan officer and he told me, he said, ―You know, you‘ll get this money today if this is right‖. 59:00 He calls the personnel office and said, ―I can‘t give it to you‖, and I said, ―Why?‖ He said, ―You‘re going to Vietnam‖. I went, ―No I‘m not‖, and he said, ―Yes you are‖, and I said, ―There has got to be a mistake‖. He told me, ―If you can clear it up, if it‘s today, come back and you‘ll get the money, but I have to have proof‖, so I got into the orderly room, the brigade orderly room, and the Sergeant Major‘s there and he looks up and says, ―What‘s up Mike?‖ I told him, I said, ―I got a problem. I went to get this load and the loan officer called up personnel and they said I‘m going to Vietnam‖. The first sergeant said, ―That‘s got to be a mistake‖, not the first sergeant, the Major, and he gets on the phone and when he gets off he looks up and he said, ―Raudenbush, you‘re going to Vietnam‖. I was very lucky that he was a tolerant man because to a higher ranking personnel I blew my stack. 00:04 he just kind of sat there with me calmed down and he said, ―Son, this is the army and no matter what you sign, if they need you someplace, your MOS, you‘re gone‖, so I went. Interviewer: At this point in time, what did you know about what was going on over in Vietnam? I knew—I knew fairly a lot, and I‘m a paper reader, even to this day I‘m a paper reader. I read from the front to the back of newspapers and my mom got me in that habit when I was young. I remember, in Berlin, reading when the president, whatever his title was, was killed. 1:10 Interviewer: President Diem, yeah 22 �I remember reading that, but it didn‘t mean anything to me, and to be honest with you, most of the Stars and Stripes, which was the military paper, at that time—of course then I kind of started following it. I knew that it where the French and Dien Bien Phu got massacred and that, so I never thought I‘d go. After a while you couldn‘t help, it was in the news, it was all over, you know. Interviewer: So when do you get—now, before you go to Vietnam do you get a leave or what happened? Thirty days, a thirty day leave, and something that surprised me, my parents said, ―If you want to go to Canada we‘ll understand‖. 2:06 I went, ―You know, I can‘t do that, I raised my hand and said, I‘ll go wherever the United States military needs you the most‖. That shocked me because I never thought they would do that, you know. Interviewer: Physically then, how do they get you out to Vietnam? I flew, when I finished my leave I took a plane to Oakland and they had a bus at the airport that would pick up any that were going to the Oakland army base. I got there and I wasn‘t supposed to go for four or five days, so I was going to go and spend a few evenings enjoying the local culture. 3:17 They had their formation and I was put into quarantine. The quarantine was all those going on the next day to Vietnam was put in this and locked and that‘s how it was that they locked the doors, so people couldn‘t desert during the night. The next day we got on the bus and went to the plane, which was—the United States rented regular planes. 4:09 Interviewer: Regular civilian aircraft. Yeah, and with the stewardess and all, you know. We flew to Hawaii first. Hawaii, Guam, Okinawa and then into Saigon 23 �Interviewer: What was the mood like on the plane going over? It was—the first—until we got to the last one and we knew we were coming into--the next landing would be Vietnam, there was joking and normal army people stuff, you know, card playing and just the normal stuff. 5:02 When he came over the loud speakers, the Captain said, ―We have now entered into the flight pattern of the Republic of Vietnam‖, it changed. I‘m sitting at a window and I see illumination flares, you know, and it seemed like all the time, but it probably wasn‘t, but I‘m thinking, ―What‘s going on down there, are they fighting somebody?‖ 6:00 Then we landed at three in the morning and they opened the plane door and this was in Tan Son Nhut and they had, from the plane to the building we would be brought to, lined with APC‘s with machine guns and guys in flak jackets and in between these were more guys with flak jackets with heavy weapons, and the said, ―Run‖, and I went, ―Oh, darn‖. I used stronger words than that, but that was our welcome to Vietnam. Interviewer: What did they do with you then? You ran off the tarmac. We got into the terminal and they started calling off names. 7:03 They put us in busses and we went to Camp Alpha, which is where they processed you. I got to Camp Alpha and lucky me, I pull guard duty at one of the gates. No weapon and not even knowing who‘s the good guy and who‘s the bad guy, but then the next day we went through the assignment and I got the 1st Infantry Division, and that‘s all I knew at that time. Then they sent me to the group that was going to the 1st Infantry Division, loaded on a truck and they drove us to Long Binh, which was the headquarters at that time for the 1st Infantry. 8:17 Interviewer: So the divisional headquarters was based there? 24 �Right, and we got there and it was just getting lunch time and they said, ―Okay, there‘s the chow hall, go in and get your lunch and stay in there and we‘ll come and get you‖. We just walked in and all of a sudden I heard this ―Bing Bing‖, and everybody‘s dropping to the floor. They‘re taking shots outside of the—outside of Long Binh, and that‘s when you knew it was the real thing, you know, because I‘m standing there and everybody else is—and I went, ―Oh‖. 9:00 Then I was down, and after a few minutes they got up and I guess this was kind of a daily thing, I don‘t know, but it was a welcoming. Then they put us on a truck and those that were going to Phuoc Vinh, which is where I had my—the next day we got on a truck, we got weapons, but no bullets and there we go down and all of us were just thinking, ―If they attack us what are we going to do, Bang, Bang, you‘re dead? Interviewer: Were you just on one truck, or was there a convoy? This was—we might have had one Jeep with a 60 mounted on it behind us because we didn‘t have any weapons, none, well, bullets. Interviewer: Right I understand that, later when I thought about it, because we‘d be taking pot shots at everything. 10:01 Anything that moved, but we got to Phuoc Vinh and the company was out, we got put in our company, our platoons not company, and I got called up and they said, the lieutenant that was staying back as an officer said, ―I see you can type‖, and I said, ―Yeah‖, and he said, ―Good, we need a clerk, ours is getting ready to rotate, get your stuff and come on back up‖. I get back down there and I wasn‘t even—and I‘m gone, ―Hey you guys enjoy yourself‖, you know, I‘m going up and be company clerk, and down comes the company clerk saying, ―Who‘s Raudenbush?‖ 11:05 I said, ―I am‖, 25 �and he said, the company commander, the acting company commander, wanted to see if I went back up there and he said, ―You‘re not going to be the clerk, you‘re a mortar man and we need you‖, so not only didn‘t I get that, but they just had a couple wounded mortar men. So, there‘s a three day jungle school you got to go through there, at that time, and I got to go right then, pack your stuff. The rest of the guys were not going for another few weeks. Interviewer: What was the jungle school like? It was three days of trying to learn how to go through. 12:02 And one night where you go out and set up a perimeter and do the two man fox hole, and the one hour on and one hour off all night. Interviewer: Do they teach you about booby traps and things like that? Oh yes, you get a fast thing on everything. That one night when we were out, I didn‘t sleep. I‘d take my hour on, or off, but I couldn‘t sleep. Interviewer: Now by this time you have weapons and live ammunition and everything. You got your full kit now? 13:00 Yeah, well we got the 16 and that was just really coming in then, the 16, and we went back and they buy you free-- we had a little EM club, which was hooch with beer. You had to be an E5 or above to get hard liquor, but the group that I was with at the jungle school, we did well for the beer, we had a good, good time and then I got sent out on a chopper, which was interesting because it was the first ride I‘d had. 14:03 I got in a love hate relationship with that, I loved it when it came in and hated it when it went out. I got in and they flew us and dropped us off with a hot meal for the hot meals. Our division was good, if they could fly in a hot meal, they did, you know. 26 �Interviewer: What company were you assigned to? B-1st of the 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division Interviewer: And you were a mortar man in the company? Yes Interviewer: Now, was there a sort of—were there mortars attached to platoons? Does the company have a mortar section, how does that work? The company has a mortar section. There can be at times, and it all depends, again, on what‘s going on. You could be with a platoon or you could be—most of the time we were right in the middle of the company when we dug in and that for the night, or whatever. 15:09 Interviewer: So you’d be somewhere around where the company CP was? Yeah Interviewer: Now, what kind of reception did you get? You arrive, a helicopter brings you into the company, and what did they do with you once you get there? One of the older guys took me under his wing. I don‘t know if he decided he liked me or what, but he took me under his wing and showed me the right things to do and the wrong things to do. How to make a covering from the sun if you‘re going to be in a place for several days, you know, so you don‘t fry. 16:02 We had a very close company in my opinion. I had friends, all the rifle platoon, you know, and that was, and still is, for those of us that are still—we have a reunion every year. Interviewer: Now, what was the company doing at the time you joined it? They were in a perimeter for—I think they were there three days, and honestly, I‘m not sure because I‘m just trying to—I don‘t know what their exact mission was there, but 27 �whatever it was, it was finishing up. But Charlie was nice, the first night he sent in one mortar round just to welcome me there. 17:05 I thought that was very nice of them. I was lucky; I got accepted, pretty much, right away. Interviewer: They take you in and they’re looking after you to some extent. You’re not just left to your own devices. Yea, which taught me and I did it to others as they came in. Interviewer: Which is how the rotation system is supposed to work, and it doesn’t in all situations, but for you it did work the way it was supposed to. But still it‘s hard—I don‘t, you know, not knowing the people, but our company was, like I said, they looked after each other and I‘m sure all companies did, or most. Interviewer: So, you’re out of the field, and do you go back into a larger base camp perimeter? Yes, Phuoc Vinh Interviewer: What happens from there? 18:06 You clean you weapons, you get a shower, which is fifty-five gallon drums of cold water and you get three people for each shower head, seriously. You run in, get wet, soap up out, and then your turn, because water was precious, and they had a really good meal for coming back in. Interviewer: How long would you stay in? It wasn‘t long, it wasn‘t long because they had lost some guys the day before I got there and they had a memorial service for them. 19:03 You don‘t have to know somebody to be deeply affected. Cleaned up weapons and got ready to go out again. 28 �Interviewer: Now when you go out again do you go in helicopters or on foot, or in trucks? We went out on a battalion move and that‘s the first full one I went to. I was there on the landing pad there for the helicopters and you got—were B Company and you had C Company over here and A Company, and I‘m just kind of standing there and all of the sudden I get a pat on the shoulder and it was a guy that I served in Berlin with. 20:04 He had volunteered for Vietnam and his name was Samuelson. He was from Michigan and he went, ―What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were out of the service‖, I was the only one, but it was nice to see somebody you knew. Unfortunately on Thanksgiving Day we were out with another full battalion and we set up the perimeter and it was C, B, A, and kind of this way, we were the, whatever, out front, and I know because I was there. 21:09 My mortar platoon sergeant had his wife leave him and left his kids, so he got an emergency leave to go back. I was there kind of in his place and going over where everybody was and I know because they pounded that in everybody‘s head, ―this is where these coordinates‖, and we send out ambush patrols, you know, kind of guard our flanks and that. There was this Lieutenant from C Company and he was sent there by the company commander because he was going to lead the ambush. They‘re down and the battalion commander says, ―Now, has everybody got where everybody is?‖ 22:05 ―Yes sir‖, and it was right at dusk and we had just set up out trip flares and our claymores for the night. Our trip flare goes off, of course somebody blew the claymore, which you‘re supposed to, and all of a sudden we hear, ―We‘re Americans, We‘re Americans, stop shooting, we‘re Americans‖. The Lieutenant had put that up right 29 �in the middle of our company. He was set up, he had the ambush set up for right in the middle of our company and Samuelson lost his eye, a bullet got his eye. Interviewer: That was friendly fire in effect. Yeah, Of course, and I don‘t know if I want this on the—because he got a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart and they said it was enemy fire. 23:14 Interviewer: It’s almost an apology. It was an apology, it was. Interviewer: Was the Lieutenant inexperienced or do you think the Lieutenant was a new guy or someone that didn’t know what he was doing? I don‘t think he was paying attention. I just don‘t think he had his mind on that. It could have been who knows where, but you got to have your mind on it when you‘re doing a full battalion meeting. 24:06 Interviewer: Describe a little bit what happens when a battalion goes out as a unit. What goes on, you load up in the helicopters, or whatever, and then what? You go out and you start landing and it depends on what you‘re going to do. You could be, the helicopters for A company could be two hundred meters that way, and you‘re in the middle, or it could be your full—companies are still together, and you just—and they always have their meetings, which is good, because everybody knows where everybody else is and doing. 25:01 You go about making your foxhole and pits and loading up ammo and pit behind the mortars. Interviewer: Now, would you normally stay within a perimeter with the mortars, or would you go out in the field with the rest? 30 �I‘ve done both. I‘ve done with the mortars and if they don‘t use mine, I‘ve gone out as a—I‘m trying to think of the word—as the guy that would call in the mortars. Interviewer: Forward observer? Yes, thank you, it was on the tip of my tongue and it just would not come out, but I‘ve gone out that way too. Interviewer: When you had that duty did you have a radio, or would you call in with somebody else? I had my own radio. 26:00 Interviewer: Okay, what kind of terrain were you in? What was the country like you were operating in at that time? Actually it was one of two things. It was dense second growth forest, or it was the rice paddies, lots of rice paddies, lots of dense forest. Interviewer: Now, when you were going through the forest did you stay on trails, or did you cut your own? We tried to do our own, because if you follow a path that‘s already there, too many bad things can happen. Claymores, what was the mine they had? ―Bouncing Betty‖, step on it and ―poom‖, so we tried to do our own. Interviewer: With the paddies, would you just slog across the paddies, or use the dykes? 27:06 It depends, we‘ve done both—walk in some excrements, but it depended on what was going on, or how you were trying to get somewhere. If you think you got NVA around you‘re not going to walk on top of those, you know. Interviewer: You’re a good target. 31 �Yeah, but I think I saw about every terrain in that area. Interviewer: How much enemy activity was there at the time? Were you making a lot of contact? Sometimes, a lot of times they‘d skip out before we get there. 28:01 It turns out from reading history and everything else, they had a tunnel system that we had no idea we were walking right on top of. Thinking that these little holes that are holes that guys would go down in, tunnel rats would go down, there‘s brave men, but they were just decoys, a lot of them. We went pretty much anywhere. Interviewer: You were ultimately involved in some of the larger operations in the field. There was one called “Cedar Falls”. Yes, Cedar Falls was working when I got there, and then Junction City was one too. 29:03 Interviewer: As far as you can tell, what was the purpose of those operations? Search and destroy, all of it, that‘s what I can see the whole thing was. Go out and hope they attack us, so we can destroy them. Interviewer: How often would that happen? Did these operations have a certain amount of success as far as you can tell? Somewhat—obviously not enough, but they knew who we were. I mean, we stood out, but we didn‘t know who they were, you know. We‘d go through a village in the morning and give C-rations and candy to the kids and that. 30:04 They‘d say, ―Oh, number one, number one‖—come back and they‘d blow claymores at you, you know, their own. So it‘s like you didn‘t know who was what. Interviewer: The NVA though, would normally fight in uniform. 32 �Oh, no Interviewer: Or would they also wear civilian clothes? The NVA and Vietcong, but were they interchangeable in your experience, or were they both active? The one big battle I had with the NVA was at Ap Gu, which was our 1st Infantry's biggest battle of the war, and they were in uniform. 31:00 The rest of the time I didn‘t know if they were NVA or not, and in uniform, NVA or Vietcong, because they wouldn‘t be in uniform. Probably both, I probably saw them both. Interviewer: Now, would you actually see much of the enemy or would you just get fired on from somewhere? No, we didn‘t see much of the enemy, a lot of hit and run. Interviewer: When you were camping out at night and so forth, would the perimeters get hit by these mortars, or snipers, or zappers/ Very seldom, very seldom, and I can only remember mortars coming in, maybe, four times at night. 32:02 Of course, I wasn‘t there for that second day of Ap Gu, but they were coming in hot and heavy. Interviewer: Would you get sniper fire? Was sniper fire more common? Yeah, if they fired mortars it was only one or two and they were gone. Interviewer: Now, if your company made contact, or whatever, and you were with the mortars then, would they call in support from you, or how would that work? Yeah, we charted every inch of where the guys would go, and they always had one guy out there from the mortar platoon to do the coordinates. You have to or you‘d be killing your own guys left and right. 33:04 33 �Interviewer: You’d have the quickest response time, wouldn’t you? You’d get the call and do something right away as opposed to calling in for artillery from somewhere else? It all depends, if we‘re going into someplace, we call the artillery because we‘re just setting up, but the artillery is what—artillery and bombers are what saved Ap Gu , so we‘re kind of the back up to the artillery, I really have to say, because they can do much more damage. Interviewer: Were you firing 81mm mortars? Yes Interviewer: So they’re much smaller than a 105. The four deuces were so big you couldn‘t carry them out in the field. You would have to be provided some kind of transportation set up, so yeah, it was all 81‘s. Interviewer: Did you have, in these operations you conducted, would you have any kind of mechanized support, APC’s or tanks, or things like that? 34:05 We had a couple times and it depended on where we were and if they could be there, number one. We had the artillery once and we got—they had the bee hive rounds—took out everything, the trees and when they fired those it didn‘t last long, the battle didn‘t last long, but then I dreamed about that too. People getting sliced up, but of course they were saving our lives, so it‘s a two way street, but most of the time we were on—we always had birddogs and this guy that flew in a Piper Cub. 35:01 He had more guts than anybody I know, I think. That‘s all wood and could be shot down easily. Interviewer: Was he flying low looking for targets? Yeah, looking for—call in the artillery or whatever. 34 �Interviewer: Did you get helicopter gunship support too? Oh yeah, oh yeah, and the—oh, what was the name of the Gatling gun? The plane, dragon, something dragon Interviewer: Puff the Magic Dragon that was one label. We had that one night--the Interviewer: Gatling gun? Yeah, but I‘m trying to think of the bullet, the one that has the red Interviewer: Tracer? 36:05 Yeah, one every five it looked they were hailing nothing but tracers, oh, man that tore up. Interviewer: How long, basically did you spend in the field before you got hurt? Seven months Interviewer: Over the course of that time, how much turnover was there in your company? The first month a lot, because there were all the replacements coming in and after that, not much Interviewer: Did you take many casualties at Cedar Falls or Junction City, or was that fairly light? We had some casualties, but not a great amount of casualties. 37:04 Interviewer: So you spent a lot of those seven months, pretty much, with the same group of guys, or there were a fair number of them you were there with together? Yes Interviewer: what did you think of your commanders, the sergeants, Lieutenants and commanders you had to work with? 35 �All but one, it was a Lieutenant, all but one were great. Our company commander was Jouwin [?], who returned and became head of NATO, but the battalion commander was Hage, Hagen Lincoln was our—we had good officers. Interviewer: You had good officers. Some of the younger officers, not so much, and I had one that when I was down at Fort Hood. 38:06 This ROTC--2nd Lieutenant comes in and he just graduated from Notre Dame. A little guy, but thought he was— that he knew everything. The commander one time-- we had full—we were going on a march, the whole company, and he went over to the Lieutenant and went, ―That‘s a trenching tool and you‘re going to have to use it to make a trench so the handle won‘t come off‖, but he ended up in my company over in Vietnam. 39:10 You couldn‘t tell him anything or advise him. We hit a Vietcong village, and of course, they were gone, and right in the middle, in the middle was a big clay pot, huge, and right in there was GI equipment, and he said, ―Raudenbush, take that stuff out of there‖, and I said, ―No sir‖, and he said, ―That‘s an order‖, and I said, ―No sir, not until we know that it doesn‘t have a booby trap ―. So, I got a rock and that and he‘s still telling me, ―You don‘t have to do this‖, and I threw the rock and it cracked the clay. 40:04 And they had a cylinder that exploded, it popped and exploded if we just reached in there and got it. I did report that to the company commander. When it‘s obvious, when it‘s the centerpiece of everything, but that‘s the only officer I could never [not] warm up to. Interviewer: Did you spend pretty much all your time in Vietnam either in the field or in base camps, or did you go anywhere else? Yes, in the field or in base camps. 36 �Interviewer: How much contact did you have with the Vietnamese themselves, either civilian or military? Except for those we hired to do things around the base, and the local village of Phuoc Vinh, not a great deal because we were on the move all the time. 41:10 of course when you go through—like I said, we carried candy with us and stuff that and we‘d give it to kids when we went through a village. Interviewer: What kind of impression did you form of the Vietnamese at the time? You just couldn’t be sure who to trust or did it go farther than that? Yeah, but I also thought most aren‘t on one side or the other, all they want to do is work their rice or buffalo or whatever just like anybody else, and to this day I don‘t have anything against the Vietnamese people. Interviewer: Did you ever see much of the Vietnamese military or police forces or things like that? We had an interpreter, Vietnamese, with us, a great guy, great guy. 42:08 One day we had been out in the field and we came back and we were going to get hot chow in the mess hall and he was right in front of me and all of a sudden he dropped his—you know where they put the food, his tray, and jumped over and just started berating this guy. It turns out he knew he was a VC, you know. He was a great guy, except one time he wanted me—one of their delicacies is to take an unhatched egg, boil it, put a little hole in it, suck it out and eat the whole thing, and he kept wanting me to have one. 43:01 I said, ―No sir, I don‘t think so, but thank you anyway‖. Interviewer: You have to draw the line somewhere. How do you characterize morale in the company when you were with it? 37 �Pretty good, pretty good—again we were a fairly close company. You can‘t spend a lot of, well you can I guess—the war hadn‘t go to a point that it did in the late 1969-70 where people—we still had a lot of volunteers and ―one for all and all for one‖, don‘t leave your buddy behind. Interviewer: All right, now what kind of ethnic mix did you have in the company? 44:00 We had everything, we had Hispanics, we had colored, we had Indians, Caucasians and I‘m sure I‘m missing a couple, but it was a mixture. Interviewer: How did they work together? As far as I saw, good-- I never saw any kind of racial, or any kind of remark about racial. I‘ve seen people risk their lives for other people that weren‘t the same ethnic group and that. Our medic was colored and from Detroit and I‘ve been trying to find him ever since. When he got out he just disappeared from the radar. 45:03 Interviewer: At this stage was there anybody using drugs or things like that on the base camp? One person I knew, one person I knew and I had to do an ammo count and he was in our platoon one time and he had a total of three bullets and I had to report him and they took him out of the field. He ended up at base camp doing guard duty there. I thought, ―Still got the same problem up there‖. Interviewer: Maybe less dangerous there than he would be in the field. We didn‘t get too many problems there at base camp. I think because of what all the helicopters we had there could do with their machine guns firing. 46:04 That‘s the only one that I personally saw. 38 �Interviewer: But, basically as far as you’re concerned your unit was a pretty effective one and could do its job well? I think our unit was one of the best. I think our battalion was one of the best. Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about Ap Gu because that’s sort of you last day. What happened then? Okay, we‘d been building, guarding a bridge that had been blow up by the VC and had to be replaced and that was—we got there the last of February, the beginning of March and I had R&R coming, coming up. 47:02 We called this the dust bowl because it was pretty much dust. Every time they would ship out a hot meal to you and the helicopter would take off you had do this because it would be all over your meal. We spent almost a month there and probably a month. I‘d gone on R&R and I came back and we had one more week and then we had three battalions move and I never saw as many helicopters at one time as when I was over there. That‘s when we went into—landed at Ap Gu and the thing that got me right away was the number of helicopters. 48:03 We were being told, ―This is nothing. We‘re just going to be out a few more days and we‘re going back to base camp because we‘ve been out for over a month‖. We only had one shot at us, one shot, which is nothing, it‘s VC, bang, get the hell—only once. And digging in where we were digging in, you got stones; you got everything, so it‘s hard digging in your foxhole. This was a dream, boom, boom, boom, and that night, the first night, which had been the 30th we didn‘t have any—except for that one shot. 49:02 The next morning we get up and the company recon troop was going to do their usual recon and one of my buddies, probably one of my best friends during my time there was in that group. He was a radio operator for the Lieutenant, the platoon leader, and they went by and made a comment to 39 �me that, this was the 31st, ―Some people are lucky‖, and I said, ―‖No some people have brains and know not what to get into‖, and he goes on by and it wasn‘t—see take this rug here and it‘s almost a box, trees all over here, landing here and we‘re here and I‘m watching them. 50:11 They get into the tree line and all hell breaks loose. I‘ve got the radio for the mortars and I‘m hearing my buddy, ―Lieutenants been hit, I‘ve been hit, we need help, we‘re under heavy attack‖. He didn‘t make it, he passed away later. They started sending in a whole platoon, of course I‘ve still got to stay there with the gun, and what happened is we only had one gun up at that time because they didn‘t think we needed it, the other one, so my platoon sergeant, Dave, he said, ―Go help bring in the wounded‖. 51:11 They‘ve been ready for us a couple of days and they got snipers in all the trees no matter where you went and that‘s where I got hit, out trying to bring back the wounded. Interviewer: Was that the first time you’d gone out or had you gone out and brought some back and gone out again? Not the first time out Interviewer: Was this the action that got you the Bronze Star citation? Yes Interviewer: So, you’re going in under enemy fire and pulling guys out and you keep doing it and you get hit in the process. Where were you hit or how badly were you hurt? Actually right there and it did a good job on my artery and I got the last rites on the field. 52:02 I‘m a Methodist, but our Chaplain was Catholic, but I didn‘t know it because I was under morphine, but I kind of came to for a minute and he‘s asking me if I want to 40 �be forgiven for my sins and I‘m thinking, ―What the heck is he asking a question like that for now‖, but then when I was at the hospital, the 96th—I think it was the 96th Medevac in Saigon, and because I lost so much blood, they rushed me—I was one of the first to get operated on. A couple days later when I was done with the effects of my surgery and everything, I was talking to the guy in the bed next to me and I said, ―It‘s the craziest thing, I don‘t know if it happened, but I‘m lying there and the Chaplain‘s asking me if I want to be forgiven for my sins‖. 53:08 The guy goes, ―Oh my God, he gave you the last rites‖, and I went, ―What?‖ Yeah, I was extremely lucky that I got— that one of the medics was probably where that camera is from me when I got hit, and I hollered, ―Medic‖, and that he was able to stop the bleeding before I bled out. Interviewer: Before you bled out, yeah. Did that end you r combat career? Yeah Interviewer: How long did you stay in the hospital? I spent ten days in Saigon and then I was flown to the 106th general Yokohama and I was there for five or six months and then I went to Island Army Hospital in Knox where I was in the hospital holding company seeing Doctors and doing a lot of work on PT on my leg to strengthen it until I got discharged. 54:17 Interviewer: All right, What did you do then once you got discharged? I partied for three days, came home thinking I was going to have a few weeks to—I got home about two o‘clock Monday morning and I unlocked the door because my parents, naturally, were sleeping. I get there and there‘s a note on the table that said, ―Get up by nine, your dad‘s got it set up for you to have a job interview at General Motors‖, where he worked. 55:02 I thought, ―Okay, they‘re not going to hire me right away; I‘ll still get 41 �a couple weeks to unwind‖. I go there and, ―Oh, you‘re Charlie‘s boy, you got wounded in Vietnam‖, and I went, ―Yeah‖. They had their own doctor and their own x-rays and everything. The doctor said, ―Can I see the medical report?‖ I said, ―I didn‘t bring it because I didn‘t think I had to‖, and he said, ―Go home and get it and come right back, so I did. I came back and he did an x-ray to make sure that nothing that happened there they would be liable for, you know. He said, ―Go back to personnel now‖, and I did, and they said, ―Wait until the doctor calls‖. The doctor called and they said, ―Okay, be here at two thirty to start working at three, which was good for money. 56:06 I was out of the service one day and at work three days later. Interviewer: How long did you stay with that? Six years, I did not—my dad loved the factory, I didn‘t, and then I was a mess. Physiologically, very honestly, I was a mess. I had a marriage and that went south, between the two of us, and I quit, one day just quit General Motors. I went to the VA hospital for, down in Kalamazoo, and I was there five weeks. 57:02 Of course, they didn‘t know PTSD because this was in 1971 and, of course, everything had to be from your early childhood, which was good, but that wasn‘t where the problem was. So, I ended up—I lived on the street for a year and a half. Interviewer: What got you out of it? I finally was able to get another job. I was able to get money to get my own—well I had a friend and he had an apartment and he said, ―You know, you can live with me. It‘s got two bedrooms‖, but it was a small place, but it was a place. 58:04 Then I got a job working at another factory, but it was—I held on to that one for a long time. We moved into a better apartment and life slowly changed. I still have PTSD, I‘m going to a 42 �meeting down in Kalamazoo every Wednesday. Wednesday, and then they have a smaller group on the second or forth Thursday that I go to. Interviewer: When you came back, did you pay any attention to the news about the war and the anti-war activities and that stuff? 1:17 A lot, you couldn‘t help it, it was everywhere. Interviewer: What kind of view did you have of the people who were in the protest movements and stuff like that? Not much, everybody‘s got an opinion, you know. There were some that really believed it, but I think the majority were just didn‘t want to go fight. See, again, this was the first war where people saw, they saw dead bodies, they saw people dying, they saw all those ruins that happen in war. 2:16 Interviewer: The government hadn’t necessarily done that good of a job of justifying, or explaining to people why. Johnson bragged about he could—we couldn‘t fire a bullet unless he gave approval and how do you fight a war like that? Interviewer: Did you ever encounter that kind of issue or were you mostly fighting in placed where you could shoot when you had to? The only time you could really shoot when you had to was when you were doing it after they opened on you, which is not a good way to fight a war. Johnson was—and I voted all different ways in presidential elections, but I voted for Johnson. 3:16 Then I said, ―Well, that didn‘t work‖, so I voted for Nixon and there really wasn‘t much change, but I had a hard time because I‘d see these fights and I‘d see the Americans being hit and 43 �you‘d see them being pulled out and you knew they were dead, and it was hard, it was. It was to the point that I didn‘t watch TV much. Interviewer: Now, to look back at the full range of the time you spent in the service, do you think you took anything positive out of that? I took a lot that was positive out of it. 4:08 Interviewer: What did you gain from it do you think? Working with all kinds of different people, great friendships that I still have today, and I Just came back last week from going down and seeing my buddy that was the mortar platoon sergeant. We became really good friends after Vietnam and he passed away with Lou Gehrig‘s disease last year. We went down to see—it was going to be the anniversary of his death, so Kathy and I, and my buddy Duane, who was over in Vietnam with us, and his wife Mary Ellen, we went down, they live in Tennessee, and we went down to see Dave‘s wife and we spent a couple days at their place. 5:07 I got to the reunion every year. There‘s a group that I‘m with, the Vietnam PTSD group, and I like every one of those guys. I just feel sad that nothing came out of that with all those people getting hurt and dying. Interviewer: What do you think about the way, sort of the people in society today, are treating veterans, especially the ones coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan? 6:00 Very honestly, I‘m happy they do it for them, I do it, but I feel like we were the Guinea Pigs, and we‘re the only veterans who didn‘t come back here welcomed. Actually, envy would be the word I would use for it. You can‘t change what‘s happened, you can‘t change the past. I just feel it was the wrong generation, I guess. 44 �Interviewer: Well, it makes for a pretty powerful story and I just like to close here by thanking you for taking the time and sharing it today. Thanks you for inviting me. 45 � 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 RaudenbushM1332V Title A name given to the resource Raudenbush, Michael (Interview transcript and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Raudenbush, Michael Description An account of the resource Michael Raudenbush, Born in Harvey, Illinois on August 5th 1944, enlisted in the U.S. military in 1963. After training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent to Berlin for 18 months. He went from there to Fort Hood, Texas, and then to Vietnam late in 1966. He served in the 26th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, as a mortarman. He participated in a series of actions, including Operations Cedar Falls and Junction City. At the Battle of Ap Gu, in the latter operation, he was wounded while rescuing wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) 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 2011-10-17 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/95e3391bdaacb83c96abb0090851ea85.mp4 c6a97242f4b69a6d8ebcc86507a637a2 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9d77a324a9e59e60b3518ac8accbb64f.pdf f6de677cfdc4510733e5b48a708e8002 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee: Richard Rasmussen Length of Interview: 00:59:36 Background:                Dr. Richard Rasmussen was born in Lakeview, Michigan. After two years, he family moved out between Greenville and Sheridan. The family farm is still there, owned by one of the grandsons and his family. He was born on June 4, 1913. He went to a one room school that was a mile and a quarter from his home. He walked all the way there and back, carrying everything they needed. He went on to attend Greenville High School, and graduated from there in 1931. The Depression was well under way. The principal suggested that he attend college, as many of his other fellow students had. (2:25) He attended Olivet College, which was paid for by a scholarship for $125. He wanted to be a physician, and knew it was going to be a long road. While he was in school, he also worked making $0.25/hour working in the dining area of the college. Working at the college helped to pay for his room and board. As many of his fellow peers called it, he worked hard to make it through the “Battle of Olivet” He used to communicate with a friend from Olivet up until his passing. When he was finished with Olivet, he decided to head for the University of Chicago. (4:00) He received some assistance for the University and worked there also. He believes that University of Chicago is one of the major Universities of this country and it was there that he received his medical degree. Medical school (4:45)      He lived outside the campus and walked to school for classes. He was married in 1936 to his girlfriend he met at Olivet. She eventually became a teacher in Muskegon. When she married him, she lost her job. He was able to get along by borrowing money from his relatives if he needed to. He was pretty careful about borrowing. In Chicago, he worked in the laboratories. His wife eventually got a job in the women’s hospital. She and the wife of another friend both needed jobs, so they got positions as clerks within the hospital. (6:48) He earned a stipend of $100 from the University. Which helped him pay back all of his loans with interest. �                     He graduated from the university in March, 1938. That gave him a total of 7 ½ years of college education. He then moved to Grand Rapids, where he interned at Blodgett Hospital in 1938-9. In the fall of 1938, he considered going into the Navy, where he would be able to give good service. So he took the exams in the fall of 1938 and was one of nine that were accepted. In the spring he was ready to go to the naval hospital, when he got an invitation to return to the University of Chicago to train in surgery. He deferred his Navy project to return to the university. It took 3 ½ years. He specialized in general and thoracic surgery. Thoracic surgery was just beginning to evolved to treat things like tuberculosis. (8:50) When he did his training, they did not have any drugs, so he had a considerable amount of training. He and others were very much aware of what was going on in the world, and the possibility of a war starting. The university was very aware of what might happen. While he was interning, his wife returned to Michigan and taught school in Rockford. However, when he returned to Chicago, she also returned with him and ran a switchboard at the apartment building they lived at. She also read to the semi-blind students at the University. The university offered her some extra schooling, but they declined because they were getting by. (10:54) When the attack on Pearl Harbor happened, he was in residency at the University of Chicago. He remembers when it happened; it was a catastrophe He and everyone else knew that they were going to get involved in the war because they rose up as a nation. In 2 ½ years, which could not be done today, the US was building tanks, and supplying the war, and the soldiers were on the beaches of Normandy. Before the US entered the war, they were supplying the Allied forces with materials that they needed. Ship building was also a major contribution that the US was making. He heard most of the news through newsmagazines and the radio. (12:55) When they listened to the radio, they heard a lot about what was going on in Poland and other countries. After he joined the Navy, he listened to what was going on in Japan. After Pearl Harbor, the University declared that three of them were ready and properly trained to help out the war effort through their services. So in the summer of 1942, three of them were sent out. Not a lot of people needed thoracic surgery at the time. In fact, while he worked in the laboratories at the hospital, they did all their work on dogs. (14:21) Training 14:40    When he first entered the Navy, he was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Training Station, in 1942. They had 75,000 coming in for training there. He and his friend drove there. He was there for a month and a half helping with recruits. �        After that he was assigned to the Navy’s Seabee training facility in Davisville, Rhode Island, near Providence. (15:30) There he was assigned to the 66th Naval Seabee Battalion. He stayed with them until he returned to the US. He was very lucky in his assignment. Some of his friends were assigned to the South Pacific, which picked up later on and was quite awful. His and a couple other battalions were assigned to the North Pacific, to Adak Island in the Aleutians. Alaska was not a state at the time and would not be until 1958. Backing up in his story, he went from Chicago to Rhode Island. He stayed in Rhode Island for a little while. He remembers it being Christmas eve, and he was listening to Bing Crosby sing “White Christmas.” His wife was back in Grand Rapids. They had moved back there before he left for the Navy. He remembers that Roosevelt came by Adak. It was the first time he had seen any President in his life. They all had to get their uniforms on and get out there to salute the President. Active Duty (18:30)                 He got out to Adak by taking the train from Davisville, RI cross-country. Two trains took about 1,100 people across the country. They had to pay for his meals. He did not pay for them while he was on the train, but was subsequently billed for it after. They arrived Los Angeles. From there, they took a train up to Seattle and from there took a boat out to the Aleutians. On the way, they stopped at the Dutch Harbor. They followed the islands as they got closer to Japan. They eventually landed at Adak. He remembers some of the ship ride out there. They traveled in a troop ship. Their dentist, a man by the name of Dempsey, was sick the entire ride out. (20:20) It was a rough sea, but it did not bother him. Although most submarines were in the Atlantic and had not quite made it to the Pacific, he still worried about them. They were ultimately brought out there to build airfields. He was at Adak for 21 months. He made his way back by troop ship. They were all excited to be back to see civilians, because there were not many people up where he was stationed. He remembers going under the Golden Gate Bridge in 1944 and he saw the lights. He then went to Camp Parks, outside of Oakland for reassignment and R&R. He was there for three weeks, before being reassigned to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital, where he made a significant contribution. (22:05) It was a 9,000 bed hospital, a very large hospital. They had great services and good staff. They lived on Lake Bluff for the next two years. Going back to Alaska, his life was very different from home. The nights were quite long and it was cold, however, since they were next to the sea, it was not too cold. However there was a lot of snow, which impeded the work they were doing. He lived in the Quonset Hut, with about six other officers from the Battalion. �                      He wrote to his wife every day, but sent it out every week at least. It took about 10 days to two weeks to get anything back, so he was always behind on information about the family. He had two sons in Chicago before he left. His daughter was born on Roosevelt’s birthday in 1941. His son, who became an M.D. was born on March 22, 1944. His third daughter, who is a teacher down in Georgia, was born in 1945. (25:15) They supplies that were received when he was in Alaska came by ship and by airplane. Any air travel happened after they built the airfields there. When they built the airfields, they first had to smooth out the area they were going to build on and then place metal tracks along the way. He was working as a Junior Medical Officer with the battalion. There was a Senior Medical Officer as well. It worked pretty well. They oversaw the 1,100 soldiers in their battalion and also saw others from the other Battalions that were there as well. They also had heavy equipment there. It was a struggle, but they managed to build both the airfields and hangars. The battalion that he was assigned to was made mostly of service people, such as plumbers and carpenters. The service people did their job a lot more efficiently than the civilians. This is because they were not as interested in getting the job done as the service people did, so they could get the job done and go back home. He has a map that shows what was going on in terms of the war. That map helped him follow the war. He learned what was going on in the war via the small radio that they had with them. (28:10) Although there was an Armed Forces Network, they mostly listened to Tokyo Rose. The truth was not always told, but it helped them to put different bits of news together to formulate an idea of what was really going on. He was head of the dispensary, the barber, the tailor shop and the shoe shop. He had to make sure that things were kept in order for these places. He also had a lot to do as a doctor. There was a sick bay building near the Quonset Hut. Most often people came in due to injuries and routine things. Most of the people there were older than most of the other recruits, and therefore subject to different diseases. After returning, he was able to move his family from a small apartment to a house in Lake Bluff. It was a pleasant time. After the war ended, he can recall quite vividly, there was a celebration. (30:40) He stayed in the Navy until January… he does not remember [1946?]. After he got out of the Navy, he immediately signed up for the reserves. He continued on with that until he retired in 1973. That required service once or twice a week during the Korean conflict and also into the Vietnam conflict. While he was in the reserves, he worked at an old Armory that was at the end of Wealthy St. in Grand Rapids. He was then moved into a newer building down on Monroe St. He was assigned to examine recruits from this area. � He remembers during the Korean conflict, he and a dentist friend signed up to help out, because the soldiers needed help. Other were sick of the Army and left. (33:27) Post Duty (33:30)               He gained a lot of experience from the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. At first he was in charge of one ward that held 44 beds, and soon he had to take over another one because he began to collect patients that had come back from over there. He had soldiers from each branch of service, but mostly dealt with Marines. The people that he cared for were the leftover problems that could not be dealt with by other doctors. In total, he had 84 beds to watch over. He saw a lot of chest infections and hemorrhaging. He also saw a lot of people from the camps there. One of the first things he truly noticed when he got back was the use of penicillin. It was a miraculous drug. (35:05) He got a lot of practical experience as a doctor from his time in the Naval Hospital. He did a lot of work cleaning out infected chest wounds, which became an increasing problem while he was there. The experience he got from those events specifically would help him in his work during his civilian life after. For tuberculosis at the time, the biggest thing that he could do as a doctor was to make sure that his patients got rest, and rested their lungs. Bed-rest was the prevailing treatment at the time. When penicillin was introduced, it was a miracle because it helped get the disease under control. Immigrants who sneak in these days still have some problems like this. He left the Navy in August. He used the accumulated vacation time he had to try and figure out where to go from there. He considered Minneapolis, and St. Paul, but ended up coming to Grand Rapids and opening up a clinic because he felt there was a great opportunity here. He believes that proved to be the case. Life in Grand Rapids (38:35)       His career in Grand Rapids began by him looking for a job. He got a hold some of the tuberculosis work that was being sent to Ann Arbor. He convinced the people to just keep the patients here in Grand Rapids. He knew some of the people in Ann Arbor, so he went over there to make sure that what he was doing was going to be ok with them. They approved his decision. He was eventually hired in at St. Mary’s Hospital, because they were the only ones who were willing to set up an isolation unit. He worked there from that point on, from January 1947. He then got ahold of another job at a prison. He knew that the doctor there had died, so he took care of the people there for about two years. Things got so busy that residents from Ann Arbor were sent over to help take care of his people at the hospital. (40:35) �                   He went to the prison in Ionia twice a week. It was an interesting experience. He started working with congenital heart defects right away at Blodgett, which he worked at before he got a job at the hospital. These patients were not being treated, so he went around advocating their treatment. Some of the blue babies died. He ended up collaborating with the children’s hospital in Chicago and began treating them too. It was quite interesting how things evolved. He was part of the Chest Club, which consisted of a dozen or so people from Chicago and himself who got together and discussed the issues at hand. They voted him secretary of the club, and he remained their secretary for 33 years. (43:28) They met twice a year and talked about what they were doing. They were innovating and experimenting on how they were building the heart/lung machine. They ended up creating the machine that would become part of routine today. November 11, 1958 was the day that they accomplished the first case. There is a machine on exhibit over in Blodgett. He had himself a partner at the time, who had worked in Chicago and came to join him in Grand Rapids in 1948. Since he was so busy, he was happy to accept his help. (45:30) For some of his work, he had to travel back to the University of Chicago to work in their laboratories, because they did not have one in Grand Rapids. He got another person, who just got out of residency in 1955, to join him in his work. Together they worked with dogs in the basement of Blodgett hospital. To ensure they did not bark, the dogs cords were cut. It was there that the first case was made in the cardiovascular system, in 1958. (47:28) From there, he continued to develop and improve the practice. He worked at Butterworth, Blodgett and St. Mary’s. He did occasional work at Butterworth, but denied the job offer they gave him. Gradually, the work moved to Blodgett and St. Mary’s, and he was able to get rid of his job at the prison. The Meijer Heart Center continues to do the work that he started. He knew Fred Meijer, his father used to cut his hair when he was a kid. It cost 25 cents. Other Medical Records (49:50)     He was cited as an innovator in the Physician’s Society at Spectrum Health. He was elected in 1949. As such, he attends certain meetings, luncheons that keep them up to date on what is going on, etc. During his time there, he became quite interested in tobacco. He knew it was harmful and started collecting information that dated back to 1925, when tobacco was under suspect of being harmful. (51:02) By 1952 he had a book that contained 17 pages about the harmful effects of tobacco. It is a multifaceted thing. It affects the repertory, gastro-intestinal and many other systems in the body via cancer, from the products that were put in tobacco. �               He began looking into the history of some smokers he knew and began recording their symptoms in 1948 He volunteered his services to the Michigan Air Pollution Commission. He knew the physician that worked there, and was offered a position there as well. While he was there, he got smoking out of the air commission. It was quite an accomplishment. He advocated getting it out of public places, like schools, libraries, etc. Even after he retired in 1983, he continues to go to schools to talk about smoking and its harmful effects. Now, 62 years after that, smoking is also now out of the work places. The tobacco industry was his biggest opposition. He believes they were completely fraudulent. They claimed that smoking was not harmful, but new research has proven that it indeed is. It also explains why it is so difficult to get a good set of lungs for transplant because 1/3 of our society still smokes today. (55:35) Now the number of smokers is reducing, but is still a problem today. It is a public health hazard. For those who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day, they lose 4.8 years of their life. It is doubled for those who smoke two packs a day. They also learned second-hand smoke effected people as well. He also feels the same of the gun lobby and the NRA. Unlike a person in Texas, he believes that students do not need to have guns on campus. (57:20) As a doctor, over the years, he and others would routinely get called out for emergency visits to the hospital. He saw gunshot wounds and stabbings. Today, you see more automobile accidents, not so much fighting. Also, emergency rooms have their own physicians. Things have also changed due to the introduction of new drugs. Tuberculosis is no longer a problem for most people. Instead the problems that arise are from immunities to drugs because too many of them have been used. (58:56) He has seen a lot of medical history. � 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 RasmussenR1078V Title A name given to the resource Rasmussen, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rasmussen, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard Rasmussen, born in 1913, grew up on a farm outside of Greenville, Michigan. After finishing high school, he attended Olivet College and the University of Chicago Medical School on scholarships. After receiving his medical degree, he was accepted into the Navy in 1938, but wound up going back to Chicago to train as a thoracic surgeon. He was still in training when Pearl Harbor happened, and in 1942 he entered the Navy. He was assigned to a Seabee battalion that trained in Rhode Island and was sent to Adak Island in the Aleutians, where he served over two years. Once back in the states, he began practicing in Grand Rapids and became part of the research group that developed the first heart/lung machine and became an early anti-smoking activist. 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 Video recordings United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945--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 2011-02-22 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/006ffc06297fb05f744c3f208f18ad23.pdf ee7d3bd412773f0a3fb256a2a879c8c1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Philip Rasey (19:26) Background Information (00:04)         Born February 18th 1959. (00:04) Served in the Navy on a Submarine during the Cold War. (00:07) Born in California. (00:39) He lived most of his life in Denver, Colorado. (00:45) His father was an aerospace engineer. (00:55) He has one older brother who currently holds a doctorate degree for economics. (1:15) Philip attended Columbine High school. Philip graduated in 1977. (1:26) His father served in the Air Force during the Korean War, and his uncle served in the Navy. (1:31) Entering the Service (1:45)    He enlisted in the Navy in 1977. He decided to join the military because he was tired of attending school and had no interest in attending college. (1:52) A love of the ocean is what inspired Philip to join the Navy. (2:15) He volunteered to work on a submarine after one of his roommates during training decided to do so. (2:30) Basic Training (2:53)     He dreaded boot camp. He knew that it was going to be difficult. (2:55) Philip attended basic in San Diego, California. (3:15) He attended an electronics school, also located in San Diego. He was then sent to New England for submarine school. (3:30) Military life was forced upon Philip. During basic there was a lot or physical training. The food varied but overall was fairly good. (3:58) Service (4:46)        Philip first served aboard the USS George Bancroft. This ship was a missile submarine. The ship operated out of Scotland. (4:49) Typically the men were out at sea for 65-70 days. (5:06) After his service on the USS George Bancroft, Philip reenlisted and was sent to a training command in Bangor Washington in approx. 1981. Here he was an instructor for 3 years. (5:25) He then served on the USS Georgia which was a Trident Missile submarine. (5:35) He then served as an instructor for 4 more years after his USS Georgia service. (5:38) Because submarines operate independently, the only people who know the submarine’s location were the men on board. (5:54) Close friendships aboard ship were essential due to the close quarter that was a submarine. (6:25) �  While Philip was on a submarine, family could send family grams. This meant that people from home could contact the ship but the men aboard ship could not communicate back. (6:47) While on the USS Georgia, men could commonly run around the 2nd floor of the missile compartment using it as a track. (7:35) End of Service (7:50)     He was in Bangor, Washington, when Philip’s tour of duty ended in 1997. (7:57) When he started, the subs would do a lot of tracking and tailing. In the later days of his service, there was little work being done by the subs at sea. (8:40) He was sent to TAP after discharging. This program was to get veterans to think morel like a civilian and less like a soldier. (9:36) Philip uses the web site We Serve Together in order to keep in contact with many other veterans. (10:12) Effects of Service (11:16)    His time in the service has made him more “matter of fact” and does not panic when things go wrong in a situation. (11:32) He values family more as a result of his service. (11:53) The constant switching out of the crew members could be hard on the sailors. (12:17) Service (cont.)(12:45)       His first patrol was very overwhelming to Philip. There were a lot of new things that he was required to learn. (12:55) Overall Philip severed 20 years in the Navy (1977-1997). (15:12) Service on a Submarine does take some getting used to. The only test the men were given was seeing if they could equalize pressure in their ears. (16:05) Overall he misses being at sea and his service. (16:51) The men had access to 2 treadmills about the submarines for physical exercise. (18:11) Aboard ship, the sailors wore tennis shoes rather than boots. This was to reduce noise. (18:50) � 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 RaseyPT Title A name given to the resource Rasey, Philip (Interview outline), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rasey, Philip Description An account of the resource Philip Rasey, born in California in 1959, grew up in Colorado and served in the U.S Navy from 1977-1997. He trained to work on submarines, and did tours on the USS George Bancroft and on the USS Georgia. He also served as an instructor in Bangor, Washington. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Schroeder, Eric (Interviewer) 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. Navy Other veterans & civilians--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 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 2011-05-21 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives