58 24 1541 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/03a43a8c95001d9d3db0adec97c695fe.mp4 e581469d4b05b7364623efbfcc3646c7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c3dbd2acdc9e6dff867bdbf1d3e7c228.pdf a5ee9bb12ef69b17edab691c4305d74b PDF Text Text David Coryell (33:03) (00:10) Background information • • • • • • • • David was born march 19, 1930 in Madison, Kansas His father owned a battery repair shop for cars, but went out of business during the Depression In 1931 they moved to Oklahoma to help his grandparents on their farm David helped out on the farm and had a paper route during high school Things changed quite a bit in 1939 with the war David followed the European and Pacific campaigns on a map after Pearl Harbor was attacked They were not too poor during the war and had extra food because they lived on a farm David graduated from high school in 1948 and had joined the Oklahoma National Guard one year earlier (7:00) Oklahoma National Guard • David quickly became the company clerk of the Guard and was in charge of all records, supplies, and equipment • He later became the communications specialist • David went to college in the Winter of 1948 and did very well at first, but started doing poorly after one semester [distracted by his future wife] • The Oklahoma National Guard became federalized in summer of 1950 and David got married before he left for training (9:25) Training in Camp Polk, Louisiana • Training here was not that much different from the National Guard except that they worked with live ammunition • David became a corporal after working his way up through the ranks • The camp quickly filled up with all different people from all over the US • David was too busy training at the time to pay attention to what was actually going on in Korea • He was working in the rifle company of the 179th Infantry Regiment of the 49th Division (16:30) Overseas • They were shipped out in April from New Orleans on a liberty ship called the Marine Lynx • It took them about two weeks to reach Japan and the weather was great for the whole trip, though it was quite boring �(20:00) Japan • They were stationed in the Northern part of Japan called Hokkaido • There was a very low population and it was heavily forested • They lived near a power plant and had their own private swimming pool with tents set up along a rail road track • David felt bad living well in Japan while other men were living in harsh conditions in Korea • He later got world that He only had 12 months left in the service, which legally meant that he did not have to serve overseas • On August 15 he took a ship back to the US through the Arctic Circle (24:44) Living in Japan • The area was very desolate, but there was a far away small town that they visited on Saturdays to hang out at the bar • The natives were mostly “coal farmers” that the men would buy fuel and coal from them to heat their tents • There were no real farms, but a railroad and a “highway” • The few civilians that did live in the small town were very thankful for the capital that the men brought in on the weekends (28:00) Back to School • David completed his degree back in Oklahoma and heard that his old company had eventually gone to Korea • The company lost many men and was eventually demobilized • David was urged to re-enlist many times but knew that he was not really the soldier type • He received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering and worked for Douglas Aircraft for five years • David then got his masters degree and worked for IBM in New York for 15 years • He later moved to Kansas to manage a family farm 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/. Title A name given to the resource Coryell, David (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Coryell, David Description An account of the resource David Coryell was born on March 19, 1930 in Kansas. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard in 1947 and graduated from high school in 1948. He began going to college shortly after graduation, but was sent to Louisiana for training when the Oklahoma National Guard became federalized. David later was sent to the northern part of Japan for further training, but later found that he had been in service long enough and was not legally required to serve overseas. David returned back to the US and finished college, began working as an electrical engineer, and later as a farmer in Kansas. 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 United States. Army Korean War, 1950-1953--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 2008-10-18 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CoryellD 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/935f6b0c559edae2e887ba42e4fe74d2.mp4 4b23b6cf8a7566419dfbab9c86649102 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/310998494bcd87ecab24e1e61f4b6971.pdf 4340eca5004ca83be73b1689bfa301af PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Jim Corbett Cold War/Vietnam Era 1 hour 42 minutes 28 seconds (00:00:59) Early Life and Pre-Enlistment -Born in November 1938 in Big Rapids, Michigan -When WWII began the family moved to Detroit so their father could work -After WWII ended they returned to Big Rapids -Attended high school in Big Rapids -Also spent some time in Grand Rapids -Graduated from Big Rapids High School in 1956 -Enrolled in Ferris State University in September 1956 -Attended for two years -Studied pre-engineering -Planned to transfer to Michigan State University (00:02:10) Army National Guard -During his senior year of high school he and his friends enlisted in the National Guard -Served in the same company that his uncle had served in during WWII -E Company Light Infantry 126th Regiment 32nd Red Arrow Division -Trained with mortars, .30 caliber and .50 caliber machine guns -Served in the National Guard from Fall 1955 to April 1958 (00:04:33) Enlisting in the Air Force -Enlisted in the Air Force after two years in college -Tried to become a navigator with Aviation Cadets first -Went to Fort Wayne, Indiana to take the tests -Passed the written and physical tests -Could not pass the vision test -Made him ineligible to be an Aviation Cadet -Joined the Air Force instead to go into electronics (00:06:03) National Guard Training -Taught how to read topographical maps -Started off as being an infantryman -Eventually got promoted to being an assistant machine gunner -Went on field maneuvers during the summer at Camp Grayling, Michigan (00:07:27) Air Force Basic Training Pt. 1 -Air Force basic training was far easier than National Guard training had been -Spent four weeks in basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas -On Memorial Day 1958 he was transferred to Biloxi, Mississippi (00:08:14) National Guard Training Pt. 2 -Lived in tents while at Camp Grayling, Michigan -Had some classroom training -Got lost in the woods at Camp Grayling once -Had to be led back to the troops by them calling his name �-Every Monday evening they would meet at the armory in Big Rapids, Michigan -Used equipment that was left over from WWII (00:11:07) Air Force Basic Training Pt. 2 -Did not enjoy kitchen duty in basic training -Never got off of Lackland Air Force Base for any downtime -After Lackland Air Force Base he was transferred to Keesler Air Force Base -Located in Biloxi, Mississippi -Completed his basic training there (00:12:25) Air Force Advanced Training -Spent six hours in a classroom each day at Keesler Air Force Base -General training with electronics -Trained on theory and then went on to hands on training -Basic training with circuit boards -Already familiar with basic electronics from his time spent with ham radio -Able to leave Keesler Air Force Base -Routinely visited the French Quarter in New Orleans -He was never able to get home in time to celebrate Christmas -At Keesler Air Force Base from Memorial Day 1958 to December 1958 (00:18:20) First Deployment to Texas -Assigned to the 341st Strategic Air Command Bomb Wing -Worked on B-47 bombers’ navigation and communication systems -Stationed in Abilene Air Force Base (later renamed Dyess Air Force Base) (00:20:08) Deployment to Alaska -From December 1959 to June 1960 he was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base -Anchorage, Alaska -Assigned to the nuclear strike force -He was on duty twenty four hours and then off duty for twenty four hours -Not a lot of work to do -Bombers were always loaded with nuclear weapons ready to be launched -The B-47s were designed and maintained to be able to take off quickly and strike quickly (00:24:27) Downtime in Alaska -He was able to visit Anchorage periodically before the Great Alaskan Earthquake struck -The Great Alaskan Earthquake would not happen until 1964 -He and the other soldiers were not allowed to go on the ski slopes -A large number of soldiers were hurting themselves attempting to ski (00:25:47) Life in Alaska -Had to adjust to the Alaskan day/night schedule -Elite status as nuclear strike force gained them privileges -Remembers that they got better food (king crab, steak, beer) -Alarms would go off routinely -Never sure if it was a drill or a real strike -Saw Bob Hope and Steve McQueen for Christmas 1959 (00:29:35) Second Deployment to Texas and Deployment to Delaware -Returned to Abilene/Dyess Air Force Base, Texas in June 1960 -Got transferred to Dover, Delaware with the 11th Air Refueling Squadron -Stayed there from summer 1960 to December 1961 (when he reenlisted) �-He was going to go into the Officer Candidate School -Got married instead (00:31:26) Reenlistment and Deployment to Okinawa -He reenlisted and received orders to go to Okinawa in December 1961 -Destination was Kadena Air Base -Had to fly from Grand Rapids, to Detroit, to San Francisco -From San Francisco had to take a bus to Travis Air Force Base -From Travis Air Force Base he flew to Hickam Field, Hawaii -From Hawaii he flew to Wake Island, then Tokyo -From Tokyo finally landed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa (00:34:59) Duties at Kadena Air Base -Worked on the radar on various air craft, specifically on KC97 (fuel tanker aircraft) -Wonders now if the radar radiation is responsible for his cancer -Began to notice an increase in activity concerning Vietnam -Missions involving Agent Orange and reconnaissance were becoming regular -Went to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Vietnam as a part of his assignment -He was technically part of top secret missions being flown over Southeast Asia -Heard rumors that American operatives were already in South Vietnam and Laos (00:42:06) Drug Use on Okinawa -Had access to every drug you could think of -A friend of his became addicted to amphetamines -Eventually lost his mind and shot himself -Meth could be purchased legally, over the counter on Okinawa (00:42:40) Cuban Missile Crisis While at Okinawa -One of the most memorable events was the Cuban Missile Crisis -During the crisis the only news outlets were Air Force and Japanese TV -They had bunkers and bombers that were loaded with nuclear weapons -When the alert happened he and the other soldiers believed nuclear war was imminent -Massive number of nuclear weapons was being loaded onto jets -Believed that it was the end -Relieved when the agreement between JFK and Khrushchev was reached -For him it was the most realistic threat he ever faced while in the Air Force (00:46:37) Typhoons -While on Okinawa he experienced three typhoons -All military housing was concrete to protect against typhoons -Remembers that during storms the base would get shut down -He and a few buddies went off base during a typhoon and went to a bar (00:47:44) Race Relations in Okinawa -Recalls that there was still segregation (not institutionalized) in Okinawa -Every race kept to themselves and went to their own areas for downtime -Okinawans had a different view of Americans -Believed that all Americans, regardless of race, looked the same (00:49:28) Typhoons Pt. 2 -They were still able to catch a taxi during the typhoon -Because of the base being closed the taxi was able to take them inside the base -All aircraft were evacuated to other air bases �-If it couldn’t be evacuated it was anchored to the tarmac with steel chains -Kadena Air Base suffered very little damage -Civilian areas were more prone to taking damage -Downed power lines were the most significant threat (00:52:39) Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam -While in Okinawa he also spent time at Tan Son Nhut Air Base [outside of Saigon] -Did not enjoy the extreme heat and humidity in Vietnam -Enjoyed serving in Southeast Asia though -When he reenlisted he wanted to go back to Tan Son Nhut -Didn’t play along with “office politics” and didn’t get to go back -Stayed on base at Tan Son Nhut -Didn’t visit Saigon very often -Busy with upgrading and maintaining the aircraft that were on base -He and the rest of the soldiers on base were kept on standby most of the time -Remembers being involved with Operation: Ranch Hand -Spraying Agent Orange over Vietnam to kill the foliage -Told that Agent Orange was totally harmless for people (00:57:21) Experience with Chemical & Nuclear Weapons -During his time on Okinawa he heard rumors that there were chemical weapons present -Now known that there were chemical weapons bunkers on the island -Specifically containing various nerve gases and mustard gas -Had goats and rabbits in the area that served as a warning system for leaks -In July 1969 there was a gas leak due to improper cleaning of tanks with a sandblaster -Led to twenty two people being hospitalized -In January 1971 the chemical weapons were moved off Okinawa in Operation: Red Hat -During the Cuban Missile Crisis he heard rumors that missile crews were ready to launch -Underground silos had been built on Okinawa (01:02:03) Deployment to France -Worked at Langley Air Force Base during the time of JFK’s assassination -Got sent to France with C-130 transport aircraft -He was able to vist Paris during his deployment to France -Visited the Louvre -Surprised by the lack of security in the museum -Visited the Algerian quarter -Unaware of the tension that existed and the danger there was in going there -Visited the Eiffel Tower -Bought a hot dog that was served on French bread (01:05:18) Visiting Other Parts of Europe and Encounters with Europeans -He was able to visit Frankfurt, Germany during his time in France -Astounded by the fact that Mercedes were being used as taxis -Enjoyed the local German beer -He found that the Parisians were more arrogant than the rural French -Didn’t take it personally because he knew it was how they treated everyone outside Paris (01:07:34) Deployment to Libya -While in France he was sent on assignment to Libya in January 1964 -Part of a paratrooper training mission in the desert �-Landed in Wheelus Air Force Base -By sheer happenstance ran into a girl on base that he knew from high school -She was married to a soldier that was on the base -Visited the girl and her husband at their apartment in Tripoli -Experienced Tripoli during the Muslim holy season of Ramadan -Remembers that the bus drivers were irritable during the day due to fasting -Remembers being woken up in the morning by the call to prayer -Went on a tour and he, and the other soldiers on the tour, was thrown out of a mosque -Saw camel meat for sale in the markets -Stone walls surrounding the base were embedded with shards of glass to keep out intruders -They were not allowed to work on aircraft from 10AM-2PM -Metal bodies of the aircraft were so hot you could suffer burns just from touching them (01:12:17) Deployment to Germany -Got to see Berlin, Germany -Helped prepare aircraft for reconnaissance missions over the Berlin Corridor -Put equipment on aircraft that would test the quality of Soviet radar -Remembers being in a night club that had telephones at each table -Meant as a way for people to meet each other in the bar without leaving their table -Learned that getting shortchanged by German service workers was fairly commonplace (01:13:49) Deployment to Thailand -Briefly deployed to Dong Hwa [?], Thailand -This occurred during his time at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa -Never get the chance to go into Bangkok -Stayed in Dong Hwa for Air Force duties (01:14:24) Panama Canal Zone Pt. 1 -Got divorced before going to Langley Air Force Base and being deployed to France -After returning to Langley from France he was deployed to the Panama Canal Zone -Specifically Howard Air Force Base/Fort Cobb -Remembers seeing tugboats pulling ships through the locks of the Panama Canal -There were local iguanas so big you had to stop your truck when they crossed the road -Sharks were also a prominent threat in the waters near the base -Major risk in conducting training missions with paratroopers near the water -Very comfortable deployment -Able to easily visit Panama City, Panama -Suffered from possible added exposure to cancer causing chemicals while on deployment -Agent Orange and trichloroethylene (01:21:00) Injury during Aircraft Maintenance -There was a mishap once while he was working on an aircraft -Working on electronics inside the aircraft’s control console in the cockpit -Positioned himself in an awkward, tense angle -Resulted in him snapping his neck (01:23:37) Panama Canal Zone Pt. 2 -Learned later on that chemical weapons were being tested in the Canal Zone -Landed in the Canal Zone during July 1964 -Officially deployed there from August 1964 to October 1964 �(01:26:54) Shaw Air Force Base -After his deployment to the Panama Canal Zone he returned again to Langley Air Force Base -Received orders to transfer to Shaw Air Force Base/Fort Sumter, South Carolina -Worked on the RF101 Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft -Later worked on the RF4C Phantom aircraft that replaced the RF101 Voodoos (01:27:23) Leaving the Air Force -Deployment to Shaw Air Force Base would be his last -Offered an opportunity to reenlist in the Air Force -Discharge date was too close, so he opted out of it -Got discharged from the Air Force on August 20, 1965 -Had same discharge date as a close friend -Went to a state fair together in Minneapolis, Minnesota (01:28:57) Life after the Air Force -Worked at a variety of short term jobs after he completed his time in the Air Force -Worked at Voice of Music in Benton Harbor, Michigan -Continued his work with electronics there -Got a job at Lear Siegler Aerospace Research Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan -Worked there during June 1966 -Also worked shortly for GTE as well -Went to Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enrolled in night classes -Fall 1969 -Used the GI Bill for books and tuition -Worked during the day -Married a single mom with three kids in 1968 -Had one of their own together -Received a degree from Aquinas College in December 1972 (01:30:01) Social Security Career and Legal Assistant Job -Before graduating from Aquinas College he took the Federal Service Test -Did extremely well on it -Invited for an interview with the Social Security Administration in Grand Rapids, Michigan -Got a job the next day -Worked in ten different offices during his time with them -Retired in June 2000 -After only a year of retirement he was welcomed back as a legal assistant in 2001 -Worked another four years part time (01:33:12) Other Memorable Events during Service -Noticed there was resentment among the Okinawans about the U.S. presence on the island -Demonstrations were held outside of Kadena Air Base -Remembers that there was a communist mayor in a nearby town -Remembers the level of poverty that existed in Panama City, Panama -Most of the houses had roofs made of sheet metal -Remembers that Libya was also very poor -Also met a large number of Italians that had been there during the Mussolini era -Regrets missing out on a large number of the historical sites in Paris during French deployment -Didn’t know anything about the history of various places until years later -Remembers being impressed by how sophisticated the Parisian metro system was �(01:38:16) Reflections on Service -Taught him that he needed higher education to succeed in life -Recognized that the higher ranking officers were college graduates -Didn’t want to be stuck in a dead end job for the rest of his life -Made him establish a goal to get a college degree after the Air Force -Taught him about the level of inequality and injustice that exists -Both at home and abroad -Led to him being involved in social activism later in life -Advocacy groups and working to fight against injustice -Doesn’t regret joining the military -Even with reenlisting feels that his time in the Air Force was for the best -Harbors no resentment against the military for health issues related to chemical weapons � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Corbett, James (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Corbett, James Description An account of the resource Jim Corbett was born in 1938 in Big Rapids, Michigan. He grew up in Detroit during WWII, attended high school in Big Rapids and graduated from there in 1956. He attended Ferris State University for two years until he enlisted in the Air Force. Prior to serving in the Air Force he joined the Michigan National Guard during his senior year of high school and served with E Company Light Infantry 126th Regiment 32nd Red Arrow Division from fall of 1955 to April 1958. He was trained at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas and was transferred to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for advanced electronics training. He served with the 341st Strategic Air Command Bomber Wing at Abilene Air Force Base, Texas; the nuclear strike force at Elmendorf Air Base, Anchorage, Alaska; Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan; Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Vietnam (prior to the outbreak of war); Langley Air Force Base, Virginia and saw a myriad of international deployments to France, Libya, Germany, Thailand, and the Panama Canal Zone. 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 Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. National Guard United States. Air Force 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 2013-11-07 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CorbettJ1556V 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/b6f08566e22165eaa13f1ba7e8466ff7.mp4 0120153d1ac345eb99fdfb7c46cc1b9d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/db4f219d8695ce11262dd763dada4928.pdf df21b9da170878b7fb3ef0f594a8dddb PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Late Cold War Era/ Invasion of Grenada Randal Cope Interview Length: (01:04:17:00) Early Life (00:00:05:00)  Randy was born November 9th, 1961. (00:00:05:00)  Randy spent his entire childhood in Wyoming, Michigan. (00:00:10:00) o He grew up in a family poorer than most. (00:00:27:00) o His parents were always on a very fixed budget. (00:00:35:00) o The family never had extra money for any kind of luxury item. (00:00:41:00)  Randy was drawn to the idea of earning money towards college and decided to join a military service of some kind. (00:01:25:00) o At first, he considered being a fireman so he went to the army to seek a position of this sort, but there weren’t any openings. (00:01:40:00) o He then checked with the Air Force, who directed him to Detroit for a physical and a possible job opportunity. Unfortunately, there were no openings of this type open, but he was offered a job in security. (00:02:18:00)  Randy soon realized that this field was broken up into two sections: law enforcement and protection services. He had accepted a job on the protection side unknowingly. (00:03:00:00) Air Force Training (00:03:30:00)  Entered basic training in September of 1979. (00:03:31:00) o Randy describes this experience as “where they dehumanize you and turn you into a military person”. (00:04:40:00) o He did not find it as mentally or physically straining as many people do. He accredits this ease to the teachings that he received as a child. (00:05:45:00) o “I became more respectful”. (00:06:10:00)  Because he had grown up in a structured environment, Randy felt that he had an advantage over others during basic training. (00:06:50:00) o People from urban communities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, seemed to struggle with the strict nature of basic training the most. (00:07:30:00)  Basic training lasted 6 weeks. (00:07:42:00) o Although weekends weren’t quite as rigorous, trainees were still required to arise at 5:00 A.M. (00:07:46:00)  Air Force instructors were “very verbal and mind-punishing” (00:08:10:00) o These people were not allowed to be physical, but were free to “get in your face” and scream obscenities. (00:08:20:00)  After basic training, Randy was sent to technical school. (00:08:39:00) o Randy’s technical school was focused on security and policing and located only a block away from his basic training camp. (00:08:45:00) o This training lasted a standard 6 weeks for all job titles, but varied in length according to field after that period of time. (00:09:05:00) � One day, Randy and his fellow trainees were called out of their barracks and divided into 8-hour shifts and instructed to guard Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. (00:10:05:00) o At the time, this was one of the largest medical treatment centers in the Air Force. (00:10:20:00) o Randy was called out of the barracks along with the other men to provide security to the Shah of Iran, who was at the hospital receiving cancer treatment. (00:11:03:00) o The Shah of Iran was under high security because he was in exile from Iran. (00:11:25:00) o Randy and his roommate were placed on night duty. (00:11:50:00) o The men wore their “greens” on this assignment. (00:12:17:00)  During his time in technical training, Randy the “possibility of going to war was looming in the back of my head” after the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. (00:13:50:00) o With the turn of the decade, Randy felt that the Reagan administration would resort to violent intervention if the prisoners weren’t released. (00:14:34:00) o This became the basis for training of military personnel (00:14:50:00)  In the post-Vietnam War era, Randy the mentality of the Air Force was “total selfsufficiency”. (00:15:02:00) o Training became very broad in light of this desire, providing instruction from “small weapons all the way up to large weapons, armored vehicles, and air commanders”. (00:15:35:00)  Randy volunteered to be an air commander because it was “the macho thing to do”. (00:16:20:00) o This field included a small amount of competition, but once accepted, one was “side-by-side” with the other men, not “in line” behind them. (00:16:40:00) o By doing this, Randy had a good chance of staying in Michigan because there were three active bases in state at the time. This was a benefit because he did not have interest in going overseas. (00:17:37:00) Deployment (00:18:30:00)  After technical training, he was sent to Germany. (00:18:33:00) o Randy had just gotten married prior to his departure and was sent on a 3-year tour according to criteria for married air force personnel. (00:18:50:00) o His wife was able to join him overseas a few months later. (00:19:16:00)  Randy was stationed at an airbase on the French border. (00:19:25:00) o This base was much smaller than some of the others to the East. (00:21:00:00) o Because of the small size, men received more “individual training”. (00:21:06:00) o However, because they were a C-Party base, they were deployed more often than other bases. (00:21:19:00)  On one occasion, Randy and others on the base were deployed as a fire team over a 1week period. (00:21:30:00) o On other occasions, men were individually deployed where men received assignments in pairs. (00:21:40:00)  Randy was once sent to Saudi Arabia. (00:21:54:00) o During the 90 days that he was deployed, he stayed at an Air Force base where he did security work. (00:22:06:00) �      o He was unable to explore the land. Then men were strictly confined to the base. (00:22:20:00) In Germany however, the men were allowed “full-reined freedom”. (00:22:40:00) o Men were not allowed to wander, and had to stay within the realms of “marked trails”. (00:22:55:00) o Fishing and hunting were permitted, but restricted to group activities and only by those that obtained legal licenses to do so. (00:23:35:00) Randy was in Germany for three full years from 1980 to 1983. (00:23:57:00) o He arrived there at age 18, and was resentful to leave Michigan. (00:24:13:00) o He was deployed with a group of men from Texas, who Randy became close with and partook in leisure activities with them on a regular basis. (00:24:30:00) o He lived off base in a house while in Germany because he was not eligible for onbase housing because he was only an Airman First Class. (00:25:15:00) Randy was stationed in Zweibrücken, Germany, a city located on the Schwarzbach River. (00:25:40:00) o He was located near a small army unit, situated on the opposite side of a nearby hill. (00:26:00:00) o The men had to drive to the other side of the hill, onto the army side, to retrieve groceries. (00:26:02:00) The Germans were generally civil towards the Air Force men “because there were not many Americans there and none of the hostility that usually comes with that”. (00:26:26:00) o However, because the men were generally young of age, they tended to “give Americans a bad name” with their reactionary behavior to a foreign place. (00:27:03:00) o Air Force men would sometimes get into trouble with German law, but the “German courts were usually understanding” and no severe punishment was ever given. In fact, in most of these cases, the Americans were turned over to United States law. (00:27:20:00) o In large German communities, Americans were commonly resented, but not in the smaller ones, like Zweibrücken. (00:27:53:00) The Air Force units sometimes provided aid in situations, such as fires and security matters, in the German community which they lived. (00:28:27:00) o Randy, himself, elected to donate his AB Negative blood to a badly wounded German firefighter. This blood type is quite rare. However, the transfusion never occurred because the soldier was in an impossible state by the time Randy arrived at the hospital. (00:29:10:00) After Randy was released from Germany, we was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base is Missouri for a short time and then was transferred to Grenada, an island in the Caribbean, where he stayed for roughly three weeks. (00:29:57:00) o Prior to arriving, Randy was uninformed of where he was going and was only given a recall notice. He was still unaware when he boarded the plane. (00:30:25:00) o There were fifty men given a mandatory recall notice, the equivalent of one flight. (00:30:48:00) �o When given a “mandatory recall notice”, men are supposed to be prepared to leave immediately for the aircraft hangar. The men receive training for this kind of situation. (00:31:04:00) o The men had to wait twelve hours on a plane before take-off to allow time for gear loading (00:34:00:00) o The plane finally took off after this length of prep time and landed in Charleston, South Carolina, where the men boarded another plane. At this point they were still unaware of their destination. (00:34:50:00) o The connecting flight took them to Puerto Rico, where they boarded yet another plane. This would be the flight that finally took them to Grenada. (00:35:06:00)  Randy and the other parachuted into Grenada at 4 A.M. and landed near the beach, where it was physically safe to do so. (00:36:04:00) o In order to be certified to jump out of an airplane, one had to be “in the advanced section of Air Force training”. (00:36:50:00)  This task required “physical agility” because it called for 90 pounds of equipment aside from the jump itself. (00:37:02:00) o On the plane ride from Puerto Rico, Randy and the others were told that there were some medical students being denied permission to leave Grenada to go back to the United States. (00:38:15:00)  Additionally, Grenada had been under Cuban and Russian influence, posing a threat of governmental overthrow. (00:38:36:00) o When they arrived in Grenada, Randy and the others immediately began securing the airfield because they were told that there might be Grenadian, Cuban and/or Russian guards there. (00:39:00:00)  The men “feared for the worst”. (00:39:41:00)  They arrived at the terminal, and still there was no sign of another occupation, so they started their “sweep” of this area. (00:39:48:00) o Randy and the others discovered a large room with 20-25 cots near the terminal that the opposing side had used as barracks located behind the terminal. (00:40:00:00)  Randy and his “fire team” entered the room and realized that the opposing men were asleep in their cots. (00:40:15:00)  Randy and the team then took the men in the room captive after waking them up. (00:40:55:00)  The room consisted of mostly native Grenadians with the exception one Russian man. (00:35:06:00)  After this capture, the American Air Force men were able to secure the airfield and without any bloodshed. (00:42:03:00) o After securing the airfield, more American security planes were able to land, marking the official start of the American invasion of Grenada in 1983, otherwise known as “Operation Urgent Fury”. (00:42:10:00)  This invasion was embodied by multiple Armed Force denominations including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. (00:42:25:00)  The Air Force men never left the air field because their specific duty is to provide security to the airbase. (00:43:00:00) o The Air Force stayed in Grenada for 3 weeks. (00:43:04:00) �o According to some of Randy’s friends who were in the Army during Grenada invasion, some were hurt upon parachuting onto the island. He notes that these men also had a lack of detailed knowledge about the mission, like the Air Force men did. (00:44:10:00)  Some Army and Marine men reported being attacked by both Cubans and civilians because they landed in village areas. (00:44:29:00)  Many of the injuries received during the invasion were due to “streamers”, or parachutes that never fully inflated. One such friend of Randy broke his back as a result of this malfunction. (00:45:04:00) o Randy notes that the lack of maps available to the soldiers amplified the complexity of the invasion because nobody was familiar with the land. (00:46:27:00) o In 1984, after the invasion of Grenada, contemporary presidential candidate Ronald Reagan arrived at Whiteman Air Force Base, where he was provided security by Air Force personnel, including Randy, as he boarded a flight to an outof-state fundraiser. (00:47:50:00)  This kind of protection was necessary due to increased frequency of terrorist attacks in Europe during the early 1980’s. This was particularly frightening to Randy because of the heightened number of attacks to American military installations in Europe. (00:49:15:00) o Randy initially signed up for 6 years of service in the Air Force, although he did consider reenlisting for a time. (00:50:55:00) o As of 1985, he had accumulated 90 days of leave so he took a summer vacation to Michigan. (00:51:11:00) Return to Civilian Life (00:51:20:00) o Following his Air Force years, Randy decided to look into police work. (00:51:25:00)  He got an interview with Michigan State Police and was given a Police Academy starting date soon after. (00:51:28:00)  In the few months between his release from service and his Police Academy start date, the Michigan State police made the transition to computerized records. (00:52:24:00)  During the transition to paperless records, Michigan State Police lost his Police Academy records. When Randy showed up at the academy, he was not permitted to begin training. (00:53:18:00)  “Being still young, I decided not to do the process over again and be mad instead”. (00:53:10:00)  Randy fell into something of a depression following this loss of opportunity, and eventually broke his leg in a drunken driving accident on a motorcycle ride. Randy had grown up riding bikes. (00:54:10:00) o Randy started going to night school for electronics after his motorcycle accident. (00:55:00:00)  This study has taken him into the industrial maintenance field, which is the field of his contemporary career. (00:55:05:00) o Randy’s military experience is “a real sense of pride”. (00:55:20:00) � Being in the Air Force allowed him the opportunity to travel to many places around the world. (00:55:40:00)  Randy also takes pride in the camaraderie that developed while training alongside the other men. (00:57:20:00) o Randy did not start going to military reunions until the most recently past 20 years of his life. (00:57:40:00) o Randy’s wife’s brother is a MIA, and has been missing in Laos since 1970. (00:58:05:00)  He and his wife are active in MIA programs and recently attended a Rolling Thunder National Convention in Washington D.C., where they contact congressmen in order to raise federal concern on these matters. (00:58:20:00)  Randy feels that “the Vietnam veterans are starting to get the help they deserve”, thus his activism is not going to waste. (00:58:50:00) o The only downfall to being in the military, according to Randy, is the inconvenience of not being able to go to college at an earlier age. (00:59:23:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cope, Randal (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cope, Randal Description An account of the resource Randal Cope was born into a lower-income family located in Wyoming, Michigan. He entered the United States Air Force at a young age in search of an employment opportunity. He was trained as a security officer, which also included police work. After training, he volunteered to be an Air Commander and was deployed to Germany shortly after. He spent three years, from 1980 to 1983, in the small town of Zweibrücken where he attended to mostly small security matters, that of both United States and Germany. In 1983, Cope was sent back to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri until he received a mandatory recall notice to Grenada, an island in the Caribbean. This deployment marked the official beginning of the Invasion of Grenada, an event attributed to the end of the Cold War. The men of the Air Force, including Randy, were in charge of clearing the airfield for the safe landing of other American vehicles. Cope was involved in the initial search of the airfield for Russian, Cuban, and Grenadian. 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 United States. Air Force 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 2011-10-17 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CopeR1324V 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/c74976c1e686e8ccd8d22d94844f0557.mp4 279892e52430432a8990f497f0ccedd9 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/60d0f9e46dc824b65cbf19bb14575156.pdf 08b39f552f704f69890ec809ec398711 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Vietnam War Dale Cooper (1:01:32) Background Information (00:14) • • • • • • • Born in 1948 in Southern Illinois in a farm house. (00:15) Dale was the fourth out of five children. (00:30) The farm grew corn and beans and had some livestock. (00:55) He graduated high school in 1966. (1:15) Dale did have a deferment while in college. But because of this he had 2 children and a wife after he was out of college when he was sent to Vietnam. (1:30) He received his draft notice in February of 1969. He did his physical of September of 1968 before being drafted. (2:09) Dale knew very little about Vietnam at the time when he was drafted. (3:07) Basic Training (3:30) • • • • • • • He when to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training. The men were taught not to stand out as it often subjected the men to harassment by the drill sergeants. (3:31) The men seemed to be mostly from the Midwest area. (4:30) At his qualifying exam, Dale was told he was good to do any job. He requested to be a medic but could not because Fort Sam Houston where they trained was full. (5:00) The discipline was hard but fair. (6:00) There were many men who were not in physical shape or respected discipline. (6:23) Men often avoided association with the men who didn’t like discipline as it put the men at risk. (7:53) Basic lasted 8 weeks. He was selected to go qualify for the M16. (8:31) AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) (9:28) • • • • • • He attended AIT at Fort Ord, California (9:30) The base appeared much more primitive and had buildings from World War II (9:35) Men were taught first aid, hand to hand combat, and on more weapons such as the M16. (10:12) There were no great efforts taken to prepare the men for Vietnam such as mock villages or education on booby traps. (11:27) AIT lasted approx. 6 weeks. (12:20) After a 30 day leave, Dale was to be sent to Vietnam. He did not think he would see his family again after his leave. (12:35) Journey to Vietnam and Early Service (13:00) • He flew from Oakland, California, to Vietnam. (13:05) �• • • • • • • • • The men were flown aboard a commercial aircraft. The aircraft landed in Hawaii then the Philippines and then Vietnam. (13:40) When he arrived in country he saw fire and black smoke. [actually from human waste being burned with diesel fuel] This scared Dale. (14:19) He stayed at another replacement center in Long Binh. Dale was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division (14:57) Dale was given training in country on booby traps, helicopters, etc. that could be more applicable to Vietnam combat. (16:30) He was scared early on that he could be killed any second while in country. (17:35) Dale was landed in Camp Evans and was assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd of the 506th Infantry. 1st Platoon. (18:00) Dale was asked if he smoked, as in marijuana. He was told never to take drugs while in the field as he would probably die. (19:42) The men were standoffish around Dale as a new guy could be dangerous in the field. (20:26) When he first arrived, Dale and his unit were south of Camp Evans up in the hills. (21:44) Service south of Camp Evans (22:40) • • • • • • • • • His company had set up an ambush site. When then the VC triggered their ambush, Dale's unit triggered theirs. (22:45) Dale’s reactions to the fire fight were automatic due to training. (23:58) After the fire fight the men in Dale’s unit respected him more as they knew he could hold his own in combat. (24:27) His company commander was from West Point and very dedicated to his duties. (24:53) In the later part of 1969, dale spent most of his time in the mountains. He was never out in the field for less than 30 days. The longest the men were out was 63 days. (26:21) Dale was comfortable in the jungle. He preferred to be in the field. Occasionally the men did stay at fire bases. (27:00) Dale walked point and checked for booby traps for approx. 1 month when he arrived in country. (28:06) He also found a small bomb while walking point. Dale was assigned to destroy the booby trap. (29:20) Booby traps were more prevalent when in the mountains and engaging the North Vietnamese than when engaging the VCs. (30:30) Service as a Radio Operator (31:09) • • • • Dale was given the radio after the radioman left on R&R. When the radioman retuned he didn’t want his job back. (31:10) A new company commander was assigned near this time. One of the first things the new captain did was walk the men out to a rifle range in January of 1970 and test their accuracy on the rifle range. (31:50) He could tell that the company commander [Captain Isabelino Vazquez] was tough and demanding. However he was seen to care highly about the soldiers. (33:50) When a perimeter was set up at night, typically there was a listening post sent out for an advanced warning of activity. Sometimes instead of a 5 men group waiting to intercept a group of North Vietnamese there would be 90 men on alert. (34:59) �• • • • • • • • • • • • In March of 1970 the company went on more intense search and destroy missions because the men were outnumbered in their particular area. (37:26) Some platoons found bunkers, however Dale’s did not. (38:59) After coming back from R&R the platoon took Ripcord. [site of a planned firebase--two other companies from the battalion and failed to secure it] As the men went up the hill there was little to no resistance. (39:48) Marching orders for the next day were often sent to Dale scrambled. He was required to unscramble it. (42:12) On Dale’s R&R he went to Hawaii and had a chance to see his wife. (42:50) Dale did not believe he would come back, even in mid 1970. (43:50) In mid 1970 Dale was made battalion radio man. However he still served out in the field. (44:37) Dale was moved to the tactical operations center [TOC] on Ripcord in late June of 1970. (45:34) Dale did not like being with the strangers in the strange environment of the fire base. He did not know how the people around him would react in a combat situation. (46:27) Ripcord had a landing zone, and bunkers constructed with sand bags. (47:07) He watched people on the base expose themselves in a dangerous situation to protect the fire base. (49:20) Dale’s former platoon was attacked on July 2nd 1970 on hill 902. The company was “wiped out.” (51:26) Service in the U.S. (53:40) • • • • • • • Dale left Ripcord on July 10th 1970. (53:42) He was then sent to Camp Evans. He left the camp on July 18th 1970. (55:01) The aircraft landed in Seattle, Washington. (55:30) Next, Dale was sent to Fort Carson, Colorado, where they, “ironically taught them how to fight a war.” (56:18) Because the unit at Fort Carson was mechanized, Dale was then made a tank commander. (56:31) Dale stayed at Fort Carson for 6 months. His family was able to join him while he was stated there. (56:58) Dale was discharged in early 1971. (57:45) Life after Service (57:58) • • • • After his service, Dale worked at an oil refinery. (57:58) Dale says that he will always be grateful for his experience. Overall, his service affected him positively. (58:58) He was hard on his children after his service to appreciate what they had. (1:00:00) Dale was occasionally harassed by civilians because of his service. Often this was hard to swallow. (1:00:35) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cooper, Dale (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cooper, Dale Description An account of the resource Dale Cooper, born in 1948 in Southern Illinois, served in the U.S. Army from late 1968 through early 1971. After completing basic at Fort Leonard Wood and AIT at Fort Ord, Dale was sent to Vietnam. Here he was assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He went on patrols both in the lowlands near Camp Evans, and in the hills and jungles of the interior. He eventually became a radio operator, working his way up from platoon to company level, and then to the battalion. During the Ripcord campaign in 1970, he was serving in the battalion headquarters until he rotated home on July. He spent the last part of his enlistment as a tank commander at Fort Carson, Colorado. 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 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CooperD1456V 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/a4c8094a15c501bd9eb73b7c9b26f17f.mp4 0e4efa9fad395faa196c284a08bc2c22 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e8cc5601f5f62e794e13e762253cf770.pdf c0389d24038f070c83471e973f3ec7ca PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW Veterans History Project Robert Cooley Born: Detroit, Michigan, 1922 Resides: Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project.. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, July 17 2011 Interviewer: Mr. Cooley, can you start by giving us a little bit of background on yourself? Where were you born? I was born in Detroit, Michigan. Interviewer: What year? 1922 Interviewer: And what did your family do? My father was a carpenter and my mother was a housewife, and that was pretty basic Interviewer: Now, did you live in the city of Detroit or in the suburbs? Well, we moved around a lot because construction worked moved him different places and we kind of moved where he was working and followed up from there. :47 Interviewer: Did you finish high school? No Interviewer: When did you leave school? In 1939 Interviewer: Why did you leave school at that point before finishing? I thought I was a lot smarter than what I was, but at that time things were a little bit tight and I didn’t have to work or anything, but I did. I went out and found what I could in the way of a job. 1:21 1 �Interviewer: What kind of work did you do? A little bit of everything generally. In the wintertime you shoveled snow and in the summer you did lawns for customers and stuff like that. It was all manual labor. Interviewer: Did you give some of that money to your parents to help support the family or did you just support yourself with it? I just supported myself with it for the most part. Interviewer: At what point did you decide to join the army? Well, the work dried up and there wasn’t anything. We had a slight recession in the country at that particular time and it seems like we’re still living with it, but I mean at that time there was no work and rather than go back home again I decided that I would go in the army. 2:18 Interviewer: So, had you been living away from home while you were working? Yes Interviewer: So, you joined the army and about when was that? January of 1940 Interviewer: At that point were you aware there was a war going on in Europe and it might get us involved in it some day? Not really, I didn’t give it much thought at all. I don’t think it would have made any difference at that point in my life anyhow as far as---when you’re seventeen you can lick the world. 2:50 Interviewer: Did you need your parents' permission to enlist at that age? Yes, I had to have a signature from my mother to enlist. My father had passed on at that time. 2 �Interviewer: What did your mother think of the idea? She was all for it really. She could see that I needed a little more toughening up in order to get along in this world and I think that’s what really brought it down to that point when she figured the three years, which was the term of enlistment at that time, that it would help me, so she was for it. 3:29 Interviewer: Where did they send you once you enlisted? I went to Fort Wayne, which was in Detroit on Livernois Ave. a supply depot or something and I think it’s still there today. I was down there for most of the year. Interviewer: What did you do there? Basically drilling and studying tactics work, tactics schooling and stuff like that. It was a normal way that you would go in the army, the tac formations and stuff like that. Interviewer: So, you’re practicing sort of battlefield tactics and that sort of thing. What size units were doing that, squads or companies? That is not a big fort, so usually squad formations or a platoon at the most. That was the way the set-up works. 4:27 Interviewer: How many guys were in there with you doing the same kind of training you were? We had the whole 2nd Infantry Regiment which was—what is there, about 150 people to a company, so we had—I take that back, we had the 2nd Infantry, so we actually had one, two, three, four companies and that’s-Interviewer: Basically one Battalion, yes, and at this point the 5th had been an infantry ivision, they had been decommissioned after World War One, so the regiment may not have belonged to anything else at that time. 3 �Not at that time as I recall. No, I take that back because I recall we still had the 5th Division diamond patch on our shoulder, so we were still part of the 5th Division, but don’t ask me how. 5:21 Interviewer: Well, the army sort of kept skeleton structures of various sorts and functional in different ways and the 5th was a regular army division, so it existed in some form and the 2nd would be part of the core of that when it went forward. How did the drill sergeants treat you? They were tough back at that time, but they weren’t anything like marine drill sergeants. Or anything like that, but you learned what had to be done and you marched to the order that they called for, but I didn’t think it was anything hard or unusual or anything like this. It was anything any average person could have learned. 6:04 Interviewer: Did you have any problems with the discipline or things like that? No, no, in Detroit it was—if you were on leave you always had someplace to go and Detroit at that time was a soldier’s town anyhow because all the law enforcement officers were ex-soldiers from World War One, so it worked out very well. Interviewer: You didn’t get in too much trouble in the city then? No, they would—you really had to get radical if you got in trouble down there because they—I can remember occasions where they would put you in a taxi cab and check how much money and send you home to the post rather than lock you up. It was a better recourse than normal. Interviewer: When did you finish up then in Fort Wayne? 7:05 We were there just that one summer and then we went to, it was Camp Custer at that time, and became a fort afterwards. We went out to Camp Custer; in fact the first winter 4 �we were there we slept in tents, twelve by twelve tents heated with a little stove in the middle of them. Interviewer: Because a lot of the facilities there hadn’t been built yet. No, the barracks hadn’t been done yet, but they were before we shipped out, but at that time there we no barracks, no facilities except latrines of course. Interviewer: How long did they keep you at Camp Custer? I was there until January of 1942, after Pearl Harbor when we shipped out to Fort Dix, New Jersey and from there we shipped out to Iceland. 7:58 Interviewer: Once you had joined the army, before Pearl Harbor, were you paying any more attention to what was going on in the world than you had earlier? Now that you were in the army were you thinking more about that you might have to go someplace? Not really because once you’re through with drilling and what not, I mean, we were basically everybody that was in there was from eighteen to twenty-two, twenty-four years old and it was just a time to go out and have fun by yourself. You did your drilling in the daytime and went out at night. 8:33 Interviewer: So, how did you learn about Pearl Harbor? When it happened, we were—where was I when Pearl Harbor came—in fact we were on maneuvers at that time and somebody came out and said they had attacked us. I didn’t hear about it until Monday after because I had been home on Saturday and Sunday and Monday we were out on maneuvers and they came out and notified everybody that we were on closedown because of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 9: 09 Interviewer: How did army life change at that point? 5 �Actually at that particular set-up it didn’t change that much except our perimeter guards became a lot more strict. Previous to that, if you had a pass you were on your way. If you didn’t, they checked everybody coming in and out and that was the basic change on the thing. Anybody that was on perimeter guard, front or back, had tightened down pretty much that you weren’t going to get in or out without somebody knowing about it. 9:51 Interviewer: Now pretty soon after that they moved you out from Fort Custer? Yes, it was only—well, from December until January, so about a month and maybe a month and a half at the most and we were on a train for Fort Dix, New Jersey. Interviewer: Now, what kind of facility was that at that time? It was a pretty big camp, I mean it was a permanent army camp, Dix was. I don’t know how long it had been in effect or anything. We were there—I shipped out in March, so we were there roughly three months before we were loaded on a train and taken to New Jersey, to the ship, headed for Iceland. 10:37 Interviewer: Ok now, what kind of a ship did they put you on? It used to be a banana boat between Cuba and New York. Interviewer: About how big was it? It wasn’t that big. I think we had about three companies onto it and we were loaded. It was one of those that if we got in a storm and every time you hit a wave the screw would come out of the water and the ship would rattle from stem to stern all the way through and you would think it was coming apart. 11:06 Interviewer: You’re sailing the North Atlantic in the early spring, so I expect you hit a storm or two? 6 �Oh yes, in fact we were something like—I don’t recall exactly, it seemed like it was six or seven days longer. Of course we were all on that zigzag course to avoid U-Boats and it took a lot longer too, but I didn’t see anything like that, but we whipped that storm and they had made bulkheads on the decks to house the soldiers in and the storm caved them in, a lot of them I should say, not all of them, but it caved a lot of them in on the way over there. 11:47 Interviewer: So then did you have to pack everyone into smaller spaces below the decks? Yeah, yeah, this is true and food was a problem because the kitchens were small on the boat and you got two meals a day. They started feeding at five o’clock in the morning and they fed breakfast until eleven thirty and they would start feeding lunch at twelve thirty and they fed until two thirty. I take that back, they fed until six thirty. They started feeding and that was the two meals that you got for the day and everything was boiled. I don’t care if it was steak or what it was; everything went in the boiling pot. 12:25 Interviewer: Now, about how big was the convoy you were in? Could you tell? It was pretty good size and an actual count I wouldn’t have, but I would guess it was at least twenty tankers. I shouldn’t say tankers, but cargo ships carrying soldiers. There was probably at least that many more that were guarding. Battleships and cruisers, not battleships, cruisers, we had two of them, and the rest were all destroyers guarding that convoy. 13:01 Interviewer: Now, did you have any U-Boat scares on the trip over? Yes, we did that, but I mean that they said they sighted U-Boats and actually I didn’t see any and I don’t know that anybody else did. We had one destroyer that they said rammed 7 �one and I had to believe them because I didn’t see them ram it, but the front end was full of what looked like mattresses, but it was down in the water and every time it took a wave you didn’t see the ship. Even the radar masts were covered up onto it, but it was interesting to watch and I wouldn’t want to have been on it. 13:42 Interviewer: Did the whole convoy go to Iceland or did certain ships peel off and go in another direction? No, this whole convoy went to Iceland. We went right to, in fact we entered Reykjavik harbor and disembarked in Reykjavik and from there we were disseminated all over the Icelandic islands. 14:02 Interviewer: Describe what Iceland was like at that point in time. What did it look like, what were the people like? Well, it was actually, except for Reykjavik, all of the towns—we were in a little town called Akranes, and it was just like a little town in the states anywhere except all the buildings were made out of concrete, of course, to withstand their winter gales and storms and stuff they had, but the fishing, of course, was a big industry. They couldn’t grow anything and they had what they called Icelandic ponies, which was a shaggy little horse, and very few cows, but a lot of sheep. In fact, the army bought everything they could off of them and sheep was the main thing they had, and of course after three or four days a week you got awfully sick of mutton. I never cared for it anyhow, but that’s personal, but in any case—it got to the point they would stamp it unserviceable and just dump it and the mess officer reached the point where he wouldn’t take it. 15:26 Spam wasn’t that good, but we’d rather have that than the mutton after a while. 8 �Interviewer: Now, did you see much of the local population in the village where you were? Oh yeah, there were no rules against fraternizing with the population and they used to— after we were there for three months or so they would hold dances and stuff like that there. Gals would come too and we’d go down to the dance and what not, but there weren’t alcoholic beverages except what we brought in. There didn’t seem to be any there and I don’t remember ever getting in or seeing a bar actually in Iceland at that time. The whole island was more like a small town than it was anything else. 16:19 The city of Reykjavik, I do recall that because the Germans had been there before the war and their engineers had built aqueducts to bring hot water down from the glaciers and they heated the whole town with hot water. That was one of the reasons that—actually Iceland was pro-German before the English got there and that was the basic reason, because they had been there and done their engineering. Laid out heating systems and different items for them that worked out very well. 16:56 Interviewer: I was kind of wondering myself, and you probably couldn’t answer it, but I was wondering if the attitude of Icelanders changed at all once the Germans went and occupied Denmark and Norway? Those are Scandinavian countries the Icelanders might have had some contact with. Not that I recall, I mean, we didn’t—the Icelanders, the actual language they spoke was derived from Sweden and Finland down there, but it was not that particular language, it had it’s own inflections and it—I tried learning it and it was too tough for me to play with, so I didn’t get into it, but the actual living there and the time zones and the way that the winter and the summer went—in the summertime it never got dark and in the 9 �wintertime you had about four hours of daylight and to me it was interesting because I’d never run into anything like that before. 18:01 Interviewer: Right, now what was your actual mission or assignment at that point? Just guarding, actually. I mean, they—I was told, and I don’t know, that when the English landed in Reykjavik, that someone had gone to the German Embassy and said, ―You better get out of here because the English are landing‖, and he said, ―No, they're Germans‖, and whether this is true or not—I know there were Germans there first and I know the English came in afterwards, so I had no reason to doubt it. 18:38 Interviewer: It had been an independent country, so the Germans could be there and it was potentially a place the U-Boats could use. The Germans had weather stations in, or tried to have them in Greenland for instance. So the British had to go and find them too. It was certainly vital to maintaining the sea-lanes. Keeping them open as a base for the allies at that point. How long did they have you based in Iceland? 19:00 I went through one full winter, one full summer, and part of another winter. Interviewer: So, it would be late 1943 or so or early 1944 when you actually ship out from there. So, when you leave Iceland where did you go from there? To England, and in fact, I was—I didn’t realize it at the time that we were shipped out on the Queen Mary, which was even pretty deluxe at that time. They had stripped it, most of it, but it was pretty deluxe and I think we were usually—I think it was a four day trip from Iceland to England and we took seven, but we were by ourselves we were not in a convoy or anything else. That ship led by itself. 19:48 10 �Interviewer: The ship was fast enough and they thought it was safer to do it that way. When we finally go into England, of course, we went to Salisbury Plain, which is actually the least productive part of England. It was interesting—I take that back, we landed in Scotland. We went by train to England. Interviewer: A lot of people landed in Glasgow, which was the main point of deportation. Now, at this point was your division now coming together? 20:28 Yes, in fact we were shipped from there to the Irish Free State and we were stationed south of –what is that town, the capital of free Ireland? Interviewer: Dublin? No, Dublin is the-Interviewer: That’s the free state. You mean Northern Ireland, British Ireland? Belfast 20:48 We were probably fifty or sixty miles south of Belfast and we were just doing field training there. That’s when they started putting the division together in different groups. It was interesting in the respect that I remember taking my platoon and riding the train, guarding the train hauling ammunition across Ireland because of the IRA threatening to blow them up. They did some, but I mean it was such a nice sooty ride. 21:34 Interviewer: They all had steam engines then? Yes Interviewer: Generally, were the men that you sere serving with in your platoon, company etc., were they pretty much the same people that you had been with all along or had new recruits been added to fill out the ranks? 11 �No, they were basically the same people that were in the company we left the states with. We picked up one or two, but that would be about it. Our company was a full company when we left and we were a full company when we left England to go to France. 22:09 Interviewer: What rank were you at that point? I was a Tech Sergeant, a platoon sergeant. Interviewer: You were a platoon sergeant at that point. What kind of responsibilities did you have? Well, you had an officer that headed the platoon and it was his job to take the orders from the company commander and come down from there. He would disperse them to the sergeants, and trying to keep track of a platoon, which is pretty tickly. Only three squads, but me and one person to do it was almost impossible. You need two or more even, but my duties were to just follow up his orders and make sure we stayed together and fought together. 22:55 Interviewer: And normally you wouldn’t command an individual squad. You might be with one, but you could go and work with any of them? Not the squads, no, they had a Staff Sergeant command the squad at that particular time and the only time—if the platoon leader got hit, then you would take over the platoon. If you got hit, you had a platoon guy that would take over the platoon, which was usually a Staff Sergeant, but he was in line for promotions. 23:25 Interviewer: Now, at what point did your division get sent over to France? We landed, what was it, eleven days after D-Day. Interviewer: Which beach did you land on? The one they had all the trouble on. 12 �Interviewer: Omaha? Omaha, yes Interviewer: It had big bluffs overlooking it. We landed on Omaha and it was cleared, of course, at that time. We weren’t and didn’t get any fire. In fact, we marched, I think, probably five or six miles inland before we reached the lines where we could get fire. Interviewer: What did France look like to you when you got there? What condition was the countryside in the first few miles? 24:16 Well, outside of the beaches, the rest of the country was pretty well set, I mean there were some areas which they had bombed, and there were bomb craters there, but in general— the towns, of course, had all been hit and they were in a state of disrepair, rack and ruin and what have you, but when you—the countryside looked just like it always did except it was littered with dead cows, pigs and different farm animals and stuff like this that had been killed. 24:52 Interviewer: Probably a lot of those were killed in the bombardments etc. Yes, I would guess that. Interviewer: Now do you know sort of what section or area of the line you were going into? Was it in the general area towards Saint-Lo? It was, we went right through Saint-Lo and of course again, we didn’t fight Saint-Lo, we just went through it. The town had been taken at that time. We went through Saint-Lo and into the hedgerow country and from there—we were there, I don’t know, possibly a week or so before they made the breakout and we were loaded more or less on trucks. You would go so far forward, unload, and fight the Germans where they would holdup. 13 �If they cleared that, which they were in about full retreat about that time, we would get back on the trucks if possible and move over. They would move another unit through us and they would take up the—25:54 Interviewer: Now, at what point did your unit actually get into action? You landed mid to late June and how long was it before you kind of got into the fighting? I think it was about three days after. We were in action about three days after because they had pulled—there was one of the divisions that hit the beach first that was pretty well-Interviewer: The First division was in that sector and so was the 29th. So we went right through them and too over the sector that they were in and then we continued forward through them. 26:33 Interviewer: Can you describe what it was like going into action the first time? Yes, I’ll tell you, being scared and knowing you had a job to do. If you were scared, it was an earth-shaking event, I’ll tell you. Once you got both feet on the ground you realize what you had to do, you were going to do it regardless of what it was, then it came back down pretty much. There were some things that I learned, I meant we use to do what I call open field drilling and we did this over and over and over again and I could never quite figure out why there was so much of it, but you can’t think clearly when you are under fire and you do it automatically and it works. 27:21 Interviewer: Now you were fighting, that would have been hedgerow country you were in? Yes Interviewer: Did you take a while to figure out how to fight there? 14 �Yeah, actually you were usually sticking the weapon up over the thing and just firing, except they had tanks set up to make a hole through those things, and they would make an opening and we would break through that opening and go through the fields and head for the next hedge. 27:55 Interviewer: Well that was happening a little later in the campaign, once they starting fixing up the tanks to do that. When you first got in they probably weren’t doing that yet. No, actually when you first got there, you would find every field had an opening in it and of course those hedgerows had been built over hundreds of years, I guess, because they were like six or seven feet tall, or better, and five or six feet thick, but each one had an opening and you would find that opening and spread along very carefully on the inside and spread out to cover the field that you were going to go, and then you would all go at once through the field to the next hedgerow. 28:30 Interviewer: But the Germans, in a lot of cases, had machine guns trained on those openings. They did, but on the other hand. I mean. If you go through them at night, they don’t know that you’re going through them. If at three or four o’clock in the morning you go through the opening, line up on the other side of the hedgerow and get ready to go when it breaks daylight, and you’re already there, of course, if you attempt to go through them in broad daylight, then you’re in a lot of trouble. There were many people killed trying to get through them in daylight hours. 29:06 Interviewer: So, did you start doing a lot of fighting at night early on? 15 �Not really, most of it, I’ve got to say, was done in the daytime. We made night marches and things that where we’d run up against not that heavy a group in front of you, the Germans in front of you, and you’d make a night march, go forward and continue from that point, but in most cases you waited until daylight to make your actual advance. 29:36 Interviewer: What kind of losses was your company taking at that point? Pretty heavy, we were probably—I think I had something like oh, six, seven men to a twelve-man squad left in my platoon and I think that was more or less universal. I mean, these were not all deaths; the majority of them are wounds that took you out of action. I mean they—but you could figure at least one out every one of those was going to be permanent. 30:14 Interviewer: Now, about how quickly were you getting replacements up? Did they come in at that stage or did they come in until long after after? They came in after, we fought under, you know, without full complements for probably a couple weeks or so there anyhow, and then we started getting replacements. Interviewer: What could you do for the replacements to help them adjust? Try to put them with one of the guys who had been there a while. Veterans who knew what was going on as much as you could, and we have to remember they’re individuals just like we were and they went through a training period. They knew it as well as we did, but we’d been there and truthfully we didn’t know it. 31:00 Interviewer: As you were—how regular was the fighting in those first few weeks before the breakout? Were you In most days or did you have a few days on and a few days off? 16 �No, we had—actually if got to—if you fought, actually fought for two hours a day, that was a lot because the Germans would pull back. They never sat there and once they determined the odds were against them, they would pull out. I mean, just—they knew what was going to happen and, of course, we had our artillery backup that they didn’t have and they hadn’t moved their tanks in or anything at that particular point. They were holding them over at Calais. 31:48 Interviewer: Some of them were over there and some were holding the British at Caen, but none were in your sector particularly at all? No Interviewer: So, did you feel at that stage that you were actually making progress getting somewhere, even if it was slow? Oh yeah, yeah, this was within, that breakout came—it was a month, within a month after we landed there and at that point we were moving forward all the time. We knew we were going forward, I mean, there was no doubt in our minds that we were advancing. 32:22 Interviewer: Now one of the things that happened to help start the breakout was the American did some very heavy bombing raids around St-Lo. Do you remember seeing any aircraft going over or hearing any of that or was it in a different sector than you? The aircraft—we had bombers going over, in fact, the sky was black with them at times, but I was actually not that close to St-Lo, I mean to where they were bombing, we were quite a ways away from them, but I mean, you could see them, you could hear them. At that particular time it was all B-17’s and we’d already, I mean our aircraft recognition 17 �courses and all, we knew what we were looking at, so—in fact I don’t recall, except on one or two occasions, seeing a German plane at all. It was—once or twice we saw ME109’s, but that was it, there wasn’t any others. 33:18 Interviewer: Did you see American tactical aircraft regularly? Fighter-bombers and two engine bombers and things like that, and did they support you? Yeah, they were in the air quite a lot. Again, it’s not a steady thing and they would go over roofs and then you wouldn’t see anything for the rest of the day. We went through one field where they had landed gliders and the Germans had stuck up posts in the fields and I wondered how anybody came out of that alive because those gliders were all broke up into little pieces. 33:51 Interviewer: That tended to be what happened to them when they landed anyway, but yeah, there definitely were problems like that. Now, what sense did you have that the Germans at that point, how effectively they were fighting or what condition they were in at that time, what was your impression of them? They were effective, believe me they were. The big problem with—I should say that their light machine gun was probably the worst weapon for us that we could run into, but one thing, the Germans, once they determined they had superior forces against them, they would back off. They wouldn’t stand and fight like we would. Don’t ask me why, they wouldn’t stand and fight, they would move back. 34:46 Interviewer: They didn’t have enough men. You say that, but if you go into attack they like to attack two to one, but we’ve attacked when we’ve had—figured we had even—same amount of people we had on the other side over here. I mean you can’t—they don’t stop. 18 �Interviewer: You have several weeks of this fairly regular fighting with fairly steady progress and then the breakout comes and you start moving faster. Once you got out of the hedgerows where did you go? Well, at that particular point, we’d load on trucks and the Germans at that time were setting up little spots here and there that they would fight from. They didn’t have an organized fight, but you might go a mile or two up the road and run into a company of them that was fighting here, and then you would unload and try to clear that and then get back on your trucks and go again and in the meantime these roads were full of littered vehicles. 35:53 I mean they were burning, houses were burning, anything that has been fired on. I don’t know if they were firing on it or it was just the result of the artillery firing onto them that caused it or not because it was normal for artillery to knock out anything that was high. It could be a barn; they would knock it down because they could put spotters into it. I mean, we moved, some days we would move like ten or fifteen miles and the next day you would get twenty-five in. I mean, it was nothing—from that distance we went all the way to the Rhine before we finally hit, got stopped, and I’m trying to think of what that German fort was. I was in Patton’s army and he had sent scouts into this town—they run him out of gas or he ran out of gas, I never quite figured that out, but he had pulled his gas and sent three vehicles into the town and they had pulled out. 37:01 By the time we got gas and got ready to move again, they were back. But these forts, the Germans had forts and I think they were French forts originally-Interviewer: Well the French had—one place the Germans defended in that area was the French town of Metz, it had a bunch of forts around it and that was a place where Patton’s army kind of got bogged down. Some by-passed it and went down 19 �toward the German frontier, but there was a long fight there. Now, were you involved in the fighting around Metz? 37:37 Yes, in fact, that’s where I got wounded. At Metz we had—Patton took the tanks and went around it. He, as you say, bypassed the town, but there was the Tenth Regiment , the Eleventh Regiment and the Second Regiment of the 5th division that stayed there that finally overcame these forts and I mean it was—as I said, I got hit and was shipped back to England, I think, in the first few days that we had the attack there, but it took them, I would be guessing if I said anything at this point because I really don’t recall, but it took a long time and they finally took all of the forts. 38:26 Interviewer: it did take a long time and it took a lot of casualties in the process. Can you describe, sort of, your experience at Metz kind of up to the point of being hit? I mean, what were you doing and what was going on? Well, at the time I got hit we were in attack and I can’t—it was one of those forts, but that wasn’t our primary concern, we were off to the left of it and somebody else was attacking it straight on. I was going across an open field and it actually felt like somebody had taken a baseball bat and just knocked me right off my feet, and you—the realization is there that you got hit, how bad? So, you get up and I found out I could move, so I got-39:15 Interviewer: Where were you hit? In the chest—I took the tail end of a machine gun burst. I took one in the chest and two in the arm on that thing, but I mean I was lucky. Of course, everybody that came out of that war was lucky, but in any case, it—I found I could get up and of course, you’re bleeding and I walked back, I don’t know, maybe fifty yards or so and collapsed there 20 �and one of the corpsmen, or medics, came up and stuck bandages on and they sent me to the rear and then they put me—actually I rode a tank because they couldn’t get an ambulance or anything, so they stuck me on a tank with a couple other guys that were going back and when we got to the field hospital I was unloaded there and they operated on me at that point and the next day, they had taken the airfield, and a bunch of us were shipped back to England for recovery. 40:21 I was there for, I don’t know, about three or four weeks and was sent back over again. Interviewer: What was the hospital time like? It was fine, I mean you couldn’t get out of it or anything like this. I mean, it wasn’t like you could go to town or anything like that. The food was good and it was basically exercise to get you back in shape again. This is—once you got healed up enough that you could do that of course, but once they rated you fit for duty, you were shipped back. You might go as a group or you might go as an individual. 41:12 Interviewer: Was it a good break to have at that point after all the stuff you had been through or did you just want to get back? Yeah, you really give a sigh of relief, I have to say that when you get in that hospital and the tension is not there, everything is gone and you know there is nobody shooting at you, but it’s like everything else that humans go through after two weeks it’s blasé again, you just are living there that’s all. The food is good and everything is good and the realization comes back when they tell you you’re going back again. 41:46 Interviewer: So, what was it like to go back? Was it something you were ready to do at that point, or you didn’t want to go? 21 �I didn’t want to go, period. I don’t think anybody really wanted to go back. I mean, you knew you had to and it wasn’t a question of what you wanted to do really, it was you knew you had to go back, so you might as well resign yourself to it and it wasn’t anything big that I could see it wasn’t anything anyone else wasn’t doing and we were shipped back. Of course we went back across by boat, we didn’t fly back. They flew us in, but they didn’t fly us back and we went back across by boat and loaded into trucks and were taken back to the same outfit I was in. 42:40 In fact, when I got back they had a new platoon sergeant that had taken over the platoon, but in one of the other platoons the guy had been shot up before that, so they just sent me over there. Interviewer: Now, were they still at Metz at that point or had they taken that? Oh no, we were in fact just in a holding position at that time. After Metz was taken they just sat there. This was until—it was winter and it was cold, you know, cold weather until the breakout when they came through the forest there, the Bulge, when they started the Bulge, and of course we were in Patton’s army, so we loaded on tanks, I was infantry all the way, but we loaded on the tanks and cut across country and headed for the bulge. 43:27 It was steady going, I mean, I think we drove two nights and a day or something like that there. Interviewer: Now, before you headed off on this, had the division been able to take in a lot of replacements and recover a lot of its strength? Oh yeah, we were up to full compliment at that time. Once Metz was taken we were, I would say, the best part of a month, we just held and we didn’t do anything. I don’t know what—it was a static position at that time and nobody seemed to be doing anything and I don’t know why. We were right at the Rhine, in fact, we were across the Rhine at a 22 �number of places at that time, but when this thing came we were—they were setting up for an attack to move forward into Germany at this point and they called it off and sent the whole Third Army towards the Bulge and cut that off. 44:36 Interviewer: And then what kind of action did you see at that point? Are you counterattacking the Germans and going through the forest? Yeah, but not in the respect of open field or anything like this-- it was, where you ran into them and they ran. At that time they knew it was over too. I mean, the little town had been taken and I don’t know what unit got in there first, it was part of Patton’s army that had taken the town that held out and really stopped it. Interviewer: Bastogne, the 101st Airborne was there and then Patton’s Fourth Armored got up there and joined them. When they took over that the German’s knew it was done and when we got there, of course we were to the right, we were cutting off the Bulge, and when we went through the wood they didn’t even stop to fight, they ran as fast as they could. 45:38 Interviewer: Did you have any idea what kind of soldiers you were fighting at that point? In terms of, were they old or young? Yeah, we got—yeah, you were right, there were older men and a bunch of, I swear some of those kids were thirteen or fourteen years old that we ran in and I mean, they were like kids we captured. If they got hurt they were crying and I mean, and the old people, the older ones, if they could give up they would, put it that way, but if they had to fight they would do that too, so it was a circumstance kind of a deal. If they had an officer behind them with a pistol pointed at them, they were going to fight. 23 �Interviewer: You were probably up against what they call a Volksgrenadier Division, which was recruited from older men, recovering invalids, teenage boys, and whatever was there, was not what they put at the main points of attack. There were other places in the counterattack on the Bulge where the fighting was a lot nastier, but the rest of them were holding the sector you were in. 46:38 We were just cutting them off, cutting that Bulge off. We weren’t—the soldiers that had gone through were up ahead of us. I mean, we were in back of their main lines and the people we hit, that our particular unit hit, were not professional soldiers. Interviewer: So the fighting was easier on you than it was maybe back at Normandy or at Metz or anything like that? Yes, I don’t mean you didn’t get shot at, but you weren’t under continual machine gun fire and stuff like this. They didn’t have the weapons to start with, but they all had rifles and some of them would fire them, but like I said, the biggest share of them, if they could give up at that time they would. 47:28 Interviewer: About how long did that continue do you think, days, a week, two weeks? I don’t think very long. Seven days at the most. I’m trying to think of whom we met on the other side. Someone came from the other side and I think it was English, but I wouldn’t swear to that, but we met somebody, I know, because—then the word went out of course, ―hey they’re cut off‖. Whoever’s up there is there. 48:01 Interviewer: Once you linked up with people coming down from the north at that point, did you stay where you were, did you go east? 24 �Yeah, we just held and positions became static again and we just held that particular point. We watched a lot of German prisoners come marching back because we were just off a main road and they were marching them back to from the Bulge itself. They were giving up as fast as they could at that particular point. 48:34 Interviewer: How long did things stay static do you think at that time? Oh, probably, it must have been three or four weeks anyhow, before we ever moved out of there and from that point we moved—where did we go? We went-Interviewer: Did you go back south a ways? We went into Sudetenland Interviewer: That’s’ in Czechoslovakia. The Saar maybe, that’s in West Germany? The Saar is that piece of West Germany that--They moved us back down there after the Bulge was cut off and we went in there. The only reason I remember that is we—we didn’t fight them, but a bunch of German cavalry came through on horse and, of course, we sent the prisoners back and kept the horses, which didn’t last too long because the positions were static and the Russians were coming from the other side and they were giving up as fast as they could to us. 49:37 Interviewer: That probably was in the Sudetenland, but that would have been at the very end of the war. I want to keep your story kind of reasonably in order. So, we’ve kind of gotten you through the Bulge, repositioned back in Germany, so then you’re maybe attacking again in February or so? We went to, and I don’t remember the names of the towns in Germany. I know in one town we ran into a point where they had a gal—we were getting sniping fire and I mean the town was laid out like a horseshoe, I mean a wagon wheel, I’m sorry, and the 25 �spokes—the streets ran out like spokes and as you crossed this one intersection we were getting sniper fire, and it hit two or three people. We went looking for it and got into a church up the street, I mean they’re not hard to locate, and there’s a gal about sixteen or seventeen and, I mean, she wouldn’t come down and they shot her from down below. She was up in the belfry shooting at the soldiers at that time. 50:39 This kind of stuck in my mind because we didn’t see too many females that were fighting over there, but this one seemed to have a pretty good hate for Americans because she refused to come down from the belfry. One of the guys could speak good German and he told her to come down two or three times and she shot down at him and that was the end of it right there. Interviewer: Do you remember crossing the Rhine? Yes, we went across on a—we crossed the Rhine and it was into this city that I was just mentioning and there was a railroad bridge there. Bring the infantry we got across it. I mean, it had been—it wasn’t suitable—they had wrecked the train tracks and stuff, but we could still get across if they laid a few planks here and there and we went across that way and into the town, took the town, and spread out both ways. 51:32 I don’t recall where we went from there, as far as that particular town is concerned. The only reason I remember it is because of the sniper fire that we took and she must have got three or four guys anyhow. Interviewer: As you’re moving out into Germany at that point, what’s the campaigning like? Are you meeting a lot of organized opposition or roadblocks here and there? 26 �The organized opposition the Germans had was pretty well gone at that time. We took a lot of area; we walked through a lot of farmhouses and stuff like this. I mean, basically it was just farmland all the way and I don’t recall getting fire except once or twice after that point until we got all the way to, I don’t recall the town, when the actual war was over, but the fighting was strictly sporadic after that. 52:36 There was no concerted effort, I mean, they didn’t have the people and they didn’t have the leadership at that time, I don’t believe. Interviewer: Did you see much of the civilian population going through Germany? A few times, in fact I’m trying to think of the town, and the brewery was left and we found that. We went into it and there were three old Germans there and one of them had lived in New York and he could talk good English and we got to talking to him, and one of the guys asked him, it wasn’t me, and they said, ―What do you think of Hitler now?‖ And the only answer he said was, ―he lost the war for us‖. He still didn’t realize he’d killed all your young people, he’d wiped out the country, but he lost the war. That was the only thing that came to mind on him. Just, I don’t know, that kind of thinking amazes me I guess because there’s got to be a lot more to it than that. 53:36 Interviewer: There were a lot of different responses and then the question of do you say to the American soldiers when they come through. Now, as you were going through Germany, did you go into any of the concentration camps or work camps? We hit one and I can’t remember what it was, but it wasn’t a big one, but again, it was a question of these people have been downtrodden so far that there wasn’t any response to them as far as they were glad to see us or weren’t glad to see us or anything like this. I think they all knew instinctively they were going to live from that point, but some didn’t. 27 �We fed them and we gave them our rations and they had to stop. One of the doctors came through from our side and said not to give them any more rations because they’re killing themselves, so don’t feed them any rations. 54:39 They hadn’t had food in so long, I guess, it didn’t set well with them. I mean they were all just skin and bones. Today I sit here and hear people say, ―Hey, this never happened‖. You never were there that’s why it never happened. Again, some of the things are just so surprising to me. Interviewer: That is why we need to do this kind of thing, just to give people that many more reminders of what all that was really like. Now, you mentioned early getting to Sudetenland and the American did get that far to the frontiers of Czechoslovakia and those areas up in there. Did you get far enough to run into the Russians? Yes, and I say that with tongue in cheek. We saw them and we didn’t meet with them or anything. 55:36 I mean, the newsreels showed a lot of Americans shaking hands and we didn’t get into that because they stopped before they ever got there. We probably had a half a mile between us. You could—we were on a hill and we had a good area and they stopped and they also stopped shooting because they said there were no more Germans. They came up to us as fast as they could. Interviewer: Now, in those last days, did the Germans seem to be retreating toward you? Were you getting refugees coming toward your lines? German soldiers mainly and there were refugees, but I didn’t really put them together with the soldiers, because the soldiers, the minute they saw us their guns went on the ground and their hands went up and in they came. They wanted—they didn’t want to be taken by the Russians that was for sure. 56:28 28 �Interviewer: You mentioned seeing a Cavalry unit. Can you describe what they looked like and what the horses were like? It was, in fact I didn’t think there were any horses left when we—I regret that I should have stayed with that because we had those horses for about four or five days and one day here came a batch of MP’s and they took them all back to the rear. The unit itself was—I mean it was nondescript in the fact that you did not have full uniforms on these people and what have you. I had no idea where they had been or anything, but they got off the horses and we took the saddles off, of course and put them out to graze. The guys knew what they were doing that did it, I didn’t. 57:18 Interviewer: What condition did the horses seem to be in? They weren’t bad; really they were in good shape. In fact, we were told, and again this is here say, the officers, they used them back in the areas where the officers and men were on leave back there that they rode them for recreation. Interviewer: It’s quite possible, they had the Lipizzaner stallions, the white, in Vienna and so forth, and those were protected and at some point those had to get rescued by somebody out of Czechoslovakia. But these, those would be the horses that got left. Most of the German horses would have been used for pulling wagons and those kind of things and gotten killed a long time ago, and kind of an odd thing to have ride up on you at this stage in the war. 57:57 Yeah, it really was and, like I said, there must have been twelve or fifteen of them or something like that, which was a pretty good number of horses in this one particular group. Again, like I said, the uniforms they wore were not fully German uniforms. They 29 �were made up of parts and pieces. Stuff they had picked up on the road and things like this. 58:26 Interviewer: So, Do you remember how you heard about the European war ending or how that news came down to you? I think it was disseminated down through rank, from the officers down to our commander, who notified us. We weren’t called in, I mean, he—at that time you could group, so he would get the whole company together and notify us as a company. At that time I was married and he said for all married men to put their names in and they would be leaving as soon as they could get transportation, which didn’t hurt my feelings. 59:09 Break Interviewer: You mentioned you were married by then. When did that happen? I was married before I went overseas. I didn’t wait, I got in the service and when I found out I was going overseas, I got married, my wife was agreeable, so there was no problem with that. 59:39 Interviewer: Did you have to go back to Michigan to get married and turn around and go right back out again? Well, I was in Custer at that time, I was still out there and when I knew what was going on, I went back home and got married. I couldn’t see too much point in waiting. Interviewer: What did she do while you were off in the service? Worked in war plants and kept house. She had a baby and it worked out well, but she—I remember she worked, she was living in Saginaw at that time, and she worked at the machine gun plant where they made light machine guns. :20 She worked over there for a long time. 30 �Interviewer: Did she go to New Jersey? Oh yeah, she did, I was at Fort Dix and she came out, rode the bus out there, and it was odd because I expected her on one bus and she didn’t get off. I’m walking around the bus station there, in Trenton, in New Jersey, and here she stood against the wall waiting for me, so it worked out well. Interviewer: All right, so you’re a married soldier, but also, someone who had been in since 1940 and you were in there longer than most of those guys, and you had a fair number of days of combat, so you had a variety of ways, and you had been wounded, so you had a lot of ways of picking up points, so you could get out relatively early. When did they ship you out of Germany? 1:22 Well, I was—I got discharged in June, so I think it was probably May because when they shipped me there I went right back to England and we embarked and I came back to the states. Actually I was discharged at Fort Sheridan in Chicago and from there I took the train into Detroit and home at that point. That was quite a ride on that train too. 2:12 Interviewer: Full of soldiers going home? Oh, there was so much alcohol flowing and you couldn’t realize that many people could do that many different things. Interviewer: Go back a little bit to that time you spent in Iceland. What did you do there aside from standing guard or whatever your official job was? Well, your recreation time was your own, but Iceland, actually, it’s a beautiful country in the respect that it’s a bird sanctuary to begin with and we did little items there that, I didn’t, but I was walking along with my guide, he was a sergeant, and he was a Finlander from up in northern Michigan, and just out of the blue he just reached down and pulled 31 �his forty-five out and shot out across the water and knocked off a duck. The next morning there’s a big note on the bulletin board, You Will Not Shoot The Water Foul In this Country Because They Are Protected. The country itself, between the summertime especially, that sun goes down probably twelve or one o’clock in the morning , but it just sinks below the glaciers back there, I mean volcanoes, the extinct ones, and it comes back up in about twenty minutes or so. 3:36 In the meantime, the colors are—of the sky—are so radiant that you just couldn’t believe there could be that many colors going on at the same time. We had more or less freedom of what we wanted, of course, Iceland is nothing but Fjords, which are big bays, and it worked out perfectly for the navy. They had a big—every one of them had ships into them. They had an oil tank, what we called a tank farm, up there that was big oil tanks that they refuel their ships and stuff off of. 4:22 They had a submarine at one of the other ones that was closer to Reykjavik that had, the naval air force had, a submarine—I’m trying to think, they’re standard, I don’t know what they called it, but they use to fly submarine patrols. We went over—one of my sergeants had a chief petty officer that was flying submarine patrol and we went over there to see him one day and he had a—what was his name, Wilhelm Ludwig Gast , and it was strange, he was some German descent, of course, but he kept the whole name and kept the German inflection on it and he’s flying submarine patrol. He said, ―Anyone of you guys taken gunnery practice? We said, ―no‖, and he said, ―Well, if you had, you could have come along with me‖. 5:24 He said, ―I have to have trained gunners in there‖, so they hadn’t run into anything to speak if. But they had those big Mariner seaplanes and that was—the whole thing was set up all the way through. It was—I had never dealt with the navy before that or since that, I mean, as far as personal. I was quite 32 �impressed with the way it was set up and the way it was run, but they use to fly back to the states periodically and they brought fresh hamburger up there and I hadn’t had a hamburger in two years or something like that. It was one of those things that just hit you, all of a sudden you have access to everything and we hadn’t even had access to the states. 6:16 Interviewer: Now did the army give any kinds of creative training or anything like that? Take advantage of the fact that you’re up in Iceland and teach you to ski or skate or any of those things? Like I said, at one time they decided we were going to have, make some ski patrols and they took a group of us, I had my platoon, but I mean, we just went up on the glaciers and it didn’t work. You can’t train a group of men to ski in the period of time that they had left there. There were some interesting things that I still remember, you know, you always put your ski in the exact same path as the man in front of you, and if you had to stop and relieve yourself—everybody used the same spot and this is just normally, can’t count how many they got in the group , but you knew what the purpose of it was and it was an interesting thing, but it didn’t work. As I said, maybe if they had started two years before that. 7:24 Interviewer: Did they have you cross country skiing on the glaciers or what? Yeah, we were just on the glaciers itself and this one spot was probably a two mile run or something like that down the hill and some of these guys would try to take that run kneeling down and they get going so fast, of course, the skis would go right out from under them and they would slide on their back for a quarter of a mile or so before they finally got stopped, but nobody got hurt that I recall anyhow. It was an interesting thing 33 �and we periodically even—they would give us free time and we’d take the platoon out and cover ten miles or whatever they wanted you to cover. 8:14 I can remember taking my platoon out and climbing those extinct volcanoes. You could get around them and I think back on it now and if I’d lost a man up there I don’t know if I’d have been here today or not. It was a foolish thing to do, but we were all young and could handle it then. It was no problem, I mean; you went through it, and actually the fish in the middle of the volcano-=pretty near all of them had a lake in them and they were basically trout and fresh water fish. I don’t know where they came from because it was all salt all the way around there, but in any case, we got to the point we were using concussion grenades and we would drop a couple of them in the water, gather up the fish, take them back to the mess hall and have a good supper out of them. 9:03 Interviewer: Not spam and not mutton. Not spam and not mutton is right. Interviewer: Are there other memories or things that stick out in your mind about your time in the service that you haven’t mentioned yet or other things you left out? Well, I mean, actually all the items I’ve forgotten them. Some of them I wanted to, I mean it wasn’t a question; I just tried to erase them from my mind as much as possible. Did I tell you they dumped the jeep in the water? Interviewer: It was jeeps, the Volkswagen you stole or took from the Germans. Well, this was after the war, when I got home here the Volkswagen put out the Volkswagen—what they had in Germany, they made a special model for the German army that—over here they called it the Thing and I don’t know—10:13 Interviewer: They called it a Kubelwagen. 34 �That’s the job. Anyhow, we took one of them one place, but it was an interesting little outfit, they had about a three pint gasoline container and they had a three cylinder aircooled engine to them. They had about a pint container that you poured gasoline into them and you started the vehicle on that, it was an air-cooled engine, and the engine got hot and they would run them on kerosene. They smoked a lot, didn’t have any power, but they got you there and got you back. I mean, at that time in the war, fuel was really tight in Germany, so we had that for I don’t know how long, and again, somebody came along and took it back. 10:57 Interviewer: Somebody could pull rank on you. But you—there wasn’t much German equipment that you could have. Of course the big thing that I saw in Germany was the non-fraternization policy they had going at that time and I mean if you were caught talking to a group of Germans, you better be giving them orders. If not, there wouldn’t be any pleasantries what so ever. 11:29 Interviewer: Did that end when the war ended or did that keep going in some way? I think it ended. I don’t know that for sure, but I’ve seen and talked to some people who stayed over there and they said that it was a complete different set-up after the war was over. Of course again, once the Russians had put their course or set-up into effect, and they were flying them in, we had to, as allies, had to become chummy with the Germans because that’s the only way they were going to live. Couldn’t believe, I still couldn’t believe we flew that many supplies into Berlin to keep those people alive. 12:08 Interviewer: To look back on the whole thing now, how do you think your time in the service would up affecting you as a person or otherwise? 35 �I think it did just what my mother was expecting it to. It made me realize that I was a man, that I had other things that I had to do because I have to freely admit, I was, when I went in the service, I was someone living for my own purpose and nothing else and I— when I came back I wasn’t the only person in the world anymore. 12:50 I did affect me in that I came home and of course, after I got out of the service jobs weren’t that hard to find and I had a little time as a plumber before I went in the service and I got talking to him and he said, ―When you want to go back into plumbing, we can get you started as an apprentice‖, and I said, ―Ok‖, so I went from there, got my license, my three years, and then I went to work for the state as an inspector, got my masters license and went on from there. 13:27 It was just the things that came together right. I came home, like I said, and I realized I had a family, I had somebody to support, It wasn’t just me, so I had to keep going whether I wanted to or not. I didn’t realize that before I went in the service. I had come up and whatever was mine was mine and that was it and once you can get over this you realize that you have other aims in life. 13:58 Interviewer: All right then, anything else you want to put on the record here before we close this out? No, I think we are pretty well set. I think I will undoubtedly think of something after you’re gone, but that goes without saying I guess. It goes without saying, I think this is a nice deal in the respect that I know that I’m not going to be here for too much longer and I can leave a record like this. In fact, I have thought of going down and having something put on a disc, but what do you have put on a disc? What can you say to your family except, ―I love you, I’m gone, and where we going from here‖. Interviewer: You tell a pretty good story. 15:00 36 �This was well after I got out and we went to the 5th Division--finally after thirty, forty years, why we realized they had an association of that division and I went to that. My brother was down there and this guy coming up the street and he had a T-shirt on that said 5th division on it, and he said, ―‖My brother was in that outfit during the war‖, and he said, ―He was?‖ And he said he peeled the T-shirt right off and he said, ―Here, give him this‖. Of course, my brother said he washed it before he brought it home, but I mean, it was unusual that this happened, but because this happened was probably the reason I got in touch with them. I went to Waco and then I went to Indiana for the next one and I haven’t gone—I’ve gotten a little bit too old to make those kinds of parties anymore, but I may go again if they have one in Michigan in the next year or two and I’m still here. 16:17 Interviewer: Well, thank you for talking to us today. Thank you for coming out. I appreciate the fact to get some of this stuff off. 37 �38 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cooley, Robert I (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cooley, Robert I Description An account of the resource Robert Cooley joined the US Army in 1940 and served through World War II. He was a platoon sergeant in the 5th Infantry Division, and was stationed in Iceland, England and Northern Ireland before landing in France after D-Day. He saw action at St. Lo, Metz, and in the counterattack after the Battle of the Bulge before advancing into Germany and Czechoslovakia. His account includes descriptions of life on garrison duty in Iceland, combat in the Norman hedgerows, taking German prisoners and coming upon a small concentration camp shortly after it was liberated. 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 United States. Army 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 2008-03-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CooleyR 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/126138f799fba9e10ede9632c53b83c5.mp4 498dfa695f71c3b5806c93c0c3f2c4d3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/de00fc575d3f16f166477424107b23c0.pdf cd04d5bb24a751fd0ce695f808b35df1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview James Cooley Iraq War Total Time: 25:30 Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (00:25) • • • • • Born in Wyoming, MI Joined the Army in March, 2003 at age 17 He joined the day after the United States invaded Iraq Joined because he wanted to serve the country and that they would help pay for school. Joined the National Guard because he was not old enough to be in the Regular Army, Training (02:13) • Basic Training was 13 weeks long during the summer between his Junior and Senior years of High School at Fort Benning, GA. Active Duty (03:55) • • • • • • • • • In Iraq, worked in a transportation unit. He operated a 50 caliber machine gun on a truck with guarded the convoys. Arrived in Kuwait at an airstrip and then boarded a bus which convoyed up to Camp Taji in Central Iraq. He was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. He was able to stay in touch with his family by letters, by phone, and email. His duty was to keep the trucks up to standard and keep their weapons in working order. They would run their missions at night, and during the day he would watch movies and eat junk food. Spent most of his time traveling around Kuwait and Iraq. Didn’t really interact with the local population while he was there. He was in the same company as his brother, and he trained the Iraqi Army. Return Home (0:20:50) • • • He flew from Iraq to Fort Riley, KS and then to Grand Rapids when he came home. Got a job upon returning home, and then began attending Grand Rapids Community College a month later. Due for another year long deployment. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cooley, James (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cooley, James Description An account of the resource James Cooley joined the Army National Guard in 2003 at age 17, and served in the Iraq War. He worked in transportation while he was there, specifically he operated the .50 caliber machine gun on a truck that guarded convoys. He served a yearlong deployment, and at the time of the interview is scheduled for another year tour of duty. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Lenartz, Michelle (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 Iraq War, 2003-2011--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 2007-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CooleyJ 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/486c17b6a6d180bde74f95b651c99ed5.mp4 279e2336a2f626ed13aa05fcf6fd282d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/efcaedc379d115b3857813192421e2fc.pdf b79ff69161726942fbe90bce9e746bfe PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Jack and Eileen Cooley (00:59:09) (00:03) Pre-Enlistment • Interviewer is Charlie Collins. (00:03) • Jack’s full name is Jack William Cooley. He was born October 19th, 1924 in Rockwood, MI. (00:25) • Eileen Cooley was born in Interlochen, MI, May 15th, 1924. Her maiden name was Korby, which is a Finnish name. Her father was a Finnish immigrant. • (01:55) Jack went to school for K-8 in Rockwood. Rockwood is about eleven miles north of Monroe, Michigan. At the time, they were called the “downriver rats.” His house was on the Huron River. His father worked for ford in Flatrock, working on R-28 engines. (00:42) • Eileen’s mother died of anemia when she was six. Anemia is now a curable disease. When her mother died, Eileen went to live with her aunt and uncle in Trenton until her father adjusted. Her father was a section manager for the MNE (Manistee North East) railroad. Later on he worked Nikkema, and then Norwalk. (03:00) • Her brother went to her grandparents, and went to High School in Mesick, MI. (04:52) • Jack doesn’t remember much of his childhood school. It was a small school. They moved to Trenton when he was in the 8th grade. He and Eileen went to the same high school starting in 1938, and they graduated in 1941. (06:05) • Jack worked at Lincoln Park Tool and Gauge when the Pearl Harbor attacks occurred. He was sixteen and worked seventy hours a week. (06:32) • Eileen was in a movie theatre at the time. The theatre manager came out during the show and advised everyone that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He also advised all navy personnel to return to base. (05:52) • Jack graduated High School at the age of sixteen. He started school a year early. (07:33) • Jack and Eileen knew each other at school, but weren’t dating at the time. They were in the same group of friends and often went out as a group. Eileen went to prom with Malcom Elias, and Jack went with Elma. Jack was in the hospital recovering from an accident, and thinks he disappointed his date. He still feels somewhat bad about it. (07:52) • During his senior year, Jack had been at a dinner for the sports team. On the way home he went through a side street and another driver hit him. He woke up in the hospital with a police officer at the end of his bed. The officer informed him that the other man had died in the accident. Jack does not remember the accident, but he does remember the ambulance ride because one of his classmates was the driver. His classmate did not recognize him, but he was covered in blood. (09:08) �• Jack worked at the factory as a “precision gauge finisher.” His job was to bring gauges down to the exact size after they had been lathed and worked. He used a johansen block to make the measurements. It was a good job. (10:43) (12:36) Enlistment and Training • Jack tried to be a pilot for the Air Force because he wanted to be a “big shot.” He failed the physical because of his bad depth perception. Later, he was drafted in 1943, after finishing his first year of school at the University of Michigan. He was an Aeronautical Engineering major. (12:36) • He had his physical in Detroit a month after being drafted. He was then sent to Fort Custer for a week. Next, he was sent on a train to Grenada, MS. He was not informed it was going to Grenada, and had hoped it would stop somewhere else. He was assigned to the 167th Combat Engineering Battalion. (13:37) • The men built their own base at Camp McCain. The area was very dry and barren. It did not rain often, but when it rained it rained hard. One day it rained and the six feet deep drainage ditches overflowed. He learned to march with muddy boots and dust in his eyes. The blue clay in the area made digging a foxhole hard work. Aside from the weather conditions it was not too bad. (14:48) • During his early training he was taught how to build a bridge over water, or over a canyon. They had high quality equipment; most of it was kept on a truck. They had band saws, circular saws, drills, and other items. They would pull into the woods and use the tools to cut down trees and make them into bridges. They built a bridge on the Yazoo River. (16:11) • He finished Basic with that outfit. He was then given three choices. He could go out as a first sergeant for a new Battalion, or he could go to OCS or ASTP. He choice to go to ASTP (Army Specialized Technical Program) as it was training for engineers, which was what he wanted to do anyway. The patch for the group was the “lamp of knowledge.” (17:25) • The engineering school was in St.Louis, Missouri. He was in the program for three months, and then it was shut down due to an infantry shortage. When he enrolled in ASTP he had to give up his rank of corporal, so he was back in the infantry as a private. (18:14) • His group was shipped to Camp Hope in Louisiana. He was sent to practice maneuvers in his new shoes, which were not suited to it. They built foxholes as well. His group spent three days without food because of a supply problem; it was the most miserable part of his service experience. (18:58) • At the end of the three days, they were given C rations. At the time, they tasted very good. Some of the men put their rations in the fire to warm them and they exploded. They learned to poke holes in them to let expanding air escape. He frequently had SPAM in the service, but has not had it since. (20:06) (21:22) Eileen’s Education • Eileen had wanted to be a nurse, but couldn’t enroll in the program because she was only seventeen. She worked at Owen’s Drug Store and earned three dollars a week. Of that, she saved about two dollars and put it into the bank. Her bank was the “People’s Bank.” She was later accepted into the Early Hospital in Flint, �• Michigan. In the meantime, the US Nurse Corps started up, and she signed up. She was then sent to Wayne State with other nurses who represented other hospitals in the area. They studied Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry and Biology. Her education was paid for by the government, as were her uncomfortable white shoes. When she graduated she bought new shoes. (21:22) After graduating, she had to have her toe operated on, probably because of the bad shoes. She was not sent to active duty in the Nurse Corps because the war ended shortly after she graduated. She basically had a free education, except for her cape and uniform—which was why she had worked at the drugstore. She graduated in 1945. Jack was on leave from the Army and came to visit her. Francis Rosthorn, Eileen’s friend, had told Jack to call her. They went dancing, despite her bad foot, and Jack’s combat boots. (24:50) (27:10) Active Duty • Jack was shipped to a temporary base at Camp Hope. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 114th Infantry, 44th Division. He was at Camp Hope for about three months ,and then shipped to Camp Phillips in Kansas. He was trained to be a mortar gunner at Smokey Hill Air Base. Army planes flew through the firing field, but they weren’t hit. (27:10) • His group was sent out about two or three months after D-Day. They were sent to Boston to be transported by ship. The ships still experienced problems from time to time with German Uboats. He remembers feeling the sides of the boat vibrate when they dropped depth charges. He was in D-Deck, very far down. It tool seven days for them to cross. He thinks the boat was a General class, but doesn’t recall. (28:54) • They went to St. Germain Tunibert [?] and stayed about a month. They were sent to join up with the 7th Army in Southern France. They spent most of the time there, and were attacked twice. Once on Thanksgiving, by a force of 22 Panther Tanks, and two infantry regiments [this seems to have been the fight at Schalbach—ed.]. The anti-tank outfit used 90mm guns to take out the tanks, and destroyed seven of them. The German infantry also took heavy losses, and they retreated. The Sherman tanks 75mm guns could not take out the Panthers. The siege lasted about a day, early morning to late afternoon. (30:35) • After the battle, they stayed in the same general area. They were sent to [?], which was a “hairy situation.” Roosevelt did not want the troops there, but De Gaulle was convinced if they pulled out the Germans would annihilate them. Jack agrees with De Gaulle. They were housed in an insane asylum, which wasn’t all that bad because it was dry. (32:56) • He ran into members from his old outfit who had had a rough time. They had been repairing the Moselle railroad for Patton. One of the squad leaders had died after being hit in the head with shrapnel from a mortar. (33:49) • When the Battle of the Bulge began, Patton pulled everyone North. His outfit was sent to cover Patton’s flank. The Germans attempted to use Operation North Wind against Patton, and then tried attacking the flank. Jack once fired 2400 shells out of his 80mm mortar, and became very hot. He also burned out a BAR. The flank was not hit as hard as the main assault. (35:07) �(37:20) Camps • Next he was sent throughout France, and then Germany. He remembers Ulm, Germany in particular. His group came across a BMW factory with a fleet of motorcycles in a square of about thirty feet by one hundred feet. They had to burn them so the Germans couldn’t use them. He feels somewhat bad about burning them. Then they were sent to smaller towns in Germany. He was sent to Nuremburg, and they helped liberate Dachau. (37:20) • He entered Dachau, and he often wishes he had not. There were still some prisoners in the camp; they were all in very bad condition. German civilians in the area pleaded ignorance when questioned about the camps. An American general, possibly Gen. Patch, made them dig mass graves. Some of the civilians killed themselves after digging the graves. Jack remembers that the camp gave him nightmares, and the evils of the camp made him angry. (38:50) • Later on they found a POW camp at Bad Orb, Germany. The prisoners in that camp were half-starved or worse. The men from his unit gave them all their Crations, which they ate gladly. The camp was for enlisted men only, and was mixed amongst Americans, French, Americans and other nationalities. (40:49) • Earlier the men in the 106th Division in the POW camp had been made to march in snow with no boots. (41:39) (42:10) More Active Duty in Europe • Next, Jack went South to the Black Forest and then to Reutte, Austria. They were chasing a small force of retreating Germans. They made it all the way to Bretter Pass in Italy, and then the war ended. Para-troopers took Berchtesgaden. (42:10) • Austria was also a “hairy situation.” The Germans had artillery, and it was a continuous battle for about two weeks. (43:05) (43:31) Post-War • After serving in Europe he was sent home on the Queen Elizabeth. They landed in New Jersey, and were sent to Fort Dix. They were going to be trained to serve in Japan. The men were fattened up on good food, and could have all the milk they wanted. German POWs were made to wait on them, and clean up after them. (43:31) • Jack was initially on R&R (Rest and Relaxation) and was home about three weeks. He received a telegram calling him back to Fort Smith, Arkansas. (44:40) • He was nearly sent to Japan as a recoil-less rifleman, but instead he was discharged. He was discharged on November 17th, 1945 at Camp Gruber in Oklahoma. He was still serving when the Atom Bombs were dropped in Japan. (45:28) • When he got home he called Eileen. At the time, Eileen was working afternoons and they began going out after finished her shift. (46:48) • They married 1947. Jack went back to school in 1946 to Lawrence Technology with the help of the GI Bill. Eileen worked at Chrysler. (47:24) • Jack graduated in June 1950. They had their first daughter Christine that August. She was born while they lived in a flat at Highland Park. They lived in the upperstory flat. They bought a house on 14% interest—another benefit of the GI Bill. �• • • • • • • • • They lived in that house for fourteen years. Six years after Christine was born they had a second daughter named Suzette Cherry. Jack named the second daughter. (48:25) Next they moved to South Rockwood. Jack’s parents gave them some land and they had a house built. Jack worked for J.N. Farmer Company installing lubrication machines. He had taken the job because they gave him the impression that a management job would become available later on. After about four months he realized there was no management job and quit. Eileen remembers the grease he was covered in everyday. (49:59) Next Jack worked for Holly Carburetors. He worked in the Air Force division and trained men in the Air Force how to maintain the engines in their planes. He worked there for three and a half years and then went to Ford Motors. (51:18) Jack worked in Ford’s Mercury Aircraft Division in Romulus, MI. He worked as a liaison with the military for about a year. The military, either the Army or the Air Force, cancelled the contract later on because they no longer wanted J-40 engines. After that, Jack was sent to the Steel Division. He worked in on cost analysis and helped design the passageway for visitors. (52:06) Jack went back to Holly for a year, and then came back to Ford to work in the Truck Division. This time he stayed there for twenty-five and a half years. (53:17) Eileen stayed home with their daughters, and did not pursue a career in nursing. It was a necessity at the time because Jack was often out of town for work. (53:37) Jack joined the Masons in 1946, and has been one for sixty two years. In 1950 his grandmother gave him money to join the Shriners, which he joined with his father. He played in the band for thirty-four years. (54:47) Eileen joined the Stars. Both of their mothers were matrons with the Stars. (55:50) Jack went back to school later to learn more about production. He went to night school for six years and graduated with a second degree in engineering. (56:48) Jack usually left home for work at around 5:30 AM and went to the East Side of Detroit for work. He got out of work around 5:00 PM and then went to school until 11:00 AM. He still made time for all the organizations. (56:43) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Cooley, Jack and Eileen (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cooley, Jack and Eileen Description An account of the resource Jack Cooley served in the US Army between 1943 and 1946. He initially trained as an engineer, and then went into the ASTP engineer training program, and then was switched to the infantry when the program was shut down. He served as a mortarman with the 44th Infantry Division in France, Germany and Austria in late 1944 and 1945 and recounts several battles with German armor, infantry and artillery in the later stages of the war. Eileen relates her experiences on the home front during the same period. 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 United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--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 2007-05-22 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CooleyJE 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/aced767452219e60a96ff9b26d0c35b7.mp4 65ce720640412e0b26c36c2428fbad52 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/35ce9954bb4a5416dc19d44cfa23b79c.pdf 74aab1f9214a3d9e345603bf75430d45 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Daniel Conover (01:13:30) Introduction (00:28) • Father was in the army, grew up all over the place. Enlistment (00:55) • Conover enlisted in the Marine Corps out of high school knowing that he wasn’t ready for college. He was excited about the opportunity to “be paid to go around the world and blow up things.” • Joined the Marine Corps because of the mystique and challenge. Originally wanted to join the Navy, but those recruiters went on lunch, and the Marine Corps recruiters signed him up. (1:35) Training (2:30) • Conover describe show boot camp breaks a person down and rebuilds them. • Conover was an infantry machine gunner (MOS 0331) Conover was assigned to the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marines. Deployed on ships for 6 month “floats,” and did training the other 6 months. Since the Marine Corps is small, much of the training is done with other services. (3:41) Service (4:33) • As a young man without a lot of experience, much of the time was memorable, from physical activities such as rappelling from a helicopter or jumping from an airplane, to exploring foreign countries and peoples. • Being assigned to a reconnaissance unit, most of their time was spent training or studying potential adversaries. When they had off-time they deep-sea fished and “did things young men do” If close enough go get home for a holiday, they could do so. Conover remarks that the Navy does a good job of keeping its sailors and marines fed for holidays. (5:35) *Conover was reluctant to describe some activities due to the interviewer being a highschool student* �After service (7:59) • Conover believes that his service helped him grow up and gave him focus and discipline that was useful for college. Seeing other parts of the world that most tourists don’t see changed his perspective on culture and politics. • Conover formed close friendships while in the Marine Corps, but didn’t keep in contact with them after he left. (10:06) • Is now CEO of a company that does laundry for hospitals. (10:44) • Conover would like his kids to go into the service as a way for them to grow up and learn about others (12:11) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Conover, Daniel (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Conover, Daniel Description An account of the resource Daniel Conover enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school. Conover served in the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marines from 1981-1985. In the interview he talks about life in the Marine Corps, some memorable training including rappelling from a helicopter, and recreational activities while in the service. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Stern, Glen (Interviewer) Zuhl, Alex (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military United States. Marine Corps Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Veterans 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 2007-06-03 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ConoverD 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/513b125de9068a57906608ced43e65f6.mp4 fd0ac6c1ca359f237650f60605038ed4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/547351852c772a8e1b4a999f9263f1d3.pdf 3ae33c6c6d695c60913605f65f302ee0 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Joseph Connelly Length of interview (1:38:19) (0:00:17) Background Born in East St. Louis, Illinois January 11, 1949 (0:35) Lived here until he was drafted in to the military (0:50) Father worked as a meat cutter and mother was a housewife (1:05) Has a twin sister and an older brother and sister (1:15) Older brother was in army in 1952; didn’t go to Korea though (7:19) Senior year of high school worked part-time at local drug store (1:43) Every night at six news of Vietnam would be on television (2:00) Graduated in 1967; worked at drug store, then at Granite City Steel Company (2:41) Received draft notice in spring of 1969 and took physical; passed (3:17) Went to Belleville, Illinois for induction ceremony (4:45) (0:05:00) Training Took bus to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for training (5:04) First impression was that it was worst location to build a fort; difficult terrain (5:41) Started being yelled at as soon as he got off the bus (6:38) Issued uniform at supply area; then bussed to company location (8:00) Training consisted of running, shooting, first aid, and other basic skills (8:30) Military Occupations Specialty (MOS) was 11 Bravo (light weapons infantry) (9:45) Goal of training was to prepare soldier for vigors of combat/build self-confidence (10:20) Large perfect of training group were reservists/ National Guard (11:05) Adjusted pretty easily to military life; was in good physical shape (12:30) All training instructors were Vietnam veterans; trained to survive (13:45) Six weeks of basic training before receiving military occupations specialty (15:30) (0:16:10) Training Continued Shipped to Fort Ord, California for Advanced Individual Training (AIT) (16:25) Thought this training was more interesting because got to handle more firearms (17:28) Training company had about 130 men from all across United States (17:50) Trained on different weapons: use of weapons, how they functioned (18:35) Learned how to survive in the field: reading maps, terrain, escaping the enemy (19:15) Believed that skills he learned prepared him well for Vietnam (20:30) Not a lot of free time during training, when not training, he was usually sleeping (21:32) Advanced Individual training lasted about six weeks (22:00) Spent 14 days in hospital during training because of pneumonia; was recycled (22:10) Left for Vietnam on January 11, 1970 (24:00) Flew from St. Louis, Missouri to Seattle, Washington to Alaska to Japan (26:26) Flew from Japan and arrived in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam (28:03) �(0:25:00) Active Duty First impression of Vietnam was that it was hot and it had a distinct stench (28:15) Given orders at Cam Ranh Bay before heading north to 101st Airborne Division (29:17) Trained in a mock village to prepare for actual missions (30:00) Drove north to Camp Evans put in Company D, 1st Battalion, [506th Regiment] 3rd Platoon (31:30) Had to carry minimum of 21 loaded magazines, better to have and not need (33:09) Split into five man recon teams to search for enemy: 1 sergeant and 4 privates (34:24) Towards the end of January patrolled lowlands; it was rainy and foggy (35:25) Slept whenever he could, took turns keeping watch for enemy (36:59) Infantry unit was close family and new guys seen as a liability (38:50) Individual squads met every couple of weeks to resupply and get new mission (42:45) Monsoons stopped in May, started heading into the mountains, went to LZ Maureen (45:00) (0:46:00) Combat Experiences Arrived in the landing zone that as under fire and had to set up machine gun (46:41) During this fire fight had first taste of CS Gas, but didn’t have gas mask (48:29) Artillery fired illumination rounds that exposed the North Vietnamese positions (52:26) Hiked to the top of a mountain and found a 200 bed hospital underground (55:25) Part of the company was attacked at night on top of hill his unit had just left; couldn’t do anything to help (57:47) While patrolling an open area started taking ambush fire, but enemy retreated (1:01:09) Arrived at abandoned firebase,Kathryn; tried to re-establish it (1:02:00) Back to Camp Evans before getting dropped at hot area, Hill 805 [near Firebase Ripcord during siege there in July] (1:05:10) Sent to retrieve some bodies and they almost walked right into ambush (1:07:50) Mid July they were near Ripcord and they started taking mortar fire (1:11:20) Hit with shrapnel in the side, shoulder, back and didn’t even know it (1:14:14) While in the medical evacuation, told to take care of neighbor to prevent shock (1:15:20) (1:17:00) After Injury Taken back to Camp Evans; then 18th surgical hospital in Quang Tri Province (1:19:33) 95th evacuation hospital in Da Nang --> Yashoda 248th general hospital in Japan (1:22:0) Flown from Japan to Fort Leonard Wood military hospital in Missouri (1:24:00) Given a steak dinner and all he could eat while in the military hospital (1:26:00) Given 30 days of leave after his stitches were taken out (1:29:10) Offered a job as a basic combat instructor at the motor vehicle depot (1:31:27) Became an ammunition truck driver on base for remainder of duty (1:33:00) Felt that there wasn’t as much respect in the ranks as there used to be (1:37:20) When returned home from Vietnam faced with resentment from civilians (1:37:50) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Connelly, Joseph (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Connelly, Joseph Description An account of the resource Joe Connelly was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1949, and was drafted into the Army in 1969. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and infantry training at Fort Ord, California, he was sent to Vietnam in January, 1970, and assigned to D Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, based at Camp Evans. His unit did routine patrols near the coast until the monsoon lifted, and in May they started operating in the mountains, and his company took heavy losses at LZ Maureen. After taking replacements, they returned to the field and participated in fighting near Firebase Ripcord in July, and helped to re-establish Firebase Kathryn. Connelly was wounded in action and sent first to Japan and then back to the US to recover, and completed his enlistment as a truck driver. 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 Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-10-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ConnellyJ1446V 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/5f70e5ba0299958b87e412160a990da5.mp4 646853e86050cce62d9ee6ee97e85744 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0afc7e6097d420f01f4f6b907939974e.pdf 643d67dae59c24a05222ff18f28f981c PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW VICKI CONDON SHARROCK Born: Lowell, Michigan Resides: Lowell, Michigan Interviewed by: Kyle Riley, GVSU Veterans History Project Transcribed by: Claire Herhold, January 25, 2013 Interviewer: Mrs. Condon, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’re doing today? Well, right now I am a production assistant for LandAmerica Transnation where I, realtors, mortgage companies call in and ask for policies, ask for title work, or as for the last deed on the property. Then I check the records that we have and get a copy of their deed, show that any mortgages are on there, and pretty much answer questions, help with policies, very detailed. Interviewer: So, when you were a little girl, what was your life like? I grew up on a small farm. 1:01 We produced food for ourselves. My father worked in the factory, came home, did the milking. We raised pigs, we had sheep, a huge garden. My mother canned a lot. I helped gather eggs. I helped bring the cows up for milking and later on I milked and fed the animals and went to school. And I went to a little country school just a half mile away for a couple of years, a one room school. Interviewer: What kind of things did you do? Were you a large part in the role of the farm family? Well, there were four of us girls, and I was pretty much the tomboy. My older sister stayed in the house, and my two younger sisters were too young to do a whole lot on the farm, but I helped. My sister would drive the tractor during haying season and I would, in the back, because we didn’t bale initially, we just put the loose hay and then we got to pack it down in the barn which was the best, you know, every kid on a farm loves to jump down on the hay from up �above. 2:10 First time out, you’re scared to death but you make that first jump and it’s kind of fun. Interviewer: Did you have any struggles with your family, or did your family share any struggles of the day? We just, my parents worked hard to get any place, and we lived paycheck to paycheck. We didn’t have a lot, but we had plenty of food. We had fresh milk. We had homemade butter, homemade bread, and all the canned foods in the wintertime, so we were rich. We had no money but we were rich. Interviewer: What was the hardest thing about your childhood growing up? Being so far away from town. My father worked and it was like two and a half miles to town, so unless we walked then we couldn’t. 3:08 There was a lot of things at school that we couldn’t participate in because we didn’t have the gas or the time or the money to drive into town. Interviewer: What did you like to do during high school and when you were older and started to get new jobs and start exploring more opportunities? Between my junior and senior year, I worked at Amway. And I worked at Amway until I joined the Navy. That was a summer job for me and it was…I worked at A&W root beer outside of town, and I was really excited because I made ten cents an hour. No, the root beer was ten cents, I think I made seventy cents, and the second year I worked I made seventy five centers, and the third year that I worked there I made ninety cents but I worked in the kitchen where it was hot. 4:10 It was more fun outside with the customers. Interviewer: What made you decide to go into the Navy? I liked the idea of the military. I didn’t want to work in a factory like my parents did. It was a struggle for them to make ends meet with four of us girls. I wanted something more in life. I �wanted to go to college. We couldn’t afford college. I was able to go on the Vietnam GI Bill because I went in during Vietnam and served my three years active duty during that time. But I didn’t want to, I wanted to get away from a small town atmosphere and I did, but I came back because I love Lowell. I mean, it’s a great little town. 5:01 It’s improved a lot, culturally, socially and I like the small town atmosphere as an adult. As a kid, nobody likes it, you know, that’s just a fact of life. Interviewer: Before you went into the military, did you have any dreams of becoming a certain profession at all? Oh yeah. I had taken three years of French in high school, and I wanted to be a United Nations interpreter. That was my goal in high school. Interviewer: Did you think that joining the military could help you achieve that dream at all? No, because by that time I had already been married and divorced. There were other things. I wanted my college degree. I wanted to teach. Interviewer: What kind of things did you do after you went into the Navy? As far as employment, or…? Interviewer: When you joined up, what was the first thing that you did? 6:03 I jumped off a bunk bed and hit the floor on my face because we had gotten, we flew in, our first day of boot camp, we flew into Bainbridge, Maryland and we got in there late, and there’s an open bed here and an open bed there, an open bed there, and they put us all, you know, “go to bed and we’ll get you squared away tomorrow.” And I woke up at 5:00 when the bells were ringing, young women were running all over the place trying to get squared away, and they said, “well, you have to hurry up and get out of bed because we’ve got to get going.” So I jumped out �of the bunk bed but I was on the top row and fell right on my face. That was my first experience of boot camp. Get up and get going. Interviewer: What was that like for you? I was a scared little girl. I was a little country girl. I was very intimidated. Anybody that was in uniform that wasn’t one of my peers, I was scared to death. 7:03 I later learned to differentiate between officer and non-commissioned officer but, you now, that first couple of weeks it was a … I was very timid and had to learn to obey orders then, not think about it. Discipline was very strong, but we were ladies, we had to become ladies and we were also to become square corners. You will be a square corner. We had to learn to do those bunk beds. You know that was our CC, our Company Commander’s motto. You will be a lady and you will be a square corner. So, I can still make a square corner. Interviewer: What kind of things did you learn at boot camp? Boot camp…I was at Bainbridge, Maryland, which, we were the next to the last company of women to go through. We did a lot of marching. 8:02 We learned the history classes of the Navy, and ships and planes and the whole criteria of the military rule. But we didn’t work with any ammunition, any guns. We were ladies, and it wasn’t until the boot camp closed down in Maryland and they went down to Orlando, Florida where the women would use guns and learn how to shoot firearms and break them down, clean them and put them back together again. But the training we had at Naval Pen TC Bainbridge was, we were ladies. Things changed. Things changed, and are still changing. At the time I was on active duty women were not allowed to have dependents. Women were not allowed to be on ships. It was later, as I had gotten out of the Navy, that women were first going to the hospital ships, refrigerator tankers, that type where �they were supply type ships that would go out to the fleet. 9:15 And now women are on all the ships and are in combat, but in the ‘70s when I was on active duty, that was not a choice. Interviewer: Did you have any idea on what you were going to do after you joined the military, after boot camp? Well, they had all the testing. You test before you go into the military, number one, to make sure that you’re smart enough. You know, the army has basic training tests. And then there was another battery tests, and we were always taking tests. And then they had them geared toward your field of operation. 10:07 What best suited you? And for me, it was a clerical type position which was the radioman, and we learned how to use the older equipment. Now, everything’s done on computers but back then we had ship-to-shore, ship-to-ship, voice communications and now we have satellites. Interviewer: Were you excited at all to go into your new job? Yeah, I worked a regular shift. I worked forty hours, or thirty six hours, depending on my schedule. We worked three shifts in one week and it rotated, so if I went on Monday I got off Friday morning and I didn’t go back again until Tuesday. And then Tuesday I’d work until Saturday, and Wednesday through Sunday, so it was always variable. 11:04 But basically I went in, we logged in our messages, and I worked for the Naval Investigative Service, under Naval Intelligence Command. And we had all of our agents who, our messages would come in. The subject matter would determine what branch, what office it went to. We logged them in, put them in a folder and delivered them to the lieutenants, officers or agents, or whoever was in charge for that department, and we had our security clearances. There were things that came in that we rushed right down to the captain’s office and turned around and left, because once we handed it off we didn’t want to know what else was happening. �Interviewer: Were you involved in any large operations or missions? The final thing that I was involved with was Operation Homecoming. When the Vietnam War officially ended to the public we were involved in bringing the men and women back to the United States. 12:10 So we had all the messages of who was coming from where, and who was MIA, missing in action, and who ended up being a POW, prisoner of war. We received a letter of commendation for that. We didn’t get a unit citation which would have been another medal, but we did get the letter, which helped for advancement later on down the road. Interviewer: Was your job very stressful? Were you really nervous about going into your job every day? The thing that…I wasn’t nervous, but I know that some of the stuff came in that I couldn’t write home to Mom and Dad about because there were things happening around the world. 13:01 I went back to the same office as a civilian worker when I got out of the Navy and was there during the Iran crisis. That was when Reagan was ending his presidency…oh, I can’t even remember the entire situation. I know that things happened fast. That’s pretty much it. Interviewer: What kind of things did you earn while you were on active duty? As far as ribbons and awards? Interviewer: Yes. Ok. Right out of boot camp, because I was in during the Vietnam Era what we all considered the Geedunk Medal which is this one right here. 14:05 You got it just because you were in the military at that time. And then I was also in the reserves during the Iraq confrontation so I have my Bronze Star. This ribbon right here is Four Years of Reserve, Meritorious, and I had seventeen reserves so I’ve got one plus three stars so that counts for sixteen years. This is ten years for the Navy Reserve, and this one right here is for, I believe that’s my Navy Achievement �award. And then I also have a ribbon that I got when I was in Washington D.C. for the dedication ceremony for the Women’s Military Memorial. Interviewer: What kind of conflicts would you face normally at your job? 15:08 Getting a paper cut. Conflict, I mean, there are things that I couldn’t talk about, but as far as…I was in an office building on the tenth floor. We were in Alexandria, Virginia most of the time, so I wasn’t in any place where I could get harmed. I mean, I was in a safe office building and I went to work. I had to sometimes go over to the Pentagon. We took the subway. That was scary sometimes, taking the subway. You would get nervous if a top secret message came in because you had a certain length of time that you had to get it processed and get it down to the person that it was addressed to. 16:01 So that, you’d get a little nervous and stuff, but other than that it was lots of paperwork. Interviewer: How would you process the messages you sent and received? We had a big, and I couldn’t even tell you, it was a paper tape reader basically. We had rolls of yellow tape that had holes in them, and each line of holes represented a letter and we typed our messages and…we typed our messages on a special machine that printed out the holes for the tape, and we would have big rolls of paper tape that we would use and send out the messages, and then we’d wind it up and hang it on a hook until we knew that they had processed. But our messages were read into a system and then they went to another central service where they was disseminated around the world basically. 17:05 And then messages would come back in from around the world through the central system and come into our office, and it was all set up. But now everything is done on computers, you know. You put who it’s to, and you carbon copy too. Just type everything out on computers now. Interviewer: How did your military life affect your family life and personal life? �When I first went in, I was a little country girl and I seen the world. I have a very open mind. I feel I’m a whole lot smarter, and I didn’t end up working in a factory my whole life. I’ve done other things. I’ve gone to college and I have a two year degree in business management from Fairfax, Virginia and then I have a Bachelor’s degree in education at Aquinas. 18:08 And through the military, the GI Bill, I was able to go to the two year college, and I was able to quit work because I had five stepchildren during that marriage, and the more children you had during the Vietnam era, the more money you got on the GI Bill, so it worked in my favor under those, you know…so I went and did my two year degree. Interviewer: Were there very many things that were different because you were a female in the military? The only thing that…we went to boot camp, I was surrounded by women. We were not allowed to skylark, which is, you know, looking at guys on the other side of the fence, you know, because we were in a closed area. And we were ladies, we were not, you know…some of us had been married, and we were twelve weeks with over three hundred girls. 19:11 And working with women is sometimes, not always pleasant. It wasn’t bad. And then…I did not stay in a dorm area when I was in college. I was working full time and going to school part time. So I never had that dorm, where you’ve got like four or five girls to a room. Well, we had like four or five girls to a room, but we only had three sides on that room and across the hallway was another room with four or five girls and there was absolutely no privacy. Then later when I got to my first active duty station, the only comment made was because I was filling a billet that a man could have had to be on shore and he could have been home with his family instead of out to sea. 20:13 Because being in the Navy, the men spent an enormous amount of time out to sea. It’s like, “I’m sorry. I have no control over that,” because women were not allowed on ships, not �until the end of my active duty were women first starting to go out to sea on the, what we called, comfort ships. Interviewer: I just forgot what I was going to ask. Ok. Interviewer: Did you get any chance to socialize with the men you were working with? Oh yeah. It was just like working in an office. I mean, if we were working in the office and Friday night, I called date night because my husband and I always tried to go out together on Friday nights, but a lot of the men had families. 21:10 Later in the reserves, I was in the same reserve unit with the same guys for almost, well, fifteen of seventeen years. I watched them have their children, raise their families, their children were growing up, and all the sudden getting ready to graduate. So yeah, we bonded. There was a lot of camaraderie, of you know… a lot of the times, I’d see their wives at the airport as they were dropping their husbands and saying goodbye to them as we came in, or if we had functions a couple of times a year, we’d get together. And I just hope that I didn’t pose any threat to any wife, because they were like brothers to me. I mean, we were a tight knit group. We went around the world to different reserve stations, to different communication stations in the reserves, and seen a lot. 22:07 And they went off and did their thing, and I went off and did my thing, and then came back and compared notes of what we had seen and what we had done and had a good time. We worked our forty hours, or our thirty six hours, or had our weekends off so we’d go off on the weekends. When we were out to California we’d drive up to Reno or Las Vegas or whichever one was closest to us, and when we went overseas we got to see a lot, a lot more. Interviewer: What kind of things did you do after you were done with your three years of active duty? �I had when I got out, I got out of the Navy after my three years because I had gotten married, I had five stepchildren, and women were not allowed to have dependents. 23:06 My girlfriend was, we met in boot camp and gone to radiomen A-school and were good friends for another fifteen years until I lost contact with her but, you could not have, women could not have dependents. I had gotten married, I had five stepchildren, I had to get out. She stayed in, got married, and had a baby. She requested to stay in, and her husband got orders out to California. She went out there for a little while, had the baby, and when the baby was just still a toddler, she had to take orders and go to Greenland for a year. She came back, nine months later she had her second baby, and she said that’s it, no, and she got out of the Navy. She later went into the reserves, but that was a choice that she made, requesting to stay in, but she was separated from her brand new baby and her husband for a year. 24:05 And then later, they both went to Italy, and they were stationed in Italy for three years. She had to sacrifice the twelve months while her baby was with her husband, and then she was able to join him. Because I had five stepchildren, I had no choice. I had, we had… I had had orders to go to Guam in 1974. We were the first shipment of women to go there. But because I was married and had five stepchildren, I had to get out. I had no choice. So they got me out within the end of the three years. They rushed through all the paperwork because they knew that if they had kept me in, they would have had to prorate the enlistment bonus, and that was even more paperwork so they got me out. 25:01 And then I went back in the government service as a clerk in the same office so I worked with the same people that I worked with when I was in the Navy which was kind of special because I knew what I was doing. And then later on I worked that office under Naval Investigative Service, was involved with the Privacy Act that came out in the early ‘70s, Freedom of Information Act, so we were very big on getting involved with that. �Interviewer: While you were in the reserves, what was life like? Was it different from when you were in active service? The reserves was a great way to go. I had thought seriously about going back in, but I had a decent…I was working in computers at that time making good money, and I had one weekend a months that I had to go to the reserves, and then a two week mini vacation. 26:06 And we planned that vacation…that two week reserve active duty that we had to do like in January, February, March time frame so we got out of the weather here in Michigan, and we went to the east coast, the west coast. We ended up over in Diego Garcia, a little tiny dot of an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and we were there for…our unit was attached to that island, so if the balloon had gone up, we would have gone there while the active duty had gone to where the action was. That’s what our reserve unit was to do. And we went to Diego Garcia two years, two different times in two years. The first time we went to the west coast. We flew to San Francisco, then to Japan, flew over Vietnam and landed in the Philippines at Clark Air Base and was there, our plane had to, we were there for a day and a half. 27:15 And then from the Philippines we flew to Diego Garcia and that was a thirty six hour flight, a long time in the air. And then four years later, Clark Air Base was no longer in existence and we went the east coast, and we left from Pennsylvania. We were in Athens, Greece, Naples, Italy, Baharan, and then we flew to Diego Garcia. But when we were in Baharan, to replenish the plane we had to get off, but because we were all Americans or British they put us on a bus, drove us out to the middle of the runway and we had to sit out there for four hours while they took care of the plane, and it was like a scary thing because all the graffiti on the bus was all in Arabic and our driver had a turban and we had no idea what was happening. 28:13 All we knew was that we had to go out there and sit in the middle of the runway until they were done with the plane because they didn’t want the �natives to know that there were Americans or British on their soil, so… and that was during the…the United States was escorting the oil tankers during that time so that was the… Afterwards, when we found out, it was like “Holy cow.” That was exciting, scary. I didn’t feel I was in any danger, but it was different. Interviewer: Do you think that, while you were on your job, did you think that you had a really important job? 29:01 I did, especially…when you went into the reserves, there was always a joke that the reserves were there to play. Well, we worked our twelve hours a day if we went on to the shift. And we worked with equipment that maybe we hadn’t worked with before, and the first time I worked in a fleet alley that was really intimidating for me. We were working sending out voice messages to the ships, and they all knew that my turn was next and I had to call out to the ships and notify them that we were sending them traffic, and I was just stuttering so bad and I couldn’t talk and they were all giggling behind me because they knew that I was…well, the term now would be a newbie, but that term wasn’t around back then. I just…later, I was ok with it, but the first time you talk and broadcast out is like being a radio announcer. 30:05 You’re talking to, you know, how many people are you talking to at one time? How many people are listening to you? And you’re stuttering and trying to get out important information and that was scary. But now I’ve got the knowledge, because if the balloon drops now, the first thing that’s going to go are our satellites and there are not a lot of people who still know how to operate the big receivers and transmitters, with the exception of the ham operators that are still active today. The ham operators still are a very important part of our culture. Interviewer: What kind of things did you do for fun during your job? Did you ever goof around and maybe misbehave a little bit? �Heaven forbid. I was sweet and innocent. Yeah, there was…in boot camp, we were a bunch of women all together and, you know, one big area and one of the girls was a beautician and she had some wigs with her, and another girl, for some reason, she had a rubber blow up doll. 31:20 And we blew that doll up and I was part of the party that got in trouble, there was about six of us that did it, and we put that blow up doll and her wig in a bunk and we got caught, and we lost the smoking privileges. The smoking light was out for a week for us, and back in the ‘70s I smoked, and I couldn’t smoke for a week because our rubber dolly got caught. It was harmless fun, but…and the company commander laughed about it later. She couldn’t laugh in front of us, but that was a very harmless prank. 32:02 But we were there in boot camp over New Years Eve and the only alcohol we had was mouthwash and all we could say was that we got a little buzz. Well, yeach. Mouthwash now… but yeah, you joked around. It’s just like being in a regular office. You’ve got your buds that you work with and joke around with, and hey, how are you doing? How’s your kids? How’s your wife? That type of thing, so it’s, to me it was like working in a regular office. Now, later in the reserves, as I got older than the young kids in the Navy, it’s like, was I ever that young? Was I ever that crazy? It’s like, yeah, I probably was but I’ve grown up and matured some. Because I retired from the reserves with a total of twenty years in 1998, and that was the same time that I graduated from Aquinas. 33:01 So I did a double decker and made a major accomplishment in my life. Interviewer: The people who were in charge of you, were they mean? Were they the stereotypical officer who’s always grumpy and always yells at everybody? The first couple of weeks of boot camp, yeah, that’s what I thought. “You will become a lady. You will become a square corner.” That was her motto and I was such a little country girl, I was �terribly intimidated. Now, it’s like, “Excuse me?” That wouldn’t faze me at all now. I’ve raised children and had a couple of husbands and nothing fazes me now. Interviewer: If you were ever bored while working, did you ever use the radios to contact anyone other than who you were supposed to? No, they were always set up to the frequencies and now, right now, the TVs are all on a certain frequency where the analog signal… 34:14 There’s certain frequencies that the Navy would use and you couldn’t contact other people unless they had the same equipment. I know my girlfriend, when she was in Greenland, she was able to keep in contact with her husband and the baby, but they were both on military bases where they both had the same type of equipment where she could do that. But, you know, I couldn’t contact civilians. I just used the phone and called home when I got homesick. Interviewer: Did you ever use your military experiences and the things you did as your military job, did you ever use those in your civilian jobs? Not really. 35:01 I mean, a lot of the clerical stuff that I did…[break as the phone rings and the interviewer repeats the question] Most of my job was clerical, logging and stuff, keeping track of messages coming in, going out, sending out messages, typing. Typing probably…of course, the typewriter that they had, that they used in the military, number one, were of World War II vintage, and number two, you had to use special keys for letters and numbers, so you could not type like you could on a typewriter. Now, that typing skill there followed me on to my civilian career because I do a lot of typing, but everything’s on a computer, and if you make a mistake you just hit that little backspace and continue on. 36:07 Interviewer: What kind of things did you do in your civilian life? �In my civilian life I, through the Vietnam GI Bill, I went to a computer learning center. I was a programmer. I worked for a company in Virginia and my company transferred me out to California, and I did programming for military type programs. When I moved back home to Michigan, my company lost the contract, and so I had a choice to take a job in Hawaii or move back home. And I had been to Hawaii on my thirtieth birthday and I said, that’s a nice place to be but I don’t want to live there. So I moved back home, but I was overqualified for all the programming jobs in this area. I did get a job for a couple of years, but I sat in front of a computer screen. 37:07 I needed people contact. That was the one thing that I have a lot more of in my job. I work with the public. I work with realtors. I work with mortgage companies. I work with buyers and sellers buying their first home, or selling their home that they’ve lived in their whole life and now they’re going to maybe a condo or a retirement community and you see the highs and lows of people selling their homes or buying their first home because they’re about to start a family. So that part there, with my job that I have right now, with the people contact is what I love the most. And because I was able to be around the world and see different cultures, when our trip to Diego Garcia, we stopped in the Philippines and we were there for a day and a half the first time and when we left we were there for three days so I got to see a lot. 38:07 And we took a drive down, what they call the Bataan Death Road? Death march? This is a time, a place during World War II, but the thing that stuck in my mind were all these little huts, they had the clothes out on the line and being held with bamboo clothes pins, but they all had their TV antennas on the roof. And it was like, wow, they’ve got to have their TV. Their clothes are nice out on the line but they’re living in little huts, you know, bamboo huts with thatched roofs. And then later I’ve seen a whole lot more, and it’s like, yeah, I’m very lucky to be in America. We, when we were in the Philippines, when they told us, you know, that we were going out and stuff �we had to be careful, what they have was like rent-a-fuzz that were in front of the different places downtown in Manila, they carried machine guns. 39:15 So you didn’t mess with them. You stayed away from them. And I went down there with, I never went to... We went in groups, never alone, always in big groups, four, five, six at a time, and we stayed together and we seen the sights. But that was when Imelda Marcos was there with all of her shoes and that was the big joke because I wore high heels and I had ninety pair of high heels and they always called me Esmeralda Marcos because she was the first lady of the Philippines, her husband. 40:04 And that was, the Philippines was very eye opening. And of course thirty or forty years before our soldiers were fighting there and it’s like very, I don’t know, I don’t know how to describe it. But if you stop and think about stuff like that that you were walking where men had lost their lives forty years before, you’re going to take things a little bit more seriously. Interviewer: So you said you’ve traveled a whole lot and you’ve seen the world, but did that require you actually packing up and moving? Did you ever live in very many places? No, basically I was living in Virginia when I was in the military, got out, stayed in Virginia and then I worked for a civilian company and they shipped me out to California, and then I was out to California for nine months, and then the company lost the contract and I moved back home. 41:13 But I’ve traveled for vacations in a lot of different places and with the two different trips to Diego Garcia, one we went around the world this way, went around the world this way, so I can say that yes, I have been around the world. I mean, we stopped in Naples, we stopped in Athens, and Baharan which I’ve mentioned earlier, so that… Of course, I’ve been to Ireland and I’ve kissed the Blarney stone but that was on my own time. Interviewer: So when you were traveling, was it ever hard for your family or for you, being apart from your family so often? 42:01 �When I was on active duty, I was single and I was stationed in Virginia. Later, when I joined the reserves, couple of times when I was out in California, my husband at that time went with me. We stayed on the beach, we didn’t stay in the barracks, we stayed at a hotel which they consider, what they call, on the beach. So we’d go off and do our sight-seeing when I wasn’t working. He watched TV or take his crossword puzzles or a book and read while I was working and then when I got out of work we’d go out to dinner and do our sight-seeing. But it was only for two weeks. Well, three weeks when we were in Diego Garcia because that was such a long flight, but it was a mini vacation. I mean, I still had to work my forty hours but I could go home to the barracks and relax and I always took a crochet hook with me and I crocheted while I was in the room. 43:11 Whenever I travel I either have a book or a crochet hook and I’d get to where I was going for the two weeks and I’d crochet up an afghan while I was there and I’d leave it for somebody. I’ve probably got afghans pretty much around the world because I’d make them up and, you know, if you have to come home, you don’t have to do housework, you don’t have to do dishes, you’ve got a lot of time on your hands. I mean, because most of the time when we went away on a two weeks we stayed in the barracks and then weekends we’d go off and do our sight-seeing when we weren’t working, and I just had little hands. Got to keep busy. Interviewer: So how did your military career come to an end? 44:02 Was it something that happened real quick that just had to make you stop or was it something that kid of just dwindled down and you decided to resign? Well, I had the three years and I got out because I was married and I had five stepchildren and women could not have dependents. Then after, I think seven years later, I went back into the reserve program and I stayed in the reserves for another seventeen years so I had a total of twenty. Once I got my twenty in, it’s like, “Okay, no more getting up at 5:00 in the morning �once a month. Darn. No more mini vacations, no more seeing the world.” I miss that part. I miss the guys that I did the reserves with. That part I miss, because there’s…you know, you watch these young kids grow up, have their families. You see them every month, one weekend a month you see them. 45:01 And two weeks of the year we’d go and meet, go off and see the world, do our job and come back. And then we’d come back to real life and go back to work again. There’s nothing wrong with hard work. Interviewer: Throughout your military career, what was your fondest memory that you can always think of? Fondest? I don’t know, I guess the experiences that I had in boot camp. I met some wonderful women and my one girlfriend, we stayed in contact and I lost touch with her in the late ‘80s. I know that she was in Beaumont, Texas, her and her husband. She was in the reserves, and they had both gone into the reserves, and their daughters are probably producing grandchildren for them now and I can’t find her. 46:04 So, the other day after your call I got on the computer and looked up Bainbridge, Maryland where I went to boot camp and this is a picture that I had taken off the site showing that “Through these portals pass the women of the greatest navy” of the world and that’s where we had our company picture and I don’t know if there’s sites there that I can find and try to locate her. If she starts looking at the military, hopefully we’ll get in contact through Bainbridge. But one of the things that…this was my patch that I found last night looking around, was on my uniform in boot camp, propellers and the anchor, and this was also a hat device that we had on our hats. 47:04 I lost mine when I went out to Whidbey Island in Washington state. I had it on my coat, on my jacket and it came off. This was my, when I went to radioman school, I was a seaman second class and these uniforms were the seersucker that you had to starch and starch and starch. They buttoned down the front, short sleeves, little A-line �skirt, and they could not be above our knees. I was in the ‘70s. My girlfriend and I, we went to the Navy ball when we were in radioman school together and, in the ‘70s hotpants were very, very popular and I had made a lace hotpant suit and she had a hotpant suit with lace and we wore white go-go boots. 48:08 We walked into the auditorium and there were generals and admirals and gold scrambled eggs everywhere because the men wore the dress uniforms, all gold and glitter and the women were in long formals and Jeannie and I came in there with hotpants. Nobody said a word because we were dressed up. I mean, we had our hair done and we were all in lace, but they were just short lace. And then, later when I went to radioman school then this was my patch that I had on my uniform with the sparks for the radiomen. That was when I was E4. And when I left the Navy I had made, this is a plaque from the Naval Investigative Service under Naval Intelligence Command and this was signed by Captain Martin, and this shows that I was radioman second class at that time. 49:10 And then later when I was in the reserves I made radioman first class, which was an E6, and I did pass the test for E7 but I did not make the board and I, to make E7 you also had to extend for two years and I almost had my twenty years in, and I said that’s enough, I’ve got my twenty in and I’m done. So I retired as an E6. Interviewer: What kind of things did you do, what was your life like after you were out of the military? When I retired or when I went back into the reserves? Interviewer: When you retired? When I retired? Now I’m just waiting out until I turn sixty and start receiving my retirement. I work in my regular job during the day time and I have a part time job at Meijer’s, but eventually, when I hit sixty, then I’ll start drawing my retirement pay. 50:16 And it won’t be a lot. The whole time I was in, the seventeen years I was in, I used that money for an extra car payment so I �always had a nice car which was a perk of being in the reserves. We got four days pay for one weekend, and that was pretty cool. I got paid twice as much, you know, that’s the way the reserve system works. So that was nice that it was set up that way. And then when we went away for our two weeks, if we were overseas we got overseas pay for two weeks, so that was a little extra. Interviewer: Did you miss your job after you retired? Not the job so much, because that’s a clerical type position but I miss the people. 51:05 Every once in a while if I’m in Grand Rapids and it’s on the third weekend of the month I might run into the reserve center to see who’s still there. I know that Bill is in Montcalm Sheriff and he made chief and he stayed an extra couple of years but it’s been, since ’98 so I don’t think he’s there any more so he’s probably retired up in Montcalm County. And I don’t…some of the other people were from Allegan and different parts around west Michigan and I don’t get a chance to run into them and I kind of miss seeing what they’re doing, how their kids are, but I guess I just haven’t taken the time to check it out because it could be done. I just am too busy with other things I guess. Interviewer: So you still wish you could stay in contact with the people you’ve worked with? Yes. Just to say “hi” or “how are you doing?” or “let’s get together for a barbecue this summer,” something like that. 52:05 See what you’ve done since you’ve gotten out of the Navy, because we were all pretty close to the same age. Couple of them were a couple years younger but we pretty much went through that seventeen years, or fifteen years here in Grand Rapids, together. Interviewer: What’s the biggest thing that you have noticed that has changed about you since you were in the military? �I’ve grown up. I was a scared little country girl when I first, I mean, I wouldn’t even ride in a taxi. To this day I still don’t ride in taxis. But I was very intimidated when I was younger. I mean, I grew up, I went to a little one-room schoolhouse for a couple of years, and then I worked in a factory and I finally joined the Navy, seen the world. It was like, wow, there’s a lot out there. There’s a lot of opportunities out there. 53:08 There’s still things on my “honey do” list of things I want to do in life that I haven’t done yet and I just hope that I’m still able to do them. I mean, I want to learn how to play guitar one of these days but I don’t want to cut my nails because I work with the public, I need to keep my nails artificially done. Shame on me, but those little things like that. I want to go to northern France and meet my pen pal from high school. We’re both in our fifties now. I don’t know if she’s still living there, but that’s one of my things that I still want to do in life while I’m still young enough to do it. There are three states that I’ve not been, either between the military with my travels or when I left California. 54:06 I drove out there with my furniture when I went to California then drove back and came back a different way but there are three states I’ve never been in. Hopefully, in the next three years we’ve got plans to go and visit North and South Dakota and we’re going to spend two weeks just driving all over the states, seeing things that I’ve never seen before. Alaska, I don’t know if I’ll ever get to Alaska but maybe. But that’s one of my goals. I’m looking forward to retirement and we’re going to travel, across, back and forth across the United States if we can afford gas. That’s an issue that was not planned on. Interviewer: Are you proud and happy that you were in the military? Are you proud of what you have done? Absolutely. That’s the best thing that I can recommend to someone who does not know what they want to do in life is join the military, get some work experience, get a knowledge of away �from a small town atmosphere. 55:12 When I went to boot camp there were girls from Hawaii, there were girls from all over the United States. We were all together, living together for fourteen weeks. We learned about different things that they did, we did and it gave us a direction in life, even though we not necessarily stayed on the same direction, but it opened our eyes so we traveled in many directions and many opportunities. There’s many opportunities out there. But I would like to do some more things in life. I don’t know yet what I want to do when I grow up. I’ve worked in the clerical, in the computer field and clerical for, I started working when I was fourteen at A & W so I’ve been working way too long. 56:08 I’m not going to add that up for you. But when I joined the military I knew that I wasn’t going to come home and just work in the factory like my parents did. I wanted something more. I think that chance to join the military for any young person out of high school, unless they have a goal, a direction that they want to take, the military will give them opportunities to choose and make decisions as to what they want to do later in life. And you can always change it. People change their careers all the time, but it gives you, it opens your eyes, opens your minds to greater opportunities, things that could happen to you. And of course the discipline, I mean, the discipline, that was tough for me but I managed and so did all the other girls. 57:10 There are things you have to do, and the work ethic that I grew up with, you know, the animals were out in the barn. They couldn’t feed themselves. We had to go out and feed them for them. We had to put the grain out there, we had to put the hay down so I never…we grew up knowing that if there’s work to be done, it had to be done and you go out there and do it. But the military teaches you, number one, discipline and it gives you a push towards a good work ethic because you’ve got your job to do and you’ve got to get it done. Mission complete. You don’t stop, you don’t go home at 4:00 just because it says to clock out. You stay until your work is done and that was one of the things that with my �background and my work ethic I had no problem with that. 58:07 If there’s work to be done, you stay there until you get it done because, if we’ve got a message coming in that says there’s an emergency that’s got to be taken care of. You can’t just stop and say, “Oh I’m sorry, it’s 4:00, I’ve got to go.” You don’t do that in the military. No way. Not on my watch. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Condon-Sharrock, Vikisu (Interview transcript and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Condon-Sharrock, Vikisu Description An account of the resource Vikisu Condon-Sharrock served in the Navy on active duty between 1971 and 1974, and remained in the reserves until 1998. She discusses her experiences in training and on active duty when women were still very new to the regular service, as well as changes that have taken place since then in terms of women's opportunities in the Navy. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Riley, Kyle (Interviewer) Lowell Area Historical Museum (Lowell, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Navy Vietnam War, 1961-1975--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 2008-02-21 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CondonSharrockV 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/57e80fb65818e43595f8adef587beb0c.mp4 6f502267cbde06805b0f3e6a4e990777 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8f9e89c6c5ec0579ad0460f2ff33eeac.pdf 543af095fe2048f27c50b99ade4b9108 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Steven Collison (2nd interview) Total Time: 41:50 Childhood and Pre-enlistment (00:25) • • • • • Born in Pontiac, Michigan, in 1961. Quit high school for a half of a semester, but went back to school. He was the youngest of 3 children. His mother and father split when he was very young, and he lived with his mother. He joined the military because he didn’t like his life and he wanted to get away He joined the Army in 1981. Training (0:14:10) • • • • • He was shipped out of Detroit to Atlanta, Georgia, and then he went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he took basic training. He learned to cook and to do field artillery. Signed up for infantry duty at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he completed basic infantry training. Took Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was then sent to Airborne Training, but did not complete it because the Army found out that he had bad eyesight. He then went through some other training programs, including a leadership course. Active Duty (0:19:50) • Worked for a time as a truck driver, driving ammunition around for the artillery. • Also worked as a cook, and could have been promoted at one point if he was willing to complete his time in the service as a cook, but chose not to. • Worked at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as a cook there. He was almost sent to Egypt because his unit backed up several airborne divisions. Post-Service (0:25:30) • Worked a number of factory jobs in Michigan and moved around to Florida to find work as well. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Collison, Steven (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Collison, Steven Description An account of the resource Steve Collison was born in 1961 in Pontiac, Michigan and served in the Army starting in 1981. He had a troubled childhood, and joined the Army to get away from home. He worked in as both a truck driver and a cook during his time in the service. He also attempted to join the Airborne forces, but was disqualified because of his eyesight. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (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 Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives 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 2008-03-24 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CollisonS2 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/7f028bf984a39f4aa2e5a022f85b42bf.mp4 9628fd79d8fe4d0a03864be1655d1a95 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5b3a441bdc70e672130b984c0d3b5ecd.pdf 4ab161a334d363e7a3f2537f12d00db9 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Steve Collison (00:41:30) (15:27) Waldlake, Michigan • Born August 3 1961 • St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac • Remembers the roads being dirt and having to wait for the cows to cross the road to pass • Walled Lake Junior High School--Steve was on the football team for two years. His mother spent her K-12 in that very school. • (3:30) watched the Vietnam War on television • His mother and father were both divorced three times. She worked in an auto factory. • (5:25) Steve went to Walled Lake High School. He remembers the riots in Detroit and Charles Manson on television. He said drugs were easily accessible on the school grounds (8:30) Enlisted into the Military 1981(thru 1987) • Steve was 18 going on 19 and went in during the Cold War • Steve said there were a lot of issues going on in the military when he got there due to Vietnam and the men that were in the war. He says they were not treated very well. • (12:50) Signed up in his home town for the military • At Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for basic training. He wanted to be field artillery airborne he was told he would be a cook. He didn’t want that. He trained for field artillery in basic training (14:20) Fort Jackson, South Carolina • Went to school to be a cook and passed his tests the first time • Learned the difference between feeding people in the field and in the training camps. He learned utensils, different things to cook. He did a lot of serving for training. • There were a lot of people there on temporary duty. • They still did calisthenics and running before school. • (16:40) The cooks were on rotations so they still fed each other • They had a lot of minority civilians doing KP duty • Steve says that it was pretty segregated still when he was there • (18:30) His KP was a female and most of the civilians and military men got along but there were fights that broke out from time to time • Field cooking: They were in tents, one tent for cooking, other tents for troops to sit in. The serving line was in the cooking tent. They would be cooking for 300400 men per meal. Steve remembers they would make cake even in the field. Everyone was treated like a sergeant in the cooking school. �• • • • • (21:10) The battalion he was in was headquarters for the 18th and 82nd airborne unit and they were the support staff Steve was in the main headquarters that was made up of many companies (between 6-8 companies) Steve had to work for the 2nd headquarters unit that was below them because they didn’t have their own dining hall. Steve was an HHC and worked for an HHD. He did this for 2 years and 8 months (23:10) He says he was Fort Bragg, North Carolina at this time (24:00) Oklahoma • Steve said it was very hot while he was here • He was offered a chance to go to Egypt • He said it was around 155 degrees in the kitchen and was very hard to work because you would sweat a lot • (25:30) The cooks had a swing shift. One shift cooked breakfast and lunch. The next shift served lunch and cooked dinner. The next shift served dinner and came back in for breakfast. • (27:30) They started doing urinalysis tests while he was in the military to check for drugs. They lost a lot of E7’s and E’6’s due to the test. They lost so many they stopped doing the test. (29:10) Fort Bragg, North Carolina • Steve was here when his six years were up and he went home • He wishes he wouldn’t have left the military • Steve would like to go to Iraq right now (31:20) After the service • Steve married after he was out of the service at 27 years old. • He married a veteran of the service and had two children • He has since divorced and is living in the Veterans Home in Grand Rapids, where his children live. • (35:00) Steve has been at the Veterans home for a couple months. His children don’t even know that he is there yet. • He is waiting for hunting and fishing season to start • Steve talks about all the sports and games that the veterans’ home offers � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Collison, Steven (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Collison, Steven Description An account of the resource Steve Collison was born in 1961 in Pontiac, Michigan and served in the Army starting in 1981. He had a troubled childhood, and joined the Army to get away from home. He served as a cook at bases in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. When he completed 6 years he returned home and married another veteran. 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 United States. Army Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives 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 2007-03-26 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CollisonS1 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/69c213ef8e9727353f366e691c884014.mp4 0610a18580a3e306a38bba85ad044b67 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ea307eb6abf0b12ebe1302bd33630ccf.pdf d7792ddac78383c4f7fedbdb72f73647 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Keith Cole (1:08:48) Background Information (00:06) • • • • • • • He was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on October 4th 1924 but was raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (00:07) Graduated high school in 1942. (00:42) Keith’s father owned a business downtown that sold appliances. (00:50) After Pearl Harbor, his father began selling phonograph records. (1:36) He attended Michigan State University to pursue a degree in the chemical engineering. (2:31) Keith enlisted in the Navy. But he was drafted into the army in fall of 1942 before he could join the Navy. (3:00) He served in the ROTC at college. He was in the coast artillery. (3:50) Basic training (4:43) • • • • • • • • • Keith was first sent to Camp Grant, Illinois, for a short period and then sent by train to Miami Beach in the Army Air Corps. (4:39) The men stayed in overhauled hotels. All amenities were taken out of the hotels. (5:15) There was a lot of marching, physical exercises, and drills. (5:50) His experience in chemical engineering did not lead Keith to be placed in a particular position. (8:00) The men were in Miami Beach for only 21 days. He was then sent to Rantoul, Illinois, where they spent 3 months training. (9:44) Keith was now being trained as an engineer. He was taught sheet metal repair and other mechanical tasks. (10:05) The men worked in shops in hangars for 6 hours a day. The men were on the base all the time. Keith visited Chicago once. (11:00) Next Keith was sent to Kelly Field in Texas and an overseas replacement depot. (11:34) He was then sent to Camp Kilmer New Jersey in September of 1943. (12:39) Voyage Overseas (13:40) • • • • • • • The men sailed to Europe in a convoy. The weather was very poor. Many men were sick. (13:41) The convoy sailed for 11 days. It stormed for all 11. (15:07) The convoy landed in Greenoch, Scotland. (16:40) Keith was then sent to England. There the men had to build their own startle trenches, and get their own water. The men lived in tents. (17:27) He was assigned to the 22nd Anti Submarine Group at this time. But the task was taken over by the Navy so Keith had no job to do. (18:25) There were some aircraft in the field but they were used for training. (19:46) Keith served on the first base for approx. 4 months. There was very little activity there. (20:57) �• • • • He was then transferred to Watton England. The men were waiting for the contraction of the Herington Air Base where the men began functioning as a bomb crew. (22:14) Keith did go into England when he had time or was able. (23:00) The English treated the GIs fairly well. (24:22) Most British men were more sophisticated than the average American GI. (25:46) Service at Herington Air Field (26:42) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • His outfit was assigned to the OSS. They were to provide the transportation of their agents as well as supplies. (26:53) Keith served as a dispatcher on a few drops. He ensured that the supplies or men were released from the plane properly. Most of the time he was on the ground doing repairs. (28:38) The men knew very little about what they were doing. (29:05) Communications to the pilots on where to fly was done by handing an envelope to the pilots just before takeoff. (29:45) Supplies were dropped to resistance fighters via canisters which resembled bombs. (30:20) Aircraft coming back with damage was common. 208 crewmen were lost over the course of Keith’s service. (31:35) Before a flight the men were briefed. Once the men were in the air there was no talking. (32:58) Most flights left at 6 PM. (34:00) Keith substituted on his first flight in the spring of 1944. He had no idea where he went or what the mission was for. (34:54) As the 3rd Army moved through Europe Keith’s unit had a decrease in activity and need. (35:55) Keith flew 8 missions. The aircraft did take antiaircraft fire. (36:55) One mission involved dropping prostitutes to sleep with German officers and pick up intelligence. (39:10) Because he was based in England, Keith was able to follow the war closely. (40:00) During late spring of 1944, the unit’s operations did not change despite operations building up for D-day that were occurring. (41:21) Men were not allowed to speak of what they did on base. They were constantly asked why their planes were black. (43:13) After Normandy, when the 3rd Army moved into Belgium [actually northern France] they had outrun their supply line. Keith’s unit was then assigned to drop supplies or the army. (43:55) Lots of planes were lost as a result of the supply run, not because of enemy fire, but because of corrosive gasoline wrecking the gas tanks. (46:50) He recalls when the spies started using a direct line radio wave that made it harder for the spies to be caught from radio on the ground. (49:00) His unit was selected to send a crew to retrieve a dud bomb that was captured. Many of Keith’s stories he found out happened after the war was finished. (52:18) Because he was sent to land mine and booby trap school, Keith was placed in charge of clearing these objects if ever encountered. (53:58) Keith was sent back to the U.S. in the fall of 1945. (55:06) When the men returned from Europe they wanted to be sure that the planes had very well working engines on them. This responsibility fell on Keith. (56:54) Surrender and Voyage Home (57:20) �• • • • • • • • When VE Day occurred, Keith was restricted to his base while the other solders off base were allowed to go around and have fun. (57:21) Keith and his unit were ordered to fly over Europe during the day and see what it looked like. He could tell there was hardly anything left standing. (58:28) He left England in July of 1945. He had stayed there for approx. 2 years. (1:00:05)] The men were scheduled to pick up B-29s and then go to the Pacific. (1:00:20) Keith returned on a plane rather than by boat. It was very cold. (1:00:47) The men were ordered not to take any souvenirs home. (1:01:54) After landing he was given a 30 day leave. When he returned home he was given a month’s pay (400 dollars). During his leave the war in Japan ended. When he returned to service he was then given another 30 days of leave before being discharged. (1:02:36) He was discharged in Carolina. In late summer of 1945. (1:04:06) Life after Service (1:04:37) • • • • • On his way home he stopped in Michigan State University where he began classes. (1:04:50) Keith then began a degree in business. (1:05:45) He had difficulty finding a job after returning from service. (1:06:24) He worked on constructing Michigan’s Medicaid program starting in 1972. (1:07:07) Keith enjoyed his military service and was thankful that he was only 18 at the time of his enlistment. (1:08:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cole, Keith (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cole, Keith Description An account of the resource Keith Cole, born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1924, served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-1945 in England during World War II. After completing his training at Miami Beach, Keith was sent to England in 1943 where he was assigned to the 22nd Anti Submarine Group. Keith was then sent to Herington Air Field where he served as an Engineer on B-24 bombers utilized by the OSS. These aircraft dropped operatives and supplies for the Resistance in France, and were also pressed into service to ferry supplies to American units that had outrun the ground supply system. Keith was sent home soon after VE Day and was discharged in late summer of 1945. 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 Air 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 2012-07-31 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ColeK1431V 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/051cd9e279c90a38c4ca01a20184ea77.mp4 a49b19165889169fb330ee6fcd84987b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bfda7dc14d37aa1b719823874eded6e0.pdf bb1a25e56d4d3fe46233e8195548e016 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview William Coan (22:38) (00:15) Showing Pictures of Shells • There were guided missile launchers on the Navy ship that he traveled on • They could all hear the guns very distinctly • He also had pictures of the front launchers that were on the air craft carrier • William still had his sailor cap from the Navy • Men in the Navy wore the same uniform as their officers • The pay in the Navy was not as much as that in the Army • The pay is better now, but it was still worth it to William to get the experience • They only received $300 a month and if they were in combat, they got an extra $60 • He also received $100 a month for his wife and $25/child • American citizens did not respect those in the service (4:50) The Navy Ship • His ship was named the destroyer, a smaller ship • Most ships were at least 500 feet long • Air craft carriers are the largest ships that the Navy has • William trained near the great lakes in Illinois • He accidentally mistook his commander for someone else and knocked him out with the butt of his rifle (7:15) The Mediterranean • The ship was in the Mediterranean doing work for NATO • They were tracking other crafts and following planes �(8:45) The Shores of Viet Nam • They were not able to get that close to shore because the ship was too large • They got to about a half mile from the shore • The ship could shoot within a five mile radius • They could not see well because there was lots of smoke from explosions (10:20) Basic Training • Training was very hard; they had to climb 75 foot towers • He was first stationed in Norfolk, Virginia • Then he went to Philadelphia in 1970 • He had traveled to Cuba, Jamaica, St. Croix, Saint Thomas, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain (12:00) Ending of Service • He was last in Rhode Island when he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida to end his service • His last memory was of being in the Mediterranean, and they then went to Spain and Germany, and then flew back to New York • He was then in the inactive reserves for two years (14:00) His First Days in the Service • The ship that he traveled on seemed so large; he had never seen anything that big before • All the men got a tour of the ship before they took off • His bunk where he slept was right under a huge gun on the upper level of the ship • They had a Lucky 7 theme song for their ship • There was a rat guard on the ship to keep all the rats away (17:10) Post Viet Nam �• Veterans did not get any respect back in America, especially from all the protesters • It would have been better to join the Air Force because they provide more advanced education • His brother was in the Air Force  � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Coan, William (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Coan, William Description An account of the resource William Coan was in the Navy during the war in Vietnam from 1970- 1974. He traveled to Greece, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Italy, Cuba, St. Croix, and St. Thomas. He mentions that he may have received a better education and pay in the Air Force. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kelly, Chris (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Veterans 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 2007-06-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CoanW 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/d85b3b4aed7d8a1797588fb985f47f31.mp4 83d2009c8f76864ae33b1ab7fdd4311c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8bf5f8c9cfe5d07fdb91281a0e292273.pdf 7e033840445b046df82ec1cec239e6a7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview August Clavier World War II Total Time: 33:20 Pre-War (03:56) • • • • • • Born April 12th, 1922 Father was born in Belgium, and moved to the United States when he 2, and he worked at Ford, and organized a union there. Mother was a homemaker. Attended school in Carleton, MI and attended Carleton High School. Graduated High School in 1941. Worked at the Willow Run Bomber Plant after his graduation. Joined the Army. Training (18:17) • Went to school for a number of different types of training. Active Duty (19:10) • • Travelled through Panama to get to the Pacific. Was in the Pacific during the War. Post Service (24:00) • • • Had one child after the war, and worked in factory. He also joined the boilermaker’s union. At the time of the interview, was living in the Veterans Home in Grand Rapids, MI. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clavier, August (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clavier, August Description An account of the resource August Clavier was in the Army and served during World War II. He joined the Army after working at a bomber factory in Michigan. During his time in the service, he fought in the Pacific. Upon returning to the United States, he worked in a factory. 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 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 2007-03-12 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ClavierA 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/f10724588cc1e3dec47972783021cc1f.mp4 d19e0d9f43d37881ea64536962379a17 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cf6a931d8032557fef4d6155242841b0.pdf b1e3225d69e04493b34cd0b358101646 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II James Clark Disc One Interview Length: (01:57:13:00) Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:12:00)  Clark was born on Sept. 3rd, 1920 in a Wayne County, Michigan farmhouse (00:00:12:00)  When he was four, Clark’s family moved to a house in the town of Clarenceville, Michigan; his parents had purchased some property there and the family originally lived above a garage while they built their house (00:00:31:00)  Clark does not remember too much about his mother because she had tuberculosis and died when Clark was six years old (00:01:04:00) o When Clark and his sister, who was a year older than Clark, started going to school, their father placed their mother in a sanitarium (00:01:15:00) o However, Clark’s father could not look after the children, so he sent them to live with a step-sister and her husband who were teachers and lived close by for three years (00:01:32:00)  When he was in 2nd grade, doctors determined Clark also had tuberculosis, so they immediately separated him from the other students and sent him back to his aunt’s, who home-schooled him from there (00:01:59:00) o During the finally few weeks of school, they allowed Clark to return to the school and he passed all his tests to advance into 3rd grade (00:02:16:00)  Clark’s father eventually found out that one of the best places for people with tuberculosis to recover was in Arizona, so he bought a Ford Model T and moved to family to Arizona (00:02:24:00) o Clark’s aunt and uncle came with them because his uncle had been in Arizona previously and had a previous job offer to work in the state, while Clark’s father did not have any jobs arranged (00:02:41:00)  Clark’s family stayed in Arizona for a year; when they got out there, they found out that tuberculosis patients did not fare as well as they had originally believed (00:03:03:00) o The family managed to eke out an existence for a year; his father was a millworker but Phoenix had no industry at that time, it was still a cow-town (00:03:14:00) o Clark and his sister’s schooling never suffered because of their aunt but there was a lack of money because their father could not find a job and had to keep making payments on the property he had purchased in Michigan (00:03:40:00)  Things got so bad that around Christmas and New Years of that year, Clark’s father took he and his sister to pick cotton, which was a terrible job to do; their fingers were bleeding after about fifteen minutes of work but the farmer was nice and gave Clark and his sister fifty cents apiece and their father a dollar (00:04:01:00) �   Soon after the holiday’s their father received a check, which he used to purchase some chickens to raise (00:04:33:00)  Clark raised some rabbits by himself and together, he and his father made a fair amount of money by the time the family moved back to Michigan in September 1929 (00:04:43:00) When the family moved back to Michigan, Clark went back and lived with his aunt again for another year before the Great Depression hit (00:05:18:00) o Again, Clark’s father sold what property he had and moved with Clark’s halfsister and her husband to a forty acre farm near Hillsdale, Michigan (00:05:28:00) o For the first two years, the family managed to survive but by the third year, they had no money, farm prices were nearly non-existent, and they did everything on a barter basis (00:05:51:00)  Clark would do stuff for the neighbors while keeping track of the hours and the neighbors would give things to Clark’s family (00:06:02:00) o Finally, it reached the point that they could no longer make payments on the farm, so they ended up losing it in January 1934 (00:06:17:00) o They then had a offer to working on a farm owned by a couple of their cousins; the cousins had invested in a corner store in Detroit and supplied it from the farm, which was near Fowlerville, Michigan (00:06:34:00)  The family moved to the farm and things were good for a period while they worked for shares of the profit (00:07:03:00)  Twenty acres of the farm were pickles that were sold at a given price, four acres were melons, etc. (00:07:13:00)  During the end of July and beginning of August, the farm was making a good profit but in the middle of August, something wiped out their entire crop (00:07:36:00) o Clark was in the eighth grade at the time while his sister had gone back to their aunt in Detroit to go to high school (00:07:54:00)  In those days, they were county day schools and a family had to pay tuition for their child to attend; Clark’s father could not afford to send both Clark and his sister to high school, but because Clark’s sister already had a year, she was chosen to go (00:08:08:00)  Another of Clark’s aunts, who lived in Hartland, Michigan, was also a teacher along with her husband, although her husband had retired to manage a farm (00:08:41:00)  The aunt had a large house to take care of, so she contacted Clark’s father and said that if Clark wanted to be her houseboy while he went through high school, he could (00:08:59:00)  Clark took the offer and while he was living with his aunt, managed to pick up several other odd jobs (00:09:13:00) Clark was essentially living by himself by the age of seventeen (00:10:06:00) o He was not going to attend college because there were not scholarships available to him and he did not have enough money (00:10:10:00)  Clark had not planned on attending college anyway; he had intended to stay in the area and work at whatever jobs he could find (00:10:15:00) �    However, his high school superintendent called him about ten days before the college semester was set to being, wondering where Clark was going to be attending (00:10:22:00)  When Clark explained he was not going to be attending anywhere, the superintendent explained that he needed to go to college because even if Clark went for a semester, he would eventually end up going back at some point (00:10:33:00)  When Clark said he only had three hundred dollars, the superintendent said that was enough to attend Eastern Michigan University (00:10:46:00)  So, Clark attended Eastern Michigan for a semester before his money ran out and he went back to working at the jobs he had before (00:11:02:00)  Clark saved his money and then attended Michigan State University in 1940, where he stayed until being drafted in 1942 (00:11:22:00)  While at the school, Clark was on a pre-med program although he had no hope of going to medical school (00:11:38:00)  When Clark passed his medical aptitude test as a junior and because the University was hurting for students as a result of the draft, one of the professors said they could get Clark into the ROTC program (00:11:48:00) o However, Clark said they would not take him because of his poor vision, but the professor said they could fix that problem (00:12:12:00)  Clark stayed and while being sworn in a commissioned officers, someone from the medical office came in looking for Clark; they asked if his vision was 20/40 and when he said no, it was 20/400, they said that they could not use him (00:12:18:00)  When Clark went back to where he was staying, his draft card was waiting for him, something he was happy for (00:12:53:00) When the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, Clark had hitch-hiked back to his aunt’s house in Hartland that Sunday (00:13:19:00) o It was snowing when he hitch-hiked back and arrived at the house, but nobody was around; he eventually went upstairs and everyone in the house was crowded around one of the boarders, who happened to have a radio, and were talking about Pearl Harbor (00:13:25:00) o Clark’s roommate from a year before had just left to go into the Naval air wing for training and was activated soon after the attack; the roommate spent a year on Guadalcanal and was shot down twice (00:14:02:00) At Michigan State, students had to take ROTC during their first two years, which was when Clark learned they would not accept him (00:14:36:00) o Clark was attending summer school when his draft notice came through; within two weeks, he had his physical, after which he was given a two-week leave, during which he finished his courses (00:14:57:00) Clark never actually received his basic training until he had been in the service for about a year (00:15:29:00) � o He as initially inducted at Camp Custer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which was where everyone in Michigan went; Clark was at the camp for three or four days, during which he got his hair cut, his clothing assigned to him, etc. (00:15:38:00) o After a week or ten days, Clark was sent with a group to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, New York, where he stayed for another three or four days, although with a different group (00:15:56:00)  While he was there, Clark saw freighters in the harbor with their rear-ends blown off by German submarines, which were quite busy at the time (00:16:12:00)  All the soldiers in Clark’s group were sure that they would be in Africa or some other theater within two weeks (00:16:24:00) o On the aptitude part of his paperwork, it said that Clark had some experience work in laboratories, so the Army sent him to work at the Fort Dix’s hospital’s medical lab (00:16:31:00)  Clark began working at the laboratories right away and stayed in the labs from September until March, when the Army pulled Clark and an older man out (00:16:55:00)  The Army said both men had orders to attend the City College of New York for a special ASTP training program (00:17:14:00) o Clark and the other man spent a month going through tests while the Army decided what to do with them before Clark was eventually sent with another group to Syracuse University for engineer training (00:17:28:00)  Although Clark was a corporal at the time, when he went back to school, he was demoted down to buck private (00:17:45:00)  Clark stayed at the university until November (00:17:56:00)  The courses tended to be basic engineer although most of the students had already graduated from various universities with engineering degrees (00:18:01:00) o Clark had already had some of the math course but he learned surveying and electrical engineering; Clark was most interested in Chemical engineering but they did not offer courses in that (00:18:10:00) o In November, the Army scraped the entire program after which, Clark finally went to basic training as a private, specifically basic combat medical training at Camp Grant in Illinois (00:18:25:00) At that time, Fort Dix was manned mostly by local soldiers from either New York City, New Jersey, or Philadelphia (00:18:54:00) o Clark and another man were the only two in the lab who did not have wives or relatives nearby and when everyone else would leave the base, they left it for Clark and the other man to take care of things (00:19:08:00) o Nearly everyone in the group Clark was with were Jewish and although they fought amongst themselves, they were nice to Clark and the other man (00:19:21:00)  Clark and the other man had received some laboratory training, which was the only reason they were at the base (00:19:35:00) �   o The men worked regularly-houred days; they would not have even recognized they were in the Army except when they had inspection every morning (00:19:45:00)  The soldiers did go through an infiltration course with live ammunition but it was pretty tame compared to what he had to go through at Camp Grant (00:19:58:00) o While at the base, Clark was able to go into New York, as well as Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, which was close to the base (00:20:10:00)  Camden, New Jersey was off-limits to the soldiers on the base because soldiers were having too many problems there (00:20:16:00)  Philadelphia was a Navy town and although Army soldiers were not really well-received there, it was still a nice place to go if the soldiers had money to spend (00:20:24:00)  New York City was wonderful; the USO clubs turned themselves insideout for the soldiers and Clark was able to go to the opera, attending a boxing match, went to plays on Broadway, etc. and as far as Clark was concerned, everything was great (00:20:37:00) Before he enlisted, Clark became engaged and his fiancé insisted on an engagement ring, so Clark bought her a ring and brought it to her for Christmas (00:21:59:00) o However, when he arrived at Syracuse saying the girl had found someone else to marry and she had given the ring to Clark’s aunt (00:22:09:00) When the soldiers were at Syracuse, they almost were the second-fiddle; although there were around six hundred soldiers, the Air Force had already established a program at the University several months, possibly a year beforehand and had pretty well integrated themselves into the town (00:22:28:00) o This left the Army soldiers on the outside looking in and they were less wellreceived by the populace (00:22:48:00) o Clark’s group lived in a fraternity house that had been stripped down and the furniture replaced with bunk beds (00:22:55:00) o The soldiers went through some rigorous physical training exercises but Clark had run track and boxed amongst other activities at Michigan State and Eastern Michigan, so the exercises were not difficult (00:23:13:00)  The exercises were so easy for Clark that every time he did one, he was asked to go for the record (00:23:31:00) o The food the soldiers had was great; they ate steak at least once a week, which was better than they received at Fort Dix (00:24:04:00) When the Army decided to scrap the program at Syracuse, Clark was given a week leave around Thanksgiving then told to report to Camp Grant in Illinois to being basic combat medical training (00:24:31:00) o During the training, the soldier woke up at around five-thirty / six o’clock in the morning and for half an hour, they had to get ready for an inspection; after the inspection, the soldiers went through a half an hour of rigorous calisthenics (00:24:57:00) o After the calisthenics, the soldiers attending courses different topics, such as splinting injuries and first aid as well as medical courses in nursing care and fracture handling (00:25:14:00) � o o o o In one of the final drills, the soldiers had to go through an infiltration course at night with live machine gun fire going about three feet off the ground (00:25:29:00)  During the course, the soldiers had to take turns carrying each other on liters; Clark was lucky because his group did not have anyone that weighed more than one hundred on fifty pounds because if someone did, Clark might not have been able to lift them (00:25:43:00)  When they got to the end of the course, there was a barrier they had to hoist the liter over as practice (00:26:02:00)  The soldiers also went through a live gas drill where they went into a gas room with all their equipment on (00:26:16:00)  One of the reasons they told Clark he originally would not go into combat was because the gas masks did not fit around glasses; however, they later created inserts that worked around that particular problem (00:26:31:00)  By the time the soldiers went into the gas drill, they had already be trained to what the different gases smelt like and had already gone through skin tests with different chemicals (00:27:05:00)  The instructors used actually chemical gas and if the soldiers did not get their gas masks on fast enough, then the gas used in the drill would make them ill (00:27:45:00)  Because Clark received this training, when he was assigned to his new unit, they made him the chemical weapons officer for the unit, although everyone threw their gas masks away when they got to Europe and used the extra space for something else (00:27:56:00) The soldiers at Camp Grant did not receive the traditional infantry basic training; there was some marching but it was mostly ceremonial (00:28:26:00)  The soldiers mostly received hands-on training for situations they might encounter in the field (00:28:41:00) The Army rotated units in and out of the base to finish their training about four weeks, although for some reason Clark was there an extra week (00:29:06:00)  If a soldier did not have an assignment, then he stayed at the base until some unit wanted him (00:29:21:00) A lot of the soldiers on the base were ASTP; part of the reason the Army scraped the program at Syracuse was they needed soldiers and the men in the program were smart enough to adapt to different assignments and many would have been officers if it were not for mitigating circumstances (00:29:29:00) The general in charge of the base was the surgeon general and everything on the base was medical, the payoff of which was that the base housed some German SS prisoners from North Africa (00:30:03:00)  The prisoners were kept at one end of the compound with very limited security and because the prisoners were there, it was determined that the American soldiers had to walk guard-duty; during guard-duty, a soldier was given only a billy-club and told where to patrol (00:30:20:00) �   The only guard-duty Clark ever did was at the Camp Grant and it was on Christmas Eve; the snow was two feet deep, the wind was blowing, and no one was stirring except Clark on guard-duty (00:30:40:00)  The only winter clothes the soldiers had were an overcoat, a wool cap, an Army-issue scare, and overshoes (00:31:10:00) o The Army was very strict that everything the soldiers was “Army” style except they did not receive any weapons training (00:31:29:00)  However, after the war in Europe was over and Clark was training to go fight in the Pacific, then he shot every weapon up to the 105 mm howitzer (00:31:54:00)  The Army enforced discipline on the soldiers, based mostly on having clean barracks; the instructors checked everything up to the air ducts and if they thought it was too dirty, then the entire barracks was confined to quarters and had to clean the barracks for the weekend (00:32:15:00)  If the soldiers had a clean barracks, then they were allowed to go into Chicago for the weekend; Clark was only able to go into the city twice but it was still nice (00:32:34:00) Clark eventually left Camp Grant and arrived at Fort Jackson, South Carolina to join the 106th Infantry Division on New Years Day, 1944 (00:33:09:00) o When Clark first traveled from Fort Custer to Camp Dix, it was by train and trucks picked up the soldiers at the rail station to transport them to the base, which was the same thing that happened at Fort Jackson (00:33:24:00) o Clark’s orders originally had him joining K Company, 424th Infantry Regiment but that was only because they had an empty barracks to put new arrivals in; within a day, Clark had orders that he was assigned to the medical section of the division’s artillery unit (00:34:03:00)  Although he joined a medical section for an artillery unit, Clark’s training remained the same; all thee medics already in the unit had gone through regular basic training and received their medical training from medical officers there (00:34:33:00)  Their training was similar to the training Clark received, although less strenuous (00:34:51:00)  All the medics in the unit would go out during firing practice and mix together with the artillery men (00:35:01:00) Clark only stayed at Fort Jackson for three weeks before the entire division moved to Nashville for the Tennessee Maneuvers, which lasted from the end of January until the March (00:35:18:00) o The maneuvers served as training for the Battle of the Bulge with two divisions at a time and they simulated what would happen during an attack (00:35:46:00)  The experience the soldiers found most consistent with what they later experienced in Belgium and Germany was the weather; the weather in Tennessee was miserable, it snowed off and on, there was mud everywhere, etc. (00:36:30:00)  On occasion, the soldiers used streambeds as roads as opposed to the regular roads because the streambeds were made of limestone; �  the only problem was the soldiers had to make sure they had a good bank to drive out on or they would be stuck (00:36:51:00) o During the maneuvers, a “referee” would appear in the area and drop a flare, which signaled the unit was under attack; somebody when then come along and put a tag on people, which signaled them as wounded and the medics had to attended to them (00:37:13:00)  Most of the time the maneuvers were pretty boring for the soldiers in Clark’s unit (00:37:36:00) o For the maneuvers, the soldiers had to sleep outside but they could not drive a tent stake into the hard limestone, which just added to the misery factor (00:37:41:00) After the Tennessee Maneuvers, Clark’s unit went to Camp Atterbury, Indiana for more training (00:37:59:00) o While at the camp, the Army took all experienced NCOs from the unit and sent them to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion; the 106th was not ready to participate was a unit but the Army needed experienced NCOs (00:38:06:00) o The division received new NCOs and at one time, others said the 106th was the youngest division in the Army (00:38:23:00) The division stayed at Camp Atterbury until October 1944, when they received another influx of new soldiers; the Army periodically drained the unit for experienced soldiers and put in new soldiers to receive training (00:39:15:00) o Because of the constant moving of troops, some of the units remained understaffed; the commander of medical section for the artillery unit was supposed to send a surgeon to each battalion but at one point, the commander was the only surgeon in the section (00:39:41:00) o However, about two or three weeks before the division was set to deploy, the section received more medical officers assigned to them, although the officers were strangers to the men in the section when they deployed (00:40:03:00) o Clark had been the section commander’s driver up until they deployed and he only met the officer who would be over him about a week before they deployed and never actually drove him (00:40:16:00) o All the other units in the division were filled up to strength before the division deployed to Europe (00:40:51:00)  There were some soldiers who had been with the division for a long time but did not end up deploying and needed replacement; even went the division reached its POE at Camp Miles Standish in Massachusetts, some older soldiers were deemed not fit for combat (00:40:55:00) o A friend of Clark had been in the unit for about a month longer than Clark and at one point, the section’s commander said that either Clark or Clark’s friend were going to have to go to another unit as a chief NCO with the unit’s new medical officer (00:41:24:00)  At the time, the section had just received another batch of new soldiers, including a Japanese doctor (00:41:56:00)  The two men talked over the decision and although Clark’s friend had been in the unit longer, Clark was a higher rank (00:42:28:00)  Clark was apprehensive because although he knew the medics in the unit, he had spent all his time in the field with the commanding � officer, so he suggested his friend take the assignment, which he did (00:42:40:00) When the Army reconstituted the unit later in the war, not only did Clark receive his friend’s job, but he also operated without a medical officer for a period (00:43:11:00) Deployment (00:43:44:00)  For the voyage over to Europe, the soldiers were placed aboard an ex-luxury liner that was designated as the S.S. Wakefield; the ship had had a couple of fires and was reconstructed as a troop ship (00:43:44:00) o Clark’s bunker was on the fourth deck down, directly next to the bulkhead; the bunks were stacked three or four high, consisted of only canvas and pipe, and there was an aisle between them only about two feet wide (00:44:05:00)  The soldiers had to keep their bunk bag and all their possessions with them on the bunk (00:44:34:00) o In the morning, someone would blow a whistle for inspection and the soldiers were expected to get out of the bunks quickly, except there was no place for them to go (00:44:40:00) o Clark had the less-than-encouraging thought that his deck was so closed to the bottom that the soldiers would be the last ones out and the first ones to get wet (00:44:53:00) o All the soldiers were sick on the voyage because they sailed through a massive storm the night they got out of the Boston harbor; most everyone, even the ship’s crew, got sick but for some reason, Clark did not (00:45:01:00)  Nevertheless, the food in the mess hall was not very appetizing; twice a day during meals, the soldiers had to line up if they wanted something to eat while carrying a metal tray (00:45:19:00)  The tables in the mess hall had raised edges so the trays would not slide off; the tables seated around ten to twelve men at a time and on occasion, trays would slide from man to man depending on the weather (00:45:49:00)  One time, Clark went to eat but his tray slide away and the soldier who’s tray ended up in front of Clark had vomited, which made Clark lose his appetite (00:46:20:00) o The soldiers were aboard the Wakefield for seven days and around the fourth day, when the ship had got into the gulf-stream, the sailing was nice (00:46:43:00)  The Wakefield eventually arrived in Liverpool, where the soldiers debarked then traveled to an area where they received new equipment and supplies (00:46:56:00)  The soldiers were supposed to cross the English Channel on Dec. 2nd; they were expected to board the LST in the morning, cross the channel, and debark the next day in Le Havre, France (00:47:21:00) o During the night, the annual Army-Navy football game was on and the sailors had the radio tuned to the game (00:48:01:00) o Although the LST only had provisions for two meals for the soldiers, it was just past Thanksgiving, so the soldiers were able to eat turkey and dressing, as well as ice cream (00:48:21:00) � o However, a storm came across the channel and loosened some of the sea mines at the entrance of the harbor, so the LST stayed in the channel for four days (00:48:36:00) o The unit was expected to go straight from the ship to the combat zone so it was loaded with combat supplies; Clark’s jeep and the medical detachment’s equipment was all on the upper deck (00:48:50:00)  The Navy had it so the soldiers would have three shifts for sleeping and Clark’s area was sleeping in an empty chain room; however, the soldiers could also sleep in the vehicles on the deck, but that was not very feasible because of the storm (00:49:11:00) o For entertainment, the soldiers wandered around the ship but for some reason, there were less seasick soldiers then than when they had crossed the Atlantic; part of the reason was the LST was so heavily loaded that it did not move around a lot (00:49:51:00) o Clark walked into the room where the majority of the vehicles and artillery pieces were stored and there was three feet of water in the room; the doors on the front of the ship never fully closed, leaving a gap for water to get through (00:50:16:00) o During the storm, the soldiers had to get by on the rations they had stored to carry them to the front; as a result, when the soldiers landed, they did not eat well until they arrived in St. Vith, Belgium (00:50:42:00) When the soldiers landed, their marching orders had somehow changed and the trucks they had trained pulling the howitzers with were substituted for half-tracks, although none of the unit’s mechanics had any experience working with half-tracks (00:51:08:00) o Because the roads in the area were not built for high-speed travel, the rest of the division remained stuck in France (00:51:21:00) o The LSTs could not land in Le Havre, so they sailed up the Seine River and beached the LSTs at Rouen; however, once the other vehicles were clear from inside the ship, the elevator jammed and they could not get the vehicles on the upper deck off (00:51:38:00)  Clark assumed they would be stuck for a few days while the elevator was repaired but within minutes, another LST had pulled up beside them, both ship’s guide-rails were broken down, planks were put across, and the vehicles driven over to use the other LST’s elevator (00:51:54:00) o Once the artillery section was off the LST, they immediately drove for the front while the rest of the division took a different route (00:52:24:00) o Clark does not recall too much about the drive to the front; the soldiers drove nearly constantly because of the slow speed of the half-tracks and because they were driving in blackout conditions, the soldiers focused on the cat’s-eye light of the vehicle in front of them, which tended to hypnotize the soldiers (00:52:43:00)  The soldiers drove at least twenty hours a day because of the low speeds of the half-tracks (00:53:09:00)  During the journey to the front, Clark drove a jeep for a new medical officer who he had never met before; the officer said nothing to Clark and vice versa (00:53:15:00) �    The artillery section finally stopped at the Belgian town of St. Vith; they pulled off the road at around midnight to rest and at some point, the soldiers received some C-rations that someone had heated in a fire built in an oil drum (00:53:30:00) o The soldiers arrived at St. Vith on Dec. 10th, 1944; they had driven the entire way under blackout conditions and when they arrived in the town, the soldiers already in the town, part of the 2nd Infantry Division, yelled at them for driving with their lights out (00:54:07:00)  The 2nd Infantry had been there for a month and had no problems, so they had no qualms with keeping the blackout procedures (00:54:24:00) o The soldiers arrived in the town during a snowstorm in which the snow was eight inches deep and very wet; the ground underneath the snow had not year frozen solid, so some of it turned to mud (00:54:35:00) o When the soldiers pulled into their area, Clark fell out of his jeep with his sleeping bag into a snow bank and fell asleep until somebody woke him in the morning (00:54:48:00) o It continued snowing off and on periodically for another week or two after the soldiers arrived in St. Vith (00:55:03:00) After a little while, the 2nd Infantry moved out of St. Vith to jump off and attack towards the Roudan and the 106th Infantry was expected to fill their position on the American line, which, in hindsight, was not a good idea (00:55:28:00) From where Clark’s unit was positioned near St. Vith, it was not far to the town of Schönberg, where the main road divided (00:55:48:00) o If they took the road due east, the soldiers would eventually end up in Bleialt, which was the next major town in the area after St. Vith and it happened to be in Germany; if the soldiers went the other direction, they ended up in Auw, which was also in Germany (00:55:56:00) o From where Clark’s unit was positioned, the roads formed a sort of triangle between all the artillery units (00:56:15:00) o To move between the artillery units, the soldiers had to take either the road to Bleialt or the road to Auw and when they moved in to take over the position for the 2nd Infantry Division’s artillery unit, Clark’s unit ended up taking a country road off the Auw road (00:56:26:00)  The road originally seemed passable by the vehicles ended up getting stuck, so they had to put chains on the vehicles; as well, the half-tracks did not perform as they were expected to (00:57:02:00)  The Army eventually closed the road down, which hindered the soldiers during the upcoming Battle of the Bulge because they could not got out of the area down that road (00:57:19:00) Despite the setback on the country road, Clark’s unit was mostly in position and set by the next day (00:57:52:00) o The weather remained miserable although it did clear a couple of times and the sun managed to come out (00:58:01:00) o The medical detachment’s aid station was located in a Belgian farmhouse; a typical Belgian farmhouse was attached to the barn, creating a single unit and this particular farmhouse had a nice little barn on the back of it (00:58:08:00) �  The farmhouse had no running water; instead, it had an outhouse that had lost its roof (00:58:30:00)  Because they were planning to be at the farmhouse for awhile, Clark decided he was going to fix the outhouse roof, so he got some thatching and managed to get the roof repaired; however, when the artillery barrage began on Dec. 16th, the outhouse was destroyed (00:58:39:00) When they moved into the new position, the Army told the soldiers that it was merely a holding position and that they expected the war to be over by Christmas (00:59:14:00) o However, when the unit stalled on the country road going to the position, a shell air-burst a couple of hundred yards away and it made Clark realize how real the situation was (00:59:24:00)  When the shell air-burst, Clark was glad when they ordered the soldiers to put chains on the tires because it meant he was under the jeep in case any more rounds came in (00:59:45:00) The Battle of the Bulge (01:00:29:00)  The Battle of the Bulge itself began with a tremendous artillery barrage at around five o’clock in the morning over the whole area (01:00:29:00) o On the farmhouse where the medical section was staying were blackout shutters and the concussions from the German artillery barrage blew them off the farmhouse (01:00:37:00) o However, Clark’s particular unit did not suffer any casualties during the barrage and once the barrage ended, things quieted back down (01:01:05:00) o The night before the barrage, the medical officer who Clark drove around wanted Clark to visit some forward observers stationed in the Siegfried Line pillboxes who believed they had trench foot (01:01:24:00)  Clark was set to visit the forward observers when he received word that the artillery battery commander was going to take fresh observers to the position and bring the injured ones back for Clark to treat (01:02:07:00)  Clark did not care one way or the other but as it turned out, the battery commander was captured briefly before escaping, although his driver did not escape capture (01:02:40:00)  After the battery commander left the unit, Clark was told he needed to go pick up medical supplies in St. Vith as well as two trench foot victims who were ready to rejoin the unit (01:03:02:00) o Clark had two roads to get back to St. Vith, the one leading to Bleialt and the one lead to Auw and he chose the Auw road because the battery commander’s group was in a vehicle right in front of him (01:03:27:00) o When Clark’s group got into the middle of Auw, there were huge craters in the middle of the road and Army engineers were trying to repair them (01:03:52:00) o Clark had to go through Auw before he reached the road to St. Vith while the battery commander turned before that to head to the forward observers; Clark later discovered that within two minutes of turning, the commander’s group was surrounded by Germans (01:04:18:00) �o When Clark made it to St. Vith, two other medics from the 590th were there and they had come using the Bleialt road; when they asked how Clark had gotten there and he explained the Auw road, the medics said they ran into a German patrol on their way into the town (01:04:55:00)  The medics said the German patrol tried to stop them but one of the medics grabbed a German’s rifle and the two medics kept going (01:05:20:00)  The other medics said they did not think going back that way was safe and Clark said he had no problems taking the Auw road apart from the craters, so the two decided to go that way (01:05:43:00) o Once Clark picked up his supplies and the two trench foot soldiers, they started back towards Auw but once they arrived in Schönberg, there was a recon vehicle partially hidden to one side of the road (01:06:30:00)  An officer came out and asked if they were heading back towards Auw; when Clark said they were, the officer told Clark to let them know what they find because they had heard there were Germans near Auw (01:06:53:00)  After going a ways down the road, there was a rifleman in a ditch on the side of the road who said he was part of the engineers and the Germans had routed them out of the town earlier that morning (01:07:13:00)  The soldier said the Germans had infantry and self-propelled artillery in the town and although every so often he saw one of the vehicles stick its nose out, the Germans had yet to attack in his direction (01:07:33:00) o Seeing he could not go that way, Clark tried to take the other route through Bleialt but it too was blocked off (01:07:50:00)  There were two ammo trains, one for the 590th and one for the 592nd, parked along the road and when Clark asked what had happened, someone told him the Germans had taken Bleialt and they were waiting for the infantry and engineers to clear them out if they could (01:08:19:00)  Clark asked if they thought he could get through and was told it was up to him to decide (01:08:32:00)  Around that time, someone came down the line saying it was all clear and the ammo trains could continued; however, Clark did not want to be part of a convoy loaded with ammo going through a crossroads that the Germans kept under observation and occasionally threw an artillery shell into (01:08:38:00)  Instead, Clark and the other two soldiers went ahead of the convoy and made it through Bleialt without a problem (01:09:01:00) o Once they made it through Bleialt, the three soldiers stopped at the headquarters/aid station for the 590th and 422nd Infantry to check on the two medics from St. Vith and see if they made it back (01:09:16:00)  The aid station was knee deep in casualties and when Clark observed this, the soldiers said they had already lost their commander (01:09:40:00)  The soldiers asked if Clark had any supplies and when he said his unit had not been hit bad, he decided to leave most the supplies he had picked up in St. Vith with them (01:10:26:00) � o After Clark’s group had gone a little ways up the road, there was an anti-aircraft instillation that appeared to have been shooting at either a German self-propelled or lightweight tank (01:10:46:00)  An officer from 589th the was directing the instillation’s fire against the German armor and when Clark drove up, the officer wanted a ride to his unit’s headquarters, which was with the 592nd, so he hopped in the jeep and Clark took him to headquarters (01:11:12:00) o After dropping the officer off at headquarters, Clark turned the jeep around and headed back to where his unit was stationed (01:11:34:00) When he got back, Clark’s unit had still not taken any casualties, although just as Clark was getting out of the jeep, a round came in and hit the cook shed; Clark and another man grabbed stretchers but when they got to the shed, there was not much left (01:11:40:00) o There had been a ten gallon container of chocolate pudding and all there was were bodies parts and chocolate pudding (01:12:27:00) o After the cook shed was destroyed, the unit received word that the gun batteries about a mile away from them in the direction of Auw were under fire, an officer had been killed and they had a bunch of casualties (01:12:49:00)  Clark and another sergeant drove up near the battery to see if they could help because the only medic the unit had was pinned down and out of supplies (01:13:11:00)  The two medics got into a log and dirt dugout the 2nd Infantry Division had created where there were six wounded already, as well as several more wounded outside near the battery’s machine gun emplacement outside the dugout (01:13:31:00)  The machine gun emplacement had used up its ammunition but the soldiers were still trying to reach the dead officer and pull him back (01:14:22:00)  As Clark and the sergeant were working on the wounded soldiers in the machine gun emplacement, the German artillery pieces came out from behind a church some distances away; however, the American soldiers could not depress their howitzers low enough to attack them (01:14:44:00)  The soldiers had not received any supplies since they had left England, meaning there was a shortage of everything, including bazooka ammunition (01:15:13:00)  Clark and the sergeant treated the wounded as best they could and ended up using all their supplies (01:15:33:00)  At a certain point, a smaller artillery round struck outside the dugout and Clark assumed the Germans were using it to find the range before the larger rounds (01:15:51:00)  Clark and the sergeant instructed everyone to lay low against the ground and as Clark was kneeling to care for a soldier next to the standing sergeant, a round came through the window of the dugout, took off the sergeant’s pinky finger, and splattered all over Clark’s face and broke his glasses, which made it so Clark could not see, which took the fight out of him (01:15:59:00) �At some point, a medic from the 589th came to help Clark and the sergeant because the 589th’s battery was less than one hundred yards away (01:16:48:00)  The sergeant eventually told Clark that they had used up their supplies and although they had truck to transport the wounded, the Germans were ignoring the Red Cross symbol; however, it was getting towards night and the sergeant thought it best that he and Clark return to their unit and come back after dark to get the soldiers out (01:16:59:00)  Clark and the sergeant started crawling back to their truck parked on a hill about fifty yards away and as far as Clark could hear, everything was perfectly fine (01:17:44:00)  Once they reached the truck, Clark decided he had crawled enough and if the Germans wanted to shot at him, they could, so he stood and walked through the woods to his unit’s aid station (01:18:01:00)  At some point, the medic from the 589th took a piece of shrapnel through the butt and because he did not believe he could walk right, volunteered to stay with the wounded at the battery (01:18:28:00)  Later, two soldiers volunteered and went back after dark to pick up the wounded (01:19:06:00) o Because Clark had lost his glasses and they did not think he would be too reliable without them, his commanders had him make some hot chocolate and prepare food to eat (01:19:39:00)  Clark had another pair of glasses in his duffel bag but he did not take the time to go searching for them (01:19:45:00) o While he was making the hot chocolate, the soldiers received word that they were to prepare to evacuate the position by midnight (01:20:18:00) During the unit’s evacuation, it was up to Clark to load the equipment from the aid station into the weapon’s carrier that they had to use as an ambulance (01:20:32:00) o However, the weapon’s carrier could only carry about five wounded, so they placed some of the wounded into a spare truck the unit had (01:20:45:00) o Clark had some equipment he thought was vital but there was no place to put it, so he tried stacking it all on his jeep, which was not going to be able to handle all of the extra weight (01:21:06:00)  To make room for the equipment, Clark took the captain’s footlocker, full of new uniforms the captain expected to wear to Paris on leave, and put it in the barn, figuring the men would be back to the position soon, although Clark did not tell the captain he did so (01:22:24:00) o Clark got a hold of the truck driver and said although he wanted the jeep to pull a trailer, he knew that he was not going to be able to do attach it by himself and wondered if the truck driver and his assistant would help (01:21:59:00) o While Clark was loading the jeep, one of the pieces of equipment was a light with three settings: white, red, and green, and a toggle-switch to change between them (01:22:33:00)  While the soldiers were rushing to load the vehicles, the light felt out and shot a beam of light straight up; Clark threw his overcoat over the light to block it and as he was checking to make sure the light was off, he   �accidentally toggled it from to green, which made the commanders suspect someone was signaling the Germans (01:22:56:00)  Clark finally covered the light with mud; the light was still on but it could not shine through the mud (01:23:30:00) o Clark eventually got the trailer hooked but the truck who was helping him slid in the mud and ended up pinning Clark so he could not get out; eventually, they moved the truck and put Clark in the truck with the rest of the wounded (01:23:52:00)  When he woke up the next morning, Clark was the only person still in the truck, so he got up and went looking for everyone else (01:24:45:00) Recovery Experiences / Return to Unit (01:24:51:00)  Clark did not think he was too badly hurt at the time; he did not feel any pain in his face and he does not even remember when the truck pinched him (01:24:51:00)  From then on, Clark was part of the medical evacuation system for casualties, which was quite chaotic at the time given the German attacks (01:25:33:00) o All the hospitals had to kept moving back until they found locations where they could stop and work for a period (01:25:44:00) o Clark slowly worked his way back and eventually ended up in Paris, where he spent Christmas (01:25:49:00) o When Clark woke up the first time after being pinched by the truck, the unit was just pulling out of the position just after midnight; someone was shooting off flares and Clark could see they were traveling on the road towards Bleialt (01:26:36:00)  There was an engineering cutoff before Bleialt and Clark assumed the convoy would take that road (01:26:50:00)  As the unit was traveling, there was machine gun fire exchanged between the Germans and an engineering unit in the area (01:27:18:00)  “A” Battery ended up missing the cutoff and while they were trying to turn their vehicles around, they ran into some Germans and the battalion commander was captured (01:27:52:00) o The unit eventually moved through Schönberg just ahead of the Germans and then stopped in St. Vith at the same location they had stayed when they first moved into the area (01:28:33:00)  The unit’s guns began firing under the pretenses of destroying any equipment they had left behind, which included the officer’s footlocker of new uniforms (01:28:51:00)  While the guns were firing, the officer was standing with Clark, who told the captain he had something to tell him; when Clark told him what he had done, the officer’s face got kind of red and simply said that he was not going to be going to Paris for awhile (01:29:10:00)  At the same time, the officer examined Clark more thoroughly and suggested he get the shrapnel removed and be on penicillin for a couple of days, as well as a tetanus shot; the officer said he would see Clark in a day or so but Clark did not return until Jan. 10th (01:29:40:00)  Clark then went to a bombed-out hospital in Upin, Belgium (01:30:20:00) �   o At one point, a siren went off and although Clark was worried about it, another soldier said they did that periodically and if Clark was so worried, he could get into the stairwell; Clark did get into the stairwell and that time, the Germans happened to drop a bomb (01:30:28:00)  The bomb ended up hitting an ammo dump that was only twenty yards away from the hospital; the explosion ended up knocking a jeep onto the roof of another building and blew out all the windows in the hospital (01:31:06:00) o Clark asked an orderly what he should do because he did not want to sleep in glass and the orderly said there were extra beds in the basement of the hospital to be used as a bomb shelter and Clark could sleep there (01:31:42:00)  The hospital workers were expecting casualties from the fighting but there was no way to get the casualties to them, so the hospital was not busy at that time (01:32:10:00) o The explosion had knocked Clark’s glasses as well as his helmet, so he picked up both of them then felt his way in the dark until he found the door and sure enough, on the other side were bunk beds (01:32:23:00) o However, Clark soon heard female voices; some newly-arrived nurses had to leave their quarters because there was supposedly an unexploded bomb in their attic (01:32:48:00) o Clark did not want to stay with the nurses lest someone start asking questions, so he slide out and went back upstairs; by that time, it was starting to get light out, so they began processing the wounded to move to Liege, Belgium (01:33:21:00) The Germans were launching bombs into Liege around every twenty minutes and they had already hit one building with wounded in them; the Germans kept aiming some of the bombs at the Liege railyards but they hardly every hit it (01:33:48:00) o Later on while Clark was attending the University of Michigan medical school, he met a foreign political science student from Germany who wondered if there were any medical classes he could take (01:34:11:00)  As it turned out, the student was a fourteen year-old SS soldier that had helped do the computations for the explosion times for the bombs that were sent into Liege while Clark was there (01:34:46:00) o After four days, the Germans finally got the range and managed to knock over some tents, which made the officers in charge of the hospital nervous, so they placed the wounded on a train headed for Paris; however, the wounded had to sweat it out in the railyards in the possibility that the Germans were finally accurate with their bombs (01:35:11:00) o While the wounded were on the train, the women from Liege came out and gave each of them a little metal tin say “thank you, Liege” (01:35:35:00) The train finally got to Paris, where Clark’s penicillin shots ended and they were able to take his stitches out (01:36:56:00) o It was Christmas and the hospital staff said they did not want to the send the soldiers to the replacement depot on Christmas, so they decided to send the soldiers to the depot the next day (01:36:04:00) Clark then slowly worked his way through the replacement depots and although everyone wanted to know where the 106th Division was, Clark did not know (01:36:38:00) � o The first replacement depot had been a French barracks used by the Germans when they invade at the outbreak of the war and the only running water was a fountain in the middle of the compound (01:36:54:00)  The biggest problem was that the barracks were not heated and some of the windows were broke (01:37:20:00) o Clark stayed at the first depot for two nights and a day before they sent him to another replacement depot, where like Clark, most of the other soldiers were wounded who had healed and were returning to their original units (01:37:30:00)  There were wood-burning stoves for heat but no firewood, so they took the slates from the bunks and burned them; the first man who dove into a bunk ended up breaking through and ended up on the floor (01:38:00:00) o While Clark was at the first depot, there was a tremendous roar and looking into the sky, he saw the airborne relief forced headed for Bastonge (01:38:47:00) o The soldiers then went by truck to Fontainebleau, France and they ended up staying in buildings used by Napoleon’s cavalry (01:39:19:00)  The bunks the soldiers stayed in were nice and in the courtyard of the complex was a covered mess hall that served upwards of one thousand soldiers a day (01:39:45:00)  While there, a soldiers’ ranks did not matter; everyday, the soldiers drew numbers to decide what their assignment was for that day and Clark continuously drew KP (Kitchen Patrol) (01:40:15:00)  His job was to mop down the cobblestones of the stables, which never came clean anyway, and to help care the found in when it was time to eat (01:40:40:00)  When he got back to the barracks one night, the other soldiers told Clark that he had been chosen to go out that night, which was New Years Eve, although Clark did not have any money; the other soldiers insisted Clark go and someone ended up giving him a couple of dollars (01:41:13:00)  Clark ended up getting with a group of soldiers and the first place they stopped was an ice cream parlor (01:41:47:00)  The soldiers eventually saw a lighted chateau with a party going on, so they went and stood on the veranda to listen to the music; some of the ladies wanted the soldiers to come in but it was an officers-only party (01:42:02:00)  The group did not care about the designation, they were loaded with their equipment to go back to the front and the next thing Clark knew, someone had shot out a chandelier (01:42:57:00) o However, by the time they got around to checking what had happened, the soldiers were on a train headed back to the front the next morning (01:43:17:00) For the train ride back to the front, the men were placed in “40 and 8” railcars and when the train stopped in Paris, the men were able to get off, stretch, and briefly look around (01:43:28:00) o Once the soldiers were back aboard the train, it took them five days to get back to the front because their train had to stop to let priority trains go by (01:44:55:00) �  o The “40 and 8”’s were supposed to have either forty men or eight horses but they had more than forty men in each car, as well as each man’s duffel bag and weaponry (01:44:09:00)  The soldiers had to take turns laying down; one group would lay down while the other group stood and then they would switch (01:44:25:00)  The soldiers tried everything to get heat; they left the doors open during the day to see but that naturally made it colder until someone got the idea to turn a trashcan lid over, put coal in it, and start a fire (01:44:33:00) o The soldiers were eventually dropped off near the Belgian/German/Dutch border at another replacement depot (01:45:29:00) o In one of the railyards where the soldiers briefly stopped were huge casks of wine on freight cars and somebody had the idea that each soldier would turn over his helmet while someone fired a machine gun at the casks; when they did so, every soldier had a spout they could tap into (01:45:47:00)  Normally, whenever the soldiers were allowed off the training, the conductor would give two toots and a whistle when he was ready to leave and all the soldiers would come running; however, on that day, all the soldiers boarded the train early (01:46:10:00) When the soldiers finally arrived at their destination in the middle of the night, they could hear gunfire, as well as some cannon fire, in the background, which meant they were getting close to the front (01:46:33:00) o The soldiers were told they had some place to sleep that night but no food, although they were promised a large meal the next morning (01:46:53:00) o The soldiers marched about a mile to a farmhouse carrying all sixty pounds of their equipment; when they arrived, the sergeant-in-charge pulled open the barn door and pointed to the soldier’s beds, clean straw that they all dove into (01:47:14:00) o All the soldiers slept well that night and the next morning, it was sunny outside when they went as a group to get breakfast (01:47:45:00) o As the group was marching to breakfast, a group of three officers stopped them and began berating the soldiers for their appearance because they not had time to clean themselves; a First Sergeant in the group stepped out, saluted the officers, and when the officers asked who was in charge, explained that nobody had been designated but he was the highest ranking (01:48:23:00)  An officer said the soldiers were a motley mess and were a disgrace to the United States Army; the First Sergeant replied that he remembered the officer from North Africa, the soldiers were going to get cleaned up and eat breakfast and the officer was not going to give them anymore trouble (01:49:25:00)  The officer’s face got red and he tried to make out who the sergeant was; the First Sergeant later explained that the officer had been taken out of the North African campaign for some reason (01:49:52:00) o After the soldiers ate, a little farm girl came out with hot water for all of them and then showed them around the town (01:50:21:00) The soldiers stayed in the town for a day before dividing up and Clark found out he was with some airborne returnees (01:50:51:00) �   o The truck took an awkward route back to the units because they were so close to the front and when the spent the night some place, Clark learned that he was going back to the 82nd Airborne Division, not the 106th Infantry (01:51:06:00) o The next morning, the soldiers got aboard another truck and while the rest of the soldiers were dropped off late in the afternoon, Clark was told they had found the 106th Infantry, which was headquartered behind the 82nd, and he was going to rejoin them (01:51:40:00) o The next morning, Clark went from the 106th’s headquarters back to his battalion outside the town of Fose, which was being heavily contested (01:52:32:00)  Normally, if the 82nd ran into an resistance, they simply bypassed it for the regular Army units to take care of and sometimes in the confusion, the airborne soldiers and regular infantry ended up shooting at each other (01:52:52:00)  One day while Clark was standing in a line by the building being used as the battalion’s aid station, he was talking with the soldier ahead of him when they heard a whizzing sound and when they looked up, there was a bullet lodged in the wall of the shed behind Clark (01:53:26:00)  The other soldier said Clark had to get used to that because when they were with the airborne, the soldiers did not know who was shooting at them (01:54:01:00) After Clark returned, the unit did not take too many casualties (01:54:17:00) o On one occasion, the unit pulled back for two-days rest to change the barrels on the howitzers and unit stayed in a farm building while they worked on each howitzer (01:54:21:00)  Each gun had a side pouch to destroy the gun before it could be captured and one particular gun still had a grenade in the pouch (01:54:58:00)  Apparently a German patrol had armed the grenade because when the soldiers repairing the weapon opened the pouch to pull out the grenade, it was live and they all had to jump behind the howitzer before the grenade went off (01:55:19:00)  One or two of the soldiers got some nicks and these were the only casualties the battalion suffered (01:55:38:00) At the time, the artillery battalion was attached to the 82nd Airborne (01:55:51:00) o This meant the battalion received their targets from the 82nd and it also meant the battalion was able to the use the 82nd’s supply and transportation unit, which was superior to the 106th’s (01:56:03:00) o By this time, the 592nd was being attached to different units in the area because the 106th did not exist anymore; the only surviving units were the 592nd, the 591st, and what remained of the 424th Infantry (01:56:27:00)  The 424th was in the area but the 592nd did not supply fire support strictly for them; the 592nd supplied fire support for any unit in the area that needed it (01:56:50:00) The day Clark arrived back at the battalion was the high point for the German counterattack (01:57:13:00) �  o In the area, two or three rivers came together at a town names Trois Ponts and the Americans did not destroy the bridges over the rivers; the engineers had the bridges rigged for destruction but the German tanks ran out of gas (01:57:31:00) After three days, the battalion left Fose and continued moving to new positions roughly every three days to kept up with the 82nd (01:58:03:00) o At one point, an officer found out his brother was a surgeon in the 30th Division, which was on the left flank of the 82nd’s advance (01:58:26:00)  Clark had been out several times during the week but he had to be careful because German patrols left behind the retreating German forces were still in the area; he eventually learned where he could and could not go by visiting the battalion liaison officer and seeing where the pins were on his map (01:59:02:00)  Clark told the officer that he did not think he would be able to make it to the bridges because of the German patrols but the officer said they were going to go anyway (01:59:31:00)  Clark and the officer went and found the officer’s brother; when they returned, the liaison officer came and asked Clark what route he took and when Clark showed him, the officer said he could remove that pin from the map (01:59:47:00) From then on, it was mostly getting ready to move to the new position; the soldiers had learned to take care of their feet, cutting down the number of trench foot incidents, and as far as the soldiers in the battalion were concerned, there was not much combat activity (02:00:21:00) o They did, however, have psychotic breakdowns in several of the soldiers because they continued to stay on the line (02:00:48:00) Disk 2 Length: 00:01:11:00 Rejoining his unit / End of the War (00:00:21:00)  From when he rejoined the 592nd on Jan. 10th until Feb. 1st, Clark was on the road a lot of the time because he had to continuously travel back and forth to headquarters; headquarters would stay put while the rest of the unit advanced, sometimes up to twenty or thirty miles (00:00:21:00) o Clark had to take people back to the dentist and other routine things but it still meant he was on the road a lot (00:00:54:00) o When he was with the rest of the unit, Clark visited with the other soldiers and they walked around but this did not happen often; Clark’s day revolved around whatever they told him to do (00:01:06:00) o Because of all the driving, Clark learned the roads in the area like the back of his hand (00:01:35:00)  For moral purposes, their commanders always tried to get the soldiers good food or amenities whenever they could (00:01:51:00) o For example, one time the soldiers had not taken a shower or bath in a month, so the commanders got a special truck, parked it on the roadside and the soldiers �       were able to go in an take a shower; the water was heated and although the soldiers had to stand in the cold, it felt pretty good to take a shower (00:02:03:00) o Another time, after they had been detached from the 82nd Airborne, the soldiers had the chance to go into the resort town of Spa in Belgium, which not even the Germans touched because they wanted to use it (00:02:32:00)  When the soldiers got there, they had not shaved and were dirty but as they went into the pools, there were Belgian women there to scrub them down (00:03:25:00) o Clark later found out that all the moral efforts and plans were organized by a single officer at division headquarters (00:04:51:00) o In March, the soldiers began drawing lots to go to Paris while the engineers were clearing out the Siegfried Line for the final push to the Rhine river (00:05:02:00)  Whenever someone went into Paris, he would bring back liquor and candies for his comrades (00:05:29:00) When the unit first moved into the area, there was still some activity going on because as other divisions moved through the area for the push to the Rhine, the 592nd would be temporarily assigned to them to provide support (00:05:47:00) o However, the soldiers could not do much due in large part to the mud, which at times was knee deep; engineers tried to put down corduroy log roads but the soldiers still could not go much of anywhere (00:06:28:00) When the soldiers drew lots, Clark was one of the soldiers who ended up winning a pass into Paris, where he meet a girl who corresponded with him after he left (00:06:45:00) o When Clark and the group of soldiers arrived in Paris, Glenn Miller had been scheduled to be there at the same time but he never showed up (00:07:07:00) o Although the soldiers got to go to the opera, some of the other attractions, such as the Lourve, were not open (00:07:19:00) One of Clark’s routine jobs was once a week, the medical officers would pull up dental records for soldiers and Clark would drive them back and forth to the dentist thirty miles away (00:07:51:00) In one Belgian town, the Germans had just pulled out before the Americans arrived and there was a Christmas tree in the corner of the house Clark stayed in (00:08:23:00) o Someone wanted to take it down but the others told him not to touch it because it might be bobby-trapped; the Germans bobby-trapped everything (00:08:44:00)  In one town the unit took over, the soldiers could see where the SS soldiers who had occupied the town had stolen the gold teeth from corpses and bobby-trapped the bodies (00:09:01:00)  In order to clear the bodies out of the way, the soldiers wrapped rope around an ankle and dragged it a short distance to make sure there was not a bomb underneath, which was not a pleasant situation (00:09:22:00) Clark and the other soldiers did not have too many opportunities to interact with the local civilian population (00:09:44:00) At this point, the soldiers were either staying inside buildings or what remained of buildings; sometimes even the soldiers who were part of the gun crews were able to take turns staying inside a building (00:09:55:00) Although the unit initially served in a small sliver of Germany, it was not until after V-E day the Clark was able to go far into Germany (00:10:33:00) � o The unit did spend enough time that they earned a battle star for the Rhineland although they did not have much in the way of activity (00:10:55:00) o When V-E day occurred, the 106th returned from France, where it had been sent the lost parts of the division could be reactivated, and all the soldiers spent time training to head to the Pacific theater (00:11:15:00) o Although he hates to say it, the Germans were more hospitable to the soldiers than the French (00:11:55:00)  The Germans were not necessarily apologetic but they let it be known that they felt they were in a situation where they could not have acted differently than they did (00:12:07:00)  As soon as a building was damaged, the Germans, like the Belgians and the Dutch, were immediately out to take care of the problem, clear the roads and clean everything up (00:12:21:00) o On one occasion around the 4th of July, the soldiers had what was called “Operation Tally-Ho” in which every unit that was in or near a town would, at four o’clock in the morning, hit the town for all sides to clear out any remaining SS or armed resistance (00:12:51:00)  Clark could speak a little German so he was sent with a special unit along with his driver, who had grown up in Brooklyn with grandparents who only spoke German (00:13:44:00)  Clark’s group did not find anything except for accidentally discovering an undercover group (00:13:59:00)  The only thing Clark himself found was an antique shotgun with ammunition Clark had never seen before; Clark thought the owner was going to cry if they took the shotgun, so he told the group just to leave it there (00:14:16:00)  The Germans civilians did not bother the soldiers while they did their sweeps; although they did not throw their arms around the soldiers but they did not interfere (00:14:52:00)  The soldiers visited with a couple of the ladies who could speak a little English; one of the girls asked Clark’s driver where he was from because she could not place his accent and he said “Brooklyn” (00:15:05:00) th The 106 was put back together in April 1945 while in Rhiems, France (00:15:38:00) o There was large parade for the reactivation of several units: the 590th and 589th Artillery Battalions as well as 422nd and 423rd Infantry Regiments; they had recovered the artillery flags at some point and those were given to the reactivated units (00:15:47:00) o The next day, the soldiers received word that Roosevelt had died (00:16:20:00)  Clark’s unit had a new commanding officer and he came out and said he had received word the commander-in-chief had died; the officer said he was not a politician but Roosevelt had been the commander-in-chief and know the soldiers had a new one and the new one could not be all bad because in World War I, he had served in the artillery (00:16:31:00) o The division was rebuilt from the remaining soldiers, including Clark; there were about one hundred soldiers left in the 592nd, so the commanders divided the soldiers up as a cadre, gave them all promotions, and then filled in the open �     spaces with other soldiers who were not longer needed, including Air Force personnel, engineers, medical personnel, etc. (00:17:13:00) Most of the division moved back to take care of German POWs but Clark’s reconstituted unit was sent back to the French coast around the cities of St. Nazaire and Lorient, where the German U-Boats operated from, with orders to clear out the remaining German forces in the towns (00:18:11:00) o Clark was at the front when the German surrender party came through; the German forces surrendered first at St. Nazaire then at Lorient, which was where the unit took its last casualty, after the war had officially ended (00:18:38:00) When V-E day occurred, the soldiers were not exactly sure as the French had been celebrating for a day or so already because they knew what was happening (00:19:04:00) o The night after the French were celebrating, Clark was in the aid station when a soldier who had been walking guard-duty came in and asked someone to take a look at the back of his neck; he had been walking guard duty when he felt a sting and when he put his hand on the back on his neck, it felt wet (00:19:18:00)  Clark took the soldier under the light and said he had bullet in there; someone celebrating had fired it and it had traveled under the skin and come out the front of the soldier’s neck (00:19:58:00)  The wounds were not bleeding too much, so Clark bandaged them, checked to make sure the soldier had received his tetanus shot and the soldier went back on patrol; Clark told him that he did not know if the soldier would receive a Purple Heart from the wound (00:20:37:00) o Within a few days of the war in Europe ending, the Army moved the unit again, this time for more training (00:21:08:00) During this time, Clark was the NCO for the 590th’s medical detachment and although he was supposed to have a surgeon with him, for four months, he did not, meaning Clark was in charge of everything for the medical detachment (00:21:15:00) o The biggest trouble came from the French because Clark relied on them for supplies but they did not want to give anything up (00:21:33:00) th The 66 Infantry division, which had its boat torpedoed off of Cherbourg, had been kept in the area since Christmas in an effort to contain the Germans in the two port towns and over time, the two sides had reached a partial agreement (00:21:40:00) o When Clark’s unit arrived, they were told that the only restriction was that so long as the Americans did not shell the German’s whorehouses, then the Germans would not shell the American’s chow lines (00:21:58:00) Over time, Clark had a problem because when the soldiers liberated U-Boat ports, the officer who had organized the soldier’s moral events went in as part of a group to organize the supplies (00:22:31:00) o However, Clark could not find where to evacuate the wounded; the French did not want them and the 66th Infantry was finally moving out (00:23:26:00) o Clark did receive some supplied from the 66th Infantry as they moved out but thankfully Clark’s unit was only there for a few days before they received orders to move out (00:23:46:00) o When the soldiers liberated the U-Boat supplies, there was liquor from what seemed like everywhere and the moral officer took a large amount and turned it over to the officers in Clark’s battalion, which was a mistake (00:23:56:00) �  One time when Clark returned from trying to find a place to evacuate the wounded, he had a bunch of drunk soldiers yelling at each other and being sick; the soldiers had been drinking by the pint instead of the glass, so Clark had more casualties to worry about (00:24:35:00)  When he returned a second time, things had quieted down and Clark decided to apologize to the owners of the orchard where the aid station was set up (00:25:01:00)  The farm had a still on it and although it was not the season, the farmer had some supplies to run it; Clark wanted to keep his soldiers away from the still, so he went to talk with the farmer, who was real surly (00:25:22:00)  The farmer said the soldiers had better not disturb his property and the sooner the soldiers left, the better (00:25:55:00)  As the battalion was leaving, all the soldiers had to go into a field and line up while the commanding officer would go through the ranks; the officer would stop in front of certain soldiers and watch them, although no one knew why (00:26:10:00)  Word eventually got passed down that the farmer claimed someone had raped his daughter and he was sure it was a soldier in Clark’s battalion (00:26:37:00)  Clark knew his soldiers were too drunk to do anything like that and the other soldiers were too new to try anything like that and sure enough, the officer never pulled anyone out to accuse them (00:26:47:00) On the way up to Lorient, there was a terrible mix-up (00:27:08:00) o The service battery column that Clark was a part of got broken up because there was a fork in the road just before the town where the unit was supposed to be staying; because the column had become stretched out and there was no MP at the crossroads, the kitchen truck and a couple of other trucks ended up taking a wrong turn (00:27:28:00) o The battery commander took off after the trucks because he had planned a special dinner with steaks he had gotten ahold of in celebration (00:28:28:00)  The commander managed to get the trucks turned around while the battery executive officer was left at the crossroads to direct traffic down the correct road (00:28:54:00) o There was a large crater at the crossroads and some of the trucks in the column were having a hard time going around because they had been told that the shoulders of the road had been mined and to stay off the road (00:29:17:00) o Clark had passed through successfully and just as the kitchen truck was about to make the turn, some ammo trucks were coming to the intersection as well; the ammo trucks followed the executive officer’s directions and the truck right behind Clark ended up hitting a mine that was still in the road (00:29:39:00)  Clark initially thought there were two casualties because of the number of body parts but it turned out to be only one; there were several soldiers who were burned trying to get out the soldiers who had been in the back of the truck (00:30:31:00) �  o Clark missed out on part because he had gone four miles to set up the aid station; the battalion commander eventually pulled up and told Clark to come with him with his burn treatments because there were the burned soldiers (00:30:54:00) o By the time Clark arrived, the medic who was with the group had lost his hearing and had shrapnel wounds, but others knew where a hospital was in the area and took him there (00:31:18:00) o The executive officer was still on the scene and Clark ended up bandaging his hands and other wounds (00:31:39:00) After completing their operations in the area, the unit went all the way back to Mann, Germany (00:32:13:00) o The journey went much faster because the soldiers no longer used half tracks; the ride was pleasant for the soldiers because the region the men were traveling through was beautiful (00:32:20:00) o For the rest of the war, Clark’s unit was not attached to the 106th, a blessing because the 106th was terrible about taking care of their soldiers (00:32:45:00) o There was a hospital set up in the area when Clark’s unit first arrived, although they had no patients and were getting ready to move (00:33:09:00)  Nevertheless, Clark went up there a couple of times to get supplies and signatures on medical forms that he could not sign because he was not a physician (00:33:21:00)  However, when the nearby hospital finally did move, Clark had no one to sign to forms, so he signed them himself; when an officer came around later and asked Clark what he did about the monthly reports, Clark said he signed them (00:33:58:00)  The officer asked to see a form and pointed out that the place for the signature said “M.D.”, something Clark was not; Clark responded that he thought that meant “medical detachment” (00:34:30:00) o When the unit began training for Japan, there were some injuries; Clark did not have any in his unit but the infantry that was training with them did (00:35:15:00)  Apparently some shells that had been manufactured while the workers were on strike had not been done right and they ended up wound the soldiers (00:35:23:00) They pulled Clark’s unit out about a week before the Air Force dropped the atomic bombs on Japan and they sent Clark and another soldier who spoke German to get a barrel of beer (00:35:47:00) o Once the two had gotten to beer and got it back to the unit, they found that they did not have any way to get the beer out, so they sent Clark and the other soldier back into town (00:36:19:00) o The other soldier did not know the German word for “spiket”, so he and Clark had to try and demonstrate what they wanted before the German brewer figured out what they wanted (00:36:33:00) o After the two soldiers got a spiket, they put the barrel on sawhorses in front of the aid station tent and Clark was placed in charge of making sure everything was orderly (00:36:57:00) �   o At some point, one of the soldiers had picked up a dog while the unit was stationed in France and because they could not get the spiket to turn off all the way, the dog would lay underneath it and lap up beer (00:37:15:00) The soldiers had put up tents all in a row but the area they had chosen was muddy, so someone called in an order for gravel to make paths (00:38:14:00) o Someone had constructed a loudspeaker and turntable for records but the soldiers only had one record, an annoyingly repetitious song called “One Meatball” (00:38:30:00) The unit was eventually pulled out from training after the bombs were dropped because they knew the war was going to be over (00:39:08:00) o The town where the unit was assigned was fairly large and Clark finally had a physician assigned to him (00:39:14:00) o However, on the same day he received an offer to go to Bieritz, so he never met the new medical officer, although the others told Clark about him, including that he was a drunk all the time (00:39:28:00) Bieritz was one of two places the Army had set-up for certain soldiers to go to for additional schooling (00:40:18:00) o The selected soldiers rode on a train to Bieritz, only this time they were able to ride in passenger cars, albeit old-style passenger cars, and there were still too many soldiers for them to all sit down at once (00:40:58:00) o It took the train three days to travel from where the unit was stationed in Germany to Bieritz because they were sidelined as more important trains passed them (00:41:13:00) o Clark did not know what exactly he was going to, only that the Army had set up some kind of school for anyone with college education who would probably be going back to school, but there were no officers (00:41:27:00) o The soldiers were not like a normal college population and Clark suspects that some of the teachers were not ready for how the soldiers were; in some cases, the soldiers had more worldly experience than the teachers and were anxious to get the four years of the war behind them and get back to their studies (00:42:03:00)  However, the instructors that Clark had were really good and very well organized (00:42:31:00) o However, Clark was unable to transfer any of the classes he took when he returned to the United States because the instructors did not five the soldiers final exams (00:42:39:00) o Clark stayed at the school from August 6th until the middle of October when the Army closed the school down (00:42:53:00) o While the soldiers were attending the school, they stayed at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, they were able to visit nearby beaches, etc. but the townspeople did not mix with them very much (00:43:22:00)  A local girl took to hanging out with Clark’s roommates but he believes that was either because one of them said he was from Hollywood or the girl was involved in the black market because Bieritz was so close to the Spanish border (00:43:40:00)  All of the hotel housekeepers and maids were Basque and some were from Spain (00:44:12:00) � o o o o The soldiers ate GI food but once the chefs got through with it, it looked nothing like what they had normally eaten (00:44:31:00) When the school started, there were around one thousand soldiers attending but by the time the Army closed the school, there were around six hundred students remaining (00:44:39:00) When the soldiers went to the beach, they received warnings to stay out of the water when someone blew a whistle (00:45:04:00)  When they first arrived, some of the soldiers were part of a French dedication to the sea for drowning twenty-one Germans; while the Germans occupied the area, the French forgot how to be lifeguards (00:45:09:00) One of Clark’s roommates was in a photography class where he got excellent Army equipment and Clark still had his chauffeur license, meaning he could commandeer a jeep whenever he wanted, so they two of them would drive down into Spain (00:45:47:00)  Spain was actually off-limits to the soldiers because some of the personnel who were setting up the school had gone into Spain to attend a bullfight and got into enough trouble that American soldiers were no longer welcome in Spain (00:46:04:00) There was a sports stadium in Bieritz where the soldiers went to watch soccer games and Clark was amazed by their skill (00:46:51:00) Post-Military Life / Reflections (00:47:47:00)  Clark was finally discharged from the Army on Dec. 5th, 1945 (00:47:47:00)  Clark and his wife had both been at Michigan State at the same time before the war and while she went back to finish her degree as a laboratory technician, Clark went back to retake some classes for a better grade so he could get into medical school (00:48:03:00) o When he got back, Clark had applied to attend medical school at both Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, although he did not have much hope of getting in (00:48:34:00) o However, his commanding officers sent in recommendation letters certifying the activates Clark had done and that he could be a good doctor, which helped, as well as letters from some of his former professors (00:48:46:00) o Although Clark and his future wife were in classes together, they did not necessarily spend time together (00:50:07:00) o Michigan State went from around seven thousand students while Clark was there then down to around four thousand students by the time the war ended; when the war ended, Clark’s group was the first one back and overnight, the student population went up to twenty-one thousand (00:50:32:00) o In some of the more basic classes, the pre-med students also studied with veterinary students and lab technician students, so Clark’s future wife was in some of the larger classes with Clark (00:51:26:00) o In one of the larger classes, both Clark and the future wife were seated in the front row alphabetically and everyone in the row recalled having classes with one another; however, in the previous classes, the wife answered to one name while Clark remembered her having another name (00:51:47:00) �    After the classes was over, Clark asked her if she was the same girl and when she said she was, Clark figured that was the end of it (00:52:43:00) o As it turned out, she had had a wartime marriage that only lasted a few months and she went into the Navy to escape it, although she could not get a divorce (00:52:57:00) Clark’s are what he believes are similar to a lot of others; he would not ask anyone else to go through it but he would not trade the experience for anything (00:53:51:00) For his age, Clark had had a very varied experience before he joined the military, so his situation was a little different than most; for example, while working in the hospital, Clark had assisted with autopsies while most of the other soldiers had never seen a dead body (00:54:05:00) o He also already had a chauffeurs license and had plenty of different tasks which prepared him well for just about anything (00:54:32:00) o Clark had received enough medical training and done enough at Fort Dix that when it came to treating the wounded, it was just another job; he treated one the best he could then moved to the next person (00:54:43:00) o He did not worry about people shooting at him because it was the soldiers’ job to take care of that problem, although had Clark served in the South Pacific, it would have been different (00:55:03:00)  Clark knows some Marines corpsmen who had a totally different experience than what he had (00:55:17:00) o Clark was used to Michigan weather whereas some of the soldiers could not drive or do anything similar to that (00:55:28:00) On Dec. 13th, before the Battle of the Bulge had started, Clark had gone into St. Vith and was returning by himself to where the 592nd was encamped (00:56:05:00) o The weather was foggy and Clark was on the road from Schönberg to Bleialt; he had just passed a gun emplacement manned entirely by African-Americans when a plane came out of the fog flying around two hundred feet (00:56:27:00) o Clark stopped the jeep and rolled underneath it, fearing a strafing run from the German plane because he was right next to the gun emplacement; however, the plane did not shoot, so Clark assumed that the German had found what he was looking for and would coming back around but in reality, Clark believes it was merely a reconnaissance plane because that are became under heavy German gunfire when the attack began (00:57:18:00) o Once Clark got back in his jeep and gone a little distance down the road, there was another jeep parked and this one had a Red Cross girl in it; when Clark stopped and asked what she was doing there, the girl said she was going to see her brother (00:57:51:00)  When Clark said it was a combat area and civilians were not allowed, the girl said she had received special permission and that if she reported to the headquarters of the 422nd, they would be able to tell her where her brother was (00:58:10:00) o Clark told her she was on the right path but just before Bleialt, she arrive at the crossroads and every so often, the Germans would throw a shell in to keep everyone alert; Clark gave her directions on how to get to the 422nd’s � headquarters that they shared with the 590th and told her to ask them where he was stationed (00:58:48:00) o The girl explained that she and her brother were twins and after she saw him, she was going to come back with a birthday cake, although it was not their birthday; Clark wished her luck and the total conversation lasted only about five minutes total (00:59:28:00) o Clark thought that someone else must have saw the girl and sixty-four years later, he was giving an interview to another veteran’s daughter to help fill in her father’s experience; her father had served with the 590th and had written very detailed letters home (00:59:48:00)  Clark and the daughter were going through the letters and when Clark told her the story, the daughter got up and went into her computer room because that day, she had gotten in touch with a woman who had been featured by the University of Illinois as a Red Cross girl during the Battle of the Bulge (01:00:52:00)  The daughter brought back a CD, on which was a picture a woman in a Red Cross uniform talking about how she had went to see her twin brother and after see him the first time, gone back, baked him a cake, and brought it back to him (01:02:27:00)  The woman then claimed to have gone to see her brother again when the Battle of the Bulge began to take the cake to him, but Clark told the daughter that was not right; there was no way anyone was on the Schönberg to Bleialt road without him seeing it because he was up and down it two or three times that day and there were not Red Cross people on the road (01:04:05:00)  The daughter gave Clark the woman’s number and when he called it, the woman said she did not remember anyone stopping her on the road the first time she went up (01:04:59:00)  As it turned out, the girl had become stuck in the traffic jam between St. Vith and Bastonge and eventually made it to another headquarters a day later (01:05:33:00)  The woman asked where Clark was calling from and when he said Michigan, she asked where in Michigan because she had a cottage near Newaygo, Michigan that she visited every summer (01:06:02:00)  The woman said that when the went up to the cottage that summer, she would look Clark up (01:06:42:00) o It was sheer coincidence that Clark even managed to meet the other soldier’s daughter; he had been asked to be taken off the 106th Infantry Association’s mailing list but she managed to get a hold of him before they did so (01:07:53:00)  Clark put her in touch with another soldier who had more experiences with her father but when he died, she went back and realized that because Clark had served in the same area, he would be able to fill in some blanks in the story she had (01:09:12:00) Clark discusses the experiences of a fellow soldier, including when the soldier had to transfer from one LST to another during the channel-crossing storm, attending to generals at a hospital and the soldiers experiences as a POW (01:10:13:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clark, James (Interview outline and video, 1 of 2), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clark, James Description An account of the resource James Clark was born in September 1920 in a farmhouse in Wayne County, Michigan. Growing up, Clark had a difficult childhood, including a diagnosis of tuberculosis, moving to Arizona for treatment and back to Michigan, and his family losing their property during the Great Depression. After high school, Clark attended both Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University before receiving his draft card in 1942. After the Army drafted Clark, he spent two years in different programs before deploying with the 106th Infantry division to Belgium. During the Battle of the Bulge, Clark was wounded and evacuated back from the line for nearly a month before returning to his unit, where he served for the rest of the war. Following the war, Clark attended a school the Army had set up in southern France. 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 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 2010-11-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ClarkJ0163V1 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/7ec1009e3f76853ca3dcfc7a27dc23f4.mp4 1e1c4943774db77d6e9350d0cca128f0 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4f874b5889359c5d333aeabdc387bcbf.pdf f235a53dc737d04f136c4107a01abb74 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II James Clark 2 Interview Length: (01:28:01:00) Before the Battle of the Bulge: December 15th (00:00:35:00)  At the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, Clark was serving with 592nd Field Artillery Battalion’s medical detachment which had been stationed in Laudesfeld, Germany, a little town just over three miles west of the Siegfried Line, since Dec. 11th (00:00:35:00)  On Dec. 15th, the day before the attack, the battalion still remained in Laudesfeld and there had not been much activity as a far as combat was concerned; the soldiers would occasionally hear an air-burst artillery shell a few miles away but that was usually at a crossroads (00:01:22:00) o Clark’s only concern was that he was a jeep driver who went back and forth to visit headquarters in St. Vith, Belgium to get supplies and pick up soldiers from the 331st Medical Battalion’s clearinghouse (00:01:44:00)  If Clark’s battalion had any sick soldiers that their own medical detachment could not take care of, then the soldiers were sent back to the 331st for treatment (00:02:06:00)  The situation of being at one of the targeted crossroads when a German shell came in was always on Clark’s mind when he drove to the different locations (00:02:23:00)  When Clark’s division moved into the area on Dec. 11th, they replaced the 2nd Infantry Division man for man and took over their position, meaning everything was already set for the incoming division (00:02:32:00) o The soldiers did not have to worry too much about in terms of where they were going to be staying or what they would be doing, although they had to make adjustments for whatever came up (00:02:42:00) o The battalion aid station was in a real nice farmhouse and the soldiers were pretty comfortable at the time (00:02:56:00)  On Dec. 15th, Clark had gone into St. Vith because the battalion surgeon was concerned at the number of trench foot cases amongst the soldiers (00:03:07:00) o While the soldiers had been in England awaiting transport to the front, they had received new uniforms and combat boots; although the boots were comfortable and nicer than what the soldiers had before, they had not been treated to be waterresistant (00:03:21:00)  As well, the soldiers were supposed to have overshoes for winter combat but they never received them (00:03:52:00) o The surgeon began sending Clark to into St. Vith just about every day to see if there was the possibility of getting overshoes or extra socks for the soldiers to change into (00:04:01:00) �   o On the 15th, Clark did not have any casualties or sick soldiers to bring in, it was just him on the road (00:04:16:00) Although there were no posted speed limits, the soldiers still did not travel too slow in a jeep; in the particular area where the battalion was stationed, the roads were pretty good and many were hard surface roads (00:04:27:00) o The route Clark had to take to get to St. Vith was around twenty miles and it took him around forty minutes to get to the town (00:04:44:00) On the 15th, Clark only made one trip into St. Vith (00:05:03:00) o The battalion mess began serving coffee and food around seven in the morning and after eating breakfast, Clark got into his jeep and drove to St. Vith (00:05:11:00) o Laudesfeld was in a pocket off the main route and Clark had to actually go towards the front to go back to St. Vith; he had a choice of either going south or north, although each route was around an equal distance (00:05:40:00)  When he got away from the front, Clark could go back to St. Vith, which was actually was nearly directly due west from where the battalion was deployed (00:06:17:00) o On the 15th, Clark decided to take the “Andler” route that took him through the German town of Auw, which was around two miles away from Laudesfeld, and the Belgian towns of Andler and Schönberg; from Schönberg, Clark took the road back to St. Vith, which was about five miles away (00:06:35:00)  Schönberg was a fair-sized town with around one thousand people but the rest of the settlements were farm villages with around two or three hundred people in them (00:06:57:00)  At that point, the area was mostly pasture land on each side of the road with occasional pockets of fir trees; along some the ridges where it was more difficult to farm, the fir forests were much thicker (00:07:10:00) o Up until the 15th, the soldiers had not seen the sun for ten days; although it had snowed on the 10th and 11th when the soldiers first arrived, the snow packed down because the temperature would be at or above freezing and there would be a lot of fog in the area in the morning (00:07:31:00)  The fog would eventually lift later in the day to the point that the soldiers could see about two or three hundred feet and at night, the temperature would drop back down to around freezing (00:07:55:00)  The change in temperature caused a lot of the problems with trench foot because the soldiers were unable to keep their feet dry; as well, the temperature was cold enough that the soldiers have trouble with blood circulation (00:08:15:00) o When he got to St. Vith on the 15th, Clark discovered that they did not have any overshoes or extra socks (00:08:30:00)  Clark was usually in St. Vith around lunch time and he would go into the mess for a bowl of soup but on that day, he decided to just turn around and head back to the battalion at ten o’clock in the morning (00:08:38:00) On the road from Schönberg into St. Vith was positioned what the men had nicknamed a “Long Tom”, a heavy-duty, long-range artillery piece, that was manned by the 333rd Field �Artillery Battalion, which happened to be comprised of all African-American soldiers (00:08:55:00) o When he went by, Clark could tell by the size of the gun that it could make a large blast and the first time he drove by, the soldiers manning the gun somehow realizing Clark was a “rookie”, simulated a firing sequence for the gun (00:09:17:00) o Someone prepared the lanyard while everyone else opened their mouths and put their fingers in their ears; Clark slammed on the brakes and did the same thing, which caused the other soldiers to merely laugh at him (00:09:39:00) o When Clark drove past the gun on the 15th going into St. Vith, the soldiers simply smiled and waved at him (00:09:52:00) o On the way back to the 592nd on the 15th, Clark had just approached the Long Tom’s emplacement, the fog had lifted to increase visibility, when all the artillery soldiers dove into their foxholes (00:10:06:00)  Clark initially thought they were pulling another joke on him but when he heard the roar of an airplane, he realized that they thought they were under attack (00:10:21:00)  After slamming on the brakes, Clark rolled underneath as a German plane came down at about one hundred and fifty feet off the ground (00:10:30:00)  The plane did not shoot but instead went the length of the valley before pulling up into the clouds (00:10:43:00)  Clark and the artillery soldiers initially stayed put, believing that the plane would be back to do a strafing run but apparently, the plane was just a reconnaissance/observation aircraft (00:10:49:00) o Clark got back into the jeep, started back up the road, and about one hundred yards away, there was another jeep pulled off to the side; the jeep had red crosses on it and there was a Red Cross nurse in it (00:11:05:00)  Clark stopped next to the jeep and said that civilians were not supposed to be in the area and asked what she was doing there (00:11:26:00)  The nurse replied that she had a brother serving with one of the units attached to the 423rd Infantry Regiment, she was going to see him, and the next day, she was going to make a cake to bring back to him for their birthday because they were twins (00:11:44:00)  Clark told the nurse that she was only around three miles away from were there could be combat activity and suggested she think the idea over but the nurse simply said there was a headquarters ahead and they could tell her where her brother was serving (00:12:09:00)  Clark said there were actually three headquarters ahead but her brother might be in a foxhole because the entire area was under observation by the Germans and every so often, they would send in an artillery shell (00:12:26:00)  The nurse said she was going to continue on anyway and Clark suggested that because he was going the same way, she could follow behind him, although she did not seem too receptive to Clark’s suggestions (00:12:51:00) � o The experience with the Red Cross nurse bothered Clark because he figured that someone else must have seen the nurse because he knew that she could not have gotten back the next day because of the German attack (00:13:16:00)  It bothered him for sixty years but coincidentally, Clark came into contact with the daughter of a man who served at the same time, although in a different battalion (00:13:32:00)  As it turned out, the daughter’s father was at the same outpost as the nurse’s brother and they were close friends; at some point, the father had written a letter describing when a Red Cross nurse visited their position one day (00:14:05:00)  When Clark met with the daughter, she had just gotten a CD a woman had produced a documentary about being a Red Cross nurse in the Battle of the Bulge and who happened to be the same nurse that Clark had met (00:14:54:00)  In the nurse’s documentary, it was implied that she went back and saw her brother again on Dec. 16th, but Clark knew that he brother was killed early that morning (00:15:33:00) Once Clark got back to the battalion’s position, it was still early afternoon and when he got there, he found that the medical detachment had orders to paint their helmets with a white circle and red cross (00:16:39:00) o The 331st sent down the stencils and paint to the detachment, so the soldiers painted the white circles on but had to let the helmets dry over night, so they planned to paint the cross on the next day (00:17:04:00) o Although Clark painted the white circle on his helmet, he never got around the painting the red cross, so he went the rest of the war with only a white circle on his helmet (00:17:24:00)  He did wear a red cross armband but nobody ever bothered him to ask what the white circle on the helmet was for (00:17:38:00) o At the same time, Clark had begun repairing and putting a thatch roof on the outhouse for the aid station and he finished that in the afternoon (00:17:48:00) The Battle of the Bulge: December 16th (00:19:55:00)  The German attack began early on Dec. 16th; at around five thirty in the morning, the whole area erupted as part of an artillery barrage the Germans had sent all along the Allied line (00:19:55:00) o However, the barrage where the 592nd was located only lasted about five or ten minutes at the most but the soldiers could hear the barrage continuing against positions further away; nevertheless, the concussions were close enough to knock the blinds off the windows of the aid station farmhouse (00:20:05:00) o Luckily, the battalion did not suffer any casualties from the barrage (00:20:33:00) o However, because the battalion suffered no casualties, the soldiers thought the Germans were merely trying to scare them with the artillery fire and it was just a big false alarm (00:20:39:00)  The night before the attack, Clark was told that the next day, he was supposed to go to a pillbox on the Siegfried Line the 592nd’s forward observers were using because there were some trench foot problems he needed to check (00:20:59:00) �    o On the morning of the 16th and after the artillery barrage had finished, Clark got his breakfast and prepared to go to the pillbox with the an officer, Captain Richmond, who was going to lead the party to the pillboxes (00:21:16:00) o However, word came down that the captain said Clark did not have to go because the commanders had decided it would be better if they just took replacements up and brought the soldiers with trench foot back to the aide station (00:21:25:00) Instead, Clark was told by the medical officer to go back to St. Vith and see if he could get some overshoes or extra socks; as well, two soldiers who had been treated by the 331st for trench foot in St. Vith were ready to come back to the battalion (00:21:46:00) Clark started back for St. Vith except that when he reached Auw, there was a big shell crater in the middle of the intersection and several others nearby (00:22:04:00) o Captain Richmond was in the jeep along with the replacements for the forward observers ahead of Clark and when he made a turn to head towards the front line, Clark turned in the opposite direction to go back to St. Vith (00:22:19:00) o Clark did not know it at the time but a few minutes later, Captain Richmond and his driver were captured because the German forces had already advanced into Auw, although Clark never saw them (00:22:38:00) When Clark got into Andler, the soldiers from 333rd manning the “Long Tom” artillery were preparing to move out, which made Clark think that something big was going to be happening and those soldiers knew what it was (00:22:52:00) o The traffic on the road began to get heavier with service trucks and ammo trucks heading in one direction and other trucks headed in the opposite direction, towards the front; some of the equipment included the heavier pieces of machinery that could not operate in close quarters with the enemy (00:23:08:00) o However, Clark did not come under any artillery fire until he got into St. Vith; although there was nothing while he was in the town, the soldiers in St. Vith said they had been shelled by a German railroad gun since the early morning (00:23:37:00) Once in St. Vith, Clark picked up the two recovered trench foot soldiers who were headed back to the 592nd but before they headed back, Clark went into the mess hall at the 331st for a bowl of soup (00:24:00:00) o While he was in the mess hall, two medics from the 590th Field Artillery Battalion, which was located close to the 592nd, were also there; Clark knew all the medical personnel in the division’s other artillery battalions because he had been a driver for a surgeon who, at one point, was the only surgeon for all the artillery battalions (00:24:21:00) o The two medics were worried and when they saw Clark, they asked him how he got into St. Vith and he said through Auw (00:24:45:00)  Because the 590th was stationed near the town of Bleialt, the soldiers could take a road from Bleialt to Schönberg and get into St. Vith that route (00:25:00:00)  The medics said they had taken the Bleialt route and had ran into a German patrol; the Germans jumped into the road and tried to flag the men down by the medic who was driving hit the accelerator (00:25:10:00) �   As they went past the patrol, the driver reached out and managed to grab the weapon away from one of the Germans, which he showed to Clark (00:25:24:00) o The medics had planned to get something to eat but when Clark said he had come through Auw and not had a problem, they decided to forgo waiting to eat and leave early (00:25:36:00) Once he finished eating, Clark got the other two soldiers to head back and decided that instead of taking the road towards Bleialt, he would go back the way he came, through Auw (00:25:56:00) o The traffic on the road remained heavy all the way to Schönberg, which had a busy intersection because there was a river crossing (00:26:08:00) o The trio continued to Andler, which was only a few miles outside of Schönberg, and once outside of Andler on the road towards Auw, there was a reconnaissance vehicle from the 14th Cavalry Group, which was on the division’s northern flank; Clark could not see the markings on the vehicle but that was the unit he assumed it was from (00:26:26:00)  An officer stopped Clark and asked where they were going; when Clark said Laudesfeld by way of Auw, the officer said from what they understood, there was some activity near Auw and if Clark could not make it through, would he come back and report to them (00:27:07:00) o The trio continued cautiously towards Auw while watching everything on both sides of the road; the terrain was fairly open near Auw but near Bleialt, where the two medics from the 590th had their incident with the German patrol, it was heavily forested on both side of the road (00:27:30:00) o When the three had just gotten to within sight of a church built on a hill, they looked into a ditch and saw a GI laying in the ditch with a rifle; when Clark asked what he was doing, the soldier said he was an engineer and there was a column of German armor in Auw that had been there since morning (00:27:51:00)  The soldier said the column had not tried to advance towards Andler yet but every once in awhile, a motorized gun poked itself out from behind a corner before retreating back (00:28:27:00) o After Clark talked with the soldier, he decided they were not going back in that direction, so they turned around and went back towards Andler; however, the reconnaissance vehicle had moved, so Clark could not report what he had learned from the soldier (00:28:41:00) The three continued back towards Schönberg then took the road towards Bleialt because Clark did not know any other route to get back to the battalion (00:28:56:00) o There were some ammo trucks parked along the side of the road just before border crossing into Germany and when Clark asked what the situation was, the soldiers with the ammo train said they had been waiting for quite awhile; there had been a German patrol in the area and while the American engineers and infantry forces took care of them, the ammo trains was waiting (00:29:08:00)  Clark decided that if the ammo trucks could not go, he was not going to go but around that time, someone came running down, saying that the route was clear; however, Clark decided he did not want to be part of the ammo train, so he went out ahead of them (00:29:50:00) �   o When he went through, Clark did not have any problem; there was not an MP at the crossroads like there normally was but that as the only thing that was out of place and different (00:30:08:00)  Whether the Germans let him through to wait for bigger game or not he does not know but the ammo train behind him did not make it through; they were attacked by the Germans (00:30:17:00) Within half a mile of the crossroads was the 590th’s aid station and Clark knew everyone who worked at it; the battalion surgeon was there and the aid station was troubled with casualties (00:30:34:00) o The workers asked Clark if he had any spare supplies because they were running out of bandages and everything else; when Clark went into St. Vith, he also picked up extra supplies because the 592nd’s battalion surgeon thought it would be a good idea to have extras (00:31:09:00) o As far as Clark knew, the 592nd did not have any casualties, so he decided to leave the extra supplies with the 590th; if the 592nd ever needed more, then Clark could go back to St. Vith to get them (00:31:20:00) Clark and the two soldiers started down the road to Laudesfeld but before they got there, there was a motorized anti-aircraft battery on the side of the road being used against the German armor in Auw, which had tried to come down the road (00:31:34:00) o An officer from the 589th, which had had its headquarters just beyond the turn-off Clark took to get to Laudesfeld, was directing fire from the anti-aircraft battery and had apparently driven the German armor back enough so he could go back to the 589th’s original position (00:32:11:00)  The 589th had to abandon their original position because the German armor had gotten close enough that they could not accurately attack it with their gun (00:32:36:00) o After the officer hopped on Clark’s hood, Clark hit the accelerator and they went to the 589th’s headquarters, where the officer took command of the 105 mm howitzers there and that was the last Clark saw of him (00:32:46:00) The trio hurried back to Laudesfeld because everything was breaking all around and Clark did not know what to expect (00:33:03:00) o When they got into Laudesfeld, Clark dropped the other two soldiers off at their headquarters and went back to the aid station, which still did not have any casualties, although he did notice that the thatch roof over the outhouse that he had spent the previous afternoon working on was blown off (00:33:20:00) o By the time Clark got back to the aid station, it was around two-thirty, three o’clock in the afternoon and around this time, the soldiers heard an artillery shell come over and explode fairly close to their position (00:33:44:00)  Someone yelled that the round had hit the service battery’s cook shack, so Clark grabbed one of the litters by the door while another man grabbed the other and they both ran towards the cook shack (00:34:01:00)  When the two men got there, the cook shack had been pretty well blown apart and there were two men who had been fixing a kettle of chocolate pudding when the shell came through the roof and exploded in the pudding, blowing fragments everywhere (00:34:15:00) �  Clark had somewhat of an advantage because while he had been stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey, he had worked in laboratory and helped perform autopsies, so he had seen mutilated bodies (00:34:54:00)  However, the men who were helping him were only kids and some of them had never even seen a cadaver; as well, one of Clark’s helpers had been a friend of one of the men who had died and Clark could see that it had upset him (00:35:09:00)  They eventually took the bodies and put them in a shed behind the aid station before (00:35:57:00) Around this time, the soldiers received word that there were a lot of casualties at “A” Battery’s machine gun post, which was on the other side of a hill from the aid station and almost at the division of the 598th’s position and the 592nd’s (00:36:06:00) o A sergeant and Clark went to the truck the detachment used as an ambulance, loaded all the litters and drove up the hillside (00:36:41:00) o When they got to the top of the hill, there was not any shooting going on, so the two men stopped the car a little ways away from the machine gun position, which was a pit four or five deep and twelve feet square that the 2nd Infantry Division had covered with logs (00:37:01:00)  The bunker even had a door opening at the rear and a window facing out towards Auw (00:37:26:00) o When Clark and the sergeant arrived, there were six casualties and two other medics in the bunker; the medics who were already there had the wounded pretty well taken care of and were attempting to bring in another casualty (00:37:37:00)  The Germans had a couple of self-propelled guns that would come out from behind a church six or seven hundred yards away to fire at the machine gun, which was outside the bunker (00:37:53:00)  One of the soldier’s officers was killed while trying to get a bazooka close enough to destroy the German armor with the help of some other soldiers and the medics wanted to recover his body and help the other soldiers, who had only minor wounds (00:38:12:00) o The casualties in the bunker had been pretty well taken care of in terms of stopping the flow of blood and one casualty needed a splint because he had broken his arm (00:38:53:00) o The biggest problem was morphine because the Army supplied each medic with only a handful of syringes to use and the medics were all out; Clark and the sergeant had brought more and they were able to sedate everyone and quiet them down (00:39:06:00) o Around that time, the machine gun outside the bunker began firing but Clark told them to stop because they needed to get the wounded out and firing the machine gun would draw enemy attention; however, the machine gunner said the German armor was coming back and he needed to cover the soldiers who were out there with the bazooka (00:39:25:00)  The machine gunner continued firing and sure enough, within a couple of minutes, a shell hit the bunker but did not penetrate (00:39:38:00)  Clark thought the German were merely finding the range and a large round would be coming, so everyone ducked down; Clark was working a patient � next to sergeant, who had just began to duck down when the next shell came (00:39:54:00)  However, the shell came through the window, passed between Clark and the sergeant but did explode until it managed to get out the door opening, which saved everyone in the bunker, although the sergeant was nicked with glass and Clark’s face was covered in wood splinters, glass and a few shell fragments (00:40:18:00)  The biggest problem was that the explosion broke Clark’s glasses and after that, he was fumbling around for just about everything (00:40:49:00) o Clark and the sergeant had the choice of staying at the position because it was almost dark or not; the sergeant said that although they had a vehicle with the red cross painted on it, that did not seem to deter the Germans, so he suggested he and Clark leave and come back after dark to pick up the wounded (00:41:41:00)  The rules said that a medic had the stay with casualties if they were under fire or in a position where they were apt to be captured by the enemy (00:41:40:00)  There was another medic from the 589th who had come over because a couple of the casualties were from the 589th and he had a splinter in his rear that was painful and made it hard to sit down; this medic said he would stay because he did not think he could walk because the splinter was causing too much pain (00:41:54:00) o So, Clark and the sergeant crawled out of the position and back past where the ambulance was parked; however, Clark does not remember any gunfire, so he got up and started walking under the assumption that if he was going to get hit, the let it happen (00:42:58:00)  Clark walked into the woods and followed a fence line back to the aid station, leaving the ambulance where it was parked (00:43:23:00)  The sergeant continued crawling, so Clark was the first one to get back to the aid station (00:43:27:00) When Clark got back, he went into the aid station and told the leader of the medical detachment what had happened; as well, Clark decided to alert headquarters that there were some casualties that they would not be able to get out until after dark (00:43:34:00) o Clark went to the headquarters building, where the colonel and his staff were studying maps and trying to get the various forms of communication to work, and made the announcement that he had just gotten back from the “A” Battery machine gun outpost and they had six or seven wounded there that they had to wait until dark to get them out (00:43:50:00)  Nobody said anything to Clark, so he turned around and went back to the aid station (00:44:40:00) o It got dark soon after Clark got back to the aid station, so two men were able to go and recover the casualties (00:44:58:00)  Nobody paid too much attention to Clark but someone eventually suggested that he fix some hot chocolate, so Clark made a big batch but he does not recall what happened for the next two or three hours, although he did find his replacement glass (00:45:21:00) � Around eleven o’clock, the soldiers received an alert saying that the 592nd was going to be withdrawing from their positions at midnight, so the soldiers needed to load up and prepare to move by then (00:46:07:00) o There were around ten wounded in the aid station by this time and the weapons carrier the medics used as an ambulance could only hold six stretchers but there was not room for anything else (00:46:21:00) o The personnel had to ride somewhere, so Clark suggested to the leader of the medical detachment that they commandeer a truck from one of the battery headquarters to carry the wounded in (00:46:47:00) o The soldiers eventually started loading the truck with the wounded while Clark was busy loading his jeep trailer with supplies (00:47:15:00)  Apart from the wounded, there were nine medical personnel at the aid station plus five medics with the gun crews and they all needed space for their duffel bags, so they ended up leaving the two dead bodies in the shed behind the aid station (00:47:32:00)  While Clark was loading the jeep, he found the detachment commander’s footlocker with his dress uniforms in it; Clark did not have enough space to load the equipment from the aid station, so he took the footlocker out and put it with the bodies in the shed (00:48:12:00) o All the equipment that did not fit in the weapons carrier went into the jeep trailer, which ended up being more than was normally carried in the trailer (00:48:39:00)  Although the temperature had stayed just about at freezing, there had not been much of a frost before the snow came, so everything was a sea of mud; the jeep had been parked on a driveway just off the road through Laudesfeld, it too was mud, and Clark found that he could not move the trailer because it was loaded so full of equipment (00:49:54:00) o Clark moved the jeep out of the way and went to the truck with the wounded in it to see if they could hook the trailer to it (00:49:27:00) o In the mean time, Clark had pulled some of the equipment out of the jeep and a signal lantern with a toggle switch for white, red, or green light fell out and turned on, sending a beam of light into the darkness (00:49:39:00)  Someone yelled to shoot whoever had the light on, so Clark quickly threw his overcoat over the lantern and worked with the switch, trying to turn it off while periodically checking under the overcoat to see if the lantern was off (00:50:20:00)  However, Clark could not get the lantern to turn off, so he left his overcoat on it and stomped it down into the mud until the lenses were covered over with mud (00:50:35:00) o When he had the truck back up to hook up with the trailer, the trailer’s tongue was not designed to hook onto a truck’s trailer hitch (00:50:58:00)  It was going to be closed quarters to hook to two together, so Clark got a hold of the assistant truck driver and placed him in a spot so he could slap his hand and they would not talk back and forth (00:51:11:00)  Once Clark had the trailer hitch connected, he was supposed to slap the assistant driver’s hand and he would run up to tell the driver to stop backing up (00:51:29:00) �  Clark got the trailer hitched but when he tapped the assistant and the driver stopped backing the truck up, the rear wheels began to sink, pinching Clark between the back of the truck and the trailer (00:51:38:00)  That was the last thing Clark remembered until he came to and he does not know who or how they got him out (00:51:59:00) o They had placed Clark in the back of the truck with the other wounded, although he could not see anything because it was pitch black (00:52:07:00)  Clark was close to the tailgate and when he looked out, he could see flares that the Germans were firing and machine gun tracer bullets going between the truck Clark was in and the next passing vehicle, which made Clark assume that either the engineers or infantry were covering the 592nd’s withdrawal, although nobody else in the truck seemed too worried about the situation (00:52:18:00) As the trucks continued, Clark assumed they were going towards the engineer’s cut-off, a cut-off from the main road bypassing the crossroads; because the cut-off was completely surrounded by forest, the Germans would only have a few artillery rounds scattered through the trees (00:52:54:00) o The column did take the cut-off, although Clark later found out that one of the batteries, “A” Battery, missed the turn and ended up encountering some German forces (00:53:12:00) o Clark fell asleep again and he vaguely remembers some voices and blackout flashlights rustling the people in the truck; he assumed they were in St. Vith but he did not know what was going on (00:53:27:00) The Battle of the Bulge: December 17th & 18th (00:53:56:00)  The next morning, Clark woke up and he was all alone in the back of the truck (00:53:56:00)  As Clark understands it, it was about two o’clock in the morning when they unload the rest of the wounded from the truck (00:54:07:00) o Clark was left in the truck because he had no dressing on him, meaning they did not know he was a casualty and because he had his red cross armband on, they probably thought he was just hitching a ride with the wounded (00:54:16:00)  Clark did not really know what injuries he had except that he could tell his face was all roughed up and bloody, and there was something wrong with his ear; Clark does not remember it being particularly painful but nevertheless, he did not try touching any of the wounds (00:54:37:00)  What woke Clark up on the 17th was an outgoing artillery barrage (00:55:16:00) o The 592nd had withdrawn to a position they had occupied when they first arrived in St. Vith before going up to the line; however, the unit only planned on staying in the position temporarily until they received orders to go to a new position and set up for a counter-attack (00:55:26:00) o One of the guns was in a position to fire and just after daybreak, an observation plane was flying, although because it was foggy and the flight ceiling was low, the pilot had to fly at around two hundred feet (00:55:53:00) �  The plane was flying over a column of German infantry and armor just getting into Schönberg while directing artillery fire; the artillery fire did manage to knock out the column (00:56:11:00) o Another gun began firing and when Clark asked what that gun was firing for, the commander of the medical detachment, who was standing nearby, said they wanted to destroy any equipment they had left behind at their old position in Laudesfeld (00:56:32:00)  Clark thought he ought to say something, so he told the commander that he had put the captain’s footlocker in the shed with the two bodies because Clark assumed they were going to be right back to the position (00:56:49:00)  The captain did not say much but his face got all red and said that the uniforms were for his leave in Paris but he did not think he was going to need them for awhile (00:57:04:00) o When the captain looked at Clark again, he suggested that Clark go in and have someone fix him up; Clark had gone a long time without treatment and the captain said he would need a tetanus shot along with probably a treatment of penicillin to keep infection out (00:57:16:00) Clark waited for a ride that took him to the 331st Medical Battalion, where they had a hospital tent set up to receive all the casualties but by now, they too were taking their tents down and preparing to fall back (00:57:39:00) o They did not even look at Clark; instead, they took his wounded tag, wrote a note saying he had been transferred, and told him that all their ambulances were being used to transport wounded back (00:58:04:00) o The railroad gun was getting too hot for them and they were moving the hospital back, so they would transfer Clark to the 13th Field Hospital, which happened to have an open ambulance there (00:58:24:00) o They took Clark over to where the ambulance was and although the ambulance was the 13th Field Hospital, the driver said the hospital was moving as well and he could not take Clark there; however, the driver said he knew of a field hospital in Malmédy and could take Clark there (00:58:41:00)  The ambulance driver seemed calm throughout the entire situation and Clark discovered that the 13th Field Hospital had been activated in North Africa, fought through Sicily, Italy, and every place else and had been assigned to the St. Vith area, but like everyone else, they had not had much to do while the 2nd Infantry was there (00:59:09:00)  However, now they were under fire too and were planning to relocate some place else (00:59:31:00)  The driver was experienced and had been in the area long enough that he knew all the back roads (00:59:39:00) o Clark got into the ambulance last because only one seat left remained, although Clark cannot figure out why the ambulance did not have an assistant driver; every vehicle in the Army had an assistant driver but he cannot remember there being either an assistant driver or patient in the passenger seat (00:59:49:00) o The ambulance was a standard infantry ambulance and it was able to seat six soldiers, including Clark; each soldier fell into the category of “walking � wounded”, which meant they were able to use the benches in the rear of the ambulance (01:00:28:00)  Of the six soldiers in the ambulance, Clark remembers that two were German prisoners who had been wounded but cannot remember whether the other three soldiers were from the 106th Infantry, the 28th Infantry, or the 14th Cavalry because each unit would have been handled by the 331st Medical Battalion (01:01:24:00) o During the trip, none of the occupants in the ambulance talked and Clark figures that they were all concerned about their own safety (01:01:55:00) When the ambulance started out from St. Vith, the traffic was a mess; despite not being very large, St. Vith was a hub for all the roads, railroads, and lines of communication in the Ardennes area (01:02:17:00) o St. Vith was key to the German offensive because they knew that just beyond St. Vith to the north and west, the Allies had stockpiled gasoline and supplies for the jump off to invade the Roudan, which was planned to occur just a few days after the German attack began (01:02:39:00) o The German attack plans had them taking St. Vith by the second day of the attack and because it was the second day, there was increased pressure by the German forces on all sides to take the town (01:03:01:00)  Meanwhile, everyone in the American army was either getting into a position to attack the Germans or coming into the area in relief; supposedly by this time, the 7th and 9th Armored Divisions were already enacting rescue operations for any American regiments cut off by the German attack (01:03:14:00) o Clark had a seat where he could see out of the back windows, windshield, and the driver’s side window (01:03:46:00) o After traveling about fifteen to twenty minutes, the ambulance had made only a mile or so progress down one of the major highways leading out of St. Vith; the highway was a two lane, hard-trop road and fir trees grew on both sides, sometimes up to twenty or thirty feet of the shoulders (01:04:06:00)  Although Clark tried to keep track of where they were going, the ambulance was traveling through an area that he had never been through before since the 592nd had been in St. Vith (01:04:47:00) o Eventually, the ambulance passed through a very attractive village with a resortstyle hotel and café; it looked like a nice place to visit if Clark ever got back to the area and by then, Clark was simply enjoying the ride (01:05:00:00) o Pretty soon, the ambulance driver, who had explained that he knew the area well and would get the soldiers to a hospital, stopped the ambulance and Clark could see through the windshield that there was a column of jeeps and trucks pulled off to the side of the road (01:05:29:00)  The last jeep in line had an ID on its rear bumper that Clark had never seen before, for the 235th Field Artillery OBS Battalion; Clark later discovered that OBS stood for “Observation” and the 235th was the observation unit for the corps-level artillery units (01:05:56:00)  The driver of the last jeep in the column was in the center of the road and flagged down the ambulance; after talking with the jeep driver, the � ambulance driver turned his head and said there were apparently German tanks up ahead and they might have to take a detour because they were close to the field hospital in Malmédy (01:06:42:00)  At that time, someone shot the jeep driver, so the ambulance driver threw the ambulance in reverse and got out of there (01:07:06:00) o As they drove away, Clark looked out the back window and was about to suggest doing something for the wounded jeep driver when he saw other soldiers from the jeep driver’s unit were coming out to attend to him (01:07:21:00) o The ambulance started back towards St. Vith but immediately got into more traffic; because it was Sunday morning, there was local traffic backed up from St. Vith as well (01:07:37:00)  Most of the Belgian towns were inhabited and those people did not want to be caught under by the Germans for a third time, so they had loaded the belongings onto carts and bicycles and were attempted to walk out of the danger (01:07:49:00)  This civilian traffic was intermingled with the military traffic attempting to go in both directions and because it was Sunday, some Belgians were attending church (01:08:22:00)  In one of the villages, the soldiers even saw a funeral procession, complete with horse-drawn hearse while in another town, there were a wedding procession with a horse-drawn carriage for the bride and groom (01:08:36:00)  It was a strange time and everyone was preparing as best they saw fight for what they believed was coming in the future (01:08:59:00) o It took the ambulance a long time to get to the field hospital because the driver continued to travel along back roads; Clark tried to keep a sense of the directions and figured they were heading to the north and west (01:09:09:00)  Around eleven o’clock / noon, the ambulance ran into an ambush column (01:09:31:00) o At that time, it did not take long for it to get dark in the Ardennes with the fog (01:09:44:00) o While they were on the back roads, Clark would see a road sign for a town that he knew from the map as being a bigger town but the ambulance never went through any of them (01:10:02:00) o The driver told the soldiers that he was trying to keep them away from military traffic because he did not want to impede any relief effort or the evacuation system; as a result, the soldiers saw more civilian traffic as opposed to military traffic (01:10:14:00)  The only military vehicles the soldiers saw were supply vehicles who were out hunting for gasoline or hauling equipment and supplies back to troops in St. Vith (01:10:33:00) It was after dark when the ambulance finally arrived in Eupen, Belgium, where there was hospital and soldiers were able to unload; Clark does not recall seeing any of the other soldiers he rode with again, although that might have been because of the blackout conditions (01:10:46:00) �o Everything was blackout conditions until the soldiers got into the hospital and even then, the hospital had blackout shutters on the windows (01:11:02:00) o They eventually took Clark into surgery, although he does not remember anything about it (01:11:13:00)  At some point, the staff at the hospital placed Clark in a room that served as both recovery and pre-op because some of the fifty or so soldiers in the room had been treated and the others had not (01:11:22:00) o While he was in the recovery/pre-op room, Clark remembers one of the doctors or corpsmen saying that they had sewn Clark’s ears back on and had removed fragments of glass, wood, and metal from his face; however, the doctor/corpsman said there might still be fragments in Clark’s face and they would not know until the x-rays were complete (01:11:46:00) o Clark also began receiving penicillin treatments; at that time, penicillin was relatively new and the patients had to receive a treatment every four hours for a certain number of days (01:12:15:00)  Clark received the treatments for four days and each time, the treatments were a large shot in his butt; although the treatments were painful, they did their job because Clark never got an infection (01:12:29:00) o The hospital staff said Clark was going to have to stay with them until he finished the penicillin treatments (01:12:54:00) o The hospital was in a practically new schoolhouse in Eupen but the one drawback was all the walls of the top floor were made of glass (01:13:07:00)  The hospital had just been set up in Eupen and was warned to expect a large number of casualties because before then, the area had been relatively peaceful for several months (01:13:29:00)  A new batch of nurses had come in and Clark’s group was some of the first casualties in the hospital because a lot of the other casualties had been trapped and unable to evacuate (01:13:39:00) o While Clark was in the recovery/pre-op room, others soldier began calling out to see if anyone had information about what had happened to their units or if there was someone else in the room that they knew (01:14:03:00)  Clark recognized the voice of a sergeant from “A” Battery and it was the sergeant that Clark learned the battery had missed the engineer cut-off before Bleialt and ran into the Germans in Bleialt (01:14:15:00)  Before the column could turn around and back in the right direction, the sergeant and the battery commander were captured by the Germans (01:14:33:00)  However, in the melee of the Germans trying to stop the column from turning around, the sergeant was able to escape but was wounded; he eventually made it back to friendly lines and slowly made his way to Eupen (01:14:50:00)  The sergeant’s was the only voice that Clark recognized (01:15:24:00)  One of the other soldiers said he had been with a group and had to play dead while the rest of his battery was lined up in field by Germans and machine-gunned at a crossroads outside of Malmédy (01:15:26:00) � Clark assumed this was the group that held them up with the OBS Artillery Battalion (01:15:46:00)  The next morning, the hospital staff said that two of the survivors from the massacre had made it back to them, although they understood that other survivors had made it to other hospitals in the area (01:15:56:00) o That night, Clark was one of the first soldiers to move onto the top floor of the hospital and was one of the few patients up there (01:16:13:00)  At midnight, the air raid sirens started sounded and when Clark asked the corpsman working on the floor what that was all about, the corpsman said it was the first time they had heard them (01:16:35:00)  The corpsman said it might be just a test but although he could not go anywhere, if Clark felt better in the stairwell, then he could go over there (01:16:51:00)  Clark said that he did not like all the glass windows being around him because if the Germans did drop something, then there was going to be a big mess (01:17:01:00)  Clark made it over to the stairwell just as a bomb hit and took off one corner of the building, between the school and single-story maintenance building; there had been a jeep parked in front of the maintenance building and when Clark looked the next morning, the bomb had blown the jeep onto the maintenance building’s roof (01:17:19:00)  The explosion knocked Clark’s helmet and glasses off again, but he managed to find both (01:17:56:00)  The glass did not bother Clark but pieces were in his cot and he did not want to sleep in that; the corpsman on the floor said there was an air raid shelter that no one had ever used with restored bunk beds and he suggested that Clark go down and use them (01:18:03:00)  The corpsman gave Clark directions to feel his way to the room in the dark and sure enough, there were bunk beds in the room (01:18:42:00)  It was just after midnight and Clark had not gotten much comfortable sleep, so he was just about to doze off when he heard a bunch of female voices (01:19:05:00)  He heard the door opening and a whole bunch of nurses came into the room; as they came in, Clark got out of his bed and pressed himself up against the wall (01:19:23:00)  Enlisted personnel were not supposed to fraternize with nurses and this was worst possible situation for Clark; however, he still managed to some information from the nurse’s conversations (01:19:32:00) o They had just arrived in the area and were eager to begin working to take care of wounded but they did not have a lot of wounded at the moment (01:19:46:00) o The nurses had been stationed across the street but an unexploded bomb had landed in their attic, so they were �   evacuated and told to go into the air raid shelter (01:19:58:00)  As soon as he had a chance, Clark slid along the wall and out of the room; once he was out of the room, he went back upstairs, shook the glass out of his cot, and went to bed (01:20:39:00) The next morning, the patients had a large breakfast (01:20:56:00) o However, the hospital needed to be evacuated again because they could not operate as everything was such a mess due to the glass and the Germans being so close; Malmédy, where the Germans were, was not far from Eupen (01:20:58:00) Once again, the soldiers loaded into trucks and traveled to the Belgian town of Liege, where there was a larger hospital; Clark assumed that the hospital in Eupen was only an evacuation hospital (01:21:17:00) o The hospital in Liege had a large number of ward tents, with around ten soldiers to a tent and seven to ten tents (01:21:38:00) When the soldiers got off the trucks, they were greeted with “welcome to buzz bomb alley”; the soldiers discovered that German V-1 rockets were coming into Liege every hour in pairs, with the rockets ten minutes apart (01:22:01:00) o The soldiers could see the rockets coming in and at night, they could see the rocket’s exhaust (01:22:19:00) o The rocket’s flew about two or three hundred feet off the ground and when their engines shut off, then they would dive to the ground a couple of hundred feet away (01:22:36:00)  When the engines shut off, the rockets went “crazy” and the soldiers were unable to tell which direction they were going to go (01:22:56:00) o The Germans were originally launching the rockets against the Liege railyard in the middle of the town but most were landing near the hospital on a hillside outside the town (01:23:01:00)  The Germans had been launching the rockets for so long that the walkways around the tents were littered with pieces of shrapnel, both from anti-aircraft rounds and exploded bombs (01:23:16:00) o Clark stayed in Liege for four days to complete his penicillin treatments and every night, the nurse of duty would stand at the door to watch for the exhaust trails from the rockets; if the rockets were going to come close, then she would tell the soldiers to hit the deck while she dove under her desk (01:23:35:00)  The first time it happened, everyone got out of their beds and underneath them but they decided that would not do anything because it was only two layers of canvas between them and whatever came in (01:24:00:00)  One of the other soldiers in the middle of the tent was in traction and all the other soldiers decided that for his comfort, they were not going to dive under their beds anymore; the nurse did all the ducking and diving for them (01:24:22:00) o In 1949, while Clark was in medical school at the University of Michigan, he came down a hall one day and saw an eighteen year old blonde student dress in European clothes, which made Clark assume he was a German (01:24:44:00)  Clark asked the student if there was anything Clark could do for him; the student replied that he was a German student who had been sent to U of M �   with the express directions of learning about democracy to be part of the new breed of politicians in Germany (01:25:08:00) However, the student said he was not interested in politics; instead, he wanted to be a doctor and he wondered if there was any way Clark could arrange it so he could sit in on some classes (01:25:32:00)  Clark said that he did not think anyone would care but he suggested attending some of the larger lectures and he gave the student a list of the rooms (01:25:45:00) It turned out turned out the student was German who had grown up near the Tyrol region in Bavaria; however, as part of the Hitler Youth program, he joined the SS when he was twelve and when he was fourteen, he was part of a group of mathematicians who moved in Aachen, Germany, which was close to the Belgian border (01:26:23:00)  The group, working with slide rules, set the guidance system and figured the fuel capacities for the V-1 rockets fired against Liege (01:27:07:00) From U of M, the student went back to Germany, earned his medical degree then returned to the United States to perform his residency, and ended up working in the office of Clark’s family physician when he was younger (01:27:29:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clark, James (Interview outline and video, 2 of 2), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clark, James Description An account of the resource This interview provides a more complete account of Dr. Clark's experiences during the Battle of the Bulge than his original interview did. When the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th, 1944, James Clark was serving as part of the medical detachment for the 592nd Field Artillery Battalion stationed in Laudesfeld, Belgium, which, in turn, was part of the 106th Infantry Division. When the German attack began on the morning of December 16th, Clark had driven back to the Belgian town of St. Vith for supplies and to pick up a pair of returning soldiers and the trio had several encounters with German forces as they tried to get back to the 592nd. Later in the day, Clark and another sergeant in the medical detachment assisted in caring for casualties at the 592nd's "A" Battery's machine-gun outpost, which had come under German fire. That night, the 592nd received orders to fall back from Laudesfeld and while organizing the move, Clark accidentally became pinned between a truck and trailer loaded with supplies, forcing him to join the wounded. For the next two days, Clark was part the evacuation of wounded until he eventually ended up at a hospital in Liege, Belgium. 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 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 2010-11-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ClarkJ0163V2 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/4c4d242e2ecb79ef9664ecb0b9d332c0.mp4 7391cda8ece607480f011cd9cd509c86 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9839d182d895c60533b3c6e9b128f0de.pdf f6f2e2973c384f79e9ee092d4eee589b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Donald Lee Clark (00:46:10) (00:10) Introduction • Born in Tacoma, Washington. • Father served in army during World War II. • Moved to Lansing, Michigan after the war. • Member of the swim team during high school. • Quit school when he was 17 years old. (07:16) Enlistment/ Training • Sent to Parris Island. • Wished to join the Navy, but his score of 98% was “too low” to join. • The men would wake at 5 a.m. for a 5-mile run. (09:40) • The food was very good. • Rations were dated from 1942. • Joined in 1962. • Member of the Marine Reserves for a month before being sent to Basic training. • He was a truck driver, transporting 105mm guns. (15:15) Vietnam • Took a ship to Vietnam, landed in Chu Lai. • Continued to drive truck during Vietnam. • Carried the guns and men who fired them. • Guarded Chu Lai while the air base was being built. • Training happened stateside, no training in Vietnam. • Landing strip on air base was built in a month. • Stayed in Chu Lai for three months, then sent back stateside. (20:18) Stateside • Drove a jeep out of Camp Lejeune, escorting Lieutenants and Generals. • Active military until 1966. • Before he left for Vietnam, he went on a Marine cruise in the Mediterranean. • Never saw a lot of combat, even in Vietnam. (22:50) Impression of Vietnamese people • Thought they were different. • He remembers them acting suspicious. (23:38) Before Vietnam �• • • • • Sent on ship in blockade of Cuba. Remained in Cuban waters for a month. Stationed in Hawaii for 18 months. Continued driving truck in Hawaii. Remembers volcanic explosions, having to help civilians. (34:14) Post Service Life • Was discharged from Camp Lejeune. • Came home to Lansing. • Worked at a garage. • Did not tell anyone that he was a Vietnam veteran. • Met his first wife in 1967. • Had two daughters. • Worked at Oldsmobile for 7 years, then drove truck. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Clark, Donald L. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Clark, Donald L. Description An account of the resource Donald Lee Clark, of Tacoma Washington, served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, from 1962 to 1966. He was a member of the Marine Reserves before being sent to Marine basic training. He worked as a truck driver for the marines both stateside and while serving in Vietnam. Clark worked as part of a guard on the Chu Lai airbase in Vietnam while it was being built. Before Vietnam, he was sent to Cuban waters in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident. 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 United States. Marine Corps Vietnam War, 1961-1975--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 2007-02-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ClarkD 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/98c3419a25f5e2bea453d7faf68c7d23.mp4 d19dba2d902c8213400722c20901265d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8b3d8f97a3a162e2c9af64966f057046.pdf 1723d5f119efc5774b84d272645ef643 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Demo Christopoulos 1:11:06 Background information (00:19)  Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 18th, 1925, at Blodgett Hospital (small hospital at the time) (00:14)  Father owned a restaurant on Michigan Street which was lost when the Great Depression hit (00:30)  House on Knapp Street was also lost During the Great Depression (00:42)  Moved to Burton Heights and father reopened restaurant (00:52)  Father opened another restaurant on Bridge Street in Grand Rapids and family moved back to the west side (00:57)  Attended Union High School (1:06)  Graduated 1943 (1:10)  4 children in family (one older brother and two younger sisters) (1:14)  Brother enlisted in January of 1943 (1:29)  Served in air force on the ground crew (primarily medical) (1:34)  Very little attention was paid to the world conflicts in school (2:22)  Registered for draft in October enlisted in the following summer for Army (4:06)  After enlisting two weeks were given to finish legal matters (5:37) Basic training (6:04)  Left for Fort Sheridan in Chicago in December of 1943 (6:18)  Attempted to join air force but was unable due to overloading (6:29)  Took a 3 day train ride to Camp Shelby near Hattiesburg, Mississippi (6:44)  Basic training began January 2nd 1944 (7:57)  Learned military procedures, handling of a rifle, proper treatment of officers, night courses (8:13)  Age 18 at the time (9:32)  KP first Christmas (9:52)  Segregation of South came as a surprise (10:44)  No black soldiers only black workers. (11:50)  Furlough granted after 16 weeks of basic training in late April early May (12:35)  Denied deployment over seas because under the age of 19 (13:41)  Trained as a student cook for approximately a month and then sent to cook and baker school at Camp Shelby (14:31)  Sent back into platoon (15:48)  Left Camp Shelby for Camp Shanks in New York in December 31st (16:56) �  In 65th Division, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion. 261st Infantry (17:05)/(18:55) The Division was often stripped of its men to replenish others overseas (17:35) Deployment (19:32)  Sailed out of New York Harbor in a convoy for England, then embarked for Le Havre, France (19:37)  One battalion (1,000 men) fit on to one ship (20:23)  Seas had been rough and many had sea sickness (21:25)  Depth charges could be heard by soldiers on the ship (22:25)  After unloaded from boat, he was loaded onto a truck and driven to Camp Lucky Strike. “a pile of tents in the snow” (23:10)  K rations where used for primary food source for 1 or 2 days. Food was delivered after 2 to 3 days. (25:01)  Camp Required several weeks to become functional. (25:36)  Other soldiers at Camp Lucky Strike had simply passed through (26:03)  Training continues (marches, classes) (27:35)  Loaded into a box car and moved east to Metz France. Unneeded equipment was left and advanced on to the Saarbrucken Area (28:16)  Replaced the 26th division. (28:48)  Stayed in a small town in position waiting for the spring push. (29:30)  During this time He stayed in a house (30:04)  The spring push took place approximately a week after his arrival. Advance began early in the morning across the Saar River(30:44)  Once on German territory, he discovered that the Germans had vacated most of the pillboxes (31:00)  Swept road using a mine detector (31:36)  Detector relatively effective however the immense amount of shrapnel on the road however made the frequent stopping impractical and it was turned off. (31:54)  Crossed the river by assault boat (33:44)  Crossed the Rhine River (34:50)  Patton Gave a pep talk to the platoon sergeants but not to the common soldiers. (36:02)  Big towns were very damaged, but small towns and the country had been left relatively untouched (36:25)  Children were more likely to contact the solders than the adult civilians (37:23) First Action (37:48)  One night while in a small village, he encountered a German offensive(39:10)  enemy tank was involved (40:41)  The air force became involved in order to destroy the tanks (42:30) �      The offensive led to the town ultimately being burned down. (43:16) The first big combat encounter he experienced (43:51) Company lost 2-3 (44:25) His squad had 2 killed and 2 wounded (44:45) Left in trucks (44:49) Witnessed the German use of the Autobahn as a runway due to the destruction of air fields (45:30) The Danube River Crossing (45:06)  Arrived the evening before the crossing (46:47)  Crossed early the next morning (47:07)  First quiet but soon had become pinned down by artillery and mortar. (47:18)  Infantry faced a lot of resistance (48:25)  Reached a building in the evening and went towards Regensburg (49:24)  Earned a bronze star in this action. (43:35)  From Regensburg his company headed towards Austria (49:46)  Arrived at the Inn River and met the Russian Army (50:00) Encounters with the Germans (50:43)  Surrendered often near the end of the war (50:48)  Young men and young boys where encountered most frequently (51:31)  Some SS soldiers had been encountered but mot many (52:10)  German where less likely to surrender to Russians than to American soldiers (52:35)  Prison camps were encountered (53:28)  The smell was terrible and the shape of the prisoners was horrible (53:40)  Many displaced persons (54:30) Post war Activity (55:23)  The unit stayed in a barn when the war was pronounced over (55:28)  Summer was spent waiting for equipment at St. Florian monastery (55:44)  Then the unit was disbanded (55:56)  He was transferred to the 9th Infantry where he spent his winter (56:00)  Last place stationed before his return home had been in Dachau (56:11)  22,000 S.S. troopers had been screened there which he guarded (56:29)  Platoon sergeant wanted to make him into a squad leader but after he had enough points by the point system he was anxious to return home (58:13)  Arrived in Germany of March of 1945 and left April of 1946 (58:35) Time Spent in Europe(59:15)  Most civilians had been relatively friendly (59:17)  Many nationalities in Austria who served in the German Army resided there (59:29) �    Germans treated soldiers well. (1:00:08) Spent a three day pass in Paris (1:00:32) Had a week tour in Switzerland whose opinion of U.S. soldiers had been relatively unwelcoming. (1:00:42) Many of the older members of his division had been sent home because they had acquired enough points according to the points system (1:01:37) Additional Memories (1:02:35)  Germans where very friendly, but desperate for food. (1:02:50)  Fishing and hunting were done frequently (1:03:03) The Return home (1:03:23)  Took a Victory Ship back to the U.S. this trip was relatively short and much more relaxing then the trip over (1:04:01)  Arrived in Camp Kilmer, New Jersey (1:05:05)  Sent to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where he was picked up by his father and brother (1:05:40)  Spent time between many jobs however most often worked in the restaurant business. (1:06:36)  Time in army made him much wiser. He wouldn’t go through it again but doses not regret the decision. (1:08:56)  Every year there is a reunion for his unit. (1:09:43) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Christopoulos, Demo (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Christopoulos, Demo Description An account of the resource Demo Christopoulos is a World War II veteran who served in the Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 261st Infantry Regiment, 65th Division. He enlisted in the Army late in 1943, but did not go to Europe with his original training company because he was too young. He eventually sailed with the 65th Division, which joined the 3rd Army in time to participate in the spring offensive in 1945. His unit pushed through the Saar, crossed the Rhine, and then fought their way across the Danube, and ended the war in Austria. Christopoulos remained in Europe until the spring of 1946, with his last assignment involving screening SS prisoners held at Dachau. 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 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 2011-07-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ChristopoulosD1167V 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/c4ad955dae087db3546af692209036df.mp4 55e96ab89ff22ae4c717a448d73e27e7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4373ead65aafeed97672573aad2980d1.pdf 745d6159f1993439bbf05dabe69fc2ee PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Robert Christiansen Length: 34:05 (00:01) Background Information • • • • • • • Robert was born on August 11, 1920 in Muskegon, Michigan His grandparents were from Denmark Robert’s father sold milk and was a lumberjack He went to 2 years of college Robert got married in 1940 He worked at Teledyne Motors They had 2 children (6:20) Training • • • • Robert was drafted and volunteered for the Navy He trained at Great Lakes Training Camp in 1944 Two of his brothers were also in the service Robert was sent to Camp Shoemaker for 2 weeks (10:20) Deployment • • • • • • He boarded a ship with 2,000 soldiers and went south of Hawaii They went to New Guinea and were put in tents with cots The place flooded from all of the rain and many of the soldiers got dysentery Robert was sent to Finschaefen, New Guinea They went up a mountain with a lot of clay and it rained hard making it hard to move He was taken to the USS Ward, but they didn’t have an opening for a fireman striker (14:53) USS July • • • • • • • • • • • They went in a convoy to Northern Philippines Robert spotted a pilot land in the water and helped get him rescued They did a depth charge run and they think they hit a sub because oil surfaced Robert went to the Leyte Bay area and ran into a typhoon on the way Their ship was damaged so they were put on picket duty, searching for subs The ship picked up Army Rangers and they destroyed the radar station at Leyte After that a lot of ships came in for the landing They took a convoy north of Manila and helped some paratroopers that missed their mark because of wind Robert then went in a convoy to Okinawa, Japan They narrowly escaped being hit by a couple of Japanese kamikaze planes Robert was stationed on a 20mm anti aircraft gun �• • • When they left Okinawa they were escorting tugboats that were pulling damaged destroyers A kamikaze plane hit the hospital ship in their convoy The USS Ward, that he was on before the USS July, was sunk and they thought Robert was on it so he didn’t get any of his mail (25:58) Back to the US • • • • • • • • • • • Robert went to Pearl Harbor and then to San Diego, California He got a 30 day leave and went home Their ship got repaired and they were heading out, but heard that the war was over They brought the ship to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be decommissioned Robert went to Detroit, Michigan, for a month He then went to Navy Pier, Chicago and was discharged at Great Lakes Training Center in 1945 after 20 months of service Robert was in California when the Atom bombs were dropped and thought it was a good thing because it saved a lot of soldiers lives He moved back to Michigan and worked at Continental Motors, building tank engines and testing them Robert joined the VFW and a Polar Bear Post He retired in 1973 and moved to Florida for 10 years Robert now lives in Michigan because of his health problems � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Christiansen, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Christiansen, Robert Description An account of the resource Robert Christiansen was born on August 11, 1920 in Muskegon, Michigan. He joined the US Navy in 1944 and served in the Pacific on board the destroyers USS Ward and USS July. He served on convoy duty between New Guinea and the Philippines and in the Okinawa campaign. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer) Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, 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. 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 2008-08-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ChristiansenR 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/e4ca77ca03a1e4a712c8c1ab2f6fca79.mp4 3d98d435d9e344e2154fbf6d966ae65b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/604714ca510988edcbe02bccdd90c09a.pdf 40273a357f858c9d97da1ac2b6907a97 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Notes Length: 54:00 William Ewing World War II Veteran Air Force; 1941:Oct. to 1984 3rd Attack [i.e. Bombardment] Group [ Ed. note: Mr. Ewing suffers from Alzheimer’s and his answers are often repetitive and sometimes unclear.] Introduction (0:25) • Ewing was born in Vicksburg [Michigan] and grew up in Grand Rapids. He attended college at Grand Rapids JC and Western Michigan U and earned a B.S. degree. Entry into Military Service (1:23) • Ewing joined the Reserves in fall of 1941. He had gotten his private pilot’s license and wanted to fly in the military. Before he could get into flight training for the military he was called up by the draft board but was sent home. • Ewing was then transferred to the Air Corps. He took military flight training, earning his wings in and later assigned to the 3rd Attack Group, a light bomber group and flew the A-20 Avenger. (3:17) [Ed. note: The 3rd Attack Group was redesignated 3rd Bombardment Group (Light) in 1940, 3rd Bombardment Group (Dive) in 1942, and 3rd Bombardment Group (Light), in 1943.] Training (4:26) • Ewing was sent to California for basic training and to Arizona for flight training, earning his wings in 1943. After graduation he was sent east to the Carolinas, then to Oklahoma City. • In California Ewing underwent training in the B-25 Mitchell in an outfit under James Doolittle. (7:13) [ Ed. note: Ewing mentions that his recollection may be flawed. General Doolittle was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in 1942, originally headquarter in Savannah, Georgia and later that year took command of the Twelfth Air Force in North Africa] A-20 Avenger (8:18) �• Ewing describes how the A-20 was his dream plane, since there was no co-pilot, the aircraft was his responsibility. He also describes sometimes flying with a navigator and up to three gunners. Also mentions that the waist gunner would sometimes use his turret to strafe ground targets. • Most of the people in flight school wanted to be fighter pilots and were disappointed to be assigned to bombers. Ewing initially didn’t know anything about the A-20, but was happy when he learned more about it. (9:30) New Guinea (10:10) • Was stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines. Wanted to island-hop the A-20 to New Guinea as a few did, but was shipped there by boat. • Ewing talks about his first mission, his squad leader, and the practice of “skipbombing” (12:10) • Ewing describes the types of missions flown, mostly in support of the infantry, also against Japanese shipping. Almost all were flown at treetop level, which Ewing enjoyed, making target acquisition and damage assessment easier. (14:20) • Ewing discusses casualties caused by dropping ordinance too close to friendly positions and gives a figure of 1,500 friendly troops killed. Ewing attributes this to faulty communications and talks about the observer flying in a loitering aircraft giving co-ordinates on the map that weren’t always accurate. Ewing says communications improved as they got experience, and didn’t blindly follow instructions (15:15) • Ewing describes in detail being hit and ditching his aircraft in the sea, hiding from the Japanese in the jungle for a night, his attempts to destroy the downed aircraft, and being rescued by a flying boat the next day. (18:18) [Ed. note: Ewing mentions towards the end of the interview that his gunner was also with him the entire time when he was shot down and rescued] • Ewing describes New Guinea and going on leave to Sydney, Australia. (28:40) • Ewing mentions that there were a lot of Japanese aircraft when he first arrived in New Guinea and that his second mission was against enemy airfields at Wewak in the north. • He also mentions that his favorite contact with the enemy was when they attacked during a dress parade on the airfield. Ewing also describes enemy fighter cover, anti-aircraft fire, and night attacks on his airfield. (29:56) �• Ewing mentions that on shorter missions, they usually had fighter cover, but not on longer missions. He also recounts an incident when low on fuel, he missed his initial landing, and had to circle around again, after landing, while taxiing off the runway, he ran out of fuel. (32:25) Philippines (35:17) • When Ewing and his unit moved to the Philippines, they loaded all their belongings into their aircraft. Ewing first arrived at an island south of Luzon, and ended up being stationed within visiting distance of Manila. • Ewing talks about the differences between people in the Philippines and those in New Guinea. He also tells about visiting Manila shortly after it had been liberated, and the Army’s takeover of a local brewery. (36:51) • Ewing talks about the Japanese being well dug-in and supplied. When they were hungry they would sometimes take a uniform and stand in the mess line. (31:22) After the War (39:17) • Ewing earned his points and left before Formosa fell. He returned home to Grand Rapids, and recalls being at his parents when the war ended. Recalls feeling good about the bombing of Japan. • Attended college for one more quarter, then worked as an insurance adjuster for thirty years. (40:52) Additional Wartime Recollections (43:35) • Ewing talks more about being shot down, and trying to keep his gunner calm. Speaks about a lot of gunners being mutilated or killed when ditching the A-20. • Ewing states that his squadron suffered a loss rate of ten or twenty percent overall. (46:33) • At the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor was happy to be going in. Talks about anti-shipping missions and that a lot of the Japanese shipping consisted of converted merchantmen. Describes the armament of the A-20 and an incident where he sank a ship with gunfire. Mentions that he only attacked a Japanese tank once. Comments on communication with the Army on the ground. (47:35) • Considers the war a learning experience he was lucky to survive. Couldn’t recall the rank at which he left active service. Retired as a lieutenant colonel [in guard] in 1984 after 43 years of service. (51:58) �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ewing, William (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ewing, William Description An account of the resource William Ewing enlisted in the Air Force Reserves before the beginning of WW II and remained in the Reserves until 1984. During WW II he flew the A-20 Avenger out of New Guinea and later the Philippines before returning home after completing his tour. In this interview Ewing discusses basic training and flight training, combat experiences and procedures in the A-20, and being shot down and rescued. Mr. Ewing also discusses hearing about the end of the war and his feelings about the bombing of Japan, and what he did after the war. 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Veterans 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 2007-07-09 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EwingW 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/41a057d7ad6bbfe4ad786db778c789bc.mp4 a4e7c1612255c9057919f7097231afca https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/83c2da3e6777538e61535ec0955ec375.pdf 716581d00de400c474d446bc88b53942 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Jane Evans Length of Interview: 31:59 (00:37) JS: We’re talking today with Jane Evans, who had two husbands in the war. Not at exactly the same time. And she’s going to tell us a bit about both of them, and their experiences as well as her own experience being married to a soldier. To start with, could you tell us when you married your first husband and what you and he were doing then. (01:04) JE: At the end of three years of college, I left the college and went and married him. I married him in San Antonio. With my mother and mother in law along. We didn’t expect to have anybody watch us, see us at the, where we were supposed to have our wedding. But the whole church was filled with people. They were going to meet later on, to have another service, so they came to watch us too. JS: And what were you doing in San Antonio? JE: He was there in the flight school. And he was there, well, I guess it started out at Kelly, it was already beyond that. And he was at Randolph Field and Brooks Field. Which he graduated from. (02:15) JS: So maybe let’s back up a little from then. Before you were married, when did you meet him? What year, roughly? JE: Well, I’d known him for years because he was caddying at Silver Lake. And I went out there. And he went to school with me. He was five years older, but he went to the same school. So we knew each other for years. JS: And what year did you get married? JE: You would ask that. (laughs) 1941, I think. JS: Okay. Was he in the service at that time? JE: Yeah. He’d been in the service for two years, maybe. JS: Had he volunteered? JE: No. He was drafted. �(03:08) JS: And what do you know, or what did he tell you about his initial experience, in being drafted and being trained? What did you learn about that? JE: Well, not a whole lot. He was at Camp Livingston to start with and they went on patrol more than once. And I know that one time, there was a man behind him who was killed because he had a coral snake kill him. And needless to say, Roy wrote and told me about that. And I really, I didn’t think that there was anything down there that could bother him, you know? Ha ha. He also told how all the boys had chiggers. They had trouble with them. And he, being a chemist and an engineer, at Wolverine, went and had the doc prepare a substance that he could use down there. And he took a lot of it down there. Sold it off for cost. (04:33) JE: So, let’s see, what else. I know both men had the same experience of living in the south. They didn’t like it, either of them. JS: What did they not like about living in the south? JE: The heat. The people were not very friendly. They would take periods of time to go into town, you know? And the nearest town to Camp Livingston, I can’t remember the name of it. But they found that people were not very friendly to them. And I can understand that easily. We had the weather school here that time and most of the boys felt that we were pretty friendly. That we tried to have them come out to our houses and eat, and that kind of thing. And I know that more than one gal got engaged to some guy from that. (05:35) JE: So…but that was their feeling about that, that it was not very friendly and it was hotter than hell. And they got everything you can think of in the way of diseases. JS: And how was it that your husband switched from being in an infantry division to being in the Air Corps? (06:02) JE: I guess he just looked at it and decided that it was not for him. And that he wanted to fly planes instead. And he did. He passed everything and he got his wings. I know a couple of other guys went with him at the time. Woody Bacheholder for one. And they ended up not piloting but bombardiers or whatever. But Roy was in the pilot seat. I went flying with him, when we were down at B-25 school. He took me up one afternoon, on his plane. I don’t know whether that was permitted or not, but he never said much about it, so I assume it was okay. (07:07) JS: After you were married, did you live together off base, or how did your living arrangements work? JE: Well, I was living off base. In fact, over there in that one album, is all the pictures of all the places I stayed. All the things I had to deal with. I was never homesick though. Just having him �there. There was Mrs., oh, gosh, what was her name? Anyway, she was a heart patient. And she didn’t have too good of a heart, evidently. She spent a good bit of time in bed. But she rented out the house to three of us gals, I think. And we could use the kitchen down there, for kitchen privileges. JS: Were they all married to men… JE: I knew nothing about cooking, of course. At that time. But I learned. And one of the gals went right away, soon, with her husband, somewhere else, but the other gals stayed with me, pretty much. I have a picture of us, in there. (08:32) JS: And how long were you living there before your husband shipped out? JE: Oh, he didn’t ship out at all really. He never went overseas. He was killed right here in Michigan. Up at Glennie. He was towing targets for the French guys who were coming over to learn it, I guess. I know he said it was on their radio, they had this chatter in French thing. But I stayed with him down there in San Antonio for maybe four or five months. And then we were transferred someplace else. And we bought a convertible, a used convertible. And we enjoyed the life down there pretty much. And then we were transferred to, gosh, I can’t remember. (09:49) JE: I think we were transferred first to some place in Pennsylvania, and then we were sent to B25 school down in South Carolina. And we lived in Florence, South Carolina, for a while. Then we went to Cape Cod. We got through with that and then we went to Otis Air Force Base, I think it was called. And some of the same people went with us. So we had a little gang, you might say. Then, after he got through there, we went to Delaware. And John was born in Delaware. At the field. We were trotting around New York all that day, trying to find him a pair of shoes, without too much success. My mother was with us by that time, too. She had come to be with me for the baby. And so we three were all trotting around New York. And we got into Delaware that night, early that evening, 6, 7, and I had the baby that night. So strange. (11:34) JS: Was the Army providing medical care for you? I mean, was there a base hospital that you were using, or… JE: Well, no. There wasn’t any Army base hospital there. I did have an Army doctor, however, who delivered the baby. ‘Cause I can remember him saying, what’s this gal’s name again? (laughter) So they put me on the…they didn’t have the arrangements to have anybody there, really. And so they put me right on the operating table, and there I laid. Thank God it wasn;t too long, no more than four hours from start to finish. Which for a first baby is pretty fast, I guess. And then we went to, after we were done in Delaware there, my husband was sent up to Oscoda Air Force Base, up here in Michigan. And so we rented a cottage on that lake that was there. What, Lake Huron. Then of course it got cold and so we had to leave the cottage. (13:01) �JE: Find a place in town. He was killed up there. JS: And then, what did you do after he died? JE: Came home, again. I’d been home, too, before. After he left Delaware, I came home for a little while, until he knew what he was going to do and where he was going to go. And he had sold the car and got another car. Thought it was better for a baby, I guess. And so we went up there for maybe seven, eight months. I don’t know how long. I know that he was killed when Johnny was seven months old. And I expected him to take me to the doctor that day and he didn’t come, and didn’t come, and I was thinking, good god, where is he? Next thing, the captain and his wife were at the door and I thought, oh, geez. (14:19) JS: Did they explain to you what happened? JE: They told me he’d been killed. Three others with him. Just along for the ride. ‘Cause he was trying out a plane that had come in from Selfridge Field. And they did that quite frequently, tested them out to go back to overseas. JS: So that was his regular assignment? To test fly aircraft and to tow targets? JE: Yep. His group went overseas. And I was due to have the baby right then, and the captain was very very nice to us and let him stay until the baby came. I thought then he’d be sent over with the others, but he wasn’t. So I came home and stayed a couple of years. And we went down to Florida once and took the kids and another wife, who had been widowed, with Roy, and we all went down there and stayed for a few months. (15:49) JE: And I rented the house, so we couldn’t go back into it until…I can’t remember what the dates were now. JS: And how did you meet your second husband? I’d known him. I’d gone to school with him. Not to school with him, but he was in the same grade as I was. And I dated him, before the second marriage ever took place. And he went to Culver. We went down there. I went down there with his folks for graduation. And he asked me to marry him, before I could finally take a deep breath. JS: And when was that, then? Was that still during the war or was it after? (16:59) JE: No, that was after the war. In fact, right after. Vern was in Munich. In Munich as a fuel allocator. He was expecting to go to Japan, of course, like everybody else, and they didn’t have to, of course, because of the bomb. JS: What do you remember about his time in the service? �JE: Well, he was overseas in the service. From the time he finished college, he finished and went to Fort Belvoir, to get his officer’s training. And then he was sent overseas. Actually, he was at Normoyle, in San Antonio, when we were down there. Because we got together with him one night. And took him out some place, I don’t remember where now. (18:21) JE: Took him out then. But he went to Fort Belvoir and then overseas. JS: And what area did he serve in? JE: He served in the Eastern, whatever you call Eastern. He was at Africa first. In fact, he said everybody got sick over there, that Thanksgiving. Everybody got sick at the Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t know what they did wrong but they did something. And he said everybody was sick, not a soul missed it. Including him. And then he was on [NZO/Enzio] as a just a soldier. Which he wasn’t, cause he belonged to the engineering corp. And he was an engineer. He graduated from Carnegie-Mellon. Carnegie Institute of Technology, in those days. (19:49) JE: So he built bridges after that. All along the…was it Patton that was supposed to be coming along? JS: Well, if he was in…did he switch from Italy up into France? Or did he stay in Italy? JE: He went from Italy right to the Rhone River. JS: Okay. So he would have been with the 7th Army and landed in the South of France and gone north. So that wouldn’t be Patton, but… JE: Whoever it was. JS: So he was basically rebuilding the bridges in France, just to support the Army? (20:27) JE: France, and in Germany, too. ‘Cause I know he said he built every bridge in that area, I think. With his team. JS: Well, the Allied Forces had destroyed all the bridges, so we needed to rebuild them in order to ship any supplies, so he had a lot of work to do. JE: He had a lot of work to do. I know that he and his group…it was a Company, so called. And he was in charge of that Company. As he said, he was the youngest person in the Company. He was all of twenty-one at the time. He said, it’s a good thing they took care of me, cause I didn’t know from nothing. JS: So what did he tell you about the guys that he was with? They were older than he was? Or they were construction workers, or…? �(21:22) JE: No, I think they were pretty much, had to have some experience with construction work, yeah. Of some sort. His sergeant was the one who kind of took care of him. He was new in the group, you know. And somebody had been killed, I guess, and they moved him in there. And he said he built bridges from then on. Sometimes they were getting shot at, too. JS: And you mentioned…did he tell any particular stories, or… JE: I can’t remember any. I know he did, but I can’t remember ‘em. JS: And what did they have him do when the war ended? (22:18) JE: They then took him into Munich. And made him…cause he didn’t have enough points to go home. And he thought he would go to Japan, but of course, nobody went to Japan. Except the one guy who flew it all over. And, so he worked there for a better part of a year, I think, before he came home. I know Roy had been killed quite a while before he came home. JS: Did he tell you anything about what it was like living in Germany after the war? What kind of an experience that was? (23:02) JE: Well, there wasn’t much. We went back, years and years later. In Munich. He ate in the Art Museum, and he ate there. He didn’t sleep there. I don’t know where he slept, he didn’t say. But they ate there. And he said everything there was torn down or destroyed pretty much, except for the one building that they left. And it was the building that had the little people that came out. Um, I can’t think of what it was called. I used to know it, too, but I… and he said that everybody was anxious to go to the United States. He said he could have had any girl over there, right then. (laughs) And I remember he got a letter from this Renee, after he got home, and she was his secretary I guess. And she was asking him to help her get over. (24:44) JS: How did the, aside from wanting to get to the United States, did he have a sense that they accepted the Americans or were there still people who were hostile? What kind of relationship did they have? JE: I don’t know, for generally, they were friendly. All friendly. It was kind of a situation where you have to do the best you can, you know? And for some guy to come in a take over the fuel allocation for that area… JS: And what did that involve? What did that fuel allocantion, what was he allocating and who did he allocate it to? JE: Well, he was allocating fuel for individual houses and everything. I mean, everything in the town. Such as it was. I know that he said there were people, when they were on their way to �that town, that there were people who came out of the woods, holding a white flag. They wanted to be taken as prisoner. (26:00) JS: so was the war over at that point and they didn’t know it or was it just toward the very end? JE: It was at the end. And they had decided…(break in recording)… about that. I know he said, going into Munich, they stopped the car and wanted to surrender. And there was quite a crowd of them, evidently. So the guy that was with him was higher in rank than he was and he seemed to know what he was doing, I guess. And so he had those guys go into some area. I know my husband, he never talked about it. You know, that was the thing. You never got anything out of him. Was that he liberated one of those concentration camps. I don’t know which one it was. (27:19) JS: Well, Buchenwald was near Munich, so that’s possible. Or Bergen-Belsen. JE: I don’t know. But he never talked about it. I could ask questions and he’d just grunt. So, never talked about it. Never talked about any of the stuff, except just casually through the years. JS: How do you think his wartime experience sort of affected him, or affected his later life? (27:52) JE: Oh…well, he became a controller for Reynolds Metal Corporation. And then he was sent from Grand Rapids to Phoenix, his boss wanted him to stay with him. He was going to Phoenix. He had us come out to Phoenix to take a look at it. As if you could see anything that way. (laughs) So we decided we could see the whole west and let’s do it. So we did. By then we had another baby. Well, we had two more, actually. And the fourth one was born out there. So, when we were living out there. Rick was the one who brought all this stuff in, in fact. (points over her shoulder) He’s the one that has my house, now. (29:01) JE: And so, he went through all that stuff and brought it in. I was amazed, that he could find that much. I said, get a picture of Roy in uniform and Vern in uniform. That’s all I really wanted. And this is what he brought. He said, I thought you’d enjoy seeing it, Mom. So, he’s 46 now. I have a daughter whose 59 and another son whose 62. And I had a daughter, the middle one, who committed suicide. Post-partum. There again, she went down to Florida and she didn’t like it, she had to live in a hotel. She didn’t like the house she got there. She was leaving a brand new house here in Muskegon that she was very happy with. They really had a hard time building it, they built it themselves. They had the base of it brought in, but they went from there, lived and learned. (30:40) JE: We built our own house here at Silver Lake, too. Lived there twenty five years and Rick has it now. �JS: Well, there the engineering experience may have come into play. He had some idea of what he was doing. JE: It did. The genes have passed down, too, because my grandson out in Arizona, or not in Arizona, but California, wrote and said, I fixed up so and so. I did so and so to my new house. I guess the genes are there to do it. So Rick has done a wonderful job, wonderful. He’s taken my house and changed it completely. The rooms are still pretty much the same but, he has completely re-done every touch of it. The house next door became a Parade of Homes house, after they finished it. Dr. [Kloistra] and his wife built that one. (31:52) JS: I think we’re probably done with the interview part… (31:59) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Evans, Jane (Interview transcript and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Evans, Jane Description An account of the resource Jane Evans is the widow of two WW II Veterans. Her first husband, whom she met in school before the War, died in a plane accident during a training mission in Michigan. Her second husband, whom she also met in school, was an engineer during the war. They married after he came home from his service building bridges throughout Europe and staying a year after the war was over, allocating heating fuel to homes in Germany. 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Military spouses Veterans 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 2007-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EvansJ 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/ccaa27aa2a2b26c00a1429b59489aff5.mp4 2f55a1b9e54168b24470eccf70414bde https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b0566a448dc07b20cfa3fced68fc3499.pdf 05a9ae46f2acb0557a25e2036c17313e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Korean War Interviewee Name: John Erickson Length of Interview: 1hr.19mins Pre-Enlistment (00:38) • Childhood (00:40) o Erickson was born on November 26, 1929 in Hastings, Michigan. (00:46) o Growing up he lived in Alto, Michigan, working on his father’s farm. Describes growing up here and the various duties he was responsible for. (01:10) • Education (01:17) o Was in school until the 5th Grade when he left since he decided to stay home. Finished his schooling in the Army. Otherwise, he taught himself how to read and write by reading the newspaper and the Bible. (01:22) o Some of his brothers had already joined the Navy. (03:00) Enlistment/Basic training (03:26) • Why he joined (04:12) o After discussing the possibility with his dad who was a WWI veteran he agreed to it. Upon firmly deciding that he wanted to join the Army Erickson promptly went to the recruiting office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and signed up in November, 1949. (04:12) o From there he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was selected as a replacement to someone else who did not qualify for that particular Army post. (04:46) • Where he went (04:51) o Fort Knox training (05:10) ƒ Was then sent here for 13 weeks of tank battalion and infantry training. (05:21) �ƒ Describes his training at Fort Knox in some detail. Among other things he dug fox holes, learned how to pitch a tent, to march and eat K-rations. (05:33) ƒ Mentions his impressions and thoughts on the Army’s discipline and focused lifestyle. (07:21) Went through the standard infantry training. (09:16) ƒ Went home by train for about a week. Afterwards he took a bus to Fort Lewis, Washington. He describes the journey there in some detail. (10:08) o Fort Lewis, WA (10:55) ƒ Started training there in March, 1950. He mentions that he was assigned to the 4th RCT combat team and remained with them during his stationing in the states. (11:03) ƒ Among the training he received here was training with snow shoes and skies while trudging up Mt. Rainier and later in his time in Alaska. (12:07) ƒ Briefly mentions living conditions here. (13:07) o Alaska (13:45) ƒ Geographically, the place he was stationed was 26 miles north of Fairbanks in a place in which he could not remember but somewhere where he could see the Russians [presumably not near Fairbanks—maybe Nome?]. (13:53) ƒ Stayed here for 3-4 months and then returned to the states. (15:43) o Back in the states (15:45) • ƒ Mentions how his service time was extended by a year because of Truman. (16:45) ƒ Was at Fort Lewis, Washington with the 4th RCT combat team when the Korean War started. Soon afterwards he was transferred to the 23rd Regiment and 9th Regiment both regiments in the 2nd Division. While in Korea he was with the 23rd Regiment. (17:25) Active Duty (18:15) o Background (18:20) �ƒ While en-route to Korea aboard a boat he couldn’t name he mentions receiving further training exercises. He furthermore, describes the journey over there. (18:50) o Korea (21:25) ƒ Landed at Pusan where a few months earlier the 2nd division had forced the North Koreans to retreat northward off the line of the Pusan Perimeter. (21:31) ƒ Coming in as a replacement he relates how his first days were of encountering snipers. (22:20) ƒ Briefly describes what sort of weaponry and guns they used. (22:35) ƒ On the march north in pursuit of the North Koreans he mentions going up many different hills all the way up to the Yalu River. Briefly describes the Korean landscape. (23:18) • ƒ As a machine gunner, Erickson describes what a typical shift looked like. (24:45) Typically, when marching northward their flamethrowers went first clearing the way of North Koreans who were well hidden in their underground bunkers. They rounded up large amounts of ammunition on their way north. (25:53) Conditions on the battlefield (26:50) • To move forward, American soldiers would have to pile the bodies of their dead comrades to avoid being hit by N. Korean bullets. (27:24) • Erickson briefly describes several encounters where South Korean soldiers worked with American units on their way north. (28:05) • While taking his turn at the machine gun on one encounter, Erickson called his superiors informing them that the Chinese Red Army were crossing the Yalu River of which his superiors couldn’t believe because the very thought of that possibility was impossible. Four hours later American soldiers were fleeing back towards the South Korean border from Chinese forces. It was during this time that he was captured. (28:25) • Erickson mentions that despite continuing to fire and picking Chinese soldiers off they just kept coming. At about 3pm that day �his unit began to retreat. Around 10pm while still waiting to receive orders to fall back he and a few others were captured. (31:10) o In the minutes before being captured, American units in the area had been warned by the Koreans that the Chinese were coming. While trying to contact HQ for orders Erickson was trying to jam his radio so that when captured it would be useless to the Chinese. (32:57) o Just as they received orders to retreat the Chinese Red Army overran them and began firing into the line of American soldiers nearby and eventually into the building that Erickson and a few other Americans had retreated into. In that encounter three Americans including himself surrendered. (33:30) • ƒ After his unit had been lined up, Erickson saw the devastation of the Chinese advance with burning tanks and dead men in the background. (35:58) POW days (36:30) • Erickson with a few of his comrades was then hauled into a pig pen where they stayed the night and then given millet the next morning. (36:36) • American POWs were treated like pigs by the Chinese who threw their food into pig troughs for the men to use chop sticks to grab their food. (37:08) • Following this, the Chinese divided the POWs into groups. While this was occurring Erickson describes how Chinese commanders treated their own soldiers. What happened next was that a Chinese soldier opened up an American soldier from the 24th Inf. Division so the rest of them could see his heart. (38:58) • Erickson describes his thoughts on this experience. (45:07) • Following this encounter, Erickson mentions that the Chinese marched the POWs unto trucks which took them to a school. Ended up walking the POWs to a cave with lots of lights. (49:17) �• During another experience, he relates how a few Chinese soldiers dropped sake down a man’s throat while digging shrapnel out of his body. Afterwards they sent the man back to the American lines with a white flag. (50:19) • Stayed in a cave enclosure for a month and then took a 23-day death march north to the Yellow River. (52:01) To scare the American POWs they would shoot their guns into the air. (52:12) • After the POWs made it to Camp 5 the Chinese began to interrogate them. (52:42) o During his interrogation, the Chinese asked him if he would write something against his country in exchange in for cigarettes and sake. He told them he couldn’t write and so his friend volunteered to write for him. As things got better, Chinese soldiers would read to them. (53:12) ƒ 23-Day Death March (55:46) • ƒ Erickson backs up and mentions how American POWs were not given winter attire until they were in the camps. (56:10) Camp living conditions (57:00) • Many American soldiers died in the camps and often when the Chinese soldiers came around they asked who was dead and if not the POWs were sent to collect brush. (57:17) • Erickson briefly mentions how they buried the bodies. (58:47) • While in camp, Erickson came down with worms in his stomach and was given garlic as a treatment. Describes this experience in some detail. (1:00:37) • During one encounter, he was sent to get bamboo strips. Describes how it was his job while out on brush detail to load brush onto to boats. He did this for a brief time. (1:03:07) • While in the camp POWs lived 20 to 30 men per mud house. They slept on the ground. He mentions where the sick were taken. (1:06:41) �ƒ • One day, he was loaded onto a truck headed back to Liberty Village. (1:07:15) • When the Chinese moved Erickson to Camp 3 he was thrown into a mud hut with b/w 50 and 70 other guys. (1:08:11) • Erickson goes on to mentions that the biggest killers of POWs were malnutrition and sickness. (1:08:51) • From Erickson’s POV his opinion of the Chinese was higher than that of the Japanese. Briefly compares the Japanese and Chinese’s treatment of POWs. (1:11:03) • Once all the POWs were gathered up, the Chinese took them back to the American lines to be reintroduced. The Americans separated the sick from the healthy after they were repatriated. (1:12:10) Going home (1:12:37) • Erickson was sent home aboard a helicopter to the states from Korea. Stopped briefly in Hawaii and then went onto California. (1:13:10) After the Service (1:13:46) • Readjusting to Home (1:13:55) o Upon being discharged, he had the choice of staying in the Army but decided to go home instead because he had had enough. (1:14:05) o Describes the different career paths that he took. (1:14:35) • Reflection (1:15:10) o Wraps up by discussing how his service changed him and impacted his life afterwards. (1:15:23) o Gives some brief details of how his service helped him to be a good soldier and survive. (1:15:55) o End (1:18:45) � 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/. Title A name given to the resource Erickson, John (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Erickson, John Description An account of the resource John Erickson is a Korean War veteran who served with the U.S. Army from November 1949 to 1953. Erickson discusses his training and service in Washington and Alaska before he was sent to Korea. He joined the 2nd Division on its advance from Pusan to the Yalu River, and was taken prisoner during a counterattack by the Chinese Red Army, and spent the remainder of the war different Chinese POW camps, and provides detailed descriptions of his experiences as a POW. 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 Korean War, 1950-1953--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 2009-04-30 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EricksonJ 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/7ab5fbf2401f4d096f36a855d1f171dc.mp4 233fb504b9fed2c8e48c1df03101ca67 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9b91c6feaf4078b4fce020e3c4168726.pdf e2c3bb8e2a1291bd52ff9d4b7d1ed9d3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Spud Ensing Length of interview (50:23) (0:08) Background Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 31, 1926(0:35) Lived in Grand Rapids until 8th grade then moved to Cedar Springs (0:41) Father worked as a furnace installer during the Great Depression (0:54) Fascinated with airplanes starting at a young age (1:50) Had followed war since beginning and wanted to join military (2:30) Joined Michigan State Guard at 17 which was a local militia unit (3:00) Learned basic infantry skills but did not like to sleep on ground (4:00) (5:00) Enlistment/Training Joined Navy in December of 1944; told recruiter he was interested in aircraft (5:00) Took train from Grand Rapids to Memphis, Tennessee for boot camp (5:15) On train there was a sailor with another sailor in handcuffs for deserting (5:51) Assigned barracks and did a lot of drilling and specialized training for aircrew (6:25) Only 6 weeks of training; included rifle shooting and ship recognition (7:30) Went to aircraft mechanic school for 6 months (7:45) About 100 men in a training squad with about 6-10 squads at camp (8:40) Trained by veteran Navy personnel; had advantage from working with father (9:35) Was in gunnery school when the Japanese surrendered (11:48) Went to gunnery school to learn air-to-air combat (12:16) (13:00) Active Duty Primary job was a mechanic and secondary job was aircrew (13:37) Contracted malaria while in Florida looking for crashed plane in Everglades (14:36) Undiagnosed until Navy captain from South Pacific recognized it as malaria (15:52) Reenlisted in Navy because he missed aircraft; stationed in Glenview, Illinois (16:45) Had the rank of 3rd class petty officer (17:00) Was married living off base but worked every day at 8 am (17:30) Stationed at Glenview until May of 1957(19:19) (19:38)Korea Had to train pilots and mechanics to work on jet engines (20:06) Navy and Air force were going to be split into separate branches (20:30) Left Navy and joined Air Force to stay with the aircraft (21:04) Started as a tech sergeant in the Air Force (22:15) Sent to Korea as an occupation force (22:34) Flew in a charter commercial plane with several stops in between (23:24) There was a lot of war remains in Korea (building rubble, burnt trees) (23:50) Worked on F-86 Sabre jet-fighters (24:02) �Did not have a lot of contact with the Korean people (26:00) Stationed in Korea for 9 months then went to Okinawa for 3 months (27:10) Okinawa was rebuilt to be similar to USA; worked on T-33 jet planes (27:30) After year of service overseas, sent to Lincoln, Nebraska to work on B-47 jet (29:48) Lived here from 1958-1963 before the base was closed down (30:40) (31:00) Vietnam Shipped to Mactan, Philippines on Christmas Eve 1965; family stayed in Nebraska (31:10) In Philippines worked on C-130 aircraft in the 463rd troop carrier wing (33:09) Rotated back and forth between Vietnam and Philippines every couple months (33:40) Had to train on C-130s because he did not know the plane (35:15) Job as a line chief, which kept everybody on track working on the planes (35:34) Lived off base because he was a senior Non-Commissioned Officer (36:18) Viet Cong attacked almost every night with firefights (37:07) First mortar attack was day after he went back to Philippines for last time (37:30) After Vietnam was sent to New Mexico in service for 22 years at this point (42:00) (42:00) Post Service Discharged due to sickness in July 1946: did not re-enlist (16:00) Went to work with father, but did not get along (16:14) Became movie projectionist for 8months inn Rockford, Michigan (16:30) Retired in 1968 because he was going to be sent back to Vietnam (42:50) Moved back to Grand Rapids, Michigan with his family (43:45) Worked for Northern Air as mechanic for 10 years (44:10) Worked for Herman Miller in flight department for 10 more years (44:18) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Ensing, Eugene "Spud" (Interview outline and video), 2012 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ensing, Eugene "Spud" Description An account of the resource Spud Ensing was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan late in 1926. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and trained as an aircraft mechanic, but the war ended before he got in it. After contracting malaria while on assignment in Florida, he was given a medical discharge, but soon reenlisted and trained on jet aircraft, and eventually served in Korea after the end of the fighting there. In 1957, he transferred to the Air Force, and did a tour in the Philippines in 1965-66, where he serviced C-130 transport aircraft and made regular trips to Vietnam, and retired in 1968 rather than return to Vietnam. 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. Navy Korean War, 1950-1953--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 2012-08 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context EnsingS1434V 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