Dr. Ulf “Ulie” Hierlwimmer was born on May 31 st in 1945, in the Soviet occupied zone of Germany. When he was around one year old, his mother moved their family to the safety of West Germany while his father was in the German Army. After his…

Paul Hansmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 28, 1948. Hansmann was drafted in 1969 and underwent raining at Fort Bragg, Fort McClellan, Fort Benning, and Fort Polk. He was then selected for NCO school where he trained according to the war in…

Laura Hansmann was born in Iowa in 1947. She is the wife of Vietnam veteran Paul Hannsman. Laura discusses the her homefront experiences during the war, the war's effect on her family, child birth while her husband was deployed, as well as the…

Bill Gillesse was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1926. He remembered hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor over the car radio during a family road trip to the state capital. Gillesse was drafted in December of 1944 and sent to Fort Sheridan,…

Gerald Garner was born in West Branch, Michigan, on May 25, 1927. During the Great Depression, his family's jewelry shop was diversified as his father agreed to share the space with an energy company so he could pay the rent. Garner signed onto a…

Tom Friar was born in December of 1948 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Friar attended Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and then AIT at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he learned to become a truck driver. Friar was then deployed to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam,…

Roger Faber was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 5, 1945 where he graduated high school in 1964. He studies architecture at Ferris State College and went to work in Wisconsin before he was drafted into the Army. Faber attended Basic…

Wallace Ewing was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 11, 1932. He recalled listening to news reports on the radio about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but remained unworried about the global events of the Second World War. After graduating…

William Dudas was born in Sawyer, MI, just outside of Benton Harbor, in 1924. Dudas enlisted in the Army on July 29, 1943, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was selected for scout training and trained at Camp Walters in Texas. Dudas spent…

William Dudas was born in Sawyer, MI, just outside of Benton Harbor, in 1924. Dudas enlisted in the Army on July 29, 1943, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was selected for scout training and trained at Camp Walters in Texas. Dudas spent…

Norman Christopher was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in 1943 where he attended local public schools and graduated high school. His father worked as a Hull Secretary for Atlantic Mutual Marine Insurance, influencing Christopher's interest in naval…

John Chenard was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, in 1948 and was drafted into the Army in 1967. Chenard attended both basic and advanced infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, before being sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Airborne training…

John Chenard was born in Chicago Heights Illinois in 1948. He grew up with a barber father, and a stay at home mother, he also had a brother and a sister. He went to Creek Moni High School. He was drafted through the draft lottery in 1967. He was…

Richard "Buck" Buckingham was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1929. Buckingham grew up in Detroit and graduated from Redford High School in 1947. He then attended Hillsdale College for two years before transferring to Michigan State University where he…

Linda Namenye of Spring Lake, Michigan, tells the story of her mother, Evelyn Tolley Buckingham, who served in The United States Air Force. Buckingham was born in Madison, South Dakota and grew up during the Depression. She graduated in 1949 and…

Frank Bort was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1945 and grew up on his grandfather's farm around Canfield, Ohio. Shortly after graduating from John Carroll University, Bort received a draft notice and attended Basic Training in September 1968 at Fort…

Frank Anthony was born in Muskegon, Michigan on February 6th, 1947. He attended college at Ferris State University after graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the military in 1967 and attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in May of…

Frank Anthony was born in Muskegon, Michigan on February 6th, 1947. He attended college at Ferris State University after graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the military in 1967 and attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in May of…

Sarah Anderson was born in 1990 in Muskegon, Michigan, and lived in the same house for her entire childhood. Anderson graduated high school in 2009 and immediately joined the Marine Corps since she disliked the mundane environment of the classroom,…

Eldon Hunsberger was born on a farm in Plainfield, Michigan. He went to college for 2 years and then joined the Army Air Corps and trained as a pilot. He flew B-26 bombers on 65 missions over Italy from bases in Tunisia, Sardinia and Italy. When he…

Frank Collins was born in Manistee, Michigan on July 4, 1933. After his mother died and his father moved to California he enlisted in the Air Force in 1952. He received basic training and went to Personnel School. During the Korean War he was…

David Katona was born in 1989. When he was 17 years old he enlisted in the Marines and when he turned 18 he reported for basic training. He did a tour in Afghanistan from 2008 to 2009 and was stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan at a base…

Darin Jousma enlisted in the Army in the summer of 1997 after graduating from high school. He served in Bosnia in 1998 as part of a peacekeeping force helping with the confiscation of weapons and stopping Serbian forces from moving weaponry and…

Wayne Kooy was born in Lansing, Illinois on April 26th, 1932. He was drafted in March of 1955 and had basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. In the Army he used his electrical engineering skills to craft and maintain meteorological devices in…