Joseph Hovinga was born in 1923 in Dorr, Michigan. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Army in 1942. He trained at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and Fort Ord, California. He was sent to Hawaii and was…

Marshall Doak was born in Sturgis, Michigan on March 3, 1921. He enlisted in the Navy on November 9, 1938 and went to Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island for basic training. He served aboard the USS Salt Lake City then went to Hospital Corps School…

Bernard DePrimo was born in 1924 in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and in early 1943 he was drafted. In March 1943 he began training at Camp Davis, North Carolina with the 430th Anti Aircraft Artillery Battalion. He…

William Wall was born in Hope, Michigan, in 1924, and later moved with his family to nearby Midland. He was drafted into the Navy shortly after he finished high school.in 1943. He trained at Great Lakes, Illinois, and was assigned to San Clemente…

Roy Shoemaker Jr. was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1930. He grew up there, finished high school in 1949 and got a job at the Whirlpool factory, and was drafted into the army soon afterward, in late 1950. He trained at Fort Hood, Texas, and was…

Robert Barrowcliff was born in Silverton, Oregon, in 1947. He grew up in Oregon, finished high school, and then got an electrical engineering degree from a two-year school and learned took flying lessons. Once he was out of school, he was drafted…

Kenneth Pitetti, was born in1946 in San Francisco, California, where he was raised. He enlisted in the ROTC program at the University of San Francisco. He signed up for infantry in the Army. He received Infantry Officer Basic Training at Fort…

Gilford Veenstra was born in 1926, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he grew up. He enlisted in the United States Navy after his graduation from high school in June of 1944 with several of his classmates. He received basic training at Great Lakes,…

Bruce Thatcher was born in Berwyn, Illinois in 1941 and grew up in the Chicago suburbs. He tried college and did not do well, and found work as a surveyor and enlisted in the Army in early 1963. He hoped to train as a surveyor, but after basic…

Kevin Yeomans was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1986. He enlisted immediately after high school in 2004, trained as an infantryman at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and served…

William Van Luyn was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1925, and was drafted into the Army in 1943. He wanted to go, and was disappointed when he was rejected due to an eye problem, but later talked his way past the recruiter and sent to Camp Ellis,…

Peter Godino was born in Italy on November 16, 1921. In 1930 he and his mother and siblings came to the United States to live with his father in Pennsylvania. When he was eighteen he enlisted in the Army and was placed in the Army Air Force. He…

Peter Newman is a major in the Michigan National Guard and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. He was born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, in 1980 and grew up in Michigan. He took ROTC training in college and was commissioned in the Army in 2002. He…

Steve Pullen was born on Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, where his father was serving at the time. His family eventually settled in Florida, where he finished high school and started college, but his status changed and he was drafted into the Army…

Gerald France was born in 1925 in New York City. He grew up on Governor's Island, New York City, the home of the 16th Infantry Regiment. He left high school in 1944 to join the Army Air Corps. He qualified for flight training and went through the…

Gord Youngquist served in the United States Coast Guard from 1977 to 1987. During this period Gord served in a wide variety of positions and locations from Cortez Florida, Sarasota Florida, Saint Petersburg Florida, as well as aboard an ice breaker…

Thomas York was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1927. His family moved first to Oklahoma, then to Michigan. York enlisted in the US Air Force at 16, and after graduating at 17, entered active duty on July 1st of 1945. York underwent basic training at…

Michael Yocum was born in Seattle and grew up in the Mount St. Helens area of Washington. He enlisted in the Air Force in the early 1960's and after serving at several bases around the world as an aircraft mechanic, he did a tour in Vietnam at Phan…

Clare Yenor was born in 1921 and lived on a farm in Michigan. He enlisted in the Army in April of 1942. Clare went through basic training in Oklahoma, and after that began artillery training with the 215th Field Artillery Battalion. The 125th was one…

Doré Westra was born on February 22, 1925 in Byron Center, Michigan. He grew up in the Grosse Point area of Detroit, Michigan and lived there until he was drafted after his eighteenth birthday on February 22, 1943. He received basic training and…

David Weaver Sr. was born in 1964 in Madrid, Spain, where his father was in the Air Force, and grew up in Michigan. He joined the Air Force in 1982 trained at Lackland and later Lowry Air Force Bases and became a procurement specialist. He served at…

Fidel Angel Vega was born on June 30, 1973 in the Bronx, New York. During his adult life, Fidel worked a number of unsatisfying jobs that led him to enlist in the Army. In the army, Fidel served first as a combat engineer in the 326th Engineer…

Willard Veenstra was born in 1925 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted in 1944 and reported after graduating from high school that June. He trained at Camp Blanding, Florida, and Fort Meade, Maryland. He was sent to Europe in January, 1945, and…

Jack VanHoef was born in Grand Haven, Michigan in 1925. In 1943 he enlisted in the Army with the intention of going into the Army Air Corps. He received basic training at Biloxi, Mississippi