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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/94383c7e365fc4fb0051cf216d10fc77.m4v
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7f2666d5f2fb7722a28b41db880daadc.pdf
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans' History Project
Diane Aamoth
Vietnam War Era
1 hour 18 minutes 47 seconds
(00:00:40) Early Life
-Born on November 13, 1950 at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan
-When she was a year and a half old her family moved to Jenison, Michigan
-Mother worked on an assembly line at a General Motors factory
-Retired from that
-Father worked for the city of Grand Rapids
-Retired from that
-Attended Grandville High School
-Graduated in 1968
(00:01:37) Social Unrest & Vietnam War Pt. 1
-Aware of the Counter-Culture and social turmoil in the 1960s
-Remembers the race riots in Grand Rapids in 1967
-Watched the news and saw businesses in Grand Rapids closed
-Knew about hippies
-Counter-Culture didn't appeal to her
-Knew about the Vietnam War
-Understood that North Vietnam and South Vietnam were fighting
-Understood that South Vietnam didn't want communism
(00:03:04) Enlisting in the Army
-Attended Grand Rapids Junior College (now Community College) fall of 1968
-Took general education classes
-Enjoyed it, but it felt too much like high school
-Decided to join the Army
-Every day on the way to school she passed the Army induction center
-One day the thought just entered her head that she wanted to join the
Army
-Patriotic and felt a need to serve her country
-Liked the idea of having college benefit
-Father had served in the Army during World War Two
-Didn't support the idea of women serving in the Army
-Had an uncle that served in the Marines during World War Two
-Parents were surprised that she wanted to enlist, but supported her
-Urged her to do research before enlisting
-Recruiter was an honest, wise woman
-Happy to talk with Diane's parents about the decision to enlist
-Answered every question they asked to the best of her ability
-In December 1968 she went to Detroit for her Army physical
-Stayed over night at the YWCA
-Intimidating to be on her own
�-Women were separated from the men for the physical
-Remembers taking the oath and realizing that she was now in the Army
-Felt proud, excited, nervous, and scared
(00:09:18) Basic Training
-Following her induction into the Army she boarded a plane for Alabama
-Sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama for basic training
-Close to Birmingham
-In the Women's Army Corps
-Trained separately from the men
-Took a lot of classes on Army regulations, Army history, and Army hierarchy
-Received a lot of physical training every day
-Did drills and went on marches
-Did gas training
-Supposed to do a bivouack, but it was cancelled due to weather
-Disappointed that she missed out on that
-All of the drill instructors were women
-Will never forget the first night at Fort McClellan
-A drill instructor came in and one recruit said "Hello ma'am"
-Should have said "Hello drill instructor"
-Drill instructor screamed at her and the rest of the recruits for the mistake
-Made Diane think about her decision to sign up for three years
-Began to understand why drill instructors yelled at recruits
-Befriended one drill instructor and is still friends as of 2015
-Emphasis on discipline and orderliness
-Learned how to follow orders without question
-Clothes had to be stored in a certain way
-Beds had to be made a specific way
-Shoes had to be polished
-If everything wasn't exactly right you would get a "gig" (demerit)
-Too many gigs meant starting basic training over
-If you made a mistake you had to do push ups
-Remembers failing to have her clothes "pressed off" (smoothed out)
-Had to write "I will be pressed off" 100 times
-Discipline didn't bother her
-Had some downtime during training
-Wrote home at night
-Allowed to go to the PX (Army general store)
-First time going there she was terrified she would fail to salute the right
people
-At the end of eight weeks of training she was relieved she made it and was more
confident
-Kept entirely separate from the male recruits
-For gas training you went into a room and learned how to put on a gas mask properly
-Instructors filled the room with tear gas
-Ordered to remove gas mask and say name, rank, and serial number
-She quickly said all three then got out of the room
�(00:23:44) Advanced Individual Training (AIT)
-For her AIT she was assigned to Clerk Typist School
-Specifically requested that because she didn't want to be a nurse
-Her AIT was at Fort McClellan
-During Clerk Typist School she was selected for LOG X at Fort Lee, Virginia
-Worked with officers who were learning how to operate during a war
-Sent to Fort Lee in the middle of the night
-Didn't know where she was going
-Thought she was being sent to Vietnam
-Exciting to do paperwork for high ranking officers
-Trained with women at Fort Lee
(00:26:35) Assignment to the Pentagon
-At the end of AIT she was allowed to pick three different assignment locations
-One of her friends suggested they both pick the Pentagon on a whim
-They were both assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia to work in the Pentagon
-Excited to work in the Pentagon
(00:27:28) Working at the Pentagon Pt. 1
-After completing AIT she was given a leave home to Michigan
-Flew from Michigan to Washington D.C.
-Met up with her friend the night before they had to report for duty
-Met at Washington National Airport
-Got a room at the Harrington Hotel
-Excited to be in the capitol
-Walked up Pennsylvania Avenue in uniform
-In retrospect realizes she could have been harassed or
attacked
-Told to expect harassment from protestors
-Checked in at Fort Myer the next day
-Nervous about doing clerical work for a major in the Pentagon
-Assigned to be a keypunch operator
-Took three weeks of Keypunch School
-Keypunch: machines that used punch cards to organize information (primitive
computer)
-Able to reduce the error rate in the Keypunch Office she was assigned to with her friend
-Verified the cards properly
-Former clerks didn't do their job properly
-Became a Data Analyst Specialist instead of a Keypunch Operator
-Able to understand the information on the punch cards and cross reference it
-Knew if someone was dead, being transferred, or getting reassigned
-Worked with information coming in from all over the country and the world
(00:35:55) Deployment to Vietnam
-Enthusiastic about wanting to help the war effort
-Wanted to be deployed to Vietnam
-Knew she couldn't fight, but could at least be in the country
-Requested a transfer to Vietnam, but got denied
-Tried to process her own transfer orders and got caught
�-Not punished though
-Explained that she was needed in the Pentagon
-After seeing combat veterans come back from Vietnam she is glad she didn't go
-Saw some Vietnam veterans that dropped to the ground at the sound of
explosions
-There was a cannon they fired at Fort Myer and the veterans didn't react
well to it
(00:38:50) Promotions
-Started off at the Pentagon as a private
-Made Specialist 5th Grade in only 15 months
-Attributes that to duty station, work ethic, and having good superiors
-Promotions were easy until she was up for promotion to Specialist 5th Grade
-Had to go before a board for evaluation
-Nervous about the evaluation, but prepared herself for it
-Afterwards she realized her face, arms, and neck were red from
anxiety
-Successfully passed the evaluation and was promoted to Specialist 5th
Grade
(00:41:52) Relationship with Fellow Soldiers Pt. 1
-Had one female, civilian worker and one other female soldier in the office
-Rest of the workers were male soldiers
-Male soldiers were uncomfortable with female soldiers at first, but adjusted to it
-Never had to deal with inappropriate remarks from the male soldiers
-Able to take free trips out of Andrews Air Force Base
-Some men said she got the trips for free just because she was a woman
-Free trips were offered equally, all you had to do was put forth the effort
-Some men made outrageous claims with no backing
-For example: Diane and her friend didn't do things like other female soldiers
-Only female soldiers they knew were Diane and her friend
-Men were respectful and, for the most part, treated her as an equal
(00:46:44) Working at the Pentagon Pt. 2
-Worked at the Pentagon for a year
-Transferred to the Commonwealth Building in Rosslyn, Virginia
-Across from the Potomac River
(00:47:04) Relationship with Fellow Soldiers Pt. 2
-Got irritated with some of the other female soldiers at Fort Myer for being too relaxed
-It reflected poorly on the other female soldiers
-Had contact with soldiers from the other branches of the military without any problems
-Got along well with male soldiers because she grew up with sports and male cousins
-When she went on dates she judged the men based on how they reacted to her being a
soldier
-Noticed a negative change in some men when they found out
-Not supposed to fraternize with officers
-Everyone respected the rule
-Disappointing to meet someone only to learn they were an officer
(00:50:55) Social Unrest & Vietnam War Pt. 2
�-Remembers being cautioned about avoiding protests in Washington D.C.
-She was in D.C. for a concert at the Washington Memorial
-Saw a car drive into the Reflecting Pool and people swarm the car
-Older friend said they needed to leave
-Got to the edge of the crowd and ran into tear gas
-Older friend helped her out of the situation
-Drove up to the White House on another occasion
-Saw a line of police surrounding the White House
-Noticed a gradual change in the Pentagon when it came to the Vietnam War
-People started to talk about the war more
-Asking how long it would take to end and what the purpose in Vietnam
was
-Arguments about being pro-war and anti-war
-Arguments in favor of draft evasion and against it
-Knew of Black Panther demonstrations in Washington D.C.
(00:57:37) Race Relations
-Worked with black soldiers and white soldiers
-Befriended a black soldier while working at the Commonwealth Building
-Offered her a ride on his motorcycle and she took the offer
-Went on a ride together in the city and people stared at them
-Knew that people had disdain for interracial relations
-Didn't think anything of riding with a black man
-Parents weren't racist and she didn't grow up in a racist
area
-Heard stories about racism during basic training
(01:00:44) Downtime
-Went to concerts in Washington D.C. with friends
-Saw Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, and Jesus Christ Superstar
-Hated that people complained about having nothing to do in Washington D.C.
-Felt that there was plenty to do in the capitol
(01:02:00) End of Service & Life after the War Pt. 1
-Considered reenlisting because she enjoyed the Army
-Discipline and authority wasn't foreign to her
-Met a fellow soldier in her office
-Started dating and decided to get married after getting discharged
-Influenced her decision not to reenlist
-Got out in April 1972 and got married in September 1972
-Married for four years and got divorced
-Had no children in that marriage
-Army encouraged her to reenlist
-Immediate promotion to the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6)
-Allowed to choose where she would be assigned
-Would have picked Germany
-Offered a bonus
-Asked for a three month extension and got it
-Offered a reenlistment despite the war ending
�-Feels that the office wanted to keep her until they found a replacement for her
-When they found her replacement she was able to train them
(01:05:35) Women's Rights Movement
-Noticed the Women's Rights Movement as early as high school
-Agreed with some of what they wanted, but not the extremists
-Felt that extremism would be too antagonistic
-Wanted women to focus on major issues like employment equality, not minor issues
-Never had problems with men in the Army, so she wasn't compelled to protest
-Noticed more opportunities open up for women in the Army
-Shortly after she was discharged the Women's Army Corps was disbanded
-Note: 1978
-Female units were integrated with male units
(01:07:40) Life after the War Pt. 2
-Finished her Associate's Degree as a legal secretary through Davenport College
-Worked for a couple of the bigger legal firms in Grand Rapids
-Lived in Nashville, Tennessee when she was married to her first husband
-Worked as a legal secretary in Tennessee
-Worked for an insurance company
-Did some travelling after getting divorced
-Lived with an aunt and uncle in Oregon for a year and a half
-Helped build a road in Oregon and enjoyed that
-Always wanted to live in Alaska and in 1980 got to move there
-Got to move up there with her uncle (the Marine veteran)
-Lived there for two years
-Met her current husband in Alaska
-Has three sons and is still married
-Worked for Herman Miller Furniture for 15 years
-Worked in their competitive intelligence department
-Is a member of American Legion Post 535 in Lansing, Michigan
-Had been part of the Grandville post
-Left it because of the sexism
-Joined the all-female American Legion Post in Lansing
-Had been established for Women's Army Corps veterans from World
War Two
-Place to talk about harassment they experienced during the war
-Small post with 25 members
-Majority are World War Two veterans
-She is the commander of that post
-Would like to go on an Honor Flight in the future
(01:15:11) Reflections on Service
-Doesn't feel that the Army changed her, it just made her grow up
-More aware of issues with the country
-Learned to never make generalizations
-Grew up a lot in the first week of basic training
-Heard about people's lives and some of the troubles they experienced
-Learned a lot in the Army, and grew up a lot, but it didn't change her as a person
�-Army was a great experience for her, but doesn't believe that it is for everyone
-Feels that the Army is what you make of it
�
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
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<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
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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RHC-27_AamothD1721V
Title
A name given to the resource
Aamoth, Diane (Interview outline and video), 2015
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-01-15
Description
An account of the resource
Diane Aamoth was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 13, 1950. In late fall 1968 she enlisted in the Army and in December 1968 she reported for duty. She was part of the Women's Army Corps and received basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. She received clerk typist training at Fort McClellan and at Fort Lee, Virginia and wound up being assigned to Fort Myer, Virginia and working at the Pentagon. She became a keypunch operator in the Pentagon working for a major, and during her time in the Army worked up to the rank of Specialist 5th Grade (equivalent to the rank of sergeant). During her time in Washington D.C. she saw the social unrest and racism that still plagued the nation in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She worked at the Pentagon for a year and completed her service at the Commonwealth Building in Rosslyn, Virginia. She was discharged in April 1972.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aamoth, Diane
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
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
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>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
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https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/21c035099f635cbfd82d6d87d4987523.mp4
6f500cb750dcc2f5474d102e89b01bc1
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/976fcd145c96bd179dbd33846a5f45af.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
The Cold War
Marvin Abbott
Interview Length: (00:36:56:00)
Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:38:00)
Abbott was born in June 1938 on a farm in Decatur, Michigan; growing up, Abbott
attended a country school before going to Decatur for high school (00:00:38:00)
After graduating from high school, Abbott attended Michigan State University from 1956
until 1960; at the time, attending ROTC was mandatory, so Abbott volunteered for the
second two years (00:01:02:00)
o When Abbott graduated from Michigan State, he received a commission having
successfully completed the ROTC program (00:01:22:00)
o One aspect everyone in the ROTC program had to complete was a basic training
portion and Abbott completed his between his junior and senior years; all ROTC
students from Michigan State and other colleges and universities in the area went
to Fort Riley, Kansas for the basic training, so in the summer of 1959, Abbott
spent six weeks there, satisfying the basic training requirement (00:01:33:00)
During the six weeks, the students went through the traditional basic
training, including: KP, guard duty, physical training, work on the rifle
range, hand to hand combat, tactics, marching and inspections among
other things (00:02:09:00)
o Abbott returned to Michigan State in the fall and upon graduation, received a 2nd
lieutenant commission in the artillery branch, specifically in the air defense
branch (00:02:33:00)
o After receiving his commission, a soldier either served two years or six months
and a lot, including Abbott, received a six-month enlistment because there were
so many of them at the time and not a lot of conflict in the world (00:03:03:00)
Abbott’s initial orders were for a six month active-duty enlistment and he
was told not to report until the following May, so he took a job near where
his parents lived (00:03:14:00)
Once he finally did report, Abbott drove to El Paso, Texas and Fort Bliss, where the air
defense artillery school was located (00:03:31:00)
o When Abbott reported in early May, he first went through the officer orientation,
which was an eight week class (00:03:45:00)
o During the training, the soldiers had to receive security clearance because they
dealt primarily with the Nike missile, which could be loaded with nuclear
warheads (00:03:56:00)
There were also classes that dealt with the radio codes that the soldiers
would be using; a typical Nike site was spread out over twenty or thirty
acres and sometimes the soldiers would communicate using telephones
and other times by using radios (00:04:20:00)
�
The soldiers also worked with computers, as primitive as they were at the
time, and needed security clearance for that (00:04:40:00)
o The Nike missile was the primary missile the soldiers studied and it had two
variants, the Ajax and the Zeus; the Ajax was the initial version of the missile but
before Abbott arrived at Fort Bliss, the Army developed the Zeus, which was four
Nike mortars put together, allowing for a larger warhead, higher altitudes, and a
longer range (00:04:53:00)
o One of the highlights of the training was one morning, all the soldiers were woken
up and driven into New Mexico, where the was a practice firing range for the
missiles (00:05:28:00)
Most of the missile units around the country at the time were run by
National Guard troops, although there were some Reserve- and ActiveDuty-run sites, and every so often, each unit would have to leave their
assigned location, travel to New Mexico, and set up there to go through
firing missiles at drone targets (00:05:50:00)
They would start the drone at the south end of the range and flew it
towards the missile, which were located at the north end of the
range; as soon as they acquired the drone, the crew would fire a
missile (00:06:21:00)
The range that the soldiers fired the missile on was itself larger
than the state of Rhode Island (00:06:34:00)
o Abbott and the other soldiers graduated in the beginning of July and because he
still had four months left on his original enlist, Abbott was told to report to Fort
Knox, Kentucky at the end of July (00:06:45:00)
Active-Duty (00:07:12:00)
Once he arrived at Fort Knox, Abbott was assigned to the Army Training Center and a
specific basic training company as an executive officer (XO) (00:07:12:00)
o As an XO, Abbott did not have a full-time job because the company commander
was there and Abbott would just occasionally fill in so that the commander could
have a little time off (00:07:40:00)
o However, Abbott received other assignments, including being the guard post
officer several times, which was a little different at Fort Knox because of the gold
supply stored on the base (00:07:52:00)
The guards were stationed in a building not too far away from where the
gold was stored and the commanders made sure they all understood what
to do if something happened with the gold supply (00:08:07:00)
When the soldiers pulled guard duty, there where three shifts, two of
which stayed in the guard building; once retreat came, one of the two
waiting shifts would take the flag down, fold it and a reveille the next
morning, put the flag up (00:08:29:00)
The commanders made sure the guards had enough vehicles, more than
the guards really needed because if something happened to the gold, the
guards had run out and drive the vehicles to the gold supply (00:09:20:00)
�
However, the guards were never told what to do when they were at
the building where the gold was kept, only to wait outside the gate
(00:09:37:00)
Not every assignment required the guards to carry live ammunition; all the
guards carried weapons but only in certain areas, such as the bank, PX, or
any place with money, did the guards carry ammunition (00:09:47:00)
Most of the time, the weapon a guard carried was either for show
or was a night stick (00:10:07:00)
One time, they loaded halve a dozen bus loads of soldiers who had been
trained at Fort Knox and took them to Fort Riley for a weekend and
Abbott ended up having to do escort duty for trip (00:10:22:00)
In August, the soldiers noticed that the Russians and East Germans were building a wall
around West Berlin, which really excited President Kennedy, who called up a lot of
higher ranking officers and NCOs and shipped them to Germany (00:10:41:00)
o As best the soldiers who remained in the United States could figure, the deployed
soldiers were either keeping an eye on what the Russians and East Germans were
doing or stationed in West Germany in case anything went wrong (00:11:16:00)
o At the beginning of September, Abbott was not due to be discharged until a
month later but he received orders that he would be extended for another twelve
months on active-duty on top of the original six months, meaning Abbott would
have a year and a half enlistment (00:11:41:00)
Further down the road, Abbott extended for the remaining six months,
making his enlistment a full two years (00:12:04:00)
Towards the end of October, about three weeks before the original six months were
complete, Abbott assumed command of the basic training company next to the company
he had been working with as the executive officer (00:12:28:00)
o Abbott stayed with the training company for the better part of fourteen months
and completed six, eight-week basic training cycles; Abbott usually had between
a few days and a couple of weeks off between training cycles (00:12:53:00)
o When new recruits came in, Abbott went to the processing center and watched as
the recruits received hair cuts and uniforms, which took a few days to happen;
afterwards, Abbott, plus his platoon leaders and NCOs, went to the processing
center and tried to march the recruits back to the company area (00:13:16:00)
Abbott and the other instructors had eight weeks to try and make soldiers
out of the recruits by putting them through similar exercises that Abbott
had gone through while at Fort Riley (00:13:52:00)
o Just before his commanders turned over command to the lieutenant who was his
XO, Abbott was promoted to 1st lieutenant (00:14:27:00)
In October 1962 was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which caused excitement even Fort Knox
and some soldiers from the base, although none from the training center, had to deploy
(00:14:48:00)
o At the time, Fort Knox was the main armored training center and some of the
older soldiers on the base who had served during World War II told stories of
General Patton coming to the base for training (00:15:05:00)
During the same period of time, there were around a thousand Cuban exiles who had left
Cuba and there was a program that they could join the military; however, when the
�
Cubans joined, the Army kept them as a separate unit, about the size of a battalion, and
kept that battalion near where Abbott’s training company was (00:15:47:00)
o Most of the Cubans could not speak English, only Spanish, so in order to have
cadre for the battalion, the commanders pulled any Spanish-speaking cadre out of
Abbott’s battalion and sent them to the Cuban battalion (00:16:25:00)
Abbott did not have any Spanish-speaking cadre in his company but the
company he had left had two (00:16:47:00)
Every now and then, the Spanish-speaking cadre would drift back and talk
with Abbott and the others and revealed that they feared for their lives
working with the Cubans (00:17:03:00)
The cadre stayed with the Cubans all the time and they eventually
determined they needed someone awake in each barracks every
night because the Cubans would steal anything and everything,
from weapons to ammunition, and get into fights (00:17:16:00)
The Cubans' assumption when they joined the program was they would
receiving training and either the United States would invade Cuba or they
would send the Cuban forces back, similar to the Bay of Pigs, which
happened a month before Abbott went onto active-duty (00:18:05:00)
o The NCOs who came back said that the Cubans had a lot of trouble accepting the
concept of teamwork; each one had decided that when he went back, he was
going to be the commanding general (00:18:32:00)
o As well, the Cuban soldiers complained about almost everything (00:18:54:00)
For Abbott’s recruits, they had to march to reach the firing range and
march back but the Cubans did not like that idea and they complained
enough that the commanding general decided to use trucks to transport
them around (00:18:57:00)
During one day in the fall, it was a rainy and chilly and Abbott’s company
was on a firing range while the Cubans were on another range about a mile
to a mile-and-a-half away, although Abbott did not realize it
(00:19:36:00)
Once they finished on the firing range, Abbott had the recruits
ready to march back when all of the sudden, they heard trucks
coming and they knew what that meant (00:19:56:00)
The sergeant Abbott had running the recruits looked at Abbott,
asked if he thought they should “shanghai” some of the trucks, and
Abbott told him to go for it (00:20:23:00)
The sergeant went down, waved his hands, and the trucks drivers
pulled up to the range, where the recruits loaded up and were
driven back to their barracks; it took a couple of loads but the
drivers took Abbott’s recruits back first before going to pick up the
Cubans (00:20:40:00)
Around the end of November, Abbott was relieved of his company command and
assigned to the battalion headquarters to work as the S-1/S-3 in-charge of personnel and
training for the battalion; however, at that level, Abbott had a sergeant major who did
most of the work for him (00:21:06:00)
�o At the time, the battalion had a newly-arrived commander, a major who was out
to make a name for himself; although the battalion was good before he arrived,
the major decided he wanted to sharpen it up (00:21:42:00)
o The major told Abbott that he would take care of training with the company
commanders and Abbott would take care of the paperwork (00:22:01:00)
Every company had a training NCO who had to keep track of the records
for every recruit going through the training at the time; on occasion, a
recruit would be sick or have another assignment that took him away from
training and they had to get the training made up (00:22:16:00)
Towards the end of the eight weeks, usually in the seventh week, there
was a large inspection and the higher-level officers would come down to
inspect the paperwork (00:22:47:00)
The major had Abbott going to all the training companies, none of whom
had the same schedule because they picked up their recruits at different
times, which was a lot of the work Abbott did (00:23:00:00)
o Another one of Abbott’s assignments was running an Article 32 investigation on
damaged radio equipment that a soldier had taken out and returned damaged but
refused to pay for (00:23:23:00)
An Article 32 investigation was similar to a grand jury, meaning it was
typically run by one person, and after Abbott’s investigation, the soldier
would still not relent, so he went through a court-marshal (00:23:46:00)
o During that time, Abbott also served in the general court-marshal board for
around a month to six weeks (00:24:02:00)
The board typically met once a week and heard whatever cases came
before them for that typical day (00:24:10:00)
Reserve Duty (00:24:26:00)
On May 9th, 1963, Abbott was released from active duty and assigned to the Army
Reserve Control Group in Battle Creek, Michigan; Abbott did not have to immediately
report, so he arrived at the assignment in July (00:24:26:00)
o At the time, there were two reserve units stationed in Benton Harbor, Michigan;
one was platoon-sized, with around fifty soldiers, and the other was companysized with around one hundred soldiers (00:24:48:00)
o Abbott’s commanders attached him to the smaller unit, the 511th Transportation
Platoon, which dealt with transporting soldiers and equipment around and was a
B.A.R.C. (Barge Amphibious Re-supply Cargo) unit (00:25:07:00)
The B.A.R.C. was a massive four-wheeled vehicle that could not be drive
down the city streets, so none were in Benton Harbor (00:20:30:00)
The unit’s summer camp was at Fort Story, Virginia, which was where all
the B.A.R.C.s in the country were kept; the base itself was located where
the James River flowed into the Atlantic Ocean, downstream from
Norfolk, Virginia (00:25:48:00)
Larger Navy ships had to sail up the James in order to reach
Norfolk (00:26:06:00)
There was a Navy post next to Fort Story called Little Creek and
smaller ships, such as LSTs, were located there (00:26:12:00)
�
The B.A.R.C.s were large enough to haul an M-60 tank, the largest tank
the military had at the time, or an entire company of soldiers
(00:26:28:00)
There was a ramp in the front that could be dropped so forklifts
could haul cargo off or vehicles could be driven off (00:26:45:00)
The unit’s actual training with B.A.R.C.s happened for the two weeks they
were at Fort Story in the summer and Abbott attended the camps 1964
until 1968 (00:27:01:00)
o Although Abbott was attached to the unit in August, he was not assigned to it
until November because the unit’s previous commanding officer had been
promoted to major and the commanding position was only available to a captain,
so they moved the major on, promoted his XO to lead the unit and brought in
Abbott as the XO, where he stayed until the end of his Reserve duty
(00:27:21:00)
Abbott originally joined the Army in the artillery branch but when he was assigned to the
B.A.R.C. unit, he changed to the transportation branch (00:27:54:00)
o The Vietnam war was looking close at that point, although actual combat was still
a few years away (00:28:07:00)
While Abbott was at Fort Knox, on some Saturday mornings, the officers
and senior NCOs went to an auditorium and received lectures about what
was happening in Vietnam; the war had not yet broken out but the Army
was constantly putting Special Forces into the country (00:28:16:00)
Whenever a soldier went to Vietnam in the early part, he was a volunteer
and Abbott knew several soldiers who did volunteer to go (00:29:03:00)
o When he switch to the transportation branch, Abbott went to Fort Eustis, Virginia,
which was there the Army Transportation Corps was located, to take a basic
officer extension course (00:29:22:00)
o Abbott finished the extension course in a couple of months and in Dec. 1963, the
Army sent out orders that he had completed the course and had switched to the
transportation branch (00:29:41:00)
Abbott stayed in the service but the 1968, the Vietnam War was hot; Abbott was due out
at that time but he hung on, hoping for a promotion and within a few months, received a
promotion to captain (00:30:07:00)
o Once he received the promotion to captain, Abbott asked for and received a
discharge, finally leaving the Army in Sept. 1968 (00:30:34:00)
Reflections (00:30:53:00)
Abbott feels that his time in the service helped him a lot, especially the time spent at the
training center, although the first training cycle was horrendous (00:30:53:00)
o Abbott had only been in the Army for five months and although he had been
around the training, he had never had an responsibility in the training, so he did
not know what he was confronted with and it was tough (00:31:03:00)
The company he took over had been the top company in the battalion for
several years under the previous commanders and the top NCOs in the
company had been there for the better part of a year, so the history was
important to them (00:31:24:00)
�
The company went from the top to the bottom but the one thing Abbott
learned was that he had to start studying (00:31:45:00)
At one point, the first sergeant told Abbott that he was signing all
the inspection orders and the other sergeants knew this, so they
were writing down anything (00:31:52:00)
The other NCOs knew Abbott did not really know what he was
doing and were nice to him, while the only one who confronted
him was the first sergeant, who was a World War II vet that spent
most of the war in POW camp and had been around (00:32:19:00)
Abbott’s brother graduated from Michigan State three years after Abbott and by the time
the brother got into the military, the hot war was starting in Vietnam; the brother was part
of the quartermaster branch, went to Vietnam for a year, and helped set up a supply depot
to the north of Saigon (00:32:53:00)
o The brother did not have much experience in the enemy actually firing at him but
every now and then, he would send a letter home saying that someone had driven
past the depot in a jeep and the soldiers on the depot heard gunfire (00:34:06:00)
Abbott’s brother-in-law also went to Vietnam and because he chose to make the military
a career, deployed to Vietnam twice; the brother-in-law was also in the artillery branch,
but in field artillery, and worked as a forward observer (00:34:31:00)
Examination of photographs (00:35:36:00) - (00:36:56:00)
�
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
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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
Abbott, Marvin (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Abbott, Marvin
Description
An account of the resource
Marvin Abbott was born in June 1938 in Decatur, Michigan and after graduating from high school, attending Michigan State University. While at Michigan State, Abbott went through the ROTC program, which included a six-week basic training course at Fort Riley, Kansas. After graduating from Michigan State, Abbott received an officer commission and went to Fort Bliss, Texas for air defense artillery training. Once he completed the training at Fort Bliss, Abbott went to Fort Knox, Kentucky and served as part of the training units there. Following his active-duty service at Fort Knox, the Army transferred Abbott to an Army Reserve transportation unit using B.A.R.C.s (Barge Amphibious Re-supply Cargo). Abbott stayed with the Reserve unit for another five years, until 1968, when he received his discharge.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bodnar, Christine (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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. 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
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2010-03-30
Identifier
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AbbottM
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8b2ca37aeff7318c62a4b7476ef1061a.mp4
693b2c4b5ec5659b6a764719622d94fe
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/02d0ae76f1a9c16796287a52a572e0c2.pdf
5d655c31f182e92c98e7d723e5cd229d
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
World War II
James Abrams Interview
Total Time: 1:20:33
Background
(00:12) Born in Sparta, Michigan, in 1923
(00:27) His father worked on a railroad
o Two siblings; mother died in 1928
(1:00) After his mother died, they headed west to California
o They eventually moved to Montana, which is where Mr. Abrams spent most of
his time growing up
(1:55) In Montana, his family raised sheep
o Mentions that his father was a very good mechanic
(2:35) Mr. Abrams said he didn’t suffer during the Great Depression; his family always
had food
(2:41) Went to school up until the 8th grade in Montana, then moved back to Michigan
o Joined Civilian Conservation Corps camp
o Moved to Grand Haven, met a friend
o Got a job at Clark Piano Factory
o Soon met his future wife
(4:20) Mr. Abrams joined the Marines
o His friend joined two months before he did; ended up going to the 101 st airborne
(5:14)Enlisted in the Marines in 1942 after Pearl Harbor
o Said the Pearl Harbor incident was why he went
�Training
(6:38) For basic training, Mr. Abrams went to San Diego
o They got him to San Diego by train
o Remembers the train going through the edge of Mexico
(7:26) The first day of boot camp was rough
o The drill sergeant told him as he goes down the landing ramp, the only person he
can depend on is himself
(8:13) They worked all the time in boot camp; recalls when they were in formation one
day the drill sergeant asked for volunteers to drive a truck somewhere
o Said the truck had one wheel and two places to steer
o Mr. Abrams said this is the first time he learned “never to volunteer for anything
in the Marine Corps”
(10:30) Mr. Abrams said it was easy for him to adjust to life in the Marines, although
sometimes he would get mad
o Learned his serial number – still remembers it today
(12:04) Says he “got even” with the drill sergeant
(13:44) Said he was in good physical shape during training
(13:54) He learned to use weapons in training and mentions that he eventually became
a squad leader
(14:07) Trained on a 30 caliber, 50 caliber machine gun, 37mm anti-tank gun, he also
shot a 75mm a few times
o Talked about halftracks
(15:30) Basic training was 60 days
o Said that the first few days in the Marine Corps, new recruits are like prisoners
o There were instructors telling them what they could and couldn’t buy
o Mr. Abrams said there is something he bought because it was the only thing he
could buy at that time
(16:38) After the first 60 days, Mr. Abrams said they went into their regular outfits
o Went on liberty, etc.
�
(16:57) After boot camp, he shipped out right away
Overseas
(17:16) Shipped overseas in a ship that was bigger than a LST, but not an ocean liner
(18:11) Remembers crossing the Equator
(18:40) Landed in the Solomon Islands
o Went to Melbourne a few months later
o After that, went to New Guinea
(20:39) Talked about Ernie Pyle being killed at Iwo Jima (Ie Shima, off Okinawa)
(21:14) Guadalcanal – there was still a bit of fighting when Mr. Abrams arrived here
(22:15) When he arrived, Mr. Abrams went into the 1st Marine Division, 1st Regiment,
Weapons Company
(23:38) Base camp on Pavuvu Island
(24:06) In Melbourne, he says there were “15 women per man,” all the Australian men
were in the Islands during this time
(25:02) Melbourne was mostly for R&R, but also “in case something happened”
(25:24) Remembers sleeping in a football field in Melbourne
o Military beds on the bleachers
(25:55) When Mr. Abrams first joined the 1st Division, he said there were never any
problems with the soldiers who had been there a while
o Only one guy they had a problem with
(26:22) After Melbourne, they went to Cape Gloucester, New Britain
o (27:08) Here was the 2nd battle he participated in
(27:22) Mentions that in Guadalcanal, he was shot at
o Mr. Abrams shot back
o At this point they were in the jungles, no base camps were built here
o (28:12) Mentions that he went to sniper school; at this point he was a sniper
(28:32) The first time he shot someone: says he will remember it the rest of his life
(29:35) Mr. Abrams learned how to shoot as a kid; this was helpful
�
(29:56) “Always shoot the guy with the most stripes on.”
o This is why the Marines never wore stripes in combat
o Shoot the highest ranking soldier in line before anyone else
(30:31) He was in an ambush position
(30:50) On Cape Gloucester, all of the Japanese big guns were out
o US landed here on Christmas day (1943)
o The Japanese were waiting for them when they got off the landing craft on the
beach
o (33:44) Japanese also used Molotov Cocktails
o After they captured the point, they were there about a week
o (35:05) While they were here, Mr. Abrams said the enemy tried to bomb them
(36:17) After Cape Gloucester, they went back to Pavuvu
o Red Cross had a tent here; served coffee
o Ran into medics that told him of an instance where a man had been decapitated
on another island by the enemy
(39:12) The next battle Mr. Abrams was in took place at Pelelieu
o May have had one meeting about it to prepare them for the mission
(39:54) Says the people at Melbourne knew where his group was going to land before
they did
o Information leaked; this is why the man who was in charge would change plans
at the last minute
(40:34) In Peleliuu, he said they “blew the hell out of everything”
o Fire coming from both directions
o Lost a lot of guys here
o Believes this was the worst battle they experienced in the Pacific
o Japanese had a lot of tanks
(41:08) They had 3 squads of 37mm antitank guns
o Japanese had 105’s
(41:41) Remembers something like a big shotgun (canister round)
�
(42:40) Supported the weapons company
(43:07) They had 50 caliber machine guns, and tank destroyers
o Each tank destroyer was open on the top
(44:17) M-7 (self-propelled howitzer) fired up as well as straight (used indirect fire)
(44:44) Mr. Abrams said he tried to stay as far away from the Japanese as he could
o Says he was safer over in Japan, and mentions some injuries when he came back
to civilian life
(46:18) Stayed in Peleliu even after the fighting was over
o Doesn’t remember shots being fired after Japanese surrendered
(46:45) Didn’t see any prisoners; says he didn’t pay much attention to them
(47:30) Recalls a time when a fellow soldier was ordered to shoot a Japanese prisoner
(48:40) Remembers the first person he shot; something Mr. Abrams will never forget
o Had to pull the trigger because he knew the enemy spotted him; the guy reached
for his gun and Mr. Abrams shot him
(51:20)After Pelelieu, Mr. Abrams went to smaller islands nearby
(52:03) After Pelelieu, they started moving up the Pacific
o Eventually went to Okinawa
(52:25) In Okinawa, Mr. Abrams was put in a Reserve Squad to go home
o In a group of 5 or 6 men
o Captain Thomasma; shot in the chest
o Remembers a friend who was killed who had a girlfriend in Boston
(53:34) When they first landed in Okinawa, they fought
o Didn’t run into the Japanese until they were on the other side of town (the
capital, Naha)
(56:00) Talks about seeing the old capital city of Okinawa in a magazine years later,
looking much better than what they had seen
o “Had nicer buildings than we did in Grand Rapids”
o American contractors were sent over there
(57:05) Mr. Abrams was involved in some of the key fights in Okinawa
�o Remembers that it rained a lot
(58:05) Still used tank destroyers and large weapons on Okinawa
(58:23) Mostly offensive fighting on Okinawa
(1:00:41) After Japanese surrendered, Mr. Abrams went to the Casual Platoon
o In a group of about 4 men
o Waiting for a boat to take them home
o New captain says they were going to China because Mr. Abrams volunteered
(1:01:54) Went on a ship to China
o
(1:03 :35) Was to stay there for 6 months
o Mr. Abrams didn’t enjoy it
o His job was to protect the Japanese here
(1:05:40) Recalls stopping riots in China
(1:08:09) Recalls seeing Japanese comfort women
o Traveled with them
Going Home
(1:09:50) Mr. Abrams got back to the U.S. on a slow boat from China
o Took a train once he got to San Diego
o Train to Chicago
o Great Lakes Naval Station
(1:11:24) Got discharged March 17th, says he had malaria
o This was the first time he had it
o Had bouts of malaria later in life also after being married
(1:12:55) After getting home, Mr. Abrams got a job in Muskegon at a cement block plant
o Injured his leg on the job
(1:13:40) Eventually went to work in Grand Rapids
o Retired from here
(1:18:11) Mr. Abrams said being in the Marines helped him grow up fast
�
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
Abrams, James (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Abrams, James
Description
An account of the resource
James Abrams was born in Sparta, Michigan, in 1923, and eventually grew up in Montana. After moving to Grand Haven, Michigan, he joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. After boot camp in San Diego, he was shipped to the Solomon Islands and joined the Weapons Company of the 1st Marine Regiment on Guadalcanal toward the end of the campaign there. The regiment refitted in Melbourne, Australia, and then went to New Guinea prior to landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain. After that battle, they went on to the hard fight at Pelelieu, and went on from there to Okinawa. After the Japanese surrender, he spent several months in China escorting Japanese soldiers and civilians who were being sent home.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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. Marine Corps
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-06-14
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AbramsJ1116V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4c518581998ba6a4e088bc60542975ec.m4v
d31921a93dc65c98bf93ac38d78b9948
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3b24e3d994b13549ae16496c75cf8306.pdf
49b83ca0ba8d78a6023a6353c0d54289
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Raymond Acker
Cold War; Vietnam War
17 minutes 57 seconds
(00:00:11) Becoming a Chaplain
-First served in the Army as an enlisted man
-Served overseas with the 549th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion as a radio operator
-Returned to the United States and attended Philadelphia College of Bible
-Attended the Reformed Episcopal Seminary
-Did his graduate work at the Dallas Theological Seminary
-Commissioned in the Army as a staff specialist
-Received his 1st lieutenant chaplain commission at Fort Wadsworth, New York in 1964
(00:01:14) Pre-Vietnam Service
-Went on active duty in July 1965 and served as a chaplain at Fort Polk, Louisiana
-Left Fort Polk in 1966 and was stationed at Okinawa
(00:01:32) Service in Vietnam
-Deployed to Vietnam in March 1969
-Attached to the 159th Transportation Battalion (Boat)
-Operated out of Vung Tau
-In charge of moving supplies in the Mekong River Delta
-He went to various ports in the Delta in the 159th’s area of operations to meet with the troops
-Endorsed by the Independent Fundamentalist Chaplains of America
-Held services for soldiers
-Went to the USNS Corpus Christi Bay (helicopter repair ship), and held services on the ship
-Occasionally took enemy rocket attacks at Vung Tau
-Remembers during one attack a rocket hit the fuel area
-Held some memorial services for soldiers
-Mostly noncombat fatalities
-Not much contact with the pilots
(00:05:29) Stationed at Fort Polk
-Before Vietnam, he served at Fort Polk with an advanced infantry training battalion
-First battalion to train for combat in Vietnam
-Had a mock village
-Few noncommissioned officers or officers with prior experience in Vietnam
-Changed over time as more men served in Vietnam
-Time at Fort Polk was an outstanding part of his military career
(00:07:35) Stationed at Okinawa
-During his time at Okinawa, Chief of Chaplains Frank Sampson came to visit the troops
-At this time, Raymond was with the 96th Ordinance Battalion
-A the father of one of the soldiers in the 96th had served with Sampson in WWII
�-Flew to a Marine base near where Sampson was visiting an Army unit
-On the way to meeting Sampson, Raymond drove his truck into a ditch
-The accident resulted in a sprained ankle
-Thought it was the end of his Army career
-Later attended Sampson’s retirement party in Washington D.C.
-He avoided bringing up the incident at Okinawa
(00:11:00) Stationed at Fort Hood
-He was stationed at Fort Hood with the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division
-The day before his promotion he planned on throwing a promotion party
-He was in the chapel offices when he heard a crash and dust filled the hallway
-Went down the hall to investigate the source and found a truck in the corner of a room
-It was a beer truck that had been delivering to the NCO Club uphill
-Brakes had failed causing the truck to roll downhill into the chapel
-Fortunately, nobody was in the room when the truck hit the building
(00:14:34) Reflections on Service
-Joined the chaplaincy because of his time as an enlisted man
-Opportunity to meet the spiritual needs of military personnel
-Later in life, he encountered numerous men that had heard of him during his time as a chaplain
-Didn’t know them at the time, but they remembered him
-Feels he made a significant spiritual impact as a chaplain
-Accomplished without directly guiding or forcing soldiers
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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RHC-27_AckerR2053V
Title
A name given to the resource
Acker, Raymond A (Interview outline and video), 2016
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-10-26
Description
An account of the resource
Raymond Acker first served in the Army as a radio operator with the 549th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. He attended Philadelphia Bible College, the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, and the Dall Theological Seminary and was commissioned in the Army as a staff specialist. He received his 1st lieutenant chaplain commission at Fort Wadsworth, New York, in 1964. He started serving at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in July 1965 before going to Okinawa in 1966. He deployed to Vietnam in March 1969 and was attached to the 159th Transportation Battalion (Boat) out of Vung Tau. He conducted chaplaincy duties in the Mekong River Delta and aboard the USNS Corpus Christi Bay. After his tour in Vietnam he served at Fort Hood, Texas, with the 1st Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Acker, Raymond A.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Keizer, Herman Jr. (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
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>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Format
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b51be0fe9fc973b82361a0c0a02a9ab.mp4
aba7f3f665522908192edfb3f500c5bc
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d303bd07faa10f8e9a85893c061b51cd.pdf
bd7dd9628b41e7822d57aec1a03f228f
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: Iraq
Interviewee Name: Michael Adams
Length of Interview: 00:30:35
Background
He wanted to be in the armed forces since he was six or seven. In his junior year, he
began researching the different branches and decided on the Marines.
Training (1:02)
He trained in boot camp in San Diego, CA. He was there for 13 weeks.
While he was there he spent about 80% of his time in a classroom. It is just a myth that
when you are there you run all the time.
At first it was hard to get used to someone yelling at you inches from your face, but then
by the last third of boot camp, it became humorous.
After boot camp he spent eight weeks in infantry training. There he learned how to fight
and use his weapons.
He would then proceed to a specialty school for three weeks, in which he learned antitank assault.
He would then be transferred to Chesapeake, VA where he would learn security force
assault training, or SWAT school, after which he would work SWAT on and off for three
years. He would go back and forth to VA for three years going to school and getting
more training. (6:10)
When he worked on the SWAT team, they would train all day and then work out in the
evenings.
Active Duty (10:25)
In spring of 2003, he was sent to Kuwait, to serve in “Operation: Iraqi Freedom”
He spent six weeks at Camp Ripper, and trained for chemical warfare while they waited.
When it was time to invade Iraq, they actually heard that they were invading through a
broadcast over the BBC before they were told by their commanders.
When they were in combat they spent most of the time on the offensive because of their
aggressive colonel.
His first experience on Iraqi soil was coming out of an Amtrak and seeing a woman and
her child there. He did not expect any civilians.
While he stayed with the civilians, he found that they were very pro-American. (15:45)
When his team entered Baghdad, his team was greeted by the local population who asked
them to tear down the statue of Saddam Hussein, so they did.
His team never stayed in one place more than two days and they always slept in foxholes.
When they got to different cities they would enter, sweep through it and clear it the best
they could and left. The units behind them would occupy the cities. (20:23)
�
When the statue came down they thought the war was over, so they set up camp in the
middle of the desert and ran security for six weeks.
When he was there the whole Marine Corps unit was stopped by a huge sandstorm. It
was difficult to keep everything clean. Most could not go outside their vehicles or they
would suffocate in the sand.
After six months of service they took Kuwait public buses back to Kuwait and flew home
to CA in civilian planes.
After Active Duty (25:45)
When he was home he and his team spent their time preparing to go back. Most of his
team did end up going back but he got out of the Marines a year after returning.
The last four months he spent going to different funerals for the people who were killed
in his unit.
He spent some time visiting injured Marines 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
Adams, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adams, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael Adams was a marine who served in Operation: Iraqi Freedom in 2003. He served as a security forces specialist who would be one of the first team of Marines to enter Baghdad. He reports observing the destruction of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. His unit mostly patrolled in the desert after the fall of Baghdad, and he does not report problems with local civilians.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Oberlin, Cody (Interviewer)
Higley, Blake (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2010-05-13
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AdamsM
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/49ddde5911b6ac1c645424fc69f506b1.mp4
5986581e24004680437de01c5d7aa22e
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fbd9e4cda891d9bf3497bb774b0fafd5.pdf
b7f50cdf3ae239ab31684f7709e62f08
PDF Text
Text
1
Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project
Oral History Interview
Veteran: Rita Adams
Interviewed by James Smither
Transcribed by Grace Balog
Interviewer: We are talking today with Rita Adams of Farmington Hills, Michigan, and the
interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History
Project. Okay now, can you begin with some background on yourself? And to begin with,
where and when were you born?
Veteran: Well, I was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. And February 7, 1922.
Interviewer: 1922, so you are 99 years old.
Veteran: Right.
Interviewer: Not quite a record for me, but close. Okay. Now, did you grow up in
Wheeling? Or did you move around?
Veteran: I spent my first 21st years in Wheeling.
Interviewer: Okay. Now—
Veteran: And I went to school in Wheeling at a girls’ academy in high school.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, was that a private school or a public school?
Veteran: It was a private school.
�2
Interviewer: Okay. Now—
Veteran: You paid to attend there.
Interviewer: Right. Now, what did—
Veteran: I have a picture of that.
Interviewer: Okay, now what did your family do for a living when you were growing up?
Veteran: We were very fortunate because this was during the Depression and my father was in
construction. So, we had a comfortable enough home. And we lived in the city. It wasn’t unusual
to have a vagrant stop and ask for a meal in the evening. But my mother would serve him. They
usually just came one at a time.
Interviewer: Right. Now—
Veteran: And so, then I grew up in Wheeling.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, with your father’s business, did he do a lot of government
contracts or…?
Veteran: No.
Interviewer: Just private work? (00:02:21)
Veteran: No, it was just a…You know, work for the city.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: In the city.
�3
Interviewer: Okay, but was he paid by the city of Wheeling or was he paid by just private
people? What kind of contractor was he? Did he just do people’s homes?
Veteran: Yeah, mostly.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And some businesses…
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: …in Wheeling. But it was all in Wheeling.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so even during the Depression there was enough work for him.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Okay, so you got by pretty well. And how many kids were in your family?
Veteran: There were 5.
Interviewer: And where were you in the sequence?
Veteran: I was the 4th from the 5th.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now, when did you finish high school?
Veteran: 1940.
Interviewer: Okay. And then what did you do after you graduated from high school?
Veteran: Well, it was very popular then if you didn’t go away to college, why, the girls often
were employed with the telephone company.
Interviewer: Okay.
�4
Veteran: And I—so, I was there for 2 years.
Interviewer: Alright. And what were you doing for the telephone company?
Veteran: Well, they called it representative. You know, service representative. You know, when
you come in to pay your bill.
Interviewer: Okay. So, you were not an operator, you were somebody who kind of worked
at a desk and helped people.
Veteran: Yeah. Of course, we all started out with just being an—you know, a telephone operator
where you plug in.
Interviewer: Okay, so you learned how to do the telephone operator job.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: So, after that, then one day I noticed this post card—not post card, but…
Interviewer: Like an announcement or…? (00:04:39)
Veteran: A big…
Interviewer: Poster?
Veteran: And it said woman Marine. And I looked at it and I thought now there’s a uniform that I
could wear every day. And the other, you know, the WACs and the—
Interviewer: The WAVES.
Veteran: --and the WAVES never turned really, you know…
�5
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now, what—
Veteran: And I liked—felt that—I was probably doing something for the war effort just by being
there in Wheeling in the telephone company. But that really stuck my eye. And so…
Interviewer: Okay. Now, I’d like to back up the story a little bit. Before Pearl Harbor
happened, were you paying any attention to the news and the war in Europe or things like
that?
Veteran: I don’t think so.
Interviewer: Okay. How did you learn about Pearl Harbor?
Veteran: Oh, well everybody heard. You know, that was on a Sunday. And it was, you know, a
very big happening.
Interviewer: Now, did you listen to the radio or just hear from other people?
Veteran: We must have had it on the radio.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: I remember I was—we were practicing Christmas hymns. And it was, you know, the 7th
of…
Interviewer: December. (00:06:26)
Veteran: December. And yes, it was just—everybody was caught up in that…
Interviewer: Okay. Right. Now—
Veteran: …the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
�6
Interviewer: Right. Now, after—once the war started, how did that effect life in your
hometown? Is there rationing or things like that?
Veteran: Everybody tried to do something for the war effort. Everybody was caught up in it. And
well, as you probably know, the automotive kind of came to a standstill and they, you know,
started making planes and all that. We had like food stamps, I guess you would say.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: And they were rationed. And everything was rationed I would say.
Interviewer: Right. Now, because of your father’s business, could he get more gasoline or
anything else than other people?
Veteran: Probably but you know I wasn’t privy to that.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, after you finished high school, were you still living at home?
Veteran: I was.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. (00:08:16)
Veteran: And I had no dependents. I was pretty free. I wasn’t engaged or anything like that. So, I
was really very free to, you know, to leave. Of course, I had to get it by my mother and my dad.
Interviewer: Now, what did they think of the idea of your joining?
Veteran: Mother was always open for us to improve ourselves. And but my dad? You know, that
was a little bit different because he said, “What does your mother think?” you know. And so, I
had to get it past him. And I said, “You know, we will be supervised…” you know. So, in that
�7
era, my dad—we had two brothers—dad seemed to cater to the boys and mother to the girls, the
three girls.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: So anyway, I got the permission from both of them that, okay, I could try out.
Interviewer: Okay. (00:10:06)
Veteran: So, I went to Wheeling enrollment, but they didn’t have an enrollment for women
Marines in Wheeling so we had to go to Pittsburgh, which was 50 miles away. So, the—there
was one other girl and—who was about to—enlisting. So, her dad volunteered to take us, the two
of us, to Wheeling—or to Pittsburgh. And so, he knew his way around Pittsburgh pretty well. We
went to the Marine enrollment, you know. And he walked in and he said, “These two girls want
to be Marines.” So, we enlisted that day and then we were like on call for a month or two until
we were…
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: …notified. And so, then we—
Interviewer: Now, when did you originally sign up? What year was that?
Veteran: I do have it on my record there. In April, like April 14, in 1941.
Interviewer: Or…’43? The record says ’43. ’41 was before Pearl Harbor.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: So…
Veteran: It wasn’t ’41. It was…Well, it would have been…Let’s see…
�8
Interviewer: Well…
Veteran: I signed up in ’43.
Interviewer: Yes. Okay. So, we have that. That’s what the record says. So, we are good. So,
April of ’43 you sign up and then do you go home then and wait for them to contact you?
(00:12:22)
Veteran: Yeah, exactly.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And we—then they—I was notified in I think it was June.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And then we went to…Went to—well, I think we went once more to Pittsburgh.
Interviewer: Maybe Pittsburgh, yeah.
Veteran: We went to see them and we were still in civilian clothes. And from there then we went
to—we were notified to go to Hunter College in New York City.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: So, we were on a Pullman.
Interviewer: Because you took a train, yeah.
Veteran: And we were met in New York by a woman Marine officer. And then from there, we
went to Hunter College for I think it was 6 weeks.
Interviewer: Okay. So, you are in bootcamp now.
�9
Veteran: Basic, right.
Interviewer: Okay. So, what was that training like? What happened to you at Hunter
College?
Veteran: You learn to march. We marched in the rain or whatever. There were men who were the
callers and they taught us to march. Then we also were screened at that time. And we were fitted
with uniforms. I would say we were beginning to feel like we were Marines, you know.
(00:14:36)
Interviewer: Okay. Now—
Veteran: So, everybody was assigned and I was assigned to Marine headquarters in Arlington.
Interviewer: Okay. Let’s talk a little bit more about that time at Hunter College. Now,
when men trained as Marines, there is a lot of emphasis on discipline; following orders,
punishing people who don’t do it. How much of that did you get? Was there—were they
teaching you to follow orders?
Veteran: We—that was very important and a very important part of our training. The discipline,
you know. So, we—I think the one thing that I missed most was the privacy. You know, if you
wanted to cry or you had to cry, there was—you know, we just didn’t have privacy. But
anyway…
Interviewer: Now, were you all in an open barracks?
Veteran: At Hunter College we were just in dorms.
Interviewer: Dorm rooms, okay.
�10
Veteran: Yeah. When we left Hunter College, I think they were—it was very new places to
barracks
Interviewer: Yeah. (00:16:20)
Veteran: And there were…I don’t know, I would say maybe a lot of us people who were working
in civil service. They had a long barrack, a long row of rooms. And we were housed there and
then as that opened up and we would be transferred by trucks—Marine trucks—to the city in
Washington.
Interviewer: So, were you—
Veteran: To headquarters. It wasn’t that—we were in the Arlington or we were in, sometimes,
we were in Maryland. And we would be transferred to wherever we were assigned. And I was
Marine headquarters. And that’s just like right across from the Arlington Cemetery, really. You
know, it’s on a hill.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: So, there I assigned the Marines—the male Marines—to their duty on their nights. And
where other people worked. We—it was I think just, you know, assigning the men on their
duties.
Interviewer: So, you were in charge of just keeping track of duty assignments and who was
supposed to be where. So, you were just in— (00:18:46)
Veteran: I worked in an office.
Interviewer: Right. Okay.
Veteran: And that was my job.
�11
Interviewer: Okay. Now, in that office, who else was in the office with you?
Veteran: Probably 3 other Marine women and then the management was all male Marines.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, were they sergeants or officers or…?
Veteran: Well, what is the term for, you know, they are not—almost an officer but—
Interviewer: Well, there is a warrant officer.
Veteran: That’s it.
Interviewer: Okay. There you go. See, she knows her stuff. Alright.
Veteran: Yeah. And he was our—the, you know…
Interviewer: He’s your supervisor?
Veteran: The supervisor.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, how did the male Marines there treat you?
Veteran: Usually, they were very good. Of course, you know, they organized women to release
more men. And, you know, so we took over. But on the whole, I didn’t encounter any, you
know, resentment…
Interviewer: Alright. (00:20:25)
Veteran: …to women. In fact, I think they were so glad to have women around, you know
because, you know, it got pretty boring. And they were probably not assigned for a very long
time and then they’d be out, you know, so everything was a very short relationship.
�12
Interviewer: Okay, so a lot of these men that you are dealing with come in for a short
period of time and then are transferred out somewhere else. And a lot of them were new to
the service or they had just gotten in and they had just left home and…
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: And you are a nice person who can talk to them.
Veteran: And I remember one incident. The people like myself, the women Marines, that were in
very early in the organization, we would have the opportunity to go out on a subsistence
[allowance] and many people in Washington D.C. were eager to make some money, rent out a
room for four girls or something like that.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And so, we—before the barracks were finished in Henderson—that’s where the
barracks were—we would have the opportunity to maybe go into a subsistence, what they called
subsistence. (00:22:31)
Interviewer: So, you are renting a room in a private home or apartment building or
something.
Veteran: Exactly.
Interviewer: Yeah. And did you do that?
Veteran: Yes. We did that from time to time. When they got—we first saw maybe a note in our
luggage. And we—they would transfer us to a home.
Interviewer: Okay.
�13
Veteran: And maybe there would be four, you know, living in this home. And we would be able
to come to the barracks that were accommodating some of the people who enlisted later on.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: But there weren’t quite enough barracks yet for all the women Marines in Washington.
So, you know, we had the opportunity to go into other places.
Interviewer: Now, when you lived off base, did you live in Arlington or Washington or
where were you?
Veteran: Some of—most of them were in Washington.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And before we went to Washington, we were in, as I mentioned, Maryland. They had
some—a lot of places, but I imagine were built for the…You know, the people who worked in
what’s—what I am trying to say, that worked in my—in social security. (00:24:31)
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now, while you are…So, when you are based at Arlington and
you have your job and you are going in, did you have a lot of free time in the evenings? I
mean, did you just work a day job? Or a night shift? Or what did you have?
Veteran: Yeah, well we were all on a limited—I think it was 9 o’clock at night I think was the…
Interviewer: Was that a curfew? You had to be in by 9?
Veteran: Curfew, yeah.
Interviewer: Okay.
�14
Veteran: So, we had to be off the streets at that time. But to—we were—there were USO clubs
and things to see other than—like the museums and so on.
Interviewer: Yeah. Okay, but when you were living off the base, did you still have to be
inside by 9? Or did you have more freedom?
Veteran: Oh definitely.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: Because they had, you know, security on the streets, you know. But what did they call
them?
Interviewer: Could be military police or—
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: --Navy shore patrols and things like that.
Veteran: Military police.
Interviewer: Right. Okay.
Veteran: And so, yes, everything was supervised.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, how long were you at Arlington? (00:26:18)
Veteran: In Washington D.C.?
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: 19 months.
Interviewer: Okay.
�15
Veteran: And then I volunteered to—when they opened up Honolulu, or Pearl Harbor, I
volunteered to go.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: It was all volunteer.
Interviewer: Alright. Now before we get there, when you think about the time that you
spent in Washington and that area, are there particular things that happened that stand
out for you? Or people or events that you remember?
Veteran: Well, we were—in Washington, there were a lot of important people coming into the
city. Every time that happened and every holiday, it would be a big march, which was really a lot
of the time that we did because—I shouldn’t say a lot of the time, but those were things that I
think they wanted to impress on people coming in. And so, we did a lot of marching.
Interviewer: Okay. So, they had the women Marines marching in parades or welcoming
people.
Veteran: Parades, right.
Interviewer: Yeah, parades. Okay.
Veteran: Yeah. Other than that, we—I was working in an office and had the opportunity to go to
the barracks for our mess hall. And so, it was…Pretty much day to day we would be transferred
when we were living out of the barracks—or I should say when we were transferred into the
barracks and we would be transferred in a Marine truck into the, you know, city.
Interviewer: Okay. (00:28:51)
Veteran: So, Arlington is very close to Washington D.C.
�16
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: So, you know…
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now, did—when you went to the mess hall, for instance, were
you there with the men as well and everyone together?
Veteran: No, it was all women.
Interviewer: Okay. So, they kept you apart so that—
Veteran: Oh yes. We were not—they had their own—they were in from Quantico.
Interviewer: Okay, alright. Okay, so you made a trip to Annapolis.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: So, talk—tell us about that.
Veteran: Well, it was just like an overnight. So, I don’t know how we were transferred. It must
have been on a bus. And it cost—we had to pay for the transportation. And this one girl who was
going with us, she could not come up with the money. And we said, “Well here, just call—get in
touch with your parents.” She was from Portland, Oregon. And she said, “Well, I’ve never asked
them for anything.” (00:30:30)
Veteran: But anyway, we encouraged her and she did. So, I said, “Well, what do your parents
do?” She said, “They are both attorneys.” And she was afraid to even ask for probably $20, you
know. So anyway, they sent the money and so, yes. So, we just toured the Annapolis and all the
men that we joined up with were all officers—ensigns, probably. And we were all enlisted. And
that didn’t set very well with the people in Annapolis, you know. They said, “Well, you really
should, you know, cater to the…. officers.”
�17
Interviewer: Yeah. Well, they did not want officers and enlisted fraternizing. They did not
do that.
Veteran: Yeah. I remember that was—the women were all enlisted and the men were all officers.
So, they were—we just toured the place. And I can’t remember any great meals or anything. We,
you know, somewhere or another we—it’s been a long time ago, you know.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: So, all I remember is we had a great time.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, when you are on the base back in Arlington or in Washington,
were there rules about personal relationships? I mean, were you allowed to date any of the
men? (00:32:28)
Veteran: Oh yeah. Yeah. And most of the time, you know…Most of the time it was enlisted
people with enlisted people.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: But that’s not to say that there weren’t a lot of officers with enlisted women, you know.
Interviewer: But there was not a problem with enlisted men and enlisted women going out
or whatever.
Veteran: No, no. In the private school in Annapolis, you know, they probably…
Interviewer: Well, that was a little different because that’s the military academy. So, they
are a little different there. But on your base, for the regular personnel, there was not a
problem.
�18
Veteran: Right.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now, during that 19 months you are in Washington, did you
ever go back home? Or did you just—
Veteran: Oh yes, we had liberty.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And we would—most of the time, we were able to get home for Christmas,
Thanksgiving maybe.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, did you have any brothers in the service?
Veteran: Yes, I had 2.
Interviewer: And what did your brothers do?
Veteran: My one brother was in the radio and he was—you know, they had a select[ive] service,
which was really before Pearl Harbor. And he—there would be, you know, their name would be
called and they would select.
Interviewer: Right. Well, like drafted? (00:34:18)
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: So, he was in radio at that time. My other brother—and he was married and had a child.
So, he, you know, didn’t touch those people until long—maybe ’44?
Interviewer: Yeah.
�19
Veteran: You know? And so, he went right into the infantry. And he went overseas.
Interviewer: Did he go to Europe or to the Pacific? Or…? Where did he go?
Veteran: Alsace.
Interviewer: Okay, so France. Yeah.
Veteran: And I can’t…I would have to…
Interviewer: Okay. But he was in the European theater.
Veteran: Oh definitely.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: I was in Washington when my one brother was going through to go overseas. So, that
was nice. We met: he with a buddy and me with a friend, a girlfriend. And you know we sat
around and didn’t do much, just until his train was up.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: That was…Yeah, he—it was good to see him before he left, you know. But they
were—they both got through their Army and they were both in the Army.
Interviewer: Okay. (00:36:17)
Veteran: And also, the one boy that—one brother—that was in radio, he too went overseas about
the same time. So, he was stateside quite a while.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And then he went over. And they both survived the war.
�20
Interviewer: Very good. Okay.
Veteran: But my one brother said he felt his time was near being—losing his life in some way
because he saw so many die or the sister ship he saw go down.
Interviewer: Okay. So, he was in a convoy going across the Atlantic and another ship sank?
Okay.
Veteran: And just to see your friends, you know…It was pretty…So, he felt his time would be…
Interviewer: Yeah. Well, if he was in the infantry late in the war, there was a lot of hard
fighting in northeastern France and then even going into Germany. So, the area he was in
was hotly contested in ’44 into early ’45. So, he would have—he might have seen a lot there.
Yeah.
Veteran: Yes.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: So anyway, when—I guess I did say that we now prepared to go to Pearl Harbor.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: To Honolulu.
Interviewer: Right. Okay, so how did they get you to Pearl Harbor? (00:38:13)
Veteran: How did we get there?
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: Oh, on a ship 5 days. I went on the Matsonia, which was a luxury—an old—luxury
liner. 5 days. Sick the whole time. And but when we disembarked, it was beautiful. The highlight
�21
of my career, you might say, because I was able to walk off the ship. And we were greeted…300
sailors, you know. And everybody welcomed us. And they had built a barracks. Our barracks
were ready for us.
Interviewer: Now, was that right there by Pearl Harbor or around that area?
Veteran: It was on Pearl Harbor.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And then I—at first, I was assigned to the post office, which was right on Pearl Harbor.
But that was in, you know, ’44. You could still see the smoke. But I didn’t get near the Atlantic.
Interviewer: Well, the Arizona?
Veteran: The Arizona.
Interviewer: Yeah, because that was the ship that blew up and part of it was still sticking
up. Yeah. Now, were you the first women Marines there?
Veteran: Not the first, but probably the third group.
Interviewer: Okay. And then about how many women Marines were at that base, do you
think?
Veteran: At the base?
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: I don’t…I wouldn’t venture to say.
Interviewer: Do you know how many women Marines came out in your group? When you
landed, how many of you were there? (00:40:27)
�22
Veteran: Yeah, I am trying to think about how many were on the ship, you know, going over. I
will backtrack there and say from Washington we went to San Diego to train.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: For 6 weeks.
Interviewer: So, what kind of training did you get in San Diego?
Veteran: Well, we had to make sure we knew how to swim.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: We exercised. That was—and that’s, you know, a real base for the Marines, for the
male Marines.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: So, then from there, it’s always a time when you have to just sit and wait for the right
time to go. And so, we mailed—we left from there from some…It wasn’t San Francisco because
we came back from San Francisco. So, it was…I don’t know.
Interviewer: Probably out of San Diego or Long Beach.
Veteran: Probably.
Interviewer: Or some place, yeah.
Veteran: Someplace near San Diego, you know. And as I said, 5 days on the ship.
Interviewer: Okay.
�23
Veteran: And so, then we were assigned as I say. And left in the barracks, double deck barracks.
And we had to, you know, have our night—you know, 2-4 you had to have your…You probably
can tell me the terms of these things at night. It’s hard for me to pull it all out. (00:42:54)
Interviewer: So, they have—you’re talking about bed checks, or you have to be in bed by a
certain time?
Veteran: Well, and you were always assigned, just like I was assigning people in Washington.
Well, over there, I was being assigned.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And you had to, you know, peruse—go through all these—barracks and, you know,
you’d usually get on a 2-hour shift.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And mine always seemed to be 2-4, you know. I was always kind of hesitant to…You
know, I wasn’t too brave about walking up and down these corridors and, you know, hear all
these…
Interviewer: Okay. So, you are basically making sure everyone else is where they are
supposed to be.
Veteran: Exactly.
Interviewer: And nothing funny is happening in the barracks.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Okay.
�24
Veteran: Yeah. So, sometimes I would, you know, encourage someone to go with me, which was
crazy. But anyway, I was—you know, you hear all these funny sounds at night, you know. And
one of the things I do remember was the night before we—are you looking at something?
(00:44:41)
Interviewer: No, I just saw somebody walking around out front.
Veteran: Oh, okay. The night before we left, everybody was bedded down and you would hear
this voice in the darkness preparing us for what we would encounter overseas, and what we
might encounter. And it was such a wonderful talk to prepare us, you know. I think that was
maybe that one time that I thought this could be really scary, you know. And before that, maybe
I thought well, it’s just an adventure to get over to Honolulu. But she pointed out how important
this particular venture was. So, but anyway, I was over in Honolulu. That was the city.
Interviewer: Yep.
Veteran: And Pearl Harbor was where the post office was. So, we—I was just over there for 7
months until the war ended.
Interviewer: Right. Now, while you were there, could you get liberty and go to the beach
and go into town and…? (00:46:29)
Veteran: We had liberty, yeah. you had to apply for it, you had to have a—you know—pass. And
you had to present that wherever you were.
Interviewer: Okay, now—
Veteran: Wherever you went, you had a time limit.
�25
Interviewer: When you went off the base, did you wear your uniform or did you get to
wear civilian?
Veteran: We could wear civilian.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now—
Veteran: And it was a great time to do it too, you know. Just to pretend like you were there
visiting.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: But there were a lot of people over there who lived over there, you know. And they
would invite us for parties and, you know…And it just so happened that I had a distant cousin
who was a chaplain. And so, he had a lot of contacts. And so, there were I think just more or less
that there were a lot of opportunities maybe to meet other people, to—and to meet some of the
people who lived there.
Interviewer: Right. (00:48:11)
Veteran: And this chaplain took us to—took me—to a place like a convent of nuns. And I think
now I wish I had a picture of that. But anyway, and being over in Pearl Harbor, they did give us
opportunities to visit Diamond Head and you know all of the…
Interviewer: The tourist places?
Veteran: Absolutely.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: So, I know I—it’s been hard for me to pull up this thing at 99.
�26
Interviewer: Yeah.
Veteran: You know, but so I just hope you have been…
Interviewer: Okay. Now, did you meet your husband in Hawaii?
Veteran: Yes, at the—a friend of his…He was in the Army and a friend of his was to marry a
woman Marine. So, I was invited by her and my husband was invited by the male, the groom.
And it was in a little, you know, church. And then we had a little reception after. And I…When I
met my husband at the reception, we just kind of took to each other. And he managed to—I don’t
know how he did it—but we were all transported by truck, except the officers would have a jeep.
And so, he took one of the jeeps afterwards and took me back to the back barracks. And he was
up for—what do they call it? You know, when you have to report for being like AOL—
(00:50:54)
Interviewer: AWOL? Well yeah, so he is...
Veteran: Or something like that, you know. So, an officer called him up and so he had to explain
what happened. And but anyway, that was in June. And then the war ended in…
Interviewer: In August. August?
Veteran: Yeah. Yeah, August 15th.
Interviewer: Now, what branch of the service was your husband in?
Veteran: He was in intelligence.
Interviewer: Was he in the Army?
Veteran: Army.
�27
Interviewer: Army, yeah. Okay. Alright. And was—and he was an enlisted man?
Veteran: He was.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: That’s why he got in trouble for taking the jeep, right?
Veteran: Yeah. But this distant cousin of mine who was a chaplain, you know, he was just so this
man, but I didn’t know whether I really wanted…There were other things in the world that I
thought maybe I might like to do, you know. And the service was—the Marine Corps—well, all
of the services were very generous with education and GI Bill and all that. (00:52:27)
Veteran: You know? So, I don’t know whether I would have agreed to get married at that time or
not. But as it happened, the war ended and my husband was—had been in the service for four
years so he was one of the first to be discharged. And he came back I think in September and I
came back in November on another ship, the Solace. That was a hospital ship. And I was only
sick for two or three days because they had some, I don’t know, saline solution or something to
get me on my feet. And so, I kind of enjoyed the—you know, the…
Interviewer: You got a good ocean voyage this time.
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Yeah. Okay. Now, where was your husband from?
Veteran: Michigan but…
Interviewer: Okay.
�28
Veteran: Wyandotte.
Interviewer: Alright. Now, had you—were you writing to each other or stayed in
communication?
Veteran: Yeah. I guess we…But we had planned to get married.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And—which we did. I was…I came back in November and we were married in
November, the last part of November.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: So, then it’s whole different…
Interviewer: Alright. Well, what kinds of things did you—after you got out of the military,
you got married. Now, did you take a job after that? Or what did you do? (00:54:35)
Veteran: For 9 months, my husband worked for the Veterans Affairs.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: In Wyandotte. And I learned how to cook. I think he was tired of poached eggs in the
winter and strawberries and ice cream in the summertime. So, he presented me with a couple
good house keeping books. And so, but I still wanted to do something more. Take advantage of
the opportunities that was offered. Well, he wasn’t open to a 4-year college, so we settled for 2years of business college in Detroit. I don’t know whether you are familiar with downtown
Detroit, but it was in the Pugh building.
Interviewer: Okay.
�29
Veteran: So, we graduated from there. Business, bookkeeping, type shorthand. I don’t think that
shorthand is—people don’t even know what it is.
Interviewer: They don’t learn shorthand anymore. Not too often.
Veteran: We learned shorthand.
Interviewer: Yeah. (00:56:07)
Veteran: And, you know, men had secretaries. Now, the men have their own computers and do it
themselves, you know. But anyway, my husband didn’t—after we graduated, he went with Ford,
I went with GM. And so, that—I don’t think he was very comfortable that we were separated by
the different automotive companies. He thought maybe I should be, you know, where he was in
Ford. But anyway, that worked out fine. And I was in GM overseas. That was my—and I was
doing secretarial work. I don’t know whether you want that.
Interviewer: Well, I was just curious. Did you continue to work after you had children? Or
did you leave when you started to have kids?
Veteran: When I—after we were married about 4 or 5 years, I thought yeah, it’s time. You know,
we should have…In that time, we had gone to business college. And I had worked a couple
years.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: And I…So, we had—I stopped working and we had 3 children. And then I thought, oh,
I want to go back to school or something as soon as that first one is able to stay home by herself
if she had a cold, you know. So, then I started. Madonna College was, you know, there in the city
that we were living in. We were living in Livonia at that time.
�30
Interviewer: Right. (00:58:38)
Veteran: So, I went and I talked to these nuns. And I said, “I don’t think I am going to have
anymore children.” And I wanted her to say well that’s fine, you know. And so, I said, “I just
thought maybe I would like to get a little more education.” And she said, “Well, what would you
like to do?” And I said—the only thing I could think of was home ec, you know. And she said,
“Well, we will start with history and English.” You know? So, I did part time in those subjects.
And then—from then, I went to…We had the—I don’t—I think it was maybe the city or I don’t
know who it was that offered this occupational therapy assistant. Excuse me. Yeah. So, I thought
that sounds like what I would really like to do. And it was only a one-year course. And then you
could be certified as an assistant.
Interviewer: Alright. Now, we were talking about the education you got after you had kids.
And you went into occupational therapy. So, you did a one-year program for that. And
then, did you get a job in that field? (01:00:48)
Veteran: I got a job with—in physical at—with the VA hospital.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: And that was in Allen Park, at that time. And I worked and I have some pictures of that.
I have…Let’s see. From there I think I was there four years. And then I went back to school.
That occupational therapy course was given at Schoolcraft College. And it was the first year that
they had the…
Interviewer: That program?
�31
Veteran: That program. Yeah. And there was a—our tutor was from Wayne State. She came and
she was very good. Registered…You know…
Interviewer: Nurse?
Veteran: Occupational therapist.
Interviewer: Occupational therapist, okay. (01:02:18)
Veteran: But anyway, so after that, then I went back to Schoolcraft and I just got another degree
in general studies. And then I…
Interviewer: Well, did you continue to work? Did you go back to work again?
Veteran: No…I think for a while I went to Schoolcraft.
Interviewer: Right.
Veteran: And then, we had a Right to Read program and I went through that at Madonna. And
then…You know, I can’t remember. Oh, well then when I did get through the—I graduated from
Madonna College with a degree. And then I did substitute teaching. I thought, you know, I was
like 54 years old then. And I surely didn’t want to take on a class, you know, full time. So, I
remember the first time I went in to have the—you know…Yeah, and so the next after that day—
after—the teacher wanted me to come back, you know, the next day. And I said, “I don’t think
they like me.” And she said, “Oh, that’s the way they always act.” So, then I made the
adjustment and I—you know, I did substitute teaching for quite a while. (01:04:47)
Interviewer: Okay. And where were you doing that? Which towns?
Veteran: Where what?
�32
Interviewer: Where were you substitute teaching?
Veteran: Oh, just in Livonia.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, were you doing high school or elementary?
Veteran: Yes, it was one of those from kindergarten through high school.
Interviewer: Oh, okay. All in one school?
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Alright.
Veteran: So, I could have the, you know, the advantage of every one. Then substitute teaching
kind of dwindled. Maybe—I don’t know why? But maybe some people dropped out. There
wasn’t that need. And so, then I went into…Oh, like recreation therapy.
Interviewer: Okay.
Veteran: You know, like that type of thing with some of the older…what do I say? You know,
when they have occupational and also exercise.
Interviewer: Right. (01:06:25)
Veteran: Different activities. In several different…
Interviewer: Yeah. With hospitals or—
Veteran: Yeah.
Interviewer: Yeah. Okay. Alright. Now, so you did a lot of different things after you got out
of the military.
�33
Veteran: Why, I did. I did. And then for a hobby, I had always—as a kid—little girls were
always encouraged to take piano, you know. So, I did a little of that. And when—after all these
other things, I decided to—you know, to play piano you just had to keep practicing all the time.
So, I took up keyboard. And I really enjoyed that. And I could make, you know, music sound
pretty nice. But anyway, that was…But then, you know, things started to go. My eyes—I
couldn’t see as well as I used to be able to. So…
Interviewer: Alright. Well, to think back to the time that you spent in the Marine Corps,
what do you think you learned from that experience or how did that effect you? (01:08:20)
Veteran: What did I learn about it?
Interviewer: Well, from being in the Marines, yeah.
Veteran: For being…Just as I wrote here, and it was—this is what I learned, I think. You can
read that, I can’t.
Interviewer: You can go ahead.
Veteran’s Daughter: It says—Mom said her memorable experience was: Being involved in
World War 2 as a member of the Marine Corps was a once in a lifetime experience. Learning
about discipline and how to carry out orders were very much a part of our day. During my two
and a half years of service, most of which were spent in the clerical field, I was assigned to
Arlington, Virginia, and Hawaii. Out of this wartime experience came lasting friendships, the
most significant of which was meeting my husband in Hawaii.
�34
Interviewer: Okay. And then, while we were off camera here, you also mentioned that at
least one of your friends from Arlington kept in touch with you. And gave you a wedding
present? Or…What was that story?
Veteran: What was your question?
Interviewer: Well, I just wanted you to tell us about how she found you or how you…
Veteran: Oh, the wedding gift.
Interviewer: Yeah. (01:10:02)
Veteran: Betty Mitchell. And she was in Baltimore. Had horses. And so, she was going from
coast to coast to visit her former Marines. And I think got back—our stop in downtown Detroit
was—probably would have been her first. So, she was there for overnight. And we took her to
the Statler and had another boy—she wasn’t married. So, we got her one of our friends so four of
us, you know. Had a lovely evening at the Statler Hotel. And then when she left, yes, she said,
“Don’t you have any china?” And I said, “No. You know, we were just married like
that…Married in the uniforms when we got back.” So, then she sent these Audubon plates with
the Audubon birds on them. And Amy has these.
Interviewer: Alright.
Veteran: So, that was…You know…But if you look in that envelope that has the…Yeah, the—
well, I just wanted to… (01:12:18)
Interviewer: There you are. Let’s see, that is a graduation picture. Now, do you have—
there’s the larger portrait picture of her in uniform. Can we pull that one? Because I can
�35
just…That first one there, yeah. Because that one…And then that is her in her flashy
Marine Corps uniform. Alright.
Veteran: I—when I was discharged, I was a sergeant.
Interviewer: A sergeant, yes. You have only got your one stripe in that picture. But you got
three. Okay. And then the wedding picture. Alright. Now, let’s see if we can get that one
there. There we go. Now, one miscellaneous question while I think of it: did the Marine
Corps have limits on how long your hair could be? Did they make women cut their hair or
just…?
Veteran: I think it had to be above the shoulder. But they were very strict at first, you know?
What the women wore and the hat was designed by…I wish I could tell you the
name…Something like Knox or, you know, isn’t there…
Interviewer: But by a fashion designer or…?
Veteran: Well, they really had a nice uniform.
Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Well, all of this makes for a very good story, so I am just going
to close here and thank you for taking the time to share it today.
Veteran: Well, I’ll thank you for spending the time and coming.
Interviewer: Alright. (01:14:33)
�36
On file at the Women in Military Service For America Memorial:
Poster:
�37
United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve:
Brother and sister newspaper announcement • Sep 1942:
�38
Immunization card • Jun 29, 1943:
�39
Tribute paid to Women Marine Corps • 1944:
�40
I'm in the Marine Corps:
�41
Moving into the new barracks at Henderson Hall • 1943:
�42
Rita E Vogler • 1943:
�43
Farwell parade for Gen Waller 1943-1944:
�44
Franciscan Monastery • Aug 13, 1944:
�45
All American kids! • 1944:
�46
Rita in DC • Aug 1944:
�47
Sightseeing in DC • Aug 13, 1944:
A night out • 1944:
�48
Rita and Nancy Saunders • 1944:
�49
Dinner out with my pals • 1944:
Fooling around • 1943:
�50
On the base • 1943:
1943:
�51
1944:
�52
When one of your Marine Corps buddies has a brother at Annapolis! • 1944:
Sightseeing in Annapolis, MD • 1944:
�53
Apr 10, 1945:
Enjoying a lunch out • 1944:
�54
Mar 1945:
�55
Father Bernard and me • 1945:
Fr. Bernard knew a brother of a girl in this group. He brought us all together for a casual
afternoon to socialize. • 1945:
�56
Honolulu • 1945:
1945:
�57
The day I would meet my future husband at this wedding • 1945:
�58
Leaving the wedding:
�59
Honorable Discharge • Nov 16, 1945:
�60
United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve:
�61
Our Wedding Picture 11/27/45:
�62
After discharge Bob and I attended Detroit Commercial College • 1946:
I attended Schoolcraft College to get my certification as an Occupational Therapy Assistant •
Jul 25, 1969:
�63
Associate degree in General Studies • Aug 15, 1974:
I continued my education at Madonna College getting a BA in Social Science • May 5, 1977:
�64
I live at Botsford Commons - Farmington Hills, MI now. Here are a few of our resident
veterans that gathered to mark Veteran's Day:
�65
My Marine insignia pin • 1943:
�66
Women's Military Memorial:
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AdamsR2357V
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adams, Rita
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2021-06
Title
A name given to the resource
Adams, Rita (Interview transcript and video), 2021
Description
An account of the resource
Rita (Vogler) Adams was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on February 7th, 1922. She grew up during the Great Depression. She lived in Wheeling until the age of 21. Rita attended high school at a girls’ private school, which she graduated from in 1940. After high school, Rita worked at a telephone company for 2 years. She then enlisted in the Marine Corps on April 14th, 1943 during World War 2. She completed her basic training at Hunter College in New York City, New York. After completing her training, Rita was assigned to work in an office at Marine headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. After 19 months in her position in Arlington, Virginia, she volunteered to be sent to work at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Prior to being sent to Honolulu, Rita was sent to train for 6 weeks in San Diego, California, to ensure that she was able to swim well and was physically fit. Her husband, Robert Adams, was in the Army, and she first met him while they were both stationed in Hawaii. Rita was honorably discharged from the military in 1945 after World War 2 ended, at which point she was a sergeant. Rita and Robert were married on November 27th, 1945. After leaving the service in 1945, Rita eventually attended 2 years of business college in Detroit, Michigan. She then completed training at Schoolcraft College to become an occupational therapy assistant. Rita later attended Madonna College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in social science. She worked as a substitute teacher in schools in Livonia, Michigan, towards the end of her career. Rita currently lives in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Note: This video has images of photos and documents embedded it that help to illustrate different parts of her story. The images are from her personal collection.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
George, Amy M. (Interviewer)
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States—History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945—Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
In Copyright
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Language
A language of the resource
eng
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ad7948ea59c2c8b16eaa98081885a04b.pdf
1800afa77334cac1623d4cd7ed0b8b8c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Panama Era – Operation Just Cause
John Adkins
05:30
Introduction (00:30)
Growing up, John had two sisters and one brother.
Prior to his enlistment, he went to school and worked some part-time jobs.
John chose to join the United States Army because it was something that he had always
wanted to do and also because he could not find a good job.
It was a growing experience.
He remembers the friendships that were started while in the service, and he enjoyed the
jobs that he was able to do and the people and places he met and saw along the way.
John served during the conflict in Panama.
He was there for two weeks and when the conflict ended he was stationed at Fort Polk,
Louisiana. (02:25)
While away, he was not able to communicate back home with his family.
He has maintained quite a few friendships with people that he served with.
When John first entered the service, his training lasted for nine months. The first six
months was difficult and intense.
After that first six months, he began training to drive fuel trucks, which was enjoyable.
John’s grandfather was in the Air Force and then switched over to the Army and he also
had two uncles in the Army.
Some important life lessons that he learned were to be respectful to others and to be neat.
(04:30)
�
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
Adkins, John (Interview outline), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Adkins, John
Description
An account of the resource
John joined the United States Army and spent nine months in training. He became a fuel truck driver, and eventually spent two weeks in Panama in support of Operation Just Cause in 1989.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Wisdom, Alaina (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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. 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
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
2013-05-27
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AdkinsJ1494V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6449ef5b46a9da04e7a991aa6e5deba6.m4v
9b97509a37e7ff7ff81239fde87db331
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4646931beaa002fb1820c2a6a1a2c100.pdf
5f57a41dc29573173d00bf2ba59a9168
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Margaret Akines
Note: Widow of Bill Akines (World War II veteran and survivor of the USS Indianapolis sinking.)
46 minutes 48 seconds
(00:00:39) Margaret’s Early Life
-Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938
-Father was a tomato farmer and mother helped on the farm until she got a management job
-Loved growing up in Nashville
-Had three brothers and three sisters
-One brother is still alive (as of 2016)
-All of her sisters are still alive (as of 2016)
-She is the oldest child
(00:03:06) Margaret’s Adult Life
-Got married when she was 15 years old
-Had four children before she turned 20 years old
-Got her GED when she was 40 years old
-First marriage didn’t work
-Worked for the Krystal fast food chain for 29 years
-Became the first female area manager
-Started working on a grill and through various promotions became an area manager
-Retired from Krystal in 1985
-Met her second husband, Bill Akines, working at Krystal
-He was her boss
-Love at first sight
-He had a tough exterior, but was actually a gentle man
-He had two children from a previous marriage
-Daughter is still alive, but son has since died
-Met in 1971 and got married in 1978
-Had met her before when he came to one of the stores
(00:08:48) Bill’s Involvement with the USS Indianapolis
-Knew he had served during the Second World War aboard the USS Indianapolis
-He didn’t talk about it often, and those details stayed in the background
-He started talking about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis later in life
-Invited to the dedication of the USS Indianapolis memorial in Indianapolis in 1995
-She learned more about the sinking from the other survivors and, Only 317 Survived!
-Bill always shrugged off the “hero” label
-He was just grateful to have survived, and remembered the comrades that died
-Had gone to one or two reunions before they got married
-The reunion group had lost his address, so he didn’t go to any reunions until 1995
-Sponsor of the memorial dedication reached out to him
-Allowed him to go to the ceremony and reconnect with the group
(00:13:12) Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
-Note: USS Indianapolis torpedoed on July 30, 1945; only 317 men survived out of 1,196
�-She knew almost nothing about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis
-Learned more about the sinking during the memorial dedication in 1995
-Most survivors couldn’t talk about the sinking without being emotional
-Bill was only 17 years old when the ship sank
-On the last day before getting rescued his life-jacket approached failure
-He was on the ship’s bridge and had just gotten off duty at midnight on July 30
-Doing some quartermaster work
-At 12:14 a.m. a Japanese submarine torpedoed the Indianapolis
-He may have jumped overboard, or waited to slide down into the water as the ship sank
-He managed to get with a larger group of survivors
-Remembers sharks being in the water around his group, but not in the group
-Saw sharks attacking survivors, and survivors fighting off the sharks
-Sharks had been attracted by the open wounds on some of the men
-Remembers the light coming from the USS Cecil J. Doyle, first ship to arrive on the scene
-Like a light from heaven
-Note: Began rescue operations on August 2, 1945
-Brought to Guam to recover
-Bill knew they had classified material, and it was important, but didn’t know what it was
-The Indianapolis had brought the atomic bomb components to Tinian on July 26, 1945
-He felt the bomb ended the war and brought about a quicker victory for the United States
-Supported Captain Charles B. McVay III during the court-martial
-Note: Captain McVay was court-martialed in November 1945 for losing the ship
-Bill never held any ill-feelings for the captain
-Felt it was a tragedy that he was being tried for losing a ship during wartime
-Note: Captain McVay committed suicide in 1968
(00:25:42) Public Awareness of the Sinking
-Jaws was the first time Margaret remembers seeing widespread exposure of the sinking
-The dedication of the memorial in 1995 was the next major event
-Remembers the campaign to exonerate Captain McVay of his court-martial
-Mochitsura Hashimoto (Commander of submarine that sank the Indianapolis)
-Hunter Scott (sixth grade student)
-Commander of the USS Indianapolis (submarine)
-All worked to see Captain McVay exonerated
-Captain McVay, via Congressional resolution, had his record exonerated in July 2001
-Margaret and Bill felt it was a long time coming and the right thing to do
(00:27:51) USS Indianapolis Reunions Pt. 1
-Thinks it’s wonderful that Hashimoto’s daughter and granddaughter come to the reunions
-The survivors understand that it was part of the war and nothing personal
-None of the men carry any hate for Commander Hashimoto or his family
-She never saw any disrespect of the daughter or granddaughter
-Accepted them into the reunion group and treated them like family
(00:30:48) Media & Teaching about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 1
-Thrilled with the new documentary by Sarah Vladic, USS Indianapolis: The Legacy
-Margaret feels the documentary is well done and serving a good purpose
-Getting more public attention about the sinking in the United States and abroad
-Good for the survivors to have their story known by more people
-Believes the sinking ought to be taught in American History lessons
-Ignored because the Navy made a fatal mistake that killed over 900 men and lost a ship
-Note: Distress signal from the USS Indianapolis ignored by Navy personnel
�-Feels the Navy tries to distance itself from the sinking because of the negative PR
-Doesn’t surprise her
(00:35:03) USS Indianapolis Reunions Pt. 2
-Bill passed away in 2011, but she still attends the reunions every year
-Bill would have wanted her to go
-She cares about the other survivors and the friends she made in the reunion group
-Her way of staying connected to Bill
(00:35:45) Media & Teaching about the USS Indianapolis Pt. 2
-People often confuse the USS Indianapolis with the USS Arizona (sunk at Pearl Harbor)
-Understands why people confuse the two ships
-Has found that more people are learning about the sinking
-Getting more public involvement and attention
-There are plans to have a memorial erected in Lansing, Michigan, for the Michigan survivor
-Addition to memorials in Colorado, Texas, Connecticut and Indiana
-She feels that anyone involved in the sinking deserves recognition
-Every detail is important
-Feels that Doug Stanton’s book, In Harm’s Way, is one of the best books about the sinking
-Outstanding job of chronicling the survivors’ thoughts and feelings
-Feels that Only 317 Survived! is the most personal record, In Harm’s Way best overview
(00:45:21) Reflections
-Proud to have been Bill’s wife
-Glad she can still represent him and the story of the USS Indianapolis
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AkinesM1951V
Title
A name given to the resource
Akines, Margaret (Interview outline and video), 2016
Description
An account of the resource
Margaret Akines was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938. She married Bill Akines in 1978. He was one of the 317 men that survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and in this interview she tells about his experience surviving that catastrophe. Bill was active in the USS Indianapolis survivors’ group, and since his death in 2011 Margaret still attends the annual reunions and maintains contact with the other survivors.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Akines, Margaret
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Hammond, Steve (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2016-09-12
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/750cc5aeb6e71507f4ccb5a1a4ce5bea.mp4
0e8fd6958e8a2c0845109c153ff6c1ad
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9cd6ba7bb2f1bb5a12a3f1d311407dbc.pdf
6f417e9b606ef3ea77670e2b659be71e
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Les Alcumbrack
(01:02:00)
Background
•
Full name is Lester Alcumbrack (00:14)
•
From Kentwood, MI (00:31)
•
Born in Grand Rapids, his family moved to the corner of 32nd and East Paris when he was about
five years old. (00:44)
•
He was in the #8 District school, which had one teacher. (01:03)
•
The school was about five and a half miles away. (01:14)
•
He went to Godwin High School, as did all of his siblings. He was the youngest of five
children. (01:21)
•
They usually walked to school. Sometimes his father dropped them off on the way to work.
(01:34)
•
His father worked at a laundromat. It was initially called “U.S. Laundry,” and the name was
later changed to “American Landry.” (01:53)
•
Les worked on nearby farms after graduating high school. (02:08)
•
Graduated 1939. (02:27)
•
He didn't pay much attention to international affairs, or WWII, he was too busy at the time.
(02:40)
•
He heard about Pearl Harbor in Silver Lake. He and his girlfriend were delivering calendars for
his sister's church, and they heard about it on the car radio. (02:55)
•
At the time, he didn't think about being drafted or enlisting. He was very afraid. (03:33)
•
Later on, he attempted to enlist and was rejected because he was set to be drafted very soon.
(03:53)
•
He was drafted a few weeks later. (04:16)
Training
•
Went to Fort Custer. (04:38)
•
He was given written aptitude tests. (04:47)
•
Next, he was sent out to Yuma, AZ in the middle of the desert. (05:15)
•
The trip to Yuma was his first cross-country trip. It was a long train ride. (05:27)
•
At this time, he was not yet assigned to a company. (05:43)
•
The dirt in Arizona was black, powdery and very dusty. (06:21)
•
He had his winter clothes on because he had left Michigan in September. Arizona temperatures
reached the hundreds, and his clothes made him even hotter. The dust stuck to his sweat.
(06:21)
•
They were split into four companies, A through D. He was in company A. (06:46)
•
The base was in a mountain. (07:03)
•
Basic training was in Yuma. It was mostly field hikes, and rifle training, but he missed most of
it as he was very sick. (07:10)
•
He felt sick, and passed out in front of the doctor's office. (07:50)
•
He had a fever of one hundred and four. (08:18)
•
He was rushed to the hospital tent. (08:25)
•
His sickness may have been infection from the water. He was hospitalized for forty-nine days.
(08:45)
•
He didn't do much, but eat and sleep. He gained a lot of weight during his hospital stay. The
�•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
•
lack of activity was a drastic change to his life at home on the farms. (09:00)
A man wanted him to change units. (09:18)
He talked with his superior officer about a transfer, and was denied. (09:42)
He didn't find out about his duty until after basic training, which he had not still finished.
(10:00)
He drove a truck, and took care of garbage on the base. (10:30)
Later on, he filled gas cans. There were about twenty truck drivers. (10:55)
Patton trained his men nearby. Les brought fuel to him, and took the empties back for refill.
(11:09)
Patton was training a large armored unit, which used large amounts of gas. (11:32)
Les' grandson later trained in the same area as a Marine. (11:48)
Still in Yuma while he was driving trucks. (12:14)
Big trucks brought in gasoline, which they pumped into five gallon drums. (12:18)
Sometimes trains brought the gas instead of trucks. (12:40)
He spent six months in Arizona. (12:49)
Next he was sent to Fort Preston, FL for amphibious training. (13:00)
He was assigned to a unit responsible for supplying gasoline. (13:12)
During the amphibious training he had to be able to swim two miles and climb a mock ship.
(13:25)
He didn't practice climbing down nets onto landing craft. (13:54)
He went from practicing on a fake ship to practicing on actual ships. (14:04)
He practiced loading ammo cases filled with sand onto amphibious trucks called “ducks.”
(14:17)
The exercises didn't have much to do with driving trucks, but he followed the orders despite the
seeming impracticality. (15:04)
He did not have a discipline problem. (15:21)
Some of the men had problems with discipline, but not many of them. (15:30)
Many of the men disliked digging foxholes, including himself. (15:45)
He once was training in foxholes, and found a pre-made foxhole. He planned on using the
foxhole, but decided to make a new one when he noticed the rattlesnake inside. (16:07)
Fort Pierce was about fifty miles north of Miami, halfway between Miami and Jackson. It was
on an island. (16:33)
The base being on an island made it hard to get into trouble. (17:06)
He was in Fort Pierce for about six months, late 1943. (17:19)
He was next sent to Camp Pickett, VA for more training. They had marching and an infiltration
training course. (17:29)
As part of the course, they had crawl up a hill on their hands and knees around fake land mines.
The “mines” were very noisy and startled. They activated with strings. (17:55)
He did well on the course. (18:33)
The Army usually sent about ten men through the course at a time. (18:44)
His training was not related to truck driving, it was in case of capture. (18:54)
By this time, he was in a company which he trained with. (19:06)
He had a fourteen day furlough. He spent most of it with his girlfriend. (19:21)
He had asked his girlfriend to marry him before he was drafted. He then asked her father for his
approval. Her father preferred them to wait as Les had been drafted. Les decided to follow his
advice, and believes it was the correct decision. He didn't want to start out on the wrong foot
with his in-laws. (19:42)
He frequently received letters from his girlfriend, but did not answer them often as the Army
kept him very busy. (20:40)
�Deployment/Scotland and Wales
•
He was at Fort Pickett about two months, and then shipped out at Boston. (21:04)
•
The ship was an old gambling ship, the Evangeline, the ship came to Boston from New Orleans.
(21:16)
•
The ship had been converted to a troop ship, but it still had many accoutrements from its life as
a gambling ship. The dancing floor was still intact. (21:44)
•
The ship held 300-400 men. The bunks were stacked about three high. (22:22)
•
The ship was not very crowded. (22:34)
•
He was shipped out fall or winter of 1943. (22:42)
•
Once, during the night, the ship supposedly scraped sides with another ship in the convoy. He
didn't hear the scrape, and didn't see evidence of it. (22:50)
•
The ship was bound for Glasgow, Scotland. They took the long way around to avoid U-boats.
(23:27)
•
The convoy was large and involved about twenty ships. (23:54)
•
The weather was cold, but the sea was probably calm as he doesn't recall being sea-sick.
(24:15)
•
Next, he was put on a train to South Wales. (24:51)
•
He stayed in South Wales, but didn't do much. (25:02)
•
They were in tents, in winter, in Wales. It was very wet, but not too cold. (25:15)
•
The tents were set up off ground a bit. (25:41)
•
There was a lot of mud. (25:52)
•
Trucks brought in sand to counter-act the mud. (26:00)
•
They were waiting for the invasion of Normandy. (26:18)
•
They also made roads, and improved the base. (26:30)
•
There were not many towns in the area. (26:46)
•
Swansea was the nearest town in the area, but he didn't go. (27:08)
•
His company was the only one there at the time. It was a small unit. (27:29)
•
They were sent to Plymouth, as a “holding tank” before the invasion. They were only there for
a week. (28:05)
•
The invasion was soon underway. About sixty “ducks” were sent, but only about sixteen made
it. (28:48)
Service on the Continent
•
He was in Plymouth during D-Day. There were many German planes flying over that day.
They didn't drop bombs; he assumes they were reconnaissance planes. (29:04)
•
He landed on June 23, he didn't remember a storm. (29:46)
•
Landed at Omaha Beach. (30:20)
•
France had many hedgerows. (30:36)
•
He drove the truck off of a landing barge, an LST with a drop down door [probably an LCT—
ed.]. (30:48)
•
He dropped into water about four feet deep. (31:18)
•
Some of the later trucks partially flooded after dropping off. As each truck dropped off the
transport, the transport floated higher in the water because of the lost weight. Each truck
dropped from a higher point, and as a result the later trucks were splashed with water. (31:40)
•
Before the landing, he had to waterproof his truck with a layer of grease. After the landing the
grease had to be removed. (31:45)
•
The ordinance outfits set up a tent. (32:05)
•
After they captured the area, they had to pick up loads and distribute them. (32:38)
•
Two men were assigned to each truck, one drove at a time in shifts. This way they were able to
drive in forty-eight hour stretches. (32:50)
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The beach was sandy. (33:12)
There was not much traffic, some roads were just trails. (33:33)
He mostly transported food supplies. He only drove, other men loaded and unloaded the trucks.
(33:50)
After they took St. Lo, the travel distance increased. (34:16)
Some WWII movies were very accurate, and brought back memories for him. (34:42)
He drove along a road one day, and went to turn when about a hundred yards away he saw a
cannon. The cannon had fallen over, and was pointing right at him. It scared him badly.
(35:42)
The Americans had a pipeline for gas which went through the English Channel. (36:58)
The first time they used the pipeline, the gas was about ninety percent water. He got blamed for
it. (37:55)
Most supplies continued to come from Normandy, as it was the best place for a base for a while.
The train tracks had been destroyed and could not be used. (38:55)
A German bomber dropped a “blockbuster” bomb near his truck, sending large fragments of
clay near him. (39:24)
Back at the base, large tanks of water were used for showers. The tanks warmed in the sun,
providing a warm, but not hot, shower. (40:13)
He never had a problem with food. (40:42)
Sometimes he stole food out of the trucks with his friends. Canned peaches were a frequent
favorite. (41:05)
He had to deliver gas to a nearby unit. (41:55)
The unit wasted gas, the soil was moist from it. Some of the men got lead poisoning and lost
their legs because of the gas. (42:07)
As the troops moved forward, so did his supply trips. (43:18)
He stayed in France until they entered Germany. (43:29)
He supplied Patton's Army. After the war, Patton was killed near the area. (43:38)
His unit began using refrigerated trucks after the war. (44:06)
He was not in much danger, aside from the bomb incident. (44:26)
He observed very little of the action, but knew how the war was going. The Army kept him
informed. (44:40)
Once, they had an emergency at an airfield. One of the planes couldn't get its landing gear out
in time. He saw the pilot’s body in a nearby tree. It sickened him. (45:08)
He met some of the French people, but didn't like them because he thought they were dirty. He
believed they had low morals, and he was also not impressed by their public latrines. (46:36)
He was once set to the outskirts of Paris to pick up empty gas cans. (47:38)
He went to Paris on furlough once, and was not impressed. (48:28)
He thought Germany was cleaner, despite the wreckage of Mannheim. (48:50)
Some of the men moved into a nearby building, which had been an old girl's school. They used
the classrooms as bedrooms. They played basketball in the gym, and used the showers and
footbath in the basement. (49:29)
He drove refrigerated semi-trucks later on. He had never driven a semi-truck before. (50:41)
He went from Mannheim to Heidelberg, and a few other small towns. (51:42)
The trips were about sixty to seventy miles. (52:06)
He carried food supplies around in the semis. (52:10)
When they stayed at the school, the officers put on a party which had a lot of alcohol. They had
a dance, and brought in a few girls as well. The party helped him keep his mind off the war.
(52:38)
He left Europe shortly after, and arrived home Christmas Eve. (53:54)
�•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He went from Manheim into France, and disembarked on a Liberty ship from Marseille,
through the Mediterranean Sea. They passed the Rock of Gibraltar. (54:27)
Before leaving, the commander announced a storm was on the way. He asked the men if they
wanted to try and beat the storm or wait it out. The men decided to go right away. They beat the
storm. (55:12)
They landed in Boston, it was cold. The ship was covered in ice from water that had splashed
up at sea. (56:02)
When they arrived home, they were given fresh milk. They had had powdered milk in Europe.
(56:45)
He called his brother to pick him up to avoid using a bus or a train. His brother was initially a
little reluctant because it was the Christmas season. His brother offered to bring Les' girlfriend
along, but Les advised him not to as the car would be full of men. His brother was also picking
up a few men in his outfit who were from Grand Rapids. His brother thought she would be
miffed at the exclusion, but went forward with it anyway. (57:29)
His girlfriend/wife knew some of the men from school. The other men were from Grand
Rapids, but from other parts of it. (59:20)
He married January 30th. (59:52)
He worked at a lumber company for twenty seven years, counting the years before the war. He
started in 1939. (01:00:03)
The company closed, and then he worked with a hi-lo. He only had two jobs, aside from
working on the farms. (01:00:28)
He doesn;t think the service changed him all that much, but it was a good experience.
(01:00:42)
Believes enlistment would help some kids with discipline issues. (01:01:10)
�
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
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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
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1914-
Rights
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<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
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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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
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Alcumbrack, Lester (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alcumbrack, Lester
Description
An account of the resource
Lester Alcumbrack was drafted into the army in 1942. Les became very sick during basic training, and became a truck driver. He trained as a fuel truck driver and received amphibious training. He began duty in Scotland and Wales prior to the Normandy Invasion, and continued to serve as a truck driver in France and Germany during and after the Invasion. After the German surrender, he spent his last months working with a refrigeration unit delivering food to US occupation troops.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.)
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
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Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
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2008-02-28
Identifier
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AlcumbrackL
Source
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
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application/pdf
video/mp4
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/136c5948de33ed53617b0f693eb15a95.mp4
31062292ed7adc20dd9de4ed9c69a431
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/72ada9503b21a03deff53495fba5eb72.pdf
5786485af050f28f602184ce7b7567dd
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
World War II
Charles Aldrich Interview
Total Time: 1:50:34
Background
(00:11) Mr. Aldrich was born on February 7th 1925 in Hastings, Michigan
(00:35) He and his family lived on the farm
(1:00) After living on the farm for a few years, they moved to the Cascade area, SE of
Grand Rapids
(1:25) Rented property, they had their own gardens
o the property had cows, chickens, grew their own vegetables
o picked apples and peaches
o (2:00) They didn’t necessarily farm, but had gardens for their own personal use
(3:15) His father signed for him to enlist in the Navy at age 17
(3:26) Has younger twin brothers, 8 boys in his family altogether
(4:36) His brother Harold was in the Air Force
(5:11) Another brother was in the CCC
(5:30) Most of their information regarding the war, Pearl Harbor, etc., came from the
Grand Rapids Herald newspaper
(5:57) Mentions that they didn’t have electricity in their house, so no radio
Enlistment
(6:11) Mr. Aldrich was just 17 when he enlisted in the Navy
(6:30) Enlisted because he didn’t finish high school, didn’t have anything in particular to
do
(7:20) Remembers his father taking him to the recruiting office at Reed’s Lake
o Physical
o Papers OK’d while father was on the job at WPA
(8:00) Took a train to Detroit for another physical and to do more paperwork
(8:20) After that, took another train to the Great Lakes, north of Chicago
�Training
(8:45) Says that Great Lakes was a “mammoth place”
(9:43) It was busy, you were always kept busy from morning until night
(10:00) Had classes about Navy procedures, lots of marching
(10:24) Instilled the idea of following orders
(10:32) Blue Jacket Manual, they were supposed to read it and learn the rules and
regulations
(10:50) On Sundays they marched to another base to go to church
o Included a Catholic and Protestant church
(11:11) After 5 weeks of training, they were put in an Outgoing Unit
(11:44) Didn’t have a hard time adjusting to his training, thought of it as a job
o (12:18) Mr. Aldrich noticed others having trouble with this
o If someone decided they didn’t want to go through with it, they would jump over
the fence, but eventually caught and put on trial
(13:20) After the first 5 weeks, and after the week in OGU, they were sent to Little
Creek, Virginia
o Gunnery school
o Different training for different guns
o Different sized guns
o (15:34) Gunnery training was for service on merchant ships, but could be used
on different ones as well
o (15:55) They were being trained to be Navy Guards on merchant ships
o (16:36) Stayed at Little Creek for about 4 weeks
o (16:55) They were allowed to explore the area a bit, went to Norfolk and Virginia
Beach
o (17:29) The people in Norfolk weren’t necessarily fond of sailors because there
were so many around, some felt they were disruptive
(19:00) They were supposed to get boating experience, but the boat happened to be
broken down at the time
(19:17) Sailing experience was new to him
(19:38) After his training at Little Creek they took a ferry to Newport News, and took a
train to New York, then went to the Armed Guard quarters at Brooklyn Navy Yard
(20:16) Brooklyn was where they were stationed until they were assigned to a ship
(20:30) While waiting, they got to visit New York a bit
�Shipped Out
(22:18) Was in the Armed Guard Center from July 30th to August 4th
o Shipped out on the John Penn
(22:27) John Penn was a Liberty ship, carried cargo
o (22:56) Went out of New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
o Picked up more ships
o Assembled in the ocean
o Went to northern Scotland
o Waited here for orders to proceed
(23:36) When he first got on the ship, he says there wasn’t too much to remember
o They were replacements, Mr. Aldrich and another man
o (24:26) His first night on the ship he slept in a bunk, had to get up at a certain
hour
o About 34 guys from the Armed Guard on the ship
o (26:12) They took turns standing on gun watch; 4 hours on, 4 hours off
(27:00) Accommodations on the Liberty ship:
o Bunk beds, some underneath the bridge, some under the stern
o About 4 bunks per room
o Each had their own locker
o (28:05) They had their own lunchroom: gun crew, merchant marine,
o Mess boy would deliver food
o Says it was good food
(29:07) Mr. Aldrich remembers getting seasick once
o They ran into a 72 mile an hour gale
o He was on watch, getting sprayed with ocean water, was told to come back on
the bridge because of the weather
o One of the lifeboats was lost
(30:28) They didn’t have any U-boat scares on the way to Halifax or Scotland
o Remembers the ocean being beautiful
o (31:12) Mr. Aldrich remembered on the way to the British Isles the fog prevented
them from seeing things, and once it cleared they had to get their convoys lined
up again
o This was the only problem they had
(32:23) He was put in a convoy at the British Isles and started heading over to the Soviet
Union, it was PQ-18
(32:33) PQ-18 was escorted by a number of British destroyers
o Remembers having a British cruiser in the convoy
o Was told there was an aircraft carrier
�
o They had a convoy master
o Near Iceland was where they experienced the 72 mile an hour gale
o (33:40) This was when they made a turn
(33:57) On the morning of September 13th Mr. Aldrich remembers two ships being hit
and sunk within 15 minutes
o These were slower ships
o (35:03) A submarine was also hit and sunk
(35:13) Later that day, after everybody had lunch they went back on watch
o About 3 pm a bunch of JU-88’s came out and sent torpedoes
o This brought down some ships, the John Penn was one of them
o (36:04) Mr. Aldrich was a first loader during this
o His job was to put a new shell into the gun every time they fired it
o (37:06) After numerous firings, the gun was lowered on the surface level and he
could see a bomber flying over the convoy
o The bomber blew up in pieces that flew all over
o (38:09) His ship got hit just a few minutes after this
o He infers that the bomber is the one who hit them with a torpedo
o (38:44) He was looking in the opposite direction as they were hit
o (39:22) In a matter of minutes, they announced “Abandoned ship!”
o Mr. Aldrich couldn’t hear this, but he turned around and saw everyone running
o (39:58) Remembers all the lifeboats being gone, there were 5 guys (including Mr.
Aldrich) left
Remembers one was hanging on a pulley near the water
(41:18) They got in the lifeboat, and it was filled with water
o (41:35) It was snowing during this time, so it was cold water, temporarily
couldn’t move his legs because they were so cold
o (42:20) A British destroyer picked them all up from their lifeboats
o (43:00) There was oil in the water, his clothes from the waist down was soaked
and had oil on them
(43:33) They were all given food when they got on the ship
(43:45) Legs were starting to warm up, remembers getting help walking around for a bit
o (43:57) Thinks they didn’t know his rank and one man thought he was an officer
o Ate with the officers during this time
(44:30) After this, they were far enough into the Russian territory that the British escort
left the convoy, and the Russians took over
(45:11) 7 British Destroyers got their formation together and went back to Scotland,
taking the rescued men with them
o (45:37) They stopped and refueled in Iceland
�
(46:39) Got on a train to Glasgow
o (47:12) Remembers getting new uniforms here
o They went to the Red Cross Center and got a British uniform
o (47:43) They were free to travel around Glasgow for awhile, and then they were
transferred to a training base for the Marines
o (48:18) They stayed there until they got their next assignment
(49:15) Remembers a Scottish castle being used as the training base for Marines
(49:56) While they waited for their next assignment they marched around with the
Marines
o (50:12) They were US Marines
(50:21) They had Navy shoes, and they weren’t good for marching, so they got army
shoes.
(50:43) They gave them M1’s, which were 30 caliber rifles, marched them around and
taught them how to shoot the M1’s, load, unload, etc
(51:18) Mr. Aldrich and his buddy took a bus to Glasgow in between all this
(51:48) They packed up and went to the dock, and were headed towards Oran, Algeria
in North Africa
(52:38) They were put on a troop ship, which was British transport
(53:30) They got to Oran in March of 1942 [1943]
(54:20) He worked in Oran Harbor
(55:30) His duty was to go back and forth between harbors and pick up supplies off of
the merchant ships and bring them back to Oran
(55:56) The distance between the two harbors was about a mile and a half
(56:30) He remembers being in a schoolhouse in Oran while awaiting a new assignment
and they were allowed to explore the area again
(57:25) Remembers seeing French and Arab people, had dinner with a French family one
night
o (57:53) They could speak English too
(58:11) Everyone seemed to be friendly in Oran
(59:30) Remembers troops coming in to get the wounded transferred back to the US
Leave
(1:00:18) Mr. Aldrich was given a 30 day leave
o Went home and back to Brooklyn again
(1:00:58) Not a lot going on back at home
o His brothers tried to entertain him as much as they could
o They took him to shows, introduced him to girls
�
(1:01:36) There were dances at halls, included drinks
(1:02:00) They didn’t question age when they were drinking, he wasn’t quite old enough
(1:02:22) Went back to Brooklyn, then took a train to Detroit, and Canada
o (1:02:45) Mr. Aldrich enjoyed riding trains
(1:03:16) After a short period of time in Brooklyn he was assigned to an oil tanker
New Assignment
(1:03:29) The oil tanker was in Chester, Pennsylvania
o The ship was new and hadn’t been in the water yet
o Guns had to be cleaned
(1:04:01) They went to New Jersey, loaded up with oil, and went to Port Arthur, Texas,
unloaded the oil
(1:04:25) Next stop, they loaded up with gasoline, then picked up a convoy and headed
out for England
(1:04:55) First stop in England was Bristol, where they unloaded the gasoline
(1:05:20) The trip over was quiet, except for the fog again that made it difficult to see
(1:06:03) Mentions that when tankers hit rough water, they sort of bounced
(1:07:22) His job was to use the 20 mm gun
(1:08:36) After the 3rd trip, he was assigned back to Brooklyn
(1:09:01) Mr. Aldrich mentions on their final trip, they were told they were going to fire
their guns
o (1:09:33) 20 mm’s were supposed to fire at balloons
o (1:10:02) But never saw any German aircrafts or submarines
(1:10:22) After 1943, they had more escorts, the Atlantic got safer
(1:11:09) To get from Curaçao to England it took about 15 days
(1:11:20) In England, they were also given the opportunity to travel around
(1:12:47) Eventually took out a war bond, and remembers sending $10-$15 a month
home
(1:13:26) After doing the 3 round trips with the tanker, he was assigned back to
Brooklyn
(1:13:42) He was then sent to Pier 92 in New York
(1:14:12) Mr. Aldrich was assigned to the USS Montcalm; a tugboat
(1:14:30) Took the train from Grand Central Station to Key West, Florida
(1:14:49) Went to Key West Air Base
(1:14:57) Then transported to a minesweeper, which took them to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba
�
o This is where they were assigned to the USS Montcalm
(1:15:34) They went to many other islands and picked up empty barges and took them
back to Cuba
(1:16:31) They hauled a target from a destroyer from a Caribbean island
(1:17:00) Remembers Guantanamo City, Cuba, being a “liberty port”
(1:17:43) Went to Puerto Rico and San Juan a couple of times, also Kingston, Jamaica
(1:18:24) Remembers being assigned to Trinidad
(1:18:46) There was two Armed Guards on a tugboat that he knew of
(1:19:30) Got points towards discharge for sea duty, and also for being on land
(1:20:39) The war was over when he got back from Cuba
After Cuba/After Germans Surrender
(1:20:51) Came back to Norfolk, Virginia
(1:21:02) Mr. Aldrich was given another 30 day leave
o Came back home, spent his 30 days there
(1:21:25) When his 30 days were up, he reported to Detroit
(1:21:38) From there he was shipped to Bellingham, Washington
(1:21:50) While waiting for his assignment, he worked in the Navy laundry
(1:22:27) Was able to travel around Bellingham
(1:22:55) Eventually put on another ship
(1:24:12) Went to the deck officer, got bunk assignments
(1:24:29) His duty was to wheel watch
(1:25:09) There were two man on the wheel, they would switch back and forth
(1:25:40) They headed for Okinawa, which took 30 days
(1:25:58) Believes the atomic bomb was already dropped when he was on leave, so
Japan had surrendered
(1:26:20) They unloaded in Okinawa, and saw that a typhoon went through there
(1:27:06) Saw all the damage in Nagasaki from the bomb
(1:28:12) Also transported people from one port to another
(1:28:43) Didn’t see much of the Japanese people
(1:29:07) Remembers seeing Japanese kids on the docks to see what was going on, and
saw rifles sitting there
o Mr. Aldrich took one
�
(1:30:25) When he got back, he was asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes
(1:30:40) Packed up his sea bag and was gone within an hour
Going Home
(1:30:55) He got on an American destroyer, was taken to another transporter, then
went to San Francisco, then to Treasure Island for awhile
(1:32:38) Remembers eating dinner with a fellow seaman and his wife
(1:33:10) Didn’t have a specific assignment at Treasure Island
(1:33:29) Taken to Oakland, then took a train, remembers sleeping and waking up in
Utah seeing snow
o (1:34:36) Went through Denver, then to Great Lakes
o (1:35:40) Remembers a sailor getting beer, almost missed the train and lost half
of his beer
(1:36:10) Got a physical again at Great Lakes
(1:36:38) His only problem was hearing, which didn’t require any special treatment
(1:37:02) Finally got back home December 22nd, 1945
(1:37:15) Family knew he was coming home
(1:38:13) Once Mr. Aldrich was back home, he registered with the local draft board to
make sure his discharge papers were registered with the county clerk, he was given
unemployment compensation until he could find a job
(1:39:02) Continued living at home in the Cascade area
(1:39:30) Worked for a manufacturing company that made die cast parts for
automobiles, refrigerators, etc
o (1:40:09) He worked as a buffer
o (1:40:20) Eventually switched to polishing
o (1:40:54) Worked there for 29.5 years until they closed up in 1975
(1:41:10) He was on unemployment for about a year after that
(1:41:22) The last job he had was as a handyman
(1:41:48) Married twice
�o (1:42:02) First got married in 1959, he was almost 25 years old
o (1:42:21) 2nd marriage was in 1960
Wife passed away two years ago from this interview
(1:42:43) Had 5 kids from his first wife, 2nd wife had 3 from a previous marriage
(1:43:10) Has many grandchildren
(1:44:15) Has great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren
(1:44:40) Being in the Navy helped him have more respect for people that were worse
off, also had respect for the Japanese, and other soldiers
(1:46:19) Had a brother in the Air Force, another in the Korean War
(1:46:34) One of his sons was in the Army, drafted during Vietnam War
o Had a lot of experience in the armed forces
(1:47:48) He would still join the Navy all over again
(1:49:05) Mr. Aldrich advises young people to take a chance on the Navy, says there are
many opportunities
�
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
Aldrich, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Aldrich, Charles
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for merchant ships. On his first voyage, he was on the Murmansk run with convoy PQ 18. He shot down a German bomber, but his ship was sunk by a torpedo, and he was rescued by a British destroyer. He then spent time on a US Marine base in Scotland, Oran, Algeria, on an oil tanker In the Caribbean and Atlantic, a tugboat in the Caribbean, and finally on a cargo ship in the Pacific after the end of the war, visiting Okinawa and Japan.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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. Navy
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
2011-09-29
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AldrichC1266V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b5c5dadf64bb89413521f07ba0725bf3.mp4
1bf6c022169a474c9f9a2e8a73f0ef8c
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7fd2a2e98e40bf9d6e4f0aa66b1b69b0.pdf
335e794fd81af4ca796e189082af036a
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Floyd Alexander
Vietnam War
57 minutes 40 seconds
(00:18) Early Life
-Born on October 29, 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois
-Went to first four years of grade school there
-Moved to Dow, Illinois
-Graduated in 1968
(00:53) Army Enlistment
-February 1969 enlisted in the Army
-Wanted credit for a new car
-Bank refused to give him any credit because of being draft age
-Did not know much about Vietnam
-Two cousins served in Vietnam but didn’t talk about it
-Requested to be an MP (military police)
-Wound up being placed in artillery
(02:20) Basic Training
-Sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
-Greeted by a drill sergeant
-Screamed at the recruits
-Intimidated them
-Had “zero week” for processing
-Placement tests
-Documentation
-Physicals
-Was in a “fat farm” for overweight recruits
-Had to run everywhere, walking was not allowed
-Always got recruited for “special” jobs
-Very difficult to adjust to military living
-Never had trouble with other recruits
-Drill instructors were all Vietnam veterans
-Told that they were fat and stupid and thus would get people killed
(05:16) A Quick Note on His Parents
-Father worked for a flour mill
-Family raised small livestock
-Helped family raise the animals
-Helped with being disciplined, somewhat strong, and having some stamina
(06:15)Advanced Infantry Training
-Went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for AIT (advanced individual training)
-He was told that the majority of the recruits there would go to Vietnam
-Only one recruit did not go to Vietnam
-Training consisted of field maneuvers and firing the howitzers
�-Learned how to calculate range for the guns
-Trained on the 105mm howitzers
-Was trained how to do everything artillery related
-Loading the guns, firing the guns, calculating ranges, etc.
-AIT was just as difficult as basic training in terms of actual training
-Not as emotionally taxing as basic training
-Wasn’t harassed by drill instructors in AIT
-AIT lasted eight weeks
(08:53) Deployment to Vietnam
-After AIT was over was given a thirty day leave to go home
-Dad was a WWII vet who was upset about enlistment and deployment
-Mom got draft notice five days after he left for basic
-Both parents knew that he was going to be sent to Vietnam one way or another
-Sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for deployment
-Went from Washington, to Alaska, to Japan
(10:07) Arrival in Vietnam
-Arrival date was December 22, 1969
-Landed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam
-Country had a weird smell to it
-Kept in Cam Ranh for a “zero week” waiting for deployment orders
-Also got booby trap training at this time
-Assigned to Bravo Company of the 2nd/319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division
-Flew up to Camp Evans via Chinook helicopter
(11:40) Brief Overview of Timeline
-Sent to Bravo Company for an amount of time
-Helped move guns to Firebase Ripcord
-Attached to Alpha Company of the 2nd/506th under Captain Burkhart
-Infantry duty as an RTO (radio telephone operator) in the field
(12:59) Firebase Jack
-Met up with Bravo Company at Firebase Jack
-Great reception
-Looked for soldiers that were also from Illinois (found two)
-Assigned to a gun crew
-Gun 5 (out of 7 or 8 total gun crews)
-Guns stayed there for a while until being moved
-Firebase Jack stayed relatively calm
(14:38) Firebase Ripcord
-Moved to Firebase Ripcord around May to help move 105mm howitzers there
-Nothing serious happened during the transfer of the howitzers
-Loaded the guns onto a Chinook helicopter
-Traveled with the guns
-Surrounded larger artillery (155mm guns) with smaller howitzers
-Had to reinforce and barricade their positions
-Fired countless shells every day
-Job was a “loader”: physically put rounds into howitzer
-Wasn’t quick enough once and the recoil hit his leg
�-Got sent to Camp Evans for medical examination
-Stayed there for one week
-Thought he would get to go home
-Had to physically move the ammunition around
-They had beehive (shrapnel-projectile) rounds, illumination (flare) rounds, and white
phosphorous (incendiary) rounds
-Stayed on Firebase Ripcord for about a month
(19:53) Alpha Company-General Information
-Got assigned to Alpha Company at this point to be an RTO for Lieutenant Brennan
-Flown out to the field via helicopter
-Job was to figure out coordinates and call them in via radio that he carried
-Never had to walk point in the field
-Called in heavy firepower on enemy positions
-Artillery and gunships
-Miserable walking in the jungle especially during monsoon season
-Hunkered down and stayed quiet at night
-Captain Burkhart’s replacement, Captain Hawkins, was an equally good leader
-Had one 2nd Lieutenant who was reckless and wanted to be a war hero
(26:12) July 22, 1970 Pt. 1
-Before major engagement on July 22 there was a sense of deterioration around Ripcord
-More contact with NVA, helicopter crash, artillery positions was blown up
-Does not recall anyone from his gun crew dying because of the battery exploding
-Found an NVA communications line shortly before fighting on July 22
-Encountered small arms fire and satchel charges
-Hunkered down on the hillside with officers
-Started losing officers
-Rescued wounded soldier from NVA fire
-NVA were advancing rapidly down the hill
-NVA were executing wounded Americans
-Played dead and laid on top of soldier
-Got kicked in the head by advancing NVA
-Blacked out
(30:30) July 22, 1970 Pt. 2
-Woke up from being blacked out
-Went to get help for wounded man
-Found Captain Hawkins who helped move him
-He (Floyd) and Captain Hawkins began to call in fire again until Capt. Hawkins got wounded
-Pinned down by the NVA for the entire day
-NVA pulled back at nightfall after relentless airstrikes
-Had to dig in for the night
-Delta Company came in the next day and evacuated the survivors
-Came right to Alpha Company and created a landing zone for the helicopters there
-Started to take fire as they pulled out, he was one of the last ones to leave
(35:50) Post Ripcord Vietnam
-Sent to Firebase Rakkason for a debriefing
-Kept separated from other soldiers
�-Didn’t want to damage morale
-Sent to Camp Evans after Firebase Rakkason
-Stayed with the infantry until he left the country (December 1st 1970)
-Bitterness in the wake of what happened at Ripcord
-All other contact with the NVA seemed to pale in comparison
-Spent a lot of time in the field
-Only got to be in the rear for five days (besides leg incident)
-Wanted to take an R&R to Australia
-Resupply helicopter that would have served as a transport was shot down first try
-Fog kept everyone grounded on his second try for R&R
(39:30) General Morale in Vietnam
-Never saw drug use in the rear or in the field
-Never saw racial tensions
-Served alongside African American soldiers in the artillery and in the field
-Seen as equals in battle
-Wrote home almost every day
-Mom, aunts, cousins, dad, brothers wrote back
-Three to four day wait time
-Care packages were very common
-Got half a case of baby food after mentioning fresh fruit in a letter
(42:14) Leaving Vietnam and Coming Home
-Got a “Santa Claus Drop” from Richard Nixon
-Got sent home before Christmas (December 1st to be exact)
-Landed in Fort Lewis, Washington
-Flew in in the middle of the night
-Options were a steak dinner then leave, or getting “dress greens” then leaving
-Opted to forego the steak dinner and just go
-Encountered protestors in Dallas, Texas
-Got called a baby killer by one of them
-No violence, no retaliation, just walked away
-Welcomed home extremely well in Illinois
(44:18) Fort Hood and Honor Guard Duty
-Sent to Fort Hood
-One of the six highest decorated men in his battery and was made an honor guard
-Felt guilty not being able to tell families what had happened to the soldier
-One mother was so bitter that she refused to accept the flag
-Was not attached to any other duties at Fort Hood during his time as an honor guard
-Took turns carrying a loaded casket using an honor guard for the sense of realism
(47:46) Life after the Army
-Army wanted him to re-enlist
-Offered him money, promotion, and retirement plan
-Catch was that he would have to go to Vietnam for another tour
-He refused to re-enlist
�-Went back to his place of work before the war
-Was being turned away because he was a Vietnam veteran
-Union president got involved as well as the VA and got him his job back
-Worked there until he retired
(49:50) Reflections on Service
-Views service as having a positive impact on his life
-Not a good time, but there were good times during his time in the Army
-Had a temper coming home
-Arrested for disorderly conduct
-Has to see psychiatrist to keep emotions in check
-Wife and family have a noticed a positive impact from therapy
-Thirty two years after Vietnam he finally decided to seek therapy
-Hated and resented the government
-Disgusted by the fact that the Battle of Firebase Ripcord was covered up by Congress
-Never talked about his experience in Vietnam with anyone
-Couldn’t get loans from banks because of being a Vietnam veteran
-Joined Ripcord Association after being contacted about it
-Book was written and published in the early 1990s about the battle
-His name was mentioned in it
-Association wanted him to join because of this
�
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
Alexander, Floyd (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alexander, Floyd
Description
An account of the resource
Floyd Alexander was born in 1949 in Jerseyville, Illinois. He grew up in that area and joined the Army in February 1969. He trained at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Fort Sill, Oklahoma to be a part of the artillery. He was deployed to Vietnam in December 1969 and attached to Bravo Company of the 2nd and 319th Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division and later Alpha Company of the 2nd and 506th as a radio operator. In Alpha Company he saw action in the Battle of Firebase Ripcord and served in Vietnam until he was released early on December 1st, 1970. After the war he returned home and served as an honor guard at Fort Hood during the last part of his enlistment.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
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
2013-10-12
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AlexanderF1452V
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
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ecafaabda501ef8202123912f316cb8.mp4
aad90eb132ebb355b73a5f2894be4319
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a95d30044212c4fd8c93c0fe91b0b725.pdf
4787cda7e32a7d30120bb0eda120b2dd
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Michael Alioto
Vietnam War
Interview Length: (02:01:49:00)
Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:27:00)
Alioto was born on December 19th, 1947 at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan
(00:00:27:00)
o While he was growing up, Alioto and his family alternated living in East
Dearborn, Michigan and the west side of Detroit (00:00:34:00)
o Apart from himself, Alioto also had two younger sisters (00:00:41:00)
o While Alioto was growing up, his father had a drinking problem, which did not
always manifest itself in pleasant ways (00:00:55:00)
Alioto’s father worked in a series of different jobs; when he initially got out of the service
following World War II, having served as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps, he took a
job as an inspector for the city of Dearborn (00:01:05:00)
o After working as an inspector, Alioto’s father held a series of jobs as a salesman
until his death in 1973 (00:01:20:00)
Alioto attended twelve years of Catholic school in Detroit, followed by (in no particular
order): Henry Ford Community College, Wayne State University, Central Michigan
University, Arizona State University and the University of Michigan (00:01:48:00)
o Alioto attended some of the college before his service in Vietnam, although the
majority came after he left the military (00:02:17:00)
o Alioto graduated from high school in 1966 (00:02:23:00)
After Alioto graduated from high school, instead of just going straight to college, his
father convinced him that he could work full-time at Ford Motor Company and still go to
school full-time, doing his homework on breaks (00:02:29:00)
o At the time, a man had to be taking twelve credits in order to receive an
educational deferment for the draft (00:02:46:00)
During his first semester, Alioto ended up taking seventeen credits, which
on top of working full-time, was almost an undoable task (00:02:49:00)
o Alioto initially attended Henry Ford Community College and did relatively well
the first year, maintain around a 2.5 G.P.A. while still working full time at Ford; it
was roughly the same for Alioto during his second year in college (00:03:08:00)
Although he still had his educational deferment, Alioto was accidentally drafted during
his second year in college (00:03:31:00)
o Alioto called his draft board and explained he had a deferment; the draft board
said that happened all the time and all Alioto needed to do was bring in proof of
the deferment to them (00:03:41:00)
o Even though he said he would bring the proof down, the more Alioto thought
about it, the more he hesitated; the only reason he was in school in the first place
was to avoid going into the service (00:03:50:00)
However, Alioto had always scored high on the standardized tests in
school, so he knew that if he went into the service, he would test into a
�
clerical position or some other relatively easy position and sail through the
two years of military service (00:04:02:00)
Earlier, Alioto had applied to the Michigan National Guard; however,
when the Guard called in 1968, Alioto turned them down because he did
not want to go to training at that time (00:04:19:00)
Alioto officially entered the service on June 26th, 1969 (00:04:48:00)
o At the time, Vietnam was up-front in the news and as a college student, Alioto
was very aware of what was happening (00:04:54:00)
From Alioto’s experience, a significant portion of the other students in
college were there, taking twelve credits, for only one reason, to avoid the
draft (00:05:02:00)
In order to avoid joining the Army or Marines, men also tended to
join the Reserves or the Air Force or Navy; some men did join the
Army but under the condition that they be allowed to choose their
Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) (00:05:12:00)
o If someone voluntarily enlisted, they had a three-year
enlistment and could choose their MOS; if someone was
drafted, they had a two-year enlistment but were subject to
the will of the military in terms of their MOS (00:05:39:00)
During Alioto’s junior year in high school, his history teacher gave
Alioto’s class a two-question test; the questions were: What is the capital
of North Vietnam and What is the capital of South Vietnam (00:05:58:00)
All Alioto could remember was one of the capitals was Hanoi, so
he put that for both and received a 50% on the rest (00:06:17:00)
However, Alioto’s father was astute and well-read and had warned
Alioto that he did not want to end up having to go to Vietnam to
fight (00:06:39:00)
Alioto had friends who were in the service in Vietnam and who were
writing letters home (00:07:02:00)
After finally joining the military, Alioto went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for his basic
training; in order to get to Fort Knox, Alioto ended up taking a bus from Fort Wayne in
Detroit (00:07:12:00)
o Once they had arrived, Alioto and between two and four hundred other recruits
were herded into a large auditorium and they all went through their aptitude
testing (00:07:22:00)
A couple of weeks into the training, Alioto’s training company
commander called Alioto in and told him that Alioto had earned the
highest test scores in the company, about 200 recruits (00:08:01:00)
As a result of the high test scores, Alioto was even more confident
that he would receive a reasonable MOS; although he might go to
Vietnam, he would not have an assignment that would put him in
harm’s way (00:08:17:00)
o Prior to being drafted, Alioto went through his Army physical around his
nineteenth birthday at Fort Wayne in Detroit (00:08:59:00)
�
During his physical, Alioto did not pay too much attention to whether
other men were trying to cheat and get themselves disqualified from
having to serve (00:09:27:00)
However, if any of the men really wanted to serve, they could have
enlisted, so if they were doing their physical for the draft, they did
not really want to go (00:09:30:00)
o A lot of the men talked about having bad knees, asthma,
high blood pressure, etc. in order to get themselves
disqualified (00:09:48:00)
Alioto did not try anything to be disqualified, partially because he
was drafted while still on deferment, so he was not exactly sure if
he would have to serve or not (00:10:32:00)
o Even if he did serve, Alioto was fairly certain that he would
end up with a fairly cushy job (00:10:44:00)
o There were about forty other recruits in Alioto’s training company at Fort Knox
and Alioto could not have met forty nice men (00:11:07:00)
There were a lot of bright kids in the company, which was not what Alioto
had expected going in (00:11:29:00)
o Nevertheless, the training was demanding and the intensity of the training really
depended on the individual training company commanders; in some training
companies, during the nine-week basic training, the men received up to seven
twenty-four to thirty hour weekend passes (00:11:41:00)
Conversely, during the nine-week period, Alioto’s training company
ended up receive only one weekend pass, from noon Saturday until six
p.m. Sunday (00:12:09:00)
Because he arrived at Fort Knox in June, Alioto did not have to worry
about it being cold; Alioto liked this fact because although he could stand
the heat, he did not like the cold (00:12:18:00)
Having played a lot of sports while he was growing up, the physical rigors
of the training were not a problem for Alioto (00:10:32:00)
There was a large emphasis placed on discipline and following orders and
pretty much all of the soldiers followed them (00:12:45:00)
For the small percentage who chose to “fight the system”, the drill
sergeants knew several methods to convince the men to follow the
rules (00:12:52:00)
o One of the most popular methods was for the drill
instructors to punish all the other men in the platoon who
were not acting up, who would in turn dole out their own
punishment (00:13:04:00)
The facilities that the recruits were using were older but were still nice and
clean, albeit very spartan (00:13:26:00)
The men would wake up early in the morning and go through PT (physical
training) before going to breakfast; if the men got dirty doing the PT, they
had to go back to the barracks and change into a clean pair of fatigues
before going to breakfast (00:14:06:00)
�
Each of the men were given two pairs of boots, one pair of which
were marked with red dots; the soldiers would not wear the same
pair two days in a row, which forced them to spit-shine the boots
every night (00:14:36:00)
o Most of the training platoons had a head drill sergeant along with three or four
other drill sergeants; some of the drill sergeants were career soldiers but a large
portion were sergeants who had returned from Vietnam and had to finish out their
enlistments (00:15:11:00)
The head drill sergeant in Alioto’s platoon had already served a couple of
tours in Vietnam in the infantry, was hard-as-nails, and did not tolerate
any nonsense (00:15:42:00)
When Alioto graduated from the training, the drill sergeant shook
his hand and told Alioto to go home and tell his mother that he had
made her proud (00:15:57:00)
o At the end of basic training, the men lined up in formation and went through
graduation (00:16:21:00)
While the men were in formation, the various MOS assignments were
given out; eventually, the commanders reached Eleven Bravo Ten and all
the men crossed their fingers and hoped that they would not be assigned to
medics or infantry (00:16:45:00)
From what Alioto can remember, only a small number were called
for Eleven Bravo Ten, only around eight or so; however, the first
name that was called was “Alioto, Michael” (00:17:08:00)
o Up until that point, Alioto was convinced that he was just
going to coast through a two-year enlistment (00:17:24:00)
The gravity of his situation hit Alioto the following day, when he and the other Eleven
Bravo Tens flew from Fort Knox to Fort Polk, Louisiana, which was colloquially known
as “Tigerland” (00:17:48:00)
o All the soldiers who went to training at Fort Polk knew their odds of going to
Vietnam were immense (00:17:56:00)
o One of the reasons basic training was relatively easy was that some of the men in
the training with Alioto were National Guardsmen and Reservists (00:18:32:00)
However, when Alioto arrived at Fort Polk, out of the two hundred men in
his training company, he believes all of them were draftees (00:18:45:00)
A large portion of Alioto’s training company were either Southern
whites or Southern blacks and because that was the era of the Civil
Rights movement, there was a tremendous amount of hatred from
the Southern blacks towards the Southern whites (00:18:57:00)
o From Fort Polk until the end of his time in the service,
whenever he arrived in a new area, Alioto was told about
where to go and when to go in large groups (00:19:27:00)
In a sense, it was code that if someone was planning
to go to the areas where black soldiers tend to hang
out, either don’t go or go in a large group
(00:19:43:00)
�
All the men at Fort Polk knew where they would be going, knew
what they would be doing when they got there and knew there was
a very good chance they could be wounded or killed (00:19:58:00)
A lot of the men were unhappy they had to be at Fort Polk, given what
training their signified, which made the mood very dissimilar from what
Alioto had experience during basic training (00:20:30:00)
As much as he had enjoyed the training at Fort Knox, Alioto
disliked the training at Fort Polk (00:20:39:00)
o For the most part, the training at Fort Polk was a replication of the training Alioto
had received at Fort Knox; during basic training, almost everyone trained to be an
infantryman, although not all of them would be regular infantry (00:20:47:00)
Once at Fort Polk, all the recruits trained with M-16 rifles, M-60 machine
guns, LAWs (Light Anti-Tank Weapons), etc., as well as anything else
that was combat-related, such as in-the-field medical training and a lot of
night training (00:21:06:00)
A lot of the men skipped out on the night training; the training was much
more chaotic at Fort Polk and a lot of the men figured out that when the
men got on the buses at two in the morning to return to base, the
instructors did not take a roll-call (00:21:24:00)
A lot of the men, Alioto included, would be marching to the buses
to go out to night training and as soon as they could, they would
drop out of the line and go do something else with a couple of
friends (00:21:44:00)
A large amount of the training was replication of what the men had
already learned and there was only so many times the soldiers
could do the same things without being bored (00:22:04:00)
One part of the training was combat courses where the men were
taken into the field and told to march three miles to a location;
meanwhile, instructors would be all along the route trying to catch
the men and if they did catch any, the instructors would “torture”
the men to see if they would learn any information (00:22:14:00)
o A portion of the men figured that the best way not to be
caught was to not go out in the first place (00:22:32:00)
Although they did manage to occasionally get out of the night training, the
men still had to go through training during the day, so they did not miss
much (00:22:50:00)
Instead of being a nine-week basic training course, the training at
Fort Polk was like an eighteen-week basic training course
(00:22:55:00)
Given Fort Polk’s location in the swamps of Louisiana, the terrain and
weather were comparable to what the men would eventually experience in
Vietnam (00:23:05:00)
o Despite the training Alioto and the men received, one of the first things they were
told when they arrived in Vietnam by the men who had already been deployed
was to just watch the veterans and do what they do; after a couple of months, the
new guys would know everything they needed to do to survive (00:23:37:00)
�
The training at Fort Polk was strictly about getting the soldiers combatready for Vietnam (00:24:03:00)
o The training at Fort Polk lasted for another eight or nine weeks, although unlike
the training at Fort Knox, the men had weekend passes every single weekend and
Alioto would take the passes and go into a small nearby town with three other
soldiers (00:24:15:00)
Once Alioto finished at Fort Polk, he was supposed to go to Vietnam; however, he
decided to attempt to go through more specialized training, with the hopes that when he
finished that, the Army would re-issue him orders and send him to Korea or someplace
other than Vietnam (00:24:55:00)
o Therefore, after Fort Polk, Alioto went to Fort Benning, Georgia for specialized
training, although the training turned out to be almost another nine weeks of basic
training (00:25:14:00)
o When Alioto went from Fort Polk to Fort Benning, he was given a pass and soon
after he arrived at Fort Benning, the soldiers were given a two-week pass to go
home for Christmas (00:25:26:00)
Alioto finished the training at Fort Benning in March, the Army re-issued him orders, and
still sent him to Vietnam; all Alioto had done was delay the inevitable (00:25:44:00)
o The advanced training consisted of more infantry training; although there was
some leadership training, it was not to the level of NCO (non-commissioned
officer school) school (00:25:54:00)
o Throughout Alioto’s entire training, the instructors pushed him to go through
officer training (00:26:23:00)
At the time, there were three different OCS (Officer Candidate School)
programs: Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Engineering at Fort Belvoir,
Virginia, and Infantry at Fort Benning (00:26:36:00)
Alioto told the instructors that he would extend his enlistment for a year
and go through OCS if and only if they could guarantee that he would go
through engineering OCS (00:26:45:00)
However, there was not a need for soldiers to go through
Engineering OCS (00:26:56:00)
When Alioto finished the advanced training at Fort Benning, he received another leave
home and returned home around Easter (00:27:17:00)
o While Alioto was on leave, his family went snowmobiling in the northern part of
Michigan, Alioto got a little reckless and drove his snowmobile into a tree; Alioto
was thrown from the snowmobile but his feet got caught and he initially assumed
that he had broken a leg (00:27:28:00)
Alioto laid in the snow, actually hoping that he had broken one of his legs;
however, it was only bruised (00:27:44:00)
Deployment to Vietnam (00:27:58:00)
When he actually deployed, Alioto first traveled to Fort Dix, New Jersey and from Fort
Dix, he flew first to Alaska and to either Tokyo or Manila before arriving at Bien Hoa Air
Force Base, which was just outside of Saigon (00:27:58:00)
�o Once he was at Bien Hoa, Alioto was placed into a massive holding area with
other soldiers who had just arrived in-country; at that point, Alioto still did not
even know what division he would be joining (00:28:21:00)
o When Alioto arrived at Bien Hoa, it was around mid-to-late morning and his first
impressions of Vietnam were how oppressive and enveloping the weather was
and how secure the surrounding area was (00:28:39:00)
In part of his mind, Alioto believed that he was going to get off the airliner
and immediately have to start ducking enemy gunfire (00:29:01:00)
o From Bien Hoa, Alioto and the other soldiers were bused to Long Binh, where
they stayed while they waited to be assigned to a unit (00:29:06:00)
Typically, the men had to wait three or four days before they received
their individual assignments; while they waited, the men would go to bars
at night and played basketball during the day (00:29:26:00)
While waiting on the base, some of the men were assigned to do guardduty at night, which was a scare experience for them; although Alioto
looks back and realizes it was extremely safe, he was still new in-country
and feared there was an enemy in every bush (00:29:57:00)
o Every day, the men would go out and look at a large board to see if their name
was up their; one day, Alioto saw his own name and next to it, it said “Phu Bai”
(00:30:26:00)
Alioto did not know what Phu Bai was, so he asked someone what it was
and the other soldier said Alioto was not going to like it; when Alioto
asked why, he was told that Phu Bai meant he was assigned to the 101st
Airborne Division (00:30:39:00)
(00:30:58:00) – (00:32:42:00) : Technical Difficulties
o In order to get to the 101st Airborne, Alioto flew aboard a C-130 transport from
Long Binh to Phu Bai; once in Phu Bai, Alioto was assigned to the 1st Battalion of
the 501st Airborne Regiment (00:31:56:00)
Once Alioto was assigned to a company within the battalion, he met the
company first sergeant, was sent to the company supply sergeant, given
his equipment, and told to go to a helipad the following morning, so he
could be taken out to his company (00:32:42:00)
Prior to when Alioto arrived at the battalion area, his company had been
involved in serious fighting with the enemy and was down in manpower;
therefore, when Alioto went into the field, he went with three other
soldiers to a join 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company (00:33:07:00)
o When Alioto joined his platoon, they were operating in very mountainous terrain,
in either the A Shau Valley or an area contiguous to the A Shau (00:33:27:00)
Alioto’s battalion did not have a set area-of-operation but were passed
around the division’s area-of-operation; this meant that ever five or six
days, the men were moving to a new firebase (00:33:57:00)
When they first arrived at the platoon, Alioto and the other replacement
soldiers received a very poor reception from the other solders already in
the platoon (00:34:11:00)
�
When Alioto got off the helicopter, the platoon was actually
involved in a small fire-fight and the first words the four men
heard were “Get Down, A******” (00:34:18:00)
Alioto dove behind a nearby log and from what he can remember,
nobody approached him for around three hours; all Alioto
remembers think was if that was a daily occurrence, how could
anyone make it for 365 days (00:34:33:00)
After the first day, nobody was warm to the new soldiers; more than
anything else, Alioto attributes the cold reception to the immaturity of
twenty-year-olds (00:35:00:00)
o After two weeks, Alioto and the other new soldiers were not receiving all that
much more respect from the other soldiers; after one month, there was more
respect and after two months, Alioto and the others were considered veterans in
the platoon (00:35:15:00)
Alioto never forgot the experience, so when he became a “veteran”, he
was always welcoming to any new soldiers (00:35:29:00)
o It was an uncomfortable experience for Alioto when he was a new guy; it was bad
enough that he was over there but the weather was traumatic and the mission the
men had to do were tiring (00:35:45:00)
In the year Alioto was with his platoon, the platoon never once did operations from a
firebase; instead, the platoon remained in the field, constantly doing search-and-destroy
missions (00:36:28:00)
o Initially, there were twenty-five men in the platoon, although if there was a lot of
combat, that number could be whittled down to as few as sixteen; conversely, if
the platoon was re-supplied and kept up regularly and did not face combat for an
extended period, that number got as high as thirty-one or thirty-two (00:36:38:00)
o On a typical day, the men would wake up in the morning, march through an area,
and to set up camps on any of the higher hills in the area (00:36:54:00)
When set-up the camp, the platoon would set up on a trail, ring their entire
area with flares and claymore mines, and set out two guard posts, one at
either end of the trail, each supported by a squad (00:37:11:00)
Although they were in the field, most of the men were asleep by
eight o’clock (00:37:35:00)
The men never dug in once and for the most part, they never set-up any
protection over their heads; if it was raining, they would make tents out of
their ponchos (00:37:54:00)
During the night, one man would be awake and on-guard from eight
o’clock until nine o’clock, when he woke up another man; the cycle
repeated every hour (00:38:15:00)
In the morning, the men would wake up, one of their squads would
leaving their heavy equipment with the rest of the platoon and go into the
jungle for a three- or four-hour patrol (00:38:32:00)
The patrol would return around noon, eat lunch, and the entire platoon
would saddle up, to move out, stopping and setting up another position
around six o’clock in the evening (00:38:46:00)
�
For the most part, if the soldiers did find any enemy forces, it was
almost always accidental (00:39:04:00)
o Every seven or eight weeks, the soldiers were pulled out of the field for about six
days (00:39:17:00)
On Christmas Eve, 1970, the men received a hot meal; however, it was
only mostaccioli without any meat and Alioto would have just as soon
eaten regular C-rations (00:39:34:00)
During the entire year, Alioto received two beers, which also came out on
Christmas Eve (00:39:52:00)
When the opportunity presented itself, Alioto was one of the men selected
from his unit to go see a Bob Hope comedy show; however, because his
platoon was a in bad area, they were unable to get a helicopter in to get
Alioto out and he ended up missing the show (00:40:05:00)
o For the most part, the things the soldiers did on a daily basis was very repetitive,
search-and-destroy patrols day-after-day-after-day (00:40:29:00)
During the first couple of months Alioto was in the battalion, the battalion moved on a
nearly regular basis, shifting to a new position every six or seven days (00:40:42:00)
o At one point, Alioto tried to figure out how many times the battalion moved and
from what he counted, it was seventy-eight times (00:41:03:00)
o The reason why the battalion moved so much was there thirteen total battalions in
the division and Alioto’s battalion was frequently used as support for whichever
battalion was involved in the worst fighting (00:41:17:00)
o Alioto’s battalion remained the “bastard battalion” for about six months and he
remembers one night that information was passed around that the battalion was
finally going to receive an area-of-operations (00:41:34:00)
o Soon after, the battalion was given the AO (Area-of-Operations) that surrounding
Firebase Birmingham, which was the “cushiest” area-of-operations that the 101st
Airborne had (00:41:51:00)
The way Alioto looks at it, the battalion receiving the AO around
Birmingham was a “make-up” for all the stuff that the battalion had gone
through in the first six months he was there (00:42:01:00)
o The battalion ended up staying at Firebase Birmingham for around three months
and although the men were still operating in the field, it was much easier than
what they had been doing (00:42:14:00)
Birmingham was a very large firebase and when the men spent six days
there, it was almost like a vacation (00:42:33:00)
At the time, Birmingham had 175mm artillery guns stationed on it, which
were massive guns; as far as Alioto is aware, Birmingham was the only
firebase in Vietnam to have 175mm guns (00:43:17:00)
The men were on the firebase over Thanksgiving and were able to have a
traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, dressing, etc.; while on the
firebase for Thanksgiving was the only time Alioto ever saw a “Doughnut
Dolly”, an American girl who worked for the Red Cross (00:43:29:00)
Alioto clearly remembers his first firefight, mostly because the platoon “ran into a buzz
saw”; over a four-day period, the platoon suffered thirteen casualties out of the twentyfive soldiers, with three killed and ten wounded (00:44:05:00)
�
o For the most part, the wounded came as the result of friendly fire from American
artillery (00:44:22:00)
o Math had always been a strong-suit for Alioto but it did not take much to figure
out that if his platoon lost over half its strength in only four days, it did not bode
well for him going forward (00:45:56:00)
o Still, out of all the combat Alioto saw, there were only three other times where the
fighting was as gruesome as those first four days (00:45:16:00)
o In Alioto’s platoon, the platoon lost well over 100% of its soldiers, either
wounded or killed; from what Alioto can figure, approximately half of the
platoon’s casualties were a result of friendly fire (00:45:38:00)
At one point, mortars were called in to assist the platoon but they ended up
landing on the platoon’s position; Alioto still gets chills thinking about the
sound that the mortar rounds made, which shows just how close the mortar
rounds were (00:46:06:00)
During his tour, Alioto had two other soldiers die in his arms
(00:47:24:00)
In one case, the soldier was a fairly new, having only been in the
field for a couple of weeks, and had not gotten himself fully
acclimated to being in the field (00:47:39:00)
o Alioto has always felt a little responsible for the soldier’s
death because Alioto had told the soldier to go help bring
back some water from the base of a hill (00:47:43:00)
The hills were extremely large and tough to climb;
Alioto had gone through nearly nine months of
training and even he was not in shape to climb up
and down the hills (00:47:57:00)
o The platoon went out on patrol and all of sudden, the
soldier snapped and started waving his gun around, saying
there were NVA; the other soldiers had never seen him act
this way, so they thought he was trying to get a psychotic
discharge (00:48:55:00)
o All of a sudden, the soldier started breathing oddly and
although the other soldiers tried everything they could,
there was nothing they could do (00:49:13:00)
o That particular soldier’s death was the only time Alioto saw
someone die without being wounded by a bullet or artillery
or mortar round (00:49:35:00)
Alioto actually went into the field in April of 1970 (00:49:54:00)
During his first couple of months in the field, Alioto had never heard of Firebase
Ripcord, although as far as he knows, he might have come within several miles of the
firebase (00:50:24:00)
o At one point, his unit was flown into an LZ (Landing Zone), LZ Kelly, but was
socked in by bad weather, which prevented even re-supply helicopters from
coming in (00:50:38:00)
�
It eventually reached the point where the men were literally out of food;
the unit had a scout dog and there were a lot of jokes about killing and
eating the dog (00:50:56:00)
o Once the unit finally made it out of LZ Kelly, they were moved to an AO near
series of firebases adjacent to the South China Sea; on the 4th of July, the men
were taken onto one of the firebases, Firebase Tomahawk, and were treated to a
steak cookout (00:51:06:00)
o After Firebase Tomahawk, Alioto’s unit went for a stand-down, the first it had
had since May (00:52:01:00)
Whenever he was not in the field, Alioto was a heavy beer drinker and a
big card player, and he remembers that by around six in the morning on
the third day of the stand-down, he was playing cards when someone came
in and told he and the other men to saddle-up because one of the other
battalions was being hit (00:52:12:00)
Even though he was still drunk, Alioto got his gear and went out to the
helipad (00:53:06:00)
Eventually, the men were flown out to an in-active firebase about four or
five kilometers away from Firebase Ripcord called Firebase Gladiator
(00:53:23:00)
o Once there, the men began rebuilding Gladiator; as they rebuilt the firebase,
Alioto realized the gravity of the situation because that was the first time he had
ever seen any officer in the field above the rank of captain (00:53:41:00)
There were two generals on the firebase and Alioto remembers that as the
men were digging in, the generals walked up; although most of the men
stopped and saluted, Alioto did not and kept digging (00:54:03:00)
Another officer with the generals asked if Alioto did not know how
to salute and Alioto replied that he did not have time to salute;
when he said that, one of the generals commented and said that
Alioto was a smart soldier (00:54:32:00)
Later in the day, the Vietnamese began walking mortar rounds up the hill
where Gladiator was located and when Alioto ran to one of the only areas
that had been dug in, he found it so full of soldiers, there was no place to
go (00:54:50:00)
Instead, Alioto laid on the top of the hill, without any cover or
anything, and to try to keep his mind distracted, he read a small
copy of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (00:55:06:00)
The men continued rebuilding Gladiator, with heavy engineers eventually
called in to remove tree-stumps (00:55:45:00)
At the time, Alioto’s platoon had a young, eager 1st Lieutenant and at one
point, when the commanders wanted one of the platoons to fly from
Gladiator to fly off the firebase and support Ripcord, the Lieutenant
volunteered Alioto’s platoon (00:56:09:00)
The Lieutenant figured it was safer to be supporting Ripcord than
to be on Gladiator, which was sure to be hit by enemy mortar
rounds every night (00:56:41:00)
�
o Although the Lieutenant may have been right, Alioto would
have rather stayed on Gladiator (00:56:46:00)
At the time, Alioto was carrying an M-60 machine gun as his
weapon and traditionally, whenever his platoon moved, one of the
platoon’s two M-60s and one of the platoon’s medics were always
in the first helicopter (00:56:55:00)
o The two M-60s alternated who went on the first helicopter
and when the platoon moved to support Ripcord, it was
Alioto’s turn to be on the first helicopter (00:57:19:00)
As the helicopter was flying into the area around Ripcord, it was
shot down; the helicopter was hover about thirty feet to land and
the enemy gunfire knocked the rotors off, which caused the
helicopter to drop like a rock (00:57:48:00)
Apart from Alioto, there were four other soldiers on the helicopter,
plus a pilot, co-pilot, and two door gunners and when the
helicopter crashed, Alioto was the only one of the nine who was
not injured (00:58:09:00)
o They were unable to send in a second helicopter because
Alioto’s helicopter was still burning and cooking off
ammunition (00:58:21:00)
o The medic was doing his best to help people although he
was injured and Alioto’s ammunition carrier was hurt
severely (00:58:32:00)
o Eventually, other medical personnel made it into the crash
site and managed to medi-vac the wounded, although
Alioto’s ammunition carrier, the medic, and one of the
other soldiers never returned to the field (00:59:04:00)
Even though they were clearly in a dangerous area, Alioto and the
other men in the platoon were not allowed to leave until a special
group from the rear area came out to investigate the helicopter
crash wreckage to see what exactly had happened (00:59:34:00)
While the men waited, they moved off the landing zone and took
up a position on a nearby hill; the men knew that the enemy knew
they were there but they did not know how many men the enemy
had to use (01:00:01:00)
o The men began doing patrols and spent the following night
on the same hill, which was something the men almost
never did (01:00:28:00)
o The platoon eventually stayed on the same hilltop for three
or four nights but never saw another enemy after the
helicopter was shot down (01:00:46:00)
o After three or four days, an inspection team still never
came to look at the crash wreckage (01:01:26:00)
The triple canopy jungle where the platoon was operating was so immense that a large
enemy force could only be a couple of miles away but it might have been comparable to
being a state away (01:02:01:00)
�
o For the most part, the men almost never encountered signs indicating enemy
soldiers (01:02:35:00)
o The soldiers were very regimented in terms of making sure they did not leave
anything behind, so whenever they would move positions, they would try to make
it seem as though no one had been there (01:02:48:00)
o Whenever the platoon hit combat, it was because they had walked into the
fighting or, during the first six months, they were flown into an area to support
another unit (01:03:22:00)
For the first six months, there was a lot of combat, followed by three
months of little combat and three months of intense fighting when Alioto’s
battalion was moved out of the area in and around the A Shau and north to
an area near the DMZ (01:03:53:00)
While his platoon was near the DMZ, Alioto ended up going on an all-night patrol with
just six other soldiers along the South China Sea, just south of the DMZ (01:04:38:00)
o During the patrol, the soldiers watched as what looked like an old school bus
drove across the DMZ and dropped off around forty enemy soldiers
(01:04:44:00)
o Although they could have bombarded the enemy soldiers, the men on the patrol
made the decision not to and the enemy group eventually marched off to the west,
away from the South China Sea (01:05:18:00)
o It was interesting that because they were operating in the same area for nine or ten
months, the soldiers became acclimated to that area and although the area near the
DMZ might have been safer than the A Shau Valley, the area was not as
comfortable for Alioto (01:05:53:00)
After his first month in-country, Alioto considered re-enlisting the Army
just so he could receive a new MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and
after two months, he would have never left his platoon (01:06:40:00)
Misc. Reflections (01:07:21:00)
From Alioto’s experience, there were three types of officers: those who had gone
through OCS, those who had gone through West Point, and those who had gone through
an ROTC program (01:07:21:00)
o On a scale of one to ten, the officers who had gone through OCS were all tens,
while West Point officers were often mediocre at best and the ROTC officers
were a joke (01:07:32:00)
o Officers rotated more quickly than enlisted personnel and during his twelve
month tour, Alioto’s platoon had five different 1st Lieutenants; still, the platoon
never had a 1st Lieutenant who was not very good (01:08:24:00)
As the lieutenants rotated, it always seemed as if the replacement was
smart enough to go to the sergeants and other veterans in the platoon to
ask for advice and assistance (01:09:13:00)
None of the lieutenants had the attitude that they were the officer
and the other soldiers should defer to them (01:09:32:00)
o Often, even with the sergeants, if an E-6 (Staff Sergeant) who had never been in
combat came into the field and worked with a pair of E-4s (Corporals) who had
been in the field six months, the E-6 deferred to the E-4s (01:10:38:00)
�
Alioto would characterize the morale of the platoon was phenomenal; all of the men got
along and although there were occasionally petty arguments, there was never anything
physical (01:11:14:00)
o For the most part, the ethnicity of the soldiers in the platoon were white; there was
never a large contingent of black soldiers in the platoon, with the most being only
three or four (01:11:36:00)
Nevertheless, whenever the unit was not in the field, Alioto could always
sense a racial tension (01:12:47:00)
When Alioto was working in the Ford factories prior to his service, the
racial divide in some of the areas was almost fifty/fifty; as well, playing
sports while growing up had given Alioto experience in being around
black people (01:13:08:00)
However, for the soldiers who had come from the northern
suburbs, they had zero experience with black people; these soldiers
tended to make comments, such as their best friend being black,
that the black soldiers saw right through (01:13:38:00)
While Alioto was in a training, there was one point when a couple
of black recruits in the unit went to one of the white National
Guardsmen in the unit and asked what state he was from and what
he did in the National Guard there (01:14:29:00)
o As the recruits talked, one of the black recruits snapped his
fingers and said, “Oh, I know, you guys kill n****** don’t
you” (01:15:06:00)
Something Alioto hopes will change about the American public’s perception of the
soldier in Vietnam was that he was sitting in the field, high on drugs (01:16:20:00)
o In his twelve months in the field, Alioto never once saw an incident of anyone
ever using drugs (01:16:32:00)
There was a sense of responsibility amongst the soldiers and they knew
that there was no way they could be doing what they were doing if they
were high (01:16:44:00)
That being said, whenever the platoon went on a stand-down, as soon as
the men were out of the field, one group would go wherever they needed
to go to get a beer while another group went wherever they needed to go
to get drugs (01:17:01:00)
o From what Alioto saw, the drug use amongst the soldiers was largely restricted to
the rear area(s), which happened to be where the bulk of the soldiers in Vietnam
were stationed (01:17:48:00)
Alioto’s platoon almost always had a Vietnamese scout assigned to it (01:18:16:00)
o However, given the types of operations that the 101st Airborne was operating at
the time, working in the triple canopy jungle, Alioto never once saw a Vietnamese
village (01:18:32:00)
If the men saw human life, it was either an American soldier or an enemy
soldier (01:18:56:00)
o Still, there was a large contingent of Vietnamese civilians who worked in the rear
area(s) and by and large, Alioto got along great with them (01:19:07:00)
�
Alioto never had concerns that the Vietnamese working on the bases were
enemy personnel (01:19:46:00)
The experience of the soldiers in the field was so strong that just the experience of getting
out of the field for six or seven days on a stand-down was more enjoyable than a week’s
vacation in Florida (01:19:52:00)
Alioto was fortunate enough to receive an R&R (Rest and Recuperation) to Bangkok,
Thailand in the middle of his tour; even better for Alioto, he ended up receiving a nineday R&R instead of the standard seven-day (01:20:25:00)
o Alioto took his R&R in September and in the following January, his company
received a new First Sergeant (01:20:47:00)
Several years before Alioto deployed, a band named the Hollywood
Argyles had release a song titles “Alley Oop” and for the majority of his
tour, Alioto was called “Oop” by the other soldiers (01:20:56:00)
o Eventually, the new First Sergeant came up and asked if Alioto had been on R&R
yet; almost immediately, Alioto formulated a complete thought and said he had
not (01:21:34:00)
Alioto decided to drag it out for a little bit and the First Sergeant
eventually said that Alioto’s best friend in platoon was going to Hawaii on
R&R and there was an extra spot open (01:22:18:00)
At the time, the in-demand R&R spot was Australia but soldiers
had to wait eight or nine months to receive an R&R there
(01:22:55:00)
o Alioto ended up going to Hawaii with his friend, who was trying to convince his
wife, who had sent him a Dear John letter, to come meet him (01:23:15:00)
There were a large portion of men in Alioto’s platoon who were married
and many of whom had married only a month or two before they
deployed; from what Alioto can remember, almost half of the married men
ended up receiving a Dear John letter (01:23:29:00)
When Alioto and his friend arrived in Hawaii, they got a hotel room for
cheap and the friend got in contact with his wife, who was at a bowling
alley at the time (01:24:00:00)
The wife said that she was not going to come to Hawaii and about
a minute later, she said that she had to go because it was her turn to
bowl (01:24:44:00)
When the wife said that, the friend slammed the phone down and swore at
the wife before ripping the phone off the wall (01:25:37:00)
Meanwhile, Alioto was hoping to find the first girl he could and
strike up a conversation between her and the friend (01:26:25:00)
The two eventually went to a bar and came across a group of four girls,
who they started talking with; however, one of the girls eventually
mentioned that her father was in the military, which set the friend off
again (01:26:42:00)
Around three in the morning, the two made it back to the hotel and Alioto
passed out, only to be woke by someone shaking his shoulder; when he
opened his eyes, he saw it was a black prostitute that his friend had gone
�
out and hired for him by way of apology for messing up the evening
(01:27:19:00)
When Alioto first arrived at Bravo company at the beginning of the tour, there was a
black First Sergeant who interviewed him (01:28:38:00)
o The two men hit it off and as it turned out, because Alioto had the highest test
scores out of anyone in the company, the First Sergeant offered Alioto the
company position when the current company clerk rotated home (01:28:49:00)
o After the soldiers were pulled off of LZ Kelly, they were flown into some lowlands, where it was warm and sunny and they were told to take off their boots and
socks to dry them out (01:30:01:00)
All the soldiers had jungle rot on their feet and for Alioto, for almost a
year after his tour, he had to take his shoes off and leave them outside
because they would stink so bad (01:30:28:00)
As the men were drying off, the company medic was walking around,
checking the soldiers’ feet and when he got to Alioto, he said Alioto had
the worst case of trench foot he had ever seen (01:31:14:00)
In reality, Alioto did not have trench foot; he had just been laying
in the sun for so long that his feet were sunburned (01:31:28:00)
The medic sent Alioto back to the rear area with two other soldiers
to see a doctor and when the doctor saw them, he said there was
nothing wrong with their feet (01:31:35:00)
Alioto talked with the first sergeant, who told him to take a helicopter out
to his unit; however, Alioto knew how disorganized everything was in the
rear, so he figured he could get away with spending a couple of days in the
rear and nobody would be the wiser (01:31:52:00)
After a couple of days, Alioto finally took a helicopter out to where his
company was supposed to be, around Firebase Bastogne; however, none
of the company was there (01:32:29:00)
When Alioto finally caught up to the company a day or two later, nobody
said anything (01:33:03:00)
o Eventually, when the company made it to Firebase Tomahawk, the first sergeant
flew out and called in Alioto to talk (01:33:22:00)
When Alioto walked into the hooch where the first sergeant was, he
remembers the first sergeant waging his finger and saying that Alioto was
not going to be the company clerk (01:33:48:00)
When the first sergeant said that, Alioto realized that he had traded
two days for eight months; however, as it turned out, it was
probably for the best because Alioto was a better soldier in the
field than out of it (01:34:04:00)
Carrying the M-60 was exhausting work and when Alioto first joined the company,
another soldier was carrying the machine gun; however, the soldier said that the next time
a big soldier came in, he was passing off the M-60 and as it turned out, that soldier was
Alioto (01:34:43:00)
o Once Alioto managed to pass the M-60 onto someone else, the remainder of his
tour was much more palatable (01:35:32:00)
�
In total, there were only five or six major fights that Alioto was involved with during his
entire tour in which his unit suffered significant casualties (01:36:08:00)
o Alioto’s unit never once had a situation where the enemy tried to probe their
position and/or send sappers against them (01:37:20:00)
o Alioto’s unit did encounter enemy bunker complexes but it was always after the
enemy had gone; the men would often take a hill and it would be obvious that
there had been an enemy position there (01:38:01:00)
During one time, the unit finally managed to take a hill that they had been
attacking for around four days (01:38:56:00)
One of the first men at the time of the hill dropped some grenades
into a hole, thinking there might be some Vietnamese hiding in
them (01:39:04:00)
Instead, the hole turned out to be a Vietnamese latrine that
proceeded to explode straight up and cover the soldier in feces
(01:39:17:00)
o It was May, which meant the weather was getting warmer
and the soldier had no way of getting the stench off apart
from canteens of water (01:39:31:00)
o The platoon eventually went down a day or two later and
the soldier cleaned himself off in a pond (01:39:39:00)
80% of the time, the soldiers ate C-Rations while in the field while the other 20% were
LRP (Long-Range Patrol) rations; Alioto himself always carried a bottle of Tabasco
sauce and made sure his food was drenched in it (01:40:14:00)
o For the most part, Alioto tried to eat the same three meals as much as possible;
whenever they were re-supplied, the men took turns pulling out meals and if any
of his meals were there, Alioto took them (01:40:41:00)
The men were re-supplied every four days, so Alioto typically carried
eight meals on him, as well as thirteen quarts of water (01:41:08:00)
After a re-supply, Alioto was usually carrying about 100lbs of equipment
and supplies and by the time the next re-supply came in, he was down to
around 60lbs (01:41:15:00)
Alioto was only wounded once in the field, when he was nicked by a piece of shrapnel
from an American artillery round (01:42:16:00)
o As weird as it sounds, a large portion of the men who were injured in Alioto’s
unit were injured either marching up or down the mountains (01:42:32:00)
Alioto never counted down the days he had left until he got out of the field; he always
knew the day and roughly how many months he had left but that was it (01:44:27:00)
Because of the incident where he stayed in the rear area longer than he should have,
Alioto was not taken out of the field when it came close to the time when he would go
home (01:44:43:00)
o When the time came for Alioto to leave, he was pulled out of the field and began
going through out-processing; however, the soldier who was doing the outprocessing said there was a mistake because Alioto still had three weeks left in the
field (01:44:52:00)
�o Alioto went to the company first sergeant and told him what had happened; when
the first sergeant told him to go to the helicopter pad to rejoin the company,
Alioto refused to (01:45:07:00)
o Eventually, Alioto was given the job of escorting a prisoner from the base to a
base in Da Nang (01:45:23:00)
Once in Da Nang, Alioto met up with some Air Force personnel who he
had met during his R&R and he stayed at their barracks for two weeks;
when he finally made it back to the unit, the first sergeant asked where he
had been and Alioto merely said that he could not get a helicopter for the
ride back (01:45:52:00)
End of Enlistment / Post-Military Life (01:46:11:00)
Once Alioto finally left Vietnam, he did not have much time remaining on his enlistment;
he returned home in March 1971 and was discharged in August 1971 (01:46:11:00)
o During the last remaining months of his enlistment, Alioto was mostly stationed
at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, although for two months he was stationed at an Army
base in Germany (01:46:18:00)
When he arrived in Germany, Alioto asked if there was any way that he
could be assigned to a job in the rear area; eventually, Alioto was given an
assignment was an MP (Military Police Officer) (01:47:11:00)
When Alioto reported for the duty, the commanding officer said
that before Alioto could go out on an assignment, he needed to
have a German driver’s license (01:47:32:00)
Alioto took the test and flunked it on purpose so that he would not
have any assignment; ergo, until the next test, Alioto had nothing
to do except read, watch movies, and go to local bars
(01:47:58:00)
o Alioto ended up flunking the exam the second time he took
it as well (01:48:52:00)
Once he was back in the United States, Alioto went to Fort Sheridan and
bided his time until his enlistment was over (01:49:04:00)
Alioto got out of the Army on August 24th and was back working at a Ford plant just after
Labor Day (01:49:34:00)
o After he was out of the Army, Alioto had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder; if
he drank too much, he would occasionally be a little obnoxious with some of his
friends (01:49:47:00)
Alioto figures that part of it was he did not know anyone else who had
gone through the same experiences he had (01:50:03:00)
During Alioto’s first night home, he was sleeping in one of his sister’s
rooms and when he woke up in the middle of the night, he saw a
Styrofoam and immediately thought it was an enemy soldier; he started
yelling and both his parents had to come in to settle him down
(01:50:19:00)
Alioto figures it did not take much more than a year for him to become
acclimated to civilian life (01:51:12:00)
�
o Alioto did not receive much in the way of a negative reception when he returned
home (01:51:22:00)
At one point, Alioto was hitch-hiking from Fort Sheridan and was picked
up by a group of hippies (01:51:28:00)
o When Alioto returned from Vietnam, he first flew into Fort Lewis, Washington,
then to Detroit Metro Airport, and he hitch-hiked home from there (01:51:47:00)
Once Alioto got home, he went into his house, took a shower, put on
civilian clothes, and walked to where his mom was working; when he
arrived, he told the secretary to tell his mom that the man she had met in
the bar the night before was there to take her to lunch (01:52:26:00)
The secretary called Alioto’s mother, who worked on the second
floor of the building and when she came out, Alioto thought she
was going to fall over the railing (01:52:47:00)
o For Alioto, it was not so much that anybody treated him poorly; instead, what
bothered him was mostly that people did not acknowledge what he had done,
apart from his family (01:53:14:00)
Alioto’s younger sister had gotten him a membership to the VFW;
however, when Alioto went there for a beer, he received a very frosty
reception from the World War II veterans (01:53:32:00)
Alioto worked for Ford off-and-on through 1978, when he was laid off during the oil
embargo, at which point he attended Arizona State University (01:54:23:00)
o In 1976, Alioto met a young man in a bar who worked as a businessman/trader
and the two eventually became roommates; for three years, the friend pushed
Alioto to get into what the friend was doing but Alioto did not have enough selfconfidence to do that type of work (01:54:46:00)
o Eventually, Alioto did go in for an interview with the friend’s manager, who said
that in two months, he would hire Alioto (01:55:37:00)
o Alioto told the friend what the manager had said and the friend suggested Alioto
go for another interview at one of the firm’s other offices; (01:55:52:00)
Alioto went to the second interview and when asked, he said his sales
experiences was limited to selling newspapers and golf balls; when the
manager asked how Alioto did selling the newspapers and Alioto told him,
the manager said he wanted Alioto to take an aptitude test (01:56:08:00)
Alioto took the test and answered all one hundred questions
(addition of fractions) on the test and took another test where he
had to write as many words as he could that began with the letter
“T” in the three minutes (01:56:46:00)
The firm sent Alioto’s test to be graded and when it came back, he went in
and the manager said that although the company was going to hire him, it
was not going to be in sales (01:57:10:00)
When Alioto asked why, the manager said they had never seen
anyone score so high on the aptitude tests and they feared Alioto
was not going to be able to work with everybody; Alioto pointed
out that he had spent ten years between the Army and working for
Ford and had gotten along with everyone (01:57:24:00)
�
o As it turned out, after he took the job, Alioto eventually ended up becoming the
number one person in the entire firm (01:58:18:00)
Alioto believes that the time he spent as an infantryman made him extremely secure in
himself (01:59:15:00)
o A lot of people have asked Alioto how he could endure being in combat for a year
and Alioto’s answer was that his parents did a great job raising him, the Army did
a great job training him, and he acclimated to anything (01:59:31:00)
Alioto knew that if he was able to go through Vietnam and acclimate to
that, he could acclimate to anything (02:00:02:00)
o Looking back, if he was twenty years old and had to do it again, Alioto would
serve (02:00:02:00)
�
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
Alioto, Michael (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Alioto, Michael
Description
An account of the resource
Michael Alioto was born in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Despite having a college deferment, he received a draft notice in 1969, and rather than argue the issue, he decided to go into the Army anyway. Despite his high test scores, he was trained as an infantryman, and was deployed to Vietnam in April, 1970. Assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, he spent most of his year in Vietnam on patrol in the northern part of South Vietnam, usually in or near the A Shau Valley. His platoon took heavy casualties in a number of firefights, and participated in the Ripcord campaign in the summer of 1970, reopening Firebase Gladiator to support Ripcord while it was under siege. When he tour of Vietnam was up, he was sent to Germany briefly, and then completed his enlistment in the United States.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
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
2013-03-05
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
AliotoM1480V
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