201 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/49170d41af0307e7be77dbc26191e204.m4v 2daed67ee56681b7abd88c75fec3cede https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/11041e2d1bf9e294b7d072a1e046fd35.pdf 03877cccdac16141baa25e9ce12bdd74 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Air Force Shaun Davis Length of Interview (00:07:45) Background Born in 1960 Father was a salesmen and mother was a homemaker Has four sisters and one brother Younger brother served in the Army Enlisted into the Air Force at the age of 18  Family had a long history of veterans  Felt it was a good opportunity to move forward and also travel Enjoyed flying, very different being alone (no alone time with a family of eight) It was hard to adapt to the lifestyle, had been very undisciplined Went to San Antonio for basic training, then Wichita for training (00:02:45) Served on Travis Air Force Base, near Sacramento, California Met a lot of people from different cultures; still in contact with a few of them, from all over the country  Tend to drift apart after serving During free-time, would explore California and also party Stayed in touch with his family through phone calls and letters Reserves (00:04:40) Working at a medical center at the time; had a choice to go to Berkley or see his family  Had to make the choice six months before leaving; chose to go home In some ways it was difficult to readjust, still didn’t consider himself as a civilian �Military was an excellent experience; had a lot of jobs and responsibility Had originally planned to be a Hospital Administrator, given the position after a captain left  Very challenging and rewarding Learned that people need to go into the service realizing it is not just a job; found out what it was like to be alone; discipline was helpful � 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 Davis, Shaun (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davis, Shaun Description An account of the resource Shaun Davis served in the U.S. Air Force. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Schipper, Isaac (Interviewer) Schipper, Isaac (Interviewer) Schipper, Isaac (Interviewer) Schipper, Isaac (Interviewer) 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. Air Force Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-06-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DavisS Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd7ee07a4371dd0ba6db7f06542cc6c4.mp4 ec1e8bbf639f81f0271ffd6e79f4469a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7511877d5ef0b2e85704d8b4d29cc49c.pdf 9099764bd120bee72b686eae98190571 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Wayne Davis (00:31:45) (0:20) The Early Years • Born in Benton Harbor June 6, 1957 • Had 1 sister and 3 brothers • Dad worked at Superior Steel and later at the Benton Harbor Public Schools from where he retired • Mom also worked and retired from the Benton Harbor Public Schools (1:24) Before Grade School • Went to Alabama during the summers to visit grandparents o One time Davis stayed a full year with his grandparents down in Alabama • Both sets of grandparents lived in Alabama o His dad’s father was named Claude or “Wig” because he was bald  Claude was a farmer and also ran a barber shop out of his home o His mom’s father was named Gus Shackleford  Gus worked at the paper mill (2:19) Alabama • Played with cousins • Segregation was extremely prevalent o Davis and his family still had to sit on the back of the bus o Separate washrooms • Played with cousins o Cowboys and Indians, army, rode bikes, etc. • Saturday mornings, Davis helped his grandpa Claude load up trucks with crops to take to market • Saturday afternoons, Davis sold peanuts his grandpa roasted in his grandpa’s barber shop o The barber shop was located right behind the house o It was more of a side business, opened mainly on Saturday afternoons and Friday nights (4:25) School • Elementary School o Went to McCoy which was 4 blocks from his house o Played the trumpet and also baseball • Junior High o Continued to play trumpet o Favorite class was math and typing  Liked typing because only boy in the class!  The reason he took typing was because during the summer Davis had broken his hip playing football; the typing class replaced Davis’ gym class • Benton Harbor High School �o Played in the band until 10th grade o 11th and 12th grade Davis worked at Jewel as a bagger and a stocker  Enjoyed job because got to meet a lot of people (8:20) School Dances • Attended many school dances • When missed his curfew, his mom would sit behind the door with a broom; when Davis would finally get in, his mom would hit him with the broom and then would have Davis’ father say a few words to Davis o Davis’ father would say, “Just try to make curfew and make Mom happy!” (9:50) Cars • First car = ’66 Chevy Impala • Second car = ’68 Buick Skylark (10:15) Enlisting in the Military • Spent one year at John Wesley College in Michigan but decided it wasn’t for him and that he was going to enlist with a few buddies • When returned home from college in April, told mom he was going to Detroit to visit a girl friend but instead Davis was actually going to Detriot to enlist • Enlisted in the Army • Day after enlisted, Davis was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky (11:25) Training • Felt a lot like football practice • Specialized in supply • Went to Virginia to attend Supply School • After school, sent to Germany for 4 years with the 42nd Medical Company (12:15) Supply School • It was a self-paced school that usually took 12 weeks to complete • Davis finished it in 6 weeks • Food was decent but the food in Germany was even better (13:10) Why Germany • Everyone who enlisted was asked where they would want to travel to • So Davis was sent to Germany on a plane o 10 hour flight on a DC-10 (13:40) Germany • Arrived in Frankfurt where Davis was assigned to the 42nd Medical Company • Davis and the Company were sent to Nuremburg • Stayed in the Merrill Barracks which were nicknamed the “Gangster Hotel” o One of Hitler’s old headquarters  All types of underground tunnels; the tunnels were blocked off so Davis was not able to go through the tunnels o Just down the road was a park called Duzendteich  There were 12 ponds that Hitler used as landing pads for his planes; he would drain the pond, land his planes, and then refill the pond with water. (15:00) Language • Language was not a problem �The younger people spoke both English and German so Davis never had to learn German (15:19) Other Places Davis Visited • Rome, Paris, Greece, and Spain (15:40) Rome and Paris • Rome o Took a tour bus around • Paris o Davis went on his own o Took a 16 hour train ride from Germany to Paris o Met up with his cousin who was playing pro-basketball o Stayed 30 days (Davis was on his 30 day leave) o Followed the team around (17:40) Responsibilities at Base Camp in Germany • At first, took care of dirty laundry, ordering clothes and shoes • Switched to the Motor Pool o Dispatched out ambulances  Kept track of mileage and scheduled maintenance (18:19) Places Visited in Germany • Went to one USO outdoor concert • Saw auto races • Olympic Village • Dachau (19:00) Dachau • Visited Dachau, one of Hitler’s concentration camps • Very interesting and very sad • Davis said he could still smell the burning flesh (20:20) After Germany • Returned home and served in the Reserves for 6 years with the military police o Returned to Germany one summer for training (20:55) Military Police • Stationed in: Denver, Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, and also in Little Rock, Arkansas • Arkansas o Was sent there for 2 months to guard the Cubans [from Mariel Boatlift?] o Scary situation but because members of the police force, they were allowed to carry .45s and guns unlike the National Guard o The military police were flown down to Arkansas and given riot gear to wear o Stayed in barracks right next to where the Cubans were being held  Cuban men, women, and children were living behind barbed wire fences in tents (23:40) Jobs • While in the Reserves, worked for Hugh’s Plastics for 2 years o Loaded trucks • �Also had a part-time job as a caretaker for John Stubbleson (?), who was considered the wealthiest man in St. Joseph (25:19) Marriage • Had a wonderful social life • Married twice • First time for 13 years and then divorced (no children) • Second time for 10 years and then divorced o Has one 9 year old daughter who comes and visits every other weekend (27:10) Other Jobs • Came to Grand Rapids in the early 1980s with his first wife • Became head custodian for Park Congregational Church for 7 years o Davis was there when the huge fire broke out o If Davis hadn’t closed everything up as he always did, the fire would have been MUCH worse o The fire was caused by arson; someone broke into the church • Became custodian in the Grand Rapids Public Schools for 15 years • Later, served on the Chamber of Commerce as a Supervisor of grounds keeping for 4 years • In 2005, got sick and came to the Veteran’s Home (30:35) How Service Affected His Life • Davis said that he got to see parts of the world he otherwise would have probably never seen. • � 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 Davis, Wayne Keith (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Davis, Wayne Keith Description An account of the resource Wayne Keith Davis is a Veteran who served in the United States Army during peacetime from the late 1970s to the late 1980s in Germany and in the United States. Born in 1957, Davis talks about his childhood growing up in Benton Harbor and his summers spent in Alabama visiting his grandparents. In Alabama, Davis remembers facing segregation and also selling peanuts at his grandpa's barber shop. Upon enlisting, Davis went to Supply School in Virginia and then was flown to Germany where he became a member of the 42nd Medical Company. After spending his four year term in Germany, Davis returned to the United States and served in the Reserve for another six years as a member of the military police. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-03-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DavisW Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/73135690e5d1641abfb8e006e61f9a1d.mp4 d3034ddcc6d3543d11dcbe9f824d0904 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f091fa35239e20c5417f8bbd581fc920.pdf 43e8b521e5657402361c02c7db0ccb22 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Vietnam War Harold Day 38:52 Introduction (00:24)       Harold was born in Ava, Missouri on June 26, 1949. He grew up there with his family that was in the restaurant business along with farming. Harold went up to tenth grade in high school; he then moved to Kansas City and eventually began working for General Motors. He worked there for ten years before getting into the auto body business. Harold was drafted on April 8, 1969 into the United States Army. At that point, he knew that a war was going on and that people were getting killed. He went on with his life until they came looking for him. He had an uncle that was in World War I, but no other relatives that were veterans. Military Training (02:15)               Harold was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for his basic training. When they first got to training, they were given their uniforms and then the training started. The instructors were tough, but they needed to be to get them in shape. Harold did not have any trouble adjusting to military life, since he was used to having discipline growing up. Most of the instructors were likely Vietnam Vets but he wasn’t sure. Basic training lasted 8 weeks, followed by AIT (Advanced Individual Training). (04:12) While at AIT, each man was assigned their MOS (Military Occupational Specialty), Harold’s was Eleven Delta, armored. AIT was conducted at Fort Knox, Kentucky. AIT differed from basic training because along with the physical aspect of training, they also learned their individual jobs. Harold was trained on the M114 (armored personnel carrier) and tanks (M48, M60). All aspects of the vehicle are learned such as being the mechanic, driver and other jobs on the vehicle crew. When he was drafted, he knew he was going to Vietnam. AIT was an additional 8 weeks. After that training was completed, Harold was sent home for thirty days and then was sent to Vietnam. Vietnam (05:58)  Harold went to Oakland, and was flown to Hawaii, Guam and then to Vietnam on a chartered commercial flight. �             His first impression of the country of Vietnam was hot and muggy. Their plane landed in Long Binh, a large base outside of Saigon. They landed during the day, and they were immediately sent through processing which included being issued their jungle fatigues. (07:06) The processing into country took about threes days, and Harold was then assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. They were based out of Lai Khe, which is located north of Saigon. The area around the base was farms, rice fields and a rubber plantation called “The Michelin”. Harold’s unit was an armored one that included M113 APC’s and M48 tanks. He was made a tank driver. He joined them when they were out in the field. He was trucked out to his unit and he began working. Before he went out in the field, he was given some initial in-country training about booby traps and other things to be mindful of while in Vietnam by the 1st Division. (09:46) In their area of operations, not much was going on, but they ran convoys and some shooting but not much. One APC was called out one night and while driving through a mud hole a command detonated mine was set off and injured some people. They primarily worked within their armored unit, and Harold did not feel in danger with the unit at that time. The civilians would come out and see the soldiers as they drove by in their tanks. They would ask for candy and c-rations. (11:54) The morale was good with the men, everything they did was routine and not to demanding. They did not have any big issues with drugs, and Harold let his fellow soldiers know that his number one goal was to get home safe and he would not let anything jeopardize that. Harold was with the tank unit from September till the first or second week of November. He did not like the tank commander on his vehicle, so he volunteered to go to sniper school. (13:48) Sniper Training and Operations (13:55)        Harold heard on the radio that they were looking for volunteers for sniper school so he decided to sign-up. As a boy, he hunted and was familiar with shooting. Out of 23 shooters that completed the course, he graduated 5th. Sniper training was a lot of shooting; they did not receive any training on missions or anything other than shooting. When he was given his diploma after graduating the course, General Wolf told the men that if they were misused, get a hold of him and he would get things fixed. After that training they were sent around in teams observing the country side in towers that were air lifted around the area. (15:48) While doing that, they did not see many Vietnamese, most likely because the tower was clearly visible to everyone, especially the enemy. �      Harold did not feel exposed or vulnerable in the towers because he could see and hit the enemy long before they could hit him. He remained with the 1st Infantry Division until they pulled out February 1970, then he was reassigned to the 101st Airborne. Harold knew that being sent to another unit that was up north was more dangerous because things were more hostile up there. They were flown on a C-130 north to Camp Eagle where the division headquarters was located. (17:38) With the 101st, they started using helicopters instead of trucks. Harold and one other sniper were put with a reconnaissance unit and missions began almost immediately. The first month of operating, did not have a drastic amount of enemy activity. They were operating around Hue City, A Shau Valley and Khe Sanh. (19:45) They performed various missions including basic reconnaissance, rescue operations and anything else that came up. The snipers basically operated as regular infantry and he got along great with the other men. Ripcord (21:28)            One day they came around asking for volunteers to go up to Firebase Ripcord for perimeter guard, they volunteered for 10 days but ended up staying for 30. This was in June when they were there. The base was in the mountains and was just like any other firebase to them. Harold and his sniper partner did not find out what really happened there until thirty years later. They began taking mortar rounds one day, and after the attack, they paced the hits off and one was 13 feet from his position and another was 9 feet. (23:28) As perimeter guard, Harold does not recall any targets to shoot at while there. In a five day period 10 men from his troop were killed, including 7 killed on July 8th. It still bothers him to this day, because he always wonders if there was something else that he could have done to keep them alive. They had more enemy in the area than they could have ever anticipated. Harold feels that the upper echelon of leadership truly cared about the men and they did everything they could to keep them safe and out of harm’s way. Harold has learned more about this in the last few years after reading and studying on the subject and from attending the Ripcord reunions. (26:03) After Ripcord was abandoned, he continued to work in the area. When he had thirty days left in country, the First Sergeant came up and asked Harold if he could weld. He told him that he could so he had to make some kitchen sinks to keep him out of the field. 10 days left in country, Harold was sent out in the field and he was then asked to extend for 58 days and then after that he would be given an early out. He decided to go home and serve his remaining time in the states where he had a better survival rate. When Harold got home, he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas and he served another seven months and then got out of the army. Looking Back (27:40) �        Back in the armor unit, when they would shut down for the night they would park the vehicles in a circle like a wagon train. They would then erect a protective fence that would catch RPG’s. Most of the time they were given hot meals, but when a vehicle broke down or something else happened they might miss it. Once, they got stuck in the mud and it caused them to miss their cold beers and hot meals. (28:52) When they got stuck, they would hook APC’s to the tank and pull them out. On one occasion it took ten APC’s back to back pulling to get Harold’s tank out of a mud hole. With the 1st Infantry Division, they spent most of their time out in field. When Harold was with the 101st, they used helicopters for entry and extractions. They also worked hand in hand with the Army Rangers. (30:28) 50% of his time in Vietnam was spent in the field. They were on base more than a regular infantry unit was. On their reconnaissance patrols they would find weapons, information and documents and they would find these in bunkers that people left behind. July 8th was the worst day for him in Vietnam because seven of his fellow soldiers were killed. (32:28) After July 8th, the morale of the unit went down due to the mourning of their losses, but they continued with their mission. Replacements were sent to replace the losses, but not right away. Back in the States (33:29)        When he was sent back to Fort Hood, a buddy of his told him in order to not pull duty for thirty days to stay gone, which he did successfully. They didn’t do much, they would run maneuvers in the field and chase deer with tracks but they had it easy. Harold did not pay much attention to the war protesters. He got his job back at General Motors in Kansas City and later got into auto body painting. After working in Kansas City, he moved down to Texas in the 1980s and once he retired he moved back to Missouri. (35:55) His military service made him more disciplined and allowed him to be able to handle the outside world in a better way. It made him tougher, and he would do it again if he could. Give him a gun and he’s ready to go. When he was living in Texas near Fort Hood, he met a Vietnam vet that got Harold in touch with General Harrison who was the commanding officer of the 3rd Brigade during Ripcord. Harold got to know him and his wife and he was invited to attend a reunion in Springfield, Missouri. This is now the third Ripcord reunion that Harold has attended. � 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 Day, Harold (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Day, Harold Description An account of the resource Harold was born in Ava, Missouri on June 26, 1949. He worked for General Motors in Kansas City before being drafted into the United States Army in 1969. After basic training, Harold was made a crewman on armored vehicles such as M114 APC's and M48 and M60 tanks. He was sent to Vietnam and assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division. Harold served as a tank driver before volunteering to go to sniper school. He graduated fifth in his class and was later reassigned with the 101st Airborne. Harold spent thirty days on Firebase Ripcord. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American 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 2013-10-11 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DayH1544V Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6b172811871820a013d0e4f270f4036e.mp4 892ceeec6e407878e6a69846dcb4c299 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e64eae7b242635538362e32917fb5926.pdf 764caf8501c220ec19b6b99acf2a4b1b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Operation Iraqi Freedom Interviewee’s Name: Mike Day Interview Length: 45 minutes Pre-Enlistment (00:30) • Childhood (00:35) o Born in Napa Valley, California in September, 1984. At age 2, he and his parents moved first to Whitehall and then Grand Rapids, Michigan. (00:37) • Family (0:42) o Growing up, his father worked as a fiber optics man on televisions. (00:51) • Education (01:08) o In high school, Day mentions being a small town boy involved in activities such as going to the beach and spending time with friends. (01:32) o When 9/11 hit, Day was age 17 and was in the principal’s office and he relates how he saw the World Trade Center being attacked. (01:41) Enlistment/Basic Training (02:03) • Why he joined (02:14) o Upon completion of high school, being that he was 17 and not quite eligible to gin up for the service, he didn’t know what he was going to do. In April, 2003 he walked into a recruiter’s office and signed up and was on his way to Fort Knox for basic training by May to be in the National Guard. (02:30) • Where he went (03:10) o Fort Knox basic training (03:17) ƒ Describes his attendance of basic training at Fort Knox in some detail. (03:23) ƒ Day mentions how his drill sergeants yelled at new recruits like him. (04:04) �ƒ Basic for Day lasted about 9 weeks in three phases: Red in which they underwent intensive training, White in which they eased up on a trainee and blue phase in which they allowed the trainee to make phone calls home. At the end of it, he was given a 1-day pass to visit family and friends. (05:00) o Fort Leonard Wood training (05:37) ƒ Was shipped for from Fort Knox to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he spent 5 ½ weeks training and learning how to operate trucks. Mentions this experience in some detail. (05:44) ƒ Day spends some time describing some of his military responsibilities with the big military trucks he worked with. (06:05) During his stay there, he received a letter detailing what he could expect when he was deploying to Iraq. After this experience he went home unsure if he was ready for school yet. (07:17) o Other activities (07:31) ƒ Briefly describes his work with 7up and the day he was called up by the National Guard to go to Detroit and then Grayling, Michigan to pick up his training equipment. (07:50) ƒ Briefly describes in some detail summer training and forward operation base experiences. (08:50) ƒ At about that time, he was still living with his parents when he received a call from his staff sergeant who told him to report to the 1461st Transportation Company(09:36) A week later he was attached to the 61st Transportation Company doing some drills, and then off to Camp Atterbury, Indiana. (10:20) ƒ His impressions of Iraq up to this point were all based on what he heard from the media. (10:45) o Camp Atterbury training (11:10) ƒ Went down to Camp Atterbury, where he trained for 3 months in 1st Aid and road marching. (11:18) ƒ Had a lot of training in the searching and disarming of IEDs before encountering them in Iraq. Day mentions what his body armor consisted of. (12:02) Once deployed in Iraq, he was issued an additional 20 pounds of body armor for the weak points in his vest. (13:23) �ƒ The type of weapons he trained was M-4s and M-16s. (13:33) ƒ After 3 months there, he was sent by air aboard a C-130 aircraft, making a brief stop in Germany and flew on to Kuwait. (14:48) Active Duty (14:55) • Where he went (15:05) o Camp Speicher background (15:10) ƒ Geographically, Camp Speicher is in Northern Iraq near Tikrit, Iraq. He briefly describes his impressions of Iraq. (15:14) ƒ Being attached to a heavy transportation unit his responsibilities included transporting Abraham tanks, heavy equipment, and other equipment places. (16:32) ƒ On base, he briefly mentions different interactions with other American military branches and British personnel. (16:52) o Military missions (17:35) ƒ On his first mission, Day went to Baghdad where he was pulled out of transport platoon duty because he was found to have computer skills and because of this he was put in charge to head up a MWR. (17:40) ƒ Afterwards, he received a mission from his CO to go to Camp Liberty in Baghdad. (18:13) ƒ • About that time, the level of danger was potentially dangerous. Sometimes they came across IEDs but rarely he was ever shot at. (18:52) • Briefly describes the setup of a typical convoy looked like and how to look for IEDs. His first mission took place at about November 2006. (19:58) • Got fired at by a bunch of tracers. Called in the men in the gun trucks who fired their 50-calibers. Briefly describes what transpires when a mine blows a tire. (21:14) • Briefly describes how an IED blows up a humvee, and/or a convoy truck. (22:52) Briefly describes his daily schedule. (24:03) �o Living conditions (25:39) ƒ Among the places, Day mentions being deployed are Camp Liberty in Baghdad; Camp Speicher near Tikrit; and Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. According to Day these camps each had their own feels. (27:43) ƒ Contact with Iraqi civilians was limited. The most he saw were shepherds herding their sheep until he got to the big cities where it was more heavily populated. (28:33) ƒ Was in Iraq for 11 ½ months with his National Guard unit. For the most part respect was shown all around with the various branches. (29:30) ƒ The unit his unit was to replace showed them their duties and responsibilities and where to go. (30:57) o Other activities (31:50) ƒ On one encounter, Day was attached to a unit an area called Area 51 a place where Kuwaiti civilians and refugees congregated. Attached with 5 others who were mostly interpreters he was responsible for the care of 500 internationals. (32:54) Briefly describes his time with them. (33:05) o Going Home (34:46) ƒ Before going home, Day trained the new replacements and then went back to Camp Atterbury, Indiana where he spent 4 days. Was then paraded onto a parade field in Jackson, Michigan with many other officers to hear Gov. Granholm and other generals speak to them and then to be discharged afterwards. (35:10) ƒ Mentions that he had a few more drills with the 61st before returning to the 1463rd unit out of Wyoming, Michigan. (35:54) After the Service (36:10) • Adjusting to Home (36:15) o Spent the first couple of days in shock and readjusting to ordinary life. Also spent time with friends and family. (36:31s) o Afterwards, he went on to attend MCC for a while and then to GVSU. (36:47) o While readjusting to civilian life, he relates how with the mentality of showing no emotions and surviving everyday ruined many relationships he pursued afterwards. (37:42) �• Military service after he was discharged (38:02) o Day is currently spending another 3 years in the military mainly because it offers him the chance for a payment bonus. To kids who might want to join the military he mentions how positive the training and discipline he learned as a result of joining the Armed Services. Also mentions that they should know what they are signing up for before joining. (38:40) o Day wraps by mentioning that the military forced him to grow up and briefly mentions what his future plans were. (41:43) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Day, Mike (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Day, Mike Description An account of the resource Mike Day was a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who is currently serving in the National Guard. His recent term of deployment lasted about 11 ½ months. In this account, Day discusses his pre-enlistment year, his enlistment and training in the U.S. His term of active duty in Iraq has taken him to various camps and cities in Iraq as part of a transportation company. Among his duties included serving as a convoy truck operator transporting military equipment to their destinations. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Kentwood, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-05-19 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DayM Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0dcf08b47728c3caea35c7a98d3ed013.pdf 7b6beac919afe8861b9973fe1066bec1 PDF Text Text fflA/TER LAnD U/E PLAn �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Dayton Township Board John DeKuiper, Supervisor Eloise Kunnen, Clerk Don Akershoek, Treasurer Russel Boeskool, Trustee William Edbrooke, Trustee Newaygo, County Michigan Dayton Township Planning Commission Preston Krommendyk, Chainnan Nonnan Knorr, Secretary Maxine Annis Perry DeKryger John DeKuiper Myron Kokx Jr. c.M. Shigley Harvey Van Hemert Planning Consultant Snell ·Environmental Group ·1120 May Street Lansing, Michigan 48906 ( 517) 374-6800 IC'.\ 5nell Environmental Group \;;;JI LANSING NXAHAP0US AKRON �Introduction �INTRODUCTION The report that is comprised of the following pages of illustrations, maps and text is the Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township. It is intended to be very different from other land use plans--those "thick reports" that all too often serve as a "dust collector" on a shelf somewhere. This document is an active, working instrument--a guide for an equally dynamic, changing and forward-looking community. The Master Land Use Plan intended for Dayton Township is a participatory document. · "Planning, to be effective, must not be imposed from above on the premise that the planners know what's good for the planned. The small minority whose job it .is to prepare the plan must find out not only what can, in effect, b~ ~echnically achieved, but what it is the ·planned want" (Cecil Stewart, The Prospect of Cities, ·1952). The elected and appointed officials responsible for its review and direction come from all areas and elements of the Township. The groundwork for their actions came, in a large part, from the attitudes and opinions expressed by residents at large. Discussions were conducted and decisions realized, in an open interchange of ideas. WHAT IS A LAND USE PLAN? The term "Master Land Use Plan, is synonymous with several other expressions such as "general development plan, "master plan," "community plan, and the like. The basic intent and components of these documents are similar, however. A Master Land Use Plan is an official policy guide which states community· goals and suggests actions by which such goals may be reached in a coordinated manner. 11 11 11 The Township Planning Act (P.A. 168 of 1959, as amended) states that the contents of a "land use plan" shall include maps, plats, charts and descriptive, explanatory and other related matter and shall show the Planning Commission's recommendations for the physical development of the unincorporated area of the Township. Further, such a pl an shal 1: 1 �1. Classify and allocate land for a variety of uses; 2. Define the "location, character and extent" of various public works such as streets, sewer and water, and the like; 3. Make recommendations relative to public lands or facilities; and, 4. Give recommendations for implementing any proposals -made regarding the above items. This Master Land Use Plan can be further described as long-range and general, yet comprehensive. The fact that it is long-range implies that it is forward-looking, establishing the relationships between potential population levels, land use needs and support facilities • . As a 11 general 11 document, this Plan establishes broad principles and policies intended to accommodate a variety of issues. This Plan is 11 comprehensive" in its relationship to all land uses. Finally, the tenn "Pl an" implies .a document conta_ined both in text and map fonn. 11 11 NEED FOR A LAND USE PLAN No community stands still through time. To maintain the quality of life and environment, and to protect the health, safety, welfare and convenience of its residents, Dayton Township must be prepared to meet the challenge of the future. Unguided development may lead to land use conflicts, the loss of farmland and water, and the waste of tax dollars. State enabling legi.slation (P.A. 184 of 1943, as amended) implies that zoning ordinances adopted to meet Township goals "shall be based upon a plan." It is the intent of this document to fi 11 such a need for Dayton Township. As a policy instrument, the Plan is adopted by the Tm•mship Planning Commission in accordance with the provisions of Act 168 and does, therefore, not have the status of a law. This provides the Plan with the flexibility necessary to allow review and adjustment as conditions change over time. By comparison, the Dayton Township Zoning Ordinance is a specific statement of land use control, adopted by ordinance, and as such, carries the weight of law. 2 �THE PLANNING PROCESS The following diagram illustrates the four basic steps employed to arrive at a Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township. Planning, at its rational best, is a continual process and includes: 1. Background and Analysis-Element: assemble and study an array of background data and other technical or non-technical infonnation peculiar to Dayton Township and gennane to fonnulation of the Plan; 2. Policy Element: pub 1i c input; 3. Plan Element: both a written and graphic representation of potential land use arrangement; 4. Implementation/Change Element: suggestions for carrying out Plan proposals, checking on progress and adapting to changing times • detennination of problems, trends, potentials and . · .. ' PLANNING PROCESS BACKGROUND ANALYSIS & POLICY Plan IMPLEMENTATION/ CHANGE • Background studies • Goals • Text • Suggestions • Data inventory • Actions • Map • Re-evaluate/ modify • Analysis-synthesis Fig.1 3 �GENERAL PURPOSES OF THE PLAN General purposes of the Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township are to: • Encourage the use of lands and resources in accordance with their character and adaptability. • Facilitate provision for systems of transportation, sewage disposal, safe and adequate water supply, education, recreation, and other pub 1i c requirements. · • Conserve the expenditure of public funds for impr_ovements and services. • Limit the improper use of land, resources and properties. • Limit the over-crowding of land by buildings and people. • Insure a desirable trend and character of land, building, and population development. DEFINITIONS Unfortunately the terminology of planning and zoning can be as different to the lay citizen as the language barrier that greets a traveler in a foreign country. Appendix A attempts to list and define those terms that are common to planning commission work or that are found within the text of this Plan. An understanding of their meaning will aid in an understanding of this document, permitting both the public and Township Planning Commissioners to communicate effectively. 4 �.13ocl~ground & Analysis �REGIONAL OVERVIEW Newaygo County. is located in the west-central part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, being immediately north of the Grand Rapids-Kent County metropolitan area and separated from Lake Michigan by Oceana and Muskegon counties to the immediate west. Dayton Township surrounds on three sides the City of Fremont si.tuated north of Fremont Lake in west-central Newaygo County. Dayton Township is located some 45 miles north of Grand Rapids and approximately 28 miles northeast of Muskegon. PHYSIOGRAPHY The physical features of Newaygo County are, for the most part, a direct result of the most recent glacial period, having been covered by a large ice lobe. Surface features show considerable variation in relief, but no great range in elevation. Primary topographic features are rolling, plateau uplands (moraines) and plains. Both features are irregular in shape, size and occurrence throughout the County. Secondary topographic features occur where there are till plains or old glacial drainage valleys and include; rounded hills, dry valleys, low gravelly knolls and ridges, shallow swales, large swamps and lakes. Parts of Dayton and adjoining townships to the east comprise a plain having an elevation of 800 feet above sea level. Small tributaries have cut back from the Muskegon River and developed deep, steep- sided ravines; some to depths of 30-40 feet. The rough uplands north of Fremont are characterized by rel _a tively strong relief and steep-sided depressions occupied by lakes. CLIMATE . ····- ·. - ·· -- - --- The climate of Newaygo County and Dayton Township is defined as continental. This implies short and mild summers, coupled with winter months that are fairly long and cold. Seasons change gradually, the average difference in temperature between winter and .spring being 20°F, and 23°F between fall and winter. Both spring and fall are characterized by sharp freezes and cold waves. The mean winter temperature is 23.4°F, but fluctuations from 59° to -37°F have been recorded. The coldest month of the year is February with an average temperature of 21.8°F; July is the hottest month with a mean of 70.6°F. Summers are generally mild, however, a maximum temperature of 102°F has been recorded. Hot days are usually accompanied by oppressive high humidity. The 6 �..•··:·•, .. ui ·.·. ·-:,::, '~ ... I • ,•,,:J.:: :--:/ 111 average frost~free period is 132 days, ample for production of a wide range of crops. The frost-free period varies considerably on a localized level, due to elevation and air drainage. In some places frost may occur in any month, yet moving west towards Lake Michigan the frost-free period is extended. Average annual precipitation is 31.14 inches; yearly snowfall averages 40.5 inches. Precipitation is fairly well distributed throughout the year. Prevailing winds are westerly and rarely of high velocity • AREA HISTORY The soil and climate of the region in which Dayton Township is located makes is closely Indians and a few French trappers, Newaygo County began its recorded hi story when it \'1as opened _for white settlement in 1836. A group of capitalists .from Chicago, hedaded by Hi ram Pi ersons kand Henry Pennoyer and guided by Mitchel 1 Charl eau , ma e their way up the Mus egon River in search of water power sites for mil 1s. The first settlement was established in 1837 at what . is now Newaygo. The county was organized in 1840, and the population began to grow, mostly in connection with the lumber industry. ~~J·J· ·tied it ideal for white pine. Consequently, the hi story of the area ~--r--,,-~~:-:::-~~,arr-~~-~-·~::t,_ with .the lumbering industry. Originally traversed only by D A y 1.wrn !Ii. T O ~ C .:.-~. ·:·.?] •._.-·.=._ \ _ In 1855, a group of families from the southern part of the state settled at Fremont. In the same year the first dam and sawmill were built there. Dayton Township was organized in 1857 and in the following years frame buildings were erected and a school was built. The population of the township and the county increased rapidly as the local industry began to boom. By 1860, 17 lumber mills were operating in the county, as well as 2 flour mills. Three sidewheel steamers and several lumber scows plied the Muskegon River. In 1869, the Newaygo Republican reported that the spring log drive to Lake Michigan filled the river for 27 miles. In 1873, the railroad reached Newaygo from Grand Rapids, with a branch extending through Fremont to Hart. This development brought about a major change in the lumber business. Previously, all cutting had been done during winter months so that the logs could be easily skidded to the rivers and floated to the lake. Consequently, the cut areas were close to the rivers and covered with three to four foot stumps that reached above the snow. The · railroads opened up the interior and also made it possible to set up portable shingle mills to cut up the stumps. This new phase of the industry helped clear large tracts of· land for farming. 7 �As logging reached its height in the early 1880 1 s, the population and prosperity of the region continued to grow. A county medical association, a county fair and an increasing number of businesses and professional offices were established. In 1898, a group of businessmen from Grand Rapids inspected the marl beds north of Newaygo and by 1902 the newly formed Newaygo Portland Cement Company was shipping its first barrels out. This opened a new economic era, which prospered for over thirty years. Since that time the region. has become attractive to vacationers and sportsmen, offering streams, lakes and woodlands for their enjoyment. Agriculture is ·also important, and fanning continues to be a major activity. During the 1940'~, the U.S. Forest Service began replanting non-productive land in pine forests, looking forward to a new economic phase. Sources: Newaygo White Pine Heritage, 1976 • . Robert I. Thompson, Newaygo Bicentennial Committee. Cradle Days of Newaygo County, 1962. Harry S. Spooner, Newaygo, Michigan. The First White Pathfinders of Newaygo County, Michigan, 1954. County, Michigan. Newaygo 8 · �SOCIAL ELEMENTS POPULATION TRENDS AND PROJECTIONS A recognition of population characteristics and possible changes is necessary to properly plan for the future. Failure to discern trends in population change, for instan_ce, may result in inadequate governmental services or increased social costs. Obviously, the U.S. Census is the single source for data on the social/economic character of Dayton Township. While population tabulations are available, more detailed data will not be available for severa·l months. It is the intent of local officials that this Master Land Use Plan be a working document and not a compilation of little-used statistics. You will notice that such information is utilized on a selective basis. POPULATION TRENDS .,., 0 0 ~Ot,o oooooo~ ' ~ooo .o o • o o ~ ~J:?R ooo o ~YJ · ~c,ooo 0 000 ~ 0 oo ~,ot>u~ -~ ( J o o ~ ~ (V1MY10 c 6 o"' ~ · .. · The size, distribution and particular qualities of the local population are important factors in planning the relationships of residential and non-residential land uses. Utilizing any available up-to-date information as well as relating historical trends, it becomes possible to create a realistic understanding of population change. The 1980 Census tabulations are both preliminary and incomplete at this time. However, on the basis of unofficial counts it is possible to judge the rate of growth for Dayton Township as compared with the State, Newaygo County and other townships. Table 1 reflects the rate of growth of Dayton Township from 1950-1980, relative to the State and Newaygo County. Growth rates for the last two decades for Newaygo County and several adjoining communities are _ contained on Tabie 2. Information from Table 2 is shown graphically on Figures 2 and 3. The (unofficial) 1980 total of 1,979 residents reflects a slower growth rate for Dayton Township than adjoining communities--especially those to the west in Muskegon County. There are, however, two elements to be recognized: 1) the 1970 population of Dayton Township was greater than most municipalities in Newaygo County; ranking third and surpassed only by Sheridan Township and Fremont (applying a similar increase to a smaller base figure would result in a much higher rate); and 2) the 1978 annexation of land from Dayton Township to Fremont was a small but contributing factor in this decreased rate of growth. 9 �The 1970-1980 growth rate for Newaygo County was 18.6%,. nearly six times that experienced by Dayton Township. Even with the annexation of additional lands and residents, the City of Fremont is shown to have declined in population size by 4.2%. The large rates of increase undergone by Lincoln and Sherman townships in Newaygo County and Holton and Cedar Creek townships in Muskegon County are largely due to their small 1970 population base. Muskegon County, to the west, showed· only a small population decline reflecting more stability than in prior decades. While it is premature for any definitive statements, it does appear that out-migration from the Muskegon Metropolitan Area may be impacting out-county municipalities. The ramifications for bordering townships -in Newaygo County is unknown, although increasing energy costs on commuting, in particular, may diminish such a trend. TABLE 1 DAYTON TOWNSHIP POPULATION TRENDS 1950-1980 AREA . State of Michigan 1950 1960 1970 1980 ~;371,766 7,823,194 8,875,083 9,258,344 % CHANGE 1950-1980 45.3 Newaygo County 21~567 24,160 27,992 33,226 54.1 Dayton Township 1,523 1,709 1,910 1,979 29.9 Source: 1970 Census; Bureau of the Census · 1980 Census; Final Tabulations 9/80 10 �TABLE 2 DAYTON TOWNSHIP AREA GROWTH 1960-1980 % CHANGE % CHANGE 1960-1970 1980* 1970-1980 27,992 15.9 33,226 +18.7 1,709 1,910 11.8 1,979 +3.6 Lincoln Township 444 490 10.4 740 +51.0 Shennan Township 1,085 · 1,411 30.0 1,723 +22.1 Garfield Township 1,713 1,448 -15.5 1,605 +10.8 Newaygo City 1,447 . 1,381 -4.6 1,212 -12.2 Sheridan Township 2,256 2,477 9.8 2,586 +4.4 Fremont City 3,384 3,465 2.4 3,320 -4.2 Denver Township 1,237 1,326 7.2 1,397 +2.6 Greenwood Township 508 575 13.2 809 +40.7 Hesperia Village 819 877 6.6 847 -3.4 Holton Township 1,449 1,499 3.5 1,998 +33.3 Cedar Creek Township 1,224 1,467 19.9 2,300 +56.8 AREA 1960 1970 Newaygo County 24,160 Dayton Township 9/80 11 �~fef:t::.'HWOOD + 13,2. --· ,• . : . . . . r.v-He~pe~r~ :-·_ ,_: · ~?:> · H . +f>. ~ ··.i :I H'Ol-TOH +3.5 I I I I I II. . i; It I 1 1 11 .. ·. •' .· I ~~~ ~ +30.0 . - _____ .......!I Ii ~~ J,.._ ! ·: · .' to rte.1<-MAN ,. .... ,.. ,,,,,,,,,, .. ,.. ,.... ,,,,,1 '"'"'"""""'"""1! . ... :·:· . .?t:}'_:·. ! ·1 I ·._·:,:· .. _.., : frerriont Ce.OAR Cf?l=t=~ + ICf. C/ +~.Lt· SHf:F:IPAN . ·. +q.e .···' . . . { .. . . REGIONAL GROWTH/Percent Change 1960-1970 FIG. 2 12 �I ·. .. .. C7iRe.f:.'HWOOD +L¼).7 .... ., ' .,, . ~ I •( • 'D f:.~ VE:F-·. ~- .,+; .. +33."3 . ...,,' - : •,•·, -:;L.IHCOL.t.'i ., +El.-0 : .. ~ I . 1 .. ~ ·. .. ·!f.H_:~rl_~. 7, . :I ... ·. ., :3-~ -., ·. .. .. :, .. .. ,, ·. (i, , .. HOl.-TOH ... ,. .. .. .. ' .. t ·: . ., r·. ' II 11 I I I ·<o rtt:-1< l'MH 1 I + -i:z.-i i .- I .. . :1 i I ~·- t~ ,: CEDAR Cf?l::'e~ +56,B ,~ I I .f rer,,on+J . . -L-1-:2... . ~ .:.. : : .. .... SHf.1<-1 P~N .. +-'t<Lf- - ' . G\~1<.Fll:::1-P .. +\0-8 ·. . •. .. '. .... ... .. ... . ,·; : ' .. .. . .: .. \ I Hewyo.90) -/2,Z REGIONAL GROWTH/PerCent •. Change . ·1970- 1980 · 13 �POPULATION PROJECTIONS Certainly all population estimates, even .those _prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Census, are inaccurate· to some degree·. · Further, projecting future population levels for small municipalities, such as Dayton Township, can be a risky undertaking. It must be realized that most techniques utilized in population projections are more dependable for the short-range of 5-10 years than for a longer period. As local conditions or variables change, such projections can then be updated over time. Further, local population shifts caused by non-demographic factors, such as annexation, have resulted in an unstable tracking for past population levels in Dayton Township--which are, in large part the basis for estimate of future levels. The following are the most acceptable methods for projecting population levels for small areas. The ratio-component method assumes that a sub-unit (Dayton Township) of a ·1arger entity (Newaygo County) will continue to "capture" a fixed proportion {5.96% in 1980) of the growth achieved by the larger unit. One fallacy of this approach is that it does not account for population shifts within the larger unit. The Department of Management and Budget of the State of Michigan prepares and updates population projections for every county, and such a projection serves as the basis for the ratio-component approach. A second method utilizes building permit statistics for the most recent five year peri ad (1974-1979). and applies the preliminary 1980 tabul ati ans for both total population (1979) and persons per household {2~85) as a take-off-point • . Future increases are then an arithmetic projection from the 1980 base. It should be noted that new single-family construction totals include the place~ ment of mobile home units in Dayton Township (see Table 3-1). The third method is an arithmetic projection using the growth rate from 19601980 as the basis for ·estimation. Such an approach will indicate future growth, assuming past long-term trends _continue without a drastic change that would upset the Township's demographic composition. In that it would reflect the 1978 annexation, an arithmetic projection of the 1970-1980 growth rate (unofficial 1980 census) is also indicated. 14 �A geometric · projection method re~lects the average annual rate of population change for the Township over a detennined period of time (1960-1980) and the extension of this rate (.79% per year) into the future. A fifth method employs projections fonnulated by the West Michigan Regional Planning Commission (WMRPC) for all minor civil divisions in Newaygo County and Region 8. Th~ projections were developed in 1977 for five year intervals and as adapted to the following fonnat, the population levels for intervening years were extrapolated. A final method, the so-called analysis method, is a mid-range or averaged projection based upon a combination of th.e most probable of the above projection methods. This approach implies both a "best judgement analysis'' resulting in projections founded on a "reasonable anticipation" of future growth. ,, The population projections derived from these calculations are contained in Table 3 and graphically depicted on Figure 4. These projections suggest that during the next ten years the population of .Dayton Township might increase by a minimum of 70 persons, a maximum of 550, and a more probable of 231. 15 �TABLE 3 DAYTON TOWNSHIP POPULATION PROJECTIONS 1980-2010 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 1,979 2,013 2,258 · 2,413 2,531 2,702 2,874 1,979 2,254 2,529 2,804 3,079 3,354 3,629 1,979 2,046 1,979 . 2,014 2,113 2,049 2,180 2,084 2,247 2,119 2,314 2,154 2,381 2,189 (1960-1980) (. 79% per year) 1,979 2,055 2,119 2,201 2,286 2,376 2,469 5. WMRPC 1,979 2,255 2,400 2,545 2,690 2,835 2,980 q. Analysis Method 1,979 2,090 2,210 2,305 2,400 2,485 2,575 PROJECTION METHOD. 1. Ratio-Component ·. · {5.96% of Newaygo County) 2. Building Statistics 1974-1979 3. Arithmetic {1960-1980) {1970-1980) 4. Geometric 16 �--, 4000 3500 3000 ,,,,,,,,, z -~0 ..J . ;/, 2500 :::, C. 0 C. 2000 1500 1000 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 ·2000 2005 2010 YEARS LEGEND Ratio-Component - - • - - 15.96% Newaygo County! Building Statistics - - - - - - - - - - (1974-19791 I 1960- 19801---1 1970 - 1980 I ........................... Arithmetic Geometric I 1960-1980 I ........ I . 79% per year) WMRPC ••11111 • 1 • 11- • , ....., Analysis Method 17 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP'S FISCAL BASE State Equalized Valuation The State Equalized Value (SEV) of property is established by the State, the County Equalization Board, and the Tmmship Assessor. By law, this value is to be set at 50% of the true cash value of a given property. Taxes are then levied on the property value which has been established through the SEV procedure. When ·one hears reference to the tax base in a community, what is being discussed is the combined economic value of property upon which taxes are collected (or SEV). As the Township Board determines the annual budget, or makes plans for the financial future of Dayton Township, they must be cognizant of the local tax base. Decisions concerning millage rates necessary to generate sufficient operating revenues for governmental operations and activities will then be determined from tax base information. The tax base in Dayton Township has grown over threefold in recent years (see Table 4). Disregarding the obvious impact that inflatio~ (and state-wide equalization) has had on these totals, the implication is that property values are up and if millage levels stay the same, the· To\'mship will have more revenue to spend per resident. While no predictions of future trends are established, it is important to acknowledge the relationship between economic growth and the financial ability of local government to provide services to its residents. Government Expenditures ·: .,. ,... ...- ·:. :-. ·: :':- . .. During the most recent fiscal year, ending March 31, 1980, Dayton Township spent nearly $71,000 for services to local residents. Utilizing an estimated 1979 population level of 1,970 persons the per capita cost for these services totaled $35.97. Major line item expenditures are those common to all municipalities--fire protection and street maintenance or construction. Roadway improvements alone accounted for over 55% of the 1979-1980 budget. The budgetary data on Table 5 is intended to assist in charting the growth and cost of public services provided by .Dayton Township. Future budget ex- · penditures and per capita expenses can be compared against this benchmark. 18 �TABLE 4 DAYTON TOWNSHIP EQUALIZED VALUATION YEAR TOTAL EQUALIZED VALUATION 197Q $ 4,925,899 1971 5,425,854 1972 PERCENT CHANGE ESTIMATED POPULATION PER CAPITA EQUALIZED VALUATION 1,910 $ 2,579.00 9.2% 1, 917 -' 2,830.39 +9.7 5,710,850 5.0% 1,924 2,968.22 +4.9 1973 7,510,689 24.-0% · 1,931 3,889.53 +31.4 1974 8,186,062 8.3% 1,938 4,223.97 +8.6 1975 9,096,700 10.0% . 1,945 4,676.97 +10.7 1976 9,397,060 3.2% 1,952 4,814.06 +2.9 1977 11,435,152 17.8% 1,959 5,837.24 +21.2 1978 12,708,900 10.0% 1,963 6,474.22. +10.9 1979 14,080,755 9.7% 1,970 7,147.59 +10.4 · 1980 16,183,894 13.0% 1,979 8,177.81 +14.4 PERCENT CHANGE ., Source: Dayton Township Assessment Records 9/80 .19 �TABLE 5 .DAYTON TOWNSHIP BUDGET EXPENDITURES 1979-1980 · CATEGORY . DISBURSEMENT PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE* Gen~ral Administration Township Trust~es Supervisor~Assessor Clerk's Office Board of Review Treasurer's Office $ 4,717.10 5,950.59 3,204.89 360.00 3,721.79 TOTAL $17,954.37 $ 9.11 T-0wnship Hall $ 3,027.86 $ 1.54 Miscellaneous Fi re Department Roads Other (landfill, cemeta ry, etc. ) $ 6,960.66 40,041.13 $ 3.53 20.32 2,872.16 1.46 TOTAL $70,856.18 $ 35.97 *Based on 1979 population estimate of 1,970 residents Source: Dayton Township Board of Trustees 9/80 20 �COMMUNITY .ATTITUDE SURVEY/INPUT There are several components necessary for the development of a reasonable and useful land use plan. These· include an analysis of trends, perceived assets or problems, past fonnal or infonnal strategies and finally, public opinion. "Who lans our communit? There must be an emphasis on neighborhoods sub-areas ~nd their relationship to the total comprehensive plan. It starts with a map that shows your house, on your lot, on your street. That is where we start. It does not start with a rap about a bar chart that shows the various uses of energy. It does not start with a map of a regional transportation system. It does not start with a discussion about how we control the use of land. It starts with your house, your lot, and your street. When we get there then vie can begin to get people interested. 11 (Cantanese and Farmer, 1978). Pri~r to the collection and analysis of any background data on the community, the Dayton Township Planning Commission prepared a community attitude questionnaire on various land use or community issues. The long-tenn reasonableness and acceptance.of any planning program was felt to hinge on a sensitivity to local opinions and concerns. The questionnaire was an initial vehicle for obtaining llpersonal, local input 11 into the planning process. The survey was distributed to all households and property owners of record in the Township. Social scientists commonly apply a 10% response factor as a rule of thumb measurement of success when utilizing a mail-out/mail-back survey •. Final response to the survey exceeded 21%, indicating the concern of local citizenry and their willingness to share their view points with the Commission. The questionnaire proved a success -- and was of substantial assistance and guidance to the Planning Commission in forn1ulating the goals and policies that follow. The survey responses did reflect the following general information and attitudes. (See also Appendix C). 21 �1. The long-tenn stability of the Dayton Township ."community" was dram·atical ly evidenced by the lack of any population shifts since 1975 (63.1% responding had not moved since 1975) and the strong indication (88.7%) of those that intend to remain as Township residents in the foreseeable future. Based on such indicators, one could diminish the potential for at least any out-migration in the short-range. 2. All of those responding to the survey owned their homes, the vast majority of which (92%) were single-family detached structures. Responses were also received from those residing in mobile homes, duplexes and multi-family _units. 3. Perceptions of one's surroundings are critical in fonnulating attitudes towards one's neighborhood or community. The most attractive feature of Dayton Township, as perceived by its residents is its "agricultural or rural atmosphere. 11 Survey respondents ranked proximity to pl ace of employment and scenic natural resources as the second and third most important characteri sties • . As could be anticipated, taxes were considered the least attractive feature of living in Dayton Township. 4. Residents indicated strong support for protecting active agricultural lands from non-agricultural · development. 5. An equally strong response supported protection of lands abutting streams and lakes from intensive development. When questioned as to whether wetlands, woodlots and floodplains should also receive some degree of protection or conservation through zoning, the support for such a measure dropped by several percentage points from the prior response. Local input appeared to indicate the usage of individually-owned woodlots, or wetlands. 6. The acid test, of course, for complete support for any protective policy towards sensitive natural elements is similar support of a desired implementation meth_od. When the question was posed as to whether zoning would be an acceptable means of retaining agricultural lands or protecting streambanks and lakeshore, the majority still answered favorably, but by a slightly smaller number. 22 �7. A domfnant {78%) majority of those responding felt that there are sufficient retail stores and commercial facilities to serve basic needs. Over half favored limiting the location of such facilities to areas where they would conveniently serve population concentrations. 8. Regarding residential growth, public opinion was against allowing "strip" development of single-family homes in all areas of the Township, and in favor of requiring mobile homes to be located in mobile home parks. Almost half of the respondents considered 1 acre to be a desirable minimum lot size for single-family residences on rural, non-subdivision lots. About the same number indicated a need for an increase in the number of available single-family homes, and for an elderly housing complex. · There was strong support towards discouraging any future increase in the number of mobile homes, rental apartments, duplexes, as well as relaxing the zoning requirements for "second homes" - cabins, cottages, and the like. 9. Respondents showed a fairly strong interest in encouraging small industrial facilities to locate in the Township, providing such development was confined to an industrial park. 10. Residents very strongly supported {94.7%) the statement that. the overall quality of life in Dayton Township is "good." In defining reasons for this, they indicated being pleased with the rate of growth in the Township and the preservation of its natural attractions. They also cited adequate and convenient shopping facilities, . availability of employment opportunities, and the good education provided by public schools. The majority were satisfied with public services, though individual comments indicated a desire for better road maintenance and ·a Township (or local) landfill. · . 11. Two issues - roadway improvements and disposal of solid waste - were ranked high on the list of the most important problems facing Dayton Township as perceived by its residents. However, those items were outranked by what is ·considered to be (even nationally) the number one problem - rising taxes. . 23 �EXISTING LAND USE Prior to the attempts by communities to organize growth and development (or land use planning as we presently know it) little thought was given to controlling, much less monitoring the character or direction of expansion. Land use patterns evolved along natural or cultural constraints. The terrain of a community, proximity to water, the early routing of a highway or development of i commercial center, a11· impacted the configuration and composition of existing communities. Early settlement activities including lumbering and, more recently, agriculture, plus the proximity to Fremont and the employment/ cultural opportunities therein have all had an effect on the present land use character of Dayton Township. Natural influences over land use include topography, the several lakes in the community and the extent of those soils capable of sustaining agricultural practices. An analysis of present conditions and trends is vital to formulate a scenario of what is likely to occur in future years. In this light, the collection and mapping of existing land uses as accurately as possible is a _critical component of this planning program. We must recognize past land use decisions both positive and negative, so that past mistakes might be avoided and planning for desirable, orderly growth consummated. LAND USE CATEGORIES The location and identity of existing land uses was compiled by the Dayton Township Planning Commission during April and May, 1980. The key to such an inventory is one of establishing and defining various use designations and then identifying those lands occupied by such a use at the time of the survey. The parameters established for each use category were as follows: Agriculture and Undeveloped: All lands_ used for active farming, woodlots, orchards, as well as all vacant properties. Single Family and Farm.Residential: An area containing a structure intended for occupancy by one family, including all accessory buildings normally associated with the dwelling. Homes in conjunction with an active farming operation are indicated separately. In sparsely settled rural areas for both single-family and farm residences, a one acre unit was assumed. 24 �Mobile Home . Residential: Any mobile home on an individual parcel. Commercial: Land used by establishments providing commodities or services to the general public. This includes retail stores, offices for professional services, motels, commercial recreation uses and all accessory elements, including parking. Industrial/Manufacturing: Land used for storage or processing of products or materials; including limited retail activity incidental to the primary industrial use. Public: Any publicly owned buildings or property. Quasi-Public: Any building or property owned by a non-profit organization, or that which is usually open to the general public. Includes golf courses, churches, clubs, public utility buildings and the like. LAND USE ANALYSIS Dayton Township could best be described as being a lightly populated, rural and agricultural community. The only areas of concentrated development surround the City of Fremont on its _north and :west, and Martin Lake. Figure 5 depicts the existing land use distribution within the -Township as derived from the aforementioned survey. A statistical compilation of approximate land use acreages and their proportion of the whole is shown on Table 6. Historically, the township and range system of land subdivision formed most Michigan townships as a 6 mile by 6 mile square. Dayton Township is roughly 34.3 square miles in extent (less than the normal 36 square miles) due to the boundary adjustment that created the City of Fremont. Of the 21,977 acres in the Township, only 6.5% are committed to developed or urban-type uses. This leaves in excess of 20,000 acres in agricultural lands, undeveloped open lands, woodlots and water. Of the 1,400 acres of Dayton Township that is developed, roughly 40% is occupied as residential, 9% is in public or semipublic uses, only 4% is attached to commercial or industrial facilities and 46% is committed to highway rights-of-way. _25 �Residential development in the community is predominantly single-family-scattered site or rural subdivision, and fann-residences with several dispersed mobile homes. There are, however, two primary. and one secondary settlement areas which warrant special attention in this planning process. These major areas include the 11 lakes" districts north of Fremont and east of Ramshorn Drive, and the developed M-82 corridor west of Fremont and south of 44th Street. A smaller settlement node exists around the periphery of Martin Lake. The scattered site residential development is rather well distributed throughout the Township. As might be expected in the northern, more rural sector of the Township, fewer homes exist along the roadways. The overall density for Dayton Township is approximately 16 units per square mile--or about 40 to 50 people per square mile on the average. The northern half of the Township (north of 24th Street) averages only 10 units per square mile in density. No significant conflicts in land usage are noticeable at this time. A primary area of future potential discord, however, is the mixed use corridor along M-82 west of Fremont. It could be anticipated though, that Fremont will continue to serve as an attractor for both residential and non-residential growth--and that the interface between the City and Township will be impacted by such expansion. 26 �TABLE 6 · EXISTING LAND USE DAYTON TOWNSHIP - 1980 ,: Developed Acres % Total Acres 572 40.9% 2.6% 363 .181 28 25.9% 12.9% 2.0,: 1.7% . 0.8% 124 . 8. 9% 0.6% 123 1 8.8% 0.1% 0.6% 0.01,: 54 3.8% O.J,: 16 38 1.1% 2.7% o.a 650 46.'4% 3.0r. 65D 46.4% J.o,: 1,400 100.0% 6.5,: Acres Lanq Use Res jdcnt i al ~jnole Family F~nn Residence Mobile Homes Pub 11 c[' Semi-Pub lie I Py~l1c SQllli-Public a.a •' Comrnarci al£ Industrial Cpmmerci al lndustr1 al Transeortat1on Road R.o.w. (02.4 mi.) TOTAL DEVELOPED LAND A!Jrf cul ture[Undevel oeed Agricultural/Undeveloped Woodlots Open Wc1ter Recreat fonal TOTAL UNDEVELOPED LAND TOTAL ACRES 0.2% 20,577 93 . 6% 18,535 . 1,767 133 142 84.3% . 0.6% 0.7,: · 20,577 93.6% 21,977 · a.a,: ·100.0% Source: Dayton Township Planning Conmfss1on 27 �... , ., DAYTON ·· +I-~~ TOWNSHIP -" •!!.' ., Newaygo County, Mlchig.n I I· 1:t.:__ . , ., Slngle Family Residence , Farm Residence Mobile Home , E c Commercial , Industrial/Manufacturing , Public Use o Quasi-Public Use ~ Recreational Use D Agricultural and Undeveloped Existing Land Use FIG.5 28 �NATURAL ELEMENTS The traditional approach to land use planning begins with a projection of future population or economic growth in a community based on perceived local or regional trends. These projections are then translated into future land demand for various types of development. The basic assumption of this approach has been that growth will bring positive benefits to the community and that such growth can best be promoted by encouraging land use patterns that minimize development costs and maximize accessibility. In ·many past instances, planning has ignored the importance of natural systems. · Priorities were set, programs initiated and facilities built with little or no concern for impacts on the physical landscape. Scenic natural amenities and rich fannland, long defined as key ingredients to the American quality of life, have rapidly disappeared primarily through haphaz~rd suburban sprawl or improper uses of rural lands. 11 We have but one explicit model of the world and that is built on economics. The present face of the land of the free is its clearest testimony, even as the Gross National Product is the proof of its success. Money is our measure, convenience is cohort, the short term is its span and the. devi 1 may take the hindmost is the morality. 11 (Ian McHarg, 1969.) Philosophies are changing - growth projections are no longer considered as vital preconditions of a desirable future for any community. To be truly comprehensive, land use planning must be more than the mere accommodation of projected growth in such a fashion as to be compatible. If planning is to be rational it must decide how much as well as where growth ought to occur - being sensitive to the physical capability of the land to accept various fonns of development. The constraints placed upon development by the environment are very real and should ·become a key for decision making and land use location judgements. 29 �LAND CAPABILITY ANALYSIS How many people, houses and cars can we put into an area before the natural quality of the setting is reduced? Could we institute stringent development controls or build sewage treatment plants in time to alleviate additional problems? How do we accommodate the trade-offs between growth and environmental or -social costs? These are the type of questions that are addressed by a process known as a "land capability analys _is, 11 or the identification of · situations where human activity is likely to adversely impact the natural environment or where the natural .environment is likely to hann human activity. These areas of conflicts between human activities and the natural environment can be grouped into three classes: Hazard Areas: A good example of a hazard area is a floodplain. The threat to life and property from flooding is well documented, and even our best efforts to abate flooding have not prevented a steadily increasing national loss. By using infonnation available from Federal sources, floodplains can be delineated, and the planner is able to predict where a conflict exists between the natural environment, and certain land uses. Other hazard areas include: steep slopes with unstable soil which are prone • to slippage, and soils with inadequate bearing capacity. Valuable Resource Areas: Development often makes use or extraction of a valuable natural resource impossible. Such resources as oil, sand, gravel, and agricultural land become inaccessible as residential, commercial or industrial uses fill in the area. When maps delineating natural resource areas are part of the planning process, the planner can suggest alternatives designed to lessen the impact. For instance, the development might be delayed until the resource is extracted or growth policies (e.g. sewer and water extensions) could be altered to protect the resource. 30 �Environmentally Fragile, or Unique Areas: There is an accelerating concern over the loss of irreplaceable natural areas. While few attempt to quantify the loss, most seem to appreciate that our forests, wetlands, wildlife areas, parks, preserves, etc., contribute significantly to the quality of life. Certain of these areas, due to inherent fragility or to their one-of-a-kind status, are deserving of special attention in the planning process. Wetlands, for example, while harboring much flora and fauna, serve as retention basins for flood waters, help to recharge underground aquifers, and act as a water purifying system. Underground aquifers represent both a valuable and .fragile resource, subject to contamination by seepage from waste dumps and the like. The key then, is to identjfy the fragile, hazardous and unique areas so that conflicts with human activities can be anticipated •. This is done by overlaying a series of maps, each displaying one variable. Conceptually, one has a base map and onto that map he overlays maps showing hazard areas, valuable resource areas, and environmentally fragile or unique areas •. Carrying Capacity Concept An accessory planning process to that detailed above is the 11 carrying capacity concept. 11 Such a concept defines the ability of both the natural and manmade systems to absorb population growth without significant degradation or breakdown. Application of this process is based on the following assumptions: 1. That any area of the community could be developed if the public is willing to make sacrifices in terms of economic or social trade-offs incurred. 2. That the costs or trade-offs of growth can be identified and then quantified in some manner. The threshold beyond which environmental quality would decline is normally associated with a population level, which of course, varies depending upon the resource involved. 31 �3. That ·the ability of a given resource to absorb growth or development can be altered by human action. Obviously, sanitary se\-1age systems and water treatment plants are examples of human intervention to improve environmental quality. 4. That those areas necessitating the least number of trade-offs be given the highest priority for development. The limit of capacity for a given area or resource still remains as a judgmental ·act. Although, based on scientific and engineering principles, a choice is still required to dra\-1 the line between the 11 acceptable 11 and 11 unacceptable 11 areas. To date, the carrying capacity concept of land planning has been implemented in various ways. The least effective, yet perhaps most widely used, places the developer in an adversary role and the community attempts 11 ann twisting 11 to get him to recognize natural constraints. Second, are those development controls such as a Planned Unit Development ordinance that encourage consideration of significant resources and the protection of sensitive features (also floodplain ordinances, etc.). A third possible route is to develop an environmentally oriented land use plan - utilizing accepted standards for various resource items. Finally, is what has been tenned 11 zoni ng by pOcket calcul ator11, in which detailed quantifiable standards are developed, prescribing development intensity or density ·levels per environmental element or setting. (Perhaps in an optimum situation, actual dollar costs could be assigned to the various categories, indicating development costs per resource area). The intent of both the land capability analysis and the carrying capacity concept as applied to Dayton Township, is to provide a framework for decision-making. Certainly there may come, as implementation techniques through zoning, some modification of the processes mentioned above. However, the primary thrust is to provide a set of tools for the Planning Commis.sion and Township Board to use in reviewing and guiding development. Not so much a 11 no you cannot bui 1d there 11 but rather a "the 1imitations or costs to building there are significant 11 • 32 �NATURAL ELEMENTS MAPPING The environmental data illustrated on the maps in this section has been obtained from U.S. Soil Conservation District ·maps, U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps, aerial photography and infrared photography obtained from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and resource mapping compiled by the West Michigan Regional Planning Commission. At a minimum, it appeared there are certain sensitive areas in the Township which, if developed will have the highest social or economic costs, as mentioned. above. Once mapped, the options for utilization of those lands falling out of a given category, become more evident. These so-called 11 eco-determinants11 include: 1. Lands with slopes in excess ·of 12% may suffer soil erosion if disturbed. 2. Wetlands aid in the recharge of groundwaters, serve as natural filters for waterborne pollutants, and are often wildlife habitat areas. 3. Woodlands provide surf~ce drainage control and aesthetic features. 4. Lands with poorly drained soils are not conducive to development, either without sewers or structural compensation. 5. Lands with high agricultural capability or active agricultural lands may be of significant importance to the local economy or for food production and, as such, should be reserved for agricultural use as much as possible. 6. Floodplain is unsuitable for intensive development as structures or personal property may be subject to drainage or loss. 33 �11111111 Slope Analysis While many natural elements .by themselves are not inhibitive to development, the factor of steep slopes may be the most sensitive to land disturbance and construction. While the vast majority of the land surface in Dayton Township is quite level to rolling {less than 9% slope) there are localized areas with ·moderate or moderate to severe slopes (see Figure 6). Those areas of the Township with significant slopes are oriented in a northeast-southwest direction, probably due to glacial activity. Certainly these areas afford a definite potential for pleasant residential sites, especially in terms of vistas and views. Our planning must be responsive to the potential problems associated with the more severe slopes, such as slumping or erosion and land uses or intensities of use assigned accordingly. Wetlands Wetlands (commonly known as swamps or marshes) are poorly drained areas that display periodic fluctuations in water level, from persistent standing water in spring to nearly dry in late summer (with attendent changes in vegetative cover and composition). In most instances wetlands have surface or sub-surface soil characteristics which provide for the replenishment of the groundwater supply. Wetlands also prevent flooding of roads or properties during periods of excessive rain or snow-melt by their capacity for water storage. They provide habitat and cover for wildlife species and may serve as a nat.ural filter for waterborne pollutants. Traditionally, it has not been difficult to deter development, especially residential, from locating in wetlands, as filling and drainage can be quite costly. However, as prime lands become unavailable, or pressures for economic returns on marginal lands become greater, sites including or perhaps bordering wetlands become more attractive. The total disruption or depletion of all wetland areas would not be in the best interests of the Township as a whole. In more localized situations, wetlands play an even more significant role, warranting our attention and concern. Excepting those that fonn the fringe areas around certain lakes, wetlands are scattered throughout Dayton Township with really no pattern to their existence (see Figure 7). 34 �Forest Cover {Woodlands) Forest cover in this section· of the state was mapped and classified by the West Michigan Regional Planning Commission, utilizing infrared photography. The extent, type and.stand size of those woodlots in Dayton Township is reflected on Figure 8. The largest wooded areas in Dayton Township are situated along streams or drains on the interior of sections, or in wetlands. Wooded areas absorb surfac~ water runoff faster than any other land type. They. also function as windbreaks and simply, yet necessarily, as visual/aesthetic elements of the community. As such, they should -be carefully managed to preserve their natural and social value. Forests in Dayton Township reflect the impact of logging to this area of the state with the dominance of second-growth species, especially aspen. In mapped form the woodlots show the cultural impact, especially of agricultural practices which have further defined · the edge of these areas and, over a period of time, reduced their extent. t:.LAY ~ ~ 1 0 1 - i OIC ct,.. f l ' ~ ~ Of 151-0'-t.Y .,.Til~"TVU c~ ~I\ ~ '111?-~'P ~ T W.,UW-. ()<.~CtiAU.Y ~ T ; tE.. 1 Z<Jlt.-Plt\Gr~ f!'t)l.l-DW '1{11/1.-r~~ .$(X.H -rH>.r rt, R/'(ff.1-W- -r}\A(f ~ ti OT I M ~ lri. 11\!i -~Wt,\ 1~ ~ ~ l \ ·e.tD, @ AK'<~ll. -~e>cn\ -nl1~,~J.!,IWP1U-/f. OJI. LA~ Cf ~ I "1AAr 6 tm- fUtttr ~ fl'JT lWIU\/1/t.( ~ ~I~ n,nl:c,/U~ ~Ii. Soil Limitations: Residential Figure 9 depicts the respective limitations of all lands in Dayton Township for development without public sanitary sewers. Wastewater treatment and disposal would, therefore, need to be accomplished on-site with tile fields and septic tanks. The map was developed from recent Soil Conservation Service soil maps of Dayton Township, with limitation capabilities derived from soil management group classifications developed by soil specialists at Michigan · State University (Soil Mana ement Units and Land Use Plannin , Mokma, Whiteside and Schneider, M.s.u., 1974. The characteristics of the mana~ement of groups vary, depending upon the traits of the individual soil series and the slope of the lands. Lands were ranked into one of five classifications, ranging from slight to very severe limitations to development. Most of Dayton Tmmship is within the slight to moderate range implying ·minimal constraints. The areas of severe to very severe limitations correspond to wetland areas or streams/ drainage-ways, which might appear to indicate the extent of alluvial soils (unconsolidated mix of sand, silt and clay), perhaps carried by glacial melt water. 35 �For purposes of consistent, long-range planning, certain areas of Dayton Township were analyzed as to their soil capability for development support, should sanitary sewerage be provided, thereby eliminating the need for on~site disposal.· Realistically, one must consider the current costs of providing such a service, any identified need and certainly potential jurisdictional issues. However, this effort was intended as a means of determining if soil limitations would change·significantly should some form of public sewer ever be extended into the southern half of Dayton Township--be it from the City of Fremont or some other system. Figure 10 does indicate that a sewer system would have minimal impact on the development restraints of this area. Soil Limitations: Agricultural Utilizing the soil management groups discussed above, the soil types in Dayton Township were classified as to their potential for agricultural use--based, · for the most part, on individual soil .characteris~ics (water table, soil content, etc.) as well as topography. Figure 11 provides an initial tool in delineating the best agricultural lands in the Township permitting policy decisions as to the use of this resource. The extent of active agricultural areas indicates slight to moderate limitations for farming practices exhibited by most of the soil types in Dayton Township. Areas of constraints are generally limited to drainage-ways (alluvial soils perhaps) and ridge lines or steep slopes. Active Agriculturat Lands Recent (1978) infrared photography was applied to define the extent of active agricultural lands in the Township. Figure 12 illustrates the location of orchard and specialty crop areas--particularly orchards which are quite common in the area--and other lands used for row cropping, hay or pasture, or other farming. Certain portions of the areas represented may have been fallow at the time of the inventory, yet the evidence of recent farming activity was perceptible. The most significant element represented by such mapping is the substantial extent of agricultural activities on the land surface of Dayton Township. As mentioned previously in the land use inventory, agricultural and undeveloped areas encompass 94% of the Township. 36 �LAND CAPABILITY MAP Upon completion of the various base maps (Figures 5-12) they were utilized in an overlay fashion, thereby compounding the limitations of various elements for individual areas. A sketch "land capability map" resulted. Lacking the detailed infonnation necessary to assign potential development costs per acre per capability or.other ·more sophisticated approaches entailing detailed studies, a simplistic technique was employed. This was based on the assumption that each identified natural element (eco-determinant) carried equal w~ight, as follows. Resource Wetlands Steep Slope Areas Forest Severe Soils Prime Agricultural Soils Active Agricultural Soils Open Space Ratio 1.0 -1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 Open Space Component= Minimum acreage of open (undeveloped) space per developed lot by multiplying acreage of resource x Open Space Ratio. The "land capability map" was then juxtaposed with existing land use patterns indicating areas of growth movement. The supporting rationale is that areas with more limitations need more land area to adequately support development (structure) plus, more importantly, on-site wastewater treatment and a safe, _drinkable water supply. The planning proposals developed from this system are elaborated on in the Summary of the Master Land Use Plan. "The community planner's diagrams will begin with a layout of land uses fitted to the topography. The traffic ways of various types will be traced along gently rising and falling grades not only to provide desirable access and views, but also to ensure gravity flow of the · stonn water mains and sewers within the rights-of-way. The best of the natural cover will be preserved, the best of the landscape features conserved, as the planner seeks in all ways to develop systems of harmony." (Simonds, 1978). 37 �, DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan DEGREE OF SLOPE ~ STEEP 27%·47% r:::::::;,,i MODERATE 9%·27% C:J GENTLE less than 9% @_j Slope Analysis acale,r•1500' FIG.6 38 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo Cou~ty, • Michigan WETLANDS FIG. 7 39 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan , P2 ' O@@@[ru@l TYPE CLASSIFICATION p PIM WhU• PIM Ritd Pine JKk Pine Oek North-em Hardwood• Pw Pr PJ 0 . M 0 Asi,.t1 • Blrd'I Lowland Hardwood• Conlfe, Swamp H Non-fcwHI E STAND SIZE and STOCKING R•p,o6i.,c:Uon 0 1 2 Sapllng 3 lfllrl:T •5 Po'- Timb« 7 Saw nm~ • 05 . Low Mtldlurn High Low Medium High lo• a Med ium 9 High """ ,,. Forest Cover """ II Ill ~ :lh •iIDJ 11m:ill l~i7 aulo-1"• 1500' FIG. 8 n ~ncll Envi,onmcntol 0rovp O,,~ _.....,.~ 40 --...ii �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan · [ill]] C:=J C:::J I.Iii - • SLIGHT MODERATE MODERATE-SEVERE SEVERE VERY SEVERE Limitations to Residential Development Without Public Sewer acal•-T• 1500' FIG. 9 41 �• •tt -------------------------------- lHtl DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan HHH C=:J SLIGHT MODERATE LJ . MODERATE-SEVERE - SEVERE Ill VERY SEVERE Limitations to Residential Development With Public Sewer D El l!EWJ:~ . dill tll&l t"=i7 FIG.10 . 42 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan D@@@[ru@I b::::d SLIGHT CJ MODERATE [=:J MODERATE-SEVERE - SEVERE Ill VERY SEVERE Limitations to Agricultural Use aule-1"• 1500' FIG.11 43 �·-iThe Pion. Goals & Actions �· POLICY Any successful public program requires some form of agreement as to the direction that program should take. Such an agreement is arrived at through the determination of objectives and implementing actions. The community can be best served if that determination is established under the joint guidance of community leaders and the · general public. The Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township provides direction for the future of the community in two forms. It expresses graphically (in map form) proposed land use arrangements within the Township and in written form, the concerns, standards and desired implementing actions as seen by the residents of the community. This written portion of the Master Plan takes the form of a planning policy. DEFINITION A 11 policy 11 is a statement of position prepared by a public body. It should be based on a community-wide consensus of goals and provide specific expression of those goals and the desired means of implementing them. As such, it provides a basis for-decision-making and enables the community to approach specific problems within the framework of a total plan. Policy - A statement or document of a public body that forms ~he basis for enacting legislation or making decisions. 11 (American Planning Association, 1976). 11 COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION Community participation in the formulation of policy is important due to the sensitivity surrounding such issues as personal land usage and property rights and values. Community-wide consensus as to both planning tools and development policies is vital -to the preparation of realistic plans for future growth. The coordination of individual concerns of a social or economic nature with the long-tenn goals of the community can provide a livable seting with the opportunity for alternative and satisfying lifestyles. And ·this, after all, is the underlying motive for land use planning. 46 �POLitY AND LAND USE A planning policy makes a general . statement of intent for the community and thereby establishes parameters within which decisions can be made. At this level, the policy is a framework for realistic land use management systems and is not static, but sensitive to changing conditions. The policy then establishes the means by which such general intentions may be implemented, speaking more to the point of the decision-making process, but without addressing specific problems. POLICY AND THE FUTURE Change is an inevitable process. It has made Dayton Township what it is now and, barring unforeseen major regional shifts in growth, land use, personal mobility and the like, the current trends will continue to effect the rural communities of the State of Michigan. With its substantial vacant lands, quality residential areas, active farms, streams and lake shorelines and its general rural atmosphere, Dayton Township has a potential for growth. Such growth is likely to take the form of re-· sidential development occurring along major roadways in the community, in woodlots, on presently productive agricultural lands and, in som~ instances, on parcels having less than desirable natural characteristics. By establishing realistic and concise policies regarding such issues and areas, Dayton . Township can meet any challenge that change brings in a definitive rather than a reactioDary posture. The advantages of establishing a planning policy include: ADVANTAGES OF POLICY 1. Public Understanding and Participation: The straightforward character of the planning policy aids public understanding of the planning process. With this understQnding, people are more able to participate in the discussion and decision-making process, and public confidence in local government is enhanced. 47 �2. Consistency: Clearly stated policies covering all concerns of comprehensive planning_can do much to minimize the possibility of arbitrary decision-making. 3. · Efficiency: When a reappearing nature, of time spent· on an quality of planning community is confronted with problems of a clearly stated . policies may reduce the amount individual proposal without lowering the recommendations. 4 • . Coordination: Planning policies create a single framework within which all elements of government may act in concert on development proposals. 5. Stability: Planning policies, by their general nature, provide an element of stability as specific zoning or planning proposals are modified over time. 6. Guide to Decision-Making and Review: A policy is helpful as a guide in adopting land use controls, and to the courts in judging the fairness of specific controls in the context of an overall goal structure for community planning. 48 �GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT DAYTON TOWNSHIP GENERAL GOALS GOALS: 1. To guide the future of the Township in such a fashion so as to preserve and enhance its desirable qualities, improving the quality of life for present and future residents, thereby keeping· the community a safe and attractive place in which to live, work and play. 2. Maximize the optimum and economical use of land. 3. Promote community identity and civic pride. 4. Provide a decent, helpful, safe and pleasant (home) environment. 5. Conduct land use planning and zoning activities with consideration given to the land uses or plans for properties in adjoining communities, as well as the Newaygo County Land Use Plan. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS 1. Promote the continued health, safety and general welfare of both present and future residents of Dayton Township. 2. Encourage the type of community that promotes numerous opportunities for personal ~hoice and a range of opportunities. 3. Maintain and enhance those positive attributes of the Township's environment that have attracted residents into the area. 4. Improve those undesirable elements which may be detrime~tal to ·the health, safety or. convenience of Township residents. 5. In order to maintain the low intensity, open space, low stress lifestyle sought by current Township residents, Dayton Township will strive to manage future growth and development in such a fa?hion so as to efficiently utilize existing land and its limited fiscal resources. 49 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP MASTER LAND USE PLAN GOALS: To formulate a land use plan that is flexible, reasonable and adequate to meet the needs and desires of Township residents; one that allows for the proper conservatioh or use of all resources including a determination of the probable future need for lands, their most advantageous designations and potentials, and for services, facilities and utilities required to equip such land. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS: 1. 2. Dayton Township will adopt a Master Land Use Plan (text and map) indicating areas into which specific land uses should be directed. The Plan will: a. classify and allocate land for agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, public, forest and other uses; b. establish the general location, character and extent of streets, roads, highways, railroads, bridges, water-related developments, drainage-ways, sewer and water systems and the like; and c. recommend the general character, extent and layout for any public grounds, open spaces, parks, buildings or other facilities. The Master Land Use Plan will be used by the Planning Commission and Township Board to guide their decisions on matters of gro~rth, development and land usage. 50 �3. The Dayton Township Zoning Ordinance will be reviewed and revised in light of an adopted Master Land Use Plan to reflect the proposals contained in the Plan and to enforce its land use policies by means of local .ordinances. 4. The Community Attitude Survey has shown that the residents of Dayton Township are· well satisfied with the present quality of life in the Township. They are, however, concerned about what the future holds for their community and want to make improvements where possible. This positive community attitude is a resource that will continue to be en.cou raged and ut i1 i zed. 5. Members of the Planning Commission and Township Board will be encouraged to support legislation, on the federal and, especially, the state level, that will enhance the possibilities for a general Township law to implement a land use plan; including the balancing of concerns over the natural environment with local needs and desires. LAND USE MANAGEMENT . GOALS: To provide for a system of residential and non-residential land uses coordinated to meet present and future needs efficiently and practically, both in an environmental and economical sense, without adversely affecting the quality of living in Dayton Township. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS: 1. Encourage orderly, planned growth and development that establ .i shes a unifying, yet distinctive character to sub-areas of the community. Such growth would separate and, in a sense, protect both residential and nonresidential development as well as agricultural and open space uses. 2. Growth should be regulated as to its rate and intensity in specific districts, consistent with pre-determined desired characteristics. 3. Unmanaged sprawl and 11 leapfrog 11 development indicate an unplanned, inefficient approach to land use, and should be prevented. 51 �4. Discourage random "spot zonings" of higher intensity residential or nonresidential uses; thereby promoting cohesive zoning districts and a wider application of "special land use" provisions, through zoning, to accommodate specified situations. 5. Growth should be managed to the extent that it is a function of overall carrying capacity, not only of the physical {land) resource, but also including elements as public costs and the provision of public roads, services and utilities. 6. New development should be orderly, to reduce the energy inefficiencies of discontinuous development patterns. AGRICULTURAL/ENVIRONMENTAL/OPEN .SPACE RESOURCES GOALS: To use all legitimate supporting techniques possible to preserve and protect agricultural and open space elements in Dayton Township; both to maintain them as functional use areas and to retain the predominantly rural atmosphere of the area due to its contribution to the l9cal quality of life. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS: 1. Preserve for agricultural use those lands in Dayton Township that are best suited for agricultural use and of the highest productivity. 2. Discourage the development of non-agricultural uses on designated agri~ cultural soils. Such development impairs efficient agricultural practices, removes forever the best agricultural fields from production and could result in future conflicts between rural homeowners and farmers. 3. Discourage the extension into designated agricultural areas, of utilities or other public improvements that are not compatible with an agricultural use district or that would otherwise jeopardize the integrity of these districts. 4. Provide, through zoning, a means of maintaining low population densities in all agricultural areas, as well as on environmentally sensitive lands, to reduce the potential for rapid encroachment on such properties by less desirable land uses. 52 �5. Identify vacant lands (agricultural or other) that could be best utilized as transitional or holding districts; which by virtue of their relationship to development corridors or adjoining parcels currently experiencing growth could provide the needed options for accommodating, yet implementing the other basic policies of this plan. 11 11 11 11 6. Support that portion of the local economic/employment base consisting of farming and specialty agriculture enterprises by encouraging and conserving such uses. The cash inflow to local ag-oriented services, as well as general retail enterprises from family farms in Dayton Township, is felt to be significant. Without ·this local support, businesses in the area may find themselves -missing an important consumer. 7. Protect open space or environmental resources, especially agricultural lands, which usually provide far greater returns to the community in taxes (per/acre) vs. services required than they would if developed. Protecting such areas where feasible, encourages judicious fiscal spending for public services. 8. Marshy areas and wetlands provide important resource functions. Dayton Township has identified wetland areas in the community, as a function of this planning process, and will protect these resources to the greatest extent possible from any significant disturbance, draining or filling. 9. Development along drainage-ways and lake shoreline fringe will be carefully regulated in order to protect unwary land purchasers as well as the general public from development practices which may cause pollution. 10. Among the resource features identified as part of this plannin.g program, include .all woodlot areas in Dayton Township. Current practices, especially the cutting of trees for fuel, are causing a diminution of these woodlots. Instead of clear cutting activities in which all existing trees in a given area are removed, the Township encourages proper management of woodlots so that they will support future usage by future generations of residents. 11 11 53 �RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS: To encourage variety in residential development so that all segments of the population may be housed in a safe, functional, aesthetically pleasing fashion; and to plan residential districts as defined areas of compatible style and . density ·with appropriate support facilities to maintain a stable, lowstress lifestyle. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS: 1. Encourage a balanced and expanded range of housing types to accommodate a range of income and age groups, household sizes, location and style preference. 2. Encourage residential development that reflects the predominant character of existing development and land capabilities. 3. Regulate "group housing" (mobile home parks, multi-family units or single-family subdivisions) so that it will blend well with the character of a give~ locale, or the low-intensity character of the community. 4. Encourage rural sub di visions, rather than 11 scattered 11 or especially 11 strip 11 single-family development. Rural subdivisions provide a unified, economical approach to single-family growth; however, they should be located -adjacent to existing areas of similar development or in designated growth 11 corridors 11 or II sectors". 5. Encourage the adoption of subdivision regulations to guide th~ quality of new residential development in Dayton Tow.nshi p. 6. Discourage extensive 11 strip 11 residential development along roadways in the Township. Such development is an inefficient use of land, committing the future use of road frontage, often in narrow, deep lots, and inhibiting access to interior portions of larger acreages. 7. Adopt reg'ulations limiting to a single unit, the number of residences that can be serviced by a private drive or roadway. 54 �8. The housing needs of retired, elderly and low-income families or individuals will be considered and reflected in future development decisions. Dayton Township, however, does recognize the needs of such individuals for shopping, health care, employment, etc., or the possible lack of mobility, makes the adjoining City of Fremont a more suitable location for such housing. 9. Encourage diversified housing types to enable all citizens an equal opportunity within their financial means to secure housing of their choice. 10. Protect residential areas from activities that produce excessive noise, dirt, odors or traffic. NON-RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS: To provide guidelines for commercial, industrial, office or other types of non-residential land use with the aim of meeting the.needs of the Township residents, preserving a pleasing environment, and preventing conflicts between non-residential areas and surrounding land uses. IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS: 1. . 2. 3. Discourage "spot zoning 11 of non-residential uses • Realize that the availability of 11 comparison 11 or 11 regional 11 shopping opportunities in nearby Fremont, or in the larger metropolitan_ areas of Grand Rapids or Muskegon, a short drive away, serve the needs of Township residents and, for the most part, precludes the necessity for such retail facilities in Dayton Township. Encourage the development of limited commercial ventures in carefully controlled locations. Commercial services provided would be of the 11 nei ghborhood ·service 11 or "convenience" seal e. Such facilities should be located adjacent to areas of existing or projected residential growth. 55 �4. While industrial or·commercial development could impact in a positive fashion the tax base of Dayton Township, there are certain costs attendant with such facilities. It is the concern of local decisionmakers that any extensive non-residential development would be incompatible with the present character of the Township. Such uses may be more appropriately accommodated in areas where necessary support elements (sewer,· water, rail, "Class A" roads, etc.) exist, rather than in a rural, lightly settled community. Industrial facilities, specifically, while they will not be encouraged, will not necessarily be prohibited. Industry would be more appropriately accommodated in' other areas of Newaygo County, where planning efforts have been directed towards attracting an industrial base. PUBLIC SERVICES AND FACILITIES GOALS: To encourage public services and facilities in the most efficient manner possible to meet existing and future needs of Township residents. Also, to maintain the present quality of the roadway network in the Township and encourage provision of an integrated transportation system moving people and goods within and through the community in a safe and pleasant manner. IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS: 1. In accordance with the provisions established in P.A. 168 of 1959 (as amended) the Dayton Township Planning Commission desires to review and comment on the general location, character and extent of newly proposed roadways or roadway extensions, occurring in the Township. · · 2. Recognize that public iervices and facilities should be sensitive to the needs of Township residents and therefore be expanded or revised when necessary to more effectively serve local residents. 3. Where possible, public services should be coordinated on a cooperative basis between Dayton Township and adjacent units of government. 56 �The Plan_Standards & Mop �THE PLAN - STANDARDS AND MAP STANDARDS The Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township is based upon a thoughtful analysis of community characteristics and constraints, as well as a careful study of perceived community needs, problems and potential. These expressions are described in desired policies for future direction. A remaining element in the establishment of the Plan is that of determining the range of minimum standards for a variety of issues· that are applicable to the future of Dayton Township. Planning standards are not intended to be expressed as inflexible rules, but rather are intended to reflect an average of what has occurred in other communities in similar circumstances, or more importantly, what has been developed as guidelines specifically for Dayton Township. Standards experienced through a monitoring of other communities may provide decision-making parameters, especially in the realm of community facilities. Yet, the representation of local standards entails the needs, preferences and unique characteristics of our community. The standards· contained herein are considered appropriate "to promote public health, safety and general welfare to encourage the use of resources in accordance with their character and adaptability; to avoid the overcrowding of land by buildings or people; to lessen congestion on public roads and streets; (and) to facilitate provision . for a system of transportation, sewage disposal, safe and adequate water supply, recreation and other public improvements." (P.A. 108 as amended). ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS To repeat our prior premise, for the use of land to be rational, whatever that use might be, it must begin with a study of the land and its natural opportunities or constraints. "Farmers will fit their orchards and fields to the land confonnation and to the soil types and depths. Their furrows will be plowed along the contours so that water and rain will be retained to seep into the ground. Their buildings will be protected from the stonns yet lifted ·above the frost pockets, and out of the dews and damps. Their homes will receive the summer breezes, but not after these breezes have played across the barn yard coops and pens. Barn and hayloft will be kept 'crosswind' and out of the path of flying sparks from the chimneys." (Simonds, 1973). 58 �7 Through this Plan we are, in reality, proposing no more than that expressed above--an enlightened approach to land use, and a process whereby local officials might review and guide land use proposals--not always in a negative mode but rather one of appreciating the limitations or social costs that exist. COMMUNITY FACILITIES STANDARDS Community facilities are considered to be those public land -uses either O\'med by . the public or operated by private enterprises in the public interest. The term ~ncompasses a wide range of activities, or facilities, including education, health care, recreation, libraries, utilities, cemetaries, and so forth. Churches, private recreation uses or service/club organizations, although defined in the broader category of public and semi-public land uses are not classified as community facilities. Such uses generally have entrance requirements which may preclude their access to the public-at-large. Community facilities fonn a network of services, meeting the physical, cultural, social or protective needs of the community. Studies have determined that they weigh heavily in the perceived desirability of a given community as a place to live, work or play. The response of Dayton Township's residents (Community Attitude Questionnaire) did not vary significantly from other national or state studies of similar intent. Important factors contributing to community satisfaction included: • • • • Good schools Good public services Recreation opportunities Safe, quiet neighborhood areas These factors specifically are related to community facilities--their availability and quality. In addition, community facilities may impact urban growth patterns. Public utilities especially will determine where more intense uses may locate~ Decisions on open space will detern1ine physical form by preserving agricultural fields or wetlands. 59 �Public land ~ses, unlike private land uses which are built at the expense of the individual developer, require substantial financial investment on the part of the community. The financial commitment to .provide fire (and police) protection, parks, adequate roads, and if necessary, water or sewer is substantial regardless of the land use pattern that evolves in a community. Studies have documented (The Costs of Sprawl, CEQ 1974) that low density spra\'ll is by far the most costly to service adequately for any community size. Part of the purposeful strategy of this Master Land Use Plan for Dayton Township is one of accommodating future development yet with the minimum public cost. PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES We are a society that places substantial emphasis on· formal education. Public school facilities and educational programs in some manner touch the lives of all Township residents or tax-paying property owners. While school authorities will determine educational local planning officials are in the unique position Township development trends and current (as well as terns - to assist in the sel_ection of future school policies and objectives, of being knowledgable to proposed) land use patfacility sites. Schools have traditionally been regarded as single .purpose facilities for use by students and faculty. · This concept has changed and schools are being viewed as potential park and recreation/community centers for use by the entire community. . Please see -Appendix D for additional discussion of school planning standards. Location standards suggest that school facilities should: 1. Be near the population centers they are to serve. 2. The immediate environment should be safe, pleasant, reasonably attractive and conducive to learning. 3. Be easily accessible from improved highways. 60 �OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION The concepts of open space and recreation quite obviously have differing implications to various individuals depending upon age, income, interest, place of residence and a host of other variables. One of the goals of this plan is to provide opportunities for satisfying the leisure needs for all segments of the population~ As we have established, Dayton Township is a community rich in open space, agricultural lands, rolling topography, small lakes and scenic vistas. The relationship between these identifiable amenities and perceived individual -or community needs leaves these elements--open space and recreation--in a grey area. This is evidenced by the negative reaction in the community attitude survey towards more active participation by the Township in providing recreational programs or facilities. Location standards suggest that open space and recreation areas should: 1. Avoid physical barriers such as heavily traveled roads and railroads. 2. Use natural areas having certain aesthetic advantages where possible. 3. Be conveniently located, large and properly designed and constructed. 4. Be provided in combination with schools or public building, where possible. RESIDENTIAL LAND USE STANDARDS Housing is much more than simple shelter for the basic social unit--the family--but rather its location and general appearance has significant influence on neighborhood or community environment and the overall quality of human life. Because of these far reaching implications as well as the fact that, as a land use, residential development will be the dominant item for Dayton Township, the quality of development and environmental situation is of primary importance for p~anning and governmental decision-making. Based upon the population and housing projections as fonnulated in previous sections of this document, it is possible to plan for the number of new residential living units which can be expected by the year 2010. As is indicated in Table D-3 (Appendix D) Dayton Township can expect the construction of approximately 233 residential units to house the anticipated increase in population. It is recommended that Table D-3 be utilized as a guideline for directing anticipated residential growth. 61 �Location standards suggest that residential areas should: 1. Avoid areas with environmental limitations to residential development. 2. Be convenient to -work and leisure activities. 3. Be protected-from traffic and incompatible land uses. 4. Be economical -to develop. 5. Be developed within a range of residential densities to accommodate a variety of lifestyles. COMMERCIAL LAND USE STANDARDS In projecting potential demands for commercial land use we must first identify the type of shopping facilities most likely to develop within Dayton Township. The most common fonn of retail activity · is the neighborhood shopping center which provides convenience items and personal services--hardware stores, gas . stations and -laundromats are typical establishments. The secondary level is that of the community shopping center which has all or most of the convenience functions, but most importantly, providing an expanded selection and particularly durable goods such as large appliances. The third modern retail• ing level is the regional shopping center with its major department stores . -t?"'.__.~ and further expanded selection. It must be recognized that Dayton Township's ~o-,, J . - - ~ close proximity to the metropolitan centers of Grand Rapids and Muskegon, as ~~~ well as the smaller urban center of Fremont provides a multitude of shopping . alternatives within a reasonable distance, to meet the bulk of local shopping needs. It is unlikely, therefore, that any regional commercial development will occur within the Township. Furthennore, any expansion or redevelopment of the commercial core within Fremont will also affect the demand for development of retail services in outlying townships. 11 11 11 11 11 '· 11 Planning for commercial uses should insure compatibility with land uses existing in the locale surrounding their proposed locations. Appropriate measures should be developed within the zoning ordinance to protect both the economic and aesthetic values of single-family and agricultural properties. 62 �Location standards suggest that commercial uses should: 1 Adjoin heavy traffic flows. 2. Be clustered near each other, in convenient proximity to the client they are intended to serve. 3. Have sites of adequate size for shops, off-street parking, loading and landscaping. 4. Recognize existing land use patterns to avoid incompatible situations. INDUSTRIAL LAND USE STANDARDS As with commercial development, it must be recognized that the population to be served must be considered in terms of accessibili.ty to the employment center. Therefore, the area of influence for an industrial employer would exceed the boundaries of Dayton Township. Further, it must be acknowledged that competing employment centers in the region, particularly Gerber s in Fremont, as well as other industries in the Muskegon area, will attract portions of the total available labor market. 1 Location standards suggest that industrial areas should: 1. Be located so as to minimize any possible adverse effects of the industrial use in regard· to adjacent non-industrial uses. 2. Have convenient access to transportation systems, especially highways and railroads. 3. Have adequate land with sufficient reserve for future expansion. 4. Have adequate utilities; water, sanitary sewer (if available), waste disposal, and power. 63 �MASTER LAND USE PLAN MAP The text and accompanying diagrams in this Plan have set forth the planning constraints and potentials of Dayton Township. The Plan has explored community needs and preferences and examined e1ements ranging from local population base to soil capabilities. Finally it has set standards for development which will provide fonn to the goals and proposed actions of the Plan. With the above comments as introduction, specific development features are portrayed in map fonn on Figure 13 that follows. The Plan Map (Figure 13) is the ultimate summation of the data, goals and standards contained herein and, of course, the singular item of primary interest to the readers of this report. The summary that follows will be of assistance to those interested in the total Plan concept, as well as the rationale applied to specific areas or used to relate a given segment of the Plan to other segments. SUMMARY OF THE MASTER LAND USE PLAN At the heart of the Master Land Use Plan are the actual plan proposals for future growth and development in Dayton Township. These plan proposals deal with the following interrelated subject areas: 1. Natural resources; 2. Residential development; 3. Commercial areas; 4. Industrial areas; 5. The M-82 corridor; 6. Public services/facilities, and; 7. Design and aesthetics. 64 �Preceeding the summary comments are several brief, guiding principles which warrant examination. These include: 1. The Plan is a flexible tool: It is not meant as a monument cast in bronze, never to be adjusted or ch~nged. The Master Land Use Plan is a general guide to be used by Township government to give direction for the future. · It will be reviewed periodically and altered as conditions in the community change. · 2• . The Plan is not a zoning map: The Plan reflects future land use arrangements in light of the development that exists, but does not depict a "new 11 zoning district map. In that the Plan and zoning map are to be in reasonable harmony, it is likely that future zoning districts will take the shape of the Plan. 3. The Plan is ·adequate: The land use allocations reflected on the Plan Map are based upon existing development patterns, as well as the best available projections of land use needs based upon presently accepted planning standards. The Plan Map realistically contains sufficient land area to meet anticipated needs and demands for every residential and nonresidential use. Natural Resources 1. There are substantial areas in the Township containing soils not suitable for septic field~ or similar methods of on-site disposal. These occur in an area bounded by 24th Street, •Fitzgerald Avenue and 40th Street; and another situated between 24th and 8th streets east of Green Avenue. Residential densities assigned to all portions of the Township reflect localized soil cap~bilities. · 2. The elements of slope and natural terrain have a very limited impact on the Towriship as a whole. The only concentration of steep slopes occur north of 8th Street and east of Bricker Avenue and in a northwest orientation in the Martin Lake area. 3. Topography plays a most important role in determining where utilities such_as sanitary sewer and water can be extended in an economically feasible fashion. It would app~ar that the natural drainage basins surrounding the City of Fremont would permit gravity flow of both sewer and water, should they ever be extended into Dayton Township. 65 �4. Wooded areas are limited in their number and extent 1n the Township. Most remaining woodlots are found along drainage-ways or at the interior of sections. 5. There are very few areas in Dayton Township that, due to slope, drainage or soil composition, rate as being undesirable for agricultural purposes. This is not to say that agricultural production in the Township is high, but such a factor is consi~tent with the prevailing rural-agricultural character. Residential Development 1. Utilizing the total projected population for Dayton Tocluding anticipated household size and housing type preference, it was determined that the total housing stock in the Township may increase by over 200 units in the next thirty years. 2. The Master Land Use Plan anticipates a variety of housing types and densities. a. Residential 1: It is this area into which the bulk of residential growth will be directed, as the present residential density is highest there, public services could realistically be provided if necessary and such an approach provides a logical, efficient and energy conserving approach to future growth. Higher residential densities (particularly mobile homes and multifamily units) could be accommodated within specified sub-areas within this district. Also, lot size requirements would be comparable to those existing under current zoning requirements (15,000 to 18,000 square feet). b. Agricultural 3: This is the transitional fringe, currently containing many farms, however, due to terrain, roadway access and close proximity to Fremont, it could be very desirable for 11 suburban11 residential growth. Lot area requirements should be adjusted accordingly, considering the likelihood of solely on-site wastewater disposal. The proposed lot size requirement is a minimum of one acre. 66 �c. Agricultural 2: This interior portion of the Township is predominantly agricultural, yet it has undergone a limited amount of rural residential growth. If "hobby farm" or "rural residential development is to occur it would be best accommodated in this area-rather than disrupting the more dominant agricultural acreages to the north. Residential lot sizes should be increased over the . Agricultural 3 districts to conform to the desired rural character. The proposed lot size requirement is a minimum of two acres. 11 d. Agricultural 1: This portion of Dayton Township includes the vast northern two-thirds and southwest corner of the community. These areas have the lowest population or dwelling unit density and have received the least amount of parcelization (lot splits to smaller parcels). The dominant character of this area is rural and agricultural. Planning proposals for this region are oriented towards supporting and protecting active : agricu1tural uses. It is inte~ded that productive soils, or other limiting features be protected and that the density of development be kept the lowest of any area of the Township. The proposed lot size requirement is a minimum of five acres. Commercial Areas 1. Shopping facilities in and immediately adjacent to Fremont serve not only City residents but also a much larger market area containing most of the adjoining townships. Planning standards applied to future population levels indicate a moderate amount of new commercial development in Dayton Township will serve anticipated growth. 2. For reasons of access, potential availability of sewer and water, and existing land use mix, the Master Land Use Plan will direct new commercial gro~~h in areas adjacent to existng commercial development. These areas include portions of the M-82 corridor west of Fremont. Planning proposats for this corridor include: In-fill: Promote in-fill non-residential development of vacant parcels within the corridor. Mix: Through zoning regulations, accommodate the residential and nonresidential use mix in this sector. 67 �Limit: Major non-residential (specifically commercial) growth will be limited to this area of Dayton Township, as opposed to any "four corners" sort of development in the interior of the community. Phase: It is proposed that the Commercial 1 areas receive any new growth in the short-range, with the Commercial 2 ·district serving as a "holding zone" and continuing in its present mode until the Commercial 1 area is fully developed. The intent ii to avoid premature, leap-frog commercial growth along M-82. Industrial Areas. 1. Recent history has shown that many communities have zoned areas to attract industrial growth - zoning far in excess of what could reasonably be expected to develop. Industrial facilities will certainly not be prohibited in ·Dayton Township, however, they will not be encouraged. Industry would be more appropriately accommodated in other communities in Newaygo County where efforts have been made to attract such uses. The non-residential portions of the M-82 corridor would be more suitable for small-scale industry than other areas of the Township. The M-82 Corridor 1. Extensive strip commercial development poses many problems to the community, retail customers and businesses. Dispersed retail development is inconvenient to customers. Numerous curb cuts cause disruption in traffic flow and, in turn contribute to traffi'c congestion by reducing ·the roadway capacity. · The Plan realizes that a demand for commercially zoned property exists and that there is the potential for additional commercial development in the Township. The Plan accommodates these considerations by designating blocks of land along the M-82 corridor for such expansion. A major planning component of this Plan is to guide commercial uses into these selected areas and maintaining other lands along M-82 for future residential growth. 2. Possible suggestions to be resolved in the implementation phase of this Plan is control over access at sensitive locations along M-82 or even the need for frontage drives connecting large commercial businesses. Such actions would encourage a higher standard of safety and general welfare for all individuals traveling on M-82 within Dayton Tmmship. 68 �Public Services/Facilities 1. The costs of providing sanitary sewer to outlying areas of the Township would be very high in such low density areas. Therefore, districts of intensive developme~t are proposed for that sector of the Township with the greatest likelihood for such service. A similar system of constraints apply to any public water service. 2. Potential population growth is not at a :level whereby extensive public expenditures for services or facilities such as parks, roads or schools will be needed in the immediate future. Dayton Township does, however, recognize the necessity for prudent expansion of public services or facilities as needs arise and public funds permit. Further, many issues, such as solid waste, require a regional planning approach--within which Dayton Township will participate. Design and Aesthetics 1. Rational arrangement of land uses to encourage compatibility and discourage conflict will preserve the present quality of life for future Township residents. 69 �DAYTON TOWNSHIP Newaygo County, Michigan ~®@@[ru@l LJ LJ AGRICULTURAL 2 ~ AGRICULTURAL 3 ~ RESIDENTIAL 1 m - AGRICULTURAL 1 COMMERCIAL 1 COMMERCIAL 2 MASTER LAND USE PLAN 70 �IMPLEMENTATION It is the overriding purpose of this Master Land Use Plan to establish a coordinated Township program for land usage that will best promote general health, safety, morals, convenience, welfare, economy and efficiency. However, the Plan must be implemented so that Dayton Township will realize the benefits of its proposals. This Plan will be a successful guide for the future of Dayton Township only if it is continually used in the decision-making process of citizens, developers and Township officials. The first act of implementation of this Plan should be its official adoption. Recognition of the Plan must come from two sources--the Planning Commission and the Township Board. Michigan Statute states 11 The Planning Commission shall make and adopt a basic plan as a guide for the development of unincorporated portions of the Township. 11 The Plan has offical status upon its adoption by the Planning Commission. The Plan should then be forwarded to the Township Board for their review and adoption, for it is the Board which has the power to implement the Plan through the passage of ordinances and expenditures of public funds. Actions to consider in implementing the Plan can be grouped into five general categories: 1and use controls, financial aids, 1ocal government programs, intergovernmental cooperation and citizen involvement. The most effective tool Dayton Township may utilize in guiding future land use is the Zoning Ordinance. The Ordinance should reflect the growth patterns established in the Master Land Use Plan. The continual updating and review -0f the Zoning Ordinance is essential. Without good zoning there is 1ittl e protection from new development for Township property owner_s and 1ittl e guidance to developers desiring to build within the Township. The Township, through its participation in Federal or State grant programs and its expenditure of funds for public improvements, can encourage certain types of development in the desired areas of the community. For example, Federal grant programs provide for the extension of sanitary sewer into portions of the Township. 71 -- ----- - - �Third, the Township can implement the Plan through local government programs. One such element is that of the ongoing planning process. It is important that the Plan be constantly used in making decisions, reevaluated often, and kept up-to-date by utilizing current information. Another such element is that of the Capital Improvements Program {C.I.P.). The C.I.P. is simply a capital budget, normally extending six years into the future. Based upon data presented in · the Master Land Use Plan, the Township Board may foresee the need for improvements in certain areas of the Township or can encourage development through the expenditure of public funds. The Township must recognize its role in the region and Newaygo County, and continue to cooperate with other governments conducting programs affecting Township residents. To this -end, these governments and agencies should be provided with copies of the Plan and consulted concerning its implementation. Finally, the Plan will only be successful if Township residents get behind it and support its goals and suggestions for improved community living conditions. Residents have already helped through their willingness to contribute their talents on boards and commissions and/or their ideas. Such involvement should be encouraged in the future. Involving Township residents in community decision-making requires a commitment of the Planning Commission and the Township Board. to disseminate information on a regular basis through the news media and public forums. The public must have the necessary background information to make rational decisions about how they want their community to develop. 72 �Appendices �APPENDIX A DEFINITIONS �APPENDIX A DEF! NITI ONS BUFFER ZONE: A strip of land created to separate and protect one type of land use from another: for example, as a screen of planting or fencing to insulate the surroundings from the noi~e, smoke or visual aspects of an industrial zone or junkyard. CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT: Generally refers to a development pattern in which uses are grouped or clustered rather than spread evenly throughout a parcel as in conventional lotby-lot development. COMMUNITY FACILITIES: Public or privately owned facilities used by the public, such as streets, schools, libraries, parks and playgrounds: also facilities owned and operated by nonprofit private agencies. COMPATIBILITY: The characteristics of different uses or activities that permit them to be located near each other in harmony and without conflict. It is a general but important concept which forms the basis for segregation of uses in districts. DENSITY: The average num~er of ·familes, persons, or housing units per unit of land; usually density is expressed 11 per acre. 11 A-1 �HIGHEST AND BEST USE: The use of land in such a way that its development will bring maximum profit to the owner. It's a theoretical real estate concept that does not take into account the externalities from such a use of land; thus public regulations often limit land use to some activity that will provide the owner with less than maximum profits in order to minimize spillover costs to other properties and the public at large. HOLD I NG ZONE: . Usually a district established in the zoning ordinance on a temporary basis awaiting applications for rezoning; usually very low density zones. IN ACCORDANCE WITH A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: Zoning should be consistent with public policies arrived at through detailed study and analysis, i.e., a comprehenisve (land use) plan. I NT ENS ITY: The degree to which land is used. While frequently used synonymously with density, intensity has a broader meaning, referring to leve,-s of concentration or activity. LANDSCAPING: Changing, rearranging, or adding to the original vegetation or scenery of a piece of land to produce an aesthetic effect appropriate for the use to which the land is put. It may include reshaping the land by moving the earth, as well as preserving the original vegetation or adding vegetation. LAND USE CONTROLS: A term generally referring to the use of police power techniques to control and guide land use and development; including zoning and subdivision regulations. A-2 �LEAP FROG DEVELOPMENT: The development of relatively cheap land on the urban fringe by jumping over the more expensive land located immediately adjacent to existing development. This leaves intervening vacant land behind and results in a haphazard shotgun pattern of development. · PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT (PUD): A form of development usually characterized by a unified site design for a number of housing units, clustering buildings and providing common open space, density increases and a mix of building types and land uses. It permits the planning of a project and the calculation of densities over the entire development rather than on an individual lot-by-lot basis. PLAT: A map, generally of a subdivision -showing the location, boundaries and ownership of individual properties. POLICE POWER: The inherent right of a government to restrict an individuals conduct or his use of his pro_perty in order to protect the health, safety, welfare and morals of the community. SITE PLAN: A plan, to_scale, showing uses and structures proposed for a parcel of land. SPOT ZONING: Zo'ning an isolated piece of property differently from the zoning of the surrounding area, usually for an incompatible use and to favor the owner of the property. Such zoning has been held to be illegal by the courts on the grounds that it is unreasonable and capricious. Laymen generally think that it always is illegal and use t~e term loosely. A-3 �STRIP ZONING: A ribbon of development, usually commercial, extending along both sides of a major street. TRANSITIONAL USES; Uses which, by their nature or level and scale of activity, act as a transition or buffer between two .or more incompatible uses. URBAN FRINGE: An area at the edge of an urban area usually made up of mixed agricultural and urban land uses. ZONING: A police power measure enacted primarily by general purpose units of government, in which the community is divided into districts or zones within \thich permitted and special land uses are established as are regulations governing other development standards. Requirements vary from district to district but they must be uniform within districts. A-4 �APPENDIX B HOUSIHG DATA �TABLE 1!-1 DAYTON TOWNSHIP RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION 1974-1979 1978 1979 TYPE OF UNIT 1974 1975 1976 1977 Single Family 13 11 21 14 6 9 5 8 9 1 22 15 10 4 7 Mobile Home Total New Units 13 11 26 5 11 11 Additfons/ Alterations 6 ' Source: Dayton Township Building Permits 9/80 TABLE 8-2 DAYTON TOWNSHIP HOUSING CONDITION - 1978 Dayton Township Total Year-Round Units 635 Standard Substandard 436 199 Suitable for Rehabilitation Source: 181 Newaygo County Planning Commission and Intennediate School District - 1978 Survey 9/80 B-1 �APPENDIX C COMMUNITY ATTITUDE SURVEY �P'~C::LIM\NA~, · April 28, 1980 Of ~E~UL.T=:, QU E:-s·noN NAlfZ-.E_ Dear Dayton To1mship P.esident: With the intent of attending to the future well-being of Dayton Township and its residents, the To1mshiµ Board and Planning Coomission have initiated preparation of a Master Land Use Plan and revisions to the current Dayton To1-mshi p Zoning Ordinance. We are worldng on these documents 11i th the assistance of a planning consultant. The purpose of the attached questionnaire is, first and foremost, to obtain a better understanding of -your thoughts and concerns about the future of Dayton Township. As a resident, property 01-mer or voter in Dayton To1-msh i p, what type of community do you want for yourself and your children? We 1.ou 1d 1 i ke to kno1-1 .Pl ease fil 1 out the fa 1101-ii ng survey and return it by Hay 24, 1980. A return address is shown on the back of the survey. Feel free to leave it ~lith one of the members of the T01-mship Board or Planning Commission, or place it in the mail. You may sign your name if you 1-iish. Al I responses will re~ain c011pletely confidential. Additional co~ies may be obtained frcx:i Eloise r..unner To1-mship Clerk. \.le are looking fornard to receiving your comments and input. Thank you for your help and interest. Dayton To1-1nship Board Dayton To1-inshi:, Planning Coomission. ~- •••••••••••••• a ••• l a ••••••••• a •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• - I. •• I • J • J, • - · 7! --·· - --- i I ...I I _I' -;., - t· ,. II · Il I t, I Ii f ' . . I . - _I i, . _ ., i¾-t - • ( l I .___"'' L,......,( -" .... '' I ~~ DAYTON TOWNSHIP ,;j , .•·, _ ~ . ... r \. ., ! .I',· , l: . -B'-i1 New•J'90 Cour,ty, ~ I ~- _" . · • · ·· f maaar ~~fi')@'.l I ! I. ,, ,.· ,/· · ...,_"'r1] _. _. ·1 '-=-1-.r_,1: , -~-1-rJ , -..._.·"·.l ,! ·- · _ : I ?- . -\ r----.r-)A ~---I-·1' \\- -j' I' . / ;-~rr-~jf ·- ~ .-.- . t - I-~"-- _r\ I1· I -,,..--\V 'L.... . ..,\!, .... .·r 1... ~~ . I ~ . !· /--- _ _ 1rI L."' ·--] 11/ l ; 'lI - --,l.. t; f .• I I !! n . -:-~ mm •••• ri Ii ~ II:._,./N <:,-, lI /,. '/1', 1 I.. -.-~ i' Ll ~~ )1b 1.-i ) a ?I ,,!ll ~DI. t:r:::J, _,,,_ 1-...IJ �neral Information II How long ~ave you lived in Dayton Township? 15.1'5 Years II If you have moved in the past 5 years, indicate your previous place· of residence. \3.GCX,Fremont ( a ~ Did Not Move ~Other Address/Dayton Twp. 4a Else11here \4.G. /oDutside in Ne1iaygo County Newaygo County Do you intend to remain a Township resident in the foreseeable future? 0 -I~- •• •• •• a •• •• •II •• •• Land Use Preference Questions Please check the response which most closely describes your faelings toHard the fol101iing questions. If you wish to make additional c:.mnents on any 1tcfeel free to do so. Uncertain ~ 3. Do you feel that active agricultural lands in the Township should be protected from non-agricultural development? 4. Would you support land use controls (particularly -zoning) as a means of retaining such agr1c~ltural lands? 0 II you feel that lands abutting the •• 5. Dostreams and various lakes in the T01•mship should be protected from intensive Using the map on the preceding page, please place an "X" indicating •• qevel opment? the general of the To1mship lihere you reside. •• 6. Would you support land use controls as a Where does the primary 1iage earner i n your family work? n~ans of protecting those areas abutting •• \?.0% Muskegon Area the streams and lakes in Dayton Township? ,Z5..2,¾Dayton. Twp. • L5,¾ .Grand Rapids Area certain natural areas such as •• 7. Should 4~Fremont s1iamps, wetlands, woodlots, floodplains, •• etc, be conserved or retained through l6.~ /4,0ther (Specify) _ _ _ _ __ zoning? , •• Do you 01m your home or rent7 Should scattered single family home • construction be permitted as "strip" Rent •• loo.%- o~m Home residential development, with residences on shallow lots along the road frontage, Do you live in a:9Z.e,%single family home '5,0°l,mobile home •• of the Township? ....- oT.k.,_ duplex (2-family home) \.6% apartmen~ •• 9. , inShaulalld areas future mobile homes be required to locate in mobile home parks rather • on a -scattered basis throughout particular characteristict;keep you living in Dayton Township? • than ,,, What {IHJmber in order of decreasing_ importance; therefore 11 " ' ~ important, etc.) • the Township? • • 10. Are there sufficient retail stores and _Z::_ Proximity to place(s) of employment •• commercial facilities in Fremont and Hesperia to serve the basic needs of .,,, ,h_ Currently farming as a means of employment •• Dayton Township's residents? • 11. Should commercial facilities be limited •• in their location to those areas where would be convenient to serve the II": •• they needs of Township residents? .. •• I Scenic natural resources • filll'j or rural atmosphere •• urban centers (Muskegon, Grand Rapids) •• --:/._ Recreational nearby •• Opportunities •• Other (please specify) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ • ~.'Z. /4 Uncertain 0 1.lf210 area G::,'?).o /o 1(.9°/ 0 211.. I_ , _-, ./1.0/0 ~/c ~o/4o C:.f.>, c.. "'J l1.1•/. t 0 8• I I :., ~ II C-2 �Yes 12. Uncertain No Should industrial development be confined to an industrial park? 1';.2°/p Should the To1mship encourage so-called ~ •second horne" develop1nent (cabins, cottages) by relaxing any zoning requirer.tents for such uses? 'ZQA.¾ Other To1mships in Newaygo County have varying residential lot size require;ients for the developr.1ent of single family residences on rural, non-subdivision lots. What do you feel should be the minimum lot size requironent for such development in Dayton To1mship? izt5.¾1;2 _,4~1 acre aero? ~ l - 1 / 2 a<:res (5...5$2 acres Do you feel there is a need to increase the number of the following types of hou~ing? A. 8. c. D. [. A. ll. c•. D. E. F, G. H. I. Co-:/1o5 Overall quality of life is good Devel opmcnt hds rep! aced areas of natural beauty The area has generally become 1es s tranquil Too many people arc moving into O.:iyton To1inship Public services have improved· Road quality Is adequate . Shopping facil itics arc adequate ancl convenient Employment opportunities are available Public schools arc providing a 1100d education 19. If so, what are they? 20. If your property taxes had to ·be ra I sed to pay for these ne11 services, would you stil 1 favor having these services? Yes Uncertain {2{;;2" ID.<)% Are there some services you 1·10ul d rather do Hi thout in order to pay 10~1er taxes? l'b:1:/,, :i'U>% 21, acres ~ 1arger than 5 acres 22. If so, 1"/hat are they? 23. Is the To1mship level of goverrvnent best suited to be dealing with your basic publ"ic service needs? 24. Should Dayton Township take a more active role in providing recreational services to Township residents? 25. _Should Dayton Township initiate progr&ns to purchase sites for future park and recreational facilities that would be conveniently located for all To1mship residents? 26. What do you feel are the most important problems facing Dayton Toi (Number in decreasing order of importance; therefore #1 " most im: (i;;,~ no restrictions QX/i, other Yes (pl ease specify) Uncertain Mobile homes Hcntal apartments Duplexes (2-family units) Single family homes An elderly housing complex How do you feel _about living in D.1yton To1mship? Are there some pub! le serv.i ces that Dayton To1mship or Newaygo County do not provide that you 11ould like to have in this area? IAA_"fo Should smal 1 industrial facilities be encouraged to locate in Dayton To1mship? Uncertain 18. Yes Uncertain 'Z.9.2!J" · 1f.o•/o ?.:1..,320 ~l.b.o/o 1.1.:.Q.i'o e£9r>/o 1-Qz_o/,, _1§~~/o. ~5o/o. Yes Uncertain ..:l:_ Roadway improvements __::2_ Disposal of solid waste {landfill) _t;;i_ Regulating developmcnt/urbarlization pressures _:J._ Fire and police protection _5_ Control of nuisances, such as noise or junk _L_ Rising taxes ..J!2_ Se11age ~ disposal Annexation pressures Other (please specify) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ C--3 �iLP6P "IW lUOWaJ.:J ·a/\V uaaJ8 ·s LLS8 d!4SUMO.L UOlAE?Q )fJal:>' uauun)I as!Ol3 3H3H dWV.LS 3JVld ~amamaema • a •• am • m• a •••• 27. m•• mamamamm • mma • aaam~mmmsmmma • ammmmaaa ••• On a scale frcm Oto 10, if 10 represents a perfect CQf,lmunity or To1mshi;:, in the State, one that would be an ideal pl ace to 1 ive in; and O represents the \'/Orst possible situation you can ir.1agine; 1·1here on the scale 1·10uld you place Dayton T01·mship? \-/here 1·10uld you piace Dayton To1·mship five (5) yea rs fra:i nO\I? · n, ~ Davton To~mshio Board Dayton To1mship Planning Cor.i.-:iission John DeKuiper, Supervisor Eloise Kunnen, Clerk Don Akershoek William Edbrooke Lafayette Waters Preston Kromr.1endyk, Chainnan Noman Knorr, Secretary i1axine Annis Perry DeKryger John DeKuiper Myron l~okx, Jr. C.M. Shigley Harvey Van Hemert m~E • a �OJ\YTON TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY QUESTIONNAIRE ATTITUDE TAl3ULATION OF WRITTEN RESPONSES/COMMENTS Question: 2. Wfiat . particular .characteristics keep yo_u living in Dayton Township? - Just satisfied living here Retirement home - Near family and built on family land - Centennial home - Newaygo Countyl1as much more to offer for foster children than Oceana County - the special help some of them need and the whole system - Tradition - No urban congestion - Proximity to children's activities - Outside ot Fremont - Sma 11 tO\m country living - We like our property - Officals do job well - o~m home - ~/here I was rai scd - Wanted to have some land of our own in rural atmosphere - Can't afford to move - Can't afford to move with inflation robbing our income, and your Planning Commission is more government caused inflation - Quiet and good neighbors - Wonderful people - Family, friends - Caring neighbors - Retirement - Quiet, country - Proximity to aged parent - Friends and neighbors - Born here C-5 �Question: 18. Are there some pub 1i c services that Dayton TO\mshi p or Newaygo County do not provide that you would like to have in this area? · - To~mshi p dump - Park· - Child care facilities; "meals on Hheels for shut- . ins" - Pub 1i c dun.Ip - Township park - Public transportation - A private motel for the public - Pickup trash on roadsides - No CO\•t manure on Stone Road from fanners - Adequate tax assessment - Public transportation We are not a\•tare of any services other than roads - Improved roads - Adequate road repair - Would like our county to keep up roads better, too many pot holes on our paved ro.ads, maybe better use of men on county payroll - We are close enough to Muskegon and Grand Rapids for any needs we don't have met here - Improve the roads - ~etter snow plowing, better road repair - A good pre-school program - Roads, sewage system around · lakes - Just freedom, especially from TAXES - Transportation; cab service, bus service Better waste disposal - Portal to portal bus service, more recreational facilities like a swimming pool - Better county police patroling - Better county roads - Tmmshi p dump - Snow plowing when needed on weekends - Patch paved roads in spring earlier ·so there would be less maintenance \then they do patch them. Put more chloride on gravel roads during su~ner months. - Appreciate a dump C-6 -- -- . - - �Question 18, Continued -~More foster care homes for the elderly (not nursing home), pre-school program not based on wages but on need - Nice res~urant, better road maintenance - Better road maintenance · - Better road maintenance such as unfilled holes in blacktop - Sewer systen, paved roads - Access to lqkes (boat ramps) C-7 �Question: 21. Are there some services you Hould rather do without in order to pay 10\-1er taxes? - Pre-school breakfasts and lunches plus other social programs - Less restrictions - Benefits other than proper wages for all Salting road that don't need it - Government give-away programs - Government subsidies, farm support programs - Se1r1er service - Welfare too easy ·to get, cut down on school tax - Zoning, building inspectors - Too much money wasted in school system - I am uncertain what services are provided now - The ones we don't have - Don't know what are offered - Further expansion of public salaties and controls - Some school services I d name some if there were any. What services do we get? Darn few. Provide less controls, not more - Would require a review of current budget I'm not sure what services we receive. We don't have street lights or road upkeep. vlel fare Do not use the brine truck, less frequent roadside trimming I don't knciw what township services are - Mental health - Dog licensing, less government - Hhat service do He have? - Have the v10rk of all intermediate school district enployees evaluated and unnecessary one (jobs) eliminated - Other than land use and voting organization I am not aware of services provided by the TO\-mshi p that affect me personally in my daily life. - I think our schools could be run more efficiently - School busing - Comµuteri zat ion of county records - Not many non-basic activities I C-8 �Miscellaneous Comments: - We need elderly housing desperately - Elderly housing is not necessary in Dayton Tmmship - Green Street sou~h of 32nd needs repair - Green Street and 24th - we can hardly make it through our road in the spring - Fann machinery shops seem okay in the farming area because of their proximity to the farmer and his needs - Need more retail clothing stores - at reasonable prices - Could use a K-Mart - All prices are consistently higher than Grand Rapids and Muskegon - especially groceries - Eloise, I think this questionnaire is a great idea, thanks. - Aren't the lakes and streams in the Township already overdeveloped? - Need a roadside picnic area with picnic tables - Our road doesn t get plowed sometimes for two to tllree days - Every spring you could hury a car in the hole in front of Eloise Kunnen 1 s house on Green Street - Additional services mean more taxes - Give us taxpayers a break 1 C-10 �TABLE D-1 RECOMMENDED STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL SERVICE .AREAS DESIRABLE SERVICE AREA RADIUS IN MILES MAXIMUM SERVICE AREA RADIUS IN MILES El ernentary (K-6 o'r K-8) 0.25 0.5 Junior High (7-8 or 7-9) o. 50 Senior High (9-12 or 10-12) 0.75 TYPE OF SCHOOL Source: · 0.75 1.0 Planning Design Criteria, DeChiara and Koppelman, 1969. 9/80 The table above shows the recommended service radii (the geographical area a school serves) for the different school levels. The rural nature of the Dayton community often makes these radii impractical since the number of children in low density neighborhoods is too small to support a· school. Recent trends toward a central campus for junior and senior high students also make some of the service areas unrealistic. Dayton Township is serviced by Fremont Public Schools which encompasses other adjoining canmunities as well. Projections of pupil growth based on housing and population increases, and then impact as school facilities is, therefore, an indirect association. As Dayton Township's population base increases, it can be anticipated that such growth will affect the facilities of the Fremont District. The following general parameters establish the extent of such impact. D-1 �Assume: - Each household will generate .50 elementary students; .25 middle school students, and .25 high school students. Assume: - Two hundred thirty three (233) new households from 1980-2010. Calculations: .50 elementary pupils/HH - 116 additional students in 2010,@ 25 students/ · class= 4.6 teaching stations needed@ 20 teaching stations per elementary school= 1/4 new elementary school. - .25 high school puifils/HH = 58 additional students in 2010,@ 400-500 pupils per middle school= 1/6 new middle school • • 25 high school pupils/HH = 58 additional students in 2010,@ 1200 pupils per high school= 1/20 new high school. 0-2 �TABLE D-2 GENERAL RECREATION SPACE STANDARDS* TYPE OF AREA ACRES/1000 POPULATION SIZE RANGE SERVICE RADIUS {MILES} Neighborhood Playground 1.5 1-5 acres Sub neighborhood .25 - .5 Miles Neighborhood Park 2.0 5-20 acres •25 - • 5 Mi1 es NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL TOTAL 3.5 Community Playfield 1.5 20-50 acres 1.5 Mi1es Community Park 3.5 20-100 acres 2.0 Miles Major Park 2.0 100+ acres 3.0 Miles COMMUNITY LEVEL TOTAL 7.0 GRAND TOTAL (15 Minutes Driving Time) 10.5 ~source: Joseph DeChiara and Lee Koppelman, Plannin Desi n Criteria, (Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1969 and Robert Guechner, National Park Recreation ·and Open Space Standards, (Washington, D.c., 1970). . 9/80 "'See next page D-3 �TABLE D-3 DAYTON TOWNSHIP RESIDENTIAL STANDARDS* HOUSING TYPE NUMBER OF UNITS 1980-1985 REQUIRED ACREAGE NUMBER OF UNITS 1985-2010 REQUIRED ACREAGE Farm Residence (20 Ac. per farm) 4 {10%) 80 19 380 Single Family (3 Ac. per unit) 8 {20%) 24 39 13 Single Family (2 Ac. per unit) 8 (20%) 16 39 20 Single Family (1 Ac. per unit) 11 (30%) 11 58 58 Mobile Home Park . (5 unit~ per Ac.) 4 {10%) 1 19 4 Mobile Home Individual {l unit per Ac.) 4 {10%) 4 19 19 136 194 494 39 *Person per household estimate = 2.85 (1980-1985); 2.5 persons {1985-2010) 9/80 0·5 �I I i § I I I � 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 Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization) Wyckoff, Mark A. Description An account of the resource Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960/2023 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Comprehensive plan publications Master plan reports Zoning--Michigan Zoning--Maps Maps Land use--planning Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-240 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 Dayton-Twp_Master-Land-Use-Plan_1980 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dayton Township Planning Commission, Dayton Township, Newaygo County, Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980 Title A name given to the resource Dayton Township Master Land Use Plan Description An account of the resource The Dayton Township Master Land Use Plan was prepared by the Dayton Township Planning Commission with the Snell Environmental Group in 1980. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Snell Environmental Group (consultant) Subject The topic of the resource Master plan reports Dayton Township (Mich.) Newaygo County (Mich.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/727fa9e77abfb241c783b9f8790e8d13.mp4 de875f5a5635dc6c3f4585b8f188c381 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4be26c81880a021172b035d79d6678f6.pdf 41e77aa8a880b01da56b889d59a55288 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Edward de Blécourt (01:22:46) (00:25) Background Information • • • • • Edward was born in Phoenix, Arizona on October 9, 1981 and later moved to Michigan when he was 5 years old Edward’s father was an electrical engineer and his mother stayed at home He graduated from high school in May of 2000 and joined the Army Reserve on September 11, 2000 because he wanted to travel and get out of Michigan Edward was in the Army Reserve while working two other jobs He had just started college and finished basic training when the towers were attacked in New York (2:30) Basic Training October 2000 • Edward was sent to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training and AIT • It was freezing cold during training while they were drilling and working with artillery • Edward was training with all different types of people from all over the US • He began Advanced Infantry Training working with large trucks and tractor trailers in different types of weather and terrain • Edward trained for 6 months and then only had to report one weekend a month • He had been working with the 180th Transportation Company in Muskegon, MI (8:30) After 9/11 • Edward was called up for service after 9/11 into Fort Custer in Michigan • The atmosphere was very stressful and it seemed like no one knew what was going on • Many of the people there had previously fought during Desert Storm • All the rules tightened and everyone was more strict • In January of 2003 Edward was involuntarily transferred to Delaware and only had three days to get ready • They were sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey and taking tests before leaving • Edward was part of a new unit, the 946th and just getting to know everyone (14:20) Iraq • Edward received orders to leave in march and was on an 18 hour flight to Kuwait • They arrived on April 4, 2003 and the place smelled terrible • Landing was kind of scary and chaotic with everyone running all over the place • He had gone from training in the freezing cold to a very hot environment • They were staying in tents at Camp Wolf with no cots or sleeping bags �• Another unit had to move in also and the place was very crowded (21:00) Living Quarters • The Company began looking for somewhere else to stay and checked about three other camps, which were all full • They slept outside for a few days and then ended setting up in a huge warehouse that had about 18,000 people living in it • They began going on missions from Kuwait into Iraq and delivering fuel and gas • There were many people on the side of the road begging • They often got stuck in Iraq because it was too late to travel across the country • They would have to sleep outside near their trucks; it was very hot with many bugs and sandstorms (27:30) Progress of the War • Edward and others did not know anything about what was going on with the progress of the war • He would have to stand in line for four hours for a phone call and only had twenty minutes to talk • There was no Stars and Stripes for any news, just rumors • Edward continued delivering supplies, but often the AC in the trucks malfunctioned and the temperature could reach 140 degrees • They drove as quickly as possible to avoid being attacked and so that they could get back to their living quarters on time (39:30) QRF • The men continued to be told that they would be going home any time, probably next month • They were then told that they were doing so well that they would have to remain there for another 6 months • They were sent back to Kuwait and formed the QRF: Quick Reaction Force and basically guarding in Kuwait for 5 months in anticipation of an attack • They were very bored and there was usually no work to be done • Edward often played video games and it was nice because there was AC • He went into Kuwait City a few times and everyone there was very nice (47:30) Waiting to Leave • Edward had since learned a little bit of Arabic and some cultural customs • He went on a few humanitarian missions and got to know a few civilians • Many heard that they would not be in Iraq for a whole year so that the government would not have to pay them veterans benefits �• They were continually pulled off missions and replaced, told they were going home the next day, but then something would always go wrong (50:45) Back in the US • Edward left Camp Wolf and stopped in Amsterdam and then landed in New Jersey • They stayed at Fort Dix for two weeks and then were sent back to Michigan • It was hard for Edward to get back to civilian life and he continued in the Reserve until March of 2008 • Edward began attending college again at Davenport University and had to eventually get surgery on both his knees • Driving very fast for long periods of time over rough terrain had messed up his knees • The government paid for his surgery, but it took years for it to all get set up (1:02:10) Driving in the Desert • There were no roads in the desert or infrastructure • The roads that do exist are in very poor condition and have been through battle • Many trucks went into Iraq and were shortly completely destroyed • There was dust everywhere and often accidents • They always had to drive too fast to meet their deadlines • Sometimes they would be traveling in a convoy of 100 trucks (1:12:15) Looking Back • Edward was not part of an established unit, but would have like to have been working in a hierarchy with people he knew and trusted • Many times things were confusing and no one knew who was in charge � 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 de Blécourt, Edward (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource de Blécourt, Edward Description An account of the resource Edward de Blécourt was born in Arizona in 1981 and later moved to Michigan. He joined the Army Reserve in 2000 and was called to active duty after 9/11. He was sent to Kuwait in March of 2003 and served as a machine gunner on trucks that delivered fuel to bases all over Iraq, but primarily on the Kuwait-Baghdad highway. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.) BCTV Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army Reserve Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-09-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeBlecourtE Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6fa607081cfb5f5a05192a8bbc96307a.pdf 9b569e0050b1d48426218bac7bb14342 PDF Text Text THE ARTS BOO KS AWar to Remember Looking back at the causes of conflict and the horrors of combat B Y JIM M ILLER t 4:45 on the morning of Sept. 1, 1939, the city of Danzig (now Gdansk) awoke to explosions and the roar of gunfire. While German Stuka dive bombers screeched overhead, salvos from German battleships pounded the port. Shortly afterward Berlin radio broadcast a proclamation by Adolf Hitler, announcing the invasion of Poland-and the onset of World War II. The catastrophe that began ~n Danzig 50 years ago eventually engulfed five continents, leaving few people untouched and an estimated 50 million dead (box). Cities were leveled, nations dismembered, terrible new instruments of mass destruction perfected, from the concentration camps to tlie atomic bomb. The unprecedented-scope and brutality of the war oblige us not to forget it. And so, to mark the 50th anniversary of its onset, publishers are offering readers a host of new works that endeavor, with varying success, to commemorate, explain and put the conflict into some kind of historical perspective. Among the many new reference works, the most striking is The Times Atlas of the Second World War (256 pages. Harper & Row. $45, to be published in October) edited by John Keegan, author of "The Face of Battle" and "Six Armies in Normandy." Plotting the course of the war in its far-flung theaters, from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Burma and the steppes of Russia, the book's lucid text and spectacular full-color maps, designed by the staff of Times Books in London, offer a sweeping and vivid overview. At a glance, the reader can see the impact of German CT-boats on Allied shipping in the Atlantic between 1939 and 1941, the Japanese mastery of combined sea and air operations in the East Indies in 1942, the devastating effect of the Allied breakout from Normandy in 1944. Leafing through this atlas, the war sometimes seems like a grand, larger-than-life chess game. This illusion vanishes after consulting the Encyclopedia of the Second World War by the British military journalists Ian Hogg and Bryan Perrett (447 pages. Presidio. $40). The 3,000 entries and 500 photo- A 64 NEWS WEEK: SEPTEMBER 4 , 1989 The Murderous Wages of 'Total War' The horror of World War II was unique. I As the estimated death toll in several countries shows, civilians as well as combatants died in unprecedented numbers. COUNTRY DEATH TOLLS CIVILIAN MILITARY Britain 264,000 61,000 China 1,325,000 6,000,000 France 206,000 173,000 3,300,000 3,600,000 Greece 16,000 155,000 Italy 262,000 93,000 Japan 1,140,000 953,000 Poland 320,000 6,028,000* Soviet Union 13,000,000 7,000,000 United States 292,000 6,000t Germany "INCLUDES 3 MILLION JEWS. tlNCLUDES MERCHANT MARINES. SOURCES; GILBERT'S 'THE SECOND WORLD WAR'; PERRETT AND HOGG'S 'THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR' ROBERT CAPA-MAGS.UM Terrible destruction: What it all led to �Acatastrophe of unprecedented brutality, the second world war began with the invasion of Poland: Stuka dive bombers (above) zero in on targets, Hitler's Army enters Danzig in triumph ofan age to have lived through the events of 1914-18, let alone to have fought in them, could, wittingly, wish to go to war again." War, however, was precisely what some veterans yearned for. They missed the idealism and camaraderie of wartime, the thrill ofliving dangerously and the license to kill. Such were Hitler's lusts. "He did not fall into war," concludes Watt, "nor was he pushed. He leapt into war, past the warnings of his more cautious advisers, past the efforts to appeal to his love of peace, past the clear statements from the British and French Governments." As Watt points out, this is not a reassuring interpretation of Munich and its aftermath. Implying that no course of action could have stayed Hitler's hand, he concludes that a world war requires only "the will or miscalculation of a ruler or ruling group intent on global hegemony to the point of unreason and mental instability." In The Second World War: A Complete History (800 pages. Holt. $29.95, to be published in No vember), the Oxford historian Martin Gilbert, best known for his official biography of Winston Churchill, picks up the story where Watt stops: with the invasion of Poland. Gilbert's flowing narrative is spiced with anecdotal details culled from diaries, memoirs and official documents. He is especially skillful at interweaving summaries of military strategy with vignettes of civilian suffering- the genocide of the Jews is never far from view. Still, in some respects this is a disappointing work. Phlegmatic in tone and often numbingly dull, it makes little effort to graphs, maps and diagrams, arranged in the British prime minister for his "almost explain the calamitous events it describes. alphetical order, run from the A-4 rocket petulant egoism" and tendency to dither, It also fails ultimately to convey the horror (German, with a mean range of 183 miles) Chamberlain's fear of plunging Europe of the war. That Gilbert must so often reto Zyklon-B (a cyanide gas compound used into yet another bloody war he considers sort to mute statistics to summarize the in the "showers" at Auschwitz). With its entirely creditable. Almost all of Europe's carnage offers ironic testimony to one of dry descriptions of innumerable, often leaders, Watt reminds us, shared his fear. the war's greatest triumphs: the transforfiendishly clever weapons, the book makes Anxious to remain flexible, their action mation of millions of men into faceless cogs for somber reading. was "predicated on a model of how war in vast, impersonal machines of war . Why, so soon after the hecatombs of the might come, constructed from what they Commenting on this transformation in Somme and Passchendaele in 1916 and believed to have happened in 1914, rein- his important new study of Wartime (330 1917, did the world plunge back into war? forced by a sense of incredulity that anyone pages. Oxford. $19.95), Paul Fussell points out the popularity in America That riddle is illuminated as of the sobriquet "GI Joe." "The never before in How War Came proud anonymity of the [sol(736pages. Pantheon. $29.95) by dier's] uniform," according to Donald Cameron Watt. A proan American editorial in 1945, fessor at the University of Lon"demanded a name as proud don, Watt draws on a lifetime of and as anonymous as itself and archival research. With somegot it in 'GI Joe'. " times withering wit, his new With its telling recourse to book brings brilliantly back to the oxymoron "proud anonymlife the politics and diplomacy ity," this passage offers the kind of the 11 months between Nevof cultural evidence-offbeat ille Chamberlain's notorious and inadvertently revealingsurrender of Czechoslovakia to that Fussell glories in. A proHitler at Munich on Sept. 30, fessor of English at the Univer1938, and England's declarasity of Pennsylvania and the tion of war on Sept. 3, 1939. author of "The Great War and Watt's research has led him Modern Memory," a classic BETTMANN ARCHIVE to a major reassessment of Chamberlain. Though he faults Pyrrhic peace: Chamberlain (left) with Hitler at Munich, 1938 study of the impact of World N EWSWEEK : SEPTEMBER 4, 198 9 65 �T H E A R T S War I on English literature, Fussell in his new book seeks to evoke "the psychological and emotional culture of Americans and Britons during the Second World War." He also wants to splash cold water on readers accustomed to other, more "sanitized and romanticized" accounts. "In unbombed America," he writes, the suffering of the war "was wasted. . .. America has not yet understood what the Second World War was like." This bitter generalization is not entirely convincing. Fussell altogether ignores such influential works as John Hersey's "Hiroshima" (published in 1946) and Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism" (published in 1951). No matter. His passionate convictions drive his book to a furious, disturbingly effective climax. And in his final pages, in what may be his finest feat as a critic, Fussell introduces the reader to a hitherto unsung but remarkable author named Eugene B. Sledge. In 1981 this former Marine published a neglected memoir, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa. Still in print (344 pages. Presidio. $15.95), this book richly merits a wider audience. It is, just as Fussell says, "one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war." In some of the passages singled out by Fussell, Sledge recalls watching a comrade in the aftermath of combat carving out the gold teeth of a wounded Japanese soldier, slicing open the cheeks of the living victim. One Marine officer routinely relieved himself by urinating into the mouth of the nearest available Japanese corpse. During the bloody Okinawa campaign, fresh reinforcements arrived and disappeared with mechanical regularity, so quickly killed or wounded that they seemed "like homeless waifs, unknown and faceless to us, like unread books on a shelf." "We were expendable," writes Sledge. "It was difficult to accept. We come from a nation and a culture that values life and the individual. To find oneself in a situation where your life seems of little value is the ultimate in loneliness. It is a humbling experience." The searing honesty of these words makes them, as Fussell recognizes, a fitting epitaph for the ordeal that began in Danzig 50 years ago. When the killing was done, countless survivors knew all too much about the "ultimate in loneliness." Japan lay in ruins. Europe, in the words of Watt, had committed "suicide," in the process destroying irreplaceable buildings, paintings, sculptures-the patrimony of 2,000 years of Western civilization. As a matter of policy, Germany had exterminated roughly 70 percent of Europe's Jews and an even higher percentage of its Gypsies. "A humbling experience" indeed-important to recollect and, as this latest outpouring of books suggests, essential to comprehend. • 66 NEWSWEEK: SEPTEMBER 4 , 1989 In Lieu of 'Chatterton' First Light. By Peter Ackroyd. 328 pages. Grove Weidenfeld. $19.95. I magine "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" with a New Age piano score by George Winston and you'll have a pretty good idea of Peter Ackroyd's new novel. "First Light" is clearly by the same author as last year's "Chatterton"-it has to do with the grip of the past on the present-but it's different, too, in an unsettling way. It's as if Ackroyd had concluded that his success with "Chatterton," a complex and brilliant comedy of ideas, was a fluke. A farce might be safer this time out, with cartoons for characters: preposterous London lesbians rubbing up against coarse country farmers-that kind of thing. As for ideas, well, New Age romantic treacle about star maps reflected in our blood plasma might be easier to digest than playful questions about art, forgery and the ambiguous border between them. husband," MIRIAM BERKLE\ Off into the ozone: Ackroyd tries to blend farce, creepiness and mysticism ill." "Dykes, dear," the old trouper repliei Had Ackroyd wanted to make "Fin Light" a frisky social comedy, he mig} have brought it off, too-but that's not h intention either. Apparently what he wants is to combi the creepiness and the farce with an ov lay of dreamy mysticism. One of the mis is a failed astronomer who promotes a lo chatter like this: "Our bodies are made of dead stars. We carry their light inside So everything goes back. Everything is r of the pattern. We carry our origin wi us, and we can never rest until we } returned." Thoughts of such gravity w put even Shirley MacLaine to sleep. Any story that features a promi tomb must stand or fall on it. Ad keeps his tomb pretty much constan sight: it is not what it seems to be. Tr course, is what we look for; disappoin sets in when we learn that this 1 ground warren is considerably les, what we'd expected. Even the di! reader will guess its secret long befo royd is moved to spell it out. For tiresome characters, "First Light some clever scenes-but Ackroyd implausibilities as well. His stor men ts-the hoary old tomb, the elf <loners and the pulpy metaphysics cohere as they should. It might see were taking on too much in this n that's not quite right. "Chatterton us what Ackroyd can do with a characters and themes. Here he's too little. PETERS � 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 Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-144_Termaat_NWS_1989-09-04-WWI-book-reviews-329 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Boek, René Strijbosch, Margreet Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-09-04 Title A name given to the resource Duitsland Eerst Description An account of the resource Dutch magazine article about Franz Schönhuber. In Dutch. Subject The topic of the resource Schönhuber, Franz, 1923- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource nl Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/75e678e1d7fe8a11ef6e0390ab31f049.mp4 954f716c8c75c0987134e44306dee3fe https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8479b825f53894b8e16676efe6c37a07.pdf 9e17805bf7cf40bc0231d33f3945915e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Cornelius “Casey” DeJonge (00:46:06) (00:17) Background Information • Born in the Netherlands • Family (of 6 at the time) came to Grand Rapids, MI in 1929 when he was 9 years old • The move was sponsored by family they had in Grand Rapids • Came from a seafaring family- 11 past relatives had been captains of ships • Father had no job in Netherlands but was in construction in America then in his final years he was in the Muller Bakery Company baking cakes • Cornelius only went to school through grade 9 (1:57) Developments in Europe as Nazis began to take over • (1:57-2:12) Was on his way to Pontiac, Michigan doing a brick job when he got notice of Japan attacking • Had relatives still in the Netherlands when the Nazis took over o His niece was run over by a Nazi tank o Uncle (father’s brother) had a small boat which enabled him to be spared (2:49) Joining the Merchant Marine • Began a US citizen in 1935; went into the Merchant Marine in 1943 • Was a brick layer for government buildings and worked at a magnesium plant in Nevada which kept him from being drafted • Left Nevada because his wife had a baby and went to Michigan • He was going to be drafted then read an article that said that he could “sail the seven seas with other clean cut young men just like him in the merchant marine.” • To sign up, Casey hitchhiked to Detroit • Passed the test and went to Sheepshead bay New York to train • Training was 16 weeks and was the same as one would get in the army • After four weeks, if he wanted to go right away, he could go as a mess man or in the storage department so he did • Training was marching, pile out of bed at four in the morning outside in the nude, gymnastics, boxing • Was 24 during this time; there were younger men with him and older as well • Had no prior experience (5:05) The First Trip: England • Out of New York �• (5:18-5:31) Last trip took him through the Panama Canal to the Pacific to the Philippines and he was on an ammunition ship • The ship was the Joshua Thomas and it went to England • Unloaded in England then loaded back up to go to North Africa • The ship was a liberty ship • (6:10-6:21) Once went to Russia and the ship carried electric trains • The ship sailed in a convoy (all of the ships he were on did except the Pacific) • Not on this first trip but on a different one, there were 105 ships in the convoy, each one mile apart • This first voyage was mid-summer, 1943 • (7:04-7:35) Trip from New York to Alabama there was a big U-boat scare and “a lot of ships were sunk along that coast; I think a lot of American people aren’t aware of that.” • (7:35-7:53) The convoy was not attacked during his first voyage but when he went to Russia, one went up the Clyde River in Scotland and sank a ship at 8 in the morning • (7:53-8:15) Casey always chose the 4 to 8 watch because then he didn’t have to work (chip decks, paint etc) because the maritime union stipulated that one could only work between 8am and 4pm (8:15) The men of the Merchant Marine • A lot of American men but some foreigners • The Portuguese were a large group of capable seamen • (8:47-9:04) Portuguese and Hollanders historically do not get along but Casey had a good friend who was Portuguese • (9:08) Captains o Most were old o Sometimes they were drunks o Had chief engineers on every ship who never did anything • (9:50) Boat Problems o One problem: went to Russia and once electric trains were taken off the ship, the electric cables used to keep them in place were left to hang off the ship and got tangled in the screw • (10:40) When the boat left Russia it loaded up with wood crating material o Each piece of wood was measured by a Russian girl or sailors who wanted to get paid overtime ƒ One Russian girl was an artist and gave him a nice painted picture of a farm scene and she wrote on the back “To Casey, For Remember” • (11:48) Club where Vodka was served where men could meet girls • (12:39) Went to Archangel, not Murmansk o (12:44) Russian government gave merchant marines 60 or 100 rubles but could not give American sailors money so they gave them perfume �(13:28) The Trip to Russia • Trip began in Scotland • Convoy before them had 48 ships and only 4 made it back • He was issued very heavy material (rubber outfit) to keep warm in; if he had fallen in, he could’ve lasted 20 minutes • Friend who was a policeman from New York got sick, was sent to a Russian destroyer then later died and was buried at sea (14:55) Off Duty • Hired someone to take his place on the ship so he could get off in England for a dollar an hour or it could have been a dollar a watch • Casey spent a lot of time in English cemeteries looking a gravestones and also crossed the London bridge quite a few times o (15:45) Ended up helping to rebuild London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona later on in the 1970s (16:00) On the Ship • On duty jobs: Steering and lookout o Couldn’t see anything as a lookout and was never required to go up in the crow’s nest, they always were put either on the forepeak or the bow • (18:06) Off-Duty at Sea: Slept, spent time in mess hall o His crew of 45 men had a waiter that would bring their food to them and at every meal, they could choose from three different meats o Got paid on way back to New York one time to throw meat overboard because the next group of men on the ship wanted fresh meat • (19:50) Navy Personnel on the Ship o 8 20 millimeter guns, 1 3 inch anti-aircraft gun, 5 inch surface gun and Casey always volunteered to load 20 mm guns o Naval guns and smoke bombs only had to be used once when the ship was attacked in the Mediterranean and this is when he got a combat bar (21:00) Places Visited • London, England o Missed the ship one time and had to be transported by train through England • Algiers, Algeria o Went here right after the invasion but not much damage • Russia o Worst experience o Fish and cabbage was given out and stoves could only be used if four people were using them at a time and the people lived in dormitories • (23:48) Casbah, Algiers o Scary place where army servicemen were not allowed to go • (23:97) Could go to Iran �• (24:45) Unloading in Russia was done by women and it was the only place where there was a soldier at the end of the gangway and the worst thing someone could bring ashore was a magazine • (26:50) Allowed two days off for every week on the ship so he went home to see his wife o When he came back he would have to pick a new ship, and could only turn down 2, and if you did, you would automatically be on the third ship; Casey always picked the first and tried to get a ship headed to dry dock so his wife could come with him (28:00) Pay • 100 dollars a month was sent to his wife • Casey’s wife did not have a job • He got paid at the end of the trip in cash in the officers mess hall (29:23) Caribbean, Panama Canal, Pacific • Going through the Panama Canal was a surprise because everything in the ship had a UK label • They then loaded up ammunition in Alabama and went through the canal to get to the Philippines • Went in to Manila once or twice a week to get the mail • One time in Manila he got in a truck with other soldiers and the driver told him to lay down for awhile because they were going through “suicide pass” where there were still snipers because the war was still going on the 11 months he was there • Fake money was all over the streets in Manila • Filipinos were friendly and mostly Catholic • The only other place he went to in the Pacific was the Marshall Island atoll of Eniwetok o Casey had a few beers there was very popular when each person was given two beers because he did not drink (33:00) Returning to Civilian Life • Left Merchant Marine in 1946 because the war ended • Got off the ship in Seattle, went all the way home then was telegraphed to come back to the ship to get paid • Unaware as to how much he was paid • Had to buy his own clothes and transportation but was paid more than some naval personnel • Had a lack of benefits after he got out but today he has the VA which covers his numerous prescriptions • (36:00) One memory that stood out in Casey’s mind was when someone got murdered on the ship in Algiers; stabbed to death • The coast guard were the merchant marines policemen �• (37:19) One day the galley chimney was not working so there were no hot meals to go around o A British destroyer then came close to the ship and dropped two depth charges because the men on Casey’s ship said that they would not get out of their seats until they got a hot meal; the charges got them out of their seats • Experienced a major storm where the gangway broke o Casey was told to go up to the forepeak and lock the padlock in there because there were valuables there • One time in the Philippines, a Captain asked a steward if the laundry was being done onshore because a lot of blue bedspreads were gone; it turned out they were being sold for clothing, especially in North Africa (40:45) Reflection • He loved it and believed it was a nice way to live but he had to get back to his family • Became a foreman where he had worked before the war then went into business alone • Later he went to Bahrain with the church to build hospitals, then to Oman then to Basra, Iraq and built a school             � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource De Jonge, Cornelius (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Jonge, Cornelius Description An account of the resource Cornelius "Casey" De Jonge was born in the Netherlands, became a US citizen in 1935, and served in the Merchant Marines between 1943 and 1943. He tells of a series of voyages in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific, including some difficult trips to Russia via the Arctic route. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Merchant mariner World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-03-06 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeJongeC Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/40df57f75b88ad92a5cc63d95e600c4f.mp4 e6c91cea0ffe74c4df8e4d68e320b04b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/20c01a77fa4da5b2b37bde4480ff88de.pdf a95c8d57300977593451413556a805ea PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project James de la Cruz (01:28:29) (00:15) Background Information • • • • • • • James was born in Texas in November of 1945 He described his parents as peasants and very poor They did not have any property or any of their own crops, but helped work on other’s lands His parents were from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas James moved to Michigan with his parents when he was one year old and his older brother moved to Mexico to live with his grandmother His father began working as a migrant worker in Bay City and later found work in Grand Rapids James grew up in a small shack in Grand Rapids, often moving around and going to different schools (13:30) Pending War • James graduated from high school in 1964 and was sure that he would soon receive a draft notice • He felt that he did want to serve, but not in the Army and on the ground in the jungle • James had taken ROTC in high school for 3 years and was well prepared for the service • He went through POW training, learned about foraging, being a leader and taking orders, map reading, and marksmanship • James enlisted in the Air Force in November of 1965 (18:30) Training • James left Grand Rapids on a bus after his induction in Detroit • They were sworn in and then brought to stay in a hotel near • Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas • They spent a lot of time keeping their barracks clean and in order, drilling, and marching • James quickly became a squad leader while a few others washed out • He tried to remain neutral and not join any specific groups or cliques; he just wanted training to be over as soon as possible • When he was finished training he was able to go back to Grand Rapids for a few weeks on leave (24:50) Tampa, FL �• • • • • • • • After training in Texas, James went to tech school for a short time in Illinois He learned about mechanics in repair classes and stayed in very old barracks that were very cold James was then sent to McDeal Air Force Base in Florida, which was like being on vacation The base was much nicer than the one in Illinois and they did not work too hard It was like a civilian job, working 8-5, and then they were free to do what they wanted James worked with equipment to help support aircraft, such as hydraulic driven bomb lifts, generator sets, AC units, air compressors, gas drivers, diesel drivers, and electric drivers There were about 30 air men working per shift; they were never overloaded, but always had plenty of work James spent 14 months living at McDeal Air Force Base (35:15) Thailand • James left with a small group of men from the base in Florida and headed over the Pacific • He had been looking forward to going overseas and had no fear of going • James was glad that he was not going to Vietnam and that he would not be fighting in the jungle • They had a very long commercial flight from California • They landed in Bangkok where there were many different GIs from other branches • There were also Canadians, Australians, and British people (40:20) Ubon • They flew from Bangkok to Ubon where many of the GIs already had learned to speak Thai • James was very impressed and wanted to quickly learn Thai himself • They stayed at a very old barracks on the base with 30 men per building • The weather was warm, tropical, and it rained every day • James was working on F-1 fighter bombers, KC-130s, cargo planes, small one man surveillance planes, helicopters, and black dragons • He was working on some very impressive aircraft and helping to maintain aircraft, similar to his duties in Florida (49:15) Tinker Air Force Base • James was transferred to Oklahoma and still maintaining aircraft, using mostly diesel equipment • He stayed with a mobile communications group living off base in tents in a field • They set up a mobile communications center with satellites, radar, radios… �(51:10) Thailand October 1967-1968 • There were aircraft often leaving from the base, but James never knew where they were going or any details of their missions • He only worked on engines, not plane weapons or armaments and did not ever communicate with the flight crews • Mechanics were only allowed to go to certain areas of the base; others were off limits • James was aware that some of the missions were flying out to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (56:40) Living on Base • They worked with some civilians on base that helped mostly with services and translation • James had gone through orientation when he first arrived and they were warned about traveling to certain areas in Ubon and to avoid certain activities • James had been up drinking in town very late and wondered to an area he had been told not to go to • He saw a bunch of people covered in some type of shawls and walking in a straight line • It was very strange, but he realized that when they got closer to him that they were all lepers • The Thai people had very different customs and culture from Americans; they were much more caring and considerate • There were some USO shows on base and the King of Thailand also came to visit (01:10:10) Bangkok • James only spent about six days in Bangkok altogether; 3 days when arriving in Thailand and 3 days when leaving • When he first arrived, much of his memory is a blur because it was all so exciting and different • He had not wanted to upset anyone and tried to be quiet on the sidelines, following military and societal rules • He had a more adventurous time when he was leaving the country • James went on a bus tour around the city with a friend, but the time went by very quickly • After all the time spent in Thailand James really missed pizza, drive-in theaters, and American women (01:14:00) Oklahoma • James had been living off base in a mobile home with other men in the military • There was not much to do in Oklahoma; they were in a college town that was full of bars • It was always hard to make friends in a military town with the regular civilians • It seemed like the people knew that the service men would only be there temporarily and did not want to make friends with anyone that would be leaving soon �• • • • James was starting to miss his family and wanted to go back to Grand Rapids He had signed up for 4 years of service, but was offered a chance to get out 9 months early He had been offered a promotion and bonus to resign, but declined, which he now regrets 10-15 years after being in the service James really began to miss his time in the Air Force (01:22:25) Discharged 1969 • After his time in the service it was easy for James to get a job and the economy was doing well • He worked for Central Air Lines for a while at the Kent County Airport in Grand Rapids • James also worked at the Metro Airport for North Central Airlines, and at GM for a while • He eventually ended up working for the US Postal Service and has been for 19 years; he is eligible for retirement now • James believes that the best experiences of his past were while in the Air Force and he would do it all over again � 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 De la Cruz, James (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De La Cruz, James Description An account of the resource James de la Cruz was born in Texas in 1945 and moved to Michigan when he was one year old. James spent 3 years in the ROTC while going to school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. James enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 and was sent to Texas for basic training. He also spent time training in Illinois for mechanics training. His first duty station was in Tampa, Florida where he spent 14 months maintaining aircraft on base. James then left for Ubon, Thailand where he was stationed for a year maintaining aircraft. After Thailand, James was sent to Tinker Base in Oklahoma before being discharged 9 months early. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Air Force Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-11-13 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLaCruzJ Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99d7cc386ab20c05732a0a6029c87efb.mp4 effcff342bf5aea6923809d5e1601701 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e5cfaa3f0950278128ceb650cd27aa89.pdf ab12ee7e3b63d3205b56212c856b9d8c PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Walter De Leeuw (36:33) (00:01) Background Information • • • • • • • • • • • • Walter was born in southern Netherlands in 1934 He was 5 years old when the Germans came into his town The Germans took over the schools to use them as barracks His family had 9 children and it was hard for his parents to support them after the occupation Walter’s father was a captain on a tug boat 2 of his brothers were forced to go to Germany and work in a factory They could see V-1 and V-2 missiles go over their town Sometimes the missiles would malfunction and hit his town The Allies came into town and had to rebuild the bridges, but the Germans kept bombing them again Walter and his family were evacuated to a farm and their house was demolished They couldn’t buy much and were very hungry the last year of the war Some of the Dutch were communicating with the allies to try and help them (10:57) After the War • • • • The Allies took over the schools for a few months after the war ended There was plenty of food after the war The southern part of the Netherlands was liberated on November 5 and the north was liberated in December [parts of the north remained under German control until the war ended] Walter graduated from a tech school (16:45) Coming to America • • • • • Walter landed in NY and took a plane to Grand Rapids, MI He stayed on his uncles farm when he got there in the winter There wasn’t much to do on the farm and there weren’t any jobs until spring He found a temporary job at a marina Walter got a draft notice and decided to enlist in the Army (23:05) Training • • • • • He didn’t have any problems with going to basic training because he was in good shape Walter was sent to Fort Dix After Fort Dix he was sent to Frankfurt, Germany He had to go to field duty in southern Germany In the US he trained in a tank unit, but when he was sent to Germany they moved him to an artillery unit �• • • • • • • In the artillery unit they used 105mm howitzers The tanks he drove in the US were M-48s and they could go up to 40 mph Tank crews had 4 people While in Germany he could take leave and go to Austria, Switzerland, or France Walter went into the HQ company and drove jeeps for forward reconnaissance He arrived in Germany in 1959 and stayed for 2 years Walter got married while in Germany (32:45) After His Service • • • • Walter went back to the US and was discharged He started a job as a draftsman Then he worked at a factory He didn’t join a veterans club because he felt it wouldn’t be right since he didn’t serve during a war � 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 de Leeuw, Walter (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource de Leeuw, Walter Description An account of the resource Walter de Leeuw was born in the Netherlands in 1937 and lived there during the German occupation of the country. He later emigrated to the US, and served in the US Army between 1959 and 1961. He trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and served in Germany with armored and artillery units. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Montagna, Douglas (Interviewer) Great Lakes Naval Memorial & Museum (Muskegon, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-11-13 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLeeuwW Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/17fa563c2ea4b63a7daee27f0b439aa2.mp4 8c206dd029c3af907c8bcbf26a12276f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08d04b4e39a99905d94154d29aac7de0.pdf 5b6d5e5f87d5fc741b27f0269e07d4e7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Korean War Arnold De Loof Interview Length: (00:18:45:00) Early Life (00:00:01:00)  De Loof was born on a farm (00:00:35:00)  He had a family of 10 including himself, seven siblings, and his parents. (00:00:37:00)  Until he was about 11 years old, he had grown up during WWII. (00:00:48:00)  Went to a single-room schoolhouse as a young boy. (00:01:16:00)  De Loof spent his time ice skating, playing football, and general partaking in activities that didn’t require “a lot of money”. (00:01:28:00) o “Hardly anybody had any money in those days”. (00:01:31:00)  De Loof received up to a tenth grade education. (00:01:42:00)  His father passed away when he was nine years old. (00:02:03:00) o After his father’s passing, his mother had to go to work at General Motors in Grand Rapids to support the family. (00:02:10:00) o His grandmother began to live at the family home when his mother went to work. (00:02:50:00)  As he entered his teenage years, De Loof took on some small jobs such as mowing lawns and hauling hay. (00:03:14:00) o At 16, he got his first “real” job at a furniture factory. (00:03:27:00)  When he enlisted in the military, his girlfriend at the time left him because she did not want to date someone who wasn’t nearby. (00:03:52:00)  De Loof decided to enlist because he did not have a job at the time and wanted to “go see the world”. (00:04:30:00) o Until that time, he had only ever been to Texas and Mississippi. (00:04:041:00) Basic Training (00:04:57:00)  “We marched a lot”. (00:04:59:00)  As he was an Air Force trainee, he did not receive any foot combat instruction because those in the Air Force were responisble solely for airborne activity. (00:05:25:00)  The extent of De Loof’s training was “how to come and go in a military manner”. (00:05:40:00)  At first, De Loof was being trained to be a cook. After asking many times to be transferred to another training unit, he was placed in supply room squadron where he stayed for 6-8 months. He was transferred again after this length of time to be trained as a fireman, which title he assumed for the rest of his military days. (00:06:21:00)  De Loof’s department dealt with structural, chemical, and aircraft fires. (00:07:01:00) Active Duty (00:07:18:00)  One fire occurred at a “tank farm”, each of which held about 6,000 gallons of fuel, and took several days to completely recover. All the fuel was lost. (00:07:22:00)  De Loof kept in touch with his family by writing letters. (00:08:00:00) �        On the weekends, one of the mess halls on base would be turned into a “club” for the men’s’ enjoyment. They were able to drink beer and gamble on these nights, though De Loof never gambled himself. (00:09:33:00) o There was also a bowling alley, ping pong tables, and a gymnasium with spaces for various sports. (00:10:10:00) The place where the base was located was previously a home to an Eskimo village, which was moved north for the sake of construction. (00:10:40:00) o For this reason, the Eskimos did not wish to affiliate with the American troops. They also isolated themselves from the Americans to avoid illness. Some died due to intolerance of foreign disease. (00:11:10:00) De Loof made some friends that he was able to keep in touch with over the years. (00:12:10:00) o One friend, in particular, currently lives in Baton Rouge and De Loof pays him a visit once a year. (00:12:17:00) When he returned home, De Loof worked for Goodyear in Grand Rapids. (00:13:00:00) o His job was to install and recap, or rejuvenate, tires. (00:13:09:00) When he was dismissed, De Loof’s active military service time had expired but he was still required to complete four years on reserve. (00:13:40:00) o His reserve or “stand- by” time was loosely structured. De Loof was only required to “let them know where [he] was” so if he was needed for combat, he could be located with ease. (00:13:46:00) He started working one week after returning from South Korea. (00:14:20:00) o Besides Goodyear, De Loof also worked for a paper mill, a gas station, and a car dealership. (00:14:30:00) o He eventually bought a gas station that used to work in. His father- in- law was the previous owner, and De Loof managed it for 15 years. (00:15:00:00) o After closing the gas station, he began to drive cargo trucks for a living. He remained in this field until he retired. (00:15:11:00) De Loof never joined any veteran’s organizations. (00:17:00:00) o After he was ineligible for the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars), he did not pursue any others. (00:17:00:00) o To be affiliated with VFW, one must have experience in a “war zone”. Even so, most of those involved in the Korean War had a hard time joining this organization because this was “not a declared war”. (00:17:17:00) If he had the choice, De Loof would join the service again. (00:18:20:00) o He did and saw things he would not have otherwise if he hadn’t enlisted. (00:18:23:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource De Loof, Arnold (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Loof, Arnold Description An account of the resource Arnold De Loof grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. After training, he was sent to Alaska and Korea, where he did supply work and eventually became a fireman. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Holmgren, Eric Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Air Force Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeLoofA1261V Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. 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Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 RHC-144_Termaat_DOC_1945-04-25-Message-from-Eisenhower-to-NL-people-food-drops-405 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Vrieje Pers Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-04-25 Title A name given to the resource General Eisenhower Announces Air Drops of Food Description An account of the resource Dutch Free Press article announcing U.S. General Eisenhower's plan to air drop food to starving citizens of the Netherlands. In Dutch. Subject The topic of the resource Dutch Netherlands World War, 1939-1945 -- Netherlands International relief Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource nl Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d1ca38184a1a16169861f447bc4bd40a.m4v 629d472c862111f446d35ead07c4849f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ebcc34082271933f74ac37b1e2bb3df.pdf 57fa3812309135a6834a2b2f4ac90813 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Harvey De Vries Length of Interview (00:58:20) Background Born July 13, 1922 in McBain, Michigan Family were farmers, grew up on the farm Went into service at the age of nineteen Grew acres of corn, oats, wheat, etc. One older brother, seven younger sisters Stayed in school until eighth grade, left to help the family on the farm Worked in Grand Rapids for two winters; plating plant, National Brass, and a warehouse Wasn’t paying attention to the war going on in Europe Learned about Pearl Harbor (December 7) over the radio (00:02:25) Draft was already going on, at the time, didn’t think about joining After being drafted, in July, given a deferment until after harvest, December 1942 Still didn’t pay as much attention about the war, was excited to be in the service Basic Training (00:03:45) Went to Fort Custer (Battle Creek), MI and sent to Fort Robinson, Arkansas  Six weeks of basic training Went by train to Arkansas, doesn’t remember much about the trip Camp Robinson was very new and interesting Did well with discipline (had a strict father); very tall, so always ahead of his class Enjoyed training; in good physical condition  Many others were not used to physical exertion, hard for them to keep up �Most of the men training there were from the Eastern part of the country Did basic training with discipline, physical conditioning, rifle training  Became a sharpshooter there; very familiar with guns o Shotgun at age of 12, 30-30 when he was 15  Also trained with mortars and machine guns Sent to Fort Louis, Washington after basic for Tank Destroyers (00:06:30)  Training on open top turret M-10 Tank Destroyer; had a 16 ft, 3 in gun  Trained as a gunner Didn’t train there for long (February to March), then went to several other camps to train Paratrooper Training (00:07:50) Volunteered as a Paratrooper, instead, with 17 other men Sent from Portland, Oregon to Fort Benning, Georgia by train  Had a private car; first night stopped in Denver, went out on the town, also did this in Nashville, Tennessee  No supervising officer, very unusual Began training in December (00:09:20)  Learned how to tumble (used towers and cables)  Were told, “Don’t spit the sawdust,” as discipline training; sawdust was used to show landing sites Took only a couple weeks before they did actual jumps; taken up on a B-47  Sweat-sheds: area where men waited to board the plane, given pep talks there  Chutes have a main chute and reserve chute. If neither opens, at least the truck to take you to the barracks will be there, etc. First Jump (00:12:00)  Sixteen in a squad � Waiting for the green light, couldn’t stop if you wanted to  Doesn’t remember the actual jump, but remembers seeing the lights of the cities after pulling the chute  Only about 12,000 ft above ground, not a very high  Wasn’t too different from simulations Also did night jumps, more frightening; just had to be ready Heard a story about a guy who got caught in an updraft (00:14:35) Went through Class 82 Training took about four weeks to complete Sent to Camp McCall, North Carolina (00:15:40) Hurt his knee during training, given a referral to recuperate; first time he met his future wife Overseas, Europe (00:16:20) Waited three to four weeks, shipped out with a different outfit (May) Sailed out on the Queen Elizabeth; no convoy, too fast a ship  Three days to reach England  A smooth voyage; 18,000 troops there, about 2,000-3,000 paratroopers Arrived just before D-day; stopped in Liverpool, then went to Swindon by truck Saw the planes taking off for D-day, “Sky was black with them.” Put in 506th Parachute Regiment, didn’t get to know anyone well (00:19:00)  Corporal, Machine Gunner  I Company, 3rd Battalion, 506th Regiment; joined them just after D-day Stayed in camp, or went out for small hikes, during the weeks waiting to be assigned (JuneDecember) Visited London, there for one night �On base, no civilian interaction; stationed in a castle, Little Cote Followed news about other paratroopers and large campaigns, briefed by the Lieutenant (00:21:15) Was treated well when they joined their new company, heard a lot of stories 1st Mission: Holland (00:22:45) Landed in Zon (Son), just outside of Eindhoven; had to guard a bridge over a canal and chase the Germans out of Eindhoven As they ran into the town, was under machine gun fire; De Vries stayed along the fence for cover while the lieutenant took over the machine gun Doesn’t remember much about the flight over and the actual jump; knows there were soldiers 30 minutes ahead of them Plane was being fired upon during the flight over; one of the planes had been shot down  The pilot was the last to jump out and only had 75ft of air left; managed to pull his shoot before he hit, bounced four to five feet off the ground; wasn’t injured Landed in the correct zone (during the day) Went straight into the town (Eindhoven) (00:27:35)  Provided cover against the German machine gunner; fired while walking Civilians were still in their homes Chased the Germans out of the town; were to receive help from the British De Vries’s Company, along with C Company, patrolled areas around the bridge Spent a day or two there Went on the Veghel, then Uden (had to crawl through a jam factory there), headed over to Overijssel (00:30:20) Overijssel had two canals going through it, stationed there Was put out on guard with two other men; stayed in the ditches near the farms (00:31:50) Had to watch for Germans trying to escape (Rotterdam to Amsterdam), very quiet early morning �Later, De Vries came out of the ditch and walked toward the tree for better vigil; was then shot by a sniper near the collar bone and out from between the shoulder blades Told the two others to go back to camp and get help; one of them was injured on the way Was shot at 9:30AM, didn’t get help until around 3PM; was stripped of his wallet and valuables and left for dead by the Germans Remembers waking and gaining the attention of the others by jiggling the telephone lines near him; was dragged half a mile to a jeep and taken to the first aid station Flown to England from the station  Had to draw fluid out of his lung (a few pints) as the bullet had went through the top of his long  Was hit by an armor-piercing bullet, went through cleanly Battle of the Bulge (00:35:20) Stayed in hospital for a couple of weeks  Visited by the surgeon often; also had his tonsils taken out Hit in October 5 and into the middle of December (during the Battle of the Bulge) was called back to Holland  Put into S2: Intelligence section Had to investigate calls and check for traps (marching in Germany); five to six men for each check (00:37:10) Joined his company in a town near Bastogne Part of the Battle of the Bulge; not surrounded [yet] by the Germans, yet; remembers being ignored by two German soldiers walking by his fox-hole Went back to the town of Foy Wasn’t assigned a position at this time; there for about a week before Patton’s army arrived Outfit sent to Reims, France for rest camp (00:39:20) At rest camp for a week, then taken through Cologne and south �The Battle of the Bulge had been bitter cold (00:40:20)  Couldn’t even have a fire to keep warm; sat under what cover one could  Had to be in positions where one could see the other; given instruction by signal The company was moving forward and capturing German soldiers; would send them to camps (00:41:50) A lot of tunnels in Northeastern borders of France for escaping German soldiers; remembers coming upon a still warm dinner in one of these tunnels Went to Austria next; stationed there for a while Remembers watching a movie there and going to get coffee at the Red Cross; twisted his knee when dropping eight feet from a fence Didn’t do any fighting afterwards Never went back to his outfit The soldiers they were capturing were just regular people, some were older (part of the older army); SS troops are the ones that drove them (00:43:50) Took some SS troops prisoner; were smart-alecks most of the time Recalls an incident with SS troops being killed instead of being taken back to a camp; only heard the shooting Didn’t hear stories about SS soldiers committing atrocities to American soldiers (00:45:15) Some of the soldiers they captured were only 16 or 17 years old Didn’t see much of the civilian population; stayed in some houses, very hospitable After injuring his knee, he hopped from one hospital station to another; from Cherbourg, put on a hospital ship: Santa Rosa  Sailed into Newport, Virginia Was a bed patient, but could still walk around on the deck �Discharge (00:47:15) Landed in Virginia and went to the hospital there Was discharged in Fort Custer (Battle Creek, MI) on February 15, 1946  Had spent nine months in the hospital; most of the time was waiting for his discharge Had been sending letters regularly to his wife; she kept them all (00:48:40)  Father hadn’t known he was wounded, until later Mail usually took a while to get to him Was married in March 15, 1946 (00:50:35) Took a job as a herder in Long Island, New York; went into milk delivery a year later; eventually bought a farm and cows (40 of them) Eventually upkeep became too expensive and sold his cows; bought out his uncle and went into the clam business Stayed in business for 27 years and came back to MI in 1987, retired The military taught him patience, forethought, and leadership (00:55:10)  Never stayed in one place long enough to be promoted; PFC In Holland, would check for booby-traps under bridges; had learned to dismantle many explosives o Remembers using the page of a book to stop a spark o Never had to do it under fire, except maybe sniper fire � 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 De Vries, Harvey (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Vries, Harvey Description An account of the resource Harvey De Vries was born on a farm in Michigan in 1922. He was drafted in 1943 started training as a tank destroyer gunner, but then switched to the paratroops. He arrived in England immediately before D-Day and did not take part in that action, but joined the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division as a replacement. He fought with them in Holland and was wounded in that campaign, but returned to the division in time to participate in the defense of Bastogne and stayed with them through the rest of the war. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-01-12 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeVriesH Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec770ac8f1eae8378d77841c15d1183e.m4v 3b3f5da81ddaad724a0368cde32d00cd https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/aa86be62e0ac7d4f07ae2c8e83c4b4d1.pdf adc9949687df758aae3b3955339b8036 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Vietnam War Richard De Young Interview Length: (00:05:10:00) Pre-enlistment / Training (00:00:31:00)  Born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan (00:00:31:00) o De Young’s father was in the WPA and then served as a cop for thirty-two years and his mother was a legal secretary (00:00:37:00)  Before joining the service, De Young worked for a record company distributing records in the early part of the 1960s (00:00:56:00)  De Young enlisted in the service straight out of high school in 1963 (00:01:07:00)  De Young’s brother served in the Army for two years and his father served in World War II and was recalled to fight in the Korean War (00:01:19:00)  He chose the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general in the Air Force and De Young thought that that fact would help him (00:01:37:00)  De Young loved his training; he trained at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas; because he was in shape then, the training was not a problem (00:01:48:00) o He only learned the basics at Lackland, including how to follow directions, something that he did not do well before enlisting (00:02:07:00) o The food was fantastic, the barracks were no big deal, the rules were a little rough to exists to at first but everybody went through the same thing (00:02:31:00)  After Lackland, he went to Amarillo, Texas for computer training; from Amarillo, he went Omaha, Nebraska and Offutt Air Force Base, SAC (Strategic Air Command) headquarters (00:02:57:00) Deployment (00:03:15:00)  De Young served totally behind the scenes; he volunteered for Vietnam twice and the Air Force turned him down both times (00:03:15:00) o The denials were partially due to the fact that by this point, De Young had a topsecret level clearance, which meant that the FBI had gone through his life with a fine-tooth comb (00:03:23:00) o At the time, De Young’s staff sergeant recommended the clearance for him and De Young did not know about the process until it was complete (00:03:44:00)  He made some friends but over the course of the years, they have lost touch; he did lose some friends who went over to Vietnam (00:04:06:00)  He kept in contact with his family through letters and by calling them; he tired to stay in touch but some times it became difficult (00:04:28:00)  For recreation, De Young played football for an Air Force team; not the Air Force Academy team (00:04:53:00) � 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 De Young, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource De Young, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard De Young was born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan. He volunteered for the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general and De Young assumed that that fact would somehow benefit him. After basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, De Young received computer training in Amarillo, Texas. Once his training was complete, he served at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, home of Strategic Air Command. Although he twice requested permission to go to Vietnam, the Air Force denied both requests, partly because De Young had a top-secret clearance. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Cronick, Evan (Interviewer) Hartzel, Joshua (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-03-04 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeYoungR Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/533427d4655e2ded132bc207e671aacd.mp4 d22bf7a9b8fa3e917b1f82fc02eaf3f3 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/426029bc8aeb53a14bfdd753863445a4.pdf eaa4f15fbda877826befb4e03084203f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Douglas G. Dean (00:43:00) Introduction (00:28) Family and Friends (00:40) • • • Born in Detroit in 1946. His dad died when he was only twelve. Had no brothers or sisters. Lived with his mom in the same house for 57 years before selling it. From an early age he loved music. Went to grade school and high school in Berkley. Graduated Berkley High School in 1965. Briefly mentions his sports activities in school. (03:10) Pre-enlistment Years (03:15) • Dean mentions working for Berkley Lanes afterwards for 5-10 years. Got married his high school sweetheart in August 1965. Joined the army in November 1966 just after being married. Was informed by letter to report to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Enlistment and Training (06:37) • • Went to Fort Knox, Kentucky where he underwent basic training. Describes his time there. Prior to basic training he was in the hospital for two weeks because of pneumonia. Ended up making up those 2 weeks he missed. (07:52) Mentions wife’s reaction and life with his wife. (09:06) While at Fort Knox, he was trained for funeral/laundry/bath detail. Describes the responsibilities of his work. Afterwards, he goes on to work in grave registration in Vietnam. (10:28) Vietnam (11:45) • • • Was assigned to grave registration. Was responsible for the care of bodies. (10:55) Only served there for 3 months. Dean elaborates in some detail about his job in grave. His jobs entailed plugging the wounds of bodies and the taking off of clothes of the wounded in the hospital he worked for. Prior to the service he had volunteered on many occasions in hospitals. (12:40) Tells of one encounter in which one person he knew from basic training came in and was in pretty bad shape. �• • • • • • Describes in detail, how the wounded would come into the hospital. In one case, a wounded man came in with a mauled face and was screaming when he grabbed Dean’s arm. At that moment, he died right then and there. Dean had to pry the man’s arm off his arm because he died right then. (15:05) Shares his personal thoughts on the incident. Dean mentions that he had no dreams about the event after the war. He tolerated the work. Mentions that the work kept him up for 10-18 hours a day. (17:04) Also tells of how the personal affects of soldiers were put aside for the remains but also mentioned that the remains were sent back nude. (17:39) Dean mentions how they would fly the bodies out of Danang, Vietnam and from there fly them back to the states. Mentions that when bodies came to them they would clean and dress their wounds and then would be put in body bags to be refrigerated to wait for shipping back to the states. (19:12) Dean mentions that identification was sometimes difficult. Describes some of the horrific corpses that came in that he worked on. (20:35) His unit was responsible for the care of the bodies from the Vietnamese, Army, and the Air Force, while the Marines took care of the bodies from the Marines, Navy, and the Koreans. (21:03) Mentions how Marine morticians usually worked on 400-500 bodies a day. Describes one encounter in which a North Vietnamese soldier was brought in and had his arms and legs broken. Mentions what the heat was like and the state of the bodies after being exposed to it. (23:29) Still remembers the smell and heat of war. Korea (23:44) • • • • After three months he was sent to Korea where he worked in a mortuary. The majority of forensic technicians and pathologists he worked with were Korean. Dean mentions that he never knew what he would see next in Vietnam. Over 90% of the guys he worked on were under 21. (25:10) Never did come into any contact with any Vietnamese. While in Korea, he went on one search and recovery mission looking for an APC that exploded a few days before. Dean says that they found heads, a couple of feet, and boots. (26:04) Dean describes Korean funerals. They would beat their heads against the casket and cry a lot. Left Korea in 1968. Going Home (28:29) • After 13 months in Korea and a total of 21 months in the service, he mentions flying back to the states in a commercial airline plane. (29:11) Left from Cam Ranh, Vietnam and flew to California. From California, he flew home to �Detroit at which point he was out. (30:45) His mother was still alive at this point. After the war (30:51) • • After being discharged, he describes the time that he took care of his mother. Mentions his divorce briefly. (31:41) After returning from the service, he spent his time learning the carpenter and electrical trade upon which he found a job working for his wife’s sister’s man. Had no problems adjusting to civilian life. For a period of 10-12 years he worked for Neutron installing ceiling fans. Dean discusses his battle with pancreatitis and his surgery. Was in the hospital for 9 months. Shares his personal thoughts on the war. Recommends that youngsters spend a year in the military. (43:10) � 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 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 Dean, Douglas G. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Douglas G. Description An account of the resource Douglas G. Dean who served in the Army from 1966 to 1968. In this account, he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S. and combat experiences abroad in Vietnam and Korea. He served in a grave registration unit and was stationed in Vietnam and Korea, and describes some of his experiences in detail. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-06-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanD Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/29f5b14e74af85baa1054700fd9b9271.mp4 bbe5c370d135734666f0534ffc96cead https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/501ac6fee8dbae63347281a27006a97e.pdf c017434d6666a193d5ac8245dd37ef0b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Lawrence (Larry) Dean (00:27:00) Introduction (00:13) Pre-Enlistment (00:21) • Born in Muskegon Heights, MI on June 30, 1934. • Father’s name was Oliver C. Dean and he was of German descent, while his mother was Catherine A. Robinson and she was of English descent. • His father worked for manufacturer Manning, Maxwell, & More and eventually became deputy sheriff. Remembers accompanying his dad to various places. (02:42) Father worked in sheriff’s department for 3-4 years. His mother was a housewife in the 30s. (04:06) • Describes briefly his time in grade school. Afterwards, he went to Muskegon Heights Junior High School. (06:37) During his time there he was diagnosed with epilepsy. Graduated high school but forgot to pick up his diploma the night of graduation. Attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for two years but couldn’t afford to continue and so didn’t graduate. Enlistment and Training (10:55) • Went to see the Army recruiter who told him that since he was 7 years free of epilepsy attacks he was able to join. (11:20) • Dean mentions that he took basic training in at Fort Sam Houston and San Antonio, TX and then served at Valley Forge Army Hospital. • Had 10 years prior experience before working as a surgical orderly. Briefly describes his time as an orderly. (13:05) Spoke to a nurse who told him about an opening in the Army Medical Corps. Mentions that the army saw his prior experience and sent him to work in that hospital. • Briefly describes basic training. Dean remembers crawling hands and knees, to the ground under barbed wire. (14:14) Didn’t receive additional medical training. Spent his 2-year service time in Valley Forge Army Hospital. �Brief Retirement Period and Enlistment Again (14:30) • Upon his discharge, Dean married. He worked for the cities of Chicago, Illinois and Pomona, Colorado as a garbage man for a while. (15:53) • In 1968, he enlisted and was in the service again for 3 months and was than dismissed by the army because he was an epileptic. After his Service (18:19) • Worked for Goodwill in Muskegon for a while and then was sent to Grand Rapids in 1981. (18:24) Was married for approximately 8 years and then was divorced. Briefly discusses how that came about. (20:01) He then moved back to Michigan and lived where he is now for 23 years. Briefly mentions his volunteer experiences with the nursing home. (26:48) � 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 Dean, Lawrence A. (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Lawrence A. Description An account of the resource Lawrence L. Dean served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1957 to 1959 in the U.S. In this account he discusses his pre-enlistment years, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his service. Dean concludes by discussing his life after the war and mentioning that he also served briefly for 3 months in 1968. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-03-19 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanL Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f878bf5d58452617914a6ba03df4d6fc.mp4 93a00f744f335795b8c6ba9a5dcbb03e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ca4b50c32c4559d29023dc455f45b719.pdf 8f7a9f98e1ecc26a600b7cfd90a02335 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Ollie Dean World War II 41 minutes 7 seconds (00:50) Early Life -Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan -May 1, 1927 -Family moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan during the Great Depression -Father opened an automobile radio business -Attended Ottawa Hills High School -Graduated in 1945 (01:23) Enlistment -Joined the Navy in early 1945 -Remembers Pearl Harbor -Sunday football game between Washington and Chicago was interrupted by news -Everyone was stunned at first before getting organized -During high school was in the ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) -Did basic drills -Target practice -Paid a lot of attention to war through radio and the newspapers -Enlisted because “it was just the thing to do” -Only 17 years old when he enlisted -Had to have parents’ consent (05:20) Training -Sent to Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago -Huge camp -Lots of marching involved -Made company commander because of prior involvement with the ROTC (05:54) Deployment -From Great Lakes was sent to Camp Shoemaker in California -Spent 3 or 4 days there -Boarded ship (06:10) More on Training -Had gunnery training -Quad 40’s, 5 inch, and 20mm -Had rifle training -Had boat training �(8:10) USS Cheleb -Auxiliary Cargo Attack (AKA) ship -Loaded with flour, rice and sugar -Went to Caroline Islands after a brief ammunition supply stop in Hawaii -Long voyage -Stayed in Caroline Islands at Ulithi -Warm -Headquarters for Composite Service Squadron -Massive dry dock for damaged vessels -Japanese still had a base at Trook -One night there was a kamikaze attack -One plane hit the USS Bonhomme Richard -Second plane crashed into a sandbar -Traveled north and passed through a typhoon -Lost some ships as a result -Got to Okinawa -Landing craft had been pushed about one mile inland from the storm (11:45) USS Mt. McKinley -Boarded the USS Mt. McKinley -Destination was the Inland Sea of Japan -Communications vessel -Most likely gathering intelligence for the planned invasion of Japan (12:10) More on the USS Cheleb -Traveled to Caroline Islands alone without a convoy -Did not zig zag -No worries about Japanese submarines -Went to general quarters half hour before sunrise and half hour before sunset -Prime time for attacks (12:45) More on the USS Mt. McKinley -Remembers traveling to the Inland Sea -Ordered to general quarters for a drill -Changed to “not a drill” -Attacked, but it wasn’t terribly serious, frightening though as he recalls -After this wound up in Vladivostok (discussed later) and rejoined the Cheleb -Details of the USS Mt. McKinley -Huge, repurposed cargo ship -Command and communication -Had a destroyer escort -Lots of electronics on board -Japanese Navy was nonexistent at this point, so it was relatively safe �(14:40) Sasebo, Japan -Spent some time in Sasebo, Japan -Post war/post Vladivostok on board USS Mt. McKinley (discussed later) -Had been a primary Japanese naval city -Massive cranes that could pick up ships -Massive submarines were stationed there -Saw the sub that sank the USS Indianapolis (15:50) Naval Duties -Manned a 5 inch turret -Couldn’t see much beyond the scope -Complex firing system -Had to keep triggers compressed and “bubbles” aligned to actually fire the gun (16:50) Vladivostok, Russia -Impressed by the women’s aid in the war effort -Introduced to vodka there -Departed from there for Tsingtao, China (17:35) Tsingtao, China -Went to Tsingtao on the USS Cheleb -Anchored 15 miles offshore because of massive tidal difference -Very modern city (18:40) Shanghai -Went from Tsingtao to Shanghai -Saw bodies floating in the Huang Ho River -Came in with a hospital ship -Tied up at Holt’s Wharf -Docked in front of a British hospital ship -Former British POW’s were on board being cared for -Mostly doctors and nurses that had been POW’s -Most were husbands and wives -Kept in good shape by the Japanese to keep other prisoners healthy -Invited their families on board the USS Cheleb for ice cream -Took part in the evacuation of White Russians -Met young woman and spent a leave with her -She was terrified about leaving -Destiny was either a prison camp in Russia or death -Stayed in Shanghai for three weeks -Not much prolonged contact with the Chinese population -Locals never bothered U.S. troops -Watched Chinese workers paint navy ships from their river boats -Unloaded sugar, rice, and flour -Doesn’t recall a Chinese military or police presence (23:33) Philippines (Some time after Hong Kong, discussed later) -First time seeing Japanese POW’s -They were large men not the stereotypically small men -They had been Imperial Marines from Korea -Had stopped at the isle of Negros for water �(24:45) Hong Kong -Complicated way of getting into the city -Sail directly towards a cliff, quickly zig zag, and once you’re around the cliff you see the city -Could not understand why the Chinese sector was called Victoria -British sector had a Chinese name -Only spent a week there delivering supplies -Allowed to go ashore briefly -Given a ration of three cans of beer -Played touch football (26:25) More on Shanghai -Remembers ripping pants getting into a rickshaw -Driver took them to a hole in the wall tailor -Told to sit on a stool on the sidewalk -Took off pants -Left sitting there while the tailor repaired the pants -Eventually got to see the simple, but involved repair process -Involved spit and a primitive iron -Couldn’t tell where pants had been ripped -While sitting there without his pants he attracted a small crowd -People just laughed at the absurdity of the situation -No harm was done -Chinese were orderly, courteous, and helpful (28:28) Formosa (After Hong Kong) -Went to the island of Formosa (now Taiwan) for water -Only stayed there for two days (28:45) Return Voyage -Stopped in the Philippines briefly -Went back to the United States (29:10) More on Sasebo, Japan -Stayed on the naval base there -Some sailors went ashore and visited area where atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima -Note: Based on Sasebo’s location, Nagasaki’s location, and Hiroshima’s location they most likely visited Nagasaki and not Hiroshima -Returned and said that the surrounding area had not been directly damaged (30:20) More on the Return Voyage -Went up to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska and from there went down to Seattle, Washington -Tied up at Piers 90 and 91 (30:38) Seattle, Washington -Attached to a decommissioning detail -Had a crew of fifteen sailors -Removed critical equipment from ships -Sealed guns -Prepared ships for being towed to the boneyard at Tacoma -Mostly worked on cargo ships (“Liberties) and personnel ships -Stayed there for three months �(31:50) Back to Great Lakes and Coming Home -Returned to Great Lakes by troop train -Left over transportation from World War I -Told to buy three days’ worth of underwear -Threw dirty pairs out the window -Discharged at Great Lakes -Parents picked him up and he returned to Grand Rapids -High school diploma had been mailed to him (33:20) Post War Living -Enrolled at Grand Rapids Community College -Only stayed for a month because father had a massive heart attack -Took over business -After that went into sales -Worked in sales for fifteen years -Traveled a lot -Regrets not getting to see children grow up -Enrolled in college (at Aquinas) -Worked at a Kroeger’s warehouse at night -Wife worked at Aquinas -He and his sons got in for free because of this -She was the first Protestant to get hired by Aquinas -She was in charge of the dorms -1966 to 1970 were the best years -Going to college full time -Working at night -Building a cottage in Oceana County -After college got back into sales because of a lack of teaching jobs -Stayed in Michigan this time (35:20) Reflections on Service -“Grew up in a helluva hurry” -Got out of the Navy when he was nineteen -Upset that he couldn’t drink -Joined the VFW so that he could legally drink at meetings -Many young veterans were disenfranchised about the hypocrisy -Feels he had good timing -Feels that the Navy late in the war had been the safest bet -Sailing in boats had influenced his choice -Remembers never getting sea sick -Remembers almost getting pulled off the ship during the typhoon -Remembers black sailors being on board -Segregated, but treated fairly well -Used as servants to the officers -Segregation bothered him -Had been friends with a black kid in high school -Remembers going to Idlewild with him and seeing Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald there by happenstance � 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 Dean, Oliver "Ollie" (Interview outline and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dean, Oliver Description An account of the resource Ollie Dean is a World War II veteran that was born in 1927 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In early 1945 at the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Navy and after training at Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago was deployed to the Pacific Theatre and Southeast Asia aboard the U.S.S. Cheleb, a Navy cargo ship. He also served on the U.S.S. Mt. McKinley, a communications ship, on a cruise through the Inland Sea of Japan and up to Vladivostok. With the Cheleb, he spent time in Shanghai and Tsingtao while the Japanese were being evacuated from China. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Kentwood Historic Preservation Commission (Kentwood, Mich.) WKTV WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings 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 2013-11-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeanO1558V Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5fc7576f3fb5e0a71ab05c0f3063f034.m4v 379449f22faeb4adf6c42ee5e20bfc5c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e28077674b090e59d908f0d40babe7ff.pdf 9190ccb5a6f681870a51c9ca30bccb01 PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW AUDREY HAINE DANIELS, Pitcher Women in Baseball Born: Winnipeg, Canada May 5, 1927 Resides: Interviewed by: Frank Boring, GVSU Veterans History Project, August 5, 2010, Detroit, Michigan at the All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, November 16, 2010 Interviewer: “Audrey, let’s start with your full name and where and when were you born?” My maiden name is Audrey May Haine. I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on May 5, 1927. No, May 9th, I told you I would make some mistakes, meant to say 5/9/27. Interviewer: “What was your early childhood like?” I suppose it was not much different than any of the others at that time. I had a very good childhood, it was a—my father really wasn’t there most of the time and when he was he just upset the whole thing, do you know what I mean? We had kind of a bumpy road there for a while, but we got out and played. We played baseball around the street with the other kids. 1:28 Interviewer: “Where did you grow up? Was it on land or in the city?” It was in the city of Winnipeg. Interviewer: “So, did you live in an apartment?” We had a house. Interviewer: “All right, and then you went to school, did you walk to school?” Yes we walked to school; we weren’t too far from school. Interviewer: “All right, how did you get involved with playing baseball?” 1 �With the kids in the street, I mean we always played baseball. We didn’t have to stop too often to let cars go by because where I lived in those days there weren’t too many cars. The doctor went by occasionally and we didn’t really have a good bat or a good balls. Our balls were usually half ripped, but I don’t think it ever bothered us, we were out there playing and had a great time. Interviewer: “It was neighborhood kids? Did you ever play kids in other neighborhoods? 2:30 No Interviewer: “So it was just pretty much by yourselves. How was school for you? Did you like school?” Interviewer: Oh, I liked school very much. Interviewer: “You got into high school I take it?” Yes I did Interviewer: “Did you have any idea what you wanted to do at that stage of your life?” I wanted to be a nurse. Interviewer: “How did the opportunity to become a baseball player come along?” I knew I had no opportunity to be a nurse for sure, and baseball was just something that I grew up with. I didn’t just say, “I want to be a baseball player”, I just grew up with it and I played for a team called the St. Anthony Brown Birds when I was fifteen or something like that and I was a pretty good pitcher. Interviewer: “Now, is this softball or baseball?” 2 �Softball, so I moved up to the next bracket and I played with them for a year and had a very good year. Interviewer: “Now, this is just for fun and you’re not getting paid or anything like that?” No, absolutely not, this is just teams that were put together and you had managers and everything that went with it, uniforms. 3:48 Interviewer: “All girls?” Yes, all girls Interviewer: “When did you first hear about the professional league?” Well, I got a call from a girl who played in the league the first year and her name was Dotty Hunter, she called and she said that a scout had seen me play and wanted her to get in touch with me and tell me all about the league and see if I would be interested. Interviewer: “Had you heard about it before?” No, I had never heard about the league before, so I invited Dotty over to my home and she told us, my mother and myself and my sister probably, all about the league and that it was run on very high standards and that the players lived in private homes with good families and that we got paid for playing and when on the road we had real money and stayed in the best hotels. So, that sounded pretty good to me 4:46 Interviewer: “What was your mother’s reaction?” Well, she didn’t react, and she certainly didn’t say, “no, you’re not doing that”, no she didn’t, she always let us have opportunities when they came up. Interviewer: “How old were you at that time?” Fifteen 3 �Interviewer: “So, they were offering you to play in the league at fifteen?” I was fifteen when I got my contract and I turned sixteen that following summer and then when I played and got to leave, I had just turned seventeen.. Interviewer: “What was your first experience? Did you go for tryouts?” I never went to tryouts, and being young; I assumed I was on the team. Interviewer: “Wow! Where did you go, to Peoria?” 5:46 First of all Dottie Hunter came and explained the whole thing to my mother and me finally said I could go. I had never been more than one hundred miles from home or ordered or eaten a meal out, so I was just about as green as the grass we were going to play on, you know. I had never had any experience being away, so it was a pretty exciting and nerve-wracking experience for me to join the other players from western Canada and get on the train in Winnipeg and head for Chicago. 6:48 Interviewer: “You had never been on a train before?” No, I hadn’t Interviewer: “How was the trip?” Well, it was nerve-wracking for me you know, you want to do the right thing and everything is new to you and I don’t think I slept much that first night on that train and the first sun-up I looked out and saw the wonderful rolling hills of Wisconsin go by and it is a memory etched in my mind forever, those wonderful rolling hills and green grass. Everything I did-- I was a little bit nervous about everything and when we had breakfast on the train I just didn’t even know what to order because I had never been out. Seeing the waiter with this white towel over one arm and a silver coffee pot in the other had, I 4 �was just baffled by it all. 8:05 It was just over whelming to me, but we headed out and I guess most of the girls going were in the same position as I was. Interviewer: “Had you met some of them at that point and you were talking?” Oh yeah, I had met some of them and there might have been one from the team that I was on going as well, but we headed up to Chicago and we were met there and they put us in a hotel. Interviewer: “Did you meet the chaperone? Did you have a chaperone that met you?” 8:40 No, personnel from the league met us because at that time we weren’t assigned a chaperone. You were assigned a chaperone when you were on a team. So, we arrived and they put us up in a hotel and I think it was on the seventeenth floor. Alright now, wow! Interviewer: “Did you have a room mate in your hotel room?” Yes Interviewer: “Also from Canada?” Yes, I think it was the player I had played with before. Then of course there was the spring training the first day out there. Interviewer: “What was that like coming out?” It was—I was really nervous and self-conscious because I didn’t have all those clothes and mind you there were others in the same bracket that I was, but I didn’t have the clothes that they had. I remember on a hot day I had this pleated woolen skirt on and I was just about melting, but you met these girls and they were from all over the U.S. and Canada and you realized that they were in much the same spot at I was. 9:59 Spring 5 �training went well and much like in the movie, they put up a list of who made what and where. I was assigned to the “Minneapolis Millerettes” and it was a new team in the league that year. Unfortunately the game did not go over well there because the field where we played was too large for the type of game we played and it was just something they weren’t ready for, so during the season, I guess halfway through the season, that whole team went to Fort Wayne, Indiana where it was very successful. 10:44 I played for Fort Wayne and our manager was Bill Wambsganns, who made the only unassisted triple play in the world series in 1920, I believe, and he was great. So, I played for Fort Wayne for two years I guess, Interviewer: “What was your—going back to your first team, you actually played for half the season though?” Yes I did, we played half the season and the other half we were a road team. We were called the “orphans”. Interviewer: “Did your nervousness start to go away once you started playing?” Yes I think it did a little bit, but I was always tense you know, you don’t get over that in a week or two. 11:35 Interviewer: “Plus you were very young.” Exactly, I had just turned seventeen. Interviewer: “How did you rate yourself compared to the other players? Did you feel like you were a good baseball player?” Well, I always felt like I was never as good as the others, but I was a good pitcher, yes I was Interviewer: “Is that what you trained to be, a pitcher?” 6 �Yes Interviewer: “Did you play any other position?” Never Interviewer: “Same with me, I couldn’t play any other positions and that’s why they gave me pitching.” That’s probably the way it was with me. I couldn’t have made out it any other position. Interviewer: “The first manager you had, did you learn very much from him? One of the things I have asked the girls is that they knew how to play baseball, but the managers gave them new tricks and techniques they didn’t know about.” My first manager was—I can’t remember his name, but I don’t think he really taught the girls too much. We were all so basically green that it was a big job to—but we gradually got pretty darn good. 12:49 Interviewer: “Were you thinking at that stage the this was going to be your career, that you were going to be a professional baseball player?” No, absolutely not, no Interviewer: “This is going to sound like a stupid question, but what was the point, why did you do it then?” Because it was fun and I got paid for it, I mean, it was something I loved to do and I got paid for it quite well and I was able to send money home to my mother. If you’re a ball player and you’re on a team and you’re doing ok, you’re not leaving it. Interviewer: “So, what was the fort Wayne experience like?” 13:29 It was lovely, we had a lot of Canadians on that team and I played with them for about two years and Bill Wambsganns was a terrific guy. 7 �Interviewer: “Did he treat you like a woman or treat you like a ball player?” Oh, I think he treated us like a ball player with consideration. We had chaperones of course, who really took over that part of the job. Interviewer: “You didn’t have to go through the charm school or any of that?” I did, don’t you know? Interviewer: “Well, let’s talk about that. You were a green seventeen year old.” I thought maybe you would recognize that I had been to charm school. Yes, we learned how to pour teas, how to sit properly, stand properly, how to walk with a book on your head straight and tall, and we learned all those essential things. I think they only had the charm school for one year as I recall, but we were all so bright we picked everything up in one year. 14:45 Interviewer: “What was a typical day like during the season, you got up at a certain time?” Yup, got up and if we were home, probably had a practice scheduled and of course the afternoon or evening baseball game and we had to be in the home or in our rooms when we were on the road, two hours after the game. On the road we did—we went to a movie or just walked around the city or things like that. Interviewer: “Well, this is a new experience for you and you’re completely outside of the home, what were you thinking? You make friends and there were a lot of Canadians on that team, so we felt a bond you know, so we sort of strengthened each other. 15:46 Interviewer: “there were older girls there too?” 8 �They were mostly older than I was, but they were maybe eighteen, nineteen and even twenty. Interviewer: “What was your social life like during the Fort Wayne period?” Well, very often we were invited out to dinner by some of the families, they were really very good to us and I think that was probably our only social events that we got to go to, otherwise we were pretty well secluded from—I mean it was practice in the afternoon, game at night, so you didn’t have too much time to get into trouble, but we tried hard. Interviewer: “What were the road trips like?” The road trips were a lot of fun, but also very tiring, we played every day and double headers on Sundays and got up and got on that—at first each team didn’t have a bus, so that first year we traveled by train and after that each team got their own bus. We spent the time by doing crossword puzzles, reading a book and singing the songs of , popular songs of those days. 17:04 Interviewer: “Any particular memorable games during the Fort Wayne experience?” Fort Wayne? No, I don’t think so or maybe that was the year—that might have been the year I pitched a no hitter. We were playing against Kenosha, it was a very drizzly day, kind of foggy, and I was pitching against Helen Fox, who was also a Canadian girl and very good, and we both pitched a no hitter because of course, the fog and the mist, I mean we were just great. Interviewer: “Once the season was over with you went back to Canada, you went back home?” 9 �Yes I did, went back to Winnipeg and back to my job. They always took me—I worked for the Hudson Bay Company and they always just took me back and I left in the spring and came back in the fall. 17:57 Interviewer: “They knew you were a ball player?” Yes, of course Interviewer: “Were you kind of a local celebrity?” Well I was kind of because I had done so well and my picture was in the paper practically after every game. I must sound like I’m kind of—but anyway it was because I had made the record in strikeouts and stuff like that. Yeah, people treated you very good. Interviewer: “So, Fort Wayne you did for two years and then what happened after that?” I was traded to Grand Rapids, to the Grand Rapids Chicks. I think I played with them a year and a half and then I went to—Grand Rapids Chicks, I can’t remember where after the Chicks. Interviewer: “We’ll go there later. How was your experience with the Grand Rapids Chicks?” Great, all the experiences were great. You know, we were all young, we were just looking for new friends and we did find them and you would always stay with a few Canadians because you were Canadian. I always had about four or five Canadians that went to have lunch together or whatever. The Californians probably stuck together and that’s the way it went. 19:23 Interviewer: “Any memorable games when you were with the Chicks?” 10 �No, I had some very good games, but none of them stand out except that no- hitter that I pitched. I did pitch another no hitter during my days. Interviewer: “How were the teams that you played against?” Oh, they were very good, we had some absolutely marvelous players, and they were just outstanding you know. When we first started playing, people came out to laugh—“oh my gosh, girl baseball players”, but we showed them that we could play just as well as men and gradually then the game did change into the regular baseball. 20:18 Interviewer: “So, you started out pitching underhand?” Yes, and then side arm and then overhand. Interviewer: “How was that transition for you?” It went pretty well. When they transferred from the regular, from the size of baseball that we were using to the regular hardball size, they sent us baseballs for us to work on before we got to the spring training and Doris Barr, who lived on the same street as I did, just per chance, she knew someone who allowed us to practice in the armory where we had a lot of space and that’s what we did. 21:08 Interviewer: “So by the time you got to spring training, you already had been practicing throwing overhand?” Right Interviewer: “Was that a difficult transition for you though?” Not really, I don’t recall it as being, if I had to pitch overhand I would have found that difficult. 11 �Interviewer: “Did your record change? You were pitching very well in the beginning with the larger ball, but was there any difference in terms of your record?” I can’t tell you that, I just really—it’s not a secret or anything, I just don’t remember. Interviewer: “Nobody complained anyway and said you were a lousy pitcher now?” No, they didn’t fire me or anything. 21:52 Interviewer: “What did you think of the uniform?” It didn’t matter what kind of uniform they would have given us, we would have put it on. We were playing baseball and we were so thrilled to be there, but there was a lot of laughing etc. of the uniforms, especially by fans in the first year, but I think most of us liked to play in that. I cannot speak for all of them and I know that some didn’t. Interviewer: “I guess what I’m trying to get at is, I know a lot of them did adjustments. One of you said that when she first started wearing it and when she went out to catch a ball she got most of her hands in her dress as opposed to getting the ball. Did you alter your uniform at all?” I altered mine because coming through on the pitch. I had to pin a large portion of the dress onto the front so it wouldn’t go into that material. 22:52 Interviewer: “If you were on the bus and you needed to get off the bus could you wear blue jeans?” No, no, you had to have a dress or skirt on and no, we were never allowed to get off at stops, so we followed the rules. Interviewer: “The playing field it’s self changed, the distance and whatnot. How did you adjust to that?” 12 �Yes it did and yes, Philip Wrigley wanted the game to be faster and more like baseball, so the pitchers mound was lengthened and the base paths were lengthened and now we were pitching either side arm, I believe started side arm, and then side arm and overhand, so those were the changes that were made and you could of course in regular softball you can’t lead off now, so we could do everything that the major leagues could do. 24:03 Interviewer: “Then you were traded again?” Yes, then I was traded to oh, gosh, the Peoria Red Wings. Interviewer: “How was that experience?” Very nice and I liked that team very much. We had a very good team. Interviewer: “Any favorites of the three?” I think Fort Wayne, I think because of all the Canadians on that team. Interviewer: “Any particular hitter that you did not want to go up against?” I know there were some that didn’t want to go up against me because I was wild at times. Of course there were hitters that I didn’t want to pitch against. I mean they were good hitters. 24:58 Interviewer: “By the time you got through several years now, were you looking at this as something that was a lot of fun and not something you were going to do for the rest of your life?” Oh no, no, no Interviewer: “What did you want to do?” I wanted to get married and I had been going with my husband, previously my boyfriend, for six years or so, so we eventually got married. 13 �Interviewer: “I guess that’s one of the questions that I have. How did you meet him?” Oh, we lived on the same block and on the same street. Interviewer: “Oh, from childhood?” Yeah, we never dated anyone else and now we have been married for sixty-one years. Interviewer: “Wow! I didn’t know that.” We’re going to stick with it. 26:02 Interviewer: “You’re finally sure of each other.” Yeah, the trial’s over. Interviewer: “Alright, so you knew him from childhood and you went off to play, you came back and he was?” He was there waiting. Actually we generally played catch most of the time. Walking down the street, he’d go backwards and I’m be going forward pitching to him, but that’s what we did.” Interviewer: “Did he come to any of your games?” I think he was able to get to—let’s see, one of the seasons, where was I at that time? He came down to see me play. Interviewer: “I understand he has a special picture he carries around with him?” He does Interviewer: “What is that picture?” It’s of me in my uniform and he’s carried it around for all the years we’ve known—when we got the picture it was probably in the third year or something of my ball days and yes, 14 �he still has it. 27:12 He’s very proud of it and I’m proud of the picture and proud of him, maybe proud of him and then proud of the picture. Interviewer: “What brought your baseball career to an end?” Getting married, what could you do? I mean, yes we got married and I did play for a year after that, yes. Interviewer: “Then what, you got married and had a child as well, but did you go to work of any kind? Were you still working?” No, and then we were living in the states, we had moved from Canada and I played home games for the Rockford Peaches. Interviewer: “But then, you made a decision not to play anymore? The league still went on didn’t it?” 28:11 Well, I made the decision because we had family and then another family and you know, we added on and it was impossible for me to play, but I think family like probably just became more important. Interviewer: “Did you miss it?” I think I probably did, no doubt about that. Interviewer: “Some of the girls never even talked about their baseball career and their kids didn’t even know about it. How about you?” Same thing, because people made fun of you, like you told them you played and you played men’s rules and they go and say,”yeah”, you know, “yeah, right”, so you felt embarrassed, so there came a time when you didn’t tell anybody. 29:02 Interviewer: “How did that change because you came to a certain point in your life—you’re coming to reunions for example?” 15 �Absolutely Interviewer: “Was it the movie that changed things?” I think so and I think the movie helped a great deal, right. Interviewer: “How did you hear about the movie to begin with?” We had meetings and talked about this movie and that there was a possibility because of the Players Association, we have a Players Association, and all news gets into the newsletter and people have a chance to study it and that’s how it came about. Interviewer: “Now, the association formally began in? I forgot what year it was, do you remember?” I do not. Interviewer: “Were you one of the first members?” Oh yeah, I was one of the first, I mean in that group. Interviewer: “Right, we talked with someone who actually put together the original database and contacted all of you and said, “we’re forming this association”. 30:05 After all those that have gone by and not talking about it, why did you want to get involved with an association of ex ball players?” Of course you’re—it’s in you and of course you’ve met all these young women and everything. The girls you played with, I mean they were all important to us and they were like family to us. After all we lived with them all summer and played ball and kept in touch with them and Christmas cards and they were and still are a very, very important part of our life. Interviewer: “What did you think of the movie? 16 �Well, I think we liked the movie because we saw that it was pretty well accurate and we were happy with Madonna’s part in it. I mean, it wasn’t what Madonna was popular for at that time, so we were happy with the movie. 31:13 I think we all really liked it, I did anyway. Interviewer: “Did it change your attitude about talking about the baseball period?” Yeah, it did, definitely, oh definitely because now people saw it and they were able to see that it was pretty good and these girls could really play. Interviewer: “In terms of reaction, people actually treat you almost like movie stars because of that movie.” Yes they do. Interviewer: “It rubs off on me, I told my students--I’m a professor at the university, and I tell my students that I’m doing this documentary and they’re excited because I get a chance to meet you.” It’s amazing you know, we can’t understand it, but now we’re used to it because it’s been going on year after year and they come and, “oh my gosh, can I have your autograph?” Come on. 32:15 Interviewer: “You seem amused by it.” I am amused by it you know, by the way they are just lined up with a hat to sign or a baseball glove or a card or whatever. Interviewer: “Why do you think people react that way?” Well, I think it was something different that turned out ok. It was pleasing to watch, it was on the up and up. 17 �Interviewer: “Now, you had a full life, you’ve had a family and you’ve had a lot of other experiences, and how does that few years, how does that fit into the scheme of things in your life? You obviously loved it.” You’re asking me to compare that? Interviewer: “Yes, somewhat.” My baseball life with my family life?” 33:08 Interviewer: “Well, I’m not asking you for a comparison, if you prefer this or prefer that, just where does it fit in terms of—some of the girls said, for example, it was their first experience of really becoming a woman and having a more broad understanding of life as opposed to being in a small town. Was it a like changing experience for you at all?” It taught me a lot. It taught me to be considerate, it taught me quite a few things you know. Interviewer: “At the very least you know how to pour tea, right?” Listen, I was one of them that learned how to pour tea and if you ever need someone to pour tea at some of your social events. Interviewer: “I’m going to ask you about putting a book on your head and see if you can still do that or not.” I honestly—yes, we learned all that and I thought you would notice it. 34:12 Interviewer: “Looking back on it now you said you’re amused by how so many people just get so excited about all this kind of thing and I had asked you why you think people are so excited about it and you said because it was something unique and it’s got to be more than that. It’s—young girls especially look up to you.” 18 �Yes they do, they really do. I mean, even now if we go out to eat or if somebody knows that I played in the league, they are just all mushy. We get better service, we give them a card and it just fixes everything up. Interviewer: “I want to ask you a more philosophical question, it may be a tough one. Looking back on that experience at that time, what do you think the All American Girls Baseball League accomplished? What do you think they—I mean they were a baseball team, there are lots of baseball teams.” 35:15 No, we accomplished more than playing baseball, we showed that we were as equal as boys. Coming into sports and giving the women’s sports the same consideration that you’re giving the boys and we did you know, chapter nine [Title IX] was passed for equal opportunity in sports and I think we accomplished a great deal and we’re proud of what we did, we’re very proud of it. If you’ve been through—I’m sure you’ve been through and seen the girls and that and yes, we’re proud of what we did. Interviewer: “Let me ask you a real stupid question. Why do you come to the reunions?” Because I love all of my friends and it’s so exciting. You come to see your friends, absolutely; because they’re like more than just friends and some of them you probably think are your family you know. Yes, that’s why we all come and I’m sure that you might get a similar answer from many. 36:27 Interviewer: “One of the things about reunions that I’ve learned, because I got to reunions of my fathers, for example, because of his military history. You get to know people that you didn’t get to know when you were playing ball. Did you meet some of the players that you never knew?” 19 �Yes, absolutely, that’s true—that you never got to meet. You played against them, but then you were a player and they were a player and you just hoped you got the batter of them, but other than that, you come for your love of the game and love of the people you played with. Interviewer: “Did you have any involvement in the production of the film like some of the women did?” 37:16 I happened to be an extra. I did get into the movie as an extra and it was great and I got paid. Interviewer: “What scene were you in?” Ah, well when they were talking about the Canadians there was a scene there and they were singing a song about the Canadians and there were about three or four Canadians and they had us standing at the back and we were Canadians, Irish ones and Swedes, so there were a few Canadians in that. Then I was in another spot too, but you know, you have to be quick to see that. Interviewer: “Were you in Cooperstown film at all?” Yes and that’s in Cooperstown and that’s in the scene where we’re being inducted into the Hall of Fame. 38:18 Interviewer: “Now, did you go to the induction?” Absolutely Interviewer: “What was that like?” Incredible, incredible, I mean it’s all incredible you know, something that other people have never done. I’m sure other people have done more important things, but this was special. 20 �Interviewer: “What was your reaction to the whole league being inducted into the Hall of Fame?” It’s fabulous, I mean we all figured we had it coming and we deserved it so to speak. We played hard and a lot of people enjoyed our games and why not? 39:05 Interviewer: “My favorite scene in the whole movie, and I actually use it in my classes, is the scene between Tom Hanks and Geena Davis where he says—“she said it got too hard.” Yes, that’s one of my favorites. Interviewer: “That brings tears to my eyes whenever I watch that.” It’s hard yes, something like everything is hard you know. Yes, that’s one of my favorite spots. Interviewer: “He says, “of course it’s hard, if it was easy everybody could do it”, and obviously they couldn’t because only you guys could do it.” Right Interviewer: “Which is great. Well good, I’ve enjoyed myself and I hope you have survived through this.” Yeah, well I did my best. Interviewer: “Thank you so much.” 21 �22 � 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 All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a> 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 Sports for women World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Oral history Baseball players--Minnesota Baseball players--Indiana Baseball players--Wisconsin Baseball players--Michigan Baseball players--Illinois Baseball for women--United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-58 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-10-02 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) 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 RHC-58_ADaniels Title A name given to the resource Daniels, Audrey (Interview transcript and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dearfield, Norma Description An account of the resource Audrey Daniels was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1927. She grew up playing ball with the boys in the neighborhood, and then joined a girls' team when she was fifteen. She was later spotted by Dotty Hunter, who had played in the All American league's first season and encouraged her to try out. She joined the league in 1944, and was assigned initially to the Minneapolis Millerettes, who then moved to Fort Wayne, and she later played for Grand Rapids, South Bend and Rockford. She was a successful pitcher who threw several no-hitters over the course of her career. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Baseball for women--United States Baseball Sports for women World War, 1939-1945 Baseball players--Indiana Baseball players--Minnesota Baseball players--Michigan Baseball players--Illinois Women Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-08-07 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bd0f453c3a40866bec3cf03c51eeafff.m4v 3812f027512cfff457e7406e59d022bb https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3231b8061e3eadca4e02ed2cc105680.pdf 1fa05fc89baa431e119c9a2c0f5900d5 PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW NORMA DEARFIELD, Second Base Women in Baseball Born: 1928 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania Resides: White Oak, Pennsylvania Interviewed by: James Smither, PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, August 7, 2010, Detroit, MI at the All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion. Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, October 13, 2010 Interviewer: “Can you start by giving us a little bit of background on yourself? To begin with, where and when were you born?” I was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania to Mr. And Mrs. James Whitney. There were five of us in our family and I was the second oldest. Interviewer: “In what year were you born?” I was born in 1928. Interviewer: “What did your family do for a living then?” Dad worked on the railroad and my mother stayed at home and was a homemaker and took care of all of us. 1:34 Interviewer: “Now with the railroad, was your father able to keep his job then during the depression?” He did keep his job, but he was on what they called the extra board and he went out when they called him and he was one of his family members that, of the men, that still really kept their job and worked. They shared with each other, food that they had gotten from some of the places that gave out certain foods, so they shared with each other and made it through. 2:08 Interviewer: “How did you get involved in sports?” 1 �Well, when I was very young I always had a tennis ball, always, and I was throwing it into the house or anywhere and catching it. I don’t know, I just liked playing ball and the Christmas when I was about twelve years old, I asked for a baseball glove and my mother told me that girls don’t get baseball gloves and I said, “then I don’t want anything for Christmas, if I can’t have a glove, I don’t want anything”, so needless to say, I did have this glove and it was the same glove I played--my dad bought me a good glove at the time which surprised me, but it was the same glove that I still have today ad that I played in the league with. We didn’t have organized sports at that time in our city, so we just made up our own teams and played other cities next to us. 3:17 We played each other and my dad was out coach and I just played until I was probably eighteen or so and after high school I just got a job and I was working and I saw a little piece in the paper, just a little tiny article, for tryouts in McKeesport, Pennsylvania for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. Well, I never had heard about it, I didn’t know anything about it, so I called the girls on our team and I asked them, “let’s go out and see what this is all about”, so when we got there seventy-five to a hundred girls were there from Ohio, West Virginia and different places, so we got out there and we had to bat, field, infield, outfield, slide into base, just everything they wanted us to do we had to do, so when it was over they just said that they would send us a letter saying whether we made it or not. 4:30 I had gotten a letter to South Bend, myself and another girl, so then my dad and my mother knew nothing about this league and they didn’t know if they wanted me to go by myself, so my dad said, “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay for a few days to find out what this is all about”. So, being that he worked on a railroad we had a pass and off we went to Chicago to go on the train. He had a sister that lived in Gary, Indiana, so he stayed with 2 �her you know, and would come back where we were on the field and stayed with me for three days and talked with whoever he had to talk with and felt comfortable leaving. 5:20 Then I had to tryout there. Davie Bancroft was the one that was doing it the day that I was trying out, was coaching us. I can remember we had to go out on a field at the position that we played and I had never had a baseball hit to me, I had softballs and the field was shorter and the balls were bigger, so the first time I fielded the ball, I did field it and I turned my head a little and he pointed the bat at me and said, “if you want to play in this league you can break your nose or knock your teeth out, but don’t turn your head”. 6:13 Now I’m more nervous and I thought I better do what I know that I can do, so I did, so then I had to do everything that they expected of us to do you know and then when that time was over eventually, I was told that I was going to stay and I was put on the team. Interviewer: “So when you got to South Bend and you were doing the tryout, were there a lot of other girls trying out at the same time or just you?” Oh yeah, there were many of them, I don’t know how many, but there were many of them all trying out. Interviewer: “Did you have any sense of where they were from or how far they had come to do this?” Not really, at the time I didn’t know them and I really didn’t know anybody, I was just—I felt so alone, but you make good friends with them real fast and most of them were from—a lot of them that I was friends with were from the states around here. 7:13 Interviewer: “But basically you were just going on with your life in Pennsylvania, what kind of a job did you have when you were there?” 3 �After school I got a job at the J.C. Murphy Co. warehouse and I worked there just filling orders for the stores and things. Interviewer: “The league that you were playing in, was it a women’s league or a girls league? What was that?” Back home? It was girls they were all girls. Interviewer: “Did you have people actually come to watch the games or did you just go and play?” Oh yeah, the local people, we had not a lot, but they knew when we were playing and they gathered around. We went to different cities close to us and played other teams because we had to organize our own games ahead of time and schedule the women that played. 8:16 We played from the time I started at sixteen I guess until I was called to go to this league. Interviewer: “What year was it that you joined the league?” 1949 Interviewer: “So now you have gotten the call and you tried out. Probably most of those girls trying out at South Bend didn’t make the team, they had a lot of them.” A lot of them didn’t I guess. Interviewer: “Did they tell you right there whether you made the team or not?” Yes, at the end of the few days that I was there. That’s when they told us if we were placed or not and everyday we tried out and had to do something different and different things you know. Interviewer: “Could you hit as well as field?” 4 �I did pretty good, I had a couple triples, but I never had a home run. I was a fast runner and I could steal bases. I batted second all the time and most of the time if I’d gone on from hitting I knew I was going to get to second or third. 9:22 Interviewer: “I’m going to go back here. You signed up with the South Bend club at the start of the season or was the season already going?” At the start and I left in, I think it was May, and I didn’t come home until September. I stayed right there the whole time. Interviewer: “Did they have any kind of spring training before the games started or did you just start playing games?” Well, we had some spring training and that’s—I can’t remember what field we tried out at, but I was over in South Bend for spring training before we started. Interviewer: “So, they were doing their training just right there. They weren’t off in some other location that year?” Right Interviewer: “When you joined the team that year, were most of the players veteran players who had been there for a while or did they have a lot of new ones?” 10:16 Most of them were veteran players who had been there over the years, but that was during spring training and then I was put on the touring team which were all new players. We toured the country, more or less, to keep baseball alive. Interviewer: “The league had two touring teams didn’t they and they would travel around together and play each other?” Yes, the Chicago Colleens and the Springfield Sallies. 5 �Interviewer: “Which one were you on?” The Chicago Colleens Interviewer: The Chicago Colleens, all right, they were all basically newer or younger players who were doing this?” Some were—we had one or two that were fifteen or sixteen and at that time I was eighteen, nineteen. Interviewer: “If it was 1949, probably twenty, twenty one. So, you were a little bit older then?” 11:19 Older than some of them, but a lot were around my age or even older. Interviewer: “Do you remember where you went, some of the places or states you went to?” We were in like thirty-eight states. We went through the Midwest and out as far as Texas, Oklahoma, all in through some of the western states, South Carolina and Georgia, almost all of them. I have little pennants from every state and I had one wall filled with every city that we played in because we played in several cities in one state when we would get there. We traveled all night. Interviewer: “How were you getting around?” By bus, it was like a school bus and not a very comfortable one, but we would travel short distances some of the time and sometimes as long as two or three hundred miles to the next city. 12:21 Interviewer: “All right now, what kind of reception did you get in the towns that you played in?” 6 �Oh, a lot, there were a lot of people and they were very receptive to us. They had a lot— I’m trying to think, several times we had several thousand people there for the games. Interviewer: “Are there any particular places you went that stand out in your mind and you went to a lot?” Not too many because we really didn’t have time to do a lot of sightseeing or anything like that, but we had some time during the day, but most of the time it was just play ball, take the bus to the next town, go to bed because you didn’t sleep good because you traveled all night and then you had to get to the Laundromat to wash the clothes that you had. You only had a little small suitcase and you weren’t allowed to take much of anything. 13:32 Interviewer: “This version of the league, or this part of it, how much of the sort of rules and regulations on dress or conduct or things like that, how much of that applied to you?” About the same as what was in the league. We were not allowed to wear shorts or slacks on the street. We had to have skirts on. We could change in the bus, just pull them up and take the shorts off and put a skirt on to go out. When I was in spring training I had to go to charm school to learn how to sit and conduct yourself sitting, walking, drinking coffee and things like that. 14:28 Interviewer: “Was this new to you or just new to some of the other girls, having particular rules like that to follow? No, pretty much at home we had to “yes ma’am”, “no ma’am”, we didn’t get up from the table unless we asked to be excused and I still did that with my kids today, so it was easy to do. 7 �Interviewer: “Did they have rules about socializing or anything else like that? If you were riding around on the bus all the time you didn’t need to worry about it.” We didn’t have time to—like the girls in the league, they had more time to go out in the evening, in the daytime rather and socialize, but we didn’t have very much time to socialize. We were busy just playing ball. Every night we played a game including Sunday and sometimes two on Sunday. 15:24 Interviewer: “What sort of people did you have in your audience, who would come to watch these games?” There were children and all sorts of people that were with them. A couple of servicemen, you would see them in the crowd, but most of them were just families and people that wanted to come and watch because they advertised ahead of time, so they knew. They had our pictures in store windows and different things before we got there. 16:32 Interviewer: “Now, when you came into a town, did they ever do anything for you or any promotional events or did you have to show up places for different things?” Not too much, not too much because like I said, we were—by the time we would come in most of us would try to get an hour or two of sleep because you had to try to sleep on the bus sitting up on the straight seat. We had some free time that we could walk down the street and look things a little bit over, but not too much, it was mostly all-Interviewer: “Alright now, you were playing in skirts right?” Right Interviewer: “You had these skirts etc. and you were a runner and a base stealer, so did you have problems with “Strawberries” and all that?” Yes I did, several times on the side from sliding, stove fingers. 17:30 8 �Interviewer: “ You’re playing on whatever playing field is available too, so were some of them in not so good shape?” Some of them were not real smooth, but we managed and we played on them. Interviewer: “Did the group of you traveling together, did you kind of make a good set of friends there, being together with these women all the time?” Oh yeah, even though we were two teams, we were all very close and we still are today. Interviewer: “Did you play the full season?” Yeah, I played every game except toward the end of the season I got hit in the eye with an elbow, actually my manager’s elbow, and I had double vision for two weeks, so I didn’t play. Then I went back on and I played every game, so after that I played, which resulted in an eye injury later and it stopped my playing ball. 18:37 Interviewer: “How did you get a manager’s elbow in your eye?” We were—a bunch of us kind of fooling around and it just swung around or something, I think it was his elbow or something and so that—that’s the only time I didn’t play. Interviewer: “But then you did not come back for the next season?” Well, what happened was between the two seasons I went back to work at Murphy company, at my job, and my sister worked there also, so I was coming home, got off the bus and was walking down the street to home and I got terrific pain in my eye and I grabbed it, that same eye that I had—it was like a very sharp pain, so I just pulled my eyelid down because I thought maybe I got something in my eye and I said, ok, everything’s ok”, and we went on until I got in the house. Shortly after I thought, “I can’t see out of this eye”, so I would hold my good eye and I’d look at my sister of my mother or my dad and I said, “daddy, I can’t see too much out of this eye, and I had a sharp pain 9 �in it. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I can’t see very good”. 20:02 The next day he took me to an eye doctor and he looked in it and said, “there’s something there, but I’m not sure, I think you need to see a surgeon”, so he took me to an eye surgeon the next day and he looked in my eye and he said, “you have a detached retina”. I didn’t know what a detached retina was and I said, “What is that?” He said, “that means you’re going right from here to the hospital”. I said, “oh no, I can’t” and I was dating my husband at that time and he played “roller hockey’, so he had a game in Ohio and his birthday was coming up and this was on a Wednesday that I was at the doctor and I said, “I can’t go, I’ll come back on Monday”, and he said, “you’ll be operated on Friday, this is very serious and we’ve got to get this taken care of”, so I was operated on Friday and I laid thirty three days in a hospital with both eyes bandaged, they had to tell me when to open my mouth and feed me, I couldn’t move, my bed was flat, my head was hurting, my dad tried to get a little thin air pillow and they said absolutely not. 21:24 Back then you laid all that time, so the last day I was ready to come home and the doctor sat on the bed beside me, at the time I knew I was going to go to south Bend up in the league, so he said, “your dad tells me that you play baseball?”, and I said, “yeah and I’m excited because this year I’m going up in the league”, and he said, “I just hate to tell you this, but you’re not going to be able to play baseball any more”, and I said, “oh yeah, I’m going to, I have to you know”, and he said, “If you do you’ll have, if it detaches again, little or no eyesight in that eye”. 22:18 Naturally my parents did not allow me to go and that kind of ended my baseball career, which was very devastating. I really, really wanted to go especially up in the lake you know, even though I enjoyed where I was, everything we did. Then I had to wear those big pin point glasses with the little dot for about two 10 �months after and I was led around like a—my dad had to build a box so my plate would sit level and I wasn’t allowed to—if I sneezed I had to hold my head. I had a whole list of do’s and don’ts. So, I guess at that time, so now when I go for new glasses my doctor said, “Norma, if you had that detached retina today you would be playing ball in two weeks because they glue it”, so that was the end of my career, but I’ve come to all the reunions and stayed in touch with all the girls. 23:16 Interviewer: “Did you stay in touch with the girls immediately after you left or did you connect after the organization formed?” That’s part of it, I mostly was with the girls that I knew from the two teams, but the more I came to the reunions I got to know everybody, so we just talk to anybody that comes past. Interviewer: “Once you stopped having to wear pin point glasses and all that kind of thing, did you go get married then or what did you do?” Shortly after, well no, we dated for a couple of years and after that he and my dad came out a couple places to see me while we were dating. We played in Springfield, Ohio and one place in Pennsylvania and I just—yeah, we dated and then after three years of that we ended up getting married and I had four children and now I have ten grandchildren and three great grandsons. 24:30 Interviewer: “In this case your husband knew you played ball, and did your family know that, did your friends know that because a lot of players just went off and nobody knew they had ever done that?” Well, I don’t think anybody like in the city or anything like that really knew. My family knew, in fact when we were in Pennsylvania and Ohio a couple of them came there to see 11 �us play, but it wasn’t until after the movie that kind of—even myself I just went off, got married, raised kids and I never worked after that and it just went on until I got a letter one day to come to the film if I wanted to, so I went and I played in the movie. I played second base at the end of the movie and other than that it was just life after baseball. 25:34 Interviewer: “Aside from getting an elbow in your eye, how do you think that experience affected you? Did it change you at all or did you take anything with it?” With what? Interviewer: “The experience of playing in the league for that year.” You mean—I’m not understanding. Interviewer: “Well, basically the experience of having played professional baseball for a year and going around with those teams and that kind of thing. Do you think that had any kind of a lasting effect on you and did you learn something from it or gain something from it that stayed with you?” Well, you were just—when you were finished playing ball that was just the end of it. It seemed like—it didn’t do anything after that and like I said, I got married shortly after and just went on. It was just a lot of friendship that we made and I’ve kept them over the years and I still keep in close contact with several of them mostly talking on the phone. 26:52 Interviewer: “It got sort of into the seventies and the eighties and you had things like Title IX coming in and you actually had an effort to recruit girls into organized sports and this kind of thing, did you pay much attention to that?” 12 �Yes, I coached girls softball and was on the board of directors of the McKeesport Board Association which then was starting to be organized sports, but I coached girls softball for several years until—I even had to take the children with me, not when they were little I didn’t get involved, but when they started getting bigger I got involved in sports and like I said, I did coach girls softball and then stayed involved for a while in this organization with them trying to get other fields because they didn’t have a lot for girls, back in our town it was all boys. 27:56 Where I tried out at our local park in McKeesport the park had a lot of property there we worked hard trying to—we wanted to have a whole complex like four fields maybe and concession stands and that and we got a lot of people to donate equipment and everything, but you know they—it just wouldn’t go, they just blocked us in different ways. I guess it was going to cost them a lot of money, the city, but we had a lot of volunteers, but it didn’t work out. 28:43 then baseball just—you know you got older and kind of—I mean I’m still very, I mean I never miss a game from the Pirates not seeing them, and I mean I do see several and I’ll watch them and they will say, “are you still watching them Pittsburgh Pirates?” and I say, “well, yeah”, it’s the only team we have, so I have to root them on. 29:03 Interviewer: “ I’m afraid I’ve been a Cubs fan all my life, so I know something about following futility.” You know what, when my daughter—my son-in law is an oral surgeon and he did his oral surgery residency down at Charleston South Carolina and I would go down there and the only two teams I could see was the Cubs or the Atlanta Braves, so I was—I have 13 �relatives in Ohio and Indiana, so I’m kind of like a Cub fan also because that’s what I watched when I was down there and that’s what they would watch. 29:54 Interviewer: “At least the Pirates have won a few world series in the past century, so—to think back to the year you spent traveling around with the Colleens, are there particular people who stand out in your memory? Are there particularly good friends that you made and spent a lot of time with?” There are several that I have stayed real close with, Toni Palermo, she was a shortstop, so she and I had a combination there and there are several that I have kept in contact with at, Jane Moffet, in fact I was up in New Jersey three weeks ago for—they were honoring her for her life more or less, before baseball, during baseball and also her eightieth birthday party, so there were about eight girls up there and they were the ones that were real close here at reunions. I do, I stay in touch with a lot of them yet. 30:59 Interviewer: “Are there anything that happened, any particular moments in any of those games that stand out in your mind?” One game stands out in my memory, we were losing and two were on base and I got a triple and won the game more or less, so you have memories like that and you kind of clear the bases, but I wasn’t real big, so I wasn’t strong enough to get some of the home runs, but I did have a couple triples, but it was mostly singles and doubles and things like that. 31:42 Interviewer: “Were you a good defensive player?” Yes, I felt I was Interviewer: “So, you could turn a double play?” Yes and Toni was really good at that too. 14 �Interviewer: “She’s a dynamic character, we talked to her last year some. All right, anything you would like to add to the record here before we close out the interview?” No, just that the memories have lasted forever playing ball. Like I said, we lost the part we weren’t together, but you never forgot those days and the friends even before the movie we were still friends with some of them and we still are. It’s sad when every year we’re losing so many of them now, but I still keep pretty active. I go to aerobics four days a week, I most days for an hour, I don’t know how far I walk, but I walk for about an hour and I do a lot of volunteer work taking older people to their doctors appointments and helping kids do thing, so I stay pretty active. 33:05 Interviewer: “That’s pretty impressive and thank you very much for coming and talking to us.” Well, I enjoyed it. : 15 �16 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a> 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 Sports for women World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Oral history Baseball players--Minnesota Baseball players--Indiana Baseball players--Wisconsin Baseball players--Michigan Baseball players--Illinois Baseball for women--United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-58 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-10-02 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) 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 RHC-58_NDearfield Title A name given to the resource Dearfield, Norma (Interview transcript and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dearfield, Norma Description An account of the resource Norma Dearfield was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1928. She talked her parents into giving her a baseball glove for Christmas when she was twelve, and played on local girls' teams while in high school. She saw an ad in the newspaper for tryouts for the All Americans in the spring of 1949, and played all that summer for the Chicago Colleens on their barnstorming tour. She played second base, batted second and stole a lot of bases. An eye injury at the end of the season ended her professional career, but she later coached girls' softball teams in her home town. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives Baseball for women--United States Baseball Sports for women World War, 1939-1945 Baseball players--Illinois Women Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-08-05 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/997fe04ba46848accfba0ca7b8f015ad.mp4 3be1604de6b4e5e1f3d76e38b82c7f49 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dd8630a9a5e81a0bca48e1efd447b54f.pdf f261cc08c069b5d07525fff6e3c67ff2 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project William Deary (1:38:17) Background Information (00:07)            Born in Pontiac, Michigan on July 31st 1925 (00:09) William grew up in Pontiac. (00:20) His father was trained as a painter in England. He was a painter contractor until the Depression. At that time he began working in bakery car. (00:26) William graduated high school in December of 1943. (1:18) He learned of Pearl Harbor on the radio. (1:38) He was paying attention to the conflicts occurring in Europe during the early 1940s. (2:00) William thought that the war would be over before he would be old enough to be drafted. (2:30) William volunteered to be drafted into the U.S. (Army) Air Force in the spring of 1943. (2:56) While waiting for his request and tests to clear with the Air Force, William worked in a GM factory. (3:50) William entered the Air Force on December 15th 1943. (4:15) For basic, William was sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois then Miami Beach, Florida. (4:26) Basic Training (4:45)       At cadet training in Miami Beach, William was assigned to be a gunner. (5:00) At Miami Beach the men were tested on coordination, and physiological wellness. (5:49) There was emphasis on physical training and discipline. (6:25) The men lived in a hotel during training. The beds were replaced with cots and the elevators were disabled so the men had to use the stairs. (7:00) There was a mess hall constructed for the soldiers in Miami Beach. (8:08) Miami Beach was not under blackout while William was there. (8:39) Gunnery School (9:00)          William was then sent to Laredo, Texas for gunnery school. The men were trained on the guns they would fire and how to fire on and at a moving aircraft. (9:00) To teach soldiers how to lead a target, the men were trained on skeet shotgun shooting, and shooting off of a moving flatbed truck. (9:35) The men were also trained on an automatic BB gun that shot at paper airplanes. (10:38) The men were in Laredo for 3-4 months. (11:14) The men were allowed to go to Mexico for 1 day. (11:26) After Laredo, William was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska were he was assigned to his crew. (12:35) After a week in Lincoln and a 1 week furlough, William was sent to Boise, Idaho were the crew trained. (12:43) In Boise the men practiced shooting at airborne targets. (14:00) The men stayed in Boise Idaho for approx. 3-4 months. (15:15) �    William was very close with his crew. (16:22) The turrets were assigned by height. The tallest person received the upper turret. The smallest person was given the ball turret. (17:00) William was assigned the nose turret. (17:29) Williams first time in the air was in Boise Idaho. (18:16) Voyage Overseas (18:50)            The men were to be sent off as replacements. (18:54) William was sent via Victory ship to Naples. Than he was sent by train to his base. (19:00) He sailed out of Virginia in the fall of 1944. (19:10) William traveled in a convoy and was required to wear a life preserver at all times. (19:38) The seas were rough and there was a constant fear of submarine attacks. (20:35) It took approx 1 month to get to Naples, Italy. (21:30) The ships stopped once in Sicily. (21:33) He went to the 450th Bomb Group. (21:53) William was assigned a barracks to live. (23:00) The radio man and the tail gunner had gone AWOL before they went overseas. (24:00) The men were put in the air almost immediately after arriving. (24:35) Service in Europe (25:00)            William and his crew flew 8 missions. (25:04) He served in a B-24 four engine bomber. (25:30) The first mission William flew was in Southern Germany. The flak on this mission exploded 100 feet below the bombers due to tin foil used to distract radar. (25:40) William was also assigned on a mission were a mountain was bombed to cause an avalanche over a rail road. (26:50) While attacking Vienna, the men experienced cloud cover and needed to bomb by radar. This caused confusion amongst the formation of bombers. (28:57) While bombing Albania, the men were assigned to bomb a bridge. The bridge was missed but the town beside it was destroyed. (30:04) On his final mission he was shot down after his bombs were dropped. The men bailed out in Hungary. (30:50) After he bailed out, William's parachute almost didn’t deploy. To his luck he landed in a muddy plowed field. (33:00) The copilot had died due to parachute complications. (34:30) William was eventually discovered by Hungarian soldiers. (35:50) After all the men were found they were transferred by German truck to a Hungarian air force base. (37:00) Capture (38:10)   After they were captured the men had their watches, hand guns, and other things confiscated from them (38:11) The men were fed with cabbage or carrot soup. (38:44) �                 One by one the men were taken from their cell and interrogated. The men were threatened to be shot if they were spies. (39:10) The men were then sent down to another cell were they found a Russian pilot. (39:50) William was held there for about three days. (40:47) The Hungarian guards admitted that they hated the Germans, but they hated the Russians even more. (41:30) After being turned over to the Germans, the men were sent to a larger town in Hungary where they stayed in a hotel-like room. Here the men were interrogated once more by a German sergeant. (42:11) After 3 days there, the men were given a ride toward Vienna Austria. (43:00) Once in Vienna the men were sent via passenger train to a Gestapo station. (45:21) While at the Gestapo station, French laborers their begged William for his food. When the French were spotted begging, they were beaten. (47:05) The men were then transported to an interrogation camp that had fliers from all allied forces aside from the Russians. (48:10) While at the camp, William was sent to a solitary confinement cell 10 feet long by 6 feet wide. This lasted 3 days. (48:40) The Germans knew lots of information about the men, such as former work records, in an attempt to scare them. (49:58) The men were not beaten. (51:07) When released to a transit camp in Frankfurt in the winter of 1944/1945 the men could hear guns for the Battle of the Bulge. (51:30) The transit camp was very nice. The men had flush toilets, springs in their bed and good food. (51:45) The men were also allowed to watch (movies of) the 1936 Olympic Games and had access to the library. (53:28) William voluntarily stayed at the camp with 3 of his other crew men. The men were later shipped by boxcar to Berlin, Germany, due to overpopulation of the camp. (55:07) The train was attacked by an air raid. (56:40) Prison camp near Berlin (58:04)      Orders changed and the men were sent 30 miles south to a ground force camp instead of Berlin. (58:20) The prisoners were quarantined for 2 weeks due to a break out of scarlet fever. (58:36) The men were fed pea soup, and artificial tea. The tea was often used for shaving because it was hot. (59:45) The men were also given straw mattresses stacked 5 high. Some of the beds were used for firewood. (1:00:50) After 3 months, the food began improving because the men were given Red Cross parcels. (1:03:05) �     The men had very little knowledge as to why the conditions of the camp were steadily improving. (1:04:07) There was a British compound on one side of the camp and a Russian compound on another. The British compound had a radio that gave news on the war. (1:06:25) The Russians were constantly being beaten at the base. (1:07:30) William never had to fire his gun while in the air. He was always afraid of encountering a German jet. (1:08:50) William’s camp was liberated by the Russians in early summer of 1945. (1:09:33) Life after Liberation (1:10:06)        The men from William's barracks were made the guards of the camp. Men were not allowed out or in. (1:10:06) He was ordered to stay in the camp several weeks after it was liberated before the men could leave. (1:12:14) The men walked 6 miles to an officers' camp that he was made to clean up for American officers who would be arriving. (1:13:20) While going back to his original barracks, William saw many dead bodies, in spite of the fact that the war was over. (1:15:15) A convoy came to pick up the American soldiers but the Russians did not allow them to leave. Because of this, William and 2 of his close friends escaped the camp and walked 40 miles to the U.S. line. (1:16:20) After being picked up by a convoy, William was transported to Camp Lucky Strike in France. (1:19:06) William traveled back on a converted ocean liner. The trip over was much faster and much more smooth than the one going over. (1:19:34) Return the U.S. (1:20:21)        After arriving in the U.S. William was given a 60 day furlough. It bothered him that many were not given a good physical. (1:20:25) William was then sent to Miami Beach. Here the men were given better physicals. (1:21:16) He was then sent to Laredo where William awaited his discharge. (1:22:40) William exited the military as a Staff Sergeant. (1:23:40) William failed his exit physical due to a spot on his lungs. He was transported to Denver, Colorado to be treated. (1:24:53) William exited the military in May of 1946. (1:26:06) His family was aware that William was missing in action. They were not told he was captured. (1:27:26) Life after Service (1:28:20) �  William first worked on the staff in a Boy Scout camp after his discharge. He also wanted to return to college. (1:28:22) While in prison, William watched smokers scrape tobacco off the floor just to smoke a few puffs. (1:32:00) Effects of service (1:33:30)  William believes his military experience made him more of a man. (1:33:33)  He did make many connection and friends while in the service. (1:36:00) � 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 Deary, William (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Deary, William Description An account of the resource William Deary, born in Pontiac, Michigan in July 31st 1925. He enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1943, and was sent first to Miami Beach for basic training, and then to Laredo, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, for training as a gunner. He was sent to Italy in 1944 and joined a B-24 squadron in the 15th Air Force. He flew eight missions late in 1944, and his plane was shot down over Hungary on the final mission. He was captured and moved through an assortment of interrogation centers and camps in Hungary, Austria and Germany before being assigned to a prison camp outside of Berlin. When the Russians who liberated the camp refused to let the men leave, Deary and two other men took off on their own and made their way back to American lines, after which he was sent home. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Air Corps World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-08-26 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DearyW1180V Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7c515748e2ca49673d2535e3ac0b9b0f.mp4 570444fb825631d34d3a07be9a103138 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f107b4c4bc82a25581a8f065487905c.pdf 1e9445a8ab64a5ff10ded8377811a6e7 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project George DeBaar (1:22:08) (00:25) Background • (00:25) He was born in Grand Rapids, MI, on the Southeast side of town. He was born on Ewing Street, near the intersection of Hall and Kalamazoo. He was born on April 13, 1923. • (00:51) His father was a “huckster.” He sold fruits and vegetables out of a horsedrawn carriage, and later a truck. He had to add more services to the route later because of competition with grocery stores. He was also a garbageman. He and his wife had bought a house in 1927, and the Depression hit in 1929. They managed to keep the house. • (02:42) George’s mother was seven months pregnant when she married his father. Both of his parents had been previously married and lost their previous spouses to the 1918 flu epidemic. George had two half brothers, one from each parent. • (03:34) He did not finish high school before the war. He dropped out after tenth grade, probably due to boredom although he does not recall the exact reasons. He finished high school after coming back from the service. • (03:59) He worked at the Michigan Bakery on the corner of Division of Wealthy. He helped load trucks. He did not follow international events at the time. • (04:40) He heard about Pearly Harbor on the radio. Some of his friends enlisted after the attacks. His father advised him to not enlist early, but to follow through if he was drafted. • (05:23) He was drafted in January of 1943. He was inducted into the Army on January 15th, 1943. He signed up at Fort Custer in Battle Creek. (05:55) Training/Enlistment • (05:55) “Everything was a secret” in the Army. They were never informed of their assignments until the last possible time. They got on a train without knowing where they were sent. They realized lady they were being sent to Fort Brady in Sault St. Marie. They used a ferry to cross the Mackinac Straits as there was not a bridge at that time. • (07:08) Fort Brady was cold and very snowy. They had “real winters” at Fort Brady. He did basic training at Fort Brady, and was assigned to guard duty at the Soo Locks and the Canadian Locks. • (07:48) The main focus of basic training was getting into military physical condition and learning military discipline. His stomach muscles ached from the daily calisthenic routines. They exercised in a gym until the weather improved. • (09:00) The drill sergeants were stern, but fair and respected. • (09:48) He does not recall having disciplinary issues, but he thinks he probably had some minor issues. Most of the men adjusted to the military well, but there were some men who had issues adjusting. Just before they were to ship out overseas, some of the men held up a movie theater. �• • • (11:38) At Fort Brady, they joined a pre-established unit. It was originally the 131st Infantry, and was later re-named as the 156th Infantry. He was in Company F. (12:10) They left Fort Brady in August and were sent to New York. On September 5th, 1943 they shipped out. (12:40) The Soo Locks were a “showcase” and they had to keep their arms maintained especially well. They were to set “an example to the rest of the world.” They were established as guards, and had a different assignment each time. They were not Military Police, they simply served as guards. (13:43) Active Duty • (13:43) They were sent out the U.S.S. Alexander, which was a troop transport ship. They were sent out in one of the largest convoys of the war. Some of the men with a cynical sense of humor remarked “we’ll probably never see that again,” when they passed the Statue of Liberty. They didn’t, because they came back by a different route. • (14:14) They hit a bad storm and the ship sprang a leak. They lost three men overboard during the storm. • (15:35) They had funerals for the three men lost at sea. The waves were very severe, and sometimes the other ships would temporarily disappear underneath them. • (16:03) Their ship stopped at Halifax, Nova Scotia to be dry-docked. They were put on the Queen Elizabeth, which already has a sizable load of Canadian soldiers. • (16:47) The Queen Elizabeth did not have a convoy, although it did initially have a fighter plane escort. The ship changed direction every seven minutes as well. • (17:25) They landed in Glasgow, Scotland. They were sent by a train to Elfricone, England, near the southern coast. • (18:00) They were trained for D-Day and trained in LCVPs, a type of small landing craft. He was issued an M-1 rifle, and was in a rifle platoon. • (19:49) They had several accidents in training. They were fired at with live ammunition, while sheltered by a bunker. They were shot at with enemy ammunition and friendly ammunition to learn the differences in sounds. During this type of drill, a machine gunner accidentally shot thirteen men and killed five of them. • (20:46) Most men were inexperienced in that they had not seen combat. However many of them were older recruits and had had more training. • (21:22) His unit was recommended to do guard duty in London because of their service as guards at the Soo Locks. (22:32) Guard Duty in London • (22:32) The CIA checked on them frequently. The blinds and curtains in all the windows were shut at headquarters. Sometimes the CIA agents would stage break-ins to see how quickly they were resolved. • (24:05) He learned to recognize many of the top-tier men. He remembers liking General Bradley. The guards had to check the identification of every man who �• • • • entered the central room, even when they had just left for a drink of water or to visit the restroom. Some of the officers under General Bradley resented being stopped for their identification, despite the fact that it was standard procedure. General Bradley simply followed procedure without comment. (24:56) He does not recall other officers specifically. He remembers it being a mix of American and British officers. (25:40) When he was off duty he would have a good time in London. (26:18) London was a temporary assignment, only until regular Military Police came to the area. It took a long time for the MPs to arrive. (26:41) Next they were assigned to Eisenhower’s headquarters. (27:45) Duty in France • (27:15) They guarded a headquarters building in Reimss, France for a while. • (27:55) Later they were sent to St. Germain with Eisenhower. They also guarded his home in Reims. His company was dispersed to serve as guards in a variety of places, usually guarded different locations of importance to Eisenhower. • (28:40) He went to London initially around the end of 1943, he went with Eisenhower around 1944. • (30:44) London had evidence of bombing from the Luftwaffe. They were still under attack while he was there. They went into bomb shelters frequently, not so much because of the direct blasts from the bombs because of the shrapnel. Women operated the anti-aircraft guns. • (31:47) Aircraft made large explosions when they crashed or lost parts. The buzz bombs were “terrible” as well. He was nearly hit by a buzz bomb after breakfast one Sunday morning. In the field they used trenches to avoid the bombs. • (34:04) Once there was an air raid while he was on duty. A large bomb was dropped somewhat close to him, but it was a dud. The Germans used phosphorous bombs, to make them burn better. There was an arms race in terms of the explosives. He was never close enough to a bomb to feel the shockwaves, but he did hear them very frequently. He did not see Eisenhower very often in London. • (37:51) They had come to France about twenty days after D-Day. They went to a French town called Bayeux, which was demolished. • (39:06) They went over beaches, and past hedgerows. The first night they used pup tents. The Luftwaffe came over them in the night at around 11:00 pm, and they felt vibrations. It turned out that they were very near an anti-aircraft cannon. During that night, he wondered what was going on. • (41:01) They kept going on through France, and stayed in tents mostly. • (42:20) They served as guard behind the lines, but sometimes not as far behind as he would have liked. They were never under artillery fire, but they were frequently under aerial bombardment. Some other men in his company were probably under artillery fire. • (43:00) They saw civilians in France. They did not communicate with them much, because of the language barrier. The outdoor public urinals in France shocked him. They were often greeted by French families. �• • • • • • • • • • • • (43:41) He remembers one of the men got eggs sometimes by trading them for cigarettes. The fresh eggs were a luxury, and they usually had powdered eggs. Sometimes he had better food when he was at Eisenhower’s house. (44:57) They did sometimes spend time with the English. (45:06) After Reims, he spend some time in St. Germain. He was there during the Battle of the Bulge. They met with the CIA each day for thirty three days. The CIA had used motorcycles. (46:56) Next he moved to Versailles, and he was again with Eisenhower. He had main gate duty, he thinks it might have been because tall. They usually knew who was coming to visit Eisenhower ahead of time. (47:57) He saw Patton once, but that was later. His company used two jeeps to guard Eisenhower. Motorcycles had been used previously, but they proved unable to endure the cobblestone roads. The men using the motorcycles were also hurt. (49:03) He was selected to drive a jeep; it was his favorite assignment. (49:49) He drove the jeep without the top on, and frequently drove it as fast as it could go. It went only about seventy miles an hour or so, and at one point he had trouble keeping up. He usually took orders from Eisenhower’s driver. (55:55) He was a PFC at this point. His supervisor commented that he should have a higher rank and offered to get it taken care of, but he declined. The reason he was only a PFC was because he had had some personality conflicts with a superior officer earlier on. (52:39) He had come up for Corporal in the Infantry, but he turned the position down. The commissioned officers and the non-commissioned officers had some conflicts, and he decided to side with his friends. His superior officer resented his rejection of the post, and gave him the duties of a Corporal without the pay or rank increases. (54:39) He went in to Paris a few times, the public urinals on the street shocked him. (55:13) The French weren’t usually after their money, but the English sometimes were. (55:54) He went under the Eiffel Tower, and passed the Arc de Triomphe and went to Versailles. He visited where the WWI Treaty had been signed. (57:40) Service in Germany/Post-War • (58:31) He went to Germany after the war ended. He was in Reims when the war ended. • (58:53) Eisenhower had his own cow in Germany. Sometimes he and Eisenhower exchanged pleasantries, but sometimes Eisenhower seemed weighed down by his responsibilities and did not speak much. • (01:00:06) Sometimes when Eisenhower was away, his men would drink too much and otherwise take advantage of the situation. • (01:00:43) He hated powdered eggs, and while with Eisenhower he sometimes got real eggs and real milk. • (01:01:37) He usually got the better food by being friends with the cooks. Some of the cooks were black. He sometimes saw black soldiers, but not often. �• • • (01:03:31) He did not see German representatives up close, but he sometimes saw them in cars. Eisenhower took over a train formerly used by the Germans. He would accompany Eisenhower on train trips occasionally. (01:05:51) Eisenhower had a Headquarters in Frankfurt, and a home elsewhere in Germany. The GI’s sometimes evicted Germans from their homes. Eisenhower had a very nice house in Germany. He also had several Cadillacs, one was armored. (01:06:42) There was to be no fraternizing with the Germans, even after the war was officially over. However, there was fraternizing, and frequently. This was “on the sly.” (01:09:04) Post-War • (01:09:04) He had Thanksgiving on the boat back home. The movements of the sea moved their food around on the tables. • (01:09:35) The Queen Elizabeth was the best ship. While on the Queen Elizabeth it was incredibly crowded. He did not have bad weather on the Queen Elizabeth. They took the Queen Elizabeth to Europe. • (01:10:54) Eisenhower took over the IG-Farben building in Frankfurt, which was at that time the largest office building in the world. • (01:11:48) He saw many displaced persons. They were transported about by train. He felt sorry for them, but he didn’t interact with them much. • (01:13:57) “The American people don’t know what war is, it is hell.” • (01:14:13) While in Germany they would rope off an area and search the homes. They would search for weapons primarily. They would first ask if they had any weapons, and if they were told truthfully if they had some, they simply confiscated them. There were heavier consequences if they were lied to. They also asked for any drawers or cupboards to be unlocked, if the Germans would not unlock them, then they would smash them. They didn’t usually find much. • (01:16:49) They were somewhat worried about a Nazi resurgence. While in England they had been taught for hours and hours “kill or be killed.” They had taught hand to hand combat. • (01:18:23) They landed in Boston, and he went to Chicago. He took a train to Kalamazoo, and then took a taxi to Grand Rapids with some friends. They split the cab fair. • (01:19:14) He was discharged December 8th, 1945. He arrived home on about the tenth. One of his friends came to his house, and then he and his family dropped his friend off at his church. • (01:20:09) He still sees his friend, Bill, for lunch occasionally. • (01:20:39) After the Army, he lived off his stipend for awhile. He did not go to school on the GI Bill. He worked at Keeler for thirty-nine years. � 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 DeBaar, George (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeBaar, George Description An account of the resource George DeBaar was born in Grand Rapids, MI, and was drafted in January of 1943. He served at Fort Brady at Sault St. Marie, as part of the 131st Infantry (later the 156th). His unit served as guards at the base, and near the Soo Locks and the Canadian Locks. Because of this experience as serving as guards, his company was selected to serve as Eisenhower's guards. He served in London, during which time the CIA subjected them to mock break-ins to ensure security. He also served as Eisenhower's personal guard in Reims. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-08-14 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeBaarG Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6558e8bff0513a24ad4c9b15a444ee54.pdf b45390f59ca945633e0159f93b454a02 PDF Text Text At the start of this COVID-19 lockdown, I was forced to move back home across state. On top of the large loads of online homework and exams, I found myself working 50 or more hours on my family’s farm in Capac, MI due to the inability to receive migrational wrokers from Mexico. This only increased my stress during the pandemic and forced school to become a second or even third thought when it should come first. My daily life at home consists of waking up at 5:00 am to have a cup of coffee or four and start my trek to the farm that is 40 minutes away. Life on the farm is a nonstop race against time and a battle against mother nature that is found in a symbiotic relation. From picking and packing rhubarb that we ship all throughout the mid-west, to spreading hundreds of acres with fertilizer for pumpkins, gourds and many other fall products, to working ground for organic kale and collards. What I feel we lose sight of in a national state of emergency is that some peoples world may feel that they stop, others seem to spin twice as 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 COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. 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 COVID-19_2020-04-23_DeBlouwDaniel Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeBlouw, Daniel Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-23 Title A name given to the resource Different Worlds Description An account of the resource Journal of GVSU student Daniel DeBlou's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, where he notes that some people are stuck at home and bored, others are busier than ever. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Attribution (CC-BY 4.0)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7d0075a9401d563d02e22be4ddaf08dd.mp4 065b9061e95b362b1ebd0decf48a0e12 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3eb3674f9b5a28030a4821e9e64f5e03.pdf 985641fe94b1246ead32038ad891fcb5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project World War II, 1943-1946 John DeBoer Length: 57 Minutes Pre-War Born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1924, and graduated from East Side High school (0:39) His father worked on a bread truck and sometimes as an electrician, while his mother worked at a grocery store (1:38) They took in one of his nieces after her family was broken up (2:10) He was working as a tool and die apprentice, working in job shop with German nationals who could not get a job in areas related to defense (2:56) They did not talk about Germany so he did know what they thought of the Nazis (3:10) He paid little attention to the news before Pearl Harbor; he heard about Pearl Harbor in a friend’s car on the radio (3:45) He decided to join the military afterward; he picked the navy because he did not like marching and he was interested in it (4:58) Training He enlisted in February, 1943 (5:15) �He was sent to Sampson, New York for boot camp; boot camp was a breaking down process (5:35) When he was there they had to strip, go through a line to get a physical, then get a shot, wait in line for a psych exam and then they were given clothes (6:01) Boot camp ended after 6 weeks and then he was sent to radio school (6:28) He got a second class radio license from radio school; he basically learned to copy down Morse code (6:42) He found that it was harder to send a message than it was to receive them, because it was easier to write messages down (8:01) They kept building up the speed required that he had be able to write down the messages, but he does not remember anyone who had a hard time with that (8:30) He finished radio school after three months, May of 1943 (9:43) On the Edwards He was assigned to the USS John D. Edwards, a Clemson class destroyer that was built in 1919; it had torpedoes, depth charges, and anti-air guns as its main weapons (10:26) He joined the ship in Charleston, South Carolina; it was in dry dock under repair (10:46) There were 20 men and 12 officers on the ship (11:58) Their first trip was to Trinidad ; he got sick but did not get sick again; he was given shore patrol duty. He was given a club to keep the sailors in line (13:52) �After they left Trinidad, they crossed the equator and did the “crossing the line ceremony” which helped break up the monotony (15:33) They had an ice box but not a refrigerator, so after they ran out of ice, they had to use dehydrated food. They had a condenser that would allow them to turn salt water into drinking water (15:49) He slept in the after quarters by the fuel tanks ( 16:33) This was in the summer of 1943, but they were not hit by any storms (17:06) They crew was cycled through, but the commander of the ship, a lieutenant commander was removed because he could not dock the ship well, and was replaced by a lieutenant who was very good at his job 18:18 The ship, in dry dock, had been converted from a four, to a three, smokestack ship 19:34 They went to Maine after the first cruise, after that, they did convoy duty to the Mediterranean and lone patrols of the East Coast (21:21 First convoy was to the Mediterranean; on the convoy duty they were on the outside of the convoy using their sonar to find subs (21:48) Convoy Duty They used a mix of destroyers and light cruisers as part of the escort (21:51) Later in the war they added carriers as part of ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) because there were areas of the Atlantic that could not be covered by ground based aircraft (22:06) Later in the war they could drop sonar buoys to find subs more easily (22:38) �The convoy went to Tunisia to drop off supplies (22:58) They were attacked by German bombers in the Mediterranean (23:40) This was part of the German effort to try to cut off Malta (24:11) They stopped in Gibraltar and he was able to pick up supplies and sonar (25:00) They crew was more experienced and worked well together by this point (25:02) He slept in the aft crew quarters which rolled with ship making it hard to sleep at times (25:25) During bad storms they would eat sandwiches under the decks but normally they would eat on the deck of the ship (26:03) He was never worried the ship was going to sink, but bad storms could be very dangerous (26:58) It was important to have a good helmsman to help them avoid the worst of the storms They stopped at Casablanca, Bizerte, and Azores (27:54 The Azores, which was part of Portugal, was neutral, so they were limited to how often they could stop there (28:21) On the way back they stopped in Bermuda (28:43) His favorite port was either Boston or Casco Bay (28:52) When they stopped in Casco Bay they had to ride a whale boat to land (29:13) They had many contacts with U Boats and dropped many depth charges but they were never able to confirm that they sunk any of them (329:41) �His ship was involved in chasing down U-544 which was sunk by fighters (30:48) He was part of a submarine hunting group with the USS Guadalcanal, a carrier, and three other destroyers (31:15) They able to find the subs because of the breaking of the Enigma code (32:13) None of the ships he was with were sunk (33:10) They never got off the ship in Europe; they did most of their refueling on tankers at sea (33:45) Because they had the junior commander they always refueled last (34:22) They refueled by throwing lines across they ships (34:32) After they sank the U-544, one of the planes crashed on the carrier meaning the two other planes had wait until it was dark and one of the planes missed the carrier and they had to be rescued from the ocean (36:330 On his first trip, the carrier lost half of its planes and air crew (36:59) Afterwards they were in the Caribbean in on submarine patrol (37:20) The food was criticized even though they did not have refrigeration which made it hard to keep the food good (37:48) It was a challenge to move the food to lower decks when storms broke out because much of it was cooked on the deck (38:28) Flight training He put in for flight training, which his captain okayed, even though he thought it was crazy. (40:18) �He left the ship in 1944 after he was accepted in flight training (40:28) He was sent to school in Murray College and University of Georgia to study physics and navigation and other flight related areas before he started flight training (41:19) The survival training taught him how to build snares, hand to hand combat, and other information needed to survive on the ground (42:23) He took his preflight in Memphis Tennessee; he was the first in his class to fly solo (44:00) Most of the preparation was learning navigation and flew a Stearman Biplane (44:40) He was taught about carrier landing and during his first solo flight he almost overshot the runway (45:50) After that he learned aerobatics and other maneuvers (46:15) He left the military in 1946; he finished his flight training. He was told that once the war ended he could leave at any time even though he was signed up for five years (47:37) When they were not flying planes they spent time in Memphis and playing cards (48:17) Segregation was very notable because the town next to the base, Millington, Tennessee was 100% black (49:00) They also sank a tug off the coast of Florida. They picked up a ship on the radar, they challenged it and they got no response. They tried to light it up with comet shells but got no response; they turned on the searchlight and found out it was an American tug (50:50) After the war, he went back to tool design, but joined the telephone company (51:20) He could have gone to college but did not (52:10) �He did maintenance of switches for the telephone company; he retired from the phone company after 35 years. (53:32) He moved to Michigan because they had enjoyed coming to the lake (54:08) � 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 RHC-27_DeBoerJ1707V Title A name given to the resource DeBoer, John (Interview outline and video), 2014 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-11-20 Description An account of the resource John DeBoer was born in 1924 in Paterson New Jersey and before the war he worked as tool and die apprentice. He enlisted in 1943 and trained in Sampson New York. He was sent to radio school and was assigned to the destroyer USS John D. Edwards as a radio technician. The ship did convoy duty and anti-submarine patrols throughout the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and participated in the sinking of a German U-Boat. He left the ship in 1944 to began flight training, and was based near Memphis Tennessee. He left the military in 1946 before finishing flight training. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeBoer, John Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Language A language of the resource eng 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> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3c505f6863f004afd609f583bd32caa1.pdf 5bb9124d21c881e7eacf778241323098 PDF Text Text Speaking Out Western Michigan’s Civil Rights Histories Grand Valley State University Special Collections Interviewee: Jacqueline Decker Interviewer(s): Emma Jack Supervising Faculty: Danielle Lake Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: October 26, 2011 Runtime: 01:08:05 Biography and Description Born March, 3rd 1959 to parents Richard and Eve Holland. Youngest of three children with brothers Gary and Terry. Grew up in Grand Rapids, graduating from Crestwood high school. She then continued her education at Central Michigan University with a major in English and a minor in psychology. Ran cross country and track and field on the varsity teams. Met her husband (now of 30 years), Steven Decker in the dorms on campus in her freshman year, his sophomore year. Was married at age 22 and moved to Fremont, Michigan following her husband’s job at Gerber, while being a sports journalist for the Grand Rapids press. After several years she felt a calling to return to school and become a teacher. On July 18th, 1989, her first [adopted] child Zachary Michael was born. She and her family then moved to Rockford to start her new job as a teacher. On July 22, 1991, her second [adopted] child Andrea Lin was born. On August 16th, 1992 her last [biological] child Samantha Louise was born. She has been an English teacher at Rockford High School for 20+ years. She has also provided a home for several pugs over the years, those now being Molly (8 years old) and Crissy (11 years old). Transcript JACK: Hi, my name is Emma Jack and I’m here today with: Brooke Davis, Brittany Renninger, Kevin, Samantha Decker; and we are going to be speaking with Jackie Dekker today at GVSU. We are here today to talk about your experiences with education in west Michigan. DECKER: How are you today? JACK: I’m great, how are you? DECKER: I’m great, thanks JACK: So tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Page 1 �DECKER: My name is Jackie Decker I was born in Blodgett Hospital in East Grand Rapids on 3/2/59. My parents were college sweethearts form Comstock park, I have two brothers one 9 years older, one 5 years older, from Comstock park and Byron center respectively. JACK: What was it like to grow up in west Michigan? DECKER: It was a typical 60’s lifestyle. Two parent homes and my elementary was just a neighborhood school until 4th grade and then a bunch of kids were bused in. 456 grade were an integrated school. Middle school was typical only two families that weren’t Caucasian. One family was black, and one family was Asian. I went to Creston high school, which was pretty much considered an inner city high school, which was 2/3 of the neighborhood. JACK:x What made you decide to stay in west Michigan? DECKER: I didn’t think I would because Grand Rapids was a dying town when growing up, and I wanted to move as far away as possible. But once your from west Michigan its hard to get away. I currently live in Rockford with surprisingly a lot of my classmates from Creston High school. I believe a lot of people like west Michigan not only for the lakes, which are great. It has changed a lot since the 50’s 60’s lifestyles but the same family values that I grew to appreciate are still intertwined in society. JACK:x How would you describe your own identity? If you were to describe yourself to someone else how would you describe yourself? DECKER: I grew up congregational, I now go to a Methodist church, but I could probably go to any Christian church and feel good about myself while doing so. I have strong family values, I like it when people get married and have children and family life. I wouldn’t discriminate against people who don’t live that way but I still have some of those same strong family values. Very strong work ethic put forth the very best effort I can. Its still surprising that some people can get away with what they can by doing so little work. JACK: How would you describe your identity in the school system? DECKER: Probably in the same way. I usually don’t leave the school until about 4:30 compared to some others who take off right after class, etc. They know that I participate in students’ athletic events, speaking at special events (fellowship Christian athletes). I have the gay/straight association in my classes. Most kids would say that I’m a very challenging teacher because I make them work hard but at the same time they would consider it a safe haven. JACK: What do you teach? DECKER: I teach honors English 10 and regular English 11. JACK: Can you explain a little more about the fellowship Christian athletes? DECKER: It’s not always athletes; we have a huge contingent of students in the school who really go to a Baptist church. A huge mega Baptist church, and a lot of them start and have gotten involved in that. They get together pray. We get together talk and ask how I got into teaching, and I felt led to go into Page 2 �teaching. They meet on wed and I have two groups of kids that meet in my room on Mondays. On Fridays about 20 kids come in and sing praise songs. JACK: So you really have open doors to any organization. DECKER: Absolutely. JACK: Would there be any kind of organization you’d keep your door closed to? DECKER: The anime club, because I don’t know how to draw hahaha just kidding JACK: Was there a particular moment either growing up or in your adult hood where you felt you were treated differently because of your profession or your gender? DECKER: I would say even though there are more female teachers in our school system at Rockford it is a male dominated school system. The principal at my building is a female, and most buildings have female in some capacity in a leader figure. JACK: How would you describe the differences between men and women in the school system? DECKER: Men get away with so much more than women. If I swore at children or made a racist joke I would get in a lot more trouble than a guy would get in trouble for. JACK: Did your school system have a male superintendent or a higher up male personnel? DECKER: We never had a female in any of those higher positions, we have a superintendent and two assistant superintendents, both male. People are almost fearful to speak out a lot with these issues. JACK: So its something that has been noticed in your community? DECKER: Our school board is eclectic. But any time someone runs for the school board they all say they’re going to make changes, but they just ultimately do what the superintendents want them to do. JACK: Do you feel like that inhibits you from doing the things you want to do in your classroom? DECKER: It doesn’t inhibit me from doing things within my classroom for the most part. I’m not a buddybuddy with the principal. Him and the other teachers know what I stand for and they know I’m doing a good job so they leave me alone. I’m in a hallway with only one other teacher. JACK: I know your in a system where all the other English teachers are all male, do you feel like that inhibits you from doing the things that you wish you could do, do you feel intimidated? DECKER: No not really. They’re big sci-fi fans so they want to read all these sci-fi books, but I’m not afraid of them at all. This past year some of them honored me for teaching and said I really deserved it. In there own way they have there own little boys club too. JACK: But they respect you? DECKER: Absolutely, I don’t have that at all from any of the men in our department. Page 3 �JACK: Is it true that you did not start your career in education? DECKER: Nope I started my career as a sports reporter for the Grand Rapids press covering high school sports. JACK: What do you think led you to become a teacher from that? DECKER: I just got a feeling that god wanted me to be working with high school students in a different way. When I was in high school I didn’t like the other students because I had brothers that were much older and parents who were much older. I thought they were kind of stupid and did dumb things. I kind of grew up old. I felt that there was need there and this will be my 22nd year. JACK: Were there people in your life that encouraged you to think about the treatment of diverse individuals in society? DECKER: I had an uncle who he really had a negative view of people that were diverse. He said a derogatory statement at the table, and I ended up standing up and leaving because I was really mad. He had a very negative view of blacks. I had a great 5th and 6th grade teacher, he really made an impact on me on how these people are just different than I am with really no difference. About 5 years after i moved onto high school he became a defense attorney in grand rapids and defended the people who couldn’t get anyone else to defend them, he really changed the way I look at people. JACK: Have you kept in contact with him? DECKER: I used to seem him at road races (we were both runners.) I haven’t seen him in a long while, but every now and then there’ll be case where nobody wants it and he’ll swoop in and take it on. He is a champion for the underdogs and different races. He really changed my life. JACK: Would you say he’s a big impact on how you treat students today? DECKER: I would say so. Just the way he looked at people, I look at people differently because of that. My parents had prejudices, but they didn’t have mean prejudices, they just had prejudices born on ignorance and I wouldn’t say that they were like my uncle. But they were prejudice. One young man asked me out on a date that happened to be black, and I said it wasn’t a very good idea because of the fact that neither of our parents were going to think that it was a good idea. But I would say that Mr. Dorian? Changed my view of things. JACK: Is it difficult for you now to come into a society where everything is so mixed and you have to be accepting? DECKER: No. Teaching has been a great place for me to be. I see all different types of students that really open my eyes to how diverse people can be. I have grown to be accepting of these students, because they’re great kids. I have a daughter (not Sam) that came home a month or so ago with a pierced eyebrow and now kids are piercing their ears, and various other facial parts. We are adoptive parents. Our son was adopted when he was 2 days old from Tacoma Washington. He’s Caucasian. Our daughter Andrea’s birth mom is 100% Vietnamese, and she was a student at Calvin college. She gave birth to Page 4 �Andrea and now she is a part of our family. My mom lost a brother, he was in a control tower on a naval vessel, and a kamikaze hit the control tower so she had a total distrust of people who were Asian. In 9th grade my dad had surgery and his doctor who saved his life was Asian. I think that was all healing and when our daughter Andrea was born we asked “are you going to be able to love an Asian child?” and she said this may be really good for me. Unfortunately she only lived to when Andrea was 2 and Sam was 1. She didn’t get a chance to really meet them. I’m very accepting to everyone. I’ll admit that some people who make decision like gauging out their ears I think to myself “woa, can you sew that back together?” But overall I have to be very accepting with the position that I’m in. (starting at minute 14)-----and Sam was one so…she didn’t get a chance but I am very accepting of—but, I ya know, people have big holes in their ears I admit and it’s like, woah, can you cut that thing off and sew it back together? (laughs) But I have to be very accepting in the position that I am in. JACK: Would you say that there are still some teachers today even in your school system that are not very accepting of those students? DECKER: Absolutely. And the kids know. The kids know who cares about them and who’s accepting and not and I would say one of the issues, one of the issues that is still fairly big, probably, is kids in Rockford who are gay. You know? And kids—most of them just try to fly under the radar. They just—I mean I, ya know, fly under the radar. And we have the Gay, Straight Association and stuff like that, but there’s only about seven kids who go to that. You know, not that many kids go but they find acceptance there—but, ya know, I—and I know that, you know, there are a lot of jokes made and things like that and I always feel for those kids. JACK: Do you feel that their studies suffer because--? DECKER: Oh yeah, I’m sure they—they’re always just trying very hard not to be gay—to show that they’re gay. JACK: So you think that there is a lot of stress there that is taking away from what they could be because they’re just trying not to be something that society doesn’t want them to be? DECKER: They don’t want to be noticed. They really don’t want to be noticed. So I would say yeah, absolutely that’s stressful. They don’t want to go to school—and, and these aren’t even the kids who have identifies themselves as gay. They are just, just trying to get out of there as quietly as possible. And then there are other kids that are really embraced—the king, they boy who was just nominated homecoming king is gay. And a couple years ago—a couple years was? Yeah. So it’s not like the student body is not accepting. The student body is fairly accepting—you know, overall—I think they’re even more worried about some of the teachers not being accepting. It’s still West Michigan, conservative West Michigan. So yeah—but the student body will vote for 12 guys [for homecoming court] and pick the guy who is gay for their king and he’s pretty accepting. JACK: Do, like, some of the teachers openly, like, make statements that are derogatory to them? --or so they know which—or is it making the student uncomfortable if they were in their class? Page 5 �DECKER: I—I think people will try to be very politically correct—I think they just let kids say things that, you know I would say, “hey, don’t say that.” Um…um and you know, I think that’s more—I think that kids, um, it’s not that teachers necessarily will say things, um, ‘cause they’ve been trained not to say anything that’s not politically correct. But I think they’ll let the kids get away with things. JACK: Do you feel that you are trying to stand up for the kids because some teachers won’t? Like you said, some teachers will allow students to say things or let students get away with things, but do you feel that you try to go out of your way to help these students because your faculty members don’t? DECKER: Probably—it’s funny that, you know, that I’m going to talk at an FCA, but then you’ve got GSA, and in—in some ways—and I’m—I’m thinking that I might talk to the FCA about—Fellowship of Christian athletes—about hey, love everybody. You know, don’t just love the kids who go to your church, and that’s easy to do, but to love everybody, you know. Really, how are you reaching out to the handicap kids in our building? We had a girl last year who was blind—and I don’t think there were very many people who even said hi to her and it’s like, you know she was a really really smart girl and very nice and I just think that, um, I just want—I just think—I guess I’ve always just kind of loved people and—and want them to feel safe. I think that’s the best way to put it. JACK: Have you experienced things that—where there has been, say, a specific situation where there has been discrimination against a student that you have been witness to? DECKER: Particularly, I don’t think so. I haven’t, like, seen anybody get beaten up. I haven’t seen anybody, um—we are a—at Rockford High School, I brought something with me that said that…we have 1881 white kids in nine through twelve. We have 40 Hispanic, 39 black or African American, 21 Asian, three American Indian-Alaskan, and then I think we have 2 Hawaiian or Pacific Island. So it’s really a white school and I—I haven’t seen, like, any of the white kids picking on the black kids or the Hispanic kids…but over the course of the years I think the kids have become more politically correct too—I haven’t seen that, haven’t necessarily seen anyone pick on anyone who is gay, or Asian, or anything else like that—haven’t seen anyone pick on anything like that but you know, I just—I want to make sure that my room is a pace where anyone can come in and feel safe. So I haven’t seen any particular incidents where kids were like, you know, I mean like I said, we have a king who is gay—people aren’t going to boo.—they’re not going to boo or anything they’re very polite…it’s a polite community. JACK: So would you say that’s changed over the years? We’ve become—that our society has become more tolerant towards them? DECKER: Oh yeah—you’re generation is so much more tolerant than ten years ago or twenty years ago when I first started teaching—I’m more tolerant. I would’ve let those jokes go twenty years ago, I admit it. And you know—and my family they used to make—there used to be, like, racial jokes or stuff like that and I would—I—it’s only as an adult and the more I’ve worked in the school system that I’ve become more open minded myself, you know? But I don’t know, your generation’s a whole lot different than my generation was—and I went to a school that was integrated…but there were fights sometimes and that—there wasn’t a lack of safety but it wasn’t—there was always a lack of ignorance. I don’t think you’re so ignorant of each other anymore. And I push not being ignorant of each other—okay so it’s like, Page 6 �so, so that person’s black? He’s got more pigment—we’re always trying to get tan (laughs) I mean really? Why does this matter? You know? So, I guess I think your generation is a ton more tolerant. I’ve seen a lot of change—Rockford when I first started was class size of about 350. And my *first+ daughter’s class was 680. I think this year we only have 600, but, you know, when you go from 350 who all grow up on farms around Rockford and the few people who live in downtown Rockford, um, and then all-asudden you start bringing in this diversity of economics …we have some really really rich people there and some really really poor people and we have a lot of people in the middle—we have school of choice—we just have to be very flexible. JACK: Do you think that a lot of the different racial or ethnic groups kind of clump together? Is there a lot of mixture with the students? DECKER: There’s a lot of mixture—they don’t have a choice. There are only 39 black students in the school? They can’t all just hang out with black kids. I mean, truly, they don’t—and Hispanic—I’m thinking really? We have 4000—you can’t tell! Everybody mixes. I mean my one daughter’s Asian—she really grew up white. You know it wasn’t like there was a bunch of Asian kids to hang out. So I think they have no choice—they have to—when—as I was telling my friend when we had dinner, kids who come in who are black, if they come in from outside the community, they may act like they’re inner-city for about a year and then they’re Rockford. Everybody just mixes…I don’t think that’s the big deal. It used to be a big deal but it’s not a big deal anymore. JACK: What kinds of organizations are available for kids at Rockford that really promote diversity within the student body? DECKER: We have a diversity club, but I don’t know if it’s met at all this year. Then I said, we have GSA, Gay-Straight Association?—or I think its Alliance—I think that’s what it is. Um…and then like I said, the anime club which sometimes will get, like, your skaters and people like that—but, um, I mean— they’re—and we have FCA and we have chess club and eco club and stuff like that so there are a lot of different clubs—but as far as diversity we just have the one diversity club. So…there isn’t a lot—what else is out there that’s available. JACK: Do you think it’s important for students to really, kind of up that? Or make it better? DECKER: You know, I think that would be probably helpful. I think—umm—the entire student body has been trained with guest speakers and things over the years to kind of look at each other as oh, yeah we’re just all equal. We do a good job of bringing in guest speakers. JACK: I have heard that at Rockford you have to be either really good at sports or really good-looking or really good in the arts or music or something to kind of… I guess, get along there and if you don’t have one of those, you’re going to have a tough time at Rockford. Would you say that that is true? Would you say that it was true and it’s changing now? Do you have any opinion on that subject? DECKER: I think it’s changing now…when you mention sports…or, like we have band…a lot of band kids hang with band kids and a lot of choir people hang with choir people. Um—I think it’s changed a lot though over the years…um I think if kids spend time doing those things in which they have to be good Page 7 �at—it’s just they spend so much time with those people that they become their friends but I think it—I think there’s a pretty decent mix—I don’t think people are necessarily prejudice. When I put groups together I always try to put people of different—you know, groups together but I don’t think it’s as…mmm…. Let’s see but I’m not in it, I’m not in a click, I don’t have to worry about “clicky-ness”. I don’t notice that so much…you may know more about that than I do JACK: How has your faith influenced the way you think about diversity and the way your present yourself in situations? DECKER: Um, you know, what I think that my faith has a lot to do with it because I just grew up when, you know, “Jesus love the little children” everybody, you know, we’re supposed to love each other and do unto others as you would have others do unto you and so i think my faith has a lot to do with it. Not to say that people who don’t have faith wouldn’t have the same attitudes towards people. I think sometimes if kids realize, you know, I’m a Christian, sometimes I think people might go, “oh, well she’s going to be like, judgmental” and things like that and I’m not and then it takes them by surprise and they’re glad about that. And so then I think we get along quite well. JACK: Can you tell us more about your schooling when you were younger and maybe about things that you came across with diversity? DECKER: Well, I went to Aberdine Elementary School …um which was three blocks from my house and as I said, it was just a neighborhood school until fourth grade they—um many kids were bused in—I’m not even sure where they were bused in from, but somewhere else in Grand Rapids. Um, and it was a mixture, it wasn’t just…um…busing in black kids, but it was to integrate the school system and the law said integrate the school system and um, so—you know when you’re a little kid? And kids are kids are kids, you know? You’re not even like, “oh my gosh” you know, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s more what your parents say that you start to notice things. But, um, you know, so I think growing up in that elementary and then—and I went to a junior high that was back to being a neighborhood school, you know, and there was the one Asian family and they were really smart, and there was the one black family. And then we went to the high school and that was very integrated. So, I think that I just realized—and I went on to college and was on teams, you know, I was on track in high school and in middle school and then in college I was on sport—I was on track and cross country and track was a very integrated sport. So, I think I just kind of grew up knowing that, you know—you know we’re all just athletes at that point. So—I don’t think I—but I, you know, there are still a lot of people who still have prejudices and things like that. JACK: Was there anything that stands out to you—I don’t know if you remember—in like, when you were growing up in like, elementary school, you said that you went to a, um, integrated school—was there any, um, like with the adults, like the teachers there, did they have any, like, that they were against it? Being—? DECKER: I think my fourth grade teacher she was – she did not have good control of the unique classroom that we had, she probably had decent control over, you know, when it was all just this whiteneighborhood kids and things like that. When you bring in a different culture, she did not have—she did Page 8 �not have good control over that. But then that fifth and sixth grade teacher that I had—he was a champion for the people—and I know our class was—had some integration in it and so I would say that his influence probably filtered down to some of the other teachers. But sure, there were some teachers who didn’t want to be teaching at an inner-city school. So, Aberdine was one of the farther north elementary schools, and so I think that was a big shock for them and hard to control. In high school, I don’t remember…I mean I do remember a couple fights between kids, but I don’t think the teachers…I don’t remember anything. And we had—we had more------------ non-Caucasian teachers when I graduated in 77 at Creston. We have, we don't have any non-white teachers at Rockford that I can think of in the whole system. We have a couple of security guards who are non-white and we have a pool manager who is non-white. And every teacher in the system, that I can think of is white. That says something. JACK: Is that including like the school board and superintendent and everybody? DECKER: Absolutely. JACK: Wow. Do you think that has an effect on the students? DECKER: Absolutely, I think, you know, if I was black and the only people I ever saw at the building were white I think that would make me have to be somewhat white because I don't have anyone from my culture. Although we bring in speaker and stuff we still don't understand each other's cultures so when people come into our school they have to basically become white. JACK: Do you think it would be good for you school system to bring in some diverse teachers? DECKER: Yeah, there's got to be someone who has applied for a position in Rockford, who isn't white, who maybe is in a wheelchair or something you know so that people can say that people who have handicaps are able to have positions and someone who is um Asian. I mean when I was in high school we had some foreign teachers who were in there who didn't quite speak English the same way we did. And I'm just amazed that there is not some rule that says you have to have some diversity. JACK: With who's running the school system now do you think that's going to change? DECKER: If somebody different was running it? JACK: With who you have now. DECKER: O, no, I don't think so. I don't think there will be a push for that. And right now there is a hiring freeze for the most part so no one is hiring anybody. I was hired in with about 30 people in 1991 and we were all white. and... JACK: So even your, I didn't mean to interrupt sorry, your foreign language teachers, they're not like, or your Spanish teachers, they're not like Hispanic or anything like that even? DECKER: No, we do have a Hispanic teacher at our building, Mrs. Shordsma, you know who she is? no, no, no, she teaches social studies. And she was the one who had started up the diversity club, and she is the only Hispanic in our building. Page 9 �JACK: Well we have a Japanese teacher DECKER: O yeah if forgot about her, she teaches English. She struggles but, she's not very good with English but she's a great Japanese teacher. I forgot about Meg. Yeah, other than that but, our German Teacher, he's not German, none of our Spanish teachers are Spanish, the French teachers, they're not French and they are very white. Women, for the most part. JACK: That's really interesting, like for me where I went to school we had at least two out of the three Spanish teachers were Hispanic, they knew the language very fluently. And not to say that your teachers don't know the language fluently. DECKER: Well they don't know it in the same way. JACK: Right, but and the culture. DECKER: Well they can talk about the culture but... JACK: They don't know it. DECKER: They don't know the culture. They've never lived the culture. JACK: Do you think that maybe the teachers and the faculty should kind of join together to bring more diversity, or do you think that it's kind of between a rock and a hard place in that situation? DECKER: We're always, you know, and often we've had meetings that we've had to go to that were about diversity. That's just, well look at us you know, we look around there, if we get the whole staff together from the district, there are probably about 500 teachers, and they're all for the most part like I said, a bunch of white people. Who, most of whom probably grew up in West Michigan. So, um, it would be nice to have diversity but probably, I mean truthfully nobody would push for that. JACK: That's very interesting. DECKER: uh huh JACK: Teaching for the past twenty years have you witnessed changes in diversity being the amount of it within the school and the amount of it becoming more prominent? DECKER: I think school of choice is going to continue to impact a lot of schools. I think Rockford will get more and more diverse, um, I don't want to say clientele which sounds kind of weird, um, but I don't think we will ever, I don't think our district will ever be diverse like Kentwood, or the Forest Hills Northern schools, when, when, people move in from foreign countries like Bosnia and things like that, they are not going to pick Rockford. We don't have the, um, we don't have the manpower to help them learn the language. We have a Spanish Immersion class that started in Kindergarten and now, I think, those kids are up to 8th grade. But those are still white kids learning Spanish. And there actually might be a couple of Hispanic teachers in there. But see I'm not in elementary school, so I haven't seen it. I, I think that school choice makes a difference, but I don't think that we are ever going to become diverse. Like even, my brother's at Comstock Park high school, they have become, that used to be just a middle Page 10 �class white school system. And with the influx of students who are living on Alpine like in York Creek or something like that said it's very diversified, I have a friend I met with tonight that teaches at Sacred Heart Elementary she says that her population went from mostly middle class white people to Hispanic, because the neighborhoods have changed. I don't see that happening at Rockford. I say, that if you talk to me 10 years from now and I'll say we have 59 black students, maybe more, but not, not, it will not become a diverse school system. So, not for a while, I'm not quite sure why maybe there is not jobs out there or something. JACK: Why would people choose Rockford as a school choice? DECKER: Great education. I mean, I talked to somebody last week and he said that you know, we ,we did not, my wife and I were not in private education, we were pretty eerie about putting our kids into a school system and he said I have no complaints with Rockford, the teachers all care about kids and they want them to have a good education so that's why people would want to move to Rockford so I'm just surprised that more people don't come North to Rockford, they just don't. JACK: Do you think it's, um, people aren't choosing that because education isn't as important to people as maybe other things as like sports and stuff like that? DECKER: Well it's a huge sports school though, I mean we have, you know, we joke about how many state championships we've won over the years and things like that. Um, I think that maybe people are afraid maybe that if they come to Rockford they won't be accepted. And I think that, you know, we don't have any choice I mean you're going to accept people because you do. That's just the way the world is, it's a, you know it's a very accepting world so I think maybe that's the reason, a lot of people at Rockford actually has a little bit of a bad reputation because we are so good in sports, kind of like Grand Valley, and um, know that our sports teams, you know everybody is successful and things like that. Um, but I think that people are afraid of the lack of acceptance, but, I don't think, It's harder I think for kids who are poorer and for kids who are of a different race. At Rockford. JACK: Do you think Rockford prepares like most of your seniors who are going off to college, do you think that your school prepares them for the amount of diversity that they are going to experience in college or do you think that? DECKER: I think we try but I don't think we can do that, I mean, my daughter when she left Rockford and went to Michigan State, she said all these Asian people were trying to say hi to her and make conversation with her. Well she couldn't do that because well, you know she speaks English. But she never said it was a shock for her, and Michigan State is a lot more diverse than Grand Valley is, Grand Valley's a lot like Rockford. Um, Michigan State is really diverse but I don't think she's ever said that she's had any problem with anybody of different race. So I don't think, I think she was prepared; we do the best that we can with what we have. JACK: Have there been any landmark events that have changed your opinion dealing with diversity? DECKER: You know, um, landmark as in my own classroom or landmark like something that happened in the nation? Page 11 �JACK: Basically anything that you, I know you discussed more of your family when you were younger but in the nation or... DECKER: You know, landmark events that kind of changed my opinions, really, um, would be the "I have a dream" speech by Dr. Martin Luther King I was probably 8 or 9 at the time, that made quite an impression on me, um, in my classroom I think just, you know, seeing, seeing that it doesn't matter what kids look like they're still kids, um, I think that's made a huge difference in my life. But, as far as like something, you know like, getting or having a black president or something like that will you know, I'm like, it's about time. You know, are you kidding me, you know, slavery ended in 1860s so you know, um, I guess that, you know, the big things for me would have been like my teacher and Dr. Martin Luther King's speech. JACK: Do you have any students that in particular stood out to you or I know over the years you said that your own children have changed your views on teaching, or, how you deal with students in the classroom, anything like that? DECKER: um not necessarily just... Just you know, like I can remember this one guy he had hair longer than I ever dreamed of having and there all the boys were wearing their hair short. I just remember thinking, I mean that changed my way of looking at people with long hair, guys with long hair. And having a student, you know say, you know my dreams for my future are this and knowing that this kid is one of those gay kids who's just trying to slide under the radar so he's making up what he thought I would want to hear, but you know that makes, that changes the way I feel about kids and I just think you know, just being with kids all the time. As I said, kids are kids are kids and I felt that way around the world; people are people are people nobody's my enemy necessarily, um, you know just because they come from a different country doesn't mean they're my enemy, their government might be an enemy of my government but people in Afghanistan are not my enemies. JACK: Would you say your views are constantly changing or your... DECKER: They're improving. JACK: Yeah. DECKER: Growing, yes, I have a lot of years left hopefully to grow but I'm getting better and better. Like I said, when I first started teaching I probably have some of those same prejudices and things like that and now I'm not afraid to say to kids, hey you know, why, you know that doesn't fly here. We don't talk like that, or you need to apologize or you're not going to act that way. And it's not o.k. that it's o.k. with you and him between you to say those kinds of things, it's not o.k. with me. You know, but I say it in a nice way. You know, instead of, I mean, maybe years ago I would have said it in a meaner way, but now I say it in a very nice way. JACK: You said that there were people in your family that used to be prejudice towards other people, have you seen them change at all? DECKER: Um, one of my brothers would probably fly a Confederate flag if he could. Um, but, you know and it's funny because my mother in law, I wouldn't say she's a prejudice person but she still refers to Page 12 �people that are black as colored. And you know she just never evolved with the times. I had a student last year though, her dad is black and her mom was white and this girl's quite, she's quite white actually and she said I would identify with black and would you want to be called African American and she said no, I'm not African American, I'm an American; a black American and I don't want to be called African American which has been really interesting. But as far as family members go I don't think really, I mean, besides this one brother of mine and I think he's had to evolve, um, he still will say things but not in the same way that he used to because he's had to become more politically correct. My other brother, he's a counselor and he's, he's, he's fairly open minded so, I think that um prejudices, there still are more prejudices toward gender identity and things like that, but I don't anybody would be so rude to in the family to say things. JACK: I know in education a lot of times teachers have to deal with parents, has there been any issues with parents or have you connected with any parents over diversity in school? DECKER: I, um, I think most parents know, I, I, I, a good thing. They know that um, it's a safe place to be, in my room and things like that. So I haven't had to deal with that, um, in a negative way. Just in a positive way. But mostly everybody's just like well thanks for making them work really hard and that type of thing. JACK: Have you had any students come to you and thank you for what you've done and opening your doors and things like that? DECKER: Oh yeah, this one girl gives me a hug like every single day. (Laughing) Oh hi Mrs. Decker. This one junior that I had last year, she is part of GSA, and I am like your fine its great your fine and I think that that group it’s kind of weird for me to connect with that group not because I’m prejudice or anything like that just because you know I am not the teacher in charge of that group but I think that group and the kids in that group have connected with me a lot, and it is like I said this one girl gives me a hug every day and hangs around my room and stuff like that. But I have kids who will come in my room and just eat at lunch. I mean because they don’t have anywhere else to go and I am like ok yeah know come on in my room and eat and sit there. And yeah know this year I don’t, but I have had like foreign exchange students who will just hang out until they got a group they could meet and things like that. So, I think that they just know I am a friend, and I am a teacher, and even though I work them really hard. Most kids I tell them they are not going to like me when they have me, but the year after they have me they will like me. But no, I think most kids know I am very safe. I guess the only prejudice I have is that they are not allowed to wear Western Michigan stuff in my classroom. It was college day today because it is our spirit week, and this one girl walks by and says Mrs. Decker I almost wore my Western Michigan shirt just to bug you. I went to Central and Grand Valley. But no, I think that you know I do have kids that come to me and kids feel comfortable with me. And I like I said I but a GSA sign up and I put and FCA sign up if I had to and a diversity club sign up, so I just think everyone feels pretty comfortable. But, I don’t know that that was true twenty years ago. So, I think I have changed. JACK: I know that you mentioned that you have adopted children. What led you to adoption? Page 13 �DECKER: Umm…You know even when I was little I think that in the back of my mind I thought I would do that. I thought I was going to grow up and be a missionary or something like that. But some of those countries have really big bugs. And that’s the truth. But you know when my husband and I weren’t able to have children we had no problem; we wanted to have children so we were willing to adopt. But I’ll have to say that before our son was born and he is twenty- two the doctor who had been my OBGYN person moved out to Wautoma, Washington and she called us with a possible adoption, and the child was going to be black. And I said we can’t do that. And she said I am so surprised I thought you could love any child. I said I could love any child but we were living in Newaygo we weren’t living in Grand Rapids. We were living in Newaygo, Michigan and I don’t think that child in Newaygo, Michigan in this day and age can be accepted. I said I will not do this to a child, and at this point in time we had no plans to move anywhere else. My husband worked at Gerber in Fremont and I was a sports reporter covering sports in that area and we had no plans to move. So, then I said no I won’t adopt that child just because it won’t be good for that child. Now living in Grand Rapids and Rockford it would not have been a problem at all. Then, when our daughter when she was going to be born and we were chosen to be her birth parents we went through Bethany Christian Services for Andrea. I said the only person who we need to call and say is this ok is my mom. I said can you love this Asian child or are you going to reject this Asian child. So we just wanted to have children and things like that. And race would not have made any difference, but location made a difference. We had a pretty honest feel for that situation; there were no black kids in Newaygo. So, being a black child at that time was not going to be well received. So, we just knew that. JACK: Have you felt any discrimination toward your adopted child Andrea? Is that… DECKER: You know I did not. I did not. And I had known about it till years later that a parent said did you know a student called her a derogatory term. And she never told me that. She was always very good at handling her things and things like that. And I said no. So then I asked her about that and I said well what happened with this; this like last year and what happened and she said yeah so and so called me a spic, and I said she didn’t even get her derogatory term correct you’re not Hispanic yeah know. That’s a derogatory term for someone who is Hispanic and that. So I said well what was your reaction and she said well I just decided that that person wasn’t really a friend. Then, a couple years later I found out that there was a little bit more to it than that because she wrote a paper when she was a senior and I said you never told me any of this. And so there was not necessarily that kind of terminology and it was some other things like that, but she was always good at handling that. But I think she pretty much grew up white. Yeah. And not because we didn’t like when the girls were little I put them in summer class for a week and they learned Vietnamese. Do you remember that at all? JACK: No DECKER: No. (Laughter) Andrea learned the Vietnamese, and she has connected in the last years with her birth mom. Who lives in um Texas and she a half sister and two half brothers, and she met the half sister this summer that is fifteen years old and things like that. But their white too because their birth mom was adopted straight out of Tycoon and was raised in the US by a white, English School teacher. So, she was raised pretty white too. Not like we tried to take her to Buddhist temples and things like Page 14 �that. Yeah know we never did anything like that. And our son is Caucasian. So, um but I don’t think she felt really prejudice against do you? You’d no better than I do. JACK: She said she feels like a white person. DECKER: Absolutely I am sure she feels like a white person; she grew up very white. JACK: And she went to Michigan State? DECKER: She is at Michigan State. JACK: She is. DECKER: And her dorm; her first dorm was totally integrated. People from everywhere. But I don’t think she met many people. I think pretty much her roommate was dad was white mom was black they got along great and things like that. I think she mixes well with various races. But she is still probably hanging out with white people because she is living with white people. So. Is there anything else? JACK: Where do you think the members of the diverse student body have made the most progress in the school system? DECKER: I would probably have to say acceptance. Right. It is interesting, we used to stereotype somebody, if you’re this color your good at this sport or that sport or something like that. And I just think that it’s a huge mix and everybody just mixes in at Rockford and I think just that just being accepted is where we have made the most progress. JACK: Where do you think the least amount of progress has been made? As far as you said that most gay kids still try to fly under the radar. DECKER: Yeah I think that is where the least progress has been made. For somebody who is a different gender identity. Racial isn’t a big deal, but genderism is a deal. JACK: So you would say this community has become a lot more tolerant. I don’t know if you would go as far as saying that don’t mind but they like a gay or lesbian population or something like that. So, why would you say that these students are still just trying to get out of there without being noticed? DECKER: I think it’s a societal thing. I think it’s still that society is not accepting or the different and I don’t think it is so much the students. We have had some kids that are openly gay, who were incredibly popular. So, I don’t think it’s the students so much, it’s a societal thing. I don’t think you are going to get beaten up in the bathroom because he’s gay or she is gay. And I would say it is probably the guys who are gayer that slide under the radar and the girls don’t really care. It is hard to know, girls are friendly with each other anyways, I mean it’s not just like you will see someone who is just best friends hanging out or putting their arm around each other. So I don’t think it is as noticeable with girls as it is with guys. Looking at it is a societal thing. JACK: Would you say that that is less in Michigan? You know compared to a different state like California, or Chicago. You don’t think that that would have much of an issue as in west Michigan? Page 15 �DECKER: I would say I think it is huge in west Michigan. It’s just a real conservative this side of the state. Which is good and which is bad. But it is changing, because we are forced to change. I would say your generation changes the most because of the media influence. With the media it is no big deal. The shows that are on today that you watch would have been unheard of when I was growing up. The people, the people you see living together and you see people who are actually gay or are pretending to be gay you see that a lot. And so I just think that your generation is changing things. JACK: In a good way? DECKER: I think it is a great way. Absolutely. People are People and People. Somewhere I learned along the line that judging is not good. I am not going to be judging someone because of who there are. I really don’t try to judge people because of their gender identity or something like that. I try not to. And yeah I still want people to have some of my same conservative views, but as far as…people are meant to be loved. JACK: So you don’t think bullying is a problem in Rockford or west Michigan at all? At some schools they bullying this huge thing; I never really saw it at my high school. DECKER: I don’t think so. I mean I have never had someone come to me and say I have been bullied or anything. I mean I don’t think so. I don’t even think when we have a three or four classrooms with special education kids and I don’t think those kids are bullied. They are just maybe left alone. But I don’t think they are bullied. I don’t think kids are mean to them. I think overall we are a pretty nice society. JACK: What kinds of changes do you hope to see in the future? DECKER: Well I would like to see more diversity as far as staff. Uh, I think that’d be great, you know, I would feel really uncomfortable if I like went to a school and everyone was not my race; you know it would be nice to have somebody, a secretary, somebody in the counseling office, somebody, you know, coaching; I think I think all the coaches are white, even, even all the football coaches, the basketball coaches, you know, you name it, whatever we have, everybody the custodians, nothing that’s all pretty homogenized. So, I think it would be nice to change; bring some people in that are qualified. See somebody, see a teacher in a wheelchair, you know, and um we had somebody apply one time, that’s all I remember, I don’t even think, I don’t think people even apply to Rockford sometimes; they probably think it’s a real white society. I would like to see that change. JACK: How do you see that change taking place? DECKER: Very slowly. The only way it’s going to change is if people just start, people who are more diverse than what we have just start applying and applying and applying and eventually, you know, you have got to say, “come on, these people are qualified.” I mean you can’t be turning those away. But, I think that maybe if we had somebody different in, um, the administration or something like that, um, but, I don’t know; it’s just going to change really slowly, because it’s just the way we are. I don’t think we are necessarily not hiring people who are diverse, but I think most diverse people would probably not apply at Rockford or they aren’t related to someone who is already in the system, to tell you the truth, I mean we have a lot of people – there is a lot of nepotism at Rockford, you know like an assistant Page 16 �superintendent whose son is a principal and whose wife does this and this and then they have family friends that they get in, I mean I’m not even sure how I got in… yeah, I know that I got in because the principal at one of the middle schools had gone to my high school and the principal at the high school was a teacher at my high school: they knew me and they knew me as a sports reporter. And they knew, well she was a decent sports reporter, we will get here in and it looks like a choux. So, I think that’s how I got in, I don’t know. Um I don’t know. I was one of the people hiring, or interviewing people for hiring and it was all white people. So, the only way it will change is if people start applying, and keep applying and keep applying. We had a student teacher last year, one student teacher, and I have had an assistant teacher one time that was a really nice girl. A gal who was black, and we had a student teacher last year; and I thought for sure that we would hire her. She was really great, but we are not hiring anybody. So that makes a difference too. JACK: Do you think that maybe Rockford doesn’t have the diversity in teachers and the staff at the school because the community isn’t diverse? DECKER: Probably, probably not even with school of choice we are getting a few people coming in, but the community is not very diverse either. No, I don’t think there is much diversity at all; do you? So, that’s probably it. It would be nice to see the community become a little bit more diverse; people move in. It’s a really nice small town. <pause> Do you want me to say something controversial? [Laughing] JACK: Do we want to talk about education a little bit too? Well, we discussed in class about the education system and some faults and some positives, but we were wondering maybe some of your views of the standards that you have to live up to as a teacher… and the government standards if they are different and the government influence on the system. Just elaborate. DECKER: First of all, I don’t think that some of the people in the government who are coming up with these standards really have any understanding of what it is like in the classroom. Now they have decided that the principal should evaluate each teacher twice a year. So, we have three principals in our building and we probably have about 130 teachers. So, if you look at that, and they are dividing it up, you know you get thirty, you get forty, you get forty, you get forty-five or whatever. So it means that they are trying to come into the classroom twice a year. And it sounds great, it really sounds like, woah, yeah those teachers should be evaluated twice a year; but they also have all of their other administrative positions too. And like last year I was evaluated and they are supposed to spread in out throughout the year. So, the assistant principal; I said to my husband with nine days to go, “He hasn’t been in yet, I bet he is not going to come in because he is going to be going over to an elementary and becoming a principal.” So I saw him on like a Thursday and I said, “Are you planning on coming in to my classroom at all?” and he said, “Yep, I’ll be in tomorrow. What are you doing?” And I said, “Okay, well we are going to be doing a quiz and we are going to have food because we had this one thing going on,” and then I said, “and I will be talking about Lord of the Flies with my tenth graders.” And he said, “Okay, great. I’ll come in.” So he came in and sat through the quiz, had a doughnut or something like that; and then he never stayed to see me teach. And so then, the next week; we are running out of time. We are basically to exam week. And I saw him again and said, “Are you coming back in?” and He said, “Yep, what are you Page 17 �doing tomorrow?” And I said, “Well I’m giving the test. We just finished The Things They Carried and we just finished Lord of the Flies, so I’m giving tests in those classes.” And um, he said, “Well, what about Monday?” And I said, “Well, we are going to watch the Lord of the Flies and we are going to be watching a movie on the Vietnam War because now we are at exam week. We are not going to teach two days before exams, you know. We are going to do something low key. And he goes, “Okay, well I will come in for the test.” Well, I’m not teaching during the test, I hand out the test and oh she did a great job like that (motions applause). So he evaluates me and I said, “You got this wrong.” I said, “You praised me on an area I’m not that strong at: contacting parents; because once we went an automated system where all the grades are online and the parents can see things, they basically told parents: the principal basically said, “If your kids are doing well in school, you don’t have to come to conferences.” So people quit coming, and now everybody can see everything online. The kids know, they come into class, I put grades in before school and they come into class second hour and say, “I saw my grades online.” So everybody knows everything. I am not great at connecting parents if their kids aren’t doing well. You know, if they’re failing yes, but if they are getting a D I don’t necessarily contact them because they can see it. Why do I? You know, if they are interested they can contact me, and I said “but you messed up in this one because I am very proficient on how I evaluate them in many different ways.” And I said, “So you messed up on that one.” He had the dates wrong and everything because I think he was trying to cover his tail because he was supposed to spread them out and he came in basically like five days apart. And I said that I am going to impend a letter to tell you those things that you do not have on this sheet that qualify me, you know, as a proficient teacher. And so now they are supposed to come in twice a year, one announced and one unannounced, and one of the math teachers said, “You know we are going to have to provide every one of the benchmarks that we’re meeting with the states says we are going to meet.” Rockford is an excellent system, but we don’t all have these benchmarks memorized that we are supposed to. So now, if he tells me that he is coming in on Thursday or if he doesn’t tell me, and he walks into my class and he says, “You’ll have those benchmarks on my desk by the end of the day.”, I can’t do that because I don’t- that is not how I do my lesson plans. I have these huge folders and there are things that I add every year or change every year, but I don’t necessarily qualify them by a bunch of benchmarks; but I know that when kids leave my classroom I am doing a good job because I’ve asked them: “Is there anything? What can I do differently?” I just had an email with a girl who is at Western. I said, “Mary, let me know what I could do differently to make you that much better of a student.” You know, she is a freshman, so I haven’t heard back from her; but I always ask kids, and I asked this one kid and I said, “Did I prepare you for college?” and he said “No, Mrs. Decker.” And I said, “What do you mean?” and he said, “College is so much easier than your class ever was.” So, it’s like why do, I know I am meeting those benchmarks. And there are ninety-two benchmarks where there used to be for English, and when I was at the Rockford Freshman Center, our principal told us we had to meet all ninety-two that year. We’re like, “You’re nuts!” We can’t do that. This one benchmark has like ten different areas of writing that you are supposed to cover. That would be a year’s worth of benchmarks. You know like: character analysis, autobiography and narrative, a research paper, you name it. One benchmark could take the year to cover. And there were ninety-two of them. And now they say, “Well, no. You cover those ninety-two in four years.” Well okay, but what qualifies, because my students are reading The Crucible aloud; so does that qualify as I am teaching them how to speak? Not really; but, they are learning intonation, things like that. So, I think it’s nuts. They just told us that all the M.E.A.P. Page 18 �qualifiers or the M.M.E. qualifiers: how Rockford did last year, how many of our kids were proficient last year; next year or this year when they take it because the standards have been raised this high, only 76% of them would be proficient versus 93% of them. Now if Rockford, which is a fairly consistent, stable society and community; if we can’t meet those benchmarks - how is inner-city Detroit going to meet those benchmarks? And plus, we have computers, and our teachers have computers in our classrooms; most my kids have, you know, cell phones and iPhones and stuff like that. I talked to my friend who is a teacher at Sacred Heart, and they do not even have computers in their classrooms for the teachers. And it is like if we have that and somebody up in Everett, Michigan doesn’t have that; how can they meet those benchmarks if we’re worried about them. Inner-city Grand Rapids-- You know; how can they meet those benchmarks? Yeah, it’s great, but you’re not changing the family structure; so how can you expect the teachers. We’re expected, our special ed. kids are expected to as well as our regular ed. kids on the ACT. Really? I had a girl last year with a seventy-four I.Q. She could read a paragraph and not remember a thing that she read at the end of it; and they are supposed to meet the ACT requirements or else our school is not proficient and if my special ed. students don’t get the same score that you would get on the ACT than I am going to be evaluated differently? You know like, you’re not a very good teacher. She has a seventy-four I.Q.! And I can’t help if people have lazy butts either. I have slums in my classroom that sit there and ask me to entertain them. So, I just think the state: good intentions, we lost our manufacturing so now we are going to be a smart state, gene pool hasn’t changed, you know, let’s be realistic here. So, I just think the government should be taking care of the economy and work on the bad schools and let the good schools continue to do a great job. JACK: Do you think that maybe, with the state having such high standards is, in a way, hurting us? DECKER: Yeah because I don’t think that we can meet those high standards. This is a manufacturing state. And, I think we have, years ago, a lot of people would go through school and kind of get through school and then go to manufacturing positions and things like that, and I think that nation-wide I think the standards are hurting us. We are competing against people; I think like Switzerland has some of the highest standards and they meet those, but they don’t ask their special ed. kids to take those. When you see those polls where the United States is way down here and those other countries are way up here, they usually take just the cream of the crop and give those kids the test. And I think the standards are hurting us. I just think it is making us look dumber and dumber and dumber. And in some ways society is getting dumber. JACK: So you’re saying that at Rockford they make all the special ed. students take the ACT, even the ones with like Down syndrome? DECKER: No we don’t have any, I think we have one student that might be slightly downs; um, other than that they have learning disabilities and some low I.Q.’s. We do have a couple self-contained classrooms. They get-- Somebody will like read it to them or something like that, but it’s still the remembering. If you would have to study a month’s worth of notes before any exam, you know how hard that is. Now we are asking them to read and just cognitively understand something that they might read the sentence and they don’t even understand it. So, I think the government is well meaning, but I don’t think it is necessarily realistic. Page 19 �JACK: One of our big focuses in class lately has been about textbooks and information being altered or changed or showing the positivesDECKER: Oh instead of showing some of the negative things JACK: And I know that you’re an English teacher, and you read a lot of books- do you notice that? DECKER: The books we read are fairly old books. JACK: Sadly, this is where our recording device died. The remaining part of the interview, we discussed how Jackie did not really see that the books her students read in English class were biased, but she did agree to the idea that all textbooks should relay all of the facts, not just a positive portrayal of history. END OF INTERVIEW Page 20 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1e24581e1e75528d1ec66da24b68fab7.mp3 261bc57128a099ad8d34bb05bcad4d11 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 Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral Histories Subject The topic of the resource Civil rights--Michigan--History Personal narratives Oral histories African Americans--Personal narratives Gays--Personal narratives Lesbians--Personal narratives Bisexual people--Personal narratives Transgender people--Personal narratives Veterans--Personal narratives Women--Personal narratives People with disabilities--Personal narratives Muslims--United States--Personal narratives Hispanic Americans--Personal narratives Homophobia Discrimination Islamophobia Stereotypes (Social psychology)--Upper Penninsula (Mich.) Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history recordings documenting the history of civil rights and social justice advocacy in Western Michigan. The collection was created by faculty and students as a project of the LIB 201 (formerly US 201): "Diversity in the U.S." course from 2011-2012. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral History Project (GV248-01) 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 2017-05-02 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV248-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1930-2011 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 GV248-01_Decker_Jacqueline Title A name given to the resource Jacqueline Decker audio interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Decker, Jacqueline Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jack, Emma Description An account of the resource Born March, 3rd 1959 to parents Richard and Eve Holland. Youngest of three children with brothers Gary and Terry. Grew up in Grand Rapids, graduating from Crestwood high school. She then continued her education at Central Michigan University with a major in English and a minor in psychology. Ran cross country and track and field on the varsity teams. Met her husband (now of 30 years), Steven Decker in the dorms on campus in her freshman year, his sophomore year. Was married at age 22 and moved to Fremont, Michigan following her husband. Subject The topic of the resource Civil rights--Michigan--History Age discrimination Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Relation A related resource Speaking Out: Western Michigan Civil Rights Oral History Project Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-10-26 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives