205 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3d187dac404755081bc6c7113f0e059.mp4 1da2ee31c150b701e2c15b9c36cfca9a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3eaabf892ef1f95c6095294d041288b2.pdf 7406a04c4a7a16c97dee95698afba76f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Arthur DeWitt World War II Interview Length: (01:01:59:00) Pre-Enlistment / Training / Deployment (00:00:26:00) · DeWitt was born in Lapeer, Michigan on October 1st, 1921; however, his mother died when he was three and his family then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan (00:00:26:00) o While DeWitt was young, his father worked for the Coast Guard; although DeWitt does not know where exactly his father was stationed, he believes it was in Grand Haven, Michigan (00:00:55:00) · DeWitt actually joined the Michigan National Guard before his senior year of high school, which caused him to miss out on his senior year (00:01:22:00) o When DeWitt joined the National Guard, he had been out drinking with two of his friends from high school, DeWitt got pretty drunk, and the friends managed to get him down to the enlistment offices; DeWitt was so drunk, he enlisted in the National Guard without even realizing it (00:01:43:00) § The next morning, people from the National Guard called DeWitt to inform him he had enlisted in the National Guard but he had no idea what they were talking about (00:02:03:00) · Once he had joined the National Guard, DeWitt went through his basic training in Kalamazoo (00:02:30:00) · When DeWitt first joined the National Guard, it was part-time until October 1940, when the National Guard was officially mobilized by the federal government; after mobilizing on Oct. 15th, the soldiers left for Camp Beauregard, Louisiana on Oct. 19th (00:03:17:00) o DeWitt cannot remember much about Camp Beauregard (00:03:47:00) § For the most part, DeWitt remembers the heat, being in the swamps, and having to deal with the local fauna, including alligators (00:04:26:00) · At one point, DeWitt’s unit was on a three- or four-day exercise in the field and one morning, he woke up and a coral snake was sitting next to his leg (00:04:43:00) o Another soldier killed the snake because DeWitt was barefoot and as DeWitt reached for his canteen cup so he could get a cup of coffee, a black widow spider crawled out of the cup (00:05:45:00) · As well, DeWitt was twice bitten by scorpions, once in Louisiana and once when he had deployed to New Guinea (00:06:01:00) o While at Camp Beauregard, DeWitt and the other soldiers went through various types of training, including bayonet and rifle training; basically, any training related to the infantry (00:06:30:00) § For the most part, the soldiers trained with World War I-era weapons, including the M1903 Springfield rifle (00:06:53:00) § Initially, DeWitt went through training to be a regular infantryman but was eventually converted into a B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifle) gunner; �however, DeWitt does not know why the decision was made to make him into a BAR gunner (00:07:12:00) · For the most part, nobody wanted to be a BAR gunner or a machine gunner because those two assignments tended to draw a lot of attention from the enemy (00:07:36:00) o DeWitt does not remember having too much trouble adapting to life in the military; for one, he was not very homesick because he and his parents were not close to each other to being with (00:07:55:00) o Every now and then, DeWitt and the other soldiers would receive passes to go into New Orleans, where they would go bar-hopping and to movies (00:08:42:00) o When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor happened in Dec. 1941, DeWitt and the other soldiers were on an exercise; when news about the attack came in, the men were called in from the exercise and listened on the radio as President Roosevelt gave his speech on the radio and declared war (00:09:38:00) § By the next day, the soldiers in the camp were sent out to defend various key locations in the local area (00:09:48:00) o At the time, the soldiers were being trained for the possibility of combat in the European theater (00:10:35:00) § In fact, DeWitt and the other soldiers made it as far as Boston, Massachusetts before General Douglas McArthur decided he needed their division in the Pacific; this meant the soldiers received training for both the European theater and the Pacific theater (00:10:51:00) · However, some of the training the men received for the European theater, such as bayonet training, was useless once the soldiers got into the Pacific theater (00:11:11:00) · DeWitt does not remember much about the various train trips he and the other soldiers took back and forth across the country (00:11:56:00) o Eventually, the soldiers made out to California, where they boarded the U.S.S. Lurline, which was a large cruise ship that the Navy had converted to be a troop transport (00:12:14:00) § DeWitt and the other soldiers experienced terrible living conditions on the Lurline because they were positioned in the hold of the ship and the heat and smell were tremendous (00:12:30:00) · Although the soldiers were technically not supposed to, DeWitt would crawl onto the deck of the ship at night to get some fresh air (00:12:43:00) · On the other hand, the food aboard the ship was pretty good; however, most of the soldiers were sea-sick off and on during the voyage and could not eat anything anyway (00:12:50:00) § The weather during the voyage was beautiful (00:13:17:00) § During the voyage across the Pacific, the Lurline was part of a larger convoy of ships; although DeWitt cannot remember the exact number of ships, he does remember there being U.S. Navy destroyers sprinkled in amongst the troop transports (00:13:39:00) · After the Lurline finished the voyage across the Pacific, the ship docked in Adelaide, Australia (00:13:53:00) �o Once in Adelaide, the soldiers stayed aboard the ship and DeWitt remembers being able to look out and see people on the shore; when the Lurline left California, DeWitt had no idea he would eventually end up in Australia, only that he was deploying somewhere overseas (00:14:06:00) § Years after the war, DeWitt remembers hearing the as the convoy the Lurline was a part of sailed through the Coral Sea, Japanese naval forces were actively trying to attack the convoy (00:14:47:00) o Adelaide was a nice city and DeWitt remembers there being a large number of churches in the city (00:15:08:00) § Although DeWitt managed to meet a couple of girls in the city, the Army kept pretty close tabs on all the soldiers (00:15:25:00) o The soldiers were not in Adelaide too long before they had to move up to Brisbane by train (00:15:32:00) § At one point during the trip from Adelaide to Brisbane, the grade of the railroad tracks was so steep that all the soldiers had to get off the train and help push the train up (00:15:52:00) o Once the soldiers were in Brisbane, they went through additional training, specifically focusing on jungle training because by then, the soldiers knew they would be fighting in the jungle (00:16:11:00) § The jungle training in Brisbane was different from the training the soldiers had already gone through; for the most part, the training focused on what the soldiers might encounter in the jungle (00:16:24:00) § However, for DeWitt, training was training and he could not recognize anything than was significantly different from the training he and the other soldiers had already done (00:16:38:00) · DeWitt does not remember any part of the training focusing on the tactics being used by the Japanese because nobody really knew about what the Japanese tactics were (00:17:01:00) · When it became time for them to leave Brisbane, DeWitt and the other soldiers boarded a ship that carried them to Port Moresby on New Guinea (00:17:28:00) o DeWitt does not recall a lot about Port Moresby other than maybe a couple of buildings (00:17:43:00) o After the soldiers landed at Port Moresby, they stayed in the town for awhile, which was when DeWitt was bitten by a scorpion for the second time (00:17:55:00) § From what the soldiers understood, the Japanese were about thirty miles away from Port Moresby when they landed (00:18:06:00) o DeWitt is not exactly sure how long he and the other soldiers spent in Port Moresby but he figures it was around a week (00:18:48:00) o Once they finally did leave the town, the soldiers headed towards the Owen Stanley mountains in the center of the island (00:19:03:00) § Some of the soldiers in DeWitt’s division flew part of the way then walked the remainder while other soldiers walked all the way from Port Moresby; DeWitt’s unit was one of the units that flew over the Owen Stanley mountains and landed at an airbase situated between the Owen Stanley mountains and another mountain chain and from there, the �soldiers walked the rest of the way (00:19:05:00) § DeWitt cannot recall the whole march up the second mountain chain, only various incidents, such as looking down from the top of the mountains and seeing a vast expanse of trees (00:20:13:00) · DeWitt does remember that the weather was extremely hot and muggy (00:20:13:00) § As they marched, DeWitt and the other soldiers were trying to carry their equipment and supplies as lightly as they could; almost every day, the soldiers “disposed” of something to make their loads lighter (00:20:45:00) · For the most part, DeWitt got rid of the supplies and equipment that he did not think would be necessary (00:20:58:00) § During the march over the mountains, DeWitt does not recall his unit ever encountering Japanese forces (00:21:36:00) Buna, New Guinea (00:21:54:00) · Eventually, the soldiers reached the area around the village of Buna and DeWitt remembers there being a lot of swamp land around the village (00:21:54:00) o DeWitt remembers that the Japanese attacked the night after the soldiers had arrived in Buna and settled into the village (00:22:24:00) § DeWitt cannot recall whether the American forces taking any casualties during the first Japanese attack (00:22:47:00) o It rained every night and would fill the foxholes that the soldiers had dug with water; if the soldiers had to go to the bathroom, the waste would be floating on the water because the soldiers did not dare get out of their foxholes (00:23:47:00) § The soldiers stayed in their foxholes out of fear of possible Japanese patrols in the area, especially at night (00:24:14:00) · DeWitt does not recall ever putting out anything that would make noise if an Japanese patrol was near (00:24:42:00) · DeWitt does not remember too much about the battle of Buna itself; he witnessed so much that he has tried to block part of it out (00:25:14:00) o DeWitt does remember that toward the end of the fighting, all the soldiers were fatigued and when a couple of soldiers started acting carelessly, giving away the position of the unit, so DeWitt, being one of the more experienced of the remaining soldiers, had to knock the soldiers out the butt of his rifle (00:25:47:00) o A couple of days later, DeWitt and the other soldiers had engaged the Japanese and DeWitt himself “lost his head”; he started charging towards the enemy but tripped and fell (00:26:24:00) § Another soldier helped DeWitt back to the main line and DeWitt managed to compose himself (00:26:53:00) § Most of the men changed while around Buna; having the being in combat daily, only eating what food they could find, etc., affected all of the soldiers to one degree or another (00:27:23:00) o Over the course of the fighting, DeWitt’s unit tried to make progress every day but the Japanese had strategically placed snipers and fortified pillboxes, both of which made any progress difficult (00:27:51:00) �§ If the soldiers had had access to either artillery or air strikes, DeWitt figures his unit could have successfully advanced into Buna in only a couple of weeks (00:28:14:00) § The division did have three small tanks and those represented the only heavy artillery available to the soldiers (00:28:57:00) · At one point, DeWitt was in the lead group of an attack being supported by the tanks and the next thing he knew, all three of the tanks were in flames (00:29:10:00) · None of the crewmen made it out and the fire was so intense that none of the infantry could get close enough to help (00:29:24:00) o During the Buna campaign, unlike most of the other soldiers, DeWitt did not get sick from one of the various tropical diseases (00:31:22:00) § DeWitt had made up his mind that he would not get sick and took preventative measures, so he was one of the last soldiers in his unit not to be sick and able to walk to the airplane once the unit was finally relieved by other American forces (00:31:43:00) · The remainder of the soldiers had either been wiped out by malaria or had been wounded during the fighting (00:32:01:00) · DeWitt does not remember the exact number of soldiers in his company who made it through the fighting at Buna completely unscathed, although he figures it was only around four or five total; the remainder of the soldiers in the company was either wounded, killed, or infected with a disease and had to be pulled out before the end of the battle (00:32:12:00) o Once the fighting at Buna was over, DeWitt was not allowed to go into Buna to see the Japanese positions; he was immediately pulled out and sent back to Australia (00:33:58:00) o Because of the nightly rains, the soldiers had a steady supply of water; however, what food they managed to find, they often had to take food carried on the bodies of dead soldiers as well as eat whatever food they could find, such as coconuts that had been knocked off trees by gun and mortar fire (00:33:20:00) § DeWitt ate so much coconut that when he finally got home, he told his wife never to have coconut in their house (00:33:13:00) § Apart from food, DeWitt also gathered up any spare ammunition from the bodies of dead soldiers (00:34:16:00) · During his time on New Guinea, although some of the other soldiers did, DeWitt did not have any contact with the native population (00:34:28:00) · Once DeWitt was finally pulled off of New Guinea, he and the other soldiers were placed on a boat and sent back to Australia (00:34:45:00) o Getting off of New Guinea was a great relief for DeWitt and the other soldiers because they knew they were going back to a land of civilization (00:34:58:00) o The ship from New Guinea landed in a small town in northern Australia and DeWitt promptly came down with malaria; through a series of circumstances, DeWitt ended up at a hospital in Sydney, Australia (00:35:20:00) § DeWitt was in the hospital for two weeks, at which point he learned he was being promoted to technical sergeant; however, he ran afoul of one of �the nurses in the hospital and ended up be re-assigned to a different division, which ended up costing him his promotion (00:36:06:00) · DeWitt was not happy in the hospital and accepted the reassignment so he could just get out of there (00:36:55:00) o Once out of the hospital, DeWitt was assigned to the 41st Infantry Division, which had yet to be in actual combat; when DeWitt first joined his new company, he was the only combat veteran in the entire company (00:37:03:00) § DeWitt got along real well with the soldiers in his new company, who treated him very well (00:37:18:00) § The division consisted of soldiers from New York state and other New England states (00:37:24:00) 41st Infantry Division / End of Deployment / Reflections (00:37:44:00) · When DeWitt left the hospital in Sydney and joined the 41st Infantry, the division had already deployed to New Guinea (00:37:44:00) o After DeWitt joined the 41st Infantry in New Guinea, the division launched an attack against the Japanese-held island of Biak (00:38:05:00) § Although the fighting on Biak was not at intense as the fighting around Buna, it was still rough (00:38:11:00) · One notable different between the fighting DeWitt did around Buna and the fighting he did on Biak was that Biak was all dry ground, unlike the swamps surrounding Buna (00:38:17:00) · Again, as with Buna, DeWitt does not remember the soldiers having any artillery or air support (00:38:26:00) At one point, DeWitt’s company was engaged with Japanese forces and he § had his BAR laying in front of him when the next thing he knew, the gun splintered from a 50-caliber round hitting it (00:39:01:00) · The loss of his BAR ended DeWitt’s time as a BAR gunner and he became a regular rifleman (00:39:18:00) o Following Biak, the 41st launched attacks against several different islands in the Philippines, including the island of Mindanao (00:39:32:00) § However, the fighting then was not too severe and the men saw very little actual combat (00:39:42:00) · In truth, the 41st Infantry saw nothing close to what the 32nd Infantry had to go through (00:39:50:00) · Nevertheless, the soldiers were still undersupplied and to resort to eating birds and coconuts (00:40:14:00) o While DeWitt was stationed on Biak, one day, his company had set up a defensive position for the night and three other soldiers who knew DeWitt had combat experience tried to get DeWitt to take them up a nearby hill; however, DeWitt was hesitant out of fear of a Japanese attack (00:40:41:00) § However, the other soldier eventually talked DeWitt into taking them up the hill and once the group was at the top of the hill, they ran into an empty Japanese camp with several bottles of sake (00:41:12:00) § DeWitt and the other soldiers started drinking the sake when DeWitt heard rustling sounds in the bush; DeWitt then alerted the other soldiers that they �had company and told them what to do (00:41:28:00) § DeWitt moved to the south and came upon an opening in the brush that had a Japanese soldier standing in the middle of it (00:41:48:00) § DeWitt initially froze but he thought the Japanese soldier was carrying a gun, so he pulled up his rifle, which promptly jammed; however, it was then that DeWitt noticed the Japanese soldier had not been carrying a gun but was carrying a stick (00:41:58:00) § The Japanese soldier charged at DeWitt, the two men got into hand-tohand combat and eventually ended up in the nearby river, where DeWitt was able to restrain the Japanese soldier (00:42:23:00) § DeWitt initially suggested taking the Japanese soldier prisoner but one of the other soldiers on the shore ended up shooting and killing the soldier anyway (00:42:45:00) o Another time, DeWitt jumped a Japanese soldier as he walked out of a cave because he wanted to take the soldier prisoner (00:43:41:00) § DeWitt and his company had just landed and they knew the Japanese were in the cave, so they used grenades and a flame thrower to flush the enemy out of the caves (00:44:20:00) § At the time, DeWitt and the other soldiers were under orders to take prisoners whenever they could so they could get information from them about the Japanese positions (00:44:38:00) § When the company returned to camp, the commanders wanted to courtmartial DeWitt but the following day, before anything could happen, the company was in combat (00:44:53:00) · During the fighting, DeWitt managed to save the life of the commanding officer, who then decided to drop to the court-martial against DeWitt (00:45:03:00) · DeWitt was actually court-martialed four different times; however, each of the four times, he was either in the United States or Australia, never near the front (00:45:34:00) o DeWitt was court-martialed because he kept going AWOL (Absent Without Leave) from his unit (00:45:57:00) o The punishments normally lasted only thirty days and during the second courtmartial, DeWitt was assigned to beating rocks with a sledgehammer (00:46:07:00) § It was hot and when DeWitt told the guard he needed water, the guard ignored him; however, the second time DeWitt said he needed water, the guard pointed his gun at DeWitt, so DeWitt hit the guard with his sledgehammer (00:46:34:00) § The other guard actually came to the defense of DeWitt and said that DeWitt had been asking for water but the first guard was not letting him have any (00:47:09:00) o None of DeWitt’s court-martials ever resulted from any serious type of an offense by DeWitt (00:47:32:00) · When DeWitt joined the 41st, he tried to tell the other soldiers in his company what advice he knew about fighting in the jungle (00:47:47:00) o Two of the biggest lessons DeWitt gave was telling the soldiers to use their �instincts and to not try to be a hero (00:48:10:00) o According to DeWitt’s advice, the soldier’s training would only take them so far and the rest was luck; the soldiers who were lucky were the soldiers who survived the fighting (00:48:26:00) · DeWitt’s company spent a month or two stationed on Mindanao before moving to the nearby island (00:49:31:00) o The fighting in the Philippines was much more docile compared to the fighting DeWitt had gone through on New Guinea (00:49:47:00) o Although he is unsure exactly how it happened, DeWitt somehow ended up being assigned to an intelligence section, which involved going on patrols with infantry units to find any useful information regarding the Japanese forces (00:50:07:00) § One time, DeWitt and another soldier from the intelligence section went out on patrol with a squad to investigate reports of the Japanese attacking a village to the north of the American position (00:50:22:00) § One day, two or three Filipinos talked DeWitt into going onto a hilltop with them and after four or five hours, the group made contact with Japanese forces; DeWitt started to give orders to position the group but when he looked around, everyone was gone (00:50:44:00) · Luckily, DeWitt was able to sneak out of the area and make it back to camp (00:51:17:00) o The local population was underfed, so DeWitt would go out with three or four canoes and use dynamite to fish (00:51:44:00) o When DeWitt was assigned to the intelligence section, he did not receive any formal training for the assignment (00:52:50:00) § There were eight soldiers in the section, with a sergeant as the leader and a corporal as his second-in-command (00:52:56:00) § The assignment was relatively safe, which meant none of the soldiers were ever killed; this was why, in a year-and-a-half of being with the intelligence section, DeWitt was never promoted (00:53:10:00) · However, the soldier did remain connected to the rest of the infantry and whenever the soldiers went out on a patrol, they had to carry a weapon (00:53:25:00) o While stationed in the Philippines, the twenty-year-old DeWitt ended up marrying a sixteen-year-old Filipino girl (00:53:44:00) § The girl’s father allowed DeWitt to marry his daughter only if DeWitt paid him fifty pesos (00:53:57:00) § Technically, none of the soldiers were supposed to marry any locals but DeWitt managed to convince a friend who agreed to dress up as a minister to perform the “wedding” (00:54:12:00) § DeWitt was with his new wife for about two weeks before he accumulated enough points to transfer home (00:54:20:00) · Before DeWitt transferred home, another soldier offered DeWitt seventy-five pesos for his “wife” (00:54:30:00) § Once it became time for DeWitt to rotate home, he was boarding a ship when someone told him some people were asking for him; as it turned out, it was his “wife” and her father, who was carrying a knife (00:54:51:00) �· · · · · · The girl figured DeWitt was going to bring her back to the United States but he had no way of doing so (00:55:16:00) The Japanese did not officially surrender until DeWitt had already left the Philippines; the official announcement came while DeWitt was still aboard the ship carrying from the Philippines back to the United States (00:55:45:00) One of the times DeWitt went AWOL, it was in Australia (00:57:02:00) o The civilians in the nearby town had come to like the soldiers and the soldiers would often go into the town to drink (00:57:09:00) o One time, one of the other soldiers ordered thirty beers, which caused DeWitt to question him, say they could not drink that many beers (00:57:30:00) § However, when the waitress brought the beers out, there were only twenty eight, so the soldier took the tray and threw it, and all the beers, against the wall (00:57:53:00) Once DeWitt returned to the United States, he went home and it was not more than three weeks before his father was pressuring him to get a job (00:58:17:00) o Initially, DeWitt briefly worked at a paper mill, then spent three months working at the local post office, then another company for three months, before settling in at Kalamazoo Paper, where he stayed for fifty-two years (00:58:42:00) Looking back, DeWitt would like to think that his time serving in the Army helped educate him, including taking some correspondence courses while he was deployed to the Pacific (00:59:21:00) o However, being in the infantry did not afford DeWitt too much time to think about getting an education (01:00:06:00) At one point, while DeWitt and the other soldiers were AWOL in Australia, someone mentioned see MPs and DeWitt, being by himself, took off running through the local neighborhood to get away (01:00:49:00) o Eventually, DeWitt hid in a women’s bathroom; as he hid, he told a nearby women not to tell the MPs where he was hiding but when the MPs did come up, the woman told them DeWitt was hiding in the women’s bathroom (01:01:12:00) o When the MPs took DeWitt back to the hotel to gather his belongings, around fifty people came up telling the MPs to let DeWitt go because he had been nice to them at some point (01:01:29:00) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource DeWitt, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeWitt, Arthur Description An account of the resource Arthur DeWitt was born in Lapeer, Michigan in 1921, and grew up in Kalamazoo. While a senior in high school, DeWitt joined the Michigan National Guard, and his unit, Company C of the 126th Infantry Regiment, was called up soon afterward, causing him to miss most of his senior year. His unit was sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana for training, and he became a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) gunner. In the spring of 1942, his division was sent first to Boston, then to San Francisco, and from there to Australia. They were shipped to New Guinea in September, and participating in the fighting around Buna. One of the few men in his company to get through Buna unscathed and healthy, he came down with malaria soon after returning to Australia, and was reassigned to the 41st Division. He served with the 41st on Biak, and then on Mindanao in the Philippines, and was rotated home shortly before the end 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 2008-04-08 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeWittA0236V 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/6bfd15b5da21612e93f331d72c9119e3.m4v ffb7b2a8f1a8cc2812e8d96449217f2f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/899ad6baa4930f5d445e421988df6edb.pdf cf6836eb0df35d753dc8bf186ebc8bc5 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project World War II Jake DeWitt Length of Interview (00:40:42) Background Born in 1922, Grand Rapids, MI Hall Street School Father worked for the Tanglefoot Co.  Made fly paper Family was large (four younger sisters) DeWitt was in an accident that broke both of his legs; put into an ungraded room in Hall Street School Sent to Davis Tech (on Division Ave.) to learn a trade  Learned typesetting and electric welding Got a job at Western Union; sister working at Bissell Went to get a job there, got it right away (15 years old, 1930’s) Heard of news about the war in Europe, didn’t pay much attention (00:03:40) Heard about Pearl Harbor over the radio, was shocked Knew he was going to be drafted soon; had lost his job when the war started  Went to the Recruiting Station with a buddy; chose the Navy Sent to Detroit for a check-up Chose the Navy because he didn’t want to be in the mud One of his friends (who was too old to be drafted) received letters from the other boys in the Army and other branches One particular friend, in the Army, had written about the poor conditions he was in �Assignment: USS Roper (00:06:05) Camp Green Bay, Milwaukee; went to New York, Pier 92 (Roper) During basic training: a lot of marching; learned to take orders Wasn’t bothered by basic training; in good physical shape No weapons training; no training about ships (shortage of sailors, out in 28 days) Joined to Roper in early 1943 (late 1942) Roper was a beautiful ship (a Destroyer) (00:08:00)  Excellent Captain; a career Navy man  Changed commanders after sinking a German U-Boat, the U-85  Built like a submarine; maneuverable, went faster than the newer battle ships being built  Very distinctive: four smoke stacks Had picked up a pregnant woman stranded at sea; gave birth to a boy The boy grew up to go into the Navy, as well First job involved sailing up and down the coast of Virginia (00:10:05)  Place loaded with German ships and submarines Assigned as Gunner’s Mate; usually on the galley deckhouse  Had a radioman who would update them during action (5 other men on the deck) PBY (flying boat); “Sub Chasers”  Would spot German subs and inform the ship  Would drop charges and oil would start coming to the surface if direct hit  Germans sometimes used decoys (oil spills, etc.) to simulate a hit Before DeWitt had come on, there was a chase dealing with a submarine which had surfaced due to lack of power (00:12:20) Didn’t keep track of time (months); followed routine (00:13:00) �Assigned to convoy duty; Straits of Gibraltar  Traveled with Liberty Ships (200-300 ships in a convoy); very hard to handle, would zigzag often  German torpedoes had difficulty hitting them Sometimes there were storms as they crossed the Atlantic  All that could be seen were waves; like a cork on the water  Terrifying experience, at first; got used to it  Navy life is repetitive After leaving France, went through the Panama Canal to Guam then Okinawa (00:15:25) Didn’t stay in the convoy long; left the “Frog Men” aka Navy Seals in rubber boats  Assisting them to land in Southern France (didn’t know where they were at the time) After dropping them off, picked up some North African soldiers in the French Army Didn’t go ashore often; Sicily, Italy The whole city (Naples) was leveled, cathedrals still stood  Stayed for six hours, not much time Convoy Duty: Straits of Gibraltar (00:18:00) Didn’t see any German submarines in the Mediterranean; saw them in the Straits of Gibraltar  Had sunk a couple there (when the convoy was with them)  Subs had sunk three ships while they were going out; ships peeled off When they got closer (to Europe) saw quite a few Bombers flying (American)  Incredibly loud roar whenever they flew over Didn’t see much of the local population when on shore, mostly personnel Received letters from his family; not married, yet (not until convalescent leave)  A lot of his letters were censored, cut up �After convoy duty, went to Charleston, South Carolina, made LS-20 (previously APD-147); two of the ship’s smokestacks were removed (00:21:15)  Sent to Okinawa afterwards  Carried four landing crafts on their ships; used for naval invasions Lived in the barracks in Charleston Wasn’t sure how long they were onshore; given plenty of liberty, couldn’t go home Guam (00:23:00) Sent through the Panama Canal to Guam  Lost one of the sailors there, didn’t get back on the boat (stayed on shore)  Sailed straight to Guam; didn’t always sail alone The new captain was considered a “90-day Wonder” (Lieutenant, fresh from the Academy); was a good fellow Officers kept to themselves, separated usually; DeWitt talked to everyone anyway (00:25:05)  Didn’t know much about the captain Stayed in Guam and loaded up for supplies before going to Okinawa; part of the first wave Ship was hit by an oil tanker trying to refuel; went back (to Guam)  Had been reported sunk as two of their landing barges were seen floating around  Had been too close to the tanker (10ft apart), so both barges were swiped off  When getting back to Guam, the authority there did not believe what had happened  The hull had a 12ft gash; the fresh water was put on the port side to make the ship lean on its side  Didn’t take too long to fix; didn’t replace their landing craft The “frog men” would come aboard only when they were needed to get to shore �Okinawa (00:28:45) It was hell over in Okinawa The Japanese would swim out from the islands with dynamite on them; on the ship, would have machine guns trained on the water, told to shoot whatever was floating  DeWitt shot six times and four of the six exploded Also being attacked from the air; all the time (300 miles from Japan)  Would use their own guns to shoot aircraft Ships were anchored (six or seven) and DeWitt’s ship was in the front; started a smoke screen Could only see a cloud of smoke; Betty’s (twin engine bombers) flew over and didn’t know where to bomb  Had to dampen towels and hold them over their mouths and noses in order to breath No kamikazes; attacked by fighters The tactics at the beginning of the War (by the Navy) were to turn broadside in order to have more firepower, were actually giving the planes bigger (and easier) targets Later in the War, would turn so their tail would face the plane, would make the plane pull up and miss DeWitt’s ship was hit by a plane (a fighter plane); had orders to not fire because Marines were having dog fights above their ships (00:31:35)  The plane that had hit them was actually on fire as it crashed into them  Hit the Chief’s Quarters  DeWitt was at the bow manning his gun (number one gun)  Plane hit the starboard (right side) of the ship  DeWitt and the other men were knocked off their guns by the impact o The Japanese pilot’s body actually landed where DeWitt was sitting before the crash  Broke his arm and had a bone sticking out from his skin �Recuperation and Discharge (00:34:10) Went to Hope, a hospital ship, but they didn’t have the technology to remove some of the bone fragments Sent to Guam; didn’t have the machine either Flew to Pearl Harbor; wound up in Oceanside, California, a Marine hospital  Arm was in a sling the whole time  Germany had surrendered the day DeWitt had his surgery (it was actually the announcement of the end of the war)  Wounded on the 25th of May  Stayed in the hospital quite a while; didn’t get discharged until around Christmas Sorted out letters at the hospital to get liberty (00:36:20)  Would just walk around mainly due to his injury o Memphis (had wound up there after his surgery) Married on October 26, 1945; had known her from before the war, had written letters (00:37:25) Went back to work for Bissell; stayed with them for 44 years Learned how to obey orders; how to get along with all kinds of people (00:38:45) Started going to reunions in 1991 Stayed in touch with some of the guys from his ship In the Navy, they never stood still, there was always something to do and they did them happily � 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 DeWitt, Jake (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeWitt, Jake Description An account of the resource Jake DeWitt served during the Second World War as a Gunner's Mate on the USS Roper, a destroyer from WWI. The Roper patrolled the Virginia coast where it sunk its first German submarine, then travelled to the Straits of Gibraltar for convoy duty. She was eventually struck near Okinawa when a Japanese fighter plane crashed into the side of the ship injuring DeWitt. Dewitt was eventually discharged after recovering from his arm injury. 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. 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 2010-02-16 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DeWittJ 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/eb774fc5e5fe62a601ad44d374c46edd.pdf 6bddf84ae4c70d07960293d7837cb77b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Special Collections Kent County Oral History collections, RHC-23 Dexter, Emma Foote (Mrs. Clarence) Interviewed on October 5, 1971 Edited and indexed by Don Bryant, 2010 – bryant@wellswooster.com Tape # 32 Biographical Information Emma Howe Foote was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 3 February 1885, the daughter of Elijah Hedding Foote and Frances Amelia Howe. She died 5 January 1983 in Grand Rapids and was interred at Graceland Mausoleum. Emma was married to Clarence S. Dexter in Grand Rapids on 16 January 1908. Clarence was born 4 June 1882 in Chicago, the son of George W. Dexter and Laura A. Sawyer. He died 4 April 1947 in Grand Rapids. Clarence and Emma had two daughters, Frances J. and Dorothy M. Dexter. Emma’s father, Elijah H. Foote was born in Olcott, Niagara County, New York on 24 March 1845, the son of Elijah Foote and Olivia Luce. He died in Lamont, Michigan on 9 September 1920 and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Grand Rapids. Emma’s mother, Frances Amelia Howe was born 16 Apr 1843 in Ravenna, Ohio and was the daughter of Elisha Bigelow Howe and Celestia Russell. Frances died 23 March 1920 in Grand Rapids and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. ________ Interviewer: This interview with Mrs. Clarence Dexter was recorded October fifth, nineteen seventy-one. Ok, that’s going now. You, you were just saying your family has been here for approximately five generations. What was your, what was your family’s name? Mrs. Dexter: Well, my father’s name was Foote. My and my mother’s name was Howe. My father was born in Olcott, New York and drove out here and I don’t know when my mother came. She was born in Ohio and came from there to Grand Rapids. And I can’t go back too far but at the time of the Civil War, my Grandfather, and Grandmother Howe lived where the Peninsular Club is today and when my father came home from the Civil War, that’s where they were married and up on Lyon Street, Lyon and College and Fountain Street was the old Civil War campground. My father went from there to the Civil War. There’s a marker, it’s in the Central High School property now because they couldn’t put it in the middle of College Avenue where the old well was during the Civil War. And, it was guarded all the time by the Union Soldiers. Interviewer: The well was? Mrs. Dexter: Yes, and when Father came back from the war, he bought property in that district and built the first house that was built on the old campground and that was on the corner of Lyon �and College Avenue, the northeast corner there is another house, the old house still stands there, there’s another small house on each side of it now and all around the property at that time was larger, a good deal. Interviewer: Which, what’s the address of that house, do you know? Mrs. Dexter: When I, I think it’s five fifteen [505 Lyon is the Foote residence. 515 Lyon was the Dexter residence] Lyon. It’s a big grey house, next to the corner. And they lived there all their lives, and their four children were born there. I was the youngest one. Interviewer: Born in the house? Mrs. Dexter: In the house. Interviewer: Was that a, was the custom of the day for children to be born at home? Rather than… Mrs. Dexter: Oh, yes, yes. Interviewer: Did, was, was there a midwife in attendance or was it a doctor and a… Mrs. Dexter: Doctors. I don’t know, I never remember hearing anyone mention a midwife, I don’t know. Interviewer: When you say your father drove here, how did he, how? Mrs. Dexter: His family drove out from Olcott, New York, Interviewer: What did they drive, a horse and buggy? Mrs. Dexter: Yes, don’t think it was a covered wagon but they drove out in stages from there. Interviewer: Well then, you grew up on Lyon Street. Mrs. Dexter: Yes. When I was young the old UB hospital [United Benevolent Association] Hospital, which is now Blodgett Hospital, that was on the southwest corner of Lyon and College where the little Fountain Street School house is now until they built the new one over in East Grand Rapids. And, many of those old houses were built, the nearest house to that hospital property was Judge [Edwin A.] Burlingame., He lived on the corner of, well it was Lyon Place for awhile, now I believe it’s Goldberg[Goldsboro?] and Lyon Street. He’s quite a prominent judge here. And, Father, at that time was with Nelson & Matter Furniture Company that was down on the Canal and Monroe Street, it was called Canal Street then. And, then he was the, he left there and went to Grand Rapids Chair Company which was owned by the C.C. Comstock family and afterwards my father bought it from the Comstock estate. Interviewer: And maintained the name Grand Rapids Chair Company? �Mrs. Dexter: Yes, it’s still called the Grand Rapids Chair Company. After, let me see, my husband became the manager when my father retired in about nineteen seventeen. And he managed it until his death, no, he’d retired, he’d sold it to Mr. Charles Sligh then after that it was sold, to the Baker Furniture Company and now is in, is owned by a chain company that has a good many furniture factories. I don’t know the name of that, that chain. And then Father built the, when my oldest brother Stuart Foote came home from college he was with Father in the Grand Rapids Chair Company for a while and then they built the, Imperial Furniture Company and then my brother-in law Seal Reynolds, we bought, the family bought the old Kindel Factory and they had the Rey, the Foote-Reynolds Company. They made nothing but beds. Then afterwards, after our brother-in-law’s death it was sold back to the Kindel people. Interviewer: Why did, why did Kindels sell that company? Mrs. Dexter I don’t know. Interviewer: Was that, seems to me I remember hearing some, point that he, you know was very successful and then he decided that he was going to retire at a very early age and sold everything. Mrs. Dexter: Yes. Interviewer: And then after… Mrs. Dexter: That is so. Interviewer: …After a few years of retirement he couldn’t stand it so he bought it, bought it… Mrs. Dexter: Yes. Interviewer: ….Bought the company back. Mrs. Dexter: Yes. That’s true. Then another old building that I remember so well was the Methodist Church. That was at the corner, the where the Keeler building is today, the southeast corner of Division and Fountain Street. That was there for many years. Interviewer: What kind of church was it? Mrs. Dexter: Methodist Interviewer: What was the construction of it? Mrs. Dexter: Big red brick building, big red brick building. And then my sister, Ida Foote and Seal Reynolds were married there in nineteen hundred and four, I guess it was. It was so amusing it took so long to empty the church that the city fathers and fire department made ‘em put in two new exits to the church. Interviewer: What was it like growing up on Lyon Street? What was the neighborhood like? �Mrs. Dexter: Wonderful, everybody owned their own houses and we always, oh we had so many friends around it was, and we had big playgrounds and as we went to the, the old school that we went to as a grade school was on Fountain Street where Central High is today and then we went to High School down at Junior college (doorbell in background) so that we’ve seen the changes a great deal. And one thing maybe somebody might have told you, when we were youngsters and growing up here, mail boxes were on the all the street cars. Interviewer: I have heard about that. Mrs. Dexter: On the front and back. And you could stop a street car anywhere and mail your letters. They always said that it was a great advantage because they never could have a street car strike. Interviewer: (doorbell in background) Is that your front door? Mrs. Dexter: Can I shut that off, can you shut that off? [pause] Interviewer: Sure, yes. Do you think, what, what do you think of the Heritage Hill Association, and the work they are doing? Mrs. Dexter: Well, I think that it’s, it’s wonderful to have people interested and I think the different form of, architecture, architecture should be preserved because I think, I think anything in the early history of this city is important to the children growing up here. I think their background should mean something to them. But I think it’s maybe they, that’s their idea that they are just saving different styles of architecture. But there’s certainly a number of these homes are not the early homes in Grand Rapids. And I think it’s unfortunate, of course it’s late, there’re some of the homes that have gone that should have been preserved if they were going to do this kind of thing. And, that it is unfortunate, but, I don’t know how they can avoid it. If they want to collect samples of architecture, but I started to say it was unfortunate that people that own the property aren’t being allowed to remodel it if necessary because I think that’s going to be a hardship for some people. [Recording spotty at 10:32 through the end.] Interviewer: Yes, well they allow to remodel…. Mrs. Dexter: Do they? Interviewer: Yes, but what they’ve, what they’re, the reason why they put that rule into effect was that they, it’s not that they can’t remodel their homes but that when they remodel, if they remodel the exterior, they want them to, to maintain the, the style of the home instead of like a lot of these homes, they put up false facades on ‘em and one thing or another and you know they change the architecture on them. �Mrs. Dexter: Oh. Interviewer: So that the value of the home is destroyed, and they don’t want that done. Mrs. Dexter: Well that’s true. Interviewer: So, that’s why they put that rule into effect. I think that’s the reason why. But we were talking about your neighborhood and the number of children and that were, were the families very close? Mrs. Dexter: Well, just as it is today, there’s always some in the neighborhood that become good friends and some that are not. I think they weren’t anywhere near the number of (?) that there are now. People lived for long periods of time in the same neighborhood. Everyone owned their own homes and they were cared for in those days we had no slum districts. No inner-city problems. But that is bound to come with growth of a city. The changes that take place, people, large numbers coming in from different locations. Interviewer: How big was the city when you were a child? Do you know? Mrs. Dexter: I know we came out, out to the lake from, from Eastern Avenue on a little dummy line. Interviewer: Was that about where the country began? Mrs. Dexter: Yes, it was, it was, there was not much beyond that Interviewer: What was the country like out, out in East Grand Rapids at that time? Somebody was telling me that there was that it was kind of swampy or something around Wealthy and Lake Drive area, remember that? Mrs. Dexter: No, I don’t remember, it was all country because and of course we used to, what, later when the automobile came and we took long drives in the afternoon, why there was still beautiful country to drive in. But of course when I was very young, we didn’t do anything on Sunday. We didn’t even ride our bicycles on Sunday. It was a family day and the, we always went to church and had the afternoon at home. But as I say we all had large playgrounds and many of our friends some of my best friends, they are those that I went to school with from Kindergarten on. And that was the kind of city Grand Rapids was. And now there was, there was never rivalry you might call it, between the different manufacturers. The head of the, the heads of the factories were all intimate friends and remained always. We had I think it was at one time, fifty four large furniture factories here and, they, oh they always had beautiful flower gardens around them and there was always a prize given every year for the loveliest gardens. And there was a personal touch to the life of the city that you don’t have now. Which can’t be helped as a city grows. That’s bound to come. �Interviewer: Could you expand a little on that, on that, what the personal touch, what, can you give me some examples of that, how the city, why or I mean how the feeling of that was. Mrs. Dexter: Which was just a natural outgrowth. You see they were now they, for instance the two Mr. David Browns, they were no relation, but they were the owners and, of the Century Furniture Company and they, there was the finest furniture manufactures at the Century Company than any factories in the United States have ever been. But they had no sons and that proved true in many cases. There no sons to carry on the businesses. Now while my father, his, son was with him for a long time but then as I say built the Imperial, well he had no sons that were interested in carrying that on. So we sold it. And that was the case in many of the factories that after the original leaders died, the furniture, the factories were liquidated and sold to outside corporations. Now Mr. Robert Irwin of the Irwin Furniture Company had no sons to carry on, it was very pathetic because if they had had sons that were more were interested and could, capable of carrying on the business, I think the industry would have stayed intact longer. Interviewer: You think that it still would be in existence? Mrs. Dexter: Well it still is in existence with factories that we have, but not in the proportion that it was. We had, the, of course they had their big showrooms and their big sales in January and July. And several, well fifteen hundred to two thousand men came every season to buy furniture. They came from all over the United States and from even abroad. Then for years we also had a semi-showing in the spring and fall. Well, that finally was given up but those big showings were, oh, it was a friendly spirit always. Now the Grand Rapids Chair Company was the first ones that started serving dinners at their factory during the furniture season. The Chair Company was out so far from downtown that, if the men went out on the street car or had a hack to drive out, they would get nicely started and the noon-hour would come and so many times they’d go back down to the Pantlind Hotel and wouldn’t come back in the afternoon and my father said they’d have to meet that situation. So they started in serving sandwiches and coffee and bought some pies. Well eventually it developed into a much larger thing. They had a cook and screened off part of the showroom to make the luncheons, well one day the cook failed to appear and my father telephoned for me to come immediately and serve the luncheon. So I did. I went out and he gave me a boy from the factory to tend to my errands and run across to the grocery store across the street and it then developed more and more into a meal, finally my father built a great big dining room and kitchen on to the factory for me and I managed that, caterers and waitress as long as we owned the factory and that started the custom of the various factories serving meals, luncheons at noon. And I guess some of ‘em still do. But they knew it had been the custom that was started by Mr. Foote at the Chair Company. And he always had a great big New Year’s Dinner. That opened the furniture season and so out of consideration for him and their affection for him, they, none of the other factories ever served New Year’s dinner. They all went to the Chair Company. And it was quite an event. And, but then… recalls many memories. �Interviewer: What were some of the other memories about the furniture business and the furniture factory and so on? Mrs. Dexter: Well, there was always this feeling of cordiality, the manufacturers never hesitated to invite, the, their shows were always open to each other. They always went. There never was any question of hesitancy that they might copy their designs. There never was that feeling. It was always so friendly. And now that doesn’t exist. It’s almost impossible I believe, to go get into a factory to see a furniture design, a showing. Interviewer: Yes, was that a pretty exciting time, when the buyers would come to town for the shows? Mrs. Dexter: It was just thrilling. It was just as exciting as it could be. They had, the Furniture Manufacturers Association had beautiful rooms, dining rooms and lounges and things in the Pantlind Hotel. They used to have beautiful dinners there. They always held their meetings there. But they used to have beautiful dinners there for the outside, the visiting buyers. And they, they did a great deal to entertain the buyers when they came. Interviewer: How would the, what, how would entertaining go, how would they entertain ‘em? Mrs. Dexter: Well. Many of them became personal friends. And then if they were, if these buyers were friends of yours, why, you entertained them in your homes. As well as the dinners that they gave down at the manufacturers’ club dinner, so that, I don’t know… Interviewer: What form would the entertaining at home take in those days? Mrs. Dexter: Just a personal dinner party. Interviewer: Did it differ at all from today, the way people entertain today? Mrs. Dexter: Well, it wasn’t the same thing at all. Interviewer: How was it different? Mrs. Dexter: Well, you had a beautiful dinner party in your own home but you don’t have the help to do it now days. Now unfortunately most of us have to do our entertaining at the club, ‘because you just can’t get help. And it isn’t half as nice. Interviewer: Where, where did the help come from that was in the homes? Mrs. Dexter: Well, it, of course in those days we all had help that lived in. Or you there were a great many cateresses that would go, come to your home to get the dinners. Bring, have cateresses and waitresses that we had for years and years and years. Now at the Chair Company I always, for many years would have the same cook and the same waitresses. One of ‘em is, couple of ‘em in fact are still alive that used to serve. �Interviewer: What, what were their names? Mrs. Dexter: I don’t know. Interviewer: Ok. There’s something I wanted to ask you about those dinner parties. Mrs. Dexter: Well, it a, most everyone could entertain at. Twelve at their table and sometimes if they were having more they would have, they’d have sit down tables, in those days we didn’t have buffet meals. But you would have smaller tables. But the majority of them were a dinner of twelve. And they were lovely. Interviewer: Who was the most spectacular entertainer in town? Mrs. Dexter: Oh, I wouldn’t know. Interviewer: What was the most spectacular dinner party that you ever went to? Mrs. Dexter: Oh, I don’t remember that. There was so many that were really charming that it’s hard to say. Mr. Joe Griswold, who was the head of the Griswold Furniture Company, his son Joseph Griswold is still in the furniture business here. Their factory was sold so Mr. Joe Griswold travels for other factories. But, Mr. and Mrs. [Joseph G.] Griswold lived on Fountain across from Central High School and they did a great deal of beautiful entertaining and Mr. Robert Irwin did too. He had a big home on, on Fulton Street and there were a good many. Interviewer: Did the, was the society the people that had the most association with each other, was it, set up, like the furniture people, did the furniture people hang with each other mostly? Mrs. Dexter: Well, they were quite a large group of the furniture manufacturers that were very good friends but I, I would think you would say there were two or three groups, with the large number of manufacturer that we had here in Grand Rapids. Interviewer: OK, Mrs. Dexter: And then of course there were other very delightful social groups. Interviewer: Like, like what? Mrs. Dexter: Oh, well. Mr. and Mrs. M.R. Bissell in those days had a beautiful home life with their family and their friends and then there was the [S. L.] Withey family and the [Charles H.] Bender family, and so many of them. Interviewer: How does, how does living today, what, what’s the biggest difference, in living today compared to living then? �Mrs. Dexter: The speed that one, everyone, travels at now days seems to me. We lived a slower life in those days, you could get your friends together more quickly and saw more of them I think; there was more leisure. Interviewer: Yes, that’s interesting. They talk about the amount of leisure time that people have today. That it’s always increasing and so on. Mrs. Dexter: I think they, I think they have more leisure hours if they want to plan them leisurely, but now where they have time from their business they’re always rushing to go fishing and always rushing to play golf or something of that sort so that when you come right down to it, you don’t have the peaceful hours that you used to have. And then another thing, people travel a great deal more now than they used to. Everyone’s just departing for long trip of just getting home from one and in those they didn’t travel nearly so much. There weren’t the facilities, we didn’t have the airplanes. So we stayed home and enjoyed your friends, had more time to be with them. One interesting thing I remember about furniture business, it was so long ago but, it was after we started to have airplanes, why my husband was the first one that shipped furniture by airplane from Grand Rapids, I had the picture somewhere out the old airport out there loading furniture, crated furniture on to the plane to ship…by airplane. Interviewer: When was, when did that, occur? Mrs. Dexter: (I’m) trying to think, I don’t know. Forty years ago. Interviewer: Yes. Mrs. Dexter: Must have been. Interviewer: Well, that’s the kind of thing that could be looked up. Mrs. Dexter: Yes. Interviewer: Pretty easily. Mrs. Dexter: Yes, ‘because there were pictures, they had ‘em in the papers, that, so there may be records of them. But Fulton Street was a beautiful street in those days. There were so many trees of course, and the houses all the way up the hill were lovely homes. They’re gone, so many of them now. And Mr. [Robert] Irwin lived there then across from them was, they, Mr. [Morris] Cassard’s house and, all the way down. The house that’s now the Women’s City Club and the old Pike home which was the Art Gallery and I was president of the Art Gallery when we converted that building and built on the additions…. Interviewer: When was that? Mrs. Dexter: Oh, the before we built that building, we opened it our art gallery, had rooms on the upper, where Dean Witter used to be at two Monroe, right across from the park were, our rooms �were upstairs there. And then the, Mrs. M. J. Clark bought the old Pike home and we raised similar amount of money to convert it and built the Art Gallery and it’s been there of course ever since. Interviewer: I’m going to turn this tape over; I think it’s almost out. Mrs. Dexter: I think you’ve got enough. � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/49bd2f13efa8484894c145e65c59c413.mp3 5ee57cfc98a9f10ca93bce6af80bc88e 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 Grand Rapids Oral Histories Subject The topic of the resource Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Local histories Memoirs Michigan--History Oral histories (document genre) Description An account of the resource Taped and transcribed interviews conducted in the early 1970s primarily of the children and grandchildren of many of the founders of Grand Rapids, Michigan; many of whom were residents of the Heritage Hill neighborhood. Interviews were collected to develop a significant collection of oral resources that would supplement other primary and secondary local history materials. Initially funded as a private project, Grand Valley State College (now University) assumed responsibility for continuing the project until 1977. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Various Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/452">Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf; audio/mp3 Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text; Sound Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-23 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1971 - 1977 Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. 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-23_32Dexter Title A name given to the resource Dexter, Emma Foote Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dexter, Emma Foote Description An account of the resource Emma Howe Foote was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 3, 1885, the daughter of Elijah Hedding Foote and Frances Amelia Howe. She lived at the corner of Lyon and College, and attended Junior College. Emma was married to Clarence S. Dexter, prominent Grand Rapids furniture manufacturer and financier in Grand Rapids on January 16, 1908. She was the president of Art Gallery on Fulton (Old Pike's home) and a regent of the Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution. She died January 5, 1983 in Grand Rapids and was interred at Graceland Mausoleum. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan--History Local histories Memoirs Oral histories (document genre) Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 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 Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf audio/mp3 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Grand Rapids oral history collection (RHC-23) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1971 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/3f407a5fec30eeb5b847db28641f599e.mp4 d8e858bfd2c65ce1f2ae04731168a863 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cd4eb9c8b7220c32f2d6722921a94685.pdf cf12c3476d017b1b97c98cc063620ce1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Nelson DeYoung World War II 56 minutes 20 seconds (00:00:12) Early Life -Born on November 11, 1924 -Grew up on the southwest side of Grand Rapids, Michigan -His father worked in one of the factories there -Grew up in a good neighborhood -There wasn’t much money growing up -He had a job delivering newspapers -Spent his downtime playing baseball and marbles with friends -Attended Southwest Christian School through the seventh grade (00:05:06) Growing up during the Great Depression -After the seventh grade he left school to work in a furniture factory -He had had a hard time in school because of his speech impediment -He worked eight hours a day and five days a week -The extra income helped his family during the Great Depression -It was normal for a thirteen year old to work fulltime at the time -It was easier for him to go to work because he was teased in school about his speech -The 1930s were a hard time to pull through, but he is thankful because his family did -During the summers they would go up to McBain, Michigan to visit family there -He always enjoyed those trips and misses them now -Before the freeway system it would take eight hours to drive up there -Now it only takes one to two hours -He also worked on a muck farm and was paid $0.50 a day (00:19:44) His Family -He had three brothers and two sisters -His youngest sister had Spina bifida and his other sister took care of her -His oldest brother worked for a hospital in Cutlerville -His youngest sister eventually died due to her illness (00:25:04) Getting Drafted & Start of the War -He was drafted on March 4, 1943 -It was difficult to leave his family behind -It was made easier because many of the young men in his neighborhood were drafted too -He remembers it being scary when Pearl Harbor was bombed -Thinks that the U.S. pushing forward instead of retreating was a good move though -He knew too men that were killed at the onset of the war (00:28:25) Training -He was placed into the Medical Corps and worked in a hospital for a while -He was transferred to a different camp -He was placed on KP (kitchen patrol) duty waiting for his uniforms to arrive -It took a month for his clothing to arrive �-He also served food at the new camp -The mess sergeant offered him the chance to become a cook -He decided to take the offer -Had he stayed in the Medical Corps he would have wound up near the frontlines -Because of his transfer he was supposed to go to Cook and Baker School -The mess sergeant overrode that, so he didn’t have to -He started off at Camp Bradley, Texas for basic training -From there he was sent to Camp Tyson, Tennessee to serve as a cook -He was transferred to Fort Gordon, Georgia -While he was there he had surgery performed on his back -After Fort Gordon he was sent down to Florida and stayed there for a short time (00:35:29) Deployment to India -While in Florida he received orders that he was to be deployed to the Pacific Theatre -He remembers going into a theatre and given an orientation about Army life overseas -Before being deployed the atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended -From Florida he was assigned to another hospital elsewhere -He flew from Florida, over Africa, to India to stay there for eighteen months -He aided at a field hospital in India helping to evacuate the wounded back to the United States -By the time that he got back to Michigan he had travelled completely around the world -When they left out of Karachi, India it took one month to get back to the United States (00:40:08) Coming Home Pt. 1 -He remembers when they got stateside men just left the ship and went AWOL -They were just excited to be back in the United States -He was discharged in 1946 -He had served at the same time as two of his brothers -All of them came home safe and roughly at the same time too -Remembers it was a “day of rejoicing” to see his family and his brothers again (00:42:19) His Wife -He met his wife prior to being drafted -While he was away they communicated over letters -It was hard to leave her behind when it came time to be drafted (00:43:45) Coming Home Pt. 2 -When he got back to the U.S. he arrived in California -He requested his discharge papers early so he could visit an uncle, but was denied -He was told he would have to wait until they got back to base -During the train ride home he cooked and served food -The thought of his wife helped him to get back home (00:47:18) Wanting to Enlist -When his oldest brother enlisted in the Army he wanted to enlist at the same time -His father forbade it and told him that he would get his chance soon enough (00:49:28) Reflections on Service -The experience of leaving his loved ones strengthened his trust in God -Believed that if he trusted in God he would make it back to them -He had felt that he had been part of a fight for good and justice in the world -His faith grew during his time in the Army �(00:51:35) Leaving India -He remembers when he was first onboard the ship in India he got terribly seasick -He could barely stand and it was caused just by the tides going in and out -After leaving port they hit rough seas -The deck was crowded with men vomiting over the side of the ship -He wasn’t affected because he already had his “sea legs” -He remembers that when they got to the open sea all he could see was nothing but water � 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_DeYoungN1697V Title A name given to the resource DeYoung, Nelson (Interview outline and video), 2014 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-10-19 Description An account of the resource Nelson DeYoung is a World War II veteran who was born on November 11, 1924. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was drafted on March 4, 1943. He started off training to go into the Medical Corps until he became a cook in the Army. He served at Camp Bradley, Texas Camp Tyson, Tennessee at Fort Gordon, Georgia and in Florida. At the end of the war he was sent to India to aid with the removal of American wounded from India out of Karachi. He was discharged in 1946. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeYoung, Nelson Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Semeneck, Evan (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans World War, 1939-1945--Personal Narratives, American United States. Army 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/0da7d8f317043745eab84976669601e5.m4v 69cfd22650085b5b880981f73a104514 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/569a202a8e3ad94a5625ed1f21db2c78.pdf 3cee9368e71e441de6bc2058815f915b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Ralph "Hank" DeYoung Cold War 38 minutes 33 seconds (00:00:42) Early Life -Born in 1928 in Spring Lake, Michigan -He stayed in high school through the tenth grade -His father worked in a factory, owned a farm for 6 years, then started a construction business -Hank and his brother became business partners with their father -He had numerous cousins that served in World War Two -One cousin was shot down over Switzerland and captured -Managed to escape and made his way back to the United States -He had no interest of going into the service -In the construction business he laid brick, did carpentry work, poured cement, etc. (00:02:36) Start of the Korean War and Getting Drafted -Paid attention when the Korean War began -He wasn’t surprised when he was drafted -He was drafted in the summer of 1950 -Reported for his Army physical and was deemed fit for service -Sent to basic training in December 1950 (00:03:19) Basic Training -Went to Detroit for the physical -Sent to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin for basic training -Got there by train -It was a four (or five) hour train ride -Camp McCoy was cold during the winter -Some days they would train in -56oF wind chill weather -Basic training lasted six weeks -The main focus was learning to be disciplined and to follow orders -Difficult to adjust to the psychological aspect of training, but eventually adjusted -Physical training wasn’t difficult for him -One man was killed during a training accident -Stood up during an infiltration course and got hit by machinegun fire -Infiltration course: crawling under barbed wire while a machinegun fired over you -Drill sergeants would punish trainees in various ways -Most common punishment was to be put on “kitchen patrol” (00:06:23) Cook Training Pt. 1 -Originally sent to radio training and took the basic courses at Camp McCoy -Some of the tables in the mess hall were worn down -He took it upon himself to repair the tables -Oddly enough this led to him being placed in Cook School at Fort Sheridan, Illinois -He had wanted to be a combat engineer, but never got accepted for that �(00:08:00) Getting Married -Prior to going to going to basic training he, his family, and his girlfriend had an early Christmas -His report date for basic training was December 15, 1950 -During that Christmas gave his girlfriend a ring -He was allowed to go home on leave for New Year’s 1951 -Decided that the next time he came up he and his girlfriend would get married -He was supposed to get a three day leave starting on February 6, 1951 -The sergeant in charge of giving out leave wouldn’t let him leave -He wound up talking the chaplain into letting him go home to get married -Took a train to Milwaukee, Wisconsin then caught a plane to Muskegon, Michigan -The flight was delayed and landed late -He was supposed to change at his in-law’s house, but the house was locked -Arrived to his own wedding an hour and a half late, but other than that it went well -Their reception didn’t end until 2 AM the next morning (00:10:46) Cook Training Pt. 2 -Discipline at Fort Sheridan was strict -The first part of Cook School consisted of a lot of paperwork -Learning recipes and how to keep records of supplies used -After the paperwork training got into the kitchen and began hands on training -The two primary foods he made a lot of was scrambled eggs and sheet cakes -On Saturday nights they would make chipped beef -Breakfast consisted of oatmeal and scrambled eggs -Cook School lasted eight weeks (00:13:00) Returning to Camp McCoy -Returned to Camp McCoy and started working in the kitchen there -He was assigned to Headquarters Battery of the 194th Field Artillery -He cooked for all of the officers in his unit -Sometimes the officers ate better if they treated the kitchen staff well th -The 194 Field Artillery was an Iowa National Guard unit -Worked for three days then got three days off -Served with two men from Detroit -One night they went drinking with a sergeant and didn’t come back in the morning -This meant that Hank had to deal with breakfast on his own -He recruited the men on kitchen patrol to help him cook -During breakfast the two men from Detroit returned -He covered for them, so that they wouldn’t get in trouble -He stayed at Camp McCoy until July 1951 (00:15:28) Deployment to Europe -He eventually received orders to go overseas -Didn’t know where he was going -Went to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey by train -Once there he knew that he would be going to Germany -Boarded a troop ship with 3000 other soldiers -It was an old Liberty Ship from WWII -The weather going over wasn’t bad -Spent most of the voyage just looking for ways to kill time �-It took seven days to go from the United States to Germany -Lots of men got sick during the voyage, but he didn’t (00:17:03) Wurzburg, Germany -Arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany -From Bremerhaven took a train to Wurzburg -His first impression of Wurzburg was that their barracks were beautiful and modern -The kitchens were also modern -German civilians worked with them in the kitchen -Did a lot of shopping and sightseeing on his downtime -Days started at 2:30 AM and lasted until 6 PM (sometimes even later) -Same pattern of three days of working, then three days off (00:19:30) Reassignment to the 272nd Field Artillery Battalion -One night there was an alert and he was transferred to Nauheim, Germany -There was already a military facility existing there -From there he was sent to the East/West German border with the unit on patrol there -Had to live out of tents -Relied on portable kitchen equipment -He was attached to the 272nd Field Artillery Battalion when he went to the border -At the time it was still a predominantly black unit -The new battalion commander was strict, but fair and competent -He got along well with the men in the 272nd -The Detroit men from the 194th came with him -Remembers that one of them was a violent drunk -Efficiency in the 272nd was terrible until they got the new battalion commander -He was on border patrol when his wife told him that she wanted to come to Germany -He wasn’t an officer, so he couldn’t move her over through the Army -She made the preparations to come over on her own -She would have had to live on her own, and wasn’t allowed to work -He eventually talked her out of moving over (00:25:45) Downtime and Contact with Home -He wrote home every day and received mail from home every day -He was the envy of his unit because of that -To cheer up the other soldiers his wife would write to the other men too -Most of the men in his unit were single so they would go on dates with the German girls -During his downtime he took design courses and bought a drafting board -Designed a house for one of the men in his unit -He would spend his downtime reading religious magazines and going to chapel on Sundays (00:27:10) Awareness of the Cold War and the Korean War -Always worried that the Soviet Union would eventually attack Western Europe -Paid attention to the progression of the war in Korea -If you were in Germany there was little chance that you would get sent to Korea (00:27:59) Contact with German Civilians -The German women were hard workers -The German men spent most of their times in bars -The Germans were, all in all, good people -Even seven years after the end of WWII there were still a lot of orphans �-There was still a lot of poverty in Germany -On Thanksgiving and Christmas the orphans would be brought to the base for dinner -The orphans didn’t speak much English, but they still found ways to communicate -He didn’t learn much German while he was in Germany -There were still a lot of bombed out buildings in Germany -Amazed by how much the Germans had been able to rebuild in a few years (00:30:30) Visiting Amsterdam -He was given a ten day leave and decided to visit Amsterdam in the Netherlands -It was different than Germany -Heard stories about how the Dutch had violently opposed the German occupation -For example: shoved German soldiers into canals to kill them -More of the Dutch people spoke English than the Germans did (00:31:15) Temporary Promotion -Went over to Europe as a private first class -When he was in Germany he was temporarily promoted to the rank of sergeant -It was not an official promotion, but he still had the leadership responsibility (00:32:18) End of Service and Coming Home -Towards the end of his service he just had to maintain the food truck, but not cook -When his time was up the Army urged him to reenlist, but he declined -Offered him a bonus -He wanted to go home and be with his wife -There was the chance that he could have gone to Korea if he had reenlisted -He returned home in November 1952 -When he returned home he had to wait in Bremerhaven for three days for a ship -On the way home the troop ship ran into a hurricane -He got seasick then -Never thought that the ship would sink -The crew didn’t seem too bothered by the storm either -Arrived in the United States at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey -He was discharged from Camp Custer, Michigan (00:35:03) Life after the War and Reflections on Service -After his service he went back to work with his father -When he and his wife were in their early seventies they backpacked through Germany -She had always wanted to visit Germany -Visited his old barracks -Amazed by how modernized and different Germany was -All traces of the war were gone -He worked in construction for the rest of his life -His service taught him to appreciate travelling -After his wife died he found a box of his old letters and memorabilia that he had sent her -His service had taught him not to be too attached to his hometown -Later in life he and his wife would take an annual road trip to Texas -His service taught him to be more independent -If he had stayed in the Army he could have retired early -Staying in the Army also could have led to him fighting in Korea or in Vietnam though � 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_DeYoungR1664V Title A name given to the resource DeYoung, Ralph (Interview outline and video), 2014 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-08-28 Description An account of the resource Hank DeYoung born in 1928 in Spring Lake, Michigan. He left high school in the tenth grade and worked with his father in his father's construction business as a business partner. In the summer of 1950 he received his draft notice and on December 15, 1950 he reported for basic training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. After completing his basic training he got married to his wife on February 6, 1951 and was also in Cook School training to be an Army cook at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He served with the Headquarters Battery of the 194th Field Artillery Battalion of the Iowa National Guard back at Camp McCoy. In July 1951 he was deployed to Germany with the 194th Field Artillery Battalion and served at Wurzburg. From Wurzburg he was reassigned to the 272nd Field Artillery Battalion at Nauheim and then went into the field with them patrolling the East/West German border. In November 1952 he returned to the United States and was discharged. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DeYoung, Ralph Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans 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 video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d96f2d1bba8b976be34351eeda25e25b.mp4 f328c66816264b260101d960158f5e40 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b4d1f5f75f2ed07946def03e4f58a743.pdf dc635f2f4dee4cb911da94336abeff41 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: World War II Interviewee: Henry Diedering Length of Interview: 00:32:48 Background           He was born in Drenthe, one of the 11 provinces of the Netherlands on July 6, 1926. After a few years his family would move to Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands, so his father could work in the coal mines. He would grow up in Heerlen. His father would not work as a coal miner, underground, but he would work in the machine shop. He would have 7 grades of education at a Christian school. That was the end of school and then he would start working. He would work on the vegetable market, selling vegetables, but was fired because he spilled some gas on the floor of the garage while trying to fill up the truck that was used to transport the veggies in. After that he began to work at a drug store. He would deliver medications to the village people on a bicycle. Before the invasion, he had no idea of what was going on in Europe. After France and England had declared war on Germany, it was assumed that the Nether lands would remain neutral. His home town would be close to the German border. When the Germans invaded, he remembers being in the 2nd story of his house and seeing the Germans come to invade through a field nearby and even saw them come out of the parachutes. There were not Dutch troops in the town that he saw, so the Germans just walked right in. German Occupation (3:50)       When the Germans occupied his home town, things would be very different. There was a shortage of food, and there were restrictions placed on the Jews in the town. He would graduate then and work at the jobs he described before. He remembers standing in the food line, waiting to get soup. At the time, he did not know of any resistance that the Dutch were trying to do against the Germans. Later on, he would find out of a group of people that he knew who were forming a resistance group, who were found out by the Germans. They would be sent to Germany and killed. His family would not have any trouble with the Germans. His father would keep a radio under the floorboards of the living room and listen to transmissions that were sent from England, in Dutch. �       When the Germans would come to check on the families, his father would go and hide in the field when they came. You had to be careful and could not even trust your neighbor. He remembers three doors down from his house was a collaborator, who would have told the Germans, if he had found out about the radio. About a year later, in 1941 or’42, the Germans would start taking things like radios, bicycles, food, and anything brass. They wanted the metal for the war. After the Allies had begun to attack Germany, he would see aircraft go by frequently. He would see big drones being sent over by the Allies to attack Germany. He would also hear a lot of V-1 and V-2 rockets that the Germans had launched to attack England. He knew that if they had gone quiet that they were coming down. There were no direct hits by any of the German missiles in his area. His life, more or less, changed drastically when he became 18, in 1944. When the men turned 18, they had to report to Germany where they would be placed in work camps, or they would help to serve the German Army by digging hole for them and such. He wanted no part of that, so all on his own he took a train to Rotterdam to look for a job. He would get one on a ship on the Rhine River. He would go up to Switzerland and back down to Rotterdam working his job. When the Allied Forces attacked Normandy and began bombing, his ship would get bombed in the process, leaving him without a job. This was in October of 1944. Refugee (8:52)         He stayed in the air raid shelter for a while, but was chased out because the shelter was only for the women and children. So then he became a refugee in Germany and tried to get back into the Netherlands. While he was there he had only the clothes on his back. He would survive by going into abandoned or blown up homes, eating any food that he could find, or sometimes going without. He would eventually find himself in a small German village, where he was more or less adopted. There was only one man in the village, a carpenter who had broken his arm. The rest of the men were working the anti-aircraft fire in the bigger cities. He would work in the village helping get the women and children to the shelter in exchange for food and he would bring cookies that the women made to the men in the cities. The men, in turn would give him cigarettes, which was more important than food for some. One day, a group of Canadian soldier would come to the town and one of them would speak Dutch. He would tell the man that he was a Hollander and that he wanted to go back home. They would help him get back to Holland in early 1945. As a refugee, he did speak the German language. He would learn most of it when he worked on the ship. He was supposed to serve in the German Camps, but since he went to work in Rotterdam, where there was not much control on checking the people, he was able to escape the Germans. After the ship he worked on was bombed, he and some of the others who worked on the ship would go to a nearby market, where a group of German soldiers would take everything from them, including their identification. �   The Allies would see them in a group and begin shooting at them. The Germans would run away and he and the others would scatter. He would not see any of them again. His family had no knowledge of him leaving at all. For a year, his family never heard from him and he from them. He would get back home in early ’45. He was there for 5 weeks when he saw a poster that advertised to fight the Japanese by joining the Marines and training in the United States. He would sign up for it, as he had no desire to stay home. To the United States; Training (15:00)             Via Belgium, he would go to England and then be shipped to the United States in an LST. He would ride to the US with a group of American soldiers who had served in Normandy. The ride over there was terrible. Some guys got in their hammocks and never left. Many got sea sick and the food was terrible. He did not get sea sick himself. He would arrive in Norfolk, Virginia and would be sent to boot camp for training. He would train with other Dutch Marines, in the Dutch Army. His expectation is that he would help with the invasion of Japan, but by the time his training was done, Japan had quit the war. He was trained to be a cook. He had cooked when he worked on the Rhine. He was not given a choice of his training. He would work as a Sergeant, 1st Class and would work as a cook, serving 250 Marines. He would get physical and weapons training while he was there as well. It was hard at first. They were pretty rough. He was being trained by Americans and knew very little English. He would then be shipped to Indonesia, where there was Japanese occupation. Just before he was shipped out, he had a week where he could go anywhere. He and his buddy would go to visit his buddy’s uncle who lived in Chicago. On the trip there, he was bitten by a bug and ended up in the Great Lakes Naval Hospital for a week. He asked for an extension but was denied. He would go back to North Carolina to rejoin the unit. And they shipped out from there to go to Indonesia. Indonesia (18:40)  They would travel by boat through the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, through the Indian Ocean and stopped at Calcutta, India.  He did have a chance to get of the ship there and remembers people dying of starvation on the streets.  They would continue on up to Singapore, but were not allowed to land there immediately. So they spent some time in a rubber plantation before being able to land in East Java.  He would be stationed in the town of Surabaya for almost three years.  When he first got there, he first saw a native, primitive lifestyle compared to the Netherlands and most certainly the United States. But the people there were friendly. It was the extremists and those who were fighting for their independence who gave them the trouble. �                The company that he was with would do some fighting and he remembers that they did have to bury some of the men. He would not personally see much combat, as he worked in the kitchen. A typical day was an early start, making sure that everyone got fed. He would also organize the activities for the day. He had about half a dozen people working for him in the kitchen. All of them were Dutch soldiers. He would move through many different towns. As his company would progress, he would move with them. It was very hot, every day there. It did not have a huge effect on the Dutch soldiers, though did not wear as many clothes as they normally would. They had problems with bugs. He got bit by a scorpion one time. There was good medical care, a few may have caught malaria, but most of them would be ok when it came to diseases. He did not take anything to prevent malaria himself. He would serve more inland, in not so swampy areas. The Dutch would finally get control of Indonesia, but the Allied Troops would eventually let them have their liberty. As a soldier, he could not tell much of what was going on politically. There were no major changes that occurred while he was there for the three years. He would personally have a lot of contact with the civilian population there, because he would buy stuff, or borrow dishes from them. There were also some Dutch people in the area, which had grown up there or lived there. Eventually they would get the orders that their time was up. They were all ready to go back home. Home (25:35)          They would head home on a troop transport ship. They got back to the Netherlands, but were ignored by the local people. It was comparable to the US locals coming back from Vietnam. They were never recognized as soldiers. The average person did not care about the whole colonial thing that was going on in Indonesia. He would go back to his home town for just a few weeks and then he would go to another town and stayed with his aunt. There he would get a job as a tool and die maker. He would do this from 1948-1950, until he was allowed to immigrate to the United States. He decided to go to the US because he had been here and he loved it here. There were also more job opportunities available in the US. His family did not care much about it. His family was not so much a “normal family” like most. His mother died when he was 10 and his father would marry the housekeeper. They would have two daughters and the sons from his previous marriage would be neglected. That’s why he moved out. In 1950, he would go to the United States. �           He would move to Chicago at first and lived with his buddy’s uncle for about three months. He had already met his girlfriend at the time, and eventually got sick of writing letters and moved up to Grand Rapids. He would work as a tool and die maker. But he had learned everything in centimeters and millimeters, not inches and feet. It took too long for him to do his job, so the boss had him sweep floors instead. Then he got a job dairy farm and he would become a milk man. After that he would become his own boss and he would make bread. His business would become the Harvest Health food store. His brothers would come over in 1955 and 1966. They came because he encouraged them to and they were not happy in the Netherlands. (29:50) Looking back at the time when his father had the radio, he did not know much about the war. He was too young to care. There were some Germans in the area, but not many. He did not see the war in the Netherlands actually happen as he was out of the country at the time. While he was there, there was simply not a lot of food for people to eat, though people did grow their own food. It would be more toward the end of the war, when he was in Amsterdam, den Haag and Rotterdam that he would see people starving in the streets. His life in the Marines would give him a sense of independence, but he already had that as a refugee and back home. � 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 Diedering, Henry (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diedering, Henry Description An account of the resource Henry Diedering was a teenager in the Netherlands when the Germans took over in 1940. He describes life in his home town under occupation, and of his efforts to avoid being impressed as a forced laborer by the Germans when he turned 18. He made his way to Rotterdam and got a job on a cargo ship on the Rhine River, and worked on it until the ship was damaged by Allied air attack. After that, he tried to make his way home, staying in damaged and abandoned houses, until he found a German village that had no able-bodied men in it, and where he worked for the villagers until the spring of 1945, when the Canadians took over the area. Seeing few opportunities at home, he enlisted in the Dutch Marine Corps and was sent to Indonesia, where the Dutch were attempting to reassert control, and was sent home after the Dutch agreed to leave. 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 Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine Corps Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-02-25 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DiederingH 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/33c00ceeb355a6bd54b36eac4c7e86b0.m4v d594d5b4b00b4fe9a60da1785a96d280 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9eb73c3cc8ac6489ca010fe5e7b4d988.pdf ca667f645ca91d604d9789eca6959b13 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Donald Diekevers Cold War Era 30 minutes 15 seconds (00:10) -Born March 27th, 1937. -Served in the army with highest rank of Private First Class. -Born in McBain Michigan. -Lived on a farm. -Hardwork doing farm work, raising pickles and beans, milking cows. -Two brothers and two sisters. -He is the youngest. -Life on the farm was hard but considered it a good life. -Father and mother were both farmers. -Worked for a short time at a hardware store in town. -Didn‟t enjoy going to school. -Attended high school for 6 months until 9th grade. -Left school when he was 16. -Today in hindsight he wishes he had stayed in school. -Grandfather served in German army long ago. -No other family members involved in military. -Rural living in winters: heavy snow requiring horses to get through certain roads. (05:00) -17 when deciding to enlist in the Army. -His brother Hank was enlisting in the military, and so he decided he would as well. -Brother wasn‟t accepted and he was. -Changing to military life was drastically different. -Basic training wasn‟t difficult for him, farm work kept him in great shape. -“Rough” but quite doable. -Took basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. -Later trained at Fort Carson, Colorado. -Later still, trained at Fort Bliss, Texas. -Finally sent to Washington D.C. -Appreciates the training he received, taught him discipline. -No particular reason for choosing the Army. (10:00) -Fort Bliss training involved using the 90mm guns. -Went to Virginia Beach about once a year to train to fire guns. -Guns were rather inaccurate and difficult. -Considers his own marksmanship average, “okay”. -Parents had mixed feelings about his leaving to the Army. -Economy was bad, and they had just moved to Grand Rapids. -His favorite part of military service – being done with military service (humorously stated). �-Least favorite part was the first six weeks of basic training. -Because it was lonesome. (15:00) -Made some good, long term friends in the military. -Life in the barracks – footlocker inspections, small bunks. -Preferred the bottom bunk. -Food was not too bad, KP service could offer advantages. -Long marches were the most difficult physical task. 70 mile marches. -Other aspects not too difficult for him. -Mentally being homesick was difficult. -Didn‟t get in any severe trouble during his service. -One incident, a mild car accident where he t-boned a vehicle. (20:00) -Upon discharge, two of his brothers picked him up. -They drove all the way from Michigan. -After returning home from the Army, went back to work. -Worked at various employers for a number of years. -Met his wife in 1955 (or perhaps ‟54), before entering the service. -Communicated by mail during his service. -Discharged from the military in March, married in October of „58. -Five years later 1964 their first child was born. -Another four years later second child, soon after their third. -Did not do anything to either encourage/discourage his children from entering the military. -During one week off, hitchhiked from Washington D.C. all the way home to Michigan. -Above all the most valuable thing he gained from the military was discipline. (25:00) -During his time he would attend service at the Chaplain on base. -Most the time his time was spent working on the 90mm gun artillery. -Military helped him to be self-sufficient, able to take orders and cooperate. -No lingering trauma or sense of PTSD to speak of. � 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_DiekeversD1830V Title A name given to the resource Diekevers, Donald (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-20 Description An account of the resource Donald Diekevers was born in 1937 in McBain, Michigan. He decided to enlist into the Army at 17. At Fort Knox, Kentucky he received basic training, while further training took place at Fort Carson, Colorado, and later at Fort Bliss, Texas. Their training involved the use of 90mm artillery and lengthy 70 mile marches. Eventually he would be stationed in Washington D.C. for the last part of his service. In 1954/55 he met his wife and they finally married after being discharged from the military in 1958. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diekvers, Donald Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Diekevers, Joseph (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f94949b2c63810303f652fea19953a7e.mp4 48e47e374a6c61a53a318a135e472f5d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e74be1fe71aad2fc953ab4341bd6eb6f.pdf 39fda051ba9071dabd8db7764cbd60d7 PDF Text Text Diephouse, Gary Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Vietnam War Interviewee’s Name: Gary Diephouse Length of Interview: (56:53) Interviewed by: James Smither Transcribed by: Maluhia Buhlman Interviewer: “We’re talking today with Gary Diephouse of Grand Rapids, Michigan and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project. Okay, Gary start us off with some background on yourself and to begin with, where and when were you born?” I was born February 8th, 1943, and I was born here in Grand Rapids and southeast side, and so basically this is still kind of home for me. Interviewer: “Okay so you grew up in Grand Rapids, what did your family do for a living when you were growing up?” My father owned a hardware store close by and mom taught school, and so we- And actually taught school at the same school I went to when I was, you know, kindergarten and up. Interviewer: “Okay so what school was that?” (00:58) That was Seymour Christian School over on Eastern Avenue in Alger Heights, and we went to church there also our church was close by, so this is all very close. Interviewer: “Very much in the community, okay. How many kids were in the family?” Just my brother, he was about a year and a half younger than I was, and so just the two of us. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Alright, and then when did you finish high school?” I finished high school in 1961. Interviewer: “Okay, and what did you do after you graduated?” I went from there to Calvin College and attended there for about three years, and at the end of 1964 I decided that college probably wasn’t something that really suited me, and maybe I didn’t suit the college I don’t know. I quit and took up- A friend gave me some information about the United States Air Force, and I enlisted and three weeks later I was gone. Interviewer: “Okay, so when did you enlist?” I enlisted in the latter part of September of 1964, September 20. Interviewer: “Now at this point was there a substantial draft going on or was that still fairly minor?” (2:30) We were just beginning the draft and they kept- And the students who were in college realized that, you know, to stay away from the draft they had to stay in school. I hence also recognized that if I wanted to quit school, there was a real risk that me- That I was gonna get in the draft and probably be drafted into the Army, so I decided to look into the Air Force. Well a friend of mine gave me the information as I said before, and he- The thing with the Air Force was they let me know they would train me in any- Well not any but certainly in anything that I felt I wanted to get into, so it was- We were being trained to serve, and not have to wait for the draft to be done. Interviewer: “Okay, and was the- How long was the enlistment for?” The enlistment was for four years, was a standard four years for everybody, and so I knew right from the get go that that’s what was gonna be the deal. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Alright, now where did you go initially for training?” Went initially for training to a base down in San Antonio, Texas called Lackland Air Force Base, that’s pretty much where everybody went, that was the beginning for all Air Force enlisted people. Interviewer: “Right, what did the training there consist of?” I think it was mostly marching, that was primarily it but as I look back on it, it was a training in order to get you to understand and accept the fact that there was a method of how you acted in the Air Force, and so you had to understand that you were not in control, others were in control, mainly officers. Interviewer: “Okay, now how did they instill that in you?” (5:02) I think, you know most people would probably say that they broke you down to build you back up, and I won’t say that I broke mentally, physically, or anything but I, you know, I certainly came to understand that, look I’m not in control anymore my superior officer or my superior C.O was in control. Which was fine with me, you know that way I understood, you understood pretty much, you know, how things were written in the sand. Interviewer: “So was this things like you know, what your- How you wore your uniform or how you kept your things in your own area or made your bed?” Everything to perfection. Everything to perfection absolutely. Interviewer: “Alright, and how long were you there?” I was there for eight weeks, all the time continued training, well towards the end of the eight weeks it wasn’t as dedicated as it was in the beginning. They taught you how to wear your �Diephouse, Gary clothes, how to shine your shoes, and how to act in front of officers, etc, etc, but eight weeks was it and then I was sent to another place, another base. Interviewer: “Okay, and where’d you go next?” I went to- Let me backtrack a little bit because during my basic training they put you through a battery of tests, they tested you mainly in writing. They wanted to know about you and what your strengths were and what your abilities were, and what you wanted to do. They gave you some choice, and I could’ve been a cook but I ended up being an air traffic controller or at least training for that. So the training base for that was in Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi and so at the end of the eight weeks I went to Keesler, they flew us over there, and I went through air traffic control school for, let’s see, until March, March 23. So I went from, well let’s see that would’ve been November to March, so that’s about four months. Interviewer: “Okay, now what did the air traffic control training consist of? What were you learning?” (7:55) Mainly that was a series of courses dealing with things that you had to learn in order to control and take care of your job. We started off with learning how to recognize weather and how to state the weather to maybe an aircraft, and we got all the way down into how you could- What a control tower would look like, and also how a radar would look like, and so- Because radar was also a part of it we could recognize the scope and recognize aircraft on a scope and train for that so, but it was all training and phraseology. You learned how to state things so they were understood by an airplane, a pilot. So it was interesting, I really felt- I really loved it. Interviewer: “Alright, now at this point were they not using computers yet for this, this was all still by hand or otherwise?” You know what I went in thinking I was gonna- I wanted to be in computers, I didn’t see a computer the whole time. No, computers were cathode ray tubes and vacuum tubes, they just weren’t- Not what we think of in today’s day and age. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Okay, now what was life like at Keesler, how was that different from being in basic training?” Keesler we were a little bit more on our own, we weren’t under the thumb of an N.C.O so to speak, that’s a non commissioned officer. We weren’t- We had a little more freedom, you know, we went to school in the day and at night we were pretty much on our own. We could do what we wanted and you started turning things around from being under the thumb to semi freedom, you certainly- You learned how to act so therefore now you got to use it. Interviewer: “Okay, now would you go into town and go to bars or movies or things like that?” (10:25) Yeah there was- Biloxi at that time was a different place than it is today, Biloxi was very, quite racist then. A lot of the things that were true in the early 60’s, 50’s, 40’s were still true, bathrooms for coloreds etc, etc, you know. So I had to learn a little bit about that, I mean that was revelation, we didn’t have that in Grand Rapids when I was growing up. Interviewer: “Now were there black airmen on the base with you?” Yes. Interviewer: “Okay, and did they just not go to town or were they just careful?” I think they were careful, I think they were careful but I didn’t see much of that on the base, much of that type of thing. We were co-equals on base, you know you may have been your rack mate so to speak, or your bunk mate may have been a black airman, but it didn't make any difference to me. Interviewer: “So those are two different worlds on the base and off the base as far as that went, okay. Now once you’ve completed this air traffic control training what’s your next �Diephouse, Gary stop?” As part of the course they let us choose where we might want to go next, what area of the country, because the next assignment is going to be on-the-job training, and so I put in for a number of things but I was pretty much Grand Rapids raised, hadn’t been outside of town very much other than maybe somewhere in Michigan or Chicago or whatever but above that I had not been around so to speak. Anyway, one of the places that I put in for was the southwest of the country. They gave you some general localities, northeast, southwest-east, etc, etc and I did the southwest. I had never been to the southwest and it always had fascinated me, Arizona, etc, etc, California, and so I simply put in for the southwest and not knowing what was available or what I was gonna get, and just prior to the end of my training they gave me orders to go to New Mexico, the state of New Mexico, and the southern part of New Mexico all encompassed the places like White Sands Missile Range, a lot of desert down there, and the city close by the base was referred to as Alamogordo, New Mexico. Yeah, so that was my next place to go. Interviewer: “So what was the name of the base you were actually on?” (13:52) Should’ve said that, the next base’s name was Holloman Air Force Base. It was right next to the white sands- Excuse me, not the White Sands Missile Range but the White Sands National Monument, which was a national park. Interviewer: “Alright, so what was there at Holloman? What kinds of air units were there, what was going on?” There was several interesting forces of that, the biggest group that was on the base along with the rest of us was a unit of Air Force planes and pilots that were training to go over to Vietnam, and so they trained for quite a while. I was there for two years, they trained for about a year, and maybe a year and a half, and suddenly the whole aircraft squadron and I mean and the people, and every piece of whatever went to Vietnam, you didn’t see them again. Also there was a portion of the base that dealt with missiles. The range next door to the base, which was quite a ways away from the base, but the range it all dealt with firing missiles, maybe as part of the war �Diephouse, Gary effort, but also it was part of research and technology where it came to firing missiles into space. So there was a whole command of that type of thing there, also it was very interesting. North of the base was- There was a spot where they tested and shot off the first atomic bomb, called the Trinity site, it was up in the desert and the Trinity site is still there, you can still visit, you can visit once a year, they open it up and you can go there once a year and see it. So a lot of interesting things to see, different types of aircraft, all kinds of interesting- As best I can say is interesting aircraft, a lot of them I still see in various museums, which I go to. Interviewer: “What kinds of aircraft were there?” (16:40) One of the most fascinating ones that I had the ability- The privilege excuse me, to control was an aircraft called the SR-71. The SR-71 was- Turned out to be, and this was just in the developmental stage of that aircraft, but it ended up being the fastest aircraft in the world, and it was basically a spy plane. That’s all it really was, it flew out over Russia, came back, and took pictures, and so- But we had one coming into our base one day, it was in trouble because he had a in flight- What they called an in-flight emergency, and he just flew into our base, and we got to see it, and it was probably the only time I’ve seen one other than in museums. Now you can go there in fact I think they have one down here in Kalamazoo at the museum. Interviewer: “Okay, now the squadrons that were training there what were they- What kinds of planes were they training in?” They were training in what they called the F-4, the F-4C, or you know the C model of the F-4. It was a fairly new aircraft and it did the yeoman’s job in Vietnam. There were a lot of other ones but primarily it was the F-4C. Interviewer: “Alright, now how did- Now you’re going there you said that it’s essentially on-the-job training so how did they orient you into that or when you get there what kinds of things do you start doing?” Well you start at the, you know start with the menial stuff, making coffee and all that, and then �Diephouse, Gary they sit you down and- I mostly was in a control tower, they sit you down in a position that doesn’t include the primary stuff right away, not until you can train into it so, and then from there you go on you learn how but all with the idea- Excuse me not the idea, all with the idea that you had somebody standing over your shoulder, watching what you were doing and what you were saying, and that was just on the job training you learned how to control with aircraft that were okay. “Saw him.” and “Saw him.” okay, and you know from there you just, you learned, you learned how to put them in, you learned how to keep yourself out of trouble by not running two aircraft into each other, that you didn’t want to do. Interviewer: “Okay, now how did they treat you? Did they handle you well or effectively?” (19:46) Yes, you became a community, that’s a good way of putting it. There were other people on my level, there were other people above me and certainly the officers and NCOs who have been there longer, and it certainly wasn’t like basic training. It was- You were there to do a job, and that’s precisely what it was, you learned the job and you did it correctly and- If you did it correctly, if not they’d let you know. Interviewer: “So what would a typical day be like at that job?” Primarily, because air traffic control, there has to be somebody on duty all the time. We went into a- We were always on duty, but it was based on shift work, so there were four shifts a day. What they called a mid shift which was overnight, a swing shift which was the evening, morning which was primarily six o’clock to noon, in the afternoon it was a six hour time period all the way through, and so you didn’t work all afternoons or you didn’t work all mornings, you rotated these on a daily basis. So one day I started off as a swing shift, the very next day I worked in the afternoon, very next day I worked in the morning and from there you went right over into the mid shift and then it was just a constant rotation. Interviewer: “So how does that affect your sleep pattern?” �Diephouse, Gary Terrible but, you know, after we were done working the mid shift we had a whole ‘nother day before we started the swing shift again, so we had plenty of time to catch up on sleep if we needed it. Obviously you didn’t sleep on duty but it was okay, it was a job and it was a- It was something that you were there for to do and I enjoyed it. Interviewer: “Alright, and what do you do when you’re not on the shift?” Well there too, you’re on your own. We used to do a lot of traveling around the area, there was a lot of things to see, I used to go down to Mexico once and a while cause we were about 80 miles north of El Paso and- But for the first year that I was there I didn’t have a car I had a bike, and so I would bike from my barracks to the control tower and back and forth, and that was pretty much the extent for the first year. After that I went home and got the car that I had left there and drove it back down there and had a car for the final year. So we drove around and saw various things and by that time I had established some friendships with other men my age, my group and we would do things together, there were sports, unfortunately I think we saw a lot of drinking too you know, the Airmen’s club, the NCO club, etc, etc. Interviewer: “There wasn’t very much of a town to go into or anything was there?” (23:40) Yeah there was but it was 12, 15 miles away. I also got- I was also in- I enjoyed, how should I say this, I started worshiping in the church chapel, base chapel, and from there- Whoops I’ll let that go by. I worshiped in the base chapel but I also joined their choir, the base choir, chapel choir, me and a number of other people and we had a good group. So we sang at all the Sunday services and I got- Did that for the whole two years pretty much. Interviewer: “Alright, now at this point do you have a girlfriend or anything like that or were you on your own?” No, was on my own there but I was writing letters to a special gal that I’d left back in Grand Rapids and spent a lot of time writing throughout the whole time, in fact kept a lot of those letters too. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Now, you’ve gone and you’ve signed up for a four year hitch and it’s probably an expectation that you may wind up overseas, were you thinking you were gonna get sent to Vietnam or did you have enough control over assignments that you didn’t think that?” Good insight, there wasn’t much control over it, there was always the specter that yes, Vietnam was there, a number of the people who got reassigned while I was there certainly went to Vietnam but they also would go a lot of other places. It was a matter of timing, Vietnam and some of the other bases were considered remote assignments. Remote assignments were never more than a year at a time, if you didn’t do and get a remote assignment generally you went to like Germany or Europe or some other spots, those were always considered two year assignments and maybe even a three year assignment. Well here I was already two years into my four years and so those assignments were there but you never- Well I supposed I could’ve requested to go to Vietnam, and I chose not to do that. Anyway we- I’ll just carry that forward, I suddenly got an assignment and was not Vietnam but it was a remote site, it was considered remote. (26:50) It was in the island- Excuse me, on the island of Taiwan, which is off the coast of China at the time. Excuse me, it’s still called Taiwan but it was- At the time it was called Formosa, and so I got assigned to that and finally had to leave some good friends in New Mexico and they flew us out to Taiwan. Interviewer: “Did you get a leave home first or had you had leave earlier?” Yeah, there’s some leaves all in this. That’s good you got 30 days a year leave however you wanted to take them if you, you know, if you qualified for them. So yeah I took a 30 day leave back home in Michigan and then from there I made my way to the west coast up to Seattle and then flew over to Taiwan. Interviewer: “Okay, and so do you remember the route you took to get from Seattle to Taiwan?” �Diephouse, Gary Yeah, yeah I do, the Air Force started- Excuse me, I mean the military, let’s put it that way, started flying people over rather than- Because they needed people as much as possible, rather than putting them on ships and going that way. So they flew us from Seattle to- Stopped in Japan briefly, very briefly, didn’t even let us off the aircraft, fueled up and then they went down to Taipei which is the capital of Taiwan. Got off there, had to find a bus to go down to my base, which is about half way down the island in a small town called Taichung, and then outside of Taichung was the base, and we shortened the term to C.C.K, it was called Ching Chuan Kang Air Force Base, and it turned out to be a- We were coding systems on that base with the Chinese, excuse me the Taiwaineese, the Chinese. Interviewer: “Yeah Nationalist Chinese.” (29:20) Right, so but there was a huge American build up there on the base, primarily to support the war effort in Vietnam. So all of the aircraft that we controlled in C.C.K there, were transport aircraft, all with the idea of material movement and troop movement and everything into Vietnam and Thailand, so we went all different directions there, but never saw any combat or anything like that I just- Taiwan was it, closest I got to Vietnam, and met a number of people who did go there, and those stories are hard to get out of some of the people who went there, they still don’t talk about it very much. Interviewer: “Okay, now for you I guess they- So you said you were sharing a base with the Chinese, how much did you see of the Chinese Air Force or their personnel?” Good question. Yeah we controlled about, well I’d say about 20 or 30% of all the ins and outs of traffic into the base was Chinese, mostly fighter aircraft of theirs. They were continually trying to harass mainland China, so what they’d do is they’d fly out of our base and go over towards mainland China and drop pamphlets. Yeah, and the pamphlets were, you know, to get them- To egg them on I guess a little bit, you know to harass them but there was never anything that ever came of it, but they were- The aircraft, the fighter aircraft were there to protect their island from invasion by the Chinese. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Did you ever have a sense that they thought that was likely or did people assume it wasn’t going to happen?” No they- Looking back on that I can’t say is that they were setting themselves up to fend off invasion. I think that the fighter aircraft were there for that, there may have been some sites out along the water, along the coast, anti aircraft sites whatever, but didn’t see much of that. So we were just kind of living, they were just kind of living in equality, you know, you stay over there we’ll stay over here. Interviewer: “Okay, what kind of facilities did you have in that base, what were your own conditions like?” (32:48) Our own conditions were pretty much like any other aircraft- Excuse me, any other base that I had been on up to this point, it was barracks. Barracks with rooms in it, you had roommates and it was okay, but that was all the American side of the base. The Chinese airmen and Chinese workers lived in their own, if not in town because we were close to the Taichung city so, and we had all the comforts of home. We had a movie theater, and we had BX, PX, BX, we had a lot of the things that made life- They were still building it as I left they were still building a base pool, swimming pool, and a couple of other things that made life a little more bearable, rather than having to live in a tent or in a fox hole or something like that. We had life pretty good. Interviewer: “Yeah, okay did you go off the base much into town or around in Taiwan?” I did, I did. When I wasn’t on duty we could always catch a bus, Air Force bus or a, you know, let’s put it that was a Taiwanese bus or whatever, into town. A lot of things to see, nobody ever bothered you, Taichung was a city like any other big city, it had all its traffic problems and- But all the same stuff that everybody else had, you know all the schools and the railroad station. Oh boy, the list goes on forever you know, I would think that- We discussed this the other day, my wife and I, the only thing I never got used to was the open sewage, what we called benjo ditches, and the smell was always there it was always present and open sewage is exactly what it is, was. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “And the climate is kind of warm and humid isn’t it?” Not too bad, not too bad, the city itself was relatively close to the coast line, and we had a hurricane come through one day and that was interesting but we had- Excuse me, not a hurricane. Interviewer: “A typhoon?” A typhoon, I misspoke there. That was a huge amount of rain, just huge, and wind and everything but we were confined to the base and confined to our rooms, we didn’t have any other cellars to go to or anything like that it was too many people for that, but we managed it. Interviewer: “So barracks didn’t blow apart in the wind or anything?” (36:24) No, no there was some damage though certainly, but now pin me down, that was 50 years ago. Interviewer: “Yeah, alright, how did the Chinese people seem to view you guys?” No different than anybody else I will say that, and we had a lot of friends but there was always the language, the language barrier. Although I think that a lot of them who wanted to deal with the Americans, who wanted to sell to the Americans, you know the tailors and the people like that who were trying to get your American business, they had a vested interest in learning some of the language so that they could speak, so that we could communicate. Interviewer: “So if you went into town, you went into a restaurant or something else like that, you could function?” Yes, although there were some things down there that I’m not sure I could look in the eye and eat. That was- Some of that was whatever but they had some places that catered to the Americans, so it was interesting. Interviewer: “Okay, this is also now- What year or what years were you actually in �Diephouse, Gary Taiwan?” That was 1967 for the most part, for the most part. Interviewer: “[overlapping chatter] Alright, and so that’s a time when a lot of young American men are interested a lot of things, including things like sex and drugs and rock and roll and so forth. Does that carry over when they’re in Taiwan?” Yes it did, a number of all the people who I served with all had their girlfriends, quote unquote, downtown. They lived downtown, they rented apartments down there even though they had a place in the barracks, so there was that. Most of them were married but they had that, you know, on the side. I had one gentleman one day who passed away, died, overdosed and so there was that but it wasn’t prevalent. I mean nobody tried to get me to take drugs, smoke weed, or you know whatever the case may be, maybe more of that went on in Taiwan- Or excuse me Vietnam, I don’t know. Interviewer: “A lot of it depended on where you were and when you were and what group you were with and so forth.” (39:30) It really did. Interviewer: “That’s why I asked, not because I have anything in particular I’m expecting to get but rather to find out, okay was that there or not, or did you notice that, and then I guess the same thing also goes with the question of racial tensions. Did you notice much of that where you were?” No, no I think that probably the most prevalent problem was alcohol, huge amount of it even in my own dorm room. Now that was with three other guys because we had four guys to a dorm room, and the bar was always open every day in our room for some reason, I don’t know why but it was in our room and there was a countertop there and you name it they had all of the various, the coercion you know. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “Where would they get them from? Did you buy them on base or just go into town?” Oh you could buy that on base, yeah in the BX or you could go in downtown too, but there was, you know, you could buy beer, you could buy liquor, sure. It was all available, but drinking to excess was a problem, at least I wasn’t used to it certainly didn’t enjoy it terribly much but you know if I wanted to be part of the group you had to join in a little bit, you had to have a few beers here and there, nothing to excess. Interviewer: “Well I mean was that- Did that become a problem for any of the air traffic controllers? I mean, were there ones who couldn’t perform the job properly?” (41:34) Not that I know of, but yes you minded that a lot of guys “Okay I can’t drink today I’ve gotta go on duty” in three, four, six hours whatever the case may be. Interviewer: “Now did you mostly associate with the other controllers or was there a broader range of people that you were with?” Broader range, that’s good because I was part of the Air Force communication service that included a lot of things, not just air traffic control it also included- And in this case we were at a remote site so the Air Force was responsible for the telephones of all things. The telephone system, and they built this whole telephone system where, in those days why you didn’t have a punch button telephone you had a rotary dial, and so you go to this building and you could see all this equipment work as part of a rotary dial. I don’t want to get into that, but there was other things, there was radar we were responsible for, there was a number of- Oh boy it’s not coming to me right at the moment but yeah, communication services included a broad range of communications. Interviewer: “Now did you have officers you reported to or senior NCOs?” �Diephouse, Gary Certainly. Interviewer: “Okay, who would you mostly deal with or give you your assignments?” Mostly, I mostly dealt with- We coexisted in the control tower with the Chinese, actually the Chinese did all of the controlling, we were just advisory. Okay so this was, perhaps I should have said this earlier, but we were just advisory there I was the only American up there at the time in my shift and the Chinese were responsible they wouldn’t let the Americans control their own aircraft, their own jets, because we couldn’t talk to them anyway but they had a command, a small command, of English that they would control the American aircraft but you were there to help them if they got in trouble. If the English pilots or the American pilots say “I don’t understand.” then you got on and did your job. Interviewer: “Okay, was that a common occurrence?” (44:16) No, no it really went quite well, it really went quite well. As far as who we dealt with, why there was always the chain of command. Yeah you were a ship worker but, you know, you were responsible up the line to an NCO who was also responsible to a squadron commander, who was an officer. Interviewer: “And when you were on a shift and you’re the only American there with the Chinese, was there like one Chinese person you’d talk to and then he’d talk to other people or did you talk directly to the officer?” They pretty much all would communicate with us as Americans, in English, broken English. The strangest part of dealing with the Chinese is that they brought their own lunch but they cook their lunch in the tower, so I learned how to eat rice, like this, but I didn’t- I would eat in the mess hall before or after the shift or whatever. So a lot of interesting things to see, and one of the things we did, the squadron commander one day invited me into his office and asked me if I would set up something with our squadron with a local needy, well how should I put that, we adopted an orphanage, and it was all kids who had nowhere else to go. They were kept in the orphanage �Diephouse, Gary downtown and so we established a coordination between them, and I was given the job- Myself and another fella were given the job of heading that up and we would collect funds every once and a while and seek from them a need. Okay, what do you need? “Oh we could use this.” Okay, so we would buy it at the base, basic exchange, and give it to them and we’d have a little party, and the commander would come out and invite all of the squadron, as many who weren’t serving or weren’t on duty, to come out. Well that’s one of the little things underneath that I did, but I never got a ribbon for it or anything, which is okay I wasn’t doing it for that purpose. Interviewer: “And are there other aspects of that stay in Taiwan that kind of stand out in your memory?” (47:30) Not really, I think that we learned- Yeah, well it took a couple of leaves- No, excuse me, one leave. We flew to Japan and I got to spend a week up there on leave seeing what that was like. Tokyo was really fascinating with all the lights, pretty much still the same I guess. That’s pretty much it. Interviewer: “Alright, and now when you finish up at Taiwan, so you’re there for a year basically, you rotate back.” 13 months. Interviewer: “Okay, yeah well that’s how the Marine Corps did things, 13 months. Okay, you have that assignment and now you’ve still got about a year left on your enlistment then or how much time?” I had about six months left. Interviewer: “Alright, and so what do they do with you for that last part of your enlistment?” They reassign me to a base back in the United States, should- Stop that for just a second and just �Diephouse, Gary kind of relay a little bit, my girlfriend at the time and I were trying to decide whether we were gonna get married before I went over to Taiwan, or wait until after and the upshot of the whole thing was that we thought we would be better off if we waited, and so I had six months to do and so I came home and I walked into her kitchen, surprised her, and very soon thereafter we got married in Denver, Colorado and from there we took a little bit of leave time but then we drove all our possessions, lock, stock, and barrel we drove them down to Phoenix, Arizona, outside of Phoenix Arizona is Luke Air Force Base, is where I was assigned. Interviewer: “Okay, and what was going on down there?” (50:17) There too it was all aircraft training for the United States, fighter aircraft training, at Luke and I was in a squadron of radar assistance. It’s tough to explain but it was a unit set aside to train ourselves in how to control aircraft in a remote location, such as Vietnam, so it was training almost for Vietnam. Well I had just come back from a remote site, so they weren’t gonna send me back to Vietnam very quickly, in fact that was a promise they said “You’re next- You’ve done a remote assignment now we’re going to-” You know, your next assignment wherever that is whenever that is will probably be something longer, two year assignment or you know. Interviewer: “Assuming that you’re re-enlisted.” Assuming that I re-enlisted because I only had six months to do, and when it was kind of getting closer we looked at each other and said “Okay what do you wanna do because here’s where we're gonna go next.” The two of us we anticipated looking at that even though we’ve been home for six months- I’d been home for six months and we decided to get out, quit. So they called me in and said “So what are you gonna do?” and they dangled in front of me my next rank, an E4 rank- Excuse me an E5 rank, and they said “Ten days after you reenlist you’ll get this rank.” and- But that wasn’t enough to get, you know, we decided to get on with the rest of our lives, and subsequently we stayed in that area for another eight years, seven and a half years, lived there. Interviewer: “So what did you do there after you got out?” �Diephouse, Gary Well being in air traffic control I could’ve stayed in that type of job and gone to work for the F.A.A, Federal Aviation Administration, and got a job controlling aircraft or radar, etc, etc. I looked at that but nothing was available right at the moment and so I took a job with an insurance company and I thought it was pretty good $2.25 an hour, and then I got raised to $2.50 but yeah I went to work for them and worked for them for another eight years before we left. Interviewer: “And then did you come back to Michigan after that or?” (53:34) Yes, yes we did. We were trying to make a decision, by that time we had two kids, and we wanted the grandparent influence. So we had a choice to go to Denver, or go back to Michigan, and my father was smart enough, he says “Hey I know somebody who will give you a job.” So that was it, we went for the job and we moved back to Grand Rapids. Interviewer: “Did you stay in the insurance business or move onto something else?” No I didn’t, I didn’t, I went into sales and worked for a steel company, steel, yes raw steel, and then from there I went into tool and eye sales later on before I retired. Interviewer: “Alright now if you look back at the time that you spent in the Air Force, what do you think you learned from that or took out of it?” I think they, the Air Force, again wanted you to accept responsibility, accept, that’s the best word I can come up with for it there are other words but you know, that’s primarily- You acted and you accepted responsibility for what you did, but you knew that and so therefore you watched what you did, and did your job the best you could this way. Interviewer: “Does that then carry over into life after the Air Force?” Yeah, I’m too much of a perfectionist, I’m a perfectionist at everything, you know. That clock back of us here goes off at exactly the right minute, and a few other things. �Diephouse, Gary Interviewer: “I don’t think that’s a bad quality for an air traffic controller to have.” I don’t think so either, you bet, but I still admire the Air Force, I admire airplanes, all these things over here I admire. They don’t mean much, they're just ribbons denoting various types of service, this right here is the communications service badge, and a couple of other things which I didn’t know about until just a year or so ago. Interviewer: “You went and found out what medals you were owed.” Yeah, right, so and this is the various pieces of rank that I own. Interviewer: “Alright well it makes for a good story and a rather different one from normal so thank you very much for taking the time to share it today.” (56:48) You’re welcome. � 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 DiephouseG2113V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diephouse, Gary Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-03 Title A name given to the resource Diephouse, Gary (Interview transcript and video), 2017 Description An account of the resource Gary Diephouse was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 8, 1943. He enlisted in the Air Force on September 20, 1964. He received his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, then went to Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, for Air Traffic Controller School. He reported to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in spring 1965 and was stationed there for two years. In 1967, he was sent to Taiwan and served in an advisory role to the Chinese Nationalists at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base near Taichung. After a year, there he returned to the United States and served at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for the last six months of his enlistment. He was discharged in 1968. 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 Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945—Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4a17bfd1a39abacbaf0c399483307ba1.mp4 cca7f99aeec54a6596e2f145c553db49 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/98f6ab43eaccc349179768337836976e.pdf ab899af09cf0fcf6e1af60182ba19b26 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Claude Dies Vietnam War Total Time: 31:48 (split into two parts) Pre-War (00:38) • • • Born in 1945. (15:05) Was in a family of 12. Was drafted at 20, and joined the Marines. Training (02:40) • • Attended boot camp at MCRD in San Diego, CA. (18:30) After boot camp, he was sent to the Air Radio Electronics School, where they were trained in ground to air radios. Active Duty (08:59) • • He worked at the New River Air Base, in Jacksonville, NC where he had to rewire almost the entire base. He was there for 2 years. The base was built in the World War II era and was not upgraded until they worked on it. He left the service in December 1968. Post-Service (13:00) • Worked in Avionics after the 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 Dies, Claude (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dies, Claude Description An account of the resource Claude Dies was born in 1945 and served in the Vietnam War with the Marine Corps. He was trained in the area of Air Radio Electronics after basic training, and was sent to New River Air Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina where he spent most of his tour of duty working as an electrician on rewiring the base. After his time in the service, he worked in Avionics. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Partridge, Ellen (Interviewer) Caledonia High School (Caledonia 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. Marine Corps Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-05-29 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DiesC 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/11d86bf697ee9b10cbb39eca9ce3b4aa.mp3 fa0b015dd42050ada7f3719ff193d2c7 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/00fe63d886dbd6445b18df84625c8bb9.pdf ab032b9d4012a54a2aa4edb7e2883c4a PDF Text Text Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 1 Ted Reyda: It is October 2nd, 2018 and I’m at, I’m Ted Reyda. That’s R E Y D A here at the old school house in Douglas, Michigan. Conducting an interview, an oral interview owner with a history of Ray Diffendorfer Ray Diffenderffer: Diffenderffer TR: Well, I’m sorry. RD: That’s okay. TR: Ray, if you could tell us the history of when and why and, uh you or your family became a part of West Michigan? And could you spell the name? RD: Sure, D I F F E N D E R F F E R. Diffenderffer. Well I was born in October of ‘43. So I’m just a few days away from being seventy five and my grandparents, John and Helen Diffenderffer used to camp up near Mount Baldhead. And when they found out that they were opening the land, and dividing them up into lots, they were the first group to buy a lot. And there were other people, George Wakefield, Rob Pilkington, Fred Kasperik, um let’s see uh, Chester Giller. Uh, several people who had camped there wanted to come up here on a permanent basis. And uh, so they did that and I can’t give you the exact date but it like um, about 1920. TR: [Inaudible] RD: So, um, I fell in love with the beach, with Mount Baldhead, with the Kalamazoo River. TR: They brought camping? RD: No I, I want camping. They, they bought the… TR: Okay. RD: They built the cottage as I say, in about the twenties. But I uh… TR: Where was the address? Do you know? RD: 840 Park Street, and um it's still in the family, my cousin's son bought it because the family was growing too big and everybody wants either June, July or August, and so um, we're very glad that he did that. So, um I would come up here in the summer, with uh, my parents and um our family. I have a sister who is older, a sister who is younger and a brother who’s younger. Um, and my grandmother was widowed and so, she loved being up here, and… TR: From where, Chicago? RD: From Chicago. And, she, uh obviously, there was no one to take care of her, and when I was 12 my Dad and my uncle asked me if I would take care of my grandmother and to me that was died and gone to heaven. I said sure, I would and uh, so I came up here and I would spend 6, 8 weeks um, watching her. But I also had a lot of time, on my own. And so, um, I be running up Mount Baldhead, running down, jumping in the water, going through all the backwoods and Ox-Bow and what is now Fishtown, and other places, and uh, I just love the beach. There was no, uh, there's no other place in world... �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 2 TR: Yes. RD: It’s just so great and um, at that time there were no fees to get in. The reason it’s called the oval, because it was an oval parking lot um, and uh, I don't even think there were concession stands up there at that time. And uh, there was just a big sign ‘Saugatuck’, and you drove in, and you parked. A lot of people just walked in from coming over from the ferry, and um, then just walked up the uh, road to the beach. Um, a couple of things that I uh, remember is that I worked on the ferry when it was a flat bottom boat. I was about fourteen, and uh, I can't remember the guy who uh, was also rowing the boat but he want to, and he was a little older, probably 16 or 17, and he said listen why don’t you take it for a couple days here or a half of this day, and I'm rowing this flat bottom boat with… TR: Okay, so it wasn’t the chain ferry? RD: Oh, no TR: It was a flat bottom boat. [00:04:59] TR: Chain ferry wasn't working then? RD: I don’t know if it was even uh, well it goes back over 100 years. But either somebody… TR: Wasn’t operating it? RD: No, it wasn’t operational at that time. So, uh, I would row the flat bottom boat and there was a store, right over there, they just called it the ferry store. TR: Yep. RD: You’d get bread and milk, and uh you know sometimes, and um, it cost a dime, to cross you know. Uh, so would row across and then go back and forth and it was just a great thing and it helped me build muscles and things like that. So, so I fully enjoyed that and um, my uh, so we didn't have a car up here but we relied the neighbors, and they were very helpful to bring my grandmother and me to church on Sunday and that was the old Saint Peter’s in Douglas, it was not the new one out on Blue Star Highway. There was a Father Nugent there and uh, I can't who else uh, but during that time, I met May Francis Heath, the white haired queen of Saugatuck. TR: The Grande Dame? RD: Oh, the Grande Dame, she, she radiated and she and my grandmother were uh, were very good friends. And, uh, she did things with the garden club and she did the things, at that time she was instrumental in the library which used to be right across from Blandshires at that time. TR: Yep. RD: And then uh, uh the post office which is now Jim Brandy’s art gallery, there’s a guy there who was Post Master, Val Smith. He called me lucky because was um, I was able to play bingo at the VFW Hall right behind parishes or what is now Alexanders drug store. And I won 3 or 4 games. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 3 TR: Whoa! RD: I would win ten dollars or something like that. TR: That’s a lot of money! RD: Yeah! So he was reading the numbers out and so when I’d go in to ask for the mail, um, he’d call me lucky and you know, the mail was always delivered to uh, just Saugatuck Michigan. No zip codes, no addresses and it was just general delivery. And um, so… TR: They didn’t have home delivery? Everybody had to go to the post office, I would imagine. RD: Yeah, I think so. I don't recall any delivery. And um, going into town which is so different today, uh East of the Sun right on the corner there, that was the Log Cabin Tavern. TR: Uh huh. RD: And then um, course the big pavilion and you walk on down, and then there was the Hollyhock House was a restaurant that specialized in breakfast and lunch and um, of course it was the hotel. Hotel Butler was still at that and then to top off of that, just made it a restaurant. And uh, those were just, you could walk around town and because it was so small, um, people knew you and uh, because we didn't have a car, I would walk from the cottage uh, around the uh, the Kalamazoo River, over the bridge. But I’ve never really walked it, people would pick me up. TR: Wow. RD: It was nice. Very few times that I’d complete the walk you know and um [inaudible] Couple other memories that I have, of course when they built the radar station in ’57 and um… TR: This is the subject of our show for the last two weeks RD: Okay. Well um, there was this panic because of the, uh, Russians were going to come right over, down, down Lake Michigan and people were very uh, curious why, we you know I mean, are we supposed to be wearing, uh gas masks? Or, you know, those kinds of things, and, the stairs before they built the place. They were just all rotted out. TR: Oh, really. RD: It was probably safer to walk up the sand, then it was, because they were all rotted out. So we [cough] we did that, our, you know, I’d climb up the sand, they had a special tractor that was bringing equipment there. I mean there was a lot of uh, electronic stuff and then they put that tower up there, then they put the dome on it, and uh, you know people were just, ‘What’s happening? What's happening?’ You know, it was the height of the cold war and um, those kind of things. So… [00:10:18] TR: You don't know anybody that, they also had uh, local people from what I understand, go up there and do observation things. So, I don't know if you were ever… �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 4 RD: No, I did not know that. Um, but uh, it was a busy activity. TR: Oh, I would imagine. RD: Yeah, there were a, a lot of, and they wanted to get that thing done because you how know the winters are. TR: Sure. RD: So, uh they did that and part of the deal was that they built another set of stairs. It was either the Army Corps of Engineer. TR: Most likely. RD: So those are, you know early memories. Uh, downtown was something else, it was where Kilwins is there was, um, Flints, um, uh, it was for an all-purpose general store they sold, um, well everything. Then there was Funks where you’d get the newspaper. TR: Yes. RD: And then of course the post office and then the drug store was known as Parish’s at that time and you can see the… TR: Yeah, the name. RD: And on the post office you see the name Heath. And, right across from the post office, no from the, um, Parish’s drug store, there was a Fruit Growers Bank. TR: Yes. Which is gone. RD: Which is gone now, and now it’s a garden. I don't know who donated the money for that. TR: UH, I’ve heard the name, but I don’t know it right now. RD: And, then there's a bank right behind it now, butts up to the Sandbar. TR: Yeah, was, in your days was the Inner Urban working? RD: No, the Inner Urban was not working. Um, there’s a lot of pictures of the Inner Urban right near the pavilion there and uh, and then it went out to um, was it Macatawa? TR: Yes. RD: Yeah, okay. TR: There was a connection to go to uh, Grand Rapids. RD: Yeah, and uh, and of course the uh, the pavilion. The pavilion was the… TR: Did you ever get to go in? �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 5 RD: Did I go in? Yes, I went to… TR: And the bar below? RD: Well, if you want to talk about the Dock, um, and uh, I can say this is as a joke, but you had to be at least seventeen to get a drink. TR: Yep. RD: You know, and I wasn't even seventeen but they, they knew you got a beer or two. And I can't remember how much it cost, maybe a quarter for a bottle of beer. Um. And then uh, you could walk out on the dock and there was a bunch of graffiti, but it was just you know, gang signs. It was just, this boat, and you’ve seen those pictures? TR: Yes. RD: And then um, there was the, the Owl which was this big boat that came in. There were some others, but the thing that I remember about walking out, on the dock there, is that at the height of the season there 7 and 8 boats all lined up, tied up. TR: Rafted. RD: Out there, and then of course you bring a little boat to bring the people out there. Lots of beautiful women. And uh, it was just, you, you came down, you had to walk by the pavilion. Just had to do it. TR: It was the season. RD: Yeah. TR: Epicenter. The, did you ever get on any of the boats? RD: Yes it did. [Laughs] TR: Oh. RD: Well some of them you’d be backed up and of course, you know because they wanted to avoid the um, waves if you had the bow of the boat there. And I got out to some of the uh, boats that were out in Lake Kalamazoo. And um, it, I mean, there were some wild parties there. TR: Oh, I [Laughs]… RD: But it was, it really was controlled for some uh, reason. So, um I want to talk about the control on the thing is that um, on the big weekends and we're talking um, Memorial Day… TR: Labor Day… RD: Fourth of July and Labor Day. Because so many people came up into town, motorcycles. Um, the police, and I just want to get this straightened out, could block, off the town, with three, um, patrol cars. [00:15:03] �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 6 TR: Ah-ha RD: Coming in. TR: Three main routes. RD: Yeah, well I think it was off of North Street, uh, and then, um… TR: Old Allegan? RD: Yeah, Old Allegan, and then, Old Allegan would come in and where the sign was. TR: Yeah RD: And then um… TR: So they actually did at times block off traffic? RD: Oh! Uh [Inaudible] yeah, There were so many people, there was gridlock. TR: Yeah. RD: And um… TR: We're talking about 60’s? RD: Yeah well, yes. In the sixties, early sixties and I’d even say late, you know, 59, 60, but whatever. Uh, and they had, I think it was Lyle Jones was the uh… TR: Jones, yes. RD: And there was another guy. TR: Police officer. RD: Yeah, yeah. And uh, they had help from Douglas and they had help from uh, um. TR: Yeah because our two police departments were separate. RD: That’s correct, yes and uh you know you see some of those pictures of those guys and they look like Andy Griffith, you know? It just is, yeah and um, so for some reason they were, there were no riots. You know there are couple of people, you know, some drunks were hauled off to Allegan uh, but um, I don't recall, first of all I was never involved in any kind of a fight but, um, there was just a lot of drinking. TR: Oh, I would imagine. A lot of pictures of all the bottles. RD: So uh, a couple uh, other places Terra was the restaurant it was owned by uh, Charlie Koning. And I think his brother the um, hardware store, that Wilkins had? You know? TR: Yeah. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda RD: And then they had the ladder that went across remember that? To, to get up on the top. TR: No, I don’t remember that. RD: And then they used to use sell nails by the pound, you know? TR: Yeah. RD: They had this one weighted, and then it was like a dumb waiter in the back. TR: Oh, yes. Yes. RD: I know I was down stairs but I have no idea what they had downstairs, they just had a whole bunch of, uh… TR: Yeah. RD: Whatever. And then um, there was a Holiday Hill. Which was right behind the Beach House and Harding’s, do you remember Harding’s? It used to be down um, right near where the uh, Root Beer Barrel originally was. TR: Did you happen to know Christa Wise? Her name wasn’t Wise then, because they owned the Holiday… RD: It was… TR: Yeah RD: Masters. TR: Yes, exactly. She, she talks a lot about it, and the burning? Do you remember the house burning? RD: Oh yeah, and um, I met Al Masters, uh, not formally but yeah and uh she married Wise of course, and uh, she did exceptionally well uh, the high school or in the school with her artistry and her… TR: Oh yes, we had a wonderful interview. I interviewed her. RD: Oh yeah, and um there were a lot of people do not want her to retire. TR: Oh absolutely. RD: And she just said well we, we need groom with people. Which I very think it’s good. TR: That’s the story of all our lives. I was just curious, if we kept going south into Douglas, uh Tower Marine. RD: Oh yeah. TR: The, the tower. I think I remember the tower. 7 �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda RD: Well there was the, well the water tower’s right where the Root Beer Barrel is right now. TR: Yeah. RD: And you could see that from Blue Star Highway coming up. TR: But I thought that there was just a tower that, I don’t know, a look-out type thing? Because that’s why they call it Tower Marine. I've seen pictures of it. RD: You know I… TR: But there was a big and its still, no it was torn down, there was a big like Quonset hut. RD: Yeah. TR: Strange building and there was talks about very ill proved things going on there, you can rent a room, uh. RD: You’re probably right. I don’t know all of… TR: [Inaudible] RD: Yeah, I didn't experience this. Well you know you can uh, talk about, um, the difference between Saugatuck, Douglas, and uh Holland. Holland thought Saugatuck was known as Sodom and Gomorrah. TR: Absolutely. RD: I mean it was just, uh, surprising how much of the Dutch would come down to Saugatuck. TR: Especially on Sunday. RD: On Sunday! Yeah right, after twelve, after twelve o'clock. What is now the uh, um, exit 41 the, what’s that gas station there that has all of the, is that Dunes View or something like that? TR: Yes. RD: Yeah, okay. Ah, but there was a lot going on there. Um, so for me at a very formative age uh. [00:20:08] TR: You didn't go to any concert, or jazz or the rock concerts? RD: They had some uh, right, right near… TR: That area. RD: Yeah, right across from Billy’s boat house [inaudible] and uh, after the Pavilion burned down there was supposed to be a big jazz festival going out there. TR: Oh they did have one? 8 �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 9 RD: Yeah, and I was not here. TR: Yeah. RD: [inaudible] before that actual jazz festival they used to have you know, Venetian night with the uh, arts and craft show and then the parade going up and down the uh, river and uh, you know those were great times. You know, you were just seeing people having just, enjoying the place and it was a lot less expensive than it is now. TR: Exactly. So yeah, what period, you went back obviously in the winter to be educated and graduate. RD: Yeah. TR: But you kept coming back summers after that. What point did your grandmother die? RD: She died in 64. TR: Okay. RD: And then, um, I was teaching school. TR: So you got a degree so you could teach? RD: Yeah, so I was teaching school, and then uh… TR: In Chicago area? RD: Uh, yes. Uh, Saint Joseph High School in West Chester. You know, just twenty-five dollars out of Chicago, so. Um, but I always said that I wanted to come back to uh, Saugatuck Douglas area. TR: Your family obviously still owned the cottage? RD: Yep, and I come up there. But as the family grew… TR: Yes. RD: …and everybody wanted…. TR: What date [inaudible] RD: You know, well you had last year, you had you know Fourth of July so this year, you know and on and you know, and then we had deals keeping the kids out after Labor Day because of school, that we’d leave and of course the traffic going back… TR: Oh yes [inaudible] RD: The skyway and things like that. Um, so uh, if I can fast forward a little here, um, let's see here. Well I made the decision that I was going to end up here. TR: Ah! �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 10 RD: That was, that was, that was that was known now. TR: You were graduated college and were teaching and you made that decision. RD: Oh yeah, yeah, and then so then I, so that’s like about 1970, 72, 73, this is, this is where I wanted to end up and you know I didn't have a job or anything like that. So I still had to be in the Chicago area but I kept on thinking and coming up, opening the cottage in early, early April or early May and then closing it in at the very last time in October or early November and uh, I even came up in the winter time. Couldn’t stay at the cottage because we drained the water. TR: Yeah. RD: Well we stayed at Timber Line Hotel and there were a couple others. So uh… TR: We, so you were married at that time? RD: Yes, I was married at that time uh, my wife and I are divorced in 90. So I wanted to figure out how I was going to get out here, so I had to figure out finances and all those things, so by 1996 my mother is getting old and I had promised her, now my dad died in 1970. So I promised her she would never end up in a nursing home. So I decided to buy Joe Borscht’s house in, right next to Naught Marine and then I trained, licensed that has an assisted living home for adults, and it was license for six people. And my mother was one of those and there were several other people, and I was right there on Wades Bayou, beautiful view. TR: Is that the one with a swimming pool or across the road? RD: No, if if you go down right where the kayaks now are being, um. TR: Yeah. Oh! Okay, there, alright. RD: And uh, her bedroom looked out on the water and she loved it and so she was there from 97 to October of 2006 she passed away, 2000, 2000 she passed away and then uh, there were other people there and uh, by 2003 um, I just, was burned out doing that kind of work. [00:25:06] TR: I bet. RD: I loved it when a great spiritual experience, but it was time to move on and… TR: You were there alone? You had divorced or your family wasn’t? You were there alone? RD: Uh no, I, uh well, my sister and her husband had worked there for a while little. TR: Okay. RD: And uh, then, I met um, Mary Bud in October 2005, I met her at a talk over at uh, Mothers Trust and uh, then we started dating and uh, we got married in uh, 2006 and um, so we now live in Fennville but I had sold the property and um, I started the recycling thing in Fennville and uh, but if you want to focus on Saugatuck �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 11 TR: No, that’s, that’s why they’re. You now live sort of at the edge of the Fennville winery so that can be. RD: Oh yeah we live right behind, well you know. TR: Yeah. RD: Right behind uh, Fenn Valley and then there’s Virtue Farm and then there’s going to be two more right down the [laughing, inaudible] TR: That’s within the bailiwick of our Saugatuck Douglas… RD: Oh yeah, it’s um, there’s, it’s very fertile for grapes and uh, apples, and you got Cranes down there doing the hard cider, and uh, there's just a lot of, um, entrepreneurs around the idea of wine. TR: Yeah. RD: Or hard cider. Um, let me just take a look, look here um, couple other things, the Lloyd J Harris Pie factory? TR: Yeah? RD: That is now the Chicago, the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, and um, he was very successful, uh, in, in that. Um, Frank Dennison property which is… TR: Did you get to know that? RD: I saw him. I was out there, at where Skip Dennison’s property is. TR: Yep. RD: We would go through the old uh, camp trail roads and stuff like that. TR: Yep. RD: I don’t even know the names of the, those roads or stuff like that but, uh… TR: It was the Dugout Road, yeah. [Inaudible] unofficial name. RD: And if you, you know moved over at foot TR: Yeah RD: You’re going to go down in to the Kalamazoo River. Grace Capaletti’s place was there. TR: Yes. RD: Couple others I think. TR: Right, our right friends had that old um, Kalamazoo block house. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 12 RD: Oh yeah? TR: I tried to buy it, banks wouldn’t loan me money. But uh, yes did you ever, were you able to, uh, hike all the way on the North side? Maybe that was out of your bailiwick? RD: Uh, yeah I would, I can’t remember the name of the camp ground, Pine? TR: Yeah. Pine Creek, RD: Pine Creek. Yeah I’ve walked all the way with a couple of my daughters we would walk all the way out to the, North? TR: Beach? RD: Part of the channel, you know, so. TR: I did too and that’s why I would go past, they were building the boats. RD: Oh yeah. TR: But then they, they fenced it in, and they wanted you not to go past. RD: That's right, yeah, but there were some very expensive boats… TR: Yes. RD: That were built there, and a couple of movie stars had… TR: I knew some of the people that are doing some of the interiors. RD: Yeah. TR: Materials. RD: Oh yeah, it was, yeah, and because the boats were made of fiberglass and they were very volatile and you had a lot of uh, chemicals around and that's, you know, that was a disaster, when it burnt down you know. That was uh, we had gone out there in a canoe to see the wreckage and stuff like that, so um, yeah that was uh, a uh, big thing. Of course Frank Dennison and uh, RJ Peterson were good friends but they fought a lot, they were good friends and fought a lot. TR: They always, always, yes. I used to cross country ski through that area. The, did you ever own a boat? RD: Not a big boat. TR: No. RD: Just a… TR: Roundabout. Yeah �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 13 RD: Just a 15 horse um, 17ft fishing boat and stuff like that, and that was a lot of fun. TR: Sure. RD: Just going up and down the Kalamazoo River and uh… TR: Were you a fisherman or anything like that? RD: Oh, I fished a little but not that. When I was younger I caddied on the West shore Golf, uh, and uh, I knew uh, Carl Wicks and his son Paul and um, we, we caddied. [00:30:04] TR: Yes. RD: A couple other guys, I can't remember their names. Um, people come up from Chicago, they needed a caddy and, I think they had a couple golf carts there but not uh, most them had the, the ones that you pushed. TR: Oh, yes. Yeah, get a little bit more exercise. RD: Yeah, so um, but it was, it was it was always fun, and uh, I remember they were, at one time, now this is just a rumor but, you know. They were going to make it an exclusive 9 hole golf course and then with just a couple of key properties around there. TR: Yeah. RD: And then there was a guy by the name of Mcveigh, Bill Mcveigh, and he was in real estate and stuff like that and he was in uh, he has since passed away, and he had talked to Carl and you know, just batted around ideas and stuff like that, but um, and now it’s no longer a golf course. TR: Nope, and it became the houses. RD: Yeah, and um, I don't know what they're going to do with what was the main part of, you, all the hill and stuff like that. TR: Yeah, well there are houses being built, uh, on some of those peninsulas but nothing in the lower area that would flood, or. RD: Well you’d have to get roads, um, let me see what else I’ve got here. [Pause] The uh, the attitude I want to fully convey is, I just didn’t want to live anywhere else. TR: I know. RD: I, I, I don’t know how else to explain that and I love the upper peninsula, we’re going there in a week, uh, we’ve walked the bridge, we’ve been to Lake Superior, and it’s beautiful, um but there is just something about this area. The artists, the sense of generosity, the sense of uh, fundraising a particular cause and, and, you know, if somebody has cancer, somebody needs this, and you know boom, there's a cookout, there a Church’s get together, you know I… �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 14 TR: And that’s one of the questions there, how has it changed good, for the good, for the bad? But you’re sort of implying some things there, yeah. RD: Well… TR: That quality it's still there that you just described… RD: Yeah, it's uh first of all, it's, it’s a lot more expensive. TR: Yes, but everywhere almost? RD: That’s right. No, no, and yeah that’s right, that’s right. TR: But not quite. RD: Yeah. When I see cottages that are, uh, you know somebody would buy the land of the cottage, and knock the cottage down and built something that, in my mind just didn’t fit in there, and uh, so that was a uh, you know that part I wish didn’t change but, you know as you get older you have nostalgia. TR: As we said the Native Americans that were here, when Butler came probably said the same thing. Hey it’s not the same. They don’t build like we do. RD: That’s right, and he ended up right on the mouth of the river, and he got down here and where the pavilion is and of course I don’t, you know remember everything like the Wildcat Bank or Singapore, or… TR: No. Age wise, because you’re the identical same age to me. RD: Yeah, well some of the things when they say, its Fishtown. Well is it over here, or is it over here, wait a minute I thought it was, you know and then if you did certain real gaping down there, which I don’t think you can do now, you would probably find piling and stuff like that and… TR: It amazed me how fast that they did the channel at the turn of that century, how fast the, uh, channel filled up. RD: That’s right. TR: It became a lake, I mean that’s just amazing, with the prevailing westerlies with the sand you know? RD: One of the things that uh, um, amazed me is when I went to somebody on the Tourism Bureau and just uh, you know, I knew the reason that Oxbow was the way it was, the channel used to come in here and the pilings and I said, do you know why they call it an Ox bow? And I was just, you know, and the person said no and well it was the Ox bow bend in the river, and if you go there where Oxbow is, now the Art Colony, um, that’s a beautiful area and the sun coming over and stuff like that, the sunsets. But there’s still the pilings there. TR: Sure. RD: And, um, because of the sand and the wind and like that, it’s not a very deep uh… TR: No. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 15 [00:35:00] RD: Lagoon? Or if you want to call it that, and then as you go north there, there's that big sand pile right where they dock a lot of boats there. TR: That’s the basin. RD: Yeah, and uh, and I know RJ Peterson keeps on talking about we got to keep on dredging that, uh, river because of all the damns starting again at the other part of the Kalamazoo River and the silt and stuff like that. TR: Yeah, well a lot of it if from the farming. RD: Yeah. TR: Communities that… RD: That’s right. TR: You know they don’t practice things and it, the erosion. RD: That’s correct. TR: And the chemicals that can come with it. RD: That’s right. TR: But, it [long pause] physically I think we should describing the geography of the area so interesting. I can't imagine not being pleasurable forever and ever. RD: My wife and I have made contributions to the group trying to save, you know, where Padnos and… TR: Yes. RD: Others, and were very glad, and we’ve we, we knew Patty Birkholz. TR: Yeah RD: She was very instrumental on the south side. TR: Sure. RD: To get that. But once you build homes there, it is going to change the thing no matter what. I mean, pollution… TR: And, and they uh Presbyterian Camp is now a gated community. RD: That’s right. TR: They will be gated communities, that’s… �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 16 RD: That’s exactly right. And, and how do you, you know, you know we have certain freedoms but somethings need to be preserved. Some things are sacred land, Native American. TR: Sure. RD: This is where our ancestors are buried, you can’t put the railroad track through [coughs] To the white man said, wait a minute we’re here to put this thing here and we don’t believe in that kind of stuff but the Native Americans said our great great great grandparents are here and so we need to do something about that. Um… TR: And I don’t, I think you’re pointing out that change is inevitable, but controlled change and all that. You know, we always talk about the 1%, that 1% will get what they want and they find this fascinating, and there’s even talk now that they’re going to be buying slips and combining them, because they, Travis Randolph was saying, they want to bring bigger boats in, to dock them. RD: Yeah, that’s right. TR: Will that, will those like you, just that contribute to the area, not only buying things, but will they support the historical society and all these things? RD: You know, change in it is inevitable but that doesn’t mean that its progress. TR: Yeah, yes. RD: You could say you know, were changing this, but that might not be progress. You know, and um… TR: You know coming from big cities I hated when we started doing condos. RD: Yeah. TR: Saying, we’re going to be condo-ed out of, you know we have to some degree. RD: Well I think when you look at that one condo part, um as you’re going north right before the bridge and the 7-11. TR: Yes. RD: That never took off, or… TR: Yeah! Why not? Financing or what. I think it started back up again. RD: Is it? TR: Yeah. They got a sign saying they’ll be selling, because there’s a foundations, but they had a view. These other condos really don’t. RD: That’s right. Terra is now condos. TR: Yes. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 17 RD: And it used to be, well then Overeisel sold, sold out. TR: Yes. RD: To TR: Yes. RD: To the, the place there, and there’s only a certain number of people that get to see a sliver of the Kalamazoo, Lake Kalamazoo and the river. And uh, a lot of those, I don't know how many, are, empty during uh, like from December/January… TR: Sure. RD: To like March, and you know Florida is suffering from from there and like from the. Juniors your room and you know Florida is suffering from over building, and you know…. TR: Yes. RD: Flooding and we ought to learn something about that. TR: Yes, see that was my argument, yeah. RD: How do your, your children and your, your wife, and your second wife’s children feel about the area? RD: Well, it was uh, in selling the cottage to the um… TR: The family. RD: Yeah, the family um, it now that they’re grown, they live all over. D.C., Cincinnati, Dallas, Chicago uh, they do come up and visit us and they go over there but they've even mentioned, it's it's not the same. TR: Uh huh. That being? [00:40:00] RD: Well they used to run up uh, the sand, at uh, Mount Baldy and then run down the other side and go to the beach, just what I did. TR: Yeah, well they can still do that. RD: Yes, you can, uh, I don't think I can, but it was uh, and then there were, you could buy popcorn over at the drug store, for a dime. TR: Yeah. RD: And those days are gone. You know and, and then um, they used to call it the Saugatuck Schlepping and Caulking, you got and ice cream cone… �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 18 TR: Ah. RD: and you, you’d walk in there but there were signs, no food, so you’d look in the window, and whether it be fashion or the whatever it is, [Inaudible] and there was a certain thing, and, and, and everybody did it. You know they’d be walking by… TR: Yep. RD: Now, I don’t think that would go in our house. You know our [laughs] TR: Yeah widow, window shopping. RD: Yeah, window shopping uh… TR: Unfortunately sometimes I see a plate and I have this joke, ill and annoy? Illinois? Ill and annoy because they window shop their air conditioned car. RD: Oh yeah. TR: And I always go around to get to North Butler Street. RD: Oh yeah. TR: But you, you see the few young families that there’s still an appeal the young families. RD: That’s right. TR: From what I understand that happened a lot in our area, you know that maybe you were a motorcycle person or something like that, but you know raised hell but you got married, had children and you remembered this area, and you came back and rented places and maybe bought or built. So, there’s still an appeal. RD: The appeal is, something that I read about, why the Antique Road Show on PBS. TR: Yep. RD: A lot of people watch it. TR: Yes. RD: The remember when. I remember this, I remember the old uh, gas stations and the pumps and uh, I brought um, one of my grandsons to the Gilmore um… TR: Car Museum. RD: Car Museum and you know he, he, we had a picture of pumping gas you know this and he rode around in a 31 Cadillac and stuff. But, there's a lot of people there the day we were there, some people there saying, I remember that and I remember this… TR: Yeah. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 19 RD: And all the various cars. Um, there's this nostalgia that yes, we want change but we don't know how to get that balance to keep change and… TR: Preservation. RD: Preservation, yes, and how do you do that. TR: Hopefully as a society or whatever we call ourselves then, can provide tools that help people, because if we document, and that’s what we’re doing right now, documenting and, and saying well they feel that way, but yeah if you don’t do it, just unfortunately the bottom line people will come in and um, buy, sell, and… RD: That’s right. TR: With little concern for the future. RD: Yeah, I don't know what else to, to do to stop progress, because I don't own the town or anything like that and I'd love to have people look at this, look at the old structures and the fact that they kept this school building and uh, obviously put in better lights, cleaned it up on the inside. Uh, and we saved a lot of the pictures. I don’t know how to get that balance. TR: Yeah, yeah. [Inaudible]. No, if, if you really knew how you could be making money or you could be the chief of something. But, yes. RD: Well people that go to these historic places likes Williamsburg, you know they have this, and you go to, uh, Fort Michilimackinac and you see them shooting the guns and uh, this is how you dressed in there and this is how it was such a strategic place for the French, you know with the Straights and you had the big boats. My wife and I walked the bridge several times, you can see if the suns just right how the straights, um, they’re not that big. TR: Yes. RD: I mean the shore. TR: And all the shipwrecks that we have. RD: That’s right. TR: Exactly. Yeah, I think, it’s sort of a belling that we, we were isolated enough that the railroad didn't come through here, it went through Fennville. Because if the railroad came would be a Holland or, or well Fennville hasn’t grown that much but uh, yeah. [00:45:01] RD: But they don’t have the, they don't stop there anymore. TR: Yeah, no, no. But I, I, like you, because I was designing for Herman Miller and Travis Randolph, they had the renters, you know had a place here, said, you don’t want to buy in Holland, come down here �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 20 and I said wow. I have to be by the water, the said, I can, I can be alone, I can be with people it was perfect. Not, not a lot of traffic except for the summer. RD: Yeah. TR: It, I had the same feelings. Uh, and, and I just hope that whatever we do we will destroy that. That younger people will have that same feeling. And when my relatives come, with their young, you my nieces and nephew, gran niece and nephew they just love it here and the come back every year. RD: When you see, you go down to pier cove and there’s that historical sign, you know. TR: Yeah. RD: They got all the lumber here, and then they supplied the Chicago Fire and then all of a sudden the lumber ran out. Well, you ought to read that certain things are going to run out if you… TR: Yep. RD: If you cut them all down. TR: Yep. RD: Or if you dam them all up, or if you… TR: They planted the fruit trees and they had the frost but they replanted them, things will evolve, who knows. RD: The other things is, and this is, [laughs] you go throughout the winter, and there are four seasons, but winter. TR: It’s just dominant. RD: [Laughing]. When spring happens, you… TR: Poof. RD: You’re just like… TR: Yeah. RD: Oh! We’ve made it. You know, and then you got the asparagus, strawberries… TR: Yep. RD: You got this run of fruit and you know people that are growing these things and now there’s this big movement toward uh, sustainable living and, organic uh food, and grass fed cows and free range chickens and stuff like that. And it’s really happening. TR: Yep. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 21 RD: And, and again, look at the art galleries, look at the, the stuff here and you know, it's great. I love it. TR: I just wonder about what slice of society will still be enjoying this. Are we going to be more towards that one percent? Or, someone always has to be the waiter or the, know construction person, but you know, you wonder how people can have that experience like you did your little cottage and, and that, you know maybe somewhere else, uh, I don't know. But yeah, yeah. So, it's keeping you here, you stay the whole winter? RD: Oh yes. TR: Yeah. RD: Yes, yeah. We, uh we are, we're here all the time. I mean we go short… TR: Yeah. Like we do. RD: Trips, especially. Well we just came back from Pennsylvania. But um, the northern part, we go to a lot of these art and craft shows. TR: Ah. RD: Charlevoix, Traverse City, uh, and they’re very crowded but we know how to, where to, where to go and uh, the UP and uh, we’ve been to Drummond Island, we’ve been to uh, the Legenois, we have Copper Harbor is on our bucket list, we haven’t been there. TR: Ah, I’ve spent some time there yeah. RD: And uh, we uh, some people say, you get a lot of snow there in the winter and we say, yeah we do. TR: Not like Copper Harbor. RD: But them, well what do you do? And its, well I shovel this off, and we hire a guy to clear out our driveway and uh, you know, we know how to drive during winter. We got a four wheel, uh, four wheel drive vehicle and that, that does it. TR: We read, we know I finally try to clean the basement [Laughs] and do all those fixing things. RD: We, we love it, and so. TR: Yeah, yeah I get so tired of airlines and all that uh, hassle and the money that you know, I did when I was younger and had I companies I worked for, I’m just happen to be here. RD: That’s right. TR: And now, you know now we have a choice of so many more stores in Holland. I mean we don't have to go to Grand Rapids or Chicago and the internet can get almost you anything. RD: You got it. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 22 RD: UPS, so. It’s, yeah, it works out. I just hope that the uh, what they, you know the Hayworth plant that something will happen with that, that might provide some jobs or something like that, but still got a pollution factor there with the… RD: Yeah, the tannery was right. TR: Yeah, well no, the metal works. RD: The metal yeah. TR: The cleaning metals and the salt that they used go in the soil, the yeah, I uh, well if you thinking you’ve thought of enough things, uh? RD: Do you have any other questions? TR: No, I, I think that they intention was, was to, you know, basically give you background which you did, and why you’re here, and still here and what, what your impression of what the future might be and I think you did that all, so, yeah. I learned a lot about you too, I didn't know, you sort of told me that connection those little cottage, cottages. You know, after this I’ll write down that address I can go see the cottage. RD: 840. TR: 840. RD: 840 River road, or no, 840 Park. TR: Yeah. RD: And then the names still on there. TR: Ah, I, I might remember that because I thought that was, I said that’s, that sounds familiar. RD: Yeah, and uh, it’s well the, there’s, there’s one, so there’s one, two, three… TR: Is the the parcel big enough that someone could tear it down and build something bigger? RD: My cousin's son, kept the structure and he went out back TR: Ah, so he did add on. RD: Yes, he did, it, it looks the same. TR: Okay. RD: And it was limited, you know? TR: Well yeah, because they were very small. �Ray Diffenderffer - Interviewed by Ted Reyda 23 RD: Oh yeah. Well they were cottages, they, they weren’t thinking uh, condos or they weren’t thinking, yeah. TR: What people think, you know roughing it now is, is, marble or granite tops and all the conveniences, it’s like, hello? RD: But, we did not have a phone in the cottage for a long time. We did not have a microwave, we never had a television. We didn’t want, why are you staying inside? TR: Christa Wise said the same thing. RD: Why do you want to say in the, I mean, get out there! You know? Get down to the beach, get over here. TR: The difference now is these kids are connected by these devices, they have this need to be connected and it’s like, enjoy! Yeah. Hopefully they will. Well I think we’ll. [00:52:56] � 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 Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 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 DC-07_SD-DiffenderfferR-20181002 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diffenderfer, Ray Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-10-02 Title A name given to the resource Ray Diffenderfer (Audio interview and transcript), 2018 Description An account of the resource Ray Diffenderfer's grandparents were among the first to own land near Mt. Baldhead, where they built a cottage in the early 1920s. In this article, Ray reminisces about spending summers of his youth at the cottage and swimming at the beach in the 1950s and 1960s. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Reyda, Ted (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Beaches Oral history Audio recordings Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Stories of Summer project, Kutsche Office of Local History. Grand Valley State University Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) 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 Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 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/aa0df0a9be249fed769d22dd22ce8511.mp4 d0f43aceeb0e3a4a38ebb72f6c262083 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76875812cfb4671a650411989385db91.pdf 4e4547c6079d38e81db43bd57fc9e3fd PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Newton Dilley (1:38:32) Disc One (1:00:00) (00:17) Background Information • • • • • Newton was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan He is 84 years old and graduated from high school in 1941 Newton Graduated from Yale Law School in 1950 He had attended college at Colgate for three months before Pearl Harbor was hit He enlisted shortly after because he knew he would be drafted soon anyway (4:30) Enlistment • • • • Newton had been attending college in New York and enlisted in Syracuse in December of 1942 and he was able to complete the current semester in school He had bad eyes so he could not join the Navy or the Air Corps He was called to active duty in June of 1943 and went to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, MI They were then sent to Camp Roberts in California (7:10) Camp Roberts • • • • This camp was near a very small town, but it was a nice camp with wooden barracks in the dessert country Newton was with different types of men from all over the country Before enlisting, Newton had not paid much attention to the news of the war The instructors that trained them did not have any combat experience (12:45) Training • • They trained hard every day in areas such as rifle training, field training, marksmanship, compass work, overnight hikes, and mechanics They worked with mortars, machine guns, ammo, and rifles (14:30) Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) • • Many of the men in this program had some college education The army had been short on engineers, so they were transferred to a different area to train for engineering in ASTP �• • Soon after the Army decided that they did have enough engineers and many of the men were reassigned to infantry divisions all over the country He was transferred to the 12th Armored division in Texas (16:20) Texas • • • • • • In June of 1944 Newton was assigned to the headquarters platoon of the 56th armored infantry battalion of the 12th armored division He trained with the reconnaissance platoon in areas of patrol, guides, kp, and many other odd jobs Newton worked with Jeeps, tanks, half-tracks, and scout cars Many of the new guys were given the worst jobs in the reconnaissance platoon Also people from college were given tough jobs Newton trained until September 5th, 1944 (20:00) Overseas • • • • They were shipped to the New York boarding area where there were three ships They left for Europe on October 1st, 1944 on a converted passenger liner They had to go through the typical “abandon ship training” There were no bad incidents on the trip to Liverpool (21:15) England • They did some more training after they arrived in England • They were living outside in tents and Newton got the flu • It was freezing, wet, and damp • He was in the hospital for one and a half weeks • He asked to be discharged because his division was leaving soon for France and he did not want to have to be a replacement in another division • The men did not have much time off while in England • They received technical advice and were trained to deal with Germans • They trained with bazookas, anti-tank weapons, and with infantry training (26:50) France, November 1944 • Parts of France were completely destroyed, but Paris had been liberated by the time they had arrived • Newton was assigned to General Patch’s 7th army • They had landed in southern France and came up along the eastern border • Newton joined them near Alsace where he had his first combat experience (28:00) Alsace �• • • • • • • The battle was not very difficult or bloody at first They were given easy objectives, which were to clean out the German resistance He was involved in small engagements to gain experience At night he stayed in a foxhole and got frost bite The Germans had better weapons and clothing than the Americans Many US soldiers stole clothing off German bodies, especially during the cold winter months Newton was not on the front line for a very long time (34:20) Artillery Spotting • Newton would be in an outpost with a radio to make sure that the shells were landing in the correct area (35:15) The Frontlines at Herlsheim • Newton was on an outpost when one of their tanks was hit by mortar shell • Altogether his division had 1700 lost, wounded, dead, or captured men in one week • It was difficult to travel because there were canals and rivers all over the countryside • The Germans had the overwhelming fire power of 88s • The 17th infantry division had basically been destroyed in two days • His division lost 29 tanks in one attack (40:20) The German Nordwind Attack • There was not a large German presence near the Rhine • The Germans were contained by US soldiers (42:00) OCS • Newton had signed up for Officer Candidate School earlier in the US, but had forgotten about it while in Europe • In April of 1945 he was shipped to France for OCS and stayed there through June • Newton was allowed one week leave to visit Paris • He remembered the carnage and difficulty in overtaking German equipment and personnel • He saw many burned out tanks and dead horses • It was hard to advance because there were so much abandoned German equipment, which was mostly destroyed from US aircraft (45:00) The Battle of the Bulge • Newton was never involved in the combat of the Bulge, but he as in a supporting position to the West �• He crossed the Rhine through Germany in the Spring of 1945 • They were called the mystery division because they did not want the Germans to know that the 12th had been added to Patton’s force • Newton had once been driving along in a Jeep when he saw a German soldier peeking out of a house • He stopped and went up to the house all by himself to investigate • The house had been full of German soldiers who had been waiting to surrender; many of them were hungry and drunk (51:20) The Last Few Weeks in Germany • The German infantry had been hiding all over the countryside and they lost many US soldiers • Whoever had not gained 60 service points would soon be sent over to fight in the Pacific (53:30) Alsace • The civilians in France were very nice, but the weather was miserable and he had to sleep in a potato bin to keep warm at night • The civilians had been thrilled to be liberated (55:50) Germans • They had once caught a German who had shot and killed a well-liked officer and he was later executed • The civilians were cooperative, especially after they had crossed over the Rhine • He had an overall good experience when dealing with German civilians Disc Two (38:32) (00:15) OCS Transfer • They had been marching along constantly in Germany • The school in Paris was full of soldiers from all nations • The training was in the beautiful countryside, with about 100 men • Roosevelt had died while he was in a replacement depot and he remembered that better than when the Germans surrendered (7:40) Roosevelt • Newton thought he was a great president • Newton is a very liberal person, while his family had been full of Republicans (8:30) The 80th infantry division • Newton finished in OCS in June, about five weeks after VE Day �• • He was assigned to the 80th infantry division in southern Bavaria He worked with the 80th for about 6 months and then went to Czechoslovakia to work with trucking companies, which were made up mostly of black men • Most of the armed services had been segregated then, although black units still had white officers • Newton worked on maintenance, transporting personnel and equipment (14:30) The End of the War • Newton only had 49 points and needed 60 to end his time in the service • He did not get home until September of 1946 • Meanwhile he was part of the armored occupation for over a year • He was later discharged in Camp Cook, Illinois • Newton stayed in the reserves for 7 years until he was married in 1952 • He never got called to duty in Korea (17:00) Back to School • Newton only needed one more year of college to graduate and he was finished in 1947 • He then went on to Yale Law School, which had been full of veterans • His overall experience in the service was positive and he met lots of great people and learned a great deal � 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 Dilley, Alva Newton (Interview outline, video, and papers, 1 of 2), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dilley, Alva Newton Description An account of the resource Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline. 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 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 2007-10-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DilleyN1 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/250250e095c89addcb791c52a0c0e644.mp4 281a730799e454cc83e859cc8a29b587 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d4a8dab743d1596a6e2df67cc502e81a.pdf 90d6b03aaf0c76e3eb7d56290dfae7e3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Newton Dilley (1:38:32) Disc One (1:00:00) (00:17) Background Information • • • • • Newton was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan He is 84 years old and graduated from high school in 1941 Newton Graduated from Yale Law School in 1950 He had attended college at Colgate for three months before Pearl Harbor was hit He enlisted shortly after because he knew he would be drafted soon anyway (4:30) Enlistment • • • • Newton had been attending college in New York and enlisted in Syracuse in December of 1942 and he was able to complete the current semester in school He had bad eyes so he could not join the Navy or the Air Corps He was called to active duty in June of 1943 and went to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, MI They were then sent to Camp Roberts in California (7:10) Camp Roberts • • • • This camp was near a very small town, but it was a nice camp with wooden barracks in the dessert country Newton was with different types of men from all over the country Before enlisting, Newton had not paid much attention to the news of the war The instructors that trained them did not have any combat experience (12:45) Training • • They trained hard every day in areas such as rifle training, field training, marksmanship, compass work, overnight hikes, and mechanics They worked with mortars, machine guns, ammo, and rifles (14:30) Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) • • Many of the men in this program had some college education The army had been short on engineers, so they were transferred to a different area to train for engineering in ASTP �• • Soon after the Army decided that they did have enough engineers and many of the men were reassigned to infantry divisions all over the country He was transferred to the 12th Armored division in Texas (16:20) Texas • • • • • • In June of 1944 Newton was assigned to the headquarters platoon of the 56th armored infantry battalion of the 12th armored division He trained with the reconnaissance platoon in areas of patrol, guides, kp, and many other odd jobs Newton worked with Jeeps, tanks, half-tracks, and scout cars Many of the new guys were given the worst jobs in the reconnaissance platoon Also people from college were given tough jobs Newton trained until September 5th, 1944 (20:00) Overseas • • • • They were shipped to the New York boarding area where there were three ships They left for Europe on October 1st, 1944 on a converted passenger liner They had to go through the typical “abandon ship training” There were no bad incidents on the trip to Liverpool (21:15) England • They did some more training after they arrived in England • They were living outside in tents and Newton got the flu • It was freezing, wet, and damp • He was in the hospital for one and a half weeks • He asked to be discharged because his division was leaving soon for France and he did not want to have to be a replacement in another division • The men did not have much time off while in England • They received technical advice and were trained to deal with Germans • They trained with bazookas, anti-tank weapons, and with infantry training (26:50) France, November 1944 • Parts of France were completely destroyed, but Paris had been liberated by the time they had arrived • Newton was assigned to General Patch’s 7th army • They had landed in southern France and came up along the eastern border • Newton joined them near Alsace where he had his first combat experience (28:00) Alsace �• • • • • • • The battle was not very difficult or bloody at first They were given easy objectives, which were to clean out the German resistance He was involved in small engagements to gain experience At night he stayed in a foxhole and got frost bite The Germans had better weapons and clothing than the Americans Many US soldiers stole clothing off German bodies, especially during the cold winter months Newton was not on the front line for a very long time (34:20) Artillery Spotting • Newton would be in an outpost with a radio to make sure that the shells were landing in the correct area (35:15) The Frontlines at Herlsheim • Newton was on an outpost when one of their tanks was hit by mortar shell • Altogether his division had 1700 lost, wounded, dead, or captured men in one week • It was difficult to travel because there were canals and rivers all over the countryside • The Germans had the overwhelming fire power of 88s • The 17th infantry division had basically been destroyed in two days • His division lost 29 tanks in one attack (40:20) The German Nordwind Attack • There was not a large German presence near the Rhine • The Germans were contained by US soldiers (42:00) OCS • Newton had signed up for Officer Candidate School earlier in the US, but had forgotten about it while in Europe • In April of 1945 he was shipped to France for OCS and stayed there through June • Newton was allowed one week leave to visit Paris • He remembered the carnage and difficulty in overtaking German equipment and personnel • He saw many burned out tanks and dead horses • It was hard to advance because there were so much abandoned German equipment, which was mostly destroyed from US aircraft (45:00) The Battle of the Bulge • Newton was never involved in the combat of the Bulge, but he as in a supporting position to the West �• He crossed the Rhine through Germany in the Spring of 1945 • They were called the mystery division because they did not want the Germans to know that the 12th had been added to Patton’s force • Newton had once been driving along in a Jeep when he saw a German soldier peeking out of a house • He stopped and went up to the house all by himself to investigate • The house had been full of German soldiers who had been waiting to surrender; many of them were hungry and drunk (51:20) The Last Few Weeks in Germany • The German infantry had been hiding all over the countryside and they lost many US soldiers • Whoever had not gained 60 service points would soon be sent over to fight in the Pacific (53:30) Alsace • The civilians in France were very nice, but the weather was miserable and he had to sleep in a potato bin to keep warm at night • The civilians had been thrilled to be liberated (55:50) Germans • They had once caught a German who had shot and killed a well-liked officer and he was later executed • The civilians were cooperative, especially after they had crossed over the Rhine • He had an overall good experience when dealing with German civilians Disc Two (38:32) (00:15) OCS Transfer • They had been marching along constantly in Germany • The school in Paris was full of soldiers from all nations • The training was in the beautiful countryside, with about 100 men • Roosevelt had died while he was in a replacement depot and he remembered that better than when the Germans surrendered (7:40) Roosevelt • Newton thought he was a great president • Newton is a very liberal person, while his family had been full of Republicans (8:30) The 80th infantry division • Newton finished in OCS in June, about five weeks after VE Day �• • He was assigned to the 80th infantry division in southern Bavaria He worked with the 80th for about 6 months and then went to Czechoslovakia to work with trucking companies, which were made up mostly of black men • Most of the armed services had been segregated then, although black units still had white officers • Newton worked on maintenance, transporting personnel and equipment (14:30) The End of the War • Newton only had 49 points and needed 60 to end his time in the service • He did not get home until September of 1946 • Meanwhile he was part of the armored occupation for over a year • He was later discharged in Camp Cook, Illinois • Newton stayed in the reserves for 7 years until he was married in 1952 • He never got called to duty in Korea (17:00) Back to School • Newton only needed one more year of college to graduate and he was finished in 1947 • He then went on to Yale Law School, which had been full of veterans • His overall experience in the service was positive and he met lots of great people and learned a great deal �Summary of Alva Newton Dilley Army Service Based Upon My Prior Summary of Army Records, Dated 11/19/04 and the Summary of Relevant Dates from the Book "Hellcats - the 12~ Armored Division World War II" by John C. Ferguson, Prepared on 12/1/04 1. I enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps (ERC) in Syracuse while at Colgate on Dec. 12, 1942. I was 19 years old. I reported for Active Duty at Battle Creek, Ft. Custer, MI, on June 9, 1943, and served as an enlisted man until June 15, 1945, when I was discharged upon graduation from Officer Candidate School (CClS) in France, in order to receive an appointment as a Second Lieutenant, on June 16, 1945. I was made a First Lieutenant on August 17, 1946, and was relieved from Active Duty on September 24, 1946, at the age of 23. I then continued in the Army Reserve until finally discharged from the Reserves on Dec. 19, 1952. I was 29 years old. Accordingly, I actually served for slightly more than 10 years (Dec., 1942 to Dec., 1952) of which my active service was from June 9, 1943 until September 24, 1946, which would be 3 years and 3 months. 2. After reporting for duty at Ft. Custer on June 9, 1943, I was transferred by train to the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Camp Roberts, California. I have a certificate of the completion of that 17 weeks of training, which gives the dates of June 28 to October 23, 1943. Camp Roberts was located approximately half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco near a small town named Paso Robles. I don't know if the camp still exists. 3. I was then transferred to Santa Rosa, California at the end of October, 1943 for the purpose of being assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program. (ASTP). There is a telegram in the file I sent to Mother and Dad, dated 11/20/43 from Santa Rosa saying I had been accepted in ASTP for a 21 month engineering course. I have an order, dated January 28, 1944, ordering me to New Mexico College of Agricultural & Mining Arts at Las Cruces. I have no further documentation regarding my time in ASTP but the reverse side of my 1\ Separation Qualification Recor~' says that I attended New Mexico A&M for a period of six weeks, at which time the Army disbanded ASTP and all of us were assigned to various Army units throughout the country. These assignments were strictly by chance, with no particular rhyme or reason and I, together with approximately 20 or 30 classmates, was assigned to the 12 t h Armored Division, which was then stationed at Abilene, TX. "...... �4. I arrived in Abilene, in March, 1944, to join the 12 t h Armored Division and was assigned to the Reconnaissance Platoon of Headquarters Company of the 56 t h Armored Infantry Battalion (AlB). The only order I have during my training in Texas is an order dated September 4, 1944 awarding me the Expert Infantry Badge. I was in training, in preparation for going overseas, from March to September, 1944. 5. On September 5, the Division boarded the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at View, Texas and arrived at Camp Shanks, New York, which was a staging area for embarkation. A week later, we were transferred by ferry across the Hudson to the New York Port of Embarkation and the Division boarded three ships for transfer to Europe. I was on the SS Empress of Australia. We arrived October 1, 1944 at Liverpool, England and were transferred from there by train to the Salisbury Plain near Andover and assigned to Tidworth Barracks and lived in a tent camp called Pennings Camp. There is a reference in my medical record to having influenza for which I was hospitalized in England, and I remember requesting that I be discharged from the hospital in order not to miss being with the Division a few days later when it shipped out to France. A few days after November 9, we arrived at LeHavre, France aboard an LST (landing ship, tank) after crossing the channel. We traveled a few miles inland and set up camp near Auffey. On November 29, we were assigned "to the 7 t h Army under General Patch and the Division saw its first action on December 5, 1944, near Kirrberg & Weisslingen, France. On December 10, the Division attacked Rohrbach and captured Bettwiller on December 12. 6. On December 16, 1944, the German Army launched the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest in Luxemberg & Belgium. They also launched Operation Nordwind in Alsace and established a bridgehead across the Rhine at Gambsheim on January 5, 1945. January 8, 1945 was the first attack on Herrlisheim. Tanks of the 56 t h AlB were unable to cross the Zorn River and encountered heavy resistance and casualties around the waterworks. Several units of the 56 t h were isolated and chopped up by German tanks and artillery and withdrew to Rohrwiller. On January 16, 1945, a second maj or attack on Herrlisheim began and on the 17 t h the Germans destroyed or captured 29 tanks, plus an additional 12 tanks that were destroyed on the 16 t h • On the 18 t h , most of the 17 t h Armored Infantry Battalion were either killed or captured. On January 19, 1945, the Division was relieved by the 36 t h Infantry Division. The 12 t h Armored lost 1,700 men killed, captured or C'...... �wounded and most of the 43 r d Tank Battalion and the 17 t h AlB were wiped out. 7. I have an order dated January 7, 1945 awarding me the Combat Infantry Badge. On January 22, we were transferred to the 2 nd French Corps of the 1 s t French Army for the purpose of clearing the Colmar Pocket, an 850 square mile salient held by the Germans on the French side of the Rhine south of Strasbourg. The Colmar Pocket was cleared by Feb. 5 and we were then withdrawn and went into reserve. On March 10, 1945, the Division was joined by 12 Platoons of black Infantry, which were assigned to each of the 3 Infantry Battalions as Company D. The Division was transferred to the 3 r d Army under General Patton on March 17, 1945. We moved northwest, crossing into Luxemburg and entered Germany at Trier. We became known as the 'Mystery Division" in an effort to hide the movement of the Division from the Germans. The 56 t h AlB was the first element of the Division to reach the Rhine. Most of the Division crossed the Rhine at Worms and moved toward Wurzburg. We were reassigned to the 7 t h Army on March 24 and were at Wurzburg around April 3. Although I have no documentation, I estimate I left the Division to go to OCS somewhere around Wurzburg. I do recall having a short leave in Paris before having to report to OCS at Fountinbleau. My OCS Certificate shows that I was in training there for my Commission from April 20 to June 16, 1945. I was awarded Expert Marksman Recognition on May 4, 1945. The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, while I was in OCS. 8. I was discharged on June 15, 1945 as an enlisted man for the purpose of accepting an appointment and Commission as a Second Lieutenant, Infantry, United States Army. I received my Commission on June 16 and on that date I have an order assigning me to the 2 n d Reinforcement Depot for reassignment to a new unit. On July 23, 1945, I was assigned to the 319 t h Infantry Regiment of the 80 t h Infantry Division, and was assigned to Headquarters Company of the 1s t Battalion. At this point, all Army personnel in Europe was divided up on the basis of a 'point system' called 'Adjusted Service Ratinif' to determine who would stay in Europe on occupation duty and who would be sent to the Pacific to continue the war against Japan. Based upon the schedule, I had 49 points, which qualified me for reassignment to the Far East. An August 14, 1945 letter from the 56 t h AlB of the 12 t h Armored Division shows that I was entitled to Bronze Service Stars for the 'Rhineland" and 'Central Europe" campaigns. While serving ".... �wi th the 80 t h Infantry Division, I was stationed in Southern Germany (Bavaria) and Chekoslovakia. 9. October 5, 1945, I was transferred from the 80 t h Infantry Division to the 467 t h Quartermaster Group and assigned to the 3600 Quartermaster Truck Company on October 8, 1945. From that date, until the end of August, 1946, I served with various Quartermaster Trucking Companies, including the 3357 t h Quartermaster Truck Company and the 3718 Quartermaster Truck Company. I was stationed at various locations in Germany with the Trucking Companies. 10. My 'Certificate of Service" shows I left Europe on August 1, 1946, but there is a letter in the file to Senator Vandenberg (obviously as a result of my father's inquiry) advising him that I left Europe on July 31, 1946. I arrived at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on August 12, 1946, and on August 17, I was granted leave to go home, was appointed a First Lieutenant, Infantry, and was also appointed to the Officer Reserve Corps. I was relieved from active duty on September 24, 1946 and continued thereafter as a member of the Officer Reserve Corps, being finally discharged from the Reserve Corps on December 19, 1952. Ann and I were married on February 16, 1952. 11. My various Army records show that I received the 'decoration, service medals and citations" . following 2 Bronze Battle Stars for the Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns American Theater Ribbon EAME Theater Ribbon (not sure exactly what these letters stand for but I believe it is the European Theater) 3 Overseas Service Bars Victory Medal Expert, Ml Rifle Second Class Gunner, Machine Gun (MG) Combat Infantry Badge Good Conduct Medal Expert Infantry Badge Expert Marksman Received at OCS � 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 Dilley, Alva Newton (Interview outline, video, and papers, 2 of 2), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dilley, Alva Newton Description An account of the resource Newton Dilley joined the Army in 1943 and worked with the 12th Armored Division during his time in the Army Specialized Training Program. He was eventually assigned to the 56th Armored Infantry battalion of the 12th Armored Division. He saw combat in Alsace and southwestern Germany, and before the war ended was called to finish Officer Candidate School and eventually spent more that a year working with the Army of Occupation. After his time in the service, Newton went to Yale Law School and became a lawyer. A summary of service written by Dilley is appended to his interview outline. 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 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 2007-10-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DilleyN2 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/fdd779af9406d8240ffc3f1b3d65bb74.m4v 866cfeeade829af6ae8b21bac594252e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2d549649238cb8a7d05a5c5790dfc568.pdf e4b801f47828d0856e5a2abca24a2a3b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Joseph DiLorenzo Vietnam War 1 hour 36 minutes 27 seconds (00:00:40) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948 -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Graduated from Kelloggsville High School -Took some classes at Grand Rapids Junior College (now Community College) -Worked at Steketee's Department Store -Graduated from high school in June 1966 (00:01:11) Enlisting in the Air Force & Vietnam War -Given a deferment while he attended college -After he left college he knew he would get drafted -Decided to talk to recruiters in Grand Rapids in February 1967 -Friend wanted to enlist in the Army, but that didn't appeal to Joseph -He talked to an Air Force recruiter -Took some tests and decided to enlist in the Air Force -Had seen some news about the Vietnam War -Didn't bother him too much though, he focused more on just enjoying life as a young man -Didn't know what he wanted to do with his life -Left college in January 1967 and enjoyed working at Steketee's -Many young men at college were concerned about their draft status -Joe was unconcerned because he thought the government wouldn't know his college status -Felt that being in the Air Force would be a safer bet than being an infantryman in the Army -Father had served in the Army during World War II -Served in the European Theater -Talked about his experiences -Felt that that prepared him for his own service in the Air Force -Father was neutral about Joe's decision to enlist, but his mother asserted he wouldn't go through with it -That only made him want to enlist more just to prove her wrong -Also wanted to be away from home because his mother was a strict woman -Signed the paperwork in April 1967 -In May 1967 he received a call telling him he could report in July, August, or November -He chose August 2, 1967 as his report date -Showed his mother that he was true to his word about enlisting in the Air Force -On July 1, 1967 he received his draft notice -Recruiter told him to throw it away and not worry about it (00:07:34) Basic Training -Sent to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas for basic training -Six weeks -No longer an individual -After the first day of basic training he wondered why he enlisted -Basic training was a growing up experience for him -Focused on team-building and learning to support each other -Did drills and went on runs �-Remembers one man that couldn't run a half mile without being exhausted -Joe and another recruit supported the man while they ran -First day of basic training consisted of getting his head shaved and getting various assignments -Assigned to a barracks and assigned to a Training Instructor (TI) -Handed over his personal belongings for storage and he was issued a uniform -First couple of days consisted of being broken down and taught to fear anyone with rank -T.I.s had served in Vietnam, many had been in the Air Force for 20 years, and were sergeants -Screamed at you if you didn't show them enough respect -All it took was one time for that to happen to Joe for him to respect his TI -Everything was always done fast -Remembers being woken up in the middle of the night and ordered out of bed -T.I.s came in and messed up everyone's beds -They were given two minutes to put everything back together -Always had to make sure his boots were polished, otherwise he would be denied leave -First two weeks of basic training you couldn't have any cigarettes -Some men that thought they could handle it, couldn't -Some men washed out and had to be picked up by their parents -Knew he was immature and wanted to prove himself to his family, friends, and himself -Had been drawn to military service since he was a boy and wanted to know his capabilities -Recruits emotionally supported other recruits -Basic training consisted of a lot of physical training -Running obstacle courses and crawling through the mud -Went on the rifle range and shot the outdated M1 Garand rifle (WWII vintage) -A lot of classroom work -Taught the chain of command, problem solving, health, finances, and first aid training -Majority was more about making the recruits responsible adults -At the end of basic training went through a graduation ceremony and got issued orders -T.I.s also softened and treated the recruits like people and gave them advice -Given leave and orders for either a technical school or a base (00:17:02) Assignment to Barksdale Air Force Base -After two weeks of leave he went to Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport, Louisiana -Strategic Air Command base and very formal -Excited to be assigned there -As a SAC base it was a large Air Force base -B-52 bombers, U-2 spy planes, KC-130 tankers, and the SR-71 recon plane landed there once -Base also housed nuclear weapons -He was assigned to the Security Police -Guarding aircraft -Two Man Policy -Allowing two officers on an aircraft by themselves -Had to check identification before anyone boarded an aircraft -Security Police were tested to see if they paid close enough attention to IDs -Heard stories about bomber crews sleeping under their B-52 during Cuban Missile Crisis (00:19:52) Security Work at Barksdale AFB -If you didn't stop an unauthorized person you could face imprisonment at Leavenworth -Someone checked up on him every 15 minutes to see how he was doing -Had a rifle and a whistle -No problem guarding the tanker area -Supervisor patrolled the area in a jeep and there was a guard post at the entry point �-Assigned to the tanker area for six months -Transferred to the bomber area -Had Operational Readiness Inspections (ORI) once a year -Simulated nuclear attack on the U.S., bomber crews had to be ready to fly -Shut down the base and launched the bombers like they were going on a mission -Failed the inspection if the base was not 100% prepared to go to war -There were some boring days pulling security, but he enjoyed seeing the aircraft -Could listen to a transistor radio while on guard duty to pass the time -Work schedule: -Three swing shifts (3:30 p.m. to Midnight) -Three mids (Midnight to 7 a.m.) -Three day shifts -Two and a half days off -Kept him busy -Did drills with a fake intruder -Had to stop them, search them, and then throw them in the back of a truck for detention -Some of the security police did their job a little too well and hurt the volunteers -Remembers some drunk airmen wandered into an area -They were detained and sent to the base's jail (00:25:54) Life at Barksdale AFB -The barracks he lived in were at Bossier Air Base -Nuclear weapons storage facility on site -Lived in barracks built during World War II -Got to move into new barracks six months after living in the old buildings -Had good food in the Air Force -Had a movie theater, a bowling alley, and a car mechanic on base -Went off base a lot with his friends -A lot of bars and bowling alleys in the area -Formed a bowling team and competed against civilian teams -Treated well by the community around the base -Air Force provided non-military work for civilians and airmen spent money in the community -Met a lot of friendly people at a local church (00:29:21) Getting Married -Had known his wife since they were both children -Reconnected in high school and dated through high school -After he completed basic training they started dating again -Got married in 1969 -Given two weeks of leave -Went on their honeymoon in Florida -Moved into an off-base apartment near Barksdale AFB -It was good having her live there with him -Wife got a nursing job in Shreveport -Lived in Louisiana from October 1969 to December 1969 (00:32:02) Orders for Vietnam -Received his orders for Vietnam in December 1969 -Moved his wife back to Michigan in April 1970 -Had orders to report to San Antonio for pre-deployment training -Given two weeks of leave before he would have to deploy -Had hoped that he wouldn't get reassigned �-Had spent 2 ½ years at Barksdale AFB before receiving orders for Vietnam -Always knew it was a possibility that he would get reassigned (00:33:27) Pre-Deployment Training -Two other men from Barksdale received orders for Vietnam and reported to San Antonio with him -Learned how to fire M16 rifle, M60 machine gun, M79 grenade launcher, .50 caliber machine gun -Also worked with the XM174 automatic grenade launcher (fired 12 40mm grenades in 30 sec.) -Did tactical training at night and learned how to guard a perimeter at night -Had a mock-up helicopter site for training purposes -Stood guard at night Drill Instructors acted like the Viet Cong and tried to infiltrate the helicopter site -Worked with night scopes -Some men were mentally prepared to deploy while other were not -Taught some of the Vietnamese language -Shown footage of Viet Cong soldiers -Instructors instilled in them a sense of fear -They wanted you to be afraid, so you would be cautious, so you would get home alive -Did well in training -More mentally prepared than some of the other men -He was not afraid of coming home in a body bag -Would go to Vietnam, do his job, and come home -Two weeks of training, seven days a week -Still had a little down time though -Good training and he enjoyed it (00:38:48) Deployment to Vietnam -After pre-deployment training he was given 1 ½ to 2 weeks of leave to be with his wife and family -Filed paperwork -Where to send paychecks if he was killed in action and he signed up for savings bonds -He was slated for a one year tour -Flew from Grand Rapids to Chicago to Seattle -Remembers a businessman in Chicago bought him and other airmen drinks -In Seattle there were protestors -Threw eggs and dog feces at the soldiers -Stayed in Seattle a couple hours -Flew up to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska to refuel -From Alaska flew to Yokota Air Base, Japan and refueled there -Left Japan and flew to Clark Field, Philippines -Last stop before going on to Vietnam (00:41:30) Arrival in Vietnam -Landed at Cam Ranh Bay during the day -Came in steep to avoid antiaircraft fire -Beautiful beaches, blue sea, and lush foliage -Couldn't believe there was a war -When he stepped off the plane he remembers being hit by the heat and the sight of body bags -Showed him that a war was indeed going on in this country -While he was processing he ran into an old high school classmate -Stayed in Cam Ranh Bay for a couple days -Waiting for a flight to take him farther north (00:43:42) Assignment to Phu Cat Air Base & 12th Security Police Squadron -Took a Fairchild C-123 to Qui Nhon along with Vietnamese civilians �-C-7 Caribou from Qui Nhon to Phu Cat Air Base -Beautiful base in the middle of nowhere -Joined the 12th Security Police Squadron -Guarding the base perimeter and the Cobra gunships -Informed that he would pull 12 hour shifts from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. -Variety of assignments for base security -Bunkers and guard towers -Response Team and Security Alert Teams -Had armored personnel carriers and V-100 armored amphibious vehicle -.50 caliber machine gun, M60 machine gun, radio, M-16 rifles, grenades and launchers -If there was a security breach you stopped the breach -Held the line until reinforcements arrived -When he got to the base he was essentially introduced to life in Vietnam -Talked to the chaplain -Instructed to take salt tablets -Shown around the base -Met with the company commander -Assigned to a transit barracks, then a temporary barracks (00:47:15) Racial Tension -His first living quarters was filled with predominantly black airmen -Sensed the racial tension -Stayed in those living quarters for two or three weeks -Moved to new living quarters that were predominantly white -Black and white airmen voluntarily segregated -Black airmen ignored white airmen in the living quarters -Took care of each other while on guard duty regardless of race -Had black superiors and there were no problems -Lower ranking black airmen were more contentious than black officers -Remembers one racially motivated incident at Phu Cat -One white airman from Mississippi flew a Confederate flag, but he wasn't a racist -Someone threw a Molotov cocktail on the top of the roof of the white living quarters -Company commander called everyone out and told the men there would be an inspection -Polished boots, neat uniforms, and no personal material hanging in the living quarters -Never found out who threw the bomb -Racial tension eased after that incident (00:52:04) Guard Tower Duty -His first regular assignment was on a guard tower outside of the base perimeter -Volunteered for that duty -Had a .50 cal machine gun, a night scope, two M60 machine guns, grenades, and flares -Dropped off at the tower at night and got picked up in the morning -Never had any enemy contact -It was pitch black at night -Night scope helped with that -Guard tower was on a flat plain that extended for 150 to 200 yards and was at the base of a hill -Protected the north/south runway -Had an American mortar pit to the rear -Mortar crew zeroed in on the tower -If North Vietnamese or Viet Cong overran the tower it could be destroyed -Voluntary assignment that was not randomly given to airmen �-Out there by himself -Tied equipment and rifle to a pulley and raised it to the top of the tower -After that he climbed to the top of the tower -Interesting being out there -Six months of guard tower duty and he enjoyed it (00:56:40) Downtime at Phu Cat -There was a base theater with air conditioning for the men -First movie they were shown was the Green Berets -Went to the Non-commissioned Officers Club -A lot of heavy drinking -Played a lot of cards -There was an Olympic-sized swimming pool (00:57:24) Contact with Other Soldiers & Progress of the War Pt. 1 -101st Airborne Division men came to Phu Cat for their R&R -Heard combat stories from the men -Got to know some of them -In 1970, “Vietnamization” led to a lack of supplies for men in the field -Airmen traded supplies with infantrymen, because the infantrymen needed the supplies -Had a pretty good idea of what was going on in the field -Read the military newspaper, The Stars & Stripes -Wife sent him news articles about the Vietnam War -Aware of what was going on all over Vietnam in terms of combat -Fighter-bombers flew sorties out of Phu Cat Air Base into Cambodia and Laos -For a while, Phu Cat was unlisted due to the secret bombing missions over Cambodia (01:00:53) Contact with Civilians -There was a village nearby named Phu Cat -Villagers were friendly -Civilians worked on the base -Did laundry -Nice people -Problem was you couldn't tell where their loyalties lied -Seemed glad, at least, to have an American presence in the area -Airmen and soldiers gave some of their rations to civilians -Remembers the civilians ate large rice bugs -Offered one once, but he politely declined -Forbidden to go off the base (01:02:38) Prostitution & Drug Use -No problems with prostitution -Tight restrictions due to concerns about sexually transmitted diseases -Men didn't want to contract an STD and be considered unfit to go on R&R -Only substance-abuse problem was alcoholism -Beer and whiskey were widely available -One man was such an alcoholic that he could barely function most of the time (01:05:08) Enemy Contact -First rocket attack happened one morning around 6 a.m. -He was coming off duty and heading back to base -They were crossing the runway when he saw sparks in the distance -122mm rockets being fired at the base -Got out of the truck and got under it �-Rockets never hit the runways because the North Vietnamese couldn't hit any targets -During the second rocket attack the strikes were a little closer, but caused no damage -Nobody took the rocket attacks seriously -There weren't many rocket attacks during his tour in Vietnam -Recon teams went out night -Brought mines and a German Shepherd to alert them to an enemy presence -Kept the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong away -Remembers three separate rocket attacks and none of them caused any memorable damage -There were some enemy attempts to breach the perimeter -He was part of the Security Alert Team by then -He drove one of the armored vehicles and manned the grenade launchers -One one occasion they pulled up to a tower to relieve the tower guard -Heard bullets zipping past his head -The men grabbed their weapons, returned fire, and alerted the base -Forces on the north perimeter concentrated their fire on the enemy position -Didn't think about being shot at, thought about getting his uniform duty -Sent out a patrol to search the area for an enemy force -Found nothing, not even traces of an enemy force -At sunrise the Viet Cong always scattered -There were two times when he got shot at -Called to a perimeter bunker because an airman saw movement beyond the perimeter -There was nothing out there -Went down the line to give the guards coffee -Guard at the original bunker called the Security Alert Team back because he saw movement -Heard bullets pinging off of metal -Parked the armored vehicle at an angle to provide cover and return fire -Had mortar support -The next morning they found nothing (01:14:15) Security Alert Team Duty -During the second half of his tour he volunteered be on the mobile Security Alert Team -Responded to a breach in the perimeter and held off enemy until reinforcements arrived -Visited every post at night -Drove without the vehicle lights on -Had to know the perimeter and the posts well -Made sure the guards were awake -Did test firing of weapons along the perimeter -Making sure the weapons fired properly, but also kept away enemy troops -Protecting American lives and American property (01:16:20) Contact with Other Soldiers & Progress of the War Pt. 2 -Had contact with mechanics and a lot of contact with infantrymen at Phu Cat on R&R -Infantrymen didn't talk a lot -Too exhausted to talk to anyone -They had been on the DMZ and in the jungle near the Laotian border -101st Airborne Division saw a lot of action during 1970 -Major campaign and defeat at Firebase Ripcord in 1970 (01:18:22) Leadership & Relationship with Fellow Airmen -New officers listened to enlisted men that had in-country experience -Casual relationship between the officers and enlisted men -Made the enlisted men respect the officers more �(01:19:34) Contact with Home -Wrote constantly to his wife -Took a while to receive letters from home -Made calls home via satellites -Delay between calls (01:20:06) R&R in Hawaii -In February 1971 he went to Hawaii for R&R -Got to see his wife and his parents -Father didn't ask about experiences in Vietnam -Wife asked a little about his experiences -Hard to get on a plane headed back to Vietnam -Knew he would be out in June 1971 (01:21:06) End of Tour Pt. 1 -More cautious near the end of his tour -Determined that he would get home alive and intact -The last couple months in Vietnam passed more slowly than his first months in Vietnam (01:21:41) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -Life changing experience -Kind of emotionally prepared for service after hearing his father's stories -Saw some action, but has tremendous respect for infantrymen -Feels that he did his job and did it well -Wouldn't want his sons to have to go through war -Believes the Vietnam War set the tone of warfare for the rest of the 20th century and the 21st century -Glad that he served his country (01:24:13) End of Tour Pt. 2 & Coming Home -Stayed at Phu Cat Air Base for his entire tour save for R&R -Got to see Da Nang when he was en route to Hawaii -Given orders to go home one week earlier than he originally planned -Relieved from duty and got his travel paperwork in order -Flew out of Cam Ranh Bay -Spent two and a half days there -Incredibly cautious and on edge because he had no weapon -Minor rocket attacks -Dead silent when they took off from Vietnam -He had expected the men to cheer -Stopped in the Philippines -Landed in Seattle in the late afternoon -There were still protestors, but he and the other men ignored them -Went into the terminal to get out-processed -No protestors in the airport -Flew back to Grand Rapids in uniforms -Proud that he served his country and unafraid to show it -Felt the protestors had the right to protest as long as they didn't get violent -Felt we should have done more to win the war, but popular opinion was against the war -Experienced more direct antagonism from civilians before he went to Vietnam -On a flight home from Barksdale AFB a woman refused to sit next to him -Landed at Grand Rapids and there were no protests -Wife and parents greeted him -Father set up a banner at their house that read, “Welcome home Joe!” �-No protestors in the airport at Grand Rapids or in the city (01:30:50) End of Service Pt. 1 -Done with enlistment in the Air Force by time he got back to Grand Rapids -Discharged while he was in Seattle (01:31:00) Life after the War Pt. 1 -Got an apartment in downtown Grand Rapids on Wealthy and Fuller -Remembers a car backfiring at night -He unconsciously jumped out of bed and grabbed his pistol before he woke up -Only incident that ever happened after he got home from the war -Didn't talk about his time in Vietnam, mostly because no one really asked him about his time -Friends asked him generic questions about his service and the war, but nothing probing (01:32:59) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -Glad that he served his country, no matter what -After he got home he learned that two high school classmates had been killed in action -Deeply affected him (01:33:30) End of Service Pt. 2 -Air Force wanted him to reenlist -Offered a bonus and his choice of base in the United States -Wife didn't want to be a military wife and he wanted to start a family -Had he been single he probably would have reenlisted -He explained his reasoning next to reenlist and the officer understood perfectly (01:35:03) Life after the War Pt. 2 -GI Bill went into effect, so he returned to Grand Rapids Junior College -Had a son -Went to school full time and worked at his wife's uncle's bar -Got a job with Witmark Catalog Showrooms -Worked for them for 25 years -Graduated from Grand Rapids Junior College with an associate's degree � 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 DiLorenzoJ1858V Title A name given to the resource DiLorenzo, Joseph James (Interview outline and video), 2015 Description An account of the resource Joseph DiLorenzo was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 3, 1948. He enlisted in the Air Force in April 1967 and reported for basic training on August 2, 1967. He received his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and for two and a half years was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana guarding B-52 bombers and KC-130 tankers. In December 1969 he received orders for Vietnam and in the spring of 1970 he was deployed to Vietnam. He was stationed at Phu Cat Air Base with the 12th Security Police Squadron. For the first six months of his tour he stood guard in a tower outside of the base's perimeter, and for the second six months he was part of a mobile Security Alert Team patrolling the base's perimeter and dealing with any security breaches. At the end of his tour he returned to the United States and was discharged in Seattle, Washington. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource DiLorenzo, Joseph James Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-07-23 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/0fa2a700e3d10d141de05b5f1df97461.mp4 28f4df294cde7efd4bc0464f43cdeab8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/47a5616e69d21c4a6701d2c0590a4656.pdf 227bdcde681ae4306cc1991ca20266a6 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Korean War Interviewee Name: James Dingman Length of Interview: 1hr 6mins (36mins.) Pre-Enlistment (00:19) • Childhood (00:22) o Dingman was born in Sparta, Michigan in 1934. (00:25) • Family (00:26) o Dingman’s father was a factory worker while his mother was a homemaker. (00:35) o Growing up, Dingman lived in Boston Square in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He lived here until he got married. (01:25) o Describes his family’s wartime experience during WWII in some detail. (02:07) • Education (02:51) o Attended West Ottawa Hills High in Grand Rapids. Afterwards, he joined the ROTC. (02:58) Enlistment/Basic Training (03:18) • High school ROTC (03:42) o While in the ROTC, he received training army instruction along with the shooting of 22 rifles and learning from the drill sergeants about army marching, drilling, etc. (04:35) o After doing ROTC training for a little while he decided to join the National Guard and pursue a career with them. (04:55) • National Guard (05:26) o When he had joined up, Dingman lied about his age so he could be admitted. He did this while still in high school. His training with the National Guard was similar to that of his ROTC training. (05:50) �• ƒ Briefly discusses what a typical day in the National Guard looked like while still attending high school classes on top of that. (06:54) ƒ Many of the men that he got to know while training had served in World War II. (07:22) ƒ The Guard unit he was a part of was the 126th Reg., a branch of the Michigan Nat. Guard. (08:22) ƒ Joined the National Guard in 1949 but did not graduate high school until 1952. (08:55) Background to the Korean War (09:06) o While he was still undergoing basic training the Korean War broke out. It was about 1950. (09:22) o He mentions that units from the 45th and 46th Infantry Divisions began getting ready to be deployed to Korea. (09:25) When it came time for the Army to decide what units to send their unit but skipped over it; taking the 47th Division, a Marine reserve unit, instead. (10:03) o Dingman shares his thoughts and perceptions of his military career and of the war during this time. (11:10) o Once he had finished high school, he met his wife in 1955 and once 1956 rolled around he had to decide what to do about his career plans. (11:58) o He chose his wife and kids and then to become a police officer. (12:42) o Goes into some detail about what skills and leadership he received. Later, after being promoted to a sergeant and even later as a 1st Lieutenant he used what he learned to teach different. (14:12) Briefly mentions that as a 1st Lieutenant part of his job involved teaching different classes. (15:10) Active Duty (15:10) • Camp Grayling (15:16) o Briefly discusses his experience here in some detail and what a typical day looked like. (15:43) o Spent 12 years in the National Guard, rising to the rank of a first lieutenant. Ended his career because it was conflicting with his police career. (19:47) �o In conjunction with his Guard duties he began a career in law enforcement, of which eventually both jobs became too much for him to handle and thus he dropped the Guard. (20:36) o Also, while with the Guard he took classes and among the things he studied was weapons’ use and explosives. (22:07) o Briefly discusses the training he received in the recruit’s school and the police academy. (22:21) After the Service (22:30) • Career as a police officer (23:20) o Briefly discusses what the crime environment was like in Grand Rapids during the 1950s and 60s. (23:50) o Dingman mentions that most of the crime he encountered was domestic— prostitution, drugs, thievery, and armed robberies. Describes some stories with this. (25:03) o Served on the force for 33 years and during that time downtown Grand Rapids changed dramatically. Briefly describes its change and some of the events in some detail. (26:45) o Briefly describes his encounter with the race riots that went on during the late 1960s. (27:54) o While on the force, Dingman served with a variety of black Americans who described what the general stereotypical perceptions of them was by white officers. (29:21) o Dingman left the force in 1989. (30:18) o Briefly describes some of the jobs he had afterwards. (30:31) o Briefly shares some other Guard stories in some detail. (31:45) • Reflection (34:00) o Dingman briefly shares his thoughts on what he got out of the Guard. Among the things he got out of it was a sense of pride and learning discipline while in the Armed Service. (34:47) �o Interview Ends (36:23) � 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 Dingman, James (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dingman, James Description An account of the resource James Dingman is a Korean War veteran who served in the ROTC and then the U.S. National Guard from 1949 to 1961. In this account, Dingman discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training and active duty in the U.S. Dingman also discusses what growing up during WWII was like, and his police career as a whole. 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 Video recordings United States. Army Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-06-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DingmanJ 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/6c37991065a956fef2c938b8ffa01810.pdf 197c88f19b7d2142b418d9fb25197d91 PDF Text Text Secretariat for Social Concerns July 3, 1991 Diocese of Grand Rapids Dear Friends in Christ: The Feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, patroness of our Native American Apostolate, is fast appr aching. A number of celebrations are taking place that I hope you have already heard about. If not, please mark these dates, places and times on your calendar. Included with this letter is an anno ncement of the celebrations taking place at Blessed Kateri's birthplace, Auriesville, New York. Are ny of you fortunate enough to attend this? If not, then do attend one or more of the events scheduled below: SATURDAY, JULY 13 &: SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1991 Mini-Powwow, Sacred Heart Church, Silver Creek, Michigan. Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. to dark. Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Three Drums. Trader Fee $10.00. Potluck supper and Mass Saturday between 6:00 p.m. · and 8:00 p.m. Rustic Camping available. Bring lawn chairs. Admission by donation. Directions: Take US 131 to 94. Take 94 to Decatur exit (56). Turn south on 51 and go to flashing light, Turn west on MI52 and go 3 miles to Leach Rd. Turn south on Leach Road, go one mile to Church, on left. For information call Sister Ann, 616/782-5298 or Sue Dayson, 782-7 540. SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1991, 10:00 a.m. Dedication of Shrine and Renaming of Church at Peshawbestown. During the Liturgy, the Church of the Immaculate Conception will be renamed the Church of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. (The Daily Mass Chapel will continue to be called Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.) After the Mass has ended the Drum and congregation will process outside to dedicate the newly redecorated Shrine of Blessed Kateri. After a dance of celebration around the Church, everyone is invited for lunch. Native American attire is requested, The song, "Kateri, Indian Holy One" by Rev. Andy Buvala, recently set to original music, will be performed for the first time. Directions: From Traverse City take 22 north to Peshawbestown. Church is on the left. For information call Father Andy, 271-6651 or Linda Woods 271-3538, SUNDAY, JULY 14, 1991, 7:30 p.m. St. James Church, 733 Bridge Street, N. W., Grand Rapids. Rev. Richard Host invites all to this evening's regular parish liturgy, which will have a Native American "slant" in honor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. For information call Father Host, 458-3213, or Vi Cummings, 458-3979. IN MEMORIUM George Morseau of Hartford passed away the last week of June. Rev. John Hascall came down from Baraga to be celebrant of the funeral Mass. May he rest in peace. The deepest sympathy of the Native American Apostolate of the Diocese of Grand Rapids goes out to the family and friends of this respected elder in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. BLESSED KATERI As we honor this little Native friend of Jesus, may we be inspired to follow her example and love Jesus totally, in spite of all accusations, to the end of our days. Yours in Christ, S~~ Coordinator Native American Apostolate 660 Burton Street S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507 Phone (616) 243-0491 �You Are Invited To Celebrate The National Observance of The I II [_/ ' FEAST DAY OF BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA SUNDAY, J-ULY 14, 1991 12 Noon Mass - Martyrs' Shrine Coliseum. Auriesville, New York Canadian Vice-Postulator FATHER JACQUES BRUYERE, S.J. Celebrant and Homilist Liturgy - In honor of Blessed Kateri, Virgin Choir- lroquoi_s Mixed Choir of Kahnawake, will sing Mass and Sacred Hymns in Mohawk in traditional costume. Dramatic Presentation - Kateri's Life, by Mary-Eunice Presentation of 1991 Tekakw:tha Awards -----------------------------------------------------3 P.M. - Mass - National Kateri Shrine, Fonda, N.Y. -----------------------------------------------------6 P.M. - RECEPTION & DINNER IN HONOR OF 1991 AWARDEES Martyrs Shrine Cafeteria, Introduction of new Canadian & U.S. Vice-Postulators Guest Speakers - Sister Mary Pelagia Father Thomas Egan, S.J. - celebrating 50th Anniversary of entrance into Jesuits -m : -------------------------------------------------z::,· --------------------------~ Th~ ir;q~;i; Mi~ed will-a;ri:; ;nt~-Shrin~ ;~~nd; ~ A~~ ;n-S-u~d-a;. Some members will sell traditional handicraft items before and after Mass. Ch~~ 9 National Katerl Center open all day; slides shown. • l\ • - For further information - call 1-5~ 8-853-3153 MARTYRS' SHRINE is on Route 5-S, between Thruway Exits 27 & 28 FONDA SHRINE is on Route 5, 2 miles West of Fonda, N.Y. -----------------------------------------------------Reception Dinner will be a family-style turkey dinner, $10.00 per person. Please send your name, address, number of reservations requested, and payment, to our address listed on last page by JULY 8, 1991. We will hold your tickets to save postage, and give them to you at the Cafeteria. PLEASE COME AND JOIN OUR CELEBRATION! LILY OF THE MOHAWKS 3 � 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 Native American Publication Collection Subject The topic of the resource Native Americans Indians of North America Anthropology Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Michigan Description An account of the resource Selected digital surrogates of published and unpublished materials from the Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection dealing with different aspects of human culture and anthropology, with an emphasis on Native American people, events, organizations, and activities in Michigan. Includes newsletters, event programs, flyers, posters and other printed materials. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gillis, Edward V. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American Publication Collection (RHC-14)</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Gi-gikinomaage-min Project (Kutsche Office of Local History) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-14 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1958-2000 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. Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection, RHC-14</a> 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-14_secretariat_1991-07 Title A name given to the resource Secretariat for Social Concerns, july 1991 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-07 Description An account of the resource July 1991 issue of Secretariat for Social Concerns by the Diocese of Grand Rapids collected by Edward Gillis included as part of his Native American publication collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diocese of Grand Rapids Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Francis, Shirley (Author) Subject The topic of the resource Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Indians of North America Michigan Michigan -- Grand Rapids Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/67ae529b1c125ad7642cdbddb99d841b.pdf c6b6ff4f84cb98d6303d13d874c6cf39 PDF Text Text Secretariat for Social Concerns Diocese of Grand Rapids Oc t o be r 2 5 , l 9 9 l Boo-joo, nee-dji/Hello, friend: The time is upon us to once again remember our family members and friends who have entered the spirit world. And we recall their presence in a way that preceded the Christian faith on these shores. For the present-day Ghost Supper has its roots in the Feast .of the Dead that was celebrated by woodland tribes before the coming of the Europeans. Missionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries carefully recorded this feast in their journals. But now we remember them in the promise of Christ. Two Catholic corrmunities in the diocese are having these suppers. Your and your family are cordially invited .to attend either one --whether or not you are attending church or where you go to church. ALL ARE WELCOME! NOVEMBER 2 1 1992 ("S,,,7!.IRO;t:l Y) NOTE: An All Souls Day Potluck Dinner will be held at St. Joseph Church, Elbridge at 5:00 p.m. Mass f o l l ow s at 7 : 0 0 p . m. The l i tu r g y w i l l be offered by Rev. Lou Baudone, pastor of St. Gregory Parish, Hart. Please bring a dish to pass and tableware for your family. If you are free Friday afternoon, Nov. 1, you are invited to help clean St. Joseph's. This is because the church is only used once a month and not at all during the winter. For more information or directions on how to get there, call Carolyn Reed, 616/873-4743 (eve.) or 616/861-5767 (days.) NOVEMBER 8, 1992 {.CR1D;::}y) The Grand River Kateri Cir~le is hosting a Ghost Supper from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at St Mary's Church cafeteria, 423 First St., N.W., Grand Rapids. Rev. John Vallier will speak. For more information or to help out, call Kelly Compo Wesaw, 241-0825. Mee-gwetch for your support of these efforts to remind us of our beloved dead, and to bring us all closer together. Sincerely in Christ, ~ Shirley Francis, Coordinator NATIVE AMERICAN APOSTOLATE 650 Burton Street S. E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49507 Phone (616) 243-0491 � 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 Native American Publication Collection Subject The topic of the resource Native Americans Indians of North America Anthropology Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Michigan Description An account of the resource Selected digital surrogates of published and unpublished materials from the Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection dealing with different aspects of human culture and anthropology, with an emphasis on Native American people, events, organizations, and activities in Michigan. Includes newsletters, event programs, flyers, posters and other printed materials. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gillis, Edward V. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American Publication Collection (RHC-14)</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-02-21 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Gi-gikinomaage-min Project (Kutsche Office of Local History) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-14 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1958-2000 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. Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/446">Edward V. Gillis Native American publication collection, RHC-14</a> 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-14_secretariat_1991-10 Title A name given to the resource Secretariat for Social Concerns, October 1991 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-10 Description An account of the resource October 1991 issue of Secretariat for Social Concerns by the Diocese of Grand Rapids collected by Edward Gillis included as part of his Native American publication collection. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Diocese of Grand Rapids Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Francis, Shirley (Author) Subject The topic of the resource Indians of North America -- Michigan -- Periodicals Indians of North America Michigan Michigan -- Grand Rapids Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f56154d03276246628e221c894389223.pdf 0f59b1f9fa6c3992d93f803b13c1f344 PDF Text Text ���� https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/daf63153e9ad388d3ac6ed8f286e5560.pdf 29914dfebdefdc707b22c7475ac27bbc PDF Text Text Wigton Cumberland 6th Mo 18th My Dear Friend Abm L. Pennock Hope this will find Thyself. Dear Wife. & children favoured with health. I was in hopes of receiving an answer to my letter from this Land. Perhaps I have displeased Thee by too freely cautioning Thee against too active a part in the Abolition Societies. if so or in any other way I am sorry for it. Thou know I have allways used great freedom with Thee, particularly on this Subject I have never discovered any displeasure from a belief I apprehend that it was done in true love to the Man (Tho from a weak & erring Brother. who has truly nothing to boast of save manifold infirmities) & apprehending that Thou and Thine being in much danger from this cause of suffering loss in your spiritual concerns. �as many have done we know whose harms ought to be our warning. Thou knows that it is not my wish to discourage Thee from continuing to do much in this cause of suffering humanity but rather, that all should be done within the bounds (which are not very limited) advised by the Church of of which Thou art an important Member, & thereby preserve Thy use & influence in it & in the very best of causes, is what I am desirous of & concerned about for Thy own & Familys sake & also for the sake of the Church in which Thou knows there has been many & still is to whom the Cause of the poor slave has felt & is felt very near & dear & prepared like Thyself to make considerable sacrifice for their freedom And count it a favour that Thou belongs to a Church the Most Abolition of any & does much (The little to what Thou thinks They aught to do) to set the Captive & oppressed free. �The British Friend has created here rather a bitter feeling towards the largest portion of our Society on your Side of the Atlantic on the above subject. which is a serious & sorrowl thing.- may Thou be preserved from any part in this & from every other hurtful thing either to Thyself Dear Family or the Church continues to be the desire of Thy (very distantly separated but) affectionate friend who concludes in much love to Thy worthy & much valued Family whose welfare I also desire Alexr Dirkind P.S. Wish Thou wouldest be so kind as to write to me soon & inform how Thy concerns are doing at Holmesburg &c &c, as I am interested in thy temporal as well as Spiritual wellfare. And also I may add (but in Confidence) when Thou canst place me in a little post there as there would be no difficulty I apprehend in getting a snug & deacent dwelling in the village which I think would be next to the most desirable position (Viz) Land sufficient to keep a cow & horse pig & fowls with a moderate sized garden my message above extends to Thy sons [?] G.[eorge] & [?] D. M. & [L] Farewell �[?] Abm L. Pennock Haverford Near Philadelphia Pa [Red circular postmark] LIVERPOOL JUL 1845 PAID [Red rectangular postmark] PAID AT LIVERPOOL 18th JU[?] [Docketing handwritten upside down on bottom of page] 6/18 1845 Alex. Dirkin � 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 Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> 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 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 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-45_CWS000005 Title A name given to the resource Letter to Abraham. L. Pennock, June 18, 1845 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1845-06-18 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dirkind, Alexander Subject The topic of the resource Antislavery movements London Yearly Meeting (Religious Society of Friends) Society of Friends Quakers Quaker abolitionists Slavery--United States Pennock, Abraham Liddon, 1786-1868 Dirkind, Alexander Pennsylvania Haverford (Pa.) England Wigton (England) Cumberland (England) Description An account of the resource Letter to Quaker abolitionist Abraham L. Pennock in Haverford, Pennsylvania from a fellow Quaker in England cautioning him about activism with Abolitionist societies in America. The correspondent also inquires about the availability of work and housing in Haverford. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/835d323432d81ccb411c3757ce136d0d.jpg fc13217886a130e7c9f5b720ebe895ed 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 Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> 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 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection 1990s Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">University photographs, GV012-01</a> 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 GV012-01_UAPhotos_000395 Title A name given to the resource Padnos Hall of Science and Henry Hall Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dittmer & Company Photography Description An account of the resource Aerial view of Padnos Hall of Science and Henry Hall. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Facilities Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives color photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48328fb0d5690d9795fa3e8dac03af79.pdf 167c93d95dd0713ff810cfc888677a25 PDF Text 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/. Title A name given to the resource Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> 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 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 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-45_CW2814-1 Title A name given to the resource Letters concerning offices for Adjt. Gen. John A. Dix in Albany, N.Y. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879 Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource Letters to N.Y. Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Surveyor General from Adjt. Gen. John Dix requesting a new secure office; and to Chancellor Walworth about the offices. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/3894b80dbdb34bb82a1de56ea615fd42.pdf 15868f706c97a107c82035148c95c512 PDF Text 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/. Title A name given to the resource Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> 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 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 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-45_CW2814-2 Title A name given to the resource Letters concerning offices for Adjt. Gen. John A. Dix in Albany, N.Y. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1831 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dix, John A. (John Adams), 1798-1879 Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource Letters to N.Y. Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Surveyor General from Adjt. Gen. John Dix requesting a new secure office; and to Chancellor Walworth about the offices. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 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/2b3fa5f09b4156835828b8fe4bf5191a.pdf 34d2f51242594705edc97c3ebd441562 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Aaron Dixon Interviewer: Jose Jimenez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 3/14/2013 Runtime: 01:17:46 Biography and Description Oral history of Aaron Dixon, interviewed by Jose “Cha-Cha” Jimenez on March 14, 2013 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. "The Young Lords in Lincoln Park" collection grows out of decades of work to more fully document the history of Chicago's Puerto Rican community which gave birth to the Young Lords Organization and later, the Young Lords Party. Founded by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, the Young Lords became one of the premier struggles for international human rights. Where thriving church congregations, social and political clubs, restaurants, groceries, and family residences once flourished, successive waves of urban renewal and gentrification forcibly displaced most of those Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, �working-class and impoverished families, and their children in the 1950s and 1960s. Today these same families and activists also risk losing their history. �Transcript AARON DIXON: Aaron Dixon. I was born January 2nd, 1949, Chicago, Illinois. JOSE JIMENEZ: Okay. (break in recording) JJ: Okay, could you give me your name, your date of birth and where you were born, Aaron? AD: Okay. All right. Give it to you again? JJ: Yeah, give it to me again. AD: Aaron Dixon. I was born January 2nd, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois. JJ: Okay. Where in Chicago, what part? AD: Oh, god, I used to know the hospital and -- damn, shit. JJ: Wait, was it North Side, South Side? AD: South Side. JJ: South Side, okay. AD: Mm-hmm. JJ: Okay. Do how do you know about the Young Lords? AD: I know about the Young Lords from being in the Black Panther Party when the Black Panther Party [00:01:00] began to -- in Chicago particularly, they started the coalition with the Young Lords and the White community, which became the first Rainbow Coalition. But that was my first time that I heard about the Young Lords was during that time period in 1968. JJ: In ’68? AD: Yes. 1 �JJ: Okay. And so, was your family from Chicago? AD: Yeah, yeah, both my parents were from Chicago, and they grew up in Chicago and all my relatives were in Chicago. And when we left Chicago when I was about eight years old, I was mad at my parents for about five years because that’s where all my grandparents were, that’s where my cousins were, that’s where all my family was and I [00:02:00] really didn’t want to be taken away from them. But we, our family came back every year, every summer, just about every summer we came back to Chicago. JJ: And your family stayed when you moved? Did you move to Oakland, is that where you moved? AD: No, we moved to Seattle, Washington. JJ: Oh, Seattle (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). AD: And my father got a job offer from Boeing because he worked at Chanute Air Force Base in Champaign and actually we lived in Champaign for the first, you know, seven years of my life, we lived in Champaign. JJ: Illinois? AD: Champaign, Illinois, yes. And so, he got that job offer and then in 1958 -- and that’s when we moved to Seattle, Washington. JJ: What was the reasoning for that? AD: Well because my father got a job offer and, you know, he went to the -- he graduated from Chicago Art Institute, he was a artist. [00:03:00] But he had four kids and he couldn’t raise four kids being a artist, so he became a technical illustrator at Chanute and then he got this job offer in Seattle, and so he moved 2 �his family there. And also, I think a lot of the reason is because, you know, the gangs were pretty heavy even then, you know, the Blackstone Rangers, I remember when we -- driving through Chicago and seeing Blackstones everywhere, Blackstone Rangers and the Rangerettes. And both my cousins eventually joined the Blackstone Rangers. So, I think my father, you know, wanted a different type of life for us. He had three sons and a daughter, and I think he wanted to get us outta Chicago, so we wouldn’t be tempted by [00:04:00] joining the gangs. JJ: Yeah, how many brothers and sisters at -- whatever you wanna -- AD: Okay, yeah. JJ: And I don’t know if you wanna give some names or anything. It’s up to you whether... AD: Okay. Yeah, I had two brothers and one sister. I had a brother that was a year younger than me, Elmer, and then I had another brother named Michael was three years younger than I was. My sister, Joanne, was two years older than I was, she was the oldest of the kids. JJ: Okay. And so, you went -- about how old were you? AD: I was about eight years old -- JJ: About eight years old. AD: -- when we hit Seattle. JJ: Okay, and then you went to Seattle. How was that, how was life growing up there? 3 �AD: You know, it was different, it was different compared to Chicago and especially the topography, you know, they had mountains and lakes, and it was a really beautiful topography [00:05:00] area compared to flat Chicago. And we moved about three or four times before we finally got settled in, my parents were able to buy a house in Madrona, which was a Black neighborhood. In Seattle, all the minorities, the Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese, and the Blacks were all confined to one area, that was the Central area. So, we grew up -- I grew up with a lot of Chinese, a lot of Japanese, Filipinos, we all went to school together and that was really nice. JJ: So, what kinda memories have you got of the school? [00:06:00] You were in a diverse area or whatever. AD: Yeah. Well, I know when I first got there, when I was in the fourth grade -- third grade then the fourth grade and fifth grade, I just remember fighting a lot, I just remember there was always fights, you know, and after school, there was always a fight. And I remember, you know, getting in my share of fights and all the way up into junior high school. And there was a neighborhood gang and I was part of that neighborhood gang and, you know... JJ: What was the name of the gang? AD: It was called The [Inkwells?]. JJ: Inkwells, (inaudible). AD: Yeah. And everybody had a knife, everybody had switchblades and push-button knives. I had about three knives. And then -- JJ: They were not a drug gang or (inaudible)? 4 �AD: No, it wasn’t a drug gang, it was just a bunch of young people. JJ: Just a neighborhood, neighborhood... AD: Just a neighborhood gang, yeah. JJ: And so, who did you fight? [00:07:00] AD: Everybody (laughs) (coughs) (inaudible) everybody. There was always a fight. We lived across the street from a park, and so at the park, that’s where everybody gathered and hung out, we played football, basketball, baseball. And so, you know, I played a lot of baseball, a lot of football and basketball, ping pong, eventually started playing tennis. And, you know, there was always fights that were breaking out, you know, that’s just the way it was back then. But it was always one on one, and it was never -- we all lived in the same neighborhood, so we weren’t trying to kill each other, we were just letting our anger out, you know, by fighting. And when I got into the eighth grade, they started a voluntary bussing program, you know, so an integration program and -- so this was a [00:08:00] chance for me, I decided to volunteer. ’Cause actually I got tired of fighting, I got tired of fighting, so I volunteered to go to school to an all-White neighborhood. And there was only one other Black student there. And I played on the football team. Then the following year, I went to a all-White high school, and that’s when I first really ran into racism, you know? The teachers gave me bad grades not because I didn’t do the work, because they just felt that that’s what I deserved. And there was a game -- JJ: So, the teachers were racist. AD: Yeah, the teachers were racist. 5 �JJ: Were being racist. AD: Teachers were racist, most of the students were racists. And I was on the football team and -- JJ: Okay, they gave you bad grades, what else [00:09:00] did you see, the racism, what kind of racism? AD: I broke my wrist playing football, I sprung it, I sprung it real bad and I was in a typing class and I couldn’t type because my wrist was damaged. But the teacher gave me a failing grade anyway. But the incident that really kind of decided that I needed to get back to the community, there was a basketball game between the main Black high school, Garfield High School and the Queen Anne School that I was going to, which was all White and there was this rivalry. And this is something that happened a lot back then was whenever there were sports events, Black athletes were always cheated in some way or another. And this was something we saw over and over and over again. But this particular game, they were playing for the championship. Garfield High School was a Black school was ahead by three points and then there was this mystery foul that [00:10:00] occurred, and the ball went to the White team, and they scored four points and they won the game by one point. It was obvious to everybody that it was -- you know, they had cheated, they had stolen the game. And so, the Black kids after the game, for the first time, they just erupted and they just went after the White kids and just, you know, a lot of White kids got beat up, some were chasing to other people’s houses. So, when I went to school the next day, the White kids looked at me like I had shit on my back, and they wouldn’t talk to me, 6 �they were calling me niggers and it was bad. And so that’s when I decided that that was my last year at the school, and then I went back to Garfield High School when I was a junior. And Garfield High School was -- so, that’s where Qunicy Jones went to [00:11:00] school, that’s where Jimi Hendrix went to school, Bruce Lee was always up there a lot ’cause there’s a lot of Asian kids up there. And it was really a -- it was a great place to be because if they -JJ: (overlapping dialogue, inaudible) was the real Bruce Lee then, that’s (overlapping dialogue, inaudible). AD: Oh, there was a Bruce Lee, yeah, there was a real Bruce Lee. But it was a great place because there was Chinese students, there was Black students, Filipinos, there were Blacks and there were White students and we all got along, you know, and it was just, it was a great place to be, it was a great school, and I had a great experience. When I was a senior, the counselor called me in, this Black woman and told me that I wasn’t gonna graduate ’cause I was skipping school a lot and doing a lot of different things. So, she told me I wasn’t college material and when she [00:12:00] told me that, it made me real mad, because my parents were always telling us that we’re gonna go to college. So, I decided to buckle down and I graduated barely, you know with two-point grade average with all the credits I needed. I continued to play sports. And then when I graduated, I actually started doing some acting, I got into some drama. There was this nonprofit that was doing skits about stereotypes, about racial stereotypes and I really got into it. And after we finished with that, I started getting into some other -- doing other theater work and also started writing a lot of poetry. And the Urban 7 �League started a program to help Black students get into the University of Washington. So, I got in that program and I found myself at the University [00:13:00] of Washington. There was only 30 Black students out there at the time. JJ: And Seattle has a large Black population (inaudible)? AD: Not a large one, but in 1968, Seattle had the largest Black home ownership per capita in the country. And so, you know, we all lived in the same neighborhood, but the neighborhood we lived in was in prime property, you know, on hills overlooking the lakes. But, you know, there was always racial things that were going on like Eddie Lincoln who got shot by an off-duty policeman and the police got off. And the Black woman who got raped by police officers and it was never anything done about it. And, you know, my father coming home from work, and the first [00:14:00] thing he would do is he’d have to have a drink because he was dealing with so much racism on his job out at Boeing. And my father was -he was the type of person that he didn’t take no shit from people, you know? And so, I remember when I was 13 years old saying that I wanted to join the police department, I was gonna be a policeman. My father, both my parents got very angry and said I wasn’t gonna join the police department. And I remember being 16 saying I was going to join the Marines and go to Vietnam. My father said, “No, ain’t no son of mine going to Vietnam, ’cause those people will call you a nigger.” So, my parents are very political. My father had joined the Communist Party when he came back from World War II ’cause he saw a lot of atrocities and he did a lot of stuff with Paul Robeson. And so, we were raised [00:15:00] pretty 8 �much in a very political environment. And when I was 13, I found myself marching with Martin Luther King and then I started getting involved in civil rights demonstrations in Seattle at a very young age. That’s one of the reasons why I kinda volunteered for the volunteer bussing program ’cause I felt like, “Okay, maybe this is what we should be doing, integrating.” And so, I got into the University of Washington, I started... JJ: The integrating came from the civil rights (overlapping dialogue, inaudible)? AD: Yeah, yeah. So, by that time I was doing a lot of writing, writing a lot of poetry and doing a lot of poetry readings in the Watts Writers Workshop which was a group of famous Black poets and out of LA. They used [00:16:00] to come to Seattle all the time, University of Washington. I was the only local poet that they asked to read with them. And I had also -- I had gotten a creative writing scholarship too from the Links Foundation. So, I started toying with the idea that I was going to be a playwright, I was gonna go to New York and become a famous playwright. I went to LaLa Leroy Jones’ place and that’s what I kinda had my mind set on at the time. But anyway, the BSU started doing a lot of work in the community and a lot of stuff on campus. And I remember when I was 17, 16 maybe, I had been out playing tennis ’cause I was -- we played a lot of tennis ’cause they had a tennis court. I was training myself to be the next Arthur Ashe I thought. And I came in the [00:17:00] house to eat dinner and I walked by the TV and I saw these Black men with guns demonstrating, protesting some gun laws in California, and they were the Black Panthers. I just remember thinking, “Wow, you know, wow, look at the -- never saw a Black man carrying a gun before on 9 �TV,” had these uniforms on. So, you know, I didn’t think much of it at that time, but we had -- the BSU decided to close down this high school, and we closed the high school down, we took the building over and then a week later we were -- I was arrested along with a couple of other people and charged with unlawful assembly. And while we were in jail, Martin Luther King was assassinated. And [00:18:00] so, it was very frustrating to not be out on the streets when that happened because all across the country, riots were breaking out all over America and we wanted to be out there too. So, when we finally got out of jail a couple of days later, there was a Black student union conference in San Francisco. So, we all got -- we got a bunch of cars and we, about 20 of us drove down there. And while we were down there, we heard that there was a funeral for this Panther named Little Bobby Hutton, that he had gotten killed in the shootout on the same day that Martin Luther King had got killed. And so, we decided to go over to the funeral. We went and bought some berets, so we’d fit in. And we drove on over there and went into this funeral and it was a very emotional and Little Bobby Hutton’s mother wailing and [00:19:00], the aunts were wailing, and we saw these Panthers standing on both sides of the walls looking really serious. And we walked the procession and looked at Little Bobby Hutton in the casket and we went back to San Franciso State. JJ: So, there were Panthers and then there was also his family was there? AD: Yeah, his family was there. Marlon Brando was there as well. JJ: Walking? AD: He was standing in front -- 10 �JJ: In front of (overlapping dialogue; inaudible)? AD: -- of the building with Bobby Seale with his black leather jacket on and black beret. And so, Bobby Seale was gonna be giving the keynote address at this conference. So, we went back to wait for him and we waited, we waited for like a hour and hours. And finally, the doors flew open and here comes Bobby Seale along with Kathleen Cleaver and along with about four or five other Panthers, Warren Wells who had been wounded in the shootout. So, Bobby Seale gave the [00:20:00] address, the keynote address and he was very emotional because Litle Bobby Hutton was the first Panther to join, he was a good friend of Bobby’s. Not only was Little Bobby Hutton killed, but also Eldrige Cleaver had been wounded and was in jail. Eighteen other Panthers were also arrested including David Hilliard. So, a large chunk of the membership of the Black Panther Party at that time was now in jail. So, Bobby Seale gave one of the most powerfully emotional speeches that I had ever heard. And during the speech, he stopped and said, “We’re gonna stay here all night. Anybody got anything to drink?” And I had bought my parents a big bottle of vodka ’cause it was cheaper in the Bay Area, and you could buy it at the store. In Seattle, you had to buy it at the liquor store. So, I bought this for my parents and I said, “Yeah, I got some.” And I ran and [00:21:00] got it and gave it Bobby and he took a swig, and he passed it around and some of the comrades took a swig and he really got animated then, he really got animated and he just -- he was just really portraying a lot of different things. It was really -- I wish that had have been taped ’cause it was very powerful. But when he finished, I made a beeline to where he was, my brother 11 �and Anthony Ware another brother we worked with, we all three of us converged on Bobby Seale and told him we wanted a chapter of the Black Panther Party in Seattle. So a week later, he came to Seattle along with George Murray, the Minister of Education and another Panther, Bill Jennings from San Diego. He stayed at my parents’ house for three days and there were about 20 other people from [00:22:00] the community that we had been working with and organizing with, students and non-students and we met with Bobby Seale and George Murray for over a three-day period and he told us what we needed to do to be members of the Black Panther Party. And then he asked me, he said he was going back east to open up more chapters and he asked me to go with him. But first of all, towards the end of the meeting, he said, “Who’s gonna be the captain?” And for some reason everybody pointed to me, everybody -- and I said this in the book, but I felt like I had been tricked into becoming the captain because I didn’t really raise my hand and say I wanted to be the captain. I was only 19 years old, there was plenty of guys there who were older than me. But anyway, I was named as the captain and Bobby asked me to go back to New York with him [00:23:00] and I told him that I wasn’t ready to go and I always kind of regretted that, but I didn’t feel like I was really ready to go ’cause it was changing, it was happening so fast, I wasn’t really ready to make that change. So, a week later, I got called and told to come to Oakland and I went down to Oakland, my first time ever flying. And when I got there, I was met at the airport by Robert Bay and Tommy Jones, they took me to the office on Grove Street and they took me around the corner where Robert Bay lived, they introduced me to 12 �Landon and Randy Williams. And there was a lot of things that transpired on that trip, I don’t know if you want me to go into all that. JJ: No, no, that’s fine, as long as (inaudible). AD: Okay. So, I remember the first thing I had to do was go see Huey in Alameda County Jail, that’s [00:24:00] one of the first things I had to do, I had to go out in the field and sell papers to some of the comrades. But when I went to Landon and Randy Williams’ house and Robert Bay’s house, the first thing they did was show me their armament, each one had their own stock of weapons, and they started showing me all their weapons and everything and they’re reloading equipment. So, a couple of days later, they introduced me to the Panther Drink, which in the street was called Bitter Dog, in the party was called Panther Piss, dark port wine and lemon juice, and they turned me onto some Brother Roogie, which is marijuana. And I remember, we were in the kitchen talking and Landon Williams was in the front room ’cause he didn’t smoke or drink. And we heard a large bang, a loud bam, we ran in there and Landon was sitting there with a .44 Magnum in his hand, he had [00:25:00] shot his TV out. He shot it out because he said, “Man, I got tired of watching the cowboys kill the Indians.” JJ: No. AD: So, he just shot his TV out. So later on that day, we... JJ: Did it have something to do with the wine or no? AD: No, ’cause he didn’t drink, he didn’t drink or smoke, you know, he didn’t get high, Landon did not get high. So, later on that night -- well, earlier in the day, Tommy Jones had asked me if I had a piece. I said, “Yeah, I gotta carbine.” He said, 13 �“No, I mean a handgun.” I said, “No.” So, he went out and got me a ninemillimeter llama with a holster on it and he gave it to me. So, I had put it on. And so, we decided to go down to West Oakland to get something to eat down on Seventh Street and there was another brother that was with us, Oleander Harrison, he had joined the party when he was 15 and 16 and he went to Sacramento [00:26:00], he’s in those films [of them being?], and so he’s got a cigar, a little stubby cigar in his mouth and a shotgun in his hand. JJ: So, what year was this (overlapping conversation; inaudible)? AD: This was ’68. JJ: So, ’68 -- AD: April of ’68. JJ: -- was up here when the Panthers were talking about weapons and that (inaudible). AD: Yeah, this is April, ’68. JJ: And where everybody was. AD: So, we went and got something to eat and me and Oleander went outside and we started smoking a cigarette and this was maybe two weeks after Little Bobby Hutton had been killed, so there was a lot of tension -- JJ: (overlapping conversation; inaudible) AD: -- between the party and the police. And so a police car drove up, Oleander being young, he started yelling, “Pig, you motherfuckin’ pig, you better stop at that stop sign.” So, I joined in, I just started yelling too, we’re yelling all kind of profanities. Pig goes around, comes around the corner, he calls for backup, and 14 �10, 15 [00:27:00] cars start showing up. And Robert Bay comes out and Landon and Randy and Tommy come out and all of a sudden, people are running, people are running home, people are saying, “Oh man, we gotta get outta here, there’s gonna be a shootout.” Shops are closing, the restaurants is closing. And within five minutes, the street is empty except for us and the police. The prostitutes were the only ones there, they said, “We ain’t goin’ nowhere, we’re gonna stay out here and help our brothers.” And so, then all the police were bunched up together and Robert Bay says, “Spread out,” he says, “Spread out.” So, we all spread out. And then there was a lieutenant that was in front of the police officers and he starts walking towards Landon and Landon -- at first I see this young brother with the McClymonds’ leather jacket on, he’s gotta bag of groceries in his hand, you know, and I’m, you I’m just -- all this stuff is happening so fast, I was just in college, I was just doing my homework, now I’m down [00:28:00] in West Oakland with a leather jacket on and gun on and getting ready to get killed. I see this young brother and I say to myself, I’m telling myself, “I wish this brother would stay and help.” And he looks me in the eyes and he says, “Man, I would stay and help, but I gotta get home.” And he’s gone. So, now things are real tense and I’m just feel like, “Okay, this is -- I’m not gonna go back to Seattle, I’m gonna die right here on this street.” And so, everybody’s got their hands on their guns, police got their hands on our guns -- on their gun, we have our hands on our guns. And this police officer, this lieutenant who was much more harder than the other ones, it appeared to be, he starts walking towards Landon and he says, “I’m gonna check you.” He’s got his hand on his 15 �gun. And Landon is backing up saying, “No, you’re not gonna check me.” And he keeps walking towards [00:29:00] Landon, Landon keeps backing up, they keep saying, “No, you’re not gonna check me.” And Landon slips on this garbage can top, it bounces right back up, but the garbage can top reverberates and it breaks the ice because the next thing that happened is the police stopped, they turned around and they got in their cars and they didn’t say a word and they drove off. So, that was my baptism into the Black Panther Party. The very next day, they had the meeting at Saint Augustine’s where Panthers came from all over the Bay Area to meet, must have been about 125, 130 comrades there from Palo Alto, San Francisco, Vallejo, Richmond, everywhere. And so, I get introduced and I’m just treated like a long lost cousin or something, you know? So anyway, the meeting ends and me, Robert [00:30:00] and Tommy Jones, we get in the car, we head back to the house. When we get to the house, the phone rings, Robert Bay grabs the phone and says, “Yeah.” And he slams the phone down, he runs into his bedroom, he grabs two rifles, and he hands me one of them and a box of ammo and we jump in the car. He said, “The pigs are vamping on the comrades at the church.” So, we’re speeding down Grove Street and he asked me, he said, “Dixon, you know how to load that weapon?” And I’ve never seen it before, it was a .44 magnum, but I told him, “Yeah,” and I figured out how to load it. And so, by the time we get down to the church, there’s nothing, there’s nobody there. And so, of course I’m relieved that nobody was there. And so those were my -- that was my baptism into the Black Panther Party. And a couple of days later, I was on my way back to Seattle. 16 �JJ: So, you go to Seattle and what kind of work were you doing, [00:31:00] what kind of (overlapping dialogue; inaudible)? AD: Well, we started looking for a place for the office and we find a place, the man won’t rent it to us, he’s a realtor, he has real estate offices next door, and he’s got this other office that’s empty and he won’t rent it to us. So, we said, “Okay.” So, the next night, his office is firebombed, and so we go back to him and he rents it to us. So, we opened our office up, get our phones turned on. And at that time, it was not illegal to carry weapons out in the open in Seattle. So, we’re carrying our weapons, everybody’s got their rifles and shotguns. So, we get the phones turned on and we start getting [00:32:00] calls from the community for all kinds of things, police brutality, rental issues, domestic problems and we start going out on these calls. And this one woman who had seven kids, the landlord had taken the door off her house because she didn’t pay the rent. So, we sent some Panthers to the landlord’s house, they got the door from the landlord, they carried it down the street and put it back on the hinges. And we got calls from women saying their boyfriend was beating ’em up, or the husband was beating ’em up. We sent five or six of our Panthers to the house and they straightened that out. And it was amazing because this was the first time the community had somebody that they could call, that they knew [00:33:00] was gonna take care of their business, and they didn’t have to call the police. But they started really taking advantage of it as they can often do in the community. And I remember, I was sending weekly reports down to Bobby Seale and talking to him over the phone and he told me, he said, “Dixon, you guys are going out on too many 17 �community calls, you gotta cut it down,” so we did. About a month later, we get a call -- maybe three weeks later, we get a call from this woman who said that her son who was going to an all-White high school got beaten up and that nobody at the school would do anything about it. So, I told her, you know, “Well, I’m sorry, we can’t come out there,” because Bobby Seale had mentioned to me that we need to cut -- stop going on all these calls. But she called back on Tuesday with the same problem, she called back Wednesday, same problem, called back on Thursday, same -- I just told her, “No, [00:34:00] I’m sorry, we can’t come.” She called back on Friday though and she was crying, she said the White kids had brought chains and bricks to school and they were beating up the Black students, nobody would do anything about it. And we got a couple of more calls from some Black mothers who said the same thing. So, it just so happened that there were about 12 or 13 Panthers in the office with rifles and shotguns and we decided, “Okay, it’s time to go on out there.” So, we drove out there, when we got out there, there were about 25 policemen out there, they were on the side of the building. By this time, you know, we didn’t care who was out there, it coulda been a army out there, but we were gonna go do what we had to do. And we crossed the street, there was fat sergeant who met us at the door, he said, “Dixon, you can’t take those loaded weapons in.” And we knew the gun laws, the gun law states that if you are carrying a weapon and a bullet is not in the chamber, then it’s considered unloaded. So, I told him, “It’s unloaded.” So, we went in [00:35:00] the school. Principal saw us, he took off running, comrades went and got him, we brought him back down and sat him down, we told him, if 18 �didn’t start protecting these kids that we were gonna protect them. And he promised us that from now on, he would protect them. So, we walked out of the school and we backed away across the street because when I went to see Huey, he said, “Never turn your back to the pigs ’cause they’re nothin’ but a bunch of back shooters.” So, we backed away across the street, we didn’t turn out backs to the pigs, we got in our cars, drove back to the Central area. The police followed us, and they were gonna try to indict us, but they couldn’t because we didn’t do anything illegal. It wasn’t illegal to carry weapons even into the school. Of course, eventually they did pass a law to make it illegal. And eventually they did pass a law to make it illegal for us to carry our guns. But that was the [00:36:00] defining moment in the Seattle chapter of the BPP. JJ: So those were some of the things that -- did you do a breakfast program too or -- AD: Yeah, then and by 1969, we got orders to start free breakfast programs, and we opened up our first breakfast program and then we began to open up more. And there were some people who didn’t see it as revolutionary, and they left the party. Then I got called down to Oakland in ’69 and while I was down there, I was down there for about two months, Bobby Seale gets arrested, or not arrested, but he actually got kidnapped. [00:37:00] And so then I was told to go back to Seattle to organize and help free the Chairman. So I go back to Seattle, we moved out of our office, and we opened up the community center because we had orders to move outta the store fronts and move into houses in the community ’cause the party was getting raided all across the country. JJ: And what year was this? 19 �AD: This was ’69. JJ: Sixty-nine (inaudible)? AD: Yeah. JJ: So, you opened up a service center, what was the difference between that and the office? AD: The community center was more accessible to people in the community, and we could do more things, we had more room. JJ: (inaudible) AD: And we opened up a free medical clinic as well, we opened up a free medical clinic. This Black guy from the Justice Department called and said he wanted to meet with my brother and I. [00:38:00] We didn’t wanna meet with him, but he said it was a matter of life and death. So, we did go finally meet with him, and he told us that the police were gonna raid our office and kill us. And so, we started fortifying our office and, you know, we heavily sandbagged our office, steel and everything. I mean, I could go on all night Cha-Cha. (laughs) I could go on, but -- JJ: Okay. Did you wanna (inaudible) now or -- AD: I mean, if you wanna jump ahead or something? JJ: Oh no, I wanted to -- well, I also want to talk more about the organizing, if you can -- AD: Okay. JJ: I mean, you can go ahead and then come (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). 20 �AD: Yeah, so anyway, we had a free medical clinic, and we opened up a legal aid program, and through our medical clinic, we did sickle cell anemia testing, we did mass sickle cell anemia testing and [00:39:00] we started a free legal aid program, free food program, liberation schools, and that was our main thing that we did. (break in audio) LINDA TURNER: -- this little suburban Evanston girl. F1: There you go. LT: Yeah. JJ: (inaudible) suburban what? LT: No. So, when are you starting? You gotta say, “Go,” or -- JJ: Okay. (break in audio) JJ: Okay Linda, if you wanna give me your name and maybe age and where you born and that. LT: My name is Linda Turner. I was born in 1941. You do the math. And I became an activist in 1965. I remember precisely because it turned out to be a very momentous moment (laughs) for a lot of northern people to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement that was going on down South. And that weas the first nationwide showing of the film, Judgment at Nuremberg. And when it ended and if you know the movie, it’s about the trial of Nazis who were responsible for exterminating millions of people in Germany, Austria, around, not only Jews, but gypsies and communists and political enemies and gay people, lots of folks. And 21 �at the end, you’re left with the message that if you care about people, you can’t just sit back and let it happen, you have to be like the few good Germans and do something about it. Right after the movie ends, on comes the news, and what’s on the news but Alabama state troopers clubbing demonstrators on the Pettus Bridge in, is it Alabama, was it -- now I’ve forgotten. Selma, they were on their way to Selma, Alabama. And that was my signal, I immediately connected, [00:41:00] if I feel upset about people sitting by and not doing anything about injustices to someone, I had to get involved in this. So, next morning I joined CORE and within a week we were at McCormick Place at the boat show that they -- the tourism show they held every year. And I think this was the old one before that one -- I think it’s the one that burned down eventually. And we chained ourselves in a circle in front of the Alabama booth with the state troopers standing there. We ran chain link through our coats, so you didn’t see the chain until we got there and padlocked ourselves. So the front page of The Tribune the next day was, “Cops carrying out --” ’cause we went limp -- carrying out these demonstrators, you know, like sacks from McCormick Place and we were jailed, got out the next day, we went back, did it again. No security there, they let us back in, we did it again. [00:42:00] And I remember the story because that night I ate Chinese food and got a fortune in my fortune cookie that said, “You feel refreshed after a relaxing weekend and ready to tackle the world.” So, my feeling was, I was active in CORE for a long time, from there it kept growing, the antiwar movement, from the Civil Rights Movement to the anti-war movement just 22 �like Dr. King and start making the connections between them. And I think once you’re an activist it’s hard to stop being one, you’re always -JJ: What kind of work did you do in CORE? LT: Oh, I did in the ’80s -- oh well, ’70s, I went to Cuba, I’ve been to Cuba five times. So, when they make a big fuss about Beyoncé and Jay-Z going to Cuba, anybody can really go to Cuba now, you can say, “I want to investigate the arts and culture of Cuba,” you can go. But I wish they would stop the blockade already. I’ve been involved in [00:43:00] various ways of trying to end the blockade against Cuba for all these years. I was part of the Chicago Cuba Committee, which did work on that, it was an educational organization. I went on the second Venceremos Brigade, there were 700 of us. We cut sugar cane and I still have a picture of Fidel with his machete talking in this big circle of people and that was the brigade that I was on. We left just after Fred Hampton had been murdered, December of ’69 and we returned after cutting sugar cane and touring the island just before May Day of 1970. And when we returned, we were confronted with the fact of Manuel Ramos’ death. I don’t remember all the details, he was killed and a gigantic May Day march, somewhere in my files of memorabilia, I have pictures of it, you know, with banners [00:44:00] and everything. It was really beautiful and we felt like we were -- that was a connection between the struggle of the Cuban people, the Puerta Rican people and all the press people in Chicago, everywhere. It was very moving. I went on to at that time a storefront community organization called The People’s Information Center opened and I became a part of that along with several other 23 �friends. And we did programs that other participants in the Rainbow Coalition did, the Young Lords also, breakfast for children program, worked on a free people’s health clinic, just all kinds of good things in the community. JJ: Where was it located? LT: Oh, this was in Lincoln Park, right on Holsted Street. On one side of us we had the People’s Law Office, which is a whole other story [00:45:00] and a few doors down, we had the Women’s Liberation’s -- Chicago Women’s Liberation Union Office. So, it was a very progressive block. And in fact, after urban renewal cleared the land between I think Dickens and Armitage, there was a People’s Park built and I remember specifically a 26th of July celebration where we roasted a pig. I won’t describe how the pig was attired. And it just went on, I came into an organization of activists that did a lot of work against U.S. intervention in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala for many years called the U.S. Anti-Imperialist -- it was after -- there was initially many years ago an AntiImperialist League and that’s what it was named after. But we did a lot of film showings and sponsoring speakers, educating people. There were lots of demonstrations [00:46:00] at consulates, there was always something going on. I’m trying to follow this chronologically because for -- what else did I do during those years? I’ll probably remember later. I’m 71 years old, so you gotta cut me some slack, you know, every detail won’t be there in the right order. But about 12 years ago, I had to move to Las Vegas, actually I live in Henderson because my mother who at the time was almost 96 could no longer live alone. So, she moved from Florida and I moved from Chicago leaving my daughter and my little 24 �grandbaby behind and stayed with my mother. And she lived another five years, ’cause she finally had her family around her. My brother lived there already, so for the first time in many years, my brother and I and my mother were all together in the same [00:47:00] neighborhood. So, it was a very good five years for her, she almost made it 101. And now I find so many of my friends are taking care of their mothers, it’s usually the mothers. So, that’s another link I have with friends is the experience of the reversal of the mother becomes the daughter and the daughter becomes the mother. Anyway. And so that’s where I am now, I come to Chicago every year for a week to see my friends and family. But my skin has got -- my blood has gotten too thin to live here all year round especially in the winter, so that’s why I am where I am. And there, I work -- whenever MoveOn has a demonstration, whether it’s against gun violence or whatever legislation is coming up, I work on campaigns, work with OFA which has been -- had many incarnations [00:48:00], Obama for America, Organizing for America, now it’s Organizing for Action. So, I just keep doing that because I feel that if I stop doing that, I lose my connection with the world and it’s good exercise. Walking a picket line never hurt anybody, if you can put one leg in front of the other, so. JJ: So, you came from CORE -- LT: Yeah. JJ: -- in ’60 -- LT: Right, I joined CORE the next morning, it was headed by James Forman at the time. JJ: Was that located in Chicago? 25 �LT: In Chicago, yes. JJ: Okay. LT: And for a time, I was secretary of the organization and then there was North Side CORE, West Side, South Side, they had various branches. JJ: But I don’t understand, what was the difference between them and some of the other Civil Rights groups? LT: Well, Congress on Racial Equality, didn’t limit itself to students, it was for all ages, it was very integrated. [00:49:00] But there came a time, it was after the Black Power Movement when there was pressure for White people to especially step down from leadership positions, that it was time for Black people to lead their struggle and I had no problem with that, so I did. Other people took office, but it didn’t mean that we weren’t supportive White people who were no longer officers or whatever in CORE. I liked the organization, and I liked James Forman, and it was very active at the time. JJ: What was he like in -- LT: Well, I only met James Forman once very briefly. There’s actually a movie -- I should press my brain and try to remember, that talks about his youth. Denzel Washington played a union organizer in it, The Young Debaters. If you ever get a chance to see it, it’s great because there’s a kid there who’s the son of a minister who grows up to -- who was James Forman. And this kinda shows you [00:50:00] his introduction to things like the Labor Movement and debating. He was a very articulate and powerful speaker, and he was part of the Black 26 �Colleges debate team that ended up beating the Ivy League schools and winning a championship in debating. It’s a very good skill to have. JJ: You mentioned Manual Ramos and then you mentioned Fred Hampton. What do you recall of Fred Hampton? LT: Oh, because I knew him, I mean, I think it wasn’t even weeks -- not even a week before his death that I was the one that took a flyer that we had designed -- there had been an attack by the Chicago Police on the apartment that -- it wasn’t Fred Hampton’s apartment, it was an office or something and -- don’t make me [lose that train of thought?]. [00:51:00] And so there was a big rally planned on behalf of the people who had been injured and jailed from that raid, not the one that killed Fred. So, we designed a flyer to be passing out to mobilize people. JJ: The information center? LT: This is before the internet. JJ: The information center? LT: Yeah. Well, yes, it was and I took it over to the office on Madison and showed it to Fred and he’s the one who changed the location. It was gonna be a different location, I don’t remember which, but it ended up being at the church on Ashland where they had many events and a few minor little changes and took it back -- JJ: On Ashland and Madison? LT: Well, there was a church on Ashland near Adams I believe. It wasn’t far from the electric workers’ union hall, there was a trip there and that’s where the rally was scheduled to happen. So, went back, [00:52:00] made the changes, went to -this is maybe a day later, went to the printing press, Omega Press, progressive 27 �printers in Hyde Park and I spent the night waiting for the flyer to be done. And in the morning, about six in the morning, I got a phone call from [Sue Jan?] telling me what had happened, Chairman Fred had been murdered. So, needless to say, everything but the heading, the header came off, all the illustration, everything else stayed the same, the place, the time, and it was reprinted, and I waited for it and brought it back north. And yes, I remember that. JJ: How did that impact you and some of the other organizers? LT: Well, we were just to leave for Cuba and I remember one of the things that people decided that the brigadistas would do because we did various community service kinds of things in training before we left together, [00:53:00] was to stand guard, to stand witness at the Panther office on Madison. So, we’d stand up and down the stairways in case there was an attack or something, here’d be all these people standing there waiting, watching, you know. I remember that. And I knew a lot of the Panthers because I was one of the people like many of us at the Information Center who sold the Black Panther paper all the time, so I would be the one who would drive my little Toyota over there and would load it -- John Preston would load up the car with Panther papers, take ’em back north and sell ’em at L stops and everywhere. Good paper. And then as I say, between the -there was a Young Patriots organization, later there was Rising Up Angry, there was the [00:54:00] Panther Party, there was the Young Lords, People’s Information, all these groups that really showed an example of the Rainbow Coalition by our skin and by our politics, the solidarity among the peoples in the community and that was (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). 28 �JJ: How would you describe that, I mean -- LT: Well, I mean, because you could see organizations and individuals working together toward common goals, especially for White people following leadership of Third World people, or Black people, Puerto Rican, Mexican, whatever, Brown people, Black people that we followed their example. The Panther Party started the breakfast for children programs, the Serve the People Programs, STP. So, that I thin in itself sent a message in terms of leadership not being, you know, for people like me, formerly White suburban [00:55:00] kids at one time to come in and feel that somehow we could run it. And no, we couldn’t because we didn’t have that contact with the community, that understanding of what needed to be done. So, it was a great learning experience for a lot of people to work with the Panthers, the Young Lords no matter what it was about. JJ: You said contact with the community, what do you mean? LT: Well, like even in Lincoln Park, there were a lot of Puerta Rican people in Lincoln Park, the place where I lived was pretty White, it was like a merging of, you know, what they call the base now, a political base that that became everyone’s base, all the progressive factors in a community. So, I just thought it was important for people to see that when the politics are right, it can pull [00:56:00] people together to work together to accomplish good things. JJ: Geographically, what would be the base? LT: Well, when I talk about Lincoln Park, I talk about that area between -- because it had, oh I’d say between Armitage and Belden even, in terms of where people were located. Because the Young Lords Church was on Dayton and Armitage, 29 �the People’s Information Center, People’s Law Office, the Women’s Union were all on Halstead between them. So, those were some basic organizations, people lived in lots of places, you know. JJ: What were some of the demonstrations that (overlapping dialogue; inaudible)? LT: Well, I remember when, wasn’t it the Young Lords who helped take over McCormick Seminary, we were there too. And it was saying a lot in terms of what McCormick Seminary should give back to the community. [00:57:00] It got a lot of media coverage, and in fact, in the end McCormick Seminary did acquiesce to do -- I can’t remember exactly, but I know that in some way that sitin, that occupation was successful in that did rest some power from that institution in the community. JJ: Were you inside or not? LT: Well, I had been in -- I didn’t occupy, no, I didn’t live in there. The occupy came later, I was part of occupy in Las Vegas. Occupy Las Vegas, what better place to occupy? (laughs) Occupy a casino. But, that’s what I remember, and that was very important. And I think it kinda set an example that institutions in a community have an obligation to support the interests of the people in the community, not just like -- it was in fact walled off, it had this black wrought iron fence all the way [00:58:00] around it. Do you remember? And kinda like tried to be an isolated island in the community. And I think people showed that it couldn’t be, it had to relate to the community it existed in. JJ: And you mentioned Manuel Ramos, what do you remember of that? 30 �LT: Well, I was trying to rack my brain to understand. I think I must have met him at least. I didn’t know him well, but I know that when we returned from Cuba, just before May Day, that’s what we learned. In Cuba we heard nothing about what was going on back in the States, I mean, we didn’t have cell phones or the internet or anything like that. So, this is what we were told when we got back that he had been killed by police, was it a police -- I don’t remember the details, but I do remember the turnout, that it was just this very impressive -- there were pictures that showed people like six abreast walking down the middle [00:59:00] of the street, I don’t know if it was Division or what it was. But I remember that occasion because it seemed so apropos to come back from Cuba and see this massing of progressive people demonstrating against the kind of attacks that police were pulling off. In fact, later when I actually held a nine to five job, I worked on the Red Squad Spy suit, and a lot of the people who spied on activists in Lincoln Park and elsewhere were -- the lawyers got special permission to do not court reporters which were so expensive, but actually tape record the depositions of these spies and I was one of the people who transcribed -- that’s the first transcription job I ever -- transcribed those depositions. And I could see people walk through the office at the Better Government [01:00:00] Association to the conference room for their deposition and recognize me -- JJ: These are police? LT: -- and I would recognize them. JJ: These are police, undercover police? 31 �LT: Yeah. The Red Squad started I think in the ’30s and it initiated to spy on labor, labor unions, infiltrate them, report to the police. It went through the Peace Movement, the anti-war movement, the Civil Rights -- it was always there. And in fact, I think Michael Moore had a movie that talks about that kind of infiltration of cops going to meetings and everything. And people who -- when they’d walk through to that conference room and I looked at them and they knew who I was ’cause they’d spied on me and a lot of other people, it was just kind of this feeling like, “Well, we gotcha now. We know what you are. You’re not a progressive person, you were a spy for the cops all this time.” JJ: So, you actually saw your name in the [01:01:00] files or -- LT: Well, I was part -- oh yeah, I was part -- I have my file. Of course, when you get your file, did you ever get your file, it’s all redacted, big black lines through everything that would indicate who it was that was reporting this information about you. And there was a cop who every time I came out of Montana Street apartment, [Maury Daly?], he’d be sitting in an unmarked car, wave to me, follow me wherever I went, you know, that kind of intimidation, it was just kinda -- some of it was just silliness. JJ: So, you’re saying they were going to the meetings? What else would they do? LT: They came to meetings whether it was civil rights or community meetings or whatever as if they were ordinary people. I don’t wanna name names. JJ: No, (overlapping dialogue; inaudible) LT: And then once this -- JJ: But can you describe some of the things that they were -- 32 �LT: Pardon? JJ: Can you describe some of the things they were doing? LT: Well, when they came to meetings and demonstrations, they didn’t stand out from anybody else, you know, [01:02:00] it was a nice person, a teacher maybe who claimed to believe in something and came and showed up with a sign or whatever. But they were there to take names down, who was at the meeting, who said what, that kinda stuff. And it happened all over the country, but we’re familiar with it as the Red Squad suit. And back in the early ’80s, that was my job at the BGA, I was transcribing those things and working solely on the suit. And the files of people who were spied on and the spies were all stored there. So, I could walk into the file room with dozens of file cabinets in it and my file was in there, my Red Squad file. So, I was part of the class action. JJ: So, what about, is that COINTELPRO, is that the same thing or -- LT: Not exactly. I mean, in a way it was [01:03:00] because there were other suits at the same time. JJ: Can you describe COINTELPRO, what is that? LT: That was uncovered in the Percy Hearings I think, weren’t they, that it was a national, run by the FBI especially. COINTELPRO was Counterintelligence Program and they tracked the plot to kill Fred Hampton through COINTELPRO. The Red Squad thing was a different thing, I really have no idea or recollection how much of the local operation was influenced or mandated by national COINTELPRO. I only know what happened here. And at the same time, we also had a suit against military intelligence and the FBI, so different offices handled 33 �different aspects of the lawsuit. The Lawyers’ Committee to defend the Bill of Rights I believe had the suit against the FBI and another organization, I can’t remember which it was [01:04:00] that had the other part. So, I did a lot of the typing of the brief for it. I mean, being a secretary had its advantages. I was also the secretary in the Hampton civil suit and I still have the fly page from the notebook that the People’s Law Office gave me. This was before computers. I did it on my IBM Selectric typewriter, it was red. And they would come to my house every night and sit around my dining room table and edit pages and I’d have to go and cut and paste and put the document together. And the NACP gave them a grant only for secretarial help like that. And so, before the lawyers saw a penny, I was being paid, which I kinda felt bad about, but then again, I was earning a living, but they didn’t get paid till the settlement [01:05:00] happened, you know. JJ: And what were some of the things that came out in the trial, in the settlement? LT: Well, the documents were -- it was the complaint against the Chicago Red Squad and it was incident after incident of evidence of police spying on people exercising their constitutional rights, we hear a lot about constitutional rights today, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and the police were harassing -many people lost jobs because they would go to your boss and say, “Did you know that your employee did this or that?” It was a big thick thing, don’t ask me to recite it. JJ: (inaudible) LT: (laughs) But it existed and I did that. 34 �JJ: But I heard they sent letters to different people -- LT: Pardon? JJ: -- to spouses, they sent letters or -- LT: There were a lot of -- [01:06:00] I don’t remember exact circumstances. JJ: So, they weren’t just collecting information, they were -- LT: No, they collected information, but they also caused problems for people, it was an intimidation. I mean, telling your boss that your employee is a -- I don’t wanna call names, you know, a communist or who the heck knows, that can get you fired. So, it was harmful, many people suffered direct injury from it. But most of the class were any people who were intimidated from participating by presence and knowledge that the Red Squad was afoot, spying on you even though we didn’t know exactly who it might be that was the spy. And not to build it up to sound like international spies, but some of them were people who were firmly against what we were doing, the [01:07:00] kind of causes we were involved in whether it was peace, civil rights, anti-war, whatever. And some of them might have been people who did it in exchange for cops dropping a charge that they mighta had, somebody gets caught doing something they shouldn’t and they said, “Are you willing to do this?” And they say, “Sure, I’ll do that. Just don’t arrest me for whatever I did wrong.” They came to it in a lot of ways. So, yeah. JJ: And was this brought up like in court, like some of the -- LT: Well, I actually never went to court, it was only the lawyers who went to court. JJ: No, but I mean this information that the Red Squad gathered, was it used against individuals? 35 �LT: For it to be -- JJ: Or, if you know. LT: -- in their files, it meant that the whole police department could look up somebody and know what they were about. And whether they wanted to harass people individually like going to their bosses or spouses or whatever, [01:08:00] or whether they wanted to sabotage the work of organizations, sometimes there’d be agent provocateurs, they weren’t just reporting, they were suggesting things that might be illegal to try to get people to do things they shouldn’t, so they could be arrested. There was a whole array of dirty tricks that they did. And I only mention it because from being a victim myself, although not harmed as much as other people were, to being a person who could sit there and watch these spies kind of be called [to just?], they were outed, suddenly the whole movement knew who these people were. And just to be at that desk before the conference room as they walked in and looked at me, and I looked at them as if to say, “Now, I know who you really are.” [01:09:00] JJ: What about, did you hear anything about Reverend Bruce Johnson? LT: No. No. JJ: No? LT: I know I had met him when the Young Lords were in the church, but I knew nothing about what went on there. Yeah. JJ: I said that because it happened just about a month and a half before Fred Hampton’s death. LT: Really? Oh, it had happened before. 36 �JJ: (overlapping conversation; inaudible) LT: I remember that it happened, but I knew nothing about the details. JJ: (overlapping conversation; dialogue) September 29th. LT: Did they ever find who did it? JJ: No, it actually is still a cold case. LT: Still a cold case. JJ: They haven’t found out who did it or -- LT: No. JJ: -- I don’t think they want to find out. LT: Yeah. Were they trying to blame the Young Lords? JJ: The Young Lords were blamed, yes. I mean, they were at least insinuated. LT: Yeah. You know, through the years, you might have remembered the Lincoln Park, oh what was it? Remember Dick Vision. JJ: Same thing. LT: Yeah. I remember [01:10:00] his -- ’cause that struggle was against urban renewal in the community. And I was friends with Dick, in fact, I went up to -when my daughter was born, [Maya?], we took a trip up to British Columbia to visit him and his wife and little daughter Revy for revolution, Revolutionary Hope, it turns out her name was really Hope, but that’s what they called her, Revy. And we stayed up there, talk about cold, I’m never going back in February to British Columbia, but it was beautiful. Yeah, he was a good guy and then he went to China to teach English in China and the last I heard he married a Chinese woman, I think he’s still there. Yeah. 37 �JJ: (inaudible) recently (inaudible), but that’s another issue. LT: Have we covered everything? JJ: What else, what do you think (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). F2: I think it was pretty complete. JJ: It was pretty complete. [01:11:00] How about the People’s Law Office that you -whatever you called it? LT: Well, I worked with the People's Law Office on the Hampton suit. JJ: (inaudible) LT: I mean, I typed the complaint for it and it was the, as I said the NACP who paid for that. Yes, I was close, I mean Flint and Jeff and Jeff wrote a wonderful book, The Assassination of Fred Hampton which I have an autographed copy of. And I still sometimes check Chicago papers and Flint’s still involved in fighting for justice on all kinds of fronts. And now a big thing is the Innocence Projects, all over the country. When I worked at the BGA, the guy who started it at Northwestern, David Protess, I worked in the same office with him and then he went on to start the Innocence Project at Northwestern, and now they’re everywhere, there’s even an Innocence Project in Las Vegas. So, I think that’s a [01:12:00] great thing, trying to fight for freedom of people wrongly incarcerated. JJ: So, what do you think were the main -- the most important aspect of that era, that (inaudible)? LT: Of the era. I think it was always, there had to be the fight against racism because no matter where you turned, that was very central to a struggle, yeah. I remember later I worked with an organization that had a newspaper called 38 �Frontline, On the “Frontline Against War and Racism,” that those were the twin kind of anchors of the progressive movement and they really were. When you talk about U.S. military intervention in Central America, that’s the war aspect and as well as racism, the idea that the United States Government could dictate to other countries how they should govern their countries and things like that. [01:13:00] JJ: Now, you went in the church several time or -- LT: Oh yeah, I’d be in the church. JJ: What was it like, can you describe -- to you, what was it like to you? LT: Pardon? JJ: What was it like to you? LT: It was like a church. I don’t know. (laughs) I remember I was there when you had the clinic in the church, I remember visiting the clinic, I remember you had a breakfast for children program. Yeah, that’s the parts that I remember. But mostly I remember that it was just this -- in the community, the activists in the community. ’Cause at the People’s Information Center, we had a breakfast program, at the church on Diversey, there was the Fritzi Engelstein, Free People’s Health Clinic and the mural is still there on that church. And it just made the whole larger community [01:14:00] so much more -- these progressive aspects so visible whether you are an Armitage or a Diversey or Halsted or whatever, you got the impression that there were progressive people doing good stuff in this community. JJ: A base like (inaudible). 39 �LT: Yeah, it was a base. Of course, you know what urban renewal did to that. And when I would drive down Halsted and see the fancy expensive housing that was built on People’s Park or whatever, it almost makes you wonder, did all that other stuff really happen, you know, when you see it so transformed. But it was a special era, and I don’t see -- I haven’t seen anything like it since then. I think it was very unique, it was, people had a sense of power that they could do stuff and [01:15:00] I don’t see it that way now. There’s so much separateness between the environmental movement or the anti-war movement or the anti-nuke movement or whatever. Some activists circulate among all of them, but there’s no coming together, the kind of coalition that worked in Lincoln Park and around Chicago then. JJ: Now, in terms of the Women’s Movement, how did that fit in? LT: I was probably less active in the Women’s Movement than I was in any of the other stuff. And it’s ironic because a new movie’s coming out that -- did you ever know my friend Ethan Young? JJ: You know, I heard his name, yeah. LT: Yeah? He’s a writer, he’s in New York, he lives in Brooklyn and his wife Mary Dore has just collaborated with another filmmaker to make this wonderful movie about the Women’s Movement in the ’70s, which was really -- I mean the Women’s Movement didn’t just start then, it’s been going since before [01:16:00] suffragettes, you know. But it’s really great ’cause there are a lot of Chicago faces in it, I’ve seen the trailer for it. It’s called, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry. And that’s the name of the film, and it should be out within a month. But I 40 �wasn’t as active in that as I was in whether it was Cuba or breakfast program or all the other stuff that was going on in the community. JJ: Was there any work being done at all? LT: Pardon? JJ: You said there was a women’s group. LT: Oh, there was, oh, yes, I just wasn’t as active in it myself personally. JJ: Okay. LT: Yeah. Oh, yes, they were very much, yeah. If you kinda keep a tabs on it and Google the movie, when it comes out, you watch it online and you’ll see, “Oh, there’s so and so.” You’ll know faces. It’s a good thing. JJ: Okay, we’re kinda tapering down, but any final thoughts? LT: Not really. I just think that there’s always something to be done, maybe -- it’s kinda like in an electoral campaign, not everybody can walk and knock doors, not everybody can cold call people in a phone bank. But people can write letters to the editor, people can make comments online articles, people can individually find a demonstration to go to or a forum to attend or a donation to make. There’s always something people can do to strengthen that movement and they should do it. JJ: All right. Thank you. LT: You’re welcome. End Of Audio File 41 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/769d9e910cfdb5f53c521b40ccb6c7ed.mp4 aa655634ea06119f8c326fb3d3f2970a 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 Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> 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 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Aaron Dixon vídeo entrevista y biografía Descripción Spanish language Description entry La historia oral de Aaron Dixon, entrevistado por Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez el 3/14/2013 acerca de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexicano-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Mexico-Americanos--Illinois--Chicago--Condiciones sociales Relaciones raciales Conflicto social Identitad cultural Partido Pantera Negra. Illinois Capí­tulo Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> 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-65_Dixon_Aaron Title A name given to the resource Aaron Dixon video interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dixon, Aaron Description An account of the resource Oral history of Aaron Dixon, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 3/14/2013 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. This interview is incomplete. At approximately 39 minutes, the interview with Dixon cuts to another interview with Linda Turner and does not return to Dixon. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jimenez, Jose, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexican Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Mexican Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions Race relations Social conflict Cultural identity Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter 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 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-03-14 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/3d6fe80932a6f6a41994137ee597f162.mp4 32b4960e74d210bffd93a8a9e705561e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/711356597bac8ac36b136888d3cc865f.mp4 988edb24034b2d2be299ec143059bc1a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/14a15f56a57bcdc39178be97b94bd5fc.pdf b293a48ce0610edf5c25bfdfc1ffeb85 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Marshall Doak World War II Part 1 – 2 hours 3 minutes 40 seconds (00:00:13) Early Life -Born in Sturgis, Michigan at 220 Grove Street on March 3, 1921 -Father worked for CL Spence factory in Sturgis, but also played music -Died on Christmas Eve when Marshall was seven years old -Everybody was poor during the Great Depression -Made do with what they had -Mother remarried in 1933 -Moved to Benton Harbor, Michigan -Got along well with the black children, because they were poor too -Graduated from Buchanan High School in 1938 (00:03:45) Enlisting in the Navy -Interested in going to the Naval Academy -Had a scholarship to Rutgers University -Packed his belongings and planned on hitchhiking to Rutgers -Went from Benton Harbor to Detroit to Canada to the New York border -Couldn't get back into the United States through New York -Returned to Detroit and his parents took him home -End of any attempt to go to Rutgers University -Talked to people that had been in the Navy -They said they learned a lot -Recruiter thought he'd be a good fit for the Navy -If he made it through basic training he would be eligible for the academy -In June 1938 only the Navy accepted new recruits -Enlisted on November 9, 1938 (00:08:59) Basic Training -Sent to Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island for basic training -Used to doing hard work -Felt the Navy had good food -Almost felt like a vacation -Enjoyed the Navy -A lot of marching and discipline -Learned to follow orders -Had no problem adjusting to that -Met men from all over the United States -Men from larger cities were arrogant toward men from the country -Lasted four months -Worked on the historic ship USS Constellation (00�:11:30) Service on the USS Salt Lake City -Originally ordered to join the USS Cimarron -Orders were canceled -Ordered to go to the World's Fair in New York City -Those orders were also canceled �-Joined the USS Houston in Virginia and sailed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -Athletic competition held by the Atlantic Fleet in Guantanamo Bay -Reassigned to the USS Salt Lake City (heavy cruiser) -Given extra duties by one of the boatswains because Marshall was a Naval Academy candidate -Later reassigned to the Salt Lake City's sickbay -Enjoyed that duty -Invited to go to the Naval Academy -Enjoyed working in the sickbay and found medicine training -Decided to decline the invitation to the Naval Academy -Captain was furious, but understood (00:16:16) Hospital Corps School -Captain got him sent to Hospital Corps School in San Diego, California -Went to Hospital Corps School in late 1939 -Four month course -Concentrated course work -Worked day and night -Almost never got leave -Finished the top of his class -He was in charge of the other recruits -Meant he got into trouble if another recruit made a mistake -Which is why he didn't get leave that often -Visited San Diego a few times and Tijuana once -Goal was to complete Hospital Corps School and become a hospital apprentice -After that he would become a pharmacist's mate -Learned how to mix compounds and make drugs -Taught first aid -Worked in surgery, pharmacy, and X-ray in the hospital (00:19:59) Training at Great Lakes Naval Station -Sent to the hospital at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for a short time -Able to visit his family -Served as a hospital apprentice -Spent four or five months there (00:20:32) Norfolk Naval Hospital -Sent to the Norfolk Naval Hospital -Became the senior corpsman in the urological ward -Handled a lot of venereal disease cases -No cure at the time for gonorrhea -Only cure for syphilis took four years -Worked with a new drug that caused kidney failure and killed 80 to 100 soldiers -Primitive antibiotic -Norfolk, Virginia was a Navy-friendly town -People got along well with the Navy, because most of the people were affiliated with the Navy (00:25:16) Serving at Great Lakes Naval Station -Sent back to Great Lakes Naval Station to Building #7 to work in the dispensary -Had a 1935 Ford that he used to drive home -Gas cost only five cents a gallon -Completed that assignment in March 1941 (00:26:42) Assignment to the USS Wakefield -Sent to join the USS Wakefield in New York City �-Troopship being used to transport Allied soldiers -Secret assignment because the United States was still neutral -Use of an American ship and an American crew violated American neutrality -Practiced amphibious assaults with the Marines (00:29:50) Voyage to Singapore Pt. 1 -Sailed out of New York City in early November 1941 -In August 1941 the British were trapped in North Africa and needed help -Germans controlled the sea and air around Africa -Made it impossible for British ships to reach the troops in North Africa -President Roosevelt decided to help the British and fight the war by proxy -Give the British transportation and supplies, and let them fight -The USS New Mexico and other ships were sent to the United Kingdom -Escorted British ships from the United Kingdom to Halifax, Canada -USS Wakefield sailed to Halifax to meet the convoy of American and British ships -British troops boarded the Wakefield in the middle of the night -No newspapers, radios, letters, or cameras -Maintain secrecy to maintain American “neutrality” -Had a lot of contact with British soldiers -Interesting to hear the variety of accents -British were interested in hearing the American accents -First stop was Capetown, South Africa -Knew they probably weren't going home until the war ended -Had eight American destroyers, USS Cimarron, and USS Ranger escort them part of the way -Allowed to drop depth charges on U-Boats when they entered the Caribbean Sea -There were 5,500 British soldiers on board -Stopped in Trinidad -British troops were shocked to get sugar, butter, and fresh fruit -Hadn't gotten those things since the war began -Sailed from Trinidad toward Capetown -Most of the crewmen were “pollywogs” (men that had never crossed the Equator) -Went through the King Neptune's Ceremony -Getting paddled and had to kiss the “Royal Baby's bellybutton” -”Royal Baby” was a black cook -Angered the Southerners that had to participate in the ceremony -Sailed to the Caribbean with the Ranger then sailed to Capetown without the aircraft carrier -Still had cruisers and Marines to protect the convoy -Passed the Equator and spotted the German submarine tender Python -Knew U-Boats were in the area -Had the HMS Dorsetshire, HMS Achilles, HMS Ajax, and HMS Exeter escorting the convoy -HMS Dorsetshire sank the Python -Never knew if it was technically an American or English convoy (00:44:22) America's Entry into the War Pt. 1 -On December 5, 1941 he went into the radio shack and saw a lot of messages coming in -Reported coordinates of two Japanese task forces -One moving toward British Malaya (Malaysia) and the Philippines -Knew something was going to happen -On December 6, 1941 no new messages came in -That night they were called to general quarters -Captain announced Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor �-Also said British Malaya, the Philippines, and Wake -On December 8, 1941 the Japanese attacked Guam -Later learned that on December 5, 1941 the U.S. had over 50 bombers at Clark Field, Philippines -Japanese destroyed every one of those bombers on December 7 -USS Houston and USS Marblehead left Manila on December 5 and sailed to Borneo -Out of reach of the Japanese offensive -Pulled into Capetown, South Africa on December 8, 1941 -Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on December 11, 1941 -Meant President Roosevelt didn't have to convince Congress to declare war on them too (00:52:18) Voyage to Singapore Pt. 2 -Went ashore in Capetown -Set up a temporary office in the Capetown police department -Jan Smuts, the Prime Minister of South Africa, came into the department -Congratulated Marshall on the United States' entry into the war -Didn't know who it was until after Jan left -Allowed the British troops to go ashore in South Africa (00:56:00) America's Entry into the War Pt. 2 -On December 5 the British heard radio chatter implying a Japanese attack on the U.S. -Sent the information to Washington D.C., but received no response -Mexico received similar information and tried to notify the United States -Also ignored -Patrol planes out of Alaska were grounded -All American forces were ordered to stand down the week of December 7 (00:57:38) Voyage to Singapore Pt. 3 -Pulled out of Capetown along with British ships -Arrived in Bombay, India in late December 1941 -Stayed for a week -Able to go ashore -Still no idea what their final destination was -Sailed through the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra -Heavily mined area -Cut the mines loose and then blew them up -Passed through the Bangka Strait -Only had a few .50 caliber machine guns for defense and WWI-era helmets for protection -High-altitude Japanese bombers attacked the convoy -Japanese planes flying missions out of occupied Indochina -Bomb hit the USS Wakefield -Pulled into Singapore on January 29, 1942 -City was being bombed by the Japanese -Japanese bombers hit the city every hour -Only a few fighter planes and antiaircraft batteries to ward off the attackers -Singapore eventually fell to the Japanese on February 15, 1942 (01:05:42) Bombing at Keppel Harbor -Wakefield sailed to Keppel Harbor in Singapore on January 30 -Pulled 60 patients out of the sickbay and at 11 AM a bomb hit the ship and knocked him unconscious -Destroyed almost all of the ship's medical equipment -Woke up from being unconscious and was handed morphine syringes -Told to give morphine shots to a man covered in third degree burns -Gave the man 20 shots, he stopped screaming, and died �-Looked at the man's dog tags, and it was his good friend Paul (01�:11:43) Return Voyage to the United States -Sailed from Singapore to Batavia, Java -Dutch cruisers fought off the Japanese ships that followed the Wakefield -USS Houston was in the Java Sea -Lost at the Battle of Sunda Strait -Sailed to Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) -First ship to pull into the harbor -Civilians were selling star sapphires for $1 each -He bought 20 or 30 of them, but lost them when he abandoned the Wakefield -Left Ceylon and sailed back to Bombay, India and got the ship repaired -Met an American dentist working in Bombay -Told Marshall he could have half of the practice after the war if he wanted -Always wonders what would have happened if he'd taken the offer -Saw the diverse mix of religions in India -Left Bombay and sailed back to Capetown -Anxious to get back to the United States -Sailed across the Atlantic Ocean -Passed through the Equator and received destroyer escorts back to America -Pulled into New York City on March 23, 1942 and greeted with ships saluting them with fire hoses -Sent to Philadelphia for repairs -Japanese said they sank the Wakefield -Obviously not true -Mother called the War Department to ask if it was true -War Department said yes, the ship sank, and Marshall was probably dead -When Marshall got back to the U.S. he called home -Mother always had hope the ship hadn't sank and Marshall survived -First group of troops back from the Pacific Theater -Learned about the fall of Allied territories in early 1942 -Given 10 to 15 days of leave -Told not to talk about his experiences for secrecy's sake (01:25:19) Transportation of Marines to Guadalcanal -Reported back to the USS Wakefield -Sailed to New Zealand with the 1st Marines which were sent to invade Guadalcanal -Sailed alone to New Zealand -Marines were healthier than the British soldiers, but the British troops were equally good fighters -British were a little more polite than the Marines, but Marines were also friendly -New Zealanders were friendly and hospitable (01:27:58) Convoy AT-18 -Sailed to England with a large convoy, AT-18, bound for Glasgow, Scotland -First major movement of American troops to England for service in the European Theater -Stopped in Belfast, Ireland -Pulled into Glasgow -A lot of Free French soldiers and Polish troops gathered there -Stayed in the city and got bedbugs (01:31:00) British Friend -Befriended a British soldier, Morris Barnes, while en route to Singapore -British soldier was captured at the fall of Singapore and made a prisoner of war -Kept in touch with the soldier's wife throughout the war �-Learned that the soldier died a week before Japan surrendered (01:32:20) Fire on the USS Wakefield -On the return voyage from Glasgow a fire alarm went off -Went to his fire station and grabbed as many first aid kits as he could -A fire broke out near the sickbay, but didn't know that -Fire had spread throughout the ship -Captain came to Marshall's fire station and told him to get off the ship before it sank -He abandoned ship and got picked up by the destroyer USS Mayo -Slept on the deck of the Mayo and used a first aid kit as a pillow -Examined the first aid kit and found it was filled with narcotics -Realized someone was trying to smuggle the drugs into the United States -Reported his discovery to the captain of the Mayo -Captain wanted nothing to do with it -Made sure he held onto the first aid kit -When he got back to the United States he was sent to Ellis Island for identification purposes -All of his records were lost in the fire on the Wakefield -Called a medical supply depot in Brooklyn to hand over the narcotics he'd found -Believes someone started the fire on the ship -Fire gutted the ship -He lost all of his personal effects -Got back to the United States in late September 1942 (01:40:55) Treatment of a General on the Wakefield -First patient he treated on the Wakefield was the general of the British 18th Infantry Division -Most likely Lt. General Arthur Percival, captured at the fall of Singapore -General loved having an American dentist work on his teeth -Invited Marshall to have a drink with the other British officers if he had time -Unfortunately, he was too busy with medical work to take up the invitation (01:42:27) Waiting in New York City -After reporting to Ellis Island he was sent to Pier 92 with only the clothes on his back -Finally got his records back -Volunteered for a work detail and got to see the 1942 World Series -Makeshift teams because all the major player were serving in the military -Conducted patrols, but got to watch the game (01:45:23) Commissioning the USS Arapaho (AT-68/ATF-68) -Sent to Charleston, South Carolina to commission the USS Arapaho, a fleet ocean tug -Arrived in Charleston around Thanksgiving 1942 -Ship was almost completed when he arrived -Helped a Navy doctor in the naval yard -Did a lot of the work -Charleston was a segregated and racially tense city -Black sailors were harassed -Residents of Charleston didn't like sailors regardless of race -Racist gangs tried to attack groups of black sailors returning to the naval yard -White sailors stood by the black sailors and fought off the racists -Strange for Marshall to witness -USS Arapaho was commissioned on January 20, 1943 (01:48:36) Shakedown Cruise on the USS Arapaho -Went to sea with a skeleton crew for the shakedown cruise -German submarine fired two torpedoes at the Arapaho �-Traveling light which meant they went underneath the bow; causing no damage -Returned to port -Captain Wootton had to be relieved of command because he couldn't handle the stress (01:50:12) Duty on the USS Arapaho -Got a new captain, C.B. Lee, with 30 years experience -Helped train the new officers -Got more of a crew and went out to sea for a couple days -Had his own surgery, pharmacy, and office near the officers' quarters -Worked on his own -130-140 enlisted men and 8 or 9 officers -Learned to disperse medical equipment rather than keep it in one spot like on the Wakefield -Inspected fresh food and food products coming onto the Arapaho -Cleaned fruits and vegetables from local sources -Kept track of canned food and dried food so it didn't spoil -In the Pacific Ocean temperatures on the ship reached 120 degrees -Slept on the deck when he could to escape the heat (01:55:10) Voyage to Casablanca-USS Arapaho -Sailed from Charleston to Key West, Florida to the submarine base there -Vice President Truman frequently visited Key West, but Marshall never met him -Ordered to sail to North Africa on March 19, 1943 -En route to North Africa they ran into a hurricane and had to stop in Bermuda -One of the ship's in the convoy had been left behind and the Arapaho went to recover it -Towed the ship back to Bermuda, only to learn it wasn't one of the convoy's ships -Happy coincidence for the ship stuck in the hurricane -Sailed from Bermuda to the Mediterranean Sea -Almost got sunk by a British torpedo plane -Stopped in Gibraltar -Italian divers tried to mine ships in the harbor -Used depth charges to kill and ward off the Italian frogmen (combat divers) -Pulled into Casablanca, Morocco to collect the USS Almaack (AKA-10) -While waiting for the ship he went ashore and tried to communicate with the French locals -The French laughed at him, not to be mean, but because his French was so proper -Towed the USS Almaack back to the United States -Sailed alone -Never attacked by U-Boats, but they were still a constant threat End of Part 1 Part 2 1 hour 50 minutes 27 seconds (00:00:16) Return to the United States from Casablanca -Returned to the United States after 15 days at sea -No change in clothing or showers during the return voyage (00:01:03) Operating around Funafuti -Sailed through the Panama Canal -Pulled into San Diego, California on July 15, 1943 to pick up a barge to tow to Pearl Harbor -Had escorts -Hauled ammunition barges around Funafuti �-Hundreds of pounds of bombs -Sometimes barges broke loose during rough weather -Men were injured by steel cables breaking -Japanese bombed the islands at night and out of reach of the antiaircraft guns -Sailed between the Ellice and Gilbert Islands -Japanese bombers targeted the runways on the islands and the aircraft on the runways -Not allowed to interact with the natives -Didn't spend much time ashore anyway -Whenever they got beer they shared it with the fighter pilots -In return, the pilots brought it up with them because it got chilled at the high altitudes (00:06:15) Pacific Theater Battles -Participated in the battles of Eniwetok, Kwajalein, and Makin -Assisted Carlson's Raiders (Marine Raiders) during a raid -Five of the men got left behind and were executed by the Japanese commanding officer -Arapaho served as a lookout ship before the raid -Got to the island a day early and had to wait until night to move in at the planned time -Japanese officer was captured and hanged at the end of the war (00:08:22) Battle of Tarawa Pt. 1 -Served as a chief pharmacist's mate during the Battle of Tarawa -November 20, 1943 through November 23, 1943 -Island was heavily defended -Fleet of 150 American ships poised to attack the island -17 aircraft carriers -12 battleships -Eight heavy cruisers -Four light cruisers -66 destroyers -36 transport ships -Arapaho was part of the ancillary fleet supporting the invasion -Prior to the invasion he saw Japanese bombers approaching the Arapaho -Reported his sighting to the bridge, but was ignored -Went back down into the ship and put on his “lucky dungarees” -Told the men around him to expect trouble -Returned to the deck and went to the 20mm antiaircraft cannon -Japanese bombers buzzed the ship and dropped depth charges to no effect -Wished he knew better how to use the cannon -They were gone before he got a shot off -Captain never apologized for doubting Marshall -Tarawa was only 800 yards across and about a square mile of actual fighting area -Misjudged the tide at the time of the invasion -Sent landing craft in while the tide was still out -Arapaho was at the point between Red Beach 2 and Red Beach 3 -Remembers that it was a massacre when the first wave went ashore -Navy bombarded the island before the invasion -Chased the Japanese across the island with a rolling bombardment -Japanese had constructed a concrete wall that not even the battleships could break -Japanese reacted quickly and set up machine guns on a concrete pier that extended off the shore -Marines attacking Red Beach 2 had to wade through debris while being shot at -Marines on the second wave knew what happened to the first wave �-Marines on the first wave either drowned or were killed by the machine guns -Only three men survived the first wave -Took a lot of casualties over the course of the invasion -Note: 1,696 men killed and 2,101 wounded in only three days -Had 15 gallons of grain alcohol -Distributed it among the Marines to try and raise their spirits before they invaded -Marines needed medics to go ashore to treat the wounded -He volunteered -He went ashore at Red Beach 3 -50 yards from the command post -Landscape was unbelievable -Found over a dozen dead Japanese soldiers with no apparent wounds -Most likely killed by the concussion from the artillery -Saw a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) being used as a Navy field hospital -Remembers one doctor having a nervous breakdown -Marshall went up to the doctor and put his arm around him -In retrospect, he feels he should have slapped the doctor -Not to be mean, but to get the man back to reality -He was suffering from “hysterical convulsions” -You start to believe in an alternate reality to escape trauma (00:27:15) Hysterical Convulsion -Taught to never give a sedative to a man experiencing hysterical convulsions -Near Makin he remembers the gun crews firing tracers at Japanese torpedo bombers -At night the tracers looked like they were coming at the gun crew and not away from them -Remembers one gun crewman believing he'd been hit by one of the rounds -Marshall was called to the gun crew to treat the wounded sailor -Saw the man had no apparent wounds and was having hysterical convulsions -Had to start slapping the man to get him out of the episode -Couldn't give him a sedative until he pulled out of the episode -Once the man was back to reality he could safely give him a sedative (00:32:12) Treating Burns -Most common wound at the start of the war was flash burns caused by bombs exploding -Originally used boric acid to treat burns -Found out that in large doses it was toxic -Moved on to using sulfa -Realized it was also toxic -At the end of the war used sugar water and wet dressings to treat burns -Successful and nontoxic (00:34:01) Battle of Tarawa Pt. 2 -On the fourth day at Tarawa the Arapaho towed a destroyer off the beach -All of the other ships had left Tarawa -Arapaho was the only ship left at the island -Had to account for nearly 5,000 Japanese corpses -Beaches were filled with decaying bodies -President Roosevelt finally allowed for pictures to be taken of the aftermath of the battle -Believed the American people needed to get used to seeing the cost of war -On the fifth day none of the bodies had been buried -Clouds of flies buzzed over the bodies of the dead -Had to use bulldozers to cover the bodies and create mass and unmarked graves �-As of 2015 efforts are finally being made to find the exact location of the bodies (00:38:44) Battles of the Northern Marianas Islands -Participated in the liberation of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian -Had a lot of new firefighting seamen on board -Majority of the men had received courts-martial -Given two choices: jail or hazardous duty -Some of the finest men he ever served with (00:41:05) Battle of Kwajalein -Participated in the battle of Kwajalein -January 31, 1944 to February 3, 1944 -Known as “Execution Island” -Found a couple British prisoners of war -Had been tied to poles on the Japanese airfield to deter American attacks on the airfield -Survived the bombardment of the island and the subsequent battle -He brought them back to the Arapaho and gave them showers and new clothes -To show their appreciation they gave Marshall a handcrafted grass token -Their only possession and they wanted him to have it -Took a lot of casualties at Kwajalein, but not nearly as bad as Tarawa -142 killed and 845 wounded at Kwajalein as opposed to the nearly 4,000 casualties at Tarawa -Battle of Tarawa is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Theater (00:46:40) Duties in the Pacific Theater -Towed an aircraft carrier to Pearl Harbor -Escorted the aircraft carrier USS Makin -Arapaho had depth charges and a three inch gun for defense -Steamed in the wake of the Makin -Easier travel in rough weather -When in harbors they towed ships to various places (00:48:20) Ulithi -Got to the island of Ulithi in late summer/early fall 1944 -Could have put the entire Pacific Fleet at Ulithi -Idea was to use Ulithi as the eventual staging area for the invasion of Japan -Still within reach of Japanese planes and submarines -Japanese used suicide torpedoes called kaiten -One was used to sink the USS Mississinewa on November 20, 1944 at Ulithi -Filled out four death reports for four of the men found in the water -Found one body with the head sheered off -Later found out it was the Japanese pilot of the torpedo -Buried with dignity -Between November 4 and 10, 1944 they helped the USS Zuni tow the USS Reno to Ulithi -The Reno was the sister ship of the USS Juneau and had been torpedoed on November 3 -Arapaho left Ulithi and joined a task force (00:54:14) Mutiny on the Arapaho and Problems with the Captain -Remembers being called to the bridge where a group of officers were waiting -One of the officers, Alexander Turak, asked Marshall what he thought of the captain -Captain was drunk and had a severe drinking problem -Marshall invoked Article 184, citing the captain was mentally unfit to command the ship -Able to order the captain off the bridge because he was drunk -Kept the captain in his room for three or four days until they reached Ulithi -Once they reached Ulithi Marshall let the captain out of his room �-Prior to the mutiny, the captain referred to Mr. Turak as “Jew Boy” and “Christ Killer” -Note: Mr. Turak was a Jewish officer -Turak told the captain he'd turn him over to his superiors if he endangered the ship and its crew again -In retaliation, the captain made sure Turak had bad jobs on the ship -Marshall wanted to get off the Arapaho, but couldn't leave until his replacement came aboard -Had to wait until November 24, 1944 -Captain never directed any animosity toward Marshall -The novel, The Caine Mutiny, was written after the war and based on the incident on the Arapaho -Prior to the mutiny, the captain issues courts-martial for two sailors for allegedly stealing peaches -Captain claimed the men were going into the storeroom and taking peaches -Ruling came back 'not guilty' -One reason was the men were allotted a ration of peaches -So the men charged with stealing were only getting their ration on their own -Other reason is technically they were breaking and entering, not stealing -Marshall kept a bottle of medicinal brandy on board -Gave a shot to the divers to calm their nerves after they completed a dive -Captain decided he wanted the bottle of brandy, and naturally, Marshall couldn't do that -Captain ordered Marshall to get a second bottle of brandy so he could have a bottle -Marshall complied only because he feared arbitrary punishment from the captain (01:08:22) Aiding Civilians -Helped a young man, named Jesus Cruz, who was from Guam, go ashore to visit his village -Came from a troubled family life -Regrets letting him go ashore (01��:10:11) Medical Duties -At one point met up with the doctor from the USS Wakefield -Met on the doctor's new ship, USS Cascade -Talked about his service on the USS Arapaho -Told him about how he had had to euthanize his best friend at Keppel Harbor -Asked the doctor what his extent of liability was as a medical officer on a ship -Meaning, how much leeway was he given if he made a mistake -Doctor told him there was no extent of liability given the circumstances -Basically, do the best you can with the skill and resources available to you -Whenever they participated in an invasion Marshall would treat wounded ground troops (01:14:10) Postwar Trauma Pt. 1 -The war was difficult, but dealing with the effects of the war was more difficult -Can't explain to his sons what he experienced during the war -Still wakes up in the middle of the night, haunted by the memories of the war (01:15:12) Transfer to USS Enterprise (CV-6) -Marshall was relieved from the USS Arapaho on November 24, 1944 when his replacement arrived -Captain thanked him for his service, but was happy to have Marshall off the ship -With Marshall gone the captain could deal with Mr. Turak without Marshall's interference -Transferred to the USS Enterprise -Worked in the aircraft carrier's air-conditioned sickbay -Would go up on the flight deck to watch planes take off for missions -Offered the chance to go on a training flight over the islands of Truk and Yap -Initially accepted the offer, but then decided not to go on the flight -Knew he was close to getting home and didn't want to get killed (01:18:07) Flying -After the war he went on a flight with a civilian pilot �-Flew over Lake Michigan -When they landed the pilot confessed that he'd forgotten to take the blocks off the plane -Meant the pilot had very little control of the plane -Took flying lessons and got his pilot's license -Stopped flying after a flight during the winter (01:19:56) Service at Brooklyn Naval Hospital -After returning to the United States he was assigned to the Brooklyn Naval Hospital -Boss was John McCormick -Had great duty at the naval hospital -Largely because he'd served under McCormick at Great Lakes Naval Station -Had a good relationship with him while at Great Lakes (01:21:30) Service with John McCormick -At the Great Lakes Naval Station dispensary there were a lot of reserve officers -One officer came from Michigan -Prior to the war they went to the University of Michigan -Conducted physicals for the Navy's college training programs -Marshall helped process the lab work for potential recruits -Officer from Michigan pulled out half a dozen urine samples before they were processed -Said they weren't fit for service -Marshall discovered those samples were from Jewish men -From the University of Michigan they went to Northwestern University -Officer pulled out Jewish urine samples again -After that Marshall reported the officer's behavior to John McCormick -After the war he was working in medical supply and ran into the anti-Semitic officer -Learned that McCormick had called out the officer after Marshall joined the USS Wakefield -John served as Marshall's mentor -While at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital John told Marshall that he felt Marshall deserved better duty -Three or four weeks later John received orders for Hunter College in Bronx -Training station for thousands of WAVES (women in the Naval Reserve) -He'd be one of only about a dozen men at the college (01:29:18) Service at Hunter College -Commander's name was Helen Jacobs -In charge of medical inventory at Hunter College -Discovered the college was missing medical equipment -The doctors at Hunter College had their own private practices on the side -They were most likely taking medical equipment for their own practices -Alerted the Brooklyn Medical Supply Depot -War was nearing its end -Offered a commission if he helped with medical inventory in the Pacific Theater -Knew it would be stressful and exhausting work to inventory equipment -Declined the offer for that reason and because he wanted to go home -Had 150 women under his command at Hunter College -Learned that he had to communicate with women differently than men -And older woman mentored Marshall at Hunter College -Remembers going on a date with a former Women's Army Corps volunteer -While at dinner he received a call from the older woman mentoring him -Told him the girl he was on a date with was pregnant, so be careful -He was the only male chief at Hunter College -Whenever he walked in the dining hall all of the women watched him walk to the officer's hall �-Couldn't yell at the women like he yelled at men (01:38:00) Life after the War -Note: Discharged from the Navy on October 8, 1945 -After he got out of the Navy he returned to Michigan, met his wife, and got married -Had three sons -Attended the University of Michigan -Had a hard time adjusting -Wanted to go to medical school, but still had to do pre-med school -Already 25 years old -Didn't want to take four years to go through pre-med school -Had forgotten how to study (01:39:42) Postwar Trauma Pt. 2 -Knew he had psychological trauma from the war -Tried to go to the VA Hospital for treatment shortly after he returned to civilian life -No help -Doctors were treating patients and also, essentially, running the hospital -More concerned with maintaining their position than treating patients -Negative environment -Doctors were suspicious of new patients -Difficult to get into the hospital for treatment -Learned later the better option was to just go to a public hospital for treatment -More convenient for him now -Hardest part of the war was not the war itself, but living with the memories of the war -One of his sons and daughter-in-law lives across the street and help him -Never got a chance to talk about his experiences until recently -Being a part of a group of veterans in St. Joseph, Michigan has been helpful Part 2 ends at 01:47:46 � 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_DoakM1906V Title A name given to the resource Doak, Marshall (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-12-03 Description An account of the resource Marshall Doak was born in Sturgis, Michigan on March 3, 1921. He enlisted in the Navy on November 9, 1938 and went to Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island for basic training. He served aboard the USS Salt Lake City then went to Hospital Corps School in San Diego, California in late 1939. He trained at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois and served in the urological ward at Norfolk Naval Hospital. From Norfolk he returned to Great Lakes Naval Station to work in the dispensary then got assigned to the USS Wakefield. In November 1941 the Wakefield joined a convoy in Canada and helped secretly transport 5,500 British troops to Singapore before the United States entered the war. By the time they dropped off the troops, Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the U.S. was in the war. He served aboard the Wakefield until Thanksgiving 1942 when he was reassigned to the USS Arapaho. Aboard the Arapaho he served as the ship's doctor. Through the summer of 1943 the ship operated in the Pacific Theater and during the Battle of Tarawa he went ashore to treat Marine casualties. He also participated in the liberation of the in liberation of Eniwetok, Kwajalein, Makin, and the Northern Marianas Islands. He experienced a quasi-mutiny on the USS Arapaho before being transferred to the USS Enterprise on November 24, 1944. He returned to the United States and served at Brooklyn Naval Hospital and Hunter College before being discharged on October 8, 1945. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Doak, Marshall 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 Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Language A language of the resource eng Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fd65181d9a4e731f6a4e8b12b5c2ea84.pdf 2a2d13d99230d37ee06640388f0846ba PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Daniel Doane U.S. Army Length of interview (8:16) (1:50) early life and service         (1:00) Born on June 29, 1926. Served in the army Before he entered the service he went to George Davis Technical High School, graduated in 1944 (3:15) He went to college on the G.I. Bill, graduated in 1952 (3:30) he had three siblings in the navy, one was a quarter master on a LST (4:23) He tried joining the navy, air force, and marines but was turned away because of bad vision (4:40) signed up for a chemistry course at Grand Rapids Junior College but on the first day of class he was in Detroit joining the army (September 1945) (5:00) after spending a few weeks in Fort Sheridan, he was sent to Texas and then Mississippi, he was very homesick. Mississippi was much better than Texas because there were more trees (7:20) Daniel was eventually sent to Chitose Air Base in Japan, most of the base was under-ground � 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_DoaneD1803V Title A name given to the resource Doane, Daniel Edward (Interview outline), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-05-22 Description An account of the resource Daniel Doane was born on June 29, 1926 to a family of six children. He joined the army in September 1945 and was sent to Fort Sheridan Illinois. After spending several months in the United States, Daniel was sent to Chitose Air Base in Japan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Doane, Daniel Edward Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Doane, Lindsay (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air ForcesOral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/aaa98df801f9f7fccb4d1974b292cf11.mp4 092698976fd5caab3b5f483536ec6cd1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e361b9d30d00761a4e86afd1ad54da54.pdf 880cb3a0b5a5954ebd957ab27cdafc80 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview World War II Edward Dochod 53:46 Introduction (00:18) We’re talking today with Mr. Edward Dochod of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project. Now, Mr. Dochod, can you start with some background on yourself, and to begin with where and when were you born? Grand Rapids, Michigan. January 1st, 1919. Very good, now did you grow up in Grand Rapids? Yes I did. All right, and did you finish high school? No, I went through 11th grade. Okay, and then, why did you leave school then? Well, I wanted to go to work. Now, what did your family do for a living when you were a kid? My dad was in furniture, all his life. And I had a couple of brothers that were caretakers of bowling alleys, and I had a sister, she did babysitting. Did your dad keep his job during the depression? No, he was laid off during the depression. But he always found an odd job to pick up a few bucks and that. When you went to work what kind of job did you get? Oh, I got in a factory the first time, at the Grand Rapids Plating Company. Then I got in with the Hoover Vacuum Cleaning machine outfit and then I went to McEnerny Spring and Wire, Dowler-Jarvis, American Seating, then I started maintenance work at one catholic school. Then I ended my maintenance work at Saint Ann‟s Home on Leonard Street. I worked there twenty years; I retired from there last November twenty five years ago. �All right, so that’s your full career. Now, before you went into the Army, what jobs were you in then, the very first jobs? (2:19) That was the last one I worked at, McEnerny's Spring and Wire, then I went into service. Do you remember hearing about Pearl Harbor? No, I just remember what I read in the papers, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and that. After that happened, did you think about enlisting? No, I didn‟t think of enlisting. Were you married at that time? Yes I was. Did you have any children yet, or on the way? Yes, I had three of them. Ok, so you had things to do at home. Oh yeah. When did you receive your draft notice? Oh, it was sometime in January of 42‟. After you got the draft notice, what did you do? I kept working at McEnerny‟s until about three weeks, then I said that‟s enough, I‟m taking a vacation before I go into the Army. And then where did you go first for the Army? Fort Custer, Michigan. Now was that just processing there? That was just first entry, then I went to South Carolina, Fort Jackson. I had my basic training there. From there I went to Fort Devens, Massachusetts and I was assigned to the division and that, to the 45th Division. (4:27) Ok, let’s back up a little bit to Fort Jackson, how did they get you from Fort Custer to Fort Jackson? �They took me down there by bus. A bus? All the way from Michigan to South Carolina? Yeah So, not a train? Oh yeah, we went on a train too. Had you made long train trips before that? No. Had you been very far outside Michigan before that? Well, I was the furthest I was away from Michigan was at that camp in North Carolina. So, what was basic training like? Basic training was all infantry, different guns and weapons that we used in the infantry and that. Rifle range, pistol range, bayonet course, and how to give emergency first aid into battle, when you‟re in battle if you can‟t get in touch with the aid. Did they have a lot of emphasis on discipline? Oh yeah. How easy was it for you to adjust to life in the Army? (6:04) It took quite a while after I got through with basic training. There was people with the training academy that thought they were generals, but when we got through with basic training, we seen some of those corporals and that and you can kiss my butt now, I‟m done with you guys. They acted like generals, but that was their job. Now, when you were at Fort Jackson, do you know where the other men were from, the men you were training with? Oh, I met a lot of men from all over the country; from many different states. And did you ever get off the base at Fort Jackson, did you go any place else? Oh went out to town, when we had a weekend pass. And then, did you notice the racial segregation there? �Did I what? Well, you know, that was the south and the south was segregated in those days. Did you notice that? Well, I noticed it some, yeah. And did you know it was going to be like that? Yes and No. Because it’s a little different from how they did things here. Oh, I guess so. How long was basic training? Thirty two weeks. So, for over half a year? Now it‟s cut down to practically, so many weeks. Right, two or three months. So your in Fort Jackson for a long time, and then after that? After our basic training at Fort Jackson, we went to Fort Devens. So, some of your training was at Fort Devens, it wasn’t just at Fort Jackson, ok. When you’re at Fort Devens, is that near Boston? (8:08) Boston, yeah. So did you get a little bit more time to go into town? Oh yeah, we got our weekend passes and that to go to town. And now and then we would get a furlough to go home for a week and come back. So you got to see your family before you went overseas. Yeah. What Division were you a part of? �I was always with the 45th Division, then when I went to the discharge camps, I was assigned with the 103rd Division, because that division was going home; Being deported back to the United States, ahead of the 45th Division. They took the high pertinent first. And you had been in so early, and you had been a combat infantryman all that time, you had a lot of points. The 45th Division, was that a National Guard Division? That‟s an old National Guard unit from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. That’s what I thought. My father-in-law was in that, a little later. So you had a bunch of older guys who were guardsmen or men who had been in the unit already? Oh yeah, a lot of the older men, they got discharged on account of their age. So, most of the Division was sort of new men who were added to it? Well, mostly new men. So, there were some guys who were actually from Oklahoma and then you had all the extra guys from everywhere else. Yeah, that‟s true. Alright, now when did you ship out? Ship out, it was July 10, 1943. And what kind of ship did they put you on? (10:12) Well, it was a transfer from a civilian ship to a military boat, I can‟t think of the name of the ship. But when you crossed the Atlantic, were you on the civilian ship or on the military? No, we were on the military. And, about how many men do you think were on the boat with you? Well, a whole division, they were big boats. So, several thousand men probably. They were transferred from civilian ships into military boats. So, converted ocean liners. �Yeah. Ok, those could hold thousands of men, all right. Did you sail in a convoy? Yeah, in a convoy. And, what was the weather like when you went across? Oh, pretty rough before the invasion. We thought they were going to call the invasion off, but we went through it. Now, the invasion then was the Sicily landings in July of 43’ and Salerno is in September. When you crossed the Atlantic, what was the first stop you made? First stop we made was Sicily. You didn’t stop in North Africa first? Yeah, we stopped at first in North Africa for a few days. Then from there we had our combat assignments and went for the invasion of Sicily. Now when you went across, were there already Americans ashore when you landed in Sicily? No. So you were making a beach landing? (12:04) We were making all beach landings. Can you describe a little bit what that’s like? They load you up on… It was hell, we were being bombed and strafed and machine gun fire, they had barbed wire entanglements, we had to put them bangalore torpedoes to blow them barbed wire entanglements out of the way so we could get on land. Ok, now how much training did you have for a beach invasion, had you ever practiced one before? No. Did they put you in the small landing craft to go up to the beach? Oh yeah, they put them in landing invasion boats, they hit the shore and when you hit the shore they opened that flap door and there you went. �How did you get in the landing boat? You're in a bigger transport ship, how do you get in the landing craft? We went down on cargo nets, they had a big rope cargo net on the side of the ship and we went down like monkeys into the invasion boats. How much gear did you carry when you made that landing? We had all our equipment, we had packs on our back and our ammunition and everything, we were packed down like a camel. Did guys have problems getting into the landing boat? Oh no, a lot of the landing boats were shot and sunk from bombs and that, and we kept going through that fire and we were getting artillery fire from the beach. And do you know which beach you landed at or what town you were near? (14:09) No, I don‟t know. They had names for the beaches but I don‟t remember their names. Ok, well we can look that up, and when we put it on the internet we’ll note all that. So, you land then on shore and you use bangalore torpedoes to blow through the wire, and once you got through the wire, then what? Then we moved forward, to go after one town after another town. Right near the beach, once you got through the wire were there a lot of Germans or did they get away? Oh, I guess so. The shore was full of Germans protecting their shoreline, we had machine gun fire, artillery fire, mortar fire, bomb fire, strafing of enemy planes. So how did you get rid of them? Well, our outfits did their best of shooting them out of the sky, and us infantryman did the best of killing them all I mean. So then you break through the beach defenses then, and were the Germans counterattacking in those first days? Oh, they tried a counterattack, but we always knocked off the counterattack. Then we went forward and took our objective and that. Right, so when they counterattacked you, did they have tanks? Oh yeah, they had everything but the kitchen sink. �Now, your infantry unit, what could you do about a German tank? Well, we did the best we could. Did you get air support or naval guns? Oh yeah, we had naval support and air support, but then the enemy was shooting at them and that too, you know. Now, were you fighting pretty constantly then in Sicily, or did you get any breaks? No, we just kept on moving. One objective after the other. No much stopping either or no relief, you just kept going. No stopping and helping your wounded buddy, just move, move. What kind of casualties was your company taking? (16:42) From machine gun fire and air strafing from the air force and that, the bombing and mortar shells, everything but the kitchen sink. I‟m surprised we didn‟t get the sink thrown at us. Now, out of your original platoon or your company, how many of the men were still with you at the end of that campaign? Oh, not very many. We got a lot of replacements. Were you just a rifleman that whole time? Yup. Did you become a squad leader or anything like that? No, towards the end I was in a squad but I was like second in command of each squad I mean. So, you still had some sergeants and things like that? Oh yeah. As your moving across Sicily, what do you remember about the country, what sort of land was it? Oh, it was mostly blown up country, but some of the little cities we passed through were really nice. The villagers would go out to see that they were liberated from the Germans and they waved the American flags you know. They come out into the street and brought us flowers, and girls coming out to us, they were so glad to see us. Alright, did you go all the way up to the tip of Sicily? (18:38) �After each objective, we got, sort of, a few days of rest, then we trained for more goings on forward what our objective would be. Were a lot of the Germans in caves or in the sides of mountains? Oh yeah, they had their dug outs and everything hidden, all well camouflaged, or in buildings and that, we were a perfect target for them. Does an infantry company carry any sort of heavier weapons, did you have bazookas or flame throwers? We had heavy field artillery behind us, we had tank support, air support, but if the weather was bad, we didn‟t get much air support. But when it cleared up, here they came. And we saw big bombers in the air and we said, “Hey, go give em‟ hell and that”. Alright, so now, about how long do you think the campaign in Sicily was? Was it about a month or a month and a half? Oh, all of that. Do you get much of a break before you land in Italy? (20:10) Not much, we got maybe a couple of days, and back up the front. So now you have to make another landing. We get through with one, then we practiced for more amphibious landings. Dry runs we called them. So now you’re getting training after you’ve already done it once. Yeah. Where did you land in Italy? We landed in near Naples. Now, the area where you landed, was there a lot of opposition there? Not too much. Salerno was bad but Naples was not as bad. Anzio Beach was the worst. �Oh yeah, and that’s later. So, you land near Naples, so this time you’re not being shot at a lot, were there still some Germans around? Still some Germans around. And then, after you landed, then what did you do? We kept on moving forward, we kept on moving forward for so many days, then you would get a couple days off then back again, forward, forward. Ok, now eventually those movements kind of stall don’t they? You get stuck someplace? Oh yeah, we got held back quite a few times. Was that at Cassino or in that area? Cassino was really a bad place; we couldn‟t get to that monastery on the mountain there. The Germans were just like in a lighthouse, looking down our rifle barrels. Did your division fight at Cassino or in a different place in the line? After we got, they were sent to the Pacific after we were sent home. That’s much later. What we’re doing here is following your division through its campaign. Now, you’re getting in to the end of 1943, and the Germans are holding the Cassino line, their going to hold that all winter, and we don’t really move, ok, were you fighting along that line for a while? (22:46) Oh yeah. And physically, can you describe the conditions there? It was hell on earth. We were wondering if we were ever going to get out of there alive. But, finally the Air Force came through and our long range artillery got through ok, and blasted the hell out of that monastery. That will come later after the Anzio invasion. What was the weather like at the end of 43’? Miserable. Rain, rain, rain. We dug our foxholes and like laying a swimming pool, I mean. Did you cross the rivers to attack, like that Volturno? Oh yeah, we had to go in boats across the Volturno and that, oh yeah. What kind of boat would you use? �We used them, we had a name for them boats and that. Were they metal boats that you put together or rubber rafts or what were they? It was sort of a boat put together, I mean. And the Remagen Bridge was really a tough battle. Again, that’s later. Before we knocked it out. You mentioned at a certain point your division gets pulled out of the Cassino front, because you go to Anzio. Yeah. Now, was your division going into Anzio right at the start? Were you part of the invasion? (24:36) We were the main force of the invasion, when we landed in Anzio. There was other divisions on our flanks, but we were the main division. Right, one corps landed, the 3rd Division, 36th Division and you guys. Ok, and you're right in the middle. Can you describe the Anzio landing, what was that like? Oh, that was, we were stuck on the beach there for three days, because the Air Force couldn‟t get through and that. Then after that, we had many, many casualties, we thought we were going to get blown off that landing, but after three days, our Air Force got through and opened up some room for us to go forward and that. Dead, laying dead all over the place. When you first landed, like on the very first day, were there a lot of Germans yet? I don‟t know where all them Germans came from, but that beachhead was full of Germans. Cause some of the reports say there weren’t too many there right away, but then they all came and attacked you. Well yeah. Alright, you’re stuck, you get a little bit more room, and then basically do you just dig in and hang on, or are you attacking a lot or defending? We were defending then we attack. Defending then we attack. Get reorganized, push again. There were also some British forces there; did you see much of them? (26:29) Oh yeah, we had some British forces with us and that too. �And did you see much of them? No, but we, they had funny humor, we met some of them and they joked with us. They were laughing their heads off, us G.I.‟s and we said „what the hell is so funny‟ and that. I think that still happens. Yeah, yeah. And you’re stuck in Anzio for a long time, right, for months before you get out. Was there a point in Anzio where it got easier or at least felt like you were winning? Was there a turning point anywhere? Well, I think they were all good points after we start to move and go and that. We felt that we were starting to win. Now, did you get tank support, did you get armor coming in to help? Oh yeah, and then when we attacked we always had that armor help, and field artillery help, a lot of them wouldn‟t get the right range before the observer could raise the artillery fire, landed on our troops and that. Now, the Germans had some really big guns? Oh, we used to call her the Anzio Express, we could hear that thing, that thing shot for a good forty miles I think. It was a big railroad gun. And when they knocked it out we come by there and theirs your Anzio Express over there all blown to hell and that. Did that gun mostly fire at the port, or did you get those shells landing on your lines? (28:32) Well, we got them on top of us too. We could hear our big shells, would give us such close support we thought they were going land right on us, but they landed right in front of us. Once you finally break out from Anzio, were there still very many guys left that you trained with or was everybody else a replacement? Well, most of the old timers were gone and we met a lot of new replacements that come in. Then from Anzio we moved forward until we come to Rome. Well, Rome was an open city, so we relaxed there in Rome, trained for more targets and that, in Italy and that. But then not too long after that, you start preparing for the next invasion? They were there. We thought we knocked them all out, but hell no. �So, there were still more Germans in Italy to fight first. Lot of Germans that surrendered were glad that they surrendered, I mean. So you saw some of the German prisoners in Italy then? Oh yeah. What did they look like to you? They smelled. Were they regular military age? Yeah, just like us. Now, at a certain point then, because in August your division lands in southern France? (30:31) Yeah. How much of a break did you get before you made that landing? We had a couple of weeks. To relieve the pressure off the Normandy landing and you know, we didn‟t meet much force, but the second day we were there, they sent in a bunch of Germans. So they didn’t fight you right on the beach so much, they were in the hills. And you know, we noticed we were barely inside that beach and we seen G.I.‟s having sex with gals already. So the French were very happy to see you. Oh yes. But, pretty soon it’s back to business. Do you remember what town you landed near? It was early morning, but I can‟t remember the name of the towns. You run into some Germans in the interior, but do you move pretty quickly though? Oh yeah, we started reaching our objective a lot more faster, cause they were losing more and more Germans I mean. Did they have as many tanks and aircraft as they had before? �They had just as much stuff as we had, but a lot of it was slowly knocked out, knocked out. And once you knocked them out they couldn’t replace them? They couldn‟t replace them fast enough because their factories were being bombed. And their rail lines too. (32:29) Yeah, that‟s right. So now, do you go into Marseille the big city or did you just go up the valley north, up the Rhone River Valley? No, we went up into the valley and I ended up, where you going get sent back to the states, we went to Marseille. So you did that on the way back, but not on the way in. Yeah, on the way back. As you’re working your way up north into France, was there as much battle damage as there was in Italy? Oh, there was a lot of damage, and a lot of towns were evacuated. We found little kids coming to us, we would give them our k-rations, they were so glad to see us and that you know. And then, did you get stuck or did you slow down eventually? Because you’re going up north, you get up closer to Germany. Oh yeah, we got stuck, slowing down and that. And we liberated the Dachau concentration camp that was just outside Munich, Germany, and our final stop was Munich, Germany. We took control of Munich; we had our military headquarters set in a Munich City Hall To go back before that, go back into France again, you kind of get up into northeast France, and that’s kind of where you’ll be in the fall of 1944. Yeah. Now, were you still trying to clear out those last parts of France then, and before the Battle of the Bulge you’re still in France? I was still in a part of France. Was the German resistance tougher at that point? (34:40) �No, it started weakening. We were feeling, boy maybe the end was coming. Then we reached Rome and that, oh we were so glad, we were in the rest area for quite a while. Then they took us to town to the Rome Opera House where they showed us the American version stage show, “This is the Army”. So, you got some breaks. Beautiful opera house, those ushers wore them stockings with short pants just like in George Washington days. Alright, now, you get into the end of 1944, what was the winter like? The winter 1944-45, was that a cold winter? Oh yeah. Especially when we left Germany, I would have come up to Germany to the Vachies woods and that. That was awful cold country through there, it was hell all the way, I can say. Cause that’s where you have to go through part of the Siegfried line, the German fortifications along their border? (36:19) What? Did the Germans have a lot of fortifications along their border, the Siegfried line? Oh yeah, lots and lots of fortifications. But they were very weak. They had, oh, I forgot those German names of the lines and that. But all their lines got weaker and weaker as we kept advancing and that. Did you cross the Rhine River at Remagen or someplace else? Rhine River. Yeah, where did you cross the Rhine. Was it Remagen or somewhere else? Right near the Remagen bridge. And could you see the bridge when you were crossing? Oh yeah. Did you go over in boats? Yup. Were those the same kind of boats or were they bigger boats? No, same kind of boats and that. �And when you were crossing, were the Germans shooting at you? Oh, still there oh yeah. Now, once you kind of got across the Rhine and your getting into Germany, did the country look different from France or Italy? No, but it was getting more peaceful, I mean the war. Cause it was coming near the end for Germany. Were you capturing a lot of prisoners then? Oh man, they were giving up by the hundreds. They were glad to surrender. Were their some who kept fighting though? Oh yeah. Could you tell the difference between the SS and the regular guys? No, no, no. Yeah, but we could tell they were sort of rookies cause they didn‟t know how to go about it I mean. Where you take the veteran soldier, he knows how to. Were they using a lot of very young soldiers now? Did they have teenage boys? (38:14) They were using the women, everything. Older men, boys, they were running out of people. When you moved through a town in Germany, how did the civilians behave? They were happy to see us. So they were glad it was over? Oh yeah. Their towns all destroyed, I don‟t know where they hid from all that shelling and that, but in front of us, they were glad to see us. But I don‟t know if they really meant to see us or forced to see us. You said you got to Dachau, the concentration camp, now, were the inmates still there? Were the prisoners still there? Oh yeah, they were giving us their dry moldy bread, kissing our dirty combat boots, so glad. There were a couple of Polish prisoners I talked to, and they were so happy to see us, they looked like human skeletons I mean. They used to burn I don‟t know how many thousands of �people a day out of those incinerators. That black smoke used to come out of them smoke stacks and the smell of death was something I‟ll never forget. Now, were the German guards still there or had they gone away? Most of them had gone away. And then you got in and you went into Munich. About how long were you in Munich then? A couple months? (40:29) Yeah, I would say we were there a couple of months, then we went to a rest area and prepared for coming back home. That took quite a while. While you were still in Munich, what duties did you have? What did you do in Munich? Well, there was not so much to do, the war was practically over I mean, and we were glad to see what Munich looks like. We know it was bombed out, and that was good enough for us. And a lot of those German people coming and offered us beer as we marching through you know. Did they have rules about no fraternizing? They‟d knock so many points off you if you were caught fraternizing with the frauleins. Oh yeah, because you had to have 85 points to be discharged and for every infraction you got caught, you got knocked down on those points. So, a good way of making men behave. But there wasn’t a lot of work to do or anything, just kind of spending time there? Because they had the other outfits that came in after the war had ended, like mop up outfits and that you know. So you got actually taken out of your own unit and assigned to another unit to go home? (42:13) Yeah, we were assigned to the 103rd Division. Cause the 45th was being sent to the Pacific because the war wasn‟t over there yet in the Pacific. They sent you back down to Marseille, France, what was the trip home like? Glad and before we hit Boston commonwealth pier, they had boats with orchestras while you listened to the harbor and big bands in the harbor and you know. But when we walked down the gangplank and we kissed ole‟ mother earth, boy good ole‟ USA. What kind of ship were you on this time? Oh, this was a US Frederick [Liese], it was a converted luxury ship into a troop carrier. �So you didn’t have to go in a liberty ship or anything like that? No, no, no. And what was the weather like on the way back? Not too bad, it got stormy there for a while, we were glad that no German submarines were still around you know. Yeah, because you didn’t have to do a convoy anymore. No, no, no. When did you get back to the states? 45‟ August, I think it was in August sometimes of 45‟. Once you landed, what did they do with you? They sent us to an induction center, then they sent us to a camp in Pennsylvania. Then from Pennsylvania, we were waiting to get on our trains that was heading to Michigan. Did they discharge you in Pennsylvania? (44:26) Yeah, I got my discharge in Pennsylvania. Alright, and then, when did you get home? I got home, it was sometimes in October. We got discharged on the 1st of October, and there was sometimes, I think about the 3rd or so of October that I got home. So you had to spend a few weeks in the other camps before you got to go home? No, we went to this one camp, they called it Camp Lucky Strike, that was the camp to go home. That was back in France. Yeah. What kind of reception did you get when you got home? Did your family know you were coming? Oh man, we got such a welcome, like big war heroes and that. Oh the hugs and kisses from people we didn‟t even know you know, American flags waving. �While you were overseas, how much communication did you have with people at home, do they write letters to you? Well, we could write V-letters, and they would get the letter home and it would be in a small photograph. Right, the V-Mail. Yeah the V-Mail. Did they write to you a lot? Oh yeah, we were glad when it was mail call, if we didn‟t no mail we forget we were lost. But a lot of times, while the mail was being brought over they were shot down or bombed out. So did you have some periods where you go a few weeks before you got a letter? How long would it be between letters? (46:32) Oh, quite a while sometimes. Now, you also mentioned, you went to the Rome Opera House, did you ever get to see a USO show or anything like that? We saw Al Jolson, and quite a few other top stars that come visit us with the US, Bob Hope, yeah, it was quite a few USO people. Was that after the war was over? Yeah, yeah. Even at break times when we were in the rest areas the USO would come in there you know, pass the Frances Langford and that, come around and give us kisses and that you know. How would you describe the morale of the company, were the men, you know, in good spirits most of the time? Some of them were, and low spirited, most of them were good spirited I mean. Did you have good leaders? A couple of them, I could have…but most of the leaders were, our company commander got killed in one of the battles, Captain Afly, he was from Colorado, he was the greatest captain. They had a stretcher bearer, who‟s that? that‟s Captain Afly, oh my. What were the bad ones like, what made somebody a bad officer or a bad sergeant? (48:30) �Some of them, came from Officer Training School, we called them 90 day Wonders, they thought they were four star generals. We were all experienced fighters and that; we thought „who the hell is that?‟ 90 day Wonder. The smart ones, did they learn from you? Oh yeah, they learned our ways in a hurry, and they turned out to be pretty good officers. If you think back a little bit on the time that you spend over in Europe, are there other particular events or memories that you have, that you haven’t talked about yet? Oh, when we had that big gathering at Nuremberg, where Hitler started his, his way and that, oh that was a big outside stadium and that, and thousands of soldiers all reviewing the things we went through and that. So, you had a big Army review in Nuremberg, ok, and did you travel around in Germany otherwise, or just stay in Munich? No, we didn‟t do much of that. I remember we used to call General Patton, Blood and Guts. We‟d say, „yeah, his guts and our blood‟. You were in the 7th Army, he’s 3rd Army so he’s not usually your problem. Yeah, they got transferred over to the 3rd Army then. You did work with him for a while. Did that make a difference in terms of how your unit was used? (50:31) Some of them had different methods that we didn‟t like. But who were we to argue about four stars, I mean you know. Shut our mouths or else we‟ll get shoved in a can. Did you have any impression of General Patch? He was the 7th Army commander. Yeah, he was a good leader, General Patch. We all liked him, he was better than ole‟ Blood and Guts. He took care of the men? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Once you went through all of this stuff, what effect do you think this experience had on you, did you learn anything over the course of all those years? Did you change a little? All I said I learned, I‟m glad I‟m still alive, that I made it through ok. And I said, when I ever get home, I had rifles home and pistols, I said I‟m going to get rid of those things. And I sure �did, when I got home. I learned a big lesson out of the war. And that‟s what these war-mongers and that, like today wars going on. So you weren’t very happy when we invaded Iraq then? When we went in to Iraq and places like that, you didn’t like that? No. War is nasty, war is bad and you saw it first hand. Now, were you able to, kind of go home and pick up with your life where you left off? (52:21) We did, we did I mean. It was memories I used to have, nightmares of the war and that, I‟d get up screaming and that in bed and I thought „oh, I‟m just home, I‟m ok‟, scary as hell. Memories that you‟ll never forget. That‟s how I feel about these boys going into war today, why, why, why all this war. Why can‟t the world live in peace. War-mongers, that‟s what I call them, I mean. Always someone trying to capture, and Hitler, he come pretty close. But in the end you guys stopped him, alright; well it makes for a very good story so thank you for taking the time to talk to me today. Well, thank you, a pleasure. � 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 Dochod, Edward (Interview transcript and video), 2013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dochod, Edward Description An account of the resource Edward Dochod was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on January 1, 1919. He grew up in the area and was drafted into the Army in January 1942. He was sent to Fort Custer, Fort Jackson and Fort Devens before being sent on a ship across the Atlantic to North Africa. He took part in the invasion of Sicily, Italy, fought at Cassino and Anzio, and then landed in southern France. Edward and the rest of the 45th Division then fought across France and on into Germany, and liberated the concentration camp, Dachau, on their way to Munich. 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 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 2013-07-26 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DochodE1488V 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