62 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f30145b84afaa86dbfcecd198b6dd795.m4v 42f6301f60b517d51972c72dc26a195f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ba281508bea3d2e278fb3ecac15f1d95.pdf e3632f63f9e330c81be3c2e9219f01e6 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Lee Bakker World War II 39 minutes 26 seconds (00:00:18) Early Life -Born in Wellsburg, Iowa -Sixth of seven children -There were six boys in his family (including him) and one girl -Father was a farmer -He helped his father on the farm -Born on October 14, 1924 -Farm grew crops, raised cattle, milked cows, raised hogs, and raised chickens -He was used to hard work -Attended Wellsburg Public High School -Played sports -Graduated in 1943 (00:02:11) Getting Drafted -Got drafted after graduating from high school in May 1943 -Father protested it because he needed help on the farm and one son was already drafted -Lee was deferred until after the harvest in 1943 -Reported to the Grundy County Courthouse then went to Des Moines -Got processed in Des Moines -Given a physical -In good physical shape (00:03:50) Basic Training -Took basic training at Camp Roberts, California -Carried three rifles and two backpacks on marches -Did that to help the men from the city who weren't used to hard work -Wore heavy work shoes -He was comfortable while the other men were not -Loved close order drills and rifle training -Had a lot of experience with shooting on the farm -Hunting vermin and birds -Thought basic training was fairly easy -Had a lot of free time -Went to the movies -Went into town when given a pass -Had a good friend from Arkansas while in basic training (00:06:00) Advanced Training & Assignment to the 70th Infantry Division -Given a thirteen day furlough home -Knew they were going to the Pacific Theatre -Heard about how vicious the Japanese troops were and the atrocities they �committed -Decided to join the paratroopers -Went to Fort Benning, Georgia for Airborne Training -Broke his legs on a training jump -Sent home to recover for a month -Sent to the East Coast to go overseas as a replacement -Before he could get deployed he received orders for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri -Received training with the 81mm mortar at Fort Leonard Wood -Assigned to the 70th Infantry Division (00:08:14) Deployment to the European Theatre -Sailed from the U.S. to Marseilles, France in November 1944 -Didn't get seasick, but other men did -Remembers men hanging over the railing and throwing up -Some men were so sick that they stayed in their bunk and wanted to die (00:09:26) Faith in the Service -Brother was in Italy with the Army Air Force -Loading bombs onto bombers -Never worried about his brother because he had faith God would take care of him -Didn't feel nervous when he landed in Marseilles -Had faith that God would protect him -He was religious, but didn't show it (00:10:49) Fighting in France -Arrived in Marseille between December 10 and December 15, 1944 -Boarded a train in Marseille and went north to a town where the division assembled -He was assigned to H Compay, 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division -His company was assigned to defend a sector on the frontline -Got routed on the first day by German infantry and tanks -Retreated over a creek and the Germans stopped following them -Closest he got to an actual firefight -Stayed in their sector for twenty one days -The winter of 1944 was a cold and snowy one -Twenty one days without a hot meal -Lived off of K Rations -Got relieved after twenty one days -Objective was to keep the Germans at bay -Remembers when one shell landed really close to the mortars, but it was a dud -Engineers relieved them then lost the position -Focused on getting the job done and going home -Remembers one day when they fired their mortars the entire day -Doesn't know if any of the mortar shells he fired ever wounded or killed anyone -Just glad he never had to shoot anyone face to face (00:16:15) Advancing into Germany Pt. 1 -From Marseille went to Lyon -In mid-January 1945 they moved on to Saarbrucken, Germany -From Saarbrucken they crossed the Saar River and advanced deeper into Germany �-Didn't believe he would survive the liberation of Germany (00:17:08) Contact with Civilians -Never encountered French civilians -Had contact with German civilians -Had difficulty communicating with them -They spoke High German and his family spoke Low German -Germans were grateful to be liberated from Nazi rule (00:18:42) Advancing into Germany Pt. 2 -Very limited fighting in Germany -German forces were retreating and didn't stop and fight -Meant they were always on the advance -Basically crossed Germany on foot -Slept wherever they could find shelter -Never got the chance to change their clothes -Germans readily gave up buildings for the GIs to use for shelter (00:20:30) Occupation Duty, Coming Home, and End of Service -After the war ended they were assigned to occupation duty in Germany -Spent most of the time playing softball -On occupation duty in Gross Bliedersdorf near Frankfurt -He was the pitcher on the softball team -That didn't last long because he ruptured a disc in his back -Did it trying to move a stove while on kitchen patrol (KP) duty -Sent to a hospital in Frankfurt to recover -Spent a lot of his time reading -German doctor ultimately advised that he be sent back to the United States -Flown back to the U.S. -Flew from Frankfurt, Germany to the Azores to Newfoundland, Canada -From Canada flew to New York -Sent to O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri -Given two options: medical discharge or receive an operation -Opted to take the medical discharge -Dealt with a bad back until 1951 -Received an operation from the Veterans' Hospital -Already had a bad back from farm work -Injury in the Army only exacerbated it (00:25:36) Medals -Received the following medals: -Combat Infantry Badge: awarded for being in a combat zone -Good Conduct Medal: awarded for good condut in the military -European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 battle stars -Awarded for being in the European Theatre and in three major battles (00:26:05) 81mm Mortar -81mm mortar was composed of a tube fixed to a base plate with a tripod for aiming -His job was to drop the mortar shells into the tube -Gunner set up the tripod with stakes for aiming -Fired one shot low, one shot short, and one shot for effect �-If you fired those shots well enough you hit your target -It was a two man operation firing a mortar (00:27:45) End of the War in Europe & Occupation Duty -In Germany for Victory in Europe Day (May 8, 1945) -For the men it was basically just another day -No major celebrations -On top of occupation duty they trained for the invasion of Japan -Invasion was cancelled after the atomic bombs were dropped -Feels it was a terrible thing to do, but it saved a lot of lives (00:29:08) Life after the War Pt. 1 -Did not use the GI Bill after the war -When he was at O'Reilly General Hospital he was given a thirty day furlough -Went home and got married to his high school sweetheart; her name was Lois -Got discharged in September 1945 -He couldn't work, but Lois worked as a teacher -He also received severance pay from the Army -Lived with his in-laws for a while -Father-in-law had a house in the area; he and Lois moved there -About seven miles from Ackley, Iowa -Lee got a job driving an ice cream truck in Ackley -Also delivered ice cream mix to Iowa Falls, Iowa -Hurt his back again -Looked into working for a hardware store in Ackley, Iowa -Electrician in Ackley needed help, so Lee helped him doing electrical work -Enjoyed it and the electrician was a great mentor -Started his own electrical company in Wellsburg in 1949 -Hurt his back again -In 1951 he went to the Veterans' Hospital in Des Moines for back surgery -In 1956 he got a job as a mail carrier for the Post Office -Did that for twenty eight years -Had to retire because he had heart surgery when he was sixty two years old -As of the interview he is the last surviving member of his immediate family -Brother survived the war, but died in his seventies -Member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars -Has been a member of the American Legion for seventy years -Never went to any meetings -Never suffered from any psychological trauma (00:36:19) Reflections on Service -At the time, all young men knew they were going to go into the service -Matured in the Army -Enjoyed the Army -In the service for one reason: to defeat the Nazis -Felt they did their job to the best of their abilities -Thankful to God that things turned out the way they did (00:38:10) Life after the War Pt. 2 �-Lois died when she was fifty three years old -Remarried after Lois died -Married to Thelma for thirty five years -Had four boys with Lois -Dwight, Randy, Mark, and John -Has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren � 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_BakkerL1875V Title A name given to the resource Bakker, Lee Richard (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-09-01 Description An account of the resource Lee Bakker was born in Wellsburg, Iowa on October 14, 1924. After graduating from high school in 1943 he was drafted in fall 1943. He was inducted in Des Moines, Iowa and received basic training at Camp Roberts, California. After basic training he tried to be a paratrooper and received the training at Fort Benning, Georgia, but broke his leg. He was then sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he trained with 81mm mortars and was assigned to the 70th Infantry Division. He left the U.S. in November 1944 and arrived in Marseille, France in December 1944. He was assigned to H Company of the 275th Infantry Regiment of the 70th Infantry Division and fought in France, and Germany (liberating the city of Saarbrucken) and crossing the Saar River. He was stationed in Germany for occupation duty until he threw out his back and returned to the United States. He received treatment at O'Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri and got medically discharged in September 1945. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bakker, Lee Richard Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Moore, Deb (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. Army Air Forces 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/df8257e9c303412401cfffef3a596ecc.jpg 8838fbb1f508cf21c9ab5c22a8f5730e 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 Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. 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. 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 Merrill_EastmanAlbum_1_1909_027 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909-07-06 Title A name given to the resource Bala Falls Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of Bala Falls, Ontario. Subject The topic of the resource Ontario Bala (Ont.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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/47d9fecf539080452b8facab9a93362d.jpg 8dbfa833797f5f4dae674cf6573268e7 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_849 Title A name given to the resource Balao class submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao class US SS (submarine), October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/488e3ef1c4b4fa1a1fc1b55ef0af2098.jpg 6b94fe82d43b05573d9736c601728452 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_852 Title A name given to the resource Balao class submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao class US SS (submarine), October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/41ed557a37857aaea402e1b001bfa550.jpg f0d8fa4cf51b08c8c004d017a3946488 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_X183a Title A name given to the resource Balao Class submarine with Guppy conversion Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao Class US Submarine (SS) with Guppy conversion. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education World War, 1939-1945 Slides United States. Navy Warships--Recognition 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) 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/262ed829f7bed66e1f594f6bacff9755.jpg 6b990b8bb6152a36ebabc87de263cfaf 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_846 Title A name given to the resource Balao Class US submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao Class US submarine, October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/9b9d0b9efc467520d84bcb04e6c98413.jpg 0eeb95d0d694dd9f1076f632b64aef84 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_847 Title A name given to the resource Balao Class US submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao Class US submarine, October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/f0f591419d76e4fa9836cc81f0cfc0c5.jpg 74048daf12cf2fb59c34bcf76daa7837 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_848 Title A name given to the resource Balao Class US submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao Class US submarine, October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/f606efec088e2b4524504a97b45f36c9.jpg ebf00c656fa6d464fad04c23bcb99a48 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_853 Title A name given to the resource Balao class US submarine Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Balao class US submarine, October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/8447fe93c98c389925a8c2b9c381f795.jpg d6362ed894258f545f2dddd5d1cc6cf7 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 Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 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. 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-183_B019-0028b Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961-02 Title A name given to the resource Balcony View of Michigan State Capitol Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a balcony view within the Michigan State Capitol building in Lansing, Michigan in February 1961. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Lansing (Mich.) Elections Governors--Michigan Swainson, John B. (John Burley), 1925-1994 Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg 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 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/ae0891bdda70e6f4614c0220a08573ce.mp4 df356c9ef5a2d2b9c09290a6bd3f5a4b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a29e8359db0036ba71f668a3bac39a3d.pdf aa9d0f862cb882c9100e5ad907a0aa04 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Conflicts Served In: Afghanistan, Iraq Interviewee’s Name: Jeff Baldwin Length of Interview: 41:59 Interviewed by: Cody LaRoy Rollins Transcribed by: Sam Noonan Interviewer: “Hello, this is a joint project between the Grand Valley State Veterans History project and the WKTV Voices. My name is Koty LeRoy Rollins with the Grand Valley State Veterans History Project and I’m here with Jeff Baldwin from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Alright, let’s start off — what was your life like before you joined the military?” Pretty normal. I’d grown up as a kid [in a] small town. You know, just always playing, going to school, you know. Typical, I guess you would say. Interviewer: “Did you join [the military] to get out, or?” No, so my grandfather — he did twenty-three years in the Army, retired… he never deployed, and then my brother — when he was in high school, he’s much older than I am, but he was always my role model — he joined the Navy, so when I was in high school I always really wanted to just follow in my brother’s footsteps and join the Navy. And then it was my senior year of high school, sitting in Home Ec class, you know, our teacher turned the TVs all on for the classroom, never done that before so when he turned the TVs on something’s wrong, and you know we could see the news and you know they kept replaying the tower falling and stuff like that, I went home and I just didn’t think the Navy was the right answer, I wanted to do more. So looking back, I should’ve joined the Navy. (laughter) But I wanted to do more for my country when that attack happened, you know I’m eighteen, nineteen years old, nothing really going on, no college, no — didn’t really care about life at that time you know, I just wanted to see what was out there and then you know, after 9/11 I just knew I had to do something so that’s what I did. (2:35) Interviewer: “Alright, and you enlisted out of Royal Oak, Michigan, right?” No, I was born in Royal Oak. I grew up in a small little town about an hour and a half south of Grand Rapids, it’s called Hartford, Michigan. I grew up there and then I graduated from a small little town called Dowagiac where I did pretty much all my high school years there, transferred like in late middle school and all of high school I was in Dowagiac and graduated in 2002, so… but yeah no, I moved out of Royal Oak when I was probably about three years old, so I was just born in Royal Oak. Interviewer: “So what year did you enlist?” 2004, I enlisted two years after high school. �Interviewer: “Okay. And what was that like? Was it a quick process, were they…?” Yeah, so you know, talked to the recruiter, got me right in. Went to Lansing, did the whole MEPS thing, the whole physical. And then I signed up to be a constructor equipment operator, basically bulldozers, anything that you can think of that’s earth-moving and heavy, that’s what I wanted to do. So the biggest facility that had the training place was Fort Leonard Wood, which is home of the military police, engineers and chemical. So it’s one of the biggest training stations for all five branches in those three classifications, so they sent me down there and I was there for basic and then did my AIT, and then in the fall of 2004 is when I went to Fort Polk, Louisiana for my five-year with 10th Mountain, but… Interviewer: “Okay. Let’s jump back a little bit — so you did boot camp and AIT in the same place?” Yes. Interviewer: “AIT being your like, job training.” Right, yup. So a lot of — there’s some units, depending on the MOS they call it … it’s one station training unit, I did basic and then I transferred to my AIT unit. So I like — for construction engineers, our basic was only six weeks for AIT. So we had eight week of basic, and then we got new drill sergeants, a whole new barracks, new location for another eight weeks, whereas the military police and the combat engineers, they’re stationed there for strictly you know, sixteen weeks with the same drill, the same location so they can do their basic and AIT all at once. Interviewer: “Okay.” So mine was separated. (5:22) Interviewer: “Was basic—” Basic was a blast. I loved basic, I absolutely loved basic. The drill sergeants, they were always preoccupied with the other kids that were… what’s the better term… they had no idea what they were getting [themselves] into and they did not like it. So they did everything they could think of to get out of the military. Interviewer: “Really?” Yes. So we had quite a few people come up pregnant during basic, we had people go AWOL during basic, we’ve had… it was really interesting, basic was a blast. Basic was fun. Interviewer: “And you were pretty straight-laced in basic, you just did what you need to do?” Do what you’re told when you’re told how you’re told to do it. There’s no questions asked, roger that. Interviewer: “Alright. So what was AIT, just like—” �AIT was a lot harder. AIT was a lot harder the drill sergeants were a lot more strict, you know our physical fitness programs, they were much more tougher, more rigorous, more consistent. Like all the time they’re just, working, exercising, constantly, constantly. But you know, not only that but we also had to know the equipment that we were working on, we had tests to do which was fun, but you know, then you also had to know the manuals of the pieces of equipment and then take tests on that as well, so… you know. Interviewer: “So you had to know the machines front and back?” Yeah. Inside and out, not only with physical being in the vehicle, you had to know the “book vehicle” as well, which could’ve been a little tedious on certain vehicles depending on you know, how the hydraulic systems operate cause some don’t operate the same. Interviewer: “Okay. How many vehicles did you have to get trained in?” (7:24) For AIT I think there as eight. If I recall… Interviewer: “So you’re learning a new one every week?” Yes. Yeah, pretty much, exactly. That’s pretty much exactly what it is. Interviewer: “That’s pretty intense. Did you receive any special combat training?” During? Interviewer: “Like during boot camp and AIT?” I mean just your basic stuff, I mean you know, just a little bit more intense than what you see in the movies but pretty much the same concept. Interviewer: “So you’re just like — basic rifle firing, that sort of thing?” Yeah, you know they’re gonna make you be able to run five miles without dying, pretty much. Interviewer: “It’s kind of important.” Right. Interviewer: “So how’d you do in AIT? Did they like grade you, or?” Pretty much. But it was more like, overall kind of, you know, they gave you a couple questions on the book, and then you had to go actually jump in the vehicle and do a couple different, you know, hands-on… depending on the vehicle, like a bulldozer they wanted you to make a nice smooth pass for let’s say 100 yards — you know, with minimal bumps into it, make it as smooth as possible or make a berm, you know, twelve feet tall. You know, like a tank berm or something like that, something quick, you know, [it’ll] take probably about twenty, thirty minutes to you know — somebody that knows what they’re doing, just jump in it and just do a little hands-on exam and you’re good to go. �Interviewer: “Okay. And were these like timed, where they like, ‘You have to get this path done in—'” Depending on the vehicle it could’ve been, absolutely, yeah. Depending on the vehicle. Cause like some vehicles you know, like dump trucks — you know, there’s only one thing that it does, and it just dumps. The rest of the time it drives, so you have a driving course to do and then you have to spread a load, so you know each vehicle is a different phase you know, different test but yeah, same concepts. Interviewer: “Guess I never really thought about dump trucks in the military but makes sense.” Oh, there’s a lot of them. Interviewer: “So after AIT you said you went on to Fort Polk?” Yup, I went to Fort Polk, I was with 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain [Division]. It was one of the newest units established in the military at the time, I was stationed down there for five years. And I did two tours, I did one tour in Afghanistan, 2006, and then I went to Iraq in 2007. And Fort Polk is home to what’s called JRTC, joint readiness training center, that’s where like, a lot of branches from the Army or units from different branches come down and train, either two weeks to thirty days inside like, a really, really rigorous jungle-ish desert atmosphere, I mean it’s — depending on the season of Louisiana, I mean it could be really, really hot or it could be really, really cold. Either way you’re in the jungle, so you know, and it’s one of the best climates to train for, you know, I mean that’s been there since Vietnam so I mean it still works today. (10:44) Interviewer: “So before we jump into your deployments I do have one question for clarification: you said 10th Mountain, why is it called that? Out of curiosity.” 10th Mountain is just one of the bigger divisions in the military, and then 10th Mountain Division is the most deployed division in the military out of all branches including the Army, it’s the most, number one deployed. Why they call it 10th Mountain I’m not a hundred percent sure, the home of 10th Mountain is based up in Fort Drum, New York, pretty close to the Canadian border where there’s a lot of rigorous hills and mountains. Interviewer: “Maybe it has something to do with that?” Right. Interviewer: “Something to look into.” Right. Interviewer: “So your deployments—” But I don’t know the whole hundred percent history of 10th Mountain Division. Interviewer: “Yeah, I mean can’t really expect you to.” �Right. (laughter) Interviewer: “So your first deployment in Afghanistan. What was that like, cause this was your first time out of the country right?” Yeah, yeah this is… so we left, I think it took us about three days to get to Bagram. So we flew just, you know, once we left we flew to like just a little couple different, like we flew into Ireland just to fill up the plane then we flew into Germany, filled up the plane then we flew into you know, jumped on the military planes and then got to the country, but we were at Kandahar for about two weeks before they sent us off to our little base camps. I don’t remember too much, like where at in the country we were at. Interviewer: “That’s okay.” But you know, we were pretty much all over the country of Afghanistan you know, basically what we called it, FOB hopping, our forward base camps, forward operating bases. We would just bounce you know, here for two weeks, here for two weeks, here… so we were all over the place. Interviewer: “What were you guys doing?” A lot of different things. Some… being a construction equipment operator, you know, there’s some roads that we would just fix, or there’s some villages that we would go and help repair roads — going, making roads up into the mountains to get the… you know, the Taliban or whatever, whoever they are now — Taliban when I was there. So basically going up you know, making roads and ditches and then the company, when I got to 10th Mountain, Fort Polk, there was about fifteen construction engineers. We were in a company of about 200 combat engineers, those guys were, you know… they look for bombs and they blow stuff up. Well we tear down buildings and we fix roads you know, that’s what… so we kind of correlate together, so pretty much you know, make roads and clear paths, basically that’s what we did. (13:58) Interviewer: “And how did the locals like you, I mean you’re fixing their infrastructure so?” Some were pretty cool, some weren’t. But we were in some really, really rural areas where you know, you can see a village probably about four or five miles away in between the mountains, you know you got a mountain here and a mountain here, and it’s just desert, flat land in between the two of you so… you know, you’re six miles away so… Interviewer: “So you never really interacted?” Never really encountered too many of ‘em, no. So you know, unless we’re like actually out on a mission and you know, and then we start either getting from you know taking fire from one side of the mountain or you know, or were there to assist another unit that’s been taking fire from some side of the mountains, but you know it’s a very, in my experience it was very weird in that country cause just how the layout was, but… I was only there for three months so… Interviewer: “Okay, so—” �So I didn’t have a whole lot of experience in that country, no. Interviewer: “Okay. And so you were different from the combat engineers, you were just doing infrastructure, road work, that sort of thing.” Pretty much. Interviewer: “Would you be like one of the forward guys since you have to build the road or would you—” You could say that, or there was times where the guys had to go up and blow debris out of the way, go in and rocks are covering the road or boulders or we’re trying to make a path through this mountain or through… and they’ll just go and blow it up and we’ll move the rubble and keep on going. Or there’s a bridge in the way and… Interviewer: “Gotta get … that.” Yeah, so we’ll see what we can do the fix the bridge or is it best just to take the bridge out and… what do we gotta do here, so… Interviewer: “So you’re sort of like quick problem-solvers, so to speak.” Oh yeah, absolutely. Gotta be. Interviewer: “So did you see much combat in Afghanistan?” Me personally no, not really. You know, when we were there for pretty much, when I was there for the first three months of the six-month time that we were there as a unit, it was pretty much more like getting the layout, feel of the land, coming over to this village helping out for a couple of a days and then just basically going around, making our presence known like, ‘Hey,’ you know, it was 2006, it was right after everything got hot in Afghanistan. But as we were there and starting to leave things got you know, picked back up but we would have really intermittent heat spurts between us and the enemy, so we’re just kind of basically hopping around, hearts and minds is basically where we were at, so… (17:02) Interviewer: “Sort of to show you know, ‘we’re not just here to destroy the place, we want to help too,’ and you’re fixing their roads and stuff.” Right, exactly. Right. Interviewer: “You weren’t paving roads though right, you were just making dirt roads.” No. Yeah, just pretty much fixing dirt roads, filling in potholes, you know, just making them nice. Interviewer: “Okay. So after that three months you went home.” Yeah. �Interviewer: “Home being back to Louisiana?” Yeah, so when I got hurt I came back to Louisiana for about a month, and then I came back to Michigan to be with my family for about two weeks, and then I went back to Louisiana. Interviewer: “Okay. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get hurt?” It was a really, really freak accident bro. I’ll just leave it at that. Interviewer: “Alright. So you get hurt, you get sent back.” Yeah. Interviewer: “But they — you still stayed in the Army after that?” Yes. Interviewer: “What did you do after that?” So after the injury it took me about two months to recover, I stayed with my unit, I still trained, still worked, put the uniform on, still drank everyday with the guys. (laughter) Nothing really changed, except for when it did come to the work aspect, putting on the uniform — what were my limitations you know, what I wanna do compared to what the doctor in my unit… command would allow me to do are on two separate paces, so you know, like the doctor, he wanted me at home, the unit wanted me at the company on light duty, me, I wanted to be in the fuckin’ field training, working with my guys, whether we’re either at the gun range playin’ in the mud or blowing stuff up, depending on… so, but you know, it took about an additional two weeks for me to get — or two months for me to [get back to] a hundred percent. Interviewer: “Okay. But you did — you did bounce back.” Yeah. Slowly, so you know, it was just slowly integrating back into that process. Interviewer: “And what rank were you at this point? Cause I know—” E4 at this time. Interviewer: “Okay, so you had some guys under you.” Yeah, so I got to Fort Polk in 2004, so I was there for two years before we even you know, deployed to our first unit out, when we got there we knew we were gonna get deployed, cause number one we’re 10th Mountain, 10th Mountain always gets deployed, and two, we’re the newest unit, 2 10th Mountain, they’re gonna send us first — before, you know, welcome to the shit, basically, here you go, you know. It’s not hazing but it’s… hazing. (laughter) You know? Here you go. Interviewer: “I get it.” Right, so I mean it’s pretty much how it went for us, but hey, job got done and we’re back, so… Interviewer: “Alright. So after that where’d you go?” �After Afghanistan? I stayed at Fort Polk, I did — I had a four-year contract with them, so I did my two years and then so I still had another two years. So in 2007 we deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. And then we were there for thirteen months, I reenlisted probably within six months of being downrange when my window opened, so you know, I took a signing bonus and — well, reenlistment signing bonus, and did another four years. Interviewer: “That’s how they get you.” Yeah, so you know either way I was either gonna be deadlocked, stuck in Iraq for thirteen months or I could’ve stayed in the Army for another four years, got a — got a really, really nice sign bonus, tax free, and then came home, and still would’ve had a military career for another two years, so that’s what I did. Interviewer: “So what was Iraq like?” Iraq was crazy. There was no day that was the same, no two days were ever the same. Every day was different, it was very unpredictable, you always had to be on your toes. There was a lot of dumb things that we did, when it came to like FOB protection and FOB security and… so you know, safety aspects, things got a little out of control but Iraq was really… yeah, it was definitely fun but it was intense. Interviewer: “Yeah, and FOB means forward operating base.” Forward operating base, yeah. (21:38) Interviewer: “So did you move around that country as much as you did—” No, no, we… once we got in we established [operations] about a couple miles right from the heart of Sadr City you know, we’re right in the west downtown Baghdad, like west side of Baghdad, it’s hot, it’s hard. We’re right in the city and nah, we stayed there for thirteen months, I mean the few of us would go to different FOBs to help like, the infantry or the artillery or you know, these guys and this unit, this unit, we’ll go there and help like, dig trenches for electrical or water, if they don’t have good access to paved roads we’ll do our best to get ‘em better access you know, otherwise they’re just driving on very fine moondust basically. Dust particles from the sand, so… Interviewer: “Did you… so you’re doing kind of similar stuff to what you were doing in Afghanistan, just like helping infrastructure.” Right. Right, but yeah, instead of being out in the country now we’re doing everything in the city, so instead of like digging a lot of roads or paving roads, or you know, fixing roads, we’re more cleaning up trash and pushing crap off the road so that people can drive on the roads, so that we can drive on the roads, cause everything’s a hazard over there I mean, they put bombs in everything. It’s no joke. Interviewer: “That had to be a scary job then.” �You know, we’ll put concrete barriers just to, you know route traffic ‘cause I mean they have no… structure, like they don’t give a shit. They drive, you can get thirty cars driving one way and you’ll get fifteen cars driving head-on to ‘em, nobody cares. Interviewer: “That’s scary.” They don’t care. They do not care you know, or you’ll get ten cars driving one way and a guy in a donkey you know, pulling a cart of milk would drive right through the … like what are you doing? They don’t care. Interviewer: “So what were the locals like then? Cause I mean you had to interact with them.” Oh, some were cool, some didn’t like us, some were really, really awesome, the kids were really cool, if we did have the chance to interact you know, we played soccer with a lot of ‘em during certain times, we had a lot of different locals work with us, so they’d bring their kids you know, so we got to interact and… but some just didn’t like us, I mean I totally understand you know, I get it. But you know, you just gotta deal with it. Interviewer: “So did anything like super notable happen to your unit while you were there, or just a lot of trash cleaning?” (24:25) I mean… our unit, our guys were what’s on called route clearance. So their job for the whole thirteen months while we were there, our combat engineers, their guys’ job was just going around looking for roadside bombs. When I first got to — when we first got there in 07’ I got attacked, cause I was the platoon gunner for my guys, for our construction, well second platoon needed a M240 Bravo machine gun, and I’m like, ‘Well, I’ll go sir, but I’m not giving you my weapon,’ you know if you want my weapon you’re gonna take me and I’m gonna go on the mission. You know, not giving you my gun, I’m not going into this war gun-less, no, that’s not how this is working. So for about nine months I did route clearance, me personally. I wasn’t really attached to my guys per say, but there was some missions I would go on with my construction guys but I was [primarily] route clearance for the nine months I was there. Interviewer: “Okay, so that’s leaning a bit more closer to the combat engineer aspect.” Yeah, yeah. Interviewer: “And did you find a lot of bombs?” We found a lot of bombs. There was one point I think when we were there, we found the most in a certain amount of time than other units that were throughout, but then again you know, we’re right in the heart of the city and it’s getting hot. Like, you know, this is when the whole eruption of Sadr city, we’re barricading Sadr city, like my guys are going into Sadr City, so it got really hot in Iraq at this time. Interviewer: “And what was that like for you?” I mean, some days were better than others but you know, I had a job to do. You know, I had guys that needed me and that I needed so, here we are together, so… �Interviewer: “So what’d you do for the last four months of the deployment?” I pretty much… for the last four I was right back with my construction guys, that’s when we went into Sadr city and we started barricading and blocking off parts of Sadr city so nobody could come in, nobody could come out. Interviewer: “Why were you guys doing that?” Cause of how insurg— you know, like all Al-Qaeda, Taliban, whatever you want to call the insurgent you know, how heavily populated they were into that area, you know, we just wanted to kind of confine them so that we can control the situation and you know, mandate the peace. Interviewer: “Was that hard to do?” Yeah! Yes, very, very hard. I mean, I don’t blame ‘em. You know, of course they’re gonna rebel and fight the fuck back, you know, I would too, but… you know, I’m there to stop you from doing what you want to do in the first place, but you know you just don’t listen and respond to the word ‘No,’ so we have to take different matters, and this is not where I want to go with it but… you know. Interviewer: “Yeah. And I can imagine, you probably had a lot of people who had nothing to do with this conflict—” Pissed off! Oh absolutely they were pissed off, I totally understand. Totally understand. I mean, I was pissed off too, like I lost some really good friends because of this shit, so… you know. (27:54) Interviewer: “So anything else in that deployment you think’s worth mentioning for this?” You know, being… I mean, what I thought was really, really cool about being over in Iraq is we got the opportunity to constantly do missions in and around the Baghdad University areas, so we got to go to the colleges and we got to see some of the tributes that Saddam Hussein built for military personnel across the world throughout… you know, history! In the last four decades, three decades. That he had monuments built, so we got to see those and you know, there’s a thing that the military does that’s called R&R, rest and recover, so we got to spend three days at … one of the kids’ palaces, that was the shit. Interviewer: “I’ll bet.” That was legit. Walk in, huge crystal, gold chandeliers, Olympic-size swimming pool in the back yard, surrounded my gorgeous palm trees and then as soon as you take a step outside you’re just in trash, like trash filled everywhere. Interviewer: “That’s so sad!” It’s like dude, whatever, you guys are… good for you guys. Interviewer: “So you just got to spend like three days in an Olympic-sized swimming pool?” �Yeah, I mean it was legit, so like you know, one of the rules was like no rank can be thrown around, but you have to keep your military bearing, but like you know, here you are having… throwing a volleyball or a football around with some major, some lieutenant colonel that you have no idea who the hell he is or what unit he’s from, but who cares, you know? Interviewer: “Yeah! It’s an experience.” Or you got some like, private, brand new kid that just showed up and has never, you know… eighteen-year-old kid that’s never seen combat before, he’s been nothing but for the last three months now, you know… he’s getting something hot to eat for the first time in three months, so he doesn’t know what to do, yeah, no, it’s cool to see that. Interviewer: “Yeah, I bet.” And definitely need that little break, but… you know. Interviewer: “How often would you get that?” For me… we got quite a few breaks, I mean we had some pretty decent luxuries, I mean it was 2007 so technology was pretty advanced especially for the military so I mean we had phones on our base camp you know, just prepaid phones and then we had internet access as well so I mean… Interviewer: “That’s pretty awesome.” Comms being back to the States was way legit, you know getting care packages at least once or twice a week was pretty normal you know, it probably took the mail maybe about a month to catch up and then it was right there every day, so… it was pretty legit, I give it to ‘em. But definitely seeing the country, seeing the Euphrates river, seeing the Tigres river, and just knowing the history that’s been there since the beginning of the world you know, these are substructures of our world that’s been there and it’s just kind of cool seeing it, but like you can definitely see the destruction and devastation that mankind has put on some of these places over the course of… the beginning of time, like the rivers are just filled with trash, the university is probably one of the most gorgeous things about Iraq I’ve ever seen, it’s just the layout of the campus and how clean the campus and you know, the people that go to school there, like girls walk around in little shorts, it’s legit dude. So people, guys walking around in tank tops and tshirts you know, like there— Interviewer: “It’s not what you expect!” It’s like totally out of the norm, then you go a block down the street you know, everyone’s all straight. Straight faced, angry, only showing their eyes… you know. (32:34) Interviewer: “So after that you went home.” Yeah, so when we got back in 2009, January 1st, 2009, I got orders in February — cause I reenlisted in Iraq — I got orders to go to Fort Leonard Wood and be an AIT instructor, at 554 �which is the same exact company that I had when I graduated AIT five years prior to, now. So here I am, gonna be an instructor for the same thing that I did. Interviewer: “Okay. So you’ve kinda gone full circle at this point.” Yeah, pretty much. So right back to where I started. Interviewer: “Okay. So what was that like?” It was hell. It was horrible. I hated it, it ruined my career. Interviewer: “Really?” Yeah, I did not like it at all. Coming back, you know I — strict discipline, when I became an AIT instructor I was not a drill sergeant. So I’m just regular permanent party NCO, so I kind of lost that mentality, that emphasis of the NCO because here I am training soldiers on how to do their job, but I don’t have the drill sergeant credibility. I just have a basic, ‘Oh, he’s just some NCO.’ ‘Oh, he’s a drill sergeant, oh, he’s this.’ You know, here I am just E-5, E-6s are getting the same look, but you know, the military — especially the Army — lost a lot of their bearing. They got really, really soft. So when I got there, you know, my first sergeant, during the safety brief, he’s like, ‘You gotta say please, you gotta say thank you, you can’t yell, you can’t scream, if you have any problems you gotta take it to this person, and if it doesn’t go there you gotta take it to me,’ he’s like, ‘This is a whole new Army,’ he’s like, ‘where before we could get in your face and yell,’ he’s like, ‘this is not how it is.’ And I mean that’s how they did it to me, I mean they were in my face yelling and I understand, I disagree but I agree with it at certain times, but sometimes you have to get into somebody’s face and be like, ‘Look, if you don’t understand why I’m having you do this, it’s cause somebody’s life is going to die. It could be mine, it could be yours, it could be somebody else’s, who knows. This is why this needs to be done, because people’s lives are at stake.’ You know, we’re not talking about making fries or something stupid (laughter) but you know, having this whole new mentality like, you know where the soldiers now above me… I disagree with that standard. Totally disagree, cause I cannot train you if: one, you won’t let me train you, and two, you keep not doing everything I say. Like, if I tell you, ‘Hey, this needs to get done,’ or ‘Hey, I want you go do this,’ or ‘Hey, this is how we’re gonna do this exercise, this is what you’re going to do,’ — and you tell me no, and I can’t argue you? Then why am I here? Why am I here to train you if I can’t train you? Interviewer: “I completely understand.” (35:51) No, I’m done. I’m done. Interviewer: “So at this point you were E-5?” Yeah. Interviewer: “And that’s just.. after that you just didn’t want to be in the Army anymore?” Well, I wanted out. Like I wanted to get back into a FORSCOM, I really wanted to get back into deployments, I wanted to get back you know, to what I knew the Army was. Like FORSCOM was starting to change and I wanted to get back to possibly getting back downrange so I put in a �lot of different paperworks to get into different units, but… you know, I just didn’t. My two years there, got out, done. Interviewer: “Alright.” I miss it, I mean it sucked but you know, the Army just wouldn’t let me get back to FORSCOM, they wanted me to stay in TRADOC and it’s like, ‘No, I don’t wanna stay here, this is not what I want to do, so I’m done.’ Interviewer: “So what’d you do after you got out?” Me… I got married when we got back from Iraq, so me and my wife, and then we had our daughter when I was at Leonard Wood for the two years, we ended up having a child. So the three of us, we moved up north towards Traverse City area where she’s from, and then I started working a couple different jobs and then I got into — I heard about the whole Montgomery G.I., post 9/11, … programs, through connections as I’m trying to go through the VA system. So I applied for college up in Traverse City, got into that for automotive, I did that for three years I was up there, once me and the ex-wife — we got divorced in 2013 — things got really, really rough for me, and then 2015 I just finished the automotive program, me and one of my buddies, we opened up an auto shop together up in Traverse City, there’s three of us that did that. And I don’t know if you want to call it like a midlife crisis-type aspect but that’s kind of what I went through, but instead of being on a positive note I actually went inpatient therapy for a couple months down at Battle Creek VA Hospital, which was really amazing and — cause it was there, when I was there for about a month and a half — one of the doctors pulled me off the side, told me about VOC rehab and what I was doing [with] my education, and applied to Grand Valley, got into it, here I am! Interviewer: “So the VA actually like really helped you?” (38:39) On certain aspects yeah, absolutely. Absolutely they did. You know, once I got into finding the people in the VA that wanted to help it was easy. But finding the help was really hard, cause I’ve had many people in the VA system that are just ruthless, like they should not even be affiliated with… they should be working at McDonalds’ is what they should be doing. Interviewer: “Yeah, we’ve heard a lot of…” Horror stories. Interviewer: “Yeah.” Yeah, I bet you have. Interviewer: “Alright, well that pretty much wraps us up. I do want to ask one last question cause I always ask this to people, would you do it again?” Yes. I would. I really would, you know, I would — if I had it my way, or if some people — I know a few people who would even agree, I think there’s two things that every American citizen needs to do. Either one, they need to do two years in the military, or right after high school they need �to go into college. And if they don’t go into college right after high school or within a year or two after high school, then they have to go into the military. For at least two years. Interviewer: “So like South Korea?” Right, or like Switzerland — one of the most peaceful, beautiful countries in the world. Every citizen joins the military for two years. And then they get medical and education benefits, Switzerland’s medical is one of the best in the world. We’re the worst, so we need to do something. Interviewer: “Alright, this will actually be the last question, I promise. I wanna ask this specifically cause you’re a father. If your daughter grew up and said she wanted to join the Army, would you say yes? I know that’s kind of a tough question.” The Army… I would dispute the hell out of. One, because for me the things that I accrued over the time in the Army, I love the Army, I love my friends in the Army, but everything I did in the Army means nothing in society. It doesn’t mean — I cannot get a job in construction, I can’t get a job working equipment, you know I have to get back to school [for] either one to get trained, or I have to start on the totem pole holding a flag on the side of the road, and slowly find one of those managers that’s willing to talk to me for thirty seconds so I can show ‘em, ‘Hey, this is what I did in the military, can I jump on this piece of equipment?” Interviewer: “Yeah.” That’s very hard to do. You know, I could go and pay to have all my certs and then go get that job, but that’s gonna be about $15,000 out of pocket. Interviewer: “Yikes.” So the Army no, I would definitely encourage college first. You know, that way, one, if she wants to go in the military they’ll finish paying off her college, and two she can get advancement in rank you know, she can go off cert and make four times more than what I made. Interviewer: “Yeah.” Or pick a different branch. Do a branch that means something. Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard. What you do in those branches sticks with you [for] your life. Marines and Army, you’re on their terms. Interviewer: “Alright, so that wraps us up.” Alright brother. Interviewer: “Thank you!” [END] � 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 BaldwinJ2302V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baldwin, Jeff Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-04 Title A name given to the resource Baldwin, Jeff (Interview transcript and video), 2019 Description An account of the resource Jeff Baldwin was born in Royal Oak, Michigan and grew up in Hartford, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army in 2004, two years after he graduated high school. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training and advanced individual training to be a construction equipment operator. After that, he went to Fort Polk, Louisiana and was assigned to the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division. Baldwin was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, where he worked to fix roads and clear routes of barriers and threats. After three months, he was injured and sent back to the base in Louisiana. After he recovered, he went to Baghdad, Iraq in 2007 for his second deployment. He stayed there for thirteen months, again working mostly in route clearance because IED’s were more of a threat. While in Iraq, he visited a palace for three days for R&R. He also reenlisted in Iraq and returned home in 2009. Baldwin finished out his service at Fort Leonard Wood as an advanced individual training instructor. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Leroy-Rollins, Koty (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States—History, Military Veterans Video recordings Afghan War, 2001-2021—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/c9df3d58950310306d90f79a2474885a.mp4 9e0ab08a7264f8a3144a05d478b0c235 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dbd2b7816011b4e6f6f0e902b8054b98.pdf 7627c8454809b52a851e719c2a6ce1ad PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW RALPH BALDWIN Born: Grand Rapids, MI Resides: Interviewed by: Frank Boring, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, November 7, 2011 Interviewer: If we could begin with your name and where and when you were born? Ralph B. Baldwin and I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the 6th of June 1912. Interviewer: which makes you today, ninety-two years old. Right Interviewer: There is a lot I would like to cover, in terms of your life, but given the restriction of this being a military history. If we can begin with Pearl Harbor and you can explain where were you and what were your circumstances when you first heard about Pearl Harbor? I was an instructor in the Department of Astronomy at Northwestern University. I had registered for the draft and immediately after Pearl Harbor I was put on a list of people that were not going to be drafted, but they assigned me to teach navigation. 1:22 I had to work like a dog to keep ahead of my students and I didn’t like it because I couldn’t see any sense in spending the entire war teaching navigation. In March, the March after Pearl Harbor, I received a telephone call from Robley Williams, a man who had been a professor at the University of Michigan and he said in a fact, “we have a job for you”, and I said, “What is it?” He said, “none of your business, but we want you to come down to Washington for an interview”. I did and it was one of the most unusual interviews I 1 �have ever had. We talked about everything except what I was going to do. We had to listen to some of Robley Williams terrible puns, which were no where near as good as mine, and I went home without learning a darn thing about what they wanted. 2:36 In about two weeks I got another call from Robley and he said the FBI had checked me out as ok, and he said, “come on down”. Interviewer: Now, you had a family at this time, right? I had a wife and a son. Interviewer: Ok I talked it over with Lois before the second call and decided we would accept the offer if it did come through, and when it came through we packed up and it was almost the end of the semester, so we finished the semester and drove from Evanston to Grand Rapids, said goodbye to my parents, drove to Silver Spring, Maryland, which is at the north point of the district, and I was with the laboratory for about five years. 3:34 Interviewer: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; you had no idea what you were going to be asked to do? I had no idea whether I was even going to be paid for it. Interviewer: Let’s talk about your arrival then. Where were you living? Robley had found a house for us, which we rented for three months and had to get out because the people were coming back. We rented another house, stayed there for a year, year and a half and on our youngest son’s second birthday we moved into a house that we bought. Interviewer: So I assume that you were getting paid then? 2 �I was getting paid, actually, the tremendous sum of a little over four thousand dollars a year. 4:28 Interviewer: Let’s talk about the first day. You’re in Washington, what was your first day at work like, so to speak? I drove and had to park on the street—I couldn’t even park at the laboratory, Applied Physics Laboratory, I couldn’t part in their region, walked in the front door and was immediately met by a man about six feet seven or eight and built accordingly, and he wanted to know what my business was and I gave him Robley’s name. Robley came down and maybe for the next hour and a half we spent discussing the secrecy and how they really didn’t want to shoot me if gave some stories out about it. Then they took me in to meet the man who was to be my boss for the next four years. 5:32 His name was McAllister and he was a marvelous individual. Interviewer: What was the first day like? You mentioned that they briefed you and what not; did you get a chance to see the operation? Were you restricted to one room? I never was restricted to one room, but people were working enough, so they didn’t wander around. My first day, they put me in a laboratory where they were analyzing test Proximity Fuses. They would take the fuse apart; I would, and spread out the inwards, so that laboratory scientists could find out what failed or what succeeded. Interviewer: So this program was already, perhaps in it’s infancy, but it still had already started when you came? 6.36 The program started in England. In 1940 the British found that they had a few airplanes, Spitfires, etc., and they were better than the German planes, but they had so few of them, 3 �and their anti-aircraft gunnery was terrible. It was just as good as the Americans or the Germans, but with an ordinary time fuse, which is sort of an alarm clock set for a time sufficient to allow the shot to get close to an enemy plane, and we had about three hundred parts as an estimate composing one Proximity Fuse. 7:40 I use that term Proximity Fuse, but I haven’t defined it. It’s in the nose of a shell, it is fired from a cannon and the one that we used for the navy, was the navy 5 inch 38, and the one for the army was the 90mm, a little smaller. The work was being done exclusively on the navy fuse because the naval fleet had been badly hurt at Pearl Harbor and we just couldn’t allow it to be destroyed. We’d have lost the war, I think, if that happened. We had to make sure that every one of those three hundred parts could stand the shock of being fired from a gun, a canon. 8:37 Those shells were fired at a speed of about 2700 feet per second and the gravity equivalent was, if I remember correctly, somewhere around 20,000 G, or 20,000 times the force of gravity. The fuse had to go through all of that, but every one of those parts had to operate as though it were on a breadboard in the laboratory, and it was an almost impossible job. 9:27 For years, about two, we didn’t have much success; we’d get maybe ten or fifteen percent operability. The navy wanted a minimum test firing of fifty percent success and we didn’t get that until the late fall of 1942. Interviewer: Now, you’re mentioning navy, perhaps they thought of it as a priority, but what about the army and the rest of the military branches? We did nothing on the army fuse, or the British navy and army, until we made the navy fuse operable, and then they—it was always in the planning, but the difficulty was twofold really. There wasn’t just one gun, but the navy had a 5 inch 25 and a 5 inch 38 4 �and the 5 inch 54, each one, of which, gave a different kind of shock and we had to get fuses, which would operate, first on the 5 inch 38, which was the standard gun for the navy. 10:46 We didn’t do anything for maybe six months after I got there on the 90mm for the U.S. Army, we did nothing for the British Army until after the American Army was taken care of. We did work on the British fuse, which, except for the battery, which produced the electric power, and it’s works, which was the same as the American Mark 32 for the 5 inch cannon. 11:29 Interviewer: I find this fascinating because if you look at the face of it you’re figuring on putting a device into a shell and it’s going to shoot off, but it’s far more complex than that because you have different caliber guns, you have different uses, you have different branches of the military. The navy isn’t the same as the army, so all these factors had to be taken into account. Every one, and we fired, actually, about a million and a half shells in testing. We made, over the whole war twenty seven million Proximity Fuses sent out for use. Interviewer: I understand they did they get allocated out? The navy got so many, the army got so many? The navy had the highest priority all through the war, and they got whatever they needed. Interviewer: Let’s go back to the first days on the job. We’ve established that this was a program started by the British; now you’re taking it on to try to perfect it, what kind of numbers of people are we talking about on this team? 12:32 The laboratory started with about five or six people at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, and by the time I got there we had moved over into a used car garage in Silver Spring, Maryland, which we modified and enlarged tremendously. 5 �When I got there we had about a hundred people, almost. We spent approximately a billion dollars on this program, but we never had more than about eight hundred people at any one time. Interviewer: Now in your group it’s self, when you come to work, how many people were in your immediate area? We weren’t segregated in that sense and I had actually—at no time during the war did I have more than about fifteen people working with me. 13:58 Interviewer: Now, were these individuals all working on the same project or did they have individual projects that all tied into the main project? I can’t answer that off hand without getting into the type of work that we were doing. As I said earlier the fuse for the U.S. Navy had the highest priority. One day in March of 1942, I was driving down to the Army War College and the thought occurred to me, “Will these things burst over land by the influence of the land or over water, which is the way we test them, or by the reflection of a radio wave from an enemy plane?” 15:05 Each fuse sent out a radio wave and when it is reflected back it is detected by the same tube, oscillator tube, that sent it out, but the reflective wave is in a little different wavelength because of the Doppler effect. The shell is moving relative to the target, whether it’s land or water or a plane. When that reflected wave is compared to the one that is sent out, a beat note is sent up, and the beat note has a frequency about the same as the wave length of sound and when the beat note is at the right point, the right velocity and the right intensity, it tells the fuse, “now”. 16:07 A switch operated, it allowed an electric current from the battery to go through a little squib. A tiny squib, which is an explosive charge, maybe three eighth of an inch high and a quarter inch—through a hole 6 �near the bottom of the fuse and set off about a quarter inch of tetrol at the very base of the fuse. That blew up and set off the explosive charge of the shell. Now let me diverge a little bit. That all happened automatically, in other words, the target committed suicide. They didn’t know it, but that’s what they were doing. The shell is moving close to two thousand feet a second when it passes the plane. If you take a shell in the laboratory, burst it with it’s full charge of explosive, most of the fragments go our directly sideways. 17:24 Because the shell is moving, they go forward and when they get out about seventy-five to eighty feet from the shell, they have converged until the path of the fragments is about twenty, maybe twenty-five feet wide. The plane has to be in those twenty-five feet or the fragments will miss it, but at two thousand feet a second that is an extremely small time. If the fuse did not operate quickly enough the fragments would miss the plane and you would have the worlds most expensive form of self-destroying ammunition. 18:18 That meant that the plane—the shell going past the plane, the fragments out there twenty-five feet wide had—call it twenty feet, and it’s going at two thousand feet per second, you got about a hundredth of a second and if you had a fuse that operated in two hundredths of a second, you’re going to get a miss. 19:06 Interviewer: Yes, and you had mentioned earlier about the tests in the laboratory, that the fragments would go out to the side opposed to when it was moving forward they would go forward. I’m trying to picture this. We’re talking about a real explosion in the lab? It wasn’t in the lab building, I’m sorry—no, no this was outdoors and what they did was they made a table, set the fuse on the table here and out here fifty feet, or something like 7 �that, was a fence, solid wood, and they set it off electrically and counted where the fragments went. Interviewer: That’s brilliant, so you had—forgive me because I’m really trying to visualize this. How many tests of that particular period of time you were trying to solve these problems, are you talking every day they would be tested or every week? 20:06 Well, they would determine the pattern that was typical for each shell and actually, in that that particular time and actually, in that particular thing, they were all pretty similar. Interviewer: I apologize for moving so quickly here, but we have limited time and there’s so much to cover. Was there a moment or a particular period in the very beginning stages of your work there where you felt that a breakthrough was made, something that was accomplished beyond the testing, the testing, and the testing? The British started, they developed a theory, but they never could make a really successful fuse. 21:00 When we came into the war, considerably later, the British gave us all of their information, they had the theory and it was correct. They had proven if everything went right, and it might be only one or two percent of the time in the early stages, that they were on the right track. When they gave it to us they were getting maybe fifteen or twenty percent operability, but they were at war and we weren’t, so we took the program over and some of their men came over to help us get started. Interviewer: Was there a period, or a moment, in the very early stages where you felt yourself that a breakthrough had been made, that you were now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel? 22:00 8 �One thing that had to be demonstrated, and the British had done it and we redid it--we would fire shell vertically and they would come down base first. If your shell comes down base first, hits the ground, it will penetrate for maybe two feet, and the shell will be protecting the fuse because of their relative positions. Early in the game they fired in a 57mm gun, the test fuses and they found that some of them would survive with parts good. Well, if some of them would survive we were doing something right, and we knew very early that we could find out what we were doing wrong because the principle was correct. 22:59 Interviewer: Looking back on it, this is very exciting, but I imagine the daily routine could be tedious, or was there a general excitement all the way through this? In writing my books I contacted a great many of the people who were still left, and almost without exception and without prodding, they thought their work at the laboratory was of vital importance and a thrilling top spot in their lives. We were not bored. 23:43 Interviewer: Good, where were you when the first successful test was made? Were you still at the same place? I was at Northwestern that was done before I got there. Interviewer: You were talking about how the navy had the priority and all, but was the navy the first one then to actually get a fuse that worked? Yes, and the first battle use of the fuse was on the fifth of January 1943, and not far from Guadalcanal. The American small fleet had been bombarding a Japanese camp, or whatever you call it, on some island down there and was returning to the area of Guadalcanal at night, no I’m wrong, this was a daytime thing, and three Japanese planes came right down with the sun behind them. 25:00 They weren’t seen by radar or 9 �visually until they dropped their bombs. One of the bombs hit the Achilles, which was an Australian [British] cruiser, and the other two missed the U.S. cruiser Helena, and fortyfive seconds from the time of sighting, the Helena had its anti-aircraft guns working, and on the second shot they got the Japanese plane. They had a search because they wanted to get that plane if they could, but it sank. They recovered the pilot and they brought him back to the Helena, and as he came up the gangway he pulled out his pistol and shot himself. 26:06 That was the first battle use of any Proximity Fuse. Interviewer: Now, lets try to understand the physics of this. In the past, before the Proximity Fuse was designed, if a Japanese plane was coming toward an American cruiser, you would basically be shooting at it like you would at a carnival or something, you’re just trying to hit the target? There were two ways, and neither of them good. They were all that our fleet, or any other fleet had. They had fuses that would go off by contact. Well, your chance of hitting a plane moving very rapidly with that type of fuse were practically zero. They had another fuse, which in effect had an alarm clock set in the nose and you could set that for whatever time you wanted up to twenty-five seconds flight time. 27:18 The idea being to get the shell to pass within about seventy-five feet of an enemy plane and to burst at that instant, just an instant as it’s passing. Well, that time fuse was better, but it was not good, and every navy had those. 27:46 Interviewer: So, the enemy’s coming in and the shells are blowing up and their just concentrating on whatever area you’re shooting at. It’s not being attracted to— It’s not being attracted, the shell is independent, and once you fire it, you committed it to a given path. 10 �Interviewer: So, now what is the difference with the Proximity Fuse that you’ve designed? The Proximity Fuse, in it’s nose, has a first, four tube, and later a five tube, radio tubes, glass, and the shock of firing activates a battery and eliminates certain safety’s that are built in, so the shell won’t burst if you fire it from the tail end of your own ship, you don’t hit the bow. Interviewer: So, this now goes and seeks out—what is it seeking? 28:53 It doesn’t seek anything, you’ve committed to a path and that path is reasonably close to the target and all the time it’s flying the shell will be emitting a radio wave, and that radio wave is reflected off the plane to the target and back, and detected by the same tube that started it. It will develop that beat note that I mentioned , and if the beat note is right and the intensity is right it starts a series of three little explosions and those explosions have to be so fast that the fragments from the bursting shell, following a path only about twenty-five feet wide out in the distance of the plane, and the plane has to be in that area. 30:00 Interviewer: Now you were mentioning earlier about glass tubes, and I understand that you were involved in the development of that. No, I was not involved in that type of research at all. The glass tubes were about equal in size to the metal part that holds the rubber on a wooden pencil, to give you an idea of the size. We made triodes and tetrodes, and one of them was a—well, it’s a particular type of a fuse that acts as a switch. When everything is right that switch operates and the whole thing blows up. Interviewer: Ok, so in terms of the parts, this is what we’re talking about, right? 11 �Yes Interviewer: Is this the one that was developed for the navy or is this a different one? No Interviewer: So this is different. 31:00 The one that was developed for the navy had a bigger area here. It was two inches instead of an inch and a half and we could use a battery that was considerably bigger and more rugged than the one that had to be used in this. We finally had to develop a completely new type of battery, which the electrolyte was in a little glass tube, that glass tube had to resist the firing, we didn’t want to activate it too soon, resist the handling before the firing I mean to say, and the spin of the shell, and the 90mm rotates around four times a second, the spin distributes that electrolyte among a whole series of battery plates, and within about a tenth of a second of firing, the fuse is operable. It was the safest fuse ever developed. 32:09 We never had a bore burst, where it bursts in the gun, and there were less early bursts outside the gun than in any other type of fuse. Interviewer: You know I find this remarkable because from my understanding, and forgive me because my understanding of science is limited, but the complexity of this is, and would seem to me, almost be automatic that problems would happen and that something would blow up before it got out of the bore of a gun, or something, but you overcame that. That was our job, to eliminate that type of happening, because if you eliminate a premature burst, you got a good shell going on and can still work. 33:04 12 �Interviewer: That makes sense now, but I’m just trying to picture going through all the imaginations and making sure that nothing happens. A big part of our laboratory group were people who were working on individual parts of a fuse. Everyday we would test. We would test operability, we would shoot them vertically, so we could recover the shell to find out what failed and what didn’t fail and if it failed, what could we do to change it? Interviewer: This looks like a piece of metal with some green plastic on it. What is it really? The plastic is the plastic called Ethos-cellulose. We started using Lucite, and we found out very quickly that the Lucite wasn’t strong enough and it would break, and when it would break we had a “dud”. We found—when I came back to the laboratory with that report, I went to the engineers, and they said, “we haven’t got anything that’s better than Lucite”, and I said, “You have to find something”. 34:16 They came back in a few days and said they had located a supplier of a plastic called Ethos-cellulose, and that plastic is strong enough—it has one weakness, it will, over a period of time, allow moisture to get in and that’s a whole story in it’s self how we solved that, but it was solved and all of the army, navy fuses, that went to battle use, had that type of a nose. 34:58 Interviewer: Now, without getting into too much detail, what’s in here? What kind of pieces are in here? There’s a battery in there. There’s a battery in the lower part, above it is a five tube radio set, one tube is an oscillator to send out a wave, this cap in the inner part, is isolated from this, so we have— and this really becomes part of the shell, so we have a flying antennae out there radiating and detecting the radio wave. 35:41 We had one group, which was working on 13 �eliminating failures in practically every component. There were something like three hundred components in each fuse. Now, there are multiple numbers in some of those. The fuse has to operate perfectly to have any chance of bringing down a target. 36:18 Interviewer: All those parts have to work in conjunction with each other. One can’t fail and if one fails is there---? Once in a while something fails, but it isn’t critical. Most of the time if it misses the fuse is a dud or it bursts. Let me give you a little statistics here. If you have a fuse, which statistically will operate perfectly at fifty percent, you can use it and it will be more effective than any other method. 37:34 It will actually, I’m saying this wrong. If every one of the three hundred components except one, is good, but that one is bad, you will get a fuse that operates about four percent of the time. If you have ten times better, it will operate somewhere around fifty percent of the time. 38:16 Operate rightly, and if you have another factor of ten good parts, it will operate about ninety-five percent of the time properly. Our job is to get the thing better than the fifty percent, and we did. The navy fuses and the army anti aircraft fuse were fired from these high velocity guns, big shocks, and we got them to be operable about seventy percent of the time. Interviewer: That’s remarkable When we got into the anti-personnel fuses over land, we started at about eighty percent operability, based on the work that had been done on the anti-aircraft fuses, and they were averaging between ninety and ninety-five percent for the big part of the war. 39:22 Interviewer: This may sound like a stupid question, but I want to make it clear in my own mind, are all the shells that are shooting at an airplane or that are shooting at a target, do they all have these on them or do only a few of them? 14 �Well, they were operating against an enemy plane. The fuse had to operate; also they had to know that the gun was pointed in the right direction. If you see a plane over here and you’re here, you don’t shoot at the plane, you shoot at where the plane is going to be when the shell gets there. It’s an extremely complicated proposition, so that’s why fifty percent operability is borderline. 40:16 We were getting better and better gun directors during the war. Some other people made some and we developed one for the navy that were—let me put it a little bit differently. The gun directors that the navy had when the war started were pretty good, but they took about twenty-five seconds to go through the routine of saying, “shoot it here”. Interviewer: It’s the guy standing there, letting the communications department know to shoot at a particular target? Yes Interviewer: I interviewed on of those gentlemen right in this very room. I wonder if he said anything like this. The Japanese found that it took that twenty-five seconds to have the director really line up on the—so every thirty seconds they changed their courses. 41:25 We developed a new gun director, which took 4.6 seconds to line up and the Japs didn’t know about it, and we shot down large numbers of Japanese planes with this new gun director. The same fuses we were using before, but they were much more effective. Interviewer: When you see on a documentary, or you watch one of these gun battles and you see the tracer bullets are being shot out— Those are all small, usually around 40mm guns. You’ve seen pictures of them and they go Bing, Bing, Bing? 15 �Interviewer: Yes They had contact fuses in them. 42:12 Interviewer: Ok They used the tracers to change-Interviewer: Yes, to see to course of what they were shooting, but these are heavier guns that you’re talking about. These are all-- nothing smaller than about a three inch. We took out too much of the explosives. Interviewer: Now, the ones that were used in the Pacific by the navy, we’re talking about the Okinawa Campaign, Leyte Gulf, were they used at Leyte? They were used in Leyte and it was in Leyte that they really started using the—the Japanese started using these Kamikaze planes and the Kamikazes, in a sense, did us a favor. If we didn’t have the fuse, they would have taken our fleet right out of the water, but they did have these fuses that in order to aim at the target they would have to go into a gliding path toward the aircraft carrier or battleship, or whatever it was. 43:18 They were on a path that allowed us to set those guns with accuracy and we shot down—well, I have a tape from Admiral Arleigh Burke and he was praising the fuse and telling how it shot down the Japanese planes by the dozens. In the battle of the Philippine Sea, they had what they called the Marianas Turkey Shoot and in the Turkey shoot a large number of planes were shot down. Some by our own aircraft, and a lot of them by the Proximity Fuse. Some of those were Kamikazes. 44:11 On that day, Japan lost, really, its fleet. The aircraft, we shot out about four hundred total, altogether, Japanese planes in those two days. 16 �Interviewer: I know two individuals who I’m sure would like to shake your hand. One of them was on the Hale and on of them was on the Franklin and they both survived. I wish I could get the true story of what happened on the Franklin. The navy people insist that it was a bomb that came and penetrated the deck and caught planes on the deck and below deck, all gassed up, and others called it a Kamikaze plane that came in. 45:16 I’ve had people from the Franklin give me two different stories. Interviewer: Well, the gentlemen I interviewed was, and there’s a pretty famous story about this group of 300 that were caught below, and rescued out and he was one of those and he stated that the Kamikazes were already coming in, but the explosions that they experiences were because the airplanes that were already in there, the American planes that were all gassed up, all those just exploded, that’s what he said. Well, what happened to the Franklin, and it survived under its own power and went back to the United States, but what happened to the Franklin is almost exactly the same thing that happened to the Japanese planes at Midway. We caught them with their planes on the deck. 46:10 Interviewer: the gentleman from the hale was, as you call them, a director. In fact his name is King Doyle, I don’t know if you know him. In Lowell he owns the King Flour Mill. I will bring it up. Interviewer: It would be fascinating, maybe the next time you get up here we will have to get you three guy in a room together. That would be an interesting 17 �conversation. You said the navy was the priority, so you got the navy one completed, but then you created one for shooting over land, and this created different problems. They were developed rather quickly because we had a long history of solving problems that were not quite as severe because a shell that is designed to burst above ground and fragment, will be fired at a lower muzzle velocity and therefore, a lower shock at firing. The anti-personnel fuses were largely, in this model, and they started at about eighty percent operability. 47:26 They moved up, until around the end of the war we were getting around ninety-five percent operability. I have a copy of a letter from General Patton, and he makes a statement that they caught a group of German soldiers trying to get across the Rhine, and with a time on target, oh I think it must have been more than just one time on target, they counted, by actual count, seven hundred and two dead Germans from that one. 48:17 Then he closed his letter by saying, “I think when all nations get this weapon we’ll have to devise new methods of warfare”. Interviewer: Wow, what battles in Europe was the Proximity Fuse used? What ones that you would know? The Battle of the Bulge, and I’m talking now of the anti-personnel use. The proper use of a tank will have back-up people with it, walking, and it wiped those pretty well out. In my book, “They Never Knew What Hit Them”, there’s a story that a Brigadier General now, who was captured I guess back there, was one of the first to use it. 49:24 In one salvo of 155mm guns they killed something on the order of several hundred. The way he put it is from the 2nd Army 3rd?] went through the area the next day and it was just covered with bodies. If you have a shell that is operated by impact, or by collision with 18 �something, and it hits the ground, it’s going to dig a hole and most of the fragments will go up and away from the target. If you’re in a foxhole, you’re pretty safe from anything except a direct hit. 50:15 I had a group of young women working with the mechanical calculators we had in those days, the Monroe etc. The calculations covering all possible angles of fall, velocity, etc., and against the same distribution of targets, if your shells burst at the optimum height, they would be about twenty-five times as efficient as the ones we had to start the war with. It was such a frightening thing because it was bursting above your head, and we have records of at least four German soldiers being executed, by the Germans, rather than go out in the areas covered by our interdictory fire. 51:35 Interviewer: The Battle of the Bulge, at least in the very beginning, was not in our favor. They broke through and were scattering us. Well, there’s a story not generally known to the public. The fuse had been perfected enough so the army said we could use it, but you can’t use it until Christmas day in Europe. 52:18 In the middle of the ice and snow etc., but we managed to get about two hundred thousand Proximity Fuses, for personnel use, over into the areas covered by the 1st and 3rd Armies, American. Captain Klompfenstein and I, on the 14th of December 1941, were sent to the field artillery headquarters out in Oklahoma. The army brought representatives from every group who were using regular fuses to train them in the use of the Proximity Fuse. 53:27 On the 16th of December Von Rundstedt launched his attack at the Battle of the Bulge. We had practically nothing over there, even our gunners were over here in the United States, and they stayed for a test that we moved up a day, called a TOT. We had eighty-four, as I remember it, canons ranging from all five of the weapons, the 75, the 105, the 155, the 8 inch, and the two 40mm. 54:18 Each one of them was 19 �controlled by a watch, and they were told, “at this instant, these cannon”, the closest distance to a hill, really, would fire and then progressively out until at the end, about two minutes before the shell could hit. The 240mm Howitzer fired its weapon, there were eighty-four guns and every one of those guns was aimed to land at the same time at a hill that was set-up as a target. It was awe inspiring, and it was shocking to see that hill explode. 55:16 That’s what really happened, it just blew and a person couldn’t have possibly lived through anything like that. In the Battle of the Bulge and afterward in the Argonne Forest we used TOTs, and the Germans—I’m not trying to say that the fuse won the war, or the fuse won the Battle of the Bulge, but it certainly shortened the Battle of the Bulge in great fashion, because those boys who were in Oklahoma when it started, got back over there and we got fuses that totaled two hundred thousand to them, which they could use at any rate they wanted to. The army, I guess the joint chiefs of staff, had set Christmas day of that year, as the day to release that fuse for use. When the Germans launched their attack on the 16th of December, the army big wigs put that date up to the 18th. 56:24 On the 18th we started shooting them back, and it was not far from that time, a few days, after the Proximity Fuse was first used that the Bulge began to shrink. Interviewer: I’m trying to picture, the Germans are moving forward, they look like their succeeding and the shells that we’re shooting at them are the traditional ones, so they’re exploding here and exploding there, but if a German got in a foxhole, he’s ok, and if he’s walking behind a tank, he’s ok, but then on the 18th the Proximity Fuse will explode over a tank and wipe out all those guys around that tank, or it can actually blow up near a foxhole and still get the guys in the foxhole. 57:12 This must have inspired terror? 20 �It did, why do you think that German soldiers were executed there in the Argonne [Ardennes] Forest? They didn’t know what hit them. I’ll tell you a little anecdote about that. In the early days we were firing vertically and the shell would go up—the 90mm shell would take about a hundred and five seconds and it would come down base first and you didn’t know where it was going to come down. I had one come down within twentyfive feet from me these were inert shells. Well, when the soldiers who were helpers, they would dig these up for us and spot them etc. They refused to go out in the area when they were coming down, so we had the army put up four posts and then a piece of four inch thick armor plate, so that will fix it. 58:21 So, they went out and when the shells were going to fall, they would step back under the armored plate. That was fine until a three inch hit and it hit right on top of that armored plate, and the noise was so bad that the boys were packing up, they wanted to get out of there. Well, we solved that by putting sand bags on top. When that three inch shell hit, the yellow paint that was on the body of the shell slipped right down and made a ring a little over three inches in diameter. The shell it’s self shortened itself by fifty percent. It’s no wonder we didn’t like that. I solved that problem, at first, in a weird sense. 59:28 I gave each one of the men a two foot square, two inch thick piece of pine wood and they would hold it up over their heads. They knew and I knew that it wouldn’t do any good, but they were doing something, something to protect their heads, and they would stay out. Stay out until that one came down so close, and then we went through the routine I just described. Interviewer: That’s amazing, and unfortunately we’re running out of time, so let’s –you said you had a little story about this lamp. :03 21 �On that early day in March 1942, I had been promoted by that time and was now the chief liaison officer to the U.S. Army. I had this series of meeting, usually once a week, at the Army War College with Colonel Froman, and on the way down the thought occurred to me that there had to be another use for these fuses. We were working antiaircraft only, but if that burst, and we know that the Germans have told us, and our own people too, A shell fired into a tree would hit a twig or so, and burst, and it was much more dangerous to people underneath the tree than it would have been with the contact fuse. 1:12 I got into the Army War College and Colonel Froman came out and as soon as we got out he turned to me and said to me, “Ralph, I think there’s another use for those fuses”, and I said, “Are you thinking of an anti-personnel use?” He said, “yes”, well, my fifteen-minute meeting with him lasted an hour and a half and he wanted to know what would have to be done. I came back to the laboratory and instead of reporting to my boss as I normally did, I went directly to the chemical research part of the lab and a man by the name of Phil Rudenick. I told him what we wanted; we wanted him to design a circuit, which would burst the shell at a lower height, and less sensitivity than the antiaircraft fuses. 2:16 He did—the only fuse we could modify at that time, to use, was a bigger version of this, but we weren’t getting a good result even with that, so we ordered two hundred rounds, two hundred fuses, one hundred for over land and one hundred for over water. Well, I went up there with Colonel Froman and a couple others, we started the water portion and we only got fifteen operable rounds out of a hundred. We could measure their height of burst. Then we went to the land and the first shell came whistling in—a dud, nothing at all, we’re in trouble. 3:10 The second one bursts something like twenty out of the one hundred actually burst, and they burst about half the height over 22 �land as they would have burst over water, which gave us a starting point. Two weeks after this we had a meeting with about six Generals, and an Admiral here and there, and I was called upon to tell about the test. The Admirals were absolutely shocked because the Generals made it known that they were going to need a lot of fuses and they wanted them. 4:18 About a week later an order came through for a million fuses. We weren’t ready, but we sure put a lot of pressure on him. It turned the lab completely over until now it would be ten times bigger. When that order came through we were in a meeting of the policy group at the lab, Merle Tuve was the director, and he said, “my God, I meant to pull the string on a small toilet and I got Boulder Dam”. 5:14 We’ll finish the story on this. I wanted one or two as a sample, I knew where they had hit, and this is what was left of the fuse as it blew out the nose. The shells had buried themselves at a fairly low angle into the ground. I was dressed with just a summer shirt on, this was April 29, 1942, so I went in after these and I got two of them, my son Dana has the other. They make pretty good lamps and the one thing I didn’t count on was that Poison Ivy was present in that area below ground. It was still early enough, so it hadn’t leafed out up above, and I didn’t know that I was digging into Poison Ivey, so I laid on the bed for three or four days with my arms out like this and Gentian Violet is not a cure for Poison Ivy and that’s all we had in those days. 6:31 Interviewer: I know what Gentian Violet is, it’s that purple stuff that you have to put on yourself. What would your thoughts be about the contribution of the Proximity Fuse to World War Two? I’ll give you my opinion, which is, it turned out, exactly the same as that of Admiral Arleigh Burke, who used the fuses extensively, and after the war he was Chief of Naval 23 �Operations and was the highest navy man there was. I have this down on a tape from him, that when they began to use the fuse in the march across the pacific, it was so much better, not perfect, but so much better than anything we had before, that it allowed the U.S. Navy to go into Japanese waters where they wouldn’t have dared go before. 7:44 One net result, which illustrates why I say the navy fuse shorted the war against Japan by probably a year, and that quote comes from Burke. If we hadn’t had the fuse we’d have won the war anyway, but we wouldn’t have gone into the western Pacific anywhere nearly as quickly. 8:18 When we did get up to Okinawa, and they could take of from Saipan with their B-52’s [B-29s] with the atomic bomb. They had just enough gasoline to go and drop the bomb and come back, and they couldn’t have done that unless the fleet had been able to move into Japanese waters. That’s why I feel very strongly that the Proximity Fuse, while it didn’t win the war, it shortened it by perhaps a year. Interviewer: Well sir, I’m hoping at another opportunity we’ll be able to talk even further, now that you’ve gotten through this particular one, but I’m afraid were going to have to wind down the interview. I want to thank you very much, and I realize you came up here especially for this interview and I greatly appreciate that you did that. 9:18 Well, I have been working off and on since the war to publicize the effects of the fuse and why it was important. I published two books on it, one “The Deadly Fuse”, and that sold for five dollars. I looked on the web a couple days ago and it’s now being advertised at eighty-five dollars. I should have saved some. The other one is called “They Never Knew What Hit Them”, similar, but different. 10:09 24 �Interviewer: That’s the one that I read, it’s more of a coffee table size with lots of photographs and detail in there. You have to forgive me, I didn’t understand all of it, but I’m not a scientist. Well, we’ll talk again and once again I thank you very much for your time sir. My pleasure 25 �26 � 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 Baldwin, Ralph (Interview transcript and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baldwin, Ralph Description An account of the resource Ralph Baldwin was an astronomy instructor at Northwestern University in 1941 who volunteered for service after Pearl Harbor. He was initially assigned to teach navigation, but lobbied for a more important assignment. He was sent in 1942 to a secret program in Maryland being run by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. Here he helped to develop the proximity fuse, a device that enabled anti-aircraft shells to sense when they were near targets and explode. By the end of the war, the fuse had become highly effective, and aspects of the technology developed for it are still used today. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-11-12 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BaldwinR 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/e3fd71631bd022904eaf709f7ef46f5b.jpg 58d8d097161f2cf36d4a3fa2efaf953b 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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. 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 BaldwinRalphB Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Baldwin, Ralph B. Description An account of the resource Ralph B. Baldwin, Astrophysicist and supporter of Grand Valley State College Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2b0dfe19aeefeefa3cb290f4cfddcf73.mp4 42ab78cbd16235ae7ab8202ce4a57964 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3d047b3326201205fa097c1f5706a1d4.pdf f774e41ba401f5398778f646004b9cb7 PDF Text Text GrandValleyStateUniversity Veterans History Project Scott Baldwin (32:50) Background Information ()  Scott enlisted in the U.S. Army National Guard in 1983. He enlisted while a senior in high school. (00:20)  There was an Army National guard unit in his town. This inspired him to join as well. (00:52)  The first several days in the National Guard was trying to assimilate into what was a very tightly knit unit. (1:11)  The first few months of being involved with the guard is mentally and physically preparing for basic training. (1:50)  Training was very stressful and a shock to Scott’s system. (2:03)  While in the Army National Guard in Oklahoma, he was also in ROTC at OklahomaStateUniversity. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. This would later aid in his civilian career. (2:44) National Guard Service ()  His first service was in Oklahoma under the Oklahoma National Guard. He also worked in DuncanOklahoma and WeatherfordOklahoma. (3:26)  He spent 9 years in the inactive reserve before joining the Army Reserve on July 2nd 2002. (3:55)  When Scott moved to Michigan in 2004 he joined a unit it KalamazooMichigan. (4:05)  Scott has been mobilized twice. When mobilized he spent a year at the InfantrySchool (20052006) at Fort BenningGeorgia. (4:13) Service in Afghanistan ()  He spent several months in Afghanistan serving as an operations NCO. He advised the Afghan military on how to conduct basic training. (4:35)  He served as an advisor of an Afghan colonel. (5:30)  The men had 57 Afghan interpreters to help the U.S. solders communicate with their counterparts. (6:23)  Scott had close encounters with suicide bombers or riots but was not directly involved in them. (6:50)  Scotts most memorable experiences was the culture shock he experienced when arriving in Afghanistan and leaving Afghanistan. (7:11)  There were 3 casualties that were taken while Scott served. None of them involved enemy action. (8:33)  There was one Afghan trainee who turned his weapons upon his instructors as well as fellow shoulders. He was neutralized after a firefight with U.S. soldiers. (11:00)  Scott was very fearful, particularly during his first several days in country. After a while, however, he grew used to the environment. (13:11) � Vehicles have a “Blue Force tracker” which as a real time moving map that showed streets as well as where other friendly units or convoys at. (14:12) Life in Afghanistan ()  CampAlamo, where Scott was located, was multi-service as well as multinational. (14:55)  The laundry and food service were run through outside contractors. The food was very good. (15:49)  Because Friday was the holly day for Muslims, the Afghan military didn’t train. The solders spent these days often relaxing or playing pickup sports games. (16:50)  There was electricity. Men often bought TVs, or had game systems that they used when there was down time. Scott often read. (18:20)  Men still had to do their job on Christmas. On Thanksgiving, the company that provided the food provided ice sculptures for the soldiers. (19:15)  Pastors would have special sermons as a result of holiday. (20:20)  While in Afghanistan the men had to learn to adapt to the culture. (20:53)  Humanitarian aid missions were carried out where soccer balls and shoes were given out to the people. The goods came from the U.S. and Britain but were given to Afghan military from them to hand out to build good will. (21:43) Exiting Afghanistan ()  The day that Scott was leaving country flights were being canceled due to cold rainy weather. While waiting for the flight to come in, the men stayed in tents. (24:10)  After returning from Afghanistan, the men had to demobilize at Fort RileyKansas. (26:08)  Body armor, weapons, and any other issued materials were turned in, in Afghanistan before being flown home. His wife and kids picked him up from the airport. (26:35)  He returned in February and went back to work in March of that year. (27:15)  Scott made lasting friendships that he has kept up. (27:48) Life after Service (28:22)  He works as an engineering manager for General Electric. (28:22)  Scott felt as though this service did make a difference and help many people. (30:00)  He learned to appreciate what the U.S. has and how good it is to live there. (30:52)  Scott is a member of the VFW as well as the American Legion and the General Electric Veterans Union. (32:33) � 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 Baldwin, Scott (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baldwin, Scott Description An account of the resource Scott Baldwin Scott joined the Army National Guard in Oklahoma in 1986 and took ROTC training at Oklahoma State University. After a number of years on inactive reserve, he was activated, worked as a trainer at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was later sent to Afghanistan, where he helped train Afghan forces. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Benzing, Olivia (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 Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-10-02 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BaldwinS1352V 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/0e53bda2b99443ede5d0f5540322e2d9.jpg d77d79c869ff7dcfbf5165be8ee1855d 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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. 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 BalfourDan_Photo1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Balfour, Dan Description An account of the resource Dan Balfour, Public Administration Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e7092081bc7988719e113a799b589d3e.jpg 27ed476b3d16d6be6492ace4548b6a95 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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. 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 BalfourDan_Photo2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Balfour, Dan Description An account of the resource Dan Balfour, Public Administration Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/448a0f1ce65743e337928855521bc539.jpg 09ac229dc24f61dcf5f8264430cd4cbd 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 Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng 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. 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 BalfourDan_Photo3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Balfour, Dan Description An account of the resource Dan Balfour, Public Administration Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b20af89654a26c51e35e652608ef7a6a.mp4 eb9869c7668fcf74e6224f85a60e783c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a970d3cbaeb1b4b571470a5d497ea884.pdf 8582dc1571385f77531152701c5c6800 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Kenneth Ball Length: 36:22 (00:25) Background Information • • • Kenneth was born in Byron Township, Michigan and lived on a dairy farm He graduated from high school in 1952 and went to community college for a year before attending at the University of Michigan for architecture Kenneth got an architecture job in 1955 and was drafted into the Army in 1956 (2:15) Basic Training • Kenneth was sent to Fort Carson in Colorado where they lived in WWII vintage barracks • They began working on rifle handling, physical training, marching, maneuvers, and bib whacking • Kenneth was 23 years old and the oldest man training; most of the other men were 18 years old • Kenneth trained for 8 weeks and then went through advanced training at Fort Smith in Arkansas for 9 weeks • He had been training to be a supply sergeant, but never ended up using any of that training (6:55) Korea • Kenneth was shipped out on a troop carrier with about 1200 other men outside of Seattle • They were going over to Korea as replacement troops • Kenneth was assigned to the 8th Army Aircraft Maintenance Division • They were working in Repairs and utilities • Kenneth’s officer found out that he had worked as an architect and asked him to build a theater • The theater took 4 months to build and then Kenneth was rewarded with a week of R & R in Japan (15:30) Living in Korea • Kenneth was made corporal when he got back from Japan and continued working on new buildings • He worked with the Corps of Engineers and Korean civilians helped them also • Kenneth had to travel to Seoul once a week to purchase building supplies • The armistice had been in place and they were not ever worried about being attacked • Occasionally there would be a few shots going off at the DMZ �• Kenneth was in South Korea for 16 months while the government had been rebuilding and restructuring the country (22:50) Back to the US • Kenneth had 88 days left of his service time, but was not discharged right away • He was assigned to Fort Sheridan in Chicago where he waited for his time to expire, working on laundry duty • Kenneth was released in November and went into the active reserve and back to work • He was then in the inactive reserve in about a year and completely finished with his time in the Army in 1964 � 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 Ball, Kenneth (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ball, Kenneth Description An account of the resource Kenneth Ball was born in Byron Center, Michigan and graduated from high school in 1952. After high school he spent a year at community college before going to the University of Michigan for architecture. Kenneth was drafted into the Army in 1956 went through basic training in Colorado. He then went through advanced training to be a supply sergeant in Arkansas. After training Kenneth was sent to Korea during the armistice where he helped put up buildings for 16 months. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James 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 2008-10-07 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BallK 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/b4a73f8b0cfdc0d544b12d1046f3112e.jpg 4502e8431d6742988dbee1da7971970f 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 Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection 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 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <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 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 DC-01 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. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS1252.C33 B3 1901 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-01_Bindings0398 Title A name given to the resource Ballantyne: A Novel Description An account of the resource Binding of Ballantyne: A Novel, by Hellen Campbell, published by Little, Brown, and Company, 1900. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1900 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/4e7a39dd47678435e682a70c5e2f2edb.mp4 6557dfd93dbdd0ea0f903f1b01f2d04d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2fa32cf16540f2041bd72746c54c9768.pdf 04c8088a959296bbe148e4673ab3f261 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Carl Ballard Length: 1:16:57 (03:00) Background Information • • • • Carl was born on October 16, 1932 in Kent County, Michigan He went to Wayland high school and graduated in 1951 Carl expected that he would be drafted; many of his friends had received their draft notice before even graduating Before the war started Carl had not even heard of Korea and did not know of its location (5:10) Enlistment in Army • Carl was able to enlist in the Army for 2 years instead of the standard 3 years • He enlisted when he was 19 years old in 1952 • Carl began training with the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Breckenridge in Kentucky • It was a very large camp and the first two weeks was just spent getting the new people organized • Each day they would get up very early and get harassed by drill sergeants • They spent a lot of time drilling, marching and doing other menial work that did not make sense • They began to develop a routine and started training with weapons • Carl spent 16 weeks in basic training (14:30) Leadership School • Carl volunteered for leadership school and spent 8 weeks working in the same area of Kentucky • He had volunteered because he thought he would receive 30 days leave • The time off on leave was cancelled and Carl was given 7 days to report to California after completing leadership school • Carl spent his time off visiting family and got engaged to his girlfriend (18:10) Trip to Korea • Carl spent 2 weeks at a camp in California just waiting around until they were going to leave • They left San Francisco on a troop ship and Carl was very sick for the first 3 days of the trip • He would have felt better if he would have been allowed to sleep, but they were always made to go up on deck and work �(23:25) Korea • When they arrived the area was secure and reservists were training on the rifle range • Everyone had got off the ship and assigned as replacements to various divisions • They had arrived in January and it was very cold • There were many children in the area begging the men for money and food • Carl was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, 9th Infantry Regiment • They stayed in tents in the reserve area • Carl was put on guard duty to secure a large hill in the area • They had good winter gear and were never too cold (34:40) Fighting Chinese • The first night in Korea was like a dream; it was not scary, but Carl felt that it was like walking in a fog • He got accustomed to things after a while and did become more fearful because he knew of the dangers that laid ahead • They only patrolled at night and practices on similar, safe terrain during the day • Carl’s first encounter with the enemy was in March while he was working on an outpost with a squad • His mission had been to warm the company if they were attacked and then delay the enemy in action while the company pulled back • The Chinese cut their communication, but Carl was able to launch a grenade at them • They got into a fight with mortars and artillery and Carl took cover in a fox hole • It was very dark and they had no idea how many people they were up against (48:30) Living in Korea • They received mail every day and Carl often wrote to his fiancée • They had three meals a day and only one of them was hot; they otherwise ate C-rations • They wore very heavy clothes for the weather, but often found themselves sweating • The men received a fresh pair of socks every day to prevent trench foot • They were never again attacked by the Chinese (53:50) Back to Reserves • Carl was sent to live in the reserve area and they were living in tents in a small village • He spent one day a week training and the rest of time he was on guard duty • They did not have much interaction with the South Koreans civilians, but worked with the South Korean soldiers (58:15) Heavy Weapons Platoon �• • • Carl was transferred to the Heavy Weapons Platoon where he worked with 60 mm mortars and 57 mm recoilist rifles He was a squad leader and no longer had to patrol at night because they maintained a permanent position Their job was to knock out the enemy from a distance during any battles that took place (1:03:20) The End of the War • After the cease fire it was strange and very quiet at night • All the firing had stopped and they were able to hear the sounds of the forest around them • Carl had enough points in April to rotate back to the US • He once again boarded a troop ship and was sick for the first few days of the trip • His family had not been expecting him • They landed in San Francisco and took a train to Chicago, and then a bus to Grand Rapids � 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 Ballard, Carl (Interview outline and video), 2004 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ballard, Carl Description An account of the resource Carl Ballard was born on October 16, 1932 in Kent County, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1951 and then enlisted in the Army. Carl trained in Kentucky and went through leadership school after basic. He was then sent to South Korea where he joined the 2nd Infantry Division and went on patrols at night. Carl was later transferred to the Heavy Weapons company where he worked as a squad leader. Carl had received enough points to return home a few months after the cease fire. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Boring, Frank (Interviewer) Michigan Military Preservation Society (Grand Rapids, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army 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 2004-10-27 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context BallardC 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/4ef0a905ea534573d5cdb66ef520c62c.pdf 1a530d32e0bfc90a215cd576ec84ae2a PDF Text Text 1 Grand Valley State University Special Collections Kent County Oral History collections, RHC-23 Mary Baloyan Interviewed on November 13, 1974 Edited and indexed by Don Bryant, 2010 – bryant@wellswooster.com Tape #44 (1:10:47) Biographical Information Mary Baloyan was born 13 October 1899 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was the daughter of Martin (Mardiros) A. Baloyan and Nouvart Kurkjian who were married in 1897. Martin was born in Palu, Armenia (now Turkey) in 1868 and died 6 January 1931 in Grand Rapids at his home at 639 Cherry Street SE. Mrs. Nouvart Baloyan was born 3 December 1877 in Palu, Armenia (now Turkey). She survived her husband and died 7 March 1971 at Blodgett Hospital. Mary Baloyan died at Pilgrim Manor in Grand Rapids 21 January 1984 at the age of 84. The Baloyan family plot is in Greenwood Cemetery. ___________ Interviewer: This recording is made on November 13, 1974 at Pilgrim Manor on East Leonard, in the apartment of Miss Baloyan who is a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids. I’m now going to ask Miss Baloyan to tell about her family, her background and her early years as she recalls them in Grand Rapids. Miss Baloyan: Thank you. I am very proud to be able to talk on this subject because I’m so proud of the accomplishments of my parents and other relatives. My parents came to this country in 1897 from what was referred to as Old Armenia. I have seen their passport and it interested me at the time that they could leave the country but could never return. When some years later I took a trip abroad, my relatives were divided on the subject of whether I should revisit that part of the world or not. Since some thought it might be dangerous. My father always used to say, there must be great wealth and resources buried in the mountains of that area since so many Armenians buried their wealth rather than let the enemy Turks take it. My parents had to leave everything they possessed where they had come from, and these days it’s ironic that so many people ask for a hand out or easy access to a living where as I know from firsthand experience that my parents and family had to start with nothing, worked hard and availed themselves to the opportunities of this country. In time, they had three children. My brother was the first Armenian born in Grand Rapids, I was the first Armenian girl born in Grand Rapids and all three of us including, Alfred, my older brother. Alexi, my younger sister who eventually went into interior decorating, and I a middle child. All of us were given outstanding educations and special types of instruction such as in music, dancing, theatre training, interior decoration and my parents too took an active participation in so much of the civic life. �2 Interviewer: I just want to interrupt you a moment and ask, why did your parents happen to choose Grand Rapids? Was there any particular reason? Miss Baloyan: Yes, indeed. My grandfather, who had come to New York in 1890, which is my maternal grandfather, was a steel cabinet maker and as he attempted to work in his craft in New York, he was told he should be in Grand Rapids where the furniture industry was flourishing, and specifically, should be with John Widdicombe. He became the first Grand Rapids settler when he had promised Mr. Widdicombe that if he went into his employ he would never leave him. Widdicombe began taking an interest in him and a very old-fashioned and charming kind of loyalty came about because it was, in time when Grandfather wanted to bring his wife and grown up children to this city to join him, it included my maternal grandmother, my parents, newly married the year before, and a couple of the aunts and an uncle who came to be known locally as Armen Kurkjian. They came to Grand Rapids, Mr. Widdicombe had been instrumental in finding a home for Steven’s family to come too and it was in that home that my brother and I were later born. In time…. Interviewer: Where was that, Miss Baloyan? Miss Baloyan: Where? Interviewer: Where was that? Miss Baloyan: On Fifth Street, on the west side at that time, not too far from Grandfather’s place of employment, at that time. And so we three children grew up, on the west side, until I graduated from the University of Michigan, some years later. Interviewer: Could we back up just for a moment, I’d like you to describe your relationship to Mr. Armen Kurkjian whom I, whom I knew and rather well, because of my family’s early association with Fountain Street Church. Miss Baloyan: Yes, Uncle Armen had come to this country as a boy of 14. Interviewer: He was your mother’s brother? Miss Baloyan: He was my mother’s brother. He brought certain old-fashioned principles to this country with him. Such as the belief that young people shouldn’t smoke and other principles that he sometimes got laughed at. But he used to retain a very lofty kind of set of principles. Eventually as various members of the family joined local organizations, he got quite a good education partly through their encouragement of those who became interested in him. He met at the University of Michigan, eventually, a man named Melvin Baldwin, who became his college room-mate. They became very good friends. My uncle was in civil engineering and some years later, came to Grand Rapids. It must have been mechanical engineering, because he went into Oliver Machinery Company in which Mr. Melvin Baldwin’s family and the Tuthills had been very active. My uncle was, for many years, their sales manager and at one time, opened an office �3 in Saint Louis, Missouri for them. He eventually met, married the woman who left Grand Rapids as his secretary, whose maiden name was Elvestra Wurzburg and who became known as my uncle Sid did for her philanthropic work in the city. Both of them interested in both Fountain Street Church and crippled children’s work, Rotary Rehabilitation work. In the mean time my father opened an Oriental restaurant on East Fulton Street and an art goods shop, a block east of there also on East Fulton. They were quite, recognized as quality shops and in the summer-time when his children had vacation from school, he came to open summer-time resort branches in such places as Grand Haven or Muskegon, had even gone as far away as Cleveland, Ohio, Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor. However his primary interest was rugs and related art objects. My mother took a great interest in music, interpreting for less fortunate Armenians and in education her children. She herself joined the Lady’s Literary Club, eventually Women’s City Club and other broadening influences. She took a very active interest in church work. In this particular branch of the family attended Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church where I have been a member now fifty eight years. It has made a great many fine friendships for us among other values. For instance, through the work of my family, my sister and brother also went into related fields. Through the work of my family, we came to meet people in the various arts, so then we began taking an active interest. Eventually, I was encouraged to go into Civic Theatre work where I went on a board, worked in that area for twenty years, and became vice-president. Through our music lessons we became interested in concerts and help local concert campaigns. Also I became interested, after many years later, after mother’s death, in establishing some music scholarships on a college level for Interlochen in memory of my mother. There are also a memoriam of this at St. Mark’s church in her memory because while she was choir mother there, it was the consuming interest that meant a great deal to her. The other arts were not neglected. We had an interest in all of them. I eventually went to the University of Michigan after starting at junior college, became interested in English, along with several other hobbies such at the theatre, continuing as a hobby. After I had attained my master, masters in English at the University of Michigan I started teaching school six months in Zeeland. Interviewer: When was this, Miss Baloyan? Miss Baloyan: The beginning of my career was in 1923. As a matter of fact, when, the following year I came back, I came to Grand Rapids to start a career in teaching. It was the beginning of 42 ½ years in Grand Rapids in teaching—most of it at Ottawa Hills High School. The last thirteen years at Junior College, so that I taught English 43 years, 15 of those years also dramatics. Because I went for six years of education to the fine arts department of Yale University, where I was privileged to attend the famous Yale Workshop under George Pierce Baker, who used to be at Harvard but moved over to Yale when an enterprising philanthropist named Harkness built a good building, good theatre for Yale. So the work was transferred over there. I came back to Grand Rapids, established a laboratory theatre in Ottawa Hill High School which for fifteen years functioned under the name of mine. We sent out from that theatre people into many artistic areas. Some of them now professional and it’s a source of great happiness to me that many of the �4 people who participated and worked so hard, remember it and comment on it with joy to this day. Interviewer: Who were some of these people, could you tell who some of them are? Miss Baloyan: Yes, Jack Thompson, for instance, is on a college staff in New York, he appeared two or three years ago as the author of an article in the Harper’s magazine in which he attempted to recall his yesterdays in Grand Rapids, as his title was. “It was my privilege to have him name me in that article as his favorite teacher”. So, then Lloyd Matoon, he went into the commercial end of TV work, specializing for a while in the Chrysler ads. Out west, the man who is lighting the Lawrence Welk show did the lighting for me, in the laboratory theatre. His name is Wallace Stanard. His name is still seen on TV in connection with being technical manager for the Lawrence Welk program. There were others who went out west and there a some whose names I don’t just recall now, but many have commented. Several of the presidents of the local Women’s City Club have been former members of that group. Shall I name some of them? Interviewer: Yes. Miss Baloyan: Mrs. Birch, Mrs. Whittier, and Mrs. the present President, Mrs. Smiley I could be forgiven, I hope for some delight in their continuing to enjoy memories of those days because I believe so deeply that the extras in education such as contact with creativity, helped to give lasting joy in the memories of people who’ve experienced the creativity. Our work has included writing and designing of costumes, coloring of materials, making of patterns, make, designing scenery, making scenery, planning and & operating the lighting, and so many other areas. Ann Kleiner went to Yale after a number of years. She had been a student of mine in the laboratory theatre and she is now in Detroit doing creative lighting for Detroit businesses. Interviewer: Is that Bob Kleiner’s sister? Miss Baloyan: Yes, it is. When she comes to Grand Rapids, she contacts me sometimes. I take great delight in the fact that the students who had with me in dramatics, had invented the nickname “Chief” for me because they said my own name was a little long to say back-stage. Well, some amusing results followed, for instance the Kleiners were so use to calling me Chief at home, that their aunt Mrs. Seidman, now many years later, when she sees me downtown, says “Hello Chief,” and I love hearing say it. I am very proud of the viewpoint that my parents brought to this country from a place where there was so much tyranny. Their attitude was, that there are opportunities here, let us avail ourselves of some of the opportunities and let us help ourselves. I’m afraid I’m a little impatient with those who sit around and wait for help if they can help themselves because I’ve seen examples of members of my family including other cousins and uncles and aunts, members of my family, get through hard work and enjoy it and become contributors, not just absorbers, in society. One of the things for which I’m very grateful is that, though my family came from a land with so much tyranny, they welcomed the opportunity of freedom here. One evidence of it is that various branches of the family attended different �5 churches and became active contributors in different churches. Yet they didn’t sit in judgment on one another because it wasn’t the same as the old Armenian Orthodox Apostolic Church. I’ve always been very happy in the Episcopal Church. My uncle and aunt, the Kurchins, were always extremely happy in the Fountain Street Church. And this is just part of the freedom that they displayed all the way through. Some of them have been very funny. For instance, there was once a man who traveled all the way from California to this town because he’d heard there were unmarried Armenian girls in this town. He was a complete stranger, but he had once come here, during the Near East Relief War. He had come here to lecture and had seen some of us participating in programs and, decided, this was a good family to be attached to. So years later he came back, in order to try to make a match, went to my parents, and tried to persuade them to allow him to begin courting one of us, and to his amazement, instead of arranging a match, my father told him that they never interfered with the choices and decisions we made. So I’m proud that my family had acquired so much of the principles of this country. I’m grateful for them and, if sometimes, I fancy that some of the teaching I have done has been of some value, I cannot fail to give great credit to the family of character and intelligence that gave me a good start in life. Other subjects I should have touched on, perhaps, you would like to know, I moved from the West side to the Heritage Hill area. Interviewer: I’d like to ask you, I like to ask you some questions about how long did you live on the West Side and did you, go to school over there and if so, where? That’s the sort of thing, I’d like to go into now. Miss Baloyan: I attended Union High School as did my brother and sister both. I was given many fine opportunities there. Worked on the literary periodicals there, I graduated from Union High School in 1918. I started attending Junior College two years, where I made some of my life-long friendships, from other areas in the city and where I came to be a great believer in Junior College for giving a good foundation of an education. Then I went on to the University of Michigan for two years to get my BA, first. The year I was graduated from the University of Michigan, 1922. Our family who then had some stores on East Fulton for some time, decided to moved to the East side and selected a spacious place on Cherry Street, because it was not far from the downtown area. We found it a good central location to radiate from and as I taught in many different localities in the city, starting downtown at North Division two years, the Harrison Park Junior High on the Northwest, five years then in the Southeast at Ottawa Hills twenty-one years and interrupting the act for education and then eventually going downtown again to Junior College for thirteen years. And I radiated to the various schools and to the various Civic organizations, I had become interested in. Eventually I went on a board of directors and not only of the Civic Theatre and Community Concerts and Urban League, but I also did volunteer work. And my sister went into dancing and interior decorating. My brother stayed for awhile in my father’s business and eventually he opened a retail store of his own for rugs but later he started a rug servicing place on the side of the building. Mother joined an organization both for American and Armenian and both my parents tried to be good citizen in both, I feel that one of the �6 advantages of my background has been that I have been expected to be both a good American and a good Armenian and I have come to believe that this is for me at least, a better idea even, than the melting pot idea because I have seen that as various ethnic groups retain their customs and identity the various groups contribute a great deal of richness to American life. I have enjoyed living in the near downtown area. There are many advantages. There used to be even more. The streets are kept very clean in the winter because it’s a passageway through downtown. Those residences now considered old and large, used to be one-family residences and one knew one’s neighbors and there were many prime families and it was very…. Interviewer: Who were some, who were some of your neighbors…. Miss Baloyan: Well, across the street used to be some branches of the Alby family and next to them the Edwin Kleins who became active in a different kind of church, where he helped to spread the Giddeon Bible around. Next to them was a family whose name now escapes me but they lived in the brick house a very long time. Just west of us there used to be the Blanchards, there are many other old families whose names I would have to look up again to recall but, we all knew one another and it was a personal commitment to one another that I think was fine. It had another advantage that as people traveled towards downtown for business or religious purposes or other purposes, they had to pass houses such as ours and they often stopped and became acquainted and to this day they come and on the yards that are kept up well and the yards that aren’t. And I feel that I’ve been very many places in my life. I have never felt that the fact that I was from an immigrant family had handicapped me in the slightest respect because people of breeding and education apply these qualities to their outlooks and to the way they live. I’ve encountered people, we have been able to share ideas and laughter and an interest in causes. We have even found controversial subjects such as sometimes, politics and I have not felt any barriers to camaraderie and in fact, people of quality are actually interested in the different aspects of your life and background. Such as mine is full of unique customs and traditions. On New Year’s Eve, when my grandparents were living, they used to collect the entire clan, cousins, uncles, aunts, the children, into the living room which ran into the dining room. We’d all get down on our knees and our grandfather would lead us in prayer, for the coming year. We learned a great many customs that were unique to us. And I remember one time when I was in grade school, another custom that puzzled me for awhile, but I’m amused by now, because I was short of stature, I was to lead a wand drill in a program for relatives. Besides that the very charming teacher was dating my uncle at that time and I always wondered which was the reason that I was chosen. But I was to lead and my grandmother decides to come to the program. I was a little bit shocked when she kissed the hand of the principal, the teacher, and any other dignitaries around because since I had been exposed to a few of the customs and teachings in school I had decided very ardently that it was unsanitary for grandmother to kiss the hands of other people. As some years passed and I reflected what a sweet and loving grandmother I’d had, it seemed to me it was sweet and humble of her to do it because it was her way of paying respects and gratitude for what had been done for her members of her family. So though part of my bringing up has been �7 different, a considerable of it has been the same. I was fortunate enough to win a half scholarship in piano with Otto [(?) Molly], who started the symphony before the current Grand Rapids Symphony. He was a magnificent teacher and quite an interesting man, I used to take my piano lessons in the very room that is now the drawing room for the Women’s City Club. It was then his studio. Sometimes has as many as three grand pianos in it, usually Steinways. And he was tall, very strong man and sometimes, especially when I first transferred from an organ teacher to a piano teacher he felt I was still playing the organ on the piano and he put his knee under the piano board, would raise his knees and the board would leave my hands and would push my hands up and, he did many other interesting eccentric things that have to make him picturesque and that created great affection for him. He used to draw designs on music to show you either the way he wanted your wrist movement to go or the way he didn’t want your arm to go. He used to have other musicians come in from Chicago, where he had come from, to make records with him and if I’d had a good lesson because he knew I was enchanted by these informal sessions he used to reward me by allowing me to sit in the room on a stool quietly while he and a violinist and a cellist made beautiful, musical records. He had a hobby of photography that caused him to give the results of his picture making sometimes to students. Usually however, you knew if you’d had a good lesson because he wouldn’t say anything. If you didn’t have a good lesson he would point it out. Oh, I have been grateful not only to special teachers such as that, but, for instance to the Calle Travis Studio where I studied there from, with Harriet Blood, to study dancing and then years later after I had trained in dramatics I taught ballet and pantomime to some of Miss Travis’ senior students. It included such people as Marsha Travis, the Goodspeed girls, and so many other lovely girls whose names, I would have to look up but, some of the lovely young matrons of Grand Rapids. But teaching ballet, ballet pantomime in Miss Travis’ studio was a great privilege, since I always thought she had an outstanding ballet studio. I have covered several of the arts but our interests and activities were even more extensive than anything I have mentioned. So whatever else you would like to know I’d be happy to go into. Interviewer: Well, I can’t help but realize that, I run into you fairly often in the art museum. Have you ever had any special role in, in the life of the museum? Miss Baloyan: Only in the respect that, when a former director Otto Bach was here his wife Ciel (?) Cile Bach used to write skits sometimes which, I sometimes helped to perform for them. I remember too that a Dr. Rosenswag and I were together on an interview program one time. I can’t claim to have helped them in any other respect, except that we have always been interested in our family in helping in minor ways and just now I have presented them with some of my father’s fine ancient porcelain vases of Chinese make. Some of them are from the Chung Ling period, several centuries old. They have been appraised, it’s very valuable, has been accessed by the appraisers as extremely gorgeous and they will be at the museum in memory of my father. I have also promised to send them and, very soon, at the beginning of a new year, and send them and the public museum also, some silk rugs, since silk rugs are not very common here. The one that will go to the Art Museum is a silk Kashan(?) prayer rug of, some beauty and rarity. I can’t �8 say I’ve done a great deal for them, but I have enjoyed such contacts as I’ve had. And believe it is one of local institutions that should be helped. I have also felt that way about the Saint Cecilia Music Society of which I’m also a member and I wouldn’t know where to draw the line except to say all the educational and cultural, the artistic organizations in town receive our interest and support often. Interviewer: You want to stop for just a minute? I think we’ll turn the tape over at this time and proceed on side two. Interviewer: We stopped our interview for a moment and talked about a few other matters and Miss Baloyan has recalled that there are some other people she would like to talk about and I’m going to hand the microphone to her now and let her continue. Miss Baloyan: When my father’s store was on East Fulton the Grand Rapids Press and the Herald, the morning paper, were both within a block of distance from his store with the result that as we dropped into the store the members of the family became acquainted with some of the main writers in Grand Rapids including reporters, columnists, critics and even the editor of the Press, Mr. Booth and Mr. Frank Sparks from the Herald. They became of such interest to us that they actually influenced us in various ways and we were very fond of them. At one time since I had become so much interested in books, my mother used to make sure that when we were children we were always surrounded by educational material. Miss May Quigley, the children’s librarian used to tell me that every Saturday afternoon Mother used to walk to the library and say I would like a book of poems for my Mary and the result was I always had books around me and it became a lifetime interest so that gradually I became interested in writing. But I had so many other interests too. So I went to see Mr. Booth, the editor of the Press to interview him on what he thought of journalism as a possible career for a young lady who was attending the University of Michigan. And he said to me and he knew us well by then. He said I would like to encourage you to go into it but he said at this time you would have to limit yourself to obituaries and social notes and he said if you would find that sufficiently interesting then it would be well to go into journalism. When I think now of the changes in opportunities for women journalists I recall that with great respect for his honesty in that period of time. However, as I became interested in other area such as theatre, I attended various summer theatres, one in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine and one in the north of this state with one of the directors from Civic Theatre here. And since I had finished training at the Yale University Theatre, the Yale workshop department and since they didn’t allow us to specialize, it was a broad thorough training, and at that time as I wondered how I could use it, Miss Mary Remington, the well beloved drama critic of the Grand Rapids Press, said to me, if you decide to apply as the director of the Civic Theatre, we will back you. But by that time I was interested in teaching because I felt I could combine many of my interests in the teaching area. But to this day I have retained a deep interest in the work of our local columnists and critics. Don’t find them all equally good. For instance, Miss Margarete Kerns was a name I came to know well, and I hope that some of the newer people coming will match the contributions that were made by Mary Remington, Margarete Kerns, and others. I have also �9 come to respect the work of Jerry Elliot who writes with a distinctive style. And I think that some of these people who we have taken for granted have, made much more expanded contributions than we’ve realized. For instance, one of the special interests of the Cyprus situation to me last year was the fact that former Junior college student of mine, for I came to teach in Junior College eventually, was a boy who later became cultural attaché with the American Embassy in Cyprus. I wasn’t sure whether he had been returned to this country or not during the recent troubles and I knew that after his work at Junior College he had worked for a while with Mr. Elliot, Jerry Elliot and others at the Grand Rapids Press. I started to investigate and learned fortunately in May he had been returned to this country and there was a story within recent months of the fact that his wife and child had followed him. So you see reporters and columnists have not only done an interesting job for us but have trained some future journalist and government workers, who have contributed to our daily lives. I think some of fail to realize what a great town Grand Rapids actually is. Several times in the opportunities that I’ve had I have had tempting openings in other areas of this country but contrary to Mr. Butts, opinion of the area, I have loved Grand Rapids and I made the decision to come back here and to stay here and I’ve never regretted it. I know there are many others. Grand Rapids not too large, not to small and it’s had all the opportunities that the larger centers offer and it’s a good thing that some of us do prefer coming back to our town and bringing with us, experiences we have picked up elsewhere so that through our travels, we can bring a little of Maine, a little of Connecticut, a little bit of northern Michigan and so many other areas, back to Grand Rapids. I don’t think it’s an accident that Grand Rapids is foremost in some of the contemporary art projects of recent years and has shown leadership in other progressive areas I think it’s because, there is an interest here in good things. I don’t even think that the furniture industry has completely left us, for its influence on modern life can be shown in our continuing preference for quality in daily life. And I’m so happy to have known some of the people who have worked in connection with the arts in Grand Rapids and with furniture in Grand Rapids and with business in Grand Rapids. You asked, Mr. Hutchins, about my uncle Armen Kurchin one of the smart things he helped to do happened when the depression was felt so deeply here and some of the furniture factories were wondering what the future of the city would be. Well, the Chamber of Commerce and my uncle actively participating, used their skills for helping to bring in new metal industries and other new interests that have continues here and have helped to keep our commerce, successful as much as anywhere else in any period. Interviewer: You mentioned having written Secretary Butts in regard to his rather unfortunate remarks about Grand Rapids, if you would just like to comment on that. Miss Baloyan: I was indignant as I’m sure so were others, so I wrote Mr. Butts, that although I know Mr. Butts that you must have been at least half joking in your reference to Grand Rapids, when you suggested that, take away a furniture factory or two and the town could blow into Canada, I said there is a suggestion there that we are provincial. I said far from being provincial, this is a highly cosmopolitan town in many ways. Where else can you find in a middle-sized �10 town six colleges, an art museum that is sought out by neighboring communities, a public museum that goes in, that brings in many ethnic groups and it goes into other communities with its activities, this is a town of several hundred churches, this is a town which was smart enough when the furniture industry began suffering, weakening, smart enough to bring in other industries so that it could succeed if not always in the same way, then in new ways. This is indeed a cosmopolitan town with all the opportunities that one could find in the larger communities and so we’re not in the least provincial and I’m sure that although our new president may have compassion for workers in agriculture he is well acquainted with other aspects of Grand Rapids life too and so Mr. Butts in our community we like the authentic. Interviewer: Speaking of the president, do you know Mr. Ford or Mrs. Ford? Miss Baloyan: I know both, President and Mrs. Ford. In fact, at one time President Ford, as a choir boy sang in the Saint Mark’s Church Choir. His parents, his mother and his step-father, the Jerry Ford Seniors were extremely, highly respected both in our church and the community and they were wonderful people. In the later years I came to know Betty too as a dancer. In fact, in one of our local dramatic programs, she danced for us very beautifully, very gracefully. They are very fine people although one may differ with a particular political decision and practice, anybody who knows Jerry or Betty cannot doubt their integrity and good intentions. I will say they are very religious people, sincerely religious. I think we are fortunate that there are people of character who will try to help us out at a time character seems like a lost quality in this country, I don’t really believe that. I want to emphasize it just seems that way. Interviewer: Let’s turn it off a minute, Miss Baloyan, when you… I’d like to ask you, how you first became interested in the Urban League because that’s in, you were one of the first members, I believe? Miss Baloyan: I had been doing some work in dramatics when an old school-mate Marsha Marshall(?) who was in the Urban League work asked if I’d be interested in trying some dramatics with the minority group and whites working together. It sounded like an interesting project so I did one year of class work, in dramatics for both blacks and whites together. We met in the basement of the St. Philip’s Church which is called the Under-Croft and then at the end of the year, we gave a program at the local YMCA, where we were given an auditorium type of room with a platform and my students from classes at Ottawa Hills supplied the scenery and did the back-stage work and we gave a bi-racial dramatic program. Then at the end of that year, I was asked if I’d like to go on a board. I went on a board for three years at a time when Dr. Claytor was president at the end of that time I had a kind of collapse, at school and had to go to the hospital so I thought for reasons of health I should not consider returning to the board so I served one year of volunteer work in dramatics and three years on the board. And the Urban League work was most fascinating. One of the great benefits was that I got to know Paul and Ethel Philips real well and they are to this day among my very good friends and I’m still very much interested in the welfare of that project. This is just one of several of the civic groups that I �11 got interested in. The community Concerts Organization showed great promise for awhile because although there were New York agencies helping us, advising us and booking for us, the actual campaign work was done locally and we were able to bring international artists at a very low cost because many citizens helped to sell season memberships. You became a member by buying this season ticket. This work could have gone on indefinitely if the local group had not changed from the original plans, it fell through. I think probably the civic organization I worked for the longest was the Civic Theatre Group. Interviewer: When did you start to work for the Civic Theatre, were you, was it formed, when you were originally associated with it? Miss Baloyan: I joined in the year that Maud Feely was the director. She was a professional actress here with a professional troupe. Interviewer: In what year was that again? Miss Baloyan: Doing it from memory I would say roughly 1924. I was in the second play that was given called the Doctor, directed by Feely. For a time… Interviewer: How do you spell her last name? Miss Baloyan: F-double e-l-y. For a time it satisfied me to do character acting and when especially when Paul Stevenson came and the movement changed from the St. Cecilia building over on the west side in Old Germania Hall it was so colorful and the director was so talented that it became an enchanting and rewarding activity to act for him. In the meantime, he advised me, to go into some aspect of the theatre, possibly directing and I came to realize that directing would satisfy me most of all because although we the American public glorify the actors actually the director is one of those getting the greatest satisfaction because he has to be so creative that he can pull all the different arts together, that are involved in one unified production and approach and so because of Mr. Stevenson’s suggestion that I go on with work at Yale University, I did so and continued my interest in Civic Theatre when I returned as doing it as a hobby. I was on their board a long number of years and worked with them twenty years so with the work at several of the local buildings including the Ladies Literary Club, St. Cecelia, Germania Hall, before they began hiring public buildings when some of us gave our greatest devotion to it. The early days were colorful and interesting….. Interviewer: Who were some of the people in the early days that you remember? Miss Baloyan: Well, of course, the one that many Grand Rapids citizens would remember would be Mrs. Myrtle Coon Sherman. When her son who was a professional actor died, she decided to have a Saturday night salon, a weekly salon meeting in her apartment. And so she invited as a kind of memorial to him a group of local people which included Millicent Mackaway now Millicent Hubbard, Nacib Demusse, the former city manager of Battle Creek, Camilia Boone, �12 who married Nacib Demusse, Paul Stevenson, me and several other people who used to meet in her apartment weekly. We would meet professional people that came through the town briefly. We had a literary, artistic, theatrical interest and this group was part of the bowl work of Civic Theatre. Not the only ones but part of the bowl work and well, among some of the main people in later years, Mr. Phil Buchen was on one of the boards. Mr. A…I believe Harold Hartger was on the board, of course Allen G. Miller was an active member, it’s I’m afraid trying to go back without notes or doing and research leaves a great many gaps of important names, But these are some of the people. Interviewer: You must have known Louise Hirst? Miss Baloyan: Of course Louise Hirst, was a good friend of mine, and and a very active member, so was Mrs. Steketee and a…. Interviewer: Which Mrs. Steketee? Miss Baloyan: John Steketee’s mother. Interviewer: Oh, yes, yes. Miss Baloyan: And well, there were such well known names in Grand Rapids, such devoted, loyal people that’s it’s a shame that right now I don’t recall all the names too readily but, they worked hard in those early years. Interviewer: I like to ask a question, I know you’re a long, long time member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, are you, in any particular church group or guild in that, in that church? Miss Baloyan: I’m delighted you asked me this question because in the three years since my mother’s death, in the years that I’ve been alone, the opportunities at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church have meant survival for us. I am in some of the adult classes and they are taught by various members of the clergy. I am also in a Tuesday night discussion group, which takes up interesting, topics. I am also a member of Cathedral League, it was my mother’s guild and as I started taking her in later years, I was asked to join and did. Mrs. Harry B. Wagner is the present president of it. I have been extremely active in the classes conducted by the Reverend Mr. George Howell and the presently Mr. James (?) and presently the evening, Tuesday evening, group is being conducted by Mr. Peter Winter. So all three of our clergy are participating in a very fine learning opportunity for adults as the enrollment of the young people began dwindling. The so called task force planning, the educational program for the church created an enlarged program for adults and it has been extremely well received so that there are at least seventy-five adults enrolled in the Sunday morning classes now and I participate regularly, and feel that I have learned a great deal and one of the incidental bonuses is the delightful fellowship with church members. At one time when we were younger we knew the people in a young people’s group real well, but then as years followed we didn’t always have the opportunities to come to �13 know our fellow churchmen, intimately. These adult classes have provided fellowship together with what I consider a very beneficial part of our church program, the Sunday morning coffee following the church service which is an opportunity for visiting with one’s friends and I will say I have come to know dozens of church members well as individuals and they have come to be so important in my life. They’re so kind and considerate and thoughtful. And it’s such a joy to meet them out, say on a symphony night or other nights. One feels that one has acquired a second family. The church program has come to function very well. A part of it that I hadn’t expected to enjoy so much but do enjoy is the opportunity to serve on the community involvement committee I was asked to visit some of the agencies to which our church has contributed and I have interviewed their directors, written up reports of their answers and of the activities of these social agencies and we have started a file on some of the agencies that our church is interested in. We are going to make our next project the effort to get more individuals involved in active volunteering for some of the organizations that we feel are worthy. And this opportunity has been so interesting, so satisfying, as one gets so tremendously interested and then one reads in the paper that this or that group had to give up because they couldn’t continue financially. It became a personal disaster because one has become so much convinced of the worthiness of that project. Interviewer: Can you think of a particular one that has suffered, gone out of existence? Miss Baloyan: Well, the Baxter Community has, hadn’t releases and news stories saying that they’re having problems. I have heard a recent story that there may be funds coming to their rescue. But as a former teacher I am especially distressed because part of their programs consisted of the effort to educate all people of all races who live in a particular under privileged community, who wish to go to that center. The Baxter Community Center, offers education in so many areas and including some of the basic education work that may be found in quite a number of other centers also but it does not limit itself to that. I think that’s one of the most notable ones that has suffered for lack of funds. Interviewer: All right, I think we’ve covered quite a multitude of subjects, I’d like to ask you a question now, you just moved in the last few days I believe, Up to this new facility, the Pilgrim Manor, you lived, I believe, up to your move in the, your old family home on Cherry Street, is that correct? Miss Baloyan: Yes. We lived in that home fifty-two years. Interviewer: What was the address? Miss Baloyan: Six-thirty-nine Cherry Street. And I have now been at Pilgrim Manor two weeks and it has solved a number of problems for me. One certainly can no longer be alone and if one wishes to leave the group and other people one has one’s room and numerous places he can escape to lovely courts, with beautiful views and classroom, the activities don’t completely, fill one’s interest, some of us are allowed to drive, I continue to drive my car so that I can still seek �14 other areas where other interests of mine are but, this is a very friendly place to be with numerous opportunities, it is a concept that I was lucky enough to have in existence in my time. I shudder to think what people used to have to do in their retirement years a few years back. What a blessing that now, there are retirement homes often started by churches and sometimes built partly with federal funds, but what a blessing this particular retirement home has a hundred and fifty eight residents. There is a bus that is able sometimes to drive us to shopping centers or to other areas of the interest, if there are as many as nine persons interested. It’s easily available to downtown. There’s considerable freedom one is urged to continue attending their church of his choice, is urged to continue seeing his own physician and yet there is a good health center here too. It’s of course requiring some adjustments from a home that I have known for fifty-two years but, although many happy years were spent in that home, the time comes when one looks forward to the time when he may want and need more help, Thank God there is such a thing as a retirement home concept. And Pilgrim Manor is a very friendly one. Interviewer: I think that’s perhaps a good place to close our interview. I’m delighted to have had this opportunity to learn about many of your activities and interests over the years. You certainly had a fascinating life, and you’re one of the best beloved people in our community. I’ve heard that from many, many people. So, it’s now, I believe ten after three and, I hope maybe someday we can have another chat. INDEX A C Alby Family · 6 B Bach Family · 8 Baldwin, Melvin · 3 Baloyan, Alexi (Sister) · 1 Baloyan, Alfred (Brother) · 1 Baloyan, Martin (Mardiros) A. (Father) · 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11 Baloyan, Nouvart Kurkjian (Mother) · 2, 3, 9, 11, 13 Baxter Community Center · 14 Birch, Mrs. · 4 Blanchard Family · 6 Blood, Harriet · 8 Boone, Camilia · 13 Booth, Mr. · 9 Buchen, Phil · 13 Butts, Secretary · 10, 11 Cathedral League · 13 Civic Theatre · 3, 6, 9, 12, 13 Claytor, Dr. · 11 Coon Sherman, Myrtle · 12 D Demusse, Nacib · 13 E Elliot, Jerry · 9 F Feely, Maud · 12 Ford, President and Mrs. · 11 Fountain Street Church · 2, 3, 5 �15 H R Hirst, Louise · 13 Howell, Reverend George · 13 Hubbard, Millicent · 13 Remington, Mary · 9 Rosenswag, Dr. · 8 K Kerns, Margarete · 9 Klein Family · 6 Kleiner Family · 5 Kleiner, Ann · 4 Kurchin Family · 5, 10 Kurchin, Armen (Uncle) · 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 Kurkjian, Armen (Uncle) · 2 Kurkjian, Grandfather · 2, 7 Kurkjian, Grandmother · 2, 7 L Lady’s Literary Club · 3 Lawrence Welk Show · 4 M S Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church · 3, 11 Seidman, Mrs. · 5 Smiley, Mrs. · 4 Sparks, Frank · 9 St. Cecilia's Music Society · 8, 12 Stanard, Wallace · 4 Steketee, Mrs. · 13 Stevenson, Paul · 12, 13 T Thompson, Jack · 4 Travis, Marsha · 8 U Matoon, Lloyd · 4 Union High School · 5 University of Michigan · 2, 6, 9 Urban League · 6, 11 O W Oliver Machinery Company · 3 Ottawa Hills High School · 4 Wagner, Mrs. Harry B. · 13 Whittier, Mrs. · 4 Widdicombe, John · 2 Winter, Peter · 13 Women’s City Club · 3, 4, 7 Wurzburg, Elvestra · 3 P Philips, Paul and Ethel · 11 Pilgrim Manor · 1, 14, 15 Q Quigley, May · 9 Y Yale University · 4, 9, 12 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3dd900e17fcd265d94690c4b044354af.mp3 b03ddd1898ce3aed565de7606de81310 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_44Baloyan Title A name given to the resource Baloyan, Mary Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Baloyan, Mary Description An account of the resource Mary Baloyan's parents came from Armenia in 1897. She was the first Armenian girl born October 13, 1899 in Grand Rapids. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1922. She later was a teacher at Ottawa Hills High School, JRCC, and in Zeeland for about forty-three years total. She was involved with the Urban League, Community Concerts Organization, and Baxter Community Center. She was Vice-President of the Civic Theatre, and established music scholarships to the Interlochen Arts Academy. Mary Baloyan died on January 21, 1984. 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.) Grand Valley State University Women Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource 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 1974 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/e4f8f66734e61f22c31e9b37c646e6f2.jpg e3afb893e161277e5411b6964147912e 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_M1686A Title A name given to the resource Baltimore A-30 light attack bomber Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Baltimore A-30 US light attack bomber, circa 1945. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945 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/d814224a6fff750d09dc97b87e385138.jpg ccdf61a5f3997de603f5df61ea0197cd 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_709 Title A name given to the resource Baltimore class aircraft carrier/heavy cruiser Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Baltimore class US CA (aircraft carrier/heavy cruiser), October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 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/d626ced6ba5313499ee0668474565f85.jpg 55e8d6ff0ceadad5b8a8daa13dd30109 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 Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</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 2017-04-04 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 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 RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 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. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</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-50_712 Title A name given to the resource Baltimore class aircraft carrier/heavy cruiser Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Baltimore class US CA (aircraft carrier/heavy cruiser), October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Slides 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> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives