66 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a7683de476033483fa55a58dc2d28bda.mp4 2f8aa5fd270682f768acbf58080a2489 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e44f90d4e1d2b00580868cd1c802d8f3.pdf d77575f3362e5adf7f648250af062055 PDF Text Text 1 Interview with Reverend Chris J. Antal for the Veteran’s History Project Recorded at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 27 MAY 2021 Charlotte: Hi, my name is Charlotte Guedalia, and I am here with Carolyn Hoffmeier and Kate Wagner at Drexel University recording Reverend Christopher Antal's interview for the Veterans History Project. So, Reverend, do you want to introduce yourself? Rev. Antal: I am Christopher Antal, and how much should I say right now? Charlotte: Just share A little bit about yourself and your experience when you first joined the military. Rev. Antal: Sure. Well, I am a citizen of the United States, born in New York, and I'm forty-nine years old right now. I work presently as a chaplain in the Department of Veterans Affairs. I volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the Army. And my service started in 2008 and it ended in twenty sixteen. So just short of eight years. I was in the Army Chaplain Corps. Charlotte: OK, and you said you brought some documents with you and other artifacts that you want to share to give a little more context to your service, do you want to talk about those? Rev. Antal: Sure, yeah, I brought some things. There is a paper trail that captures a lot of my experience. But before I get into that, maybe I will just say that my father was in the United States Navy in Vietnam, and after growing up in a household, learning about that war, I thought I would never serve in the military. And, in fact, when I turned 18 and my father encouraged me to register for Selective Service, I refused. That changed for me when I was in graduate school. I was a student in seminary when September 11th happened in New York. I was studying in New York, and I began to rethink my responsibility as a citizen of the United States and began to think about what it meant for me to do my part with regards to the military, and I decided my part could be serving as a chaplain, and so I started that path towards the chaplaincy, about two thousand five. �2 So, for me, the motivation to volunteer to serve as a chaplain in the Army in a time of war came out of my commitment to fairness and compassion and responsibility. It has been an interesting journey. And just in terms of—as I think back on some of the themes—just the tensions and the complexities of standing in multiple worlds, as an ordained religious leader, representing a religious community with its own culture, with its own values and traditions, and also a commissioned officer in the United States Army, which has its own culture, traditions, values, and being at that intersection and living in that, the tension. Additionally, just being, on the one hand, a soldier in a military uniform, but also a noncombatant, somebody, as chaplains are, who do not train to use weapons. The third kind of complexity to this was that I was not just any chaplain in the military, I was endorsed by the Unitarian Universalist Association, which, in the whole spectrum of religious denominations in the United States, is progressive and pretty far to the left in terms of social causes. So that brought in another dimension of complexity, of coming into a chaplaincy that was not progressive, necessarily not left leaning, but rather quite the other extreme. So, from the outside looking in, all those things were attractive to me. I thought, “this is a really interesting opportunity to make a difference, to bring diversity into the military chaplaincy, to bring a voice of pluralism in a time when the United States was at war in Muslim countries.” My denomination is committed to free exercise of religion. We are not Christian. I am not Christian. And I saw the military chaplaincy as a place where I could make a great contribution, not only to support, with spiritual care, the lives of women and men in difficult conditions, but also to be a cultural bridge and even a peacemaker between the United States military and Muslims in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. So that was all the pretty interesting from the outside, looked like a pretty interesting path. So, I set out on that path in about 2005. The document trail begins with the first ever encounter I had with the military, which was at a medical processing station in Albany, New York. And this was in 2006, in November. So, I got my fingerprints stamped and I went through, it is called a MEPS station. And I just wanted to show this because it is 2006 in November, when I started this process. I mentioned that I had not registered for Selective Service. This quickly became an issue. I was over the age of 25 �3 and after the age of 25, if you are a male in the United States, you cannot register for Selective Service. So, the window of opportunity to register closes. And so, I had not registered, and registration is required to enter the military. So, I began what was called a process of requesting a waiver. And I was guided by the Army recruiter, and I put in a request for a moral waiver for my failure to register for Selective Service. And that process began in 2006, it took over two years before that moral waiver was granted and I could take the next step and be commissioned as an officer in the reserve component of the United States Army. So, my military service obligation, that is what this is, began on December 3rd, 2008. This is my oath of office, where I raised my right hand and took my oath “to protect and defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” My father came to New York when I was sworn in on this day, and he was quite proud that his son was taking this path. So that was the start of it for me. And I entered the chaplain candidate program of the New York Army National Guard. I was still going through the requirements of my denomination to be a credentialed, ordained religious leader. This letter here is from the Command Chaplain of the Department of Army and Air Force Joint Force Headquarters in New York. It is written to my denomination, the ecclesiastical endorser who was Beth Miller at the time. And it was in December 2009, about a year after I entered the chaplain candidate program. And this is a letter from Chaplain Olsen, seeing if my denomination can expedite the process by which I am credentialed because the Army needed chaplains that were deployable. And that is what this letter is. So, the context in which I entered the chaplaincy, there was a real urgent need to fill empty slots with deployable chaplains. I got my ecclesiastical endorsement in December 2010, that is the official sign-off of a religious body credentialing a chaplain as a religious leader for the military. And so that was in December 2010. And then in 2011, I was accessioned as a full chaplain, 20th of April 2011, and promoted to first lieutenant. This is a document from the Army that says I was accessioned as a chaplain, as a first lieutenant. And the following year, I got my orders to active duty. So that is what this is. Activation to active service. And these are my orders from the Department of Army to go to Afghanistan. These were dated 24 September 2012. My orders to go to Afghanistan. �4 So, I arrived in Afghanistan. I was a battalion chaplain for a signal battalion of the New York Army National Guard that was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division based in Kandahar. And as a chaplain at the battalion level, my responsibility was to provide spiritual care and religious support to the soldiers in my assigned unit, and also to provide denominational coverage to service members as well as U.S. civilian contractors from my denomination across the battle space. And then, the third was to provide support within my area of operations to service members from all branches as well as U.S. civilian contractors. So that was the scope of my responsibility. I was the only chaplain for my denomination in Afghanistan in 2012 and I was one of about 20 chaplains based out of Kandahar Airfield. My unit was spread throughout southeast Afghanistan at about 20 different locations, forward operating bases. So, my routine from the time I arrived in late September 2012 was to travel with my chaplain assistant. I had a chaplain assistant who was assigned to protect me, essentially. He was an enlisted soldier, who carried a weapon, and I traveled during the week by air, by helicopter to different forward operating bases, visiting soldiers in my assigned unit. But, in almost every case, when I arrived at those forward operating bases, I was the only chaplain there. So, I would encounter other service members from all branches, not just my own unit, who were looking and interested in support from a chaplain. Charlotte: What did that support look like? Rev. Antal: The Chaplain Corps response would be “nurture the living, care for the wounded and honor the dead.” I think that works pretty well in terms of a snapshot. The chaplain, in the context of the military in a deployed setting, is, for many people, the only safe place to speak. I can joke that the chaplain is the one officer who is not going to yell at you if you are a soldier. So that was part of—a big part o—the chaplain's role. We call it a ministry of presence. And within the context of the military, the chaplain provides absolute confidentiality. So, no matter what a person may be dealing with, and that includes homicidal or suicidal ideation or intent, the relationship between a service member and their chaplain is protected. It is quite unique; it is not even like that within the hospital. That kind of level of absolute confidentiality does not exist, as far as I am �5 aware, in any place other than within the military. So, there is a safety to the relationship and, so, for telling stories, sharing experiences, but also expressing emotions. And when I say that I am talking about a lot of grief, a lot of sadness and, in some cases, guilt, and disgust, and resentment over betrayal. Something that we have come to call within my work now, with Veterans, Moral Injury. So, there was a lot of it, a lot of grief, over loss, loss of life, but also often loss of relationships. People, like I was, separated from spouses, from children. I went to Afghanistan—I was commissioned at the age of 36 and I went to Afghanistan in 2012—just after my fortieth birthday. I had five children and I was married. And it was common, especially among reservists, to find older service members who were married, who had children, and they were struggling with the separation. Managing the mission and still being a husband and a father, or a mother and a wife, because we had women. So, those were the kinds of things I dealt with. In terms of religious support, I was back at Kandahar Airfield every weekend with my chaplain assistant, and I began offering religious services from my tradition, and since I was the only Unitarian Universalist chaplain in Afghanistan, it was my prerogative to offer that type of service at the airfield where there were many other chaplains offering many other kinds of services. And at that time, Kandahar Airfield was like a city. There were twenty thousand people at Kandahar Airfield, contractors and service members from a dozen different countries that were part of ISAF, International Security Assistance Forces. So, it started small, just me and my chaplain assistant, but we promoted it around the airfield and our congregation grew, and by January—I brought a picture—we had a congregation! This is our congregation in January of 2013. And you can see, I was I was wearing my robe and—yeah that is me, no hair—so I brought my robe, I brought my minister's robe, and I am wearing what is called a stole, and I actually have that stole here. This stole. So, the robe, I actually brought my robe to Afghanistan, and it seems crazy, but I did it because the robe reminds me of who I am as a minister, and I was very concerned about forgetting who I am in the context of the military, where we are all wearing uniforms; we are immersed in the military machine. So, I wanted something that would ground me and remind me of who I am, other than an officer, other than a soldier, who I am as a minister, who is ordained and endorsed by a religious community to represent the values of that community in the context of the military. That was very important to me. �6 So, my practice on every Sunday was, I would put on my robe—and it was the one time during the week that I was not in an Army uniform, it was the only time—and it became a very important time for me. A couple hours on Sunday morning where I put that robe on, I put on the stole, and this stole is again, it is like the complexity, because this is the intersection of my denomination. And this stole was made for me by members of a congregation in Massachusetts. It has the symbol of our faith here; it is the flaming chalice. So, it was made for me by members of the congregation in Massachusetts, but they made it out of multi-cam, which is the material of the Army uniform that I wore in Afghanistan. So, it is like this intersection of the faith community and the military, it is all tied up right here in this stole. I do not wear this anymore, but it is an artifact that I saved. And it was, for me, a reminder in Afghanistan of the community that I represented and the support I had of the community for the work I was doing as a chaplain. So, in any case, it became an important part of my routine to put on my robe, to wear that stole, and to gather in religious community at Kandahar Airfield with the people in that photograph who were from the Army, Air Force, Navy, civilian contractors. And it was it was a beautiful part of our week, something I looked forward to, and it was a place for me to get in touch with my values and the community that sent me essentially into the military. Does that make sense? Charlotte: Yes. What did you feel was your responsibility for those people? Rev. Antal: So, in my denomination, we covenant to affirm and promote principles, and that is what defines us as a religious community, and those principles include a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, justice, equity and compassion and human relations, the goal of world community. So, in that context, in that role, my responsibility was to embody those values, was to speak the truth as I understood it, to speak it with compassion, and to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of all people, which is another one of our principles. And that is a challenge to do in the context of a tribal culture like the military, that wants to prioritize certain lives, and place greater value on certain lives, than other lives, specifically the lives of U.S. personnel over the lives of, say, local Afghanis. So, one of the practices we had on Sundays was to acknowledge the deaths during the week, and we would light candles to the service members and then also— and often these names were hard to find, but we could find them through media reports—the names of Afghans who were killed, and to lift up those names as well, �7 alongside the names of U.S. personnel who died. And, for me, that was a simple practice, but a very important way of acknowledging the inherent worth and dignity of all people, no matter which side they are on in this conflict. It human, it was a humanizing practice that was quite sacred. So, it was in the context of that congregation that I gave a sermon that changed the whole trajectory of my military career. It was November of 2012, and I had been in Afghanistan just over two months, and Veterans Day, which is November 11th, fell on a Sunday in 2012. And so, we were gathering, I knew we would gather as a religious community, on Sunday morning, and it would be Veterans Day, and I, by that point, had heard a lot, I had seen a lot, I was struggling with a lot and, I felt and, and I was... I was... present to the struggle of others around, around a lot of moral concerns with what the military was doing in Afghanistan and, and in surrounding countries like Pakistan. So, I, I gave voice to it, in what I called a “Veterans Day Confession for America,” that was the name off the sermon, And it is here, it is not long. I was kind of debating about whether I should read it or not. But, you know, I think I will. It will not take long. So, this is the sermon I gave to that community on Veterans Day 2012. On this Veterans Day, let us confess ours sins before God and neighbor. Most merciful God, we confess we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and what we have left undone. We have become people of the lie, out to tame the frontier wilderness while the beast within lurks hidden in shadow, paralyzing us in a perpetual state of denial. We have made war entertainment, enjoying box seats in the carnival of death, consuming violence, turning tragedy into games, raising our children to kill without remorse. We have morally disengaged, �8 outsourcing our killing to the one percent, forgetting they follow our orders. The blood they shed is on our hands too. We have insulated ourselves from the painful truths Veterans carry. Our bumper magnets proclaim, “Support our troops,” but for too many, suicide is the only panacea. Our insulation is their isolation. We have made our veterans into false idols, blood sacrifice and the national altar of war. Parades and medals perpetuate the hero myth, glorifying those who kill and die on our behalf. We have betrayed the dead, saying they will not be forgotten. Yet how many among us, can name a single war casualty of the past decade? We have sanitized killing, and condoned extrajudicial assassinations, death by remote control, war made easy without due process, protecting ourselves from the human cost. We have deceived ourselves, Saying, "Americans do not kill civilians, terrorists do," denying the colossal misery our wars inflict on the innocent. The national closet bursts with skeletons. We have abandoned our allies, luring them in with promises of safety and security, Then failing to follow through with promises made, using them, and leaving them, to an almost certain death. Almighty God, on this Veterans Day, �9 help us turn from this wayward path. Deliver us from indifference, callousness, and self-deception. Fill us with compassion for all who bear the burdens of our wars. Grant us the courage to pay attention, stay engaged. So, we may listen without judgment, restore integrity, accept responsibility, keep promises, and give honor to whomever honor is due. It always hurts to read that. But it is as true for me now, as it was nine years ago. Charlotte: You said, “death by remote control.” Can you talk a little about, like, the issues going on? Rev. Antal: Yeah, well, the United States is operating weaponized, remotely piloted vehicles, or drones, out of Kandahar Airfield, and killing people. And I saw the drones, on the flight line. I read reports by mostly outside investigative journalists—because the whole program was secret—and found the whole practice deeply disturbing. In terms of the allies. I meant, Afghans who worked as interpreters for the United States military. One, in particular, Tariq, came to our congregation and told us his story. Tariq, like many of the Afghans who became interpreters for the United States military, was promised protection. In 2009, the United States Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act which authorized six thousand visas to Afghans who worked as interpreters for the United States military, because they were getting killed for associating with the United States military. And their families were being killed. When I met Tariq in 2012, he had been waiting two years for his visa interview. And, sometime in October, The Washington Times reported that, after three years of the Act, something like sixty visas had been issued, and there was a backlog of four thousand. So that was bothering me. I felt ... I was a citizen of the United States, that my government had made this promise to these people and betrayed them. So, I wanted to address that. Charlotte: So, what did you do to address that? �10 Rev. Antal: It started with speaking to this little community that was gathering on Sundays. We brought in Tariq; we made a recorded interview with Tariq. I started reaching out to my colleagues in the United States who lead congregations around the country. And we started a letter campaign. We set up a website for Tariq in particular. I wrote to my elected officials. We advocated. It took until 2016, but, in February of 2016, I met Tariq at the airport in Buffalo, New York with his wife and four children. So, he is here. Charlotte: What was that experience like for you? Rev. Antal: I will never forget that. I brought my daughters, and a pickup truck filled with furniture, and three thousand dollars in cash my congregation had collected. I felt relieved that I did something. We are still in touch. We are friends. Charlotte: And going back to that letter you were talking about. What was the military response? Rev. Antal: I shared that sermon with my denomination, which is based out of Boston. I sent it by email and gave them permission to post it on the denomination's website. They have a page for military ministry. Two days after they posted it, I was called to meet the commander of the battalion that I was assigned to. He showed me the sermon online. He said, "did you write this?" I said, "yes, sir." He said, "Your message doesn't support the mission. You make us look like the bad guys." I offered to take it down. As soon as the meeting ended, I did. I contacted my denomination and told them to take the posting down, it was creating issues. But the commander started an investigation against me. It is called an Article 15-6 investigation. He appointed an investigating officer to write up charges against me. I was advised to get legal counsel. So, I did. I got a trial defense lawyer who was based out of Kandahar Airfield, working for the United States Army. And that started a two-month process of me basically having to fight the Army to stay in my role as a chaplain, and possibly stay out of prison, while I was still in Afghanistan and still providing—trying to provide—spiritual care to the people I was responsible for. I had a good trial defense lawyer, Major Sean Park. We worked hard and he believed—and he said this to me, “Chaplain, this is a misunderstanding,” That a... “a misinterpretation.” He said, he said “misinterpretation… that has turned into a fishing expedition.” Yeah, that is what he said. �11 So, I mean, I have got like pages and pages of investigative documents, and questions and then our response to these questions, all that came out of that sermon. I was handed a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand for “politically inflammatory speech.” I was given the option to appeal. So, I filed a rebuttal, and, with my rebuttal, I submitted over twenty-five letters of support, including letters from every person that was there in the congregation and heard the sermon, as well as people from around the country who had read the sermon online. One of the most important letters, for me, was this letter here from a theologian from our denomination. I reached out to him. His name is Paul Rasor. He got his doctorate from Harvard. He is published. He is a leading thinker on justice and peace within our denomination. And he wrote this to the General who issued the reprimand—a letter of support. I am an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister and a Unitarian Universalist theologian, my doctoral studies focused on theologies of Unitarian Universalism and related religious traditions. I have published two books and many articles on Unitarian Universalism and its theological principles, including its understanding of issues relating to war and peace. For the past eight years, I have served as the director of the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom and Virginia Wesleyan College. In this capacity I am experienced in matters of religious freedom, including First Amendment principles of non-establishment and free exercise of religion as well as in interfaith relations. So, I mean, he has got credentials, and he says this: I can affirm that Chaplain Antal's public prayer entitled "A Veteran's Day Confession for America" violates no tenet of the Unitarian Universalist faith. In both its content and its tone, the Confession speaks both to and from the heart of Unitarian Universalism. Moreover, in my judgment, the Confession does not bring dishonor to the United States military. Instead, it constitutes a careful and sensitive expression of concern by a Chaplain towards those in his spiritual care. All ministers, including military chaplains, must constantly honor and balance their pastoral and prophetic roles. This dual responsibility is recognized within Army regulations and has always been part of the Unitarian Universalist ministry. �12 Those dual roles are sometimes in tension with each other, but more often they work together in a mutually supportive way. And that is the case with Chaplain Antal's confession, which blends and balances the pastoral and prophetic voices in a constructive and effective manner. I believe his chaplaincy, including his Veteran's Day Confession, Chaplain Antal has upheld these values and brought honor, not dishonor, to Unitarian Universalism and the United States military. I mean, I have got a stack of letters like that. That one that on is especially important to me because I was always clear that I was a minister first, representing my faith community. And an officer and a soldier, that all came much later. So, to have that kind of affirmation, while I was being reprimanded by the military, I was being validated by my denomination. And it helped sustain me through a pretty difficult period, having that kind of support. Charlotte: This is the first time I heard that letter read out loud. It is interesting because it sounded like he was saying you were very consistent with the ethics of your denomination and the military, and it is not at odds. So, you said, there is a lot of tension between the two. Do you feel that the behavior and values you were upholding as part of your denomination were well in line with the military? Rev. Antal: Yeah, well, it is complicated. I mean, the military is a very complex organization, and the Army regulation that Dr. Rasor referenced in that letter, I am very familiar with that Army regulation, it speaks to the job of chaplains, and it says that chaplains are “to speak with a prophetic voice against issues of moral turpitude in conflict with” military values, or “Army values.” So, in other words, Army regulations, at that time, did say that chaplains had a responsibility not only to provide spiritual care to individual soldiers, but to speak truth to power, which is this idea of a prophetic voice, which is a deeply a part of my tradition, as well as many religious traditions. Truth to power. That regulation has been removed. Charlotte: Removed? Rev. Antal: Yes. After I invoked it. It is sad. But I think I brought... I raised this tension and ... and rather than address it and integrate this into the chaplaincy, the leadership �13 decided to avoid it and to remove it. Any reference to the prophetic of the military chaplain has been removed from Army regulations. I mean, I will finish the story because, I mean, this went all the way up to the Pentagon. And I got, I did, a rebuttal. I had letters of support. And, at the end of the day, the General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand was not rescinded, which is what I was requesting. But it was filed locally. Which is supposed to mean it does not have an impact on my career. It stays in Afghanistan, in theory. However, the commander of the battalion who I was assigned to use the reprimand as the basis to release me from active duty. So, I have here a release from active duty. “Early release of Chaplain Antal,” citing “extenuating circumstances. Chaplain Antal requires more mentorship and training. And he's being redeployed early.” That is what this letter says. That is called a REFRAD, release from active duty. And then this is my Officer Evaluation Report. February 15, 2013. Says, “do not promote.” The box for “unsatisfactory performance” is checked. And, in the text, the senior rater, who was my battalion commander, wrote “during this rating period he received a GOMOR,” which is a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, “during our deployment. He should be given opportunity for retraining to support the overall mission. The rated officer refused to sign.” I refused to sign this. By referencing the GOMOR in my officer evaluation, the commander made it a part of my permanent record. Which was against the intent of the general officer who filed it locally. So, I was released from active duty. I got an honorable discharge. I got a statement of wartime service. I came through Fort Bliss, Texas. This is the medical station I went through, March 6th. Question 13 asks, "Have you suffered from any injury or illness while on active duty for which you did not seek medical care?" I wrote, "moral injury, a betrayal of what's right." That is what I wrote on this. And then, number seventeen, "do you have any other questions or concerns about your health?" I said yes, “How do we heal the moral and soul wound?" The poor tech medical tech who received this did not know what to do with what I had said. Charolotte: It is interesting because that is consistent with everything you have done since, right? �14 Rev. Antal: Yes, the work that I have done since has come out of that experience, yeah, pretty much. Charlotte: Could you talk about that work? Rev. Antal: Yeah. I will. Let me just finish the story of the General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, so I came back, and I wrote to my senator. These are a bunch of letters from Senator Kirstin Gillibrand. She wrote back and I started a congressional inquiry about what went down with me. So, I have some correspondence from that. And that congressional inquiry went to the Pentagon. And I actually got a response from—this is a response from a senior chaplain in the Chief of Chaplains Office at the Pentagon— where he is acknowledging that, it was “inappropriate for the senior rater to mention that GOMOR in my office evaluation report” and that constitutes “discriminatory treatment.” So, I got support from the Pentagon's Chief of Chaplains Office, which felt good. That was in December, and I was eventually promoted to captain—I got my promotion orders 2 May 2014. And these are my promotion orders to captain. So, it felt good, it felt good to push back. You know, I thought I would just quit, but I had a lot of support and a lot of encouragement. People saw the value of my work within the military. So, I was promoted, so that that meant I could stay in, and the “do not promote” Officer Evaluation was removed from my permanent record. End of the story is in April 2016, I resigned. I hung in there for a couple more years, but this is my letter of resignation, which I wrote publicly and dated April 12, 2016, and then April 14th, [October] I got my discharge orders. 14 October 2016 I was out. So, there are a lot of gaps in that chronology, but… The experience I had with my deployment, and encounters with Tariq, but also service members—David was a Veteran I encountered in my first assigned unit. And I first met him in an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs at Rikers Island. He had come back from Iraq and murdered his girlfriend. And I came to know David by visiting him in prison as he went through his trial and sentencing. And I learned about his combat experience in Iraq on multiple tours and the kind of trauma that he suffered. And the challenges he had in getting care. Coming out of that, the challenges he had of "reintegration" is the word we use. And it was heartbreaking, it was heartbreaking. To see him sentenced to life in prison as a 30-year-old man, father of two children. So, I will never forget that experience I had with David. And then, in Afghanistan, I met and worked closely with another Veteran of Iraq who had been deployed then to Afghanistan. His name was �15 Angelito. And he came to me in Afghanistan, and he was going to kill himself. And I worked with him, I made a promise not to, and meet with me, and had my chaplain assistant take the firing pin from his gun. And over a period of weeks the story emerged about his own experience that he had had in Iraq. And how he was haunted by an incident that left innocent people dead. And he was burdened by guilt. And, with Angelito, I was able to provide some guidance and he was a musician, and he wrote a song of lament, with my encouragement and then I invited him to the congregation that was meeting on Sunday to share his song. And he did. And that whole process, of him giving voice to this lament, of using music and finding the supportive community, did what no medication could do for him, no therapy could do. And he is doing well now. I mean, he's doing well. I spoke to him a few weeks ago, actually. So, David's story had a tragic ending. Angelito was not tragic. I like to think that, you know, my intervention with Angelito, at that point in his life, changed the outcome of what could have otherwise been another yet another Veteran suicide. So, I, I left the military, but the issues that I encountered, the people I encountered, the pain that I encountered, I could not walk away from all that. And I found a way to continue. To work with people like David, people like Angelito, without having to wear a uniform, without having to follow orders. And so, I do that now, as a chaplain in the Department of Veterans Affairs. And the kind of pain that I encountered, which is probably best described as moral pain or soul anguish. Now that has become the focus of my work. And I published three papers in peer-reviewed journals about our moral injury work at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. I am in the process of publishing a fourth. The practice that I started, which is a group that has a public ceremony component, I started in 2016. We worked with over fifty Veterans now have gone through our group. It has become very meaningful work, for me. It was borne out of my experience in the military. My encounter with service members, my own experience of moral pain and anguish, and trying to reconcile who I am, what I believe and what I value with all that has been going with our nation, and our wars. Before I get into what I am doing now, I did want to share a piece of the military story that I have not mentioned yet. I mentioned that I was a progressive chaplain for the Unitarian Universalist Association and, I mean, this this part of the story is precious to me. I am a straight heterosexual male. I belong to a denomination that has a long history of being open and affirming, of ordaining gays and lesbians, officiating weddings between gays and lesbians, and advocating in public policy for changes in policy for �16 respect and equity in the law for all people. So, I entered the military at a time when the policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was on the cusp of being repealed. That policy was in effect from 1993 until 2011 and it was creating great stirs within the culture of the military, especially within the Chaplain Corps. In fact, on April 28th in 2010, a group of more than sixty retired generals, who were chaplains in all branches of the military, wrote a letter to President Obama insisting that he not repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell because it would lead to the total moral collapse of the military. This was the argument they were making. None of these chaplains were from my denomination. Yet the very existence of the letter brings to the surface the culture of the chaplaincy that I entered in that time. Obama was not swayed by the letter. On December 22nd, 2010, he repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It went into effect in September of 2011. So right at the time I was coming in as a chaplain into the Army, the repeal was taking effect. And so, I got involved in this, I got involved with OutServe, this is a conference I went to in October of 2011. I was a speaker. This is the association of actively serving gay personnel, lesbian gay personnel. I did not go in uniform. I went as a minister. My denomination paid for the trip. I got involved in the Forum on Military Chaplaincy, which is a progressive group of chaplains. And I went to a conference out in Dallas, Texas, and I did an interview with The Dallas Voice and I got put on the cover. This is me in November of 2011 on the cover of The Dallas Voice, which is the gay and lesbian newspaper in Dallas, Texas. And it says, "Perform or provide, every soldier is entitled to pastoral care. The Forum will make sure they get it." This is the Forum of Military Chaplaincy that I was a part of. So, I was put on the front page of this. I was interviewed in this article. I talked about being a Unitarian minister in the Army, and this article went online, and it then shot like wildfire across the whole military chaplaincy. And, within a week, I was being summoned to the Public Affairs Office. I was being ... getting emails from chaplains. And one chaplain, who is a Major, came to the post where I was on active duty working, and threatened me, physically, threatened me, called me "poison to the chaplain corps," those were his words, for taking this kind of public position. So, it was it was quite, quite a period. This is a picture of me in uniform at West Point in April of 2000, March, actually, end of March 2012. I was there to give the invocation at the inaugural Knights Out Dinner. Knights Out is the Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association of West Point. My congregation was very close to West Point. None of the assigned chaplains [at West Point] would give the invocation. I happened to know Sue Fulton, who was a Unitarian and was on the Board of Visitors, like the Board of Trustees of West Point. She was a lesbian and she invited me to come and do the invocation. So, I showed up and did the �17 invocation. This is a picture of the Knights Out program. And I did it in uniform, I was a first lieutenant, a new chaplain, I showed up at West Point, did this invocation in uniform, and there were a lot of people there, including Colonel Tom Kolditz. At the time he was the Professor and Head of the Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership at West Point. And he came to the dinner. And after I did the invocation, he came up to me and said, "you know, I am so impressed that you, as a chaplain, would show up here and do this invocation. I want you to do the invocation at my retirement ceremony. I am retiring from West Point from the Army. I am going to be promoted to general at the time of my retirement. And I want you to do the invocation." So, this was really an honor. This is the program for the retirement ceremony of Colonel Tom Kolditz. And I am smiling because, I mean, this is a big deal. And there were chaplains assigned to West Point who were colonels, but I was being asked to do the invocation. And so, I had to deal with the politics of that. I had to go talk to the colonel chaplain at West Point and say, "hey, you know, I got invited, I am coming in to do this." But so, this was the beginning of my chaplaincy experience. I was being called on the one hand, "poison to the chaplain corps" by chaplain colleagues. And, at the same time, I was being invited by the Professor and Head of the Department of Behavioral Science and Leadership of West Point to do his invocation because he thought I was such a great chaplain. So, it was like this, the Twilight Zone world that I was stepping into, where I was getting my mixed messages from one place and from another. And then it was just kind of the course of my military career was like that. I was I was getting reprimanded on the one hand and like affirmed and validated on the other for doing the same thing. So, it was just part of the whole experience of living in these two different worlds and multiple worlds, multiple cultures, and trying to just navigate through that. So, I smile when I think about that. Those were some of my fonder memories. There is a lot of beauty in my ministry as a chaplain. This picture was also at West Point. This is me doing a funeral. I brought this stole. This is my chaplain stole. It is black on one side for funerals. It is white on the other side for weddings. I did both. I did funerals. This is at West Point, a Unitarian graduate who had passed away. The family invited me. Beautiful memories and experiences of being able to officiate these rites of passage. I also did same sex weddings. I did, I married two men in the Cadet Chapel at West Point. I will never forget that. It was a wonderful experience, a wonderful memory. And I did other marriages and other weddings as well. Other things that I value and treasure from my time as a chaplain include just being present with people in times of �18 death and loss. I did over fifteen dignified transfer ceremonies in Afghanistan where we transitioned, brought a casket of a service member who had been killed. I did casualty notification teams with the Casualty Notification Officer, where I would show up, in the middle of the night. I remember one night knocking on the door, letting the mother know that her son had just died, by, in that case, suicide. So, between visiting veterans in prison, and being officiants at weddings and gravesides, and notifying people in the middle of the night of the deaths of their loved ones, and just being present with people in the midst of some of the most difficult and painful moments of their lives. That is an experience that I will always treasure and hold as quite sacred. So, despite all the crazy bureaucracy in the reprimand and investigation and these kinds of things, it was all worth it, I think, for me to have done, to have gone through all of that, to just have had the privilege of serving as a chaplain in the Army. So, I continue that kind of work, as I said, I work within the VA Medical Center. I brought another picture. Our group, Moral Injury Group, meets for 12 weeks, and at the tenth week, we have a Community Healing Ceremony. This is a picture from a ritual that I lead in that ceremony. The inner circle, these are Veterans, the outer circle, these are civilians. And before we do this ritual, which I call the Reconciliation Circle, Veterans share their testimony with the community. The community bears witness and then, through movement, and touch, and a confession, a community confession which I lead, the community bears witness to the Veteran’s pain, and shares responsibility, culpability and responsibility. So, you know, I gave a sermon that was a confession and I continue to do that kind of work, of public and communal confession, of acknowledgement of our losses, of the harm that we have inflicted as a nation, through these wars, the pain that has been inflicted. There is a lot of reckoning that the country needs to do. And I sit on the high-risk team at the hospital where we review, each week, the Veterans flagged as high-risk for suicide. We continue to have 18 to 20 veterans die by suicide each day in the United States. And I think the work that I am doing around moral injury, and involving the community, is exactly the kind of work that needs to be done to reduce Veteran suicide, but also to educate the society about the real costs of military force. So, in the future, we do not so readily resort to the use of our military. So, it is meaningful work, and it has grown out of my experience. And there is nothing I would rather be doing, quite frankly, than the work I do. So, I feel very fortunate. �19 It has taken its toll on me personally, and my family. After twenty-one years of marriage, my wife, then-wife, requested a divorce in two thousand and nineteen. After my deployment, her health deteriorated. The stress that I went through impacted my whole family, and it certainly impacted my marriage. But I have learned to take care of myself, by a few practices. One I started in Afghanistan, which is which is blood donation. I have gotten a few coins and medals, but the one I am most proud of is from the Armed Services Blood Program. This certificate is from Afghanistan, it is from twenty-three units of platelets donated between October 12th and February 2013. So, every week I was on the apheresis machine donating blood. And I got a coin for that, and that was meaningful for me because I there was so much taking of blood and I, I wanted to give blood. And it became very clear to me about the value of life and how fragile life is. And I even experienced blood leaving my body and being carried down the hall and going into someone else's body who was bleeding out from a traumatic wound. So, I continue to give blood. Last year I donated nineteen times at the Red Cross. And it keeps me in touch with what matters most, which is life, and the preciousness of life. Certainly, my experience in the Army, and in Afghanistan, has helped me appreciate the value of life, and the fragility of life. And that is a precious lesson. I think I will stop. � 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 AntalC2375V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antal, Christopher Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-05 Title A name given to the resource Antal, Christopher (Interview transcript and video), 2021 Description An account of the resource Christopher Antal was born in New York in c. 1971. He decided to become a Unitarian Universalist chaplain in the military in 2005. Because he was not registered for the Selective Service and had passed the age of 25, he requested a moral waiver to register which was not accepted until 2008. He then entered the chaplain candidate program of the New York Army National Guard. He got his ecclesiastical endorsement in December 2010 and was accessioned as a full chaplain in April 2011, and promoted to first lieutenant. He was ordered to go to Afghanistan in September 2012, where he provided religious support to the soldiers of his battalion of the New York Army National Guard that was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division based in Kandahar. The task given to the Army Chaplain Corps was to “nurture the living, care for the wounded and honor the dead.” Veterans Day in 2012 was on a Sunday, and on that day he gave a sermon criticizing the violence America had inflicted in Afghanistan. This sermon was posted on his denomination’s website, and when the batallion commander found it he started an investigation against Antal, who needed to get a lawyer to avoid losing his position as a chaplain in the Army or possibly going to prison. This began a long process in which he was released early from active duty and his GOMOR (General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand) was made part of his permanent record, which the Pentagon deemed discriminatory. In May 2014, he was promoted to captain and the GOMOR was removed from his permanent record. While in Afghanistan, Antal advocated for Afghans that worked as interpreters for the United States and had been waiting years for their promised visas. He started a letter-writing campaign to help one interpreter, Tariq, in particular. In February 2016, the campaign had succeeded and Tariq and his family arrived in New York. Antal resigned from the military in April 2016. He believes that his experience in the Army has helped him appreciate the value of life and its fragility. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Guedalia, Charlotte (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States—History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975—Personal narratives, American 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/35dfc54bb055eac3dab7e7bf9f28df1a.mp4 faa0a6731c093e668d2fa75efd23d072 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ac555f48437e78ac8df34b4c04bf3227.pdf 36c1f6c0f121fc769bc26b6f2d81413a PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Oral History Interview Veteran: Frank Anthony Interviewed by James Smither Transcribed by Grace Balog Interviewer: We are talking today with Frank Anthony of Twin Lake, Michigan and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project. Okay Frank, start us off with some background on yourself and to begin with, where and when were you born? Veteran: I was born February 6th, 1947. Muskegon, Michigan. Went to school in Muskegon. My step-dad had a 6-door repair garage so I went from there to Ferris State College, taking automotive. You asked me earlier how I got into the military. At that time, I was engaged and next 5 years, I’d be able to spend 1 together. Didn’t make any sense. She was at one school, I was at another. If I volunteered for the draft, it was 2 years. If you go sign up, it was a minimum of 3. So, I went into the draft board and put my name at the top of the list, got myself drafted. Of course, you can’t tell her that. Interviewer: Alright. Let’s fill in a little bit around this here. When did you finish high school? Veteran: 1965. Interviewer: Okay. And then you started at Ferris? Veteran: Yes. �Interviewer: Okay. And how long did you attend there? Veteran: The technical program went year-round. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, I did a 2-year degree in a year and a half. And so, that would get me out of there in ’67. Interviewer: And is that when you then entered the service? (00:02:09) Veteran: Yeah, I got my draft notice and then went into the military in ’67. At that time, they sent you the draft notice, you went to a collection point somewhere. They checked all your names, you got on board a bus. We went down to Detroit and had our physical. You crack—you passed your physical, you raised your right arm, you were sworn in. That afternoon, we got on a train in Detroit and it traveled down to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Interviewer: Okay. When you were doing the physical, did you notice anybody trying to scam the system or find ways around going in? Veteran: Actually, at that time, I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was just…you know, everything was so unusual, I don’t even remember. Walking around in my underwear and standing in line and…It was…it was really different and weird and I really wasn’t watching. But of course, we talked about maybe wearing someone else’s, you know, wearing ladies’ underwear or something and seeing how that would work or…But no, I wasn’t really looking for anything like that. I was of the mindset that this was my turn to serve my country and someday I would have to face myself in the mirror and when it was my turn, was I willing to go? I mean, it wasn’t that I wanted to. It was just—it fell in there. I knew I was going to go sooner or later. Everybody was �getting drafted. And I was going to go and get it out of the way and come back and…Course you know, at that age if they tell you there’s going to be 2/3 casualties, you look to your left and you look to the right, you think poor sucker. You know, you’re young, you’re invincible. You’re in it and nothing is going to happen. Looking back and knowing then, I was willing to write I guess what you would call a blank check, realizing that things could happen: that I might die, that I might not come back. Well, I never expected to come back the same. My mother said the young lad she sent to war never came back. Physically, I never got injured. And I don’t know what she is referring to because changes happen gradually and slowly. And I don’t know. But I know I saw men die because somewhere in their chain of command, people didn’t stand up and say something. And I got determined I wasn’t going to be one of them. And so, like now, maybe I was a little outspoken. (00:04:57) Interviewer: Alright. Let’s kind of go back now here to your story. So, you go—they take you down to Fort Kno— Veteran: Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And that’s a lot like the movies, you know, “What are you doing on my bus?” “I’ve got a 90-year old grandma that can move faster than you do.” “You know, you’re lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut.” “You ain’t going anywhere for 6 out of 8 weeks of training because you are so stupid.” And they literally grind you down, wear you out, and start trying to rebuild you. And you’re learning the basics because everybody in the military has to be a trigger puller at one time or another, or could be. So, you learn the basics: you learn basic first aid, you learn how to put on your gas mask and how to take it off and scream “No, sergeant!” and turn �and put it back on quick. You know, how to use a rifle. Some basic hand to hand physical training. Interviewer: Okay. What about the drill and discipline part? Veteran: Oh yeah, you’re marching everywhere you go. You don’t go any place alone. It wasn’t as bad as later in the NCO academy and in flight school and some other stuff. If there were two of yous going somewhere, one of yous is marching and one of yous is calling cadence. But it wasn’t that bad in basic. But you know, everywhere you are going, you are marching. When you got up further, like in NCO academy or flight school, good share of the time if you were going anywhere you were running. Weather got too bad and the wet was up high enough, you could pull your shirt out, you could unblouse your boots, stuff like that. If it got bad enough, then they didn’t run us but…No, you were running. (00:06:39) Interviewer: Okay. Now what time of year were you at Fort Knox? Veteran: May. Interviewer: Okay. Alright. And when there, you’re talking about sort of the process of breaking people down and building them back up and so forth. What kinds of things would they do to break people down? Veteran: Well, it seems like all the way through training they only tell you about half of what you are supposed to know. So, they would tell you they are going to bounce a quarter off your bed and if it don’t bounce, they are pulling all of the covers off. They come in and tell you everything has got to be evenly spaced in your floor locker and then footlocker and then they come in with a ruler and actually measure it. You don’t have a ruler. Course, this sort of nonsense continued all the way up, only it got more stringent. But they would check and do the �same thing. They would measure every one of your uniforms in your closet, or your wall locker, and measure them across and they got to be equally spaced. And then they start looking at the individual uniforms and if you didn’t button a pocket…You want that button? Here you go, you can have it. Oh, you don’t want it? Okay. Throw it away. Check for threads. Anything and everything. They are making sure that they are being so ridiculous that there is no way you can meet their standards. (00:08:06) Interviewer: Alright. And the point of that is…? Veteran: I am not sure. I know when I got into the NCO academy and flight school, they wanted us to pull together. And we got to a point where we weren’t totally rebellious but if the flight officer—if the TAC officer was messing with one of the troops, you’d hear somebody in the back say, “Fire mission.” And we’d go out and get in our—you know, one guy would get down on all fours and put his arm out and somebody else would be the forward observer and he’d be out there and somebody would be the FDC and they would be yelling back and forth to each other and somebody would play the artillery round that went out to the target and we’d just start harassing them. We’d be marching somewhere and somebody would holler, “Teaberry shuffle! March.” And the whole uniform—the whole formation would start doing this teaberry shuffle. And then he would stop and get all upset with us and make a right face so that we were facing him instead of being in the column to march. “What are you doing?!” You know. I remember in flight school one time we got some kittens. I don’t know where they came from. And we put them in the TAC officer’s drawer of his desk. He found them and everybody fall out. “Who put the kittens in my drawer?” And you hear from the back, “The shadow. He knew.” And we ain’t telling, you know. And so, then he made them all honorary officers. Well, that didn’t sound bad if you were a civilian. But if you are in that kind of training, any time an officer walks down the �hallway, if it’s anywhere near close, you’re at attention, what we call brace the wall, you’re at attention up against the wall just tight as you can get. And as he passes, “Sir, Captain, good afternoon sir.” And if he stands in front of you, you ain’t going anywhere. Well, we had to do the same thing for all of the kittens. Well, it didn’t take long; the kittens disappeared. They want you to start pulling together and somewhat, you know, fighting back so to speak but not…I mean, we filled this room with balloons one day. He opened his door and all the balloons fell out. I mean, we literally filled up glasses of balloons out on—I don’t know how to explain it. The buildings had a long concrete piece going up with kind of like an awning down south so that they shaded things below. Interviewer: Yeah. (00:10:27) Veteran: Well, we stood on that and stuffed the last of the balloons in the windows. And pulled the window closed. So, when he opened the door, the balloons literally fell out. And sergeant TAC officer just looked at that and he didn’t…So, then he got a folding chair and folding table and he went down to the latrine. And he put that in the latrine. When we walked down to use the bathroom, you walk in. “What are you doing in my office?” Out you go. Well, if you went to his office, you had to stand in the doorway, pound on the doorframe, and finally he would say, “Do I hear a termite in my wood?” “Sir, I came to request permission to enter, sir.” “What do you want to enter my officer for, sir?” “Sir, can I—I’d like to use the urinal, sir.” “You want to do what in my office?” Didn’t take us long—we got rid of all the balloons. But they’re trying to get you to pull together as a unit together to function together. The rest of it, to answer your question, was probably attention to detail. My wife tells me that I notice things that I guess nobody ought to notice. Which was interesting, because later while flying in Vietnam, I noticed that there were a series of charcoal kilns. And that the 5th one there, they never lit. I reported it, a patrol went out. �It was full of ammo. We are out another night and you just notice things that, I don’t know, why do you notice them? I just notice them. (00:12:09) Interviewer: Okay. Now, initially you are going in. You are drafted. A draftee normally serves for 2 years. Veteran: And back then it was nice because if you were a draftee, your social security—your military number started with US. And if you signed up, you were RA. Interviewer: Yep. Veteran: And US was really looked down on because you were the scum they had to come get. I mean, that’s kind of the…And at the end of basic, they flew in a helicopter for orientation to how you approach it. Because you never approach a helicopter from the back—you approached it from the side or from the front. The blades can flex so you do want to bend down. Well, you can stand up and get under them most of the time. If you get a gust of wind or something, you may end up getting a little shorter real quick. So, they are teaching us how to get aboard them, how to get off of them, how to approach them. And I noticed that the pilot was not wearing a hat. He’s got a scarf around his neck and he’s wearing sunglasses. And nobody is harassing him, nobody is bothering him, nobody is…And I am thinking huh. And then, I am being trained infantry and I am figuring I am going to be eating out of cans and living out of a hole. And if I was flying that thing, maybe they would put it in a safe place? And you’d get 3 hots and a cot each day? And all of a sudden, maybe life was looking a little better. And all the time through basic, they were talking to me about officer candidate school. I got some college behind me. Testing showed that, for some reason, I was a good candidate for leadership. And they were insistent I was going to go to OCS and I was just insistent I wasn’t. And we were at an impasse. And when I saw this, I �asked about flight school and they started processing a request. And then, the Army doesn’t sit still and they don’t do anything fast. So, out of basic training, I went to advanced infantry school at Fort McClellan, Alabama. Interviewer: Okay. (00:14:17) Veteran: And that was an interesting base because that is also WAC training center and it’s also a chemical warfare school at that time so that was an interesting base to go to. And there they went through…I think they called it fast aptitude test was for flight selection. And…helicopter? Interviewer: Could be an airplane. Veteran: And they did a bunch of those kind of things. And then, somewhere in the rest of my career for quite a while, they sort of lost it. I can make assumptions why. Out of advanced infantry school, they sent me to the NCO academy. Interviewer: Well, to back up again to the infantry school here. You made a comment about you got WAC training there, you got chemical warfare school there. How much of that did you see or were you aware of or effected your experience there? Veteran: Well, first off, when you get there, any school you go to you are going to start at the bottom of the pile. You are lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut. You know, lower than a whale stuck at the bottom of the ocean. Common comments made. You’re not going anywhere for quite a while. I don’t remember whether the school was 8 weeks or 12 weeks. But somewhere in that area. And you’re not going much of any place until the end of it. Last maybe 3-4 weeks, you may be getting passes regularly and you go somewhere. So, really didn’t affect— you didn’t see much of it. You weren’t doing much. You saw what they wanted you to see. I mean, they would set up a mock village there that we would try and cordon in the morning. So, �you learn how to navigate a little bit in the morning. How to link up with other infantry troops in the dark and not shoot each other. How to get up then and slowly move into the community. How to go through the community. And they had people that were civilians from the local area that were functioning as villagers. And so, they tried to make the training as realistic as they could. (00:16:31) Interviewer: Now, was the harassment from the instructors— Veteran: Still kept up. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Oh yeah. Matter of fact, later my wife gets a big kick out of it. Later I mentioned I went through the NCO academy and then they sent me back to Fort McClellan to teach AIT. So now, I am Barney Bad. And I am the one walking down the middle and pounding on the top of the trash can, telling everybody to get up and hit it in the morning and, you know. The crazy thing about it is if you are the trainee, you don’t realize that your TAC officer went to bed after you did and gets up before you did. And I was trained that if you want to know what your boots looked like, you look at mine. So, you don’t really realize that it’s kind of a reverse thing. You know, you’re always in your own little world and you feel sorry for yourself but it…You know, looking back, it’s easy to see it wasn’t that difficult. When you are going through it to begin with, it turns your world upside down and it’s something like you have never been through before. And then every time you go up through one of the schools, it gets crazier and it gets worse and it gets longer. Interviewer: Okay. I think at that time, AIT was normally 8 weeks and so was basic training. And then more specialized schools then vary or go longer. Veteran: And I don’t remember how long the NCO academy was. (00:18:02) �Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: I do remember that that was a…It wasn’t a volunteer thing. I didn’t ask. And they called it ‘shake and bake.’ That’s what the guys called it. Vietnam was very much a small unit warfare. And they were having trouble getting, finding, promoting, having enough noncommissioned officers that were knowing what they were doing. I mean, it always amazes me; the military, after a war, starts forgetting everything they learned and starts getting rid of all the people that have the most experience and the most training. Probably because they are paying them the most. But there is a reason why. I mean, you take something like special forces I worked with, it takes years and I mean literally—we ain’t talking one year. They go through, if you’re standing in special forces, you go at least through 2 years of school then take a year with a unit and another year to shake up. Probably takes somewhere between 4-5 years before you really start knowing what you are doing and how to do it and you’re performing and independent. And then, they take a look and how many of these guys do we need? And they start cutting back and they start forgetting all the stuff that really made it work. Interviewer: But, basically, in Vietnam, there was this issue—they had built up the Army very quickly as well as the Marine Corps. They needed people to be the squad leaders and do a lot of that kind of stuff and so, they have to create a bunch quickly. Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: So, most of them are picked out of basic training or AIT and said hey, you have leadership material. But in your case, was this a stepping stone to go to flight training? Or a way to just kill time? �Veteran: I don’t think so. I think they…I am one, I fit the criteria, they just took me and put me there. Like I said, I went back and trained AIT. Then after that, they pulled me again and sent me to long range recon school. Because at that time, I didn’t know it at the time, but at that time they were having like 90% casualty rate for the recon patrols that were going over the border into Laos and Cambodia. And they needed people. and that’s where I was when my request for flight school finally caught up to me. And I think it was due to a chaplain that I had went and talked to and says, “You know, somewhere back in basic I requested flight school. They did the testing but it didn’t happen.” And I think it was due to him that they finally nudged around. I found out later that they started…they have a certain wash out rate they expect. And I guess the wash out rate was a lot heavier than they expected. (00:20:53) Veteran: And I don’t think they wanted to let me go. I think they needed numbers. I was one of the numbers. I was evidently successful. And— Interviewer: So, washing out of the ranger training? Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Well, you say ranger training. It’s difficult to tell who there was doing what because we had special forces, we had rangers, we had CIA, we had some mercs, that were all trained in the school. You can say it was at Fort Benning but we got to Benning, they issued our field gear, and we went to—I think it was a week or so—we went to some classes. And after that, we were in the field. And they never gave us enough map to really know where we are, because we would have walked out. And we are running around out there in the middle of no place. And they’re supposed to drop us supplies. And you get on the radio and you talk to the young 19 bird dog and �he’s coming in. And he tells you to authenticate, you authenticate, then he tells you you’re wrong so he doesn’t drop your supplies. So, the next 2 days you are chasing snakes. And purifying water maybe by boiling it or whatever. And the people that are training you, you have an aggressor force. They already know the whole agenda. They know where you are supposed to be. They know where you are supposed to go. So, we got original. I mean, if we are supposed to go over here, what’s the shortest route? Let’s take the long way. We didn’t want to play their game. But I think that’s too part of what they wanted to teach you. But if you went the straight way, you were going to get caught. And they weren’t nice to you if they caught you. And so, anyway… (00:22:48) Interviewer: Alright. So, at what point then do you finally actually get to flight school? When is it that you start that? Veteran: I was out in long range recon school when a helicopter came in at one point and they called off names and I thought they had a package or something. And I came forward and he says, “Get aboard the bird. The top wants to see you.” First sergeant. So, I got aboard the helicopter and it took me back to main base. And top says, “I got orders. You’re going to flight school.” Well, that was another week or two away so they sent me over to Chapel Hill at Fort Benning and I was Barney Bad at large, harassing a whole bunch of people’s troops. I am not responsible for any of them. I am just harassing a whole bunch of them because I have been trained to do that, you know. So, while you take the guys to the field, I go flip their bunks, I turn their footlockers upside down, I write up all the demerits. I, you know…So, I did that for a couple weeks and then I went over for flight school. Flight school again you are starting at the bottom of the barrel. �Interviewer: Okay, but do you remember roughly when, chronologically, you showed up at flight school? (00:24:01) Veteran: No. Interviewer: Okay. Are we in 1968 now? Veteran: You know, my wife and I were talking and after a while, you realize at the end of your life, you end up with a hole. I’ll hear some music. I’ll watch a great event that happened on tv and I will go wait a minute, when was that? And they will tell you and you’ll go oh, that must have been when I was at Fort Benning or that must have been where I was overseas or something. Because you are so busy, you are not watching the afternoon news. Your schedule is very much they wake you up at 6 o’clock and put you to bed whenever they feel like it. And they may get you up in the middle of the night again. And if you’re back in the barracks, you may be cleaning your rifle, you may be cleaning your field gear. You may be using a toothbrush and cleaning the grout in the shower. I mean, it’s—you’re busy. And they make sure you are busy all the time. And you got a weekend pass, you don’t know a whole lot about the town. You don’t know a whole lot about anything. You pretty generally will leave base because you see enough of that. Interviewer: Alright. But sometimes events do intrude. Do you remember where you were when Martin Luther King was assassinated? Veteran: Oh yeah. At that time, I had been through the NCO academy. I was training troops at Fort McClellan. We were in the field and, all of a sudden, we got orders we were to come back to base. Right in the middle of our field training. Didn’t make any sense. So, we come back to base and first thing I notice is sitting along the side of the barracks is a flatbed truck with two �armored personnel carriers on it. And there is one sitting next to the next barracks. And we come in and Martin Luther King has been assassinated and we are on standby duty for riot control to go to Atlanta. And my guys are then cleaning their guns and getting equipment ready and…Crazier thing too, sideline personal note, I—the gal I volunteered for the service, the day I got the draft notice, her and I broke up. And she didn’t know I volunteered for draft. You ain’t going to tell her because if you get hurt, you don’t want her feeling responsible. But somewhere in there, I dated another gal and we were getting fairly serious. (00:26:34) Veteran: She was in Muskegon. And she’d write me she wants to come down and visit me. And I am not exactly in training. I am training people and there’s two sergeants. So, one sergeant can stay with the guys. I can have every weekend off or half a day off or a day off every week or whatever we want. And she’s going to come down and visit me at the base. And I write her and tell her no and I get from her letters that she ain’t paying attention. So, I wrote her daddy and told her that nice things don’t happen to little girls down at military bases and you got to keep her home. He writes me back as long as I meet her and she’s with me, he doesn’t care and I am going ahhh, no. You ain’t listening. And right in the middle of me getting the guys back and everything is in turmoil, I hear a whole bunch of fox whistles and stuff going on. And I walk out of my room and into the barracks. Well, at that time, I am a sergeant and these guys are in training so they hear, “At ease!” and the place is stone quiet. And look down the middle of the barracks because the bunks are down both sides and the guys don’t even walk in the middle. I mean they—you carried a sock that you had split and you put it over the nose of your shoe and you brought it up and you tied it over the instep so that if you walked in the middle you were polishing it and then when you took that off, it went inside your tunic and you stuffed them on both sides because you kept the floor nice and polished. And I was the sergeant so I walked �down the center. Walked wherever I wanted. Sharon had walked in the barracks on the other end and was walking down the middle of the barracks. That’s what the guys were all hooting and hollering about. And I told her, I says, “You, my room down there. Guys, I appreciate your taste. I think you got other things…” And I hear woooo. “You got stuff to take care of.” And I went back. (00:28:28) Veteran: But we were completely sequestered to the base. I borrowed a vehicle from the chaplain’s assistant and knowing the base, because I am training and out there with the guys everywhere, I went off the back of the base so I didn’t go through the guard shack because we were sequestered, I can’t get off. And I took her out to a hotel and dumped her at the hotel and told her I’d be back the next day if things permitting. And so yeah, I remember real well what happened when Martin Luther King got—because all of a sudden, everything is in the air and I am kind of juggling stuff and it was crazy. Interviewer: Okay. So, that kind of works back to the question I had asked about when you started flight school. So, it’s going to be after all that. Veteran: Oh yeah. Interviewer: And then your ranger/special forces training, whatever that was, after that. So, is flight school still in 1968 when you start that do you think? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Okay. But later in the year? Veteran: I got to Vietnam in the middle of ’69. And flight school was 9 months long. Because we always joked the difference between a warrant officer and a hard bar, it—you know, your �lieutenants and that—the OCS, officer candidate school, is 6 months. And flight school for a warrant officer candidate is 9 months. And the extra 3 months burns out our military bearing. Interviewer: Alright. Now, talk a little, just a little, bit about—because a lot of people are not familiar with this kind of thing. What’s the relationship between a warrant officer and a conventional officer? Veteran: A warrant officer is warranted his commission. He’s not a commissioned officer. His job is normally one where he is a specialist or a highly trained technician. He may work in electronics, he may be a pilot, he may be a special supply officer. He may be a personnel warrant. He knows all the rules, the regulations, stuff like that. (00:30:23) Veteran: He does not have troop command. So, there’s your major separation. Difference being is special forces later made a warrant as an executive officer of an A team because they went up so far in the enlisted ranks, going up sergeants and that, they wanted to make a slot to keep some career people. And a captain—a lieutenant or a captain—is normally the leader of an A team. And the executive officer they finally made him warrants. But that’s the only place I know where they have any sort of troop command. And again, that’s a highly trained specialist. He’s not really running a whole lot of troops. He’s… Interviewer: Yeah. And I guess the officers—normally officers move around to different assignments. Veteran: Warrant officers also have a specific branch. Interviewer: So, they may stay there longer? �Veteran: Yeah. And when I was in—well, that’s not true because warrants, they now have a W5. We had W1, 2,3,4, and 5. When I was in, they only went to W4. So, you had plenty of ranks to go up. But it, again, I was responsible for the aircraft. I was responsible for flying it and understanding all that and that’s basically my job. You know, all officers have other assignments. For instance, when I got to Vietnam I was put in charge of the officers’ club. And I told the old man, I says, “Wait a minute, you don’t want me in charge of the officers’ club.” I said, “I’m a Mormon. I don’t drink.” I says, “I don’t know the difference between all your liquors and stuff.” Well, I didn’t end up with the job very long because since I don’t drink, I made sure there were plenty of other pops and things and I guess the sale of liquor went down. So…But he also told me, he says, “You don’t understand.” He says, “I am putting you in charge of the liquor locker because you are the only one we trust with the key.” That didn’t sound real logical to me but anyway. But they all have other jobs. At one point I was in charge of POL: petroleum, oil, and lubricants and parts for the aircraft. (00:32:37) Veteran: At one point I was the safety officer. Then at another point I was made the executive officer of the aviation company. That was again—the old man up at group—during the monsoon so a number of our people got weathered in. Went down through the ranks and it happened to be I was the guy with the standing seniority and so on and so forth. So, I take over. But I had been in NCO. I had trained troops. I had a different way of dealing with things and I guess I got all the work done and everybody was happy and the old man says, “You’re still the executive officer.” And I reminded him there were several officers that outranked me in our aviation outfit. And he says, “Doesn’t matter.” He says, “You’re the executive.” So, I took care of all of the enlisted men, I took care of the maintenance, the parts, the fuels. Some of the same stuff I was doing �before safety. I was supervising all that sort of stuff. But really you talk about troop command yet, I am still not commanding troops per se. Interviewer: Now, we had gotten in your story here to—basically, we have you now starting flight training to become a helicopter pilot. So, how did that—what was that process? Where did you go? What were you doing? (00:34:00) Veteran: Mineral Wells, Texas. It’s south and west of Fort Worth, Dallas. And most forbidden place you’ve seen. I mean, barren, wide-open, hot, dry. But they picked it because the density/altitude of the air they said was going to be similar to Vietnam, the flying. And they had 3 basic helicopters for us to start primary training with. One was a TH-55 by Hughes, one was an OH-13, which is what you see them flying in MASH, and then the other one was a Hiller OH-23 and it looked similar to the one you see in MASH—it had the same plexiglass front but it has an enclosed bottom and tailbone. And they all have piston engines. And you first off try and learn to hover, which is the single most difficult maneuver you are going to do. And if you don’t hover by about 18 hours, if they figure you’ll do it in the next couple hours they’ll keep you, otherwise they will reassign you and you get to start over with a whole other unit and come through and try and learn. But they start off you have classes in aerodynamics. You have classes in, well, you got to learn what all the gauges are supposed to say. Which is—later you learn, they don’t tell you this right away, but later you learn that they actually rotate the gauge so all the needles point upright. And if everything is proper in the aircraft—you look at all the engine instruments—all the needles are straight up and down. You don’t have to read each one of them. But to start with literally you memorize every one. And by the time we got to the Huey—I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a cockpit of one of them—but overhead there’s a panel about ye wide and it’s probably about 2-2.5 feet long. And over half of it is circuit breakers. And you put your hand up like this �and you feel the row and right there and that one. That’s the altitude indicator. And you know where the stuff is. So, you got stuff like that you got to learn. You got to learn the velocity not to exceed V and E, stall speed. A helicopter doesn’t have one. But you have all the characteristics of whatever aircraft you are flying you have to learn. And so, you have an immense amount of bookwork, you have an immense amount of stuff you have to memorize. (00:36:34) Veteran: Plus, all of a sudden you are getting into this aircraft and it’s kind of like trying to learn to ride a bike. The helicopter won’t do anything by itself automatically. Everything is uncoordinated. After you have done it a while, my wife was asking me a question the other day, and I literally had it going. I had to move my other foot and I go oh, it’s that pedal and it’s, you know, because I have done it so much it is automatic now and I don’t even think of it. You got that muscle memory kind of thing going. But you literally learn everything from scratch. And it’s just overload. Plus, you are still living in a barracks where everything is sterile, everything is waxed and polished. We had something about the size of a small tackle box that was our personal box. In there we could keep a second razor so we didn’t have to polish it and clean it absolutely so that the one that was on display was actually decent. That’s where your letters went, your personal stationary, stuff like that because that stuff wasn’t available to be on display. Interesting story about that. I had my scriptures out and I was studying one night and I had to use the restroom real fast and we had 3 guys to a room. And they said they’d watch it and I took off for the bathroom. And I come back: my scriptures are gone. Where are they? Well, the TAC officer came along. So, this is improper display. He picked it up and he took them. So, I went down, I braced in his doorway and I beat on the door. He asked who was there and I told him. “What do you want, sir?” “Sir, I want my scriptures back.” Well, he says it’s going to cost me so �many demerits. I told him I would take double the demerits if he’d keep them and read them. He threw them at me, told me to get out of his office. (00:38:36) Veteran: But you know, they are doing a lot of this stuff to see how you think under pressure, what you’re going to do, how you are going to behave, do you cave under stuff like that. And like I said, they want us to start working together as a group. So, and it doesn’t change. Like I said, in the schools I was in, the further up I went…I am still in training. If I had been a hard bar—a lieutenant—if I come out of OCS and went to flight school, out of officer candidate school I would’ve been going out to work at 8 o’clock in the morning and going home at 3 o’clock at night and probably living off the base or living in the bachelor officer’s quarters. Nobody is messing with me. I got a maid to take care of the place. You know, I do whatever I want to do. But we were warrant officer candidates so this is like officer candidate school. And ours is 9 months long, longer by about 3 months, and we are living in this vacuum besides trying to learn how to fly and do everything else and…So, it’s a…It’s enough to make you sleep well at night. Interviewer: Now, you’ve gone through an awful lot of this process of sort of being, you know, hazed or beaten into shape in each of these places. So, were you used to it by this time? Did you kind of know the drill or the system and just…? (00:40:01) Veteran: There is always a new bend. There is always a new twist. There’s always something that’s different. For instance, in flight school they found a dead fly on a window sill one day while doing an inspection. So, we had all our weekend passes cancelled. We had a dead aviator. We had to have a funeral with all military honors. And we didn’t have guns but guys had to go over there and get down on all fours and raise their arms and we had a 21-gun salute. And I mean, we went through all the nonsense. Everything you can think of. In basic, I don’t �remember. Trying to think…AIT? No. NCO academy they started having something they called taxi time and if you got enough demerits, you not only didn’t get a weekend pass but you had to get your gun out and you went out to a parking lot and there were lines drawn across the parking lot. And if you had so many demerits, you had an hour of taxi time. If you had so many more demerits, you had 2 hours of taxi time. You went out there and you started on the line and you walked to the other end of the parking lot on your line, did an about-face, and you march back and then did an about-face and then you march back and you’ve put in your taxi time. And I remember doing that in the NCO academy. And we had similar kinds of things we had to do at flight school then and so they always got a new little twist, a new way of playing. I don’t remember them following us out and having us low-crawl someplace and then inspecting our uniforms until I was in flight school. I do remember they fell us out middle of the night for a fire drill when we were in the NCO academy. But we got to the point they’d fall us out in the middle of the night and we’d fall out going M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse. Because you know, we are fighting back. We are doing our thing with them. But there is always one step up, one new little twist. Something different they are doing. Like we didn’t have to brace the walls, good afternoon sir, in the NCO academy or any of that kind of stuff. But in flight school? Yep. (00:42:29) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And flight school barracks were different. We weren’t in a big wide-open barracks. We were in individual rooms. There were 3 guys to a room. We had lockers. We had drawers built in the wall. Accommodations were nicer. Still wasn’t air conditioned. But was much nicer. Still had to do pull-ups or push-ups or other things to get in the mess hall. I was telling you earlier we had brass that we had on our collars, WOC, because we were warrant officer candidate. Made fun of �you if somebody had the brass on wrong. They’d make them fall out. “What’s this? You’re a cow? C-O-W. You got brass on backwards. So, you’re a cow?” So, they made them run around the barracks saying, “I’m a cow, mooo. I’m a cow, mooo.” Make them run around the formation. I mean, they always come up with something different. And they were always finding unique ways to mess with you. But it was the same old thing. You just…What do I want to say? You can’t get into a groove. They make sure there is no way you can just kind of sluff it off, forget about it, whatever. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Doesn’t happen. Interviewer: Alright. Now, the flying part itself. How quickly did you kind of get the hang of the helicopter? Veteran: I had trouble. Everybody is different. While I am quite physically fit and athletically well now, I was sort of an ugly duckling growing up and had difficulty. I got re-cycled and even the instructor that got me wasn’t getting there. He went to an older instructor who had flown in Korea and asked him if he’d take me. And he did and under his tutelage, I blossomed. Towards the end of hovering, he literally got me to do something that most pilots can’t do. And—because if you are—what you need to work on is what’s difficult for you, what you don’t do well. (00:44:35) Veteran: Human nature is you practice the things you are good at. But that’s not what you should be practicing. So, he got me out and he’d get me on the runway and they have a line painted down the middle of the runway. And he’d want me to hover down that runway at a steady pace. Then he wanted me to start turning the aircraft around while I am going down that line, keeping �the same movement down that line. Now, it doesn’t sound too bad. I mean, we are sitting here talking about it; it doesn’t sound too shabby. But you got a wind to contend with. So, it means as you bring your tail rotor around into the wind, you have to be playing pedal to that. The minute you get past a certain point, you’re not putting pedal to it anymore, you got to put the other pedal because the wind is going to now try and push you. So, that’s one thing. Secondly, when you’re pulling into the wind, you have to pull more power on so you coast—I can’t even do what I am thinking about. You’re twisting the throttle because you run it—the engine’s got to run it the same RPM all the time. Well, you’re pulling more power so you have to wrap the throttle on. The minute the wind is blowing, you have to wrap the throttle off. And while you are going around like this, it’s interesting because your perspective changes and the cyclic stick here that is controlling my direction. If I am just going down facing it, it’s like this. But as I am going down that line, the stick is basically going around the cockpit entirely to keep me on that line and keep me moving at a steady speed down it. So, it was different. He made me sweat a bit more in the cockpit than most and I don’t think…I know for a fact, most of the pilots I dealt with later never did. I mean, we would get some of them in the aircraft and I am saying, “Well, try this.” They’re, “You’re crazy.” “Well, go ahead and try it.” And they can’t do it. They’re all over the place. And I became a better pilot because I was re-cycled and I was having a hard time with it. And at that time, almost all the pilots we had that were teaching at Mineral Wells were all civilian. (00:46:36) Veteran: They were all ex-military, for the most part. But they were all civilian. And the gentleman that I had and I remember the most, like I said, was a Korean pilot. And he’d flown the OH-13s there. And the OH-13s were old aircraft and they were underpowered and so a lot of things he had me do he wouldn’t let me do in a normal take off. He made me do what they call a �max performance take off and if the helicopter moves forward…Helicopters don’t just take off. If you move forward, when you get 17 knots of relative air over the blades, it’ll start climbing out at 500 feet a minute on its own. You don’t need to give it anymore power. Man, sometimes you need to reduce a little power. But it will actually get that much lift and it will start climbing out all on its own. He had me do stuff like that. All kinds of things because the aircraft was underpowered. And 13 was the most underpowered of all the 3 aircraft they had there. The 55? It had power. I mean, you could hotdog that thing all day long. I am not sure that is teaching you good technique. He put me through the mill. And as a result, I was a much better pilot. Interviewer: Okay. Now that is still at Mineral Wells? That this is going on? Veteran: Mhmm. Interviewer: Okay. But that’s not the end of your training though? Veteran: No. Down there, you learn basic flight maneuvers. You learn some—we were talking about hovering—you learn how to take off, you learn how to land. You learn max performance take off. You learn emergency procedures: how to land it without an engine, how to handle tail rotor failures. You go through all that basic type of stuff then they start doing cross country. And that gets kind of interesting. You get to do that solo. (00:48:26) Veteran: And that was an interesting story. They had us check what we wanted for lunch or dinner that night because you’re going to do a night cross country and you get to check on your little form what you want. And they had porkchop sandwich down there and I checked it. And I am alone in this aircraft and I am doing this formation flying and I go into my bag and get my porkchop sandwich, unwrap it and take a bite and it was a real porkchop sandwich—bone and all. So, you get all kinds of surprises. I mean its… �Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Now you’re—so you have the Mineral Wells and then after that, was Fort Rucker next? Veteran: Fort Rucker, Alabama. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I don’t remember if we switched at 4 months or 5 months and then we went to the other school. And the other school—they started off…We were flying OH-13 S models which were supercharged, brand new. These things were fully instrument rated. They never bothered to teach us to fly the dumb thing. We got in it, the instructor took it off, we put a hood on our head and we never saw where we were going. We are looking at our flight charts, we are looking at the instruments, and this is all analog which means that these are all instruments with the little dials and the little needlepoint. And this is not the modern day stuff where I am looking at a GPS with a map and a little plane is right here on this course. None of that kind of thing. You’d tune in a radio wave, you’d fly along that radio wave so many minutes at this speed, figuring the winds. And you ought to be at this location. You ain’t looking at your little screen and saying, “Oh, there’s my littler plane. I am right there.” Oh no, no, no, no. And if you keep flying off the radio, you start recomputing and figure out what the wind actually is and it’s never what they forecast. It’s got a habit of changing. (00:50:22) Veteran: I don’t know if you noticed that but it changes. So, you got a—your little wiz wheel, a little circular computer. And you recalculate and then you reset your heading and you re-fly it and recalculate your time to be at your location. And you did instrument school. Then after that, they started transitioning you into the Huey, UH-1s. And there were Alpha, Bravos, Charlies, and Deltas and then hotel models. And we got shuffled through all of them. And the hotel model �was the major one that was flown in Vietnam. Charlie—Alpha, Bravos were all changed to Charlie models. And Charlie models in Vietnam were predominantly used for gunships until the Cobra came along. And I happened to be there when the first of the Cobras showed up at Vietnam, which was interesting. But then with the Hueys, once you are transitioned into them, then they started teaching us formation flying. And different things. I mean, it’s got different characteristics so while you may have learned how to do an auto-rotation, now you are doing one with a Huey. And Huey was, basically, a ¾ ton truck. And really nice. You land it without an engine. It’s got weighted blades and it’s used to having a load and you could literally pick it up and hover it down the runway for a while and set it back on the runway because you had that kind of rotor speed left. It was a lot more fun than flying some of the other aircraft. But it was a total different feel. Huey, when you come off the ground, you really feel the nose come up first and then the other backside comes up and the rear right stays on the ground until the last moment. Then you pick it—so, you literally, if you can’t hover, now you are in trouble. Because like I said, she starts lifting front first and then one of the back heels come off and you’re literally sitting on just one point in the back. You don’t want to try coasting that way. You don’t want to try backing up. You better be staying right where you are. And if the wind is moving 15 miles an hour, that means as you’re coming up, you’re literally flying 15 miles an hour if you’re staying in one place. (00:52:35) Interviewer: Alright. Now, warrant officers who flew helicopters in Vietnam have kind of a general reputation of being kind of a wild bunch of characters. What sort of men were you training with as you were going through the flight schools? Veteran: I don’t know. You don’t think about it. Interviewer: Okay. �Veteran: You know, we were definitely an ingenuitive bunch. I mean, you kind of had to be to stay ahead of the TAC officers with everything that was going on. And I…Let me tell you a different story. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: When I came home from Vietnam between tours—because I extended to stay, it was a hardship tour and they couldn’t make you stay more than a year—when I got back, I went down to the airport and I threw 5 bucks down on the table and Cessna, I had an introductory ride: took you up for an hour and a half for 5 bucks. Now, I went down and I threw down my 5 dollars. And we are walking out to the aircraft with the instructor and I told him, “By the way, don’t tell me its an altitude indicator, don’t tell me this is 9LS and a GCA, I know. I just want to kick the tire, light the fire, and burn a hole in the sky.” He says, “What are you flying?” And I told him. So, I went out and I flew. We come back in and he says, “One more hour of dual time. You can do the rest as solo. I’ll sign you off.” And I go, “No.” He says, “Why?” “Baby’s a homesick brick looking for a place to bury itself.” There’s so much difference between flying a helicopter and flying a fixed wing. A fixed wing will do something for you. I mean, you can trim out everything and it will just maintain. It’s like throwing a paper airplane: it’ll fly. Helicopter won’t do anything. (00:54:20) Veteran: And I think it takes somebody loosely wrapped to fly them and maintain them. And I believe it was Paul Harvey who says that a pilot’s job was to keep 2000 parts flying in formation. If you literally get into aerodynamics, you find out we got counterbalance weights up there and everything else and the whole thing is kind of by centrifugal force kind of trying to tear itself apart and it doesn’t want to do anything it’s supposed to do. And I think it really takes someone that’s kind of loose wired. If you are too stiff or too uptight or whatever, I don’t think you’re �going to…I don’t think you’re going to make it. I don’t know for sure. But I just don’t think so. And Catch 22 and watching all the rest of the movies, I gather the World War 2 pilots weren’t any better. Except there were just more of us in Vietnam. Interviewer: Alright. So, now to kind of go back here to…Roughly, when do you finish flight school then? Or, when do you get to Vietnam, I guess is the…Is there any— Veteran: Well, by the time—funny thing is the way it works out. By the time I get through flight school, I got 2 years in the service. But when I signed up for flight school, I had to agree to fly for 3 years after or have 1-year commitment after flight school if I didn’t make it, if I washed out. So, when you get through with flight school, you have a 3-year obligation. One year is going to be Vietnam. One year is going to be training replacements. And then you’re going to be back to Vietnam because it was a hardship tour. It wasn’t a declared war. If it was a declared war— they were afraid to make it a declared war. We haven’t had a declared war since World War 2. Everything has been a police action or one thing or another. (00:56:13) Veteran: Congress needs to declare war. They are afraid to give the president war powers act and his dictatorial type of powers. So, we have not had a declared war. Vietnam was not a declared war. So, they could only make you stay there a year. And that made it quite difficult for all the Vietnam vets because we went over, we joined a unit that was there, we took the place of somebody that was leaving, we stayed a year and then we left and went home alone. We didn’t go home with the guys we were serving with. Our type of service was quite different. I mean, my dad—my step-dad—he trained with guys from Muskegon. He went over to Europe, landed D-4, D+4, 4 days after D-Day. Walked all the way to Berlin. They came home together on a boat. Had weeks decompressing and talking with each other. Knew the people in the community. Joined the same VFWs and American Foreign Legions and that stuff. They knew each other. And you �form a type of camaraderie in the military that’s nowhere else. Nowhere else. And we went over solo, we came back solo. Remember, we came back real fast. I mean, you board the plane, 24 hours you are back in the states. Whatever time it takes you to go standby to get home and you’re dumped home. And when I got off the plane, they were literally carrying the posters and hollering “Baby killer” and spitting at us and…It was different. And the guy next door could have been in Vietnam and got home the day before you got home, you wouldn’t know it. You weren’t saying anything about it because it wasn’t that popular. In my wife’s family, her brother served 2 tours in Vietnam and was an advisor with the Vietnamese on his second tour. And his sister was demonstrating down in Chicago against the war. And it wasn’t uncommon to have family’s split like that. And World War 2 wasn’t that way. (00:58:29) Veteran: We didn’t even get support from the VFW and the Foreign Legions and stuff like that. I mean, it was… Interviewer: Alright. Kind of go back again here. So, you finished flight school. Do you get a leave home before you go overseas? Or do they just send you away? Veteran: Well, they intended me to. Didn’t turn out that way. I have a series of allergies so when you go through to get the shots, and of course the military is famous for giving shots, and you get in line and you go through and get your shots, they’ll list a series of allergies. If you had any of them, you’d put your hat on backwards. So, I put my hat on backwards and go through the line. So, when I was all through with school, I got these orders to go to Vietnam right away. So, I already know there’s a whole bunch of shots I didn’t have. So, I asked. So, then they go check my records and they go, “We don’t know.” “You don’t know? Well, okay so now what do I do?” “Well, you’re not going anywhere. Your orders are null and void.” Now, a training base doesn’t know what to do with you after your training. So, I am put on temporary duty, or TY, and I am �an officer so I can go get a room in the BOQ. But I am also being paid temporary duty pay and I am going “Wait a minute, I don’t have any assignment?” “Nope.” “I don’t have any duty?” “Nope.” So, I went down to Panama City, Florida, got a room at the Holiday Inn on the beach. And every day at noon, I called the first sergeant: “Got any orders yet? Oh, breaks my heart. Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow.” And I am off and playing. (01:00:13) Veteran: And that went on for, I don’t know, 2-3 weeks. Finally, they got orders for me. But my orders aren’t specific now. Before they knew they had this many pilots going to be coming to Vietnam so they already have a place you’re going, they’re already expecting you. They sent me over to basically a manpower pool. And I got thinking about it. I flew into Cam Ranh Bay. They sent me over to this manpower pool. And they sent me over to first field force in Vietnam, the largest advisory command in Vietnam. They sent me over to first field force artillery. Now, my mind is going…is this aggressive negotiations? What’s advisory doing with artillery? Didn’t ask anything, just do what you’re supposed to do. They send me to 52nd artillery group headquarters located in Pleiku. Now, Pleiku is 2/3 of the way up south Vietnam and it is dead center in the middle of the country. East to west, it’s dead center; 2/3 of the way north, right in the middle of I Corps—or II Corps. I get up there and CIA’s got a rodent office across the road. Special forces a quarter mile down the road. We have a lot of big guns. 175s, 8-inch—they aren’t even in the military anymore. They have been replaced with rockets now. And these guns were placed in special forces camps all up and down the border. Now, when I say border, this was Laos and Cambodia. And they have a sprinkling of light guns: 155s and 105s. What I mean by sprinkling is they don’t have a full battery of guns there. They have 2, maybe 3, maybe 1. And the gun is there to fire mutual support on the other special forces camp further down the border. (01:02:18) �Veteran: The Montagnards were an aboriginal people that prior to World War 2 were pretty well left alone in the highlands. Up in the mountains there, the Vietnamese didn’t go. They stayed down on the delta; raised their rice on the coastal plains. And they weren’t up in the delta to speak of. Due to the Japanese being there, a nice place to hide is in a jungle. Hiding in a rice paddy ain’t a good idea. So, there were more of them in the highlands. And the Montagnards were up there and they were an aboriginal people. And when you go into a village, you could tell if the chaplains had got to them or if the missionaries had been there because then the women were wearing tops. Otherwise they had a cloth wrapped around their waist. The guys wore a breech cloth and that was about it. About the only thing manmade they had was maybe a machete that came from outside their village. But they had a unique machete too that their village people would make. Very unique. They were the Indians, the natives of the country if you will. Fine light infantry. We put them in over the border. Well, I can’t say we did that. I know officially from the radio and tv we have no combat groups in Laos and Cambodia so they got over the border somehow. And they were there doing their patrols and things and it wasn’t unusual we’d lose radio contact with them. And they were being controlled by special forces and CIA. And sometimes a month, 2 months later, they’d come back across the border. Now, they went over the border. Special forces contracted out of Hong Kong and other places to have special uniforms made. And you remember the tiger stripes were a uniform connected with Vietnam. But they were never issued to our troops. They were uniforms that were made for the special forces because the Montagnards were smaller framed, little people. (01:04:20) Veteran: And our uniforms didn’t fit them. They made special rations for them because our C rations were too big and stuff they didn’t eat. So, they made special C rations for them and stuff. They had special packs built for them and everything else. They’d put them across the border �and when they came back, after we had lost contact with them, they came back wearing black pajamas, toting AK-47s, socks with rice balls in them hung around their necks. They literally were in their own world in the jungle. They could have, if they had decided not to be soldiers yet, take their machete and live off the jungle because that’s where they lived. But they carried the war to the enemy yet and came back across the border totally resupplied with the enemy’s supplies and were terrific troops. But since they were Montagnards and they were aboriginal people, they had a hard time figuring out how to fire a cannon to shoot at something they couldn’t see. So, we had the guns there for mutual support. We also had guns in a number of other places. We supported 1st cav, we supported the 4th infantry division. We had guns that were used for hip shoots. Hip shoot was—they’d run a unit down the road and at some place, they would just pull off the road, haul out their own barbed wire and put it around, make a base right on the side of the road. And that would kind of keep the Viet Cong off guard because now you could put a pin in the map and draw a brand new circle and say what couldn’t they support with artillery before that they could support now? Why did they move these guns? What are they doing? And they would do hip shoots. We did all kinds of things. We even had a few big guns, and I don’t know why, down at Phù Cát which is close to Quy Nhơn down on the South China Sea. (01:06:10) Veteran: So, I flew everywhere from the South China Sea to the border. Two weeks in Vietnam, the old man tells me to grab my dress blues; he wants me to fly him down to Saigon for a command party. So, I mean, I was from Saigon all the way up into about half of I Corps, from South China Sea…Well, they—we have a radio in the aircraft they call a transponder. And a transponder puts a coded signal on a radar screen to tell them it’s you. And if you get into trouble, you flip a switch and it literally does ripples like on a pond on somebody’s radar screen. �And they know you’re in trouble and they got your exact location. They set my transponder so I could enter Thailand because it was shorter than coming back. And they told me if I get in trouble, keep going because your nature is to go where you know. So, if you get lost, you backtrack right? And they said na-huh. You get in trouble, you have mechanical difficulties, whatever, keep going, they will recognize you as friendly. You can enter Thailand. So, I don’t know where—I officially know where I wasn’t but I don’t know where I was. Interviewer: Alright. Okay, when you joined the unit, did they know what to do with you? Veteran: Yeah, I am a pilot. I am coming but they couldn’t use me. Well first off, when I get there, they can’t use you at all because you take a week to two weeks to get climatized. And just like in basic and some of the other places, we were down south, we were in a hot, muggy environment, we were doing more physical activity than normal. But Vietnam’s even different. My wife always wants me to tell that when the C-130 landed in Pleiku and it taxied up on the tarmac by the terminal, when you walked down that—the ramp in the back—you step out on that tarmac. That’s like an asphalt paved area. It was like walking into an oven. And you’re smelling the incense and the nuc mam, the fish sauce. You know you ain’t in Kansas anymore, Toto. (01:08:26) Veteran: I mean, it hits you. And I mean, it is stark reality it’s here. This is different. Well, for the first week or two, they want you to climatize. You’re getting salt tablets every time you go down to a meal. They are making sure you get them. We started taking chloroquine, primaquine, and dapsone, which are anti-malarial drugs—suppressant drugs. I got to get a physical. I got to be assigned a weapon. I got to be assigned my flight suits and…You’d think I’d come with that stuff. I came with my helmet. But all the rest of the stuff—and they issued me 4 pair of jungle fatigues. I don’t know what for. But they also issued me a pup tent—a full pup tent—a regular �duffel bag, ground pad, TA-250 gear which is your web gear with your ammo pouches and your first aid kit and your butt pack and all that stuff. I actually signed for an extra duffel bag, stuffed all that junk in the duffel bag because I ain’t going to be using it. And it went in my room, went underneath the bunk. But everybody gets it. So, you got to go through all that sort of stuff. Then when I go down to the aviation section, we didn’t have Hueys. They had OH-23s and OH-6s. I didn’t fly an OH-23 in flight school. OH-6s were a more advanced aircraft by Hughes and a lot of guys know it as a LOH—light observation helicopter. That was more fun to fly. See, they didn’t want to train me to fly that. (01:10:07) Veteran: So, I sat around another week while they sent another pilot to go through instructor school and he come back and they train me to fly a 23 which was another one of the basic ones. And I flew a 23 and for a number of months, I flew a 23. Then our unit got totally replaced with OH-58s. And when the OH-58s come in, I went down to Vung Tau, which is a little south of Pleiku, or Saigon, and got transitioned into the OH-58. And that was done by, again, civilian pilots that were contracted out. But that was interesting because Vung Tau is a different place. All the way through the entire war, even when the French were there, they never fought in Vung Tau. And Vung Tau had a reputation for being and R and R center, a rest and relaxation center. For both the Vietnamese, North and South, the Americans and the French, and you walked down the streets there and you got these huge stone walls—brick walls—with broken glass on the top of it. And some of the glass is all different colors. And then wrought iron gates to go into these fabulous houses and mansions and places. And they took me—and first thing they did was take my gun away. So, they take my gun, they give me a card. That’s never happened before. And they take me down to this hotel. And again, great big walls, iron gates, and there’s two great big sand bag bunkers at the corner. And that didn’t surprise me. But what surprised me was as I got �closer is there’s all these cobwebs in the shooting loops. What? And I go into this hotel and typical old French hotel: wide-open first floor. You got the hotel desk, you got dance floor, you got a bar, you got the restaurant, and then it’s the typical open type of elevator with the…I don’t know what you want to call it? With the accordion type of door that goes across. And you go up and they took me up to my room. And really nice room. I mean, big bed, big mosquito net goes around the whole bed. The room has got a couch in it and a chair and a table. And bath. Interesting things about the bath is it was tepid water but no hot water. (01:12:47) Veteran: You had a veranda or a porch that was off to the side that was all screened in. Just beautiful place. But there is no bunker. And the base I was on, we were getting hit two, three times a week. And we’d scramble to the aircraft so I had my gun all the time. And I am down here and there’s no bunker. And then they tell me the city is on limits all night. Well, where I come from, at dark or before dark they close the gates to the base, they haul out a bunch of— look like saw horses. They got Constantine wire all over them. They put them in the driveway and that and everything is closed up. And if you are going to go anywhere after that, you need orders. And you need at least two vehicles. And you needed a machine gun and a radio and you had to have your flak jacket on and your helmet and…The town is on limits? I literally had to go downtown to see. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. And they literally had part of the market still set up where all the fish were all displayed and the fruit is all laid out and I just…We are in the same country? I mean, it was…Whoa. Just really different. (01:14:10) Interviewer: Okay. Now, that is sort of the exceptional experience. Let’s go back. When you were flying in the first part of that tour, when you are flying the 23s, what kind of missions did you have? �Veteran: Missions stayed the same, all the way through. The group had a table of organized equipment, TOE, that prior to…about 6 months or so before I got there, they had had fixed wings. L-19 Bird Dogs, which was common for artillery units to have fixed wings. And they switched them over to helicopters. And they were authorized 2 aircraft, 2 pilots, 2 mechanics, and 2 toolboxes per battalion. And group was authorized 4. And they put them all together and decided they had an aviation company. Now, that sounds nice but we don’t have anybody to run operations. We don’t have the radio to run the airfield, we don’t have a whole bunch of stuff. So, we were this kind of put together…You know, war is a come as you are affair. Everybody has got an idea of how it ought to be fought and everybody’s got this great idea of how many men ought to be in a platoon but you fight, you go to war with what you have. So, they had 23s and the OH-6s that were here because the Bird Dogs were gone. And OH-23, you straddle the instrument panel and there’s a place for a person here and a person here. And that’s fine. If I am flying a commander out, he wants to go inspect some place, I got the commander. He wants to bring somebody with him? That’s fine, he can come with me. If I am flying the chaplains, there’s 2 chaplains. If I am flying a…USO usually went in the OH-6s or the Hueys. We contracted— contracted—we submitted up above somewhere and we requisitioned one Huey. And usually one, two, rare day we might have three, heavy lift aircraft. Flying cranes or Chinooks. Because we had some bases that were so isolated, like Firebase 6. They brought in a bulldozer, leveled off the top of the mountain, brought in the barbed wire and put in the perimeter, built the bunkers there and we literally landed on a bunker. There was an H in sandbags put on top of this bunker. (01:16:40) Veteran: You landed on top of the bunker at Firebase 6. There was no gate. There was no perimeter. There was no road coming in there. There was no paths going out of there. It was just �there. So, everything they had went in and out by air. So, there would be a water tanker at the end of our field, they’d pick up that water trailer and carry it out to Firebase 6. We had a lot of stuff that went out by air. Of course, Vietnam—one trouble the French made is they limited themselves to the road and the Viet Cong took over control of everything else: the jungle, the small villages, everything. And then in the monsoon season, a lot of those roads were totally impassive. So, the helicopter became airborne, like I said, airborne truck. And I was flying the light pickup. And they would put net 23, wherever they wanted to go. There were times when all I carried was mailbags. And carried mail out to these bases and I’d go to this base and drop off a bag and then I’d go to this base and drop off a bag. I might take the…Doc might go out there and check the mess hall. If they didn’t have a mess hall, he might go out there and check their water. He might go out and check where the latrines are and how things looked and just do a sick call out there. Just see how things are in general. There were all kinds of things that had to go. Such as people that had to repair a gun because guns malfunctioned: the recoil mechanisms on them or hydraulic. They fail. The 175s were notorious. They were a high velocity, long barrel gun. They only fired so many rounds, the barrels had to be replaced. (01:18:24) Veteran: So, all that stuff got out there and got back by aircraft. So, 23s, they got utilized. I might go out by myself and register a gun battery. Technically, a gun ought to fire from here to there and hit a certain spot and they know by math that ought to do that. But that is theoretical. And in a real world, it doesn’t do that. So, you’d have to register the gun battery every so often and you’d have a known point and they’d shoot at it and I’d correct the artillery until they hit it. And then they could make correction for barrel wear and for weather and for who knows what all, with their slide rolls and computers to figure out exactly where they are going to fire so then the next rounds were accurate. So, every so often, the guns had to be registered. And I’d go out and �do that. And I would do that by myself. Well, yes and no. Our crew chiefs didn’t fly. Now, if I was flying a Huey, your crew chief was your door gunner. But we didn’t have the space for them. So, our crew chiefs didn’t generally fly. So, if I was going out to register a gun battery, I had to tell my crew chief, “Want to go?” “Yep.” And those light aircraft had dual controls. Well usually we took them out. He’d put them in. And I’d let him have some stick time and time to fly it. And you let him call the base, use the radio and learn the radio procedures. And you never know, I may go out some time and be covering a convoy with the crew chief and I may get shot up and he may have to fly it back. So, while we weren’t supposed to, we did. Interviewer: Alright. How common was it for you to be in a place where somebody might shoot at you when you were in the air? (01:20:13) Veteran: Real common. Our base, we had what was known as a One Eyed Charlie. One Eyed Charlie was a person that the Viet Cong would press into service, give some dilapidated type of gun, give him a few rounds and tell him to shoot at the Americans. He didn’t want to but if he didn’t, they would come back at night and hurt him, hurt his family, hurt whatever. They would quite often then tell him that if he’d go down by the bridge by the creek out by his field, there’s a little tin can sitting underneath the bridge. There’s two rounds in that can. He’s to put his two empties in there. And he had to put his two empties in there and shoot his two rounds at us. And if you had a One Eyed Charlie, you didn’t shoot back at him. I mean, he didn’t want to shoot at you. So, he just gun over the barracks, over the berm you know, bang bang. And he’d be gone. And ours only hit one aircraft, once, all the while I was there. But you knew he was going to shoot at you some time or other. And he usually shot at us rather than other things. And so, you didn’t return fire. One night we got hit. I scrambled. Got down, got the aircraft. Took off and a helicopter doesn’t really have to take off into the wind. We do for some safety procedures but it’s �pretty well directly making its own wind. It doesn’t much matter. And I took off into the wind, down the runway and as I got to the end of the runway and I am getting ready to go over the bunker line and then the barbed wire starts, out on the rice paddies out there—all of a sudden there went this solid wall of tracers in front of me. And a helicopter is basically a flying disc. The fuel sludge underneath is just airstream going along for the ride. So, I did a pedal turn, which means I just made the back end of the helicopter go to the front end. And I am basically going backwards. And I turned and I just did a pedal turn and just went the other way down the runway. You can’t do that with a fixed wing. If it’d been a fixed wing, I’d have been committed. Probably should have been anyway for different reasons but anyway, I went the other way down the runway. And then, the OH-23 had tube radios. So, I can’t even tell anybody yet because you turn on tubes, you got to wait for them to warm up. (01:22:35) Veteran: And I scrambled. So, they ain’t even working yet so by the time I am clearing the runway and the other side, I am screaming back at the guys, “Hey, tell everybody that gets an aircraft not to go off that end of the runway.” And—but we got shot at. You know, it’s not always in the same place, it’s not always the same way, it’s not always…I was covering a convoy one day and they got hit. And I am readjusting. Down the highways quite often, they would park tanks as part of the road security. And I was repositioning the tanks and directing their fire. I was also calling fire from one of our firebases in. In the meantime, I went on guard frequency and requested that any fast movers going back with ordnance…I am guiding them in and having them drop ordinance along the top of the ridgelines so that the Viet Cong couldn’t escape over the top of the hill. While I am doing all that, the captain that is liaison for me with the convoy calls me and tells me I got tracers going by my tail boom. Alright. I mean, what are you going to do? We flew at 1000 feet above ground level, AGL, because at that place, ground �fire wasn’t effective from small arms because you are outside of effective range. And you were real close that most anti-aircraft fire definitely couldn’t shoot you because you were real close. And if they fired at us and missed us the first time, we’d kick it out of trim, drop all our pitch and be on the tree line before they could get a second burst at us. So, we flew around at about 1000 feet above the ground and if it’s missing me, that’s good. (01:24:16) Veteran: I mean, that—I can’t go across the road because that’s where I am directing all the other fire. I can’t go anywhere. I can’t do anything about it. You just sit there and do your job. I mean…They used to say we were real cold. We had…Well, they—that we just had nerves of ice. And it’s not true. You got to fly the aircraft. If you don’t fly the aircraft, it’s going to crash. It will not maintain forward flight. It won’t do anything on its own. You just got to do. So, well we may look calm and we may look whatever…Ehh. It ain’t so. Interviewer: Alright. Now did the helicopters you’d fly, did they ever get hit? Veteran: I never got a bullet hole. I did a tour and a half. I did that for an early release from service. But I never got a bullet hole. Two of them, I got so slow and low and doing the job that had to be done that they got so full of shrapnel they wouldn’t even look at replacing it, they just gave me another aircraft. And I found out later they stripped the components out of both of those airframes and scrapped the airframe. So yeah, they got hit. I was once—when we got the OH-58s, we had the bell tech rep living with us because they were so new. We had 13 of the 20 of them that came to Vietnam in our unit. Self-centering bearings, didn’t. Self-lubricating bearings, didn’t. Of course, since they are self-lubricating, you don’t put zert fittings on there and you don’t put the little nuts you can take off and put the zert fitting in there and so what are you going to do with them? We had a lot of interesting times to start with them because while the Army had accepted them yet, none of them had seen combat, none of them had been in those �kinds of environments. And we were working out stuff brand-new. I forgot what I was going to tell you. Interviewer: Well, we were talking about being hit and damage or things like that. And did you have accidents with those helicopters or close calls with them while you were learning how to fly them? (01:26:39) Veteran: I had two guys in my unit that cracked them up. One was with an OH-6. OH-6 had a unique character. Every aircraft has a little something about them that is different. OH-6, if you hovered down-wind…down-wind, up-wind, I wasn’t ever checked out in one. The tail rotor would disturb the air enough in that configuration that the tail rotor—the main rotor would disturb the tail rotor enough that it would lose integrity. And while he was going over the barbed wire, he thought he had a tail rotor failure. And in a tail rotor failure, you’re supposed to chop the throttle and then dead-stick it in. Well, he dead-sticked it in the barbed wire. He gets caught, he rolled it up. He got med-evaced out of country. Alive, doing fine. But we had another one who was going to impress people. the aircraft is set up with enough other connections that you can put headsets on and headphones and if you want to, you can give everybody in the aircraft a set of headphones. You can talk to them on intercom. And they were questioning about auto rotation. So, he chopped the throttle and was bringing it in for an engine off landing. And when he got down, I guess around 500 feet, he rolled the throttle back on except the engine had quit. But he went through the procedure to turn the throttle back on. But he obviously wasn’t watching the instruments. (01:28:16) Veteran: And he went to pull pitch and his rotor blade slowed down even further. So, now he’s low and slow and no rotor RPM. And he’s committed. It’s a very forgiving aircraft. He decided to try and make a running landing instead of trying to flare and found a rice paddy dike and took �his skids off the bottom and that broke all the tubes that controlled the aircraft. From there on end, he was going along for the ride instead of flying it. And I have pictures of that aircraft. It— the main body of the aircraft, the fuse box was basically broken in half. Stayed together and landed down there but it got busted up. He ended up with a spinal compression. He…Yeah. I was flying—I know what I was going to tell you. Our OH-58s were so new that nothing really worked the way it was supposed to. And when it didn’t, pilots like to fly. I mean, we got into it for a reason. We don’t like war but we like flying. So, we’d go and fly with some of the lift units, some of the Huey units. And I was flying with a Huey unit and we were going down the la Drang Valley. And I was in flight lead, which means that if you have a V, I am the head goose in the V, flying down there. And all of a sudden on the radio, there’s all kinds of chatter. Chock 2 is going. Chock 3 is breaking off. chock 4 is going overhead. chock 5 is going low. What’s going on? We are getting raked with .50 caliber fire. The only aircraft that didn’t get hit. Over the border one time, went into an LZ. The only aircraft to come back out. I don’t know. I got a guardian angel with ulcers. Owe him an apology someday. Interviewer: Okay. (01:30:14) Veteran: But you do the job. And while the aircraft got banged up and cracked up and shot up, the death rate, the injury rate…The Army lost more pilots in one year—I mentioned we had a three-year obligation, one year was Vietnam, one year was back to the states, then back to Vietnam. They lost more pilots in one year in the states due to motorcycles and cars—alcohol, motorcycles and cars than they did in two years of combat flying. So, you talk about us being loose wired and crazy bunch? I guess. I guess. Interviewer: Well, you were maybe a little bit less so in the sense that you had religious motivations that maybe made you behave better than some of your colleagues. I actually �wanted to kind of transition a little bit over into talking about sort of life on the base in Pleiku. Daily life: what was that like? What would you do day to day? Veteran: Well, most of the time I was there, I was the executive officer of the aviation unit, so I got up early in the morning. I go to the mess hall and eat. Then I’d go on up and sit in the old man’s briefing. The commanding officer didn’t care to do that. So, I am sitting in a full bird colonel group headquarters. I am sitting in his briefing so I am hearing everything going on all over Vietnam. Listening to all the latest intelligence reports, everything else. And after report, how many aircraft do we have available today? How many hours of blade time we have available? He’s telling me that they have guns down at, say, Firebase 6 and Ben Het, and we got to get a mechanic out there to fix those. That kind of got priority. Stuff like that. So, after that is over, I am going down to the base and we finally got a sergeant who is nothing to do with aviation. Doesn’t know anything about it. But we got a staff sergeant, E-6. And he ran our operation for us and took care of paperwork. And you’d come into our building down there and he’d have a whiteboard. And he’d have all the bases and you’d tell him where you want to go, he’d write you on the board and if we had a seat somewhere, he’d put you in the seat because we had this Huey that we got every day. (01:32:37) Veteran: And the Chinooks and cranes and that were always doing sling loads so they weren’t taking anybody. And then we had all the other aircraft: the OH-6s, OH-58s, 23s. We had an extra seat, we’d put you in there, take you out to the base. And he was taking care of stuff like that. He also did flight following for us. So, if I am leaving the base going to Plei Drang, before I land it in Plei Drang, I call him, tell him I am over Plei Drang, mark me down. And he’d flight follow and keep track of us. Things like that. And then I went to work. But our unit, since it was different, they just figured they had so many aircraft and when a full bird colonel tells a battalion �commander what he is going to do, he says, “Yes sir.” So, all the aircraft were put in this pool. And while a battalion commander may want a particular pilot and he may say I need an aircraft today, he got an aircraft today. And there was no argument. No nothing. You made sure he got an aircraft today. And he’d fly and go wherever he wanted to go. So, the group commander decided early I was his pilot. I was a warrant and I had a stay at flight school. I wasn’t partying every night. He didn’t want a hard bar. I was in my mid-twenties. He wanted one that was married; I was single. I was the oldest warrant, which also helped maybe settle me down a little bit. The old man hoped so anyway. So, I became his pilot. So, if he wanted to go somewhere, I was reserved for him. And I waited until he came down and I flew him. But then I’d fly whatever he put high priority to. There was one time I flew a kid that had to repair a bulldozer. I was over there during what they called the Vietnamization section where we were training Vietnam to take over more of the war. And we were destroying some of the bases and a bulldozer was broke. So, I flew this kid out to repair the bulldozer. And the old man said, “He never flew before. He’s scared to death to fly.” He flew here in the big bird but he is scared to fly. So,” he said, “I want you to take him.” (01:34:52) Veteran: And I did. And that was a lot of fun. Matter of fact, I’ve got him so relaxed, I let him fly the aircraft part of the way. And when he was through repairing the bulldozer, he says, “Here. You drive the bulldozer.” And I says, “I don’t know a thing about a bulldozer.” He says, “We are tearing the base down. You ain’t got anything you can hurt.” So, I literally went right through a building with a bulldozer. But you know, it was…It’s not all war. The crazy part about war most people don’t understand, and you ask me about my day, is that a lot of it is hurry up and wait. Always. And I can remember after I had been there, I don’t know, about 4 or 5 months…something like that. When I first got there, we were getting hit 2,3,4 times a week. And �by fourth, fifth month I was there we might get hit once and then not get hit for a couple weeks. And we were sitting around one night thinking about how many people had transitioned in, how many new people we had, what would they do if we got hit, because we don’t—because you’re not dealing with people that have been through this mill. And we were talking about the old days when we scrambled with the shower shoes and a towel wrapped around us because we happened to be in the shower. And you know, comment to Hollywood, you don’t run back to your room and jump into your flight suit and put your socks on and put your boots on and, you know, you don’t do that. I mean, we’d get airborne and then we are talking to each other on the radio because we had a series of aircraft at our field, we’d be talking to everybody on the air once we got airborne and who’s got an aircraft with the time? (01:36:35) Veteran: Okay and who’s in full uniform? And then the rest was to go over to another base and sit on the runway and wait until this thing was over. And you know, if you happened to be in full uniform, you were at the O club and you were in full uniform, fine. If I was in shower shoes and sandals, I am probably sitting over at the Pleiku airbase or over at Camp Holloway on the other side of town waiting for the battle at our base to end. And then I’ll come back. And it was funny; it was just a couple days later I ended up sitting over at Camp Holloway in a towel and flip flops. Nothing looks funnier than a pilot with a helmet on, gloves on, chicken plate survival vest, a Roman type towel wrapped around your waist in flip flops. I mean bare arms. You know, just…And you’d get a lot of comments from ground crews running around on the base doing their thing, you know. Interviewer: Okay. So, now what would you get hit with? Was it rockets or mortars? Or…? �Veteran: Rockets, mortars. We got probed. Second week I was in Vietnam, they shot our barber in the barbed wire. He was sneaking in with satchel charges and not much more than a loin cloth wrapped around his waist and…Which is another interesting story because I ended up flying a Kit Carson scout. They started, shortly before I got to Vietnam, something called Chieu Hoi Project, which I gather means surrender or something similar to that in Vietnamese. But Chieu Hoi. And they would come over and most of the guys at Chieu Hoi were put back in the military but they were put back in the South Vietnamese military. And they knew if they got caught, life wasn’t going to be good for them. So, they ended up being, by and large, the vast percentage of them and ended up being very, very loyal and very, very good soldiers. (01:38:38) Veteran: And we had one that was a sapper. And I flew him, with the commander at times, out to some of these bases. And he’d take a look at the base. And he’d literally strip down to his underwear and he’d get a couple little pieces of bamboo sticks and put them in his…And he’d come through the barbed wire. And he’d come through the barbed wire about as fast as you think you could walk through it. And he’d show them where their weak points were and stuff was bad and stuff like that. And that was a real eye-opener and an eye sight because while the commander would see him at this base, we had 4 and 5 battalions and each battalion has got 4-5 gun batteries and—or 4-5 companies with 4-5 gun batteries in each company. And so, there’s a lot of bases out there. And I got to fly a lot of them and a lot of different commanders. Not only the group commander but battalion commanders and stuff like that. So, I took this little Kit Carson scout to several different bases and stuff. And it was interesting. It was interesting talking with him and finding out a bit about how they lived and how the Viet Cong fought and things and different…Wife mentioned that I hadn’t commented about…There was a hip shoot position at one time. And in the middle of the night, they thought they had movement in the barbed wire. �So, they put a couple flares up and there is nobody. Of course, you can hear the mortar fire of the flare. So, this went on and there is some more movement and…So, they put two flares up but one with a delayed fuse and one with a short burn. So, you fired the flares but one lights, it goes out quick. A short pause and another one lights. Here’s a Viet Cong, standing in the barbed wire, right in front of a duster, about a 40-millimeter anti-aircraft gun. (01:40:35) Veteran: And this thing had been mounted on tracks and was part of the perimeter support for this hip shoot. And they shot him. So, the next day they had—make your intelligence report and stuff and a few days later, they are making a sweep through the area and I am sitting in the old man’s briefing every morning. They found where the guy had left his clothes and his pack and got his journal. And he had come down the Ho Chi Minh Trail with a whole bunch of sappers. And there were like 2 or 3 guys left with him and he—that’s all that was left. And these guys were low morale and he was going to teach them how to do this to get the morale. He was a lieutenant. And I don’t know what happened to the other two but they didn’t attack the perimeter. I think they just decided the war was too much and quit. But interesting side light that, you know, that as I look at the stuff we went through and what I was trained for, I can’t imagine what it was like being on the other side. Down by Saigon they found some places underground that were whole motor pools. I mean, parking area. Mechanic bays. They had tunnels that went clear back underneath the border going into Cambodia that they could literally drive a truck down. And I am going, “What?!” We found one north of Pleiku. If you read the book, The 13th Valley, the guy says that the story is fictitious. I have been in the valley. The big tree that he talks about in the valley is there. I remember the battles that were there. We found tunnels up there. They found the vent hole for the tunnel. And he put, what we call a tunnel rat, down in the valley tunnel. And little guy in your unit, give him a .45, flashlight. He goes down this tunnel. You �don’t know what you’re going to find, you don’t know what’s in there. Could be booby trapped, it could be anything. (01:42:43) Veteran: But how far are you going to follow this trail? And if they got some of these tunnels that are long enough you can drive a truck in it, how far are you going to follow it? Well, he finally gave up and they brought in—we flew in gas generators and generated CS. Now, people think that this is a gas and it’s not. It is a persistent powder and we—persistent means it stays there. It’s there for days. You don’t go back in a week and it’s disseminated, it’s gone. It’s a persistent powder. So, if you go down that tunnel a week later, you’re going to stir up the gas. You’re going to stir up the tear gas and it is going to bother you. They pumped it in and pumped it in and pumped it in and pumped it in along with smoke and couldn’t find any place where it was coming out. When they set the charges and blew it, they had a spot that just sunk. Went for a mile or better. Just plop…dropped down into—crazy stuff. And you wonder how? Underground hospitals the same way. Foot operated section pumps. I don’t know how. You know? I have listened to a lot of people complain about the VA. I have listened to a lot of people complain about our military. And we have got our problems. (01:44:11) Veteran: Still, it’s the finest system in the world. With all of its problems, it still is. And here we complain about it. I don’t know how well they could complain. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: But I look at how hard we hit the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I look at the teams we put in that were working over the border. Special forces camps that were all up and down the border and literally these Montagnards, this was their backyard. You couldn’t go through without leaving sign you had been there. I don’t know how…I don’t know how the other side ever managed to �fight and keep going. And I was there after Tet. And that’s part of the reason we started getting nervous after several months and we weren’t getting hit as hard. What are they saving this up for? When are we going to get hit with all this stuff? What are they doing? And we did have places that went under siege. Ben Het was up at the tri border area where Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam come together. And it was under siege for months and months and months and months. And when it started, the Viet Cong planned everything out to just immense detail. They showed up with two P-76 tanks. These are the light, amphibious tanks. Of course, that’s kind of dumb because we have artillery there and they just leveled their guns and used their direct fire sights and shot them like shooting any other tank. And it didn’t make anything in the battle. But how do you get them in the jungle to that sight for the battle? And they had went through choreographing this fight to such an extent that when it started, within minutes, there were Viet Cong with satchel charges running around inside the compound. They had dug tunnels underneath the barbed wire and brought them up inside the compound. We didn’t know they were there. How do you do that? I mean, I don’t know. You know, I take a look at…and take my hat off to them. I mean, you want to talk about a soldier. I mean, we referred to them as Chuck. You know, the VC—the Viet Cong. A lot of respect. (01:46:26) Interviewer: Alright. Now, while a place like Ben Het is effectively under siege and so forth, would you go in and out of there? Or…? Veteran: We tried. At one point, they brought a C-130 in and did a low-level extraction because the runway was actually inside the barbed wire at that compound. And they dropped fresh rations because they had a regular mess hall there on the runway. They couldn’t get them off. They couldn’t get it off. The C-130 got so shot off—shot up—the wing fell off trying to go back to the Air Force base. That’s some pretty intense fighting. �Interviewer: And was that a special forces— Veteran: My wife wanted me to tell you about another guy. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we are talking about Ben Het and his story is entwined with Ben Het. Lieutenants going over to Vietnam to an artillery unit normally spend half their time in the field and half their time in a fire direction center, rear base, running the side sticks or playing with the phadactic desk computer to orient the guns to fire them and stuff like that. And they’re normally at a base stint some place, fairly safe. They’re not in the field anymore. And this one lieutenant they put out in the field. And he was good. But the Viet Cong, or the VC—the South Vietnam, when they got into a battle up where we were at, retreated. My brother-in-law says that the ARVNS down by Saigon were good fighters. And I have no reason to doubt. But up where I am? Most of them up where I was at? The judge gave an opportunity to go to war or go to jail. And they’d go out to the field and they would smoke their pot and do whatever and then wander back in later. I would sit in the old man’s briefings and the Vietnamese would go out and they’d have sporadic contact. Might have found a bloody bandage or something. We’d go out and, in the same area, and we’d collect broken weapons and drag trails and a bunch more blood and numerous contacts. The ROKs would go into the area and you’d have to send the deuce and a halfs in there to carry all the rice out and the weapons and— Interviewer: The ROKs being the Korean soldiers? (01:48:43) Veteran: Koreans, yeah. World of difference. The Vietnamese just, were I was at, were just not into the fight at all. And I could tell you some more stories about that that are just…But every time they got in contact, they’d pull back and our forward observer, this lieutenant, was left out �there alone. And I remember one night sitting up all night. I mean, we tried that first day to get him out and couldn’t. The aircraft got all shot up. But like I said, those aircraft took a lot of beating and came back and usually the crew didn’t get that injure—I mean, they talk about the life expectancy of a pilot but it wasn’t that bad. You’re in combat. Matter of fact, I always felt sorry for the guys on the ground. I mean, I go in, they’re all shooting at me. Yeah, okay. But when I leave, they are all shooting at me and then they go back to doing their fighting. But they are still there. I put up with it for how many minutes? Big deal. And anyway, this lieutenant was in a mortar crater and on the radio. Busy talking for help, directing artillery, trying to stay alive. We got him out. Last time that happened, we didn’t. We found him several days later along the major highway between Pleiku to Kontum. His arms were broken, wrapped backwards around a tree, that way they don’t bend, and nailed to the tree. His privates were cut off and shoved in his mouth. And whether he bled to death or choked to death, I don’t know. But he was a character. (01:50:24) Veteran: And when Ben Het was under siege, he was up there. Now, we talked about being out of contact with the world. You know, back here with everything. But you are out of contact with everything. And again, I was very unique because I am sitting in the old man’s briefings. He’s up at Dak To up there and there’s a staging field not too far from Dak To for the over the border missions. And there were all these supplies piled up. He looked, he said, “What are these things?” “Oh, that’s supplies to go to Ben Het.” “Well, why ain’t it at Ben Het?” “Well, Ben Het’s under siege.” “They’re what?! How long? What’s going on down there?” He said, “Well, they got to have this stuff.” Well, he disappeared. He come back with a jeep. He loaded up a whole bunch of this stuff, sets his M-60 in the jeep, takes off. Drives down the road and drives right down to Ben Het. Now, the fighting down there was so bad, and you were asking about it, �and I didn’t tell you. But the main gate there they had opened up to bring in a tank retriever. Now, a tank retriever has a V-12 continental engine in it. Don’t ask me how many 1000 horsepower. I don’t remember. But it is literally built to grab a tank with the treads off it and drive like a 60-70 ton tank off the battlefield. That’s a significantly built vehicle. And it’s total armaments of 50 caliber machine gun. Well you know, the enemy is going to shoot at this thing. I mean, it’s built robust and heavy. They let it get in the gate and they blew it up in the gate. That’s how intense the fighting was. Well, lieutenant comes driving down the road, drives around this thing in the gate, drops off the supplies. “Well, we will get you a room for the night. You’re going to be staying here.” “I can’t do that. I got to go out on patrol in the morning.” He gets back in the jeep, drives all the way back. Nobody shot at him, nobody—I think it’s one of those things where when you see the courage and you see somebody doing something that is really outstanding, you just sort of…But they never shot at him. They never not—just let him drive all the way down there and all the way back. And I was covering a convoy too that he was my liaison. (01:52:39) Veteran: And he was in the convoy. And he’s in the lead vehicle. I told you it wasn’t wrapped real tight. And all of a sudden, the whole convoy stops. And he jumps out of a vehicle and he runs into the jungle. I know this ain’t the call of nature. I mean, what is going on? And I am busy looking and a short while later he comes back and he throws something in the back of the vehicle and from where I am at, it looks like he’s got a bull whip. I have no idea what is going on. And I asked him and he just gives me a fluff off. Couple days later, and I’ve got pictures of him, he’s standing in front of our mess hall when I am going down there for breakfast. And he’s got his arms like this and this snake is this big around and its head is just barely touching the ground, its tail is barely—the snake was basking on the road and it went into the jungle. So, he went off the �road, in the jungle with his 45, shot it twice behind the head, had to bring the snake back to throw it in the vehicle, gone down the road. I mean…You talk about being loose wired. I think if you don’t get loose wired, I think you crack up. I mean, I have been police and I dealt with fire departments and ambulance crews and I am a wilderness EMT. I’ve been in an ambulance to get my certifications up and I ain’t interested. I don’t think you deal with those things day in, day out and don’t develop some sort of weird sense of humor. And after a while, you get sort of okay, I am getting shot at. So what? You know what, getting shot at don’t hurt. Getting hit is a bitch, but getting shot at don’t hurt. Interviewer Sure. (01:54:26) Veteran: I mean…I mean they ask me every day: shot at? Oh yeah. I get shot at a lot. Matter of fact, normal comment for me when they ask me what I did in Vietnam, I say, “I taught the enemy aerial gunnery.” They says, “What?” “Well yeah, I taught the enemy aerial. They weren’t very good.” But you know, that’s again that levity that you sort of come up with. Matter of fact, mom told me I ought to audition in here for you. I sang in a chorus at flight school, at primary flight school. And we went all over. We sang for the governor’s inaugural address in Texas. And one of the songs we did was a parody on the Green Beret. You remember Barry Sadler and the Green Beret? And it went, “Tennis shoes upon his feet, some people call him sneaky Pete, he sneaks around the woods all day, and wears that funny green beret, now it’s no jungle bore for me, I’ve never seen a rubber tree, 100 men will take the test, while I fly home and take a rest, silver wings upon my chest, I fly my chopper above the best, I can make more dough that way, and I don’t need a green beret.” Now, we had multiple verses to that. And we used to sing it up at the officer’s club and really get them wound up, you know. They finally came up with a parody to our song. And I didn’t get it. I wish I had. And he talks about when the shooting starts and the �mortars come in, we grab our choppers and fly away. And we did. You know I mean, because good humor has got to have a kernel of truth to it, right? And we just sat and laughed our tails off listening to them because they were complaining about us being cowards and running. And you know, anything but the truth. But that’s okay. I mean, that’s just the way things were. (01:56:26) Interviewer: Alright. When you were talking about sort of the Ben Het siege and it dragging on for months, did the base eventually fall? Or did the enemy go away? Veteran: They went away. I can’t remember a single battle that we lost. And yet coming home, I went to the VVA and the third time I was there, one of the guys said, “So, you’re the fellows that can’t win the war?” Oh, I was livid. I grabbed him and literally took him over the bar backwards. Interviewer: You mean VFW, not…VVA is Viet— Veteran: Yeah, VFW. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And I literally took him over the bar backwards. Looked him square in the eye and I said he was a dumb SOB. I says, “If we are told to advance, you advance. You’re told to sit down, you sit down. Told to retreat, you retreat. We ain’t ever lost a battle yet. Politicians are giving the war away and you’re blaming us.” And I walked out. Never went back. And I am not the only one that has had that type of experience. Interviewer: No, you are not. Veteran: Of…We didn’t have anybody next door to talk to. We didn’t know anybody else that had been there. Our families were split. It was difficult. I had my church, I had my family, and none of them ever once gave me the indication that I had done anything but what was requested �and honored and what was appropriate. I never had those kind of problems. But yet, I helped run some of the rec groups for the VVA, the Vietnam Veterans Association. Because the guys didn’t feel welcome any place else, we made our own group. And I helped run some of the rec groups for them. And it was enlightening because…I am unique. The Lord has given me a very special opportunity. Every place I have been, I’ve not had the typical view of the business or the job or anything else. I saw everything from Saigon to literally landing out in the middle of the field, resupplying some patrols out there. (01:58:34) Veteran: And everything in between and back and forth. On the police department, I walked the foot beats, 7 out of the 13 years, because I requested it. And I was on special assignment from the chief. When I wasn’t, I wasn’t normally in a regular car, although I got that once in a while, I was normally a back up car. So, it means I ran overlap on everybody else and if you got a bad call, I went along. Of course, if you were busy, I got your call and they’d send somebody from a neighboring district to back me up. But I got all the bad calls. Every place I have been, everything I have ever done has always been that way. So, Vietnam…Very interesting when you talk to guys from there and you deal with the group, what did he do? Was he assigned to a firebase? And he was at this little bitty outpost in the middle of the jungle with a 1000 foot of cleared space to the jungle and he was responsible for taking care of this gun and firing his gun. And he’s eating C rations and basically living in a bunker. Was he infantry and on patrol? My mechanic seldom ever saw anything but the rear base we were at. And yet they sprayed the rear base we were at 6 times with Agent Orange. He found out that through Freedom of Information Act. They fought him and weren’t going to help him. He literally went to a private clinic, had blood samples taken and proved that he had Agent Orange in his fat samples, because that’s where it tends to concentrate. (02:00:10) �Veteran: So, he went back through the Freedom of Information Act and the rear echelon base we were on got sprayed 6 times we were there. And I never had any doubt I was exposed because I am landing outside these firebases. Well, if I take a commander out there, you got this one helipad inside the base. Well, if I shot down and tie up the aircraft there, who else is landing? So, I’d pick up and go outside the base and land by the main gate and then walk back in. Well, you land out there and it’s a brown out. I mean, you look through your chin bubble and find a weed to land to because you lose all orientation. There’s nothing growing out there for 1000 yards. Why does nothing grow in the tropics in a jungle area? For 1000 yards? I mean, it takes somebody that is ding batty not to consider that oh, I have been exposed to a defoliant. Oh…So, yeah. You know, I was heavily exposed and then they are going to say, “Do you think you were?” Duh. Yeah. But everybody sees something different. I mean, I came closest to getting killed in Saigon. Flew the old man down there. Landed at Hotel Delta and he sent a jeep back for me and he told me he wasn’t going to need me until 4 o’clock, do whatever I wanted to do. Well, aircraft is where it is going to be watched. I don’t have to watch it. I am inside a secured area. Interesting term. You know, when they make a secure area, they never tell the enemy it is secure. It’s weird. Anyway, so I went with this PFC and he says, “What do you want to do, sir?” And I says, “Why, I’d like to get something to eat.” And he says to me, “Okay.” And I says, “Let’s go someplace where you can eat.” Well, he didn’t hear me. So, he took me to one of the officer’s clubs and this is a three-story building. And of course, I don’t know where I am at because I don’t know Saigon. And I take one look and I realize it’s an O club. So, I says to him—I says, “It’s an O club. You can’t come in.” I says, “Enter a place you know you can come. I’ll take care of your lunch.” I said, “Take us to a place where we can eat.” He says, “Oh, okay.” So, he drives �around the corner and after we went around the corner, somebody with a push cart had put it up in front of the officer’s club and blew the front end off the officer’s club. (02:02:31) Veteran: If I had been typical officer, I guess “typical officer.” I don’t know what a typical is. But I was raised you take care of your men. And there’ve been times where I landed with a Huey, when I am flying with one of the other units, and says, “I’ll stay with the aircraft.” Because somebody had to stay and let everybody else go get lunch. And I’ll go later. I was trained you take care of your men first. And there’s an interesting phrase they use: RHIP—Rank Has Its Privilege. But I don’t think most enlisted men understand. I flew the commander quite often right through meals. And I could object because I am a pilot and I have military regulation. And unless it’s a life or death combat situation, I am required to have my meals. He can’t fly me through dinner. So, I had arrangements I could go to the mess hall and eat any time I wanted. That sounds really great until you realize that I am skipping meals. Or maybe I don’t get any meal at all because of what’s going on. So, then all of a sudden being able to skip in line or get to the font or whatever ain’t such a big deal. So, a lot of these things where rank has its privilege really ain’t no privilege at all. It’s because of what you’re doing and it’s because of the way things are and…But I learned early: you get in the military, make friends as a supply sergeant and makes friends with the cook. And I flew commanders. So, I’m coming back to base, I’d call and say, “I am bringing the commander in, call his jeep. Tell him to be here. By the way, call over to the mess hall and tell the cook to meet me at, you know, if he wants to go for a ride.” (02:04:25) Veteran: We had on our base a two and a half ton truck with a fuel tank on the back. Now, a Huey burns a gallon of fuel a minute so for fueling hat Huey, and it runs for two hours and fifteen minutes, that’s quite a number of gallons. So, you can…You know, we have half dozen, �dozen smaller aircraft. And you’re going to fuel all these. Well, that tank doesn’t go a long ways. So, you’re refueling it every day, sometimes a couple times during the day. Nah. So, what we would do is we’d fly over to Camp Holloway, over to the Air Force base, we’d refuel over there because they had the big ground bladders and stuff like that and the pumps. Then we’d fly back, put it in the revetment, we’d just top the tank off. Well, if—you mind if I go over and refuel? Well, you take a ride around Pleiku? Nah, you’re going for your carnival ride, right? So, I got trading material left and right. And you know, you’re going to go to the cook, you’re going to go to the supply sergeant, have them take their camera, fly them around their base, fly them around Pleiku. Anything special you want to see? You know, fly them around there. Mom gets a kick out of me talking. You know, the Vietnamese, Orientals, communal showers, baths, stuff like that. It’s quite acceptable in their country. And there was a river junction out there on the rice paddies where they used to go swimming. It was a local bathing hole. And it was on the way if you’re low level and going around town. And the girls would stand up there on the bank and wave at you. They weren’t wearing bikinis. And the guys, “Whoa, whoa, go back and circle that, will you?” If you’re circling, the girls just love it. They’ll sit and wave at you all day long, you know. And the guys would just love stuff like that. But it was very different. (02:06:19) Veteran: So different to the point where you talked about being observant and that…I can remember I am covering out there and there’s a mama’s son. Every evening we’d go around our base and look for anything different. One ship was assigned to do that. And you go out and you go out and you look for anything different. And I’m out on a round one night. There’s this guy and this gal and figure they were a couple. She’s obviously pregnant and they’re working the rice paddies. He come by the next night; she ain’t there. He’s there. Come back the next night: she’s there, he’s there, here’s this little bundle on the rice paddy dike. I mean, you just…It’s like you �get to know some of the people. It’s funny because you see them everywhere. It’s like funny stuff. When the weather is bad, we were trained to fly instruments and that’s IFR, instrumental flight rules. But we didn’t do it. And if it was acceptable at all, we went down the road. Now, you’re 6 inches off the highway and doing 125 miles an hour and just hugging the highway. And you come down the highway like that and here’d be some little guy on his little 90cc moped, right. And he’d look at you and you’re going, “Hey, pay attention to the road paint there.” And he’d be in the ditch. Looked just like laughing. We didn’t win any friends. You know and he— do whatever you want and tell them to watch the road and he’s looking at you and plop, in the ditch. And I’d pick up and go over him. I ain’t going to hit him. But it is one of the things you remember: running down the highway. You know, we here…I was in a college class. Finance. And the guy next to me is a retired engineer. Captain—lieutenant colonel. And they brought up about poor. And I says, “We don’t have any poor.” And the class was 2/3 female and 2/3 black. And they just levitated. And “How can you say such a thing?” And they’re just… (02:08:29) Veteran: “I’ve been in a number of third-world countries and our poor live better than the top 10% in those countries.” I don’t remember in Saigon seeing many cars. Or in Pleiku. But them little mopeds going everywhere. And man, how you get 4 or 5 people on a moped? They got them. And if they got this pig in a basket they’re bringing, he’s on the moped. And how they get that—I don’t know how they do it. But it’s just—it’s a different world. And we just have no concept of how good we got it. Matter of fact, I sat one night on my bunk, thinking it was the first time that everything I owned went into a B4 bag and my briefcase. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: And I was living well. (02:09:24) � 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_AnthonyF2140V1 Title A name given to the resource Anthony, Frank (Interview transcript and video, 1 of 2), 2017 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-06-29 Description An account of the resource Frank Anthony was born in Muskegon, Michigan on February 6th, 1947. He attended college at Ferris State University after graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the military in 1967 and attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in May of the same year. He then did advanced infantry training (AIT) at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After completing AIT, he continued on to the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and became a Warrant Officer. Frank also attended ranger/special forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was participating in long-range recon school when his request to go to flight school was accepted. He went to flight school in 1968, which lasted for 9 months. He arrived in Vietnam in the middle of 1969. In Vietnam, he was the Safety Officer for a short period of time before becoming the Executive Officer of the Aviation Company, all the while working as a helicopter pilot. He was a part of the 52nd artillery division located in Pleiku, Vietnam. He flew a variety of helicopters while stationed in Vietnam. Frank was involved in several different skirmishes during his time in Vietnam, including the incursion into Cambodia. Frank also participated in jungle environmental survival training in Subic Bay, Philippines while on R and R. He completed a tour and a half before he left Vietnam on December 23rd, 1970. While in the military, Frank received numerous awards, including the award of the Red Banana. After leaving the service, Frank worked in law enforcement for many years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anthony, Frank A. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, RHC-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> 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.) Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ead49d2cc39e68ac1533d3dbbc1a0ca7.mp4 87101269ce1e68edb45f3b6894c3974d https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0e888c73385c3cb83b5a6b2f2c0e728b.pdf 86abbda27b8c6a8e7a7c5db13418f19f PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Oral History Interview Veteran: Frank Anthony Interviewed by James Smither Transcribed by Grace Balog Interviewer: We are continuing our conversation with Frank Anthony of Twin Lake, Michigan and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project. Okay, now Frank, we had talked already in our first round about how you wound up in the military and how you ultimately, after a lot of infantry and more specialized training, wound up becoming a helicopter pilot, a warrant officer, and going to Vietnam. Now, when did you arrive in Vietnam? Veteran: May of ’69. Interviewer: Okay. And then did you stay a full year there? Or longer? Veteran: I stayed a full year. At the end of the year they were going to send me back to a training base. I took one look at the orders and went up to the personnel officer at group headquarters and, at that time…Back up. Vietnam was not a declared war. So, unlike World War 2, once you’re there, they can’t just keep you there. It was a hardship tour. And a hardship tour, they can only keep you in there for 1 year. At that time, they were having trouble keeping enough pilots and they were in the Vietnamization program where they were slowing down the war and trying to turn it over to the Vietnamese. So, they had cut back the number of troops they were making back in the states. So, they didn’t have enough pilots for Vietnam. And they had too many of �them in the states. So, if you extended 6 months to stay over in Vietnam, you could get another 30 day leave and a free R and R. And I was going to do the same thing in another 6 months. And then I’d have one year left and they’d be sending me back to the states and oh, I’d have an attitude. So, I went up there and I requested to put in the extension and then the warrant officer came down one day and he says, “You believe in WOPA?” That’s Warrant Officer Protective Association. I said, “Yeah.” “Let me send in your orders. There is something in the wind.” He says, “You’re no lifer.” I says, “Get out of here.” He says, “Well, there’s something I just want to check out.” And he come back and he put the papers on the desk and he says, “This is for your 6month extension.” And he says, “How’d you like to get out of the service early?” (00:02:45) Veteran: I says, “How early?” He says, “Well, do another 6 months.” I says, “You mean after this 6 months?” He says, “No, no.” He says, “Do this 6-months, you get out a year and a half early.” “What do I have to do?” He said, “Just stay here.” “Do I still get my 30-day leave?” “Yep.” “Do I still get my R and R?” “Yeah.” “Can the president read it without his glasses?” You know, I am signing that baby. So, I then—instead of serving 3 years after flight school, I served a year and a half and it was a year and a half straight in Vietnam, which they couldn’t make you do. But I knew the unit and it was pretty good compared to most jobs over there. Wasn’t partaking in potluck. And I was cutting 6 months off staying there and an extra year in the service. Interviewer: Alright. So, you basically finished in Vietnam towards the end of 1970? Veteran: December 23rd. Interviewer: Right. Okay. Now kind of go back now. Now, when you officially served with several different units in Vietnam. �Veteran: Which was interesting because a lot of times when they do that, it is just a paperwork shuffle. You may not even change barracks. And in my case, I did but I didn’t leave the artillery hill I was on. I didn’t change the people I was working with. My job didn’t change in any way, description or form. But when I first got there, I was assigned to 3rd of the 6th Artillery, which was an interesting unit because they had guns that we no longer had. They had SP-105s, selfpropelled 105s, which looked like a small tank. (00:04:20) Interviewer: Yep. Veteran: And they used them a lot for what we call hip shoots. They take them down the road and they get to a place and they just pull off the side of the highway, circle the guns, and they’d have an armed personnel carrier with them which would be their forward direction center, FDC. And they’d throw barbed wire out that they were carrying on the tanks. They’d throw barbed wire out around them. And they’d sit there and that’d kind of keep the enemy on…I don’t know, a razor’s edge? You’d have to kind of put a dot in the middle; pin in the map and a string and draw a circle and say, “Now what can they cover they couldn’t cover before? What are they going to be doing? Why are they doing this?” And those units used to pull a lot of hip shoots. Interviewer: Okay. Now as a helicopter pilot, did you work with them in some way? Veteran: Oh…Yeah. Our unit was different. I was talking to a friend of mine and he was artillery too. And his artillery unit—some of his pilots were directly dedicated to, like, the intelligence officer. And that’s all he flew for and that’s all he did and…Our unit, prior to us getting there, had had Bird Dogs, L-19 fixed wings. And when we got there, they’re still allocated the same way. There were 4 helicopters assigned to a group, 2 to each battalion. They were allowed a pilot for each aircraft, a mechanic for each aircraft, and a toolbox. That was it. Group put them all �together and decided they had an aviation company that was to support everybody. And we did everything: from flying the commanders to flying…Well, I wrote my mom and told her I was flying ice cream, mail, chaplains, ash and trash. I did. But we also did convoy cover. If we were there, we did the medevacs. We did emergency resupply. Guns had to be repaired or somebody had to be brought back for whatever reason, we went out and got them. (00:06:30) Veteran: If a unit was under attack and stayed that way long enough or we happened to just be in the area, we’d fly over ahead and sometimes we could see what’s going on and we’d redirect artillery or move troops or whatever had to be done. I mean, we were basically just an airborne ¾ ton truck and used for anything and everything. Interviewer: Okay and what type of helicopter did you normally fly? Veteran: Well when I first got there, believe it or not I was flying an OH-23 which was what you see—similar to what you see on MASH. Interviewer: Yeah, with the big bubble where the pilot is? Veteran: Yep. It has a piston air engine. 23 is different than a 13 though. 13, pilot rides on one side, observer rides on the other. 23, pilot rides in the middle straddling the console. A person can ride on both sides. Later, I flew an OH-58, which is a Bell Ranger, similar to what you see in a number of news media people using. I was checked out and trained to fly a Huey and the OH58s were brand new. We had 13 of the 20 of them that came to Vietnam. And the Bell tech rep lived with us. And it was interesting because self-centering bearings didn’t. Self-lubricating bearings didn’t. All kinds of things that the aircraft was supposed to be capable of doing and so and so forth didn’t happen. So, these things were under close scrutiny. So, from time to time, we’d get a twix radio teletype message that all our fleet was grounded. And pilots being pilots, �we like to fly. I mean, we don’t like combat but we like to fly. So, we’d go over then and fly with the lift units and stuff because well, we were checked out to fly them and…So, then we’d go fly Hueys. Our group did requisition, from up above somewhere, at least one Huey a day. And we normally got at least one lift aircraft a day. (00:08:27) Veteran: Sometimes we got 2 or 3 of them and those were normally Chinooks or cranes because we had some bases that were totally inaccessible by ground and everything had to go in by air. I mean, we not only took in food, we took in water tanks, all their ammunition, anything and everything. Interviewer: Yeah. And artillery ammunition, if you are taking that in, it’s pretty substantial. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: You can’t take that in with a Huey. Veteran: What most people don’t realize is that while artillery is heavy, they quite often go through more their weight in ammo each day than what the gun weighs. So… Interviewer: Yeah. Okay, so that sort of—and basic—and so essentially, that’s the kind of work that you were doing throughout that year and a half. Now, I want to go back. You— one of the pieces of your story that’s interesting, people wouldn’t know much about, is you had Vietnamese civilians working for you on these bases. So, you’re on a base basically at Pleiku, that area? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Alright. And with that first unit, you had—you basically inherited a maid? �Veteran: I came in first day and first day they can’t use you yet. First off, everybody gets climatized so they spend a week or two climatizing you. And the poor infantry are running and doing other things and I can’t fly yet. First off, I haven’t had a check ride. Haven’t had all my equipment issued. I haven’t had my physical. So, there’s a lot of things that have to happen before I could fly. So, they told me, “Just sleep in” and they gave me this room. And basically, the barracks is a pole building on a slab. And the outside siding you can actually inside look out and see the ground outside. You look up through the rafters and you can see this steel roofing. And the room is 8x8 and I got one all by my lonesome and they told me, “When you wake up in the morning, come on down. We’ll get you started. I mean, no sense worrying about getting up early or anything.” So, I am sleeping in and I am a fairly light sleeper anyway. And the door opens and there’s this Vietnamese standing in the doorway. And keep in mind now, my room is like 50-75 yards from the outside perimeter. (00:10:39) Veteran: And I am green as grass; don’t know anything. So, I drew my 45, cocked and locked it and I am aimed right at her. Hollered, “Halt!” And she did. She froze statue style, standing right there. And the two of us are in this Mexican standoff until Doc finally hears her. She starts talking but she’s… (unintelligible sounds) …I have no idea what that said but anyway, Doc looks around the door casing at me and sees me in there and says, “If you shoot her, you’ll have to do your own laundry.” “Oh.” She’d been using the room to, like, put a blanket over a footlocker and iron clothes and stuff like that. And she didn’t know there was somebody in there and I didn’t know she was coming in. She ended up being my maid. That was Mai. And everybody gets a laundry mark. And I have no idea what it means but I was number hocken 10. And they rate everything from 1 to 10. 10 is as bad as you can be and if you’re number 1, that’s super. And I started off being number hocken. She wrote it on the door. I mean not just my �clothes but she wrote it on the door. So, that was my start with her. But it was a—it was a relationship I didn’t forget. I had 2 other maids as I was reassigned. You asked me about it, I was reassigned to 52nd group headquarters and then to 6th of the 14th and both those units were on the hill and both times I got moved to a different barracks. And I ended up with a different maid and I don’t remember much about either one of the other two. Course like I said earlier, you know, we are talking 50 years ago. If you’d asked me earlier, I could probably remember more than that but Mai was the first one. And then there were two captains going home that didn’t pay her. (00:12:32) Veteran: And I cornered them at the O club the night they were due to leave. And I asked if they had paid Mai and they knew they hadn’t. And I asked them to give me the money and we could buy them a box of soap and a can of shoe polish a month. And when I say pay her, she took our laundry out, washed them. During the monsoons, they took out every piece of leather we had, saddle soaped it and polished it so it didn’t grow mold. And if you had a little—one of the rooms had a counter in there with a hot plate and some other stuff. If I left anything, they took it out, cleaned it, brought it back, put it there. The room got swept out. They changed the linen on the bed. I don’t know. But she got $2.50 a month. That was 1000 piastre. That was their money. And we paid them in piastre; they didn’t get paid in U.S., they didn’t get paid in military pay currency. They got paid in piastre. And it was 1000 piastre a month. And we weren’t allowed to pay them more and we weren’t allowed to give them anything else. They were worried about inflating their economy and causing trouble. So, we were limited what we could pay them. They did eat their lunch on the base. And that was provided. But you asked about other personnel…In the mess hall, we had our cooks that were there but nobody pulled KP. Civilians took care of that. The officers were in the front quarter of the mess hall and the back quarter is where they �fixed the meals. The middle section is where all the chairs were where the enlisted personnel and stuff like that ate. (00:14:24) Veteran: We were in the front and there was a small square piece of paper laying at your place. You went to your place, picked up your pencil and checked off what was on the menu that you wanted. They come, picked up the paper, they got the food from the kitchen or went through the line or whatever, I don’t know, and brought the food up to us. And when we were through eating, we just got up and left and everything was cleared and cleaned and that’s the way it was. But officers are a little different too. Our meals aren’t free. After you go through flight school and that, you’re given a certain amount. Well first off, you’re given so much for your uniforms. And that’s a one-time thing. And after that, you’re required to provide your own uniforms. And food? If you go to the mess hall, you could buy it. I am trying to remember what it was at the time. It was something stupid. It was under a buck and a half a day or something. And it was like 35 cents for a meal and they kept track of it. And it was deducted from your pay. So, when you got your pay, it showed how much you paid for meals there. But if you wanted to go to the O club or if you wanted to fix something in your room or buy stuff at the PX, it was up to you because you were—you’re pretty much on your own. But officers again being a different group too, the guys referred to RHIP: Rank Has Its Privilege. And they think it’s cool that you can just cut the corners on a lot of these things. But like, it was the officer—the group commander at 6th of the 14th—when I was first up there, he flew me to where I went right through dinner. And I didn’t make a whole lot of complaints to him. But then later I let him know that military reg says I am to get my meals, because you want to keep blood sugar up. Interviewer: Right. (00:16:15) �Veteran: And that I needed to eat. And he told me to go down to the mess hall. I did. The cook promptly run me out. So, I went up to the…Can’t think of what you call it. I went up to the main office there. And first sergeant top asked me what was wrong. And I told the top. And, “Stay here.” “Hey, I don’t want to get nobody in trouble.” He says, “I’ll take care of it.” Top went down and he come back and he told me, “You go down to the mess hall. He’ll feed you.” I went down to the mess hall and the cook took me back into the back of the kitchen, opened up the great big doors of the refrigerators and says, “What do you want?” I looked at him and I said, “I just want something to eat.” I said, “You got some C rations?” Because they got them by the case and that’s where they’re kept. And I said, “Give me some C rations and some slurps.” He took 2 cans—cases of C rations—put them on the counter. Took a case of slurps and put them on the counter. He says, “Now, what do you want to eat?” And I said, “No, I’ll just take—” “Uh-huh. First sergeant will skin me alive.” He says, “What do you want to eat?” And I says, “What do you got that’s quick and easy?” And you know. I got in good with the cooks and the supply sergeants because having been in the military a bit before flight school, those are two people you really want to know. It will make your life easier. And I’ve got helicopter rides. So, I got adequate trading material, you know. And there’s a number of things we are doing where we can take passengers with us, like we are bringing a VIP, we always call ahead and their jeep comes down to pick them up. We had a tanker truck to fill our aircraft. But if you’re flying a Huey and it burns a gallon of fuel a minute, you can drain your truck fairly fast. So, we’d go over to the Air Force base or we’d go over to the other side where there was an Army aviation base; we’d fill up there, bring our aircraft back and then just top it off. at night, we had a mission: each evening we’d fly around our base and just keep making circles wider and wider out and look for anything changing or different. (00:18:26) �Veteran: And we found a lot of interesting things. But a lot of those times, I’d just take my crew chief with me. Well, OH-23, I still got another seat. “You want to go and bring your camera?” So, we’d do stuff like that. And the guys loved going for rides. So, many a time, I’d go back to my hooch at night and right by the door would be a brown bag and maybe a regular carton of milk. And I’d look in the brown bag and here would be fresh cinnamon rolls because the night baker would leave them for me. So, in a lot of ways, later it turned out to be great. The cook there finally decided he’d start putting meals and put them on top of the baking oven. And I don’t know how many times I come in, he just would take it off, “Oh, you don’t want that. It’s been here too long. What else do you want?” You know. And I am going, “Hey guys, you know I am not trying to make work for you.” But RHIP? I didn’t eat my meals when everybody else did. And I had my share of eating out of cans. And I had my share of missing meals because of a combat situation. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: But they think it’s pretty cool that you just get away with that. Interviewer: Alright. But I suppose this also ties back in with the idea that you had those two captains that didn’t feel like paying the maid. Veteran: Oh. They were going to ditch her. And they weren’t going to pay her. Interviewer: So, did you get the money from them? Veteran: I did and I also got the money for the soap and for the shoe polish and brought it back to her. And she thought that was cool. It—I don’t know how long it took but it wasn’t too long: I became number 1. And my—even on the door, my number got changed: I was number 1 now, you know. And she was…Her and I became close. She came in one day and she says to me, she �says, “You no bombula?” And that’s their word for butterfly. They don’t have a word for playboy but a butterfly goes from flower to flower, sucking nectar, and it means the same thing to them. (00:20:28) Veteran: And I go, “No…” And she says, “You no like boys?” I says, “Get out of here.” She says, “You no marry?” I says, “No.” She says, “You need wife.” I said, “Oh…I couldn’t agree more.” She says, “Boys don’t know how to pick good wife.” She says, “You look with eyeballs.” You know, she says, “Good wife got to know how to cook, got to know how to take care of laundry, got to know how to take care of you. Good wife got to come from good family and be trained proper.” She says, “In Vietnam, family pick wife.” She says, “I get you good wife.” Now what do you say? You know, I got to be thinking quick. I says, “Mai,” I said, “If you get me good wife, my family lose face.” “Oh. Yeah. Okay.” You know? So, she backed off. But then it was strange: a couple months later, she knows I am not this butterfly, she knows I am not a problem. She grabs my arm one night and she says, “You come home with me.” And she’s facing away from me now and she’s pulling me. And she says, “I make you happy. I take care of you tonight.” I got no idea what she’s talking about. But it’s totally out of character. Mai is married, she’s got a couple kids. I don’t know what’s going on. And she’s just pulling me out the door. 4-foot bulldozer. And I yank her back. She turns around and she’s just full of tears. I mean, she is just…And I looked at her and she says to me, she says, “You promise me you sleep in bunker tonight? You stay safe?” It got overcast that night and we took over 40 rockets that night. How she knew? I have no clue. (00:22:13) Veteran: I just don’t know. She came in one morning and she says, “You fly the Mang Yang Pass?” I said, “Yeah.” “Oh, fly high beaucoup VC big gun. Very bad.” So, I am thinking mhmm. I am sitting in the old man’s briefing every morning. Haven’t heard anything about it. So, right �after breakfast, I go over to the intelligence bunker. I mean, I could try to talk to the guy at the mess hall but if he’s doing his job, he ain’t going to say anything. He ain’t going to talk to me. And I mean, we got these Vietnamese girls going in and out of our, you know. He ain’t going to say nothing. So, I went over to the bunker and I went down to the intelligence bunker. They don’t know a thing. Two days later, he cornered me at breakfast and he says, “Before you go up for the briefing, stop by. I want to show you something.” A quiet 50—2 quiet 50s—in the pass and a reinforced company. Took them 48 hours to figure it out. She’s telling me. I don’t know. At one time, they thought maybe she was a spy. At one time—well, 2nd week I was there, they had a bit of a disruption in the barbed wire one night and they shot a sapper coming in. Sapper was normally birthday suit or some sort of loin cloth and dragging satchel charges—explosive charges, already set up. And they know where they are going to put them: set the timers and blow them. They attacked one of our other firebases one night and they destroyed over 85% of the guns and the buildings, the structures—the bunkers and stuff. Didn’t last very long. It was very destroy—and none of the guys…They didn’t figure any of them got off the base. We had enough dead bodies, they didn’t figure they left but…The guy they got in the barbed wire, when we got him out of there dead, he was our barber at 3rd of the 6th. Another Vietnamese that was on base. (00:24:15) Veteran: So, you didn’t really know. And they thought well, maybe Mai was playing both sides towards the middle or something. And I carried what they called an SOI: Signal Operating Instruction. It was on a cord; went around my neck. And, like my dog tags, it went with me everywhere I went. And they gave me a phony one. They wanted me to leave it lay around. And I left it on the bed with my dog tags on purpose and went out to go around because I had to go out of my building around outside into the back and closer to the barbed wire was where our �latrine was. And I went out there to take a shower. I don’t know where Mai was because she wasn’t in my room and I didn’t see her. But I don’t think I got 3 feet away from my door, heading down the pathway, and she’s yelling and hollering at me and she’s got that SOI and dog tags in her hand and I am not sure because my Vietnamese is not that good but I don’t think she was calling me good names. And she told me this was very bad and I no do and I take this. And she was serious about it. So…I don’t know. Interviewer: Yeah. Well, the people were often caught between a rock and a hard place in a lot of cases. It certainly seemed like she was making a point of doing things that actually helped you. Now another side of this, you talked about your not being a butterfly. Now, how common was it for men in your situation to take advantage of the women that worked on the base? Veteran: Well, in some cases you didn’t have to. To give you an example, one night I got called. I was the executive officer of the aviation company and I got called and a couple of my enlisted men had got caught downtown. Now, downtown is off limits and everything closes up about dark and they close the gates, put the barbed wire around. You don’t get out with a couple veh— unless you got a couple vehicles, written orders, machine gun, radios, flak jackets. I mean, it’s a jump through a hoop situation. So, I got a couple guys in the jeeps and all that stuff and went down to the MP station. (00:26:21) Veteran: And sure enough, these are a couple of my enlisted men. And they were down at the brothel, going to stay all night. So, I brought them back and took them down to my air section and I told the guard that we—sounds funny—we had a barbed wire enclosure inside the compound because we don’t need people trying to cut across the runway and things. So, and finally, I got my guys separated from everybody else’s, because they’re coming from all these �different battalions and group, and got them one building. And they all lived in the one building. And they pulled guard duty on our air section. So, if we had a scramble, these guys know what things got to be untied, what—we got a big plug, went in the air intakes, got to come out. They know how to get the aircraft ready for us to go. Also, sometimes when the Viet Cong got on the base, they did things like take a hand grenade and they would, if it was like ours, theirs weren’t but they used ours from time to time, they would wrap them with duct tape, pull the pin. Now, it can’t go off because the hammer is being held down. You know the…They would then take the fuel cap off—and our fuel caps are quite big—and they would put the hand grenade inside and put the fuel cap back. What we did was we would scratch the fuel cap across to the—and you got to find the scratch and then lock it down. Well, our guys would check immediately to see if they were left in the positions they were supposed to be. And so, our guys were on the base and they pulled guard duty on our airfield instead of on normal guard towers. And I came in and I told the guard, he was sitting in the air section which is okay: you can sit their part of the time. I told him to get lost, I want to talk to these two enlisted men. And I told them, I says, “It’s not my standards, my belief and stuff. You know, that’s sacred. This is with your wife. It’s—You don’t go other places.” (00:28:27) Veteran: I told them, I says they “were stupid.” And they’re looking at me kind of funny like and I says, “You know, you go down to”—I forget what they called it. They had a place where…It was like a manpower pool and we could go down there and the Vietnamese were somewhat screened and things and you go down and you talk to them. And I says, “You go down there, find a gal you want for a maid. Talk to her. Tell her what you expect. And If you expect to get laid twice a week, tell her, you know, I am going to get laid twice a week. And if I get sick, if I come up with some strange disease…I mean, you’re getting fired. And you lay down the law to �them and they’re quite open about stuff like that.” I mean, the guys tell me about the—and I don’t know—but a lot of the little whorehouses along one of the roads were little tar paper shacks. I mean, little small places. And they might be separated by about this much. And they’d have windows on the side and they’d tell me about the girls talking to each other while the guys are having sex. They’re going what??? I don’t know. I have to take their word for it. But they were quite open about stuff and they say that some of them felt that if they weren’t emotionally involved, there was nothing wrong with it. I don’t know. I never asked Mai. Never questioned her. But I told these guys, I says, “Talk to your maid. Tell her what you expect, what’s going to happen if things mess up or you get sick or…Getting caught downtown? That’s stupid. That’s just flat stupid.” But it was available. I mean, it was like drugs and other things. I mean, enough stuff was available anywhere that doing some of this stuff crazy was just…And, you know, being that…Well, I’m a Mormon. We don’t drink coffee, we don’t drink tea, we don’t drink alcohol, we don’t smoke. So, when I had the O club for a while, I don’t think the gal that worked behind the counter there by the bar there would have given me a drink if I asked for one. I think I could have threatened her and she wouldn’t have given me a drink. (00:30:41) Interviewer: And why wouldn’t she have given you a drink? Veteran: She knows that’s not my beliefs. Interviewer: Ah, okay so she would have been— Veteran: Yeah, something’s wrong. You know, she…We did have an officer that died over there once and it hit me hard. I don’t remember his name. I went to a mobile wall. You know, the Vietnam Wall. I went to one… one day and I looked him up and he’s not hard to find. And I went to his name and the minute I saw the name on the books, I knew it was him. Usually, an �artillery officer, a young artillery officer, spends first half of his tour in the field. And he’s with the unit and he directs artillery form out in the field. And this guy was so good with his bush skills and that that they kept him with the Vietnamese, South Vietnamese. But every time they got in contact up where we were, these guys would draw back and leave him out there alone. And several times—I remember one night going down and listening to the radio at the air section of him keeping contact with people from a mortar crater. And he was totally surrounded and fighting. And we tried twice before that night to get him out and the aircraft come back like swiss cheese and they couldn’t get to him. And I mean, we are using gunships to try and run interference for him. And we couldn’t get him out. This happened on a couple occasions. He’s the same one, did you want me to— Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Relay about Ben Het again? Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah. (00:32:22) Veteran: He’s the same one that I was up by Dak To and we had a staging field between Dak To and Ben Het for what we called FOB missions: Flights Over the Border. We also had a more colorful term for it. But anyway, we would stage there for going over and Ben Het was right at the tri border area, where Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam come together. And it was a strategic— military strategic—location. He was down by the staging field and he’s looking at all this stuff stacked up. And he asked, “What’s it doing here?” And we says, “Well, it’s supposed to go to Ben Het.” “Well, why isn’t it at Ben Het?” And being out in the field, you’re just disconnected from anything and everything. He didn’t know they had been under siege for months. And they had been under siege to the point to where we couldn’t get anything in or out. We dropped �rations on the runway at one point with a C-130. It got so shot up that the wings fell off it before it got back to base. The rations that were dropped were what we call a low-level extraction. They come across the field, they throw a parachute out, the stuff is dragged out the back and dropped on the runway. They couldn’t get the stuff off the runway. It rotted on the runway. They loaded up a tank retriever and a tank retriever is bigger than a tank and it’s more armored. It’s got a 12cylinder, diesel engine and I forget how much horsepower it’s got but it’s unbelievable. And this thing can fasten to a tank and drag a tank off the battlefield with no treads. (00:34:11) Veteran: Because that’s a common thing to have happen: have a track get blown off a tank. And then it is immobile. It’s a sitting pillbox, if you will. And this thing would go out and fasten to that tank and drag it off a battlefield. It’s a pretty substantial piece of hardware. They let one of them get right in the gate going into Ben Het and then blew it up. Nothing got in or out of that place. Nothing. Well, he takes a look at all these supplies and he says, “Well, we can’t have that.” He wanders off and he comes back later and he got a jeep from somewhere—I have no idea where he got it from. And he just puts a bunch of whole supplies on the jeep: well they need this, they need that, they need this. And all he’s got is his M-16. And it’s leaning against the dahs. And he takes off. He drove all the way down to Ben Het, down the road that goes—one road that goes there—drove down, drove around the tank retriever, into the base, delivers the supplies. And they go, “Well, we will find you a place to stay. You know, we are going to—” “Stay? I’ve got to go on patrol tomorrow.” He jumped back in the jeep and drove all the way back. Nobody even shot at him. Interviewer: Right. �Veteran: And the only thing I can assume is somethings happen in combat…It’s like playing— it’s like counting coup. And they happen from time to time and when you see them, you just sort of stand there and go. Interviewer: Right. Yeah, I think we did have that particular piece of story in the previous round. But let’s—but this is a fellow who would go off and he would go across into Laos or into Cambodia as part of what he would do? Veteran: He was typically working with just the Vietnamese on our side. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And one night, he—again, they left him. And for a while we had a contact and for a while we were trying to get at him but he was in a heavy…Jungle over there can get triple canopy and I don’t know if people here know what I am talking about but the trees will grow up and they’ll make a complete canopy. And then, they will grow up and make another complete canopy. And then they’ll grow up and make another. And they get so thick that we have had aircraft that have had, with extreme difficulty, have landed on top of the canopy and stayed there. (00:36:32) Veteran: I don’t know if you can imagine it. And then they drop 160-foot rope that we sometimes used for the guys to repel out or we would do string jobs across the border to pick people out. And they’ve repelled down and not been able to get to the ground yet. Just amazing. Anyway, he was in one of those kind of areas. We couldn’t fly in to get him. We couldn’t…It was difficult doing anything. Then, battery runs out. You run out of contact with him. I don’t remember now whether it was days or weeks later but they found him alongside the main road and they had broken his arms and bent him around and nailed his arms to the tree. Don’t know if �that was before he was dead or after he was dead. His privates were cut off and they were stuffed in his mouth. Don’t know if he bled to death or suffocated. But he didn’t go easy. And I went down to the bunker that was behind my hooch and threw open the door and it was the first time there wasn’t a bit of liquor in there. And I went up to the officer’s club and I was intent—I was having a hard time with that one. And I came in and I don’t remember the gal who run the bar for me but she popped a knee-high orange and just slid it down the bar. And that sort of shortcircuited me. (00:38:05) Veteran: And she somewhat saved me. Because I was going to tie one on. He was way past his 6-months. Why they kept him out there, I don’t know. I know the commander from that unit. I don’t think he’s the type to hold a grudge. I don’t know if they had nobody else to put out there and he was the best skilled. So, you put him out there figuring he is less likely to get…Don’t know. I mean, I think I told you before I was covering a convoy and the convoy stopped. Interviewer: Yep, yep. Veteran: He ran into the jungle and I am looking, going what?? And I am flying convoy cover. And I am going what’s going on down there? Because he went into the jungle all by his lonesome. And he come out later and he threw something in the back of the jeep and, of course, I am 1000 feet over the top of the convoy. I can’t tell precisely what he did. But he threw something in the back of the jeep. I’ve got pictures at home of him standing in front of the mess hall with the gals you were talking about and he’s got a snake that was about this big around. He’s holding it with both arms like this and the thing is just barely touching the ground on both sides. He’d shot it behind the head twice with his 45 and brought it back and put it in the jeep and brought it back. I don’t know. That was something that was important to him but you get a little loose-wired. I mean, you been in combat long enough. When you first started, you were �scared to death and after a while you just do. And he felt safe enough I guess at the time with the situation, he just went and got the snake. Interviewer: Yep. I know you talked about him staying out in the field, that maybe that he wanted to be in the field. Veteran: I don’t know. If he’d been one of my men and I had the men to spare, I don’t care if he wants to or not; he’d done his time. And you can play the numbers and that’s exactly what I talk about at times. You can play the numbers and if you play them long enough, your number is up. And you can get away with anything for a while. You know, there’s old pilots and there’s bold pilots. But there is no old, bold pilots. (00:40:16) Interviewer: Okay. Now, another dimension of the Vietnam War that was going on while you were there was the incursion into Cambodia. We officially did go in and send substantial numbers of troops. Did that effect what you did? Or what was your connection to that? Veteran: Well yeah, if they are going, the artillery needs to go. And while we got 8-inches and 175s and these are big guns like you’d find on a battleship. And these things were actually mounted on track vehicles. Military didn’t have any more of them anymore. They used rockets in their places. But they were on the border. Now, 8-inch is real accurate but it is not as long. Well, 175 is real long and we used to joke you’re lucky to get two of them in the same grid square. Because the further out you shoot, the more difficult it is to be accurate with them. So yeah, we were moving. We moved some of the 105s, sp-105s, up the border. We brought in some 155s and airlifted them in when we could. But that was during part of the monsoon season and it was bad. And trying to even navigate those roads is bad. And we had a section between Camp Enari, �that was where 4th infantry division was, it was between Pleiku and the border. And then there was a couple other special forces camps. And the end of that road was Plei Drang. And that was an area where they kicked off to go in and a lot of these special forces camps have airstrips and stuff by them left over from the French. And…Well, again, like I said, I had a fairly cushy job. The infantry goes first, the artillery is behind them somewhere, shooting. It would be nice if you had a conventional war where you had a frontline. Because in Vietnam, there is no front lines. And they pop up anywhere and everywhere and there’s really no front line. And that road was known somewhat to be full of ambushes and we were covering it. And I am covering a convoy going. And the weather was bad. (00:42:25) Veteran: I told my crew chief, “Get a machine gun.” And I normally didn’t. I was flying a 58 at the time and it can carry 4 people. And I had an aerial observer in the front and he’d had some stick time. He could get us down in one big chunk, I think, if things required. Crew chief for the back and he normally had a monkey harness and a short strap that went back and clipped into the seatbelts so he couldn’t fall out. And had a machine gun that hung on a bungee cord from the door. Door? No door. Doorway. Doors were off. And then he asked me if his roommate could go because I didn’t ask anybody else. And he says, “You need another gunner.” Okay. But I didn’t normally fly with anybody else. So, we took another gunner and we were flying ahead of the convoy, trying to deliberately draw fire. Low, slow, stupid, whatever. But the weather was so bad, I couldn’t get high anyway. I mean, there were times I couldn’t see my own rotor blades. And I am hugging the treetops. It got so bad for a while, I actually hovered on the convoy. At one point, I heard dust off call off Plei Drang and they were coming south. And I called them on the radio and I said, “You got wheels on that thing?” Because the weather was that bad, you know. And he says, “What are you doing?” And I says, “Well, I am covering a convoy and I am �coming up the other side.” So, I asked him if he was on his side of the road because it was kind of a joke: IFR is Instrument Flight Rules. And in Vietnam, we used to say IFR is I Follow Roads. And in bad weather, we’d get low to the roads and hug the roads. (00:44:17) Veteran: He was coming down, I was going up. I made sure he was on his side, he made sure I was on my side. Normally in combat we flew with the lights off, even at night. So, if you look outside here and you see an aircraft go by and you see the little lights on the outside and you see the rotor rotating beacons? We had them off. We turned them on. And we even turned our marker lights on flash so the lights that are on the outside of the aircraft are flashing. I got two rotating beacons on my aircraft and they are both going. And in that area, right in the middle, was a plantation. I don’t remember now if it was a rubber or a tea plantation. And on one side is the house and on one side was manufacturing and whatever. And they ran a powerline because the generator is only on one side of the road so they ran a powerline across. And that’s kind of rare in the jungles to find powerlines, you know? I mean, Vietnam didn’t have a lot of powerlines. And so, I asked them to call the powerline. He said he would. And we had radio contact and we were on our own sides of the road. And we had all the beacons on and the lights and we both called the powerline at the same time. And we got extra people in the aircraft so it ain’t just me trying to fly and look where I am going and look to see if I can see him and—we had other people. We didn’t see each other. So, that’s what you get. And that was a day when breakfast to dinner was C rations, if I had a chance. Good share of that day, I set the aircraft down, they refueled it running. You had it refueled and right back up and going. And didn’t have any time to stay or do anything or…You got personal business to do, you relieve yourself under the tail boom of the aircraft. Ain’t got time to run any place else. It was a busy day. (00:46:10) �Interviewer: Now, when you were going into Cambodia, was that more dangerous than flying over Vietnam? Or was it basically the same? Veteran: You never know. I mean, I’d like to say yes because the president was stupid enough to tell them we are coming, first off, so they knew what we were going to be doing. But they also then could know we were coming and pull out whatever they want: pull their troops back, go to the jungle and stay put. A lot of times, we would make contact with them and they’d split up into 3-man units and just disappear. There were times where we thought we had them surrounded, literally surrounded, cordoned off in the jungle. You swear they couldn’t go anywhere. And they’d break down into 3-man units and infiltrate right between our lines and be gone. Just evaporate. Before I got there, when they went in and fought at Imperial Palace. I can’t think of the name of the city. The Tet Offensive. Interviewer: Well, that was Huế. Veteran: Yeah, Huế. They were already prepared and fought in the city and they retreated all the way to the Imperial Palace. And you’d swear they were there, they can’t get out, they can’t go anywhere. Next day, they were gone. And that’s one of the big question marks of the war: how did they get out of there? Don’t know. They had them cornered into the Imperial Palace. Place was surrounded. No place out. Next day, they are gone. But the Viet Cong, for the most part, everything was planned out in great detail. They didn’t do many things off the cuff. Or rapid reaction forces? They didn’t have. They planned everything out in great detail, including leaving. And a lot of times, things could be quiet for months and then you could have a battle that lasted 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days and then—just as quiet. (00:48:24) �Veteran: So, you didn’t know. I mean, when I first got to Vietnam, we got shelled 3-4 times a week. Sometimes we were probed, sometimes there were people that actually got on the perimeter. And then I remember after a few months, we went for a month or two and nothing. Absolutely nothing. And we are wondering: what are they saving it all for? What’s going to happen? And then we started thinking: how many of our people—because this was a different war and we didn’t go over as a solid unit, we didn’t go back as a solid unit, people rotated in and rotated out—how many of our people were brand new now? How many of our people hadn’t actually been under fire and been tested? How many of them don’t know what they’re going to do? And it got kind of an eerie feeling because you didn’t know if they were going to have an all out offensive on you. Or if maybe because of Tet, they’d run out of their reserve? And they didn’t have any fuel in the tank to keep fighting with? Or…You just didn’t know. And you’re sitting there. So, your question is a good one because there were times where they popped up like that firebase between Dragon Mountain and Camp Enari. They hit that one and it was one evening. They came through the South Vietnamese section of that base and got into our base and, with charges, disabled 85% of the artillery we had there. Blew up 85% of the bunkers. We were shooting them running around inside the compound. I mentioned Ben Het. Within minutes of them starting the attack, there were people running around with satchel charges inside the base. (00:50:17) Veteran: They tunneled underneath the barbed wire, come—we didn’t know they were even there or done that. And all of a sudden, they are just there and you got to fight. So, you know I had heard soldiers from World War 2 talk about hurry up and wait. And you don’t know when they are going to start a fight. You don’t know when the fight is going to end. You don’t know…In Vietnam, there was no frontline. Leastwise in World War 2, if they came through like �the Battle of the Bulge, when they started it and who they were there, you knew where they— they were moving troops to fight it. Vietnam? You were fighting with what you had for the most part. I mean, you might bring in puff the magic dragon. You might bring in an aerial gunship. Call over to Camp Halloway and get some of our helicopter gunships to come shoot it up if things are getting bad. There were some rapid reaction units we had but most of them were for the field. You get hit and you’re a convoy, you’re fighting your way out of the mess. And normally they wouldn’t stay there long enough for you to bring in reinforcements or do anything. So, my take on was it more dangerous to go into Cambodia? I don’t think so. I think we somewhat caught them off-guard. I don’t think they were prepared or thinking over there offensively. And I don’t think their bases were really set up that offensive. The people we put over the border prior to that were all small patrols, for the most part. LRRP patrols: Long Range Recon patrols. There were not a lot of men. When they encountered a lot of enemy, they used artillery, they used air strikes, they used whatever. They didn’t try and engage them themselves. They just ghosted away into the jungle. (00:52:25) Interviewer: Now, would you go in and get those people? Or would they just get themselves out? Veteran: Yeah. And there were times we went in and got them when they were in contact. And a couple times we did what we call a string job. We—they couldn’t get to an open LZ, landing zone. Found a hole in the jungle, dropped 160-foot rope and hoped it reached the ground. They had a—like a jumpsuit, carabiner on the back, they’d hook you in. The most we could pull with a Huey out was 3. Well, it depends. If they weren’t too high in the mountains and the air wasn’t too hot that day, we could maybe take 4 and bring them straight up out of there and then fly them some place to where we could get to an LZ. And maybe you want to skip the first one; they �might be figuring you might land there. Go to the second one and set them down and then get them in the aircraft. Couple times close to there, we’d seen guys come all the way back to the staging field by Dak To. But most of those guys we were picking up over the border were mercenaries. CIA—fulltime CIA. Or they were, like I said, mercenaries which might be made up of a little bit of everything: Korean, Australian, Americans but not soldiers. Interviewer: And would they also use some of the non-Vietnamese Vietnamese? Like Hmong Chinese or Montagnards or…? Veteran: Yep. Some units were Vietnamese. Some of them functioned with Vietnamese over there. Depending on what they were doing. I mean, if you’re going to take a prisoner, it was nice if you could talk to them. (00:54:10) Veteran: But for the most part, LRRC patrols didn’t take prisoners. What are you going to do with them? And you don’t have that much firepower to begin with and if you got a guy or two watching the prisoner, he’s a guy or two that can’t shoot and everybody has got to be able to. A lot of our medics over there decided after they had been there a while—the Viet Cong didn’t care whether they were medics. Well, medic was a high priority target for them. A lot of them started carrying weapons. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: I know a couple of them decided nope, if things get that bad, there will be enough loose weapons laying around anyway; I don’t need to carry one. Just depends. I mean…Like I said, combat has got a habit of changing you and…At one time, I think, I don’t know if you asked me or I just brought it up, but a hero is something I had been asked after I got back, a lot. What’s a hero? And the more I thought about it, I finally came up with I know what a hero is now. A hero �is a person whose character is so developed that when the situation comes, he doesn’t think. He just knows what’s got to be done and he does it. If you think of a kid in a street, a car is coming, you don’t look at the car and calculate the distance and figure, you know, can I get the kid? You run and grab the kid and if everything goes right, you roll off the other side of the road and you got the kid and it turned out fine. Every one of the guys I know that I would call a hero, whether they got the medals for it or not, all of them have said later, “That’s the dumbest thing I ever did. You know, if I had thought about it, I wouldn’t have done it.” But they just knew it had to be done. They knew they were the person to do it. They were…I always talk about the right place at the wrong time. And they just do it. Combat has got a habit of doing that. You sort of build up a…I don’t know what you’d call it. When you get there, it’s like you’re scared of everything and after a while, you don’t get that feeling of invincibility because you know you’re not. But you sort of build up a tolerance for it. I don’t know how you explain it but you just know. (00:56:27) Veteran: I mean, if you would have told me when I got to Vietnam I’d run through a mortar attack, I’d have laughed at you. Ain’t no way, dude. I am going to stay under my bed against the wall where the sandbags are. I am going down to my bunker. I am going to—Nope. If the stars are out, I can get off the ground. That aircraft is getting airborne. And the sooner I can get airborne, the sooner I can shoot back at what is shooting at us and less people are in danger. You got a job to do and you just go do it. And you don’t think about it. I mean, first time you probably think about it. Second or third time, you don’t give it much thought. I was talking with some guys at a pow-wow, that was sponsored by the Purple Heart Association, a pow-wow by White Cloud this last weekend and we were commenting about stuff like that. And 4th of July, I don’t get along very well with. Bottle rockets go off and I am subconsciously counting how long �I can run before the round impacts in our base. And the thing is, the bottle rockets on the 4th of July never land. And I am just still counting, you know. It’s just… Interviewer: Alright. We got a lot of different stories here to kind of catch up on and plug in, which is actually great. Veteran: You’re going to have to be doing a bunch of editing. Interviewer: Yeah. Well, see I’ll be having—we are creating material, while people may watch this on WKTV, we are primarily making this for the archive and as long as we got it, we are good. Okay. Now, we have a number of other—we have talked some about dealing with the civilian population and the Vietnamese and so forth. And there’s a number of pieces of your story that relate to that that I want to bring in. One of them has to do—some of it has to do with dealing with the Montagnards. I think there was a point when you had to deal with a mother and her baby? What was that story? (00:58:26) Veteran: This was during the monsoons and they had brought a Montagnard woman…I say this but she was maybe 14, with her child into 71st evacc hospital. The child was jaundiced. And they were trying to help. They got it into the hospital and determined there was nothing they could do and the baby was going to die. Montagnard religion teaches that if they die away from home, their spirit wanders forever, trying to find home. Due to the monsoons, they couldn’t get anybody to get her back and taking the road takes a long time. I mean, even during the monsoons, when things get bad enough, the MPs and everything are pulled off the road and she’d have to ride her water buffalo back out there. Since I flew the chaplains and I worked with the chaplains a bunch, I got a call at the aviation section at artillery hill. And they asked me if I could take her back out to her village. And it was at a special forces camp. And I called the Air �Force base and checked with the weather people and there really wasn’t enough time. Now, this was going to sound churchy but this is part of the story, I felt by the Spirit that I could do it. And I just knew. But I was short time on both ends of the window. They told me within plus or minus 5 minutes when they thought the weather would stop and within plus or minus when they thought the weather was going to start again. So, I got an aircraft and I went over 71st Evac and landed on their pad. Of course, I say landed, you know the engine is still running and everything is going and they bring her out and they put her in the…I had taken the controls out and everything on the other side. There was only me in the 58 and they put her in the co-pilot’s seat on the other side. And I said to them, I said, “Does she speak Vietnamese?” They said, “No.” “Does she speak English?” “No.” “Does anybody here speak Montagnard?” “No.” “Does she know where she is going? Does she know what we are doing?” “No.” “Oh…” (01:00:49) Veteran: Now, these people, they’re like our Indians. They live in the jungle. About the only thing you will find in their village that is manmade, maybe outside their village, is a machete. And a lot of them are home grown and made. If the chaplains haven’t got to them, missionaries haven’t been there, the women are bare-chested—they got a piece of cloth wrapped around their waist that goes down to about mid-calf. The guys wear a loin cloth. That’s it. Kids to about age 14 run around naked as a jaybird. And they are very, very moral people. They put her in the front seat and, you got to keep in mind, I am a military pilot and I am in a flight suit and I got long sleeves and gloves and things are velcroed and and velcroed down to my boots and I’ve got sunglasses on and my helmet and visor down and I look like some sort of big bug sitting in the front of this thing. Now, she’s in the front of this and you got all the plexi glass so you can see. And my aircraft does about 120 miles per hour ground speed. (01:02:09) �Veteran: And where we are at, at 71st Evac, I can’t get airborne out of there because we are under the approach path for the Air Force base, which is—usually the hospitals are built right next to the Air Force base for obvious reasons, for evacuation and that. So, I come out of there and I am low-leveling. And I get out of part of Pleiku but I am still on the end of Pleiku air base’s runway. So, I am low-leveling across the rice paddies and stuff out there. And she sees my hand on the collective over here, my left hand, and she looks over there and she grabs it. I guess it looks like something worthwhile holding on to. Well, it controls the pitch in the main rotor blades, it determines basically how high you are and I am about 6 inches off the rice. And she’s holding on to this and I am looking at her and looking at this and looking at her. Of course, now I got my sunglasses on, she can’t see my eyes. And I am trying to let her know that no, no, she got to let go of that. And she finally does and I smile at her. And then I am going out a ways from the base and I notice this sucker hole. And a sucker hole is—in bad weather, if you get into one of them, you start thinking you can go over the top of it and it closes in on you. And I am not worried about it closing in on me because I am instrument rated and I can just jump on the instruments and I know where the tops are so I can come out on top. So, I get in this thing and I corkscrew up to the top and I am over the top and I am looking at this huge cotton field. I can’t see anything for orientation. Absolutely nothing. So, I start calling a few places and I get on their radar. And I am printed on about 3 different radars. And I tell them where I want to go and they’re radar vectoring me. So, I am talking to them and working my way out there and I get over the top of the base where she lives and they tell me I am there. (01:04:11) Veteran: And lo and behold, another sucker hole opens up. And I corkscrew down through and drop her off. And then I come out of there—corkscrew back up—and start heading back. And again, can’t recognize anything, can’t see anything. Of course, it wasn’t raining when I was �down there either so it’s fine but the tops can build real fast. The weather can go down the drain in minutes and I am coming back and now it’s just a matter of time and distance and heading. You just…And as I am going along fat, dumb, and happy, all of a sudden, my FM radio goes beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. And I know I am in a world of trouble. At that time, the guys, the pilots, were getting fuzz busters from the states. And I just got printed by ground defense radar. And it swept me and my FM radio will pop then and that’s what I heard. And then it will come back and pop me again and they narrow it in, they lock on me. And I am expecting to get shot any minute. And instead of just sitting there doing nothing, my first response when I got swept and then got swept again, before they even locked onto me, I jumped on my radio and I told the first radar place, “Mark me on your screen.” And they did with a grease pencil. And I am calling the next one, “Mark me on your screen.” I ain’t telling them why, just telling “Mark me.” And they are marking me on the screen. And then I come back and I tell each one of them as I can, because each one of them is on a different frequency, that I have just been printed by ground defense radar and I am expecting to get shot at. And I don’t get shot at. I don’t know why. I just keep going. The next thing I know, they are telling me that I am over Artillery Hill. That’s 52nd Group headquarters in Pleiku. (01:06:10) Veteran: I can’t see a thing. And I am getting ready to go over to Pleiku and shoot an instrument approach into the Air Force base. And about then, a sucker hole opens up. And I corkscrew right on down through and I manage to end the corkscrew right on the end of our runway. How fortuitous. Right at the end of our runway. And I get on the runway and I am at 3-foot standard and start hovering down the runway and the heavens open up. And I can’t even see to hover down our runway. I look sideways and I can’t even, through the open door on the other side of the aircraft, even see the dividing line down the middle of the runway. I look through the chin �bubble and I can see part of the stones and that and the pentaprime on the asphalt. And I set the aircraft down on the ground. And shut it off and they come out with ground handling equipment. They had to put it in the rear that way. That happened to me on—this is one—but I went out for another guy who had FUO, Fever of Unknown Origin, and this same sort of thing happened. And that one, I was flying towards a wall and you just look at it. Here is this black wall. Ground is 60+ thousand feet. And that may not mean anything to you but over 12,000 we can’t operate for over a half hour without oxygen. What’s Everest? 29,000? Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: So, 60+ thousand feet wall. And I am flying straight towards the wall. And same feeling again. Knew I could get out, knew I could get back. Knew it would be okay. Matter of fact, my crew chief at that time says to me, he was flying with me—I cranked up the aircraft. He says, “Where you going?” I told him. He says, “Well, I am coming with you.” I says, “You’re crazier than a march hare.” He says, “No, no.” He says, “You get in that stuff,” he says, “At least you’ll need somebody to change radios.” He says, “I can read some of the instruments for you, I can help you out in the cockpit, I can cut down your workload.” I says, “You want to—” I am getting goosebumps. I wouldn’t ask him to go. I wouldn’t put him in that situation. And yet I knew I could get there and get back safely and I’d do it for somebody else but I wouldn’t put anybody else’s life in that situation. (01:08:31) Veteran: And he insisted on going with me. And again, we are painted on everybody’s radar. Nothing to do but time, distance, and heading. And he looked at me and he says, “What are you thinking, sir?” I says, “You don’t want to know.” He says, “Yes, I do.” I says, “Well,” I says, “Don’t jump up and shoot me right away, hear me out totally.” He says, “Okay.” “I was thinking it would be a great day to die.” He says, “What??” “Well, you know, I got a t shirt that says ‘you �can’t take this life too seriously, no one gets out alive.’ You got to go. I get into that thing, I am going to be hit like a bug on a—with a flyswatter. You’re not going to know what happened. You’re not going to suffer. You’re not going to go through prolonged pain. You’re not going to…Is there a better way to go? Trying to save a fellow man?” You know. I mean, it was a…and I wasn’t trying to be suicidal. And I wasn’t trying to be a hero. And I just…If it was me out there, I would want somebody to come. If it was my brother, I’d want—and he was my brother. You’d want somebody to come. And I thought I could do it. And we did. But that was another one: I got to the runway and it was like I flew into the ocean. I mean, that’s just what it was like. It was like I was underwater it was raining that—it was raining so hard you could stand on one side of the runway and couldn’t see the other side. (01:10:04) Interviewer: Have you ever experienced physical conditions like that since you got back to the states? I mean, is a really, really bad rainstorm that we might have here similar to that? Or…? Veteran: No. Interviewer: Was that a whole other level? Veteran: No. I have seen clouds at times that looked as menacing and you have to understand, I am a HAM radio operator. I do work with storm watch and we certify the weather before the TV stations and that can give it out to the public. I have been in—well, I haven’t been in the tornado. I’ve been close enough that I think if I had thrown a baseball, it would throw it back at me. But I am also on the downside track of the—it’s past me. I am coming in from the side and going behind it. But no, I have never seen rain like we…I mentioned at one time, one of the stories my wife wants me to tell you, is we had the aircraft grounded for over 21 days. Flying nothing. It �didn’t even go to a drizzle. It just steadily poured for 21 days. And the guys came in that morning and they said, “You read the scriptures?” I said, “Well yeah. A little bit.” “How long did it take the Lord to flood the earth?” I said, “Well, we got a little while. Besides that, he opened up the earth and water flushed out.” And I said, “We got a little bit.” And a little while later that afternoon, an aircraft landed on our field. And it was our sister unit from down in Phù Cát. Well, in Vietnam the country is long and narrow. And when you get by the coast, you have lowlands and you get up in the high lands where you got the highlands and there is two passes to get in there. You got the Mang Yang Pass before you get to An Khê and then you got the An Khê Pass dropping down into the lowlands. And this fool had come up and low-leveled through both passes and then low-leveled the road all the way into us. And we had nothing flying. Neither was the Air Force base. (01:12:14) Veteran: Matter of fact, my guys came in that morning and were placing bets in the back room: was I going to cave? Was I going to give in to these commanders? And I was literally telling them that if they wanted to go someplace, they could take their jeep. Well, remember I told you the MPs didn’t go out and secure the roadway? Well, if he is going to take his jeep, he better take the tanks with him and something else. It was that bad. And I tried talking to this young W-1 and that’s first rank coming off flight school so they got W-1, W-2, W-3, W-4 at that time. And I was a W-2. And he literally told me I was yellow. He literally told me I was an old man and I needed to turn in my wings. And one of my biggest regrets from Vietnam was I didn’t send a mechanic out to disable his aircraft. I told him if he’d stayed, I’d take the flak. I’d say I forbid him to take off; all he’s got to do is say runway is—airport is closed, he couldn’t leave. He wouldn’t listen. I told him at least call Mang Yang Pass to let us know you was there because once he goes through, we can’t maintain radio contact with him. He went out and we didn’t hear anything and �we didn’t hear anything and we didn’t hear anything. Phone rang. Picked it up. Guard post in the pass. There’s an OH-58 tail boom there and a fire. Do we have anything flying? Because we got the 58s. 13 of 20 of them that are in all of Vietnam. I immediately called group headquarters and told the old man there was a 58 down and burning in the Mang Yang Pass. I was going to the crash site. If he wanted to go, be here in 5 minutes. (01:14:14) Veteran: I wasn’t going to wait for him. We readied the aircraft and I left. I flew and landed at the crash site. Later, when we recovered the stuff there, they put everything but the tail boom in 2 bushel baskets. They hit so hard they pulled the seatbelt anchors right out of the floor. Nearest they can tell, they landed at an artillery firebase just before the pass and they picked up some paint there. The aircraft was full. There was the commander, his first sergeant, the pilot, and somebody else they picked up. The people in the pass said they had saw them open the door and throw something out. There was paint on a few of the pieces they picked up and put in. They suspected that somebody may have been smoking and set the paint on fire and he may have thrown the can of paint out the door. Don’t know. But if you think of a river going, a creek or a river, going down through rapids in a rapid area, you know how you see the white water and you see the bubbling and…? The passes are like that. And they suspect that the pilot’s attention was diverted and that he may have been trying to circle in the pass to…and got caught in the down draft. And he just literally flew into the side of the pass. I came up off of there where he had crashed, turned around and was going back and located what looked like another crash site. Reported it and they found a crash site of an OH-6 that had went down a little over a year ago. Identified that by the pistol and by the dog tags. And that one had just disappeared. I was flying back to our base and the group commander with me says, “You’re getting kind of short.” I said, “Yes sir.” He says, “When are you going to quit flying?” I says, “7 days before I am due to �leave, like everybody else.” He says, “No.” He says, “You’re grounded now.” I says, “What??” He says, “You’re grounded now.” I says, “You want to take the controls?” He says, “No, no, we will get to the base.” (01:16:38) Veteran: He wouldn’t even let me start an aircraft up on the pad. He wouldn’t let me do anything. He wouldn’t let me even get near the aviation section. 23 days before I was due to leave. Longest time I spent in Vietnam was the last 23 days. And I mean, I didn’t hang out at the pool, I didn’t…The warrant officer from personnel called me at one point and he says, “Would you like to carry some orders?” I says, “What??” He said, “We got some orders, got to go to a couple bases and that. And,” he says, “they got to be hand carried.” And he says, “You want to hand carry some orders and some intelligence reports and stuff?” “Yeah.” So, I go over to the Air Force base and grab the C-130 and, you know, fly some place and did a little of that before I was due to leave. But long time. Long time. You’d rather work. You’d rather get shot at. You’d rather be doing something. But that’s my biggest regret. That kid… Interviewer: Yep. Veteran: He…Young. Dumb. And I know what happened. The commander talked him into flying. And he didn’t have the brass to stand up to him and say no. I mean I was putting up with it every day. When he landed at our base, our phone went nuts. Every commander on the base was calling me. Anybody with any rank. Company commanders were calling me. “I want to go to—” “We are not flying any.” “I heard an aircraft.” “We’re not flying anything.” You know, I just…And he flew out and…My comment to them all the time was “Who is dying?” (01:18:19) Veteran: And they would say, “What?” “No sense flying and trying to risk death if somebody ain’t dying. This is not the weather to be flying in.” And I’ll fly if somebody is…you know, if �there is a good reason. If there is—combat-wise, like I said, I did that one piece between Plei Drang and Dragon Mountain; opposite sides of the same road and didn’t see the aircraft. Do what’s got to be done. But just to go up there and do an inspection? Or to go jaw-jack with somebody or…Use your radio. Use a voice secure rig. Talk to them. I mean… Interviewer: Okay. Now, in conjunction sort of with that, being stuck places, there was a point when you got stuck in Dak To? How did that happen and what was that? Veteran: I was up north. It was later afternoon. Flying a commander. And Dak To is a provincial headquarters. That’s like saying a township hall. And that’s involving all the local people but besides that, we have what do you want to call them? PR people? That are there that are working with the locals and stuff. Plus, you never know what’s going to be there. But anyway, he had radio contact with them because I have a variety of radios in my aircraft and the commander was using one of them. And was talking to them at Dak To, wanted to know if we couldn’t land at Dak To, he wanted to talk to some people face-to-face. I said, “Okay.” So, it was on the way. I mean, what’s the big deal? So, I landed there. He told me he was going to be, I don’t remember now. Say it’s an hour. So, you don’t keep the aircraft running. You shut it down, you tie down the rotor blades and stuff like that. I was walking away and I probably got 50 feet from the aircraft when the first mortar shell landed in the ammo supply dump next door. (01:20:23) Veteran: And once that happens, it’s a chain reaction. And as I ran back to my aircraft, I heard what sounded like Volkswagen doors flying overhead and, I mean, just huge pieces of metal going through the air and ground shaking. Because you’re talking about, well, an ammo supply dump. I mean, anything and everything you can think of and I told you the staging field was just down the road a little bit for over the border. So, there were—I don’t know what all was in that place but it was going up. I untied the rotor blades and started—tried to start the aircraft—and it �wouldn’t start. Well, once you go through a start-up procedure, your starter is a small motor. They don’t like to build them any bigger than they have to because they’re heavy. So, you’re supposed to let it cool off. I tried burning it up. I made 3 or 4 attempts to start the aircraft without trying to let it cool. Wouldn’t start. Wouldn’t start. So, I left it. Ran over to technical operations center there. And down the bunker. That place cooked off until about 2 in the morning. And from the minute that supply dump was hit, there were Vietnamese—North Vietnamese again— running around inside that base with satchel charges. Throwing them in various bunkers and stuff. So, grabbing the technical operations center probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But I knew where that one was. And just being on the ground wasn’t a good deal because normally an explosive, like if you get a mortar coming in, it hits the ground, it detonates. It blows up. So, if you’re on the ground you can be fairly close to it and be fairly safe. Now, this stuff is going off and raining down and going everywhere. So, I sat in the technical operations center with a cock locked 45 watching the door to make sure we didn’t get a satchel charge in that bunker for a good share of the evening. (01:22:36) Veteran: And then they told me, “Well, things calmed down.” And I could still hear everything cooking off but there was no ground activity and stuff. And they says, “We’ll get you a place to sleep.” And so, they took me out and…I think it was a hooch, I don’t think it was a tent. Anyway, everything is sandbagged up about 3 feet and the bunk was on the inside of these sandbags. And sticking in the sandbag is an RPG and it hadn’t gone off. It just stuck in the sandbags. And I am looking at that and the bunk is in the other side and they said something to me and I said, “I can live with it.” And I slept the night with this RPG stuck in the sandbags. Next day, they brought up a maintenance crew from…It’s 52nd aviation headquarters actually at Camp Holloway which is in Pleiku. And they took a look at the bird and it had a hole in the �pilot’s windshield this big around with the piece of shrapnel that made it is all tangled in the seat. And the aircraft is a piece of swiss cheese. The reason it wouldn’t start is there is something called an excitor box. And in the cart, you have a distributor and spark plug wires. Well, a jet engine that these things have, they’re set up in such a way so when you reduce the back blast, and that’s where they have all the stators and veins to pull the power out of it—to power the main rotor blades—but it’s a jet engine nonetheless. Once they are started, you have continuous flame inside. Well, this excitor box gives spark to the spark plug that is there and it starts that fire in your engine. Piece of shrapnel, right in the box. (01:24:24) Veteran: So, they wired one on the cowling or…well, what do you want to call it? It’s like the hood of your car opens up to get to the engine. They wired one on there and rerun the wires so I could fly it. But now this seat is not going to be comfortable and the windshield has got the big old hole in it and this thing is all full of swiss cheese and there’s holes in the rotor blades so when it is flying it’s going (whistling).We put sandbags up in the side of the pilot. One thing you don’t think about is a helicopter is basically just a box underneath the rotor blades. And if it’s not balanced, if it gets off enough, you lose control because the blades only tilt so far. So, the helicopter has to be balanced and if it ain’t in balance, you get up and you’re just flying some way until you crash. So, we had to put sandbags on the pilot’s side because I don’t have enough lead in my pencil sitting on the co-pilot’s side to balance it. And they put it on a one-time red X and I got to fly it back and that was interesting because I walked around that aircraft and wasn’t sure I really wanted to…And the tech rep didn’t want to fly with me. But yeah, that’s getting stuck at Ben Het. That was a— Interviewer: Was that Dak To or…? Veteran: Dak To, yeah. Well, Ben Het was down the road from there but that was Dak To. �Interviewer: Alright. And you were talking about sandbags. Sandbags I guess are ubiquitous in Vietnam. We’ve got some occasion with that. Veteran: I got in trouble. Our aviation unit…Well, about anywhere where you have a helipad, guys in Vietnam would gather. And if you’d been on R and R and you need to go back to your unit, you’d go to a place where you knew the helicopters came in and out of and you’d walk up and ask them if they had a seat and ask them if you could ride with them. (01:26:20) Veteran: Well, our little base—we didn’t have a separate bunker for people that were just hanging around to fly somewhere. And we had to build a separate bunker and we had to build a building down there and that’s because they decided we had an aviation company and of course this is during the Vietnamization Project. So, everything—they weren’t big on building anything. Our actual main building was built out of railroad ties, believe it or not. We drilled holes and put rebar through them and then they made us sandbag it. Wait a minute…This building ain’t—we don’t need sandbags. They made us sandbag it. It was SOP: standing operating procedure. It's got to be sandbagged. So, my guys had filled a lot of sandbags because we had to sandbag this building and then we had to make a bunker and now we got to make a bunker and a special shelter for all the people that are waiting to go somewhere. So, when I was through doing whatever work I had to do that day, I took off my tunic or my shirt and I went out there and I was helping my guys fill sandbags. And one of the commanders come down there and he caught me filling sandbags. And you know, officers I guess ain’t supposed to be doing stuff like that. And he's chewing me out. Well, as we mentioned earlier, I had been through NCO academy and I had been through a bunch of other things and I don’t ask my men to do anything I am not willing to do. And this almost felt like harassment, after a while, filling sandbag after sandbag after sandbag. So, I am filling sandbags with them. If it’s important enough for them to do, it’s �important enough for me to do. Well, I got chewed out and I got chewed out royally. And after the commander went—left—I went back to filling sandbags. (01:28:11) Veteran: A few days later, I am flying this commander and we are going out to this SP unit I was telling you about that does hip shoots. And they like to fill sandbags and put them actually on the armored vehicles to give them more armor and stuff. And anyway, they were filling sandbags out there and they’d been on hip shoots enough that their morale was kind of down. Kind of like my guys. And I’d told this commander what I was doing and got chewed out. Told him I was likely to do it again anyway and got chewed out. Anyway, we are here and he’s noticing their morale is real down and being a warrant officer, I am not in the guys’ troop command and I am not in line with the enlisted men and them in there. So, a lot of the enlisted men will come up and talk to me when they wouldn’t talk to commanders and other things. And I know that their morale was really bad. And the commander come back and I said something, I says, “You know, you are going to have to do something with these guys.” I says, “Their morale is in the tank really bad.” And he looks at me and he says, “You feel like filling sandbags?” I says, “What?” I says, “Sure.” So, he and I went over and helped them fill sandbags for the rest of the afternoon. I mean, we were there…I don’t know, 3-4 hours. And we wanted to take our tunics off to fill sandbags and the enlisted men didn’t want us to. They wanted us holding the sandbag or running the shovel. And cameras came from everywhere. I never saw so many cameras in my life. They’re taking pictures of us filling sandbags. But it helped. And yeah. That’s your sandbag story. Interviewer: Right. Okay. Now, there’s another note here: sandbags, bunkers, something about a camouflaged bunker? Veteran: Every evening we had a mission where we had to go and fly around our base. And we would go out and look and see if anything is going on. To give you an idea of what we were �looking for, I wrote up a report one night that there was a place out there where they made charcoal. And they had like 5 charcoal kilns. And I noticed that the one kiln didn’t ever have a burn. And we are looking for things like that. And this night, I had an aerial observer with me. And they have to be color blind. Now, pilots can’t be color blind. They use light signals from the tower when your radio is out and that. You like to know what color it really is. Interviewer: Yeah. (01:30:41) Veteran: And the aerial observers are color blind because camouflage does not trick their eyes. They see shine, textures, things like that because they don’t see colors. And this was in the dry season. We start right at our base and we fly right around the barbed wire. Remember, we fly right over the top of our bunkers, our guard towers. Fly right over the top of our guard towers. And then we keep doing circles further and further out and further and further out. And we got out far enough, “Look at that! Dumb fools are building a bunker in the middle of the rice paddy.” Well, that time of year, the rice paddies are dry. They’re getting ready to harvest the rice and stuff. And he’s looking out there and he says, “Listen, they’re building a base.” And I am looking and I can’t see anything. I says, “You sure?” He says, “Yeah!” “Have fun.” So, he calls the base and has them shooting. They’re—when you shoot with artillery, it’s a big gun, it’s a big shell. And except for 8 inches, when you get at the edge of the gun fans, they’re not real accurate. So, he’s giving them over and under and left and right because we have adjusted all you normally can and they’re trying to fine tune things. We ain’t hitting anything and we are burning up a good share of ammunition. I finally said to him, I says, “Are you sure?” He says, “Yeah.” “Check the fire. I am going down to take a look.” So, I go down and I am coming across the rice paddy taking a look and I come to a hover. Sure enough, there was a bunker and Charlie is looking out at me and I am looking out at him. (01:32:15) �Veteran: Hard over with the stick and get out of there. And we go upstairs and he takes another firebase now. Because this one we know we are having—so he picks another firebase that’s a…It’s got 8 inches at it but it’s a little further away. And 8 inches are quite accurate. Well, you don’t know where the first round is necessarily going to go. So, he fires the first round and we cleared the rice paddies and we hit the edge of the jungle. We had secondaries to about 3-400 feet in the air. “What is this? Fire a couple more! Same thing.” You know? “Give a little dispersion on it.” And we got a couple more secondaries. Then we came back to shooting at the bunker that was in the middle of the rice paddy field. And, I don’t know, it was like a dozen rounds or something, he finally hit it. We had secondaries to 300 feet. And I don’t know what they had down in there and if it wasn’t for him, we’d have never shot at it. But he’s color blind, he could find it. I couldn’t find it. And people always find that interesting. Aerial observer is color blind? Don’t ask him to look at your map and tell you if it’s a friendly or an enemy position because we mark them in red, you know. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: At night it’s difficult too because we have red lights in the helicopter and it’s difficult to tell where the enemy is if you mark your map that way. And I have taken some guys out at night and no, no: don’t mark your enemy positions in red. You ain’t going to see it in the aircraft. Interviewer: Alright. Another entry we’ve got in here has to do with the kinds of support you would get from the Air Force? Like Puff the Magic Dragon or…? How did that work? Or what did you—or did you see it being used, I guess is the— Veteran: I was pulling guard duty one night when about 13 miles out one of our bases was getting hit and almost like the aurora borealis. I mean, it is just lighting up the sky. And from �time to time, you see tracers going off and going high in the sky. And they put in an arc light out there amongst others. B-52 strike. (01:34:22) Veteran: And you could literally feel the ground shake where we were. And then they, at one point during the night, brought in Puff the Magic Dragon. And when he’d fire, we could hear him. You could see it first and then later you’d hear him. And it was like a garden hose to the ground, reddish orange. But it looked funny because he’s flying around so the hose looks like it’s bent and it can’t be that way but it looks that way from a distance. And he’s shooting at the ground and you see the tracers bounce off and bounce up. That far away. And you wouldn’t think…I mean, many of the times when I am out flying, you’ll hear them come across and as they…This is whatever from 35,000 from the ground impacting you. Grid square blah blah blah from now until such and such. And they’re putting in an arc like strike. And you just can’t fathom what it is. But when you’re 13 miles away and you can hear the 20-millimeter Vulcan cannon on that thing shooting and you can see the tracers and you can feel the ground shake from the arc like…And you wonder how does anybody survive out there? I mean, Ben Het—when I talked about it being under siege—I can remember going back after it wasn’t under siege. Take doc up to investigate the—to check the mess hall, to see it’s clean and all those kinds of things and some of them who made it out of there alive. It looked like moonscape around that place except on the moon, there’s no water in the craters with algae. And there’s nothing out there. I mean, you see World War 2, there is a dead tree in the no man’s zone. I mean, there is nothing out there. And yet, we’d arc light it and as soon as they were through arc lighting, they’re back to fighting. How? (01:36:20) �Veteran: I have no clue. I mean, I have said to you before: I take my hat off to the Vietnamese. I don’t know how the North Vietnamese ever managed to fight, keep up the struggle, resupply their people. Even managed to live in the jungle and—I don’t know how. Interviewer: Yeah. Well, the arc lights did do a lot of damage and so did the mini guns on the—off something. Now, the Puff…was that a propeller plane? Veteran: Usually…Well, when I was there, they had a mix of old DC-3s. Of course, they’ve got a number of different nomenclatures. Those and C-130s. Now, they are all C-130s. Well, it’s not true. The Air Force has some C-20s, or the special forces, have some C-27s now which is a 2engine job that they used for gunships. And it looks like a C-130. But the one I was observing was a C-130 and he was going to town. I mean, if you can imagine the amount of 105s, semiautomatic gun, on the side of that thing and fire it while they are flying around in a circle. I mean, I can’t wrap my brain around it. I can’t. A Vulcan cannon, 20-millimeter Vulcan cannon, fires somewhere around 6000 rounds a minute. I—it’s like our mini gun going off. It sounds like you’re ripping cloth. They mounted one over Camp Holloway. This was the aviation base I was telling you about. Army aviation base on the other side of the hill. They mounted one on top of one of their bunkers, on top of one of their guard towers. When they fired it, the recoil was so bad that the guard tower fell over. Looked like, “Timber!” It just tilled it over. Fell down to the ground. When they first started mounting them on the Cobras when I was there, Cobras were fairly new. (01:38:16) Veteran: We had a lot of Charlie mounted gunships but Cobras were fairly new. And they mounted a couple of these Vulcan cannons on the Cobras. They only fired so many rounds at that point and they were checking the airframes for cracks. And if they fired too many rounds when they were on a gun run, it stopped the aircraft in midair. �Interviewer: Wow. Powerful stuff. Veteran: They’d come down flying because they are on a gun run, they’d fly faster than they’re supposed to. They’d get right up to the V and E, velocity not to exceed, they get right up to the edge of that, fire the gun and that would slow them down. Like popping flaps and putting on your landing gear on a fixed wing. It’d just slow them up. Interviewer: Alright. Now, I know going into this you mentioned being on guard duty at night. How commonly were you on guard duty and how did that work? Veteran: I’d have to guess. Seems to me it was every 2 to 3 months, something like that. Because officers always have additional other duties. The thing about guard duty that amazed me, because you don’t know what everybody else is doing and you don’t know what everybody else’s job is, because I’d scramble and get in my aircraft. I had my gun with me all the time. And I am going out to outer firebases. And these guys got their guns with them all the time because they are out there. Most of the guys that were on the base that I was assigned to, Artillery Hill in Pleiku, didn’t have their gun. They had a card in their billfold to go to the armory and get their gun. And I am going, “What?!” And I never realized that until I am pulling guard duty. And I am talking with the sergeant of the guard, the guy that is going to be assigned with me for the night, finding out a bit about this because if you don’t—if you’re an officer and you don’t use your sergeants, you’re dumber than a box of rocks. (01:40:06) Veteran: And I am checking with him. So, I told him, I says, “Do me a favor: inspect the troops, do what you want to do, go through all your commanding ceremony and then tell the guys to fall out and I want them to gather around.” And he did that and I got them to gather around and I says, “Guys, I know I have been going through the book. I know the SOP.” That’s one of my �first times pulling guard duty. They weren’t to unlock their ammo bunk. They have a footlocker in there with their ammo in it, the detonators for the mines that are out in the barbed wire. They weren’t to unlock that bunker until they were given orders from either the sergeant of the guard or the officer of the guard. Imagine standing guard duty with an empty gun? In Vietnam? And I am going, “No.” Anyway, I just told the guys, “Gather around.” I says, “I know the SOP. I wouldn’t pull guard duty with an empty gun. I don’t expect you to.” I says, “If you fire your gun, there’d better be a blood trail or a body in the wire because I won’t swing alone. Am I clear?” They go, “Yeah.” I go, “Okay.” And I then told them to go ahead and go on up. And I says, “I will be up all night. If you have any trouble, you call me.” Another thing you got down from my wife, I’ll go into now. I turned to the sergeant and because I was an officer, I wasn’t allowed to do maintenance on the vehicles. So, normally the sergeant would be up all night driving the vehicle around. And there was a bunk bed in the command building that I could sleep in. Well, I am a pilot. If I am up all night, they can’t fly me all day the next day unless it’s a combat situation. So, I told the sergeant, I says, “You got one or two choices. You can either stay up all night and drive me or you can give me the keys and use that cot and I’ll know where you are.” He looks at me and he says, “You serious, sir?” I said, “Uh-huh. Tomorrow, you’ll have to go to work. Up all night and have to go to work all day tomorrow. I’ll sleep until noon and then go in.” (01:42:28) Veteran: So, he gave me the keys. And I don’t sneak up in the guys on the perimeter. I tell them I am coming. I’ll be on one perimeter, I’ll call the next guard tower and tell them I am coming. Well, while I was out there, the one tower calls out and they say, “We are having trouble. People are coming out from our side up to the tower where they don’t belong and they’re harassing them and causing difficulty.” I says, “Okay.” I said, “Now, I am going to come and I am going to drive �up to the bunker or to the guard tower next to you. I’ll have my lights off, the whole bit. I am going to walk over to you then. Challenge me, do whatever you want, but I am telling you I am coming. Don’t be shooting me.” They said, “Okay.” So, I come over there and I am on this tower. And I had been there 15-20 minutes and sure enough, somebody came over from the NCO club, that’s where it looked like they came from, over to the tower. And they challenged him and he responded with some blue, I would say, words and turned the air kind of blue. And he ignored them and came over and started to climb up the ladder to the bunker. I cocked and locked my 45. “Halt.” He says, “Who the blankety blank are you?” I said, “I am warrant officer Frank Anthony, officer of the guard, and you will identify yourself or get shot.” And he’s just all of a sudden at a complete halt. Just on the ladder there. “I am sergeant so-and-so.” “Do you want to live?” “Yes, sir.” “I suggest you get the hell off my bunker and don’t come back.” “Yes, sir.” And he got down off the bunker and then come back. I then unloaded my 45, put the round back in the magazine, put it back in my holster. The guys in the bunker say, “You’d have shot him?” I says, “Yep and you should have too.” And they looked at me. But I says, “You didn’t have any ammo, did you?” (01:44:46) Veteran: But that’s the story my wife wanted me to tell you. He’d come out drunk and he just knew they weren’t supposed to have ammo. And I don’t know what he thought he was going to do out there. And I don’t know what he thought he was doing. But there’s three guys on the tower. And if they’re paying more attention to him and what’s going on, you know, he could have been the barber. I mean, it’s dark. This was at night. And there are some people that are still on the base at night. We took them in. I don’t remember what time the O club closed but every once in a while, I would go in with the girls in the deuce and a half and take all of them back to the center of town. And there were a number of Vietnamese that were still on the base until quite �late at night. And we’d take them back after dark. I don’t know who this is. He can tell me he’s a sergeant but I don’t know if…Now, he did have rather impeccable English for Vietnamese. Usually they had a little trouble with it. So, you know, I don’t know if I would have aimed at the center of mass or not but I’d have shot him. No doubt in my mind about that. But… Interviewer: Alright. Now there…You have some of the stuff that happens, I guess, maybe was actually funny? Or at least you had an interesting story. (01:46:04) Veteran: My wife thinks so. One story she likes is I was going up in I Corps. English was a place that wasn’t exactly in the highlands. And it wasn’t exactly in the delta but it was up in I Corps and it was a staging base for a lot of stuff. And they had, from what I could see, I only went there once, and it looked like a hodge-podge of a little bit of everything was in there. And I dropped a commander at a base and he’d been running around. He was going to stay for a while and I told him I was going to go up to English and refuel. Otherwise, he’s got to go with me when I refuel and what have you and he says, “Yeah, okay. Go.” And I am flying this OH-23, piston slapper, wooden blades, slow airspeed, 72 knots. Now, keep in mind you know, the Huey and the 58 I am flying is doing 125 plus and 72 is kind of slow. And we are the slow stuff. C-130s doing like 300 miles an hour and, you know, just about everything flies faster than we do. And I called English, told them I was 5 miles out for straight in. They said, “Okay, record at a quarter mile.” “Roger.” Well, 5 miles at 72 knots takes a little bit of time. They call me back, “You’re sure you’re landing at English?” “Affirmative.” “Be advised: we don’t have you in sight.” “Understand. Roger.” “Report quarter mile. Landing gear down and locked. Guns cold. Roger.” I keep plodding along. Finally, they called me back. “Sundown, this is English. You that egg beater on the deck?” “That’s affirmative. By the way, the skids are down and welded. 45 is on safety and magazine is out.” And I hear them key up the mic and all I can hear is laughing and guffawing. I �am a quarter mile for landing. And I am 72 knot. You doing 72 knots, quarter mile don’t last long. Okay. I can hear them key up the mic again. All I hear is laughing. They’re so broke up they can’t clear me for landing. I finally said, “This is sundown 13. If I am clear for landing, can you break squelch twice?” I hear click, click. (01:48:25) Veteran: They couldn’t talk to me. They were just busted up because…I don’t know what they thought I had but yeah, my landing gear is rather down and welded. The only gun I got is my 45 and my survival vest and magazines out, safety is on. They just cracked up. Another time, I came in and I was landing at Pleiku airbase. And normally we parallel the runway and we don’t even take the taxi way. We go down the grass and alongside the runway and parallel the runway. And down there, they had a wind sock and some other stuff. And if there is traffic coming in and out, they’d have us hold right there. It’s right across the runway from the main terminal. Then they’d have us turn and we basically hover across that to the main terminal to set down. And I had dropped off whatever I came in for and I was calling for clearance to depart. Well, he’s giving me clearance to tail backwards. Instead of telling me to hover back out and go, he’s clearing me to go right over the top of the tower. And this is during the Vietnamization Project. And they’re trying to get the Vietnamese to do all the stuff. So, I ask him to repeat the departure instructions. He gives me the same instructions and then he’s a little brisk with me and he says, “If you can’t make immediate departure, hold flat pitch C-130 on landing row.” “Roger. On the go.” And I made max performance take off, went straight up and went right over the top of the tower. Cleared top of the tower by, I don’t know, 3-4 feet because I am not…And I am not worried about it because right behind them on the Air Force base is 71st Evac and I know how to low level out of there and clear their area and the whole bit. And I no more than cleared the tower �and was getting into 71st evacc’s area and he’s got to clear me for QSYR frequency change. (01:50:23) Veteran: And he comes back and he says, “Sundown, this is Pleiku tower. In the future, if I gave you that instructions, you can disregard.” Another time I was down at Phù Cát and that’s on the coast down by Qui Nhơn. And we had, again, why they were down there I don’t know, but we had down there 2nd of the 72nd and they had 8 inches and 175s, big guns, sitting right on the edge of the Air Force base. And I am going into there but you got to call the Air Force base and tell them because you are under their control zone. I am flying underneath them. And as I am coming in to land, I hear the tower, and this is Vietnamese, clearing L-19 Bird Dog to take off on runway, say 1-8, and he clears the C-130 to take off 3-6. That’s opposite ends of the same runway. So, somebody calls the tower and advises them they had cleared aircraft to take off on the runway, opposite ways. And the tower comes back and goes, “Oh. You all be careful out there. You hear?” So, the C-130 calls the L-19 and says, “You take off.” So, he takes off because his prop wash and that is not going to cause the C-130 any difficulty when he takes off afterwards. But it was funny because just one of those things that happened and… Interviewer: Okay. Now, was Phù Cát, was that—there is a place where there was like an orphanage that you went to? Was that there or Vung Tau? Or…? Veteran: No, there was a…Down at Phù Cát, on the South China Sea, it was south of Phù Cát, there was a leper colony we used to go to with the chaplains. And that was one of those places like Vung Tau that was really strange because you got down there and while we left somebody with the aircraft, we never had to really worry about it. Matter of fact, we took a bathing suit and went swimming in the South China Sea because it was right on the water’s edge and we’d go swimming. (01:52:22) �Veteran: It was run by the Catholic church and it was a place where you could literally eat off the floor. I mean, I never saw a place, before or since, that was as stark or as clean or as sparkly or as whatever. And we went down there, oh maybe 2-3 times a month. I took the chaplains down there. You know, the first time you go down, you’re real skeptical about it because you’re not at a military base and you are kind of in the middle of nowhere and you’re kind of whatever. You got a long ways you can see down the beach. And I mean, it was in a location where you weren’t really worried about getting surprised right away. And they never had any trouble with the Viet Cong and it was a place where yeah, you let down your guard but you don’t want to let down too far. If that makes sense to you? But no, we’d take our bathing suits down there and go swimming and that’s the only place, other than going for church conferences down there, that I remember actually swimming. We actually had a swimming pool that they completed while I was there at 52nd group headquarters. And even in those 23 days when I was just sitting around, I didn’t go swimming. I mean, I don’t know why. But just didn’t. Interviewer: Okay. Church conferences? Was this with the chaplains or you or what was that? Veteran: Well, I’m a Mormon and the church has quite a bit of pull. And we had an in-service conference quarterly and if we wanted to go, they had to let you go. But they’re not—they—your commanders and the people you—aren’t going to tell you. So, the chaplains come back to me and they said, “You’re LDS?” I says, “Yeah, I am LDS.” Latter Day Saint. The name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So, we go by LDS. And he says, “You’re LDS.” I says, “Yeah.” He says, “Here, you might want to see this.” And I took it. “Oh!” And this was down at Cam Ranh Bay. And he says, “You want to go?” “Yeah.” (01:54:31) �Veteran: Well, I let my group leader know and then I had an aircraft at my disposal for one whole day to bring in other LDS I knew that were out at outer bases that wanted to go. Because if they wanted to go, they could go. And I am going out visiting them and I take these commanders out. And matter of fact, the joke was with some of these commanders: if we need him, we know what bunker he is in. Because I would go visit some of the other church members that was out there. And I’d fly them in. We had a C-130 that would fly us down to Cam Ranh Bay, sit on the tarmac and wait for us. And we’d spend that night and the next day and then that evening, we’d come back. And C-130s. They were that respectful. But you got this dual thing going on again because they got to let you go but they don’t want to let you go. I mean, when I was in basic and AIT and all that other stuff, I’d want to go to church services and usually they weren’t on base. And our church, we have sacrament service and then you have Sunday school, and then we have priesthood, so it is 3 hours. And then you got to travel there and you got to travel back and I’d get back and most other Protestant services or Catholic services is maybe an hour. And you got travel time back. So, I can’t prove I got more KP and more guard duty than other people but I have my deep suspicions because they didn’t want to believe me. But not only that, I don’t know if I mentioned to you before but one of my R and Rs I took in conjunction with an area for a serviceman’s conference, which ended up being held at the base of Mount Fuji. (01:56:05) Veteran: And I went there to that conference and then spent the rest of my R and R. That time I went down to Osaka, Japan. The World’s Fair was at Osaka. And it was nice enough to go with a couple other church members so I ain’t worried about some guy trying to bring a gal into our hotel room in the middle of the night. And had that happen before. You know, you share a room with lieutenant so-and-so and in the middle of the night, you got extra company. Didn’t have to �worry about stuff like that. It was kind of nice. So, went down there and did that but again, that was something if you wanted to go, they had to set up your R and Rs and make room for you so you could go. But they weren’t telling you. I mean, you had to know about it. Because I was flying the chaplains, because my guys weren’t interested, I had insight to some of that stuff. Interviewer: Okay. Now, that gets me into a couple other questions. One of them is where would you take the chaplains to or what would they be doing? Veteran: Anything and everything. I mentioned firebase 6 before where we brought in a bulldozer and leveled off the top. Took them up to firebase 6. Matter of fact, that runs into another story down there. That day that I am referring to, one of the guys came out and says, “Can I take the chaplains?” I am looking at him going, “Yeah, what’s up?” “Well, they ain’t got nothing for me to do. I want the flight time.” “Okay.” So, he took my aircraft and he took the chaplains and he went up to firebase 6 with them. And he’s up there for a while and firebase 6 is at the top of this mountain. So, the cottonfield from these clouds ended up below. And he’s looking at the weather and he goes, “This ain’t good.” So, he goes over to the Protestant chaplain and he says to him, he says, “If we don’t leave here before long, you’re going to have a long time to do whatever you want.” He says, “The weather is changing and we got to go.” Protestant chaplain says, “Okay, go start up the aircraft. I will tell Father.” So, he goes over and he starts up the aircraft and the Protestant chaplain comes and they’re waiting and they’re waiting and Father ain’t coming right away. And finally, Father comes and he’s got a shawl over his neck and a chalice under his arm and some other stuff and you can tell he didn’t put everything back in his box he’s got that he travels with. And he’s coming back. He’s sets them down, puts on his headphones, “Let’s go before the Lord finds out what I did to the mass.” (01:58:27) �Veteran: So, they leave and they’re coming back to our base and we had a One-Eyed Charlie. And a One-Eyed Charlie is a guy that the Viet Cong are pressing into service and they would give him some dilapidated gun and they’d give him a couple rounds of ammunition and they tell him, “Shoot it at the Americans.” And they would tell him where to go and he would find an empty can and he’d put his two empty cartridges in there that he fired at the Americans and there’d be two live ones in there and that’s for him to shoot at the next day. And they’d kind of keep an eye on him that way and he’s got to shoot at people. Well, if you got one and you know what he is, you don’t return fire. They might get somebody that can actually shoot. Okay. So, we had a One-Eyed Charlie on our base. And if you get anybody landing, you tell them you got a One-Eyed Charlie and you—you know. And today he hasn’t done his duty. So, you kind of know what’s going on. Well, all the while I was there, the only aircraft you ever hit was the one coming back in with the chaplains. And there’s a mic button on the floor and you have one mic boom. You have a control panel that determines what radios you hear and which ones you transmit on. And for some reason, the mic that the Catholic chaplain had was set on FM or fox mic and he hit the button. Course, everybody in the aircraft were monitoring that so they can hear. But he’s also going to now transmit to the whole world. And the Protestant chaplain keyed up the mic and looked at the Catholic chaplain and he says, “The Lord found out.” They are sitting on the gas tank in the back and they have a bullet proof ceramic plate on top of it. And that’s where the rounds went: into the fuel tank back. Both rounds hit the fuel tank. And it’s a self-sealing tank so it dripped a little bit afterwards but didn’t really leak. Matter of act, they came over there with a crane and a flatbed and picked it up and out it on and took it over to the placed to change the tank and that. But that’s…Now, he just did this over the air on a frequency we use for our lamding field. So, for the next month or two, you get an aircraft coming through �and they’re coming out of Pleiku, and they’re coming up our way and they’d call, “Artillery Hill, this is gunslinger 55. We’ll be coming through your control zone, going up to Con Toon. Are we clear?” (02:00:46) Veteran: “Gunslinger, this is Artillery Hill. Guns are cold and we have nothing on the field. Feel free.” So, we are down, we got no traffic on our airfield. And the guns on top of the hill aren’t shooting anywhere. Do your thing, you know? And then they’d come back, “By the way, what’d the Lord find out?” And we’d get that comment for about a month or two afterwards. Interviewer: Alright. Let’s see…I guess you had some—I guess some more things that sort of have to do with sort of civilians and things. You’ve got one with…Let’s see. Was their kids of the rice paddies? Or…? Veteran: I was going up to Ben Het. And a lot of times when you go into a base, you don’t go in and just land. You’d go up and you’d circle the base first. And then some of the bases, if the place is hot enough or whatever, we’d literally do a little corkscrew in instead of doing a long, shallow landing. And this day I came in and I circled the base and the Montagnard kids were ou on the rice paddies and—well, you know they’re Montagnard kids. First off, nobody else is up there but, you know, not a stitch on and they got these long sticks. And they’re like tapping the rice paddy dikes, like that. And what in the world are they doing? Now, I have seen the little kids before throw a ball into a minefield and have their dog go get the ball and they walk where the dog went. They want to go somewhere and this minefield is in the way. And these kids just grow up with that. (02:02:28) Veteran: And I was thinking, “Mines on the—but they’re too close with the stick…” and everything I could think of wasn’t making any sense. So, what are they doing? And I got in there �and I said something to the special forces that are on this base. And he says, “Oh, they’re hunting for rats.” I says, “They’re what?” He says, “They are hunting for rats.” And he says, “When a rat runs, if they stir up a rat in the rice paddy dike, they’ll beat it with that stick and they’ll pick it up and pull the skin apart at the inside of the back legs and they’ll eat it raw out there on the rice paddy dike. Won’t bring it back.” I said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He says, “No.” well, I remember another time, before this, I had been on the same base and I was at the mess hall and I am looking out the back door and these Montagnard kids are all standing back there. But they’re a good distance away from the mess hall where there is a walkway. And unlike the kids on the street corner here, they’re not grab assing and fooling around and joking and stuff, they’re just standing there like there is something really special to see at the mess hall. And I keep looking at them like what are they doing? So, finally I said something to the special forces guy in the mess hall. I says, “What’s with the kids? What’s going on?” “Oh, them? Here, I’ll show you.” He walks out the back of the mess hall with me and he said something to them in Montagnard and all you saw was butts and legs sticking out of trash cans. They were sitting there waiting for permission to get into the trash. My wife earlier was talking with us and I made the comment that while rioting through some of the Vietnamese villages and stuff where I went, I—on several occasions—I had my chauffer, for lack of a better term, keep asking me, “You got your watch?” “Yeah.” He’d say, “You got your watch?” “Yeah.” I finally asked him, I said, “What’s with this?” He said, “While you slow down, giving the kids candy,” he says, “they’ll take the watch off your arm.” I go, “Oh, okay.” (02:04:36) Veteran: The Montagnards were just the reverse. We could literally drive a jeep into the middle of one of their villages and leave it. I mean, we’d lose the gas can driving through these Vietnamese villages off the back of the jeep. They used to take the gas can off before we went �through and put it on the inside. Slow down, they’d take the gas can out of the jeep. Anyway, you drive one into a Montagnard village, you could leave it; come back a month later it’s sitting—they may have washed it and polished it. But it’s still sitting there and nothing is removed. You tell them they can have it and before you’re through talking, the thing will be totally disassembled and gone. They know it belongs to somebody. It ain’t theirs, they don’t touch it. I’ve seen them injured and there’s an American sitting next to them and it’s a monsoon and he’s shaking. And I’ve seen injured Montagnards lean up against the American to help keep him warm. Never asked. Never nothing. And they’re hurting. I’ve seen that—I’ve seen aircraft that, well, I mentioned going down to the la Drang Valley one day and I was the lead aircraft, a bunch of them behind me and they got raked with 50 caliber fire. And I followed them all over to the base and that. And we are trying to get guys that are injured off the aircraft and that and there is only…MASH is nice when everybody comes out but when you got 4 or 5 aircraft all trying to land and people on them and you’re trying to get them all off and…One Montagnard, his jaw was broken off. I mean, it’s hanging down like a waddle on a turkey. He ain’t even moaning. And he was more interested in trying to help a couple of his other brothers and…I don’t know. I just…Big difference. (02:06:29) Interviewer: Alright. Well, you’ve also got something in here about a particular boy being interested in your helicopter. Was that a Montagnard or Vietnamese? Veteran: It was a Montagnard kid and where he got a shirt from, I don’t know. And I’ve got a couple pictures of him and I had to crop them because from, you know, waist down he ain’t got a thing on but he’s got a little shirt with short sleeves. An he come out and he started off—he’d walk up to the edge of the helipad—and he’d just sit there and look at the aircraft. And a good share of the time when I went to that one, they wouldn’t have me go outside and that and I’d just �sit on the pad. So, I wouldn’t tie down the rotor blades, I wouldn’t do anything. And I’d normally have a book of scripture or a book I wanted to read in the lower part of my flight suit and I’d pull it out and I’d sit there and read a little bit. And this kid would come out and I’d be watching him because somebody is around the helipad. And I’d watch him. And the same kid and he’d come out and he’d just stand there and watch. Well, I’d come out and he’d just sit and look at the— he’d look at my tail rotor for an hour. I don’t know what…One day, I picked him up and I put him in the aircraft. And he’s sitting right there looking at everything and I put his hand on the stick. He’s looking all over. I never saw anybody with such excitement over so little. Just my— and I’ve got a picture of the boy. Like I said, I had to crop it because waist down, not a stich on, just a shirt. Bare feet, no hat, no nothing. Little ragamuffin. And I don’t know his name. don’t know whatever happened to him. Don’t even know if he survived through, you know, through the siege. (02:08:18) Interviewer: Okay. One other piece here. Let’s see, you—when I guess at Phù Cát or where there was an orphanage, there was also a prison camp? Veteran: Oh, in Pleiku. Interviewer: Oh, well that was in Pleiku. Okay. Veteran: There were a couple orphanages we worked with but there was one in Pleiku. And right next to the orphanage, there was a POW camp. And one night, they attacked the POW camp and tried to get their people freed. Nobody would leave. Couple nights later there was another attack except they mortared the POW camp and we were afraid because we were—you know, you’re at your base and you’re looking out and it’s a couple miles away and thought they were hitting the orphanage. We were afraid they were going to hit—well, when you play with mortars, you �always joke it’s one over, one under, and you bracket it and then you hit it. And it’s crazier than artillery because, well, all the mortars move around. And unless it’s danger close, you don’t normally start way out and walk it in. And they didn’t touch the orphanage. I don’t know how or why or if it was intentional or just flat dumb luck or…But they didn’t touch the orphanage. But that was strange. I mean, they attacked the POW camp, they got inside, and they couldn’t get their own people to run away. So much for prisoner of war camp and your ideas of ‘stuff like that.” They wouldn’t leave. Interviewer: And not necessarily dedicated to the communist revolution either at that point. (02:10:04) Veteran: I don’t know. I—you know, I mentioned earlier that since then I have taken a number of college classes and Far East history and other stuff. And I do believe that our government read the thing entirely wrong. I don’t think it had…Anyway, for the little guy fighting, you know, if you talk to the North and South, the old story is the Northern asks the Southern, “What are you fighting for?” because most of the guys from the South that fought in the Civil War, barefoot and poor, and they didn’t own any slaves. He says, “I am fighting for my rights.” He says, “I’m fighting because you’re down here.” And I think most of the Vietnamese didn’t understand what the war was about any more than the American—I didn’t. And I think most of them were fighting because of home or whatever. I know the Vietnamese that were fighting on the south side that were up where I am at were there predominantly because the judge gave them an opportunity to go to war or go to jail. And I know the ones that my brother-in-law fought with down in around Saigon, they lived down there and family and—we are talking full time soldiers yet, though. And he says they were very good and very—and the ones I was fighting with, you know, that I was dealing with for the most part up around Pleiku were not. Same war, same �people. I think most of the Vietnamese were fighting for unification and they wanted Vietnam together. One Vietnam. They didn’t want French rule, they didn’t want American rule. They didn’t want any help, they wanted self-rule. They wanted—this is our country, leave us alone. And I think that’s what they were—and I think that’s probably part of what went on here. You’re talking about being dedicated to communism? I don’t think they could tell you what a communist was, much less spell it. Interviewer: Right. Okay. Another note here that we have: King Bees and betel nut? Veteran: Well, that’s not all connected but… Interviewer: Two different things. Alright. Veteran: Yeah. We were talking about them not fighting and going out to the field and getting caught, in trouble and that. King Bees was a CH-34 which is—if you think of the old Marine helicopter you see in Vietnam—has a rotating motor down in the corner. It has rounded front piece down. Pilots were way above the cargo compartment. King Bees had 34s and they were Vietnamese. And on several occasions, we had run ins with King Bees and none of them were anything I would want to write home about. And I remember one night, they had—well, it was daytime when they went up—they went up and inserted Vietnamese. (02:12:42) Veteran: Along with our FO, our foreign observer. They put them in and they got into heavy contact and they needed to be extracted. And they were sending a bunch of Hueys up to extract them. And I was heading up that way and I am in my 58 and the Hueys are going up in formation to go out and try to get them out. The King Bees are coming down. And we got this common freq for artillery we talked about. So, they hailed King Bees and King Bees come back on the radio. And they says, “Hey, you’re people are in trouble. Where are you guys going?” “Oh, we �go home. Night time. We go home now.” Their people were in contact and we were going up to snatch South Vietnamese out and these guys are going home. Another time, they were down at Pleiku airbase and I mentioned how we had to cross the runway to get in and out of there, and there was a King Bee sitting on the VIP pad, right in front of the tower. And he called for departure instructions. The tower told him, “Hold flat pitch. C-130 on landing row.” And he says, “My country: I go now.” And he just picked up and went right across the runway. C-130 on—that was landing—he aborted his landing and gunned it and…You know, like a touch and go and went around again and came back. I am going, “Oh, you got to be kidding me.” (02:14:18) Veteran: It was just…Betel nut. You know what betel nut is? Interviewer: I do. Veteran: Yeah, very few people here do. I gather it was a bit addictive. Bit of a mild narcotic, like in Iraq, they have trouble with cot. There were a number in things in Vietnam that were easy to get. None of our guys played with betel nut but every once in a while, you’d get a Mamasan with some and she’d smile at you and her teeth would be all absolutely black. Betel nut would stain their teeth. And they’d chew betel nut and it’s just something that you never see here but if you’re seeing stuff about Vietnam, and you see a group, you’re going to get somebody in there that’s got all them black teeth. And that’s betel nut. That’s… Interviewer: Alright, that was just a…And then you’ve also got something in here about Mamasan and a tiger? Veteran: Yeah. I don’t even remember which base that was. Mamasan…Well, we talk about a housing shortage here that, you know…A big house may be 8-foot square for the Montagnards. �And they built them on stilts. And then you have a ladder you put down. And 8x8 probably was a multi-generational domicile. And one of Mamasan’s duties would be to bring in the ladder at night. And for whatever reason, Mamasan didn’t bring in the ladder. And in the middle of the night, a tiger walked up the ladder and bit Mamasan in the arm and actually bit the arm off. She took the arm out of the tiger’s mouth and pulled it away, beat the tiger off, pulled the ladder in. The next morning, walks 7 miles into a Montagnard village. (02:16:20) Interviewer: Wow. Veteran: Or, into special forces camp from her village. They had me med-evacc her to 71st evacc hospital. Couple days later, they asked me to pick her up and bring her back out to the Montagnard village and I did. She walked then back out to her village and sat there for most of the day. Nobody would talk to her. They thought she was an evil spirit. If you get a scratch in the jungle, like from a rose bush, in an hour it will be a pus trap. And I asked the doctor at 71st evacc hospital, I says, “How come she didn’t just flat bleed to death?” Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And he looked at me and he says, “You would. I would.” He says, “They don’t have any fat.” He says, “Her muscles all contracted and then acted like a tourniquet.” And they had to debris it and whatever and put—she walked, it was every other day or every third day, 7 miles back to the special forces camp to have her dressing changed and looked at. Interviewer: Wow. Veteran: And walked back to her village. But that…You talk about differences. You know, people today are complaining about Obamacare and healthcare, you see them parading it’s a right and stuff…I do genealogy and I can tell you that my parents started getting healthcare �because of the unions. And prior to that, nobody had insurance. Doctors did house calls. They did house calls when I was a kid. We have no concept how well we live, how well things are. I was sitting in a master’s class, economics, and the gentleman sitting next to me was a retired colonel. Army engineer. (02:18:17) Veteran: And somebody said something about poor in this country. And he and I said, “We don’t have any poor in this country.” 2/3 of the class was black and 2/3 of the class was female. And the class went ballistic. And the prof came back to the two of us and says, “Two of yous want to explain?” I says, “Yeah. Our poor has transportation. Our poor has housing with electricity, some of them have air conditioning, almost all of them have tvs, they have indoor plumbing, they have…You know, they may not have insurance, they can go to any emergency room to get healthcare.” I says, “They live better than the top 10% do in any third world country I have ever been in. We have relative poor: they’re poor relative to the rest of this. I’ll give you that. But poor? No.” Interviewer: Okay. Now, one other, actually, dimension of this sort of cultural difference and so forth. We talked about R and Rs. You had the one when you went to Japan. Where else did you go? Veteran: I went to the Philippines and that was in conjunction to something else too. And that was early in my stay in Vietnam. I’ve always had an interest in outdoor survival. Backpacking, I mountain climb. I cross country ski. But when I cross country ski, I take my day pack with me and I don’t come back for a couple days. They sent me to the Philippines to go through jungle environmental survival training at Subic Bay. By the way, it’s still there. (02:20:06) �Veteran: Subic Bay isn’t. and if you look up J.E.S.T.—J-E-S-T—Jungle Environmental Survival Training. The same Montagnards are running it. Not the same Montagnards—the same Negritos are running it in the same place. And doing the same thing for civilians and anybody that wants to go. And I found that fascinating. I was doing some research the other day on the computer but…We went there and 3 days and then my R and R followed that so, I don’t know, I ended up with somewhere between 8-10 days they cut my orders for because I had my 5 day R and R in conjunction with jungle school and travel and housing and everything else. So, I went there and that was interesting. We were told to bring $2.50 and we figured that was just for meals. Everybody I ran into was an officer that was going to the school and we got there. They had us meet in Subic Bay. Told us when and where. Got aboard a deuce and a half. They put down the side curtains. And they drove us—and you could tell by the road, they got out of the main base and we were on a gravel road and it wasn’t really well taken care of. And dust started to seep in a little bit. Got where we were going, there was this big Quonset hut and we got out and went in the Quonset hut. And we had really professional presentation for the morning and into part of the afternoon but we never had lunch. And then they finally said, “Anybody hungry?” Duh. So, they had us get back abord the deuce and a half, side curtains down, drove us off. Vehicle stopped and they call off 4 names. Now, I am real suspicious. Deuce and a half is full. Why do they only want 4 of us? They’re going to feed us, right? So, the 4 of us get out and the deuce and a half leaves. And we are looking around and it’s a triple canopy jungle and there’s just this two track. And as the truck finally clears, here is standing a little native. (02:22:21) Veteran: And he’s got 4 bolo machetes in a wooden sheath with about 6-feet of parachute cord on it. And he said, “$2.50, please.” Okay, we cough up $2.50. He shows us how to tie it around our waist and it hangs real nice on one side. He draws his, cuts a piece of dry bamboo, splits it �down, puts a little V in it, takes another piece and starts playing it like a violin. He starts a fire. And he’s got a green joint of bamboo, splits that one off, puts a bamboo leaf over top, takes some rice out of his pocket and puts it in the joint, bamboo leaf, puts it in the fire. In about 15 minutes, maybe 20 minutes at the most that we are all—from the time we are dropped off—he’s taking another piece of bamboo and splitting it lengthwise and bamboo has these joints in it, you know, and he’s splitting it sideways and it made like a little trough. And he’s opening up this thing and he’s putting some rice and other stuff and he goes…So, we sit down there and we are eating. Don’t know what we are eating. Rice I know, the rest I don’t know. So, we are eating. And when we get through eating, he goes like this and he says…Then he speaks, guy actually can speak and he speaks English. He says, “What you see?” Well…You know, pilots aren’t usually off heo farm. So, he gets—we are in sambo country. We are in tiger country. He gets some strange answers. And then he looks at us and he points again and he says, “Look again. You stand in world’s largest grocery store. Only reason man starve out here is no read packaging labels.” And for the next three and a half days, everything we wanted was prepared. (02:24:14) Veteran: Everything. We had…At one point—well, the first day, he’s showing us medicine. Second day, he’s showing us water. I got that out of order: first day was medicine or water, second day was plants, third day he is showing us how to catch animals. And then the next day we were picked up early in the morning and taken back to base. And culture differences again. I mean, when we are doing the animals, he’s upset with us that we want to catch them by the neck; they’ll be dead. He says, “Catch them by the leg. Tie them with a string. Give them water. Eat them when you’re ready. Otherwise, famine or feast.” He says, “Dumb. Dumb.” First day, he’s showing us where to find water and medicine. One of the guys picked up a piece of bamboo and he struck it with his machete and it split. And the edge of bamboo, when it splits like that is very �sharp. And he laid the palm of his hand wide open. Well, I am a wilderness EMT and I am looking at that and I am thinking how many stitches. And like I said, a scratch is a pus track. And I am figuring this guy is out of here. Ain’t no way he’s going to perform for the next couple days in the jungle with us with a cut in his palm like that. And I mean, it is clear through the skin. I mean it is a good cut. The Negrito goes over to a little tree and uses the knife down by the hilt and just scrapes it and ends up with what looks like kind of a Brillo pad. Puts it in his hand and says, “Hold it.” And he goes over and he pulls some leaves off another one and it milks up on the end like a milkweed. Takes that little Brillo pad out and he paints it with the sap. I noticed by this time the wound is over ¾ of the way closed. Puts the bark back. He says, “Hold it.” It never opened up, it never got infected. When we got back to base, I went with this guy over to the H station and they’re looking at it, says, “What’s the crap you got in there?” Because by now it is scabbed over some and that. And he says, “Well I don’t know. Negritos did that.” “Oh, you’re with the J.E.S.T. program?” “Yeah.” “They paint it with that white stuff?” We says, “Yeah.” He says, “You know, we are testing that stuff in the lab back here. It’s got the same medicinal effects as iodine. We are trying to figure out how much to use to purify water.” We are going, “What??” (02:26:45) Veteran: He says, “Don’t know what to do with it.” He says, “If it opens up, come back. Anything we do now would be secondary injury.” He says, “it’s closed. It ain’t going to open.” I am going whoa…Okay. Last night we were out, the Negrito got together somehow out there in the middle of nowhere—of course, these guys…I mean, they grew up out there. This is their thing. Come to find out, the guys we were with have got college degrees. But you know, you wouldn’t—I mean, they were wearing fatigues. Jungle fatigues. A couple of them had some sort of footwear on. Some of them were barefoot. If they had anything on their back, it was smaller �than a bookbag. And their machete. And I mean, we went—we didn’t go without anything. I mean, at one point the guys were swimming in a bend in the river and they were commenting how yeah they weren’t dirty but they felt sticky and what…Negrito goes over and he cuts this vine and it was all twisted. And he says, “Get a rock and pound it flat.” So, we get two rocks, pound this thing flat. He says, “Go wash like washrag.” He did the right—and it lathered up like it was detergent. Washed with it, couldn’t—this is wild. Getting all clean. Just…So, the last night all these guys kind of start getting together. And everybody that’s in the class ended up in the same campground. And we found out top of the hill right there is where the deuce and a half had a road again. We went out the next day. (02:28:22) Veteran: But that night, we all got together and they said, “You know, we know you are going back to combat. Anything you guys want to know?” And we says, “Well, yeah. Anything you can’t get for us here?” I mean, we are mesmerized. I mean, the stuff in medicine, where to find water…I mean, they were showing us a number of plants that all we had to do was cut them and water ran out of them. And it’s purified. We were just mesmerized with everything that was going on. And you can’t absorb it fast enough. But a lot of it’s the same. I mean, if you see a dandelion here, it’s a dandelion there. It may be bigger but it’s still a dandelion. So, some of this stuff washes over. And some of that I picked up real easy. Well, we are sitting around this campfire and ask him these things and he says, “Two things no can get.” We says, “Okay.” “No San Miguel tree.” Well, San Miguel is Philippine beer. He is talking about no Coors, no Budweiser, no Falstaff, you know. “No San Miguel tree. And no sex tree.” But other than that, anything and everything we wanted out there. I mean, it was just unbelievable the stuff that if I sit and think about, I’ll think of some more examples of stuff they come up with. But it was just…We wanted for literally nothing. Matter of fact, it was strange. I woke up the morning they �were going to take us out. We had learned to take a piece of bamboo and you hit it with your machete to the outside. You pull that little piece of wood out. Bamboo joints about a third full of water and it’s already purified. And we’d put some fresh water prawns in there and we would put some palm heart in there and some other things and then you put this piece of wood back in, upside down. And you put it in the fire. It acts like a pressure cooker. (02:30:15) Veteran: The water only gets so hot. The little piece of wood comes up and you see some steam come out. And when steam don’t come out anymore, you know everything that is in there is cooked. And I had one of these I had saved. And I woke up and it had rained real hard the night before and we were starting to get into the monsoons. And I had a rock that was probably 5 foot high. And we were near a crick and the crick had come up and completely surrounded my rock but it hadn’t gotten up to the top of me. And I had slept with my legs drawn up in my chest with my poncho over me and I had this joint. When I woke up in the morning, I hit that joint. I flipped it on the side and I am eating a little rice and palm heart and some prawns and thinking life just don’t get any better than this. And they took us back to base and then I realized this is Thanksgiving. So, we went and showered because we had been, you know, several days in the same clothes and that. Showered and changed clothes and went down to the BOQ. And they had table after table after table laid out with roast beef and ham and turkey and chicken and everything you could think of laid out. And I went through and the contrast, again. Talking about poor and talking about the way we live and…Matter of fact, just recently I was listening to a documentary and the guy was making the comment, and I never thought about it at the time and I never thought about it causing a problem, but he says part of the problem our troops had with the Vietnamese that we were working with was the difference in life standards in our culture. And this idea of poor and the way we lived and our housing and their housing and what we ate and �the way they ate. And coming back out of the field and thinking I was living like a king and then walking back for…And a Fourth of July don’t go by that I don’t think about the way the Montagnards lived and the way the Negritos lived and the way the Vietnamese lived. And just so thankful that this country—and we have so much excess that we don’t even think it’s excess. I mean, it just… (02:32:32) Interviewer: Alright. Now, did you have another R and R in there? Or actually, before we get to that actually—so, you go back, you’re at Subic Bay, you have Thanksgiving dinner and so forth but did you then have a few days at Subic Bay before you left? Or…? Veteran: Actually, we flew into Clark. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then we were overland to Subic. That was a shocking experience too. You’ve been in the military long enough, especially in combat, you learn to sleep whenever you get a chance to sleep and you learn to eat even if you’re not hungry, even when there is a chance to eat, because we don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know when you’re going to be able to get the next meal or drink of water or whatever. And it was night and we got aboard this bus. Army bus, typical gray-blue kind of looking thing. And they’re going to take us to the next place and of course this is the Philippines and we came out of Vietnam so we don’t have our guns. We don’t have our survival vests. We don’t have anything like that. And you got whatever you’re traveling with, whether it’s a B-4 bag or small duffel or whatever you’re traveling with. And we get aboard the bus and we are traveling and I am asleep. And the bus comes to a stop and I thought oh, we are where we are going. And I look up and there’s guys coming on the bus in �some sort of military uniform. And if I remember right, it was a grayish blue uniform. It wasn’t one of ours. Automatic weapons. And I am feeling for my sidearm. (02:34:07) Veteran: We were at a checkpoint and they vary them and move them around but the Philippines were having trouble with Huks at the time. And they were coming aboard to make sure that these were all Americans on and this hadn’t been a hijacked bus and there weren’t Huks aboard the bus. And they just kind of walked down, looked around, and walked off and we were on our way. But that was a few tense—and I could see it in the eyes of some of the other guys that were there on the bus too. Now, whether they were out of Vietnam or where they were, I don’t know. But yeah, that was different. Yeah, I had 5 days. Subic Bay was interesting. They had a great big officers club and it was divided: sort of an upstairs, downstairs thing. And the upstairs is very formal and it was very semi-circular and it kept going down steps like you have at somebody’s home for a fire place. But everything in front of you is glass and you can see the whole bay. And there was a carrier group in there at that time, amongst other things, and you could see them all out in the bay. And the lights are down so the outside is lit up and all the way at the bottom of this set up—now, these are all tables on these tiers. And at the bottom is a dance floor and a piano and a singer comes out from time to time. And several of us guys would go down close to the piano and sit down there. And we’d request songs. And that was strange. People just weren’t doing that. And we finally got a glass and out it on the piano and started stuffing bills in it. That was strange; nobody was doing that. And we asked the gal there to sing a couple songs. She didn’t know them. And the last night we were there, she knew it was going to be our last night. She got her girlfriend to come over from the NCO club to sing the songs we’d requested that she didn’t know. (02:36:17) �Veteran: And then she said that she wanted to do a dedication and that her brothers were leaving, referring to us. And she started to try and sing her song and got partway through, had to put the mic down. She couldn’t finish. She turned around and collected herself and turned around and tried 3 times. And then just walked away. We never got that response home. Never got it anywhere. But there…I mentioned you had the upstairs/downstairs. And if you went outside and you went down below, this was on the side of a hill, down below they had a stag bar. And just the opposite, there was no glass. It had a quarter inch hardware cloth on the wall and then mosquito netting on the outside of the hardware cloth. And you walk inside and I think there were two tables and I don’t remember how many stools but there couldn’t have been more than 4 stools in the entire place. But there were a couple tables and they were pillar type where you stand up by. And a bar. And down there there was a big open patio and there was a swimming pool out there. And at night nobody was using the swimming pool but there were tracks that came from that bar, went across that patio and went to the swimming pool. And inside they had ‘last chance’—big plaque on the wall—‘last chance’ and there were names on it. And they had this car and it was inside the bar and they’d open this door, slide the curtains back, whatever, and in this car kind of looked like a bullet pointed on both ends. And you could sit in the car and there was this seat and they had a lever and when you pulled the lever, it dropped a hook. And just before the pool there was a cable. And on both sides of the cable, there was a ramp coming up to that cable. (02:38:32) Veteran: You get in the car and they would pump up the air pressure and when the guage read a certain point they would say, “You ready?” “Ready.” They’d fire the car and they’d go down the track and you could drop the hook to catch the cable and if you didn’t, you went in the swimming pool. �Interviewer: Alright, so I guess that answers the question what do you do in Subic Bay if you’re not getting yourself in trouble. Veteran: Well, at that time we had more Army aviators on the ‘last chance’ plaque than the Navy did. So, it was funny. I went out with the guys one night and they wanted me to go into town with them and I knew what they were thinking and I wasn’t really excited. They conned me into going into town and I went into town, we went to a bar. Of course, the girls descend on you then. And “Baby, you’re nice, I like you, I don’t want to marry you.” I don’t know if it was resonating but then somebody else came in the bar and she didn’t really want to be with him but he was buying her drinks. The two guys that were with me, the two gals that were with them, I says, “What’s the deal?” And they said, “Oh, he weirdo. He likes to hurt girls. He burns them with cigarettes and stuff.” And I says, “What?! Well, why doesn’t she just leave him alone?” “Oh, he buys her drinks. She’s got to stay with him.” “What?” “Well, that’s the bar rules. It’s the way things go.” Now, she wasn’t really getting a drink, she was getting tea. (02:40:05) Veteran: It looks like a drink but it is not, you know. And I got to check my drinks because I can order an orange juice and I’ll get a screwdriver. And I got to be real careful what I am getting because I don’t drink. And you tell them what you want but you don’t get it. And so finally I just said, “2” and the bartender looks at me, “2 drinks for her.” So, she had to come over and sit with me. And I kept buying her drinks until he left. And then I just told her, “Sorry babe. You know, I am not interested.” Well, they stayed there until the bar closed and the girls left with us and we are walking down the street and these guys want to take these 2 gals to the hotel and ain’t interested. These two ain’t going to go unless she goes. “Guys…Come on, you’re digging me in. I don’t want this trash.” So, we end up at the hotel. I tried getting two rooms. Can’t get two rooms so I get one room with two beds. Told her, “You stay there, me stay here. Savvy?” She �woke me up in the morning and I run her out. The following day, early in the morning, the room in my BOQ opens up. My maid is letting her in. She just sits there in the chair, watching me. And I am not indicating I am awake, I am just…Finally, I says, “What do you think you are doing?” And she apologizes to me and I didn’t get my money’s worth and she feels bad. And I am going, “What??” And I figured somebody is going to try and take me for a ride. But she ends up being a number one, genuine article. So, I used her for 2 or 3 days. She arranged to pay Mamasan so she is mine, she doesn’t go to work, she doesn’t go anywhere. And she was my guide around Subic Bay. (02:42:23) Veteran: And outside Subic, if you go up to the base, they’d have places where they had felt canvases out where you could buy carvings, you could buy stuff like that. I made some comment to her one time I wanted to buy one of them. She says, “No you don’t.” She says, “They’re crooks. I take you.” So, she got one of the jitneys and the jitney is a jeep over there and they decorate them with all sorts of big reflectors and lights and all kinds of stuff and use them like taxis. And she gets this jitney and she speaks—I don’t know what the language is—but it is not Spanish. And she is speaking to the driver and he takes me somewhere on the way back roads, I don’t know where the devil I am. And I am looking around going okay, so far she is being good to me and I trust her…And she goes in this place. And for five bucks, I bought a carving of the last supper that is this big, in multiple woods. I walked out of there wit three oil paintings and I paid five bucks. Couldn’t believe it. Another night I told her, I says, “Let’s go eat and dance somewhere.” Well, she is thinking I want to take ger back to the officer’s club. Well, they ain’t going to let her in. And so, she says, “I know the place.” And she took me some place again and it’s downstairs. And it’s like old caverns, like you think of in France and that, you know. And I am going oh, shit. And I get in there and we had surf and turf and I don’t remember what else. I �didn’t even spend $7. And I mean, it was just that way. And one day I says to her, I says, “I want to see where you live.” She looks at me funny like. I says, “You tell me you got a child.” I says, “I want to meet your family.” And she looked at me and she started to cry. She says, “I no have family.” I says, “What?” “I no have family.” She says she was a maid on the base and she…there was this specialist there, E-4 that she fell for and he said, “If you love me, you’re going to go to bed with me.” And she believed that he wanted to marry her and… (02:44:47) Veteran: She ended up with a child. And he left and went back to the states and she got left. Her family—real strict, religious—disowned her. Her daddy literally put a stone in the cemetery for her. She ain’t alive. She had this jitney take me and I don’t know where we went but it ended up being 3 or 4 floors and it’s the kind of thing you see on travel logs where you see all the balconies and all the laundry hung from side to side and all over. And we get there and the driver says something to her. And she starts a fight with the driver. And I am ready to crawl under anything to get out of the way. People are coming out on the balconies, they’re coming out on the street. I mean, they are like lining up 5 to 10 deep around this jitney and I am thinking uh-oh. I am in big trouble now, you know. And I have no clue what is going on. And she and he are in a heated yelling match. Finally, she throws some coins at him and at that point, everybody around us and in the balconies just start applauding. And her name was Amy. And I said to Amy, I says, “What’s going on?” “He tried to charge you way much. He crook. I call him crook. He insist I pay or he call police. I told him, call the Army, she didn’t care.” And she had it out with him because, you know, people over there they haggle for everything. (02:46:30) Veteran: And the Americans, the way we are, like at the front gate: I’d have paid probably somewhere between $40-$50 for the stuff I got for $5. “No,” she says, “He got paid fair. He got paid tip. Too much. Him crook.” I go whoa. And I went in this apartment complex and she had a, �I don’t know, 1 or 2-year old. And she was living with 2-3 other girls so they could afford the rent. And that was her life. And she is another person I have often wondered about what happened because Clark Air Force base the volcano took over. And then Subic we pulled out of and there is nothing there. And she has no family. She has no…And are people going to reprisal against her? I wonder about our maids in Pleiku. There was a reprisal against them because they worked for the Americans. I don’t know. Interviewer: Alright. Now, we have been running here for about 3 hours. So, I— Veteran: Do you want me to do it again? Interviewer: Well, you have other—I think what I would like to do here…I mean, we have actually worked pretty well through the list of things that we had out of Vietnam between the first session and this one. We have covered a wide range of experience and things that you had out there. And then you also mentioned that when you finally got short, your commander basically wouldn’t even let you fly. So, you had a kind of quiet time there. Veteran: Well, I think he was worried. I mean, I had done a tour and a half back to back, in country. And everybody else is there for a year, whatever. Special forces do a 6-month tour. They usually do 6-months and rotate it out and then come back and do 6-months and rotate it out. I’d been there for 18 and I had been made the executive officer of the aviation company and making all the briefings. I don’t know if he knew I flew the little girl to the Montagnard village. I don’t care if he does or not. (02:48:47) Veteran: I know he doesn’t know I snapped the LRRP patrol out. They knew something. Because I brought in and showed you they gave me the award of the Red Banana. Doesn’t mean anything to anybody before or after and nobody else will probably know. But artillery colors are �red and bananas grow predominantly in the highlands. And they had come up with this award they gave once a month from the group headquarters to the officer that they thought was the most valuable player. Like a VIP award. And they always gave it to an artillery rated officer. I am a warrant, I am not an artillery rated officer. I am not in the artillery branch. They gave it to me. I mean, I went up to the old man’s briefing like I did every morning and there were times when they gave away—gave away? Good term. They presented medals. And I have a drawer full of them because my mother rescued them out of the trash. And I don’t think anything of any of them I have got. Not a one. The award of the Red Banana? I had no clue it was coming. I had no idea what was going on. Again, it was a typical—everybody stand up, attention to orders, and he started reading it and they ordered me to the front. I had no clue. I think I was awarded it in November. I would have to look at it. (02:50:24) Veteran: But it means something. Those were the guys I worked with. Those were the guys I was accounting to, I guess. But again, it is strange because my sidekick that I mountain climb and backpack and go deer hunting with and that, he served with the First cavalry Division. And he goes to their reunions. And he says to me, “You want to join the Vietnam Helicopters Association?” “I didn’t work with those guys.” Do I go to 52nd Arty groups—or First Field Forces groups? I didn’t really work with them. I mean, I might fly a guy once and never see him again. Some of the commanders I might fly once, twice, three times a week. They might have been there 3-4 months and then they are gone. Because you got that rotation thing going on. I did come home from deer hunting one year and my wife says, “We have got a strange phone call.” Well, I was law enforcement. The only thing I could think of at the time was oh…Time to keep the scatter gun loaded and, you know, make sure the dogs taken care of. And she says, “No, no.” She says, “Told me to tell you it was Sundown 13-Alpha.” And I looked at her and I says, �“Who?” Couldn’t believe my ears. Our mechanics decided to add alpha to the end of our call signs. (02:52:04) Veteran: This was my mechanic. My mechanic again was a misfit. I guess that’s what I was. He…A little heavy. Really nice guy, real nice personality. Just didn’t fit with the other guys and he was the one they’d pick on. And—well, I’d pick on him too but he knew, you know…I mean like, we’d fly. Later on, we got some flight suits that were two-piece. They were like tanker uniforms so you had a tunic and a pair of pants. And we would tuck them in because if you didn’t and you got an aircraft fire, it acted like an entry and it would pull the fire up. And they were teasing him one night about being gay and stuff and I got to the door and I said, “Hey Mick: goodnight.” And you know, talking around. But Mick Wilson and I got along well and he became my mechanic. And I don’t care. I mean, my faith—I’ll talk about gays a minute—my faith, if you’re gay, that’s your problem. That’s the way I look at it. And I think it is. I think you got enough problems of your own. And as long as you’re not predatory and I think that your sexual conquests with the ladies or with your wife or with some other partner is your business and ought to stay your business and doesn’t belong in public. So, I don’t care. None of my business. And I tried to teach Mick to fly. That boy couldn’t get the hang of it. He tried killing me more than the Viet Cong did. And he told my wife, he says, “I extended a stay in Vietnam because your husband was the only one that would let me fly.” And Mick extended his stay—I found out about this after he did it—he extended to stay in Vietnam 6-months because I did. I went to Mick, I said, “What did you just do? It’s dumb!” I mean, he wasn’t going to get sent back that we knew of. Matter of fact, they sent him to Germany when he left there. He never did go back to Vietnam. (02:54:32) �Veteran: I said, “You don’t extend because I do! You don’t live your life the way I do because I am doing it. You’re doing it for you. You do what fits your bill. You do what floats your boat. You don’t…” You know. That bothered me for a while. When I went down to see him in Cleveland, I had talked to him on the phone, we got back together. This was 40 years later. Went down to Cleveland. He’s total disability. He had to get his—he took privately his own fat samples and sent them to a lab to have them analyzed. And he was heavily exposed to Agent Orange. He later went back by the Freedom of Information Act and got verified: they sprayed the hill in Pleiku that we lived on, 6 times while we were there. Forget the free fire zones where nothing grows for 1000 yards where they’d kill it with something. And we’re landing in that. You know, I knew I was exposed. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell me that some reason something isn’t growing out there in a triple canopy jungle. Spray the hill we lived on? I can remember when they did it. It had a sort of a uriney…I don’t know how to explain the smell. And I can remember them spraying and I thought they were spraying for mosquitoes. It just sort of fit. I mean, rice paddies all around our base. And I thought maybe they were spraying for mosquitoes. And they sprayed our hill for some—I have no clue why. To this day, I don’t know why. It doesn’t make any sense. Sounds like I am lying to you. He found in the Freedom of— they sprayed the hill 6 times while we were there. (02:56:23) Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: And yet they’re asking him, “Do you think you were exposed?” Interviewer: Yeah. Alright. We are going to rewind back around here. So, you kind of got…So then, was he there the full time you were there? Or did they send him off after you left? �Veteran: Almost all the time I was there. I don’t recall him not being there. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I don’t recall me being there before he was or he being there after…Or me going—you know—he going home and then I go home later. I know he extended after I did so I think he stayed another month. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: But I can tell you what: he could check out the hitches on both sides of the runway. Because we’d start hovering and he’d end up on both sides of the runway before I took the aircraft away from him. He had fun. Interviewer: Alright. I think we are probably at this point kind of getting to—this is about as far as I can go effectively. I think we are going to close this off here. And if we’ve got more to cover then we get to do another session. Veteran: Well, I will talk with my wife and we will see if she comes up with something. You know, so much of it…I don’t know. I don’t live in the past. I live today. When I was on the police department, there were some guys who their whole life was when they were in high school and played football. And Vietnam was the time that I wouldn’t trade it for a million bucks. You couldn’t get me to do it again for anything. When I came home and I went to the VFW, I was there about the third time and some guy made the crack, “You’re the guys that can’t win the war.” And I grabbed him and bent him over the bar backwards. Told him he was a dumb SOB and I told him, I said, “If we are told to attack, you charge. If you’re told to retreat, you back up. You’re told to sit and hold the ground to the last man, you sit and hold the ground to the �last man. We ain’t ever lost a major battle. Politicians giving the damn war away and you’re blaming us?” And I walked out. Never been back. (02:58:32) Veteran: I went to a pow wow—I went to a pow-wow and it was in conjunction with Purple Heart Association up in White Cloud. And I know a bunch of them. My wife, while I was serving in Vietnam, was serving with Vista and she was helping to organize the American Travel Council. So, we have connections on both sides. We had taken our kids at one time up to Big Bay for a pow wow. Big Bay is north of Marquette and the road literally ends at Big Bay. And before they started the pow-wow. I am going to get choked up. They got on their PA system and they asked for all veterans to please come to the PA. Still small pow-wow. There were more of us European mongrels than Native Americans there. Short while, they came back on the PA and they said, “I didn’t ask for just Native American veterans. I know there is more veterans here. I want all the veterans to come over here.” So, I went over there. They gave me the American flag, gave us some tobacco, told us about their ceremony and why. We went out and danced around and I thought good, this is done. He then asked us to stop and face the outside of the circle. (03:00:22) Veteran: He told them we were the modern-day warriors. We were the ones that protected their freedom and their right to worship, have their pow-wows, they were wanting to thank us that much. Wanted to come out, shake our hands. They also had everybody come out. It would have been easier to fly into a hot LZ. I stood there, just…Solemnly crying. This pow-wow they did almost the same thing except they didn’t have everybody come out and shake our hand. Which is good because I couldn’t have taken it. The guy from the VFW up there was out parading with us and he was in TW stuff: light tan uniform that’s a twill—a tight weave. And I told him it was an impressive uniform. I asked him about it. He says he was with the VFW up there. And I says— �and I grew up running around through White Cloud, Fremont, Newaygo. I went to school at Ferris. I live in Muskegon. So, I dated—matter of fact, the girl I was engaged to lived in White Cloud. That’s how I ended up getting in the service. And he invited me and he told me that they met at the Senior Citizens—I don’t know what you call it—building? So, I went the first Monday of the month there and they were like 12 guys. (03:02:28) Veteran: And their talk, first thing when they got into new business, anybody needs help, they had read the statement from the VFW that we are here to support the troops, to support our vets, to support our widows and our orphans. Does anybody need help? You know, I know from being a medic and being a police officer and served in the military, they are not going to ask for help. And these guys are going down the list of people they know in their own community. There’s like 12 of them and they come up with 6 people that really need help and their group is going to be helping them. And this VFW is meeting and there is no bar. You don’t need a gas mask. There’s a couple of them that are smoking but I mean you don’t need a gas mask. They meet once a month to take care of their own and look after the rest. And this isn’t a bunch sharing old war stories or puffing chests or…Matter of fact, a bunch of them go looking to find out. And I daren’t say half of that group are Purple Hearts. Found a group I can join. Interviewer: Alright. I think that probably gives us a good spot to close this session off. So, again, thank you very much. You have had just a tremendous amount of material to share. And I hope we can arrange to get more of it in the future. But, thank you. Veteran: You’re welcome. (03:04:14) �� 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_AnthonyF2140V2 Title A name given to the resource Anthony, Frank (Interview transcript and video, 2 of 2), 2017 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-06-29 Description An account of the resource Frank Anthony was born in Muskegon, Michigan on February 6th, 1947. He attended college at Ferris State University after graduating from high school in 1965. He joined the military in 1967 and attended basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky in May of the same year. He then did advanced infantry training (AIT) at Fort McClellan, Alabama. After completing AIT, he continued on to the Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and became a Warrant Officer. Frank also attended ranger/special forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was participating in long-range recon school when his request to go to flight school was accepted. He went to flight school in 1968, which lasted for 9 months. He arrived in Vietnam in the middle of 1969. In Vietnam, he was the Safety Officer for a short period of time before becoming the Executive Officer of the Aviation Company, all the while working as a helicopter pilot. He was a part of the 52nd artillery division located in Pleiku, Vietnam. He flew a variety of helicopters while stationed in Vietnam. Frank was involved in several different skirmishes during his time in Vietnam, including the incursion into Cambodia. Frank also participated in jungle environmental survival training in Subic Bay, Philippines while on R and R. He completed a tour and a half before he left Vietnam on December 23rd, 1970. While in the military, Frank received numerous awards, including the award of the Red Banana. After leaving the service, Frank worked in law enforcement for many years. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anthony, Frank A. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, RHC-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> 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.) Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f3b98ef84d83fce7a108e76f8ed1e4f0.pdf 20c6dbbf813eae45d81dfa3756429e68 PDF Text Text COVID-19 Journaling Katelyn Anthony I am a fifth-year senior at Grand Valley State University and I am officially graduating this week with my bachelor’s degree in social work and minor in psychology. I just want to begin by giving some background information about myself, and how this virus has personally affected my life. I could have never imagined that I would finish out my college career online, let alone in my hometown and living with my parents. Although I did plan to return to the east side of the state after graduation, I felt as though my time at Grand Valley was cut short. When the virus began to make the news I did not think much of it. My dad continued to tell me “this virus is going to get bad, and when it does I want you to come home”. I continued to brush off what he was saying and continue with everyday life like many of us did. I first realized that this was serious when Grand Valley, along with colleges and public schools all over the state began closing. I was in the process of finishing out my last few weeks at my internship, and I couldn’t imagine being told I could not go. Grand Valley gave social work students the option at first, if we felt comfortable attending our internships, we could go. I was determined to still go as I had a lot of responsibilities and absolutely loved my internship site. I drove to my internship the following Monday that Grand Valley moved to online, and was then told within the first ten minutes of being there that all interns had to leave, but I did not know I would never return. That day my parents asked if I could come home as they wanted us all to be together. I drove home that day, only packing essential items to last me a few weeks. Looking back, I wish I would have packed more, but I was confused and unsure how long this was going to last. I still have the majority of my belongings in Grand Rapids, and that has been difficult for me. I feel like my life is in different places, as my fiance’ and I are also in the process of moving into our first house. The transition to online classes was very difficult for me in the beginning of the switch. I do feel that over time, I have adjusted as best as I can. I had never taken an online class in my five years of college before this, because my learning style is not compatible with online learning. I do not know how I would have managed it if I had a heavier course load like in previous years, but since this is my last semester it is very manageable. My professors have been understanding and very supportive through this transition, which is something I am very thankful for. My professors have been more than willing to make adjustments and consider how difficult these unforeseen circumstances can be for a college student. I have had a difficult time �processing the numerous changes that unfolded in my life so quickly. Some of the most difficult things for me to process have been a lack of closure in many areas of my life. I did not get to say goodbye to my fellow classmates, my professors, or my wonderful co-workers at my internship. I have also felt a sense of guilt, as I want to be at my internship helping with the high demand of those seeking mental health services. It has been difficult for me to engage in job searching, as there is a lack of agencies hiring right now due to the virus. I have also had to consider finding a job that is not in my field of study to make ends meet until I can find a job within my field of study. The process of job searching has brought a lot of excitement for me, but also a lot of anxiety. It is hard for me to imagine starting my first “real” job, when I have no sense of “normalcy” in my life at all. I have applied to various jobs, but this is a difficult time to be searching for employment, as I am also nervous about putting myself at risk for the virus as well. I found something someone wrote on LinkedIn that I thought I would share for the graduating class of 2020 below: “I'm thinking about the Clas s of '20, entering a job market that will be among the wors t ever for a graduating clas s , and who aren't even getting graduation ceremonies (in mos t cas es ) to celebrate their achievements . Now, and for years into the future, I hope that every employer will take s pecial note when they s ee a 2020 degree date on a job applicant's res ume, and give that pers on an extra look, at the very leas t. Build it into your res ume review algorithms . T his clas s des erves s pecial cons ideration for what they're going through now, as they finis h up their degrees in extraordinary circums tances , and as they enter the workforce like they're jumping off a cliff. Let's all catch them, as bes t we can”. --Diana Curtis Although I have struggled with the lack of closure, job hunting, and sudden life changes, I have also had the time to reflect on the many opportunities and experiences that I was provided with while at Grand Valley. I have also been blessed to spend extra time with my parents that I would not have had. This time of quarantine has also brought a time to pause and practice gratitude. One thing that I have taken away from all of this is that life can change at any given moment. What our “normal” lives look like one day, can be completely different the next. Oftentimes, it is easy to get in a mundane routine, but this has given us the opportunity to spend quality time with the ones that we love. Every single person has been affected by this virus somehow, someway. We are all in this together. I hope that we are able to find some beauty in the midst of what feels like chaos in the world around us. I look forward to the day that we can get back to everyday life, but I do hope that we can take what we have learned from this �experience and live differently. I feel beyond lucky that myself and my family have all stayed healthy so far, and I continually think and pray for the families that have lost loved ones or cannot go to the hospital to visit a loved one due to this virus. I believe that this pandemic will have such long lasting effects on our entire world. Since I am pursuing my career in social work, specifically within the mental health field, my mind continually is thinking about the high demand for mental health social workers that this is going to cause. Those with previous mental health diagnoses, along with those who will develop a mental health diagnosis due to the pandemic. I believe that we all have worries about how long this will go on, and even what life will be like once this is over. I plan to continue taking it one day at a time, and to be there for those who need support. I plan to help as best as I can, and I am ready to begin my career in the mental health field once this is all over. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journaling Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anthony, Katelyn Description An account of the resource Journal entry of GVSU student Katelyn Anthony's experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-20 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-20_AnthonyKatelyn Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80071c0121ec18a9b34c13acbde7f554.pdf d65efa17b95e5b2cac48ce38dc49f290 PDF Text Text "Goodness is rare but sacred in history; it must not be neglected." - Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers A PROGRAM OF THE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE Tuesday, June 4, 1991 �JEWISH FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIAN RESCUERS/ ADL help. Many of these caring rescuers are aged, ill and During the depths of the Holocaust, a few brave souls often forgotten. Through the Jewish Foundation for Christook extraordinary steps to save Jews. For months and sometimes years, these Christian rescuers risked prison, tian Rescuers, we have the opportunity to show our gratitude and to reciprocate, in a deportation and death, for themsmall way, for the care and com passelves and members of their >- sion these Christians bestowed families, in efforts to protect Jews from the inferno of the Nazi terror. ~ upon Jews fleeing or hiding from 2j Nazi death squads. It may be too These heroes acted without any iJ; late to thank the thousands of expectation of reward . They did z Christians tortured and murdered, what they believed was right, at ...cl merely for helping Jews, by the a time when so many others i'.= Nazis and their collaborators. But, looked away. o we can - and must - help those The Jews of Europe, especially ~ remarkable rescuers alive today Eastern Europe, faced the constant :., who are aged and in need. threat of death and imprisonment 8 The Jewish Foundation for during World War II. Too often, Christian Rescuers, a program desperate Jews had no one to tum sponsored by the Anti-Defamation to for aid or comfort. Too often, League, provides monthly grants Jews were betrayed by their own DANISH FISHERMEN ROW JEWS TO to over 700 remarkable men and neighbors. Yet, there were a few SAFETY IN SWEDEN, OCTOBER 1943. women in 13 countries in an atwho did not turn their backs on tempt to help ease their financial burdens. In addition, these tormented people. Thousands of brave people the Foundation's focus is educational. By sponsoring prohid Jews in their homes, gave them food , clothing and grams and seminars and by honoring these noble individmoney for their escape, and even passed Jewish children uals, we not only show our deepest gratitude, but also, off as their own . In each case, these courageous Christhrough commemorating their heroism, we help ensure tians acted out of a sense of moral righteousness and that the values of altruism and moral courage which they responsibility. embody will live on as inspirations to all people. Today, many of these extraordinary people need our You are cordially invited to attend an Evening of Reflection and Tribute • Abraham H. Foxman National Director, Anti-Defamation League "Lessons from History" • Courage to Care Awards to Peter N. and Adrienna B. Termaat Ignacy, Helen and Cezary Chorazyczewski 6:00 p.m. Private viewing of Holocaust Memorial Center followed by Hors d'Oeuvres 7:30 p.m. Program in Shifman Hall followed by Dessert Reception $18.00 per person R.S.V.P. by May 28 Valet Parking Available We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Carol and Joel Dorfman Educational Fund which makes this event and our Fall 1991 Educational Programs possible. Jewish Community Center/Maple-Drake Tuesday, June 4, 1991 �ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE OF B'NAI B'RITH National Chairperson Melvin Salberg National Director Abraham H. Foxman JEWISH FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIAN RESCUERS/ ADL Founding Chairperson Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis Chairperson E. Robert Goodkind MICHIGAN REGIONAL OFFICE ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE OF B'NAI B'RITH President Director Linda Soberman Richard Lobenthal Vice Presidents Norman H. Beitner Fran Gross Nancy Schonberg Barry J. Goodman Ruth Lando David Wallace Sheri T. Schiff Secretary Treasurer Michael H. Traison Gene A. Farber MICHIGAN COMMITTEE JEWISH FOUNDATION FOR CHRISTIAN RESCUERS/ ADL Esther Applebaum Norman H. Beitner Cheryl Bloom Rabbi Ernst Conrad Carol Fogel Jay Gerber Chairperson Fran Gross Committee Howard Goldberg Nancy Kurland Simpson Barry J. Goodman Lisa Mendelson Tammy Gorosh Paula Milgrom Nancy Grand Shellev Nadiv Greg Herman Cheryl Scott Jonathan Jaffa Cherie Selis Michelle Sider Charles Soberman Leslie Taub Arlene Victor David Wallace Harold Zucker Anti-Defamation League of B' nai B'rith, 4000 Town Center, Suite 420, Southfield, Ml 48075-1405 (313) 355-3730 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_COR_1991-06-04-ADL-Courage-to-Care-Awards Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anti-Defamation League Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-04 Title A name given to the resource Courage and Care Awards, Anti-Defamation League Description An account of the resource Invitation to an Evening of Reflection and Tribute, including Courage and Care Awards to Pieter N. and Adriana B. Termaat, held at the Jewish Community Center on June 4, 1991. Subject The topic of the resource Dutch Americans Anti-defamation League Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2e2dfa8741f6d3fd64cf1a533b06979f.m4v 8686b85f2792c71f2bf8fb91659b004c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48b72adeafa7b1332a18447966d0f79e.pdf 3d2b89cde3ed4ec785c3ec130a9bd17d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Gust Anton Korean War 1 hour 1 minute 24 seconds (00:00:12) Early Life -Born in Chicago on December 17, 1928 -One of four boys -All of them wound up being in the military -Father owned three restaurants in Chicago -Lost all three of them during the Great Depression in 1934 -Worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) for six months -Got a job with Derby Foods, a food manufacturer in Chicago -Lived in a Polish neighborhood -They were the only Greek family in the neighborhood -He was bullied because of his Greek heritage -Played soccer in high school -Worked for B&G Studio making photo prints (00:02:27) World War II -He was on a streetcar going to a movie and he heard snippets of talk about Pearl Harbor -When he got home, he learned that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor -Tried to enlist near the end of the war, but he was turned away -Partly because he had a lazy eye, but also because he was only 16 years old (00:04:30) Getting Drafted -Graduated from high school in 1948 -Continued working for B&G Studio -Had started in high school and moved on to more complex work -Taking photos, developing photos, and enlarging photos for high-end displays -Got married on October 21, 1951 -Got drafted in December 1951 -Hadn’t paid any attention to the Korean War, which had begun in June 1950 -Had to report for basic training in January 1952 -Pushed through the draft physical because the Army needed soldiers (00:06:43) Basic Training -Sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for basic training -Platoon sergeant was a black man who had fought in Korea -Had visible bullet wounds -Company commander had fought in Korea and had received a battlefield commission -Did a lot of hiking -Received training with machineguns, bazookas, and rifles -There was a high emphasis on discipline �-Taught that listening well in training led to a higher chance of survival in combat -Had trouble with adjusting to getting up at 3 or 4 a.m. -He didn’t have any trouble with following orders or being around different people -There were some recruits who couldn’t adjust to either -Basic training lasted eight weeks (00:09:47) Mechanic Training -Received eight weeks of mechanic training -Offered a chance to go to Officer Candidate School, but he declined -Would have meant signing up for another two years in the Army -Did his Mechanic Training at Fort Knox -Learned how to work on 2 ½ ton trucks and their engines -Taught how to do quick repairs with minimal tools -Very basic truck maintenance training (00:12:00) Deployment to Korea -Sent home for two weeks of leave then went to Fort Lewis, Washington -Flown out to Washington then had to wait for a ship -Eventually boarded the USNS General Simon B. Buckner -Immediately assigned to kitchen duty -Got special quarters since he had to rise early and work late -Took nine days to reach Camp Drake, Japan -The Buckner carried troops as well as troop-dependents (wives and children bound for Japan) -Had good weather on the crossing because they took the Southern Route -He didn’t have to do the “King Neptune Ceremony” because he was in the kitchen -“King Neptune Ceremony”: Hazing for men crossing the Equator -Got off at Camp Drake and waited a few days for further orders in Korea (00:15:45) Arrival in Korea & Assignment to 84th Engineer Battalion -Sailed over to Korea and went ashore at Inchon in amphibious landing craft -By the time he arrived, the fighting had moved to the 38th Parallel -*Note: 38th Parallel had been the border of North and South Korea -Assigned to the 84th Engineer Battalion on the Imjin River near the 38th Parallel -They were working on the Teal bridge -A week after arriving, American planes strafed them -They were mistaken for North Korean or Chinese troops -There was destruction everywhere -Thousands of children without food, parents, or appropriate shelter -American soldiers gave them whatever they could -Many of them suffered from frostbite -Arrived in Korea in December 1952 -Had spent a few months waiting for a ship at Fort Lewis -Passed the time campaigning for General Eisenhower’s presidency -Hoped he would end the war before they’d have to be deployed -Before landing at Inchon, he saw artillery flashes in the distance -Told that he was being sent where he saw the flashes �-Met with the captain of the 84th Engineer Battalion -Asked Gust why he’d been drafted since he had a lazy eye -He had been sent to them as a tank mechanic, but they needed a photographer -Previous soldier was leaving and Gust had experience with photography (00:23:16) Photography in Korea -Issued a jeep with a broken heater -Had winter gear, but was still cold -Luckily, he was familiar with the portable heater and was able to repair it -Allowed him to use his jeep as a mobile photo studio -Started out by using a camera that used film cartridges -Could take two photographs with each cartridge -Took photos of construction, of battle damage, of dead soldiers, and of wounded soldiers -Felt that he did good work -Also had a 35mm camera -CIA heard that he was a good photographer -They took away the older camera and gave him extra film for the 35mm -He took the pictures and turned over the film to the CIA for development -Much easier camera to operate -Had bought the first 35mm for $10 off a soldier returning to America -Wound up getting rid of it after a while -Bought a 35mm Canon camera at the PX (post-exchange) in Seoul (00:28:33) Combat, Battle of Outpost Vegas, Battle on May 28th -There were Marines based near his unit -They cycled on and off the frontline every three days -Worst picture he ever took was of a dead, young Marine -Prior to March 26, 1953, there was sporadic fighting on the frontline -Patrols running into each other and getting into firefights -On March 26, 1953, the Battle of Outpost Vegas took place -3,500 Chinese and North Korean soldiers hit their position -He was pulled off the line because he was considered too valuable to lose -500 yard from the Teal bridge, the Marines were overrun at Outpost Vegas -Watched from a mile as the Marines and Engineers fought and held the bridge -In the end, 214 Marines were killed, 19 taken prisoner, and 801 wounded -Met one of the wounded Marines in 2009 -Thousands of Chinese soldiers killed -*Note: Estimated 1,351 Chinese killed in that battle -They were sent in a suicidal human wave -Soldiers were issued a rifle with two rounds of ammunition -Every third soldier was given a spear -Expected to pick up rifle after riflemen died -After the battle he found a Russian “burp gun” (PPSh-41) -Turned it over to the CIA for examination -Took photos of the dead and wounded after the battle �-Koreans had to break the arms and legs of dead soldiers to be able to transport them -Things quieted down after March 26 -Air Force hit North Korean and Chinese positions with napalm bombs to deter them -There were minor skirmishes after the Battle of Outpost Vegas -On May 28, 1953, there was another battle with the Chinese -He was pulled off the line again and watched the battle from a distance (00:36:20) Daily Life in Korea & Visiting Seoul -On an ordinary day, the sergeant would give him specific photo orders -Mostly taking pictures of damaged vehicles to account for materiel losses -Mostly took mundane pictures for documentation purposes -Once or twice a month he would drive to the PX in Seoul for supplies -During his time in Seoul, he wound up taking over 500 “human interest” photos -City was destroyed save for a few buildings -North Korean snipers stuck behind enemy lines hid in Seoul -Took potshots at American and U.N. troops in the city -The civilians living in Seoul had a very tough life -Visited a family living in a very simple house -Had an underground fire pit to heat their home (00:40:18) Contact with Korean Soldiers -Worked with KATUSAs (Korean Augmentation to the United States Army) -Korean soldiers that were attached to the U.S. Army -They were hardworking and tough soldiers -Fought for the independence of their country -They remembered Japanese oppression and didn’t want North Korean oppression -Some of their officers had studied in America and were well-educated (00:41:45) Morale & Discipline Problems -They spent most of their time on the frontline, so there was no chance for issues to arise -Able to get some Korean moonshine nicknamed “Lucky 7” -Avoided it since it caused one soldier to go blind -In Seoul, there were English teahouses which served alcohol (00:43:07) Weather -In March, it started to get warmer, but it was still cold -In the summer, it wasn’t hot, but it was more tolerable than the winter (00:43:45) International Troops -Had British and Australian troops stationed near his unit -The British and Australian troops hated each other -Australians detested the British because they felt that the British were arrogant -Gust got along well with the Australian and Canadian troops (00:45:00) Fellow Soldiers -His sergeant taught him how to survive the winter in Korea, specifically avoiding frostbite -He was a career soldier who had been in for most of his life -All the enlisted men were draftees -Some of the officers had been in the Reserve and had been called up for active duty �(00:46:28) Armistice -On July 27, 1953, North and South Korea agreed to an armistice -Company commander sent him to Seoul to look for beer, but couldn’t find any -Went to the Air Force base and asked if they had any -They had 20 cases of Korean beer which they allowed Gust to take with him -Went through 20 cases of two-liter bottles in three days -Despite the armistice, there were still snipers and skirmishes with North Korean troops -Technically, the war never ended allowing for tensions to flare occasionally -For example, the “axe murder incident” on August 18, 1976 (00:49:19) Postwar Duty -With the war “over” he was placed in charge of the company PX -Sold candy, cigarettes, and cameras -Had a very small building to work in -Soldiers wanted cigarettes because they were a barter currency in Seoul -Could trade cigarettes for sex or alcohol -He got the job because his predecessor got caught engaging in the black market (00:51:19) Generator Incident & Change of Command -His unit had a large generator on Teal bridge, and it was lost in the Battle of Outpost Vegas -It was either destroyed or knocked into the Imjin River -The captain couldn’t go home until they recovered it or found evidence of it -Gust went to the Canadians and made a deal with them to take their generator -Allowed the captain to go home and the lieutenant to take command -As of the interview, Gust and that lieutenant are still good friends (00:53:08) Korean Civilians -It was heart wrenching to see the suffering Korean children -Inspired him to become a Shriner and help with the Shriners Children’s Hospital -Abandoned and suffering children were everywhere in Korea -Koreans were so desperate for material, they used parachutes for their homes (00:54:19) Coming Home & End of Service -Knew that he would most likely head back to the United States in December 1953 -Could’ve gotten out earlier, but had to wait an additional 28 days -Returned to America on the USNS General R.L. Howze -Rough seas -Encountered a Merchant Marine ship with a man suffering from appendicitis -Sent a doctor from the Howze over in a lifeboat to treat the man -Repaid with Greek liquor -Landed at San Francisco -Everyone was moved to tears when they saw the Golden Gate Bridge -Sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois, to be discharged -Wanted to be home for Christmas -Discharged on December 25, 1953, with his wife waiting for him at Fort Sheridan (00:57:53) Life after the War -Had a job with Sears repairing washing machines then working in their warehouse �-Had PTSD, but wasn’t diagnosed until 2000 -Didn’t know how to react with people -Had 10 jobs over the course of his working life due to his PTSD -Married for over 50 years until her death -The VA had open enrollment for insurance in Benton Harbor, Michigan -He signed up, got examined, and qualified for help for PTSD -Got terrific help from the VA � 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_AntonG2095V Title A name given to the resource Anton, Gust J (Interview outline and video), 2017 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-01-24 Description An account of the resource Gust Anton was born in Chicago on December 17, 1928. He was drafted in December 1951 and reported for duty in January 1952. He went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for his basic training and mechanic training, then went to Fort Lewis, Washington, to wait for his deployment to Korea. He sailed to Korea aboard the USNS General Simon B. Buckner, and after a brief stop at Camp Drake, Japan, arrived in Korea at Inchon in early December 1952. Gust was assigned to the 84th Engineer Battalion near the 38th Parallel, and due to prior photography experience was made a photographer in that unit. He not only documented equipment damage, but also photographed the dead and wounded. He witnessed the Battle of Outpost Vegas on March 26, 1953, and another major fight on May 28, 1953. Gust also photographed Seoul and the people living in the city during the war. After the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, he served as the company PX clerk (Army general store) until returning to the United States in December 1953. He was discharged at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, on December 25, 1953. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anton, Gust J. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c935dc8163202c4247bbbef1554988b5.pdf e4c0a0453733e5183fb8d50d0008e9cb PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Summa theologica [folium 118] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_118Florentinus1486 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Summa theologica (Partes I-IV; with Molitoris tabula, i.e. pt. V) by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1486-1487. Illustrated with red and blue rubricated initials. [GW 2189; ISTC ia00875000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Nuremberg: Anton Koberger Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1486 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/06d0a2b3721f6283e84d4ca51155911c.pdf 35bf13e40562d46ba960c9084a8f500a PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Chronicon [folium 119] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_119Florentinus1484 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Chronicon (Partes I-III) by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger on July 31, 1484. Illustrated with red rubricated initials. [GW 2072; ISTC ia00778000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Nuremberg: Anton Koberger Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1484 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/042bd9cd64ecc235deae9f135c6bb225.pdf 2caf1c47415ef32f3961f372111ad47c PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Confessionale: Omnis mortalium cura [Italian]. Specchio di coscienza [folium 170] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_170Antoninus1479-1480 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Confessionale: Omnis mortalium cura [Italian], Specchio di coscienza, by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Florence by Don Ippolito for Giovanni di Nato circa February 24, 1479/1480. [GW 2154; ISTC ia00850000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Florence: Don Ippolito for Giovanni di Nato Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource it 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1479/1480 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9a5eb627bd5d7c0b0d349086327020ee.pdf 4aa72cbac9822ea6d962a126d42498be PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Confessionale: Omnis mortalium cura [Italian]. Specchio di coscienza [folium 171] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_171Antoninus1477-1480 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Confessionale: Omnis mortalium cura [Italian], Specchio di coscienza, by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Milan by Christophorus Valdarfer circa 1470-1471. [GW 2171; ISTC ia00848000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Milan: Christophorus Valdarfer Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource it 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1470/1471 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/aeee4a53e8c11e3276c485373d2b0186.pdf 1aaeed8e93044bd3d4389dc4265567fd PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Summa theologica [folium 190] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_190Florentinus1477 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Summa theologica by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger in 1477-1479. Illustrated with red rubricated initials. [GW 2186; ISTC ia00871000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Nuremburg: Anton Koberger Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1477/1479 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3bcfd50ac0ec2b5d41bb346606a008da.pdf 4c02e9773b81c09c2dbc4d1f23f0db40 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource De censuris ecclesiasticis, sive de excommunicationibus. De sponsalibus et matrimonio. [folium 198] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_198Florentinus1474 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from De censuris ecclesiasticis, sive de excommunicationibus, De sponsalibus et matrimonio, by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Venice by Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen on September 23, 1474. Illustrated with red Lombard initial with filigree extension in margin in brown ink. [GW 2070; ISTC ia00776000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Venice: Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1474 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/501a2b005ae26cacc8d1ecce40d1f69a.pdf 1f8241aabe4871753dbee1b223180a43 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Confessionale: Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio [folium 111] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_111Florentinus1483 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antoninus, Saint, Archbishop of Florence, 1389-1459 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Confessionale: Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio by Antoninus Florentinus. Printed in Memmingen by Albrecht Kunne in 1483. Illustrated with red rubricated initials. [GW 2097; ISTC ia00811000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Memmingen: Albrecht Kunne Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1483 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8723b9dbcc92172edb262fbf0f0914d7.pdf 8bfcef7b43a997cd98ce91d742758d2e PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Postilla super evangelia dominicalia per circlum anni cum quadragesimali [folium 96] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_096Parma1482 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Antonius, de Parma, active 1310-1323 Description An account of the resource One leaf from Postilla super evangelia dominicalia per circlum anni cum quadragesimali by Antonius de Parma. Printed in Cologne by Johann Koelhoff, the Elder, in 1482. Illustrated with red rubricated initials. [GW 2248; ISTC ia00914000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Cologne: Johann Koelhoff Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1482 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/99af03005702c20bab2ca4e1f0d75d41.pdf 9108d2e518246369990be46527c274be PDF Text Text ADL Foundation Honors Righteous Gentiles ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM Assistant Editor braham Kashdan was a 17-year-old Jew in Nazi-occupied Poland. Helen Chorazyczewski was a Catholic who lived next door. On an afternoon in 1942 Abraham knocked on Mrs. Chorazyczewski' s door and -begged for help. "They've 'killed my parents," he cried. "I have no one left. Will you be my family?" A It took Mrs. Chorazyczewski no time to make up her mind. Despite the fact that she was endangering her life, the life of her husband and the life of her teen-age son, Cezary, Mrs. Chorazyczewski let Abraham into her home. She would look after him for years, until Abraham escaped to join the partisans. Her decision to help her neighbor, Mrs. Chorazyc• zewski would later say, was nothing special. It was simp• ly "the Christian thing to do." Today, Mrs. Chorazyczewski lives in Hamtramck. Together with Peter and Adriana Tur· maat of Grand Rapids, who during the war opened their Dutch home to Jews and Allied pilots, Mrs. Chorazyczewski was honored this week with the "Courage to Care" award. Presented by the Anti. Defamation League's Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers, the award is given to Righteous Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Guest speaker Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL, said the Righteous Gentiles had "rescued the conscience and reputation of mankind." They proved that "even in that hell called the Holocaust there was good; there was heroism; there was courage; there was love and compassion, and there was understanding." The Chorazyczewskis' and the Termaats' deeds show, Mr. Foxman said, "that if people have the courage to care, they can change the world." DETROtT JEWISH NEWS Peter Termaat was born in 1914 in Holland. At 18, he joined an anti-Nazi group. He met his future wife, Adriana, in 1936 and mar• ried her three years later. The day the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, the Ter• maats opened their home to a family of six refugees. Later, both Jews and Allied pilots, shot down by the Nazis, would find shelter in their house. Throughout the war, the Termaats stole ration cards to feed refugees and helped Jews out of the country. Once while helping a German-Jewish couple escape via train, the Termaats found themselves riding in the same compartment with a Nazi officer. The Termaats, along with their four children, settled in 1952 in Grand Rapids. After receiving his award, Mr. Termaat told those in the audience they must continually warn of the dangers of totalitarianism. He addressed audience members as "brothers and sisters" Continued on Page 22 JUM O7 199~ \ �... J EWW DETROIT" "Ew1sH Nis . . I.. 1cOCAL: N . ·JIii Q.,_ 1991 . Righteous Gentiles Continu~ from Page 1 "- · 1 ·~ and said that when he mar- j • ried, the minister recited the • 146th Psalm: "Happy is the man who has the God of Jacob for his help." Mrs. Chorazyczewski, supported by her son Cezary, was in tears when the son of Abraham Kashdan, the teen-ager whose life she saved, approached her during j the award presentation. : Photos of Mr . . Kashdan l_. covered a poster in the hall •1.<where the program was held. t, , Several pictures showed Mr. !: · Kashdan as a child with his I'. . parents and grandparents. Another photo, hand colored, 1.. showed him as a young man 1; . who closely resembled actor !! Gary Cooper. · · Near the Kashdan poster Abraham Foxman::~ .,.\ .-· was a different pl acard, . I Righieous Gentiles '. 'rescued the. showing those Jews who did j·,~ conscience and reputation_of.! not find a Mrs. Chorazyc- 11 mankind.i'" ~.b€t'.!;~::,J 11' zewski, an Adriana or Peterl ~ o:> ',i(,Jfmif1'.4°' ·os ed ·,o 1 t' 'Thrmaat. Men, women and ~ r "My father used to . say, children lay broken and !'' 'Everything. in excess is no .bludgeoned in ~ mass Nazi . good,'.'.'. Mr.I Foxman ' said. grave. · · · - · j 1 "It was too' much love that For the AOL's Mr. Fox-!~ ledtothattragedyl,;wb-,dtf.• man, this week's ceremony;' Joseph and Hele~ F o ~ was more than: just another · t r ied . to maintain contact speaking engagement. ~e,,: l. :witl?, the.nanny, sending her too, was saved by a gentile 1 ; letter s . and packages from during the Holocaust. When the United States, but she ;, .never responded. In 1958, · It was simply "the ' ~ the correspondence . was no · Christian thing to · I · ' longer accepted, and t~e do" ! . f~ ly assumed the w,o~ • · • died. .. · •• : ·7°,, ::.• ·:,•"i . · - 0 1. never had the oppor: the Nazis invaded · t unity to thank or acknowlLithuania, Mr. Foxman's edge her,'·.'~ Mr. Foxm an said. D -;,; . father, Joseph, and mother, Helen, were ordered to the Vilna Ghetto. Their son, Abraham, was 2. ·I "My parents made a deci~ sion they could never ex: ; · plain," he said. "They decid- • · ed to leave me with my · nanny." I -, Mr. Foxman said he doesn't think his parents ever imagined the war would last for so long, or could conceive the curious set of circumstances that would follow his placement with the nanny. · I l 7 • · .Both Mr . Foxman's parents survived the war · and came looking for their · son in 1945, when J oseph was liberated from a concentration camp in Estonia. But the nanny was not about to. give Abraham up. "He belongs to me," she said. · The Foxmans were forced to go to court to regain: custody of their son -a vie-: tory that was short -lived. After being reunited with his parents in Poland, Abraham was kidnapped by his. -.._Jlanny. Later, his parents:. managed to get their son: " back and immigrated to the: United States. I ' � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_NWS_1991-06-07-Detroit-Jewish-News-Righteous-Gentiles Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Applebaum, Elizabeth Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06-07 Title A name given to the resource ADL Foundation honors Righteous Gentiles Description An account of the resource Newspaper article photocopy from the Detroit Jewish News about the Yad Vashem Righteous Gentiles award. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource The Detroit Jewish News Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Europe Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/fe0b3bb344d66b7731b158c546852bb1.jpg bb918b5a6902792ad1027573a397f288 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 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 DC-07_SD-Aseries_0007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Appleyard Studio Title A name given to the resource Portrait of Hubert Engel Description An account of the resource Black and white portrait photograph of Hubert Engel as taken by Appleyard Studio of South Haven, Michigan. He is dressed in a three-piece suit and tie while wearing a kind expression on his face. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich) Allegan County (Mich) Black-and-white photography Portrait photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file contributed by the Saugatuck Douglas History Center as part of the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> 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 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/9b8c528adf09a07a87df85e863428947.pdf 1b02cd40fd56e50b2b70178fd69f5c26 PDF Text Text I ½ uarn 3 7 7r.} Pu 73 3 * • :..' /y - THE CONSERVANCY DECLARATION OF RESTRICTIONS LADD LAND CORPORATION of 6300 East Fulton, P.O. Box 241, Ada, Michigan 49301 (the "Developer") desires to impose certain building and use restrictions and related terms and provisions upon the following real estate owned by the Developer and located in Ada Township, Kent County, Michigan ("The Conservancy"): "Lots 1 to 11, both inclusive, of The Conservancy, being part of Section 13, Town 7 North, Range 10 West, Ada Township, Kent County, Michigan, according to the recorded plat thereof" NOW, THEREFORE, the Developer hereby declared The Conservancy will be subject to the following conditions, reservations, restrictions, covenants, terms and provisions ( collectively the "Restrictions"): I. BUILDING RESTRICTIONS 1.1 Minimum Square Footage. No one story residence will be constructed on any Lot with a fully enclosed first floor area of less than one thousand seven hundred (1,700) square feet, exclusive of carport, garage, and open porches. No one and one-half or two story residence will be constructed on any Lot with a fully enclosed floor area of less than one thousand eight hundred (1,800) square feet, exclusive of carport, garage and open porches, including a fully enclosed first floor area of not less than one thousand (1,000) square feet, exclusive of carport, garage and open porches. The height of any building will be not more than two and one-half full stories above ground elevation at building line. If any portion of a level or floor within a residence is below grade, all of that level or floor shall be considered a basement level. No mobile home, tent, shack, barn, temporary building, outbuildings, or guest house will be erected on any of the Lots without the prior written approval of the Developer. 1.2 Approval of Plans. The Developer in designing The Conservancy, including the location and contour of the streets, has taken into consideration the following criteria: (a) The Conservancy is designed for residential living on large residential sites in a rural atmosphere. (b) The existing contour of the land and the existing wooded vegetation should be preserved where practicabl_e. (c) The dwelling site on each of the Lots should be located so as to preserve the existing contours and vegetation where practicable. (d) The architecture of the dwelling and landscaping located on any Lot should be compatible with the criteria as established hereby and also should be compatible and �UBER 3 77 t1 Pu 7 3 4 harmonious to the external design and general quality of other dwellings constructed and to be constructed within The Conservancy. (e) The design and general quality of the construction shall be first class. Consequently, the Developer reserves the right to control the buildings, structures, and other improvements placed on each Lot, as well as to make such exceptions to as the Developer will deem necessary and proper. Each residence must include a garage for at least two vehicles. No building, wall, or other improvement (including storage buildings, playhouses, dog runs and play structures) or landscaping will be placed upon a Lot unless and until the plans and specifications therefor showing the nature, kind, shape, height, color, materials and location of the improvements (including floor plan and exterior colors) and the plot plan including elevations have the prior written approval of the Developer and no changes or deviations in or from such plans and specifications as approved will be made without the prior written consent of the Developer. Approved exterior materials include cedar, brick, field stone, drivit and any other material expressly approved by the Developer in writing. Flat roofs will be approved only in exceptional circumstances in the sole discretion of the Developer and the approved roof pitch is not less than a 8/12 pitch. Two sets of complete plans and specifications must be submitted; one will be retained by the Developer and one will be returned to the applicant. Along with the plans and specifications, the owner will submit the name of its proposed builder for approval. Any such plans for construction or alteration referred to above will include a plan for restoration after construction or alteration to a condition satisfactory to the Developer. Developer may, if it determines that the plans and specifications are inadequate, require that they be submitted in greater detail by either a licensed builder or architect or landscape architect in the case of landscaping. No landscaping may be commenced prior to submission and approval of a landscaping plan by the Developer. Each such building, wall, or structure will be placed on a Lot only in accordance with the plans and specifications and plot plan as approved by the Developer. Refusal of approval of plans and specifications by the Developer may be based on any ground, including purely aesthetic grounds, which in the sole and uncontrolled discretion of the Developer seem sufficient. No alteration in the exterior appearance of the buildings or structures constructed with such approval will be made without like approval of the Developer. If the Developer will fail to approve or disapprove any plans and specifications within thirty (30) days after written request therefor, then such approval will not be required; provided that no building or other improvement will be made which violates any of these Restrictions. The Developer will not be responsible for any defects in plans or specifications approved by Developer or in any building or structure erected according to such plans and . specifications or in any changes in drainage resulting from such construction. Developer may construct any improvements within The Conservancy that it may, in its sole discretion, elect to make without the necessity of prior consent from any other person or entity. 2 �UBER 1 77 L} P6 7 35 1.3 Construction Process. All construction of all buildings and structures will be done only by residential home builders licensed by the State of Michigan and approved in writing by the Developer. When the construction of any building is once begun, work thereon must be diligently continued and must be completed within a reasonable time. In any event, all construction and grass seeding and landscaping must be completed within one year from the start thereof, provided that the Developer may extend such time when in Developer's opinion conditions warrant an extension. 1.4 Garages and Outbuildings. Garages, which will be for the use only of the occupants of the residence to which they are appurtenant, must be attached to the residence and constructed in accordance with the plans approved in Section 1.2. No garage or other outbuilding will be placed, erected, or maintained upon any Lot except for use in connection with a residence on that Lot or on an adjoining Lot already constructed or under construction at the time that such garage or other outbuilding is placed or erected upon the Lot. 1.5 Walls and Fences. No wall or fence of any height will be constructed on any Lot until after the height, type, design, and approximate location therefor will have been approved in writing by the Developer. The heights or elevations of any wall or fence will be measured from the existing elevations of the property at or along the applicable points or lines. Any question as to such heights may be completely determined by the Developer. 1.6 Occupancy. No building erected upon any Lot will be occupied in any manner while in the course of construction, nor at any time prior to its being fully completed and a certificate of occupancy issued by Ada Township. Nor will any residence, when completed, be in any manner occupied until made to comply with the approved plans and all of the Restrictions. 1.7 Elevations. No substantial changes in the elevations of the land will be made on a Lot without the prior written consent of the Developer. Any change which materially affects the surface elevation, grade or drainage of the surrounding Lots will be considered a substantial change. 1.8 Soil from Excavation. All soil to be removed from any of the Lots either in grading or excavating will, at the option of the Developer, become the property of the Developer and when removed will be placed by the owner of the Lot in such place or places within The Conservancy as the Developer will designate at the Lot owner's expense. 1.9 Letter and Delivery Boxes. The Developer will determine the location, color, size, design, lettering, and all other permitted particulars of all mail or paper delivery boxes, and standards and brackets and name signs for such boxes. Each Lot owner will pay to the Developer the cost of the owner's mailbox installed by Developer as reasonably determined by Developer. The owner will maintain the owner's mailbox in its original style and color. 1.10 Lighting. No vapor lights, dusk to dawn lights or other lights regularly left on during the night may be installed or maintained on any Lot without consent from the Developer. Street lights may be installed at the entrance by the Developer. · 3 �UBER 3 7 7 t1 P6 7 3 6 1.11 Fuel Storage Tanks. No oil, fuel or propane gas storage tanks may be installed on any Lot, except one propane gas storage tank on each Lot surrounded by a wooden fence high and solid enough to completely screen the tank from view, and located so that none of the tank or fence is visible from any street in The Conservancy. Because it is believed to be the environmentally sensitive decision and in order to minimize the number and size of propane gas tanks in The Conservancy, it is hoped that most homes will be constructed with heat pumps, but this decision is to be made by the individual Lot owners exercising their own discretion. 1.12 Water Systems. Individual water supply systems will be permitted on a Lot solely to provide water for domestic consumption at the residence on the Lot and for irrigation purposes, swimming pools, or other non-domestic uses on the Lot. Because of elevated levels of hardness that can occur in well water, owners may want to consider installation and utilization of water treatment devices to reduce the hardness concentration. All wells installed for private water supply must penetrate an adequate protective continuous clay overburden of at least ten ( 10) feet in thickness. All wells are to be grouted in accordance with Michigan Department of Public Health water well grouting requirements. The owner of each Lot shall be responsible for the installation, operation, and repair of the water system on the Lot. For informational purposes only, owners are advised that wells adjacent to The Conservancy indicate the water supply appears to be 90 - 100 feet deep. The restrictions imposed in this Section 1.12 by the Kent County Health Department are perpetual and shall run with the land. No part of this Section may be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the Kent County Health Department. 1.13 Septic Systems. It will be the responsibility of the owner to maintain the septic system in good order and working condition and comply with all applicable governmental regulations and neither the Developer nor the Association will have any responsibility with respect to the septic system on any individual Lot. Each owner must pump out the owner's septic system at least once every three years. With the application to obtain a permit from the Kent County Health Department ("KCHD") for a septic tank and drainfield, the owner will submit to the KCHD a lot development plan drawn to scale which will locate the structure, private drives and right-of-ways, utilities, Lot lines, building site and proposed well and septic location. As part of the application the KCHD may require a topographical map showing existing and proposed contours. Contour intervals will not exceed two feet. Site modification in the area of the initial and replacement wastewater disposal systems (drainfields) may be required by the KCHD whic would typically include soil removal and backfill with approved sand (2 NS) or raised mound type systems. Utilities, buildings, drives or other structures which may interfere with the installation and operation of the on-site sewage disposal system shall not be permitted within the designated and replacement sewage disposal areas as indicated on the permit issued by the KCHD. The restrictions imposed in this Section 1.13 by the KCHD are perpetual and shall run with the land. No part of this Section may be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the KCHD . 1.14 Paved Areas. All driveways, driving approaches, and off-street parking areas shall be surfaced with an asphalt, bituminous, or portland cement binder pavement. 4 �UBER 3 7 7 ~i P6 7 3 7 1.15 Developer's Option to Repurchase. If a single family residence is not substantially completed on a Lot in accordance with this Declaration within eighteen (18) months from the date the Lot is sold by Developer pursuant to a land contract which grants possession of the Lot to the vendee or from the date on which the Lot is conveyed by the Developer to a purchaser (unless such eighteen (18) months is extended in writing by the Developer), the Developer will have the option to purchase back the Lot from the then current owner. The Developer's option to purchase back the Lot will continue until such time as construction is commenced of a residence which has been approved as contemplated by this Declaration. The option will be exercised by written notice to the owner of record of the Lot and the purchase price will be equal to the net cash proceeds received by the Developer from the sale of the Lot (sales price less closing costs of Developer), without increase for interest or any other charge. If the option is exercised, Developer is to receive marketable title by warranty deed subject only to restrictions or encumbrances affecting the Lot on the earlier of the date of the land contract or date of conveyance by the Developer, and with all taxes and assessments which are due and payable or a lien on the Lot, and/or any other amounts which are a lien against the Lot, paid as of the date of conveyance back to the Developer. The closing of the re-purchase shall take place in Kent County, Michigan at a place and time specified by Developer not later than thirty (30) days after the date of exercise of the option. The then current owner of the Lot will take such actions and shall execute such documents, including a warranty deed to the Lot, as the attorneys for the Developer will deem reasonably necessary to convey marketable title to the Lot to the Developer, free and clear of all liens and encumbrances as aforesaid. II. SETBACKS AND BUILDING LINES 2.1 Setback Lines. The location of any structure constructed on each of Lots 1 through 11 as depicted on the recorded plat of The Conservancy shall be subject to front, side and rear yard setback requirements as specified in the Ada Township Zoning Ordinance for the AG District unless a variance for such location is obtained from the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Township of Ada and further there is obtained a written consent thereto either from the Developer or from the immediately adjoining Lot owners. If the Developer should amend this Declaration as contemplated by Section 9.4(b) to add any or all of the lands depicted on Exhibit A adjoining Lots 1 through 11 to the east as subject to these Restrictions and they are platted and/or parceled as depicted on Exhibit A and the amendment adding such lands makes no different or contrary provision, then the location of any structure constructed on any of such Lots must satisfy the following setback requirements unless a variance for such location is obtained from the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Township of Ada and further there is obtained a written consent thereto either from the Developer or from th~ immediately adjoining Lot owners: (a) Lots 12 through 30 depicted on Exhibit A shall be subject to front, side and rear yard setback requirements as specified in the Ada Township Zoning Ordinance for the AG District. 5 �(b) Parcels A through F depicted on Exhibit A shall be subject to front, side and rear setbacks for principal and accessory buildings as determined by the areas designated as "Building Envelope" on Exhibit A. (c) Minimum setbacks from the South property line as depicted on Exhibit A for Parcels A, B and C shall be 100 feet. 2.2 Swimming Pools. Swimming pools will not be nearer than five feet to any Lot line and will not project with their coping more than two feet above the established grade. No aboveground swimming pools will be permitted. 2.3 Walls, Fences and Hedges. Walls and fences may be erected with the approval contemplated by Section 1.5 and hedges grown but they will be no higher than four feet from the street to the building line and six feet from the building line to the rear property line without the prior written consent of the Developer. 2.4 Waivers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Developer, in the sole discretion of the Developer, may waive or permit reasonable modifications of the setback requirements. ill. USE RESTRICTIONS 3.1 Residential Use. The Lots are for single-family residential purposes only. There will not exist on any Lot at any time more than one residence. No building or structure intended for or adapted to business purposes, and no apartment house, double house, lodging house, rooming house, half-way house, hospital, sanitarium or doctor's office, or any multiple-family dwelling of any kind will be erected, placed, permitted, or maintained on any Lot. No improvement or structure whatever, other than a first class private dwelling house, patio walls, swimming pool, and customary outbuildings, may be erected, placed, or maintained on any Lot. No Lot will be used or occupied by other than a single family, its temporary guests and household employees and no Lot will be used for other than residential use. 3.2 Home Occupations. Although all Lots are to be used only for single-family residential purposes, nonetheless home occupations will be considered part of a single-family residential use if, and only if, the home occupation is conducted entirely within the residence and participated in solely by members of the immediate family residing in the residence, which use is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the residence for dwelling purposes and does not change the character thereof. To qualify as a home occupation, there must be (i) no sign or display that indicates from the exterior that the residence is being utilized in whole or in part for any purpose other than that of a dwelling; (ii) no commodities sold upon the premises; (iii) no person is employed other than a member of the immediate family residing on the premises, and (iv) no mechanical or electrical equipment is used, other than personal computers and other office type equipment. In no event shall a barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlor, tea room, fortunetelling parlor, day care center, animal hospital, or any form of animal care or treatment such as dog trimming, be construed as a home occupation. Although garage sales are included within the 6 �l!BER 37 7 l} Pu 7 3 9 prohibited uses since commodities are sold at garage sales, garage sales may nonetheless be conducted unless and until the Developer determines to prohibit garage sales, so long as conducted in accordance with any rules or conditions adopted by the Developer. 3.3 Garage Doors. For security and aesthetic reasons, garage doors will be kept closed at all times except as may be reasonably necessary to gain access to and from any garage. 3.4 Recreational and Commercial Vehicles. No house trailers, trailers, boats, camping vehicles, motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, or vehicles other than automobiles or vehicles used primarily for general personal transportation use may be parked or stored upon any Lot or adjoining areas, unless parked in a garage with the door closed or with the written consent of the Developer, except that a pleasure boat on its trailer may be temporarily parked or stored on a Lot for no longer than an aggregate of two weeks each year without prior written consent. No inoperable vehicles of any type may be brought or stored upon any Lot, either temporarily or permanently, unless within a garage with the door closed. No trucks over 3/4 ton will be parked overnight on any Lot, except in an enclosed garage without the prior written consent of the Developer. No snowmobile, motorcycles or all terrain vehicles will be used on any Lot or any part of The Conservancy without the prior written approval of the Developer. 3.5 Zoning. The use of any Lot and any structure constructed on any Lot must satisfy the requirements of the zoning ordinance of the Township of Ada, Kent County, Michigan, which is in effect at the time of the contemplated use or construction of any structure unless a variance for such use or structure is obtained from the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Township of Ada and further there is obtained a written consent thereto from the Developer so long as Developer owns any Lot and from the immediately adjoining Lot owners. 3.6 Nuisances. No owner of any Lot will do or permit to be done any act or condition upon his or her Lot which may be or is or may become a nuisance. No Lot will be used in whole or in part for the storage of rubbish of any character whatsoever, nor for the storage of any property or thing that will cause the Lot to appear in an unclean or untidy condition or that will be obnoxious to the eye; nor will any substance, thing, or material be kept upon any Lot that will emit foul or obnoxious odors, or that will cause any noise that will or might disturb the peace, quiet, comfort, or serenity of the occupants of surrounding Lots. No firearm will be discharged on any Lot, even though periodically the noise from discharge of firearms is heard in The Conservancy from adjoining properties, including the firing range maintained by the Kent County Conservation League on its property to the east of The Conservancy. No weeds, underbrush, or other unsightly growths will be permitted to grow or remain upon any part of a Lot except to the extent it is natural undergrowth in a wooded area that the owner does not disturb in the construction of the owner's residence and no refuse pile or unsightly objects will be allowed to be placed or suffered to remain anywhere on a Lot. In the event that any owner of any Lot will fail or refuse to keep a Lot free from -weeds, underbrush, or refuse piles or other unsightly growths or objects, then the Developer may enter upon the Lot and remove the same and such entry will not be a trespass; the owner of the Lot will reimburse the Developer all costs of such removal. In addition, if any owner of any Lot fails to mow at least four times each summer, then the Developer may enter upon the Lot and mow the Lot and such entry will not be a trespass; the 7 �UBER 3 7 7 4 PB l l+ 0 owner of the Lot will reimburse the Developer all costs of such mowing. Any firewood stored within a Lot will be in limited and reasonable quantities and kept in a neat and orderly manner, all as may be further specified by the Developer. 3. 7 Existing Vegetation. Existing vegetation on all Lots shall be retained to the extent practicable and portions of each Lot in excess of one hundred feet to the rear of the residence on the Lot shall be retained in a natural condition. Included within the activities not permitted in these areas more than 100 feet to the rear of residences are grass seeding and construction activity or stockpiling, unless the Developer grants prior written approval for exceptional circumstances such as grade constraints. 3.8 Tree Removal. No trees three inches in diameter or larger shall be removed from any Lot unless one of the following conditions exist: (a) It is within 20 feet of a building or permanent structure, (b) It is diseased or dead, (c) It is a hazard to building, structure, or human life; or ( d) I ts removal would encourage healthier growth of surrounding trees. 3.9 Garbage and Refuse Disposal. All trash, garbage and other waste is to be kept only in sanitary containers inside garages or otherwise within fully enclosed areas at all times and will not be permitted to remain elsewhere on the Lot, except for such short periods of time as may be reasonably necessary to permit periodic collection. All trash, garbage and other waste must be removed from the Unit at least once each week. The Developer may adopt rules and regulations to control the style and size of the sanitary containers placed outside of fully enclosed areas for collection and may require specific pick-up times and/or specify a required contractor for all owners to use for waste removal and/or recycling pick-ups. 3.10 Animals. No animals, birds or fowl will be kept or maintained on any Lot, except dogs, cats and pet birds which may be kept thereon in reasonable numbers as pets for the pleasure and use of the occupants but not for any commercial use or purpose. 3.11 Signs. No signs or other advertising will be displayed on any Lot unless their size, form, and number are first approved in writing by the Developer, except that one 'For Sale" and/or one 'Garage Sale" sign referring only to the Lot on which displayed and not exceeding two (2) square feet in size may be displayed without approval. A name and address sign will be permitted after approval of the design by Developer. Nothing herein will be construed to prevent the Developer from erecting, placing, or maintaining signs and offices as may be deemed necessary by the Developer in connection with the sale of Lots. 3.12 Mineral Extraction. No derrick or other structures designed for use in boring for oil or natural gas shall be erected, placed, or permitted upon any Lot, nor shall any oil, natural 8 �UBER 3 7 7 ~ PG 74 I gas, petroleum, asphaltum, or hydrocarbon products or minerals of any kind be produced or extracted from or through the surface of any Lot. Rock, gravel, and/or clay will not be excavated or removed from any Lot for commercial purposes. 3.13 Owner Maintenance. Each owner will maintain his or her Lot and the improvements thereon in a safe, clean and sanitary condition. Also, each owner will use due care to avoid damaging any of the common improvements or systems serving The Conservancy including, but not limited to, the telephone, water, gas, plumbing, electrical or other utility conduits and systems. Each owner will be responsible to reimburse damages or costs to the Developer resulting from negligent damage to or misuse of any of such common improvements on systems by him or her, or their family, guests, uninvited visitors, agents or invitees, unless such damages or costs are covered by insurance carried by the Developer (in which case there will be no such responsibility, unless reimbursement to the Developer is limited by virtue of a deductible provision, in which case the responsible owner will bear the expense to the extent of the deductible amount). 3.14 Storm Sewer and Drain Restrictions. The following restrictions are imposed pursuant to the requirements of the Kent County Drain Commission: (a) A storm water drainage district, which includes all Lots, has been established by the Kent County Drain Commissioner. At some point in the future, the Lots within the drain district may become subject to a special assessment for the improvements and maintenance of the drain serving the drainage district. The drainage district boundary is shown on Exhibit A attached hereto. (b) A few of the Lots are subject to private easements for drainage, or drainage and ponding. Other Lots are subject to broad or very general drainage swale routes. These drainage easements and general drainage swales shall be protected and maintained by all of the affected Lot owners and shall not be the responsibility of the Kent County Drain Commission. The drainage easements, general drainage swales, and the general direction of surface water flow along these routes are shown on the Block Grading Plan, Exhibit B, attached hereto. The easements and drainage swales are for the continuous passage of surface water across the Lots and are for the benefit of all adjacent Lots. The imposition of such easements and the location of the general drainage swales shall not, however, prevent the alteration, development and improvement of the Lots, or the construction of permanent buildings and structures, provided that no such alteration, development, improvement or construction unreasonably interferes with the continuous passage of surface drainage across the Lots. Care shall be taken when final yard grading and landscaping is performed to insure that no major plantings, earth moving, structures, swimming pools, fences or shrubs be installed which will jeopardize the effectiveness of the drainage course or storm sewer system. Each Lot owner shall be responsible to maintain that portion of the drainage swale or easement on his property, except that the 9 �UBER '..:i / / t~ ru ,4 '- cost of repairs to the detention pond and the underground piping shall be the responsibility of the Drain District. (c) To eliminate the potential of flooding from backyard surface drainage of storm water from backyard surface drainage and ponding of storm water, the following Lots shall maintain the minimum building opening elevations listed for each Lot. The elevations listed below are shown on the block grading plan, Exhibit B, and are based on N .G.V. Datum; a bench mark is available in the plat. Lot Number 8 9 Minimum Opening Elevation 840.0 840.0 The foregoing restrictions imposed by the Kent County Drain Commission are perpetual and shall run with the land. They may not be amended or modified without the prior written approval from the Kent County Drain Commission. IV. UTILITIES AND RECEIVING DEVICES 4.1 Utility Lines and Antennas. All electrical service, cable television and telephone lines will be placed underground and no outside lines will be placed overhead without the prior written approval of Developer. No exposed or exterior radio or television transmission or receiving antennas will be erected, placed, or maintained on any Lot without the prior written approval of Developer. Any waiver of these restrictions will not constitute a waiver as to other Lots or lines or antennas. 4.2 Solar Panels and Satellite Dishes. Solar panel and satellite dish installation and location must be approved in writing by Developer prior to construction, which approval may be withheld in the sole discretion of the Developer. V. SUBDIVISION OF LOTS AND EASEMENTS 5.1 Developer. Subdivision of Lots. No Lot will be subdivided except as approved by the 5.2 Future Easements. No Lot owner shall be permitted to grant any right-of-way or easement across the owner's Lot to any person to benefit any parcel of property which is not a part of The Conservancy except as approved by the Developer. This restriction shall not include the usual utility easements. �VI. COMMON AREAS 6.1 Common Areas. 'Common Areas" shall mean all areas within or adjoining The Conservancy reserved for the common use and enjoyment of all Lot owners, such as open space areas, conservation areas, boulevards, and such other areas or facilities (including any later-added recreational facilities, such as a gazebo, picnic area or the like) as may by the Developer (so long as the Developer owns at least one Lot) or a majority in number of the Lot owners be designated as Common Areas in a designation recorded in the office of the Kent County Register of Deeds. 6.2 Maintenance. The Developer shall keep and maintain the Common Areas in a good, clean and serviceable condition and in accordance with this Declaration and such other standards as are from time to time established by the Developer, including maintenance of an entrance sign and decorative fencing and planting, pruning, removal, and replacement of trees and shrubs as determined by the Developer. The Developer shall also be responsible for supervising the construction, maintenance, repair, and reconstruction of any improvements that may from time to time be placed upon the Common Areas. Full rights of ingress and egress for the Developer and Developer's agents, employees and assigns, including any landscaping company hired to maintain the open space area, are hereby reserved over all Common Areas. No Lot owner may construct any improvements or make any change to the grade or plantings in the Common Areas without the prior written consent of the Developer. Each owner of a Lot with a residence either located on the Lot or with a residence under construction on the Lot will reimburse the Developer a proportionate share of the cost of maintenance of the Common Areas, with each such Lot bearing an equal share of such costs. The costs of maintenance will include real estate taxes on the Common Areas and general liability insurance covering the Common Areas. 6.3 Boulevard Maintenance. The Common Areas to be maintained by the Association include the boulevard areas located in the public right of way as shown on the recorded plat. The Kent County Road Commission is to approve the basic landscape plan for the boulevard area and the Association will maintain the landscaping consistent with that plan including pruning to prevent any plantings from being more than three feet high, without the prior consent of the Kent County Road Commission. The Association may replace dead or diseased plants to maintain the approved landscape plan, but any change from the landscape plan as approved will require the approval of the Kent County Road Commission. If the Association maintenance is deficient such that plantings are more than three feet high or lack of maintenance adversely affects safety of the roadway, the Kent County Road Commission will give notice of the deficiency to Ada Township and Ada Township will give notice to the Association. If the Developer or the Association does not perform the necessary maintenance, either the Township or the Road Commission may undertake the necessary maintenance or remove the landscaping and the Association shall pay the cost of such maintenance or removal. If the Association does not pay such cost within ninety (90) days, the Township or the Road Commission may act on behalf of the Association to make an equal pro-rata share of the cost a lien against each Lot subject to foreclosure as provided in Section 7.5. The Association shall also maintain general liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence covering the boulevard area as part of the Common Areas naming the Kent County Road Commission and Ada Township as additional insureds as to the boulevard area. The Restrictions imposed in this Section 6.3 by the Kent 11 �UBER 3 7 7 L} PG 7 4 4 County Road Commission are perpetual and shall run with the land. No part of this Section may be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the Kent County Road Commission. 6.4 Rules and Regulations. The Developer may establish reasonable rules and regulations concerning the use and enjoyment of the Common Areas. 6.5 Conservation Areas. Some parts of the Common Areas may be designated as conservation areas by the Developer and subjected to recorded conservation easements or restrictions. In the even of a conflict between any provision of this Declaration of Restrictions and such a recorded conservation easement or restriction, the provision of the recorded conservation easement or restriction shall govern as to the Common Areas subject to such recorded conservation easement or restriction without regard to the order of execution or recording. VII. LOT OWNERS' ASSOCIATION 7.1 The Conservancy Association. Every owner of a Lot by the acceptance of a deed or a land contract for a deed, will thereby automatically become a member of The Conservancy Association, a Michigan non-profit corporation organized by the Developer (the 'J'\.ssociation'). The Association will be controlled entirely by the Developer and is expected to be inactive until the Developer no longer owns any property in The Conservancy. After the Developer no longer owns any property in The Conservancy or gives written notice that the Developer is turning over control of the Association to the owners, the owner of each Lot will thereafter collectively have one vote for each Lot owned by voting Association members such as electing the Board of Directors. The owner of each portion of any subdivided Lot will have a fractional vote based on the square feet of the Lot included in each portion. 7.2 Association Facilities. All of the individual Lot owners and members of their immediate families or their tenants or guests will have the right to use facilities owned by the Association subject, however, to such rules and regulations covering the use thereof as may be set forth in the Articles of Incorporation and By-laws of the Association or otherwise established by the Association. 7.3 Dues and Assessments. Each Lot owner in accepting a deed or a land contract for a deed of any Lot, further agrees for himself, his heirs, successors and assigns to pay to the Association annual dues and any special assessments levied by the Association for that Lot, in such amount as may be determined by the Association for each year, for the purpose of paying or creating a fund to pay any taxes and assessments levied on land owned by the Association, maintenance and improvement costs associated with Association facilities, insurance premiums for insurance maintained by the Association and administrative expenses of the Association, provided an equal annual amount is assessed each year against each Lot. Notice of the amount and due date of the annual dues and any assessments will be given to each Lot owner. 12 �UBER 3 7 7 l~ PG 7 4 5 7.4 Collection of Assessments. Each Lot owner shall be obligated to pay all dues and assessments levied with regard to his Lot during the time that he is the owner thereof, and no Lot owner may exempt himself from liability for his dues and/or assessments by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any of the Association facilities. In the event of default by any Lot owner in paying the dues or assessments, the Association may impose reasonable fines and/or charge interest up to the highest rate permitted by law (not exceeding fifteen percent (15%) per annum) on such dues or assessment from the due date thereof Unpaid dues and assessments, together with such fines and interest, shall constitute a lien on the Lot prior to all other liens except sums unpaid upon a first mortgage of record recorded prior to the recording of any notice of lien by the Association. Upon the sale or conveyance of a Lot, all unpaid dues and assessments against the Lot shall be paid out of the sale price by the purchaser in preference over any other assessment or charge. A purchaser or grantee shall be entitled to a written statement from the Association setting forth the amount of unpaid Association dues and assessments against the seller or grantor and such purchaser or grantee shall not be liable for, nor shall the Lot conveyed or granted be subject to a lien for any unpaid dues or assessments against the seller or grantor in excess of the amount set forth in such written statement. Unless the purchaser or grantee requests a written statement from the Association at least five (5) days before sale and pays the amount of the statement from the purchase price, the purchaser or grantee shall be liable for any unpaid dues or assessments against the Lot together with interest, costs, and attorneys fees incurred in the collection thereof The Association may discontinue the furnishing of any services and/or deny access to Association facilities to a Lot owner in default in dues or assessments upon seven (7) days written notice to such Lot owner. A Lot owner in default of dues or assessments shall not be entitled to vote at any meeting of the Association so long as such default continues. 7.5 Lien Foreclosures. In the event of default in payment of any of the Association dues or assessments, the Association, its successors and assigns, may file a notice of claim of lien in the office of the Register of Deeds, Kent County, Michigan, for the amount of the unpaid dues or assessments. The notice of cl~im of lien will state the amount of the unpaid dues or assessment, the legal description of the Lot affected thereby and the name of the delinquent member of the Association. The lien may be foreclosed against the Lot by an action in law or equity or by any other legal proceedings which are or may be permitted by law, including foreclosure in the same manner as a mortgage may be foreclosed under the laws of the State of Michigan; in addition to the foreclosure of the lien, a personal decree for deficiency may be obtained against a member of the Association who is delinquent in the payment of dues or assessments. In an action for foreclosure, a receiver may be appointed and reasonable rental for the Lot may be collected from the Lot owner or anyone claiming under him, and all expenses incurred in collection, including interest, costs and actual attorney's fees, and any advances for taxes or other liens paid by the Association to protect its lien, shall be chargeable to the Lot owner in default. The lien of the Association will not have priority over a recorded first mortgage upon the Lot unless the notice of claim of lien has been filed with the Register of Deeds' Office prior to the date of recording of the mortgage. The sale or transfer of any Lot will not affect the lien of the Association; however, the foreclosure of any such prior recorded first mortgage as 13 �UBER 3 7 74 PG 74 6 permitted by the laws of the State of Michigan or the acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure of such first mortgage will extinguish the Association lien as to payments thereof which become due prior to the expiration of the redemption period under said foreclosure or by the acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The foreclosure of any mortgage or the acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure of any mortgage will not relieve such Lot for liability of any assessment thereafter becoming due or from the lien thereof 7 .6 Association as Successor to Developer Rights. The Developer will have the right to assign any or all rights or powers as Developer to enforce these Restrictions or grant approvals, consents, or waivers as provided in these Restrictions to the Association at such time as the Developer determines in the sole discretion of the Developer. Upon such assignment, the Association will have and will succeed to all such granted rights and powers with the same powers as if the Association had been named as Developer in this Declaration. At such time as the Developer has sold by deed or land contract all of the Lots, then whenever in this Declaration consent or approval of the Developer is required or permitted, such consent or approval will be obtained from the Association. 7.7 Common Lands. The Developer may deed any lands within or adjoining The Conservancy to the Association and the Association will accept title and possession of such lands including boulevard parks and Common Areas. VIII. ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIONS 8.1 Remedies for Violations. In the event of a breach or attempted or threatened breach of any Restriction by any Lot owner, the Developer, Association and/or other Lot owners, or any of them, shall be entitled forthwith to full and adequate relief by injunction and all other available legal and equitable remedies from the consequences of such breach, specifically including a court order enjoining commencement or continuance of construction on any Lot if the plans, the builder or any other aspect of construction required to be approved by the Developer prior to commencement of construction by Article I were not approved by Developer as required by Article I or are not being implemented as approved. 8.2 Costs to Enforce. All costs incurred in enforcing the Restrictions, including reasonable attorneys fees, will be reimbursed by the owner of the Lot or Lots in breach of the Restrictions to the Developer, Association or other Lot owners enforcing the Restrictions. 8.3 Payments and Liens. Payment for all reimbursable costs incurred as provided in this Declaration shall be due and payable thirty (30) days after receipt of a statement therefor, which statement shall detail the reimbursement sought, the manner of its calculation, and evidence of payment of the reimbursable costs. Any such claim for reimbursement, together with interest at the rate of seven percent (7%) per annum and actual costs including attorney's fees incurred in efforts to collect such reimbursement, shall be a secured right and a lien therefor shall attach to the Lot, and improvements thereon, owned by the defaulting Lot owner. After written notice to all owners of record and all mortgagees of record of that Lot, the party having paid such costs 14 �UBER 3 7 7 L~ PG 7 4 7 may foreclose the lien established hereby in the same manner as a mortgage may be foreclosed under the laws of the State of Michigan, provided such liens shall be subject and subordinated to any prior first mortgage of record with any purchaser at any foreclosure sale (as well as any grantee by deed in lieu of foreclosure sale) under any such prior first mortgage taking title free and clear from any such then existing lien, but otherwise subordinated to the provisions hereof. 8.4 Failure to Enforce. No delay or omission on the part of the Developer, Association or the owners of other Lots in exercising any rights, power, or remedy herein provided, will be construed as a waiver thereof or acquiescence in any breach of the Restrictions. No right of action will accrue nor will any action be brought or maintained by anyone whatsoever against the Developer or the Association for or on account of a failure to bring any action on account of any breach of these Restrictions, or for imposing Restrictions which may be unenforceable. 8.5 Severability. Invalidation of any one of the Restrictions by a court of competent jurisdiction will not affect any of the other Restrictions which will remain in full force and effect. IX. MISCELLANEOUS 9.1 Binding Effect. Developer hereby declares that this Declaration shall be binding upon the Developer, his grantees, successors and assigns, and that the Restrictions created herein shall run with the land. Each owner of a Lot or any portion of a Lot by acceptance of a deed, land contract or other conveyance to a Lot or any portion of a Lot thereby agrees to all Restrictions. 9.2 Waivers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Developer, in the sole discretion of the Developer, may waive or permit reasonable modifications of the Restrictions as applicable to particular Lots. 9.3 References Lots and to Lot Owners. Each part of The Conservancy conveyed by Developer for construction of a single family residence, whether a platted lot, a metes and bounds parcel, other area or any combination will constitute a 'Lot". Wherever reference is made in this Declaration to the owner of a Lot or a Lot owner, such reference shall be deemed to include all owners collectively with any ownership interest in the respective Lots respectively owned by them, whether there shall be one or more such owners. 9.4 Amendment and Te,::mination. Except as provided in Article X, this Declaration may be amended, altered, modified or terminated only in the following ways and subject to the following limitations: (a) Amendments may be made with the mutual written agreement of all parties, including mortgagees, then owning or having an interest of record in the Lots. 15 �llOER 37 7 I} PG 748 (b) Amendments may be made without the consent of owners or mortgagees of Lots by the Developer alone as long as the amendment does not materially alter or change the rights of the owner or mortgagee of a Lot, including, but not limited to, amendments for the purpose of facilitating conventional mortgage loan financing for existing or prospective owners of Lots and/or to enable or facilitate the purchase of such mortgage loans by any agency of the federal government or the State of Michigan or other third party. Amendments may be made without the consent of owners or mortgagees of Lots by the Developer alone even if such amendment will materially alter or change the rights of the owners or mortgagees of Lots, to achieve compliance with the laws of the State of Michigan or with ordinances, rules, interpretations or orders of any government body or agency or any court of competent jurisdiction, or to amend Exhibit ''A" attached hereto either to remove lands owned by Developer which may be designated as subject to this Declaration or to add adjoining lands which may be designated as subject to this Declaration. Any amendment adding adjoining lands may also amend any of the Restrictions as applicable to such adjoining lands and/or add additional restrictions applicable only to such added lands. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Declaration, the Restrictions contained in Section 1.12 titled Water Systems and Section 1.13 titled Septic Systems may not be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the Kent County Health Department, the Restrictions contained in Section 3 .14 titled Storm Sewer and Drain Restrictions may not be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the Kent County Drain Commission and the Restrictions contained in Section 6.3 titled Boulevard Maintenance may not be amended, altered, modified or terminated without the prior written consent of the Kent County Road Commission. 9.5 Notices. All notices, demands, requests, consents and approvals required or permitted under this Declaration shall be in writing and shall be given or served by personal delivery or postage prepaid United States first class, registered or certified ma;!, return receipt requested, to the party at that party's last known address. Notice shall be deemed to have been on the earlier of (a) the date when received, or (b) on the second business day after mailing if mailed in the State of Michigan. 9.6 No Gift or Dedication. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to be a gift or dedication of any portion of the Lots or other areas in The Conservancy to the general public or for any public purposes whatsoever, it being the intention of the Developer that this Declaration shall be strictly limited to the purposes herein specifically expressed. 9. 7 No Third Party Beneficiaries. No third party, except grantees, heirs, representatives, successors and assigns of the Developer, as provided herein, shall be a beneficiary of any provision of this Declaration. 16 �UBER 3 7 7 t~ PG 7 4 9 9.8 Captions. The captions of the Articles and Sections of this Declaration are for convenience only and shall not be considered or referred to in resolving questions of interpretation and construction. 9.9 Governing Law. This Declaration shall be construed, interpreted and applied in accordance with the laws of the State of Michigan. X. DURATION 10.1 Duration. This Declaration will remain effective for a period of twenty-five (25) years from the date this Declaration is recorded, after which time the effectiveness of this Declaration will be automatically extended for successive periods of ten (10) years except as amended or terminated by an instrument signed by all owners of a majority of the Lots and recorded within one year prior to commencement of a ten year extension, agreeing to amend or terminate the effectiveness of this Declaration in whole or in part, subject to the limitations stated in Section 9.4(c). IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Declaration of Restrictions the 20th day of J uly , 1995. ::~ Jamie C. Ladd Its President And By: -~-ar--'ga+-~-t..:c...ff .......L-~--=--·d---=UcJd:...._..= _ _ _ __ Its Secretary 17 �UBER 3 7 7 l+ PB 7 5 0 STATEOFMICHIGAN COUNTY OF KENT 2-1/1 ) ) ss. ) ~~ On this ~ay of , 1995, before me, a Notary Public in and for said County, personally appeared J C. LADD and MARGARET P . LADD, the president and secretary, respectively, of Ladd Land Corporation who executed the foregoing instrument and acknowledged that they executed the same as their free act and deed. bci?/4h~r~. ~ Mary L. Grasman 1 Notary Public, Kent County, Michigan My Commission Expires: 10 I26 I96 This Instrument Drafted By: KEITHP. WALKER, ESQ. McSHANE & BOWIE, P.L.C. 1100 Campau Square Plaza 99 Monroe Avenue, N .W. Grand Rapids, MI 49501-0360 Return to draftsman after recording 941229003 -0024-TAB 18 �/-~ --w- -!-- ., ~ .; fc I, fi:\ ) ~ ',i\ ~ ·,0 ( ~ ~ u ( 6 -l -l ~ ,/1 11/~ {J l/ 0 I)) 1"----!--tf-r'+f-1+-,----1 0 [) -J - (J1 .. --- -. ' ·' , rr::-\,.___-;;i~~~:=~et:JEi "'-. . ' / I\ ( ' ~\ ' "II J> i ~ E ~ ~ i ► !I C ; ~ a o--1 ,, 0, "':c JT1 C , 1 ~•• L.7 r-· ,, r JT1 z 0 - - -f I . ~ E- Ll<JE-, ~ ~wY+ • =c 131 -. .' -. r--- , , ~ t"°o~'! 1;.. MC CABE: AVE-. ! �uarn 3 1 7 1} FD 1 5 2 ,/ ~)T r\ l ~. Oi- I ',:CHi(~ ,\N N COUl!TY~lr :<UIT CJ\ 1, D P'"('{' '"'[' .. t ,\.JI\J RECE.IIJ•°Ei'U1i., 96 JAN24 PM 12: 28 --~~--~\ 7 I • '' \) NO SCALE REG. OF DEEOS .... ....9 __ _/· k w ~ .,,/,.940 I B.M. 1 20 ' OAK 0 ~&, +6 - ~ ,I/ 0 I w 2 CD <t /I"' u u :E 11 ~·A . . * BfNCHMARK ELEV. 862.37 R.R. SPIKE IN E. SIOE OF 20·· WALNUT u~ i \ .! ·- - · · - · · - DRAINAGE SWALE = MIN. BUILDING OPENING · □ = 'YARD DRAIN OR STREET CATCH BASIN I I . I I ii-+ EXHIBIT 8~ BLOCK GRADING THE CONSERVANCY IN PART OF SECT., 13, T7N, R tOW ADA TWP.. KENT CO .• Ml. ~ exxel ~ineering ire. 1252 CLYDE PARK, S.W. • IRAND RArlDS. Ml. 41111 PHONE (111) UMHI I LO.CA TIQ.1.'U4AP IDrown b, Appro••dbr Dole CFH NS 4-11- ~~ lfh Hvmber 1Shu I Numbe r 871159E I ol I �1 'l r • • • I . .. BASELINE DATA for the LADD "CONSERVANCY DEVELOPMENT" CONSERVATION EASEMENT Granted By: Ladd Land Corporation, Jamie C. Ladd, President To Grantee: Natural Areas Conservancy of West Michigan, Inc. 1432 Wealthy Street SE, Suite L-3 Grand Rapids, Ml 49506 Compiled By: April Scholtz, December 1995 �Background Information The Ladd Tract to be protected through a conservation easement is 32.68 acres in Section 14 of Ada Township, Kent County, Michigan. It is the western-most part of a 118.5 acre parcel platted for residential development called "The Conservancy". The easement property of 33 acres is an undeveloped, wooded parcel. Undeveloped logging roads and tree stumps from selective cutting are the only evidence of past use. The entire 188.5 acres was formerly part of a farm owned by Vern and John Bigelow. The easement property is mature hardwood and conifer forest on rolling hills. Jamie and Penny Ladd, through their E.L. Ladd Company, designed the "Conservancy" development around the idea that this wooded portion of the property would be preserved, while the remaining acreage would be developed as home sites. They approached the Natural Areas Conservancy with the offer of a donated conservation easement, with the subdivision homeowners association ultimately owning the land. The Ladd "Conservancy" Conservation Easement will protect the natural character of the site, thus providing critical habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. Especially important is the mature nature of the woods, providing habitat for pileated woodpeckers, nesting red tail hawks, and a variety of migrating and resident songbirds. There is considerable evidence of deer and fox~in the woods. White pine is regenerating well in the western portions of the Easement property, especially around the few individual large white pines. The owners of the Ladd "Conservancy" Tract wish to guarantee the preservation of the conservation values of the property in perpetuity by granting a conservation easement to the Natural Areas Conservancy of West Michigan. BASELINE DATA FOR THE LADD "CONSERVANCY" EASEMENT The field work for this baseline data was compiled by April Scholtz on September 29, 1995. The following descriptions of areas in the easement property are intended to set forth the general condition of the Ladd "Conservancy" Tract at the time of the donation of the Conservation Easement. The descriptions, maps, species I ists and other information are by no means complete and are only intended to convey a sense of the property's character and features. Property I ines were located using survey maps, stakes, aerial photos, and by walking the property with the owner and following old fence lines. PHYSICAL AND NATURAL FEATURES 1. Topography and Soils The entire Easement Tract is composed of well-drained Oakville fine sand (source: Soil Survey of Kent County, Michigan, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1986.) The �club has a shooting range on their property. · Their land was partially cleared to make the shooting ranges, and the more open, scrubby land west of the Easement Tract is probably contributing to the edge effect noted in this part of the woods. MAN-MADE FEATURES 1. Roads There are old two-track roads that wind through the central and eastern portions of the Easement Tract, used until recently for the selective cutting that occurred on the property. There is one primary loop that appears to have been used most frequently. All of the tracks are unpaved, unimproved and can revert back to a more natural condition. 2. Fences Old fencing follows the property boundaries to the north, west and south of the Easement Tract. In many cases the barbed wire was attached to trees, not fence posts. No other fences were found on the property. 3. Signs There are signs on the west boundary of the Easement Tract, warning of the adjacent shooting range and against trespassing. 4. Structures No structures were noted on the property, with the exception of a tree stand used for hunting deer near the northwest corner of the property. It appears that the stand was just south of the north property line of the Easement Tract, although it was so close to this line it was impossible to tell without further investigation. Neighbors who have traditionally hunted this property in the past have been asked to stop hunting, and that the property is now a nature preserve. 5. Other •"- There is a "pit" that is located in the central-northern portion of the property, on one of the ridges. It is about 6 feet in diameter and about 3 or 4 feet deep. Nothing appeared to be in the pit, or around the pit. There was no uprooted fallen tree nearby, but there was evidence of logging nearby and the pit could conceivably be caused by a fallen tree. �On-Site Photographic Documentation of Ladd "Conservancy" Easement Tract Taken 9/29/95 by April Scholtz Number Description 1 NE corner of easement property. Taken just outside of Easement property, looking W/SW at NE corner marker: a double-flagged tree. 2 N boundary line just W of NE corner, showing old 'barbed wire fencing run around tree. 3 N boundary line W of NE corner, showing old barbed wire fencing run between trees (look between lower trunks of two larger trees on right). 4 N boundary just E of NW corner. Salt lick, corn cobs and tree stand on large tree to the right. Salt lick and cobs appear to be on Easement property; stand may be just over N boundary on neighbor's property. 5 Looking N from just E of W boundary line, south of NW corner. Note younger aged forest with many saplings and few large trees. 6 Looking E/N E from W boundary. More mature, less disturbed forest than to north along W boundary. 7 Looking W/SW at W boundary at the "Danger" sign posted on Kent Conservation League boundary. 8 Looking S just E of W boundary at informal trail. May lead from residences to S. 9 . SW corner stake. Taken just W of stake, looking E. Note the back of Kent Conservation League sign posted on tree inside SW corner stake approx. 15'. 10 - not exposed - 11 Looking NE from S boundary, east of SW corner. Taken from top of ridge W of deepest ravine on Easement property. 12 Looking NINE from S boundary, just E of previous photo. Taken in ravine. Note large white pine growing in ravine and on steep slope. 13 Looking SW from S boundary to adjacent house (mostly obscured by leaves, but in right center portion of photo. Light area is opening around �.. . . . I ��#- '- 12.. �·. �#24 �L.&dci DR IICoosQXu~I/ ~ �SE E.\ST-¼EST 1/+ LINE. ·~a"-c:. N88°48::i / C• 14 D 0.8. , ., , 1130.s2 ···N4 ! ' ~ ~ SECTION t. 1/ "- CCJl-<NE..~ 5 8 8•° _ 14 22s •12· T7N Rrnw II ', t I 0 Sketch and description for: 0 ci .,. I") ~ ;;j .,. 0 I • I~ 0 1-,i 0 1~ 0 (/) ''o CD ,.,,., -~ ,- OPEN SPACE AREA c.i w ,.,C) (Pf,Ri OF THE CONSERVAN CY P.R.:J .) • I") 0 ~ (/) O o ~ '-... ,- 0 IC!l 1:- I I O O• w•N ,- z . -~ a, ,0 0 o~...,, ~ii, .\rl z s ,ao:,,,,. 0 o0 oi:-v ~ g n 0 i""1 i""1 W (/) S7<015•:,,,.,_ I I u..i z ::J f-- o· 110.15• u w "' ... N7Jo 40 ,W ""f" '-... ,- 0 0 (/) 245.68' S37°49'51"W ; Description of Open Space Area: That part of the SE 1/4. Section 14. T7N. RlOW, Ada Township; Kent County, Michigan. described as: BEGINNING at a point on the E-W 1/4 line of Section 14, which is S88°48'58"W 225.12 feet from the E 1/4 corner of Section 14: thence S00°40'3l"W 430.00 feet parallel with the East line of said SE 1/4; thence S57°30'E 110.06 feet; thence N85°40'E 73.48 feet; thence S04°20'E 40.00 feet; thence sas 40·w 90.00: thence S54°2o·w 100.00 feet; thence S00°40'3l"W :oo.oo feet; thence S72°15'26"E 235.37 feet to a point on t he East line of said SE 1/4 which is soo 40·31·w 964.97 feet frcm said E 1/4 corner of Section 14; thence S87°49'51"W 245.68; thence N73°40'W 43.48 feet; thence Sl6°2o·w 40.00 feet; thence N73°40'W 110.16 feet; thence S64°40'W 106 .47 feet; thence S00 °40'3l"W 330.00 feet; thence S89°os·os·w 847.30 feet along the South line of the NE 1/4 of said SE 1/4; thence N00°19'12gE 1330.46 feet alona the West line of the NE· 1/4 of said SE 1/4; thence N8§ 43'58"E 1130.62 feet along the E·W 1/4 line of Section 14 to the place of beginning. This parcel contains 32.681 Acres. 0 I~ :. 0 0 . _¼ z~ ~ 0 (/) w I-(/) ·1 sas w·w 10 3: w b~ 90.00· ,n, C ~ '-... ,- ~ • 'J>. Cl~ S ,G 32.681 acres (/) ~i -o~. ou- 73.48' -Jo~ sr ,- _J N85°40'E Ss>o ·06'• ~ 0 I 1 I Ladd Land Corporation ATTN: Hr. Jamie Ladd 6300 East Fulton Ada. HI 49301 < w 0 0 3: ,.., 0 --t" 0 0 0 (/) ---1------------------------~-----S89005'05"'H saur.-1 UNE. NE 847.J0' 1/4, SE 1/ 4, SEC. 14 Scale 1" = 200' D = Deeded di mens ion M = Measured dimension P = Planed dimension • = Set iron stake 0 = round iron stake Q = Concrete monument _x _ Fence Line M ~~;~~!~~~~~'.nE,~~~eos... IN I\ PHONE (616) 531 -3660 File No . : 8 7 11 5 9E ~---------------------------------------------.L___J .~~!",~;.~NN : :'.l \1""'~~ 1 -: Date: Au a 1c;t: 11 . 1q qc; 1 495099724 �,,. , r .. L!EER 3 8 8 1 Pu I I O7 ·• CONSERVATION EASEMENT DATE: July 1, 1996 DONOR: Ladd Land Corporation, a Michigan Corporation Jamie C. Ladd, President 6300 East Fulton, Ada, MI 49301 CONSERVANCY: Natural Areas· Conservancy of West Michigan, Inc. 1432 Wealthy St. SE, Suite L-3, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 PROPERTY: In Ada Township, Kent County, Michigan: That part of the SE 1/4, Section 14, T7N, RlOW, Ada .. • .. Township. Kent County, Michigan, described as: ..-- . ~o BEGINNING at a point on the E-W 1/4 line of ·section-·•' ·:. _:. \ . o"' 14, which is S88°48'58.W 225.12 feet from the E 1/A 2= corner of Section 14: thence S00°40'31·w 430.00 f~et~; -~\ ,parallel with the East line of said SE 1/4: thence : ·s ,2.} . . ··;:: S57°3D'E 110.06 feet: thence NB5°40'E 73.48 feet: .~.:./ /\0' thence S04°20'E 40.00 feet: thence SBS 40'W 90.00: · _:-::1/''£ ) ~ thence S54°20'W 100.00 feet: thence S00°40'31.W 30Qj~~ • . . c.~, feet; thence S72°15'26.E 235.37 feet to a point on t:lle -t~ East line of said SE 1/4 which is S00°40'31 "W 964.97 --~ - · f.: feet from said E 1/4 corner of Section -14: thence S87°49'51"W 245 .68; thence N73°40'W 43.48 feet: thence Sl6°2o·w 40.00 feet; thence N73°40'W 110.16 feet: thence S64°40'W 106.47 feet: thence s00°40'3l"W 330.00 feet: thence S89°05'05"W 847.30 feet along the South line of the NE 1/4 of said SE 1/4; thence N00°19'12"E 1330.46 feet along the West line of the NE 1/4 of said SE 1/4; thence NBB 48'58.E 1130.62 feet along the E·W 1/4 line of Section 14 to the place of beginning. This parcel contains 32.681 Acres. r~.- - 0 I -• I -,-.. < ::r'", l . : ~.: J · .•• ---:, 0 CONVEYANCE: The Donor conveys and warrants to the Conservancy a perpetual Conservation Easement over the Property . The scope of this Conservation Easement is set forth in this agreement. This conveyance is a gift from the Donor to the Conservancy. CONSERVATION VALUES: The Property possesses natural, scenic, open space, scientific, biological and ecological values of prominent importance to the Donor, the Conservancy and the public. These values are referred to as the "Conservation Values" in this easement. PURPOSE OF THIS CONSERVATION EASEMENT: A. The Donor is the fee simple title owner of Lhc Property, :.and is committed to ;; ,, l .:·, · , ,.., "· �1 t / , lr)E[) ') LIU I\ ,.. i ' 0 0 ') ~.J r.J '- ) plU'! I l O8 / preserving the Conservation Values of the Property. This Conservation Easement assures that the Property will be perpetually preserved iI\ its predominately natural, forested, and open space condition. Any use of the Property that may impair or interfere with the Conservation Values is expressly prohibited. The Donor agrees to confine use of the Property to activities consistent with the purposes of this easement and preservation of the Conservation Values. B. The Conservancy is a tax-exempt, nonprofit Michigan corporation qualified under Internal Revenue Code Sections 501(c)(3) and 170(h)(3)°and 170(h)(4)(ii) and (iii); the Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement Act, MCL 399.251 et seq. The Conservancy protects natural habitats of fish, wildlife, plants or similar ecosystems. The Conservancy also preserves open spaces, including farms and forests, where such preservation is for the scenic enjoyment of the general public or pursuant to clearly delineated governmental conservation policies and where it will yield a significant public benefit. C. The Property has the following specific Conservation Values: • The primary Conservation Value is the preservation of a mature forest that provides habitat for wildlife including nesting hawks, pileated woodpeckers, migratory songbirds, fox and deer. • Proximity to the following conserved properties that similarly preserve the existing natural habitat: Seidman County Park, and the Cannonsburg State Game Area. • A scenic landscape and natural character that would be impaired by a modification of the Property. • Biological integrity and open space of other land in the vicinity has been modified by intense urbanization. Conservative estimates indicate that the population in Kent County will grow by 142,000 in the next two decades, with residential development consuming approximately 60,000 acres in Kent County within 15 years. This gives open spaces and sizable blocks of unfragmented, mature forests increasing value. · • It is preserved pursuant to a clearly delineated federal, state or local conservation policy and yields a significant public benefit. The following legislation establishes relevant public policies: the Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement Act, MCL 399.251 et seq; and the Biological Diversity Conservation Act, MCL 299.231. ~ D. Specific Conservation Values of the Property have been documented in a natural resource inventory signed by the Donor and Conservancy. This "Baseline Documentation" consists of maps, a depiction of all existing man-made modifications, prominent vegetation, identification of flora and fauna, land use history, distinct natural features, and photographs. The parties acknowledge that this natural resources inventory (the Baseline Documentation) is an accurate representation of the Property at tne time of this donation. 2 �L\8ER 3 8 8 3 PU I I O9 THE PARTIES AGREE TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF THIS CONSERVATION AGREEMENT: 1. PROHIBITED ACTIONS. Any activity on or use of the Property inconsistent with the purposes of this Conservation Easement or detrimental to the Conservation Values is expressly prohibited by the Donor, successive owners, and any members of successive owners (such as the members of an Association). By way of example, the following activities and uses are explicitly prohibited: a. Division. Any division or subdivision of the Property is prohibited. b. Commercial Activities. Commercial or industrial activity is prohibited. c. Construction. The placement or construction of any man-made modification, such as buildings, structures, fences, roads and parking lots is prohibited, with the exception of a footpath and gazebo and boundary fencing, as ~rmitted herein. d. Cutting Vegetation. Any cutting of trees or vegetation is prohibited, except to maintain access along a designated footpath as permitted herein. e. Land Surface Alteration . Any mining or alteration of the surface of the land is prohibited, except in the course of an activity permitted herein. f. Dumping . Waste and unsightly or offensive materials is not allowed and may not be accumulated on the Property. g. Off Road Vehicles. Motorized and non-motorized off-road vehicles, such as bicycles, snowmobiles, dune buggies, all terrain vehicles and motorcycles may no{ be operated on the Property. · h. Billboards. Billboards and signs are prohibited. A sign may, however, be displayed to state: • • • • • The name and address of the Property. The owner's name. The area protected by this Conservation Easement. Prohibition of any unauthorized entry or use. An advertisement for the sale or rent of the Property. 2. RIGHTS OF THE CONSERVANCY. The Donor confers the following rights upon the Conservancy to perpetually maintain the Conservation Values of the Property: a. Right to Enter. The Conservancy has the right to enter the Property at reasonable times to monitor or to enforce compliance with this Conservation Easement. The Conservancy may not, however, unreasonably interfere with the Donor's use and quiet enjoyment of the Property. The Conservancy has no right to permit others to enter the Property. The general public is not granted access to the Property under this Conservation Easement. 3 �./ / / . uarn 3 8 8 3 Pu \ \ \ o :: b. Right w Preserve. The Conservancy has the right w prevent any activity.on or use of the Property that is inconsistent wich the purposes of this easement. _, .. c. Right to Require Restoration. The Conservancy has the right to require restoration of the areas· or features of the Propercy that are damaged by activity inconsistent with this Conservation Easement. d. Signs. The Conservancy has the right to place signs on the Property that identify the land as being protected by _.this Conservation Easement. The number and location of any signs are subject to Donor's approval. · 3. PERMITIED USES. :bonor retains all ownership rights that are not expressly restricted by this Conservation Easement. In particular, the following rights are reserved: a. Right to Convey. The Donor retains the right to sell, mortgage, bequeath or donate the Property. Any conveyance ·will remain subject to the terms of this Conservation Easement and the subsequent owner will be bound by all obligations in this agreement. b. Right to Add Designated Structures or Uses. The Donor retains the right to add the following structures, modifications or uses to the Property with the prior written approval of the Conservancy: "' A non-motorized recreational trail. This ·trail would not have an improved or hardened surface, and would be sited so as to minimize negative environmental inipact and to avoid active nest sites of hawks, pileated woodpeckers, owls, and other fauna of significance. · .· ·· •.··, ·. ,., , _ * A .gazebo or picnic area, not to exceed 1 acre in size; located along the trail and sited to avoid environmentally sensitive areas, including hawk nesting areas.* Not more than 5 benches along the trail, sited to avoid environmentally sensitive areas, including nesting areas. . *Installation, repair or maintenance of fencing along the boundary of the easement property. NOTICE OF. INTENTION TO lJNDERT AKE CERTAIN PERMITIED ACTIONS . . The purpose qf requiring the Donor to notify the Conservancy prior to undertaking certain· permitted activities is to afford the Conservancy an opporturuty to ensure that the activities in question are designed and carried out in a manner consistent with the purpose of this Easement. Whenever notice or written permission is required, the Donor · shall notify the Conservancy in writing not less than thirty (30) days prior to the date the Donor intends to undertake the activity in question. The notice shall describe the nature, scope, design, location, timetable, and any other material aspect of the proposed activity in sufficient detail to permit the Conservancy to make an informed judgement as to its consistency with the purpose of this Easement. 4. · · ca. Conservancy's Approval. Where the Conservancy's approval is required, the Conservancy shall grant or withhold its approval in writing within thirty (30) days of receipt of the Donor's written request. The Conservancy's failure to respond within thirty (30) days shall be deemed as approval from the Conservancy. The Conservancy's approval may be �ll□rn 3 0 R1 Pu I I I I withheld only upon a reasonable determination by the Conservancy that the action as proposed would be inconsistent with the purpose of this Easement. 5. CONSERVANCY'S REMEDIES. This section addresses cumulative remedies of the Conservancy and limitations on these remedies. a. Delay in Enforcement. A delay in enforcement shall not be construed as a waiver of the Conservancy's right to eventually enforce the terms of this Conservation Easement. b. Acts Beyond Donor's Control. The Conservancy may not bring an action against the Donor for modifications to the Property resulting_from causes beyond the Donor's control. Examples are: unintentional fires, storms, natural earth movement, trespassers or even a Donor's well-intentioned actions in response to an emergency resulting in changes to the Property. The Donor has no responsibility under this Conservation Easement for such unintended modifications. c. Notice and Demand. If the Conservancy determines that the Donor is in violation of this Conservation Easement, or that a violation is threatened, the Conservancy may provide written notice to the Donor unless the violation constitutes immediate and irreparable harm. The written notice will identify the violation and request corrective action to cure the violation or to restore the Property. d. Failure to Act. If, for a 28 day period after written notice, the Donor continues violating this Conservation Easement, or if the Donor does not abate the violation and implement corrective measures requested by the Conservancy, the Conservancy may bring an action in law or in equity to enforce the terms of this Conservation Easement. The Conservancy is also entitled to enjoin the violation through injunctive relief, seek specific performance, declaratory relief, restitution, reimbursement of expenses, or an order compelling restoration of the Property. If the court determines that the Donor has failed to comply with this Conservation Easement, then the Donor also agrees to reimburse all reasonable costs and attorney fees incurred by the Conservancy. e. Unreasonable Litigation. If the Conservancy initiates litigation against the Donor to enforce this Conservation Easement, and if the court determines that the litigation was without reasonable cause or in bad faith, then the court may require the Conservancy to reimburse the Donor's reasonable costs and attorney fees in defending the action. f. Donor's Absence. If the Conservancy determines that this Conservation Easement is, or is expected to be,. violated, the Conservancy will make good-faith efforts to notify the Donor. If, through reasonable efforts, the Donor cannot be notified, and if the Conservancy determines that circumstances justify prompt action to mitigate or prevent impairment of the Conservation Values, then the Conservancy may pursue its lawful remedies without prior notice and without awaiting the Donor's opportunity to cure. The Donor agrees to reimburse all costs associated with this effort. g. Actual or Threatened Non-Compliance. Donor acknowledges that actual or threatened events of non-compliance under the Conservation Easement constitutes immediate and irreparable harm. The Conservancy is entitled to invoke the equitable jurisdiction of the 5 �court to enforce this Conservation Easement. h. Cumulative Remedies. The preceding remedies of the Conservancy are cumulative. Any, or all, of the remedies may be invoked by the Conservancy if there is an actual or threatened violation of this Conservation Easement. 6. OWNERSHIP COSTS AND LIABILITIES. In accepting this Easement, the Conservancy shall have no liability or other obligation for costs, liabilities, taxes or insurance of any kind related to the Property, unless directly caused by the Conservancy's actions. The Conservancy, its members, directors, officers, employees and agents have no liability arising from injury or death to any person or physical damage to any property on the Property unless directly caused by their actions. The Donor agrees to defend the Conservancy against such claims and to indemnify the Conservancy against all costs and liabilities relating to such claims during the tenure of the Donor's ownership of the Property. Subsequent owners of the Property will similarly defend and indemnify the Conservancy for any such claims arising during the tenure of their ownership. 7. HAZARDOUS WASTE. The Donor agrees to indemnify the Conservancy for any liability caused by the presence of hazardous waste or hazardous materials used or disposed of on the Protected Property since the Donor or its affiliates acquired ownership of the Protected Property unless such waste or material is there as a direct result of activities conducted by the Conservancy. The Donor agrees tci include the Conservancy as an additional insured on any pollution liability insurance ·policies covering the Protected Property, to the extent of its insurable interest. · 8. CESSATION OF EXISTENCE. If the Conservancy shall cease to exist or if it fails to be "a qualified organization" for purposes of Internal Revenue Code Section 170(h)(3), or if the Conservancy is no longer authorized to acquire and hold conservation easements, then this Conservation Easement shall become vested in another entity. This entity shall be a "qualified organization" for purposes of Internal Revenue Code Section 170(h)(3). The Conservancy's rights and responsibilities shall be assigned to the following named entities in the following sequence: (1) Another nearby land trust, such as the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, Inc. (2) Any other entity having similar conservation purposes to which such rights may be awarded under the cy pres doctrine. 9. TERMINATION. This Conservation Easement may be extinguished only by an unexpected change in condition that causes it to be impossible to fulfill the Conservation Easement's purposes, or by exercise of eminent domain. a. Unexpected Change in Conditions. If subsequent circumstances render the purposes of this Conservation Easement in1possible to fulfill, then this Conservation Easement may . be partially or entirely terminated only by judicial proceedings. The Conservancy will then be entitled to compensation in accordance with the provisions of IRC Treasury Regulations 6 �/,.,/, 1//,,1/ Section l.170A-14(g)(6)(ii). b. Eminent Domain. If the Property is taken, in whole or in part, by power of eminent domain, then the Conservancy will be entitled to compensation by the same method as set forth in IRC Treasury Regulations Section l.170A-14(g)(6)(ii). 10. LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION. This Conservation Easement shall be liberally construed in favor of maintaining the Conservation Values of the Property and in accordance with the Conservation and Historic Preservation Easement Act; MCL 399.251 et seq. 11. NOTICES. For purposes of this agreement, notices may be by personal delivery or by mailing a written notice to that party (at top of this agreement, or at last known address of a party) by First be complete upon depositing the properly addressed notice with the sufficient postage. provided to either party the address shown at the Class mail. se·rvice will U.S. Postal Service with 12. SEVERABILITY. If any portion of this Conservation Easement is determined to be invalid, the remaining provisions will remain in force, 13. SUCCESSORS. This Conservation Easement is binding upon, and inures to the benefit of, the Donor's and the Conservancy's successors in interest. All subsequent owners of the property are bound to all provisions of this conservation easement to the same extent as the current property owner. 14. TERMINATION OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS. A party's future rights and obligations under this easement terminate upon transfer of that party's interest in the Property. Liability for acts or omissions occurring prior to transfer will survive the transfer. 15. MICHIGAN LAW. This Conservation Easement will be construed in accordance with Michigan Law. 16. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Conservation Easement sets forth the entire agreement of the parties. It is intended to supersede all prior discussions or understandings. 7 �; / . ,, / WITNESSES: (*print/type names under signatures) DONOR: Ladd Land Corporation, a Michigan ~K~ . -~~✓ ~ By: Its: * Keith P. W a l ~ ~a-~ Jamie C. Ladd President * Toni A. Buys STATE OF MICHIGAN ) ) COUNTY OF KENT ) Acknowledged before me on _ _J_u_l..,_v_ll_ _ _ _ _ , 19 96, by Jamie C. Ladd - ~~ ~~x My commission expires: 5/J /98 Toni A. Buys, Notary Public, Ionia Co., MI Acting In Kent Co. Natural Areas Conservancy of West Michigan, Inc. ,a Michigan nonprofit corporation WITNESSES: (*print/type names under signatures) ~ STATE OF MICHIGAN COUNTY OF -I<. ror ) ) ) Acknowledged before me on ,..1 lf L-'/ fl:, , 191l, by /.,(,1r{IL/JfE;, A-- 1/-A-/UJl~-W known to me to be the 1-tfJ/!..JL- A • Sc/ft)/...{7-of the Natural Areas Conservancy of West Michigan, a Michigan .nonprofit corporation. Notary Public, Kent County, Michigan. My commission expires: -lc.f-1? o3 PREPARED BY: ~ April Scholtz Natu_ral Areas Conservancy of West Michigan 1432 Wealthy SE, L-3, Grand Rapids, MI 49506 8 MATILDE A. HARDmr:Ai~ NOTARY PUBLIC • l(El !T COUl~1Y. Ml MY COMMiSSION [;.(PlliES <13/141:18 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization) Wyckoff, Mark A. Description An account of the resource Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960/2023 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Comprehensive plan publications Master plan reports Zoning--Michigan Zoning--Maps Maps Land use--planning Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-240 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Ada-Twp_Easement-Reports_1995-1996 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Keith P. Walker, Esq. April Scholtz Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-1996 Title A name given to the resource Ada Township Conservation Easement Reports Description An account of the resource The Ada Township Conservation Easement Reports are dated from 1995-1996 and were prepared by Keith P. Walker, Esq. with the assistance of McShane & Bowie, P.L.C., and by April Scholtz for the Ladd Land Corporation. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McShane & Bowie, P.L.C. Subject The topic of the resource Conservation report series Ada Township (Mich.) Kent County (Mich.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/46e36715fb05e0187148c518d21d643d.pdf b9e8e6338333bfabd1e78868c491e631 PDF Text Text � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Incunabula Description An account of the resource The term incunabula refers to books printed between 1450 and 1500, approximately the first fifty years following the invention, by Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, of printing from moveable type. Our collection includes over 200 volumes and numerous unbound leaves from books printed during this period. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1450/1500 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Incunabula Collection (DC-03) 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 </a> Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource text Language A language of the resource eng it la nl de 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/. Title A name given to the resource Opuscula [folium 12] Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-03_012Aquinas1498 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Aquinas, Thomas 1225?-1274 Description An account of the resource One leaf of Opuscula by Thomas Aquinas and edited by Antonius Pizamanus with a life of St. Thomas. Printed in Venice by Bonetus Locatellus for Octavianus Scotus in 1497. [GW M46033; ISTC it00257000] Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Venice: Bonetus Locatellus Subject The topic of the resource Incunabula Printing 1450-1500 Woodcuts 1490-1500 Aquinas, Thomas 1225?-1274 Language A language of the resource la 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 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1497 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Pizamanus, Antonius (editor) Type The nature or genre of the resource Text https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0769d742d7df8caf65e62f98df7eb065.pdf 641dd99b498c79014c2bcd5f9621924a PDF Text Text Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance 1959 Revision Compiled By The Arcada Township Zoning Board �Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance 1959 Revision Compiled By The Arcada Township Zoning Board �Rural Zoning Ordinance Arcada Township, Gratiot County, Michigan ARCADA TOWNSlllP ZONING ORDINANCE An ORDINANCE to e stablish zoning districts and regulations in the unincorporated portions of the Township of Arcada, County of Gratiot, State of Michigan, in accordance with the provisions of Act 184 of the Public Acts of 1943 as amended; to provide for the administration thereof and to frovide penalties for the violation thereo . THE TOWNSlllP BOARD OF ARCADA TOWNSlllP ORDAINS : ARTICLE 1. PREAMBLE SecUon 1 .1 NAME This Ordinance shall be known and cited as the "Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance." Section 1.2 PURPOSES The fundamental purpose of this Ordinance is to promote the public health, safety, morals and general welfare. The provisions are intended to encourage the use of lands and natural resources in the Township in accordance with their character and adaptability; to limit the improper use of land; to reduce hazards to life and property; to provide for the orderly development of the Township; to avoid overcrowding the population ; to provide for adequate light air and health conditions in dwellings' and buildings hereafter erected or altered; to lessen congestion on the public roads and streets; to protect and conserve natural recreational areas, agricultural areas, residential areas and other areas naturally suited to particular uses · to facilitate the establishment of an adequate and economic system of transportation, sewage disposal, safe water supply, education, recreation and other public requirements; to conserve the expenditur~ of funds for public improvements; and services to conform with the most advantageous uses of land resources and properties; to promote the best uses of land and resources of the Township by both the community in general and individual inhabitant. SecUon 1.3 GENERAL PROCEDURE To achieve the purpose of this Ordinance, p<?rtions of the Township have been divided into zoning districts of varied shape, kind and area, and regulations adopted for each such district, but with due consideration for the character of each district, its peculiar suitability for particular purposes, the conservation of natural resources and the general trend and character of land, buildings and population development. ARTICLE 2. DEFINITIONS Section 2.1 GENERAL For the purpose of this Ordinance, certain terms used are herewith defined. When not incensistent with the conts,xt, words used in the present tense include the future, words in the singular number Include the flural number, and words in the plura number include the singular number. The word "shall" is always mandatory and not merely directory. Section 2.2 ACCESSORY BUILDING A supplemental building or structure on the same lot, or part of the main building occupied by or devoted exclusively to an accessory use. Section 2.3 ACCESSORY USE A u se naturally and normally incidental to, subordinate to and devoted exclusively to the main use of the land or building. Section 2.4 ALTERED Any change in the location or use of the building or structure and /or any change in the construction or the structural members of a building or structure such as bearing walls, columns, posts, beams, girders and similar components. Section 2.5 BASEMENT AND CELLAR ( a ) A basement is that portion of a building partly below the grade but so located that the vertical distance from average grade to the floor is not greater than the vertical distance from the average grade to the ceiling. (b) A cellar is that portion of a building partly below grade but so located that the vertical distance from the average grade to the floor is greater than the vertical distance from the average grade to the celling. Section 2.6 BOARDING HOUSE Primarily a family dwelling where meals with or without lodging are furnished for compensation on a weekly or monthly basis to three or more persons who are not members of the family occupying and operating the premises, but not necessarily to anyone who may apply. Section 2. 7 BUILDING Any structure, either temporary or permanent, having a roof and used or built for the shelter or inclosure of per-f sons, animals, chattels or property o any kind. This shall include tents, awnings, vehicles whether mounted or not ~n wheels and situated on private property and used for purposes of a building. SecUon 2.8 BUILDING, HEIGHT OF b The vertical distance from the esta lished grade at the center of the frontf of the building to the highest point o the roof surface If a flat roof, to the deck line for mansard roofs, and to the mean height level between eaves and ridge for gabled, hip and gambrel roofs. Section 2.9 DWELLING Any building or structure, or part thereof, occupied as the home, residence or sleeping place of one or more_ pelyrsons either permanently or transient except cabins and trailer coaches. Wherlse only part of a building or structure occupied for dwelling purposes, the part so occupied shall comply with all provisions applicable to dwelling in the district in which said building or structure is located unless otherwise provided ln thls Ordinance. One-Family Dwelling A dwelling occupied by but one family, and so designed and arr_anhg as to provide Jiving, cooking and kite en accomodatians for one (1) family only. Two-Family Dwelling A dwelling occupied by but two (2ed) families and so designed and arrang as to provide independent Jiving, cooking and kitchen accomodatlons for two (2) families only. <!.i �Section 2.10 ERECTED Includes bullt, constructed, reconstruc- ted, moved upon, or any physical oper- ations on the land required for the building. Excavations, fill, drainage and the like shall be considered a part of the e rection. Section 2 .11 ESSENTIAL SERVICJ!a> The erection, construction, alteration or maintenance by public utilities or municipal departments or commissions of underground or overhead, gas, elec• trical, steam or water transmission or distribution system, collection, communications, supply or disposal system, In· eluding poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, towers, fire alarm boxes, police call boxe•, traffic slgWils, hydrants, and other similar equipment and accessories In connection therewith, but not including bulldings reasonably necessary for the furnishing of adequate service by such public utilities or municipal departments or com• missions or for the public health or sale• ty or general welfare. Section 2.12 ESTABLISHED GRADE The elevation of the sidewalk grade as fixed by the Township zoning Ad· ministrator; or where no sidewalk is to be constructed on the premises, a point on the surface of the ground appropri• ate to the terrain, said point to be de• termined by said Administrator. Section 2.13 FARM All of the unplatted contiguous neighboring or associated land operated as a tingle unit on which bona fide fanning i• carried on directly by the owner-oper• ator, manager or tenant-farmer by his own labor or with the assistance of members of his household or hired em• ployees; provided, however, that land to be considered a farm h.e reunder shall include a contiguous, unplatted parcel of not less than twenty (20) acres in area; provided, further, that greenhouses, nurseries, orchards, apiaries, chicken hatcheries, poultry farms and similar specialized agricultural enterprises may be considered as farms; but establish• ments keeping or operating fur-bearing animals, game, fish hatcheries, dog kennels, stock yards, slaughter houses, stone quarries or gravel and sand pits shall not be considered farms hereunder un• less combined with and constituting only a minor part of bona fide farm operations on the same continuous tract of land. Nor shall premises operated as fertilizer works, bone yards, plggerles or for the reduction of animal matter, or tor the disposal of garbage, sewage, rubbish, offal or junk constitute a farm hereun• der. Section 2.14 FARM BUILDINGS Any building or structure, other than a dwelling, moved upon, maintained, used or built on a farm which ls essentl.a l and customarily used on farms in the pursuit of agricultural activities. Section 2.15 FARM DWELLING Any building located on a farm as defined by this Ordinance and occupied as the home, residence or sleeping place of the owner-operator, manager or ten• ant farmer of that farm. Section 2.16 GARAGE, PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL (a) A private garage Is any build- ing, or part thereof, not over one story or fifteen (15) feet in height for storage of motor vehicles or trailer coaches where no servicing for profit Is conducted. (b) A commercial garage ls any gar• age other than a private garage. Section 2.17 GUEST UNIT A room occupied or Intended, arrang- ed or designed for occupancy by one or more guests for compensation, having no provisions for cooking. Section 2.18 HOME OCCUPATION Any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling and carried on by the inhabitants thereof, which use Is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling for dwelling purposes and does not change the character thereof. Clinics, hospitals, barber shops, tea rooms, tourist homes, animal host>itals, animal boarding establishments or the production of any kind of livestock shall not be deemed home occupations. Section 2.19 JUNK YARD Any parcel of land maintained or operated for the purchase, sale, storage, dismantiing, demolition, or use of junk including scrap metals, motor vehicles, machinery and bulldln.g and construction materials, or parts thereof. Section 2 .20 LODGING HOUSE Primarilr a famlly dwelling where lodging with or without meals is furnished on a weekly or monthly basis t.o three or more persons who are not members of the family occupying and operating the premises, but not necessarily to anyone who may apply. Section 2.21 LOT The parcel of land on which one (1) principal building and Its accessories are located or intended to be located together with any open spaces required by this Ordinance. Section 2.22 LOT, CORNER A Jot of which two adjacent sides abut upon a street, provided that such two sides intersect at an angle of not more than 135 degrees. Where a lot is on a curve, U tangents through the ex• treme point of the street line of such lot make an interior angle of not more than 135 degrees it is a corner lot. In the case of a corner Jot with a curved street line, the corner shall be considered to be that point on the street line nearest to the point of intersection of the tangents herein described. Section 2,23 LOT LINES Front Lot Lines The line dividing a lot from a street. On a corner lot only one street line shall be considered as a front Jot line and the shorter street line shall be considered the front lot line. Rear Lot Line The line opposite the front lot line. Side Lot Line Any lot lines other than the front lot line or rear lot line. Section 2.24 MOTEL A building or group of buildings whe- ther detached or in connected units, used as individual sleeping or dwelling ~~~mot~~:'atefe~:.'are~ l:"rm t~~-~ includes buildings designated as Tourist Courts, Auto Courts, Motor Courts, Motels and similar appellations which are designed as integrated units or individual cabins under common ownership. Section 2.25 NON-CONFORMING STRUCTURE A structure conflicting with the pro• visions of this Ordinance. Section 2.27 NON-CONFORMING USE The use of a structure or land con• fllcting with the provisions of this Ord!· nance. �Section 2.28 NOTICE Where notice is required to be given any person, firm or corporation, it may be given In any one or more of the following ways: (a) By publication In a :iewspa.per published In Gratiot County and generally circulated within the township. (b) By personal sarvice. (c) By depositing a copy of the notice in the United States mails, postage prepaid, addressed to the person, firm or corporation at his address as shown on the latest tax roll, certified or registered with return receipt requested. Section 2.29 PUBLIC UTILITY Any person, firm, corporation, municipal department or board duly authorize:! to furnish and furnishing under municipal regulation to the public, transportation, water, gas, electricity, telephone, steam, telegraph, or sewage disposal and other services. Section 2.30 RETAIL COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT A store, market or shop in which commodities are sold or offered for sale in small or large quantities to the retail trade. Grocery and general store, meat markets, public garages, automobile service stations are included In this classification. Section 2.31 ROADSIDE STAND A farm structure used or intended to be used solely by the owner or tenant of the farm on which it is located for the sale of only the seasonal farm products of the immediate locality in which the roadside stand is located. Section 2.32 SETBACK LINES Lines established adjacent to highways for the purpose of defining limits within which no building or structure or any part thereof shall be erected or permanently maintained. "Within a setback line" means between the setback line and the highway righ.t-of-way. Section 2.33 STORY That part of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor or of the roof next above. When the distance from the average established grade to the celling of a story partly below such grade exceeds five ( 5) feet, then the basement or cellar constituting the story partially below grade shall be counted as a story. Section 2.34 STORY, HALF A story which is situated within a sloping roof, the area of which at a height four ( 4) feet above the floor does not exceed two-thirds (2/3) of the floor area directly below it, wherein living quarters are used only as a part of the dwelling situated in the story below. Section 2.35 STRUCTURE Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires more or less permanent location on the ground or attached to some thing having permanent location on the ground. Section 2.36 TAVERN Any ,Place where malt, vinous or spiritous liquors are sold for consumption on the premises. Section 3.37 TOURIST HOME Primarily a family dwelling where lodging with or without meals is furnished for compensation chiefly on an over night basis and mainly to transients, but not necessarily to anyone who may apply. Section 2.38 TRAILER COACH Any structure used for sleeping, living, business or storage purposes, having no foundation other than wheels, blocks, skids. jacks or similar support and which has been or reasonably can be transported from place to place. Section 2.39 TRAILER COACH PARK Any site, lot, field, tract, or parcel of land which is utilized by two(2) or more occupied trailer coaches either free of charge, or for revenue purposes, and sh.all include any building, structure, tent, vehicle, or enclosure used or intended for use as a part of the equipment of such trailer coach park. Section 2.40 USE The purpose for which land or a building thereon is designed., arranged, or intended to be occupied or usE?4, or for which it is occupied or maintamed. Section 2.41 YARD A space open to the sky and unoccupied or unobstructed, exceJ_>t by encroachments specifically permitted '!1'der this Ordinance, on the same lot with a building or structure. Yard, Front A yard extending across the full width of the lot between the front lot lin.e and the nearest line of the main building.- Yard, Rear A yard extending across the full width of the lot between the rear lot line and the nearest line of the main building. Yard, Side A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard between the side l~t line and the nearest line of the main building or of accessory building attached thereto. ARTICLE 3. GENERAL PROVISIONS Section 3.1 SCOPE Beginning with the effective date of this Ordinance, and except as otherwise provided in this Ordinance, no new building, or structure, or par~ thereof, shall be erected, and no existing building or structure shall be enlarged, rebuilt or altered, and no bulldingth.er, strueofcture, land, premises, or part • shall be used for purposes other thanhiln conformity with the provisions of t s Ordinance pertaining thereto. Section 3.Z BOUNDARIES OF DISTRICTS Unless otherwise specified in this Ordinance, or otherwise shown on the Zonding Map of Arcada Townsh.lp, the boun ary Jines of zoning districts shall follow along the section lines indicated on the United States Land Office 1:_1uryey Maps, or lines of customary subdivts1on of such section and such as quarterhianhd eighth lines; or the center line of g ways, streets, alleys, or waterways; or the boundaries of incorporated areas; or the boundary lines of recorded plats or subdivisions; or the property lines of let gal records on the date of enactmen of this Ordinance· or the extension of any said lines. ' Section 3.3 CONFLICT WITH COVENANTS OR RESTRICTIONS The requirements of this Ordinance are to be construed as minimum ~quirements, and shall in no way !mp_rur or affect any covenant or restriction running with the land, except where such covenant or restriction imposes lesser requirements. �Section 3.4. USE OF NON-CONFORMING LAND, BUILDING AND STRUCTURES (a) At the discretion of the owner, the lawful use of any bullding, struc• ture. land or premises existing prior to the effective date of this Ordinance, although the use does not conform to the provisions of this Ordinance, may be continued, and such use of any building may be extended throughout said building, provided no structural changes be made therein except those required tor safety. (b) Wherever the nonconforming use of any bullding. structure, land or premises is changed in whole or in part to a conforming use, such use shall not thereafter be reverted to any nonconforming use. (c ) I! the nonconforming use of any bullding, structure, land or premises or part thereof Is discontinued through vacancy, lack of operations or otherwise for a continuous period of six (6) months, then any future use of said building, structure, land or premis.e s shall conform, In Its entirety, to the provisions of this Ordinance; provided, however, that the Board of Appeals may, upon application within three (3) months of the termination of said period, permit t.he resumption of such nonconforming use. Section 3.5 RECONSTRUCTION OF DAMAGED NONCONFORMING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES Nothing in this Ordinance shall prevent the reconstruction, repair or restoration and the continued use of any nonconforming bullding or structure damaged by fire, collapse, explosion, acts of God, or acts of the public enemy, subsequent to the effective date of this Ordinance, wherein the expense of such reconstruction does not exceed sixty ( 60) per cent of the fair valuation of the bullding or structure at the time such damage occurred; providing that such valuation shall be determined by a majority of a board of three (3) appraisers, one to be appointed by the property owner, one to be appointed by the Zoning Administrator and the third to be appointed by the first two, the expense of such appraisal to be borne by the property owner and provided, further, that said use be identical with the nonconforming use permitted and in effect at the time of said damage. Section 3.6 REPAIR. ALTERATION AND COMPLETION OF NON - CONFORMING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES (a) Nothing In this Ordinance shall prevent the repair, reinforcement, Improvement or rehabilitation of a nonconforming bullding, structure or part thereof existing at the effective date of this Ordinance, that may be necessary to secure or insure the continued advantageous use of the bullding or structure during its natural life; provld• ed, however, that such repair, reinforcement, Improvement, rehabilitation does not change or enlarge the non-conforming use of said oremises. (b) Nothing In this Ordinance shall require any change In the erection or Intended use of a building, the construction of which shall have begUD in accordance with a valid bulldlng permit Issued under the provisions of the Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance passed by the Township Board of Arcada Township on March 16, 1956 and renewals thereof, provided that such bullding is completed and the use commenced with• In six (6) months following the effective date of this Ordinance. (c) No basement, cellar, garage or any Incompletely constructed structure In use as a dwelling on the effective date of this Ordinance shall be used as a dwelling for more than twenty-four (24) months following said date, unless such structure has been brought to a state of completion In conformity with the regulations of this Ordinance relative to dwellings in the district in which such structure is located. Section 3.7 YARD AND AREA REQUIREMENTS: GENERAL . (a) Every part or any required yard shall be open and unobstructed by chimneys pilasters, sills, belt courses, cornices 'eaves or gutters; provided, however, that such chimneys, pilasters, sills, belt courses, cornices, eaves or gutters may project not more than twenty-four (24.) inches into any required yard. ( b ) No part of any required yard except a rear yard, shall be used for any accessory bullding or use, or for the storage of vehicles, and any accessory bullding erected in a required rear yard shall not exceed one story or fifteen (15) feet In height. (c) Where a lot abuts upon an alley, one-half ( ½ ) of the width of said alley may be considered a part of such lot for the purpose of computing the depth of any rear yard required under this Ordin(g)· No portion of a lot or yard can be used more than once In complying with the provisions for lot and fard dimensions for the construction o a proposed, or the alteration of, an existing bullding. ( e) Upon petition by the owner, the Board of Appeals shall have the power to vary the yard 0nd area requirements for any lot created prior to the effective date of this Ordinance where because of size or shape the application of such requirements would cause undue hardship. Section 3.8 LIMITATIONS OF DWELLINGS PEgni'~~ne dwelling shall be erected on a lot. Section 3.9 VEHICULAR PARKING SPACE, ACCESS THERETO AND LIGHTING THEREOFFor each dwelling, co=ercial, indus- trial manufacturing or other similar business or service establishments hereafter erected or altered, and located on a public highway road or street In the unmcorporated portions of the Township and including buildings or structures used principally as a place of l?ubllc assembly, there shall be proVlded and maintained suitable space off the public right-of-way which is In general adequate tor the parking or loading of vehicles In r.roportions shown on the following tab e , and such space shall be provided with safe exit from and en• trance to the public thoroughfare, but not to exceed one (1) exit and one (1) entrance. Said exit and entrance may be combined or provided separately. Approval for the location of such exit and entrance shall be obtained from the State Highway Department for all trunk line highwais, and from the County Road Commission for all other. roads and highways In the county, which approval shall also Include the design and construction thereof In the Interests of safety, adequate drainage ~d other public requirements. A minimum of 200 square feet exclusive of drives, entrances and exits shall comprise one (1) automobile parking space. All parking space as reqwred In this section, except that �required for dwellings, shall be provided with adequate artificial hghting when the use of such space is open to the public. Dwellings: One parking space for each family unit occupying the premises. Hospitals and institutions of similar nature: One parking space for every three ( 3) beds plus one ( 1) space for each doctor plus one ( 1 ) space for every four (4 ) employees, including nurses. Restaurants: One parking space for every one hundred (100 ) square feet of noor area or part thereof plus one (1) par king space for every two ( 2) persons employed. Theatres, churches, public and private halls, amusement and recreation establishments, and all places of public assembly: One (1) parking space for every four ( 4) seats or fraction thereof plus one (1) parking space for every two (2) persons employed. Hotels and similar establishments offering lodging: One (1) parking space for every two (2) guest rooms plus one (1) parking space for every two (2) persons employed. Taverns: One parking space for every sixty-six ( 66) square feet of floor space or part thereof plus one ( 1) parking space for every two (2) persons employed. Other commercial and business establishments including offices, and service establishments: One (1) parking space for every two hundred (200) square feet of floor area or part thereof plus one ( 1) parking space for every two persons employed. Industrial and manufacturing establishments: One (1) parking space for every two ( 2) employees for industries using two (2) or more shifts; one (1) space for every three ( 3) employees for industries using one (1) shift only. In the event of a use not falling within any of the above categories, the Board of Appeals shall, upon application by the Zoning Administrator, prescribe the required number of parking spaces to be provided for employees and for the occommoda;;ion of patrons or guests. Section 3.10 STRUCTURES TEMPORARY DWELLING (a) No building, trailer coach, tent, garage, cellar, basement or other struct1:ll"~ which d<>E:S not ~onform to the provisions of this Ordinance relative to dwellings shall be erected altered or moved upon any premises ~nd used for dwelling purposes except under the following applicable limitations: ( 1) Such use of any such building trailer coach, tent, garage, base~ ment or other structure shall not be inimical to health safety or the public welfare. ' ( 2) pie location of each such buildmg, garage, cellar, basement, or other structure shall conform to the regulations governing the yard. r_equirements for dwellings !)r similar conformable structures !:ie~~e district in which it is situ( 3) Such use of any building, trailer coach, tent, garage, cellar, basement or other structure shall be for the sole purpose of providing dwelling facilities for the owner !)f the. premises during the period m which a dwelling conforming to the . Pr!)visions of this Ordinance IS m. process of erection and completion; provided, however, that such a period shall not exceed twelve (12) months be- ginning with the date of issuance of the permit therefor. ( 4) Application for a permlt to erect. move, alter and use such building, trailer coach, tent, garage, basement or other structure shall be made to the Zoning Administrator on such forms as the Zoning Administrator may prescribe. Such application shall be in addition to any application required by Act 1 72 of the Public Acts of 1958. Applicants shall pay a fee of two ($2.00) dollars at the time of obtaining the application form unless required to have a permit under said Act 1 72 of the Public Acts of 1958, in which event no additional fee will be required. (b ) The conditions of this section shall not apply to any trailer coach when located in a trailer coach park. (c) No trailer may be moved upon any premises, except trailer coach parks as hereinafter defined, and used for dwelling purposes until and unless the owner or owners of the premises u~ which it is proposed to move said trailer shall file with the Zoning Administrator: (1) The written consents of all of the owners of premises bordering upon the land where it is proposed to move said trailer: such consents will include those of the owner or owners of land which would border except for intervend• ing highway right-of-way, roa (2) ~e"t~lten consents of all tJ?.e owners of all residences within three hundred (300) feet of the proposed site of the trailer. (d) The Zoning Administrator, after the owner of the premises has complle_d with all of the conditions of this Ordinance, including the obtaining of any permit required by Act 172 of the Pubtlic Acts of 1958, which must be presen · ed to the Zoning Administrator. shall issue a permit to erect, move or alter and to occupy the building, traller coach, tent, garage, basement or other struc· ture for a period not to exceed one (lbe) year. Renewals of any permit shall . obtained in the same manner as provid· t-d for obtaining the original permit. Se~~n c~i;l,:Ci:_LSof a motel may be authorized in any district except a AA redisential district by the Board of ~Ppeals where the applicant complies WI~ all provisions of this section and ~ a • dition complies with all other applicable provisions of this Ordinance. (a) The motel site shall have an area of not less than one ( 1) acre w(itb a) minimum width of one hundred 100 feet, provided there shall be not less than eight hundred (800) square feet of area for each guest unit. (b) All buildings, including accessory buildings. shall occupy no more than twenty-five (25%) per cent of the d~ ta! area of the site being used or veloped at any one time. ( c) All buildings shall be set back not less than fifty (50) feet from the near; est street or highway line and nb 0 ! dinlesg than the height of the nearest w 1 to the side or rear line. ( d) Each guest unit shall have a conth; venient exit from and access +o highway f r ( e) Each guest unit shall have o each occupant no less th9? sixty b(~~ feet of floor area exclusive of rooms but no guest unit shall con 'ia1n �less than one hundred twenty (120) square feet of floor area exclusive of bathroom. (f) Application for a pennlt to erect a motel shall be made to the Board ot Appeals and filed with the Zoning Administrator. The application shall show the location and dimensions of th.e proposed site, the size, location and yard space tor each guest unit and other buildings and structures to be erected on the premises and such additional inlorm!'tlon as the Board of Appeals may reqwre. (g) Following the receipt of any such application the Board of Appeals may refer the same to the Township Zoning Board for its investigation and recommendation. Final approval or rejection of such application shall, however, rest with the Board of Appeals alter a public hearing, notice of which shall be served at least five (5) days prior to the date of such hearing. SecUon 3.12 TRAILER COACH PARKS No parcel of land or premises shall be used for a trailer coach park without too~~~iance with the following regula- (a) The location and operation of such a park shall not tend to produce noise or annoyance or prove otherwise injurious to the surrounding neighborhood, nor be inimical to the public health, safety or general welfare of the community, nor be contrary to the purposes of this Ordinance. (b) Such park shall be provided with not more than one (1 ) safe entrance from and one ( 1 ) safe exit to the public highway or street. (c) Each trailer coach park shall comply in all respects with the rules and regulations of the Michigan Department of Health relating to trailer coach parks. (d) No more than one (1) family shall be permitted to occupy any trailer coach. (e) Application tor a permit to erect such park shall be made In writing to the Board <>f Appeals and tiled with the Zoning Administrator. The application shall show the location and extent of the proposed park and such additional information as the Board of Appeals may deem essential to ta.Ice proper action on the application. ( f\ Following the receipt of any such appUcation the Board of Appeals may refer the same to the Township Zoning Board for its investigation and recommendation. Final approval or rejection of such application shall, however, rest w Ith the Board of Appeals after a pub1ic hearing, notice of which shall be served at least five (5) days prior to the date of such hearing. Section 3.U COMBINATION TRAILER COACH PARK AND MOTEL No parcel of land or premises shall be used for a combination trailer ocach park and motel without compliance with the applicable regulations of Sections 3.11 and 3.12 of this Ordlnance Section 3.14 WATER SUPPLY . Every living unit shall have available ~lth~~r1Y of sale water obtained from (ba) A municipal supply, if available. ( ) A drilled or driven well. Section 3.15 SEWAGE DISPOSAL d No . premises shall be occupied for we11mg purposes unless provls{on shall hthave been made for disposal of sewage rough a municipal sewage disposal system or a private sewage disposal system constructed in accordance with thehistandards and requirements of the Ml.c gan Department of Health. Section 3.16 ESSENTIAL SERVICES Essential services as defined In this Ordinance, shall be permitted as author- ized and regulated by Jaw and other ordinances in effect in Arcada Townshi_!'1 It being the intention hereof to exempi; such services from the application of this Ordinance. Section 3.17 COMBINATION BUSINESS AND DWELLING BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES Each building or structure used tor combined dwelling and business purposes shall provide an area of not Jess than four hundred eighty (480) square feet for that part used tor dwelling purposes. ARTICLE 4, ZONING DISTRICTS Section 4 .1 ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICTS For the purpose of this Ordinance, all of the area of Arcada Township is hereby divided into five ( 5 ) districts, which shall be known as follows : District A, Agricultural District AA, One-family residential District B, Two-family residential District C, Commercial District D, Industrial Section 4.2 DISTRICT MAPS Said districts are bounded and defined on a map entitled '"Zoning Map of Arcada Township, Gratiot County, Michigan" on file In the office of the Township Clerk, which map, with all expanatory matter thereon, shall be deemed to accompany, be and Is hereby made a part of this Ordinance. ARTICLE 6. DISTRICT A Section 5 .1 USES PERMITTED In a District A Agricultural, no building or structure or any part thereof shall be erected, altered or used or land or premises used in whole or in part for other than one or more of the following specified uses: (a ) Detached one-family dwellings. (b ) Farms, !arm dwellings and farm buildings, including roadside stands and signs not over four ( 4) square feet In area advertising the sale or !arm and products or said farm. (c) Home occupations, provided, however, that there be no external evidence of such occupation except a name plate not exceeding four ( 4) square feet in area and without Illumination, and provided, further, that the occupation does not require or effect any change in the external character of the dwelling. (d) Churches ; schools; publicly-owned buildings; public utility buildings; telephone exchanges and substations without service or storage yards; community clubs, country club, fraternal lodges and similar civic or social organizations when not operated for profit; land for privately-owned and operated parks, picnic groves, golf courses, or similar facilities tor outdoor exercise and recreation which may or may not be operated for profit; Provided, however, that the use of any such structure or land does not tend to produce objectlon11ble noise or annoyance or prove otherwise injurious to the surrounding neighborhood and Is not contrary to the spirit of this Ordinance. Application for the location, erection, alteration or use of such land, building or structure shall be made to the Board of Appeals and filed with the Zoning Administrator. Following the receipt of any such application, the Board of Appeals may refer the same to the Township Zoning Board for Its investigation and recommendation. Final approval or rejection of such application shall, however, rest with the Board of �~ Residential-AA • Residential-8 :::::::::::::::::::::::: ·.·.·.·.·.·.·:.·.·::. Agr·1cultural :::::::::::::::::::::::. ,:.~-::.·.·::.-.:.; Commercial ��Appeals after a public hearing, notice of which shall be served at least five days prior to the date of such hearing. ( e) Accessory uses, buildings and structures customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses including not more than one private garage in which may be housed not more than one co=ercial vehicle or not to exceed one and one-half ( 1 ½) t ons capacity tor each lot, and including sign s pertaining to the sale, lease, or use of a lot or building placed thereon, and not exceeding eight (8) square feet in area on any one lot. On a farm, dwellings for the use of domestic employees, hired farm labor, or tenant of the owner of lessee of the principal dwelling shall be considered accessory buildings. Section 5.2 SIZE OF DWELLING LOTS In a District A, every lot upon which a dwelling is hereafter erected or altered shall be not less than one ( 1) acre in area nor less than one hundred thirty-two (132) feet in width provided that the ratio of the length of the lot to the. width of the lot shall not exceed four (4) to one (1); provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to a parcel of land less in size than said area and platted and identified as a ~l';.ec~f~e~n a plat officially approved Section 5.3 FRONT YARD-DWELLINGS AND NON DWELLINGS In a District A, every lot shall have a front yard not less than forty ( 40) feet in depth. In the the case of a lot located in a block or site on which there are existing buildings or structures having front yards less than forty ( 40) feet in depth, the front yards of buildings or structures hereafter erected shall be not less than the average depth of the existing front yards. Section 5.4 SIDE YARDS-DWELLINGS In a District A, every lot shall have a side yard on each side of a principal dwelling, which shall be not less than twenty (20) feet in width. Provided however that where a garage is attach~ ed along any side of such building the width of that side yard may be reduced to ten (10) feet. Section 5.5 REAR YARD-DWELLINGS In a District A, every lot shall have ~ r~~th~rd not less than sixty ( 60) feet t~~~n 5.6 CONSTRUCTION REGULA- In .a District A, no building used for dwellmg purposes other than accessory dwellings, shall be used, erected or altered unless it shall con!orm to the folminimum construction require- ~::r: ( a) Detached one-family dwelling No single-family dwelling shall hereafter be erected, altered or moved which provides less than 720 square feet of living space at the first floor level (b) Maximum height of dwelling. No building for dwelling purposes shall hereafter be erected exceeding t,,, 0 and one-half stories or 35 feet in height, except upon approval by the Board of Appeals. Section 5.7 SIDE YARDS-NON-DWELLING In a District A, every lot on which a ~uilding or structure not used for dwellmg purposes or accessory thereto is erected, shall have a side yard on each side of the lot, and each such side yard shall be not less than thirty (30) feet in width with an increase of one (1) toot in width of each side yard for each five ( 5) feet by which the said building or structure exceeds forty (40) feet in ov- er all dimension along the side yard and also of one (1) foot tor every two (2) feet in height in excess of thirty-five (35) feet. Section 5.8 SIDE YARDS-CORNER LOTS In a District A, the width of a side yard of a corner lot shall not be less than the minimum front yard required on an adjoining lot fronting on the side street, but this shall not reduce the building of this Ordinance to less than thirty-six ( 36) feet. ARTICLE 6. DISTRICT AA Section 6.1 USES PERMITTED In a District AA, no building or structure, or any part thereof, shall be erected, altered, or used, or land or premises used, in whole or in part, tor other than one or more of the following specified uses: (a) Detached one-family dwellings. (bl Farms, farm dwellings - and~farm buildings, including roadside stands and two signs not over four ( 4) square feet in area advertising the sale or products of said farm . (c) Churches and schools. (d) Country Clubs, Golf Courses, Public Parks and Playgrounds. ( e) Accessory uses, buildings and structures customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses. On a farm dwellings the use of domestic employees, hired farm labor, or tenant of the owner of lessee of the principal dwelling shall be considered accessory bui)dings. Section 6.2 SIZE OF DWELLING LO'l'Sch In a District AA, every lot upon whi a dwelling is hereafter erected or altered shall be not less than one (1) acre in area nor less than one hundred thirtytwo ( 132) feet in width; provided that the ratio of the length or the Jot to the width of the lot shall not exceed tourt (4) to one (1); provided, however, tha this requirement shall not apply to Ida parcel of land less in size than sa area and platted and identified as a single unit on a plat officially approved and recorded. Section 6.S FRONT YARD-DWELLINGS AND NON-DWELLINGS In a District AA, every lot shall have a front yard not less than forty ( 40t-) feet in depth. In the case of a lot loca ed in a block or site on which there are existing buildings or structures having front yards less than forty ( 40) feet, the depth of front yards or buildings or structures hereafter erected shall be not less than the average of the existing yards, Section 6.4 SIDE YARDS-DWELLINGS In a District AA every lot shall have a side yard on each side of the dwelllng), which shall be not less than twenty ~t~t reet in width. Provided. however, ....,. where a garage is attached along anyt side of such building the width of tb a) side yard may be reduced to !en (1 0 feet. Section 6.5 REAR YARD-DWELLINGS In a District AA, every lot shall have a rear yard not less than sixty ( 60) feet in depth. Section 6.6 CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS In a District AA, no building used for dwelling purposes other than accessory dwellings, shall be used, erected, or altered unless it shall conform to the following minimum construction requirements. �(a) Detached one-family dwelling. No dwelling shall be erected or altered which provides less than fourteen hundred (1400) square feet of floor area at the first floor level. One-half ( ½) of any attached garage area may be included in calculating the area required. (b) Other construction regulations subject to the same provisions as specified in Section 5 .6. Section 6.7 SIDE YARDS-NON-DWELLING In a District AA, every lot on which a building or structure ls erected other than a dwelling or other than for a purpose accessory to a dwelling shall have a side yard on each side of such building or structure and each such side yard shall be not less than thirty ( 30 ) feet width with an increase of one (1) foot in width of each side yard for each five ( 5) feet by which the said building or structure exceeds forty ( 40 ) feet in over-all dimension along the side yard and also of one ( 1 ) foot for every two (2) feet in height in excess of thrityfive (35 ) feet. Section 6.8 SIDE YARDS-CORNER LOTS In a District AA, the width of a side yard of a comer lot shall not be less than the minimum front yard required on an adjoining lot fronting on the side street, but this shall not reduce the buildable width of any lot of legal recorq. at the time of the passage of this Ordinance to less than thirty-six ( 36) feet. ARTICLE 7, DISTRICT B Section 7 .1 USES PERMITTED IN A DISTRICT B No building, structure or part thereof shall be erected, altered or used, or land or premises used, in whole or in part, for other than one or more of the following specified uses. (a) All uses permitted in Districts A including all approvals required therein. (b) Two-family dwellings. (c) Lodging houses; boarding houses. (d) Accessory uses, buildings and structures customarily incidental to any of the above permitted uses but subject to the same provisions as specified unth?,er paragraph ( e) of Section 5.1 of lS Ordinance. Section 7 .2 SIZE OF DWELLING LOTS In a District B, the size of dwelling lots shall be the same as specified in Section 5.2 of this Ordinance. Section 7.3 FRONT YARD - DWELLINGS AND NON-DWELLINGS Int a DI.strict B, every lot shall have a t,:on t Yard of the depth specified in Sec ion 5.3 of this Ordinance. Section 7 .4 SIDE YARD - DWELLINGS ln a District B, every lot upon which th, ere Ls a dwelling shall have the same st this~e Yar<;l as required by Section 5.4 of Ordinance. ~ctlon 7 .5 SIDE YARD - NON DWELLlnGS In a. District B, every lot upon which there is a building or structure other ~ a dwelling or other than a buildthg or structure which ls accessory ~eta, shall be required to have side b~~~/peclfled in Section 5 . 7 of this Section 7 .6 SIDE YARD - CORNER LOTS . In a District B, the requirement for side yards on corner lots shall be the •Oratndle as specified in Section 5 .8 of this nance. Section 7. 7 CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS In a District B, no building used for dwelling purposes other than accessory dwellings shall be used, erected or altered unless it shall conform to the following minimum construction requirements. (a) Detached one-family dwellingliving area. No one-storY single family dwelling shall hereafter be erected, altered or moved which provides less than four hundred thirty ( 430) square feet of living space at the ground area. (b) other construction regulations subject to the same provisions as specified in Section 5.6. ARTICLE 8. DISTRICT C COMMERCIAL Section 8.1 In a District C, no building, structure or part thereof shall be erected, altered or used or land or premises used, h\ whole more ( a) (b) ( c) (d) (e) or in part, for other than one or of the following specified uses: All uses permitted in Districts B; Any retail business: Personal and business services; Veterinary hospitals and kennels; Gasoline service stations; (f ) Motor vehicle, trailer and boat repair services; (g) Commercial, amusement and sports enterprises; (h) Restaurants, theatres, taverns and night clubs; (i ) Second hand stores; (j) Freezer lockers; (k) Trailer coach parks, motels and hotels; . b ' Id (I) Offices, banks and public Ul ings; (m) Drive-in businesses; (n) Business or trade schools, dancing or 1nusic studios; (o) Utility installations necessary to serve the district; ( p ) Advertising structures; . (q) Funeral Homes and mortuaries. ARTICLE 9. DISTRICT D INDUSTRIAL Section 9.1 USES PERMITI'ED . . In a District D, except as limited and restricted in this Section and elsewhere in this Ordinance, all bll.½dings and uses will be permitted. provtded that such buildings and uses conform to any other applicable statutes, ordinances, rules and s~fi1~i9.;· SPECIAL USE PE~:i,'S In a District D, all apphcabons for permits for uses other than those permitted in a District C shall be made to the Board of Appeals and filed wi_th the Zoning Administrator. The application shall set forth the boundaries of the premises proposed to be used, the nature of the proposed use, plans and specifications including plot plan for all structures to be erected on the premisrdes and such other information as the Boa of Appeals may deem necessary to properly consider the proposed use. U P o n receipt of such application, the Board of Appeals may refer it to the Township Zoning Board for its study and recommendations concerning the harmony oJ the proposed use with public safety welfare. The Board of Appeal'\ s • within thirty ( 30) days fo1Iowmg rE;ceipt of the application, !?,old a p~blic hearing giving at least five ( 5) aas notice thereof. Such hearing may be '!-od journed from time to time for a pen not to exceed thirty ( 30) day~. Within thirty ( 30) days after the said public 1 hearing, the Board of -Mrft1s,i;~ sue a special use pernu duly the proposed use will not have un :.:1i \~i �harmful, obnoxious or annoying effects upon the area. In granting any special use permit, the Boa.rd shall prescribe any conditions that it deems to be necessary to or desirable for public interest. ARTICLE 10 DISTRICT BOUNDARIES Section 10.1 GENERAL The descriptions set forth in the following sections of this Artkle shall oonstitute the areas to be Included In each zoning district. Section 10.2 DISTRICT "AA" The following area shall comprise zoning District " AA" . West one-half ( ½) of Section 4, the East one-half ( ½) of Section 5, the North one-half ( ½) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¼ ) of Section 5 the South one-half ( ½) of the South west one-quarter ( ¼) of Section 5, the North one-half ( ½ ) of the North onehalf ( ½) of Section 6, the North onehalf ( ½ ) of the North one-half { ½ ) of Section 25, the Southeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of the Northeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of Section 25, the Northeast one quarter ( ¼ ) of the S o u t h e a s t one-quarter ( '4) of Section 25 and the South one-half ( ½) of the South one-half { ½) of Section 25. Section 10.3 DISTRICT "B" The following area shall comprise zoning District "B". Southeast one-quarter { ¼ ) of Section 17, the East one-half ( ½) of the Southwest one-quarter { ¼) of Section 17, the Northeast one-quarter (¼) of Section 20, the South onehalf { ½ ) of the North west one-half ( ½) of Section 20, the Southwest one-quarter ( ¼) of Section 20, the East one-half ( ½) of the East onehalf of Section 19, the East one-half { ½ ) of the Northeast one-quarter ( ¼) of Section 30, the Northwest onequarter ( 1/4) of Section 29, the North one-half { ½) of the Southwest onehalf ( ½) of Section 29, and that part of the Northeast one-quarter { ¼ ) of Section 1 7 South and East of the Pine River except the North 35. 5 acres thereof. Section 10.4 DISTRICT "C" The following area shall comprise zoning District "C". Northeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¼) or Section 1 and the North one-half ( ½) of the Northeast one-quarter { ¼) of Section 1 and the Southeast one-quarter ( ¼) of the North-East one-quarter ( ¼) or Section l; the East onehalf { ½) of the East one-half ( ½) or the Northeast one-quarter or Section 241 The Southeast one-quarter { ¼ ) or the Southeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of the Southeast one-quarter ( ¼) of Section 30; the Southwest one-quarter of the Southwest onequarter { 1/4.) or the Southwest onequarter ( ¼) of Section 29; the Northeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of the Northeast one-quarter ( ¼ ) of the Northeast onequarter (¾.) of Section 31; the Northwest one-quarter ( ¼) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¼) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¾ ) of Section 32. Section 10.5 DISTRICT "D" The following area shall comprise zoning District "D". Southeast one-qua.,ter ( ¼) of Section 2 and the West one-half ( ½) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¾) of Section 1, and the West one-half ( ½) of the Northwest one-quarter ( ¼) of Section 11. Section 10.6 DISTRICT "A" All of the unlncorpora ted portions of the township not included in Sections 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 of this Ordinance shall comprise Zoning District " A". Section 10. 7 CONFLICTS In the event of any conflict between the boundaries herein described and those indicated on the township zoning map, the boundaries as shown on the zoning map shall control. ARTICLE 11 HIGHWAY SETBACK LINES Section 11,1 LOCATION OF LINES Setback lines on highways not situated in plats of record on the effective date of this ordinance shall be parallel with and 73 feet from the center line of the highway. Setback lines for Michigan State Trunkllne highways shall be 150 feet from the centerline of the highway, provided that no construction shall be withIn 20 feet from the road right-of-way. Section 11.2 HIGHWAY INTERSECTIONS At Intersections of highways w he re grades are not separated, there are hereby established setback llnes, measured at points 100 feet along the setback line of each intersecting highway, from the point of Intersection of the setback Jines and connected by a straight line between the poln ts In each sector. Section 11.3 RAILROAD INTERSECTIONS At Intersections of highways and railroads where the grades are not separated, the setback Jines are hereby established across each sector between the Intersection highways and railroads. Such setback lines shall be straight lines co n n e ct Ing points on the hlgnwav setback lines and the railroad right-of-way line, which points are located at distances of one hundred fifty (150) feet from the intersection of such highway setback Jines and right-of-way M!'~o~es~~verUILDINGS TURES RELATIVE TO AND STRUCSETBACK AREAS ( a) No bulldings or structures ot anyd kind, except necessary highways anb traffic signs, and open fences throug whlch there shall be clear vision, shall be hereafter constructed, erected moved into the space within such se back lines. Except as herein provided, no bullding or structure except necessary highway and traffic signs, presently existing within such setback lines, shall be renewed or replaced hereaftcker ·n any way, except outside the setba ,Lnes. (b) No bullding or structure within the established setback lines, except ned cessary highway and traffic signs an open fences hereinbefore mentioned shall be altered, enlarged or added to In any way which will increase or prolong tbthe permanency of any portion within e established setback Jines. (c) When any highway or part thereof Is officially adopted Into the Grarunktlot County road or the Michigan state t line system, such highway shall automatically be subject to the provisions of this Ordinance. r ARTICLE 12. ADMINISTRATION AND Section 12.1 ~~?:8E~~STRA'I10N (a) The provisions of this Ordin~~e shall be administered by the Zoning b ministrator, who shall be appointed Y the Township Board tor such term and subject to such conditions and at such rate of compensation as said Board shctf1 determine. For the purpose of this or nance, he shall have the power of a police officer. �(b) The duty of enforcing this Ordinance shall rest in the Zoning Administrator including, unless otherwise provided for, the issuance and revocation of permits. He shall prepare and file an annual report with the Township Board on the operation of the Zoning Ordinance including recommendations as to the enactment of any amendments or supplements thereto. Section 12.2 RECORD OF NONCONFORMING USES (a) The supervisor of Arcada Township having, under the Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance, effective March 16, 1956, prepared a record of nonconforming uses in structures under the provisions of section 11.2 thereof, such record ls hereby retained and shall, immediately following the effective date of this ordinance, be amended by the Supervisor o! Arcada Township to reflect any changes therein caused by the establishment of district boundaries under this ordinance. Any nonconforming uses or structures existing under the aforesaid prior ordinance and not made conforming uses or structures by this ordinance are hereby declared to be nonconforming uses or structures as the case my be under this ordinance. Such amended records shall be deposited with the Zoning Administrator Immediately upon its completion by the Supervisor of Arcada Township. ( b) As soon as the record is flied with the Zoning Admlnlstrator, he shall provide for the examination thereof In his office for thirty ( 30) successive days by any Interested person for the purpose of noting errors or omissions, and shall give notice of the provision for examination by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three ( 3) successive weeks. (c) Errors and ommisslons in such record shall be corrected upon appeal and presentation of proof to the Board 0 f Appeal, during its first session fol1owlnir the close of said examination period, following which the corrected record shall be permanently filed in the office of the Zoning Administrator. The corrected record shall constitute Prima facle evidence of the nature and extent of nonconformance with reference to any land, premises, lot, building or structure existing at the time this Ordinance becomes effective. (d) Following the filing of the corrected record of nonconforming uses ~,?-d structures, It shall be the duty of -ue Supervisor and the Zoning Administrator to make continuous observation ot such nonconforming uses and structures and to report annually to the Board of APP8als on the discontinuance of any nonconforming uses or structures, ln;i,ual!dingbe the dates thereof. Such reports recorded in the minutes of the Boar d of Appeals. Section 12.3 BUILDING PERMITS (a) Except as otherwise provided, no dfell!ng or building subject to the prov slons of this Ordinance shall be erected • altered, enlarged, or moved upon ~y land, lot or premises until a permit erefor has been Issued by the Zoning Adrnl~lstrator In conformity with the Provisions of this Ordinance. an~uch permit shall be nontransferable must be granted before any work of r~avatlon, construction, alteration, ensu hement or movement Is begun. No build! permit shall be required for any ng located on any bona fide farm Provdlded such building ls not erected or use for dwelling purposes. (b) All applications for permits shall be submitted in duplicate to the Zoning Administrator not less than ten ( 10) days prior to the time when erection, alteration, enlargement or movement of a dwelling or building ls intended to begin. Such application shall be accompanied by a duplicate drawing to scale showing the location and actual dimensions of the land to which the permit Is to apply, the kind of building to be urected; the width of all abutting streets and highways, easements and public open spaces; the area, size and location of all dwellings or buildings erected or to be erected, altered or moved upon the premises; and the front yard dimensions for the nearest building on both sides of the proposed dwelling or building. (c) The application shall also show the location, dimensions and description of the water supply and sewage disposal facilities to be constructed, such as septic tanks and disposal fields, or any other facility used In the disposition of human excretia, sink wastes and laundry wastes; the location of existing wells on the premises adjoining the premises to be built upon, and the location of existing sewage disposal facilities on such adjoining premises; provided, however, that the Zoning Administrator Is hereby empowered to waive the inclusion of any details specified in paragraphs (B) and (c) of this Section in the case of any application where the facts are not pertinent to the purpose of this Ordinance. ( d) Nothing In this Section shall be construed as to prohibit the owner or. his agent from preparing his own plans and specifications, provided the same are clear and legible. (e) For each such building rrmlt issued. the following fees shal be paid to the Zoning Administrator who shall place the same in a separate fund to be known as the Township Zoning Ordinance Fund, which fund shall be used for the administration of this Ordinance only as directed by the Township Board. No permit shall be valid until the required lee has been paid: For the first one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars of cost, or part thereof, $2.00. For each additional one thousand ($1,000. 00) dollars of cost, or part thereof, $1.00. ( f) Within ten ( 10) days after the receipt of the application, t!'e. zoning Administrator shall Issue a Bwldmg Permit to the owner, or his duly authorized agent, provided the dwelling or building and the land and uses thereof as set forth In the application are In confo~mity with the provisions of this Ordinance and when such permit ls refused, ne shall state his reasons for refusal In writing. The Zoning Administrator shall tile one copy of the application with proper notations thereon, or attached thereto. relative to his approval or disapproval Including the date thereof, as a record. The second copy of the application shall be returned to the applicant with similar notations. Each building permit Issued under the terms of this Ordinance shall expire one year from the date of issuance, unless an extension thereof bas been granted by the Zoning Administrator in writing, prior to the expiration date; provided, that the Zoning Administrator shall set forth In the extension the time at which such extension shall expire. No fee shall be required for the extension of an existing building permit. �(g) Accessory buildings when er~ct• ed at the same time as the principal building on a lot and shown on the application therefor shall not require a separate Building Permit. (h) The Zoning Administrator shall have the power to revoke or cancel any permit in case ot failure or n~11Iect to comply with any of the provisions ot this Ordinance or in case of any false statement or misrepresentation made in the application. The owner or his duly authorized agent shall be notified ot such revocation or cancellation in wrltle,~tlon 12 .4 OCCUPANCY CERTIFICATE No dwelling or building, subject to the prpvisions of this Ordinance, shall be, occupied or used until the Zoning Administrator shall have issued a Certificate of Compliance and Occupany to the owner or his duly authorized agent. Such certificate shall be applied for coincident with the application for Building Permit. Within five (5) days after notification that the dwelling or building is ready for occupancy, the Zoning Administrator shall make final inspection thereof, and if it is found to be in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance, shall issue the owner or his agent a Certificate of Compliance and Occupancy. He shall also record his action, including the date, on the copy of the application retained on file as a record. ARTICLE 13. BOARD OF APPEALS Section 13.1 CREATION There is hereby created a Board of Appeals, which shall perform its duties and exercise its powers as provided by Act 184 of Public Acts of 1943 as amended in such a way that the objectives of this Ordinance shall be observed, public health. safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done. Section 13.2 PERSONNEL OF BOARD As provided by said Act the Board of Appeals shall consist of three (3) members. The terms of said members shall be of such length and so arranged that the term of one member shall expire each year. One member must be the Chairman of the Zoning Board, the second a member of the Township Board appointed by the Township Board, while the third is selected and appointed by the first two from among the electors residing in the unincorporated area of the Township. The third member cannot be an elected officer of the Township or an employee of the Township Board. The total amount allowed any member of said Board of Appeals in any one year as per diem or as expenses actually incurred in the discharge ot his duty shall not exceed a reasonable sum, which sum shall be provided annually in advance by the Township Board. Members of the Board of Appeals shall be removable by the Township Board tor nonperformance ot duty or misconduct in office, upon written charges and after nublic hearing. Section 13.3 MEETINGS OF LOARD OF APPEALS Meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the Board In its rules of procedure may specify. The chairman, or in his absence the acting chairman, may administer oaths and compel the attendance of witnesses All meetings of the Board of Appeals shall be open to the public. The board shall maintain a record of Its proceedings which shall be filed in the office of the Township Clerk and shall be a public record. Section 13.4 JURISDICTION AND APPEALS (a) The Board of Appeals shall ~ct upon all questions, as they may arise in the administration of the Zoning Ordinance, including the interpretation of the Zoning maps, and may flX rules and regulations to govern Its procedure sitting as such a Board of Appeals. It shall hear and decide appeals from and review any order, requirements, decisl!)n or determination made by an administrative official charged with the henllforcement of this Ordinance. It s a also hear and decide all matters referdred to It or upon which it is require under this Ordinance. The concurring vote of a majority of the members of the Board of Appeals shall be necessary to reverse any order, requirement, deh cision or determination of any sue a d m I n i s t r a t I v e official, or to decide in favor of the applicant any matter upon which they are required to pass under this Ordinance or to effect any variation in this Ordinance. Such appeal may be taken by any person aggrieved . or by any officer, department, board or bureau of the Township, Coundty or State. The grounds of every such etermination shall be stated. (b) Such appeal shall be taken withIn such time as shall be prescribedrulby the Board of Appeals br general e, by the filing with the officer from whardom the appeal is taken and with the Bo of Appeals of a notice of appeal specfflifying the grounds thereof. The o cer from whom the appeal ls taken shall forthwith transmit to the Board, all the papers constituting the record upokn which the action appealed from was ta en. ( c) An appeal stays all proceedings in furtherance of the action appealei from unless the officer from whom thd aopeal is taken certifies to the Boar of Appeals after the notice of appeabls shall have been filed with him thf:t Y reason of facts stated in the certlf1cat~, a stay would in his opinion cause Imminent peril to life and property. in whlcedh case proceedings shall not be stay otherwise than by a restraining ordeJ which may be granted by the Boar of Appeals or by the Circuit Court. on application, on notice to the officer frodm whom the appeal ls taken and on ue cause shown. ( d) The Board of Appeals shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing of the appeal and give due notice thereof, tolnthe parties, and decide the same with a reasonable time. Upon the hearing anth~ party may appear in person or by agent or by attorney. The Board of Appeals may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the order, requirement, decision or determinatl~n in its opinion ought to be made premises, and to that end shall haV'j, 8 11 the powers of the officer from w 0 the appeal was taken and may Issue 0 direct the issuance of a permit. Where there are practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship in the way o! c~: Ing out the strict letter of thlS 8 nance, the Board of Appeals shall the power in passing upon appea18 1 vary or modify any of its rules, regu tions or provisions so that the spirltbllc the ordinance shall be observed. Jcu be safety secured and substantial Jud cehall done. The decision of this boar 5 intbe final. and any person having an h 11 erest affected by this OrdlnanceClrCsiit bave the right to appeal to the Court on questions of law and fact. tfe 0: ha'k ~i �Section 13.5 VARIANCES (a) The Board of Appeals shall have the power to vary or adapt the strict application ot any of the requirements of this Ordinance; provided, however, no variance In the strict application of any provision of this ordinance shall be granted by the Board of Appeals unless it finds: (1) that there are special circumstances or conditions fully described In the findings, applying to the land or building for which the variance Is sought, which circumstances or conditions are peculiar to such land or buildings, and do not apply generally to land or buildings In the neighborhood, and that said circumstances or conditions are such that the strict application of the provisions of this Ordinance would deprive the applicant of the reasonable use of such land or buildings. (2) that for reasons fully set forth In the findings, the granting of the variance is necessary for the reasonable use of the land or buildings and that the variance as granted by the Board Is the minimum variance that will accomplish this purpose. ( 3) That the granting of the variance will be In harmony with the general purpose and Intent of this Ordinance and will not be Injurious to the neighborhood or otherwise detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare. (b) ln granting any variance, the Board of Appeals shall describe any condi tlons that It deems to be necessary or desirable to accomplish the purpose of this section. ARSecTICLE 14 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS tlon 14.1 SEPARABILITY U any section, sub-section, sentence, I c ause, phrase .,r portion of this ordinance Is, for any reason, held invalid or w1constitutlonal by any court of chom petent Jurisdiction, such portion ~ a 11 be deemed a separate, distinct and td'if8ndent provision and such holdings stna!a not affect the validity of the reg portions hereof sectnln 1on 14.2 AMENDMENTS Or~endments or supplements to tti;• .,_ ance may be made from time to o.uue In the same manner provided In Actd 184 of Public Acts of 1943 as amen ed. Section 14.S PENALTIES Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in an amowit not exceeding one hwidred ($100.00) dollars or be Imprisoned In the Cowity Jail for a period not exceeding thirty ( 30) days or be both so fined and Imprisoned. Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and shall be pwilshable as such herewider. Section 14.4 EXlSTING ILLEGAL STRUCTURES AND USES: SAVlNGS CLAUSE Any structures or uses commenced after the effective date of the Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance adopted March 16, 1956 not ln conformity with the provisions of said Ordinance and not conforming to the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared Illegal structures or uses and the adoption of this Ordinance shall In no way affect any prosecutions or suits ln law or In equity commenced prior to the effective date hereof. In addition, any such Illegal structure or use existing or continued after the effective date hereof, shall be subject to all of the penalties and remedies provided by this ordinance. Section 14.5 VIOLATIONS, A NUISANCE Buildings erected, altered, moved, razed or converted or any use of land or premises carried on In violation of any provision of this Ordinance are declared to be nuisances per se. The Zoning Administrator shall Inspect alleged violations and shall order correction ln writing of all conditions fowid to be In Violation of this Ordinance. All violations shall be corrected within a period of thirty (30) days after the order to correct ls issued. The Township Board, the Zoning Administrator, the Board of Appeals or any person, firm or corporation affected by the alleged violation may institute proceedings at law or In equity to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance. The rights and remedies provided herein are cumulative and In addition to all other remedies provided by law. Section 14.6 EFFECTIVE DATE This Ordinance shall take effect March 1, 1959. Adopted by the Township Board of the Township of Arcada, Gratiot County, Michigan, this 15th day of January, 1959. FAY CHURCH Township Clerk � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization) Wyckoff, Mark A. Description An account of the resource Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960/2023 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Comprehensive plan publications Master plan reports Zoning--Michigan Zoning--Maps Maps Land use--planning Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-240 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Arcada-Twp_Zoning-Ordinance_1959 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Arcada Township Zoning Board, Arcada Township, Gratiot County, Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1959-01-15 Title A name given to the resource Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance 1959 Revision Description An account of the resource Arcada Township Zoning Ordinance 1959 Revision developed by the Arcada Township Zoning Board January 15, 1959. Subject The topic of the resource Zoning--Michigan Arcada Township (Mich.) Gratiot County (Mich.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4f66fe886c3ab110a0c13fbb92d40232.pdf 8da68481c26f5ff6d6409c7631671580 PDF Text Text I REMEMBERING THOSE WHO RESCUED JEWS FROM NAZIS WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press Holocaust survivors Abraham Foxman and Gisele Feldman reminisce Monday at the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith in Southfield over photos of relatives who died at Auschwitz. Tonight Foxman and Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers supporters will mark the creation of a state chapter and honor two families: the Termaats of Grand Rapids and the Chorazyczewskis of Hamtramck. Story, Page lB. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_NWS_Remembering-those-who-rescued-Jews-from-Nazis Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Archie, William Title A name given to the resource Remembering those who rescued Jews from Nazis Description An account of the resource Newspaper clipping of photograph of Abraham Foxman and Gisele Feldman for the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers. Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 -- Jews -- Rescue Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Europe Jews -- United States Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d9694318de235f813db677ba0a7810e3.pdf d842a850990a3c30a2bc988486db896e PDF Text Text community planning and management ll MASTER PLAN ADOPTED: JULY 10, 1991 �-- FROM THE llBRARY QFj Planning & Z:rning Center1 Inc. 1 ••• TABLE OF CONTENTS Page REGIONAL ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION REGIONAL SETTING GROWTH CORRIDORS Southeast Michigan Growth Corridors Macomb County Growth Corridors M-59 Growth Corridor Conclusions OTHER REGIONAL INFLUENCES Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) Regional Development Forecasts County Airport Study ~ •.• • • • • ~ LOCAL PLANNING INFLUENCES Bruce Township Village of Romeo Ray Township Richmond Township Berlin Township POPULATION ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION POPULATION GROWTH TRENDS AGE CHARACTERISTICS HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSING GROWTH TRENDS POPULATION PROJECTIONS Constant Proportion Method Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Growth Rate Method Arithmetic Method Projection Summary 1 1 1 2 2 3 8 8 8 9 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 16 20 22 23 23 24 24 25 �~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued Page PHYSICAL FEATURES ~ ~ - -~ .-, ••- •- •• • -~ •~ 27 INTRODUCTION 27 EXISTING LAND USE 27 Residential Commercial Industrial Public/Semi-Public Other Uses Undeveloped 27 29 29 30 30 30 WETLANDS 31 WOODLANDS 32 SOILS 33 Conover-Parkhill-Locke Association Oakville-Boyer-Spinks Association PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS 33 33 34 37 INTRODUCTION 37 COMMERCIAL AREA CONCEPTS 37 Central Business Districts Shopping Centers Commercial Strips 37 38 40 MARKET ANALYSIS 40 TRADE AREA 41 RETAIL SALES POTENTIAL 41 OCCUPATION AND EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS 47 FUTURE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT 49 INDUSTRIAL PLANNING CONCEPTS 51 �'• TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued Page GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 54 INTRODUCTION 54 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 55 General Development Goals Agricultural Preservation Goals Residential Commercial Industrial Community Facilities Open Space and Recreation Transportation CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 60 INTRODUCTION 60 CONCEPT PLAN 60 No Growth Alternative Pro Growth Alternative Balanced Growth Alternative LAND USE PLAN 61 61 62 64 INTRODUCTION 64 AGRICULTURE 64 Agricultural Zoning Purchase or Transfer of Development Rights Open Space Zoning Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program Summary 65 67 67 67 68 SUBURBAN RESIDENTIAL 68 URBAN RESIDENTIAL 68 �"'• • -.. II II • • • TABLE OF CONTENTS· Continued Page LAND USE PLAN - Continued COMMERCIAL 69 INDUSTRIAL 70 · PUBLIC 70 FLOODPLAIN 70 ROADS 70 LAND USE PLAN SUMMARY 71 THOROUGHFARE PLAN 72 INTRODUCTION 72 THOROUGHFARE CLASSIFICATION 73 EXISTING THOROUGHFARE SYSTEM 75 State Routes County Roads 75 75 THOROUGHFARE PLAN 77 COMMUNITY FACILITIES PLAN 78 INTRODUCTION 78 UTILITIES 78 RECREATION 79 Neighborhood Parks Community Parks FIRE PROTECTION National Board of Fire Underwriters Standards 79 80 82 82 �• • • • • • • • • • • LIST OF TABLES Page Table Population Change by Growth Corridors Macomb County - 1970-1980 3 Population Change by Growth Corridors Macomb County - 1980-1990 5 Housing Change by Growth Corridors Macomb County - 1970-1980 6 Housing Change by Growth Corridors Macomb County - 1980-1990 7 5 Comparative Population Growth Trends 14 6 Population Change by Decade 15 7 Median Age 16 8 Population by Age 17 9 Age by Life Cycle Category 18 10 Housing Unit Change 20 11 Building Permit Trends 21 12 Household Size 22 13 Population Projection Summary 25 14 Existing Land Use Summary Armada Township and Armada Village 28 15 Shopping Centers Classified by Type 39 16 Estimated Spending by Retail Category 42 1 2 3 4 �• • • •.. • • • • LIST OF TABLES - Continued Page Table 17 Armada Township Estimated Retail Needs - 1990 44 18 Armada Township Estimated Retail Needs - 2000 45 19 Armada Township Estimated Retail needs - 201 O 46 20 Industry of Employment Armada Township and Macomb County 48 21 Occupational Characteristics Armada Township and Macomb County - 1980 49 22 Summary of Roadway Planning Standards 73 23 Location Standards for Fire Stations 83 �• • • • • • • • • LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 Armada Township Growth Trends - 1940-1990 14 2 Comparative Growth Trends - 1940-1990 15 3 Population Change by Age - 1970 and 1980 17 4 Age by Life Cycle Category - 1970 19 5 Age by Life Cycle Category - 1980 19 6 Population Projection Summary 25 7 Existing Land Use Summary Armada Township and Armada Village 28 Armada Township Master Plan - Acreage Allocations 71 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Illustration 1 Regional Location Map 1 2 Southeast Michigan Regional Growth Corridors 2 3 Sewer Service Areas 9 4 Existing Land Use Map 35 5 Natural Resources 36 6 Concept Plan 63 7 Cross Section Standards 74 8 Traffic Volumes 76 9 Park Master Plan 81 �• • • • • • • • • • • REGIONAL ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION The growth and development of a community is strongly influenced by its growth and position within the larger region in which it is located. This position represents a factor that realistically cannot be changed, but which must be recognized and accommodated . Local policies and decisions impacting land use, therefore, must take these regional influences into account to be relevant and effective . Many factors influence the growth and potential of a given community. Some relate to local decisions and can be controlled by the local community. Others result from actions or developments outside the community and are, therefore, subject to somewhat less control. The purpose of this chapter of the Armada Township Master Land Use Plan is to identify a framework of those factors that influence growth in Southeast Michigan and to provide information to Armada Township concerning its growth potential due to its position in the region. This information will provide a basis for Mure planning decisions and serve as a background for understanding the dynamics of the community's growth. This chapter will also consider the plans and policies of other governmental agencies that have an impact on ---..:;:""'°=--;,,, land use patterns and growth in the Township. P\IC( ., REGIONAL SETTING Armada Township is located in the north central portion of Macomb County, approximately 36 miles north of Downtown Detroit. Four communities share a common boundary with the Township, which include Ray Township, Richmond Township, Bruce Township and Berlin Township in St. Clair County. The Township's regional setting is shown in Illustration 1. IMO.ff REGIONAL -1- -· LOCATION _,,, MAP 1 �• • • • • • •,. ~ GROWTH CORRIDORS Southeast Michigan Growth Corridors ST: Within the Southeast Michigan region, there are a number of corridors along which growth has traditionally occurred. Each of these corridors originate in, or traverse, the core City of Detroit and migrate into the surrounding communities along established transportation routes. These corridors originally followed the major surface streets that radiated outward from downtown Detroit like the spokes of a wheel. Today, they largely follow the interstate freeway system and complementary major highway systems. These corridors are identified below and shown in Illustration 2. - .8 CLAIR ... , WASHTENAW hom otttOtt to : 1 2 S 4 5 MT. CLEMENS a PORT HURON UTICA 8 ROMEO PONTIAC 8 FLINT BRIGHTON 8 LANSING ANN AR9011t 8 JACKSON • MONROE a TOLEDO lltO SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN REGIONAL GROWTH CORRIDORS ICAl.l 2 Detroit to Mt. Clemens and Port Huron along 1-94 east and Gratiot Avenue. Detroit to Utica and Romeo along M-53 north (Van Dyke Road) and Mound Road. Detroit to Pontiac and Flint along 1-75 north and Woodward Avenue. Detroit to Brighton and Lansing along 1-96 west, the Lodge Freeway and Grand River. Detroit to Ann Arbor and Jackson along 1-94 west and U.S. 12 (Michigan Avenue) . Detroit to Monroe and Toledo along 1-75 south and Fort Street. Growth in the metropolitan area originally occurred along the shoreline areas north and south of the City of Detroit and along Woodward Avenue to the northwest. Many of these earlier growth communities have since matured, with new development activity shifting to other growth corridors in the metropolitan area. -2- �• • • • • • • • • I Macomb County Growth Corridors · Population Growth Trends - Within Macomb County, growth traditionally occurred along the Lake St. Clair shoreline communities, which is consistent with historical urban settlement patterns. The establishment of Mt. Clemens as the County Seat also contributed to the predominant development pattern along the eastern portion of the County . TABLE 1 POPULATION CHANGE BY GROWTH CORRIDORS - MACOMB COUNTY 1970-1980 ···················-·---·--·.. -·-··········--·--···----···--..---....--... ' I __. .......... ____ .._..__.._..........-....._.._...,. ·-. . ~=~;;~~::·;~.~~. . . . . ~~;;~·;·---r-·. . ·-·. --.. . . .--~~:~:;1;;-.. . . . . . ~~~~;. . . . . ., COMMUNITY 1970 1980 Number Bruce Twp. Romeo 2,213 4,012 3,823 3,509 1,610 • 503 j COMMUNITY % 72.8 ) Richmond City •12.5 Richmond Twp. i I 1970 1980 Number 3,234 1,719 3,536 2,453 302 734 9.3 42.7 1 5.5 0.9 i i % i :i•:1:;1~w~:= J :•rn: i:~ ••r:n~;~•:I:r :=: :x;~: .:; :;: 1 fi~Miiig~;i1~ ::::::::::::;~~:::: it;~:t :::,~1w •: : Ii ~tll! 1 Washington Twp. i.' 5,651 8,637 j:;Jlh;w~:~ ! i Shelby Twp. Utica ;:', : Sterling Heights 2,986 52.8 i i Lenox Twp. N- Haven 2,869 1,855 3,028 1,871 159 16 j Chesterfield Twp. New Baltimore 9,378 4,132 18,276 5,439 8,898 1,307 94.9 j 31.6 i 11,868 48,865 20,476 18,755 14,560 72,400 18,806 23,649 2,692 23,535 •1,670 4,894 22.7 \ 48.2 i -8.2 j 26.1 i ::::~:~:•:cj~:: ~::, :Mi;~:i :~mr tt :::•~,??.~ ! ::::::;;~:: :t:IiI:1:IJ;;J.:I}:1I~!tii ~;~~ 29,467 3,504 38,939 5,282 9,472 1,n8 61,365 108,999 47,634 32. 1 50.7 i n.6 \ i i i :,!· j :.!, • 1·•"'4:-·.:•.rr,· •,·er.::t:.••o\ .·.Gnn-,.•.:.•5"'"'·-=: 9 .:·.· M Center Line Warren · •.·•.·M .. ;;;\JJJMl,i :::: i:_··.•.:.••.·:.••.1 .... j TOTALS >:.· {;;;:;;;•> .:.•:•:•-:c::•/t•:••?6 • ) • J:i~ < 1<os """":"999 /? 10,379 179,260 < · ltS • ( )? <4>7:)~ ·:• • •· ·. :··•·•·~ ·; :• 59 / .,,.. " •.· •n? i ·•·· •~.··.••.·.·.•···. r,. ·.·.•·.·•:· ·1 :· •.·•.·.4 ··..· .':. · .M •i<ci•·1·e< ·1· o L .. · • 9,293 161,134 Fraser Clinton Twp. Mt. Clemens Harrieon Twp. •1,086 •18,126 : < 99 •.......964 > -:,.: •.·•. ! •10.5 East Detroit •10.1 ! Roseville ! St. Clair Shores wa;; :.ias .'.639 . . . . . r.1.•.1.•.·•..a•·.•·.·.·.4.•·: .27 =••·· .••·• • •· •. · •.·•. .• •.•·.•·..~ . •·.•·.,.•.·. ·. 9.·.··.··••~.·...·· .1·...··.2 ·.·..·.·•. ·.• · •·•·•·•·•·•·•······.·.· •:•:•:y·Jrn;: •:•.-:'·•··1~11:;g . . ,t~mr:: . .. 45,920 60,529 88,093 129 <.••·.•4 :. =..s · .· .•.•· · ·:· ·.•.·.•.·.·.· •.•· · · · · · .:·2 ···<·: 9.•45 ·· ·1·· ••.•..• .·.· ••.. .-.·•·.•2:,:-:9•·.·s • ·:1,_ I :.:.•.•.•.·.> . 38,280 54,311 76,21 0 -3- ! •16.6 -10.3 ! •13.5 ! l 94,542.:..• .•·.·• •· •·•1·. ~ .•·.~ 1 ..:. ):/.~ •/•~;7 · •.r/ ... ;...:4~.. ·.·.-.•. •·:;:t2 •· ·. ·; 317,693 332,819 15,126 4.8 l .................................................... · <>.·••.1. 295,851 339,616 43,765 14.8 ; TOTALS -·-·-·······--·--····-----....---·---................. _.................... ___ ..... ···-..--------------·-------·· Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census •7,640 -6,218 •11 ,883 �• • • • • • • • • • • I Following the Second World War, most metropolitan areas experienced a sweeping wave of population migration from traditional central cities into emerging suburban communities. In Macomb County, this migration first occurred within those suburban communities located along the perimeter of Detroit. The second wave of suburban growth in the County accelerated north along the Van Dyke/Mound Road corridor in the western tier of communities . By 1970, population levels in the western corridor communities (295,851 persons) nearly equaled the population along the eastern or shoreline communities (317,693). During the 1970's, population growth in the western corridor surpassed increases in the eastern communities. The 1980 Census revealed that the Van Dyke/Mound Road communities had a slightly higher population (339,616 persons) than the eastern corridor (332,819 persons) . The dramatic growth experienced by the City of Warren during the 1960's and Sterling Heights in the 1970's accounts for this shift in population. For example, in the ten-year period between 1970 and 1980, Sterling Heights grew by more than 47,000 persons. This gain more than offset the population loss experienced by the City of Warren during the decade of the 1970's. North of M-59, Shelby Township and Utica combined to report a population increase of 11 ,250 persons. Small increases were noted in those communities located north of 26 Mile Road. The increases do, however, provide evidence of a trend of population accelerating in a northerly direction within this corridor. To the east, the greatest population increases occurred in those communities located between 14 Mile Road and 26 Mile Road. Clinton Township (23,535 persons) and Chesterfield Township (8,898 persons) made the greatest contribution to the overall growth of this corridor during the decade. North of 26 Mile Road, the amount of growth was less than for the parallel communities to the west. Results from the 1990 Census suggest a leveling off of the explosive growth that occurred within the western corridor. Eastern corridor communities out-gained their counterparts in the west over the past decade. Today, these two portions of the County share nearly equal population levels. Smaller population increases were observed throughout both corridors. For example, within the M-53 Corridor, Sterling Heights reported a population increase of 8,811 persons, down from 47,634 the previous decade. Shelby Township, on the other hand, matched the increase that occurred during the 1970's, providing additional evidence of the continued movement of population north within this corridor. -4- I, I �• • • • • • - Clinton and Chesterfield Townships continued to be the major contributors to growth in the eastern corridor. These two communities experienced population increases of 13,466 and 7,629 persons, respectively, since 1980. TABLE 2 POPULATION CHANGE BY GROWTH CORRIDORS - MACOMB COUNTY 1980-1990 -----·----·--···----------------··-h•-•••--•-• -----·--·----------·---·-·-----··--·-·..·· M-53~~~-~~E.:~.?~-~~------•------;---------~~~~-~<?.17~-------.. ---•---H-;: : POPULATION CHANGE l POPULATION CHANGE l COMMUNITY 1980 1990 Number Bruce Twp. Romeo 3,823 3,509 4,193 3,520 370 11 •.. ···· ········· ···· ·· - .. . . .. ·· ·· ······ ····· ·· ·· -- .. Washington Twp. 8,637 9.7 0.3 ) Richmond Twp. 1980 1990 Number 3,536 2,453 4,141 2.528 605 75 :::=::::::::::::::::::::::::l :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::.:::.::::::::=:::::;::::::::::: r11'1@;:~ ~::t !:tit~ : : i. j COMMUNITY i Richmond City % 2,749 31.8 j Lenox Twp. l New Haven : :~ ' 3,028 1,871 f!~Mi,;'i :I M!I Ji] i:~rl !}1:1:1~ !])! :*;tii i;::r;t; 'r~iii~;;.;~ : ':.: ··4,_899· . · ! Shelby Twp. 38,939 48,655 9,716 25.0 108,999 117,810 8,811 8.1 j 17.1 3.1 j j -:-:-::-:::-:-:-:::-::::_::..: : !]}~#ill\ ~Miicho38'Mlie :tt} 11,386 "' 3,069 2,331 ::trn~t! j 41 1.4 24.6 j 460 i~Si 'j ! Chesterfield Twp. 18.276 25,905 7,629 41.7 j j Fraser 14,560 72,400 18,806 23,649 13,899 85,866 18,405 24,685 -661 13,466 -401 1,036 -4.5 1 18.6 l -2.1 j 4.4 l iiiii~ 11li1t 11~ii:: :i~titi l """......... ~i•u ;11~ir~ ~1tirt1 T~ij :::,,:1: • . Sterling Heights [_. .)iliMi~i!iMJ;:: • ) Center Line Warren :,_i j Clinton Twp. j Mt. Clemen• j Harrison Twp. :~~l~'.:i !f;ti~Jl i ;;Jil J ::t,;tf~il~:, Mi~iJ:tt~ 9,293 9,026 -267 -2.9 ! Eut Detroit t ',;fa;iss'C :\fa;~ i 161,134 144,864 -16,270 i Roseville ! St Clair Shores •· •••.:·••.r~.•·_'·..7.·•·•••.••.••·i,.:•.::i :Mil~ t~ 14 Mii; -10.1 1 r-1at.1i1itd1i ; - ----AA11;-----r :: ::1%:427: :js:i,890f :~;~;~ L.!~TALS --~~2~----~:..5::: ______ ~=2! ____ ~~1 TOTALS _ _ _ _ Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census -5- 16.4 I ! ! ... ··•··· :•:❖:•:·:·.•.•:•'.•:•:•:-:- ;: •:-:-:-•-·.• 38,280 54,311 76,210 ·>·- i 35,283 51,412 68,107 -2,997 -2,899 -8,103 -7.8 -5.3 -10.6 / 168;801 ,. •. .154;802 . ~13,999 .. · -s;3. 332_,8_19_ _34 __1_,4_29 _ _ _8~2~ ___ i !:_· !:~...l �Household Growth Trends - In recent decades, population change alone has proven not to be the most accurate barometer of community growth and vitality. Much of the population decline experienced by the ring of maturing suburban communities surrounding Detroit is the result of declines in household size, rather than an exodus of residents from the community. Population decline should, therefore, not necessarily be interpreted as an indicator of community decline. Frequently, a community will experience an increase in the number of households concurrently with a decline in population. For this reason, household growth trends are considered to be a more valid measure of growth. Applying this measure of growth to the two identified Macomb County growth corridors reveals an overall balance between these two areas. Between 1970 and 1980, western corridor communities held a slight edge in the number of new housing units constructed. In spite of this increase, the eastern communities had some 5,000 more housing units. TABLE 3 HOUSING CHANGE BY GROWTH CORRIDORS - MACOMB COUNTY 1970-1980 !..............-............._..._ r. . . . ._. _. __. . . . . .·--··. M~~~; .~;;;;~-;,~;~. . . . --..------i ---··. ----·-..-·-~;~;-;~~;;;;........-..........-....................l -~;.;;;··--r ·-.. .-·--··. . . ··--··. . . .· · · . 1 j ! ~~~;;~~··~~-~~- ! j i 1970 1980 Number Bruce Twp./ Romeo 1, 179 1,825 646 COMMUNITY 54.8 2,171 3,322 1,151 53.0 Romeo !w)f/@:;,,) jffJ/,i\tijJ ~itfiiW~tili.! ! Shelby Twp. 7,571 1,265 j Utica I ~:iJIMiil l• • 12,319 1,952 1980 Number 1 Richmond City i Richmond Twp. 982 434 1,282 676 300 242 1 Lenox Twp. i New Haven 770 508 919 613 149 105 Sterling Heights 17,571 34,517 i Center Line Warren .l•jMlli:~~j~:!M./i;::: . 3,129 49,609 Mt Clemens j Harrison Twp. : ~;~1,tf 3,642 54,532 :~r.~ ::: ~;ir! 6,075 2, 118 . j Clinton Twp. ! jJ•ii!WMJ~ : n : :tt{~t 2,769 1,353 si:Jif': ~fb2Eitl,i: : l '.if :~.11 > s;193 96.4 j Fraser 3,067 4,832 ;.;-;-;:;:;••-••-.-/.;:•. _ . • • . _.. 16,946 l't/!£l! mwx~ 62.7 ; Chesterfield Twp. 54.3 j New Baltimore j j i 1970 illilh~r~~~,:1~,w~~ll 4,748 687 . .,, ' ··•·• ; ::::::-.•::-•:;.·.•.-:-:.:-:-.-•• -:•::.·::,.>,:.;.·-:-:-:-:·::::::::::::::-.•:,, i l " ·~~~ ~~; :i a;~ :: : ~: ::i~i~:1;111:·t~l:~ i:r: J:;t;::;: : i;~:;: :r j Washington Twp./ j ~~ ~~~~~-~~;;;· COMMUNITY ~iiij,i~isiiifa: i ..... 13,436 6,823 5,797 24,752 7,363 9,332 " 30.5 1 55.8 j :\~Ii! 19.4 20.7 T# !W&t1I 117.8 j 56.5 j 3,266 765 > j i ;i:&¥ r·. .• 1,765 11,316 540 3,535 ~t\i.1 i j 57.5 84.2 j 7.9 j 61.0 j w~:ij6·1 =:: Ji(f::1:~it~;:l6Mll!:rn t ~f~:~ :< !.fJ~\ · ·•u1r;1~ · · · •! &:J j 1 513 4,923 :. ~:~:: : 16.4 9.9 j l East Detroit Roseville ~o:st..l:.7~:;r()ii:J~r •··•.. ~:~.~ .......~}..~~.?.?. .._.....~:~~~..- ... 35.9 .l l.,TOTALS ._......- ... - ........ Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census -6- TOTALS 13,214 16,751 13,458 18,491 244 1,740 <:::.. .: :::.. :~~:( ~~ .......~..1.?:~.. - .....2~~....... ..... 1.8 10.4 j j t;i...:. . . 1 28.9.J �• • • • • • • During the 1980's, 18,536 new units were added in the eastern communities, giving them a slight edge in the total number of dwelling units. Sterling Heights, Warren and Shelby Township made the greatest contribution to the housing unit increases that occurred in the western corridor during the 1970's. Nearly 90 percent of the total increase took place in those three communities. The greatest contributors to the housing unit growth in the eastern corridor were Chesterfield, Clinton and Harrison Townships. Collectively, these three communities accounted for nearly 70 percent of the corridor's total housing unit increase for the decade . Following the pattern of the previous decade, Sterling Heights and Shelby Township again made the greatest contribution to total housing unit gain. To the east, Clinton Township, Chesterfield Township and the City of Roseville had the greatest housing unit increases during the 1980's. TABLE 4 HOUSING CHANGE BY GROWTH CORRIDORS - MACOMB COUNTY 1980-1990 ·---·---------------------------------------------------------···-··---·--··· : : ···-··----·------~=3~~~-~~':~.5>~~~------------1---· ~ HOUSING UNITS COMMUNITY 1980 1990 Number Bruce Twp./ Romeo 1,825 2,062 Z37 Washington Twp./ Romeo % 13.0 4,668 HOUSING UNITS COMMUNITY i Richmond City Richmond Twp. :~~\~ !:i: ; :=!ii;w:~Mll::j ttf:~'.~ 3,322 -~~~~~~!'~---·------·---···-···-····!~ ! l f:lit'i!W~M~ i i . .1 CHANGE 1 1,346 40.5 ! Lenox Twp. I l 1980 1 HO Number 1,282 676 1,662 783 380 107 1,018 824 ~i:llii!tliMitl : !:~:: :, : i:I;:;;iil'I:tit~=1:: rn~;ii: f:i ll :M1,:~i2Mi" ,,: ,·• i .I~ ::1 i:!:11;~ i i 12,319 1,952 r :;::: ..,,::,:;;:;,;,,;- . . .·....·.· ......•. •,• Shelby Twp. Utica f M~\~~Miki t : =·=:=-·- 1,,,,,, . erling Heights .S . t ·:i1;;;:tu: 43.1 0.5 ! Chesterfield Twp. j New Baltimore 42,317 7,800 22.6 ij Clinton Fraser Twp. Mt. Clemens Ji::;~:;? ]C:i.:= }' : ~:: 1-;i~i;;tc,:M:~ r ·. • Li4Mlle'to'M$ • . . .. .. \ Center Line f•;:Miitw:11a1,!? : .,·. < ; L!~!~~ . . .•• • •:-:-::::::: i ·· _.-.-:-. 3,986 56,189 344 1,657 =n:::ss:1t4 ••\:,61:1,frn > zoof 3,642 54,532 Warren • . •. • 112,109 9,594 2,459 ::-r :::::;.:-:-/•.•.• i Harrison Twp. ; :::::·.;.·· 6,075 2,118 ~~i ::,;;:J\l:@1~-is'Mit: •,•·- \:•· •·• • • _·· ·s:193·? .. 34,517 5,311 10 i i,_ % 29.6 15.8 128,814 9.4 3.0 ·.. ·.·. 16:?.?: ___ l East Detroit i Roseville l St. Clair Shoree 4,832 24,752 7,363 9,332 46,279 . :- -·-: ~-. :-.·-·· ~~:~.1 .. .. 13,458 18,491 27,154 . .. ·-·.. TOTALS - - - Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census -7- l 10.8 : 34.4 j iid1tj_ 3,519 341 .:~;;~:<: • 1.s#, >> 57.9 16.1 510 9,186 364 1,284 j 41.1:.: j .-.-.•----··••-· 5,342 33,938 7,727 10,616 ! . ; 10.6 \ 37.1 j 4.9 j 13.8 i · · · · sf~ -:. ;\;~ ., . : = ;r~ ! :::;:irr:1~1;::J4:M11: : . ~.~~:.·.·. i ! 99 211 I 17,630 1,962 ! .: j;~·'f=:urz~• ,-?i?atr ><2~,;!! i 919 613 New Haven . .1 CHANGE . 13,684 20,025 27,929 226 1,534 ~1.~ · :::~ n5 1.7 8.3 2.9 ::: ::,,._ ;• .. ; ! i l Ii ~-~.?:..~---~-3.::!'l...____1!~--J~~•..i �~ • • • • • • M-59 Growth Corridor As reflected in the preceding analysis, the rapid rate of population and housing growth experienced by communities in western Macomb County over the past 20 to 30 years has brought both growth corridors into an overall balance in the number of residents and total housing units. The pace of population and housing unit change experienced by these two corridors does not, however, fully explain overall County growth patterns, for an eastwest corridor has emerged along M-59. This corridor provides a bridge across the County linking the east and the west. Plans to widen and improve M-59 in the near future reinforce its importance . The communities most impacted by this corridor include Shelby Township, Chesterfield Township, Sterling Heights, Utica, Macomb Township and Clinton Township. Collectively, these communities, excluding the City of Utica, experienced a population gain of 48, 106 persons during the past decade. More than 28,000 new housing units were constructed in these communities since 1980, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total housing unit increase for both corridors. Communities located proximate to M-59 are clearly positioned to be further impacted by Mure County development trends. Conclusions Several conclusions can be drawn on the basis of this analysis. The first is that growth in the County has shifted from the eastern-most Gratiot Avenue Corridor along the Lake St. Clair shoreline to the western-most tier of communities located along M-53. With the exception of Macomb Township, these communities located along North Avenue have yet to experience the pace of population and housing growth evident elsewhere in the County. The growth in Macomb Township is the result of its location along M-59 which is emerging as an important east-west growth corridor. North Avenue has yet to provide evidence of the continuous growth noted in the two flanking corridors. It should also be noted that growth in neither the M-53 nor the Gratiot Avenue corridor has yet to reach the County's northerly tier of communities. While Armada Township will likely continue to experience population and housing growth in the Mure, the Township is located outside of the County's two predominant growth corridors. This location will influence future planning policies for the Township into the next century. -8- �• • • • • • • • OTHER REGIONAL INFLUENCES Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) Historical Perspective - Over the past decade, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments has emerged as the primary regional planning organization for the sevencounty Southeast Michigan region. SEMCOG's influence originally stemmed from its role as the Federally-mandated regional review agency for this region. This role, commonly referred to as the A-95 review process, provided SEMCOG with an opportunity to review and comment on all State and Federal grants offered to local communities in the region. This review was intended to provide an opportunity to input a regional perspective to grant programs and ensure coordination among programs and avoid duplication of effort . The A-95 review process was subsequently terminated by the Federal government pursuant to Executive Order 12372. The process has been continued in Michigan, however, through the authority of the Governor's office . SEMCOG's role in regional planning over the years has expanded well beyond their original function of monitoring local participation in Federal grant programs. Today, SEMCOG is involved in many other important regional planning activities, including: transportation planning, the development of population, household and employment forecasts, water quality planning and economic development, among others. Certain of these activities should be considered in the development of the Master Land Use Plan for Armada Township. The more relevant activities for the purpose of this Plan involve SEMCOG's Land Use Policy Plan, small area forecasts and transportation planning activities. Sewer Service Area Map - In response to increasing concerns regarding urban sprawl, SEMCOG recently amended their sewer service area map. The purpose of the map is to assist SEMCOG in determining which sewer projects qualify for funding assistance available through either State or Federal sources. ... _,,I ' , ..... ,/ """ '\ "<:::: \ The map recognizes that urbanization is highly dependent upon the availability of utilities and seeks to direct growth to areas where existing sewer lines are currently available. The map shows the existing and proposed sewer service areas confined to the Village of Armada and small contiguous areas of Armada Township. This map does not anticipate any significant extension of utilities beyond the limits of Armada Village (see Illustration 3). \ 3 SEWER SERVICE AREAS -9- �I • • • • • • • I Regional Development Forecasts Every five years, SEMCOG prepares a series of population, household and employment forecasts on a regional, county and individual community basis. These forecasts are prepared for five-year intervals between 1990 and 2010. The results of this process are summarized in the chapter describing Armada Township's population characteristics. Regional Transportation Plan • Transportation planning is another important regional planning activity undertaken by SEMCOG. The primary purpose of SEMCOG's transportation planning process is to identify the region's major transportation system problems and recommend alternative solutions for dealing with these problems . SEMCOG's Year 2005 Regional Transportation Plan for Southeast Michigan identifies anticipated transportation deficiencies to the year 2005, based on projected population, household and employment growth levels . SEMCOG's plan identifies 11 lmprovement Corridors11 , which include those major regional thoroughfares that demonstrate the greatest need for additional capacity. Of the 24 improvement corridors identified by SEMCOG, none pass through Armada Township. One corridor, however, namely M-53, is located proximate to the Township. Extension of the M-53 bypass around the Village of Romeo has been in the planning stages by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MOOT) for a number of years. Plans for the construction of this road have been finalized and the State is currently in the property acquisition stage of the project. It is anticipated that this bypass extension will be completed in the early 1990's. Improvement of the M-53 corridor may have an impact on Armada Township, especially the southwest corner of the Township, near the intersection of 32 Mile Road and Powell Road. Plans for the freeway bypass include entrances and exits at 32 Mile Road. This access may help facilitate industrial development in the vicinity of the Ford Motor plant in the Village of Romeo. Continued development of industrial uses in this area may extend into Armada Township in the Mure. County Airport Study Macomb County recently evaluated the need for a public airport serving the County and the suitability of specific sites for meeting these requirements. Among the sites considered in this study is the Romeo Airport, which is located along the Township's southern boundary. The Executive Summary of the Macomb County Aviation Feasibility Study made the following conclusion relative to this airport: 11 lt is assumed that Romeo could continue to function unthreatened and adequately serve its users without public intervention. 11 While this site may not be considered suitable for improvement as a public airport, this does not preclude its continued expansion as a private facility in the Mure. The airport has the capability of accommodating turbo props and small jets. The location of this facility on the Township's boundary will undoubtedly have an impact on long range planning in Armada. -10- �• • • • • • • • LOCAL PLANNING INFLUENCES In addition to the other regional planning issues identified earlier, Armada Township is also influenced, to some extent, by planning and development activities occurring in neighboring communities. Four communities share a common boundary with Armada Township, three of which have adopted master plans that need to be considered in the development of this Plan. While it may not always be in the best interest to mirror the examples established by surrounding communities, cooperative planning activities should be encouraged whenever practical and feasible. Summaries of the master plan designations for those communities where they abut Armada Township are included as follows . Bruce Township Bruce Township and Armada Township share a common boundary for five (5) miles. Unlike the Township's other boundaries, no road is located along this boundary. Agricultural is the proposed long-term use of this adjoining land from Boardman Road. Industrial is planned for that portion of the Township between 33 and 34 Mile Roads. Village of Romeo Romeo also shares a portion of Armada's western boundary for approximately one (1) mile along Powell Road, between 32 and 33 Mile Roads. The existing Village Master Plan, which was done in the 1960's, anticipated that this area would be developed for residential purposes. This area has since been developed for industrial purposes. Ray Township Armada and Ray Townships share a common boundary for approximately six (6) miles along 32 Mile Road. Most of this boundary in Ray Township, from Romeo Plank Road east to Omo Road, is planned for agricultural uses. The only exception to this pattern is at the northwest corner of Ray Township, where a somewhat more intensive Mure land use pattern is anticipated. The Romeo Airport and adjacent industrial development account for this increase in the planned Mure land use. Land reserved for floodplains is noted at those locations where the Clinton River and both branches of the Coon Creek cross 32 Mile Road. -11- �•~ • • ~ Richmond Township Continued agricultural uses are planned for a large portion of the common boundary between Armada Township and Richmond Township along Omo Road. Single-family residential is planned along Omo, between south of Irwin Road to approximately one-half (1/2) mile north of 34 Mile Road. Future commercial development is planned for the intersection of Omo Road and Armada Ridge Road. Berlin Township Berlin Township lies north of Armada Township in St. Clair County. The common boundary between Armada Township and Berlin Township is designated for residential/agricultural purposes. -12- �• • • • • POPULATION ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION The population of a community, its composition and characteristics, is a basic ingredient in planning for the Mure. Historical and current population trends can be used in various ways. They illustrate problem areas of development and provide an indication of probable Mure needs. Proper planning of Mure land use, roads, and community facilities must take the existing distribution of population and Mure projections into consideration. The population study is linked to the general health, safety, and welfare of the area residents through the following four objectives: 1. To guide the distribution of populations and prevent over-concentration. 2. To ensure orderly development by closing in unplanned gaps left between residential areas. 3. To provide the necessary air, light and open space. 4. To dimension the need for community facilities, utilities, and other development features required to serve the growing community. This analysis will consider the characteristics of the Township's population, how the population has changed over time, and the extent to which these characteristics may influence Mure planning related decisions. Included in this analysis is a discussion of population growth trends, age and household characteristics, and anticipated Mure population levels. POPULATION GROWTH TRENDS Armada Township's population has more than doubled during the 50-year period between 1940 and 1990, from 1,064 persons in 1940, to 2,943 persons in 1990. With the exception of the 1950's, Armada Township has gained population since 1940. Since 1960, the Township experienced population increases when each ten-year census was conducted. The largest increase occurred during the 1970's, when 894 new residents were added to the Township. Census results for 1990 show an increase of 448 over the past ten years. See Table 5. -13- �• • • • • TABLE 5 COMPARATIVE POPULATION GROWTH TRENDS . l Community 1940 ,~ad;}f9w~t1ip::::::: : 1.os:i> _ _ _ . . _ _ _ _ _ _ . . . . _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ............ - · - - · - - - - - · · · - - - - - · · · - - - - · · - - · - - · - - - · - - · - - - - - - - · · · · - - · · - · - · · - - · - - - · - - - - • - - - - · · · · - - · · · I Armada Village j Ray Township I Bruce Township j Richmond Township j Macomb County 1950 1960 1970 1980 951/ 1:1: (jl:1;i~!! i:!i! !j,®i i: 1 1 g~ 'I 961 1,111 1,352 1,392 1,548 1,439 1,671 2,086 2,683 3,121 3,230 785 996 1,538 2,213 3,823 4,1931 1, 155 1, 194 1,385 1,719 2,453 2,528 107,638 1~.:.~~~......_.~~.804 1940-1990 3,500 . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , 3,000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - --- w 2,500 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - -------,,,,,, z 0 (/) 2,000 i - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- ---1::::::, u. 0 ffi 1,500 1--- - - - -- -- - m :'.2 ::> 1,064 Z 1,000 ____951 --- -- 500 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 YEARS -14- l j .~~~:.~~~ .........~~:.~~ ........ 715,240.,l FIGURE 1 ffi j 865 ARMADA TOWNSHIP GROWTH TRENDS a. . 199~.l 1980 1990 �• • • • • • • • • ~ TABLE 6 POPULATION CHANGE BY DECADE .. ·-··-··--------····-----------···-··--·· ..-----------·-----------------·-----------------·-----..------·-···········.. 1940-50 , 950-60 , N0-10 , ,1o-ao , 980-to I 1 i Community l:~g#rr~~i! Number j Armada Village I Ray Twp. ! ! Bruce Twp. Richmond Twp. % Number % \I:]ij } ' 385 } 96 11 232 Number Number % Number % % i •1·•· ,, ~ I •.t 20 150 16 241 22 40 3 156 :1 1; ;! :I 11 j 16 415 25 597 29 438 16 109 3 211 27 542 54 675 44 1,610 73 370 10 39 3 191 16 334 24 734 43 75 3 1 = !~ , = • l ! ! !. ·--·········--··-·-·-·-·--··--Macomb County n,323 71 220,843 119 120,505 29 69,291 11 20,640 2 l ........._................................. -........... __.................. _................................. _........... -.................... _............. . FIGURE2 COMPARATIVE GROWTH TRENDS 1940-1990 5,000 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , BRUCElWP / ,,.---- -- / / AAYlWP ··········"····· / 1-------------------..!✓~ ·············/ / .... •• ••·••• ••• • . ····· / / :.: :.: :: __ ..,. __ 0 1940 1950 1960 1970 YEARS SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS -15- 1980 1990 �AGE CHARACTERISTICS An important demographic factor influencing planning is the age composition of a community and the extent to which this composition has changed over time. This is particularly useful for anticipating Mure Township service demands and land use requirements. Among the most significant trends revealed by the last Census was the steady aging of the nation's population. This trend is evident on national, state and local levels, as shown in Table 7. TABLE 7 MEDIAN AGE l Geographic Area ----·---·--·--·----··-,---, 1950 1960 lj~~~!i'! 'i)':'(; ; ;&;;"•~~T . 1970 1980 j •~:i :::·I!I m -·---·--------------·-·--------·-----· The median age of Armada Township's population also reflects this larger trend. In 1970, for example, the Township's population had a median age of 25.5 years. This figure increased to 27.8 years in 1980. Between 1970 and 1980, Armada Township experienced a population increase of 934 persons. By reviewing the various age categories that comprise the Township's total population, it is possible to determine how individual age groups changed during this tenyear period and which groups made the largest contribution to the Township's overall population increase. Each of the twelve age groups shown in Table 8 reported population increases between 1970 and 1980. The greatest increases are noted in the three age categories comprising residents between the ages of 25 and 44. Collectively, these three categories increased by 347 persons. Persons under the age of 45 accounted for 80 percent of the Township's population growth during the 1970's. -16- �TABLE 8 ___________ POPULATION BY AGE ___ , 1970 I Age 1980 Change 1970 -SO Number % Number % 149 9.3 193 7.7 167 10.3 223 8.9 204 12.1 290 11.6 + 44 + 56 + 86 169 10.6 260 10.1 + 101 6.3 188 7.5 + j Under 5 I s-9 I 10-14 I 1s-19 : 20-24 :: : : : ! ! ! 99 ! ! 187 : :::: ::: Il 4.3 + 26 3.1 113 4.5 + 64 76 4.8 110 4.4 ! + 34 I 47 2.9 63 2.5 + 01 5.1 : 60-64 49 I 75+ I 101 ss-59 I 65-74 j 16 ! ~ 11~l~:'.z2:l!;i!l;1.,e.i:: 1e2ftl:it:![!!:~: 1~!~~}l:I1M~22I:\L~~~j±l~ '. :I 1 1 < l'IOURE3 POPULATION CHANGE BY AGE 1970 AND 1980 400 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . 300 1n ·. . ! -'.,l. < w- :\li:.1--"".:•· _'IT,:_-::,_.• - - Iii Iii l!i \: : I IMH 0 ~ :;; ~ Iii :Ill { 1ll ill 1] UNDER 5 10-14 20-24 35-44 55-59 65-74 S-9 15-19 25-34 45-54 60-64 75+ AGE CATEGORIES • 1970 CJ 1980 SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS -17- �• • • • • It is possible to obtain another perspective on the changes that are occurring to the age structure of the Township's population by combining individual age groups into larger categories that more closely resemble identifiable stages of a normal life cycle: preschool, school, adolescent/family formation, middle-age, and senior citizens. The distribution of the Township's and the County's population into each of these categories is shown in Table 9. TABLE 9 AGE BY LIFE CYCLE CATEGORY I Armada Township ! Category 1970 1980 9.3 7. 7 School (5-19) 33. 7 31.3 Family Formation (20-44) 28.2 35.2 Middle-Age (45-64) 21.1 18.8 7.7 6.9 j Pre-School (0-4) j I j l Seniors (65+) j j Category ! Macomb County Pre-School (0-4) l School (5-19) ! Family Formation (20-44) ! Middle-Age (45-64) 1, Seniors (65+) j ! I I j j I j j 1970 1980 10.3 6. 7 ! 33.5 26.9 j 33.9 37.8 17.5 20.8 i ! ..---··-·---4.~_..___ 7. 7 \ The pre-school category is a good short-range indicator of Mure school enrollment trends and the impact that these trends may have on the use of existing or planned school facilities. Between 1970 and 1980, the percent of the Township's population under the age of five declined from 9.3 percent in 1970, to 7.7 percent in 1980. -18- �• • • • • I I The school-age category also provides some evidence of the demand for school and recreation facilities. This category's share of the Township's total population is declining. In 1970, for example, approximately one-third (1/3) of all Township residents were between the ages of 5 and 19. By 1980, this group declined to 31.3 percent. The family formation and middle-age categories comprise more than one-half (1/2) of the Township's total population and are increasing their share of the Township's overall population. Collectively, these two categories represent the foundation of the community. These categories represent the community's largest share of property owners and taxpayers. They are also consumers of goods and services, thereby serving as a catalyst for economic growth. Between 1970 and 1980, the percentage of the Township's population in these two groups increased from 49.2 percent to 54.0 percent. FIGURE4 AGE BY LIFE CYCLE CATEGORY -1970 Nationwide, senior citizens are becoming a more important segment of the overall population base. As the number of seniors continues to grow, greater demands will be generated for passive recreation opportunities, convenient transportation, as well as specialized housing and health care services. While the number of Township residents over the age of 65 increased in 1980, they represent a smaller portion of the Township's total population than they did ten years earlier. FIGURES AGE BY LIFE CYCLE CATEGORY-1980 -19- �• • • • • • • • • HOUSEHOLD AND HOUSING GROWTH TRENDS Household characteristics, in general, and the rate of new household formations, in particular, have become increasingly important as indicators of demographic change and economic growth. The growth of new households, in fact, may be a better determinant of economic growth within a community than absolute increases in the population itself. Household growth trends represent another important trend revealed by the 1980 Census. Michigan offers a good example of this trend. In spite of a low population growth rate of 4.3 percent between 1970 and 1980, Michigan experienced the formation of 500,000 new households during this period, for an increase of 20 percent. Accompanying this change in household formations was an equally noticeable decline in the size of the average household. At the national level, household size declined to a record low of 2. 75 persons per household . Three factors are largely held responsible for these trends: 1) increased numbers of people living alone either before marriage or after divorce; 2) smaller families with women having fewer children; and 3) more elderly women outliving their husbands. (1l The aging of the 11baby boom 11 generation has also had an impact on the rate of new household formations. Many members of the baby boom generation reached the age when they began forming their own households during the 1970's, contributing significantly to the number of new households. TABLE 10 HOUSING UNIT CHANGE .. . ·-·-------·--·---------------· ! Total Percent ! i ;;: ~ i ~ Dwell:: UnHa : Change Change : l:....--···------·--::: ::: --~~ ---:::: I : Source: U.S. Census 1 (l Russell, Cherly. 11 lnside the Shrinking Household, 11 American Demographics. Volume 3, No. 9; Ithaca, New York; American Demographics, October, 1981; pp. 28-33. -20- �Armada Township shared in the rapid rate of housing unit growth that characterized the ten-year period between 1970 and 1980. During this period, approximately 288 new housing units were built in the Township, for an increase of 65.5 percent. Census data for 1990 reports an increase of 171 housing units in the Township over the past ten years, for an increase of 23.5 percent. This is a decline from the change observed ten years earlier. It is possible to determine the pace of housing change occurring in the Township by tracking the number of building permits issued for new construction on a yearly basis. Data compiled for Armada Township shows a relatively flat rate of new housing construction for the first half of the past decade. The most significant growth is noted in 1986 and 1987, when 23 and 38 new home permits were issued. TABLE11 BUILDING PERMIT TRENDS --------··----Slngle-Famlly i l Year Permits Issued l i 1980 i 1981 0 10 j ! ii 1982 6 1983 7 l 1984 4 1985 9 1986 23 ! 1987 ! 38 1988 16 j 1989 13 j ! ! ! i:_ j i ! ! ! ! ~ !~~rz:: J==~jl~! :::i!~::sir~t~J -21- �• • • • • "'• Consistent with National and State trends, the size of the average household in Armada Township declined over the 20-year period between 1970 and 1990. For example, in 1970, the Township reported an average household size of 3.64 persons. By 1980, this figure had declined to 3.55. Preliminary 1990 data suggests that household size has again declined to a level of 3.35. In spite of these declines, the average household size for Armada Township remains slightly higher than similar figures for either the County or the State. See Table 12. TABLE 12 HOUSEHOLD SIZE -----·-·-·-------·- ---·-----·· 1960 i. J:1:;;;~!'.:ili!:ll~te:1 ! Macomb County i Michigan ·----·-··--··--· 1970 1980 1990 ·.·.· i j . :,:., ..:::r:::il sl! ::j \: \:j \j ~il:il ::;:i;:: 3;5~:;: : . ?f~ :i! I 3.79 3.63 3.00 2.70 3.49 3.27 2.84 ------= - , POPULATION PROJECTIONS Projections of future population growth provide the bridge between the present and the Mure in the comprehensive planning process. These projections help dimension Mure land use requirements, as well as the demand for various municipal services. Projections of Mure population growth need to consider the growth of the larger geographic region within which the community is located. For the Township, this involves considering Mure population growth within the community as it relates to growth for Macomb County and Southeast Michigan as a whole. Several techniques are traditionally used to project Mure population growth. These alternative approaches to population forecasting, and the results that they yield, are summarized in the following discussion. Also included as part of this analysis are population projections that have been prepared by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. -22- �• • • • • : Constant Proportion Method The constant proportion method of projecting population assumes that Armada Township will maintain the same share of Macomb County's population in 2000 and 201 O as it did in 1990. Applying this projection method yields the following results: Macomb County 1990 Population Armada Township 1990 Population Share of County's Total Population - 717,400 2,943 0.4% Macomb County 2000 Population Armada Township 2000 Population - 743,763 2,987 Macomb County 201 O Population Armada Township 201 O Population - 736,117 2,944 This method uses anticipated Mure Macomb County population levels projected by the Michigan Department of Management and Budget. A somewhat high County growth rate is expected according to SEMCOG forecasts. When these projections are substituted for the State of Michigan figures, the following projections for Armada Township are noted: 1990 - 3,163 persons; and 2000 - 3,316 persons. Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Population projections to the year 201 O were developed by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments as part of their updated Small Area Forecast process for 1989. These projections are summarized as follows: 1990 2000 2010 - 2,943 (actual) 3,511 4,038 -23- �• • • • : • Growth Rate Method The growth method is an alternative projection technique that assumes that the Township's growth rate between 1990 and 2000 will be similar to that which occurred between 1980 and 1990. This method further assumes that the Township's 1990 to 201 0 growth rate will be identical to the rate that occurred between 1970 and 1990. This technique yields the following results: Armada Township 1980 Population Armada Township 1990 Population Percent Change 1980-1990 Projected Change 1990-2000 Projected 2000 Population 2,495 2,943 18.0% Armada Township 1970 Population Armada Township 1990 Population Percent Change 1970-1990 Projected Change 1990-201 0 Projected New Population 1,601 2,943 83.8% 2,466 5,409 530 3,473 Arithmetic Method The arithmetic method is similar to the growth rate method in that the population projections are based on the growth that occurred in the preceding decades. This method, however, uses actual numbers rather than percentages and yields the following results when applied to Armada Township: Armada Township 1980 Population Armada Township 1990 Population 1980-1990 Change Projected 2000 Population 2,495 2,943 448 3,391 Armada Township 1970 Population Armada Township 1990 Population 1970-1990 Change Projected 201 0 Population 1,601 2,943 1,342 4,285 Each of the preceding techniques offer what are essentially textbook approaches to projections of Mure population levels. The range of projections needs to be evaluated in relation to Armada Township's position in the region, as well as other variables influencing population growth trends. -24------- �• • • • • • • Projection Summary The anticipated population levels for the Township, using each of the different projection techniques, are summarized in Table 13. TABLE 13 POPULATION PROJECTION SUMMARY ·----·--·· ·-·······-·-·-·---·--·---··-·--·· . Constant Proportion . 1990 2000 2010 2,943 2,987/3,163 2,944/3,316 ::C":~___ ;~_ : :; __3;_ _ I 1 FIGURE& POPULATION PROJECTION SUMMARY 6,000 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , 5,409 5,000 - - - - - - - - - - - e 4,ooo ~ - - - - - - - - - ClJ CIJ a: w a. ~ 3,000 a: w ID ~ 2,000 z 1,000 Constant Proportion Growth Rate Arthmetic PROJECTION METHOD 0 1990 8] 2000 -25- • 2010 SEMCOG �• • • • • • •II The projections for the turn-of-the-century suggest a population level of between 2,987 and 3,511 persons. This reflects an increase of between 61 and 585 persons. For the year 2010, the projected increases range from 2,944 (+ 18 persons) to 5,348 persons over 1990 totals. Based on the range of possibilities offered by these alternatives, the following projections appear to offer a reasonable view of anticipated future growth: 2000 - 3,200 persons 201 O - 3,600 persons . Continued declines in household size are also expected to occur. SEMCOG projections anticipate that the size of the average household in Armada will decline to 3.3 in 2000, and then 3.1 for 201 0: 2000 2010 - 970 - 1,161 These projections should be viewed as offering a preliminary assessment of the Township's Mure growth potential. Achieving these population and household levels is obviously dependent upon a number of factors. These include overall population and economic growth in Southeast Michigan and Macomb County. Township policies regarding Mure growth will also have a bearing on whether or not these projections will be realized. -26- �• • • • PHYSICAL FEATURES INTRODUCTION The manner in which the land in a community is being used is one of the basic determinants of the general character of the community and its development potential. Land use patterns on the periphery of a community also influence planning activities because of their potential impact. The use or misuse of a community's unique physical features can also have significant and long-term consequences for the development of an area. It is, therefore, important to consider these physical characteristics as part of any comprehensive planning process and the extent to which these features offer either opportunities or constraints for future land development activities. The following study provides a detailed explanation of Armada's physical land use features. The main component of this study is an examination of existing land use characteristics on a category-by-category basis. This study also examines other aspects of the physical environment that may influence Mure development patterns. These include an identification of designated wetlands, significant woodland areas, soil types, prime agricultural lands and parcels enrolled in the State farmland and open space preservation program. EXISTING LAND USE Existing land use data for Armada was derived from a field study of the entire Township which was conducted during the Summer of 1989. Information obtained from the field was subsequently transferred to a Township base map. The total amount of land area occupied by each category was also measured. The results of this process are summarized in Table 14 and in the following narrative descriptions of each category. Residential Residential units, consisting primarily of single-family homes, occupy approximately 868 acres of land. More than eighty (80) percent of this residentially used land is located in the Township, with the remaining residential land in the Village. A greater percentage of the Village's total acreage is being used for residential purposes (28.9 percent) compared to the Township (3.2 percent). Most of the Village's residentially used land is located in platted subdivisions. -27- �TABLE 14 EXISTING LANO USE SUMMARY ARMADA TOWNSHIP ANO ARMADA VILLAGE :·----·-·--··----·-··--~da ~ ~ I p ~:;;;;:;;-· T;~;~·--··-···-··-1 Acr• Percent Acr• Percent Acres == I,.·_=.. 736.0 3.2 132.8 28.9 868.8 3.7. :: :~ ,;:: 2: : .:: ::: i ···::: ::: 47.0 10.2 ···:: :~ I 20,714.9 90.7 166.6 36.2 20,885.3 89.7 i , Residential i,,! p"""' Undeveloped l::t~;.:f . ···;;;;>: ; ; :; ;j~~i§ . . ·•.·.::::::i.:titi;J=; ·_~ : : : ::::::::r .tot>;p : (_ _:~:~:9. Percent ;'=,,,:_1 >\::,~;9:)I Ill II II l'ICIUM7 EXISTING LAND USE SUMMARY II .. I j . Land Use Category Developed 10.3% Undeveloped 89. 7% Roads 49.4% Developed Land Summary Developed/Undeveloped -28- �I I I I I I I • • "- Single-family home sites in the Township are located in a linear fashion along the frontage of the Township's major road system. The absence of developed subdivisions can be attributed to the lack of municipal water and sewers and the presence of soils that are not capable of supporting septic systems at an urban density. Road frontage residential development contributes to the creation of future land use problems. Foremost is the isolation of the interior acreage. This isolation frequently jeopardizes the continued use of this acreage for agriculture. It also limits the development potential for Mure residential uses. No multiple-family units are located within the Township. Several small multiple projects were noted in the Village. Collectively, these developments occupy only a small percentage of the community's total residentially used acreage. Commercial Armada has an existing commercial base of approximately 33 acres, most of which is concentrated within a several block area in the Village. For the most part, this commercial development has a convenience commercial orientation and is intended to meet the day-to-day retail and service needs of Village and Township residents . The remaining commercial activity located in the Township consists primarily of farm markets and related agricultural uses. These activities are distributed throughout the Township along the major road system. A small concentration of these uses are located along North Avenue, north of the Village limits at the Armada Center Road intersection. Industrial Industrial facilities occupy a relatively small portion of the Township's total land area (59.4 acres). Existing industrial uses consist primarily of light manufacturing and transportationrelated activities. The location of these uses is largely confined to the southern portion of the Township and in the Village, near the intersection of North Avenue and the railroad tracks. An emerging industrial area is evident in the far southwest corner of the Township, near the intersection of 32 Mile Road and Powell Road. This area is appropriately located near the Village of Romeo's industrial park and is proximate to the planned extension of the M-53 freeway. The factor limiting the development of this area for more extensive industrial purposes is the absence of public water and sanitary sewers. -29- �I I I I I I I - - - Public/Semi-Public Public and semi-public land uses include schools, churches, parks and similar uses. Land being used for this purpose occupies 184 acres in the Village and Township. Three school sites and the Armada Fair Grounds' site comprise the greatest amount of land being used for either public or semipublic purposes. One Township park is also included in this category. A concentration of public/semi-public uses is evident in the northeast corner of the Village and the adjoining or nearby Township acreage. Approximately one-fifth (1/5) of the total Village area is currently used for this purpose. Other Uses In addition to ·the previously described uses, another category of uses exists in the Township that deserves attention since they may influence future development patterns. These uses consist of utility corridors, four of which cross the Township. The two largest corridors are owned by Detroit Edison and Consumers Power Company. Both corridors cross the southern portion of the Township in an east-west direction. High voltage electrical transmission towers and lines are located within the Edison corridor. A natural gas pipeline is located within the Consumers Power corridor. This pipeline serves an extensive gas storage field located in the southeast corner of the Township which occupies nearly 700 acres of land. Roads, including section line roads in the Township and subdivision streets in the Village, occupy approximately 1,200 acres of land. This .represents five (5) percent of the Township's total area. As development increases, the amount of land needed for roads normally increases. Two extractive/mining operations are located in the Township. Collectively, these two operations occupy 69.3 acres of land. The existence of these two operations may impact the Mure development of nearby acreage. Undeveloped A large quantity of land, representing nearly ninety (90) percent of the Township's total acreage is undeveloped. While this land is technically undeveloped or vacant, much of it is being used for a productive, economic purpose--namely, farming. According to current tax assessment records, approximately 14,516.5 acres of land are being used for agricultural purposes. This acreage represents nearly two-thirds (2/3) of the Township's total land area. The use of this land for farming needs to be considered in the context of the urbanization that is occurring elsewhere in the County. Much of the County's productive farmland in communities to the south has been lost to urban uses. The County's remaining agricultural acreage is largely concentrated in the northern tier of the Township. The continued viability of this acreage for continued agricultural purposes will depend, to some extent, on long-range planning decisions made by the Township. The Township's planning policy relative to this agricultural land will be, perhaps, the single most significant land use issue confronting the Township in the Mure. -30- �I I I I I I I • WETLANDS Wetlands serve a number of important environmental functions that need to be considered during a community-wide planning process. Among other functions, wetlands affect water quality by trapping and storing the nutrients from upland runoff in plant tissue and serving as a settling basin for slit generated from upland erosion. This natural filtering function, however, can be seriously damaged by poor land use practices. Since every wetland has a unique tolerance for filtering runoff from the uplands surrounding it, development in these adjacent areas can create more nutrient and sediment inflow than the wetland is able to absorb. Moreover, development in and around the fringe of the wetland itself can destroy its ecological health and, thus, its filtering ability. Sediments and nutrients from upland development can overload and damage the natural system, turning the wetland into a settling basin of polluted and unpleasant smelling water. While wetlands operate as natural nutrient filters, they can easily be overloaded and, thus, destroyed. Through increased storm water runoff and nutrients from fertilizers and urban development, this entire process is accelerated as much as one hundred times as fast as the natural process. Consequently, a wetland that may have served as an important nutrient filtering area for 1,000 years may only function that way for ten (10) years once it has been overloaded. Even more serious is the removal of wetlands. The removal of these natural features by dredging or filling will have an immediate impact on the water quality of streams and lakes below them in the watershed system. Preserved wetlands improve water quality, moderate floods, and stabilize water supplies, thereby providing for overall environmental health and stability. Development in and around wetlands are regulated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources pursuant to the provisions of the Goemaere-Anderson Wetlands Protection Act. This legislation generally regulates the development of wetlands over five (5) acres in size, or which are contiguous to the Great Lakes or to a river, stream, pond or inland lake. Permits are required by this legislation for the following activities: 1) Depositing or placing fill material in a wetland; 2) dredging or removing soil from a wetland; 3) constructing, operating or maintaining any use or development in a wetland; and 4) draining surface water from a wetland. State law does provide procedures whereby these activities may be permitted in a wetland, depending on whether or not certain criteria are met. Numerous State-designated wetlands are located in Armada. These wetlands are widely distributed throughout the area, with a concentration along existing drainage courses and near existing woodlands. Numerous areas along both branches of Coon Creek have been identified as wetlands. Identification of these wetlands is based on aerial photography interpretation. Actual on-site inspection of these areas may result in wetlands of substantially different sizes and configurations. -31- �I I I I I I I '• WOODLANDS Large wooded areas also serve significant environmental functions that need to be recognized and acknowledged. A wooded area can be of great value to a watershed area. The canopy of trees aid in breaking the force of precipitation, thereby decreasing erosion. Erosion is further inhibited by the fibrous root system of the understory plants, as well as the layer of leaf or needle litter. Woodlands can also reduce the volume of stormwater runoff. Clear-cut lands can produce excessive runoff unless trees are replaced by other vegetation with comparable water retaining capacity. With no soil and vegetation to moderate runoff from precipitation, flooding may result, in addition to a loss of precipitation ordinarily retained and recharged into groundwater reserves by the woodland. Woodlands improve air quality and afford protection from wind and erosion. Leaves and branches moderate the strength of winds and, when moistened with dew or rainwater, reduce suspended particles in the air, which are later washed off with rainwater. Plants also serve to moderate the effect of chemical pollutants in the air by absorbing some ozone, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. A dense stand of trees can significantly cut noise from adjacent factories or highways by six to eight decibels per 100 feet of forest. Moreover, the moderating effects of forests on temperature and wind can significantly cut the sound-carrying capacity of the atmosphere. The resilience of woodlands creates a microclimate around the tree stand itself. Woodland qualities which moderate and buffer temperature, precipitation, runoff, wind and noise are features of this microclimate effect. The benefits of this microclimate effect to surrounding urban and suburban areas can be significant. An urban area devoid of vegetation is the exact opposite of the forest microclimate. It increases the range of temperature fluctuations much like the climatic extremes of a desert. The sun's energy striking streets and buildings is changed into heat, further increasing the temperature on a hot day; at night, the buildings lose heat and offer no protective cover from night chill or winter winds. Thus, if woodlands are interspersed among builtup areas, the effects of their microclimates can be felt in adjacent urban areas, moderating fluctuations in temperatures by keeping the surrounding air cooler in the summer and daytime and warmer in the winter and evening. The significance of woodlands is given added weight by the less quantifiable benefits that they provide to the public. Not only are woodlands important buffers, they also add aesthetic values and provide attractive sites for recreational activities such as hiking, camping, and other passive recreational pursuits. Continued stability of good real estate values is a secondary benefit offered by woodlands. Since people choose to live in and around woodlands, providing for woodland protection in the planning of development projects will maintain favorable real estate values. Significant quantities of wooded land are evident throughout the Township. These wooded areas are distributed fairly evenly throughout the community and are confined primarily to interior section acreage away from the major road frontages . -32- �I I I I I I I '• ' SOILS Soil characteristics are an important determinant of land use potential. Not only do soils influence the suitability of land for agricultural purposes, they also help determine whether or not a parcel is suitable for more intense forms of urban development including housing, roads, and utilities. The suitability of different soil classifications for the installation of on-site sewage disposal systems is particularly important for areas that are not served by municipal disposal systems. Armada is composed of two generalized soil associations which are described below. Conover-Parkhill-Locke Association Most of the Township is comprised of soils within this association. This association consists of nearly level to gently sloping, somewhat poorly drained and poorly drained soils. This association is one of the best in the County for crops. The soils in it are medium to high in fertility and respond readily to management. Nearly all areas have been cleared and are cultivated. Excessive wetness is the main limitation. Excessive wetness and slow runoff are severe limitations to use of this association of residential and recreational areas. These limitations cause difficulty in laying out streets and utility lines and in constructing houses. Highways break up readily because of frost heaving and excessive wetness. Oakville-Boyer-Spinks Association This association is made up of well-drained, nearly level to hilly soils. A prominent ridge of these soils runs through Armada Township along Armada Ridge Road. The landscape is one of hilly areas, numerous narrow outwash plains and small wet depressions. Most of this association has severe limitations for use as cropland. Many areas are too steep or too sandy and generally are draughty in midsummer. The slopes, which are short and irregular, make contour farming and construction of terraces difficult. Slope is the main limitation to use of this association as residential and recreational areas . The limitation is slight in the nearly level and gently sloping areas. It is severe in the steeper areas, where it is difficult to lay out streets and utility lines and to construct houses. Boyer soils are a potential source of sand and gravel and of good foundation material for houses, streets, streets, and highways. -33- �I I I I I I I - PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND One of Armada Township's most significant land use characteristics is the abundant quantity of existing farmland. Evidence of the suitability of land within the Township to support agriculture is verified by several sources. Soil data is the principal source of information used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (SCS) to determine those areas of the Country that have the greatest potential for long-term agricultural production. The location of important farmlands in Macomb County were mapped in 1979 by Soil and Conservation Service. As a direct consequence of the County's rapid urbanization in the second half of this century, significant amounts of agricultural land have been converted to other uses. Construction activity since this map was prepared has even further reduced the amount of land available for agricultural purposes. For the most part, land identified by SCS as being well suited for farming is located in the northern tier of the Township, east of M-53. In spite of the vast quantity of active farmland in the Township, a relatively small amount of land is enrolled in the State of Michigan Farmland and Open Space Preservation program (P.A. 116). This legislation, signed into law in 1974, enables a property owner to enter into a development rights agreement with the State. The owner receives specific tax benefits in return for agreeing to maintain his land for either agricultural or open space purposes for a specified period of time. Approximately 524 acres of Township land are enrolled in this program. - ' ' -34- �0 0 FARM • SINGLE •• • VACANT TWO OR AGRICULTURAL FAMILY FAMILY OR MULTIPLE COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIAL GRAVEL PIT • UTILITIES • RECREATION ® PUBLIC OR SEMI - PUBLIC EXISTING LAND USE ARMADA MACOMB 1989 TOWNSHIP COUNTY , MICHIGAN ARMADA TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION c0111 111uNiTy .... __, ptelNl•d -35- PlAuiNG & MANAGEMENT, P. C. UTiCA , MicltiGAN 11J THE MACOIIII COUNTY ,t.ANNtNG COIIMISSIOte . 4 �' 41W 1111111111111111 - ~- ---~-n P I • '• II Ill Bv"O? I ------"'L6'1' rw,. - PRATT l1 ~ PRINZ I' G) WOODED @ ORCHARD G GRAVEL PIT @ FLOOD HAZARD - MAJOR DRAINAGE WAYS - ··- MINOR DRAINAGEWAYS AREA AREA •B~IN I)!,. ~,, / ,. DAYT ON I c.> 'l> w ! NATURAL RESOURCES ARMADA IIIACOIH TOWNSHIP COUNTY , MICHIGAN ARMADA TOWNSHIP Pl.ANNING COMMISSION ,-. _ --.._A C•••.,.hr r,1&... 1-. ]2 MIL[ & ......,......,, P. C. wdca , •lc.iq.u 5 �-I I I I I I I I I I -' ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS INTRODUCTION Commercial and industrial needs vary substantially between communities. The growth and development of a community's economic base is influenced by a number of factors, including its regional location. Other factors influencing commercial and industrial development patterns include transportation systems, the availability of land, and the characteristics of a community's population. The purpose of this study is to analyze the economic characteristics of Armada Township and to identify its economic base. This study seeks to dimension Armada Township's commercial and industrial needs for the Mure, with benchmarks at the years 1990, 2000 and 2010. COMMERCIAL AREA CONCEPTS There are many forms of commercial development which serve widely different retail needs and which correspondingly have varying land use requirements. These include traditional central business districts, planned shopping centers, and linear or frontage commercial development. Considering the varying land use requirements that characterize these different types of commercial uses, it is worth making a distinction between these categories and the extent to which they may be represented in Armada Township. Central Business Districts Central Business Districts (CBDs) are the traditional form of commercial development and are typically the historic center of commerce in a community. The distinctive land use characteristic of a CBD is its physical compactness with businesses clustered together near the street. Automobile parking is normally provided along the curb, in front of businesses or consolidated in off-street parking lots. The role of many central business districts has changed in the second half of this century. These changes have come about as a result of two factors: the movement of population from central city areas to the suburbs, and the frequent inability of CBD's to accommodate the major space demands of the automobile. -37- �I I I I I I I I I I I I ' Existing commercial development in Armada Township is largely concentrated within the downtown core area of the Village. This commercial area shares many of the same physical characteristics noted above. The location of Armada between Macomb County's two predominant growth corridors has not presented the degree of competition between traditional downtown business districts and their suburban shopping center counterparts that have occurred elsewhere in the region. One consequence of this position is the absence of any significant concentrated commercial development outside of downtown Armada. The role of this traditional commercial core area relative to commercial centers located elsewhere in the County needs to be considered in evaluating the Township's future land use. Shopping Centers A planned shopping center is defined as a group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site which is planned, developed, owned and managed as an operating unit related in its location, size and type of shops to the trade area that the unit services. 1 Such centers have many advantages over strip commercial districts which include the following: - Controlled access and exit points, frequently from several major traffic routes. - Functional and attractive grouping of buildings including unified architecture and strategic groupings of tenants to maximize merchandising and marketing. - Controlled interior circulation. - Convenient and ample parking. - Economical and effective service areas including a separation of service entrances and functions from customer areas. - Overflow areas for Mure expansion. - Opportunities to provide adequate buffering from contiguous residential areas. 1 McKeever, J. Ross; Griffin, Nathaniel, M. ; and Spink, Frank H., Jr.; Shopping Center Development Handbook, Community Builders Handbook Series, {Washington D.C.: Urban Land Institute, 1977) p.1 . -38- �-I • • • • • • • • • • • • • - There are basically two types of commercial centers according to functional classification: convenience and comparison. Convenience centers usually deal with goods and services that represent daily consumer needs, such as food, drugs, barber/beauty shops, dry cleaners, etc. Comparison centers, on the other hand, generally provide a wider range of merchandise that people generally "shop around" for before making a purchase . Examples of "comparison shopping" establishments include apparel, furniture or appliance stores, among others. Comparison centers vary in size, depending on the principal tenant and the particular trade area to be served. The characteristics of some common convenience and comparison commercial centers, including the trade area, supporting population, site size, gross floor area and principal tenant, are shown in Table 15. The information presented in this table is a synthesis of material from several sources of shopping center data. No such shopping center meeting the characteristics noted above is available in Armada Township. For the most part, the range of retail goods and services available in the Armada central business district are convenience commercial in nature. More extensive comparison shopping opportunities are available along the County's more developed growth corridors . TABLE 15 SHOPPING CENTERS CLASSIFIED BY TYPE j ·--------·-------------;.pportl.;---;;.-~-- GrOMe Floor Ar. . - -· ! Type of Center Trade Ar. . (1) Population (2) (AcrN) (aq.ft.) j Convenience 2-3 Neighborhoods 5,000 • 10,000 3 • 12 20,000 • 100,000 Supermarket Minor Comparison Small Community 20,000- 60,000 12 • 20 100,000 • 200,000 Jr. Dept Store ! ! Intermediate .! Comparison I . Major Comparison Principal Tenant . . Intermediate Dept Large Community Region -----------· 60,000 • 100,000 250,000 • up 20 • <O 200,000 · 400,000 : : : . , Dept. 50 - up 400,000 and up Store or 2 or 3 Intermediate i,,,,· -------·· ----------------·· (1) Trade Area - The area served by a shopping center ia largely dependent upon the drawing power of the various stores included In the center. Furthermore, this drawing power can be roughly translated into maximum travel time and distance that customers will drive to a specific center. Thia permits the approximate physical delineation of the trade area for each type of center. (2) Supporting Population - The minimum population of a trade area from which the center can be expected to draw customers. -39- �I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~ Commercial Strips Unplanned shopping areas, such as commercial activity along major thoroughfares, are positioned as a result of a multitude of complex and frequently diametrically opposed historical forces. Future parking, building area, and other needs are frequently neglected because unplanned areas evolve to service the day-to-day needs of consumers. Several features are characteristic of the typical strip commercial district, including the following: - Dangerous disruption of traffic flow as a result of uncontrolled turning and parking movements. - Frequently inadequate parking facilities. - No coordination of complementary commercial functions and activities. - Haphazard arrangement of buildings. - Potential blighting influences, particularly on adjacent residential neighborhoods. - Inability to make several purchases at one central location. - Poor coordination of service related functions. The type of commercial strip described above is largely absent from Armada. This again is a function of the Township's location outside of the major regional commercial growth corridors. Any attempts to extend a commercial strip within the Township should be resisted. If it is determined that there is a need for additional commercial beyond what is currently available, more consolidated forms of commercial development should be considered. MARKET ANALYSIS The market analysis for Armada mathematically defines the commercial needs for the area. It derives a statistically reliable commercial planning base from an examination of trade area statistics. Such an analysis, however, is not capable of forecasting actual retail sales. Rather, the market analysis can only predict Mure market performance on an "all things being equal" basis. The market analysis is capable of describing the potential spending available to a given shopping location on the basis of trade area demand. The willingness of consumers to actually purchase goods or services at a given location becomes a question of consumer motivation. Often, consumers are motivated to travel greater distances to a newer, planned shopping center than to an older, deteriorating commercial area or dispersed commercial establishments located closer to home. Equally important to consumer motivation are matters of access, traffic, parking availability and aesthetics. The statistical market analysis provides only a numerical answer to the question on what Armada's potential is in terms of Mure retail sales. The actual sales that the community can expect to realize are highly contingent upon the willingness of consumers to patronize commercial establishments in the area in light of alternative shopping centers available to them in nearby and surrounding communities. -40- �I I I I I I I I I I I I '- In the final analysis, Armada's ability to fully capture its economic potential becomes a question of whether ancillary programs involving items such as access, parking, circulation and beautification will be encouraged by the community in conjunction with commercial development proposals. TRADE AREA Marketing literature is replete with "principles" of commercial trade area delineation. These techniques range from Reilly's Law of Retail Gravitation to surveys of consumer shopping habits. Practically speaking, the term •trade area" should be considered in the context of its inherently vague nature. A trade area is delineated for a given commercial area with the implication being that the commercial area can be expected to attract, at a minimum, a large share of its prospective customers from the outermost geographical limits of the trade area. Other commercial areas can also be expected to draw portions of their business from the same trade area, with the amount left to the subject commercial areas being termed that area's market penetration of the trade area. Of necessity, the trade area concept must be visualized as a dynamic phenomenon due to changing population distributions, additional competition, changing shopping habits, highway improvements and other factors. Reilly's Law of Retail Gravitation is usually applied to communities, shopping centers, or even large metropolitan areas where there is some distance between the competing facilities. Simply stated, Reilly's Law suggests that the drawing power of a commercial center competing with Armada for the consumers' dollar will be stronger if the competing center's support population is larger than Armada, and will increase as the distance in miles between Armada and the competing center decreases. For the purposes of this study a single trade area has been identified. This trade area encompasses only that area within the existing community boundaries and assumes that the market for goods and services offered by existing or new businesses is confined largely to Township and Village residents. RETAIL SALES POTENTIAL Several factors and assumptions need to be considered in determining anticipated retail demands for Township residents. Two of the most important determinants in preparing these estimates are income levels and the anticipated number of households residing within the trade area. Assumptions also need to be made regarding the amount of money spent on various categories of purchases. -41- �I I I I I I I I I "• • Armada Township had an estimated household income of $33,902 in 1988. Assuming that disposable income is equal to sixty (60) percent of total household income, Armada's disposable income for 1988 is $20,341. Subsequent retail sales projections are based on constant 1988 dollars. This is done to allow for a comparison of anticipated changes in retail demand over time. The estimated number of households for the projected years of 1990, 2000 and 201 0 are 873, 970 and 1,161, respectively. The next step in determining retail sales potential involved distributing Armada's estimated disposable income into various retail categories that can be related to commercial land use. Information on total retail sales in Macomb County was broken down by percentage for ten (1 0) retail categories and applied to Armada's disposable income. See Table 16. TABLE 16 ESTIMATED SPENDING BY RETAIL CATEGORY --·--·--·--·--····-----·-·-·---·------· Macomb County (1) Armada Township l i Sales($) (x 1000) Percent Sales ($) (1) (per household) Lumber/Hardware . 367,238 5.7 1,159 General Merchandise 801,368 12.3 2,502 Food 1,259,764 19.4 3,946 l . Auto 1,860,898 28.7 5,839 Gasoline 457,895 7.0 1,424 Apparel 295,227 4.5 915 Furniture 332,605 5.1 1,037 Eating/Drinking 590,345 9.1 1,851 j Drugs 299,363 4.6 936 1 1 Other Retail 231,382 3.6 732 Retail Category .i ! ! I ' i ~l1~e~t2w~~Js'• •: • •!:ri:±~:;~B~•• !i::.~t~~~22"~~}.•• ·• ·• ·~:1:~':?0J:34±II (1) Publisher and Editor Marketing Guide, 1990. -42- �I I I I I I I I I I I The number of potential dollars spent in each retail category is then converted into square feet of retail space using dollar/ volume standards for each use. The amount of retail floor area is then factored to take into account needed land area for parking, service drives, loading and unloading space, landscaping, and required setbacks. The resulting figures for anticipated commercial acreage are included in Tables 17, 18 and 19. Based on this methodology, the Armada trade area generated a demand for approximately 18 acres of commercial land in 1990, which is less than the 32 acres of existing commercial development observed during the existing land use inventory. Projecting this demand into the future, commercial needs are expected to reach 20 acres by the turn-of-the-century at the year 2000, and 25 acres by the year 2010. When the commercial demand generated by Village households is included, the estimated commercial demand increases to 28. 7 acres in 1990; 32.1 acres in 2000; and 37.3 acres in 2010. This analysis suggests that, at the current time, there appears to be a reasonable balance between the supply and demand of commercial development. A slight increase in the demand for additional commercial may be needed sometime after the turn-of-the-century. I I I I I -43- �I I I I I I, I I I I I I TABLE 17 ARMADA TOWNSHIP ESTIMATED RETAIL NEEDS - 1990 Disposable Household Income: $20,341 Number of Households: 873 -----·-..·--···....._.......-·-··..·-··-.... % of j l Retail Group I Food Sales per Sq. Ft. Sq. Ft. Supported by Study Area Equivalent I Commercial Acreage ;':. 3,445 278.48 12,371 1.71 Retail Sales Retail Sales from Study Area ($000's) 19.4 ! I Drug j Lumber, Building, ! Hardware 4.6 817 175.40 4,657 0.6 2.9 515 84.13 6,121 0.81 j Eat/Drink 4.6 817 140.42 5,817 0.8 l Other Retail 1.8 320 101.01 3,164 o.4J ::::t..•.:--:•·•·-:-:-:-:-:-;-;-:--:-:·:•'.•:-:-:-:--·· }i: i$)$1'.4\ , ·.,.,.,. '_:.·•,c·. '.·s.•·.' ,•:.·•u,•·<btoM\PtAiilR!l o :S:O :::::N : : .•.,;,: 1.,,:,,,k •:_•. l :I: I .32,130/' ) 4.3,. . :_::.,.:'==:.·: ::;. General Merchandise j 12.3 2,184 133.24 16,393 3.0 j Apparel 4.5 799 129.81 6,156 1.1 I j j Furniture 5.1 906 102.81 8,809 1.6 j Eat/Drink 4.5 799 136.70 5,846 l Other Retail 1.8 320 117.43 2,722 I Hardware ! Auto ' _................,..-.....-...--....... CONVENIENCE: - !(;~~:~;;,; :;,;:~. ' ~ ~ ......._..___ ..._.....-....-...-- L~~oline 1r:s\ 9Bt. . . P'fa1t.)' ;..._._ ..-.·.·. , , l-'.rofAts !?! : ... •.•. . .· ..:...., •··.····· • ·.::.:..:=::.·-:-·-·.• ..-.-· Ii ~OP8\ l 0.5 i 1.1 . ae;s26 . 1.a I 2.8 497 114.42 4,346 28. 7 5,096 117.60 43,337 i 5.0 i 7.0 1,243 121.27 10,25() .· 1} s1~933 ·.·.. 66 ; ::::::;::~;~ ::. -.-.-;-.. :-:.:-.--.-.-:-:,:-, . -:- -;., --•- > 17;1ss .· .. .. ·•·.· ..•Y•· ···•· • · ... · ·· ... .···; •· ... · ; · .,. ··.···.··• -.. • · .. ···· •• ....• · ...... · ........... - ...,. ...,. -44- ·1 29,989 . ,. · . •·· ..... - ...... · .........._ 0.4 .. ., , ,. ,,..... ·. 102 .. ':'·:·::/,.·. • ·· • : • · j l ! • = 1 �I I I I I I I I I I I - TABLE 18 ARMADA TOWNSHIP ESTIMATED RETAIL NEEDS· 2000 Disposable Household Income: $20,341 Number of Households: 970 --·-·-·--·-·---··-----···...-.-··-·-------------·-·---..-.. ! Retail Group ! % of Retail Sales Retail Sales from Study Area ($000's) Sales per Sq. Ft. _____··-·-········-·-..--Sq. Fl Supported by Study Area • ! ! Equivalent Commercial \ Acreage i CONVENIENCE: l Food ! Drug j Lumber, Building, ! Hardware I Eat/Drink j Other Retail 10 : :::~ j General Merchandise j Apparel i 19.4 3,828 278.48 13,745 1.9 4.6 908 175.40 5,175 0.7 2.9 572 84.13 6,801 0.9 4.6 908 140.42 6,464 0.9 1.8 355 101.01 3,516 0.5 1 1. j j Ail 35,i91 ;, . I 12.3 2,427 133.24 18,214 3.3 4.5 888 129.81 6,840 1.3 Furniture 5.1 1,006 102.81 9,788 1.8 Eat/Drink 4.5 888 136.70 6,495 1.2 I j Other Retail 1.8 355 117.43 3,024 0.6 j I l iJ~iffiibiiii:: , a:2 I r· i GENERAL: 1 Lumber, Building, I Hardware ! Auto j iSilfit~l1}! iii Gasoline j j : i,. 552 114.42 4,828 28.7 5,663 117.60 48,152 5.5 , 7.0 1,381 121.27 11 ,389 _ 1.3 ,. .· •· 64,369 . 0.4 I 2.8 • j z:.21 Lts>1~~ . . . . . . . . . . .-.. . :~: :~'.: : : ::~ :'.:~'.::~ ~ :,: :'.,:.:. . .,.. ..:'•~: :.:• • ?J~frs~·. · ··-·-.-.•,·- ., .,-. . -.· ,_._._ _ . . . .·. : =·144,431..:-·~':...:.:'.... _.,...... · 20.a.1 -45- �I I I I I I I I I I • • -~ ,. TABLE 19 ARMADA TOWNSHIP ESTIMATED RETAIL NEEDS - 2010 Disposable Household Income: $20,341 Number of Households: 1, 161 % of Retall Sales Retall Sales from Study Area ($000's) Sales per Sq. Ft. Sq. Ft. Supported by Study Area Food 19.4 4,581 278.48 16,452 2.3 Drug 4.6 1,086 175.40 6,193 0.9 Lumber, Building, Hardware 2.9 685 84.13 8,141 1.1 Eat/Drink 4.6 1,086 140.42 7,736 1.1 Other Retail 1.8 425 101.01 4,208 0.6 12.3 2,905 133.24 21,801 4.0 Apparel 4.5 1,063 129.81 8,187 1.5 Furniture 5.1 1,204 102.81 11,715 Eat/Drink 4.5 1,063 136.70 1,n4 Other Retail 1.8 425 117.43 Retall Group Equivalent Commercial Acreage CONVENIENCE: COMPARISON: General Merchandise • GENERAL: Lumber, Building, Hardware Auto 2.8 661 28.7 114.42 117.60 -46- 5,n9 �I I I I I I I I I I ' '• OCCUPATION AND EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS In 1980, Armada Township had a resident labor force of 1,428 workers. These workers are employed in a variety of different industries and have a wide range of different occupations. Information on both subjects are available through the U.S. Bureau of Census and are reflected in Tables 20 and 21. The first of these two tables offers a summary of the Township's resident labor force by industry category. Similar data for the County is also provided for comparison purposes. By and large, Armada Township's resident labor force reflects the composition of the County as a whole. For example, more than one-third of the County's labor force is employed in manufacturing industries, particularly those involved in the production of durable goods. Approximately thirty-six (36) percent of the Township's labor force is employed in manufacturing-related industries. Some difference between the Township and the County are noted in this comparison. The first difference is evident relative to the agricultural, forestry, fishing and mining category, which employs 6.3 percent of the Township's labor force. For Macomb County as a whole, the figure is less than one (1) percent. Other differences are noted in the retail trade and finance, insurance and real estate categories. Both categories report a smaller percentage of workers than is the case for the County. Armada's smaller commercial area and the absence of significant commercial and office centers proximate to the Township likely account for this difference. The only other difference worth noting involves the professional and related services industry category. Approximately one-fifth (1/5) of Armada's resident labor force are employed in this category, compared to 16.8 percent for Macomb County. A noticeable difference is evident in the educational services industry category which employs 12.4 percent of the Township's labor force. For Macomb County, the figure is 6.6 percent. The occupational characteristics of the Township's labor force are shown in Table 21. A slightly wider range of differences is noted between Armada and Macomb County than was true for the earlier analysis. As might be expected, a greater percentage of the Township's labor force are employed in farming occupations than is the case for the County. The extensive areas being used for agriculture in the Township explain this difference. The single greatest difference, however, is evident in the technical, sales and administrative support categories. On a County-wide basis, nearly one-third of the County's resident labor force are employed in these occupations. In Armada Township, only 20 percent report similar occupations. Another difference is noted in the last two categories: precision production, craft and repair and operators, fabricators and laborers. Approximately 44 percent of the Township's labor force are collectively employed in these two categories compared to 34 percent for Macomb County. -47- �I I I I I I I I I I I I I -II TABLE 20 INDUSTRY OF EMPLOYMENT ARMADA TOWNSHIP AND MACOMB COUNTY 1980 ·---··--... ··-·-·-·-···-··-·····-··--··-·-·-··-·..-·--·····-....--.-·- .......................-----·-·--............-. Armada Township . . Macomb County 1 ' :::re. Forestry, No. % No. Fishing and Mining 91 6.3 1,856 Construction 66 4.6 11,999 517 36.2 106,800 Transportation 28 2.0 7,446 2.41,, Communications/ Public Utilities 34 2.3 7,565 2.51 Wholesale Trade 58 4.1 12, 143 4.0 186 13.1 57,001 18.7 l_'.: · 26 1.8 15,924 5.2 35 2.5 12,363 4.1 24 1.7 8,695 2.8 289 20.2 51,264 16.8 j 74 5.2 12,186 4.0 l ! Manufacturing I Ii I l Retail Trade l Finance, Insurance and j j Real Estate Business and Repair Services l Personal, Entertainment i I l j j and Recreation Seivices Professional and Related Services Public Administration Lr~~;,~ : : _. ., . .. ·• ·• · .. .... ..1~i~a''.~ :~.~~:.?.. .·. . . ...... Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. ~ ~ -48- aai;242 % I 0.6 I ! 35.0 ! 3.9 ! , ·,, :, ,!· ' :!,, J ·100:0 J �I I I I I I I I I I I ' ' TABLE 21 OCCUPATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS ARMADA TOWNSHIP AND MACOMB COUNTY 1980 ---·..--·--·--·· -----------------·------Armada Township ------·--· Macomb County ' ! Category j':. ! ! Managers/Professionals No. % No. 260 18.2 61,053 !! Technicians, Sales & Administrative Support 294 20.5 100,449 Service 170 11.9 38,521 75 5.3 1,698 0.6 289 20.2 14,503 15.61 340 23.8 56,018 18.4 Farming, Forestry & Fishing Skilled Workers . Operatives, Laborers ;. ::::::=::::::::<::;: ·.·.· . .·.·.·.·,·.·.·.-.-...·.•- .·.·.•-•..·.. ·.· ..·.--·. -·-· ·.-.-.-.·.·.·-·.·.· .·.·.· ·,•.·.·.·-·-·-·-·... .-::::::::::_. ·:< % 20.0 ;_ ~ 32.9 ! 12.61 j ! -. ,;._-::;::::::::::=::::/>;:_.,-.·,·..·..... _.:.:::"::::-::-::.! iii T.§,~ ii;i ;~'.;•;;;••;w~•£2ll;~~~~~w~•·····:: : :d[:]1l4~~ i: :i;;i\QO~R:i:iJii~~::;.· ~g_~~~.iz:j ~JLii Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census FUTURE INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT The 1980 Census revealed that Armada Township had a resident labor force of 1,595 persons, 1,428 of which were employed when the census was conducted. Armada Township's total resident labor force of 1,595 workers represents approximately 41 percent of the area's total population base. While this percentage may vary in the future, depending on changing population characteristics, it is reasonable to assume that a similar share of Armada Township's Mure population base wm also require employment opportunities. Applying this percentage to projected 1990, 2000 and 201 0 population projections, yields the following anticipated resident labor force figures: 1990 - 1,206 2000 - 1,321 2010 - 1,476 -49- �I I I I I • • • • • • These projected labor force totals may then be multiplied by 45.1 percent, which represents the percentage of Armada Township's population that was employed in industry groups requiring industrial land. This calculation yields total projected industrial employment for Armada Township as follows: Anticipated Total Employment 1990 2000 2010 Anticipated Industrial Employment 1,206 1,321 1,476 543 594 642 Previous studies of industrial employment patterns indicate that a ratio of twenty (20) employees per acre can be expected for industrial land. Applying this factor to the foregoing employment projections, yield the following industrial acreage needs to support anticipated 1990 and 2000 population levels . Anticipated Industrial Employment 1990 2000 2010 Projected Industrial Average Needs 27 543 594 642 30 32 Armada Township lacks a significant, identifiable industrial base. Approximately sixty (60) acres of land are being used for industrial purposes, according to the existing land use survey which was conducted in 1989. This industrial acreage consists largely of small establishments distributed somewhat randomly throughout the southern portion of the Township. Relatively little of this acreage is being used for more traditional manufacturing purposes, but rather was classified as industrial because of outdoor storage or other similar characteristics which suggest an industrial character. As a result, these uses do not generate the number of employment opportunities that are typically associated with industrial uses. In 1980, the Census Bureau reported that only 1,037 people were employed at locations in Armada. A vast majority of these workers (918, or 88 percent) were employed at locations in the Village. Only 119 people reported employment locations in Armada Township. -50- �I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ' ' ' This data leads to the fairly obvious conclusion that Armada Township has not functioned as one of the County's leading employment centers. Armada's principal role has been that of an agricultural center foremost, and a bedroom community to a lesser extent. While it may be desirable to provide employment opportunities within a community for local residents, from a practical standpoint, some percentage of the resident labor force will likely continue to commute to work locations outside of the local community. Armada Township may be able to support a broader industrial employment base than currently exists. The likelihood of this occurring rests largely on the policies of the community and whether or not appropriate locations and necessary infrastructure are available to support this type of use. It further depends on regional economic growth and extent to which Armada Township can expect to share in the growth. This traditional industrial analysis may be somewhat misleading inasmuch as it does not adequately take into account what is the Township's most prominent industry--namely, farming. A vast amount of the Township's total land area is currently being used for agricultural purposes, which is an economic activity. The importance of farming as a source of employment is critical to any assessment of the Township's long-term Mure. INDUSTRIAL PLANNING CONCEPTS Promoting industrial development to supplement residential and commercial land uses is a normal concern of those communities interested in achieving a balanced tax base. The physical relationship of these uses is critical, however, as the intermingling of industrial development with less intensive uses can result in land use conflicts. Such conflicts should be avoided whenever possible. Non-nuisance industries can be located adjacent to residential areas provided that measures are taken to mitigate any negative secondary effects that may be associated with the uses. An attractive physical setting, including landscaping and buffering, where necessary, and a separation of industrial and residential traffic are measures that can be used to avoid potential compatibility problems. Nuisance types of industries (those producing noise, smoke and dust) should have greater insulation from residential neighborhoods. This can often be accomplished by a transitional band of non-nuisance industries. Industrial areas should also be protected from encroachment of other non-industrial types of land uses, such as residences and commercial establishments. Encroachments of these uses into industrial districts seriously jeopardize the overall viability of the industrial area. Industrial areas should be afforded the same type of exclusive zoning that is normally available in residential and commercial districts. In addition to the important goal of achieving exclusive industrial districts, specific design concepts have been established for the physical development of planned industrial areas. Several important industrial planning concepts are outlined as follows: -51- �I I I I I I I I I I '-~ • • • ~ • Buffering or insulation between industrial and non-industrial uses. This can be achieved by a number of different techniques, including the following: - Greenbelts and/or obscuring walls developed on required yards. - Major thoroughfares or railroad rights-of-way, possibly with non-residential uses backing up to them. - Transitional zones of less intensive uses (parks, offices, and off-street parking areas). • To keep congestion to a minimum, industrial districts should be adjacent to major surface arteries, or to special routes providing convenient access to the area-wide highway network. • In addition to industrial buildings, industrial districts should also provide adequate space for employee parking, truck loading storage, warehousing, Mure expansion needs and landscaping. • Individual site features in an industrial district should be arranged in the most efficient manner possible. In a large industrial district, a sound design approach is to have alternative streets for trucks and cars. The former would be fronted by parking facilities and the latter by loading docks. A variety of site characteristics affect the suitability of a particular parcel for industrial development. Most manufacturers will look at the following site characteristics in determining whether or not a specific parcel is suitable for industrial purposes: Size and Shape. The usual preference is for a site of regular shape and otherwise suitable from such standpoints as building layout, access to transportation, parking, and Mure expansion. Topography. Most industries require a level site with just enough slope to provide good drainage. In some cases, a sloping site may be preferred for specialized plants, such as those with shipping and receiving on two levels. Utilities. The utilities with which manufacturers are chiefly concerned include electric power, water, natural gas and sewerage. The principal difference in utility cost between sites is found in the cost of extending the lines to the plant site. Flooding. The possibility of flooding is always a major site consideration. Some firms are willing to incur the risk of occasional flooding in order to gain other site advantages. The customary policy, however, is to insist on a flood-free site . -52- �I I I I I I I I I I '' ',~ Drainage and Soil Conditions. It is important to avoid a site that is a natural low spot. Test borings by soil engineers should be made, as adequate drainage will have a significant bearing on foundation conditions and site development costs. Location Within the Community. One major factor of location is accessibility for employees, customers, and movement of goods and raw materials. The immediate surroundings in relation to other land uses are also important if the industry is to avoid possible community relation problems. Transportation Facilities. These are highly dependent on how the individual firm plans to ship its goods. Adequate sites must be available that provide good access to main highways and/or retail transportation facilities with the ability to extend rail sidings where needed. Taxes and Insurance. Long-range stability of property tax rates is usually as important as the current level. Fire insurance rates are considered in surveying both the community and the site. Zoning and Other Legal Aspects. Zoning is a site factor that has often been overlooked in the past. Profiting from the experiences of others, most firms now regard proper zoning as highly essential. A careful check of zoning regulations is desirable for two principal reasons: to avoid litigation and to protect the new plant against incompatible industrial neighbors or other land uses. In addition to zoning, other local regulations, such as building codes, laws relating to waste disposal, smoke and fumes, and restrictions on highway use, are desirable. ~ -53- �I I I I I I I I I I GOALS AND OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION In the broadest sense, the Master Land Use Plan is policy, a set of goals and objectives designed to serve as a guide to consistent and rational public and private decisions in the use and development of land. Goals and objectives formulated by the community are viewed as the cornerstone of the planning process. They form the framework for public and private decision-making. Administrative and legislative action by the Township Board, quasi-judicial by the Zoning Board of Appeals, and administrative action by the Planning Commission are sometimes criticized as being capricious and arbitrary. The very nature of planning decisions makes them particularly prone to such indictments. Clear-cut statements of policy can go far to minimize arbitrariness in planning actions: 1) They can guide and substantiate honest, intelligent decisions; 2) They can serve the elected officials and commissioners as an anchor of objectivity; 3) They can be a useful tool to the citizen who finds it necessary to remind an errant agency that it is veering from the stated course; and 4) They can inform the public about the thinking of the Township with regard to land development. As an expression of desirable physical development, the Master Land Use Plan is an affirmation of goals. The purposes of the Master Land Use Plan are: I 1. To improve the physical environment of the community as a setting for human activities; to make it more functional, beautiful, decent, healthful, interesting, and efficient. ' ' ' ,.' 2. To promote the public interest, the interest of Armada Township at large, rather than the interests of individuals or special groups within the community. 3. To facilitate the democratic determination and implementation of community policies and physical development. The Plan is primarily a policy instrument. The plan constitutes a declaration of long-range policy and provides the basis for a program to accomplish its goals. By placing the responsibility for determining policies with the Planning Commission and providing an opportunity for citizen participation, the Plan facilitates the democratic process. 4. To affect political and technical coordination in community development. 5. To inject long-range considerations into the determination of short-range actions. 6. To bring professional and technical knowledge to bear on the making of administrative and legislative decisions concerning the physical development of the community. ~ -54- �I I I I I I I I I I I I • • ' ' ' '• The Master Plan is more than just a series of maps. It is foremost a series of policy statements. Policy statements, of course, do have limitations. They cannot cover every situation. Certain areas are so complex that it will be impossible to know what sort of policy decision can be made until all the facts are assembled. Also, there should be a relatively high degree of agreement and consensus before a policy statement can be adopted. Obviously, this concurrence will not always exist. None of this negates, however, the desirability of formulating and adopting policy statements in as many areas of planning concern as possible. Goals or policy statements should assist the Township in addressing the land use changes and incipient urbanization pressures that will face the community over the life of the plan. Recognizing that these policies cannot anticipate every possible situation that the Township will be asked to respond to, they are intended, nevertheless, to provide a logical and well thought-out basis for making rational decisions on questions involving Mure land use. Many of the issues that the Township will likely be required to deal with over the course of the next ten to twenty years will involve the degree of urbanization that the community feels is desirable and appropriate. It is not expected that Armada Township will be fully, or even partially, urbanized by the early part of the next century. Rather, the community will continue to experience a gradual transition from a rural to a more suburbanized community. How this transition period is handled will have significant long-term consequences for the Township's Mure land use pattern and overall quality of life. This plan seeks to achieve some measure of balance between the competing extremes of maintaining the community's traditional rural/agricultural atmosphere and permitting an unplanned conversion of the community for suburban purposes. The following specific policy statements are offered in support of this goal. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES General Development Goals 1. Concentrate Mure urban uses in the vicinity of the existing Villages of Armada and Romeo . 2. Provide for a gradual staging of development beyond the established village centers provided that adequate infrastructure is available and sufficient demand exists . 3. Discourage urban sprawl and leap-frog development which unnecessarily consumes valuable agricultural acreage, creates premature demands for urban services, increases service costs for the community, generates increased traffic, and increases land speculation. 4. Strive to keep the natural and man-made environments in balance. 5. Promote the orderly development of land and provide for the separation of incompatible land uses. 6. Preserve the communities natural features including woodlands, wetlands, floodplains, and other scenic open space features . -55- �I I I I I I I I I I • • • • ' ' ' • Agricultural Preservation Goals 1. Encourage the continued use and preservation of Armada Township's productive agricultural land. 2. Foster an attitude that encourages agricultural preservation and which recognizes that farming will continue to be an important land use. 3. Minimize the premature conversion of productive agricultural land for urban uses. 4. Provide opportunities for agriculture to exist compatibly with single-family homes. 5. Maintain existing large parcels of land which readily lend themselves to continued agricultural use and discourage land divisions that serve to prematurely retire productive agricultural land. 6. Provide some flexibility to agricultural property owners which recognizes the need to convert some farmland to other uses, but which does not compromise the longterm viability of existing agricultural uses. 7. Discourage utility extensions that would lead to the conversion of farmland for urban uses. 8. Consider a range of appropriate alternative measures for preserving existing farmland. 9. Recognize that agriculture is the proper utilization of a natural resource . Residential 1. Provide for a range of housing choices in the Township by allowing for the development of different types of dwelling units at varying densities . 2. Properly relate each variety and density of residential development to available infrastructure (roads, utilities and soils) capacities . 3. Encourage planned residential neighborhoods which provide for the more efficient use of land and discourage strip frontage development along major roads that results in the isolation of interior acreage. 4. Encourage a high percentage of home ownership and permanent housing types. 5. Provide open space to serve each dwelling unit either in the form of ample yard area or common open space. 6. Recognize the relationship between the community's demographic characteristics and the housing needs that exist for identifiable segments of the Township's population . -56- �I I I I I I I I I • ',. ', , , • Commercial 1. Support the preservation and upgrading of the Armada Village central business district as an important commercial focal point. 2. Promote a particular character of commercial development for the Armada central business district that fosters a sense of identity for the community and which will be sufficient to provide for the long-term preservation of this area. 3. Encourage additional commercial development opportunities in the Township where there is existing or projected sufficient support population or where there will be an adequate draw from highway traffic or a specified trade area. 4. Provide areas for small neighborhood retail and service uses to serve existing residential neighborhoods. 5. Provide for adequate separation and buffering between commercial and abutting residential neighborhoods. 6. Place commercial uses at locations of easy access where ingress and egress will not discourage safe and convenient traffic patterns, and discourage strip commercial development. 7. Encourage the use of landscaping and setbacks to provide for orderly and visually aesthetic commercial establishments. Industrial 1. Preserve areas proximate to existing industrial areas in adjacent communities for Mure industrial uses. 2. Identify areas suitable for industrial development based on the availability or proximity of adequate utilities and highway access. 3. Encourage industrial uses that provide a well-rounded economic base and which will provide employment opportunities for area residents. 4. Encourage the development of industrial uses in planned industrial park settings which provide required support facilities. 5. Concentrate industrial uses and buffer them from adjacent residential uses. 6. Favor uses that do not have objectionable environmental characteristics. -57- �I I I I I I I Community Facilities 1. Recognize the need to provide water and sewer services to accommodate future development in the Township. 2. Plan for future development patterns in a manner that allows for the extension of existing utilities where available as demand exists. 3. Develop a storm drainage plan in anticipation of Mure storm drainage problems. 4. Extend sewer and water lines in an orderly manner leaving no gaps or spaces. 5. Install sewer and water services only where planning and zoning policies expressed elsewhere will not be compromised by their use. Open Space and Recreation ' • •,, ' ' ', ' • I 1. Complete the development of the Armada Township Park according to the proposed Master Plan for that Park. 2. identify and prioritize the undeveloped natural features of the Township that are feasible for recreation and open space purposes . 3. Balance the ecological system by using recreation as a tool for conserving the natural features of the Township . 4. Recognize the need for a variety of recreation facilities encompassing the full range from home yard to Township-wide facilities. 5. Provide adequate park and recreation space as an integral part of each development (subdivision, multiple, mobile home park, and industrial park). 6. Utilize appropriate planning and zoning tools that encourage developers to incorporate more open space into new residential developments. 7. Encourage cooperation with the school districts in providing recreation facilities and programs. 8. Provide a variety of facilities to accommodate the recreation needs of all segments of the population. 9. Provide spaces large enough to satisfy a multiple-use concept of recreation resources, particularly at the community or Township service level. -58- �I I I I I I I I I ',.' ' p ', • 10. Use multi-purpose urban open spaces to accomplish the goal of multi-use of land; even neighborhood open spaces can reflect active and passive needs. 11. Provide for the development of a non-vehicular circulation system linking major activity centers and recreation facilities. 12. Incorporate existing unique natural features (woodlands, wetlands and water areas) into Mure recreation sites whenever practical and feasible. 13. Provide for a full range of recreation programs to meet perceived recreation needs. 14. Monitor and adjust program offerings to reflect changing recreation preferences. 15. Coordinate existing and anticipated recreation programs with those offered by other public and private recreation providers. Transportation 1. Plan for a network of safe roads to assure proper local access and traffic movement within the community. 2. Plan for a network of roads by type and function that will provide a complete road system including major, secondary, collector and local roads. 3. Correct existing street alignment inadequacies, particularly those which contribute to hazardous situations for both pedestrians and motorists. 4. Obtain necessary right-of-way dedications and reservations. 5. Cooperate with the Macomb County Road Commission to ensure that a proper relationship exists between planned road improvements and Armada Township's desired Mure land use pattern. 6. Design the road system so that various modes of traffic flow most directly to their destination. 7. Cooperate with regional authorities on providing mass transit service if the pact is favorable to the community. a. Encourage the development of publicly dedicated roads serving all proposed singlefamily developments. 9. Increase pedestrian and bicycle safety by providing opportunities for non-motorized transportation along the existing and planned road systems. 1o. Limit points of ingress/egress on major roads . -59- �I I I I I I CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN INTRODUCTION Community planning is concerned with the rational utilization of land and the provisions of public services and facilities. The Master Plan strives to improve the quality of life within the Township through the proper utilization of land. To this end, a Master Plan should embody the following characteristics: • Comprehensive • The Plan provides for a variety of land uses, bearing a logical and functional relationship to the ability of the land and the transportation system to support each category of uses. • Flexible - The Plan should not stifle innovation. • Generalized • The Plan should not be so detailed as to produce sterility out of orderliness. • Long-Range - An effort is made to visualize the shape of the Mure community environment at some distant time. • Regional - The Plan takes into account the location of the community as an integrated part of southeast Michigan and Macomb County. The Plan should also be general enough to permit progressive refinements and allow for unforeseen contingencies and should not be viewed as a precise "blueprint for the Mure. 11 The Plan should serve as a narrative and graphic framework within which decisions related to development can be made realistically and with practicality of application. The Plan is more than just a mosaic graphic presentation. Behind the graphics and mapping are spatial distributions and relationships aligned with the previously articulated goals and objectives. CONCEPT PLAN The physical arrangement and distribution of various land uses on vacant ground is finite in number. Regional considerations, existing land use, the road network, soils, topography, population growth, and economic potential each act as a constraint on the number of possible arrangements. These alternatives are given further expression by the previously articulated goals and objectives which provide the policy framework upon which Mure land use growth for the Township will be guided. Collectively, these factors and influences shape future growth potential into a preferred general physical arrangement of land use intensity. -60- �I I I I I I I Three alternative land use arrangements for the Township were considered. Each reflects a different policy relative to the future growth and development of Armada Township. These alternatives are described in the following narrative. No Growth Alternative This scenario advocates a policy of discouraging all forms of suburban growth and emphasizes the long-term preservation of the Township's productive farmland. Non-farm residential development would be limited to large parcels at very low densities. More densely developed residential home sites, as well as commercial and industrial activities, would be restricted to locations within the established urban core area encompassed by Armada Village. As a way of implementing this no-growth policy, utility extensions into the Township from neighboring communities would be prohibited. While this policy seeks to preserve farmland, it fails to recognize the often conflicting desires of agricultural land-owners to continue farming yet retain the ability to convert some farmland to single-family home sites. Large lot residential development policies may also be counterproductive inasmuch as they may serve to prematurely retire land for farming. Pro Growth Alternative This alternative offers a completely different scenario from the previously described option. The pro-growth policy envisions the uncontrolled suburbanization of Armada Township and reflects a total absence of planning. The full expression of this alternative would be the growth of an urban service area extending from Armada Village on the east to Romeo on the west. Within this area, the Township would encourage higher density residential development serviced by public sewers and water. A linear commercial corridor along 32 Mile Road and North Avenue would be required to service this residential area. Long-term agriculture is discouraged by this alternative and is considered an interim use of land until it is converted to other uses. This policy has some inherent flaws that need to be recognized. First, it would be expensive to the Township and to individual property owners because of the cost of extending utilities. Also, it fails to recognize Armada Township's position within Macomb County and the larger southeast Michigan region. Given the Township's position between established growth corridors identified earlier, it is highly unlikely that the market could support the level of growth anticipated by this alternative. It simply isn't realistic. Finally, it is doubtful that existing residents, most of who value the Township's low density rural environment, would support the unplanned suburbanization of the community. -61- �I I I I I I I I I I ' ', ,' , , Balanced Growth Alternative The final alternative offers a compromise between the two extremes previously described. It recognizes that the Mure land use policy that has the best chance of succeeding must provide some opportunity for growth, yet encourage the long-term preservation of Armada's productive agricultural land. This alternative concentrates future growth, including higher density single-family subdivision development, commercial and industrial uses proximate to the VHlages of Armada and Romeo. Limited utility extensions would be allowed in these areas provided that the timing of any extensions coincide with this development. Between these two areas and south of 34 Mile Road, low density residential development at existing densities would be encouraged. These residential uses would be served by on-site wells and sewage disposal systems. Extensions of public utilities into this area would not be encouraged. The remaining two-thirds of the Township is designated as a Mure agricultural area. Preservation of farmland as the predominant land use within this area is an important component of this alternative. Some additional single-family development would be encouraged within this area provided that it would not detract from the policy of preserving farmland. This concept is portrayed graphically in Illustration 6. ~ -62- �• '''·-~~~--~~----n:1 $ ~¼FiiilJj~::._. '1 1'TIJ: I ~ i ! 1 ~! I 17:$ CONCEPT ARMADA IIACOIII PLAN TOWNSHIP COUNTY , MICHIGAN ARMADA TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Fuc_"i./\ c.....1t, PlaHhu1 I Mu.,., ...,,'- C. vriu , •kltiqa• �I I I I I I I LAND USE PLAN INTRODUCTION The use of land is both a resource and a commercial commodity which derives its function from economic and social forces operating nationally, regionally and within the Township. Individual land uses and the arrangement of these uses influence the way we live and the degree of satisfaction with our physical surroundings. Community planning offers the opportunity to provide some rational sense of order to our built environment and, thereby, enhancing the overall quality of the human experience. The Master Plan for Armada Township describes, in a generalized manner, the most appropriate areas for residential, commercial and industrial land uses within the community. The physical arrangement of these areas is based on the existing use of land and the population/economic projections previously presented. This physical data is correlated with the Township's stated goals and objectives for the Mure to derive the distribution of Mure land uses. The Master Plan is intended to be comprehensive, general, flexible and realistic. It offers a framework within which realistic and practical decisions can be made regarding Mure land development. Three alternative concept plans were examined by the Planning Commission. Each alternative offered a different scenario relative to Mure growth patterns, ranging from nogrowth to pro-growth. The Master Plan is based on the balanced growth alternative which is intended to offer opportunities for moderate growth of the Township. Future growth is centered proximate to the Village of Armada, with land use intensity diminishing the further you move away from established concentrations of urban development near either the Village of Armada or the Village of Romeo in the southwest comer of the Township. The amount of land allocated for each Mure land use category and narrative descriptions of each category are as follows. AGRICULTURE Farming has historically played an important role in Armada. The Township has long been commonly recognized as an agricultural community and remains one of the last large concentrations of farmland in Macomb County. The most direct evidence of the importance of agriculture is the amount of land currently being used for farming. Based on Township assessment records, approximately 14,500 acres of land are currently being used for farming in Armada Township. This represents nearly two-thirds of the entire Township area. The Macomb County Soil Conservation Service (SCS) has recorded 16,500 acres of land in agricultural use, with 12,200 acres of that total in crop land. Active farmland is distributed fairly uniformly throughout the community, reflecting the Township's fertile soil characteristics which readily lend themselves to agricultural production. -64- �I I I I I I I I I ',. ' ,'. , Farmland is often viewed as an inexhaustible resource, when, in fact, it is a finite one. One acre of land converted to a non-farm use is, practically speaking, forever retired for agricultural purposes. Other acreage is often idled prematurely because of unrealistic expectations regarding Mure development. The National Agricultural Lands Study, published in 1980, estimated that three million acres of farmland are lost each year to urbanization. Major demographic shifts occurring in this Country during the 1970's explain, to a large extent, this steady loss of farmland. The most significant aspect of this change was the movement of the population from metropolitan areas to non-metropolitan areas. Consider the following statistics: • Forty (40) percent of all housing constructed in the United States during the 1970's was built in rural areas. • Non-metropolitan areas gained 2.9 million people between 1970 and 1978. • The number of households in rural areas increased in the 1970's. • Employment in every major industry group increased at a more rapid rate in nonmetropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas during the past decade. Preserving the Township's existing agricultural lands was identified as an important land use policy in the goals and objectives portion of the Plan. Clearly, the decision of a farm household to continue farming in the Mure is a complex issue involving many factors that are frequently impacted by broader economic issues that are well outside of the Township's ability to either predict or control. In spite of this, the Master Plan should establish an 11attitude11 conducive to the continued use of land for agricultural purposes. This policy is clearly reflected in the Master Plan's goals and objectives and by the fact that nearly 17,000 acres of land have been reserved for agriculture on the Master Plan Illustration. Areas designated for agricultural purposes are generally located north of the Grand Trunk and Western Railroad tracks, and north and west of Irwin and True Roads. This allocation includes land currently being farmed, as well as land occupied by singlefamily homes. A variety of techniques have been used in an attempt to preserve farmland. Each has met with varying degrees of success. A summary of several techniques are noted as follows: Agricultural Zoning ~ Any successful attempt to preserve farmland requires the ability to control the use of land, especially the encroachment of urban uses into agricultural areas. Within Michigan, the authority to control land use is vested with local governments in the form of zoning. For all its potential as a useful agricultural preservation technique, zoning more often than not falls far short of its expectations. Many agricultural zoning districts are agricultural in name only and represent little more than holding zones for Mure urban development. • -65- , , �I I I I I I I I The ability of a local community to restrict development through the establishment of agricultural zoning districts rests largely on two major factors: 1) the exclusion, or near exclusion, of non-farmland uses within agricultural districts; and 2) the establishment of sufficiently large minimum lot sizes to discourage the development of single-family homes in agricultural areas. Large lots, however, also take away more land per house, which can contribute to the loss of farmland unless lot sizes are set sufficiently high enough to effectively discourage non-farm residential development. Minimum acreage requirements of five or ten acres are not effective in limiting the amount of non-farm development that may occur in an agricultural area. These minimum requirements may, in fact, be more wasteful of land than one or two-acre minimums. Many non-farmers who develop single-family homes in agricultural districts actually prefer five or ten-acre estates to smaller lots. The placement of a single-family home on these parcels, however, only occupies a small portion of the lot, with most of the remaining acreage not being used for any productive purpose. Large lot zoning provides open space on the individual lot, but does not provide the community with usable open space. This particular problem is compounded by the Subdivision Control Act's current subdivision regulations which do not regulate the division of land into parcels exceeding ten acres in size. This results in a proliferation of parcels which barely exceed the tenacre limit and are often long and narrow. Such parcels frequently have unsuitable access, may have limited usage, or result in misuse of prime agricultural land. The Township's Zoning Ordinance, which restricts length to width to a 5-to-1 ratio, has curbed continued development of this type of lot division. If the Township is going to use zoning to preserve agricultural land, then one or more of the following alternatives should be examined: - Permit only residential uses which are owned or occupied by the persons farming the land. - Have minimum acreage parcels of 40 or 60 acres. - Permit one building lot of one (1) acre for each 25 acres of land. - Restrict residential lot sizes to a depth not to exceed 300 feet. - Permit open space zoning which clusters single-family residential into smaller lots on small enclaves or villages in return for permanent open space or agricultural use. These are a few ideas which should be explored. There are undoubtedly other methods which can be examined to reach the goal of preservation of open space and agricultural lands. The community needs to firmly establish the goal and then decide which route is best to achieve the goal. -66- �I I I I I I •I • • • Purchase or Transfer of Development Rights This concept involves the exchange or reassignment of the development rights of one parcel of land in an agricultural area to another non-farm parcel. This technique recognizes the value of farmland for non-farm purposes. It is accomplished by providing the farmer with the monetary benefits he would derive if his property were sold for development purposes and allows him to continue farming. These rights are subsequently applied to other areas of the community that are better suited to more intense urban uses. While this concept offers an innovative and potentially useful approach to farmland preservation, it can be complicated and expensive to implement, particularly if the local unit of government is involved in purchasing the development rights. To be successful, this type of program has to be organized to operate effectively in conjunction with the private real estate market system. Open Space Zoning The theory of open space zoning is to preserve agriculture or open space by concentrating the residential land uses in an area best suited for that use in exchange for the development rights on the remaining parcel. The farm or the open space is assured as a perpetual easement or land use. The residential area is established as a small neighborhood, rather than individual homes side by side along each country road. Each land use pays taxes based on its market value and its existing land use. The residential area is usually developed as a cluster or a site condominium project, with the individual homeowners sharing common open space and road systems. The overall density of this section of the community is not increased, but the two land uses complement each other, rather than conflict. Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program In 1974, the Michigan Legislature passed Public Act 116, the Farmland and Open Space Program. This program provides tax benefits to agricultural land owners in exchange for an agreement to maintain the land for farming purposes for a specified period of time. Parcels enrolled in P.A. 116 may be exempt from special assessments for improvements customarily associated with urban development, including sanitary sewers, water mains, or street lighting. · Since the use of lands enrolled in this program are restricted to agricultural purposes, and in light of the fact that parcels may be enrolled for extended periods of time (sometimes 50 years), this program may be viewed as a "de-facto form of zoning." P.A. 116 is widely used throughout Michigan. Its success, however, relates more to its benefits as a tax relief program for farmers, rather than as a method of preserving farmland. This program has been more widely used in rural counties, where development pressures are minimal. -67- �I I Summary I I I Extensive portions of the Township have been identified as being suitable for long-term agricultural purposes. To successfully implement the policies of the Master Plan, specific methods will need to be adopted. Most of the land designated for agricultural purpose is zoned for one-acre lots. The one-acre lot size could be maintained, provided other measures are adopted which effectively concentrate non-farm single-family home sites in designated areas which do not use disproportionate amounts of road frontage or disrupt the continuity of existing farms. Based on past history and Michigan's method of taxation, a more creative performance-based concept of development will be required to accomplish this objective . • •I • • • • SUBURBAN RESIDENTIAL Approximately 2,500 acres of land have been reserved for suburban residential purposes on the Master Plan Illustration. This concept anticipates the development of single-family homes on one-acre lots. Desirably, development within these designated areas would take the form of larger lot subdivisions served by public roads extending into interior acreage, thereby permitting the development of this acreage. Land identified for suburban residential purpose is located outside of anticipated Mure sanitary sewer or public water service areas. Within the suburban residential area, one location has been identified for special consideration. This area is located south of the Village and is bounded to the north by the railroad tracks, to the south by the Consumers Power property, to the east by Omo Road, and to the west by the East Branch of Coon Creek. The well-defined physical boundaries of this site and its unique physical characteristics, including existing woodlands and proximity to the Creek, give the area a unique character that lends itself to a more imaginative planning response. For example, this area may be suited for large lot estate development or for some form of cluster development, with units placed close together and generous open spaces reserved on the site. The open space zoning concept noted previously could be a type of development which would be useful in this area. URBAN RESIDENTIAL Slightly less than 1,000 acres have been reserved for urban residential purposes. Land designated for this purpose is located proximate to the Armada Village boundaries. Due to the location near the Village, those areas identified as being suitable for this purpose will be developed with a greater density than outlying suburban residential and agricultural areas. The possibility of being served by municipal utilities from the Village would permit this higher density. -68- �• •I I I I - • •II II II Single-family subdivisions, with a density of between two and four units per acre, are contemplated for this area. Some multiple-family development at slightly higher densities may also be appropriate for portions of this designated area. The appropriateness of specific sites for higher density purposes needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with consideration given to the characteristics of surrounding property, the suitability of access to a major thoroughfare, and availability of water and sewer, to name a few of the factors. COMMERCIAL The need for retail goods and services is directly related to several factors, including the number of households, disposable income levels, and the proximity of competing centers in nearby communities. Existing retail uses in Armada Township are concentrated in the Village Central Business District. As indicated in the Economic Characteristics study, the quantity of land currently being used for commercial purposes is generally consistent with estimated demands. As the number of households increase, however, this demand may increase and new commercial opportunities may be required . The Master Plan policies support the preservation and upgrading of the Village Central Business District as a primary focal point of commercial development for the community . In the event that additional commercial development is needed, 30 acres of land have been so designated by the Master Plan. One site has been identified for commercial purposes at the southwest corner of Armada Center Road and North Avenue. Proximity of this area to two heavily travelled roads supports this designation. The size of this site lends itself to being developed for a small planned shopping facility. The uses to be encouraged in this area would be larger land uses which require extensive parking areas or large volumes of automobile traffic for their market. This type of use may be unable to be developed in the Village Central Business District due to the unavailability of large contiguous vacant parcels. Commercial development at this location is not necessarily incompatible with the longterm goal of preserving the Village Central Business District. It should be viewed as being complementary to existing retail development in the Village. Both areas offer different types of needed commercial services. This mutual dependence and compatibility could be further reinforced by the development of a pedestrian path system along the banks of East Branch of Coon Creek. Such a path could be part of a larger system. This segment of the system would link the Village Business District to the new site to the north, thereby providing a pleasant route for pedestrians and shoppers to travel between both sites. Two smaller additional commercial sites are also identified on the Master Plan. The first is located at the northwest corner of North Avenue and Armada Center Road. This site largely coincides with existing commercial uses at this location. A second, more convenience-oriented, site is located at the 32 Mile Road/Romeo Plank intersection. -69- �I I I I I • • • • • •II - INDUSTRIAL The largest quantity of land reserved for Mure industrial purposes is located in the southwest corner of the Township, along Powell Road between 32 and 33 Mile Roads. This area is opposite an emerging industrial area in the Village of Romeo. The opening of the Ford Engine Plant and the M-53 Freeway bypass of downtown Romeo make this area a logical location for Mure industrial development. Not only does it have convenient access to 32 Mile Road, which is a major thoroughfare serving northern Macomb County, it is physically separated from existing or planned concentration of residential uses. This separation minimizes the potential for incompatible land use relationships. Light industrial uses occurring in planned industrial park settings are encouraged for this area. A second industrial area is noted on the south side of the Grand Trunk Western Railroad tracks. This area offers an opportunity to expand the adjoining industrially developed area located in the Village. PUBLIC A total of 100 acres of land are reserved for public purposes on the Master Plan. Most of this land is encompassed by the existing school and Township park sites located on the north side of Armada Center Road, east of North Avenue. Detailed plans for the development of the Township park site are included in the community facilities section of the Master Plan. The remaining area designated for semi-public purposes is located opposite the Township Park and includes the site being used for the Amvets Hall and adjoining baseball diamonds . FLOODPLAIN Three significant drainage channels cross the Township. Those channels, including land on both sides, are identified as floodplains on the Master Plan. This designation calls attention to the fact that these areas have unique physical characteristics, the most notable of which is presence of seasonally high water levels. Future development near these floodplains should be adequately set back from environmentally sensitive areas to avoid the problems normally associated with the development in floodplains. These areas are best suited for open space purposes. ROADS The Township's existing road system, including land reserved for right-of-way purposes, occupies nearly 1,200 acres of land. Future development in the community, as envisioned by the Master Plan, will necessitate the development of new roads, including interior subdivision roads and extensions of the section-line grid system. Additional land will be required to provide needed access improvements. A detailed description of needed road improvements is identified in the Thoroughfare Plan. -70- �I I I I I I I I I • •II II LAND USE PLAN SUMMARY The allocation of land use has been based upon the goals and objectives and the ability of the community to support such land uses. Based on preliminary figures from the 1990 Census, the number of housing units in the Township and Village increased from 1,208 to 1,412. This represents an increase of about 17 percent over the decade. The population for both units increased from 3,887 to 4,463, for an increase of about 15 percent. Over the next two decades, the population is projected to increase by about 1,200 persons, and the number of households by 650. These estimates pro_iect an increasing growth rate. The urban growth areas shown on the Land Use Plan, at a density of one unit per acre, could accommodate about 5,000 additional housing units. This does not include any development which could take place within the 15,000 acres of land designated for agricultural use. In summary, there is no need or reason to house Mure generations of growth in areas which can and should be used for agricultural pursuits. The Land Use Plan provides a framework for controlled growth. It provides goals and objectives which can be attained over the next.two decades. Land acreages have been allocated which exceed, by far, any known demand. They, nevertheless, provide for a range of choices and sites. Over the next 20 years, there will be numerous issues which must be addressed. These include growth management, water and sewer availability, economic development and provision of public services, to name a few. Many of these issues will require cooperation and coordination between the Township and the Village. Because of the geography, social and political interaction, neither community can, or should, act independent of the other in major issues. It is hoped that this Master Land Use Plan will be used as the framework or policy guide to addressing those issues. It is also intended to act as a development guide for those who wish to invest in the Mure of the Armada area. l'IOURe. MASTER PLAN ACREAGE ALLOCATIONS Rlghl-of•Way 7.4% -71- �-I I I I I • • • •II II THOROUGHFARE PLAN INTRODUCTION Road systems are designed to provide for the fast and efficient movement of people and goods both within and through a community. Unpaved roads and road alignments of early settlements that were adequate for low volumes of traffic became hazardous with increased traffic volumes. Consequently, a coordinated and improved road system needed to be provided to facilitate a smooth and safe flow of traffic. One obviously important consideration in proper transportation and land use planning is the issue of providing adequate accessibility. The automobile has reoriented land use patterns making the free movement of people and goods essential to the economic and social welfare of the community. A thoroughfare plan must, therefore, consider the relationship between the type and intensity of different land uses and the resulting generation of traffic movements to insure orderly development and a desirable environment. Through the preparation of a thoroughfare plan, a community has an opportunity to shape urban development patterns, improve the environmental quality and economic efficiency of different land uses and result in the optimum use of the existing road system . Preparation of a thoroughfare plan has two useful applications that can have important . consequences for Mure development patterns in a community. Through the identification of Mure right-of-way locations and widths, a community effectively establishes the foundation for Mure development. Furthermore, the cost of acquiring Mure right-of-way can be significantly reduced if the necessary reservation is done well in advance of Mure road construction. Establishing right-of-way locations and standards through the planning process provides a community with some authority to request right-of-way designations either through the platting or site plan review process. Designating right-of-way widths also helps a community establish consistent setback requirements which is accomplished through the administration of a zoning ordinance. This minimizes the potential of having to acquire homes or businesses when road widening becomes necessary. Preparation of a thoroughfare plan will not completely negate the need to acquire additional right-of-way which may or may not contain a house or business sometime in the Mure. The plan does, however, establish consistent standards and makes property owners aware of the community's long term growth plans. The Thoroughfare Plan is functionally related to the previously described Mure land use plan. The recommended improvements contained herein are intended to provide the road network required to support the Mure land use intensity contemplated by the land use plan. -72- �I I I I I I • • • •II THOROUGHFARE CLASSIFICATION Roads are grouped into a number of different classifications necessary for administrative, design and planning purposes. Most classification systems make a distinction based on the intended purpose of the road and the geographic areas it is intended to serve. Common road classifications include freeways, arterials, collectors and local roads. Each classification carries with it suggested minimum design standards. State trunklines carry high volumes of traffic between population centers in many counties and should be designed to facilitate traffic movement while controlling access. At the county level, the highway system includes both primary and local roads. Primary roads provide access to higher classification roads and connect population centers within the county. Local roads consist of secondary feeder roads to the primary network and residential neighborhood streets. Suggested right-of-way design standards for these various road types are shown in Table 22 and Illustration 7 . TABLE 22 SUMMARY OF ROADWAY PLANNING STANDARDS * ii i I Major Thoroughfares .( Right-of-Way 150 feet Element ! Pavement Width ! (initial stage) Secondary Thoroughfares Collector Local 120 feet 120 feet 86 feet 60 feet 84 feet 63-84 feet (24 feet) 59 feet (24 feet) 36-50 feet 28 feet 7 4 or more Urban - 4 Rural - 2 2-4 2 1 mile 1/2 mile I ! Number of I i ! Standards For: Lanes !._~cing * 1 mile -------·--··-··--····------ Adapted from Macomb County Road Commission, Macomb County, Michigan -73- �I I I I I I ' ' ' ' CROSS SECTION STANDARDS ...,.___ _ _ 36' - - - - ...,.___ _ _ _ so' - - - - - - - 1 ~----60° - - - - - LOCAL -----------i COLLECTOR - - - - - - - - - - - 86° SUBDIVISION 1 1---------59 - - - - - - l----------------120'----------------, SECONDARY :::::::::::: THOROUGHFARE ........ I - - - - - - - Medium-ACT 63'*------ 1 - - - - - - - - - High- ADT L - - -Dolly -- - - - - - - - - - 120' * ACT- Avera91 Traffic. MAJOR I ~ 84 ' ...:..*-------- ------------- I ------,I THOROUGHFARE ,J'_....__ _ I 24 ' - - - + - - !0° -I ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 120 ' - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Initia l Stage MAJOR THOROUGH FARE -74- 7 �I I I I I I I ' ' ' ' ' EXISTING THOROUGHFARE SYSTEM The existing network of roads serving Armada Township provides the framework upon which the Thoroughfare Plan is based. It is, therefore, important that the characteristics of this system be understood. A description of the Township's thoroughfare network is provided as follows. State Routes No existing State highways cross the Township. Armada lies between M-53 on the west, which connects Romeo, Almont and Imlay City; and M-19 on the east, connecting Richmond, Memphis and Emmet. Of these two State highways, M-53 is clearly the more dominant. This highway connects metropolitan Detroit with the communities located in the 11thumb-area11 of Michigan. Traffic volumes along M-53 exceed 20,000 vehicles per day in Washington Township and 11,000 vehicles per day in Bruce Township. A portion of the M-53 Freeway bypass of Romeo Village was recently completed to 32 Mile Road. Completion of the bypass to 34 Mile Road is scheduled for 1991. Completion of the bypass, while located one mile west of the Township, may influence traffic flow through the community. One consequence of the improvement will likely be an increase in traffic along 32 Mile Road. It may also have some impact on north-south traffic, particularly along Romeo Plank and Capac Roads. County Roads County roads in Armada Township are divided into two principal classifications: primary and local. Paved primary roads crossing the Township include North Avenue, Armada Ridge Road, Armada Center Road, Romeo Plank Road, Capac Road and 32 Mile Road. Traffic volumes along these roads are shown in Illustration 8. The highest volumes of traffic occur along 32 Mile Road, North Avenue, and Romeo Plank and Capac Roads. High volumes are also noted along the one-mile segment of Armada Center Road, connecting Romeo Plank and Capac Roads. The remaining roads in the Township are classified as local roads. -75- �.,,.,_,_,_,_,.. --------VEHICLES J - PER DAY 4000 - OVER - 2000- 4000 - ·1000- 2000 .!.J cp TRAFFIC VOLUMES ARMADA TOWNSHIP IUCOII • COUNTY • IIICHIQAN ARMADA TOWNSHIP Pl.ANNING COMMISSION "•=='I. " Ce •• HhJ Pla••I"' I Nu--.,.,.,, P. C. ••ka, • lc:•lqa. 8 �I I I I I I I -,. ' ',. ' THOROUGHFARE PLAN The Thoroughfare Plan is designed to provide adequate roads to serve the Mure land use pattern envisioned by the land use plan. It is also intended to fit into the context of the County and State planned road network. The major roads shown on the Master Plan are identical to the previously described County primary roads. Only one change is proposed. The change involves the extension of Capac Road from Armada Center Road south to 33 Mile Road. This connection would continue the system of section-line roads located at one-mile intervals and would provide a more continuous route north toward Capac. All of these major roads have a planned right-of-way of 120 feet, with two exceptions. Both 32 Mile Road and Capac Road, including the Wolcott Road extension from Armada Center Road south to 32 Mile Road, have planned right-of-way widths of 150 feet. These designations correspond to the Macomb County Road Commission standards and reflect higher volumes for both roads. The Township's remaining roads are designated as secondary thoroughfares. Their intended role is principally to provide a connection to the previously described primary road system. The planned right-of-way width for these roads is also 120 feet. Any Mure roads developed to serve residential neighborhoods are classified as local roads and require 60 feet of right-of-wa~. Local subdivision streets should be designed to meet Macomb County Road Commission standards and be dedicated for public use. fl -n- �I I I I I I I ' ' '• ,.• COMMUNITY FACILITIES PLAN This element of the Master Plan identifies the need for those facilities and services necessary to support the community at capacity development envisioned by the land use plan. A range of services may be included within this category, including recreation, utilities, and protective services, among others. The need for these services is directly related to the size of the community, as well as the desires and expectations of its residents. It would not be reasonable or practical for the Master Plan to plan for the same range and level of facilities that may be appropriate for a more urbanized community located in southern Macomb County. Armada Township is a rural community and, while the number of residents and households continue to grow, the character of the community remains rural in nature. While the Master Plan does provide opportunities for Mure growth, the type and quantity of Mure development is not intended to change the basic rural character of the community. Most of the basic community services and facilities available to Township residents, including schools, parks and utilities, are concentrated within or proximate to the Village of Armada. Those portions of the Township planned for more intense development are arrayed around the Village, thereby providing for the more efficient use of existing facilities. This type of policy has important consequences as it minimizes the need to duplicate or extend services to less densely population portions of the community, often at considerable expense to taxpayers. UTILITIES The availability of public utilities, namely sanitary sewers and water, pays a central role in establishing a community's development potential. The intensity of Mure development is directly related to the ability of existing utility systems to accommodate this growth. Providing public utilities is a considerable expense and can have important consequences on the community's tax structure. Outside of the Armada Village boundaries, sanitary sewers and municipal water supply lines are not available to Township residents. Private wells and on-site waste water disposal systems are required for each home or business site in the Township. The use of on-site waste disposal systems is limited by the characteristics of the soils to accept and treat effluent. These systems function best at those locations with sandy soils that have good percolation characteristics. Heavy clay soils with higher water tables require the installation of more expensive engineered systems. Depending on the characteristics of individual sites, one acre is generally considered to be the minimum land area needed to accommodate the installation of a septic tank and disposal field, provide sufficient area for a reserve field, and maintain a safe isolation distance to wells. The practical effect of relying on this form of waste water disposal, therefore, is to limit the density of development in a community. -78- �I I I I I I I -~ Sanitary sewers are available within the Village of Armada. This system apparently has the capacity to permit some additional development. The Village is currently operating under a mandate from the State of Michigan to separate the combined sanitary and storm sewer lines. Armada Village is also served by a series of community wells and public water distribution system. Some testing of these wells is needed to determine more conclusively how much capacity the system has available. The need for a comprehensive regional sewer service policy as a mechanism to control urban sprawl was recently addressed by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. The sewer service area map, adopted in March 1990, shows Mure sewer services being confined primarily to the Village of Armada. The Township's Master Plan is generally consistent with this policy and strives to maintain the Village's compact development pattern by concentrating those areas considered to be suitable for residential development of a more urban density and character in those areas located proximate to the Village. To implement this policy, the Township and Village should continue discussions with the intent of establishing some type of mutually beneficial cooperative development agreement relating to the Mure extension of utilities to locations outside of the Village. The broader policies of the Master Plan, including maintaining the rural character of the community, should be considered in establishing any such policy. RECREATION Quality of life is influenced by many factors, not the least of which is the availability of parks and public open space areas. Parks not only provide areas for passive and active recreation, they also introduce welcome open space and natural areas into an urban or suburban environment; it is frequently these amenities which are necessary components to a balanced land use pattern. One frequent consequence of urban development is the loss of recreation areas to a variety of urban uses. As land becomes more valuable for these urbanized uses, it becomes more expensive to purchase for recreation activities. It is, therefore, appropriate to plan for the development of Mure recreational activities in proportion to the expansion of Armada Township's other uses, particularly residential neighborhoods. Neighborhood Parks The need for recreation facilities should consider the larger development context of the community as a whole. The demand for parks is generally related to the number of residents and the density of development within designated neighborhood areas. ~ ~ -79- �I I I I I I I ' ' ' ' ~ Armada Township is relatively sparsely populated, with existing development widely distributed over a 36-square mile area. As a result of this development pattern, the Township has no defined neighborhoods in the strictest sense of the term. The larger lot sizes that characterize most residential development in the Township generally offer enough area to meet the immediate open space needs of most residents, thereby satisfying the demand for neighborhood parks. Neighborhood recreation needs for Village and nearby Township residents can be adequately met by the existing school and park sites located in and proximate to the Village. Community Parks These parks are frequently areas of diverse environmental quality and may include areas suited for intense recreational facilities, such as athletic complexes and large swimming pools. They may also feature an area of natural quality for outdoor recreation activities, such as walking, viewing, sitting and picnicking. Community parks are intended to serve a wider geographic area. Ideally, community recreation land should be provided at a ratio of between five and eight acres per 1,000 persons. Aramda Township owns and operates a 24-acre park site at the northeast corner of North Avenue and Armada Center Road. The east branch of Coon Creek crosses the property along its eastern boundary. Aside from two ball diamonds, the park remains substantially undeveloped. The size of this park should be sufficient to meet the needs of existing residents, as well as those of Mure residents anticipated during the timeframe encompassed by the Master Plan. The single greatest recreation need facing Township residents involves the development of the existing 24-acre park site. A Master Plan for this facility has been prepared which offers specific recommendations for the Mure development of this site. The Plan proposes the extension of recreation improvements to the eastern half of the site and includes a restroom/storage building, picnic shelter, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard court, tot-lot area, basketball court, picnic area, jogging trail and landscaping. These improvements are shown on Illustration 9. The Township Park site is located in close proximity to the SO-acre Armada High School property to the east. Both sites are crossed by Coon Creek, which meanders in a northeasterly direction as it leaves the Township Park site. The relationship of this water course to both sites provides a unique recreation opportunity. The proposed path system for the Township Park could be extended to the northeast along the Creek and onto the High School site. This expansion would, in effect, expand both recreation sites and offer an area for passive enjoyment of the unique natural features located along the Creek. It would also provide an expanded system for joggers, walkers and bicyclists. -80- �I I I I I I • I I I I I IL_________ _ ARMADA AREA COMMUNITY ( REVISED PLAN PARK STUDY ) 9 Co••11"i1, -81- Pl •••i•«. I Ma11•c.••••' , P. C . 11,ic • , •iclti<e•" �I I I I • • • • -.. FIRE PROTECTION Fire protection is among the most essential public services provided at the local level. Beyond the obvious need to protect residents and businesses from financial loss and personal injury, fire fighting services can also substantially reduce the cost of providing insurance. Standards contained in the Plan should be considered as the minimum necessary to provide an adequate level of fire protection for the Township. Armada Township is served by a volunteer fire department headquartered in a new building located on the Armada Center Road, east of North Avenue. This existing site should be adequate to accommodate the development anticipated by the Master Plan . The following standards offered by the National Board of Fire Underwriters, if followed, can assist a community in achieving the best possible rating. These standards are reflected below. National Board of Fire Underwriters Standards The National Board of Fire Underwriters has set minimum standards for fire protection that enable communities to get the best possibl~ rating. Since this can be an ultimate savings to the community, it is only logical to adopt these standards: 1. The water system should be able to provide a "fire flow" during a five (5) day maximum consumption period of ten (10) hours. 2. The existing system of water mains should be a minimum of eight (8) inches in diameter to serve residential development. 3. Fire hydrants should be within three or four hundred (300 or 400) feet of every structure and never more than six to eight hundred {600 to 800) feet apart. 4. A fire station should be located so that it is close to, or leading into, a major or secondary thoroughfare. 5. Within the primary service area of each fire station, there should be no barriers, natural or man-made, that would delay the effectiveness of the fire fighting equipment. · 6. The fire stations should be built and manned in such a way as to be the most efficient for the area to be served. In most larger communities, they are manned by salaried employees; however, in many areas of the country they are manned by volunteers on an extremely well-organized basis. -82- �I I I I I I • • • TABLE 23 LOCATION STANDARDS FOR FIRE STATIONS ----------·---------------Radius Served . ! Fire Station .! Pumper and Hose Company l Ladder Company High Value District Standard Resldentlal Number of Men On Duty Minimum Land Area Required 3/4 mile 1 1/2 mile 4-5 1/2 acre 1 mile 2 miles 5-6 1/2-3/4 acre i Pumper-Ladder Company . ·- - - 1 mile 8-10 1 acre ----------------------------·----·--------·..·-··-····--·-··---···-..···········-··· These standards possess a certain amount of flexibility, which is based upon the individual community's needs. -83- �I ST. CLAIR COUNTY • - • - • - rr.+!P. ._ • r-_,,-=---=--=-,-.!:a:,--,,a::a~~--=:,'!C'"'-lm:11i:=-~60~RgD~M~'A,[;j,N-=x:::11-~~R~/ BERLIN L~E~Y~~r::;w,:Pi:::, . -=aa I I I I I I I --1-I I I PRATT PRATT 0 0 PRINZ MC PHALL + u 4 © SUBURBAN • URBAN @D COMMERCIAL • INDUSTRIAL @) PUBLIC / SEMI - PUBLIC RESIDENTIAL RESIDENTIAL ~ FLOOD <( Q. REil, AGRICULTURAL ::; PRATT <( B u 9 PLAIN CORRIDOR II 10 7 • UTILITIES - MAJOR ROAD SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT IRWIN IRWIN * AREA 16 17 0 IC) "'z <( 20 w z <( "' 0:: 34 -------- 21 22 34 MILE = MILE 29 PLAN MASTER ARMADA MACOMB TOWNSHIP COUNTY , MICHIGAN ARMADA TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION ,ooo 33 I I I 3 4 6 0 84 34 35 Co,u10Niry PIANNiNG & MANAGEMENT' P. C. oricA , MicltiGAN lltH ,HJ pre,ort6 .-, fMI: 11111,COMI COUHTT P!...AIOUNG COIIIWISSK>H 10 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization) Wyckoff, Mark A. Description An account of the resource Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960/2023 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Comprehensive plan publications Master plan reports Zoning--Michigan Zoning--Maps Maps Land use--planning Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-240 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Language A language of the resource eng Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Armada-Twp_Master-Plan_1991 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Armada Township Planning Commission, Armada Township, Macomb County, Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-07-10 Title A name given to the resource Armada Township Master Plan Description An account of the resource Armada Township Master Plan developed by the Armada Township Planning Commission in partnership with Community Planning & Management, P.C. adopted on July 10, 1991. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Community Planning & Management, P.C. (consultant) Subject The topic of the resource Master plan reports Armada Township (Mich.) Macomb County (Mich.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0a5c25b79dd65c053371d6d9118ceecd.mp4 f9db2b5b3c2675157f81876d63b121f5 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f4fed114d7057b01883f4824648eaf61.pdf dc7119787fa60602b2874d711706968f PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Forrest Armstrong Date: 1984 Part: 1 of 3 [Barbara] Not as many students as I would like to, but everybody from the faculty and… What kind of description that tells you what kind of vibes about the place did you get from others? [Armstong] Did I get from others? [Barbara] From others. Not what you observed, but what kinds of things were you told about the college? [Armstrong] Okay. [Barbara] Anytime you're comfortable. [Armstrong] Oh, you're running? [Barbara] Yeah. [Armstrong] Okay. I think the image that I got when I came was of a place where there were a fair number of good people, people who were viewed favorably across campus, but who, genuinely, were not well understood in the kind of thing they had chosen to put their lives to. The college was not at all well understood. There was the shared perception that there was nothing of coherence that one might call general education. The synoptic program was not seen to be a program. The concept was, I think, not well understood. The grading system was a major problem. And I think, increasingly, the college became known more by its failures than by its successes. I think there was a sense that there was a fatal fascination of moth for a flame. And the college with its perceived lack of structure, perceived lack of rigor – collectively, though not individually – and lack of grading system as understood by the rest of the world, was attracting people for the wrong reasons. Yet, there was attention, I think, because many people on campus could point to individuals at the college and say: "There's a very bright, very dedicated, very capable, very attractive, colleague." But somehow collectively it didn't work that way. [Barbara] Okay. Can you be specific about certain things that you were told to change? If that's a proper question. �[Armstrong] I don't think I was told to change anything. I think I came, probably, with an implicit mandate that things needed to be better organized, that things needed to be tightened up, if you will. There was the budget fiasco of the previous year, where the budget had been overspent and we were, actually, in nineteen eighty debited by over half of the amount that was overspent the year before. [Barbara] How much? [Armstrong] I'm going to say six thousand was debited and the overrun was twelve thousand out of a CSSM of sixty. Maybe not close enough for government work even. I think there was the sense that a number of things had – at least in the near term – been left unattended. I wasn't here then; I don't really know what that meant. But there were a number of things that were of the standard organizational sort: things that needed to be done on time and things needed to be done comprehensively. In the sense, I believe, those had not been done that way in the past. I think Zumberge presumed, appropriately, that that's something I could do. But that's the tail, not the dog. Another thing I think that was probably not well understood was the extent of which the curriculum changed in a relatively fluid manner. Not as fluid as TJC's had been, apparently, but far more so than CAS's. And I think there was some lack of understanding about how that could keep going on. Why people didn't think it through, get it straight, and then more or less stay with it once they had gotten it that way. One of the issues – I don't how long it had been an issue, but it was certainly and issue when I came – was the need for the institution to run as many course descriptions and the time schedule each semester as it was doing. And that was attributed largely to James's insistence that it be that way. [Barbara] Okay. We've been talking about other people's perceptions, what were your perceptions of the college when you actually came and started administrating? [Armstrong] My perception of the college was that it had a lot of good people who are very seriously invested in the college. That there was a real openness to seeing students as significant participants in the process, which is immensely valuable, and it helps set the tone for a lot of other things that could happen. I think I also saw that there was a real openness to ideas. People were used to working with ideas of others; they were open to that. There was a kind of collegiality that was important here, and it's something that I think I value especially and is one of the many things I found that was attractive that led me to come. I think that I also found that there was probably a mismatch between perceptions of people in the college about what it was and what it actually was, especially in the nature of the student body. And my sense is that the perceptions of people in the college – faculty – probably were formed maybe five years before I came, when the student body was largely social relations students, and probably largely made up �of students who were here for what we all came to say were the right reasons. They understood… they were attracted to the college because of this educational philosophy, because of the myriad ways they could grow within that philosophy, because of all very positive things. And, indeed, many of the students I met when I came for my interview, I later learned were of that sort just exiting the college. I think, though, probably beginning about seventy-eight, the student balance changed fairly abruptly. They changed from social relations students to arts and media students and – not because of that, but I think in addition to that – more and more came for what might not have been the right reasons. People running from a perception of the structure and the rigor that they would find in some other place to a place where they could do their own thing, and everything was okay. That was never the perception of the faculty, collectively, but I think it was of more and more students. And I think over time, those students made an impact on the whole campus's perception of the college. And also had something to do with the nature of the discourse in classes. I think that was one of the things that we didn't anticipate and had hurt us in the long run. [Barbara] Very clear. What was your impression of the quality of education that we were delivering or that was being absorbed (if those are two different things) when you arrived? The quality of the education? [Armstrong] I think, in general, it was quite high. I think it was, probably, more ambitious than an increasingly large percentage of the students were able to handle. One of the things that I remember vividly is the sense of people saying: "It's not working the way it used to. We used to be able to do certain kinds of things and we can't do them now." I looked at the numbers, and the distribution to students, and so forth, and it seemed relatively clear to me why that might be. But for people who had evolved through the change from seventy-four to eighty, the changes were gradual and relatively imperceptible in any moment of time. The difference between what had been done in the education and vocation class, whence came the idea for milestone, and what was done in milestone is, I think, dramatic. And it's probably a symbol of the changes that had come upon us without our understanding it. [Barbara] Good. You must have been in show business. [Armstrong] I'm sorry? [Barbara] You're very crisp, I was teasing you. [Armstrong] Oh [Laughter]. [Barbara] I was saying you must have been in show business. I'm sorry. What was your agenda? You didn't get to be [inaudible] for very long, but what was your agenda �for that, probably, year and a half, wasn't that it? [Armstrong] Twenty-nine days after I came, the state’s fiscal crisis was announced. And so whatever it was that might have been, I think, was really abrogated before even a month had past. I was really very interested in James, in part, because I had spent twelve years in a different interdisciplinary setting, and I was quite interested to get some perspective on what I had been doing. Some perspective on interdisciplinary teaching, interdisciplinary collaboration. I was also very interested to see an entirely different approach to the integration of general and liberal education with a major. Green Bay had had a core program; I had been centrally responsible for devising, and teaching in it, and revising it when it happened toward the end. Green Bay, in many respects, was much more tightly controlled. The whole thing was to be interdisciplinary, but there were many more strictures. Students would all have to do this, all have to do that, all have to something else. A very different approach toward achieving what I saw as some common objectives was the one taken here, and I wanted to get some perspective on that. One of the things I did not anticipate – but came to appreciate tremendously and learn a great deal from – is James's way of doing things. I think, probably, the central institution in the college, was council. And I had not understood – even intellectually, much less come to appreciate fully – the importance of council, nor the way it worked; nor the kind of respect for the ideas of others and concern for avoiding a rush to closure that I found here. That's one of the many things I think I got from James, was to learn something from that. One of my disappointments was that I did not find here – in those twenty-nine days, at least – I didn't really find the kind of collective attention to epistemology and to the intellectual underpinnings of the interdisciplinary enterprise that I had hoped. I think, frankly, that was a weakness. And I think that there were enough people who thought interdisciplinary just meant doing whatever one wanted, without taking a hard look at it. That disappointed me a bit. There was a lot of openness to ideas and there was a lot of sharing at some levels. And on a one-to-one basis, one could go a long way there. But, interestingly, in the collective endeavor, people backed away from doing some of the hard questioning, which I think is a natural outgrowth of the process and ought to be valued… ought to have been valued. But in my experience, at least beginning in nineteen eighty, wasn't always. I don't quite have a theory for why that was, but it was one of the strange things that I came to think about, and still think about, in trying to make sense out of what James was and what it offers us now. [Barbara] What I think of when you talk about that is Walter because I really feel that Walter was open to that and Walter tried to get people to converse with him in the way that you're speaking of, and people backed off. [Armstrong] I think that's true. I think he did, and he was certainly one of the truly broad, �fascinating, interestingly educated persons I've met. He didn't get very far in the public discourse, and I don't know why. I came at a time, which was I think at the tail end of the discussion I couldn't chair in about visual literacy, and apparently, he had been central to that in seventy-eight and seventy-nine. My sense was that, to a certain extent, he'd used up some of his credits, if you will, in that discussion. I don't know why, but that was more of a closed topic than an open one with most people when I got out here. I don't know why. [Barbara] I don't know why either. I know we're heading towards the end of the first tape, even though I can't see my light, so let me just ask you… here I'll even… [Armstrong] Among the problems that were identified: the colleges unwillingness to collect the student fees it assessed, the colleges willingness to Xerox things at college expense, and violate copyright to give them to students, saving students the cost of buying the book, the willingness to pick up faculty that had been denied tenure in another unit of the college, the wholesale granting of credit (or so it was said) for life experience in a couple of instances early on in the experiment with that which lead, I understand, to the decision not to do so at Grand Valley anywhere. And then, of course, the lack of tenure, the lack of a grading system that was understandable by the rest of the college. And also, the perceived lack of any clear relationship between the major and general ed. Synoptic simply meant anything that you wanted to the uninitiated outside the college. All of those, I think, created an atmosphere of misunderstanding. � 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 William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education 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 Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV016-16_GVSU_50_Armstrong Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Armstrong, Forrest Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Forrest Armstrong interview (1 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Forrest Armstrong by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Forrest Armstrong was the Dean of William James College from 1980-1983 and also served as the Dean of Arts and Humanities during his ten years at Grand Valley. In this interview, Forrest discusses his initial perceptions of William James College upon his arrival at Grand Valley, his impression of the quality of education being delivered, and the state's fiscal crisis that contributed to the college's future. This interview is part 1 of 3 for Forrest Armstrong. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories College administrators Interdisciplinary approach in education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/770aaa0d6bde37f836fe39853679f294.mp4 276ad35bef6ac8cb04e44a029d2411d6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4d796fbd2887157259a1ce2134871c42.pdf 21bb2dccf1cab8a356c8dc7a4ac32b0d PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Forrest Armstrong Date: 1984 Part: 2 of 3 [Barbara] Could you please sum up what you felt was the distinctive core of James in a sentence. [Armstrong] I think that the distinctive idea had to do with working with students individually, helping them see the relationship between their own efforts and the impact those ideas and efforts would have on society. I think the essence of the operation of the college was council, with a profound respect for other people, for hearing ideas on the merits, for looking things up one side and down the other, and for drawing people out for playing what Peter Elbow called the “believing game” rather than the “doubting game.” Immensely important, immensely powerful and made a lot of the good things in the college happen. [Barbara] Good. [Barbara] Anytime. [Armstrong] Looking back on it, if I had it to do over again, I think I probably would have accelerated the timetable for some things I tried to do. I don't think I would have changed them; I would simply have gotten to them immediately. In the second year, in the beginning of the second year, I proposed an agenda of, I believe, fourteen different items – things that the college needed to attend to. Almost all those we did work on, and I think almost all of them, in one form or another, were received favorably, which I think is a testimony of the power of people to look at with open eyes and ideas that were not necessarily the same as the ones they had been working with. We should've done it the first year, not the second. I remember vividly that we had a retreat in January of eighty-two. We had a retreat at Kirkhof House. And one of the things I did at that time was read to people the statement I had just gotten earlier that day from the President, about the charge to the committee to, you know, attend to overlap and duplication – things of that sort. At that time… in that meeting, on our agenda was things like a change in the grading system, and some other modifications which, I think, possibly could have made a difference had they been in place during the nineteen eighty, eighty-one academic year. Eighty, eighty-one was a bizarre time. I was never here, really, during the normal time, except those first twenty-nine days. But, if we had made some changes then – that I personally think were called for – it’s conceivable to me, I think it is unlikely, but I think there's probably five to ten �percent probability that it might have worked out a little differently. That's not a high probability of success, but those are the kinds of things that I think would have been taken seriously. I know the changes we made during the eighty-one, eighty-two academic year were taken seriously by the people across campus. They looked at us in a little different way as a result. And I think that if we had attended to the grading system which, in many respects, was the central, most visible thing about us that people were then taking shots at. Conceivably, we might have done it. Conceivably we might have had a different outcome. Not probably, but least conceivably. [Armstrong] In retrospect, it is easy to say that I really should have proposed a number of things earlier. I didn't do it because I really wanted to take that first year and get to know the college more fully than I could possibly have known it coming in a fresh. I really didn't want to just bring in ideas and say: "I've got answers and here they are." I intuited that there was something of great value here, and one of the reasons I came was that I wanted to learn, and I understood that I could learn a number of things here. Learning means you talk to people, you ask questions, you listen. You don't simply come in with your bag of tricks and say, “Here they are, we gotta do them." And I did – I learned a lot. And that's one of the immensely important things for me about the experience. That would have been changed – for me, and I think for the college – had I come in with a whole agenda in nineteen eighty. On the other hand, in retrospect, maybe something else could have happened as a result. [Barbara] Fascinating. [Barbara] Let’s give it a shot. [Armstrong] One of the interesting things about the federation – I think probably one of reasons it came into being initially – was that the several colleges presented multiple opportunities for innovation, multiple pathways. And during that heady growth period of the seventies, there were ultimately five different places where a good idea could be found, where a good idea could be nurtured and grow and develop. And I think it was always in the eyes of the people in central administration at that time, that if there were a good idea, it would be appropriated by other units across campus, and the whole institution would be stronger as a result. The decision to reorganize then in nineteen eighty-two, I think, was also informed by that understanding. The decision to create a divisional structure happened to end up with the same number of divisions as there then were colleges. I think that was probably accidental; probably had more to do with the structure of knowledge with the traditional three domains, and the existence of Seidman, which was a foregone conclusion to continue pretty much as it had been. But that also offered then multiple pathways for innovation; multiple structures through which people could work. All smaller structures than �what would’ve happened had there been just one large monolithic organization. I think probably people had learned that if there are somewhat smaller organizational structures and somewhat more of them, maybe it's more likely that ideas will surface and flourish. [Barbara] How are you feeling? [Armstrong] Okay. [Armstrong] I sometimes wonder what the future of the college would have been had we had more time. One of the things that has always perplexed me has been the relative disparity between some of the things that were valued publicly – that were certainly central to the theory behind the college – and the kinds of things we would have wanted our students to do, and some the decision-making processes within it. There seemed to me to be a hard time for people collectively to engage hard decisions. The idea that the choice of Adrian's successor was left to tie. Where, repeatedly, people who had chosen to abstain from the voting passed the decision to Zumberge. The decision at the time in nineteen-eighty when we had to reduce staff… that faculty could have been collectively, centrally, involved in that, but chose not to be… before the fact, at least. The difficulty so many people had with giving no credits, even though the giving of an incomplete, more than ninety percent of the time, was tantamount to giving a no credit, because they all lapsed to no credit. There was some, in some sense, a reluctance to grapple publicly, as council should have caused, with certain kinds of hard decisions. There was a strain of thought in the college that said one of the things I value about it is the opportunity to do things… do my own thing, really, without the kind of real, shared scrutiny that in theory is called for. And that always has perplexed me. It seems to be out of character with the rest of the institution. But I think it was something that did not augur well for the future. I don't know why it was. � 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 William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education 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 Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV016-16_GVSU_51_Armstrong Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Armstrong, Forrest Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Forrest Armstrong interview (2 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Forrest Armstrong by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Forrest Armstrong was the Dean of William James College from 1980-1983 and also served as the Dean of Arts and Humanities during his ten years at Grand Valley. In this interview, Forrest discusses the core of the William James College philosophy, what he would have done differently for the college in retrospect, and how the cluster college structure at Grand Valley provided opportunities for innovation. This interview is part 2 of 3 for Forrest Armstrong. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories College administrators Interdisciplinary approach in education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/774593335ddb9e80faf89dac3073ee19.mp4 69cd74e2febec959b57d4fda97d738f8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cd91137d7e8ceea8fce90566721f3ebe.pdf a0d465b18c2f7a11a2fc4f18d759bfe8 PDF Text Text William James College Interviews GV016-16 Interviewer: Barbara Roos Interviewee: Forrest Armstrong Date: 1984 Part: 3 of 3 [Barbara] What's your guess… what's your estimate of the… how much of the feelings that the way that Zumberge saw us was because we were really straight up, and how much was it that we just made them uncomfortable because of our style? [Armstrong] Hard question to answer. I really don't think that the system, collectively, was out to get the college. I say that because there were so many instances when it could have done so, and yet did not. When TJC was killed, before I came, that would also have been a time to change the system, to get rid of James, too. In the fall of nineteen eighty, when the budget problems were severe, when we had a financial emergency, when we laid off faculty, we did so across the institution, not simply by lopping off one of the small colleges, which would've been the easy way to go, and which had some champions. The reorganization that took place would not have taken the shape it ultimately did if there had not been some serious, profound respect for things that the college offered, including both ideas and people. I do think, though, that there are some things that happened that created a climate of, at least, misunderstanding and sometimes of distrust on campus. I think that the idea, of course, was that from the beginning the institution would be made up of collegiate societies which would share, profoundly, even though they, in each case, had some distinguishing differentiating element. My sense is that never really happened, that the formation of the federation took place after a sizable number of faculty had been hired at the institution. And largely, as a way to promote innovation and differences. It's almost as if the small colleges as they were formed were islands for misfit toys, for people who didn't like what was then the dominant mode could go and do their own thing. I think this led, at least, James to define itself in very negative terms. Basically, in opposition to the dominant mode of thought in higher education at that time. And seldom was the college able to find something that was positive that it could define itself as being, without seeing that same positive element picked up, subsequently, in other places on campus. The attempt to integrate career and liberal education, which certainly marked this college from its beginnings, ultimately was picked up by only other colleges, too. So, it didn't differentiate in a meaningful, obvious way to people who were relatively naïve observers. What William James was that CAS or Kirkhof was not, each in its own way. So, many people here when I came in nineteen eighty defined themselves in opposition to something else. That was a clear problem. It was that we were different than they are, hence, better; rather than we are �different in particular ways that present particular advantages. I think that was exacerbated, too, by the series of decisions… style-type decisions. And also, because in the hiring process, we didn't always go for both "ands." We didn't look for people who had the credentials and who could fit into any college on campus, but who, for special reasons, also had dimensions that made them especially good for James. That process I think began with the first faculty appointments and probably proceeded all the way through. That obviously didn't help the college in the eyes of the rest of the campus. There also being no intellectual life that tied the institution together, where the intellectual life was around the exterior, the rim of the doughnut, but not anything in the center of the doughnut, meant that people basically defined themselves in opposition to others on campus, rather than as something powerful, and positive, and unique that had its own contribution to make. I think that was a major problem in the air when I came, and I sometimes am amazed that the several opportunities to kill the college outright never led to that result. There were certainly days when I feared it would. [Barbara] Was there any sense that there was simple prejudice against us as versus us screwing up. [Armstrong] I'm sorry, simple prejudice…? [Barbara] Simple prejudice just against our style, our politics? [Armstrong] I suspect that didn't help. I suspect it didn't help, but I think politics in a broad sense… I don't think that it had to do with necessarily support for or opposition to any particular ism but perhaps an orientation that was slightly less controlled, less modulated, less considered, than people perceived academe ought to be, perhaps. [Barbara] I moved something here and then asked you to start talking. I don't know how we phrased it before, but talk about your mini history of what happened when they decided they had to do something, regardless of the organization, at what point was it decided we would kill…? [Armstrong] Well, there was concern expressed, I think, always from the time in fall of nineteen eighty, when the budget collapse struck us, how the institution was going to respond. And the decision at that time was to prune selectively, if you will, across campus rather than simply lopping off a college or two. Subsequently, we had a series of budget cuts. That was only the beginning, not the end. And at each point, the problem loomed large enough that, potentially, one could have said, "We will simply cut off a college." That was never done, and I think that was of real consequence. I think people understood… people intuited, perhaps more than they understood, that there was something of value in the college. My sense �is that in the fall of nineteen eighty-one, I believe, the pressure began to build to do something more consequential than simply pruning here and there. And in the early part of January of nineteen eighty-two, the President's proposal that we conduct a study to eliminate unnecessary overlap and duplication said, I think, to the people who wanted to get rid of the collegiate system that, potentially, that was an acceptable alternative. The process moved fairly quickly at that point and by, as I recall, the beginning of March, there was a report from Curriculum Committee. And there was a time, before the decision had actually reached the Academic Senate, the President called a campus-wide meeting and endorsed a particular plan, which is the one that, in essence, that we have today. That plan took apart the old system. It didn't simply lop off James or Kirkhof. It didn't simply keep a traditional college and create then a professional college. It did, I think, much of what we in James were trying to do in some important ways. It extended the effort to integrate the liberal and the professional programs, to pull them together, to find some synergy there across the entire institution so that we now have four academic divisions, each of which has both professional and liberal arts programs in it. Certainly, that was not the way much of the rest of the world was organized, and that's an idea and that came directly from James, and people saw that and valued it. Interdisciplinarity, as a term, was – and I think probably still is – not a favorable one on campus. I think people react negatively to the term interdisciplinarity and yet I'm intrigued to see the number of people who are coming to me and looking for ways to accomplish exactly those opportunities. As faculty members, as researchers, as teachers – they are looking for that opportunity to work with others from different disciplines around common ideas. They just don't call it interdisciplinarity, but there is an interesting, growing interest on campus in precisely that sort of thing. The new General Ed program with the categories that are not owned by any single division is, I think, as explicit as one needs to get in the recognition that there are things that the divisions can share around common ideas that are important to all of us. The other thing I think that's important is that the new General Ed program says that there is something that we all share. We are interdependent. It's not that one division does something for its students and another division does something for its students. We are all interdependent. I think, too, that's something they got from James that they saw to be of value. Probably not at as high a level of articulateness as one might have hoped. But nonetheless it was there, and it was an appreciation, it was valued, and it was saved. [Barbara] Duplication then was not, really, a serious problem? [Armstrong] I have never thought so. If one has full classes – so what, you know? We now offer fourteen sections of Philosophy 101. Every year, they're all full. If we offered seven of Philosophy 101 in one college, seven in another college, and they're all full, [inaudible]. I think that was really an excuse, an opportunity. I don't believe that we really did save anything of consequence that way. What we did do – and �I think it was high time that we did – was combine faculty in larger programs. By the time there had been cuts over time, in the last… seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one, there were lots of programs on campus that were staffed with very few faculty. Lots of one person programs. That's probably not good, and the reorganization allowed us to bring together people into larger critical masses of faculty. And I think probably strengthen programs for students, too. I think that was a step forward. I think that needed to be done, regardless of the organizational structure in which it were accomplished. [Barbara] There are people who say on tape, more than one people… "more than one people." [Laughter] The administration was going to close us; they knew it within the first couple of years. Was that your experience? Did they know they were going to close us at the point when they started talking of duplication in the organization? [Armstrong] I'm sorry, they knew they were going to do it within the first couple of years of what? Of the founding of the college? [Barbara] Yes. [Armstrong] That's very hard for me to imagine, but it's also a long time before I came. [Barbara] But, I mean, in terms of your experience when you were in the middle of the reorganization, talking duplication, did you have a sense they were looking for an excuse to close the college? [Armstrong] No, I think… I think actually the opposite. It seems to me, looking back on it, that there were all sorts of opportunities for them to have closed the college they did not take. When they chose to kill TJC, that was a wrenching decision from the institution. I understand that. But having made the decision to do that, one could have, I think, at the same time, passed a different resolution which is to kill the federation concept entirely. They didn't do that. When in nineteen eighty then Adrian resigned and they needed to replace the dean, that was another opportunity which they did not take to kill the college. And that was a convenient opportunity. In the fall of nineteen eighty, when the budget deficit was so severe and so sudden, that was an opportunity to solve the problem and ruffle almost no feathers on campus by simply lopping off one or two small colleges. James first choice and then Kirkhof second choice, I would guess, to solve the budget problem. Didn't happen! In nineteen eighty-two, when the opportunity came for reorganization, when it was pretty clear that there was going to be a reorganization, the only question was what shape it would take. Again, that was the opportunity; that was the obvious, easy answer and it wasn't taken. That says to me, that people with the long knives were not out. That there was, perhaps, a latent appreciation, but at some levels a profound appreciation for that which we �were trying to accomplish and had made some headway on that people didn't want to lose. Didn't understand it well but didn't think it ought to be lost either. [Barbara] It's blinking at me. [Armstrong] Okay. [Barbara] We have one more question, I think. I think you've done the legacy, don’t you? � 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 William James College Interviews Description An account of the resource Videotaped interviews of William James College faculty, students and administrators by Barbara Roos. William James College opened in 1971 as the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. Curriculum was organized around three concentrations that were meant to be interdisciplinary career preparation offerings: Social Relations, Administration and Information Management, and Environmental Studies. The college was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories Alternative education Interdisciplinary approach in education 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 Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV016-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Language A language of the resource eng 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 GV016-16_GVSU_52_Armstrong Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Armstrong, Forrest Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1984 Title A name given to the resource Forrest Armstrong interview (3 of 3, video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Interview with Forrest Armstrong by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Forrest Armstrong was the Dean of William James College from 1980-1983 and also served as the Dean of Arts and Humanities during his ten years at Grand Valley. In this interview, Forrest discusses his impression of how the William James College community defined itself, the outside community's reaction to their politics, and how the institution responded to the budget collapse beginning in the fall of 1980. This interview is part 3 of 3 for Forrest Armstrong. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Roos, Barbara (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Universities and colleges Oral histories College administrators Interdisciplinary approach in education Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/69">William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives