724 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/76a1f6eb70c899f0280314f0faa843ca.jpg 45a82523ccd003411bb599ad622fa633 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1864 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6f72cbb394e0f442768a975836aca601.jpg a2e44e11bf2b2d5869ebebb7674bfa43 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1866 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cd36654b264eea513abad5dff278e9e2.jpg 114855141b4f14738d6e05b44644a18e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1867 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e5e9117c733b6c676cbe799c548f05dd.jpg 5e7cfa6427f928cc9ebac53aa9d6ea62 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1868 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7a42f80fb9e154f01eabb2c57ec05679.jpg 594b19c4b5d5966a9bad310a50865eea Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1869 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, April 1, 1952. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1952-04-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9dd1abeb1a6c577422d1e59fe0ec3404.jpg a589cb403b34f519fd0645fed80160e9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1871 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1b8177c248a3ae817b8666e8fc13653f.jpg 8fa3d31985298c1377fca35889f632a3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1872 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, Decemeber 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5eda0498677d0d17c60ce016b388f77e.jpg c11fd926f56d10c7f1b63f98ed8e6976 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1873 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/88efc99f42c9ef9d7ba434112fbbec71.jpg a44e98661c92b52733219fe16f55212c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1863 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 fighter, confidential Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 confidential russian fighter, December 1 , 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Military education Russia World War, 1939-1945 Airplanes, Military--Recognition Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/03c497ccb521786ff983d117829f544b.jpg c2edc298dbc4a1c6c1013bff338150f9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1649 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f697a0a5d69d2aa1c74a6054839c9201.jpg 1f498eeb65f5514148c711ac73fdcdab Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1658 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter, October 1, 1947. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1947-10-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1cc385e09152a4bf165587d38921f73d.jpg 65d50d3afbdfad408bcdad6965ec2480 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1865 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter aircraft Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9, USSR fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2fe2c47179547ba3839e3a83f922c39d.jpg 20b39aa5ff70c5902d188989306776e8 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_1870 Title A name given to the resource MIG-9 Russian fighter aircraft Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource MIG-9, USSR fighter, December 1, 1949. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Russia World War, 1939-1945 Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1949-12-01 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3db34cf104f3f4787354c3cb398d0591.mp4 cfe0c097a2c96354b435629e48244d20 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/55776f3c4c57e4f92eb82cb3673068ce.pdf a43488b6f75f81140918e556da5ce15c PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW JOHN MIHALKO Born: June 6, 1947 Resides: Lakeview, Colorado Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, December 10, 2012 Interviewer: Now John, start us off with some background on yourself, and to begin with where and when were you born? I was born on June 6, 1947 in a small patriotic town in New Jersey called Whippany. Interviewer: Did you grow up there? Yes, I was born and raised there. Interviewer: How many kids were in your family? Five Interviewer: Where were you in the sequence? I was the middle kid. My father died when I was very young and he was a WWII veteran. He was only forty-five when he died and he left five kids, and he left my mother a widow at age forty with five kids. Interviewer: What did she do then, at that point? She was a waitress in a diner most of the time, and you know that waitresses don‟t make a lot of money, so as we grew up we got jobs and gave my mother money to keep the house going. Interviewer: Did she remarry? No, she never remarried. Interviewer: She looked after you. 1 �She buried three men, my father and two boyfriends, but she never remarried. 1:01 Interviewer: When did you finish high school? Well, I was supposed to graduate in 1965, but I was having so much fun I stayed another year. I graduated in 1966. Interviewer: Once you finished high school what did you do? I got into warehousing and that‟s been my career up until the present. Interviewer: How long was it between the time you finished school and when you got drafted? Three years Interviewer: Over the course of that time, were you expecting, maybe, to get drafted or did you just not think about it? I thought about it—my buddy wanted me to enlist in the navy with him, but I didn‟t want to do four years because I had a good civilian job and I knew that I was going to go back to the same company so, he said, “Well, you know you‟re going to get drafted into the army”, and I said, “Well, that‟s the way it goes”. 2:00 Interviewer: When did you get your draft notice? I had to report August the 18th 1969. Interviewer: Now, at that point, how much did you know about what had been going on over in Vietnam? Oh, a lot—when the marines landed in 1965 in Da Nang, I wanted to quit high school and join because I thought, “That war‟s going to be over in no time, and with the marines there it‟s going to be over”, but my mother and oldest sister said, “You‟re not doing anything until you graduate from high school. So, when I finally get out of high school I 2 �lucked into this job that‟s been my career for the rest of my life, so I knew what was going on. 1966 came and went and we were still there, 1967 came and went and we were still there, 1968—and then in 1969 I said, “Wow we‟ve been there four years and we‟re still there, there‟s something wrong”, but then in 1969, that‟s when I got my notice. Interviewer: What was your reaction when you finally got the draft notice? 3:02 I knew it was coming. I had to take my physical in May of 1969 and then within thirty days I got this thing that gave me the dates of when to report. I was curious, to say the least, but I went. Interviewer: Now, you went and did the physical and the initial screenings and things like that and getting medical tests. Were there people who were trying to find ways to beat the system? Oh yeah, but it didn‟t matter. Interviewer: What kinds of things did they try? They would say they were either alcoholics, drug addicts, or gay, but it didn‟t matter. If you were overweight you were going in, if you were underweight you were going in. If you walked in with a Seeing Eye Dog, you were going in. I was underweight and I should have never been taken, but I was in. Interviewer: In a different year they might have rejected you. I only know about mine, so I don‟t know Interviewer: Where did they send you then for basic training? 4:02 I got lucky and they sent me to Fort Dix, which is in New Jersey. I was supposed to go to Fort Bragg, but when they were telling you where you were going I had to go to the bathroom and when I came back a guy said, “Where are you going?” I said, “I don‟t 3 �know”, and he said, “Where were you sitting?” I pointed and there was somebody else there, and he said, “Ok, you can go to Dix”. What they did was, they went down the line and said, “You‟re going to Bragg, You‟re going to Dix, Bragg, Dix, Bragg Dix”, and they did the same thing in North Carolina. They were sending the North Carolina guys to Fort Dix and the New Jersey guys to Fort Bragg, I can‟t understand it. Interviewer: When you got to Fort Dix, what did you learn about the guys you were training along with? You had some from North Carolina, or whatever, but were they mostly east coast people who were there? I think so Interviewer: What kind of a sort of ethnic mix was there? Were there black soldiers? Oh yeah, you name it, they were all there. Interviewer: Did you notice anything in the terms of age range of these guys? No, when you‟re in basic training you don‟t have time to think. You‟re up at the crack of dawn; you go out on night maneuvers. 5:08 Interviewer: What did basic training consist of for you? A little bit of everything, but in my opinion—the only thing that I really learned was the M16, which I didn‟t get until my last week of basic training. I trained on the M14, and they were using M16‟s in Vietnam, and it didn‟t make any sense. Interviewer: How much emphasis was there on discipline and following orders? Hardly any, we never had a barracks inspection. I thought it was going to be like—there was a movie out, a story about the DI and I thought that was what the military was. Interviewer: But not at Fort Dix? 4 �To me it was a joke. Growing up in Whippany, New Jersey, we played army all the time when we were kids. We were always out in the woods. My house was surrounded by woods, so living in the jungle and stuff like that, you know, not a big deal. 6:08 But, as far as what they taught us, I didn‟t get much out of it, believe me. Interviewer: Did you have any idea of what the background of the drill instructors was? Had some of them been to Vietnam and back? The drill instructors, I don‟t think they were, but a lot of the cadre was Vietnam vets. Interviewer: How long then does basic training last? It started in August and we graduated in October, it was roughly three months. Interviewer: What do you do after that? You‟re supposed to get a leave to go home and then report back and then they would send you to your AIT, but they wouldn‟t let any of us off the base. As a matter of fact, the day after graduation my sister was getting married and she wanted me to give her away at her wedding and they wouldn‟t let me off the base. Interviewer: Did they offer any explanation of that? Nope, I think they were afraid of desertions, I don‟t know, so, I had to sit on Fort Dis for three days doing nothing. 7:06 Then they put us on a bus and bused us to—I don‟t know which airport we went to. No, they bused us to Philadelphia; we got on a civilian jet and went to Fort Lewis, Washington. Interviewer: Now, did you get an AIT? Oh yeah,, that‟s where I took my jungle training, in the dead of winter in Fort Lewis, Washington. It doesn‟t make sense. Interviewer: No 5 �The terrain was definitely—we were in the mountains all the time and that‟s where I ended up in Vietnam, but the weather was—I couldn‟t get my head into jungle training with the snow, and it rains constantly in Fort Lewis. But, at least there I got an M16 from day one, but it was basically the same type of training, but you did a little more of it and that was a little better. 8:03 Interviewer: Was this just general infantry jungle training or was it specialized? No, just general stuff, basically the same stuff you did in basic, you just did a little more of it. Interviewer: Was this physically demanding work? No, I don‟t think so, working in warehousing, that‟s a physical job anyway. Interviewer: So, you were in good enough physical shape, so that wasn’t a problem for you. How long then does the AIT last? Another three months Interviewer: Now, do you go home at that point? That I did, and then I got a two week leave. We started on October 18th and we graduated on December the 18th. Interviewer: So, you get to go home for Christmas. I got to go home and I think they gave me ten days, but I took about twenty because we already had orders for Vietnam, and I said to myself, “What are they going to do to me, I‟m going to Vietnam?” Interviewer: Did you have to report back to Fort Lewis? Fort Lewis again 9:01 6 �Interviewer: And when you got back, was there any question about where you had been? I had to go to courts and boards and they didn‟t say anything or do anything, and in a couple of days they issued us jungle fatigues, in Fort Lewis, and we were on a plane off to Vietnam. Interviewer: Did they fly you in a chartered commercial jet or in a military plane? It was a commercial jet. Interviewer: So, they had stewardesses on and that sort of thing? Yeah, and the flight over is really bad. The stewardesses partly smile because they‟re looking at guys who are going to war and they‟re thinking, “This guy might get killed”. We‟re the same way; you could hear a pin drop on the airplane. Interviewer: Did you stop anyplace on the way? Hawaii—they let us off the plane at the Hawaii airport dressed in our jungle fatigues and people are staring at you, civilians. We get back on the plane and we landed in Guam to refuel, and that was scary. Guam was the hottest—that was hotter than Vietnam, I couldn‟t believe it. It‟s an island in the middle of the Pacific and when they opened that door there was just a blast of hot air, and I said, “Man, if Vietnam is going to be hotter than this, this ain‟t going to be good”. 10:06 Interviewer: What was your reaction when you actually got off the plane in Vietnam? We landed in Cam Ranh Bay and the United States built that port and it‟s beautiful. That had a larger PX than the PX‟s here in the states. You could buy a car there and when you got home it would be at your house. I never saw a PX that big. 7 �Interviewer: Did you stay there any amount of time or did they ship you out? One day, one day, it‟s all paperwork. I thought once we landed and got off the plane they would hand you a rifle and a helmet and you were going out, but no, it‟s just endless paperwork. Endless paperwork at Cam Ranh Bay, and they flew us to Phu Bai and then it was more paperwork there and then we went to camp, I think we went to Camp Eagle and from Camp Eagle to Camp Evans, and at Camp Evans, that‟s when I found out I was going to be in the 3rd brigade and then the 2nd of the 506. 11:06 Interviewer: All right, and then which company did they put you in? E Company, Echo Company, and here‟s another side to that, E Company in any infantry Battalion is the mortar platoon. I said, “I don‟t know one end of a mortar from another. I‟m going to be in a mortar platoon, I mean?” But, E company also has your reconnaissance platoon, which I didn‟t know about, and LZ cutters, and snipers. When I got to E Company, like I said, I thought I was going to be in the mortar platoon. This young sergeant comes out and he says, “You guys are lucky”, and there was like twelve new guys at the time, “You pick what you‟re going to be in “, so one guy raises his hand, I wasn‟t going to raise my hand for anything, I‟d been in the army long enough. 12:05 He said, “You have your choice of recon or LZ cutter”, so one guy raises his hand and said, “Well, what is an LZ cutter?” He said, “That‟s a good deal, you only go out to the jungle one day and you repel out of a helicopter with a chain saw and a hundred pounds of C4 strapped on your back and you blow the top off a mountain”. I‟m sitting there thinking, “That doesn‟t sound good to me”, so another guy raises his hand and says, “What‟s recon?” “That‟s even better”, he says, “You go out into the jungle for one week, one week at a time, you have to wear a helmet, that‟s one of the status symbols or recon, 8 �you have to wear camouflage fatigues, we don‟t have any right now, and you carry everything you own on your back and your job is to look for the bad guys”. So, now everybody raised there hand and said, “We‟ll take recon”. Interviewer: Of course, I don’t know, did it occur to them that the bad guys might try to shoot them? 13:01 No, it occurred to us, but repelling out of a helicopter at two hundred feet with a chain saw and a hundred pounds of C4, nobody there to protect you, that doesn‟t sound good to me. Interviewer: So, recon, at that point is a better deal? Oh yeah Interviewer: Having made that particular choice then, what do they do with you? We had to wait, it was a couple days before—all the recon teams were out in the jungle, so we did a little repelling and stuff like that. The recon platoon came in, I think, after about two days. They were coming down to the company area and I never saw such dirty, grubby guys in my like, but they were happy to see us and it was a good experience. I met my first platoon leader, at teenager, he scared the hell out of me because he was a lot younger than me, but he was a very good platoon leader. Interviewer: How many men, do you think, were in that platoon that came in? When I first got there we had five eight man teams. When I left we had two ten man teams. 14:01 Interviewer: Did the group of guys you were with, did that fill them out to the five eight man teams? Yeah 9 �Interviewer: So you got forty, you actually got a full strength platoon when you start. Yes Interviewer: Once they come in, do you spend a few days in base camp or do you— while they get cleaned up? We went out—see, stand down for recon is only one day, so they came in and then the next day they‟re out again. So, I got to meet my platoon leader, he assigned me to Bravo team, I got to meet my team leader, and then the next thing, „boom”, out you went. Interviewer: Did they do anything to get you oriented or give you any advice before you headed out, or did they just say, “Do what we do”? Well, luckily, the guys in recon are very, very tight and the old guys they show you, because they just dump all the C rations in front of you and I said, “How much do I take?” He said, “You can take as much as you want. Just pick what you want and load it up”, he said, “Remember you‟ve got to carry it all”. 15: 09 I had food stuffed in my pockets, in my rucksack and I couldn‟t get up or move. I had to jettison some of it. Interviewer: Do you have a sense of how much your total pack weighed by the time you got up? About ninety pounds Interviewer: How much did you weigh at the time? A hundred and thirty eight Interviewer: About how hot was it? I don‟t know the temperature, but it had to be in the nineties with a hundred percent humidity, I don‟t know, but it was brutally hot. When you got out to the jungle and got 10 �on your feet and started walking, I don‟t think you went ten yards and you were already dripping with sweat. Interviewer: Your first patrol, you said you’re out for a week at a time, so were you out for a full week then? We were out two weeks, we got socked in. Actually most of my missions lasted two weeks. They said a week, but when it started raining and you got socked in, you were out there. 16:05 Our missions lasted, roughly, two weeks. The longest I was out in the jungle was forty-four days. That‟s forty-four days without a shower, a shave, or a change of clothes. Interviewer: What do you remember about that first trip out in the jungle? Not too much, it was a routine patrol. I don‟t know how many clicks we went. It was hard keeping up with the other guys. They put me on rear security, the last guy and I knew I had to keep turning around and looking to see if we were being followed. When I would turn around and look again, I couldn‟t see anybody, so I had to hustle to catch up to them. I didn‟t like rear security. Interviewer: How long did you have to do that? Only two missions and my second mission out was my first firefight. Interviewer: So, on your first mission you’re going to, were you wondering where everybody was, or were you just happy you weren’t being shot at? Oh yeah, well, I don‟t know—you know, it‟s hard to remember. I remember some things about the first mission. 17:02 Luckily, they had me set up with an old timer and he and he was nice. He showed me how to do the claim, which we did in basic AIT anyway, 11 �but he showed me the sneaky way to do it and the right way to do it, so yeah, the old timers were good. Interviewer: When you’re out on one of these patrols, you’re out overnight multiple times, but you’re moving every day? Yes Interviewer: Ok, What do you do when you’re just setup overnight, how does that work? We try to setup in like a circle, we have two-man positions, you would actually sleep with your partner, one of us would use his poncho for the floor, which we slept on, and the other for a roof, sort of like a tent. We‟d sleep under there, and they gave us for—it got very cold at night in the jungle, people don‟t realize that, we froze at night. It got cold and the wind was always blowing. 18:00 You go to bed soaking wet and you don‟t dry off until you‟re asleep. But, they gave us, it was like a sweater, a light weight sweater, and we would put that on, and we had a poncho liner and that was our blanket, which was very warm, and that was it. Interviewer: Do you setup before dark, or after dark? Right around dusk—we didn‟t like to move around at night because you couldn‟t see anything anyway, you couldn‟t see your hand in front of your face. Interviewer: Now, when you’re camped overnight, what, you mentioned— You had to pull guard duty every night. Interviewer: You’re in two-man teams and you trade off who’s awake and who gets to sleep? 12 �No, we pick who‟s going to take first watch, second watch, etc. If you got an eight man team, then you only have to pull one watch. First watch and last watch were the best, if you got last watch you got seven hours sleep, but nobody ever slept the full eight hours. Either a rock would poke you in the side, or a piece—because you had to hack part of the jungle to lie down in. 19:05 You were never comfortable. Interviewer: Did you—how long did it take to kind of get used to sleeping in the jungle, or learn what sounds to worry about and which ones not to? No, there were no sounds. I never heard birds chirping, nothing. The jungle, the jungle, it‟s very, very beautiful, but the animals and the birds, and things like that, when humans move in, they move out. I cannot recall hearing any kind of—I did hear a tiger roar one night, that scared the hell out of me, I didn‟t know they had tigers in Vietnam. We were on the top of a mountain and he was somewhere down in the valley, but that thing echoed and reverberated, that was very scary. Interviewer: The first mission ends, now, did you encounter any enemy on that first time out? No Interviewer: Were there any booby traps or things like that? No 20:00 Interviewer: It was really quiet, then tell me about the second one then. How you do get in a firefight? The second mission we had our platoon leader with us, teenager, the young guy, and as soon as we got off the LZ we started—there was a trail leading off the LZ and we were going down into a valley, and again, I was on rear security and they saw sandal prints. 13 �The North Vietnamese didn‟t wear boots, they sore sandals made out of American tires. You would see the print and you might be able to read Goodrich. I didn‟t get to see the sandal prints, being the last guy, everybody‟s walking over them. But, the guy in front of me turned around and he said, “We got footprints in the trail”. We found, also, there was an American, and old pineapple grenade from WWII. It was like half buried in the trail, and I don‟t know if it was booby trapped or anything, but the guy in front of me said, “Watch out you don‟t step over the grenade”. So, when we got to the bottom we had to cross this—there was a little river or stream. 21:02 We got to the other side and our platoon leader was very excited and said, “I want to call up and set up for the ambush, but I got to get an ok, you know”. See, recon, they did not want us to make contact because we were such a small number and we carry no M60‟s, nothing like that. They just wanted us to find the bad guys, just report it, and then get out, ok? But, our platoon leader, he says, “This is good, men, were going to have--”, so he called up higher, I guess he called battalion, but he convinced them to let us stay down there and setup an ambush. We did, it took us about two days, but I wasn‟t on that ambush, but that other new guy, he, on that day, he was out there, I think it was like February 11th, 1970, and he was just sitting there looking around and one lone NVA soldier carrying a big bag of rice crossed the stream and he shot him, he got him, so that made the Lieutenant very, very happy, you know. 22:02 He had a big bag of rice and he was going to feed a whole bunch of people. Anyway, what we did was, there was a sandbar in the middle of the stream and we put his body on the sandbar and we put a live grenade under him with the pin pulled in case—the North Vietnamese, they come back for their dead, just like we do, so we figured, now we got bait so we‟re very happy, but nothing happened for three days. I 14 �would go out on the ambush, you know we kept changing the ambush teams and after three days the bodies bloated up, you know and bugs are on it and it‟s smelling pretty nasty. Valentine‟s Day, 1970, that‟s when it hit the fan. I was on that ambush that day and I was staring at the body, and I‟m thinking about home, “It‟s Valentine‟s Day and all my buddies back home are going out with their girlfriends and giving them candy, or whatever. The guys that are married are thinking about their wives, and here I am staring at a dead body, hoping more of his buddies come out, so we can kill them too”. 23:07 That‟s exactly what happened. Interviewer: So, they walk right into the ambush? They‟re very, very smart. One guy walked out on the other side of the stream, and he saw his buddy immediately, and he went right back, and he was just out. And we waited maybe ten or fifteen minutes and he poked his head out again. Then he came out and he got into the water, and very, very slowly he started approaching his buddy. He got out about a couple of feet and another guy came out, and then another guy, and another guy. We had about five or six of them in the water, and we only had like three or four guys on the ambush. We were already outnumbered, and all we got is M16‟s. There was like five of them, and then finally one of the veterans, one of the old timers in our group, he thought one of them saw us, so we just opened up and dropped them all. 24:03 It was over in less than three seconds. That‟s one thing I remember from AIT, they said, “A perfectly executed ambush should be over in under three seconds. If it takes longer, you‟re probably going to lose”, and this was over in like three seconds, one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three, and they were all dead. The water was red with blood, so then what we had to do was strip them. We had to get the bodies, 15 �get them out of the water and get them onto the land. We were supposed to take everything they had, even their underwear, but we weren‟t going to do that. We left them with some dignity, but they wanted all that stuff because they can get a lot of intelligence from it, you know. Was the uniform new, was it old, the weapon, what kind of condition it was in, we took everything, everything except their underwear. Then while that was going on, all of a sudden, we didn‟t know it, there was a whole lot more of them behind them and they started firing RPG‟s at us. 25:02 That‟s the first time I ever heard a RPG and it scared the hell out of me, and it was taking off the tops of trees, which told me that they were coming down the side of the mountain. They were still too far, too high up, and they were just firing blindly. So they inserted, the battalion, inserted a line company behind us and they came to our rescue. Interviewer: Now did you pull back yourselves, or did you stay where you were? No, I stayed on our—you know, the shoreline, we had the bodies and all that. We dragged them, and we just started firing at them even though we couldn‟t see anything. But, they weren‟t in any hurry to cross that stream, and we weren‟t in any hurry to have them come across that stream. I don‟t know how many of them there were, but they were firing a lot of RPG‟s, which tells me there were a lot of them. What the NVA use to do, if they were moving in large numbers, they would send out a small patrol out in front to lead the way, and if the small patrol ran into anything, they could tell by fire we were giving, if there up against a large force or a small force. 26:03 There were only three of us, three or four of us shooting, so they knew there were not a lot of Americans there, so then they came up and opened up with everything they had. 16 �Interviewer: So, with a short ambush, maybe one of the advantages is that it’s harder for them to tell what you have. Like I said, they took their time getting into that water. I mean, we got every one of them, they didn‟t have a chance. Interviewer: All right, then you go back—did you go back to base camp at that point? The next day, we went back the next day, but we had to spend the night. But we had the line out there, and they were around us for security and everything, and they were giving it to those poor guys, saying, “What did you get us into now?” They were looking at all the bodies, the water was just red, red, bright red, and they were going, “What did you get us into now?” “We can‟t help it”. Interviewer: After this patrol do you just go back to base camp for one day? One day, and you‟re out again. 27:05 Interviewer: You mentioned before that you were rear security in the first two, and after that what did you do? The team leader asked me to walk point. I said, “Is this guy crazy, I‟m still new”, but actually I wasn‟t, I was already in my first firefight. I was put up for a Bronze Star with a V, I got my CIB, so I figured, “Well, I can do it if he has faith in me”, and I walked point from then on, day in and day out for the rest of my tour. I became assistant team leader and when he left I was the team leader, and I still walked point. Nobody else—nobody wants to walk point, it‟s the most dangerous job there is. Interviewer: So, why were you doing it then? 17 �I‟m a little guy, number one, you know, and I was born and raised in the woods. The jungle didn‟t--I didn‟t like it, but nobody else wanted to do it and I figured I was the best qualified for the job. 28:00 Interviewer: What kind of skills do you need to do that job well? You have to have a good slack man, the guy that‟s walking right behind you, and I had my slack man walk like that far behind me, and if I was looking straight ahead, I wanted him looking from side to side. If I was looking down, I wanted him to be looking straight ahead. You have to work in tandem. Interviewer: Wasn’t the standard advice not to bunch up or not to have guys together? Oh yeah, I don‟t care, four eyes are better than two. Interviewer: did you normally walk on the trails? Oh yeah, we did, our job—you have to be quieter in the line companies. If you‟re breaking brush going through the jungle, you can be heard sure—we walked the trails all the time because you‟re not making any noise. Interviewer: Now, how common was it for them to be booby trapped? The NVA, I‟ll give them credit, they didn‟t booby trap a whole lot. They might booby trap a LZ, especially a fresh LZ, because they knew that GI‟s were coming in, but as far as punji pits and all that, they didn‟t do that. 29:05 As a matter of fact, the NVA looked down on the VC. The NVA were very proud, they were professional soldiers, just like the American GI‟s. The VC, they were just farmers carrying a rifle. They looked down on the VC, and I learned that from my NVA scout. He would tell us, “Oh, he‟s VC, number ten, NVA, he‟s good, he‟s good”. 18 �Interviewer: Now, was the NVA scout with your unit when you joined it, or did he come in later? Shortly afterwards Interviewer: You got to know him fairly well over the course of time? Yes, very well Interviewer: What did you learn about him? He was very well educated, the North Vietnamese, as a whole, are very well educated and the south Vietnamese are not. The North Vietnamese are taught American history, he knew a lot of our American Presidents, and he was an amazing young man. I don‟t know how old he was, and he didn‟t really speak a lot of English. 30:04 I couldn‟t speak any Vietnamese, but we could communicate. I learned a lot from that guy, I liked him and I trusted him. Interviewer: Did he tell you anything about his family, or how he wound up being on your side? He told me he came from a family—he had five brothers and he said they were all in the NVA, and I don‟t know where he fit in that family, but he said his oldest brother was a Colonel, and he said, “If the Americans leave, the North Vietnamese are going to come and take over the country, and my own brother‟s going to kill me”. Interviewer: Did he explain what he was doing being on your side? No, I never asked him. I did ask him why he came over to our side, and he held up one finger, number one, B52”s, and he said all the NVA were terrified of the B52‟s. Rightfully so, because you can‟t see them, hear them, nothing, and all of a sudden the 19 �earth disintegrates. 31:04 They were terrified of B52‟s. Then he held up two fingers and he said, “Number two, America never loses, told me”. Interviewer: That’s what he learned in his history class? I don‟t know if he learned it in his history class, but that‟s what he deduced from it. He said, “America never loses”. Interviewer: How effective, or useful, was he when you were on patrol. Well, in the “Ripcord” book, my team discovered a North Vietnamese telephone line and we tapped it, and he‟s the one that found the line. I‟m a good point man and I missed it, and my slack man missed it, everybody missed it, and he‟s the one that found it, and he turned white as a ghost. He was holding it up and he said, “Beaucoup NVA, beaucoup NVA, boocoo NVA, di di mau”. He was terrified and he wanted out of there. Interviewer: What does di di mau mean? It means, get out, leave. 32:00 Recon, when were in the jungle we never talk, if we talk at all we whisper, we never talk like we‟re talking now. Even if we think we‟re in a safe area, we still do not talk, we whisper at all times. But, he was getting very loud, and then when he saw me, because I heard all this noise behind me, I didn‟t know—I was starting to go u the side of a mountain and I heard this racket. I turned around and he‟s holding the wire and he‟s calling me, and he‟s saying, “John, John, beauoup NVA, di di mau”, and he kept saying it. I had to put my hand over his mouth and now I‟m getting scared, so he found the telephone line. Interviewer: I’m going to go back a little bit. How many patrols did you go on roughly? 20 �In my whole tour, I don‟t know. That mission in July, that was my thirteenth time to the jungle, and after that---I did maybe twenty five or thirty, I don‟t know. 33:00 Interviewer: Does that kind of work take its toll on you physically or mentally? Both, yeah—on the helicopter flight out nobody talks. You‟re deeply involved in thinking, “Is this the time I‟m not coming back?” The flight back though, everybody‟s happy. Everybody‟s smiling and happy. It takes its toll mentally and physically too. My knees bother me all the time and that‟s from carrying all that weight. I‟ve got arthritis, and that‟s from sleeping on the cold wet ground all the time. It takes its toll, but it doesn‟t happen overnight. I remember on my second time out, the old timers, it took them like ten minutes before they could straighten out , and I laughed at them, I was teasing them, I said, “I‟m three years older than you”, and they said, “Wait six months, you‟re going to be just like us”, and it‟s true. 34:01 Interviewer: On what proportion of your patrols did you actually make contact with the enemy, so you think? Oh gee, I don‟t know, we had more than our share of firefights, but to put a number on it, I don‟t know. Interviewer: Was it most of the time, or---over half? No, I don‟t think it was half, maybe a third of the time, maybe a little more, I don‟t know. Interviewer: What was the worst one you got into that you can recall? The one where I got shot and actually the second worst one was when we had to go through and retrieve American bodies. I had never seen a dead American. I saw a lot of dead NVA, but I had never saw a dead American. Interviewer: Was that before Ripcord? 21 �No, it was during the whole Ripcord episode, and it took place on Triple Hill. We had three of our recon teams were basically within a click of each other, and one of our teams detected North Vietnamese all around them and they got hit, and they had two wounded guys. 35:05 They called in a medevac and the team leader—the medevac was on its way out, but he told them, “Were still in contact, don‟t—wait for the Cobras to get there”. I think the medevac people were the bravest people in the world. This guy wasn‟t going to wait. He heard there were two wounded Americans and he came out. He didn‟t wait for Cobra escorts and there was no place to land, so they lowered the jungle penetrators. “You know what that is, correct?” Interviewer: You should explain that for the benefit of the audience here. Jungle penetrator, they can do it two ways. If the man was unconscious they would lower down a basket, it‟s called the Stokes litter basket, and you put him in the basket and they would pull him up. If the wounded were ambulatory, they weren‟t that seriously wounded, they would lower down this little seat. It opened up and one guy would get in. They would send one from one side of the helicopter and one from the other side. They would lower them down and the guys would get on the seats and they would hoist them up. 36:04 But, they also had an explosive device because a lot of times they would raise up the wires would get caught in the foliage. So, they could blow the cable, so the helicopter could get out of there. Our two wounded were ambulatory and they lowered the two seats down and they got them on them, and as they were raising them up, they were up about three feet, and then a NVA soldier with a RPG shot the medivac and blew it out of the sky in a big ball of flame. The most heroic thing I ever saw was watching that thing explode and the crew chief had the presence of mind to blow the cable before 22 �that got around the helicopter. That guy knew he was going to die, and everybody on the helicopter, but he still had the presence of mind to think of the two guys coming up, my guys, and he blew the cable and the guys fell down about five feet--but still, watching that helicopter go down in a ball of flame. 37:07 Then we got in a firefight, we got there and we did kill the NVA that blew up the helicopter, we killed another NVA, and we took one prisoner. It was very somber indeed, and then the next day—oh, they sent in a line company to help us out, you know, with the firefight, and the next day we got word that we had to go and get the bodies. I thought it was like the movies, they sent people out to do that. Well, grave registration, or whatever you want to call it. We got to the helicopter, but even before you got to the helicopter, I can smell it right now, you could even smell the death, it smelled like a barbeque. It‟s a very sweet and a very think smell and it even got in your mouth, you could taste it, and if you didn‟t know it was dead people, you would think, “This smells like barbeque”. 38:07 But, you knew it was dead and it was Americans, so it was very emotional. I can still smell it right now, I can smell it. We had to pull the bodies out and they were frozen in position, and when we grabbed an arm, it fell off; they were burned beyond recognition, like lumps of coal. We got all five of them out and in body bags and we had to hump them to the nearest LZ site. The strangest think about that, we had them in the body bags, but the jungle kept tearing the bags, and it was like the jungle did not want them to leave, and we would have to stop every once in a while because a body part would fall out, and you would have to put it back in. They were hard to carry and finally we decided-- luckily they gave us a whole lot of body bags because the jungle was just tearing them to pieces. 39:05 so we loaded those body bags into fresh body bags and we tied the body bags—we cut down trees and 23 �we tied them on there, like the old African safaris did with dead animals, and that‟s how we got them out. It seemed very undignified, but it worked in the jungle. We had them on our shoulders now instead of down. So, we got them to the LZ and a helicopter came in and we threw the bodies on and when the helicopter left they called back on the radio and they said, “Wait on the LZ for a while”, and we did and the people—the people that picked up the bodies, the medivac people themselves, they knew the dead people. They came back out with a cold case of beer. The first and only time I had a can of beer in the jungle, and they had it packed in ice and everything. 40:05 We also took the grenade launcher down to the medivac and we gave it to those guys and it was something, but that was very, very sad. Dead Americans and they were burnt to a crisp. Interviewer: Over the course of the time that you were with your platoon, what kind of losses did your unit take? Recon your very lucky, number one, nobody on my team died, nobody, I‟m very proud of that. A lot of, because I was the point man and the assistant team leader. If you were on my team you lived. Everybody got the Purple Heart in the whole—except me, I turned down three Purple Hearts. There was no blood, no pain, I don‟t want the medal. Interviewer: You did have one pretty close scrape though, and you actually brought along an artifact here to show that. Can you explain what went on with that? Yeah, that was on the wiretap mission. I got shot at point blank range by an enemy RPD machine gun, NVA machine gun. 41:06 That‟s the equivalent of our M60, and I took a burst right in the chest, right in the heart, and my bandolier saved my life. You can see it totally destroyed this magazine, I had to pull that one out and throw it away, and the rounds continued into this magazine, and you can see the hole in the front and the two 24 �heads of bullets coming out the other side. The first question everybody asked me was, “Did you feel it? Did it knock you down?” I didn‟t feel it when it hit me, I didn‟t feel anything, and just your natural reactions take over. 42:07 I hit the ground and while I was laying there I heard all this noise coming out of my chest and it was the bullets from the first magazine falling out. When I looked down and saw the hole, that‟s when I realized I had been shot. I laid on that LZ for I don‟t know how long. I knew my guys didn‟t leave me, but I couldn‟t see them and I knew they were going to call in Cobra air support, but I still didn‟t know how I was going to get out of there because I was laying on a bald LZ with no cover. To this day I don‟t know why that North Vietnamese soldier didn‟t finish me off. I know he saw my chest explode and maybe he thought I was dead. Like I said, I played dead. Interviewer: Now were you by yourself at this point? I had my slack man with me, he was with me, but he didn‟t get shot. 43:00 I was the only one that got shot, and like I said, I was just lying there. My personal opinion is, I think that North Vietnamese soldier was waiting for the rest of our guys to come across and try to retrieve our bodies, so that‟s why he didn‟t shoot at me anymore. That‟s what I think, I don‟t know. I did throw one grenade at the guy and when I threw it I cursed myself and then I said, “If this doesn‟t get him”, because I couldn‟t see him, I had no idea where he was, but he had to be in a bunker, a well hid bunker. When I threw the grenade I cursed myself and said, “If this doesn‟t get him he‟s definitely going to finish us off now”, but he didn‟t. Interviewer: What role did your platoon play in the larger Ripcord operation? What kinds of things were you doing? 25 �What I can tell you, that ambush in February of 1970, that alerted the whole battalion that the NVA were moving back out into our area of the mountains. 44:04 So, that was a valuable piece. Now, what they did with all the stuff we sent in, they analyzed all that stuff, and we did a lot of—when we found bunker complexes we would record them and tell them where they were, you know, and all that stuff. When we captured stuff, we turned it in. We captured a lot of enemy weapons, destroyed a lot of rice, we found a lot of caches. So in the broad—I don‟t know. Interviewer: Did you get ambushed yourselves, or did parts of your platoon get ambushed? Only that mission, the wiretap mission, you know, when I got hit. Most of my firefights, we initiated the contact and they never knew we were there. A lot of time when we would catch them they would be sitting down eating rice. They had no guards out checking things, and we‟d walk right in on them while they were eating rice. Interviewer: Now, your referring to the wiretap mission, was it actually going back to that line that your scout captured to try to tap it? 45:04 Yes Interviewer: What happened when you went out and did that? Well, we found the line on our first day. Once we got out there I found this nice place to set up for the night. The next morning as we were moving out that‟s when our scout found the line. Then they, I don‟t know who gave the order, I don‟t know if it was battalion or who, but they wanted us to tap the line. I said to my team, “We don‟t have any equipment to tap a line”. I figured once we found that line our mission was over, they were going to pull us out of there and send in the people that do all that stuff. The 26 �team leader said, “They‟re going to send out the equipment to us”, and I said, “You‟ve got to be kidding”. He said, “A helicopter‟s going to come right over our position and lower it”. I said, “Every North Vietnamese in this is going to know right where we‟re at”, but that‟s what they did, a helicopter came out, and they would take up what we took off the line and drop some more stuff every day, and we didn‟t move for three days. 46:02 Every night I thought we were going to get wiped out, but they never came looking for us and I don‟t know why, I have no idea. Interviewer: Did you get ambushed going out? On our last day, it was July 2nd, they said, “Ok”, they gave us coordinates to a landing zone, we had all day to get there, and they were going to pick us up the next morning. I found a nice landing zone on the top of this mountain, and I went up to the top of the mountain. It was overgrown and you could see that nobody had been up there for years, so I asked our team leader if he would call up and see if we could get picked up from there because I knew that this was safe. But they insisted we go to the LZ that they requested and that‟s where we got out and that‟s when I got hit. Interviewer: You talked about you were hit with the round that wound up in the magazine. Were you hit in other places? No Interviewer: Okay, but did that just knock you out? No, I didn‟t feel a thing. 47:04 I heard the burst and your instant reaction is you hit the ground. I looked behind me and I saw the dirt had been chewed up behind me, and I knew it was an enemy machine gun because an AK has a very distinct sound and that wasn‟t it. It sounded like it was coming from behind me, and that‟s why I was looking 27 �behind me, but it was in front of me. Sound is very funny in the mountains, you really— and we‟re on the top, almost on the top, of this mountain and with the wind blowing you really can‟t tell where it‟s coming from. Interviewer: All right, after they take you off that LZ do you get time in the rear? I have to finish—before we got out, now, I got out, the Cobras cane and I low crawled backwards across the North Vietnamese that we shot, and who had initiated all this mess, and I got back to our guys and I thought for sure they were going to let us go back to the other LZ. 48:09 This is a hot LZ, I don‟t know how many NVA, but there were a lot of them, a whole lot more than what we had. But they still insisted that we stay there because the helicopter‟s, they‟re in route. I‟d already been shot, and I said, “Junior, this is insanity”, and he said, “They‟re on their way”, so he said, “Who wants to volunteer to get on the helicopter first?” I said, “They already had a shot at me, I‟ll go”. I waited until I could see the helicopter coming and me and my slack man we went running, and I was almost in the exact same place where I was—the helicopter, I had a hold of its skid, and as soon as I grabbed the skid the door gunner jumped up and went like this and the helicopter left, and I ran back again and said, “Junior, what happened, what happened?” He said, “They shot the pilot”, so the co-pilot had to get the plane out. 49:00 They finally re-landed and they said we could go to the LZ that I picked out in the first place. Interviewer: Did you make it back there safely? Oh, yes we got out okay Interviewer: Once you get back do you get any kind of break at that point? One day Interviewer: And you go out again? 28 �Out again Interviewer: Now, did you get any longer breaks over the course of your tour? Yeah, they would rotate companies, or platoons to Eagle Beach. I think I got to Eagle Beach three times. You would have a battalion stand down where the whole battalion comes in from the jungle. You get new uniforms, boots, you know, but that didn‟t happen that often. My whole tour was basically in the jungle every day. Interviewer: Now, when you did go to the rear, was that comfortable or relief? 50:05 You got to unwind and you went to the EM club and you could drink beer. I think beer was ten cents a can, but you know, most of us were careful not to go crazy and really get drunk, because the next day you were going out and you didn‟t want to go out in the jungle with a hangover. Interviewer: Now, when they went to the rear did people in your unit use marijuana and things like that? I never saw it, but I could smell it. Interviewer: In the field, did they do things like that? No Interviewer: Did they even smoke cigarettes in the field? Oh yeah, oh yeah Interviewer: What would they do at night? You didn‟t smoke at night. You could see—your senses get so—you‟re like a blind man with his senses. You could see better, you could hear better, and just a thing from a cigarette, you could see that so far away, and you could smell the tobacco. We didn‟t 29 �smoke at night at all, never. 51:04 I‟m only speaking about my team and recon, and I don‟t know about others. Interviewer: How would you rate or characterize the morale of your platoon during the time you were with it. What was the attitude of most of the guys? We were upbeat, we were always cracking jokes. We got very close to one another, it was a brotherhood. I was closer to the people on my team than I was to my own brother. You could actually read their minds and they could read your mind, it‟s amazing, it‟s amazing. Interviewer: Now, were all the men in your unit white except for the Vietnamese? No, we had a mixture of blacks, we had a Chicano, we had everybody, we had boys from the south, we had boys from the north, and we came from all over. Interviewer: Were you ever aware of racial tensions or things like that? In the rear, in the rear you would see it, but never out in the field, never, never in the jungle, never. 52:05 Interviewer: In the rear, was it just kind of self-segregation, guys hanging together? Yeah, yeah, you know, a lot of times the southern guys would hang together. There were problems in the rear, there were a lot of problems in the rear, and sometimes I felt safer in the jungle. But, as far as our teams and everything, there were never any problems. As a matter of fact, we had a couple of black guys in the recon platoon and they would hang with us when we got to the rear. Every once in a while they would go and visit if they had a buddy in one of the other companies, but it‟s a brotherhood, that‟s all I can say. Interviewer: What kind of attitude did you have toward your officers? Was there a gap between the officers and the enlisted men? 30 �No, that‟s one good thing about the 101st, the officers, see, the officers get to pick which division they want to go to. We didn‟t; we had to go wherever they sent us. 53:06 And a lot of the officers they wanted the 101st Airborne, 1sr Cav, so most of our officers were very good, I liked all of our platoon leaders, CO‟s, but you know, we didn‟t get to see them that much. If you‟re in a line company, you got four platoons and you got four platoon leaders, so you saw your platoon leaders every day. In recon there‟s only one platoon leader, but there‟s five teams, so you would only see your platoon leader every fifth mission, so we were basically on our own. Interviewer: Now, you said over the course of the year, the strength of the platoon eventually went down. Were you losing guys that weren’t being replaced or were they moving them out? The troop withdrawal was going on big time in 1970, so most of the guys we lost, like I said, in recon we only lost two men the whole year, killed in action, two. One was a platoon leader and still—he was only with us for two days and I still cannot put a face on that man, he was only with us two days. 54:05 We lost a point man from another team, and that‟s the only two recon guys that died. We lost a lot when they got wounded, or maybe they got send somewhere else, and we just weren‟t getting replacements. Interviewer: Did you ever take and R&R anywhere? Yeah, I went to Sydney. Interviewer: How did that process work? Do you sign up someplace or do you get to pick where you go? Yeah, you had a choice. When I was there you could go to Sydney, Bangkok, Thailand, Hong Kong, I think it was Hong Kong, or Hawaii. And a lot of the married guys, 31 �naturally, they took Hawaii, so they could see their wives. I‟d always wanted to see Australia, I put in for Australia and I got it. As a matter of fact, I ran into one of the guys who was in recon, but he re-upped to get out of the field. 55:01 I ran into him and what they would do was they would fly you to Da Nang and from Da Nang you would go to wherever you were going. And there he was in Da Nang. I hadn‟t seen him for months and months, so we went on R&R together. Interviewer: What was there to do in Sdney? Sydney was great, the Australians love Americans, they still do, and the Australian women love American men. They do not like Australian men, but they love us. As a matter of fact, they had a place it was called King's Cross and it was a whole section, and they made you feel at home. They had one bar called “The Texas Tavern”, and they were great people. I loved Australia, great people. Interviewer: What was it like to have to get back on a plane and go back to Vietnam? That was hard, and that‟s why I didn‟t take my R&R until very late in my tour. A lot of guys after two months said, “I want to go on R&R”. I went very late in my tour and it was still hard once I got back. And it‟s scary to go back out in the jungle after having clean sheets, drinking and women and having a good time. 56:02 I‟m having a good time in Australia and now I have to come back to the middle of nowhere, so that was kind of hard. Interviewer: How much time did you have left of your tour when you got back? Two months, if that. 32 �Interviewer: Toward the end of it, as it’s getting short, did they do anything different with you, or give you different assignments, or did you just stay with your unit the whole time? Well, the way it was supposed to work was, you were supposed to do six months in the field and then six months in the rear and they would find a rear job for you. That never happened with me, I did my whole tour in the jungle and I didn‟t know it was my last mission, but when I got back I looked it up on the bulletin board, and I was leaving the next day, so I did my whole tour in the jungle. I never got my rear job, never. Interviewer: What was the response of your team when you told them you were leaving? I had a very good platoon leader. The whole platoon was on stand down, they presented me a lighter with my nickname on it and everything and I got to make a little speech, and in a way it was kind of hard to leave, you know. 57:09 But, I had watched the guys before me leave and it‟s very bittersweet. You want to leave, but again, you‟ve become so close to these guys that you feel for them. It was very bittersweet, but I was happy to leave, but again, I was sad too. Interviewer: Physically, how do they get you back to the states? It‟s amazingly fast, again we out-process, so I had to go back to brigade headquarters at Camp Evans, and then I had to go to Camp Eagle and out-process out of there, Phu Bai, the whole thing was repeated in reverse. Then they flew us to Cam Ranh Bay and processed out of the country. It took about a day to get all that done and then you‟re on a plane and back to Fort Lewis, Washington where they issued you your new uniform and you got a steak dinner. 58:06 The people that waited on you were the people going over 33 �to Vietnam and they had a million questions for you, I mean. But you got to pick out your steak and they gave you your back pay and off to the airport you went and home. I was home within thirty-six hours of leaving Camp Evans. I was home sitting in my living room. Interviewer: The route that you took did you encounter any anti-war protestors at the airport or anything like that? No, I was—number one, I got very drunk at the Seattle airport. I had to wait eight hours for my plane, so what else was there to do? No, I was very lucky. I didn‟t get a non-stop flight and our plane must have stopped at every airport from Seattle, Washington to New York City. We stopped in Cleveland, we stopped in Detroit, and we stopped somewhere else too. 59:01 I landed in New York City because my older sister lived in Manhattan and I didn‟t know how I was going to get to her apartment, but I was sitting next to a guy who was going home on leave and he said his mother was picking him up at the airport, and his mother said that she would take me there, and she did. I got a ride from Kennedy airport to downtown Manhattan. I surprised everybody in my family one at a time. Nobody knew when I was coming home, I wouldn‟t tell them. Interviewer: Now, you’ve got a fairly extensive collection of photographs etc. from your time in the service. How hard was it for a guy in a recon unit to be carrying a camera? I was the only one that had a camera, and I carried it in my side pocket. Interviewer: Was it easy to get film or to get things developed? I bought the camera at the PX in Camp Evans and it came with a roll of film. But every time I got to the rear and go to the PX to get film there was never any film. 00:05 So, I 34 �asked my mother to send me film. My mother would have been the greatest supply sergeant in the world. She sent me—I got more care packages than anyone, and how she did it, I don‟t know. She told me she spent eleven hundred dollars just in postage to send all those packages to Vietnam, and my mother was a waitress. Interviewer: This tape is out, so we’re going to stop here. How did you get your pictures developed? They developed them right there at Camp Evans. Interviewer: Then did you send pictures home? Everybody in my family would get a portion of the pictures, and then they would all get together, and my youngest sister put them all in albums for me. Interviewer: Now, because you were in the jungle all the time, you didn’t see much of the civilian population? 1:00 No, we only got a one say stand down and they didn‟t want you to—you couldn‟t leave Camp Evans unless you had a medical condition in which had to be treated, maybe, at Camp Eagle. Even then you have to go to the gate and the MP would flag somebody down and ask if they were going to Camp Eagle, so you could get a ride. They didn‟t let us out of Camp Evans. Interviewer: Once you get back to the states, you’re home and discharges, what do you do? I went back to my old job. Interviewer: Now, when you came back did you talk to people about your experiences in Vietnam? 35 �Well, my close friends, I wrote them all letters and they all knew what I was doing, they already knew, so they didn‟t—not too many people asked me questions. Interviewer: At what point did you start to talk more to people about what you saw, or share more of your stories? That started in the 1980‟s, there was a school teacher, who I had never met, called our local American Legion, and he wanted to know if there were any Vietnam vets that would like to talk to the kids. 2:12 They recommended me and the teacher called me up. I‟m a very private person and at first I wasn‟t going to do it, plus I was just talking to this guy on the phone, and he told me he had all kinds of Vietnam vets come in and talk to his students. He said he even had a draft dodger come in, which I wasn‟t too crazy about that aspect. See, I didn‟t know what this teacher was looking for. He said he had politicians come in, he had draft dodgers come in, he had soldiers that were against the war that came in, he wanted to know if there was somebody, you know, I guess, somebody like me. I was reluctant and I said to the teacher, “I‟ll tell you what, I‟ll do it, but I have to meet you face to face and we‟ll sit down and have talk and if we hit it off I‟ll do it, and if we don‟t hit it off, I‟m not doing it”. This guy, this teacher, he works— he was a teacher and he drove a taxi cab at night. 3:09 He came over to my house and he said he could only stay for about an hour, but he ended up staying for four hours. We talked and when we were done I said, “Ok, I‟ll do it”, and I said, “Do you want me to make up some kind of a little game plan?” He said, “No, just do what we just did”, and I said, “Ok, when do you want me?” He said, “How about tomorrow?” And then I did, and he combined two of his classes, and that‟s still the favorite class I ever did. They were very smart kids, and I can‟t say enough about the high school kids. They want to 36 �know and you can‟t B.S. them, they know, they‟re smart, but they want to know what you went through. One of the kids in his class was a foreign exchange student from Israel. She was a young girl, she was eighteen and she was in her senior year, and when I was done all the kids came up and they wanted to talk more, and shake my hand. 4:07 This girl said, “When I graduate and go back to Israel, I‟ll be going, it‟s mandatory male or female, you be in their army. But, you know, nobody‟s heard of John Mihalko in Israel, but when I get there people are going to know who you are”, and that made me feel ten feet high. But, all the kids were that way. Then they asked me to come back and I went back again a couple of weeks later and they all took up a collection and gave me money, which I didn‟t want to take. I said, “No, no, no”, and they insisted I take the money, and I donated it to our Ripcord Association, but that‟s just the kind of kids they were. It‟s amazing, and I‟ve had so many great experiences. I‟ve been lecturing for twenty-five years now, and I‟m still doing it in Colorado today. I‟ve never had a bad class and I enjoy it. 5:00 Interviewer: Now, are there stories, or things, you make a point of including in those presentations that you managed to leave out of this interview so far? No, what I do is, I give them a brief overview of what I did and then I want questions from them. In all truthfulness, girls ask more questions than boys. All boys want to hear about it blood and guts. Girls really make me think. But, I love doing it and I‟ve been doing it for a long time. Interviewer: Did you encounter much hostility, or whatever, because you were a Vietnam veteran? Did that create a problem for you at certain points? 37 �Not in my town. I told you I‟m from Whippany, New Jersey, and even the town Whippany comes an Indian name that means “the land of the willows”, willow trees. The people from my town were there before the French and Indian War, we weren‟t even a country yet, and it‟s a very patriotic little town, so I didn‟t have any problems going back. 6:01 Like I said, I went back to my job I had and as I traveled, yeah, I could see hostility, I mean a lot of the old veterans didn‟t want anything to do with us. But, I think that‟s true in all wars, because I know the WWI guys looked down on the WWII guys, and the Korean guys were the quietest. A lot of them fought in WWII and Korea, or Korea and Vietnam. The Korean guys are the quietest, see, the Vietnam guys, most of us, we‟re outspoken, and I‟m sure there were Vietnam guys that looked down on the Desert Storm guys because that thing was over so fast, I mean—but, that was over fast because our country learned from the mistakes of Vietnam, I firmly believe that. They went into it to win it and they won it. Interviewer: And in that case got out again. When you look back at the time you spent in the service, what kind of an effect do you think that had on you in the end? 7:03 I value each and every day. I‟m still the same person I was, but I enjoy things more. When I came home and I got into my house, I turned on the water and I watched the water run and then I turned it off real quick because I didn‟t want to waste it, but it was nice seeing running water. I opened the refrigerator and I said, „Wow, I don‟t have to carry ninety pounds on my back anymore‟. Things like that, I couldn‟t sleep in a bed for a long time. I slept on the floor for months, so that part changed me, but I‟m still the same person. I still have the same beliefs and ideals. 38 �Interviewer: Well, you got a good story, you’ve had some practice telling it, but you do a good job. Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me. Thanks for having me. 7:57 39 �40 � 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 MihalkoJ1280V Title A name given to the resource Mihalko, John (Interview transcript and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mihalko, John Description An account of the resource John Mihalko was born in a patriotic town called Whippany in New Jersey. After graduating high school he worked in warehousing for three years before getting drafted. He got his training at Fort Dix. In Fort Lewis, he got his jungle training. Sent to Vietnam in January, 1970, he was assigned to the reconnaissance platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, in the 101st Airborne Division. He survived his year in the field, and went on twenty-five or more patrols. His unit was involved in the fighting around Firebase Ripcord between March and July, 1970. Mihalko later helped found the Ripcord Association and organize the first reunion of veterans of that campaign. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings United States. Army Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-10-06 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b976c7c7ab909c13fa4a87703253e392.jpg 9158ed41a4b8e977a4019462699c89fa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection 1970s Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">University photographs, GV012-01</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01_UAPhotos_001063 Title A name given to the resource Mike Abrams Description An account of the resource Mike Abrams, 1st NCAA Division II National Champion, 1979. 4 time All-American. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Sports Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9896a815a48d329dee7a92757e2a8dc2.pdf 30b44c7ffc6e8045e1b0d41ecb7d259f PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Mike Lawson Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 3/29/2012 Biography and Description Mike Lawson is a civil rights activist who first met Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez in 1968, after Mr. Jiménez was released from prison. At that time, Mr. Lawson was in charge of a G.E.D. program for ex-offenders that already had enrolled a number of Black Stone Rangers, Disciples, and Young Lords. The group met at Argonne National Laboratory. Because Mr. Lawson lived in Old Town, he helped some of the students who lived in Lincoln Park get to the classes. In the morning most of the students would work part-time as janitors; they would study part-time in the afternoons.As an extension of their classroom lessons, Mr. Lawson took some of his students on a fieldtrip to Grant Park during the Democratic National Convention where they witnessed police beating up on hippies and reporters firsthand. These demonstrations helped to remind Mr. Jiménez of the goals he had set for himself while in jail. Today Mike Lawson lives on the south side of Chicago and is dependent on a wheelchair to get around, as he is plagued by muscular dystrophy. He is probably not aware of the deep way his work has changed many Peoples’ lives. �Transcript MIKE LAWSON: -- the housing situation because it was the number one issue of this town and therefore, we invited Dr. King to come to Chicago -JOSE JIMENEZ: ML: Wait, I’m sorry. Go ahead. And -- I’m sorry. I had a thought. JOSE JIMENEZ: Sorry, because I’m thinking that today we’re still dealing with the housing issue. So, what year was that, basically I was just trying to… ML: It was back in the ’60s and ’70s, early ’70s, right? JJ: Early ’70s. Okay. And you were just kind of working all over the city in terms of the housing when you brought Dr. King here to Chicago? ML: Well, we brought Dr. King -- let me talk about this first because I got deeply, much more deeply involved in civil rights because [00:01:00] I was teaching school up on the North Side. And one night, I had the TV set on and I watched a movie called The Judgement of Nuremburg [sic]. And that was a movie that dealt with the atrocities of the German people toward the Jewish people. Before I turned the TV off that night, there was a newsflash from Selma, Alabama. I witnessed in that newsflash horses going over a bridge and driving Black folks off the bridge and beating them. I said, “My God. This is like Nazi Germany.” And all [00:02:00] the next day, I went to school. I taught in a white Catholic school. Therefore, all the next day I went to school and I was in great distress. And I had great anger about what I had witnessed the night before. And very interesting because it was a young -- the students I taught were all young white Catholic 1 �students. And one little guy, [Ray Sandton?] said, “Mr. Lawson, I think you should go to Selma.” Two weeks later, I left school for about a week. I went to Selma. And it was through that experience I got involved in civil rights and my life began to change. [00:03:00] Before that time -- when I say my life began to change, it’s because before that time, I identified more with middle class white culture. With the Selma culture, because of the kindness of many Black people who gave us their homes, who fed us, who helped us get involved in the march. We began to march in Selma, began to go to Montgomery, Alabama. I went a few miles, and then I came back to Chicago. But it was that whole entire experience that gave me a whole different awareness of who I was as a Black person and also my involvement in civil rights. [00:04:00] It was then we invited Dr. King to come to Chicago, because we had a very serious housing project along with educational situation in Chicago. But housing was the reason why we invited Dr. King to come to Chicago, because we wanted to begin to organize marches. It was Dr. King in Chicago. We finally eventually marched into Marquette Park. And if you recall, it was at Marquette Park, somebody hit Dr. King in the head with a rock. It was in Marquette Park that I experienced -- my car was almost turned over. It was the type of [00:05:00] violence through the white population there that caused me to begin to realize how serious was the racial situation in the city of Chicago. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I finally drove out of that park and returned to a Black church that we were trying to organize from to march in the white community. JJ: Okay. And this was around 1965, 1964? 2 �ML: No, this was around ’65, ’71, ’72. JJ: That you were doing that work. ML: I worked for two years in civil rights. Then I ran into somebody from Argonne National Laboratory [00:06:00] and I decided to leave civil rights, and therefore get a job as an educator in a program which we had Black P. Stone Nation disciples and Young Lords. This is where I went to Argonne. JJ: Okay. So, if I can backtrack just a little bit -- okay, so, you were teaching school at -- you said a Catholic school. What school was that? ML: St. Gregory’s at North Side. It’s no longer there. JJ: What address? ML: I don’t -- JJ: I mean, what streets, basically, cross streets. ML: Bryn Mawr and Ashland. JJ: Bryn Mawr and Ashland, [that was?] St. Gregory’s? ML: Right, mm-hmm. JJ: Okay. And you were teaching -- what grades were you teaching then? ML: I taught high school. In those days, you taught all kind of subjects. I taught history, religion -- I call it theology -- [00:07:00] a social science course, sociology. I taught a whole variety of things there. But that was very typical of Catholic schools in those days. JJ: And your car was overturned during the demonstration? ML: Right. JJ: And to have your car overturned means you were -- 3 �ML: No, no, it was not overturned. They attempted to overturn the car. They rocked it. JJ: So it was in the procession basically -- was it in the procession or the march? ML: It was driving people into the area to get out of the car at Marquette Park and become a part of the march, yes. [00:08:00] JJ: Okay. So, you were driving people from different churches? ML: The church that we met at in the very beginning at 71st and about Halsted. Right. JJ: Okay. And they saw that you were doing that and they tried to break your car? ML: Once we got the cars into -- they saw Black folks that were in the car going into their neighborhood. JJ: They rioted. This was like a white riot then. ML: Somewhat. It was white anger. And many of the -- it’s interesting because many of the other whites were part of -- they got the church structure in those neighborhoods, and they would come out of church and they would come out of church very angry. “What are you going in our neighborhood? Get out. Get out. Get out.” [00:09:00] Again, in those days, there were white neighborhoods and Black neighborhoods. The thing was the whites could not -- excuse me -- Blacks could not go past Ashland. In other words, we kind of knew that this was white turf. If you check out the South Side today, Blacks are up to [Kinzie?] and Pulaski and so forth. Not in those days. JJ: So, what happened to a Black person if they passed that street, that dividing line? 4 �ML: Well, it’s interesting because -- to respond to your question -- let me respond this way. [00:10:00] I knew of some Blacks that got up the nerve to move into Bridgeport. JJ: Which is Mayor Daley’s old neighborhood. ML: That’s the issue. Mayor Daley had the cops move those people that were friends of mine who moved into Bridgeport -- he moved them out of Bridgeport. In those days, it was, again, day and night. The people that moved in to -- found a place to live in, found their apartment -- they were there less than a night. They were moved out. They could not stay. And we know by fact that the mayor said, “Move them out. Get them out of here.” [00:11:00] JJ: With a document from the court? I mean, how can they be moved out? Was it the sheriff that moved them out? ML: It was police. JJ: Regular police? ML: And police would not make a decision without the mayor enforcing their -- it was ultimately -- very quietly, it was the mayor. JJ: This is the mayor of the city of Chicago. ML: Boss Daley. JJ: Boss Daley, right. ML: The old man. JJ: So, he wanted certain people in certain areas and people that were Black, African American, could not be in that community? Is that what you’re saying? It was the mayor? 5 �ML: Well, Chicago, in those days and even today, has Black folks community, and you yourself know, Puerto Rican community, Mexican community. We still have a system of [00:12:00] very deep segregation. It’s not as bad as it was in those days I’m talking about. But you know from your experience today that the system still exists, okay? JJ: Of segregation? It still exists. ML: Right. JJ: I’m not going to interject. So, you were saying the Black P. Stone Nation, the Black Disciples, and the Young Lords were -- ML: In a program at Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne decided like many of the businesses in those days, “We had better do something -- we had better start hiring” what they called the hardcore. In those days, if you recall, the [00:13:00] terminology was -- you, because you eventually went to Argonne, were considered hardcore. I kind of smile because, in other words, hardcore were the bad niggers, the bad Puerto Ricans. That’s what the term meant. And so, we decided that we would not only give them a chance to work, but also give them some jobs. When I first went out to hardcore as director of the education program, the hardcore people that we allowed into that program were janitors. After being on site and finding that the laboratory, eventually [00:14:00] they ceased being janitors and they decided at that point there were various divisions at Argonne in terms of biology, solid state science, chemistry. We would let the young men that were part of the hardcore eventually be trained and do jobs that were in various areas. We brought about a whole different utilization. For 6 �instance, I’ll give you an example. One of the -- [Crip?] is dead now. One of the Disciples was given a job in glassblowing. He was taught glassblowing. We had a man in solid state science. We had a man in chemistry. [00:15:00] When I say a man, a young Disciple or a Black P. Stone Nation or Young Lord. But we got them some meaningful jobs, some jobs where they weren’t just janitors no longer. José, you went to Argonne. Were you a janitor? JJ: Yeah, I was a janitor. ML: Eventually, but -- JJ: I was a janitor half day ,and half day, I went to school to get my GED. ML: Went to school, right. But you stayed a janitor. JJ: All the time I was there, I [stayed as?] a janitor. ML: You were new. But we had made some changes. But you were part of the changes. JJ: I was part of, I think, the beginning of the program and then I left after that, or got in trouble and then left after that and got in more trouble. But it didn’t -- it helped me a lot [00:16:00] [when I was with?] the program. I’m very grateful for that. So, what were some of your -- what you wanted to do with the students at that time? Because you’re dealing with the hardcore and that. What was it that you were trying to do? ML: Well, I guess the issue for us was to get personnel and to convince personnel that the men just can’t be janitors because those were the jobs that were almost the jobs that a lot of folks got caught in no mobility situation. Therefore, we got people involved in being trained not only in school in the afternoon but also being 7 �trained on the job. [00:17:00] Example being we had [Crip?] trained in being a glassblower. We had another person being trained in biology, some of the fundamentals of biology. So, we began to -- and that caused a problem because there were a lot of Black folks at the laboratory that were janitors, and they began to realize that the young gang members that we brought in were now being given better jobs and they were stuck in their old janitor jobs. The other people themselves were stuck in the janitor jobs. So, that was a conflict that we did not anticipate and we had to become aware of that. JJ: So, what changes did the Argonne Laboratory do? How long did the program stay in effect? ML: The second year I decided that -- I began to see the program was having some internal political problems. And they were going to bring in somebody to replace me. And they brought a person in. And that was the beginning of the real death, quote-unquote, of the program because the new person did not work out also in the program. And it was one of those types of programs where it didn’t last much further more than the two years that I was involved. [00:19:00] It ran into problems in those days. JJ: I know that you were wearing at that time a dashiki to work and your hair was teased or -- you know, the same fashion as the ’60s during that time. I wasn’t even aware that you were involved in civil rights. I knew you looked militant to me, what they call the militant stereotype at the time. ML: I was given a chance to really -- I’ll give you an example. One day -- I would spend a lot of time in jails and in the court fighting to get the various students that 8 �were part of the program out of jail, out of the court systems. [00:20:00] I can recall one day that I spent the entire day in a courtroom, and fighting like hell to get the men out of the jails and so forth. And I returned to the laboratory at night. And I was asked to kind of talk. There was a laboratory meeting of some of the folks that stayed around after regular hours, and I was asked to give a talk to those people. I gave a talk, and I was told that it was such a fiery speech, as one person said, I ended up preaching. And the director of the laboratory was at that meeting. [00:21:00] And he was so overwhelmed with what I had to say, he began to make some significant changes. This is when we began to get the men into better jobs. Again, I was told that through my fiery talk I confronted the laboratory director and he began to make some changes. JJ: But his changes were to try to get rid of you. ML: No, no, no. That was other politics. I don’t think he was aware that some of the other politics were going on at the laboratory. JJ: Okay that was other politics. Okay, so what other politics? Was it just personal politics, not political? ML: Well, it’s hard to talk about because -- [00:22:00] (break in video) JJ: Okay. ML: I was born -- my name is Michael Lawson, L-A-W-S-O-N. I am 71 years old. I was born May 29, 1940. I was born and raised in the city of Chicago, a part of the community called Englewood. Englewood was a community on the South Side of Chicago, 63rd and Halsted was the heart of the community. And in those 9 �days, 63rd and Halsted was (inaudible) Sears, [Hi-Lo?], A&P, some banks. In other words, it was an ongoing vibrant community of people. [00:23:00] If we compare it, it’s like the Chatham in those days or rather Chatham today. In those days, it was like Chatham because it was a very good community of people. I was born, again, and raised a Catholic in Englewood. I went to (inaudible) school for first eight years and then for four years I went to Quigley, which was a preparatory seminary on the North Side of the city of Chicago. JJ: So, you were -- Englewood was a vibrant community. What do you mean by that? ML: What do I mean? For instance, the community had -- in those days -- good is relative -- but we had good schools, both Catholic and public schools. [00:24:00] I would say if there was any unemployment in those days, it was eight percent or nine percent or even six percent, five percent. People had jobs. Black folks either worked in the post office or in the stockyards or in the steel mills. We could get jobs, and we had jobs. We had a home. Well, let me backtrack. JJ: What year was this, basically? ML: I finally got moved into a home in -- I was about eight or nine years old, so 1948. [00:25:00] In those days, we got a nice bungalow in Englewood from a German woman, and we paid $6,000 for the home. In those days, Black folks could only buy homes on contract. And that means that if they missed one payment, just one simple payment, they lost the house. That’s buying on contract. That was the only way that Black folks could buy a home. And we bought a home on contract. It was a good home. When I was eight or seven years old -- it was 10 �interesting. My mother went to the [grammar?] school and she talked to the monsignor who was the pastor of the parish, and she wanted his permission [00:26:00] if she could bring her daughter to school. He said, “Of course you can bring your daughter to school.” And the irony of the situation was my mother was very light. And my sister [Sandra?], who went to grammar school -- they realized they had their first Black child at the school. My sister was the first Black child to go to that school. I was the third Black child in that school. There were no other -- very few, I should say -- Black children in the school until I was about in seventh or eighth grade. [00:27:00] When I was in seventh or eighth grade, I can recall coming home one afternoon and saying to Mother, “Mommy, what is a Negro?” I had no idea because the kids that went to school were Irish or Italians or Germans or Polish. And there was no separation. I was just part of the group that went to school. I never realized. And we weren’t taught at home about racial pride and so forth. We simply understood, quote-unquote, we were to fit in and that was part of the reality of being raised and born in those days. JJ: So, Englewood was an ethnic minority community? (inaudible) ML: No, Englewood -- we had Polish, [00:28:00] Germans, Irish, Italians, Blacks. If I go back and tell you about the Black -- next to Aberdeen Street -- I lived on Aberdeen which was half Black. Just to the east of us was -- I can’t recall right now -- it was [Sangamon?] was in there. But everything east of us was white. There were no Blacks east of us. Black folks were at Aberdeen and the block west of me and the next block were Black. But that’s all the Blacks were in the area. [00:29:00] 11 �JJ: So, the South Shore Drive was primarily white at that time? ML: If we go into South Shore, it was all white at that time. South Shore -- JJ: Okay. And this was in 1948? ML: Sure, 1940, 1945, ’48, ’50. Blacks didn’t start moving into South Shore until I was in high school. And there were very few Blacks that were allowed into South Shore. For instance, the South Shore Country Club would not allow any Blacks in the South Shore Country Club. Even the postman had to leave the mail at the front of the South Shore. He could not go past the [00:30:00] gate if he was Black. Therefore, he was not allowed to come into the place. The whole idea of race relations in those days was like black and white. Black folks -- we folks knew our place and we knew what blocks we could go on and what blocks we should avoid. For instance, I would go to school with some of my classmates. I recall one of my classmates was [Raymond Lamont?]. He lived on Aberdeen, but he lived across 59th Street. It was an unwritten law that we should never go across 59th Street. And we knew that. And therefore, we wouldn’t go [00:31:00] across 59th Street. I’ll give you another example. JJ: Across -- heading north or south on 59th? ML: On 59th, it’s just north of us. So, it was north of us. JJ: So, you couldn’t go north of 59th Street? ML: No, in those days. A little further north of 59th Street, at about 55th and Racine was a park, all white park. I can recall -- let me tell you about that park. I was the only Black in the area allowed to ride my bike in that park. I found out I could do that only because they recognized me to be Catholic. [00:32:00] I went to a 12 �Catholic school, and that park was controlled by Irish Catholic Visitation, therefore being light skinned and also being Catholic, I was allowed to ride my bike in that park. The park that we could go to was Ogden Park at 64th and Racine. But I can recall when I was at Ogden Park, we would stand and put our hands on barbed wire, on the wire fences and look in at the white kids swimming. We could not even go in the swimming pool in those days. We weren’t allowed in the swimming pools. Let me tell you -- eventually, I [00:33:00] went to Quigley Seminary. I left there about four or five years later. JJ: So, when did you start Quigley Seminary? Because that’s going into the priesthood. Were you going to -- [that’s to prepare for the?] priesthood? ML: Well, that was -- in those days, they considered Quigley a seminary, but it was a - we look back on it now and we kind of smile. The question is, how can any 13or 14-year-old kid have any idea of what he wanted to be? It was ridiculous to put any kid in that situation. And so, I went there. JJ: But it was still to prepare kids for the priesthood. ML: That was the goal, and I’m saying it was ridiculous. It was crazy. [00:34:00] JJ: But you were there, you were there. ML: I was there. JJ: So, you didn’t want to be a priest? ML: Eventually, in my fifth and sixth year, I decided to not to go and pursue Quigley. I went to Mundelein, which was the major seminary. It was at Mundelein I decided not to continue my studies for the priesthood. That’s when I went to Loyola 13 �University, a Catholic University in the city of Chicago. I went there for about three years, got my bachelor’s degree. And I moved into Old Town. JJ: Okay, if we can go a little bit back. So, why did you decide to leave the seminary and go to Loyola? [00:35:00] I mean, what was going through your mind at that time? ML: I changed my mind about wanting to be a priest. So therefore, I did not want to be a priest. Therefore, I left the seminary. JJ: Were you angry with the church or something? ML: No, no, no. It was just a matter of I didn’t want to pursue this way of life anymore. JJ: Okay. So, you went to Loyola. ML: Right. It’s interesting because I went to Loyola because it was a Catholic university. I was still in that mentality of that security of wanting to stay within the Catholic structure. So, I went to Loyola, got my degree in sociology. I left Loyola and moved for the first time [00:36:00] after graduation into Old Town. I moved at 1452 Hudson Street, [or 1450 Hudson Street?], and in those days I had an old beat up car that ran and got me around. I had apartment of five rooms. I made a hundred bucks a week. I point that out -- I taught at a Catholic high school. And I point out the fact that I made a hundred bucks a week, which was no money, but in those days, one could exist on that amount of money and have a car and pay rent and do things. If we compare that to the way people live today, [00:37:00] it’s like day and night. 14 �JJ: Okay. So, you’re in Old Town. You’re on Hudson, and also on Sedgwick? Was this also part of Old Town? ML: Right. I moved from Hudson Street further north to Sedgwick, 1752, and it was there that I first encountered many more Puerto Rican friends. I had my Black friends. I had my white friends. And I had my Puerto Rican friends. If you recall [Juan Colon?]. JJ: Yes, I know Juan Colon. ML: Juan Colon and I were good friends. I don’t know where Juan is right now. [00:38:00] JJ: I don’t know (overlapping dialogue; inaudible). ML: The last time I saw him, he was married. I got the impression -- I smile because we all change in life. Juan became a very middle class person. What does that mean? Unlike the Juan Colon that I knew years ago who was somewhat a poor person and a gang banger to some degree. JJ: Now he’s more middle class at this point? ML: That’s what -- when I saw him and I met his wife -- we didn’t talk a lot. But that’s the impression I got, right. JJ: So, you were teaching for a Catholic institution? ML: Right. I taught for a Catholic institution. [00:39:00] That was my first -- no, it was my second job, because my first job -- I used to be a vocational counselor for people on welfare. I worked there for about a year. And then, I applied to a Catholic school and I taught there for two years. Then I went full time into civil 15 �rights. I became assistant director of the Catholic Interracial Council. I was full time civil rights -JJ: Catholic Universal Council? ML: Catholic Interracial Council. In those days, the Catholic church in Chicago was very much involved in what was called social justice. And the Catholic church, quote-unquote, was a witness to many things in life. When I saw witness, [00:40:00] in other words, the church through various agencies was very deeply involved in causes. And one of the causes was racial cause and therefore, I became the assistant director of the Catholic Interracial Council. JJ: They were located where? ML: The Catholic Interracial Council is now Superior Street -- 21 West Superior Street is now a condominium that probably cost $3,000 or $4,000 for each one. JJ: So, at that time, Superior Street had Puerto Ricans also around La Salle. Do you recall that or no? La Salle and Superior? ML: Yes, I do recall. It’s interesting. I recall -- since you mention it -- because [00:41:00] the people next door to us were young Puerto Rican family that had a good number of Puerto Rican kids. And their kids would hang around the neighborhood and play. I recall now yes it was Puerto Ricans, around there along with probably some poor Black folks that were around there. JJ: And that area at that time -- wasn’t that a poor area? That was Clark Street and - what do you recall? ML: I recall -- but again, when you say poor area -- JJ: I’m thinking that it was like a Skid Row area. 16 �ML: It probably was. But in those days, [00:42:00] we more or less accepted it as we were part of the same way of life. We weren’t much different. So, we could identify with the poor people. We identified it as good people. JJ: Okay, as good people. ML: Yeah, sure, who happened to have school problems, various problems. The father was not home bringing a paycheck and so forth. But that was part of our reality. JJ: And the interracial council was working with that community? ML: The Catholic Interracial Council was working with that community, and also it was one of the clear goals of the Catholic Interracial Council was to get Catholic folks involved in social causes. Therefore, many of our members were middle class and upper class people who got involved in the [00:43:00] various problems of Chicago. And one problem was housing. Black folks, in those days, occupied 10 percent of the land and yet they were 25 percent of the population. And that’s true of -- when I saw Black folks, Puerto Rican folks were also part, in my mind, of the poor situation, of the situation that needed to be dealt with for equal justice and a real clear cause. JJ: Okay. So, the housing was one of the major issues that [00:44:00] the Catholic Interracial Council was working with? ML: If you recall, we invited in those days Dr. King to come to Chicago -- (break in audio) that we make some of the Black folks who were caught into janitorial jobs angry, because the young men in the program I was in charge of were getting better jobs. But some of the, quote-unquote, white employees also were 17 �becoming disturbed because they didn’t want to see some of these men now being part of biology, [solid state?] science, glassblowing and so forth. So, they were becoming very angry. In other words, looking back at what we were trying to do in those days, we [00:45:00] overwhelmed people. We did not spend enough time educating people, preparing people for some of the changes that we were trying to make at the laboratory. So, some of the problems we caused ourselves. It was not just everybody on the outside. We caused our own problems. You understand? JJ: You mean some of the participants caused their own problems. Why not discipline some of the participants? ML: In other words, we should have spent more time educating some of the -- JJ: Participants? ML: -- employees that were caught in dead-end jobs. They were caught in janitorial jobs, dead-end jobs. And the young men who we bought [00:46:00] out there were getting better jobs and they were aware of that. JJ: Okay, so, that was the politics then. ML: That was some of the politics going on. JJ: That was the jealousy that was going on. ML: And at the same time, some of the white people, white employees themselves -because you spend so much time doing so much for these young people, “What are you doing for us?” So, they were becoming angry. 18 �JJ: Could it also have been that some of the -- because these were former gang members or in some instances still gang members -- could they have also contributed to the fall of the program, because they were not that disciplined? ML: Yeah. That was part of it. In other words -- it’s interesting. They weren’t disciplined, and they would miss a lot of days of work. [00:47:00] We would oftentimes, to get these men to work, send out government cars. Argonne had its own taxi fleet in which they would send government cars and then they would pick up the men in the program. JJ: They’d pick them up at their house? ML: They would pick them up at their homes. And these very gang members that were gang members in their community -- once they got in the cars and were going outside of their turf were scared enough to hide on the floor of the cars. (laughter) It was incredible. Once [00:48:00] we took them out of their neighborhood into new neighborhoods, this was a whole new experience for them. And these tough gang members almost were crying, “Oh, please, please, don’t take us out of here.” Right. JJ: I remember they had golf carts there at Argonne. I don’t know what they were used for. Like, little golf carts for -- ML: I don’t remember. JJ: You don’t? Okay. But I know that some of the members, the employees or the participants, would take the golf carts and just drive around all day through the place, where they would be found asleep in the janitor’s closet. So, they were 19 �doing mischievous things too. [00:49:00] That was part of it too, (overlapping dialogue; inaudible) ML: That was for sure, right. Sure, right. JJ: So that kind of contributed also. And we would sit segregated too when we would eat lunch. And sometimes we would just joke around and sit. ML: And make a lot of noise. JJ: And make a lot of noise, so everybody knew we were there. So, we were kind of like in a way outcasts. They didn’t want us to be outcasts, but we were, in a way. ML: How long were you in the program? JJ: Several months, a few months. I never did get -- I got my GED later. But that definitely helped me -- contributed to it, because I remember we were doing speed reading and all that. [Carlos?] stayed there. ML: And he moved ahead in the program. He did very well. He was very serious. [00:50:00] JJ: Oh, he has a master’s degree today. Today he has a master’s degree. ML: Okay, that’s great. Is he married with his own family? JJ: He’s not married now. He has been married. But I’m going for my bachelor’s. It’s taken about 40 years. ML: That’s great. And wasn’t [Poppy?] -- your cousin was a part of the program? JJ: [William Jimenez?], yes. ML: He’s probably retiring now. He’s getting up in age. JJ: He is retiring. He had a good job as a supervisor. Yeah, he was a supervisor for a store, one of the big stores. 20 �ML: Good for him. JJ: He’s retired now. ML: He’s got his pension. He’s retired. That’s good. JJ: So, most of the people kind of advanced. The people that (overlapping dialogue; inaudible) did advance. ML: Now, let me ask you -- how much more do you want from me? JJ: We’re almost done. I’m just going to ask you some final questions about -[00:51:00] do you recall when the Young Lords -- you were still living in Lincoln Park when the Young Lords started, became political? ML: Yeah. Actually, I’m aware they became very political but I’m not aware of the details behind that. JJ: How did you feel? You knew some of the people? How did you feel when they made that change? ML: Well, to me, it was like experiencing the same old problems. For instance, at Division Street and La Salle Street where it used to be a very poor neighborhood -- when they began to rebuild the neighborhood, they built the very fine buildings that Puerto Ricans and Blacks and poor whites could not afford to move into the new housing. So, it was the same old game being run on people in the city of Chicago. [00:52:00] JJ: Basically to kick them out of the area. How did you feel that you knew some of these members and now they were now beginning to protest, actually some type of similar work as the Interracial Council but a little more militant maybe? So, 21 �how did you feel about -- did you oppose them because they were more militant, or how did you feel? ML: No, I didn’t oppose them. I guess I was so busy with my own life, struggling to get into business and do some new things in life, that I was not aware of the details of their program and what they were trying to do. I was very unaware. [00:53:00] JJ: Okay. So, you weren’t aware at all of what was going on? ML: No. JJ: Okay, any final things that you would like to add to the interview? ML: Well, it’s good news that you are doing so well in school. That makes me feel good, even though, like myself, you’re an old man now too. (laughter) How old are you now? JJ: I’m 64 now (inaudible). Not yet but I’m going to be in a couple months. ML: Right. I’m almost 10 years older than you are. Almost, not quite. JJ: I’m very grateful for the program there at Argonne. I had just come out of jail. And so, to me, it was like an ex-offender program. And so, it kind of opened up my eyes, especially again, the fact that you were [00:54:00] a little political. I didn’t know you had been in civil rights. But the fact that we went on a field trip one time to the Democratic Convention. ML: I guess one of the things I was very conscious of was the whole exposure is very much a part of the educational process. To expose your group and you to as much as possible about other parts of life, what was going on. That to me, was very, very important. It was part of my responsibility. 22 �JJ: Well, we definitely appreciate it. It worked for us, it worked for us. ML: Thank you. JJ: All right. Thank you. END OF VIDEO FILE 23 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b32640f790b987d1dd61d5fec30aaccb.mp4 12a0e2d7461f891e7b8b49408667543a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Mike Lawson vídeo entrevista y biografía Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Narrativas personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Puertorriqueños--Illinois--Chicago--Condiciones sociales Ex-convictos--Educación--Illinois--Chicago Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Lawson_Mike Title A name given to the resource Mike Lawson video interview and transcript Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lawson, Mike Description An account of the resource Mike Lawson is a civil rights activist who first met Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez in 1968, after Mr. Jiménez was released from prison. At that time, Mr. Lawson was in charge of a G.E.D. program for ex-offenders that already had enrolled a number of Black Stone Rangers, Disciples, and Young Lords. The group met at Argonne National Laboratory. Because Mr. Lawson lived in Old Town, he helped some of the students who lived in Lincoln Park get to the classes. In the morning most of the students would work part-time as janitors; they would study part-time in the afternoons. As an extension of their classroom lessons, Mr. Lawson took some of his students on a field trip to Grant Park during the Democratic National Convention where they witnessed police beating up on hippies and reporters firsthand. These demonstrations helped to remind Mr. Jiménez of the goals he had set for himself while in jail. Today Mike Lawson lives on the south side of Chicago and is dependent on a wheelchair to get around, as he is plagued by muscular dystrophy. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Puerto Ricans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions Ex-convicts--Education--Illinois--Chicago Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-03-29 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/ff5df546f65a58fbcc379c26f6761dd5.pdf 8be679ad64993fc5105cd6b7a4d9c270 PDF Text Text r . ,. lVIILAN 2010 lVIASTER PLAN �MILAN 2010 MASTER PLAN CITY OF MILAN, MICffiGAN Prepared by: Milan 2010 Master Plan Committee and the Milan Planning Commission Assistance provided by: Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. 28316 Franklin Road Southfield, Michigan 48034 • JUNE 1991 �ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MAYOR Alan Israel MAYOR PRO-TEM Marilyn Wisner COUNCIL MEMBERS Louis G. LeBeau David Ludwig Thomas Preston Kevin Serpa Richard Zavala PLANNING COMMISSION Richard Bancroft Ed Swope William Craigmile Ira Kerns Glen King Donald Ludwig Thomas Preston Edwin Ransom Gregory Stripp, Chairman 2010 ADVISORY COMMIITEE REPRESENTING John Gaines ... . . . .. . ......... . ........... . .................. . . . .... . D.D.A. Alan Israel, Mayor ..... . ....... . ......... . ....... ... ... . ...... City Administration Glen Johnston ....... . .......... . ......... .. . . .... .. ............ . ... T.I.F.A. Patrick McShane, Administrator ..... . ......... . . . .. .. ... . ........ City Administration Ed Ransom Planning Commission Greg Stripp Planning Commission Clayton Symons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Milan Schools Marilyn Wisner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City Council CONSULTANT Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. �TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE Introduction ................................................................... 1 Purpose ................................................................ Scope ..... ... ................... . .... ....... ........... ..... .......... Planning Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 1 2 Population Profile ...................... : ........................................ 3 Trends ................•................................................ Population Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Social & Economic Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Housing Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4 7 9 Existing Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Residential Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Commercial Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Industrial Areas .......................................................... Parks & Recreation/Open Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 14 14 14 Goals and Objectives ........................................................... 16 Future Land Use ............................................................... 20 Residential Areas .......... .............. ....... ................ .. ............ Commercial Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Industrial Areas .............................................................. Recreation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Public & Semi-Public .......................................................... Thorofares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Historic Preservation .......................................................... 23 25 27 28 39 42 43 47 Master Plan for Future Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Implementation ...................... .. ...... . ....... ............ ..... ......... 51 TABLES Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: Population Trends ................................................... 3 Age Group Comparison .............................................. 4 Age Group Trends .................................................. 6 Economic Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Employment Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 8 Educational Characteriistics ............................................ 9 Age of Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1o Housing Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Existing Land Use Within City Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Comparison of Acres Per Thousand Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Proposed Future Land Use Within the City Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Proposed Future Land Use for the City of Milan and Planning Area .............. 21 Comparison of Acres of Land Use Per Thousand Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Future Land Use Comparison of Acres Per Thousand Population .... .. ......... 22 Standards For Lot Sizes, Existing and Proposed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Facilities Deficiency and Surplus ....................................... 34 �• INTRODUCTION PURPOSE The overall purpose of the Milan 2010 Master Plan is to set forth a general plan that will serve to guide the long-range development of land in a defined area. A prime objective of the plan is to achieve a balance of land uses that economically, physically, and socially benefit those persons residing in and about that defined area. The master plan as a whole, serves as a policy manual to provide direction in making land use decisions. The master plan illustrates, "where the City is going." It serves in this capacity in several distinct ways. First, it provides supporting language which both reflects the public wishes and justifies land use decisions. Second, it provides a list of goals and objectives which can be used to shape the community in a planned manner. The Future Land Use Plan, which is included within this document serves as a framework for the physical land use distribution within the City and its respective planning area. The plan is the result of a study by the Milan 201 O Master Plan Committee and planning consultants, Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. SCOPE Milan's 2010 Master Plan is a policy manual. One of the tools to accomplish the goals and objectives is direct public actions. However, some of the most powerful and useful tools are the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations. The Zoning Ordinance was updated in connection with the update of the master plan so that there is clear and consistent coordination. It is important to recognize that the master plan supports the Zoning Ordinance. State zoning enabling legislation specifies that zoning should be based on a plan. This master plan provides the framework for the Milan Zoning Map. Additionally, the plan considers the broad goals of the community and provides objectives as how to achieve these goals. ) .. PLANNING AREA The development of a Future Land Use Plan for a specific community and the surrounding area may have a direct effect on land use proposals and policies. Since Milan is surrounded by four townships, it becomes necessary to overlap planning efforts in order to effectuate sound land use transition between abutting communities. Also, the City's policy to eventually extend urban services outside the present City limits deems study of surrounding land uses necessary. Therefore, a planning area, as shown on the Residential Areas Plan Map, was delineated and used as a basis for study. Reference will be made to the City of Milan proper, and to the City of Milan and its planning area throughout the study. It should be noted that the two are distinct areas and should not be considered interchangeable. 1 �METHODOLOGY I I· In May of 1989 a field survey of the City was performed to record visual impressions of the City. These impressions were recorded and discussed with the Planning Commission, and thus started the master plan process. Other background studies were also conducted at this time including an inventory of all land uses within the City and a demographic analysis. Broad community goals were then discussed and prepared. Objectives and policies were established in conjunction with the specific goals for the individual land use elements. As the process continued, various elements were analyzed and discussed by the 201 O Committee. Goals, objectives and policies for each element were discussed and reworked. Upon completion of the analysis of the individual elements, and the setting of goals and objectives, the individual elements were condensed, compiled and coordinated to form the master plan document. I • ' 2 �POPULATION PROFILE TRENDS Both Monroe and Washtenaw Counties experienced significant growth between 1970 and 1980 according to Census statistics. However, during the same period, the City of Milan decreased in population. This loss, 423 residents, represents a 9.2 percent decline for the decade. Projections based on past trends predict the decline to continue resulting in a decrease of 577 residents by 1990 representing a loss of 13.8 percent. However, based on input from local officials as well as a windshield survey of the City, there is proof that the population may once again be increasing. An apartment complex containing 86 units was recently constructed and building officials estimate between 20 and 30 houses have been constructed within the past year. In fact, the only data figure now available from the 1990 Census shows the City of Milan population at 3,990 residents. Thus, the projected decrease of residents is not as sharp as trends would indicate. TABLE 1 POPULATION TRENDS City of Milan Sources: 4,605 4, 182 4,040 -9.2% Monroe County 118,479 134,659 · 133,600 13.7% Washtenaw County 234,103 264,748 282,937 13.1% -3.5% 6.4% 1970, 1980 & 1990 Censuses and Urban Decision Systems. County information was supplied by the Michigan Department of Management and Budget. Unfortunately, an increase in the number of households does not always create a corresponding increasing in population. Since 1980, it is estimated that the average number of persons per household has decreased from 2.87 to 2.61. 1 Therefore, there may be more homes, but because there are fewer people in each home, the population if not declining, is not growing as rapidly as perceived. This will be discussed in more detail later in this document. A declining population can be detrimental to the fiscal health of a community. As population decreases, the demand for homes also decreases. As the demand decreases, the market value of those homes will probably decline. Furthermore, a decrease in the number of people in the community results in fewer dollars to be spent at area stores, undermining their economic soundness. Urban Decision Systems. 3 �A program for arousing the demand should be considered. Milan's proximity to Ann Arbor could be beneficial. The recent growth in Ann Arbor and surrounding areas, has inflated land and home values. Milan may be able to offer a better value for the dollar. To do so, the historic character of the City should be emphasized, raising a sense of community spirit and placing renewed importance on the existing housing stock. At the same time alternative housing types which cater to the needs of the largest demographic group should be encouraged. The City's proximity to rail lines, expressways, the University of Michigan, and the Ford Motor Company complex may be very appealing to manufacturers. This should be exploited. The collection of commercial buildings of architectural quality in the City's downtown area is a considerable asset. These buildings should retain their historic character and a unifying streetscape treatment should be devised. Historic preservation tax credits and other economic incentives and programs should be explored. All of these details will be addressed further in other areas of the master plan document. But, their role in maintaining or increasing the population base is important. POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS Preschool TABLE 2 AGE GROUP COMPARISON: 1988 Age group estimates for 1988 indicate that 8.5 percent of the City's population is less than six years old. This compares closely with County percentages. This number is forecasted to remain relatively stable but may increase as baby boomers, who are now parents, have children of their own. This is refered as the echo of the baby boom. 8.5% 10.2% 7.8% 6-13 12.6% 13.8% 9.1% 14-17 7.7% 6.4% 6.4% 18-20 3.3% 4.4% 6.6% 21-24 4.3% 4.4% 12.4% 16.9% 17.0% 21.0% 2~34 In response to this and' other socioeconomic factors, there has been an 15.7% 14.2% 16.9% increase of day care facilities, nationwide. 10. 1% 8.3% 8.8% 4~54 It is becoming more socially acceptable 7.7% 7.4% 5.9% and to an extent economically essential 13.0% 10.7% 8.2% 65+ that both parents remain employed. Thus, working parents are turning to day care. 100% 100% 100% This trend has been reinforced through state legislation limiting the control of Sources: 1970 & 1980 Census and UrtJan Decision Systems. home based day care and the rise in day care franchise operations. The manner in which this is addressed by the City's zoning ordinance may be an important issue. 4 �School Aee Children The groups between five and 18 years old, collectively represented 20.3 percent of the City's population in 1988. 2 Although significantly greater than the Washtenaw County percentage, it is roughly equal to Monroe County's statistics. This group does not represent the largest sector of Milan's population profile, but with approximately 755 people, it does represent a considerable number. Based on these statistics, enrollment trends for the area appear to coincide with population trends. The trend is towards a declining enrollment since 1987. It should be noted that the school district encompasses a larger area than the City, but general patterns can still be followed. Family Formine The second largest group represented in the age distribution, 24.8 percent of the population, are those between 18 and 34, the family formers. With a total of 922 people estimated in this category in 1988, they constitute a large component of the City's makeup. This is the group that will be fueling any potential increase in the number of preschoolers. ,. l We are amidst a national trend in which one of the fastest growing groups is currently the singles. People are staying single longer and generally, delaying child bearing into their late 20's and 30's. This is one reason why the preschool group is not expected to have explosive growth regardless of the number of people within the family forming group. Compounding the issue is the fact that those who have children, today are having fewer. The estimated average household size in 1988 was 2.61 people per household for Milan. The 1993 forecast for household size shows a decrease to 2.47. 3 From an economic standpoint, these people, either single or childless are expected to spend large sums on household items, home-repair, fast food, entertainment and leisure. They are a strong consumers. The fact that the City contains a large number of people within this group may speak of prosperity for local business. I '. ,. I Mature Families A sizeable proportion of Milan's population is between the ages of 35 and 54. In fact, they are the largest group in the City's population profile. These people will tend to have children thoroughly entrenched within the educational system and will be very concerned with the quality of education available. Currently, they represent approximately 25.7 percent of the population, but with the aging of the family forming group, the mature 2 Urban Decision Systems. 3 Urban Decision systems. 5 �families group will become an overwhelming majority. Within ten years they will be clearly the largest group in both number and proportion. Again this does not suggest a huge increase in the number of school age children since family size is generally shrinking, but there will be more parents. These parents may be more sympathetic to millage increase and will probably be interested in issues relating to parks, open space and recreation. TABLE3 AGE GROUP TRENDS 0-5 352 8.4% 317 8.5% 267 7.7% 6-13 604 14.4% 470 12.6% 442 12.7% 14- 17 332 7.9% 286 7. 7% 246 7. 1% 18-20 212 5. 1% 122 3.3% 101 2.9% 21-24 304 7.3% 159 4.3% 104 3.0% 25-34 726 17.4% 638 17.2% 528 15.2% 35-44 520 12.4% 630 "16.9% 669 19.2% 45-54 371 8.9% 327 8.8% 353 10.2% 55-64 355 8.5% 287 7.7% 248 7.1% 65 + 406 9.7% 483 13.0% 518 14.9% 4, 182 100% 3,719 100% 3,476 100% POPULATION City of Milan 28.9 32.9 35.8 Monroe County 27.9 30.5 32.3 Washtenaw County 27.8 28.4 29.7 Sources: SEMCOG and 1970 & 1980 Census and Urban Decision Systems. Mature Adults Today, societies are typically characterized as aging. The median age in the city was 28.9 years in 1980. It is estimated that this will increase to 35.8 years by 1993. The estimates for both Monroe and Washtenaw counties are also on the rise. Because older adults tend to make more money than young adults this can be beneficial to the economy of the city. However, they are generally not a consumer oriented group. While it is true that this group is projected to spend an increasing amount of their income on leisure activities, they have a greater likelihood to save. l. ,- l_ 6 �The group between 55 and 64 years of age is commonly referred to as the "empty nesters." They are older parents who's children have left the household. Thus, many of these people find themselves with extra income and time to spend it. They seek more passive or less intense forms of recreation such as golf, swimming, or walking. Also, many of them find that their current houses are too big or costly for their needs and seek alternative living arrangements. The City of Milan's population make-up consists of approximately 7. 7 percent within the 55 to 64 year old range. This is above the figures for both Monroe and Washtenaw Counties. Furthermore, the City has a considerable amount of people 65 years or olde_r. They represent 13.0 percent of the population. Estimates indicate that this number will increase by 1993 to 14.9 percent. Many communities, seeking to diversify their age distributions and thus their economic soundness, are finding ways to retain mature adults. In fact, some communities have attempted to attract seniors into the community. Because the number of seniors is significant in Milan and is expected to grow, the number and placement of elderly facilities is an issue which should be addressed in the master plan. For example, elderly housing is often placed near to recreation and shopping areas to limit the distance that seniors have to travel either by car or other means. A number of mature adults, usually over 65 years old, do not use automobiles and thus require living arrangement which place them within walking distance of essential services. Planning for their needs may bring the need for a special zoning designation or some other treatment. GENERAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS Household Income TABLE 4 ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: 1988 The median household income for the 5 i~~~::h~l~s ~i~ ~:~~~~ ( I r I . i~~~~~ !~~ $32,594. The median describes the middle point on a plotted curve of income per household while the average relates to the sum divided by the number of households. For our purposes, the median serves as a better indicator because it describes a situation in which one half of the households are above the figure and one half of them are below. Compared to either Monroe or Washtenaw counties, Milan has a greater median household income. In 1988, only 18.3 percent of the City's households earned less than $15,000. This is considerably less, percentagewise than either county. ll: !jli :Jj!i!~i~1il~il !il !i~!il !j!i!i~l~l il :~:i:i1: :1:1:1;,:;1:1:1:1:1:1:~il~l f •i1lilil!iL , ii!ilJ:[1:11 a 11: 11 Household Income •- - - - - -5.2% ---- - - -5.1% --• 4.3% $0- $4,999 $ 5,000 • $9,999 6.1% 9.2% 7.9% $10,000 · $14,999 7.0% 8.7"" 9.0% $15,000 • $19,999 8.8% 8.3% 9.3% $20,000 • $24,999 10.9% 8.4% 8.5% $25,000 • $29,999 7.5% 9.2% 8.3% $30,000 - $34,999 8.6% 10.5% 7.7% $35,000 - $39,999 11.4% 9.3% 7.4% $40,000 - $49,999 15.4% 13.9% 12. 1% $50,000 - $74,999 14. 1% 13.8% 16.2% 4.8% 4.4% 8.5% Med. Household Inc. $32,535 $30,887 $31,223 Ayg. Household Inc. $33,871 $32,968 $36,941 $75,000 7 + �At the other end of the scale, only 4.8 percent earned $75,000 or more. This is slightly above Monroe County's figure of 4.4 and below Washtenaw County's figure of 8.5%. The bulk of the City's households, 40.9 percent, has yearly incomes in the range of $35,000 to $74,999. Occupation TABLES EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS The City has a very even E~~~~e~~ b~~~~l~irew~~k::'.te show that 47.4 percent of the residents are employed in "white collar" positions and 48.9 percent are "blue collar." As a point of comparison, Monroe County has a make-up of approximately 40.4 percent white collar and 59.6 percent blue collar. Washtenaw County is almost the reverse of Monroe County with a make-up of approximately 62.4 percent white collar and 37 .6 percent blue collar. The Washtenaw County figure is probably strongly affected by the large number of white collar jobs associated with the University of Michigan and the City of Ann Arbor in general. llil ! ! J!i i l!,J~~li!l!lj!li;,!l lllilll!l! l\!i l!ililjl;jJ.!li ~ljifJJlil:lfl\JjlJ J ~\!ljlil lrJJ! !,li!i jll l : . llli !i !I WHITE COLLAR Managerial/Executive 6.4% 7.5% 9.9% Professional 11 .7% 8.8% 22.3% Technical 2.4% 2.1% 5.5% Clerical 19.4% 14.0% 16.4% Sales 7.5% 8.1% 8.3% 47.4% 40.4% 62.4% Craftmen 11.8% 18.4% 8.8% Operatives 19.7% 19.8% 11 .8% Services 16.0% 14.1% 13.6% Laborers 3.6% 5.0% 2.1% Farm Workers 1.5% 2.3% 1.2% 52.6% 59.6% 37.6% TOTAL BLUE COLLAR TOTAL Source: 1970 & 1980 Census and Urban Decision Systems. The proximity of the Ford automotive plant and the prison facility contribute to the availability of employment. The unemployment rate for the City of Milan was four percent in May, 1989. 5 While this is low in general, it is indicative of past unemployment figures for the City. It is safe to say that the demand for prison space is forecasted to remain strong. However, the automotive industry rides the economic rollercoaster. As the various business cycles progress, the demand for automobiles rises and falls. This can be extremely unsettling for a community. To maintain a healthy economy, a diversity of industry is essential. Industries which tend to run counter to automotive trends should be especially targeted. However, the attraction of businesses that serve largely as suppliers to the auto industry should not be neglected. Proximity to the Ford plant can be a key consideration to suppliers which may be used to entice new business into the community. L .. .,, 4 Urban Decision Systems 5 Michigan Employment Security Commission . 8 �I Education TABLE 6 EDUCATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS There is a high percentage of residents 25 years or older, who have only a high school education. Although this figure, 38.4 percent, is less than the Monroe County figure, it is high in relation to the Washtenaw County figure of 26.3 High School Only 38.4% 42.0% 26.3% College (1 to 3 years) 18.3% 12.5% 18.5% 14.0% 8.9% 36. 1% College (4 years or more) Source: 1970 & 1980 Census and Urban Decision Systems. * Includes only residents 25 years or older. percent. Also, 18.5 percent of Monroe County residents have one to three years of college education. Milan with 18.3 percent is for all practical purposes identical. The number of Milan residents who have completed four or more years of college is higher than the figure for Monroe County but falls far short of the Washtenaw County figure. Over all, education in median years at 12.54 for Milan, 12.32, for Monroe County is almost identical. Washtenaw County with a median of 13.74 most likely reflects the number of people employed by the University of Michigan. Milan's large percentage of adults with only a high school education may be related, to an extent, to employment opportunities in the City. Some communities have developed industrial/research/office parks. Facilities such as these, which have been developed in the Ann Arbor area, chiefly employ white collar workers. This may be an issue to be examined in the master plan and zoning ordinance. Also, the community could benefit from educational programs which promote advanced education. Examples are adult education, accelerated classes and advanced placement programs. GENERAL HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS Household Trends I A household is a group of people living together in a housing unit. The U.S. Bureau of the Census defines a housing unit as, "a house, an apartment, a group of rooms or a single room, occupied as a separate living quarters or, if vacant, intended for occupancy as a _separate living quarters." According to Census data, the number of households in the City of Milan increased throughout the 1970's, reaching a total of 1,458 households in 1980. The recession of the early 1980's coupled with high interest rates, severely limited new home construction. As a result, the number of households in Milan declined in conjunction with a lack of new development and the eventual elimination of some housing units. A 1988 estimate6 of 1,424 households indicates that the gradual decline in the number of households is continuing and will probably continue into the future unless offset by new home construction. 6 Urban Decision Systems. I. I '- 9 �... Household size In 1980, the average household size according to the Census was 2.87 persons per household. This figure declined through the 1980's reaching an estimated figure of 2.61 persons per household in 1988. This decline in households size is characteristic of County, State and National trends. Generally, a declining household size may contribute to a decrease in population if the number of households remains relatively stable. (number of households x average household size = pop. estimate) This appears to be the case in City of Milan. The decline in household size is due to a variety of factors among which are the increase in divorce rates (nationally) whereby what had been at least two persons living in one household becomes, two persons, each with their own household. Additionally, and of particular relevance in Milan, is that those born during the "baby boom" period of 1946 through 1964 have generally delayed their marriage and childbirth in proportions beyond those of previous generations. The largest share of the City's population, almost 34%, was born during the baby boom. TABLE 7 AGE OF HOUSING Historic Architecure ~ The majority, 52.2 percent of Milan 's housing was built before 1950. Of this a good amount may be of architectural or historic 11.6% 3.9% 10.0% 1975-1980 significance. As the predominant characteristic of the City's housing 14.3% 16.3% 9.7% 1970-1974 stock, an emphasis should be 14.8% 27.1% 15.7% 1960-1969 placed on the maintenance and 17.6% 17. 1% 18.4% preservation of these homes. 1950-1959 Currently, an Historical Society or 41.7% 29.5% 52.5% 1949 exists, but the City may wish to older consider the creation of a Historic L===========:!::::::============::!.I District Study Committee under Source: 1970 & 1980 Census and Urban Decision Systems. Public Act 169 of 1970 as amended. The committee would survey the area and then could designate specific buildings and/or districts for preservation. Also, the committee may be influential in the creation of an Historic District Ordinance. Other common activities of such committees include conducting periodic tours of historic buildings, preparing brochures, describing historic architecture, and holding community awareness programs to discuss the benefits of historic preservation. These and other issues will be reviewed more extensively in the Historic Preservation component of this master plan. Housing of little or no architectural significance, often requires a considerable amount of maintenance and code improvements. A variety of housing rehabilitation programs are currently available and are offered through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) in cooperation with local banks and the community. These programs have proven to be effective mechanisms to stabilize and improve the housing stock in many communities throughout Michigan. 10 �Tenure of Housine TABLE 8 HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS: 1980 I ' The City of Milan had approximately 430 rente r occupied housing units in 1980. This represents a 28.5 percent share of the City's housing Number of 1,512 98,172 45,361 stock. This compares with Housing Units 1980 figures for Monroe and 96.5% 95.1% Occupied Units 94.6'% Washtenaw Counties of 20.2 percent and 44.0 percent Vacant Units 4.4% 4.6% 3.5% respectively . Washtenaw 68.0% 74.9% 50.6% Owner County figures are most likely Occupancy distorted due to the large demand for rental units around 20.2% 44.00/4 Renter Occupied 28.5% the University of Michigan. At $48,134 $45,953 $61,578 Median Value the same time, 1988 estimates $270 $240 $199 for the City indicate a general Median Rent decline in the number of owner occupied housing units while Source: 1970 & 1980 Census and Urban Decision Systems. the number of renter occupied units remains stable at 430. 7 The market for new multiple family housing units appears to be quite good. There is a large segment of the population in Milan that may find a need for rental housing. Typically, this may be seen as young people who cannot afford a house or older people who may not care to maintain one. If there is a market, as appears to be true, the City should carefully pick areas for multiple family growth. One indicator of the need for alternative housing types is the number of non-family households. Non-Family Households A non-family household is one "containing just one resident or two or more residents unrelated by blood or marriage."8 For the City of Milan, the 1988 estimate9 of non-family households was 24.1 percent. Monroe County had an estimated 19.8 percent and Washtenaw County an estimated 38.6 percent of its housing units described as non-family households. ,. l . 7 Urban Decision Systems 8 U.S. Census. 9 Urban Decision systems 11 �Non-family households typically have fewer children and require smaller housing units. Also, housing that is not geared towards the family may require little or no yard due to the lack of children. ·Housing which suits their needs might be condominium townhouses, apartments, and attached or detached cluster condominiums. Older people often find condominium housing a desirable alternative due to the amenities available and lack of owner maintenance. It is important to remember that housing developed under the Condominium Act, can take many forms and does not reflect any particular style of development. Popular today, is single family cluster housing and site condominiums. From an economic standpoint, a housing unit that is larger than the occupant's needs can be a financial burden. This can lead to decreased maintenance and a blighting effect due to lack of time or money. Furthermore, by committing too much income to housing, little may be left for other expenditures. This is money that could have otherwise been spent in the community. To facilitate a healthy mix of housing units that meet the economic needs and desires of the community, areas should be carefully master-planned. ,e i l 12 �EXISTING LAND USE RESIDENTIAL AREAS The City's housing supply is predominantly single family in nature. The older homes are concentrated around the Central Business District to the north, east and west with some additional housing south of the Saline River. This area is bounded approximately by vacant land and Arkona Road to the north, Main Street to the south, Case Street to the east and Platt Road to the west. The additional smaller area south of the Saline River is concentrated along Wabash Street ·and between Division and Ohio Streets. Many of the larger older homes have been converted to two family and multiple family dwelling structures. ( . TABLE 9 EXISTING LAND USE WITHIN CllY BOUNDARIES (1989 FIELD SURVEY) Residential (311.3) 19.0 Single Family 275 16.8 Multiple Family 37 2.3 Commercial 37 2.3 Office 1.5 0. 1 Industrial 248 15.1 71 4.3 Public 24 1.5 Quasi-Public 38 2.3 Schools 58 3.5 Water 44 2.7 Road right-of-way 369 22.5 Rail right-of-way 38 2.3 Vacant 363 22. 1 1,640 100.0% -Parks TOTAL Newer housing is located further from the Central Business District. These areas include subdivisions north of Phillips Street, southeast of the Platt and Main Street intersection and Anderson Street. There are a few multiple family developments in the City. These include a development at Hurd and Ferman Streets (the old High School site), the northeast corner of Main Street and Platt Road; on the west side of Platt Road south of Main Street and on the east side of Platt Road between Canfield and Louis Street. 13 L. �,, COMMERCIAL AREAS The City of Milan has three major commercial areas, the Central Business District and adjacent commercial areas along Main Street in the center of the City. The Central Business District and adjacent area to the west has approximately 50 commercial establishments in an area roughly bounded by First and Hurd Streets to the north, the S~line River flood plain and Ford Lake to the south, Gay Street to the east and Church Street on the west. The commercial area in the northeast portion of the City lies on both sides of Carpenter Road near the U.S. 23 expressway. Commercial land uses are located along both sides of Carpenter Road roughly between Arkona Road to the north and Phillip's Street to the south. There are approximately 25 commercial establishments in this area. The third major commercial area is located west of Platt Road along Main Street. This area indudes a supermarket, drug store, bank and barber shop. In addition to these three commercial areas, there are two smaller commercial areas in the City. These include the following locations: 1. Intersection of Dexter and County Streets - this area includes a car dealer, gas station and auto parts store. 2. Intersection of Redman, Allen and Wabash Streets - this area has a farm supply store, offices, bar, an adjacent lumber business which is also an industrial use and other commercial uses. There are also a few individual commercial uses at various locations in the City. INDUSTRIAL AREAS The major industrial area of Milan is the area east of U.S. 23, between the Railroad rightof-way and Plank Road, occupied primarily by the Ford Motor Company. The other large industrial area in the City is located south of Redman Road on both sides of Platt Road. PARKS & RECREATION AREAS/OPEN SPACE The City of Milan is blessed with a wealth of recreation land and open space. The City of Milan has over 200 acres of developed parks. These include Wilson Park (35.6 acres), Ford Lake (14.4 acres), Nature Park (11.8 acres), Middle School Play field (4.15 acres), Sanford Road Park (139.5 acres), Milan Softball Park (9 acres) and the High School Paddock School Fields (22 acres). The remaining open space acreage is land which includes the Saline River and its floodplain and the Ford Lake backwaters (a greenbelt I \ L- C 14 �r area which takes an east-west course through the center of Milan). Ford Lake is shallow and silted, but provides an attractive water area in close proximity to the downtown and easily accessible to all residents. The extensive Saline River frontage is a valuable asset to the City Park System. TABLE 10 COMPARISON OF ACRES PER THOUSAND POPULATION: 1990 LAND USE SURVEY H:989) -:;•· . ·• )< 1 ··..:...•:•r•••::::::11 11:::::::; I I . ACRES PER 11 0H6 / . . PEOPLE •·• .< .•. .:. ...... 274 76.2 Multiple Family Residential 37 10.2 Commercial 27 10.2 Office 2 0.4 248 68.9 Parks 71 19.8 Public 24 6.6 Quasi-Public 38 10.5 Schools 82 16.0 Vacant 363 100.7 Industrial I .:AC.RES (?. Single Family Residential I .. 15 �:l~- !}:::'}{}1 SINGLE-FAMILY ~ MULTIPLE-FAMILY fI%~H OFFICE - COMMERCIAL ~ PU 8 LI C ~ QUASI 11W SCHOOLS ~ PARKS ~ LIGHT ~ HEAVY C::=J ~ ...... L RESIDENTIAL RESIDENTIAL PUBLIC ...... INDUSTRIAL 400 INDUSTRIAL SCAL[ VACANT a toO IN !!_00 'f[T MAY 1989 AGRICULTURAL EXISTING Cl TY LAND USEI OF MILAN MICHIGAN vlllcan · lemon a 011oclat11 Inc . community planning conaultanta �GOALS AND OBJECTIVES In the formulation of a Future Land Use Plan, the Planning Commission set forth policies concerning the future of the community. Such a task requires much study and review by the Commission, as well as an objectiveness by which decisions made· benefit the community as a whole. Therefore, to aid the Planning Commission in their endeavors, a Milan 2010 Master Plan Committee was formed consisting of the following: Mayor, Council members, Planning Commissioners, TIFA Member, DDA Member, local residents , a Chamber of Commerce member, school board representative, City Administrator, and City Planner. It was the purpose of the committee to set forth a list of goals and objectives to serve as guidelines in the Planning Commission's formulation of the Future Land Use Plan. Following are the goals and objectives as listed by the 2010 Committee. Goal 1: Goal 2: To create a pattern of development for the City of Milan in which various land use designations are compatible with one another. Objective: Industrial area will be as distant as possible from residential areas. Objective: Business uses will be convenient to but not adjacent to residential uses. To provide an accurate balance of housing types to meet the needs of Milan residents. Objective: Encourage the development of new single family areas in appropriate locations with emphasis on preserving a rural suburban atmosphere. Objective: Emphasize the maintenance and preservation of existing single family neighborhoods while providing a balance of housing types. · Objective: Recognize the need for some multiple family housing, while limiting locations to major and secondary thorofares. Objective: Make provision for utilizing owner occupied single family detached and attached cluster housing in areas where single family subdivision development would be disruptive to natural resources. 16 �Goal 3: Goal 4: Goal 5: Objective: Preserve and maintain structures of significant historical or architectural value and their immediate surroundings. Objective: Use the cluster and PUD options of the zoning ordinance to meet the need for one and two person dwelling units. To designate land uses in such a way that development is not over-taxing the infrastructure. Objective: Place high intensity uses along major thorofares. Objective: Designate major thorofares on a map. Objective: Designate future school sites. Objective: Create mechanism which limits the number of drives onto major thorofares that would otherwise hamper their efficiency. Objective: Consult the various organizations which will be improving infrastructure components and analyze the impacts of these improvements. To preserve the natural resources of the City of Milan. Objective: Utilize a wetlands ordinance to insure that development will not disturb valuable areas. Objective: Create and adopt a woodland protection ordinance to insure that development will not disturb valuable wooded areas. Objective: Use zoning overlays to provide flexible mechanisms through which development can occur while maintaining natural areas. To promote and provide joint use by the City and School District of existing and proposed school sites, where feasible, for both passive and active recreation purposes. Objective: Emphasize cooperation between the City and School District for efficient use of facilities. 17 �Objective: Goal 6: Goal 7: Goal 8: 1• Seek agreement between the City and School District in the development of parks and recreation facilities and school facilities to avoid duplication of effort, where feasible. To incorporate the existing Parks and Recreation Plan into the City of Milan, 2010 Master Plan. Objective: l)tilize recommendations in the Parks and Recreation Plan. Objective: Update the Parks and Recreation Plan periodically to reflect current conditions and Michigan Department of Natural Resource Programs standards. To rehabilitate the existing Central Business District. Objective: Preserve the inherent architectural character of individual buildings and the downtown area as a whole. Objective: Preserve and maintain structures of significant historical and architectural value. Objective: Provide realistic and feasible economic restructuring to meet the current needs and market potential of the unique shopping atmosphere. Objective: Recognize the need to seek alternate uses for structures which are no longer suitable for their original purpose. Objective: Recognize the need for housing units to occupy second and third floors of downtown buildings where feasible. Objective: Encourage physical improvements to the streetscape which respect the architectural values of the buildings which occupy the central business district. The Master Plan should provide for future school sites in relationship to the population to be served. Objective: Provide convenient locations for future school sites. Objective: Provide future school sites which consider population growth potential of all areas shown in the Master Plan. 18 �Goal 9: Goal 10. Goal 11 . Provide for adequate water and sewer seNice which reflects the future growth potential of the City and surrounding area. Objective: Monitor existing and future plans and timetables (County, regional and others) to provide cost effective service locations. Objective: Determine the potential impact of future City growth and the surrounding area. To provide an adequate traffic circulation system. Objective : Improve truck routes between industrial areas and the expressway (U.S. 23). Objective: Place an emphasis on north/south movement. To provide for potential areas to accommodate alternative housing needs of the City of Milan residents. Objective: Provide for senior citizen housing. Objective: Provide for low and middle income housing. Goal 12. To aesthetically improve the thorofare approaches to the City. Goal 13. To encourage industrial development. Goal 14. To recommend and eliminate incompatible land uses. Goal 15. To take steps to insure that all inferior structures in the City are removed or rehabilitated so as to conform to the Code and Ordinance requirements of the City. Goal 16. To establish a historic district study committee for the purpose of identifying historical and architectural resources and methods for their preseNation. Objective: Preserve the unique identity and community character of Milan. Objective : Create public awareness of historic preservation benefits. Objective: Adopt a realistic historic district ordinance. Objective: Maintain and preserve structures of significant historical and architectural value and their immediate surroundings. 19 �FUTURE LAND USE TABLE 11 PROPOSED FUTURE LAND USE WITHIN THE CITY OF MILAN BOUNDARIES (1990) I LAND USE CATEGROY I I PERCENT OF TOTAL AREA (484.7) (30.3%) Low density 357.7 23.0% High density 117.0 7.3% (51.4) (3.2%) Local 5.0 0.3% General 15.0 0.9% Expressway 14.0 0.9% Central Business District 17.4 1.0% Industrial 315.6 19.7% Parks & Recreation 161.8 10. 1% Public 63.0 3.9% Schools (Public) 82.0 4.5% Road right-of-way 368.5 23. 1% Rail right-of-way 38.1 2.4% Water Bodies 43.6 2.7% 1,599 100.0% Residential Commercial ,,-----...., AREA (acres) TOTAL 'L ,·- / j I- 20 I �TABLE 12 PROPOSED FUTURE LAND USE CI1Y OF MILAN AND PLANNING AREA I I LAND USE CATEOGRY Residential AREA (acres) I PERCENT OF TOTAL AREA (1,725.2) 44.7% Low density 1,511.9 40.3% High density 169.3 4.4% (151.2) 3.9% Local 26.2 0.7% General 18.1 0.5% Expressway 89.5 2.3% Central Business District 17.4 0.4% 1,094.6 28.4% Parks & Recreation 334.8 8.7% Public 336.0 8.7% Schools (Public) 190.0 3.8% Water 73.2 1.9% 3,861.0 100.0% Commercial Industrial TOTAL L i' . 21 - - - -- I �TABLE 13 COMPARISON OF ACRES OF LAND USE PER THOUSAND POPULATION 1973 Land Use Survey Acres Acres Per 1,000 People Low Density Residential 265.7 57.8 High Density Residential 18.7 4.0 Commercial 30. 1 6.5 96.6 21.0 Public 56.6 12.3 Schools & Parks 111.7 24.3 8.4 1.8 Industrial \ Quasi-Public TABLE 14 FUTURE LAND USE COMPARISON OF ACRES PER THOUSAND POPULATION Acreage Acres Per 1,000 People Low Density Residential 367.7 115.6 High Density Residential 117.0 36.7 Commercial 51.35 16.1 Industrial 315.61 99.2 Parks & Recreation 161.8 50.9 Public 63.0 19.8 Schools (Public) 72.0 22.6 Future Land Use I (. r· l. I. 22 �RESIDENTIAL AREAS The Future Land Use Plan provides for two types of areas for 1,725 acres of residential development. These are 1,556 acres for low density (single and two family) housing and 169 acres for high density (multiple) housing. LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL The Future Land Use Plan shows the largest amount of land area for conventional low density residential development. About 1,276 acres is available for new low density residential development. Major areas included in those 1,276 acres are 320 acres in the far northwest portion of the planning area, south of Willow Road, 61 acres between Platt Road and the Ann Arbor Railroad right-of-way, south of Willow Road, 396 acres in the north central portion of the planning area between the Ann Arbor Railroad right-of-way and U.S. 23, 111.5 acres north of Mooreville Road and west of Platt Road, 40 acres east of Platt Road, north of Main Street, 117 acres south of Arkona Road between the Ann Arbor Railroad right-of-way and Carpenter Road, 149 acres west of Platt Road and south of Mooreville Road, 47 acres south of Allen Road and west of Crowe Road and 33 acres at the northeast corner of Redman and Platt Roads. The majority of the older houses in Milan, which were built between 1840 and 1930, are located adjacent to the Central Business District to the north, east and west. Many of these structures are outstanding examples of a variety of historic architectural styles. These houses are key elements responsible for Milan's unique identity. The quality of construction in these homes is substantial and provides potential for long use. Rehabilitation and restoration of many homes is now taking place. With the escalating price of housing, this trend towards restoration should continue. A variety of programs exist which could assist in further enhancing the viability of these areas. HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL The Future Land Use Plan provides for 169 acres of multiple family housing development. 144 acres are available for new high density residential development. Major areas included in those 144 acres include 31 acres at the southeast corner of Arkona and Platt Roads, 41 acres between Anderson Street and Platt Road, south of Canfield Street (with access on Redman Road) and 62 acres east of Wabash Street, north and south of Allen Road. r 23 �RESIDENTIAL AREA ANALYSIS There are currently several zoning categories that allow the construction of single family homes in the City of Milan. Of these, the R1-B district allows the lowest density (dwelling units per acre). The current area requirement of 7,200 square feet per lot would allow 6.05 dwelling units per acre. The smaller lot sizes are a product of a "grid system platting" which was commonly applied in the past. TABLE 15 STANDARDS FOR WT SIZES, EXISTING AND PROPOSED CURRENT RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT PROPOSED Lot Areas (sq .ft.) Width (feet) Lot Areas (sq .ft.) Width (feet) With utilities - - 18,000 120 Without utilities - - 43,560 150 Wrth utilities - 12,000 100 Without utilities - - 43,560 150 R1-B (single family) 7,200 60 9,600 80 R2 (single family) 7,200 60 9,600 80 R1 (single family) R1-A (single family) Current development trends 12,000 100 (two family) 10,000 80 terid to have larger lot sizes based on subdivision designs which favor acurvelinear street pattern. This type of design tends to have less area dedicated to roads and a greater amount of open space. As it is likely that this type of development will occur in the future on large parcels of land which are currently vacant, lot sizes should be reevaluated. The table above compares current standards for existing single and two family residential districts and proposes some potential changes. There are 1,095 acres of vacant land outside of the City that are suitable for residential development. Development of these areas using the lowest density standards existing in the zoning ordinance could create 5,302 new single family lots. Using the proposed R1-A district, a total of 2,121 could be created. We note that these calculations assume that 20 percent of the total land area would be used for roads. Lowering the density of developments has many implications. Several of these include: a reduction in the capacity required for sanitary and storm sewers, a reduction in drinking water capacity, less of an impact on surrounding roads, a greater amount of open area (green space) . I. I. 24 �I • COMMERCIAL AREAS There are four types of commercial areas shown in the Milan 2010 Future Land Use Plan which provides a total of 151 acres for future commercial use. These are the Central Business District, Local Commercial, General Commercial and Expressway Commercial. The following are descriptions of each of the areas: CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT The Central Business District area shown on the Future Land Use Plan occupies 17.35 acres and closely corresponds with the existing downtown business area. Centered at Main Street and Wabash Street, the CBD extends one block north and south, three blocks east and one block west. The area contains abut 50 specialty retail, offices and other small businesses and over 50 percent of the commercial firms in the City. It is anticipated that growth in the Central Business District will occur more as a result of changes within its present area rather than from expansion of its boundaries. The potential for growth lies in the availability of vacant commercial space, more efficient use of existing retail space and the tendency of the local market to replace marginal businesses with stronger, well established retail operations that can better meet the needs of the community. The historical architectural character of the CBD (downtown) area is a tremendous asset which will continue to provide unique opportunities and an aesthetic environment for specialty commercial needs. The character of the downtown area provides a lasting impression of Milan to visitors and residents. Downtown Milan and its individual architectural resources are key elements in the City's unique identity and sense of place. ( LOCAL COMMERCIAL I L There are three areas with a total 26.21 acres of land designated on the Future Land use Plan as Local Commercial. Businesses such as a supermarket, grocery store, drug store, and branch bank facilities are typically located in these areas where adequate parking can be provided to servic~ local residential neighborhoods and nearby business employees in some locations. The largest of these areas lies on the north and south side of Plank Road, west of Platt Road. There is a small area of local commercial adjacent to the west end of the CBD on Main Street. GENERAL COMMERCIAL I \. There are two major areas and a total of 18.14 acres of land shown on the Future Land Use Plan as General Commercial. Business types include restaurants, gas and fuel service stations, car washes, auto parts stores, automobile dealerships, minor auto repair, 25 I �theaters, dry cleaners, laundromats, florists, dairy, bakery, furniture and appliance stores and lumber yard retail operations. The largest of these areas lies on both sides of Carpenter Road, approximately between Phillips and Lewis on the west and between Miller and Smith on the east. The other area is located on County Street at Dexter Street. EXPRESSWAY COMMERCIAL The Future Land Use Plan provides for three areas of Expressway Commercial adjacent to U.S. 23 with a total of 89.5 acres of land. Businesses in these areas would include gas and fuel service stations, fast food and family style restaurants, convenience stores, car washes, minor auto repair, hotels, motel, bus and other transportation depots. I- The largest of these areas is currently vacant and is located along the north and south sides of Plank Road east of U.S. 23. The existing expressway commercial area continues to develop and is located along both sides of Carpenter Road at the north boundary of the City. This area currently serves as the major entry point to the City of Milan. Jmprovements are now being planned for this area in order to provide a more positive and aesthetic impression of Milan and to link this area with downtown and other areas in the City in the -future. l. \ ' L 26 �INDUSTRIAL AREAS Presently there are three major areas for the development of industrial uses in Milan. The largest area containing approximately 219 acres of land, located east of U.S. 23 between Plank Road and the Ann Arbor Railroad right-of-way, is primarily occupied by the Ford Motor Company. The second largest area containing 140 acres of land is located on both sides of Platt Road south of Redman Road. The smallest area is located on the west side of U.S. 23 between Plank Road and County Street. This area contains 25 acres of land. Three new areas for industrial development are also shown within the Milan 201 0 Future Land Use planning area. The largest area is located east of U.S. 23 (on both sides of Carpenter Road) and north of Arkona Road in the far northeast corner of the Future Land Use planning area. This area contains 557 acres of land adjacent to the Carpenter Road interchange on U.S. 23. The second largest area contains 86 acres of land and is located south of Redman Road, west of the vacant Fruehauf facility. This area in the far southwest corner of the planning area includes access to the railroad right-of-way south of the Fruehauf property. The other area lies adjacent to the same railroad right-of-way but is on the east side of Platt Road. This area contains approximately 56 acres of land along the south boundary of the Future Land Use planning area. Industrial land uses are difficult to forecast because they are not typically dependent upon existing population for their growth. To the contrary, they actually are the generators or catalysts for growth that attract jobs and people to an area. Because of their importance in stimulating the local economy, industrial uses should be encouraged in the area. And, the City with its existing industrial areas, concentration of labor and available facilities such as sanitary sewers, storm sewers, and central water service, is able to offer the services which new industries desire and existing industries need to expand. ,. I I- 27 �RECREATION PARKS AND RECREATION INVENTORY The City of Milan ,has in its possession approximately 1,623 acres of waterways, parklands and open space. Of this, some 200 acres are developed parks, listed below. The remaining acreage is land which includes the Saline Rivere ~nd its floodplain and Ford Lake and its backwaters (a "green belt" area which takes an east-west course through the center of Milan). City Parks Wilson Park (35.6 Acres) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Softball Field, lighted Basketball Courts - 2 Picnic Shelter Playground Equipment Tot Lot Play Area Little League Fields: a. Major League Field b. Minor League Field C. 'T' Ball Field d. (New) Little League Field Community House Ford Lake (14.4 acres) A shallow, silted but attractive water area downtown which could be renovated and made an important water use area, easily accessible to all residents. Contains an island. River Frontage A very valuable asset to the City park system with potential for multi-use development. The water quality is low from industrial, nutrient and septic filed pollution upstream. Milan's portion of the stream is only a part of the complete river basin which is planned as a green belt by both counties. Nature Park (11.8 acres) L. I • 1. 2. 3. Softball diamond Picnic Shelter Playfield L rI ~ 1. 28 �4. 5. 6. 7. Playground Equipment Volleyball Court (grass) Horseshoe Court Parking Area Middle School Playfields (4.15 acres) 1. 2. l' . Tennis Courts (4) Softball Diamond Sanford Road Park (139.5 acres) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Golf Range Tennis Court Small Picnic Areas Playfield Community Garden Plots 1.6 mile Jogging Trail Horse Show Arena/Reviewing Stand Model Airplane Flying Field Cross Country Skiing Trial Milan Softball Park (9.0 acres) ~ 1. Softball Diamonds Fitness Center Located in the Milan High School, the center contains weight lifting apparatus and an exercise area. Other Public Facilities The Federal Correctional Institution has a training center building which is available for community use, on a limited basis, but is somewhat remote for other than special purpose use by the community. It is, however, valuable to the community in that it is a space that is available under certain circumstances. SCHOOLS r \ r The School District extends over large portions of the two counties including the City of Milan. Within the City of Milan are two school properties, the high school - Paddock School area and the middle school area. Facilities contained in these two areas are as follows: t . 29 �High School - Paddock School (22.0 acres) C'\ .• Indoor Facilities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Larger multi-purpose gymnasium with stage Art rooms Music rooms Photography laboratory Wood and metal shop Swimming Pool, indoor Closed circuit television Two Physical Education Stations (Gyms) Library Computer Center The high school has average facilities for recreation programs for use by the entire community and the swimming pool complex is outstanding. Its primary use is, of course, by students and the swimming team, but is used extensively for community-wide swimming activities. Outdoor Facilities: 1. • 2. 3. 4. 5. Football practice field Baseball field Track Softball sand lot fields (2), and storage buildings Playground Middle School (40.0 acres) The Middle School was opened in 1969 and includes some excellent indoor and outdoor facilities for Park and Recreation activities. I L Indoor Facilities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Auditorium with stage Multi-purpose gymnasium Music rooms Library Art rooms Wood and metal shop 30 �Outdoor Facilities: 1. 2. 3. 4. '•· Lighted football field Track Baseball field General turfing & parking Private Recreation There are many clubs and organizations open to membership in the community and the region which furnish facilities and programs to meet their memberships' need and demands. Churches The churches in Milan have miscellaneous spaces which are being used for some recreational activities such as arts and crafts, generally oriented toward their own congregations. However, many of the church buildings are used by various community groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brownies, and for meetings of various groups. Family Recreation Many forms of recreation preferred by adults involve the family. This is especially true of such activities as sailing, swimming, picnicking, fishing, gardening, bicycling, tennis, dining out, concerts and movies, camping, skiing, bowling and backyard barbecues. The setting for such activities range from the homes, which include a variety of design features for leisure living, but extends to include other areas of the county and state. Added to the above are the mass forms of entertainment such as radio and television; no figures are available on the relative use of television in Milan compared with people living elsewhere. It can be surmised that a relatively high frequency of TV-watching takes place, not only by adults, but by many children for whom there are inadequate recreation opportunities. '. I t Commercial Recreation Commercial recreation currently available in Milan includes: Cloverleaf Bowling Lanes, Milan Sports Plaza and The Milan Dragway. Many such facilities and services are within a half hour's drive such as restaurants, motel with swimming pools, football, basketball and other college and professional sporting activities. Cultural events in the region are numerous in Toledo, Monroe, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit such as music, drama, art events, flower show, auto and boat shows, ballet, theater, circuses and a great variety of other events. Milan is especially well located to 31 �■ take advantage of these surrounding metropolitan areas and their recreation opportunities. Heath Beach 5 miles Swimming, picnicking (privately owned, open to public) Irish Hills Ski Area 25 miles Skiing Mt. Brighton Ski Area 35-40 miles Skiing There are also two riding schools, a 9 hole golf course, and sportmans club in the region Library In addition to the three school libraries, the city library is located adjacent to City Hall in the central park complex, is a part of the Washtenaw County system and has access to any part of that system. It contains about 25,000 volumes and operates on a 1 mil appropriation from the City Council, plus some receipt and a small amount of State aid. Reejonal Facilities The people of Milan use the state parks and regional parks for varying purposes. However, all are some distance from Milan. Below is a list of these parks including the approximate distance from the Milan area and the activities and facilities available: ,..........,_ ' 'ii (' State Parks & Recreation Areas Distance W.J. Hayes 25 mi. Swimming, boating, fishing, picnicking, camping, hiking. Sterling 20 mi. Picnicking, boating, fishing. Pinckney 30 mi. Swimming, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, picnicking. Waterloo 45 mi. Picnicking, hiking, fishing, swimming, hunting, camping. Island Lake 35 mi. Canoeing, swimming, picnicking. Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Parks Distance Lower Huron 25 mi. Swimming, golf, picnicking, hiking. Kensington 35 ml. Swimming, hiking, canoeing, ice skating, sledding, boating, fishing, golf. Dexter-Huron 25 mi. Canoeing, picnicking. \ I Activities r L. Activities I \ . ,.....--..__ I 32 '·. r ■ �,,- Washtenaw County Parks Facilities Distance Independence Lake Park 25 mi. Swimming, fishing, picnicking, hiking, nature programs, winter sports. Park Lyndon 25 mi. Picnicking, nature trails Park Washtenaw 15 mi. Community gardening, nature trails, par course. Rolling Hills Park swimming. 12 mi. Athletic fields, picnicking, winter sports, nature trails, Activities A comparison of Milan's Park Facilities with communities of similar size in Southeastern Michigan indicates that we are above average in park acreage and public park facilities. Source: Department of Natural Resources, Recreation Service Division, Public Recreation Facility Inventory Report Summary, 1990. 33 ,- - ~----- ~ -- �• TABLE 16 *FACILITIES DEFICIENCY & SURPLUS EXISTING DEFICIENCY SURPLUS 3 . 2 1 2 . 1 1 (1 A/ 200) (25A) 2 1 1 1 . . Art:>oretum 1/ 10,000 0 1 - Archery Range 1/ 1,500 1 . Baseball Diamond 1/6,000 + - Bicycle Trail 1/ 2,500 1 (route) 1 Bridle Trail 1/2,500 1 (open area) 1 Boating Facility 1/2,500 0 2 Band Shell 1/ 10,000 0 1 Botanical Garden 1/ 10,000 0 1 Basketball Court 1/ 500 2 6 Croquet Alea per demand 0 1 . . Casting Pool 1/2,500 0 1 . Camp, Day 1/10,000 1 . Football Field 1/10,000 1 - Handball-Paddleball 1/1,500 0 3 Horseshoe Alea per demand 1 - Ice Skating Alea 1/2,500 1 1 Shuffleboard Court 1/1,500 0 3 18 holesj20,000 0 9 holes Softball Diamond 1/3,000 + + Tennis Courts 1/2,000 5 . 3% population 1 (indoor) 1 (outdoor) 1/1,500 2 1 - FACILITY Neighborhood Playground Playfield Community Park Recreation Center Bldg. STANDARD 1 per 2000-5000 pop. SPECIAL PURPOSE Golf Course I.. Swimming Soccer Field +existing baseball diamonds; 1 regulation diamond in good condition 2 practice diamonds in fair condition 3 little league diamonds In good condition 1 T-ba/1 diamond in fair condition existing softball diamonds: 5 diamonds in good condition (3 are regulation size). **based on N.R.P.A. standards 34 + . 3 �PROBLEM STATEMENTS AND LONG RANGE GOALS Description of Plannini: Process With the help of the University of Michigan Social Research Development, the Milan Parks & Recreation Commission developed the following survey. One hundred and fifty (150) city residents were selected at random and the survey was hand delivered to their residence along with an instruction sheet and a stamped return envelope. Residents were asked to fill out the short survey and mail it to the Parks and Recreation Office, by the designated deadline. The University of Michigan advised us that 50% of the surveys were required back to make it legitimate. 37 completed surveys were received by the deadline. At that time follow-up phone calls were made to residents and 14 additional forms were received, bringing the total to 51. The additional 24 surveys were done by phone to bring the level to the needed 50% mark. The responses were tabulated and goals were set as a result of those findings and Parks and Recreation Commission expertise. The survey and results are shown on the following page. Questions No. 5, No. 6 and No. 11, that require written response are presented in more detail on a separate sheet from the actual survey form. (page 25.) On a whole the responses were very useful in our priority setting process. Current Problems and Issues I 1. Although a lot of improvements have been made as far as park maintenance and equipment acquisition there is still the need for an adequate storage and work area to maintain the existing and proposed park facilities. Within the next five years new equipment should continue to be purchased. The top priority as far as maintenance, has to be the development of a parks headquarter for the storage of vehicles, equipment, tools and supplies and to provide work areas for small repairs and winter work projects. 2. A system of equitable, area-wide financing of the Parks and Recreation Department must be explored in the near future. The Milan Parks and Recreation Department serves the needs of 12,000 people but is heavily subsidized by 4,000 plus city residents. It would be advantageous to establish a joint recreation authority whereby all units of government would cooperatively plan and provide leisure services to area residents. 3. At this point in time the Milan Senior Citizen Center is run under the direction of the Milan Parks and Recreation Department. Center activities currently take place in the Community House which is inadequate for the needs. A new center with more space is needed in the next five years. With the Senior population growing and the amount of leisure time available this is an important undertaking for the future of the community. '· 35 �4. Demand for local parks and recreation programs and facilities is sure to increase as Americans require more leisure time and transportation cost rise. However, funds for the development and operation of park facilities and programs to meet this increased demand may not be readily available. Alternative forms of funding through millage, manpower grants and fund raising drives are being explored. Wilson Park-Ford Lake Area: There are limited opportunities for passive or water based recreational activities within the City of Milan. The Wilson Park-Ford Lake area, despite having ample lake and river frontage is inadequate because of substandard park facilities and limited access to the water. The area should be developed to enhance existing scenic and water resources. Sanford Road Park Site: The Sanford Road Park Site could provide an adequate site for the annual Milan Fair, as well as continuing to provide large open spaces for certain space consuming recreational activities. Community Recreation Center: There currently is no facility that is built specifically for use by the total community for a wide range of uses. A community recreation center should be constructed for the following reasons: '· r 1. A large increase in the demand for indoor recreation programs and the facilities that are required for those programs. 2. An increased demand for meeting facilities by community and private groups within the community. 3. The lack of a large facility which is available by rent for large groups for meetings and other activities. 4. Limits in the availability of existing school facilities for recreation programs. 5. Lack of indoor facilities for future recreation growth. 6. Improvising programs in a less than satisfactory manner, because facilities do not meet the requirements of size and demand. 7. As after-school activities increase, more and more space will be needed for those purposes. 8. The lack of a central City civic building which is available to all civic and community groups, and which serves as a central focal point with the City. * The 2010 Committee has departed from the exact wording found in the City's Recreation Plan in order to meet the purpose of the Master Plan. 36 �Lone Ranee Goals Sanford Road Park Development Goals: Develop a major community park that provides adequate acreage for a variety of space consuming recreational activities. Milan Softball Park Development Goal: Install lighting on the existing tournament class softball diamonds. Wilson Park Development Goal: Develop the Wilson ·Park area into an attractive and functional community park and lake front accommodating passive and water based recreational activities. Milan Community House: Preserve and upgrade the Milan Community House to insure continuing use by the community for a wide variety of social and recreational activities. Park Maintenance: To provide clean, orderly and attractive appearance of park grounds, structures and facilities for the healthful, safe, convenient and enjoyable use of Milan area citizens. Area-wide Recreation Agency Goal: Encourage the cooperative planning and financing of leisure services by City and Township governments. Community Center Development: Develop a multi-purpose community center that provides facilities for a wide variety of social, and passive recreation activities. Short Term Objectives Sanford Road Park Development Objectives: 1. To continue cooperative planning with community organizations to determine the feasibility of developing facilities on the Sanford Road Park site. 2. To complete development of a community jogging-exercise trail including exercise stations and better organized parking. Milan Softball Park Development Objectives: 1. To install lighting on both tournament class softball fields. 2. To provide a play area with play structure for the Softball Park. 3. To develop an irrigation system and upgrade turf on both fields. r 37 �Wilson Park Obiectives: 1. To provide adequate means of vehicle entrance, exit and parking in the Wilson Park area. 2. To increase access to the waterbased recreational opportunities in and along the banks of the Saline River and Ford Lake. 3. To provide a system of scenic trails, overlooks, and a pedestrian bridge within Wilson Park. 4. To continue to develop and upgrade basic park facilities for the enjoyment and safely of park visitors including picnic shelters, passive activities area, open air concert facility and public restrooms. 5. To begin necessary steps to re-claim Ford Lake in conjunction with the Wilson Park project. r l Community House Development Obiectives: 1. Refinish interior to provide an attractive, Ford industrial period meeting facility. Park Maintenance Objectives: 1. Develop an adequate site for the storage of vehicles, equipment, tools and supplies. 2. Provide work areas for repairs and winter work projects. Area-Wide Recreation Agency Obiectives: 1. To involve township citizen in the planning of recreation services. 2. To establish a system of financing recreation services that provides greater equality between city and township residents. 3. Explore the feasibility of an area-wide (tax levy) milage appropriation for parks and facilities. Park & Facility Development Objectives: 1. To identify city owned land considered appropriate for park land and have Council designate it as such. 2. To develop a multi-room Senior Citizen facility to meet the needs of the senior citizens of the area. 38 �COMMUNI1Y FACILffiES To properly and effectively operate a community requires the provision of numerous services and facilities. Public facilities are those physical improvements required to provide public services to the neighborhood and community population. The following community facilities are considered: civic center, library, police station, fire station, department of public works, community center and utilities. CIVIC CENTER The civic center as part of the Future Land Use Plan, is important in that this center should be a focal point of the City. The concept of the civic center implies a complex for civic and governmental activities. The key advantage of a civic center is the grouping of compatible public uses in a single, recognizable area. Such a facility may include governmental offices, police station, fire station, library, community buildings and recreational facilities. The advantage of this campus-like center is the economy realized through the development of jointly used facilities such as parking, drives, landscaping, lighting and the close proximity afforded interdependent offices. By providing a civic center as one coordinated site, an aesthetic focal point for the City has been accomplished which reflects local pride and progress. The new Civic Center site, located south of the Saline River east of Wabash Road, contains the completely renovated and expanded City Hall, the adjacent library, new police station and new fire station, department of public works, and two historical buildings. The integration of restoration and reuse of the two historical Ford buildings and removal of the DPW storage barn would further improve the Civic Center site. LIBRARY The Milan Public Library currently operates within its own facility adjacent to the City Hall. The number of volumes is adequate to meet the present needs of Milan residents, however, the library is deficient in floor area. COMMUNI'IY CENTER r l. The Community /Senior Citizen Center building plan for the future is to be located in the City Complex Center of the Wilson Park area. Preliminary study indicates a community need for a center to service approximately 200 people in an estimated 7,200 square foot, one-story brick building or sided building planned for some future date in that location. POLICE f . I !. )1. As essential element of community service is that of police protection. To function effectively, the police station should be central to the population it is intended to serve. This provides for greater efficiency in normal patrol activities as well as dispatching standby vehicles. The new City police station in the Civic Center is a state-of-the art facility. 39 �The building consists of a 5,200 square foot, one-story brick building in place to handle the current/future community's public safety needs. The level of staffing for the Milan Police Departments is, 1-Chief, 1-Lieutenant in the command ranks, 6-State-certified Patrolmen, 4-communication dispatchers to operate 24 hour dispatching and 911 communication system coming on line in mid 1991. The Milan Police Department is part of the Mutual Aid System with the counties of Washtenaw and Monroe Police agencies. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS The Department of Public Works (DPW) is charged with the responsibility of servicing and maintaining the public street and park system as well as the collection of refuse. At the present time, the DPW storage barn is located to the rear of the Civic Center site. DPW offices are now located behind the new City Hall and Police Station. Due to the trucking, repair, and storage operations associated with DPW functions, it resembles most closely an industrial activity. Further, the non-office portion of the DPW does not normally generate visits by the general public and, thus does not require proximity to administrative facilities or a central location. Based on these characteristics, it is felt DPW facilities are best located in an industrial district where its operation would be compatible and similar to adjacent land uses. This would provide a more aesthetic setting for the Civic Center and adjacent Henry Ford buildings. FIRE STATIONS Milan is serviced by the Milan Area Volunteer Fire Department consisting of four surrounding local units of government (Milan Township, York Township, London Township and the City of Milan) which make up the Milan Area Fire Department, and is staffed by a total of 32 volunteers consisting of 1-Chief, 1-Assistant Chief, 1-Captain, 2Lieutenants in the command ranks with the remaining volunteers all being State-certified firemen and some EMT rated and certified personnel. The Fire Station is a modern, 1O year old, one-story brick building of approximately 5,200 square feet with 5 equipment bays, training and communication areas, standby power and mutual aid system in place with both counties of Washtenaw and Monroe Fire Departments. The existing fire equipment is in place to meet all fire service requirements for class 7 rating per I.S.O. The Fire Station, located at Wabash and Main Streets in the center of Milan, is owned by the City of Milan and leased to the Milan Area Fire Department with a 10 year lease and renewal provisions. UTILITIES Existing and future land use is greatly influenced by the extent of public facilities that serve land uses. The availability of water and sewer facilities contributes to a more diversified and dynamic community structure. The future service areas for water and sewer facilities will be determined by the anticipated distribution and density of population. In order to 40 �effect the greatest economics, new land development should be encouraged in areas having existing service or in areas adjacent to serviced areas. Dispersed development can only be serviced at a high overall cost to the community. Generally, urbanizing development should progress gradually in areas where utility services, streets, schools, etc., can be provided at the least total cost to the community. It is not the intent of this section to discuss in detail water and sewer facilities due to its engineering nature. However, statements are made concerning the futur~ use and capacity levels of each. Water Supply Water service for the City of Milan is supplied and provided by a City-owned and operated ground water supply system. The system consists of five working well houses with average depths of 112' ranging in size from 6" to 12" cased wells. The total system capacity is 2 million gallons per day. One new iron removal plant rated at 2 million gallons per day with the ability to expand to 3 million gallons per day is located in Wilson Park. One 500,000 gallon elevated water storage tank is located on City-owned property at the end of Green Tree Lane. The water system is controlled with state of the art telemetering equipment and standby power both gas and diesel power in two of the working wells along with an automated alarm and tow pressure controls at the well houses. All existing land within the City of Milan is serviced by public water lines in the road right-of-way and approximately 18 miles of cast iron mains in place ranging in size from 4" to 12". According to engineering reports, the .City has an abundance of ground water adequate to serve the City for many years in the future. Sanitary Sewer Sanitary sewer service for the City of Milan is provided by a City-owned new, three year old, 11 million dollar Tertiary Treatment Plant located in the City of Milan, Gump Lake location with a design capacity of 1.85 million gallons per day and expandable to 4 million gallons per day. The Waste Water Treatment Plant was EPA approved and funded at the 75% level. The existing EPA discharge permit and City of Milan Use Ordinance is in place for industrial users which meets the required pretreatment ordinance. All areas within the City of Milan are available for sanitary sewer service by way of a collection system in place of approximately 18 miles of sanitary sewer lines and lift stations, where needed. The existing collection system size ranges from 6" to 32". I !__ _ 41 �PUBLIC & SEMI PUBLIC USES Public and semi-public uses include schools, churches, government buildings and facilities, and fraternal and non-profit organizations. For the most part, these cannot be accurately predicted or projected in a plan. The Milan 2010 Future Land Use Plan suggests three planned public uses. One is a school site located on Redman Road, just west of Platt Road behind the existing Junior High School, that was recently acquired as a potential new high school site. The second site is the existing high school which could become a junior high school. The third site is directly south of the existing junior high school. This site is now owned by the school district but is used for agricultural purposes. The site is anticipated for a new elementary school. Should substantial growth occur in the City and surrounding areas (2010 Future Land Use Planning Area) which encompass the Milan School District, it is possible that these three facilities would be developed in the future. i I.. 42 �THOROFARES .e A network of thorofares, analyzed in accordance with land use patterns, is an important element in the Future Land Use Plan. A basic objective of an efficient thorofare plan is the maximum separation of local and through traffic movements. Local streets should be designed so as to avert through traffic and to serve only the traffic of local residents. However, through traffic should be provided means of movement by secondary and major thorofares that surround the residential areas. Three basic street types of importance to the Future Land Use Plan are: • Local Streets: Local neighborhood streets, industrial service drives, and the like, are for local traffic only and provide direct access to abutting property. They are indirect in alignment in order to discourage through or fast moving traffic. Public right-of-way widths are normally 60 feet. • Secondary or Collector Thorofares: Through streets which collect vehicles from local streets and distribute them to either local destinations, or higher type arteries. Right-of-way widths are normally 86 feet. • Major Thorofares: Along with freeways, major thorofares serve as the principal network for traffic flow. Major thorofares connect areas of principal traffic generation, as well as serving the interurban connectors. Generally, right-of-way widths are 120 feet or greater. The following proposals of the thorofare plan are influenced by future residential, public, commercial, and industrial land use proposals of the Future Land use Plan. LOCAL STREETS As stated above, local streets provide direct access to abutting property and are intended to serve only local traffic. It is not the purpose of this plan to propose, in detail, local street accesses and extensions. Efficient development controls exercised by the respective City bodies can assure proper local street extensions and accesses. The scope and number of all such proposals are too vast to show graphically on the Thorofare Plan Map. It is intended, that those shown, do not constitute the full extent of such proposals. The thrust of local street planning should occur during the development of respective parcels of land at the time of platting and site plan review. SECONDARY THOROFARES The following roads are suggested as secondary or collector thorofares: l Division Street and its extension west to Platt Road will provide access through the proposed medium-density area as well as serve traffic generated from the Milan Middle School. I ~ l 43 �Platt-Dexter connection, north of Sherman Road, is proposed in order to provide secondary access between these two major thorofares to serve future land use proposals. • Wabash Road, south of Division Street, is one of two north-south routes. Although the intersection of Wabash with the railroads is cumbersome, improved design and signaling should improve the crossing. There is also the possibility that the Ann Arbor Railroac;i may be abandoned, in which case, Wabash would only intersect one railway. However, should activity on the Ann Arbor and Wabash increase significantly, the possibility of realigning Wabash to include Division, Anderson, Anderson extension, and realignment with the Wabash as a direct southern route should be considered. Dexter Road, also known as Carpenter Road, travels in a north-south direction providing interchange access to the freeway. At the present time, Dexter only travels south as far as Main Street. It is a proposal of this thorofare plan that Dexter be extended south to Sherman Road. Such an extension would serve adjacent land uses by permitting north-south movement to one of two freeway interchanges without having to circle west through the CBD and by creating an additional bridged access over the Saline River. In this way, persons who live on Allen Road could utilize Dexter to gain access to County Street rather than using Wabash Hoad. The proposed route, as shown on the Thorofare Plan Map, represents route location number 3 per the "Dexter Street Extension Study" by McNamee, Porter and Seeley, Engineers, in 1973. As stated, the extension of Dexter Road would relieve the Wabash Road traffic as well as downtown congestion. However, it should be noted that if development east and south of the Wabash Railroad occurs much in advance of the Dexter Road extension, the traffic volumes of existing surrounding arterials would be greatly increased. Therefore, careful planning and phasing of development is essential. Redman Road, between Platt and Wabash Roads, serves as a collector street for the medium-density and industrial areas traffic. • Allen Road, between Wabash and the proposed Dexter Street extension, will, in the future, serve the medium-density residential areas. MAJOR THOROFARES 1~ The following roads are suggested as major thorofares: I_ ,. i - I I l.- County Street provides the City's main point of access from the east and merges with Main Street in Milan's downtown area. The portion of County Street east of 44 �the City limits becomes Milan-Oakville Road which links Milan and the rural area of Oakville. Regionally, this route connects with Telegraph Road at the MonroeWayne County lines to the east. Existing land uses along County, within the planning area, include industry, as well as being planned for additional industrial uses. Therefore, County Street as a major thorofare will serve primarily the industrial uses as well as provide bridged access over U.S. 23. Main Street currently functions as a major thorofare carrying the bulk of area traffic in a diagonal pattern through the City. To the northwest, beyond the City limits, Main splits into: the Saline-Milan Road which links the Cities of Saline and Milan; and Mooreville Road which connects Milan with the rural area of Mooreville. To the southeast, Main becomes Plank Road connecting with the rural area of Mayer. Plank Road currently provides one of two interchange points with U.S. 23 making this road an important regional thorofare providing freeway access to Milan and its surrounding areas. Platt Road provides north-south travel in the western portion of the City, as well as bridged access over the Saline River. Ultimately, the area is planned to develop with residential uses, an in turn, to be served by this major thorofare. From a regional standpoint, Platt connects with Michigan Avenue (M-12) to the north as well as continuing further north to Washtenaw Road in the City of Ann Arbor. To the south, Platt continues the extent of Milan Township, terminating at Day Road. Industrial development south of Redman will be better accommodated by improvements to Platt Road which would form a potential loop from U.S. 23 connected with east-west roads to the north and south which have access to U.S. 23. This would reduce and potentially eliminate industrial related, east-west traffic thru the middle of the City which is now necessary. Redman Road traverses east and west originating at Wabash Road in the City and traveling west to Ridge Highway. Redman is proposed to serve as a major thorofare from Platt Road west. Arkona Road presently linking Platt Road and U.S. 23 is proposed to be extended westward to the Saline-Milan Road. This route would provide continuous northerly access to the freeway, as well as serve the planned northern residential area. A minor realignment of Arkona Road west of U.S. 23 "'(as recently implemented by the State Highway Department to provide additional acreage for improvement of the interchange. L. 45 I �N. Wabash Road currently serves two large traffic generators: Wilson City Park and Milan City Hall. Also, Wabash Road provides one of two bridges over the Saline River. For these reasons, N. Wabash will remain a major thorofare. • Sanford Road extending north and south will, in the future, serve the planned industrial uses as well as the Milan Federal Correctional Institution and proposed golf course. Sanford Road is proposed to be extended from Plank south to Sherman to provide greater continuity. • Sherman Road traversing east-west along the southern boundary of the planning area will serve as a major thorofare for future land uses and \\'.ill intersect w'th Platt and Sanford Roads. • Dexter Road, as previously discussed in the Secondary Thorofares section, travels in a north-south direction providing interchange access to the freeway. Its designation, north of Main Street, as a major thorofare is important due to the access it provides to the north over U.S. 23. Dexter Road also serves as one of the main points of access into the City of Milan in the vicinity of Dexter and Phillips Road. Dexter is now being realigned between Lewis and Michigan Streets in order to provide straight line continuity without the median access between U.S. 23 and Dexter as cur:rently exists. This suggested improvement will require cooperation between the City and State Highway Department, and most likely require initiation of such investigation by the City. 46 �.....--! -= :: .. : ... - 0 0 .. ... .0 w • > 0 : z .. .! o- E .. .• .;'" =.... o 2 E E 0 z~ <{~ _J~ a..~ z W<t _J o::~ <t:u.. I.J._o O>. .... O::u 0 :c I- ___ .I ,.. .::::::=---· . z . . "". ... 0 ;; . '' w z w M z w 2 ... ....... ....... : .... .. .. .. ... ... I C 0 C C C 0 :,; C 0 z 0 ,, I \ '\ i I I I 0 z 0 0 0 " 2 ♦ •• . I I • ~ ! C 0 J ◄ 0 " ... ~ -.. . ..... !. ; "... "... ...> ◄ . u z "..." ! I® �HISTORIC PRESERVATION The City of Milan is blessed with a wealth of historic architecture resources which are key elements in the City's visual character and unique identity. The basic purpose of including Historic Preservation in the Master Plan is to bring significant historic architecture and other cultural resources into the City's planning process so that intelligent decisions can be made regarding their future. The City's culturally significant historical and architectural resources are irreplaceable. They continue to provide information about the past which can be useful in thei future. They combine with the rich natural environment to provide a distinct sense of place. Without maintaining this sense of place, the City would lose its unique identity. Historical architecture and other cultural resources allow us to recall the contributions of early settlers and past residents who through hard work and determination have helped to make the City the attractive living environment which it is today. Field analysis and previous studies have shown that there are significant examples of the following architectural styles: Greek Revival, Italianate, Early Victorian Vernacular, Gothic Revival, Late Victorian, Queen Anne, French Second Empire, Dutch Colonial Revival, Bungalow, Grand Bungalow, Collegiate Gothic, Early Twentieth Century Vernacular, Art Deco and others. Also, there are some fine examples of carriage houses, barns and other outbuildings from throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Careful consideration should be given to all culturally significant historical and architectural resources whenever ownership development or maintenance threaten their Mure. The federal role in historic preservation expanded with the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966. The Act established a review process to protect historic buildings threatened by federally funded projects. Under Section 106 of the Act, the head of any federal agency must take into account the effect of the project on a site included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register before approving the use of federal funds. A corresponding provision, Section 11 0(f) of the Act, requires federal agencies to undertake planning and actions necessary to minimize harm to that landmark and afford the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment on the undertaking prior to approving the project. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is an independent federal agency within the Executive Branch which advises the President on historic preservation policy and comments on federal and federally assisted projects which affect historic properties. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 also protects historic resources. Section 102(2)(c) of NEPA requires the filing of an Environmental Impact Statement {EIS) for "major federal actions" which affect the human environment. "Environment" was defined to include natural and cultural resources and Section 101 (b)(4) noted the need to" ... preserve important historic, cultural and natural aspects of our natural heritage." 47 �• ~ Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act of 1966, prohibits federal agencies within the Department of Transportation from approving any project requiring the use of an historic site unless: 1. There is no feasible and prudent alternative to the use of such land; and 2. Such program includes all possible planning to minimize harm to such ... historic sites resulting from use. Executive Order 11593 issued on May 13, 1971, directs all federal agencies to protect and enhance the cultural environment. Agencies must inventory all historic and archaeological properties under their jurisdiction or control, nominate potential properties to the National Register, and exercise caution to ensure that historic properties are not altered or destroyed in the interim. During environmental review of federally funded, licensed, or assisted projects, agencies must ask the Secretary of the Interior if any property including the environmental impact area is eligible for the National Register. The Historic Preservation Section of the Michigan Bureau of History was established in the Michigan Department of State in 1966 to carry out the national preservation program, as required by the National Historic Preservation Act. One of the major responsibilities of the Historic Preservation Section is to carry out Section 106 review of all federally funded projects in the state which affect properties listed or eligible for listing on the National Register. The Bureau also administers federal historic preservation grants. The historic preservation fund provides federal grants for historical surveys, nominations to the National Register, planning, public education, project plans and specifications and archaeological projects. Educating the public about federal and state historic preservation programs, and assisting local governments with developing local historic preservation programs are other responsibilities of the State. The Bureau also · directs and conducts a statewide survey of historic properties and maintains an inventory of these properties. Through the survey program, the state coordinator provides technical assistance to communities who wish to perform a local survey. This inventory of historic properties is the first step towards enacting an historic preservation program. Michigan's State Register of Historic Sites, was established under PA 10 of 1955, MCL 399.151. Applications for the State Register and Marker programs are reviewed by the Michigan Historical Commission - appointed by the Governor. These programs are honorary, placing no restrictions on property owners, and designation offers no tangible benefits. The Act does provide for state grants to preserve and restore certain State Register properties, but no money has been allocated for this purpose since 1980. 48 �• 8 The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, also requires each state to prepare and implement a comprehensive statewide historic preservation plan. Michigan's historic preservation plan was first prepared in 1975 and updated in 1985. It is currently being revised to reflect new directions in historic preservation policy. Michigan Public Act 169 of 1970; as amended, establishes historic preservation as a valid purpose and provides guidelines for local communities to establish a historic district study committee to study and analyze resources, prepare plans, ordinances and promote public awareness of the benefits of historic preservation. The preservation, restoration, rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of every historical architecture example in the City of Milan is not realistic. There are hundreds of structures more than 50 years of age. That is why only those buildings which possess integrity and a high degree of originality, with little or no major alterations, are those which we speak to. The significant examples of historic architecture in Milan are those which are eligible for State and National Register listing as individual Historic Structures or as contributing elements to Historic Districts. - s ( '. The majority of the houses in the residential neighborhoods surrounding the central business district have some degree of historic architectural integrity. Their variety of shapes and styies show the evolution of residential development and building technology in the City of Milan. In addition to those houses which have retained their historical and architectural significance, there are many structures which have had only minor alterations that can be removed or reversed to show the true architectural character. Historic preservation of individual homes and conservation of entire neighborhoods has proven to stabilize and improve property values. The quality. of construction and craftsmanship embodied in early houses up through the early twentieth century are now being rediscovered and appreciated. Downtown Milan contains an impressive collection of late Victorian commercial structures which provide a lasting impression of Milan's unique community character to residents and visitors. Historic preservation programs in cohesive downtown areas such as Milan's central business district have proven the economic viability and opportunities provided by architecturally significant commercial structures. Adaptive reuse of structures that have outlived their original purpose, such as the Henry Ford structures near City Hall, the old fire hall and others have a great deal of potential. Historic sites and buildings are irreplaceable resources that serve to physically show the evolution of Milan's early development. They are more important as key elements of the City's visual identity and unique character. While many represent specific architectural styles and historical periods, they each have their own distinct character variations and setting. Their continued use and maintenance will play a major role in protecting the atmosphere that has given Milan its identity. These values, if not properly protected or planned for, can be seriously eroded as development patterns change. Local coordination and cooperation between preservation advocates, citizens and city government can successfully preserve these valuable resources for future generations of Milan residents. 49 �THE MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE LAND USE The Master Plan For Future Land Use, which follows, represents a composite of the elements presented in the preceding sections. They are considered to be imaginative, yet workable and realistic, providing for a desirable arrangement of the various land uses, a unified and efficient thorofare system, and the necessary public facilities to serve the community. It should be emphasized that the Plan represents what is felt to be the best future use of land based upon today's knowledge and trends. The Plan is by no means rigid or unchangeable. It should be reassessed periodically and adjusted to meet new trends and to allow flexibility in cases where an alternative use may be as desirable as the one initially proposed. Timing is critical to effectuation of the Plan. Some proposals should be carried out as soon as possible, especially in the case of acquiring land for schools and parks. These sites will eventually become more expensive as development occurs, and in some instances, may not be available at a later date. In summary, the more significant goals and proposals included in the Master Plan For Future Land Use are: To provide for the redevelopment of housing types within the Planning Area by designating those areas which lend themselves to rehabilitation and redevelopment. • To set aside sufficient land area to meet the leisure time recreation needs of both present and future residents, and to carry out park improvement programs. • To develop an efficient, well-organized thorofare system which meets the needs of all anticipated land use types, while at the same time providing necessary linkage with the regional highway system. To promote the development of a sound economic base through continued commercial and industrial growth. !. • To promote the preservation of the City's historical landmarks and to assure the development of an orderly and harmonious relationship between various land use types to enhance the visual environment of the community. It should again be noted that the Master Plan For Future Land Use map, as presented herein, is intended to show generalized land use and not intended to indicate precise size, shape or dimension. The map reflects long-range future land use proposals and does not necessarily imply short-range zoning proposals. • ~ 50 �j --=----=......- L - - !I L -:e. -=-:-:-.!!!!.!!.=- -- ,:1~! ,. -= #..,,;; // 0 ·1-~· Ill -- ~ I ~-/ I R.aohled thal purauanl to the provlalon• of Act 285 of the Michigan Publlc Acl of 1931, as amended , lhe City of ~llan Planning Comml .. ton, having duly held a pubilc: hearing on th• Muter Plan for Future Land Uae, doe• hereby otflcla1ty adopt Nld Master Plan fo, Future Land Uae. We certify lhal the foregoing re.alulion wa.a duly adopted at a m . .tlnQ ol th• City ot MIian Planning Commlulon held on the [I] --- HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL -- GENERAL COMMERCIAL EXPRESSWAY COMMERCIAL FLOOD PLAIN DESIRABLE STREET ACCESS </:?t;)-l,/--·- ' -2flJ1 day °J ~/4'J U ( ·, I ,I -',' ,,/;1 /:(;/ ;1;;/1/1 OESIRABU: STREET EXTENSION . - - - - - SECONDARYTHOROFARE MAJOR THOROFARE Dated f ,, ;:.mI Day .., " o1 (< I< 4J / , Chair ~4,t, ✓~(~'~ 1 Secretary /, (, A.O., i991. I CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT SPECIAL PURPOSE c::J PUBLIC ts::s:l CEMETARY E:JI;:;l \ I I I I I LOW DENSITY RESIDENTIAL LOCAL COMMERCIAL '~ ~ ,,1 LECFE~ c::::J ~~ IiI!! - - _j1 ..... SCHOOLS/PUBLIC ~ RECREATION INDUSTRIAL USE PLAN MILAN 2010 - FUTURE LAND CITY OF MILAN MICHIGAN I tCA l. l I i.I '1:0 •illc ■ 11 • ltma" a ouoc1otu Inc . community plonnln9 con1ultanh �• IMPLEMENTATION This Milan Future Land Use Plan is intended to be a policy guide for future land development. As the City grows, it should grow in a manner consistent with this Plan. The two primary tools for the implementation of this Plan are the City's Zoning Ordinance and Capital Improvement Program. When properly applied, the Zoning Ordinance accepts the realities of existing land uses and gradually, as new development is proposed, directs growth toward achieving the goals and objectives of the Land Use Plan. In the future, as rezoning's are considered they should be compared to the concepts of this Land Use Plan. If a proposed rezoning is inconsistent with the Plan, it should be discouraged. However, sometimes a desirable land use is proposed which is in conflict with a land use plan. If it is determined by the Planning Commission that the proposed land use would be desirable for the community as a whole and not inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the Land Use Plan, an amendment to the Plan can be made to bring the proposed use into conformance. • The City's Capital Improvement Program also assists in implementing the Land Use Plan. Capital Improvement Programming is the orderly process of developing a comprehensive plan to accomplish needed public improvement projects in the community. Through this programming, the City is able to schedule public works at a time when they will be most beneficial in the growth and development of the community. In many cases these are major areas in the Land Use Plan. The annual update of the Capital Improvement Plan allows for regular review of needed public improvements and the optimum and feasible timing of their implementation. Finally, this Land Use Plan should be a flexible document which changes as the character of the community and its people change over time. This Plan should be periodically reviewed and amended as necessary to remain up-to-date. It should be remembered that the Land Use Plan is just the best estimate of what would be the desirable land use configuration of the community in the future, from a point in time at the present. As time moves on, this concept of a desirable community may change, so the Plan must be flexible and be amendable to accommodate this change . • 51 � 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 Milan_Master-Plan_1991 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Milan 2010 Master Plan Committee Milan Planning Commission, City of Milan, Monroe County, Michigan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-06 Title A name given to the resource Milan 2010 Master Plan Description An account of the resource The Milan 2010 Master Plan was prepared by the Milan 2010 Master Plan Committee and the Milan Planning Commission, with assistance from Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc., in June 1991. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Vilican-Leman & Associates, Inc. (consultant) Subject The topic of the resource Master plan reports Milan (Mich.) Monroe 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/bce374b7f3d8542871cf59888d5f4609.jpg d13eeb293a50e592d56b0016a8befdd5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MilesDonald Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Miles, Donald Description An account of the resource Donald Miles, Health Sciences Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cdd5028190cb9c52f01dc11f3393d411.mp4 710ec301fb7dc33f3cfbff1dd7138758 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a519d87d27d1c4221c54b2257f2c97a9.pdf 5366cca4f3e88cddb305d26aca2f4043 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Louis Miles (00:58:26) (00:15) Background Information • • • • • Louis was born in Grand Rapids and had to walk to his Catholic school every day His father was a carpenter and was still able to work through the depression There were eleven kids in his family He went to Union high school and graduated in 1938 He then worked for the Grand Rapids Bus Company as a mechanic (4:45) Pearl Harbor • • • • He had not paid attention to the news until Pearl Harbor had been struck Roosevelt had been focusing on domestic economic policy He was drafted shortly after Pearl Harbor was hit They were shipped to Wisconsin and then to Camp Hood, Texas (7:20) Training • • • • They worked on maneuvers, shooting, with machine guns, routine training They were only in Texas for basic training and he was then assigned to a cadre to train others before they left for Europe They worked with 30 caliber machine guns and sub-machine guns, which are not very accurate He was ranked sergeant while training and worked with two different companies (13:40) The Trip Overseas • They were sent to Camp Shanks, New York • They all had to get spinal shots to prevent yellow fever • Louis was part of company D of the 409th infantry, 103rd division • During the trip they were wary of German submarines • Louis was part of a heavy weapons company and they worked on the very top of the ship (18:50) France • • • They were in Marseilles for a week Four months later they moved north into Alsace to put up a road block They were using bazookas to shoot German tanks �• • • The lieutenant commanding his unit disobeyed orders and put the squad in a house rather than by the bridge they were guarding. The house came under tank fire, and they had to surrender Louis got shrapnel in his shoulder and shortly before his unit surrendered They were put in a German prison camp (27:40) The Rhine River (29:30) Reunions • Louis goes to reunions every year and this year a reunion will be held at Fort Custer, in Battle Creek, Michigan (31:00) The Prison Camp • • • • • • There were many guard dogs at the prison camp and they had to stay underground to avoid them There were Sikhs from India and Russians in the camp The Germans treated the Russians the worst The Indian army had been working with the British The British had sent over bombing squads that dropped flares surrounding the camp in order to mark it so that they could avoid hitting it when they bombed Nuremburg They eventually left the camp and were made to walk south for a long time (39:20) Christmas • A truck came to deliver bear to all the troops on the holiday (42:20) Camp Work • • The non-combatants had to do all the manual labor The British army commandos were interrogated and tortured, and memorized as much as they could so that they could about their torturers so that they could find them after the war (44:55) The End of the War • • • The Germans had reaching into Russia when the war came to an end Louis had received orders that he would be headed home on a LST He was treated well when he got back to the US; he received government aid and free cigarettes (50:30) The US �• • • • Louis arrived back in New York and he was in charge of the mess hall at the fort Each man was issued a new full combat outfit They took a train to Grand Rapids, Michigan where he met his brother in law He went to work for the bus company again for a few years and then went to work as a truck mechanic � 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 MilesL Title A name given to the resource Miles, Louis (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Miles, Louis Description An account of the resource Louis Miles served in Europe as part of the 103rd Infantry Division in 1944. Prior to being sent to Europe, Louis had worked in training other men in the Army. While in Europe, Louis worked on damaged bridges and roads. Shortly after arriving at the front in Alsace, he was captured by Germans and then spent the rest of the war in a German prison camp with British, Russian, and Indian prisoners. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-12-04 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7389406afcf4e25836ef6915219f9e05.mp4 5f72f72967542677fe65a5114cbd7376 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cf332048ae99aebb90e21a2a1f685271.pdf 5f5e384c54ac6662f61ef3a160b5a094 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Notes Length:1:01 Wendell Miles WWII Veteran Provost Marshal and Judge Advocate General; 1943 to –(?) 1:12 Born in Holland Michigan 1:45 Born in 1916 2:09 Discussing being the smallest member of his family and how he played the drum 3:12 He went to Hope College, During college he was a sailor. He was a member of the Debate team 5:18 He went to Wyoming to get his masters degree and write laws for the legislature. 6:06 He then went to the University of Michigan law school 6:56 In 1941he was listening to the symphony when he heard the Pearl Harbor was bombed. 8:00 He did not know if he was going to be able to finish at Michigan 8:36 He never knew if he was going to be drafted. 8:57 He took the Bar Exam and passed 9:43 on October 2 1943 he signed up 10:14 He tried to join the navy as an officer he was denied because of his height 10:55 He went into the Army as a Private 11:38 He got injured in basic he broke his ankle; he spent a month in the hospital. 12:31 He ended up in Fort Riley Kansas he became a member of the Provost Marshal corps 14:14 He describes how he got in trouble at Kansas he through a fire cracker down the hall where the officers were eating. 15:55 He told the officers that he was the one who did it �16:26 He was put on permanent KP duty. 18:10 He was told to apply to OCS 18:53 He describes OCS and the application process 20:26 He was accepted to OCS he shows the picture of his Class at OCS 21:30 He says that OCS is the worst place in the Army the men picked on him because he was a Lawyer 23:01 He talks about how he got along in OCS he played craps and poker. 23:59 He discusses how he had to appear before a General at the end of his term of OCS. The General fires off a few hard questions 26:16 He answered the questions correctly. 28:18 He is still discussing OCS, He says that his friend was kicked out of OCS. 30:43 He discusses tensions between the officer candidates, who were college graduates, and the noncoms who were training them, career men without even high school degrees who treated them badly. 32:53 He went to Texas at a POW camp he lectured men of why we fight. He says that he was not found of Roosevelt. 33:03 He talked to the German POWs he said that most of them were not really Germans. 35:01 He says that most of the Germans were smart and that they put on plays and had Kangaroo Courts. 37:07 He tried to explain what Democracy was. 37:42 Every other night there would be a German would be convicted at these Kangaroo courts. 38:50 He went to some of theses plays and translated for the Cornell in charge. 39:21 He tried to talk to these Germans to convert them to democratic values. 40:18 He transferred men to different camps, hoping to separate the hard core Nazis from the others. 41:32 After Camp Hood he went to Oregon 43:13 He was a Lawyer for about six months in Oregon at Camp White �44:51 He went east to New Jersey he spent four hours there and then went on a boat to Europe. He spent three or four days in the ship until the convoy was sent out. Everyone on the ship was sick. He was in a convoy of eighty ships 46:03 He was sitting outside of Scotland the nets were holding the ships back because of the submarines 48:00 He got there in 1944 48:43 He describes his captain he says that he was the dumbest person he knew 49:45 His captain got drunk and told him what he thought of him. 50:09 He describes White night and Black night, He says that the English People are not that brilliant 51:03 He describes the racial disparity and the whites and blacks fighting. 51:44 He said that he was very busy there. 52:12 He took a ship full of POWs back to the U.S and he got three days off. 53:11 He says that he went to a prison in Illinois to recruit prisoners for the army and said to the prisoners that he had more respect for the German POWs than he did for the prisoners because they fought for there country. 55:27 He discusses how the prisoners got ready to go to Europe. 57:53 He discusses the treatment of these prisoners 58:19 He got his on a rack of six (?) on the Queen Elizabeth he said it was quit a chore. 59:42 He thought that it was a good and a bad idea that they had prisoners to fight. 1:01 He was making constant trips to go to the front. Lost the end. �·The HollaI!!tD~!~y!!,ing Sentinel Zeelaftd, s.ug.tuck~ DouglU, FORTY-SEVENTH YEAR-NO. 89 w..t Ollv.. HUdto,,"llIe. Fennville, Hamilton, E.at Saugatuck, Morrtello P~rk. Central Park, Vlrah,'. P.rk, Jenl,on Park, Macatawa Puk. North Shore Drive. and District No.2 HOLLAND, MICHIGAN, SATURDAY. OCTOBER 17,1942 EIGHT PAGES-PRICE THREE CENTS SOVIETS AGAIN YIELD AT STALINGRAD Another Group of Holland Selectees Report for Duty at Fort Cu~t~r Admit Defenses '" I May· Be Split by Ii Gennan Wedge I I Dakar ClasL Denied; Bag of Axis Planes at Malta Over 100 Mark By Unlkd Prtss The Soviet defense of StaUn­ J1'I.d appetl'(.'d to. have taken a tum tOf' the worse today with mcee Nazi gains apinst· the reeteess-mee factories which have been the bulwark of the Red anny stand. Mogcow reported that tor the fourth time in two days Soviet fQrees have Iallen back under thl!o Intense preswre of German tanks and ground t.rooJM: directed a&aibst a narrow front where the .Nui .ObjeCtiv.e is the banks of ~ Volga river. The Russians said tJ!t')' had re­ tired only a .hort 6tance and in good crder and that the cee, mana bad not reached the, river German claims, however, said the VO]l:a was reached on a broaden~ ing front. The RussIaM admit­ I ted there. was. acute "dang", tne th e Nazl W«Ige would dIvide the StalinCl'1ld defense arm)". The Germans were said to be .: [ IUUerlna- heavy losses. One- Rus­ , I f I I ~; ~:; =~I1~id l;'ogg 1~~)4:: lone part. or the front and 151 tanks destroyed, Berlin clalmed that Nul troops had entered. tbe . "R~ barricade" h:tory which WlU described as one of two remaining Soviet strong points in SblJngrad. Tile other was the "Red October" WOI"b which was said to 00 sur­ rounde9. RUSli;an troops north­ west of Stalingrad were said to have been isolated. Despite the StaUngrad develop­ ments, President Mihail Kalin]n in a review of the war Mid the sltuatlon generally wes more rev­ . ~~blEl for _ R_US.sia than' ~." )lear The above group of selectees left -Holland Friday noon .to , report for duty in the army at Fort Custer. They are· (left to right). First row, Carl Jay' .Mar- 'eus, Wendell Alverson Miles, Marvin J. Overway, Melvin James Van. buren, Delwin Harris Andersen, .Herman Harold· Banger and Benjamin Wagner; second row, Wallace William Grant'l Theunis Hoort, and William Ger­ John Buursma, Jr., Bernard Jac- rit De Graaf; third row,. Gordon ob Vail De Lune, Harold Marvin Van Voorst, Walter Scott I B. Ver Hulst, Allen Taylor and Burke, George Bernard Wilner, I Robert Woldring, . �, .'1 ?>~J . II 1'1 I i I " <,ttl l . ,! ; . t! ,I!: ! : ,~ I! '~ .~~~----~--- �!J..--_.-?:%:~... -.tY~.~ ~ -.....~·.~u.~- __..-r, ....C~I~dIo)- . ~i~~J-t.a:-1I5-ZAh~·. . . l: -­ -(JJJ..~ Td~W~~··· - .. - - - · . f · · - . · -.' ~. .: - .... -~ i f ~ - ... . ... 1 - + .~-- ~--_:_-_:::_ .. ­ _. . _ /6)" . _ .. .'..'. .-/ :;:r . ~ _~-::. ~r;:"'--'~-'IJCI :::::-­ ... ­ _. +' ~~~·····S~~-· ...--~- ':f -~~ --=.~. ...• ··Ir •. :--~~~~~-~= ~l·;i;J;-1iJ!;f?~ -~~.~._.~~.~~~/ ~a--o ~ ~ Fv" . :.!~ " .. ._-­ ' . . �'. -"~" ... · '. ' .. ------------------------- �. ,'" - . ." ':.: ~ . '. " .. ":'" "" . .<': •.•. :"., ,<:, .:~ .':~ ' .. �- '. . ~,'" •... .- ........ '.. ' " " . .... .: ~ ;. . .' �----1--- ... --~.--- Honorable Wendell A. Miles: Soldier, Prosecutor, Professor, Court Historian, and Judge Extraordinaire .lIhi5 i5sue'isdedicated to Federal District Judge Wendell Alverson Miles, who celebrated his 90th birthday April 17,2006, and is still going strong. Judge Miles was instrumental in establishing the Historical Society for the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan only a few years ago and, at meetings of the Society's board of trustees, graces us with reminiscences of litigation. gone by and character sketches of judges, lawyers, and witnesses, By dedicating this issue of the Journal to Judge Miles, we express our sincere thanks and deep gratitude for all that he has bestowed on the bench, the bar, and the entire West Michigan community. Patrick E. Mears �---....---..e-----.. . --­ Stereoscope I I History of the Sixth Circuit Court ofAppeals Presented by Michael Barone, SeniorWriter/or U.S. News And World Report at the Sixth CircuitJudicial Conference Detroit, Michigan, May 19, 2006 Thank you. It's a great honor to be asked to speak to the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference. You know, I understand that out on the West Coast, the Ninth Circuit also voted to have a Circuit Conference. But the Supreme Court reversed them nine to nothing. It's a special honor for one who was once a law clerk in the Sixth Circuit, for the late Judge Wade H. McCree, Jr. I'm very glad to see in the audience a friend so many of us know and have long admired, Mrs. Dores McCree. And I'm happy to be able to say that also in the audience are the two people who have contributed more to my life and whatever success I've had than anyone else--my parents, Jerry and Alice Barone. It's good to be back in Detroit and to reminisce about my own days as a Sixth Circuit law clerk. I must say that I felt very grand and exalted in those days. As one of two law clerks, I had a huge office in the Federal Building on Fort Street, something like 40 feet long and 30 feet wide, with 20-foot ceilings, bookshelves with hundreds of volumes u-,,'"", of the Federal Reports, a huge desk with the high-tech equipment of the day-an IBM Selectric typewriter-and a conference table that seated 14. But I was taken aback a little when Judge McCree told me that I had better enjoy it, because I would never again have a larger office unless I was .• appointed a federal judge. Well, I'm still waiting for that appointment, but as usual, Judge McCree was right: every office I've had since then has been smaller than the one before. My office at U.S. News is about 10 feet by 8 feet, and it has chairs that will seat two visitors in a pinch. I have many memories of my two years at the Sixth Circuit--of listening to oral argument of cases in the beautiful courtroom in Cincinnati, delivered in all the accents that you hear from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and · Tennessee. I remember hearing moonshine prosecutions · being defended, somewhat perfunctorily, by a young · assistant U.S. attorney from Nashville named Fred · Thompson, who went on to become a lead counsel on the Watergate Committee and a U.S. senator-and then to achieve real fame as an actor. I remember Judge McCree · showing me that he was able to recite in Latin more of the opening lines of the Aeneid than I could remember. and then completely overtopping me by reciting in ancient Greek lines from the Anabasis. I remember occasionally going down the elevator in the Federal Building to 4 Congressman John Conyers's office and being greeted by his receptionist, Rosa Parks. Those were in many ways grim years in Detroit. In 1967, I had worked as an intern in the office of the mayor of Detroit, Jerome Cavanagh, and was at his side during the six-day riot in July 1967; at one point he asked me, a first-year law student, whether he had authority to order a curfew. In the years of my clerkship, there was great controversy over the district court's decision in the Detroit busing case, ordering busing of students from the central city to the suburbs. While I was a clerk, there were raging protests of the Vietnam war and the so-called Moratorium. But in Judge McCree's chambers and in the Sixth Circuit courtroom in Cincinnati, things were more serene. Not because Judge McCree and his colleagueswere unaware of the turbulence in the outer world, but because they were dedicated to do justice, impartially, under law. They disagreed on particular cases, but I never heard Judge McCree utter a disparaging word about any of his colleagues-and knew instinctively that he would never tolerate any from his clerks, Since my days as a law clerk, I have gone on to other things. I did practice law-for four billable hours-and got paid for two of them. Then I went into political writing, with the first edition of my Almanac of American Politics, and into political consulting and then journalism. From law to political consulting to journalism--each profession paying lessthan the one before, and each held in less esteem. I guess my next profession is selling used cars. This evening I'd like to talk to you about history-with perhaps just a little politics thrown in. As I was pondering what I'd talk to you about, I thought suddenly ofone of my favorite history books, David Hackett Fischer's Albion Seed. And it struck me that Albion Seedtells us a lot about the Sixth Circuit-about the people who settled and now live in these four states, the nation's second most populous federal judicial circuit, and, I would argue, the one which in many ways is the circuit most typical of America as a whole. The central argument of Albion Seed is that the American colonies were settled by four distinct groups from four separate parts of the British Isles, who brought with them distinctive folkways which have ever since characterized those regions of America and the regions to s s s �---...---~-~--- .....--­ Winter 2007 I which the descendants of those settlers moved and have characterized those later immigrants who came from other parts of the world to each of those regions. Folkways, in Fischer's book, include all manner of things-from speech patterns to building styles, marriage and sex and child­ rearing, religion and food and dress, ideas of rank and ideas of order and ideas of freedom. New England was settled by people from East Anglia, the region of England northeast of London-Puritans. Virginia and the Chesapeake colonies were settled by people from the West Country of England, Cavaliers and their indentured servants. The Delaware River Valley, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Delaware, were settled by Englishmen from the North Midlands, many of them Quakers. And the Appalachian borderlands, from Pennsylvania south through the Carolinas, were settled by North Britons, people from the North of England, the Scottish borders and Northern Ireland-Presbyterians. I can't do justice in any short time to the richness of Fischer's characterization of the folkways that these people brought from the different regions of the British Isles to the different regions of America. But let me try to characterize them briefly. The New Englanders believed in moral improvement, to be enforced on others; high literacy; and what Fischer calls ordered liberty. Transferred across the sea, the Norfolk whine of East Anglia becam€tlft!'New England twang that we have heard in our own time even from New Englanders who were the descendants of later immigrants like John F. Kennedy and Michael Dukakis. The New Englanders may have been slave traders in the colonies, but in time their stern morality led them to lead America's antislavery movement-and, another instance that would have surprised their ancestors, the movement for Prohibition. The Virginians were the descendants of West Country Cavaliers, gentlemen who believed in honor and also in rank, and their indentured servants who saw themselves, as their ancestors had been in England, of a lower order.'The Cavaliers would fight for their idea of hegemonic liberty, as George Washington and Lighthorse Harry Lee did in the American Revolution and as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson did in the Civil War. The North Midlands people who settled the Delaware Valleybelieved in a stern morality, bur unlike the Ne~ Englanders, they did not believe in community morality but in individual morality: you should do your best as you saw it in your light but not try to impose your way on others­ what Fischer calls reciprocalliberry. The people who settled the Appalachian chain, mostly in the last few years before the American Revolution, came from the fighting borderlands of Britain and Ireland, where I armed brawls and clan feuds led to pitched battles in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They were fiercely egalitarian, in many cases Presbyterians who believed that men-and women-should all read and interpret the Bible in their own way, and be ready to fight those who did wrong by their family-what Fischer calls natural liberty. Of course, none of these groups of settlers landed immediately in the states that now make up the Sixth Circuit. Bur in the first years of the Republic, and even in a few years before the Revolution, they did-and left imprints that are still visible today. The first to come were the Virginians, over the Cumberland Gap, into the green lands of Kentucky, in the 1770s and 1780s; and remember that Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792, just one year after that other mountain republic, Vermont. The prototype is Henry Clay, originally from Virginia, the gallant champion of the West, a major leader in American politics from 1811, when he was elected Speaker of the House, until his death in 1852. You can still see the Cavalier culture, I think, in the Bluegrassregion of Kentucky, with the manicured horse farms around Lexington, and you can see its spirit in Derby Day in Louisville every May. Then came the mountain people, over the Appalachians, into parts of Kentucky and especially Tennessee, which was admitted to the Union in 1796. The prototype here is Andrew Jackson, born poor and fighting the English before he was a teenager. A self-made man, he was violently in love with his wife-so violently that he killed men in duels for saying bad things about her. The Jacksonian spirit still lives on as a vital force in America; as the foreign policy scholar Walter Russell Mead put it, ''I'm peaceable and tolerant, but if you threaten my family, I'll kill you." And it lives on in country music, with its headquarters in Andrew Jackson's home town of Nashville. Then came, more quietly, the North Midlanders from the Delaware Valley. They moved into parts of Ohio, which was admitted to the Union in 1803, and left their imprint especiallyon Cincinnati, the biggest city in the interior of the United States at the time of the Civil War and after. If you look at the street map of downtown Cincinnati and turn it sideways, you will see the street map of Center City Philadelphia, with numbered streets running one way and named streets with the same names-Race, Vine, Walnut, Chestnut-running the other. German immigrants did much to establish the character of Cincinnati, as they had in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania some years before, and they took on the character of the North Midlands folkways. Perhaps we have them to thank not only for Philadelphia scrapple but also four-way Cincinnati chili. 5 �---.. . - --..e-----.. . --­ Stereoscope I I And then there are the New Englanders. In the years after the American Revolution, New England Yankees rapidly moved west, through Upstate New York and into the northeast corner ofOhio - the Western Reserve, originally set out as part of Connecticut in 1784. The New England diaspora rapidly moved west, settling northern Ohio and southern Michigan, establishing congregational churches and dozens of colleges, including Oberlin College. the first American college to admit women and blacks, and Hillsdale College, which a few years later followed its example. They were the founders of the Republican party and the northeast corner of Ohio, represented in the 1860s and 1870s by future President James Garfield, which was the most Republican congressional district in the country. Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe moved into Cleveland and Detroit, but these cities still kept some of their New England folkways. As David Hackett Fischer acknowledges, his four categories of colonists were not the only people who settled America. There were the New Yorkers, with a culture that derives from its original Dutch settlers, and which has not been much transplanted to the rest of the country; although Hillary Rodham Clinton, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs, has assured us that she has always been a New York Yankees fan, and has now been elected a senator from New York. Consider Americans of African descent, who bring a heritage of special oppt~on and special richness to the rest of us. It was across the Ohio River, between Bracken County, Kentucky, and Brown County, Ohio, that Liza escaped to freedom across the frozen ice floes in Uncle TOm Cabin­ which was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of Cincinnati. In the far southwest corner of the Sixth Circuit, in Memphis, Tennessee, there is the black community that gave birth to blues music and rhythm and blues. and inspired a poor white in the housing projects, Elvis Presley. The boundaries of the 12 judicial circuits of the United States Court of Appeals were established in the 19th century and modified in the 20th-and may be modified in the 21st if some of the western states that want to get out from under the heel of the 9th Circuit get their way. But as 1 look at all the circuits, I think that the Sixth Circuit, more than any other. is made up of Americans who derive from all the traditions that David Hackett Fischer describes in Albion Seed. And 1 think one proof of that comes from politics. Crunching numbers as I like to do--I can't think of s s 6 anything more fun than staying up and calculating political percentages for different groups of states and districts-I have noticed a pattern. The four states of the Sixth Circuit, aggregated together, have voted almost exactly as the nation as a whole for more than 40 years. The Sixth Circuit voted for President Bush in 2000 and 2004, for President Clinton in 1992 and 1996, for the first President Bush in 1988, for President Reagan in 1980 and 1984, for President Carter (by a very narrow margin-but so did the nation) in 1976, for President Nixon in 1968 and 1972, for President Johnson in 1964. You have to go back to 1960 to find an election where the Sixth Circuit voted the opposite way from the nation as a whole, and mostly because Ohio went more for Richard Nixon than anyone expected. As then, candidate Kennedy said, in a rousing rally in Columbus, "I don't know where I get more cheers and fewer votes." . If you look at the results of the 2004 presidential election by circuit you see the same thing. The First, Second and Third Circuits on the East Coast gave all their electoral votes to John Kerry. So, obviously, did the D. C. Circuit. The Ninth Circuit, where California casts more votes than the rest of the states combined, voted for Kerry, and so did the Seventh Circuit, where the Chicago area outvoted downstate. and Indiana and Wisconsin were tied. The Fifth and Tenth Circuits in the West voted heavily for George W. Bush; so, by lesser margins, did the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits in the South and the Eighth Circuit in the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River. The four states of the Sixth Circuit voted 52 percent for George W. Bush and 47 percent for John Kerry-just one percent more for Bush and less for Kerry than the country as a whole, the closest circuit to the national average. Indeed, going back to 1960, the Sixth Circuit has never voted more than two percent away ftom the average of the nation as a whole. Is there a message here that is relevant to your work in doing justice in the federal courts? Only this, I think, that within your jurisdiction you have, more than the judges of any other circuit, the whole of America proportionately represented, presenting to you, I suspect, the whole range of legal issues and challenges before judges in this country­ even if you still get a disproportionate number of moonshine cases. The Sixth Circuit is. more than any other, America in full. It was a privilege to serve there, and it- is an honor to be here tonight. Thank you. �---...---..e-----..•. --­ Wmte.r 2007 . I Curriculum Vitae of Michael Barone Michael Barone is a senior writer for u.s. News & World Report. He grew up in Detroit and Birmingham, Michigan. Mr. Barone graduated from Harvard College (1966) and Yale Law School (1969) and was editor of the Harvard Crimson and the Yale Law Journal. Mr. Barone served as law clerk to Judge Wade H. McCree, jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1969 to 1971. From 1974 to 1981, he was a vice president of the polling firm of Peter D. Hart Research Associates. From 1981 to 1988, he was a member of the editorial page staff of the Washington Post. From 1989 to 1996, and again from 1998 to present, he has been a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report. From 1996 to 1998, he was a senior stalf editor at Reader's Digest. Mr. Barone is the principalco-author of The Almanac ofAmerican Politics, published by National Journal every two years. The first edition appeared in 1971, and the 15th edition, The AlmanacofAmerican Politics 2000, appeared in July 1999. He is also the author of Our Country: The Shaping ofAmerica from Roosevelt to Reagan (Free Press, 1990). His essays have appeared in severalother books, including Our Harvard and Beyond the Godfather. Over the years he has written for many publications, including The Economist, The New }Ork TImes, the DetroitNews, the DetroitFree Press, the Moek(y Standard, the New Republic, NationalReview. the American Spectator, American Enterprise. the Times Literary SupplemC1lt, the Daily Telegraph ofLondon, and the Italian publication, Libra Aperto. Mr. Barone is a regular panelist for the McLAughlin Group and has appeared on many other television programs and networks, including the Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Meet thePress, This Moek, TOday, Good Morning America, Hardball, Crossfire, the British Broadcasting Company, ITN of Britain, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and the Australian Broadcasting Company. Mr. Barone lives in Washington, D.C. He has traveled to all 50 states and all 435 congressional districts. He has also traveled to 37 foreign countries and has reponed on the most recent elections in Mexico, Italy, Russia, and Britain. Western District Historical Society Mission The Historical Society was created to research, collect and preserve the history of the lawyers, judges and cases that have comprised the federal court community in Western Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, and to share this information with the public in an effort to promote a better understanding of the region, the court and the rule oflaw. 7 �---.. .--__.._41----.. .- -­ Stereoscope I I Interview with Judge Wendell A. Miles, Recipient of FBA Service to the Profession Award The followingis the record ofan interviewofFederal DistrictCourtJudge Wendell A. Milesconducted in December 1998, by Patrick Mears and Michelle Le~que in Judge Miles' chambers. The following is nota verbatim transcript ofthe interview, but-isa summary that hopefully captures its essence andflavor. MEARS: Can you ten us something about your family background? hand carved, wooden desk in my office was at one time my father's courtroom bench in Grand Haven. JUDGE MILES: I was born on April 17, 1916, in Holland, Michigan. My father, Fred T. Miles, was the son of a farmer and Civil War veteran. My mother, Dena D. Alverson Miles, was the daughter of a Methodist preacher and Civil War veteran. My father was one of seven children and left school when he was in the fifth grade. Later, at age 17, he enrolled in Hope College and was later awarded an honorary degree from that institution. I was one of three children. My brother, Frederick T. Miles, was the probate judge for Ottawa County for 28 years, and my brother, Lloyd George Miles was a school teacher in Grand Haven, Michigan. My father was ,elected as circuit court judge for Ottawa "'-County in 1928 and held that position until 1948. The I grew up in Holland and received my bachelor of arts degree from Hope College in 1938. The next year, I was awarded a master's degree from the University ofWyo­ ming in Laramie. From mere, I entered The University of Michigan Law School, where I received my juris doctorate in May 1942. My father swore me in as an attorney after I passed the Michigan bar examination. MEARS: I understarid that you were in the United States Army during World War II. JUDGE MILES: I was inducted into the army in October 1942 at Fort Custer, Michigan, and took my basic training at Fort Riley; Kansas. I graduated as provost marshal from officers' candidate school in April 1943 and. was assigned to Camp Hood in Texas. My first assignment was to interview German Afrika Korps prisoners being held there. I was picked for this duty because I had-taken two years of German at Hope College. I was ultimately able to speak fluent German because of the coaching I received fro~ a German Wehrmacht sergeant who had attended Columbia University before the war. In interviewing these prisoners, I wo~ld classify them according to a spectrum of political attitudes so that they could be segregated in prison according to their political philosophy. We put all the ardent Nazis in one camp, for example, so that they would not intimidate and physically harm other German POWs who held moderate political views. I also caught these prisoners about the American political system. They were generally amazed that, during 1944, in the midst of the war, we would hold a presidential election. JudgeMiles in the European 17U'(ltI!r during IJiJrld lIftr If ..... 8 ' �....--_.._...---.....- - ­ Winter 2007 --- I I In August of 1944, I landed at Normandy only two months after D-Day in General Patton's Third Army. My assignment there was to interview German POWs immediately after their capture to obtain information on gun emplacements, the location of German reserves, and the like. It was important for us to obtain this information quickly to save American lives. I performed this duty in France, Belgium, and Germany as the Third Army advanced into the Reich. I also made three trips with German POWs across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States. When the European war ended, my company was scheduled to be transferred to the Pacific front, but I didn't want to go there. I had enough earned "points" to permit me to be released from active duty. On my release, I enrolled in a special course at the Sorbonne in Paris and was then assigned in April 1945 to try black marketeering cases as a JAG officer in Marseille. These trials were held in Marseille because U.S. Army supplies would be delivered there for distribution to the troops in the Seventh Army. Many of the defendants being tried were members of the army who would sell these supplies to French civilians on the black market. During my stay in Marseille, I would often fly to Rome for weekends on U.S. bombers. I would either sit on the floor of the plane or i~ the bomb rack, w.h!';.~we would be called "shark meat" by the pilots. The greatest American whom I ever met; Bob Hope, carne to Marseille along with Jerry Colonna and Frances Langford to perform for the GIs. They would put on four shows a day, seven days a week. MEARS: Where were you stationed after these black market trials ended? JUDGE.MILES: I was then transferred to Srrasbourg, France, as a U.S. claims and liaison officer. It was in Strasbourg that I lost my first trial, which involved a French wine producer who sued the U.S. Army for damages caused when the army commandeered his chateau and drank the wine stored there. I argued that this was "combat damage" that was not compensable, but the judge disagreed with me. He said in his bench opinion that "American soldiers only drink water." It was in Strasbourg that I met my wife, Mariette Bru~kert, who was the daughter of a French banker. I would accompany her to the opera and other events there. She had a brother who was in the French Underground during the war but who was captured and killed by the Gestapo. Another brother was in the French Navy and survived the naval battle of Mers-el-Kabir off the Algerian coast. After the war, this brother lived in Judge Miles in uniform tounng Europe afterIE ckJJ~ Tunisia but then moved back to France after Tunisian independence was gained. He is now 85 yearsold and visited us here last summer. MEARS: When did you marry Mariette? JUDGE MILES: We were married on June 8, 1946, in a Catholic church in Strasbourg, even though I was raised as a Methodist. After our wedding, we moved to Heidelberg, Germany, where I was a law officerin the Third Army's General Court. Life was very good there. We lived in a requisitioned house and had a car, chauffeur, and gardener. We would hunt wild boar, rabbits, and moose in the nearby forests. Later, I was transferred to Stuttgart. I remember holding a meeting there with German civilians who were applying for licenses to conduct business in Occupied Germany. At the beginning of the meeting, I asked the people in the room who had been a Nazi. At first, only one man stood up and admitted that he had been a member of the Nazi parry. I said to the room that we have to givehonest men like him a job to rebuild Germany. After I said that, others in the room admitted to being party members. At that time, I was tempted to live in Europe, and my father recognized this. He told me that he would resign from the bench and join me in the practice of law if I returned home. So I did, and arrived in Holland on Christmas Eve 1947. My father resigned at the end of the year, and we became law partners in Holland. MEARS: Weren't you later elected as prosecuting attorney for Ottawa County? 9 �---.. . - --..e-----....--­ Stereoscope I I During his campaign against Yonkman, Gerry Ford made good use of this story. MEARS: When were you appointed United States Attorney? JUDGE MILES: I was appointed to this post in 1953 by President Eisenhower and was re-appointed by him in 1957 after his re-election. This was the best job that I ever had. When I started, I had only two assistants to help me. Myoid office was in the building that now houses the Grand Rapids Art Museum. In 1960, I was nominated by the Michigan Republican Party to run for attorney general. I had been urged to run for this position earlier by the then-U.S. Attorney General William Rogers, who was a good friend of Richard Nixon. In fact, it was Bill Rodgers who wrote Nixon's "Checkers Speech" that saved him from being let go as Eisenhower's running mate during the 1952 election. 0" th«:lOth da,l' (1JI/(I' 1C)'H, I was in G1asb'vll'. S("otlaTld. It hodjus: been (JIlT/DUlICrd that Hitler had beenassossi­ noted and them IVa., gll'atic!,,' and celebration. I went into a photo simp and became a Scotsman. Eteryone expectedthe war to be terminated in 1() clays. On election day in 1960, when I lost the race for attorney general, I was approached by a trial lawyer who asked me to join his law firm. I agreed, and this firm ultimately became known as Miles, Mika, Meyers. Beckett and jones. In private practice, I represented plaintiffs and defendants in almost every category of cases. In 1962, I was appointed special counsel for the City of Grand Rapids. I acted as chief trial counsel for the city in all urban renewal/condemnation cases that resulted in the rebirth of the downtown business district. In a number of these cases, my opponent was Harold Sawyer, who was then a partner at Warner; Norcross & judd. In April 1967, I argued before the United States Supreme Court the "one man, one vote" caseof Sailors u BoardofEducation ofthe CountyofKent, which is reported at 387 U.S. 105,87 S.Ct. 1549 (1967). I also argued and won an important appeal "in Lewis v Cityof Grand Rapids, 356 F.2d 276 (6th Cir. 1966). MEARS: When were you appointed to the federal bench? JUDGE MILES: I was elected to this position in 1948, and was re-elected twice afterwards. It was during this time that I became good friends with Gerald Ford, who was then practicing with Phil Buchen in Grand Rapids. Phil introduced me to Gerry. In 1948, Ford defeated Congressman Barney Yonkman and was elected to Congress. When I was a GI in Northern France, a delegation of U.S. congressmen, including Yonkman and Claire Booth Luce, visited our company. Ms. Luce discovered that I was from Yonkman's congressional district and called him on a field phone to let him know that I was there. Yonkman said that he was "too tired" to visit me and later went to visit his daughter in Nice. 10 ; JUDGE MILES: I was appointed a United States district judge for the Western District of Michigan on April 17, 1974, exactly seven years after I argued the Sailors case before the United States Supreme Court. I assumed the bench on May 4, 1974. Before that, I had been the circuit judge for Ottawa and Allegan counties since June 1970 when I was appointed to that position by then­ Governor William Milliken. When I was appointed, I had to work seven days a week for a long period of time to dispose of 600 cases that were backlogged in the system. In some of these cases, I would read trial transcripts and then issue an opinion. �Wmter2007 I I ----...----...e..-----.---­ MEARS: Can you tell us about your career as a federal district court judge? JUDGE MILES: When I was appointed in 1974, I joined Judge Fox as the second judge for this district. That year, I handled about 65 percent of the 1,540 pending civil cases in this district. I was busier than I had been as circuit court judge in Ottawa and Allegan counties. My criminal case docket would be called at 8:30 a.m. and would last until I :00 p.m. I would then hear my civil cases starting at 2:00 p.m., and that session would normally end at 6:00 p.m. This lasted until 1977, when three new federal district court judges were appointed for this district. I have had so many wonderful times as a federal judge. I have tried cases at Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island, and Marquette. I especially love Marquette, because I am an avid skier. I also attended football and hockey games at Northern Michigan Uni­ versity when I held court up there. I am especially proud of being one of seven hand-picked judges on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. I was appointed to this position in 1989. This court hears only top-secret matters that I cannot discuss with anyone other than the other six judges. We take no papers into these hearings and render decisions right after the hearing is held. It is a fascinating job. MEARS: Do you have any special advice for practicing lawyers? JUDGE MILES: Earn a reputation for being thorough and honest. Admit possible weaknesses in your case but vigorously argue why your case should be decided in your favor. Avoid being personal. Ifyou do that, the judges aqAj~ies will like and respect you, and your fellow lawyers will accept you as a mediator and arbitrator. Judge Miles as United States Attorney (19.53-196()). II �----.._...._---....- - ­ - - -.....I I In This Issue History of the Sixth Circuit Court ofAppeals .4 Interview with Judge Wendell A. Miles, Recipient of FBA Service to the Profession Award I 8 I NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID LANSING, MI PERMIT #191 STATE BAR OF MICHIGAN MICHAEL FRANCK BUILDING 306 TOWNSEND STREET LANSING, MI 48933-2012 www.michbar.org James A Mitchell Price Heneveld Cooper DeWitt & Litton PO Box 2567 695 Kenmoor Ave SE Grand Rapids M' 49546-2375 I, I" II ,I" I 1.1"',,1,1 I, ",1,1,. I 1,1, "I ,',1,1,1", I,'", ,II' �Stereoscope , -­ - - -.....I- - - -..e..' - - - -....The following is a reprint ofJudge Miles' official biographical summary in the official History of the Sixth Circuit, which may be found at: www.ca6.uscourts. govllib_histiCourtsldistrict%20courtIMJlWDMlljudgeslwam-bio.html WendellAlverson Miles{1916-) United States District Court, Westem District of Michigan (1974- ) Nominated: March 29.1974 Con6nnecl: April 10. 1974 Appointed: April 17. 1974 Entered on puty: May 9. 1974 ChiefJudge: January I. 1980-April 17. 1986 Senior Status: May 6. 1986 '['hi! s~~icopetel1crVes copyrighfkiauthQrs pf~ignedilrti9es.!'~),ssiot1i· . ·~;:.;.nA·· . l' ..I: 'ut't:"······ s7'w..~'~c O~lo·.A!Je<>, "'.. rroll1.thecauth<>r, and1hi!St~'~' bt:aclcrio~lcd~9d'iJ;lJhl; repl(in~ ,material ' " 't;e<lwitho ".~roi~,.:.:~~,~s . prima ~ . ,'".' .•.• ".,,,' ~i;;;>,< • April 17, 1916, Holland, Michigan • Hope College, B.A., 1938 • University ofWyoming, M.A., 1939 • University of Michigan, J.D., 1942 • United States Army, 1942-1947 • Miles & Miles. Holland, Michigan. 1948-1953 • Miles, Mika, Meyers & Beckett, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1961-1970 • Circuit Judge, 20th Judicial Circuit of Michigan, 1970-1974 • Judge, U. S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 1974-1986 • Chief judge, U. S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 1980-1986 • Senior Judge, U. S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 1986-present • Judge, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, 1989-1996 • Western District of Michigan Court Historian. 2000-present :'::;:!"'; ;~: �--------..e-----.. .--­ Wmter2007 • I • Prosecuting Attorney, Ottawa County, Michigan, 1949-1953 • United States Attorney, Western District of Michigan, 1953-1960 • • • Instructor, Hope College, 1948-1953 Instructor. American Institute of Banking, 1953-1960 Adjunct Professor, Hope College, 1979-present • Special Counsel, Grand Rapids School Board. 1961-1970 Special Counsel. City of Grand Rapids, 1961-1970 • SpecialTrial Counsel. Michigan Consolidated. 1962-1970 • General Counsel, Ferris State College. 1965-1970 • Grand Rapids Bar Association Board of Directors, 1963 State Bar of Michigan • American Bar Association • Fellow, American Bar Foundation • Federal Bar Association • Fellow, Federal Bar Foundation • Ottawa County Bar Association • 20th Judictil~cuit Bar Association, 1948-1960; president, 1952 • American Judicature Society • Grand Rapids Inns of Court, 1995-present '.~~::;;.:';~~: ..~:f.;,~.~ ..;:,:'j! :v·:;;:-~:~~ Civ.iC&;Qthef . L j,~_; ,.:"_,,,,_,: ,_.~', .. • Holland Board of Education, 1951-1953; president, 196 I-1963 • Penisular 9ub. 1948-present Macatawa Bay Yacht Club, 1948-presenr • Holland Board of Governors, University of Michigan Club, 1955-present • Mason. 32;degree Chairman. Statewide Republican Policy Constitution and Revision Commission, 1962 • Vice Chairman, Michigan Higher Education Commission. 1974-1985 • Grand Rapids Torch Club, 1953-presenr; president, 1974 • Grand Rapids Rotary Club. 1974-present • Honorary LL.D., Detroit College of Law, 1979 Honorary LL.D., Hope College, 1980 3 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 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 MilesW Title A name given to the resource Miles, Wendell A. (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Miles, Wendell A. Description An account of the resource Wendell Miles was born in Holland, Michigan. He went to Hope College, then to the University of Wyoming to get his masters degree. From there he went to the University of Michigan for law school. He became a lawyer and joined the Army as a private. After getting in trouble for throwing a fire cracker in the officers mess, he went to school to become an Officer. After graduating OCS he went to Camp Hood, Texas where he looked after the German POWs. After leaving this duty station he traveled between Europe and the U.S transferring POWs and inmates who went to jail for not honoring the draft. After the war ended in Europe, he worked as a JAG (Judge Advocate General) dealing first with contraband stolen by US soldiers, and was stationed in Marseille and Strasbourg. Miles went on to become a Federal District Court Judge. Newspaper article, biographical notes, and a 2006 published interview is appended to the interview outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.) BCTV Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) Video recordings United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-05-20 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/74aaf1975f97a8b1903186433748e5d0.jpg f7f74cf76939140baa3810df46ccd8f6 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 James Ochs collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ochs, James W. Description An account of the resource Collection includes a photo album of images taken by Ochs, 16 photos taken by the Army Signal Corps of the 26th Infantry Division, and document his tour of duty in France with the 26th Division, friends he acquired in France, and his leisure time activities Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1942/1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/482">James W. Ochs World War II collection (RHC-55)</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 World War, 1939-1945 United States. Army France 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-55 Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-55_JWO005 Title A name given to the resource Military marching band passes the 104th Infantry headquarters sign Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military United States. Army. Signal Photo Company, 166th United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th Soldiers Military life Photographs Description An account of the resource Military marchcing band of the 26th Infantry Division passes the 104th Infantry headquarters sign at a US base, 1944. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ochs, James W. United States. Army Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944 Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived James W. Ochs WWII collection, RHC-55 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eec4576ad683672e8f4003b70b963f4f.jpg f6b0dc1848be37b041e6006a0cdace84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_3_1911-1915_56 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1913-08-08 Title A name given to the resource Mill Falls Moulin River Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of falls at the Mill River (Rivière du Moulin) in Québec. Subject The topic of the resource Québec Waterways Rivers Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eaf23c0e1583a7c63136d74894c2b4aa.m4v f1682d33167f476d7d4563d2dca79d23 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/543bb6b2f61de5337923d010d40b6f94.pdf cf3d8d73a0dbf9e45572e214c0885812 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project Vietnam War Richard Millard Jr. Length of Interview (01:32:20) Background Born in Cleveland, Ohio; Feb. 28, 1950 Moved from Maple Heights to Highland Heights, there for elementary school, then settled in Parmo, Ohio Father was a WWII Veteran, worked in Opti Co., very good father Mother was a housewife, divorced when Millard was 13 Both parents eventually remarried and Richard eventually went to live with his father Remembers playing on the railroad tracks behind his home Grew up in a time where people left their doors unlocked, everyone knew each other and would watch out for each other (00:03:00)  Would play baseball, go outside, never watched TV; remembers when TV went to color and it was amazing, only a few channels in color  Parents didn’t have to worry about where their children were because they knew everyone would watch out for them, strong sense of community  Did all regular summer activities Didn’t really understand what was going on when his parents divorced, but they tried to explain it the best they could; stayed in contact with both parents, very loving Older sister, younger sister, younger brother; all very close  Would listen to records with his older sister when he was younger Didn’t play anything seriously, just recreation (baseball, basketball, football, etc.)  Got involved in theatre during middle school, plays; didn’t get into it heavily �Father had a large family, 7 brothers and 1 sister; all of his brothers were WWII Veterans, as well; Father had to get signed consent from his parents to go into the War, age 16/17 (00:09:30)  Most served in Army or the Air Force Graduated from Mid Park High School, when he was living with his father; 1970 June 18th enlisted in camp; was 20 at the time; had started late in school after being taken ill with pneumonia as a child  Joined the Air Force, recruiting station was in Rio, Ohio  Could have gotten into the Army, but wanted to be in the Air Force; have to graduate from high school to be in the Air Force  Got straight A’s the last two years of high school because he had a goal, wanted to be in the Air Force On first day of enlistment, his Father’s advice was to never volunteer for anything (00:13:55)  Volunteered for almost anything anyway  Was rough to transition from civilian to military life  Have to be extremely disciplined, neat, and prompt; very controlled, regimental  At the time didn’t enjoy it, but looks back on it and realizes he did  Made some good friendships  A wonderful experience, hard to explain it to someone who hasn’t been in the military Didn’t matter what field one went into, at the time (00:15:55) Had a friend who wanted to be a cook (“No one ever wanted to be a cook!”), was in security at the time Security and Cook were two things no one wanted to be in, often drafted people into doing it  Millard wanted to be in Security Police �Lackland Air Base, San Antonio, Texas (00:16:50)  Very small base [Lackland was very large, but was divided into separate camps, some of which were smaller], at that time, small town  Stayed on base during training Basic Training lasted about six weeks (June 18th-July 29th, 1970); Police Security Training six more weeks (finished September 1970) Before Security Police training, showed a demonstration of the dogs there; dog-handling program, loved animals  Volunteered to get what he wanted; went into dog-handling school, 12 week program Paired off with a dog best suited for the trainee (00:18:50)  The dogs were already familiar with the program, already trained  Had to familiarize themselves with the dog, and then begin basic training: basic commands (hands and voice)  Had to read quite a bit about dog training, a lot of on-the-job training  Sentry dogs, attack dogs, etc. Had to be careful around them, would sometimes attack the handler to test for dominance; used the choke chain for discipline  Millard weighed about 130lbs. during this time, so hefting 80lbs. animal took a bit of work Shown first aid for the dog (00:23:05)  Worked with veterinarians Didn’t stay with the dogs all the time, had kennels; one dog for 12 weeks Advanced training included attacking people; instructor would be fully dressed in a attack suit Patrol Dog Program just beginning to develop; friendlier, could allow people to pet them unlike Sentry Dogs  Being taught both, but in Vietnam, only Sentry Dogs �Went to one other program, heavy demand of dog-handlers in Vietnam (00:26:10)  Wanted to go to Vietnam because his father was a Veteran; sense of duty AZR Training, combat preparedness and training; trained without the dog  Made as realistic as possible, wilderness training: how to set up perimeters, preparing for attack, live firing, preparing for combat situations (all done near or on the base)  Four weeks of training; slept outside in the woods, no barracks (00:28:30)  AZR stands for Security Police Combat Preparedness Course  Seven months total of training at Lackland (00:29:35) Given a small break before being sent to Vietnam, went home in January ’71 for about one month  Wore his uniform home, looking sharp; time went by very fast Flew to California, Travis Air Force Base; used civilian planes to transport soldiers to Vietnam  Stopped in Alaska first (near Fairbanks) experienced the cold there; landed in Tan Son Nhut Air Base Very warm during that time (March 5, 1971) (00:33:50) Right outside of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City currently), could see it from the base  Assigned ahead of time what bases they were going to be in; was asked which they would like go to Went to Cam Ranh Bay, on the coast  Stored a lot of bombs, ammunition, planes there; also a Navy base, Army, Marines, etc. Sent to 43rd Security Police Squadron, dog-handlers lived in a separate section; ‘hooches’ (00:36:00) After being assigned living areas, taken in a truck to ‘Canine Hill’ where the dogs were kenneled Assigned a dog to work with, no choice; dogs stayed there for the whole time  Millard worked with a dog that was eight years old and had been there since it was trained (probably since the beginning) � They were mean dogs, knew what was happening Would work perimeters; canine-handlers would give the alert, used radio, if perimeter was penetrated  Worked at night, dogs would give the alert signal  Would use R-16’s, light-weight automatic/semi-automatic weapon  Dog leash in one hand and weapon slung over the shoulder of the other  Sometimes would be false alarms, animals, sounds, etc. Dogs stayed at the kennel, would groom, train, and play with them during the day (00:40:55)  Near the bay, could swim with the dogs to cool them down during particularly hot days; bathed them to keep the ticks off Two shifts: earlier and later, 6-12 hours  1st shift, first to be on the post, no one to relieve; dropped off in trucks  ‘Kilo Post’ code used by dog-handlers; had about 20 posts  50 dogs all together and 20-25 per shift  Six days on and one day off, still doing training on days off ’71: a lot of bases being attacked during this time by the Viet Cong (00:44:35)  “Vietnamization Program” U.S. getting ready to leave, training VP’s  Knew that South Vietnam would collapse once U.S. troops pulled out; weren’t prepared enough or organized Out at the post by themselves, rarely spoke with others; had to patrol (00:45:45) Millard was very attached to the dog he worked with, acted as a protector and buddy; very hard to leave them after a year, a special bond  Friends from the military, stays in contact with them through organizations Cam Ranh often had rocket attacks, made a lot of noise, but little damage, very inaccurate (00:48:55) � Would be given warnings over the intercom of incoming attacks Had a lot of “Sapper Attacks” by Viet Cong or the “others” who were fighting for the North (00:51:10) May 23, 1971 had a particularly large sapper attack; attacked the POL area where jet fuel was stored, lubricants, etc.  Had three dog posts in that area, Millard was on the other side of the base  Had a friend who was in security and dog-handling training with him in that area along with a few others  There was a firefight and explosions, called for help; sighting of about 8 Viet Cong sappers who were trying to penetrate the camp  Were carrying satchels of explosions to place in the POL area, but they didn’t get in  Eventually backup arrived  The next day, found where the sappers had been camped Had bounties on dog-handlers in Vietnam, would be in the front lines detecting and patrolling Army would ask for volunteers to go out on patrols  Took their jobs seriously because people’s lives depended on them and the dogs especially Dogs did tracking, tunneling, etc.; trained to do just about anything to save people’s lives (00:57:25) Another attack in the bomb storage area, August 25, 1971; “sappers” (00:58:15)  Bombs stored: 200, 500, 1000, 10,000 lbs. bombs; very large area  Security and canine posts there, could patrol right next to the bombs, close enough to touch  Satchel charges were thrown in and a lot of it went up, the whole area; wasn’t too near it  It is unimaginable to those who weren’t there, incredibly bright and loud  Was on the bay at that time and his dog was going crazy  Had to keep patrolling, wasn’t easy; didn’t lose anyone, dogs were more alert �Didn’t handle any Water Detection dogs, Navy used these dogs (01:03:50)  Spoke with some of the Navy handlers, were ‘brothers-in-arms” A part of a national dog-handler organization, all branches; meet every two years in different cities all over the country Hoping to go to one next year, still keeps in contact with friends through email, phone, etc. The dogs were being left there, considered equipment; left in March ’72 (01:06:10)  Heard Cam Ranh was closed in August, four months after he left  Some dogs were shipped back to U.S., some to Thailand, Philippines, etc. Given another leave after Vietnam; got out through Tan Son Nhut (01:08:25)  Back to the United States and went home for a month Assigned to another base before leaving Vietnam; 4 years Active Duty in the Air Force  Wasn’t due to get out until ’74, had another two and a half years of service left Given a “Dream Sheet”  Sent to some of the coldest bases; Maine, etc.  Many complained and eventually they were given a choice between England or Germany Millard chose England, Upper Heyford Air Base as a dog-handler Arrived April ’72 (left Vietnam in March ’72) Had to go through English Military Dog Training; Denton, England (01:10:55)  Was a little different: terms, commands, etc.  Worked with patrol dogs The difference between patrol dogs and sentry dogs, is that patrol dogs allow more people near them if the handler lets them “1st Louies” (in Vietnam) (01:12:30) �More strict protocol in England; never did any State-side (01:13:45) Travelled all over England; lived off-base, Burford, England Lived with four other guys, rented a house, quaint town and houses  Would go to the pub down the street where they played darts  Drank what they called “Bitter Drink”  Enjoyed it immensely, very different from Vietnam  Very accepting civilian population Got into dog racing, which was a popular sport in England  Groomed and trained his own greyhounds  Did it for fun, not money  Did some coursing, as well; chased hares in the fields Five days on and three days off, more free days in England (01:18:00)  During Base Alert, had to work longer hours Had some dogs and handlers in law enforcement, but mostly did night patrol  During the time when there were problems with the Irish Nothing serious happened when he was there, less to worry about compared to Vietnam  Sometimes the Sergeant would come out with an attack suit to make sure everyone was still alert Wanted to stay in England after he was discharged (01:20:30)  Bought a car through the military (because he was military personnel), was a deal  Couldn’t keep the car �Went to be discharged in the base in New Jersey (01:22:05)  There for a couple of days  Still had two years of Inactive Duty to serve  Didn’t get his discharge papers until ‘76 Went back home for about a month, had to get a passport (had a Military ID, could go anywhere) Was a civilian Went back to England, still had his greyhounds but not his military dog (Tasha)  Still raced them and visited many race tracks (Oxford, London, Wales, etc.) Stayed in England for 13 months, then went back home (01:24:20)  Had to sell his dogs Wanted to get into dog racing in the U.S., but it is too much of a business Travelled a bit, was a wanderer Worked odd jobs, wasn’t hard to find work, worked in some resorts in Florida; there for a year Went to college after coming back (’77); a community college outside of Cleveland, ’77-‘79 Stopped short of getting his Associate’s in Small Business Management and Marketing  Didn’t take the general credits, but did all of his major classes  Was working and attending school at the same time After graduating in ’79 left Ohio, transferred to a school in Florida; met his wife there (late 1980’s)  Married in January of ’82, daughter born in ‘82  Did divorce, but still get along well together  Eventually moved to Grand Rapids to stay close to his daughter � 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 MillardRJr Title A name given to the resource Millard, Richard Jr. (Interview outline and video), 2006 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Millard, Richard Jr. Description An account of the resource Richard Millard Jr. was strongly influenced by his father at an early age to join the service. After graduating high school, he enlisted into the Air Force where he became a part of the Security Police, and, eventually, a dog-handler. He was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay in 1971-72, and then sent to England for a year. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer) Collins, Carol (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Air Force Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-12-04 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d163cb967ddfabb620907e8ff0fbdff6.jpg 28ec98c83ff1c6c917ca1e58ec35187d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context MillayJohn Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Millay, John Description An account of the resource John Millay, Sociology Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng