78 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ef0bf55a0ae4a629d920734dc97c7a30.jpg 38091727bcd872c3b6f7ac109b73e73b 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 Mathias J. Alten Collection Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Artists--Michigan Painters Photographs Description An account of the resource Digitized photographs, artworks, and diary transcript from the papers of West Michigan painter, Mathias J. Alten (1871-1938) represent one of the most important collections in the holdings of both the University Library's Special Collections and the University Art Gallery. Alten, a German native who came to Grand Rapids as a youth, is a celebrated American regionalist often referred to as the Dean of Michigan Painters. The photographs and papers document his family life and career and support the collection of Alten paintings owned by the University. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Alten, M. (Mathias), 1871-1938 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/456">Mathias J. Alten papers (RHC-28)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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-28 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1893 - 1929 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="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/456">Mathias J. Alten papers, RHC-28</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-28_MAlten_00027 Title A name given to the resource Bertha Alten and children Description An account of the resource Studio portrait of Bertha Alten and children. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives Subject The topic of the resource Alten, M. (Mathias), 1871-1938 Grand Rapids (Mich.) Artists--Michigan Painters Photographs 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f66c00a7b56f8452105311d83b8fb034.jpg fe6afbbbd7c803fc6e4dfde23fae96f9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_P030-0005 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-03-26 Title A name given to the resource Bertram Jensenuis, Editor of Vinland newspaper Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of Norwegian-American journalist and author, Bertram Jensenuis, Editor of the Vinland newspaper in Chicago, Illinois. Jensenuis originally took over the "Viking" publication in 1958, renamed it "Vinland" and published it until his death in 1976. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Norwegian Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Newspapers Norwegian Americans--Illinois--Chicago Chicago (Ill.) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/35af5a487ddf18064eb03182e29f0bf6.jpg 51368f760624c1727c59e1f9d2b973b4 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_P030-0040 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-03-26 Title A name given to the resource Bertram Jensenuis, Editor of Vinland newspaper Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of Norwegian-American journalist and author, Bertram Jensenuis, Editor of the Vinland newspaper in Chicago, Illinois. Jensenuis originally took over the "Viking" publication in 1958, renamed it "Vinland" and published it until his death in 1976. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Norwegian Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Newspapers Norwegian Americans--Illinois--Chicago Chicago (Ill.) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/4af197bf3d5e7e19e1ec6cbdac7b7dfc.mp4 854c489cd88163b0b4a88e35a31c14bf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/827171dc9090608f0c3f7d7c87176c5d.pdf d4b421eef74bb9c415f20eb3fc535620 PDF Text Text 1 Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Oral History Interview Veteran: Emile Bertrand Interviewed by James Smither Transcribed by Grace Balog Interviewer: We are talking today with Emile Bertrand of Petoskey, Michigan. And I guess it is more of an Emile Bertrand, if you’re American? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Yes, okay. And so, he was born in France and he actually served in the French Resistance as well as the French army during the Second World War. Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Alright. But to begin with, let’s go back to the beginning. Where and when were you born? Veteran: Where I was born? Interviewer: Mhmm. Veteran: In Brittany. At that time, the Brittany, and Carhaix, in the Côtes d’Armor was the place I was born in 26 of October, 1922. Interviewer: Okay. And did you grow up in that area? �2 Veteran: No, I did not, no. I grew up in a town by the name of Laval, in la Mayenne. (00:53) And when I was very small— Interviewer: Okay, and— Veteran: And I stayed there until my mother died. She was 36 years old. She had pneumonia. Interviewer: Okay, and what— Veteran: They didn’t know how to treat that at the time. Interviewer: And what year was that? Veteran: Oh, that was before the war. I was 14 years old. Interviewer: Okay, so about 1926—36 or thereabouts. Veteran: ’36, yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Something like that. Interviewer: Yeah, and then Laval was kind of a little bit north of the Loire Valley and southwest of Paris. Veteran: Yeah, quite a bit north. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: That’s actually east of Brittany. Interviewer: Yes. Veteran: East of Rennes. �3 Interviewer: Yeah. Right. Okay. And what was your family doing for a living when you were a kid? Veteran: My father worked for the French railroad. You know? And most of my uncles worked for the [untelligible] of the French railroad at that time, you know. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: And it was a pretty good job, I guess. Interviewer: Okay. And then, what sort of education did you have? Veteran: Well, in Laval I went to the lycée. And I went—not doing very good, so my father decided to send me to St. Brieuc in a boarding school. And then there was a—the name of the school was Curie (00:02:20). And I graduated there in 1939, just before the war started. Interviewer: Right. (00:02:29) Veteran: In the summer before the war. And I was going to go to be an engineer and the war started in October [actually September] 1939. So, there was—I couldn’t go for that reason. I went to work. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And I was working in the Rennes, at the arsenal of Rennes in the summer of 1940. And I was on the afternoon shift. I was on my bicycle right in front of the—right on station. All of a sudden—I was waiting for the lights—all of a sudden, we heard big, huge explosions. Big, fantastic—a few minutes later a group of 5 or 6 or 7 Dorniers (00:03:26) … Interviewer: Bombers. �4 Veteran: …German bombers were shaving the roof of the station. And in Rennes they had a big, huge motor track. And on the tracks were ammunition trains and refugees. And the whole thing blew up. There was over 1000 people died there, that particular morning. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: And they were so close I saw the crew—the pilots and everybody else—we could see them very well. And next to me there was a British soldier. He was shooting with his rifle into the gun—into the planes. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: With no success, I guess. Interviewer: Okay. Now, I want to back up and fill in a little bit more about your early life. Before the war started, the 1930s—that’s the era of the Great Depression. Veteran: 1939. Interviewer: Yeah, but before that, that’s the era of the Great Depression. Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: You had the Popular Front government in France in the middle of the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War… Did you pay very much attention to the events— (00:04:35) Veteran: No, I didn’t. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: No, I didn’t. Interviewer: Okay. �5 Veteran: No. Just after the Germans came in, I changed my mind many times. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: Many times. Interviewer: Now, but between the time—I mean, the war—the Germans attacked Poland in 1939. Veteran: 1939. Interviewer: In September. And then the Allies declare war after that. Veteran: Yes, yes. Interviewer: Alright. And did life change at all for you before the Germans came or did you just keep doing— Veteran: In a way, a little bit because instead of going to school— Interviewer: Right. Veteran: I went to work. Interviewer: You took a job, that’s right. Veteran: I went to work in Rennes, at the arsenal (00:05:14) as a toolmaker. A young toolmaker. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And when the Germans were really close to coming to town, I took my bicycle and two of the guys—we went to Nantes and… Interviewer: Did you go all the way from Rennes to Nantes (00:05:36) on a bicycle? �6 Veteran: On a bicycle, yeah. Oh yeah. Interviewer: Okay. And how long did that take? Veteran: Oh, 3-4 days at least. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we had refugees all over the place. People with a wheelbarrow carrying their suitcases. You know? And some people say that the Germans were coming with a plane. I never seen it. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I never seen it. Interviewer: Alright. Now— Veteran: But when we left, it was 5 o’clock in the morning; it was daylight, you know. And we came by noon to a huge British depot. And the British were gone. They went back to England, you know. But all the doors were open so any French people can go there and pick up whatever they want. And I picked up a—something to eat. And I picked up another bottle of—what’s the name of that? Of rum. (00:06:44) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Jamaican rum, you know. And I don’t like rum anymore. I was too—in bad shape at the time. But by the time we went to the—to Nantes, the German halftracks were—they were coming. So, I said, “Well, it’s no use to go any further.” I went back home in Morlaix, which is close to Brest. �7 Interviewer: Alright. So, is that where your father was living? Veteran: No, my father was living—was working for the railroad in Laval. Interviewer: Okay. He was in Laval. So, who was in Morlaix then? Who did you go to live with? Veteran: There was an uncle and an aunt. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And I was very close to them. And they had two boys and an older girl, which she is still living right now in France. Interviewer: Alright. Now, when you were living in Rennes and you were working in the armory, what kind of living conditions did you have? Were you in an apartment or a dormitory? Veteran: I was renting a room, yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we had lots of food. We weren’t hungry at all at that time, until the Germans came. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: You know? Interviewer: Okay. But now you have made it back, you have gone back to Morlaix, you rejoined your family. The Germans are there, but you’re not working anymore. Veteran: No, I am not working. �8 Interviewer: So, what do you do then? (00:08:09) Veteran: Well, you know, France was divided, an occupied zone and a free zone, which was led by Vichy (00:08:19). Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And my friend and I, we decided to see if we could go to the south of France and through Spain to Gibraltar. So, we left Brittany and we went only east side of France and we crossed a canal and the—a creek. And we went all the way to Marseille in the south of France. Interviewer: Okay, now how did you do this? Just on bicycles or walking? Veteran: No, by train. Interviewer: By—okay, you took trains. Veteran: You know, my dad was working for the railroad. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I was going free. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I didn’t pay a dime. Interview: Alright, and you— Veteran: My friend also the same way. Interviewer: Okay. But now the area in Brittany—Morlaix—was that part of the occupied zone? �9 Veteran: Oh yes. Interviewer: Yeah, because Brittany—because that was important militarily. Veteran: Entirely. Brittany was entirely— Interviewer: Right. Okay. Veteran: --under the German. Interviewer: Now, did you have any problem moving from the occupied zone to the— Veteran: I had a problem to cross the line. Interviewer: So, that was where you snuck across the canal? Or…? Veteran: Yes, I had a problem. The first time I crossed, it was heavily guarded by the Germans. And the first time I crossed it wasn’t too bad. You know, we removed our pants and we walk in the water. You know? And we—the second one was a canal so we had a boat, which was— someone was helping us. So, we went all the way to the border of Spain. Interviewer: Right. (00:10:04) Veteran: And we were going to go to the mountains, to the Pyrenees, when I met someone who came from the jails in Spain. He said, “Don’t go there.” He said, “Franco is a friend of Hitler. No way; you are going to spend a lot of time in jail.” So, I didn’t go and my friend also. So, from there we went to Marseille and to Corsica, with the intention to go Algeria or Tunisia and Morocco to Gibraltar, but we didn’t make it. Interviewer: Okay. Now but did you get to Corsica? Veteran: I went to Corsica for three months. �10 Interviewer: Okay, and how did you get to Corsica? Veteran: By boat. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: It was a cargo. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Cargo ship. Interviewer: Now, did you have any money? Veteran: We didn’t have much money, no. And we work in Corsica. We were making charcoal in the mountain. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: With mules…It was a good time, but we were hungry. Very hungry. And being not properly fed. And we were living in a former prison. And—a normal prison. And during the day we were working, you know, in the mountain the whole day and come back in the evening. And someone said, “I saw a place where there are a lot of potatoes.” So, we decided to go into that farm at night. And I remember we—someone came up with the idea of putting a string on our ankles and putting the potatoes through our zipper around our legs. And we came in at 2-3 o’clock in the morning hungry like hell. So, we immediately…We cooked the potatoes and they had a funny taste. They were kind of sweet. But the next morning—we were maybe 50-60 guys there—sick like hell. Completely sick: throwing up, diarrhea, and everything else. They were seeded: potato seed with DDT on it. Interviewer: Oh… (00:12:38) �11 Veteran: We didn’t know about it. We—for 2 or 3 days, we couldn’t move. We were very sick. But finally, everything came out okay, you know. One of the stories. Interviewer: Alright. Now, as you were moving through France at that point, when you were…How did you find people to help you? Did you just walk up to people and talk to them? Or…? Veteran: Well, we didn’t have much to lose, you know. So, by talking to people, we could find something to do. Like we did work on the roads, making new roads, for the government in the free zone. And I passed the line four times—the demarcation line. The third time I had a hard time. Very difficult thing. We went through Bordeaux. You know where Bordeaux is. At that time, a German general was killed and they thought the Underground was responsible for that. So, when we went to the demarcation line, the Germans were on their toes, you know, with double patrols and stuff like that. And no one could help us to go through. But then we find one guy who told us how to do it. We were two guys, my best friend and I. And we had—at 2 o’clock in the morning, we went through two big building while the Germans were sleeping there. And we walked for maybe half an hour. And the—we were told we are going to reach a creek. (00:14:30) Veteran: And we did. And they told us when you’re on the creek, stay in the creek for 15 minutes and going right, you know, through the creek. At that time, you could hear the dogs barking. The Germans knew something was going on there. But we got out from the creek and we found a paved road. And when we walked on the paved road, it was almost—it was dark but not that dark. You could see the trees and the shade like that. And I saw someone smoking. And all of a sudden in French he said, “What the hell are you doing here?” It was a soldier from the �12 Vichy group. And he couldn’t believe we went through the line at that time, you know? And after that we took the train and we went on our way. Interviewer: Okay. So, the Vichy soldier wasn’t interested in stopping you? Veteran: No, he was not. No, no, no. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: He couldn’t believe we passed it. Interviewer: Alright. Now, that’s getting us a little bit ahead in your story so let’s go back to the point when you are in Corsica. Now, was this still 1940 when you were in Corsica? Or was this now 1941? Veteran: ’41. Interviewer: It was in ’41. Veteran: ’41. Interviewer: Okay. And you said you stayed there about three months, doing that— Veteran: About three months, yeah. Interviewer: Okay. And then— Veteran: A beautiful place. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Beautiful. Interviewer: And then how did you come to leave there? (00:16:06) �13 Veteran: Because we work. We work making charcoal. Interviewer: Right. But then at some point—but you only stayed for three months. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: So, why did you go from there? Veteran: Well…I—first of all, when we came to Corsica, we went to a town by the name of Bastia. And then we took the train all the way to Porto-Vecchio on the very south end of Corsica. And in Porto-Vecchio we were hungry. You know, we didn’t work. We did not have much money. And we were sitting in front of a church and someone came in and says in French, “You look pretty sad.” You know, we were sad and hungry. And we told him, we says that we’d like to find a job and we’d like to eat. “Oh,” he says, “you came at the right time. We have a funeral this afternoon and after the funeral there is a big banquet.” So, we waited and we went into the church. Only the men were going to the church. The women stayed outside. And they all were like the Ku Klux Klan. Interviewer: With black veils and hoods. Veteran: The whites—it was white. All white. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Veil like that, you know. And we stay with all the men. And when we came out, we went to the house where the banquet was served. We got a fiesta, that beautiful thing. And that’s—the next day…It’s amazing I can remember that. We met a farmer. His name was Rossi. I remember his name: Rossi. And we told him that we look for a job and we were looking for �14 something to eat. He says—they have a language of their own over there, you know: French and Italian or something like that. Interviewer: Yeah. (00:18:23) Veteran: And we went to his farm and, in his language, he told his wife and his two daughters to prepare a meal, in his language. We didn’t know he was doing this. We had a good meal at that time. And I remember the name: Rossi. Amazing. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: And after that we couldn’t go to Tunisia or Morocco, Algeria…So, we came back to France at that time. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then I was—I found a job at Laval. There was a place by the name of Richard Brothers. And they were manufacturing cameras for the aircraft, for the aircraft industry. For the German. And one day, I was on a lathe. Very—a Swiss lathe. Beautiful lathe. Beautiful shop. And 8 o’clock in the morning while I was there, all of a sudden from the office, a girl came in rushing and said, “Trucks of German are landing the Germans in front of the plants.” I didn’t wait a second. I stopped my machine, I run from the back, I pick up my bicycle, I jump over the wall and they never saw me again. They were searching for laborers for Germany. Interviewer: Okay. (00:20:10) Veteran: And they would—no question asked—they would put you in a freight train and the you were locked in all the way to Germany and then work for the Germans, you know. Interviewer: Right. �15 Veteran: But I didn’t do that. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: The next night, I took a train at night, 2 o’clock in the morning, and I went back to Brittany, to Germany—to Morlaix. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Yeah. And after that, that continued after that. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: So— Veteran: But I was glad I did that because a lot of young guys like me went to Germany and they never came back. Interviewer: Yeah. Because they were slave laborers. Veteran: Slave laborer, exactly. Interviewer: And they were not treated well or fed well. Veteran: Oh yes, yeah. Interviewer: Yeah. And okay, but basically the French people—they knew enough about how it worked so the girl recognized it and warned you. Veteran: Oh yes, we knew that. Interviewer: Now, did the— �16 Veteran: The advantage when I went back home—I decided to hide for a while. And my nextdoor neighbors in Morlaix were a brother and farm about half an hour away from my home, bicycle. And so, I spent two or three months there. I never worked so hard in my life, you know, at that farm. That was a rough, rough work. And the food wasn’t very good. Too much greasy food. And I told the farmer one time, I says, “I’ve had enough of it. I am going to leave.” He says—he agreed with me. And he says, “Before you leave, in Morlaix go see the doctor.” LeDuc was his name. He was one of the chiefs of the FFE—FFI. Interviewer: Explain what that was. (00:22:09) Veteran: And what happened was I didn’t— Interviewer: Wait, that’s—whoa. The FFI. Veteran: FFI. Interviewer: What was that? Veteran: That was De Gaulle’s party, DeGaulle... Interviewer: Right. So, the Free French of the Interior. Veteran: Free French whatever… Interviewer: Of the Interior I think was what they called it. Veteran: Interior, yeah. Interviewer: Yeah. Okay. �17 Veteran: And anyway, I went to see the doctor, which I knew because we used to play volleyball on the beach many times. And what happened is not far from my hometown was a town by the name of Carantec (00:22:43). I don’t know if you know the name. Carantec (00:22:47). Interviewer: Is it C-A-R— Veteran: It’s right on the…maybe half an hour by bicycle from my hometown. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And there was a ship builder for fishing industry. He used to make trawlers, maybe 3540 feet with a sail and a diesel engine. And during the entire period of the war, he built 17 ships. Which, he worked at night with a group of maybe 50-60 guys like me, took them to England. And they did, on D-Day they were there, you know. Anyway, the doctor told me that it’s a bad time right now because the Gestapo is there in the Carantec, searching (00:23:50). He said, “You will have to come back.” But I didn’t wait. So, I left Morlaix and I went to Brest. And at Brest, I found someone who told me they are looking for a lathe operator across the bay in a big, huge base. Lanvéoc was the name of the town. Lanvéoc (00:24:14). At one time, there was a big base; they had 250 planes there, to give you an idea. Coming back from Libya at the time without a sign. And so, I work in the garage at the lathe operator there. And then, that was the end of 1943. At that time, I met my best friend, you know. And we went to the Underground. (00:24:44) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: At that time. At the early 1943. Interviewer: Alright. Now, while you were—how long were you working in Brest? Veteran: For a couple years. A year and a half maybe. �18 Interviewer: Okay. Now during that time, did the Germans ever come looking for more laborers? Veteran: No, not there. Interviewer: Okay. So, they were already doing something that was useful for the Germans? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And I changed my ID. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then I changed my clothes. I was dressed in navy blue with a Marine cap, you know. Just like they were using in the Merchant Marines. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And I was never stopped crossing the bay. Never stopped. Because I stayed on the side of the German. I never spoke. I didn’t speak English. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: Didn’t speak German. Yeah. But it went okay. I managed. Interviewer: Alright. And then, while you were in Brest, where did you live or who did you live with? �19 Veteran: Lanvéoc was a little town, maybe of 1000 people maybe. Close to the base. And we were eating in a pension. Good place but not much food. And we were living in—we rented the room where I told you the bombs fell in. And I had a hard time there. Very hard time. Interviewer: Okay. Well, I don’t think you— Veteran: I get confused with some of these. Interviewer: Okay. You mentioned—so you were—that area was bombed while you were living there? (00:26:28) Veteran: Many times. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Many times. And…we were poorly trained in the Underground. And we were poorly armed. We didn’t have any arms. And my first assignment was a—I was told what to do. We were a group of 3 people, you know. And at that time, the Germans were picking up all the cows that they could get, all the meat they could get. For their army—people were not eating meat at all in that part of France. So, the idea was to go to the farm, to cut operated farms, and they gave me a machete. That’s all. And I had a revolver which was not a revolver, it was a lighter. But they also—the other two guys had regular revolvers, regular ammo. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And I stole a stocking off an old lady there and I put an opening for my eyes and I put it on my head. You know? All black. And we left maybe at 1 o’clock in the morning, something like that. And while we were walking, we could hear someone coming: the Germans. There was a patrol. And so, there was ditches on both sides so we got in the right-side ditch and we stayed �20 low there. They came 4-5 feet away from us. Two guys smoking and talking in German. And when they were gone, we went back on the road and we went on the farm. (00:28:38) Veteran: And the two other guys went in front of the farm and the back of the farm with a flashlight, and they had instructions for the farmer. And for me, I had to go to the barn. And most of the cows during the night, they sleep not the floor; they sleep up. They are way up like that. And the idea was for me to cut the tendon on the back of the cow. You know they have a tendon there. And when the tendon is cut, the cow collapse, clearly ready to be butchered. You know? Anyway, I was struggling. I was kind of scared, you know? I never did something like that. I was 17-18 years old. And finally, I decided I have to do it. And I do that—I get that on two cows. And the instruction was to the farmer, which was a collaborator, to send the two cows to the butcher. And the butcher would sell the meat to the population. Like that, at least for a few days they would have some meat to eat. And we went through the farm like that and we went back home, and that was it. And the Germans—I don’t think they knew what happened because the farmers were afraid of us, you know, for some reason. The second mission we had…Have you ever heard about the Todt Army? In Germany, the Todt Army? (00:30:28) Interviewer: Oh, the…yeah, the… Veteran: They were the builders… Interviewer: Right. Veteran: …of the [sounds like “brown castles”] and so on like that. Interviewer: Right. �21 Veteran: Next to the town of Lanvéoc they had a huge depot. Huge depot. Thousands of barrels of gasoline and diesel. And we were about 50 guys that night. And we could see; it was not too dark for some reason. And they gave us some picks. You know the picks? And the idea was to punch holes in all those barrels, as many as we could. Stupid thing. Which we did. The gasoline and diesel were running maybe two inches on the ground, all over the place. We were soaked with gasoline. And imagine if a spark would have started a fire? We had no chance at all. But we accomplished quite a bit there. And we flew the coop after that. Interviewer: Okay. So, did the Germ— Veteran: And the Germans were after that investigating but they never found out we were there, you know. Interviewer: Okay. So, you—the Germans didn’t hear you while you were…? Veteran: There was a patrol but we waited maybe half an hour before they were far away. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, they—maybe they heard us but I don’t think so. Interviewer: Okay. But the—now, was this fuel dump—was this inside of a fortified place? Or just sitting in the open? Veteran: No, there was a city but there was a wall. And there was big gates, which someone opened the gates for some reason. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we went into the gate. And after that, we were soaking in that mixture of gasoline and diesel oil. �22 Interviewer: Okay. (00:32:28) Veteran: What a mess. Interviewer: Alright, so the English term for this German group was called the Todt Organization, because Fritz Todt was— Veteran: Todt, yeah. Interviewer: Yeah, you had pronounced it Todt. But—and basically, they were in charge of all kinds of military construction for the Germans. Veteran: They built the Atlantic Wall. Interviewer: Yes. Veteran: You know? They were the ones. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, now to go back again a little bit—you said at the point when you decided to join the Resistance, did you just go to Carantec? Or back to the doctor? Or how did you join the Resistance? Veteran: Just like that. We had no—we didn’t sign anything. Interviewer: But who did you go to? Or where did you go for that? Veteran: We stayed in town. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: We stayed there. We worked during the day and if we did something, it was at night most of the time. �23 Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: But we were involved in putting some planks on the road with nails on it to make sure that the tires of the German truck would blow out, you know. Interviewer: But did you know who was in the Resistance? So, who to talk to? Veteran: Oh yes, oh yes. Yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I remember my officer. His name was Bébéac (00:33:45). He was a major in the army. He was in charge of us. We were about, altogether, maybe 500. Altogether, you know. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: You know? Interviewer: And— Veteran: And we did a lot of work there. A lot of stupid things. Interviewer: Now, were there—was there a danger of having collaborators betray you? Did you have to be afraid? (00:34:12) Veteran: We had problems. We had some problems. Oh yes. One time, among us there was a guy from Alsace who spoke fluently German. And he went to the officer in charge of that location, telling the French Resistance were in that wood here. And there was a group, maybe 10 guys. My best friend was there. And but they didn’t have any weapons at all. So, they were arrested and they went to another town, which was by the name of Crozon (00:35:00). Crozon was the town, which is still there you know. And I got a mission. I got to tell you something �24 amusing. I was lucky; very lucky. I was told to carry on my bicycle 4 revolvers with ammunition in it. Yeah, ammunition and also cartridges. And on my bicycle, I had a basket in front of my bicycle. And so, I put the 4 revolvers here and I put some newspapers and some carrots and stuff like that on top of it to hide it. And I had two ways to go to the town. I could take the paved road or the dirt road. Paved road was being utilized by the Germans a lot, so I chose to pick up the other road, you know. The time was the same: maybe almost an hour. And it was a hot day; August, ’43. So, I was peddling down the road: there is nobody there. And the road was turning. All of a sudden, I faced 5, 6, 7 of the Germans on maneuvers. They removed their helmets and they were hiking and singing at the same time. With my 4 revolvers there, I went through the group like that and not a single one stopped me. Imagine? How lucky can you be? If I would have been stopped, I wouldn’t be here today. Interviewer: Right. (00:36:54) Veteran: That’s for sure. And finally, I went to that town and I gave them the 4 revolvers, to someone. And they were planning to attack the Germans for liberating those 10 guys, you know? But for some reason there was an officer, which he was a German, from the Cameroon in… Interviewer: Africa, yeah. Veteran: Africa. And he helped us to free those guys. Imagine—in Lanvéoc (00:37:31), we had in the restaurant all those guys from the Underground and one officer—he was a captain, I think, or colonel…Or major, he was a major. And he was the only German there. And we promised him—he knew the war was going to be lost for Germany. He knew that. He said, “The only thing I want you to do is to try to find me after the war.” Which I did. He was in Canada. Prisoner of war. And he was liberated thanks to us. To give you an idea. �25 Interviewer: Wow. Veteran: Yeah, that was quite a story. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: So, he had been from like a German family that had gone to Cameroon as part of their colonial regime there? Veteran: Yes, that’s right. He was born in Cameroon. Interviewer: Born in Cameroon and then came back. (00:38:21) Veteran: Oh yes. Yeah, yeah. Interviewer: Okay. Alright. Veteran: Amazing, isn’t it? Interviewer: Yeah, that is something. Alright. Veteran: Anyway, to give you some idea…By that time, there was a 1944 after D-Day The Patton army, the Third Army, was close to Brest. They say, and don’t quote me, but it was over 100,000 Germans there. But I am not for sure. And I was—the bay across Brest is huge, like I said before. And a lot of cargoes—German cargoes—were going through the—close to the front, to the shore for camouflage I guess, you know. And I saw one time 17 ships sunk. I saw one close to me. The bow of the ship was sinking and the rail of the ship—they were still antiaircraft gun shooting at the planes. And I saw the plane—the cargo ship—going completely down. I didn’t see anything coming out of it. That was something to see. Anyway, one day I was on my �26 bicycle and I was going from Lanvéoc (00:40:02) to a town by the name of Le Fret. And the town was very close to the ocean. And…like 100 feet maybe. But I saw a bunch of diver planes from this country here diving but I couldn’t see what happened to the cargo ship. And they were diving to try to sink the ship. So, I was on my bicycle and I felt unease. (00:40:39) Veteran: And I crossed a guy, a lone guy. He had a cane; he was walking on the road. And I decided I am going to stop. I stopped my bicycle on the left side of the road and I went into the ditch. The ditch was maybe a couple feet deep. And I laid down there, and I could see the planes launching the bomb—two bombs—over me. But the last plane triggered the bomb too quick, and I saw those two bombs coming at me. Completely at me. And so, I went—I was completely on my belly at that time. The two bombs fell in the other ditch of the road. And I saw tons of trash going into the air, falling on me. And the only thing I remember: I was scared of being hit by a stone, a big stone, which I did not. And I knew there was a last plane. I didn’t pay attention to whether the ship was sunk or not. So, I get up from the—where I was—and shook the dirt from me and from the best bicycle. And I saw the old man still walking with his cane. And I jumped on my bicycle. I didn’t go very far, I was trembling. I was really, really shocked, you know, at that time. But that was the way of life I guess, you know? (00:42:24) Interviewer: Okay. Now, when the D-Day invasion took place— Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: --part of the plan was to have the French Resistance across the country rise up and— Veteran: Which we did. Interviewer: So, what did your unit do in connection with D-Day? �27 Veteran: We were far from D-Day. Interviewer: Yes. Veteran: We were close to Brest. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And most of the time, we did some things like I said. I told you, you know. But at one time, when the Patton army was close by, they gave to the civilians of the peninsula a—if you want to leave, you can leave; we will let you go. You know? So, what we did: we did not bring any weapons of any kind. We went with the people there. And we were out of the peninsula for 2 or 3 days in March. A lot of farmers were there with their horses and carriages. Anyway, I saw the first American there after we reached the location. And so, they—we organized ourself—the officers—and we were a group of about 500 roughly. And they—we got armed at that time. I got a Sten submachine gun. And oh, they give you a revolver and blankets and everything. And we start—we were the only units with Americans because we were from that location. We knew the location of a lot of the cannons and stuff like that. And we had a hard time. (00:44:31) Veteran: Before we start moving, we came to—in front of a town by the name of—Telgruc was the name of the town. And during the day, the Germans left the town, going to the sea, going to the ocean. And we had the American not receive any news of the moving. And they thought the town was occupied. But at that time, a part of my unit and a group of Americans were in that town. And there was a friendly fire. They came with Bombers, B-26 Bombers, like that. And they shaved the town. We lost 50 guys. Interviewer: Wow. �28 Veteran: And the American lost over 100 that day. So, we had to—we were maybe a mile from the town. Beautiful day; not a cloud in the sky. We had those red…what’s the name of that? Red carpet to say we are friendly. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: But they didn’t see it and they shaved the town completely. But finally, they reached the headquarters and it was okay. So, we went to the town. It wasn’t very pretty to see. Interviewer: Right. (00:46:15) Veteran: There was bodies all over the place, you know. And all of a sudden, someone says, “I found some rum.” And there was a big barrel of rum and—from Jamaica. So, we were drunk that night. If the Germans would ever attack us, we—no way we would be in good shape for that, you know. And I can’t stand rum since then. I was sick with it, very sick. Interviewer: Well, wasn’t that your second episode with rum? Veteran: It was the second time. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Second time, yeah. First time was in 1940. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: Yeah. And we went with the Americans. And I remember we were very close to the ocean on the left side. And where we were, the Germans built a trench: a zigzag trench, maybe two feet deep, two feet wide maybe. And at the bottom of their trench was sand. So, from the coast, the Germans saw us you know. We were 500 people—that’s quite a bit. And they start shooting the 88s all over the place. So, immediately we went to the ditch—to the zigzag ditch. �29 Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And I was there on my belly and there was a guy 3-4 feet away from me. And all of a sudden, a shrapnel fell in between my head and the feet of the other guys in the sand. I didn’t see the shrapnel, but it was hot like hell. Very hot for 3-4 minutes. That was a close one, but I didn’t—I was in between, you know? And after that, we start moving in a second line. There was a first line and we came in a second line. First time for me to fight like a regular unit. Interviewer: Yeah. (00:48:29) Veteran: And there was a valley, a big valley. So, in second line—that’s pretty good. And I found the farmers were gone. And I found a shelter in that farm made of railroad ties, well made. And had 3 other guys with me: a machine gunner and two helpers. They slept that night in a barn, but I slept in the shelter. I was sound asleep. You could hear the shells. They were shooting, you know, the shells but not close to us. All of a sudden, hell break loose—broke loose. The Germans have the 20mm guns, 4 guns. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: They had maybe 2 dozen of it across the valley and they were shooting at us over the first line. I was sound asleep. I wasn’t aware of what was going on until finally I heard, “We are hit! We are hit!” in the barn. So, finally, I took my gun with me and I rushed to the barn. And next to me was a truck. It was a truck full of food. It was a truck for eating, you know. In flames, completely in flames. You could see like you see now today in daylight. So, I went to the barn and I helped one guy. He had a shot right in his leg. (00:50:30) Veteran: And the other one took the other guy with me. And very close to us was the MASH unit—American MASH. And almost daylight, the Germans saw us, I am sure. We walk on the �30 road there and we went into the MASH unit. And I was humbled to see how they were doing. They were in a square form, you know, with big tents. And the doctors and nurses, all American, were operating. One of our guys lost an arm just from the fighting. And when I saw those girls in particular, I felt humbled. Really good. It was fantastic because the only protection was the tents. But it was okay. And where I was, about 20 Germans surrendered. They went to the front line, no one saw them, and finally they came to us and we arrested about 20 guys like that. It was quite a night…The next day, start digging holes all over the place. We didn’t do before, you know. And not far from us, there was a hill—a good size hill-maybe a couple hundred feet tall. And on this hill was a machine gun. A German machine gun. (00:52:21) Veteran: And the Americans tried to take the hill. They didn’t do it. So, they sent us there the next night. And I remember I was in a ditch, hiding in the ditch. And but I was not in front with the group. And one officer spoke German—one of our officers—he spoke German. And he heard someone coming on the road. Paved road. And the Germans with their boots—and every time they walked on the stone you could hear them coming in the dead of the night. And that officer captured an officer—a German officer. So, he decided to take some of us, which I didn’t do it; I stayed in the ditch. And they followed the Germans because they had mines all over the place. And they were able to take the entire group of Germans there in the midst of the night. And in the morning daylight, we start moving in now and they are all set. First thing I did, I went to the bottom of the hill on the other side, and they had a dorm there for the Germans. There was a lot of bunkbeds all over the place, you know. And it was clear; you could see that. So, I went inside of it and there was a German—that German on the top of the beds, you know? So, I was looking for something to bring with me. I went around the bed like that. On the other side of the bed— �31 gee, the German skull was cut in half. And I couldn’t take it. I went outside, I threw up outside. I didn’t go back in to get stuff. I was really shook up to see that. (00:54:36) Veteran: But after that, we start moving and we move. In two or three days, we were close to Crozon, that town near…And in Brest, there was an SS regiment of paratroopers [German paratroopers were part of the Luftwaffe, not the SS, but still elite troops]. The general in charge of the paratroopers was General Ramcke. I remember the name of it. And he received the order from Hitler not to surrender. And it took four weeks to—the American and the French—to finish it. And we had casualties, some casualties. But it was a win for us, you know. We chose to be like that. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And… Interviewer: Were you engaged in that fighting? Or were you— Veteran: Oh yes, yes. Oh yeah, yeah. And we came to the town of Crozon (00:55:42). And I had a book here, I was telling my son. I brought back a book about it, about the entire fighting, you know. And I don’t know when I moved what happened to that book. It was a big book with a lot of pictures in it. But finally, they surrendered. And it was the end of Brittany’s war, at the time. Interviewer: Right. (00:56:11) Veteran: And from there, I went back to my home in Lanvéoc. That’s where I told you I found my album of photos at that time. My bicycle, I didn’t find it. And from there, we went to Quimper. I don’t know if you know the town? Interviewer: Yeah. �32 Veteran: At Quimper, we joined the French Army. And they sent us to a town by the name of Ponthivy (00:56:43), with the 15 Dragon [15th Dragoons]. There we got into a very intense training. We were really well trained at that time. Interviewer: Okay. And the— Veteran: And then after that, I was responsible—I was a sergeant—for distributing gasoline. That was a very good job. And my company—my regiment went to Lorient (00:57:13), where they had 40,000 Germans in a pocket. Another pocket was St. Nazaire. They had another 40,000 in there too. But we stay at Lorient. And we kept the Germans from escaping at that time. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And back to the quarters, one day they asked for volunteers to make a commando. So, I put my name there. And I put the name of my friend also. And big mistake. Big mistake. What— they had a no man’s land there in Lorient (00:57:54) maybe 1 or 2 kilometers—1 kilometers maybe—wide. And we had to go at night, ambush the Germans, and take as many prisoners as we could for interrogation. I never caught a German at all. But…it was scary. (00:58:17) Interviewer: Well, how many of you went in this group? Veteran: We were 50. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: In the commando. And Armistice Day, May the 8th, 1945. On the day before, they sent us there. I was mad like hell. But we went very close to the line, the German line. Some of us—I didn’t—could hear the Germans talking. So close. And we spent the night there. And when it came to the morning, you know, daylight, and our lieutenant—Lieutenant Vougeau—said, �33 “Okay, we are going back to our lines.” You know? And the Germans saw us. We were walking on a small farmer’s road, unpaved, maybe a foot and a half, two feet deep. Not very wide— maybe fifteen feet wide. And we were on our belly there, 50 of us. They sent maybe, I don’t know…many, many shells, many 88 shells all over us. I couldn’t see from here to here. There was so much dust coming down all over us. And believe me or not, one single shell fell on us— not one. After they stopped—and we crawled, we removed the dirt—we crawled on our belly as far as we could. And we went over the hill and we start going up. You could hear the bugles sounding the end of the war. That close. Interviewer: Right. (01:00:17) Veteran: To give you an idea. The last day of the war. Interviewer: Okay. So, you basically spent your time in the French Army during the war outside of Lorient (01:00:28). Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: And so that was kind of—you were simply guarding the Germans. Veteran: Yes, yes. Yes. Interviewer: Okay. Now— Veteran: After that, we went back to our headquarters in Ponthivy. And we—for some reason, they sent us to the center of France. Argentan was the name of the town. And we didn’t—the war was over. Interviewer: Right. �34 Veteran: By then, you know. And that’s a good life. Because being in charge of the gasoline— we always make sure we have some left in our tank. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And for gasoline for a Jerry can of gas. We stopped at an inn where beautiful dinner every time we went like that. That was one of the best times in my life. Interviewer: Alright. Alright, so we had taken your—the main line of your story now through the end of the war in 1945. I’d like to ask a little bit more just about different aspects of life in France during that period of the occupation. And I guess the first question is what kind of impressions did you have of the Germans? Did you— Veteran: Well, regular Germans were okay. You know? But the Gestapo, the SS were bad. Really bad. Especially the Gestapo. And they killed a lot of people in France at that time. There is a town not far from my town. The name of the town is Carhaix. It is about two hours by bicycle, you know. And they picked up 20-25 guys from the Underground. And they were hanged in the main street for one month. (01:02:36) Veteran: No one could touch them. It was awful. The smell was awful. Things like that were bad. You know? For each German killed, they would kill 50. And that’s the truth. And that farm— you know I told you I was hiding at the farm? After I left—two weeks after I left—there was a group of Underground people, they were about 20. And they asked the farmer if they could sleep overnight in the barn. Farmer said, “Sure, why not?” Among the group, they had a Frenchman traitor. Maybe I told you that? Interviewer: Well, you told me about the traitor who—the one who was from Alsace who ratted on your friend. �35 Veteran: Oh no, this is different. Interviewer: This is different, okay. Veteran: This was at the farm. And anyway, he went to fetch the Germans during the night. In the morning, a truck of Germans drove onto the farm, you know? And the farmer, which was maybe 45 years old, something like that. And there was two other guys there, like me, working. And they were taken prisoner. They were killed. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And only his wife and kids survived at that time. Interviewer: But the Resistance men had already left? Veteran: Pardon me? Interviewer: The Resistance fighters, they were already gone? Or were they captured too? Veteran: No, they were there. They were taken. They were 20 guys. Interviewer: They were captured too, okay. (01:04:17) Veteran: And they were shot. They were not shot on the spot; they were shot someplace else. You know? Interviewer: Right. Veteran: Things like that. Interviewer: Yeah. Now, did you ever have any dealings with the Gestapo yourself? Did you ever encounter— �36 Veteran: No, I never did. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: When I left Laval to go back to Morlaix, the French police came to my house looking for me. But I was gone in a farm at that time. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, I was not…And I decided if I work directly for the German, I have a better chance. Which I did. I never was arrested after that. I was lucky. Interviewer: Alright. And…The ordinary—the regular German soldiers— Veteran: They were okay. My boss in a garage there at the base—we were friends. He was a good man. You know? Interviewer: Okay, so you were working for Germans on the base outside of Brest? Veteran: Yes. Yes. Interviewer: Okay. Yeah. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Alright. And— Veteran: It was a big base. Interviewer: Okay. And then the…What…How did most French people deal with the occupation? Did they just try to go about their lives? Or…? Veteran: 99% “Vive de Gaulle” (01:05:42). �37 Interviewer: Well, after the war. Veteran: After the war. Interviewer: Yeah. But during the war? Veteran: Well, even during the war. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Oh yes. Yeah, the French people were opposed to occupation. That’s for sure. Interviewer: How many—so, you don’t think there were—you didn’t notice that many collaborators? Veteran: There was a few. And they were all dealt with after the war. One stupid thing they did, the French people, they cut the hair of the women to frater—to be with the Germans, you know. That was a stupid thing. I was not for that. (01:06:19) Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: Yeah. Anyway, that is sort of my story. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And after not, the government regiment—we went from Argentan-sur-Creuse (01:06:30) to a town north of that by the name of Loches. And they asked me in September 1945 to take another year. I said, “No. I am not. I am going home.” Which I did. And the regiment went to Germany for occupation for three months. And after that, they went to Vietnam to Indochina. Interviewer: Yeah. Okay, so you—so, September ’45 you are out of the Army— �38 Veteran: I was out of the Army. I went back home. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I went back to the base, occupied by the French Navy at that time. Interviewer: Now, did you go back to work there or what did you— Veteran: I went back to work on the lathe. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: At that time, yeah. Interviewer: Alright. And now, 6 years later you will go to the United States but in between, what did you do between 19— Veteran: I worked for Citroën. Interviewer: Okay, and when did you— Veteran: I was a young engineer at the time. Interviewer: Okay. So, when did you start working for them? Veteran: Just after that. Interviewer: Okay. So, in ’46 or…? Veteran: After the… Interviewer: After you left the Army? Veteran: After I left the Army, yep. Interviewer: Okay. Now, how did you get a job with them? �39 Veteran: Well, I just went to my—to the office of the base and I told them I worked there. And if I could work on the lathes. They said, “Yes, you can.” They were looking for someone. Interviewer: Right. (01:08:04) Veteran: And I worked there. As a matter of fact, the first Christmas I was there in 1945-46. They were looking for someone to be Santa Claus. I said, “Why not?” I put my name on the board there, you know. I was the only one; nobody else volunteered. And they had an idea for me to take a plane and going at sea and we would get a radio from the headquarters when all the kids were there and the families and everything else to come back, you know. And it was a sea plane; a British sea plane. Big plane. There were a pilot, radio, and I. So, that day we had a very good lunch. Very good lunch. A little bit too much to drink. And we flew—I never played the be in an airplane before; that was the first time. All dressed up as Santa Claus. And we took off from the bay and we went at sea. And for maybe an hour we flew. And we received a message everything was okay to come back. So, the pilot came back and he wanted to show the kids a little bit of a—this strange thing, you know. So, he went down on the ocean and he went up like that. When he went up, I saw the whole god damn ground coming up, you know. And I couldn’t take it anymore. I threw up on the window, and I threw up everything. And finally, we landed. There was a ramp there. And I couldn’t walk. I was really in bad shape. But finally, I made it. You know, finally I—but all the stuff stuck to the fuselage. Everybody was laughing, but not me. To give you an idea. (01:10:29) Interviewer: Alright. Well, how did you go form working for the French Navy to working for Citroën? �40 Veteran: Well…I met my wife in Morlaix to a dance. And we were together quite a—by the time. I—one thing I did, I brought from the war a motorcycle: Norton 500. And I found a sidecar to go with it. And my future wife and I—we went all over the place like that. It was a good time for me after the war. And we decided to get married. And well, I went to Paris. Her uncle and her aunt were living there at Kremlin-Bicêtre, Porte d’Italie (01:11:28). Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And so, I went to work there. And I sold my motorcycle and my sidecar to pay a down payment on an apartment. And we were living close to the Hôtel de Ville, if you know the place. The City Hall. Interviewer: Okay, in Paris? Veteran: In Paris. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Big City Hall. Interviewer: Yeah. That’s a good real estate, yeah. Veteran: And I was in Paris and from there I moved to Citroën, close to the Statue of Liberty there. You know, on— Interviewer: Yeah, on the River Seine. Veteran: On the River Seine there. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Yeah. �41 Interviewer: On kind of the south—the west end. Veteran: That’s right. That’s right, yeah. Interviewer: Yeah, the tour boats go around it. (01:12:21) Veteran: We were in Paris for 5 years. And at that time, we didn’t make much money, even as an engineer. So, I decided to come here at that time. Interviewer: Alright. Now, did you have any friends or relatives or…? Veteran: No one. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: But my wife had some friends in New York. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Which sponsored me. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: To come to this country. That was good. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I came to this country November the 1st, 1951. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: And then, how long did it take for you to find a job? Veteran: One day. �42 Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: One day. Interviewer: Now, did you speak any English yet? Veteran: No. No speaking—didn’t speak English at all. Interviewer: Okay, so what— Veteran: Just a few. Interviewer: Okay, so what job did you get? Veteran: I went—I found a shop. The name was Speed Ring. And they were working at that time for Holley Carburator. There was 8 guys working in the shop and 2 owners. And that’s the only place I worked in this country. For 68 years, I worked there in that—no, 60-oddsome years. And I—we grew from 10 to 3000. We grew up. Interviewer: Okay. And then when did you come to Michigan? Veteran: That was the November the 1st. Interviewer: Oh, so you got the job—you went— Veteran: In Detroit. Interviewer: Oh. You went—so, your friends were in New York. Veteran: And I went to Warren to Sherwood. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: To Sherwood here in Warren. �43 Interviewer: Okay. Because I guess your wife’s friends were in New York. Veteran: In New York. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And what I did when I came here alone, I sponsored my wife. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: Which we came through Canada, and she came here after that. Interviewer: Right. Okay. But I guess, how did you get from New York to Michigan? Did you apply for the job while you were in New York? Veteran: I didn’t go to New York. Interviewer: Oh. Oh— Veteran: I went through Windsor. Interviewer: Oh, okay. Okay. (01:14:30) Veteran: And Windsor to Detroit. Interviewer: Alright. So, you went straight there. So, your sponsors were in New York but you did not go that way. Veteran: Yes. Yes. Interviewer: Okay. Now I get it. Veteran: And 5 years after I was there to the day, I became a citizen. And I was clear for secret clearances 3 times. �44 Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Alright. Now, what kind of different work did you do for that company? Because you were going to be— Veteran: Well, I worked on the lathes for a year. And I worked with the creative engineering at that time. I was an engineer. And I stayed in engineering for quite some time. And I was part of the management after that for many years. Interviewer: Alright. Now, did your company work with NASA? Veteran: We worked for NASA. Interviewer: What did you do with that? Or what did your company do? Veteran: I was involved in making a guidance for the Pilot Program. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we worked with a special metal by the name of beryllium. Pure beryllium. Very expensive. The price of gold. A pound of beryllium versus the price of gold. There was no difference, to give you an idea. And still today, going in outer space, that’s the metal they use. That’s a rare metal. You know? On the elements chart. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: You know? (01:16:09) Interviewer: Now, did you ever go to Cape Canaveral or any of those places? �45 Veteran: I went to Florida quite a few times. I went to Huntsville quite a few times. I saw Von Braun there. And we had a big plant in Coleman, Alabama; about 300 or 400 people there. Good size. And we had three plants in Cleveland. We had—in Tennessee we had one plant. And in Orlando also. We had three plants in Orlando. Yeah. Interviewer: Now, is that company still in business or— Veteran: Oh yes. Yes. Interviewer: It hasn’t been bought by someone else? Veteran: It is. They are not Speed Ring anymore. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I don’t remember the name now. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Yeah, because a lot of those companies got bought by bigger companies. Veteran: Oh yes. Yes, yes. Interviewer: And kept going. Veteran: But the big company—they are public now. Yeah. Interviewer: Alright. Now, when you think back about that period of—during the war— are there other memories that stand out for you that you haven’t brought into the story yet? �46 Veteran: Well, I had some rough time, I had some good time during that time. Interviewer: What kind of good times did you have then? Veteran: Well, after the war; when the war was over. Like I told you, our regiment—we had a lot of—it was motorized. And the—every week we had three companies we had to bring together every time every week. And we had a lot of light tanks. Bren Carrier. Bren Carriers—you know the name of the Bren Carriers? You know. (01:18:13) Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: From the British. They were full of sand, coming back from Libya. And one time, we had to go to another regular station to pick up the—we had 50 roughly, Bren Carriers—a small size and a bigger size. And the lieutenant put me the leader of that group to go back to Ponthivy, you know. And I had a problem with the levers to stop the truck, you know. But I realized if I go faster then they told me to go to, it was easier to manage the driving. So, that’s what I did: I speed up the whole thing. But on the back of me, there was 50 other Bren Carriers. And for some reason, one guy didn’t make the turn and he went into the field. And all of a sudden, my lieutenant came in; he was mad like hell. He said, “Why do you go so fast?” he says, “You’ve got to slow down.” So, that’s what I did. After that we regrouped and we went back to our normal speed but maybe 20 miles an hour. Interviewer: So, you figured out how to control it a little bit better? Veteran: Oh yes. Oh yes, yeah. Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: That was one of the problems we had. �47 Interviewer: Yeah. Now, was all of your equipment British or did you have American— Veteran: No, we had a lot of American. We had a lot of single tracks—trucks with tracks. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: You know, what was the name of the… Interviewer: Well, with our half-tracks— Veteran: Half-track! Half-track. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: We had a lot of those, you know. Interviewer: Okay. And were the tanks American or British? Veteran: The tanks were American. We had a few Cruisers, that was British. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And…When I went to school there, where I have a picture, we had a lot of Sherman. The American made a big mistake because they used—on the Sherman—a 75 cannon, which was completely wrong because the…You need three Sherman for one Tiger tank. Interviewer: Well, officially at some point, they decided 10 Shermans was a better number. Yeah, 5 for a Panther— (01:20:42) Veteran: Yeah, I remember three. Interviewer: Yep. But they were—yeah, they were under-gunned. They were mechanically reliable and you could do things with them but— �48 Veteran: But they were no good. Interviewer: But they weren’t good enough to match the German tanks. Veteran: They were no good. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: They wouldn’t stop a tank. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: But they had the destroyer—tank destroyer—that had a 90mm gun. This one was good. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: It would stop a Tiger tank or Leopard. Interviewer: Yeah. And they made some versions of the Sherman that were better later— Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: But the standard one, the one you would have seen, was not—yeah. Veteran: Yes. They put the heavy cannon, which was good. Interviewer: Yep. Yeah. Alright. So, I guess again if you think about the time before the war ended—let’s see, have you told me about all 10 of your close calls? Veteran: As far as I can remember. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Alright. �49 Veteran: The worst one was the…The Armistice Day. That one was bad. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: Yeah, because I am surprised we didn’t lose anyone. Yeah. Interviewer: Alright. Well, you are certainly a lucky man and— Veteran: I am lucky. Interviewer: And you have a very interesting story, so— Veteran: Yeah, I am quite lucky. Interviewer: Yeah. So, I’d just like to thank you very much for taking the time to share the story today. Veteran: Yeah, okay. (01:22:03) � 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 BertandE2313V Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bertrand, Emile L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-06 Title A name given to the resource Bertrand, Emile (Interview transcript and video), 2019 Description An account of the resource Emile Bertrand was born in Morlaix, France on October 26th, 1922. After graduating high school in 1939, he began working in the arsenal of Rennes as a toolmaker. While at work, he witnessed the German bombing of Rennes in June 1940. To escape the threat, he and a couple of friends biked to Nantes, stopped to stay with his family in Morlaix, and then traveled to Marseille by train. From there, he went to Corsica by boat and stayed there for three months making charcoal. Then, he went back to France and worked in manufacturing in Laval until one day he was warned that Germans had arrived to search for laborers. He immediately ran and returned home to Morlaix where he worked on a farm for a few months. After that, in 1943, he began work as a lathe operator in Lanvéoc, a small town near Brest. At this time he and his best friend joined the French Underground, a resistance movement against German occupation of France. Most of the Underground’s operations took place at night while he worked his job during the day. When the American military was near, he joined their units and began moving toward Telgruc. One day, the Germans had left Telgruc for the sea, but the Americans thought the town was still occupied, so Bertrand and the Americans he was with experienced a friendly fire from B-26 Bombers. Another time, he and the American units he was with were being shot at by Germans from sea. Bertrand and his allies all went to hide in a ditch built by Germans when he was hit by a shrapnel. The next few days were filled with fighting until finally the Germans surrendered in Crozon. From there, he stopped by home in Lanvéoc before going to Quimper to join the French Army. He was sent to Ponthivy where he joined the 15th Dragoons. He went to Lorient where his regiment’s task was to guard the Germans. After that, he went back to Ponthivy and was sent to Argentan. He was there until the war ended in 1945. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States—History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945—Personal narratives, American Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3075dfa92f97774a35c76c6eac8cb134.mp4 46adaeaca83a2c595780736b171e2279 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e476d8884f13e9f1dfd5f69b44a2a17c.pdf 604dc92bbf7b25f489cdda8718670b05 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Marvin Besteman Cold War (1950s) 40 minutes 44 seconds (00:00:11) Early Life -Born on June 29, 1934 in Grand Rapids, Michigan -Grew up on the southwest side of Grand Rapids -Family worked in the produce business -Went to the University of Michigan Law School for a few months (00:00:49) Getting Drafted Pt. 1 -Got drafted on November 8, 1956 -Didn't consider enlisting in the Army -Planned on going to college then working in the family produce business (00:01:18) Korean War -Paid a lot of attention to the Korean War -Had always been interested in military history -Had friends that were drafted during the Korean War (00:01:50) Getting Drafted Pt. 2 -Left law school which negated his student deferment -30 days later he received his draft notice -Reported to Grand Rapids then went to Detroit for his initial processing -Sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for further processing -Remembers it was a basic facility that used coal furnaces for heating -Issued a uniform there (00:02:57) Basic Training -Sent to Fort Carson, Colorado for basic training -It was an old base with old buildings -Built in 1942 -Base's construction was completed in January 1942 -Base had just started being active again -Learned how to take orders -Went on long marches -Learned all the basics of being a soldier -What to do, when to do it, and what not to do -Adjusted well to being a soldier -Good learning experience -Wishes he had done two years of college first though -Would have been more mature being older and more educated -Most of the men were not college educated -Only a few men were college graduates -Took various tests -Learned how to use weapons -Basic training lasted eight weeks -Did a week long bivouac in the Colorado wilderness -Contracted pneumonia at the end of it �(00:06:57) Instructing at Fort Carson -His company went to South Korea for occupation duty -He stayed at Fort Carson to recover from pneumonia -Stayed at Fort Carson to help train new recruits (00:07:38) Advanced Infantry Training -Did eight weeks of advanced infantry training at Fort Carson, Colorado -More complicated training and more focused on theory -Worked with more advanced and higher caliber weapons -Learned how to lead soldiers in battle -Trained by tough, old soldiers -World War II and Korean War veterans -Expected you to follow orders -Did a good job as trainers -The orders never seemed logical at the time, but in retrospect they made sense (00:09:16) Company Clerk at Fort Carson -Stayed in Fort Carson, Colorado at the end of advanced infantry training -Asked if he wanted to be the company clerk at Fort Carson and he accepted -He took care of the administrative duties in the company -Where men went, kept track of leaves, morning reports, AWOL soldiers -Kept the company in order and running properly -Most challenging part was learning how to type up paperwork -Stationed there for two months -Got engaged -Planned on getting married and staying in Colorado for duration of enlistment (00�:11:09) Stationed at Patton Barracks -Received orders for Europe -Became the Chief Clerk of Headquarters (HQ) Company of United States Army Europe -Keeping track of personnel for the Army in Europe -He was only a private first class -Interesting and wonderful work -Stationed at Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, West Germany -Got to do some travel in Europe -Used typewriters and paperwork to keep track of personnel, not computers -He used poker chips as a sorting system to keep track of soldiers on duty, on leave, or sick -Hundreds of poker chips -Kept tracks of all of the officers in Europe and the enlisted men in the HQ Company -Reported to the master sergeant of HQ Company -Old soldier (had been in the Army since 1935) and he was tough -Taught Marvin a lot -After the master sergeant he reported to the captain -He controlled passes and rations for everyone -He did favors for the men that showed him respect -Helped him later in the business world -There were always limits as to what he could do, or would do -Some things he could do, but wouldn't do on moral grounds -Helped officers and enlisted men with family problems -Became a sort of unofficial counselor to the men -Enlisted men rotated out a lot, but officers stayed in to develop their careers -Learned how to deal with commissioned officers �-Great learning experience -Understood the chain of command and that he needed to show respect to officers -Had to subtly stand up to officers that were trying to get things done that he couldn't do -He couldn't order them around, but he could influence them in a positive way (00:20:30) Reflections on Service -Taught him how to handle people -Glad he got to serve in the Army -Believes everyone ought to do some kind of service in the military (00:21:13) Cold War -It was very tenuous every day because of the presence of the Soviet Union -Didn't know if (or when) the Soviets would launch a nuclear strike on West Germany -Trained every day to be ready for that possibility -No doubt that there was a Cold War -Heidelberg was the headquarters for the United States Army in Europe -Meant that it was a prime target for a nuclear strike -Lived every day knowing that the city could be bombed (00:23:18) Living in West Germany -After a few months his wife came to West Germany -Lived with a German family in Sandhausen -Town was seven kilometers away from Patton Barracks -Wife worked as a nurse in the Army -She outranked him since she was a commissioned officer -Learning experience -Newly wed in a shared house in a foreign country -The German family was great -The German father of the house had served in the German Army in WWII -Captured 30 days before the end of the war in Europe -Told Marvin about the other side of the war -German son spoke perfect English -German father spoke some English -German mother of the house spoke no English -Even with the language barrier they learned how to communicate with each other -Kept in touch with each other for years after Marvin and his wife left Germany (00:26:22) German Civilians -Some of the Germans showed their dislike, if not hatred, for Americans -They were almost all German teenaged boys that felt this way -German girls liked the American soldiers, so they dated the Americans, not Germans -Someone kept letting the air out of the tires of the family car in Sandhausen -Eventually caught the young German boy in the act of doing that -German father of the house smacked him around a bit for that -Never happened again -The animosity was not politically charged (like neo-Nazis or communists), just personal -Adult Germans didn't appear to feel any animosity toward the American soldiers -Celebrated holidays together and went to community dinners -Germans were hard-working and industrious people -Led to West Germany recovering quickly after WWII -At the house in Sandhausen the family used their backyard as a vegetable garden -Reminded him of the Dutch work ethic that he had grown up with �(00:30:42) War Damage in Europe -Heidelburg was not bombed during the Second World War -Saw remnants of war damage in other parts of West Germany -In 1957 and 1958 there was still a tremendous amount of damage in Italy -Italians approached the war damage in a different way than the Germans -More leisurely (00:32:13) Wife's Army Service -Wife enjoyed her service -Wife worked in the labor and delivery ward of the American hospital in Heidelburg -Hospital was open to Americans and Germans, so she delivered American and German babies -On top of having a higher rank she also made more money than he did (00:32:48) End of Service & Coming Home -Army talked to him for months about reenlisting and becoming a commissioned officer -Wanted to reenlist as a captain, not as a 2nd lieutenant -The Army agreed to that -He tried to push for the rank of captain, or major, but the Army refused -Wife got pregnant near the end of their time in Germany -He decided that he needed to get out of the Army -Wife returned to the United States -Prior to leaving Germany he got appendicitis -Made it home two weeks before his first child's birth (00:35:12) Life after Service -Started to look for a job -Got an opportunity to work for a bank -Interested in going back to college so he could become a teacher -Enjoyed working in banking -Kept getting promoted and decided to stay in banking rather than go back to college -Started off at Michigan National Bank and worked there for 13 years -Ran Southeast National Bank in Florida -Took over a banking operation in New York for 10 years -Moved back to Michigan and ran Sparta State Bank in Sparta, Michigan for 12 years -Retired from there when he was 62 years old -Did some banking work in Washington DC on a committee for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Interview stops at 00:38:28 � 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 BestemanM0096V Title A name given to the resource Besteman, Marvin J (Interview outline and video), 2010 Description An account of the resource Marvin Besteman was born on June 29, 1934 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On November 8, 1956 he received his draft notice. After being processed in Detroit and at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri he went to Fort Carson, Colorado for basic training. He stayed at Fort Carson to help train recruits then received advanced infantry training there. He stayed at Fort Carson for two months as a company clerk then received orders for Europe. He was stationed at Patton Barracks in Heidelberg, West Germany as the Chief Clerk of Headquarters Company of United States Army Europe and his wife joined him there as an Army nurse at the hospital in Heidelberg. In 1958 he left Germany and then was discharged from the Army. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Besteman, Marvin J. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-05-06 Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) 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/61541d81fa10a4026050495269a8ed4c.mp4 df058693fe8bb74efc52e954f902362a https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b9617f94af9f55e5e2c52076e7677866.pdf dcce55740b9c6ab4cc3c6f82517932ac PDF Text Text Living with PFAS Interviewer: Dani Devasto Interviewee: Beth Markesino Date: June 3rd, 2021 [PFAS0010audio] DD: I’m Dani Devasto, and today, June 3rd, 2021, I have the pleasure of chatting with Beth Markesino. Hi Beth. BM: Hi. DD: Beth, can you tell me about where you're from and where you currently live? BM: Okay, I am originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan and I live now in Wilmington, North Carolina. DD: And how long have you lived in Wilmington? BM: Gosh, about 7 ½ years, now. Yeah, about that. Yeah, somewhere around there. [chuckles] DD: Tell me a story, Beth, about your experience with PFAS, or with PFAS in your community. BM: [sighs] Oh gosh, okay. Story about P- I would probably start off with my contamination story, and, just, how I found out about our contamination. And that was basically- In 2016, I was a marathon runner, you could see, like, all my medals back here as a marathon runner. As a marathon runner, you drink loads and loads of water, you know, I would run with, like, a camel back, you know, and, just, chugging my water along. And in Wilmington, it's, like, great weather, so you can run, like, all year round and it's awesome. And in April of 2016, I ran, like, two marathons back-to-back a week apart, likeDD: [chuckles] BM: -full marathons, like, 26.2 miles. I was in, like, the best shape of my life, you know, I was, I would say, 37 at the time, you know, so it was just, like- I was feeling really good at that time of my life, you know. Wilmington is a beach community, and my daughter, at the time, I think she was about two and a half at the time, and so I was just enjoying life, you know. My husband had great job and we had just moved here not that long prior to that, and, yeah, I had no idea that the water that I was drinking was contaminated. And so, just after running those back-to-back marathons, I got pregnant with my son, Samuel, and it wasn't a pregnancy that we planned, but we were, like, over the moon to have, like, a second child. And, like I said, I was in the best shape of my life, like, health wise and with, just, everything. And the pregnancy was going great, I mean, even though I was, like, 37, I was still, [laughs] you know, in good shape, even though they say, like, “oh, you're older,” I was still in good shape, and everything was going great in my pregnancy until it was, like, 21 weeks of pregnancy. 1 �I got a very sharp pain in my stomach and it was on a Wednesday and I called up my OBGYN (Obstetrician-Gynecologist), and at first I thought, like, maybe it was just gas or something. And my OBGYN told me to come in, and I brought my daughter in with me and usually, you know, when you go to the OBGYN they talk with you and you're all chit-chatty and stuff, and they were, just, like, really, really serious. And then I remember the ultrasound tech, like, ran out of the room and grabbed the doctor, and the doctor came back in and was doing, like, the ultrasound on my stomach, and then, like, told me, like, you have next-to no amniotic fluid. And it was just, like, at that time I remember, like, feeling the room and it was, like, so, like, bitter cold and, like, looking over and seeing my daughter, and she was, like, on my phone, like, watching a YouTube video. And I, like, I can remember, like, everything that happened at that exact moment, you know, it was, like, frozen in time. And she said, you have next-to no amniotic fluid, you have to get to the hospital, like, right now. And I couldn't cry. I had no idea what any of this meant, and I just got in my car, took my daughter home and my neighbors took her, and then they rushed me to the hospital where my husband met us. And then once we went to the hospital, that's when they told us that my son, Samuel, was going to die, that he hadn’t developed his kidneys, bladder, or bowel. And then they started, like, pumping me full of water. They kept, like, filling up, like, a mauve pitcher of water and, like, kept me on bed rest and, just, having me drink more and more water. And, again, we had no idea that the water that I was drinking was contaminated. We had no idea that that water had, like, the highest levels of GenX, like, recorded, but it wasn't like public knowledge. We had no idea that we had, like, over 50 different PFAS chemicals in our water. Like, I had no idea that I was, like, poisoning my unborn son, you know? I had no idea, like, the health effects that are along with PFAS chemicals to an unborn child, you know? And then, so, they kept me on bed rest, and they kept giving me water, trying to raise, like, my amniotic levels, and we couldn't get them raised, and Samuel just kept getting, like, worse. So then I went to a specialist at Duke University a couple of weeks later, and, at that time, I had placenta previa, which meant if I gave birth to Samuel natural, that I was going to bleed out, and Samuel then had, like, water around his heart, and his heart was, like, failing and stuff. So then, because we're originally from Michigan, we decided to come back to Michigan, and the doctor said I had to give birth to Samuel. And we came back to Michigan and the doctors, then, at Harper University in Detroit checked Samuel out and everything was exactly the same as they said in North Carolina, and so I gave birth to Samuel. I had to do a Cesarean and they had to cut me, like, both ways so, you know, I wouldn't bleed out, and it was, like, it was so awf- I literally felt like I was dying and, but Samuel, like, was dying, and we got to hold him, and we got to baptize him. We had our priest from our old parish came to the hospital, and our family all got to hold him, and we got to bury him at our family's plot. And we had no idea what was to come, what we were to learn, you know. Me and my husband then came home from Michigan, and was just trying to heal from losing our son, you know, especially because it was, like, I was healthy, you know, I had a healthy daughter, you know, we just – the doctors had done one of those DNA tests, and there was no markers or anything like that, and they just couldn't figure out what it was that had gone wrong. 2 �And so, Samuel had passed away on October 19th, 2016, and then on June – it's almost four years now- And, June 7th, 2017 was when we found out about our GenX contamination, and it was like front page news. It was, like, GenX and the Cape Fear River, and it was everywhere. It was like that phrase was, like, over and over again, you know? GenX and the Cape Fear River, GenX and the Cape Fear River. And because I lived in Michigan prior, I had experience with water contamination. I had volunteered working on the Flint water contamination. Even though I didn't live in Flint, I would drive from Grosse Pointe to Flint and volunteer at the Catholic charities and help them out. So, I knew a bit about water contamination, even though it wasn't PFAS, but I did know some information. So then when I heard about that we had a water contamination, it was, like, – I was shocked, but then once it became public in the newspaper, it was, like, I knew that this had to be going on for a long time and that the public was just finding out. So, it's, like, “Okay, how long has this been going on for us just to find out,” and – so then, at that time, I created a Facebook page which now we have, like, over 10,000, I think, members, and so that people in my community could go to find out information about GenX and, I – it's unbelievable, the lies and deceits that DuPont and Chemours has spun to make a profit off of poisoning people in not only my community, but communities globally. And, PFAS is just, or GenX, is just one chemical in a class of over 5,000 that are unregulated. And when I found out about our contamination, I remember going to a city hall meeting, and standing in front of our governor and other elected officials and telling them that they need to warn our community members and pregnant women about the harm of these chemicals, and they need to bring in bottled water, and- but, yet, our elected officials did not see that there was enough data or information about GenX to put out any alerts, or even bring in bottled water. Because the thing is, is that GenX is a new chemical, and because it's a new chemical, companies like DuPont and Chemours, they can use this chemical until the health information is out there showing that it causes harm. And, back in 2012, there was a chemical called C8, and they were told- DuPont was told by the EPA because they knew of the health effects and that it causes harm to pregnant women, and also to – causes liver cancer, it causes kidney problems, it causes, just, high cholesterol, all of these things. And so, the EPA said, “You can no longer use C8 anymore,” and DuPont said, “Okay, that's fine,” but then they ended up taking C8 and they just added an extra oxygen molecule, and that’s how they created GenX and was able to call it a whole new chemical and now it's - instead of a of a Long-Chain Perfluorinated Chemical, it’s a short chain. And even though it supposedly leaves our systems a lot faster than, like, a long-chain chemical, we're finding out that it causes a lot more harm than shorter chain perfluorinated chemicals do. And, I mean, it's really scary, you know? It's [pause], like, our department of environmental qualities, they knew about all of these chemicals for years and years. They never told the public. There were lawsuits, there was all of these spills and things like that. The public, like, never knew. Never knew. They knew the health effects. The public never knew. I mean, they knew there was- they allowed Chemours and DuPont to self-monitor the waste-water. I mean, it's, like – and nothing was done until, you know, 2017 when angry moms like myself just said, “Wait a minute, these are toxic chemicals in our water, and they cause all these health effects. Why aren't you doing anything?” 3 �And for, like, a long time, people looked at me as a crazy mom who lost a child and wondered if, like, these chemicals caused, you know, this harm to my son. And then we have some of the most world-renowned scientists in our field in North Carolina, and then we're having people like Dr. Detlef Knappe, Dr. Jaimie Dewitt, Dr. Hopkins, all coming out and supporting that saying, you know, these chemicals pass through the placenta to the child and it's, like, here's that information, here's that data, you know, that supports it, you know? And we're having so many other mothers coming forward and saying, “Yeah, I lost a child too. I wonder if this happened to me,” or, you know, and it's – even since then, since losing Samuel, I – my cyst, or I got cysts on my ovaries the size of oranges, and I had to get a full hysterectomy, at, I believe- I think I was, like, 39 when I got a full hysterectomy. So it was like, I can't have any more children, I have a tumor on my adrenal gland right now, and I have problems with my thyroid and my parathyroid. I have, like, cysts and nodules, like, all on them right now, and, like, my levels are just all over the place, and I have high cholesterol. I never had any of these things like years ago. Ever, you know. Like I said, I was always in, like, such great shape, and I take good care of my health, but it's these chemicals that are in our environment, here, at such high levels, and it takes years to get them out of our bodies. And it's just- it's nothing I did or anybody else did, but it's, just, these chemicals need to be regulated, and our elected officials need to be looking out for our communities and our health and our environment. And, another thing is, is even as citizens- I remember when I learned about our PFAS contamination, I remember thinking that we need to be more active about what's going on in our lives instead of just listening to what a politician says and “oh, he's for the environment. Okay, well, I'm just going to vote for him” and then thinking that he's going to do his job, you know, and I think as citizens, we need to be more proactive and not just think that politicians are going to do this job, because a lot of them don't. They say that they're going to do environmental things and they say that on their platform, but they never follow through on that, you know? So, I just really think that, as a community, we have that power to get that – get these regulations pushed forward. And I mean, I've seen this in my own life that, I mean, I don't have any scientific degree, you know. For a long-time people would say, “Oh, she's just a mom,” but you know what? I would go to all of DEQ’s meetings, Department of Environmental Qualities, I would go to their meetings, and I would speak in front of scientists. And I mean, I read- every single day, I read scientific papers and you could figure out the, you know, the language, [chuckles] you know, you read enough papers, you know, you'll understand it. And I speak at forums, and I go to our utilities meetings, and I speak to them about what our communities want and what we're seeing, and I address those concerns as a community activist. I'm even working right now to get a grant for a study for filters for our community and it's- and I talk a lot with our local senators about fighting for regulations for our state because states like Michigan, they already have regulations on the book, and so does New Jersey and New York, but we don't in North Carolina we don't have any regulations for PFAS. We do for GenX, at 140 parts per trillion, but we don't have anything for PFAS yet, so it's just really – there isn't anything that says as a resident that you can't go to these meetings, you can't speak up for yourself because you're being poisoned, you know, and you do have a say in all of this, you know, you really do. I mean, I have a daughter, she's going to be nine years old, you know? I mean, she’s – I already lost one child and I can't lose another, you know, and I want to make this world a better place for her. I want to solve this 4 �contamination, and stop these chemicals and future chemicals, because I know companies like DuPont and Chemours, they're always one step ahead with creating something new to replace, you know, a chemical and things like that. So I don't want my daughter to have to pick up this battle in the future, you know, I'm really hopeful that this is something that I can help solve within my lifetime, you know, as something for her and her generation so that they don't have to then fight, you know? But I then know that she's exposed too, she has these chemicals in her body, you know? We do have a GenX study going on. It's the first ever GenX study, and I've had my blood tested, I've had my urine tested, I've had my water tested, and I do have high levels of these chemicals in my blood. And so, I can say that, you know, I know that these chemicals are in my blood, and even though my son was never tested for them, it's like, if these chemicals were in my blood, then they did pass through the placenta to my son, and so it's just – I do this, everything I do in fighting for clean water and regulations, it's as for my son, it's for my daughter, it's for my community. And it's like, I can't get back my son or my ovaries [chuckles], you know, unfortunately, but maybe I can prevent somebody in the future from being exposed to these chemicals if I speak up, you know? DD: You've kind of started to answer my next question. BM: [chuckles] Yeah, sorry, I was – [chuckles] DD: No, it’s okay, I'm loving listening to your story. So if you don't have anything more to say in response to this question that’s fineBM: Yeah. [chuckles] DD: -but maybe you could say a little bit more about the concerns that you have about PFAS contamination moving forward. BM: Yeah, yeah, it's- the contamination moving forward is – regulating PFAS as a class is huge, so, like, in our state we have PFOA and- regulated at 70 parts per trillion. So those are just, likewe have two chemicals, you know, regulated. And so, we have to regulate everything as a class because there are so, so many chemicals under that, like, one umbrella. Yeah, and, I mean, we've already seen with a case of GenX, that DuPont and Chemours will make more replacements. And so if we don't regulate them as a class, then it's, like- it's trying to catch them in their own little game and the little loopholes of- and trying to regulate those chemicals. So, it's really, yeah. Regulating them as a class and holding them accountable for any potential new chemicals that they can use because they're very good at manipulating the system and finding loopholes in doing what they do. I mean, a lot of times Chemours, here, like, they say- at first they said that GenX was a byproduct of another chemical, you know, a lot of the chemicals that are- that we're finding in the Cape Fear River are new chemicals that are not on their discharge permit. And, they just keep saying, well, that's a by-product of another chemical. That's a by-product. And these are, like, PFMOAA (perfluoro-2-methoxyacetic acid), like, these are all chemicals that we're, like, “Wait, 5 �we don't know much about this chemical,” you know? So, it's just, like, our scientists here in North Carolina, keep finding, like, new and new, like, PFAS in our river. And then it's just, like, finding out, like, okay, well, what are these health effects? You know? And it's, like, this toxic, like, soup of chemicals. And it's, like, what are the combined effects of all of these chemicals that we don't know? So, it's just really regulating them as a class, stopping any new chemicals being introduced into production, really, because there shouldn't- they shouldn't need 5,000 chemicals. [chuckles] I mean, like, come on for, you know, sticky stuff [both laugh]. I mean, like, you know what I mean? Stop the slide off. [both laugh] Why do you need 5,000 different ones? You know? I mean, like, me personally, I mean, isn't one enough, I don't know. [both laugh] Can't one do the job? I don't know why you need 5,000 different ones, so it's, yeah, so it’s just really- That's what I really think it comes down to is just stopping all of that. DD: Before we wrap up, is there anything else that you would like to add that we haven't touched on today, or anything you'd like to go back to? BM: Just really a lot that- a lot of people – I remember when we found out that our community was contaminated. Some people had said, “No, our- we're not contaminated because, you know, that couldn't happen to us, we're not like Flint.” That's what people had said: “We're not like Flint. We're not, like, a low-income community,” or that's what people had thought. And water contaminations do not discriminate. It can happen to anybody anywhere. And if we tested everybody's water, they probably have some level of some type of contamination, so it can happen to anybody. And it's a shame that this is happening and I hate that it’s happening to my community, but it's a wakeup call for everybody. And, I mean, I'm sure if we tested your water, you would have PFAS and your water, lead, I mean, just high fluoride, just, a lot of different chemicals and, just, I just want everybody to know that it could happen to anybody. And if you got that call that yes, you have a water contamination, that it's your turn, then, to speak up about it and do something for your community to stop it because these chemicals are very harmful and it's not just some- it's just not some- I want to say it's not just some type of, like, person that's crying wolf that these – you know, sometimes people say, “Oh, it's just some hippie person talking about these chemicals being harmful.” No, it's scientific data that this is truthful, you know, these chemicals are harmful to you. There's data that supports it, and it really can happen to anybody, and it is. If we test water across the globe it’s probably in everybody's water. And these- DuPont, 3M, Chemours, we have to stop these corporations. I mean, my family in Michigan, like throughout Michigan, I have family in Wixom. They're contaminated. I have family in Gaylord, in Grayling. They're contaminated, you know? And I think about them all the time, that no matter where my family is, whether it's in North Carolina or in Michigan, they're dealing with the same thing I am. They have contaminated water. I mean, I grew upwhen I was younger, I grew up in Warren, and we had a 3M facility just down the road from us, across Eight Mile. And I remember, oh, 3M, like, the tape, you know, never thought anything about PFAS until now – I'm thinking, “Wow, I wonder how much of my early exposure did I get from that facility?” You know? DD: Mhm. 6 �BM: So, it's just- it's this buildup, you know. How many times did I go to my grandma's house in Wixom, and did I get exposed at her house to PFAS, too? You know, it's like that build up through the years. And then on top of it, my long exposure here to just so many PFAS. So, it's, yeah, it can happen anywhere, a contamination, and nobody is exempt from being contaminated, you know? It's in your food, it's in your clothing, it's in your beauty products, and we have to do something to stop being exposed to these chemicals, you know? DD: Mhm. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Beth, for taking the time to share your story today. BM: [chuckles] Thank you. I hope I covered everything. I'm very passionate about stopping this PFAS and GenX. Just, I've seen too much happening in my community and, like, in my own life, you know, I mean, it's just been – it's hard when, like, you have to take- I have to take so much medication daily and go to so many doctor's appointments, and still I fight, [chuckles] you know, because that's all I know now is to fight for clean water. You know, it’s become my life now, you know? And, I know, just, so many other people, that's what they're doing too. So many people are called water warriors, because that's what they are. They're, just, they're having the same thing happen to them. Their families are sick, too, from these chemicals, [chuckles] so, and I hope that you get to talk to all of my friends too and hear their stories because they're all just so brave and doing some great things and fighting. So, but thank you so much. [chuckles] I’m like, crying. DD: Well, we know how important water is, and, so, thank you for the work that you're doing. BM: Thank you. I appreciate it. [chuckles] 7 � 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 Living with PFAS Interviews Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Devasto, Danielle Description An account of the resource Beginning in 2021, the Living with PFAS interviews were recorded to gather the personal stories of individuals impacted by PFAS contamination. PFAS, or per- and polyflourinated substances, are a large group of human-made chemicals used widely since the 1940s to make coatings and products resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They can be found in countless household items, including food packaging, non-stick cookware, stain-resistant furniture, and water-resistant clothing. These chemicals are often called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily, can move through soils and contaminate drinking water sources, and build up in animals, plants, and people. PFAS have been linked to increased incidences of various cancers, increased cholesterol, decreased fertility, birth defects, kidney and liver disease, and immune system suppression, and thyroid dysfunction. It is estimated that PFAS are in the drinking water of more than 200 million Americans (Andrews & Naidenko, 2020). In Michigan alone, over 280 sites have PFAS contamination exceeding maximum contamination levels for groundwater (MPART, 2024). Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Living with PFAS (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In copyright Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Personal narrative PFAs (Perfluorinated chemicals) Groundwater--Pollution Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-11 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf audio/mp3 Type The nature or genre of the resource Motion Picture Text Sound Language A language of the resource eng Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context PFAS0010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Markesino, Beth Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2021-06-03 Title A name given to the resource Beth Markesino, 2021 (Interview video and transcript) Description An account of the resource Beth Markesino lives in Wilmington, North Carolina and is an avid runner. In her interview, she discusses the impact PFAS contamination has had on her life and health, and that of her son Samuel. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource DeVasto, Danielle (interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Personal narrative PFAs (Perfluorinated chemicals) Groundwater--Pollution Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Living with PFAS (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/12aa80b12b4e5d431df5d265ac861fa4.pdf 675745f12a56598e2ebb7428126c52cc PDF Text Text ����� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Civil War and Slavery Collection Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 Slavery--United States African Americans United States--Politics and government--19th century Description An account of the resource A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lemmen, Harvey E. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1804-1897 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg; application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image; Text Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1804-1897 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-45_CWKinsley Title A name given to the resource Betsy Kinsley from Charlie Kinsley, Jun. 9, 1861 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kinsley, Charlie Subject The topic of the resource United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 United States. Army. Michigan Cavalry Regiment, 4th (1862-1865) Romeo (Mich.) New London (Ohio) Michigan Description An account of the resource Letter written by a guitar player performing with a traveling circus in Michigan. The band plays for the 4th Michigan Regiment. Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/18c2c6ee414d337339ba6391e17cd81b.jpg 9386aee2922cb25f956484007c376f27 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_FilmPacks_A_40_006 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1946-04-09 Title A name given to the resource Betsy on Lake Worth beach Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a woman, Betsy, sitting on Lake Worth beach next to a woman sunbathing. 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/3a71f55658651f6346fabdf1eb4b793f.jpg e7d4c24b7dc4a447864ea8e3f3e60310 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS3515.O7589 B48 1901 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0397 Title A name given to the resource Betsy Ross: A Romance of the Flag Description An account of the resource Binding of Betsy Ross: A Romance of the Flag, by Hellen Campbell, published by Little, Brown, and Company, 1901. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1901 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/9398586f8263c382698ab687c2fcb668.jpg 2ff85e2b18aa36c6c7a8bb87d5418038 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f112c9b9a81dd2c40d970d8efd6c135b.jpg 4dfb65d66d03430e7ff56b84acc88636 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 Insel-Bücherei Series Description An account of the resource The German publishing company Insel Verlag was founded in 1899 by Anton Kippenberg in Leipzig. In its early years the firm only printed expensive, beautifully-produced volumes, until demand led to the publication of the more modest Insel-Bücherei series in 1912. Relatively inexpensive but with the same careful sense of design and typography, these smaller-format books reprinted shorter works from a variety of German, European, and world authors. The series numbers considerably more than a thousand titles and is still being issued. The Digital Collection contains the scanned covers of 140 titles held by Grand Valley State University Libraries. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1904-1987 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection 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 Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-05 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource ger Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-29 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-05_IB0466 Title A name given to the resource Bettina in ihren Briefen Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1935 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-09-29 Description An account of the resource Cover of Bettina in ihren Briefen, by Bettina von Arnim, published by Insel-Verlag, 1935. Insel-Bücherei Nr. 466 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books. Insel-Bücherei. Z315.I5 B83 no.466 Language A language of the resource de 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/d0b6448a973d88184cb7ec277dd3bcc5.mp4 2371be756937336f47c3cfc0c00fc507 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2ecf50b908c271b368b9b9ba80c0a815.pdf 8945f6111734960f3c272ce7657b9a25 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Kevin Bettinghouse (20:11) Background Information (00:21)       Born in Grand Rapids Michigan on February 13th 1960. (00:23) He enlisted in the Air Force. (00:43) His highest rank was Sergeant E4. (1:00) He served as a Ground Navigational Aid. (1:30) Kevin’s interest in electronics while in high school was what drew him to the Air Force. (1:54) He enlisted in 1977 but was not inducted until August of 1978. (2:31) Training (3:02)    He did 6 months of basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. (3:11) After basic, Kevin was sent to Mississippi for 8 months of training on landing systems and tactical air navigation. (3:25) He was also taught how to solder, though he already knew this from high school. (4:05) Overview of Service (4:15)            After training in approx. October of 1979, Kevin was sent to Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. He was there for approx. 1 year.(4:18) Kevin wanted to go on tour but he did not want to be on tour for 2 years. As a result he went on a shorter remote isolated tour. In late 1980, Kevin was sent to the Aleutian Islands. (5:15) After 1 year in Alaska, Kevin finished his tour of duty in Ohio in 1982. (4:50) Kevin lived in barracks throughout his training and during his first year of service at Georgia. (6:00) The food served was often very good. (6:52) Being only 18 when he enlisted, Kevin enjoyed the freedom of being away from home. (7:36) Kevin tried very hard to keep in touch with his family. He wrote many letters and occasionally called home. (8:30) Kevin managed to make close friends. However, he found it difficult because the men were often transferred to other bases after Kevin grew close to them. (9:45) The biggest things that Kevin worked on were the interment landing systems. These interments told the pilot how close the aircraft was to the center of the runway. (11:40) He worked on C-130s, F-15s, and training aircraft. (12:41) Kevin was given the opportunity to fly in several of the aircrafts on “hops.” These were free trips that soldiers could hop onto to be transported between bases. (13:10) Exiting the Military (16:35)   He left the military at age 22 in 1982. He decided to leave because he had a girlfriend and he didn’t want to move around any longer. (16:38) He hoped that his experience with electronics would get him a job after his service. (17:20) �  He eventually got a job installing phone jacks and cable. (18:12) It took time an effort to adjust back into civilian life. He was not used to having every part of his day no longer structured. (18:50) � 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 BettinghouseK1353V Title A name given to the resource Bettinghouse, Kevin (Interview outline and video), 2011 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bettinghouse, Kevin Description An account of the resource Kevin Bettinghouse, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1960, served in the U.S. Air Force from 1978 to 1982 as a Ground Navigational Aid. After his basic training at Lackland Air Force base in Texas, Kevin spent eight months receiving technical training in Mississippi. During his Service, Kevin was stationed in Warner Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, the Aleutian Islands, and Ohio. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rowley, Elliot (Interviewer) Rowley, Scott (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. Air Force Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2011-11-05 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/a4de4b1d2275424d1c96461403654842.jpg 750750b3f943f327b63cc9f672790020 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Michigan Novels Collection. PZ7.F69 Be Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0229 Title A name given to the resource Betty of Old Mackinaw Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Barry, Etheldred B. (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of Betty of Old Mackinaw, by Frances Margaret Fox, published by L. C. Page & Company (Cosy Corner Series), 1901. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1901 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/55360568c67d3f5d5ad194c6b4fcd073.jpg 07affda57dd2fd88cbbed7e9c640c44b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Brigham-D_0002 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Brigham, D. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1910 Title A name given to the resource Between Bridges, Saugatuck Mich. Postcard Description An account of the resource Front of the Between Bridges postcard depicting a road with trees on either side, circa 1910 Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Postcards Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file contributed by D. Brigham as part of the Stories of Summer project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg 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/36c1013d492fed0f014465cd19f56d6c.pdf 5f399d487fc2eb4ff8d80e86b1295208 PDF Text Text Between the Earth 0 Cyberspace 1\IIIL~ •H Asocecion l1erreoon8I de l..rten!l.ni y rui.ra Fem= Hspaice XXII Annual Conference NOVEMBER 8.9.10 2012 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS Loh1 L6~z Monce.or] St:i11111 GRAND VALLEY SWE UNIVERSITY EBERHARD CENTER PEW CAMPUS GRAND RAPIDS Ml Sponsori,d By College of L,b~rel An, &rd Sc,,.nccs a,ooks College o: lnterd<;c·pl n11, 1 '.:.:ad cs Be·l:ere H Pecinos l~tcrn111ton11I Center Dep11rtr.;ent of 1,focicr, Leng~eges esd L,1c-re:cc"s Jc~11,:rr.cc'. o' 11:,n f-mecocen S1ud,n l'rogrem D,-,~,o~ o; !r·clJs1~r· M"d Fu~.i, O~p~·,.,,.,"1 oO Es~I sf _,:,ere Std~• -::,c, Womei 11rd Go,nd,,r Si,d,es Progre-r, 011,ce o' 1/,oo, 1., t,iln•.rs Cepa•Tr,,~•'. o' ~: T:11' ':.c ~,,~ Deper·=nt o' W,.t ng 1.,,:cr f Jep11<1,r,cn• ,. ''·•I Vs11 wwwgvsueou/congreso_l:'._fem/ fo· r-ore ,,/o·rn'::10~ f--·c:e •c· C\/SL Students � 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 GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 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 DC-09_SGF_WGS_2012_InternationalAssociationOfHispanicFeminineLitAndCulture.pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Women's Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-11-08/2012-11-10 Title A name given to the resource Between the Earth & Cyberspace: International Association of Hispanic Feminine Literature and Culture Description An account of the resource Poster with the names of the different keynote speakers, the dates of the conference, and where to go to for more information. Subject The topic of the resource Community centers Women's studies Hispanic Americans in literature Inter-American conferences Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/70c334d469b74e9e68e1cc2938199fb3.jpg edb6cde1fce136524cdb07ac391806b2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Lincoln and the Civil War. PS2172 .B4 1889 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0169 Title A name given to the resource Between the Lines: A Story of the War Description An account of the resource Binding of Between the Lines: A Story of the War, by Captain Charles King, published by Harper & Brothers, 1899. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1899 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/48cd0141edafcdb7aaf5fe6112dbbad0.pdf 76e4206becec0b21a14a15f697711d85 PDF Text Text The Nokomis Foundation Lecture Series West Michigan Women's Studies Council Presents: MIRA NAIR Between Two Worlds: An Evening with Mira Nair Thursday February 23, 2006 7:00 p.m. Talk to be followed by a reception Gezon Auditorium Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, Ml 49546 FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Sign Interpreting by Kristen McNutt For more information call GVSU Women 's Center (616) 331-2748 Media Sponsor R RAD I 0 ~ Grand Rapids 1,.. _ Community ~ Graphic design: Lisa M. Yarost College AQVINAS COLLEGE <.__"A I V I N {~. HOPE COLLEGE � 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 GVSU Sexuality and Gender Flyers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Rainbow Resource Center Women and Gender Studies Department Women's Commission Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity Description An account of the resource Digitized posters, flyers, event notices, and other materials relating to gender expression and sexuality at Grand Valley State University, with materials spanning from 1974 to 2019. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974/2019 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digitized from collections at the Rainbow Resource Center (formerly the Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center), Women and Gender Studies Department, Women's Commission, and Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Gender identity Gender expression Sexual orientation Women's studies Queer theory Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-09 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 DC-09_SGF_WGS_2006_InvitedSpeaker_MiraNair_Poster.pdf Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Women's Center Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2006-02-23 Title A name given to the resource Between Two Worlds: An Evening with Mira Nair Description An account of the resource Poster including the date, time and location for the lecture. Subject The topic of the resource Community centers Women's studies Lectures and lecturing Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eff5c47c6ba6f21fadee4fa18e402ae3.mp4 c70ddb4066b856d350db9c45cc571534 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1bc69d0691db8bf4b215a13db50466d9.pdf fe82d19285a148574fa8520f874e0fa1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Cornell Beukema (01:43:58:16) Childhood, Family, And Education • (00:24:13) Beukema was born on May 5, 1920 in Grand Haven, Michigan • (00:32:09) his father was a finisher in a piano factory; his mother had done some "clerking" for Herpolsheimer’s Department store in Grand Rapids, also in the Edison Department in Grand Haven • (00:54:22) he graduated from Grand Haven High School in 1938 • (01:01:18) Beukema had an ambition to go to college but when he finished high school, he had less than $50 saved; his parents, who gone through the Great Depression, had no money � his older brother and sister had the same problem � his brother graduated three years ahead of him, got a job, and went on to Michigan State University � his sister graduated a year after his brother, but she got a scholarship and went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo � his brother took civil engineering at Michigan State, and also ROTC • (02:23:20) Beukema himself went to college in 1939, enrolling at Michigan State, where he took two years of ROTC; after finishing the two years, he took advanced ROTC No Commission • (02:58:20) after graduating from Michigan State in 1943, he was "supposed to have gotten a commission," but the process had changed: � his older brother had gone to a camp during the summer and got a commission after graduation � by the time he came along, the government's policy had changed, and they were sending people to OCS camps; his group was sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin, in 1943 • (04:06:13) Michigan State ROTC people were not the only ones there, they were there from all over the country, from Texas A& M, from St. Louis • (04:25:00) after two weeks, he got called to Camp Davis in North Carolina; he was "coast artillery" which was "working itself into anti-aircraft artillery" at Camp Davis, it was called an anti-aircraft artillery school �� • it was supposed to have been a thirteen-week program, but to their "chagrin," the length of the program was changed to fifteen weeks, then to seventeen weeks; but they added still another two weeks "because they weren't ready for us at Camp Davis" (05:16:14) in December 9 of 1943, Beukema finally got his commission, he graduated from OCS; he picked guns as his specialty, but they put him on search lights instead � he was sent to Camp Edwards in Massachusetts; he arrived there right after Christmas in 1943, and was there until February of '44 Fort Belvoir And Camp Rucker • (05:58:05) then he was sent to engineer school at Fort Belvoir in Virginia � as it turned out, he was transferred from search lights to engineers � he was put into the engineer combat battalion, and after six weeks at engineer school, he was sent back to Camp McCoy, to the 76th Division of an engineer combat battalion located there • (06:51:090 in June of 1944, Beukema was selected to take a cadre of seventythree men and four officers to Camp Rucker in Alabama for the initiation of a new unit, the1298 Engineer Combat Battalion, this was "the start of the 1298" • (07:48:16) while he was at Fort Belvoir he was injured when another officer threw something that hit him in the head; [see timing frame 54:03:00, sections of photographs displayed later in the interview; this object was a “big heavy clamp”] he was "plagued" by headaches for the rest of his time in the service • (08:09:04) at Camp Rucker, he was sent to Second Army mine school where he took a course in mines and demolition; he returned to his unit and was promoted to first lieutenant • (08:44:07) a black battalion from Trinidad, a search light battalion, had moved to Camp Rucker; they all thought they were all going to get out of the service, and were "very despondent" when they did not—they were "ornery and troublesome" � he was one of several Caucasian officers who were sent "to take over this outfit"—all their officers had been transferred; “fortunately, the noncoms of that unit were real sharp" and they told the Caucasian officers not to worry; "it worked out fine" • (09:51:07) Beukema was then transferred to the 1015th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company; during the short time he was with them, he injured his left leg � there was a fire in the day room and he stepped outside onto a porch, but he stepped onto a rotten board, his foot bent upward and back, pulling the tendons in his leg �� he was sent to the hospital, where they gave him cortisone shots; he was not in the hospital long, but " in order to get around," he had to constantly go back to the hospital for more cortisone shots • (11:11:09) "all this time" he courted the girl that he "wanted to marry who was at Michigan State"; she was a freshman when he was a senior; she accepted his marriage proposal and "it seemed to be okay with her dad" • (11:42:24) they were getting ready to go overseas; many people from his unit had been pulled out individually and sent overseas already; finally they got the orders and prepared for shipment abroad • (12:16:28) in the spring of '44 they got called on flood duty—there had been a big flood in White River, Arkansas, and they were all sent there; a date had been picked for his wedding, however � "it just so happened that the water started receding" and they were shipped back to their unit Camp Shelby And Then On To Hawaii • (13:21:15) all those from Camp Rucker had been moved to Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg in Mississippi; he got married; in July of '45 they went by train to Minneapolis, and then to Vancouver Bearings near Portland • (14:04:04) “all this time,” Beukema was back with the 1298, and they went by ship from Portland to Hawaii; during the trip to Hawaii, the first atomic bomb was dropped, on August 6 � engineers who had worked with explosives like himself were "fully knowledgeable of this"; he had taught several courses in mines and demolition for the Second Army mine school • (15:10:29) at Hawaii, they started loading their ships for the invasion of Japan; he was on an LST in a convoy of ships; they left Pearl Harbor on the day Japan surrendered Japan • (16:34:29) the captain of Beukema’s ship refused to go directly into Nagasaki without a mine sweeper ship in front of them; they anchored at Sasebo, where there was a major Japanese naval base; they picked up a mine sweeper and then went to Nagasaki • (18:01:03) there was school, which was in session at the time they arrived; the school master gathered the children in the back of a room and explained to them that the Americans had won the war; classes were moved into caves in back of the school, and the Americans took over the building, and "fixed it up" �• (19:46:23) in December Beukema was transferred to Fukuoka, farther north near Kitakyushu, where he was assigned to an engineer construction battalion � they were rebuilding a Japanese airfield, and he was with that unit for a while, not very long � about that time, headaches began to bother him, and he was put into a hospital for three weeks, until his "continuous" headaches stopped • (20:56:00) he was then reassigned to an engineer aviation battalion in charge of building the airport; he was appointed an S3, an assistant to the one in charge, and eventually he himself was in charge � he had several different army units working for him, Japanese contractors, and a huge pool of Japanese civilian labor • (22:07:09) he was suddenly given R & R [rest and recuperation]; the officer in charge of all the units in that area of Japan had to go to General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters the officer wanted to give him R & R, so he took Beukema with him; it turned out that they were not going to be disbanded yet; the officer told him he was "on his own" the rest of that week • (23:13:12) he contacted a cousin in Tokyo who was in a different unit, and they spent the week seeing Tokyo and Yokohama; they visited the Diet (government) building, a zoo, and climbed Mount Fujisan as high as they could, “’til the jeep got stuck," about three quarters of the way up • (24:23:30) back to his unit after a week, he was assigned to group headquarters as an S3 and eventually became the executive officer of his group; they were quartered in "the millionaire's mansion" of the Ishibashi family, who owned and still own the Bridgestone Tire And Rubber Company • (25:28:24) not long afterward, he received orders and he had enough points to get out of the service; he got on a ship at Yokohama and headed for Seattle, Washington � they crossed the International Date Line on July 4; the sailors on the ship felt they were entitled to two holidays; in a bulletin that they received when they left the ship, the date had been labeled as July 5 even though it had been plotted correctly � the sailors told them not to worry, we're slowing this ship down"; they went at "excessive speed" during the last couple of days to make up for it • (27:39:22) after arriving at Seattle, they spent a night at Fort Lewis, WA; they were then released from duty • (27:54:24) Beukema remained in the officer reserve until 1953; he spent that time in Lansing and trained incoming GI's; he got "disgusted" because he to fill out their pay vouchers and he was not getting paid; he asked for a discharge, got it in 1953, and that was the end of his career in the army �Civilian Career • (29:23:09) he got a job as soon as he returned to the States, in Lansing with the Michigan state highway department; he remained there until 1970 and retired after 34 years ***the date and number of years given here are questionable, because they conflict with his time in high school, college, OCS, his service during; his year of retirement was probably 1980, or it may have actually been 24 years with the highway department*** • (29:53:18) they moved "over here [Grand Haven] to a place that happened to be in the family," by the north shore and they rebuilt it Scrapbook • (30:45:00) Beukema presents a scrapbook from his OCS days and displays pages in it, commenting briefly on some of the written and printed items and photographs in the scrapbook. � OCS was “severe” and “rigid,” his school more so, he found out, than other OCS schools" � "every so often they would throw in an inspection on us and so we were forever "GIing" the barracks" No Athlete's Foot • (34:49:12) one of their classmates would get a couple of gallons of chlorine and throw it on the floor in his feet bare—"we didn't get any athlete's feet"; they “were puddling around in it" and cleaned the floor with mops The Rifle Inspection • (35:19:27) they had a "gold digger" in their class who was "forever trying to get out from doing things" � his name was Allen and it got to the point where everyone "detested" him because "he was gold bricking all the time and taking off at night and never around to do the GI in the barracks" • (35:43:21) one night they found out that they would have a rifle inspection the next morning; they all cleaned their rifles and they were locked in the rifle rack by the one in charge of locking up the rack � Allen would stay out in the evening until late and then come back; when he came in, they could hear him sneak in, someone called out to Allen and told him that there would be an inspection in the morning, and he begged the keeper of the rifle rack to give him the key, but the guy refused; Allen went over in the dark—they would not let him use the flashlight—and he poked the ramrod into his rifle in the dark while it was in the rack, trying to clean it �• (36:54:21) first thing next morning they had the rifle inspection; the “bird dog” got to Allen's rifle, looked through it, and "you should have heard him blow his top at Allen"; "he flunked out," "they flunked him out" • (37:17:25) in the last week, “the bird dogs got kinda human with us" and asked what they had against Allen; they told them it was because of "all the gold bricking" he did and he "would never be with us"; they understood, they had "already kicked him out of school" Highlights From The Memorabilia And A Photo Album • (38:04:26) Beukema’s diary, with entries made throughout his career in the “States” • (38:17:03) Beukema shows a letter from his brother who went to General Omar Bradley's headquarters; the letter was written on Adolf Hitler's stationary • (41:02:24) [photographs of the cadets in uniforms, regular and dress; the dress uniforms had prominent belt buckles in front] they had a military ball, he had a date, a girl who used to live in Grand Haven who was a student at Michigan State University; she had on "a nice frilly dress, real pretty"; his buckle "hooked onto her dress right here," and it was embarrassing; they had to go outside of the hall, in the dark, to try to get "disassembled"—getting apart ripped her dress, but it had to be done • (46:45:20) [photograph of 268 radar unit] he "got to a point" where he could put "that thing" together; at Camp Edwards in Massachusetts, he would lay in his bunk with the tent flap open and operate the search light—the radar used the search light • (48:13:24) “water problems” [pictures of bridges he built] • (50:02:16) flood duty, they had new equipment and they had to go to Arkansas with it [flood mentioned earlier]; they had people driving trucks who had never driven trucks before � a big truss bridge that carried a major highway over a big river was out, and “they [not Beukema’s company, however] had to build a roadway around there” • 51:09:14 then Beukema got married; he and his wife "walked the streets" looking for someone to be the best man at their wedding; he encountered a friend of his, fortunately, and met two other friends to be ushers—one of whom did not show up because Beukema neglected to tell him where the wedding was to be held [this man's daughter-in-law is now president of MSU] • (52:18:11) [photograph of his “sister's boy”] Beukema did not have any boys, but four daughters �The 90mph Train Ride • (55:42:01) the train out of Mississippi [Camp Shelby]: they started out with two sections on the train; in the section Beukema was in there was a captain who was a "very close friend" of his "all the way through the service" • (55:59:05) the captain obtained permission from the conductor for himself and Beukema to ride on the caboose and they watched for "hot boxes"--they stopped the train, they did see one, they had to put out the fire to stop the second section and warn them that there was a train was stopped in front of them • (56:30:10) the captain also "talked the conductor" into letting them sit in the engine; they rode about 800 miles “between the caboose and the engine, up to Minneapolis; there were "big Hiawatha engines hooked up to both sections, so it was a big long train now" • (57:10:19) Beukema and the captain were told to get off "right here on this side, the detective will be on the other side" [what they were doing was not allowed, of course]; they had to run up to where the engineer would be ready to get them � they had these "nice seats behind the engineer and the coal man," and "what a ride that was just watching that speedometer go up over 90 miles an hour" • (57:48:21) when the engineer told them "this is the end of my run," they had to jump out again � "now you go to get out this side," the engineer told them, "climb down the latter," and "I"ll let you know when to jump" � while the train kept moving, Beukema and the captain had to run to the first car back, where the conductor caught them—"sure enough there was the conductor with his hand out and he pulled us aboard" Portland To Hawaii • (59:24:23) they left Portland on "this one ship" and he was "in charge of seein’ that all the guys got on," and had to check them off; he was the last to get on before the ship took off, and as a result, he got the "lousiest bunk" directly under a steam pipe � he found out that lots of other guys "had it hot sleeping too," and all the way to Hawaii he slept on the top deck with "hundreds of other guys" � "you did not leave that few square feet that you had during the day to go to the bathroom or to go to eat but you had your neighbor look after your place and you took turns" • (01:00:40:23) “all this time” flying fish were landing on them: "the air was just full of these flying fish" • (01:01:12:20) Japan had not surrendered yet; there were no lights allowed— messages between ships were sent by special lights, not by radio; garbage was �"put out at night so that they'd never know where you were"; and they zig-zagged through the water[the ship] Hawaii To Japan • (01:01:48:08) they got to Hawaii, and it was "hotter than blazes" and "at nighttime it was all mosquitoes and so we had a mosquito bar," each bunk had one; they had to go to bed before it got dark because by then the mosquitoes were already in there • (01:03:14:13) then they "loaded on an LST"; they had eighteen ships and a destroyer escort; the food was good and they had fresh water • (01:04:05:09) a sailor showed Beukema where, on the prow of the ship, there was a hatch that could be opened; one could go down a ladder in there, and because the doors did not fit "completely tight," a "sheath" of water came in, making a pool about three feet deep at the bottom -"almost all the way to Japan,” he went down there every day and swam in the pool • • (01:05:38:09) they had gunnery practice one day; "the sailors showed our guys how they did their laundry": they tied there clothes to long lines and dragged those "maybe fifty to seventy-five yards behind the ship" through the water � they had gunnery practice, and "our guys" shot at the clothes while "the sailors were pulling 'em in like crazy"; for a long time after they landed at Nagasaki, sailors still ran around with holes in their clothes • (01:06:34:08) they had a movie every night; they exchanged movies with other ships in the convoy—that is how they knew when Japan surrendered Bomb Damaged Nagasaki • (01:07:16:13) where they were supposed to land [Beukema points to a map] in the invasion, they were supposed to go with the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Marine Divisions and the 1298 • (01:08:16:19) "we came in the harbor this way over here," approaching Nagasaki [Beukema points it out on a map in his collection] • (01:09:15:06) "this is really bombed, this is the worst, this is all knocked out right here, this is knocked out by the A-bomb" � "you could see the radiation, you could see the radiation lines on the ground"—"so you knew exactly where it went and where it went off" � "all these radiation lines went like this," like spokes in a wheel [Beukema points out areas of Nagasaki on a map to the interviewer, and puts a finger on the spot where the bomb landed and those "radiation lines"] �• (01:13:42:29) "the smell in Japan was terrible"—"human excrement smell was all over"; at each rice patty land there was a cistern and the farmers would collect the human excrement from the city, haul it out ever day and dump it into the cisterns; they "ladled" it on their crops • (01:15:23:22) "all around the mountains, let me tell you, the Japs had gun emplacements all around"—"it would have been suicide for the American forces to invade Japan"; besides that, there were "tunnels all the way through the mountains, all over" • (01:15:56:10) images of Japan, Beukema’s comrades, incidents and anecdotes in pictures • (01:27:10:19) General Douglas MacArthur's headquarters was across from the emperor's palace Memories Of The Bridgestone Mansion [photographs and anecdotes] • (01:28:33:27) "we had parties there all the time" • (01:29:20:19) when the general took over the Bridgestone mansion, there were thirteen servants, and most were Seventh Day Adventists; there was a Seventh Day Adventist Church a block away • (01:29:50:06) the number-one servant noticed a Bible that Beukema had laid on his headstand; the first night he was there, she came up to him with a Japanese Bible, and she wanted to talk to him; she could speak a few words of "American" and he could speak a few words of Japanese; she wanted to discuss passages in the Bible; "it was real nice" • (01:30:54:24) "they cried when we were gonna leave, we had such a rapport" [the number one and number two servants] • (01:31:02:19) “they [the Ishibashis] took us”: they inherited the Ishibashis’ three cars, a Cadillac, a Lasalle, and a Buick, "big seven-passenger ones,” and the Americans were taken on a tour across Kyushu one day • (01:31:53:22) every Thursday night the Americans invited the Japanese women to supper, and then they had a movie and dancing in "their house" • (01:32:23:11) photographs of the Bridgestone Mansion, the interior and the grounds outside How Beukema Obtained Hiroshiday Artwork • (01:35:03:02) while he was in Japan he got a letter from his wife, who was taking art at school; she wanted to know if he could get prints from the two most important Japanese artists at the time, Hokusai and Hiroshiday �� he hunted "all over"; walking down the street one day in Fukuoka, he saw in the window of an art store "this book" [Beukema displays this on camera] and he bought it • (01:36:51:09) he pointed at another print in the store, but the girl in the store did not want to sell it to him; the girl fetched her boss, who took him into the back room • (01:38:05:25) the "boss man" went to a drawer and "hauled out about twenty pictures"; Beukema indicated that he wanted to purchase them � the “boss man” rolled up the pictures, "tied a nice ribbon around them" and gave them to Beukema [these pictures are still in Beukema's home, and he displays a number of small prints on camera] More Memorabilia • (01:40:24:00) the kind of books he worked with teaching about demolition and explosives • (01:41:39:03) Stars & Stripes put out a newspaper for GIs in Europe and Japan; Beukema presents a scrapbook filled with cartoons he had clipped from Stars & Stripes in Japan. �Military Service Cornell D. Beukema Sep 1939 Entered Mich State College in Engmg 2 yrs Basic ROTC 15 Mar 43 Sworn into US Anny Serviceby Jake Fase Placed in Enlist Res Corps ROTC student MSC Private 36584695 Coast ArtilleryCorp Uniform provided Classesat Dem Hall Parades Spring term Tuesdays Chris Cadet Col Lived at Wells Hall Freshman Dorm Sep 1941 Jones House worked 3 jobs Jr yr 2 yrs AdvancedROTC Uniform purchased Classesat Dem Hall Col Stillman sand table model ships azimuth sightingsat gym level Data telephoned to plotting room data plotted Plotted location (range & azimuth) phoned to gunners Compressed air gun fires ball bearings Dress Parades as Cadet Officers "Pass in Review" MSC Band 7 Apr 43 Ordered to active duty as Private Live in Frat houses eat at Union 12 Joo43 Graduated from MSC 14 day furlough :2810043 To Camp McCoy disappointment When to OCS? Shots Basic training Low morale Calisthenics Close order drill Firing range Grenadeepisode General salute Military discipline entire Camp Week end leaves "'7 c. ,-' '?c, \AJ0. s \11 o ~5"~ C' \l r D'S \- ~1\G:.(G\l E Lansing, Sheboygan,Roy Correll Promoted to Corporal and sent to Wilmington,N.C. via train cattle trucks to Anti Aircraft ArtilleryOCS then to Camp Davis in OCS school not ready delay math test Course lengthened 13 to 15 to 17 wks Coat hanger episode Bird Dogs S.O.P. Course extremely rigorous ridiculous orders to us punishments March to classes Night mosquitos Citronella Hour ofCharm Obstacle course Close order drills in hot sun Barracks inspections Rifle inspections Allen Haircuts Week end passes after Drills Visit brother Meet brother in-law Wrightsville Beach Salv Ay usa swim write letters....proposemarr PHYL Bivouacs Target shooting Search lights, Automatic Weapons, or Guns To: f's 8 Dec 43 9Dec43 Hon Discharge Corporal CDB Grad AAA OCS as 2nd Lieut 0539350 ordered to Act Duty Camp Edwards, Mass 10 day delay en route Travel via trailoredbus nature call female passenger Problem with lights, or was it brakes on chartered bus approachingCincyOH 20 Dec 43 Asgd to 223Rl AAA Sean;hlightBn Boston visit Truck parkingEpisode Firing range SearchLight position Truck driving over Borne Bridge 12 Feb 44 Relvd from 223Rl SL Bn Sent to Fort Belvoir, VIrginia EngineersTraining Course MSC reunion hit in head accident visit Wash DC visit Pentagon Introduced to constr equip bridge bldg rigging 1 Apr 44 Relvd from AAA ORP Asgd to 76th Div Camp McCoy, Wise 9 Apr 44 Asgd to 30lit Engr Combat Bn at Camp McCoy �11 Apr 44 Asgd to CompanyB 301st Engr C Bn 26 Jun44 26 Jun44 Relvd from 301st Engr C Bn Asgd 1298 Engr Combat Bn Camp Rucker Ala Charge of Cadre 78 EM & 3 Off train lost one man at Birmingham Asgd CompanyB 1298th Engr C Bn 22 July 44 Special Duty with 338thAAA Search Light Bn fr Trinidad (negro) ??? 338th AAA SIL Bn deactivated 5 Aug 44 Relvd from SO with 1693rd EgtC Bn 7 Aug 44 SpecialDuty with 1015th Treadway Bridge Comp Accident left knee 27 Aug 44 1 Sep 44 Temp Duty~ Anny Mine School Camp Forest, Tenn week course travel time telegram home for money Promoted to I st Lieutenant 9 Sep44 Mine School Course graduation 21 Sep 44 Returned to 1298th at Rucker 1 Oct 44 5 Nov 44 Asgd to 2nd Armv Mine School as instructor two courses at Camp Rucker : , Back with 129Stf{ 9 Dec 44 !298th movesto Camp Shelby Miss 271 miles by convoy. 17 Dec 44 Phyl visits 27 Dec 44 Phylleaves for E. Lansing and college 3 Jan 45 Leave for Fort Jackson S Carolina to teach one week course on Mines and Demolitions 21 Jan45 Return to 1298th at Shelby... Phyl accepts my phoned marriageproposal. Her dad okays. 6 Mar 45 1298th leavesfor Arkansas by convoy:White River flooding. Temp duty 26 Mar 45 29 Mar 45 Granted 15 day Iv Fly to Mich for Phyl and My wedding. First flight for me MarriageLansing, Mich honeymoon Grand Haven wI Phyl's dad's Buick 30 Apr 45 In Hospita1leftknee problem re Aug 7 injury Kay Kyser . Released from Hosp Warren replaces Hoffman as Comp Cmdr Back with 1298th 1298th preparing for shipping out Packing Tests Lake Shelbyproject Phyl arrives rent room fr Barrios in Hattiesburg Biloxi weekends 11 May 45 16 Jun45 1693rd Engr C Bn activated Twelve day leave stays at Hoffma's in Hattiesburg New Orleans for Christmas 8 Jul45 Companyasgnmt exchange Beukema to Comp C under Capt John Howard; Walton to Comp B under Capt Warren 20 July 45 21 Ju145 Last night with Phyl in Camp Guest House Phylleaves by train for E Lansing With Lucile Flickinger 21 Jul4S 1298th Engr C Bn departs Camp Shelby via two trains for the West Coast and overseas caboose and engine riding and Hiawatha engine ride across Minn 2 �25 Jul45 30 Jul45 Arrive Vancouver Barracks, Oregon 3139 miles travel Portland visit Embarked on Liberty Ship SS George S Julian with Hawaii a guessed destination. Beukema last to board 10 day voyage with flying fish and deck sleeping 6 Aug 45 Aboard ship Heard news ofHiroshima A bombing skeptical of20,OO tons of TNT equivalent. 8 Aug 45 Arrived Honolulu, Hawaii Schofield Barracks Tents Mosquito netting swimming tests island tour Waikiki sailing Dole pineapp 3 Sept 45 Departed Pearl Harbor aboard LST 870 from Ford Island AWOL First Sargent too late to board not seasick, but. ... Sept 45 22 days aboard LST 970 Honolulu to Nagasaki, Kyushu, Japan Loaded quarters water supply food paint chipping clothes washing gunnery Movies (exchange) reading chess playing bridge letter writing swimming Cyclone tossed in bunk officer mess Bailey Bridge dammage dog birth Sasebo...mine sweeper nite noises 25 Sep45 dawn view of surrender flags on mtns Arrived Nagasaki harbor ... wait kids last meal aboard landing Maj Landry's booze Remaining Sep, Oct, Nov, and part of Dee School plateau one-way access-exit rice terraces odor Atom damage building accommodations play field latrines rats rebuild bridges Butler bldgs (warehouses) scrounging about gun implacements cave factory Movie theater reel unwinding pet monkey accident in sewage well Church PX 10 Dec 4S Trsfrd to 1393rd Engr Constr Bn at Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan as Asst S-3 via train tangerine bowling engagement ring near-disaster factory accommodations less desireable Christmas dinner slow mail 21 Jan 46 Hospitalized with excruciating headache over 3 weeks Trsfrd to 1876 th Engr Aviation Bn in Fukuoka as S-3 In charge construction! Itazuke (ex-Mushiroda) Airdrome Various Mil Engr units Jap Contractors mise Jap workers from Pool Negro Dump trucks Fire 19 Mar 46 lifted dump box through City local fire department action Trsfrd to 1777th Engr Constmction Bn in Fukuoka Asst S-3 no change in work Hunt for elevators for hospital Hospitalized for headaches 8 Apr 46 Trsfrd to 1113 th Engr Construction Group at Kurume, Kyushu as Asst S-3 assist in supervision of mise operations of Group command Shop for Hiroshege and Hoksai prints Living at Ishibashi mansion 3 servants Ichi ban and Bible pool parties �15 Apr 46 Temp Duty w/S th Anny at Yokohama with CO Major Redding I" Class rail travel a weekofR& R Tokyo with Cousin... tour City Diet Bldg... Fujiyama Easter Sunrise Service Meji Bowl 3 May 46 Asgd to 8-3 positionwith 1113th Thursdaynight get-togethers with Ishibashis trip across Kyushu 15 May 46 Asgd to ExecutiveOfficer position With 1113tb 21 JWl46 Relv'dfrom 1113th Engr Constr Group Asgd to 4lb Replacement Depot, Yokohama "Reppledepo" 29 JWl46 Boarded S8 Milford Victory ship in Yokohamaand set sail acrossPacific for Seattle Calm seas enroute Tiered hammocks five decksbelow main deck CrossedIntemat Date line on July 4th Captain, in Ship's Masthead publication. says July 5. I believe it as a purposeful miss-statement because the ships sailors were demandingholidaypay for two July 4ths. So they slowedthe ship to delay our voyage by one day. Sensing the slower 12 knot progress,the Captain correctedthe slow-downwith a record speed of 17.56knots the last two days. 10 July 46 Arrived Seattle... bussed to Fort Louis for the night 11 July 46 Left Seattle by troop trainfor Chicago and Fort Sheridan, Illinois, ola 18 July Promotedto Capt Off Reserv Corp Granted 47 days Lv of Absence 3 Sep 45 Released fr Active Duty Placed on Inact status ORC AsgdMich State ADM Serv Group left for home 28 May 48 Asgd to 1125OR Composite Gp Lansing, Mich 7 Sep 48 Relvd fr asgnmt. Asgd to 416th Engr Combat Bn Lansing 1 May 49 Designated CO Hq & Serv Company416th Engr C Bn 9 Oct 50 Relvd fr asgnmt, Asgd as CO Hq & Serv Comp 500th ORC Engr CombatGp Lansing 24 OctSO Relvd fr asgnmt. Asgd 5500th ORC Engr unit (trng) Lansing 19 Oct 51 Relvd fr asgnmt. Asgd 5949th ORC School STU Det Lansing 1 Apr 53 Recvd Honorable Discharge from US Armed Forces 16 Jun 53 Off Reserve Appointment expired 4 � 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 BeukemaC Title A name given to the resource Beukema, Cornell (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beukema, Cornell Description An account of the resource Cornell Beukema graduated from Michigan State University in 1943, went through a series of OCS camps, engineer school, and the Second Army Mine School. He specialized in bridge building, mines and demolition. Sent to Japan after the war ended, he witnessed the destruction wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki as they rebuilt an airfield and built an airport. He remained in active reserve in the army for a number of years after WWII; he was finally discharged in 1953, and he spent the rest of his career with the Michigan state highway department. Military service timeline appended to outline. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer) Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.) 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. Corps of Engineers--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-03-08 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/050ef144eac204ade90444f94b477834.mp4 bd9258571de65f262790fc8eba292e8e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/09e56c1227b0d52ae60267f5b21211c8.pdf 8b1faa0926b5470038e6542a42c693ad PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Duane Beukema World War II-Post War 59 minutes 16 seconds (00:00:14) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1928 -Lived there his entire life -Father worked for General Motors in the stamping division at the Wyoming, Michigan factory -Worked for them for thirty five years -He was one of the first to be hired when the factory was built in the 1930s -Prior to that he was on welfare -Wound up with one of the better jobs at the factory -Setting up and running a press -He had a sister that was eighteen years younger than him -Graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1946 (00:01:51) World War II -Remembers the attack on Pearl Harbor vividly -Sitting in the living room reading the newspaper when the report came over the radio -Had no idea what Pearl Harbor was, or where it was, prior to the attack -Parents had read about the fighting in Europe and Asia prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor -There was very little radio coverage of the war though -He was aware of the fighting happening in Europe and Asia -Remembers that there was a lot of anger after the attack and there weren't many answers -Rationing went into effect almost immediately -Remembers that things like sugar and gasoline had to be bought with ration stamps -Despite the rationing, he doesn't remember suffering -Started seeing cars with wooden bumpers instead of chrome bumpers -Tires were rationed -His father was issued a B Card for gas which was better than an A Card -Meant that he could get a few more gallons each week -This was because he had a job that was essential to the war effort -When he got into high school he started seeing a lot of older male students joining the military -Remembers hearing about some older students being killed in the war in his junior year (00:04:37) Enlisting in the Army -His best friend since the age of twelve was drafted after graduating from high school -Decided that they would both just enlist together -If you enlisted there was a chance you would get a better deal from the �Army -Plus, they were as close as brothers and didn't want to be separated like that -Went to a recruiting center in Grand Rapids and took an aptitude test together -Asked where they would want to go -They both decided that they would want occupation duty in Japan (00:06:00) Basic Training & Field Artillery Training -Left Grand Rapids in September 1946 and got sent to Fort Custer, Michigan -Spent the night there -Boarded a train the next day and they were sent to Fort Sheridan, Illinois -Spent a few nights there -Sent by train to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training and field artillery training -Trained with the 105mm howitzer -Learning how to fire and maintain the gun -Gunner had to be able to do mental math -He and his friends were the only high school graduates in a group of 200 -As a result, he was selected to be a gunner -The men that they trained with were mostly enlistees -First things he learned was how to march and Army etiquette -Who to salute, who not to salute, ranks, etc. -There was a lot of physical training -Mostly marching and jogging -After four weeks they began to train on the howitzers -There was a high emphasis on discipline -Men that disobeyed were given extra chores -Consisted of work in the mess hall (peeling potatoes and washing dishes) -First thing you learn in basic training is not to give them a reason to remember your name -If they remember your name, you're more likely to get picked for extra duty -Received ten weeks of training -Did not have a lot of trouble adjusting to the Army -Approached a lot of the situations with a sense of humor -He was in good shape when he went into training, but was in great shape by the end of training -His job as the gunner was calculating elevation and doing some basic trigonometry -Didn't find it too difficult -Never got to fire the howitzer because he got sick in the fifth week with pneumonia -Kept in the hospital for three weeks -Got moved to a different training class, but managed to catch up quickly -Still graduated with his best friend -Given a leave home at the end of training -Training was complete in November 1946 -Did not get to spend Christmas 1946 with his family though (00:13:54) Deployment to Japan -Ordered to report to California in December -Rode the train out to California with his best friend �-Took three days to go from Michigan to California -Had to sleep sitting up -Spent a lot of time in the club car playing cards -Got off the train and got marched to a big field -Kept there for three days until they were assigned to a barracks -Had no tents to sleep in -He and his friend got a job making ham and cheese sandwiches -Meant being inside and getting to sleep inside -Once in the barracks he worked in the mess hall -Had a permanent pass to leave the barracks when he wasn't on duty -Spent almost every day in San Francisco -Got to be in San Francisco for New Year's Eve -Found the soldier in charge of shipping orders and paid him $10 to be put on the list for Japan -Wanted to get deployed in the hopes that he would get to catch up with his friend -Friend had been deployed ahead of him -Shipped out on a troop transport -Held 5,000 men -Took eighteen days to get to Japan -Eight days into their voyage they got hit by waves from a tsunami that hit Japan -Waves were over seventy five feet tall and were breaking over the bridge -Two days of rough seas -He only got seasick for one day -Learned the best thing to do to combat it was to eat (00:18:45) Arrival in Japan -Arrived at Yokohama -Ship had trouble docking because the harbor was full of sunken ships -At that time Yokohama and Tokyo were flat from the American bombing campaign -Wooden buildings that had been razed from the firebombing campaign -He was sent to a distribution center to receive his orders -Spent two weeks in Yokohama because his orders had been lost -Given some duties while in Yokohama, but passed a lot of time playing cards and reading -Not allowed to go into Yokohama -A few men snuck off the base to go to a place nicknamed "Gonorrhea Gulch" -The cost of a prostitute's services was a pack of gum (00:20:58) Stationed in Sasebo Pt. 1 -His records were found and he was sent by train to Sasebo, Kyushu -Quartered in an old Japanese Army barracks -Assigned to H Company of the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division -Handling .30 caliber machine guns, 80mm mortars, and anti-tank guns -The unit wasn't expecting new men so there was no food, and no heat in the barracks -After complaints they finally got food, hot water, and heat -Remembers being on guard duty and being approached by an old man �-He was dressed in an Army overcoat with no insignias -Asked Duane how things were and Duane answered bluntly -Said that there was no food, no heat, and nothing to do -Next day they had food, heat, cards, ping-pong tables, and a piano -Turned out that the old man was actually the colonel of the unit -Colonel would do this routinely to keep in touch with the troops -Started to receive basic infantry training -Days started at 5:30 AM -Calisthenics, showers, and breakfast then infantry training -Learned how to field strip a rifle -Learned how to fire and maintain .50 caliber machine guns -Training lasted three months -After graduating they received an extra week of infantry training -Sent back to Sasebo -At the time, communist instigators were sneaking into Japan from Korea -Trying to get the Japanese people to support a communist government -Their job, as the Americans, was to break up riots and arrest the instigators (00:26:02) Interaction with Japanese Civilians Pt. 1 -Japanese civilians in the area had never seen American infantrymen -Impressed with the steel helmets and modern rifles fixed with bayonets -Felt no animosity from the Japanese people -Not even from Japanese men that had served in their army -Treated with tremendous respect and they wanted to know all about them -Almost immediately had contact with civilians -Civilians would come up to him and talk with him while he was on guard duty -Felt tremendous sadness for the Japanese people -Realized that they had lost their homes, loved ones, and their jobs -People were being forced to sell precious family heirlooms just to survive -Mostly encountered men, but some young women, and some children -Met a Japanese man that had visited Grand Rapids -He had attended the University of Wisconsin before the war -Had spent the war in jail for protesting the attack on Pearl Harbor -Had felt that it was strategically suicidal (00:29:05) Stationed in Sasebo Pt. 2 -His regular duty in Sasebo was guard duty -Two hours on, six hours off -Six hours on, sixteen hours off -One day on, two days off (00:29:37) Travelling in Japan & Interaction with Japanese Civilians Pt. 2 -When he wasn't on duty he was allowed to travel just about anywhere -Favorite place to visit was Kyoto -Old city filled with religious buildings -Had been spared from the bombings -Visited Osaka -Very modern city that had largely been spared from being bombed �-Some buildings, and parts of cities, had been explicitly forbidden from being bombed -All of Kyoto had been off limits due to its religious and cultural significance -Always travelled with two friends -They were of the same mind as him in terms of values -Ex. They would all go to religious services together -Required to wear uniforms wherever they went -Surprised by how many civilians could speak fluent, or near fluent, English -The U.S. occupying force was trying to Romanize Japanese names of places -Basically, translating the characters into the Latin alphabet, but not rename the places -Japanese people always wanted to help, even if they couldn't speak English (00:34:40) Black Market & Theft -One of his duties as a guard was to protect military equipment and food stockpiles from thieves -First night that he was there a soldier caught three Japanese men in a warehouse -Chased them back to a boat and killed those three plus two accomplices -One night, when he was in a warehouse by himself, he could hear thieves in the building -Wasn't able to find them though -Knew that there was a massive black market -Knew the soldier that was basically running the whole black market in Kobe -You could buy a carton of cigarettes for 75¢ from the PX and sell it for 1400 yen ($28) -His mother would send him a carton of cigarettes in the mail and he would sell those -Then use that money to buy more cigarettes from the PX and sell those -Made $45 a month from the Army and sent $35 of it home to be saved -Used the rest, plus the cigarette money to travel (00:37:48) Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Atomic Bombs, & the Invasion -Saw Nagasaki and Hiroshima -Nagasaki had been flattened from the bomb and there was a huge wooden arrow at ground zero -Army estimated that the land would be sterile for twenty years -When he visited in 1947, small plants were already starting to grow again -Japanese civilians he encountered actually supported the use of the atomic bombs -Realized that, had the U.S. invaded, millions would have died as opposed to thousands -Hiroshima was a little worse than Nagasaki because the blast hadn't been contained -Read a book while he was there titled Rising Sun that detailed Japan's military capabilities -That info, plus seeing the natural fortifications proved how bloody things could've been -Also saw a destroyer and a cruiser hidden in a lagoon while he was travelling -Showed that Japan had truly been ready to fight to the last citizen (00:42:28) Communist Agitators -Had to deal with rioters -Marched in formation against the rioters armed with rifles, grenades, and tear gas �-The rioters would then disperse when faced with a military force -Met a young man that had to drop out of college because he couldn't pay for it -Met him later on and learned that the communist party was paying for his college -This was in exchange for his membership in the communist party -The communists were especially active in the bigger cities -There were communists in Korea that could easily cross the 38th Parallel -Because Korea had been a Japanese colony, the Koreans could easily get to Japan (00:44:18) Reflections on Japan -Thought that Japan was a beautiful country -Felt tremendous sympathy for the Japanese people -Japanese people that he met were tremendously friendly and even crime was a rarity -Learned that Japan had simply been desperate for land and resources -Liked being there and was anxious to go back -Has since visited Japan and has seen how much has changed since the 1940s -Japanese men that had been in their army wouldn't readily talk about their experiences (00:46:30) End of Service & Coming Home -He and his friend had signed up for eighteen months -After fourteen months they were offered the chance to go home early and keep their rank -The caveat was that they would have to be in the Active Reserves -Decided to turn it down and just stay in for the extra four months -Good decision because of the 24th Infantry Division's involvement in Korea -One of the first units into the war, and it was basically wiped out -Sent back to the United States in December 1947 -Received orders to take a train to Yokohama and board a ship there -Sailed from Yokohama to Seattle, Washington -Captain wanted to be home for Christmas 1947 -Managed to cross the Pacific Ocean in only eight days -Once in Seattle, he was discharged after two days along with his best friend -They had reconnected on the return voyage -Learned that his friend had been promoted to the rank of corporal -Took a train back to Grand Rapids and arrived on Christmas Eve 1947 at 11 PM -Friend's younger brother met them at the train station -He was the only one that knew they were home -He got to his parents' house at 11:45 PM on Christmas Eve -Remembers that it was a great time to come home (00:52:04) Life after the Army -Got a job with his best friend -Neither of them wanted to start college in the middle of the school year -Went to Calvin College in Grand Rapids in September 1948 -Started off studying pre-med, but then switched to studying engineering -Got married after two and a half years of college -Began taking courses through WMU, MSU, and the University of Michigan -Never did get a degree in engineering, but got a job in engineering �-Started off working as a draftsman -Worked for Steelcase for twenty five years -Eventually moved up to being a product engineer -Met a Japanese high school student through the Talons Out Honor Flight in May 2015 -This young man, named Yuki, knew almost nothing about WWII -Only knew that the two countries had fought, and Japan had lost -He wrote to Duane and asked him to tell him more about the war -Duane agreed and taught him what he knew about the war -Told him that he enjoyed being in Japan and didn't regret his service -Has since maintained contact with Yuki (00:56:40) Reflections on Service -Feels that his time in the Army was worthwhile -Feels that it was an enlightening experience, and showed him more about the world -Met a soldier that lived a wild life that envied Duane's quiet, simpler life -Hopes that maybe he inspired the man to calm down a little bit � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27_BeukemaD1853V Title A name given to the resource Beukema, Duane "Duke" (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-07-08 Description An account of the resource Duane Beukema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1928. After graduating from high school in 1946, he and his best friend enlisted in the Army. They both received basic and field artillery training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and completed that training in November 1946. They were both scheduled for deployment to Japan, but got separated in California. Duane wound up being sent to Japan in January 1947 and assigned to H Company in the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division in Sasebo, Japan. He received infantry training in Japan, regularly pulled guard duty, spent a considerable amount of time traveling (getting to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki only two years after the atomic bombs were dropped), and also getting to meet many Japanese civilians. In December 1947 he received orders to go home, and on the return voyage reconnected with his best friend. They were both discharged in Seattle and back in Grand Rapids by Christmas Eve 1947. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beukema, Duane Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d59d2d6f063a621cac907ae987a46e41.mp4 88d68974755756d6cd6851f9850e8b41 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/48d140352a00d8d1f6d4d65c2268d261.pdf 33f791231e8c67a07bc7c5d440882e08 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project John Beukema (31:50) Pre-Enlistment • Born in Chicago, IL (0:25) • Born on August 15th, 1924 (0:30) • Spent his youth in suburban Chicago and joined the war after he graduated from high school in 1942 (1:00) • Neighborhood was hit hard by the Depression (1:30) • Father was a jack of all trades, worked for a painting contractor mixing colors (2:25) • Mother did not work, had 8 children (2:45) • Attended J. Sterling Morton High School in Cicero, IL (2:55) • War was the main event in his high school (3:15) • All his friends were drafted or volunteered, and he volunteered for the Army Air Corps (3:30) • Worked all through high school in grocery stores and haberdasheries (4:45) Enlistment • Received notice in mail that he was accepted to the Air Corps (5:10) • Went from Chicago to Nashville, TN to the classification and conditioning center (6:30) • Had a battery of tests for about a month, and was accepted for pilots training (6:45) • Boarded a train to go to Santa Ana, CA (6:50) • This happened about the same time there was fighting in Africa, so the Army was training in the desert (8:00) • Santa Ana was a pre-flight school, which contained few classes, but learned the mechanics of flying, meteorology and physical training (9:00) • Pre-flight school lasted several months (9:35) • Then assigned to Rankin Field in Tulari, CA for primary flight school (9:40) • Was the second person in his class to fly solo (10:25) • Stayed at Rankin for two months, then transferred to Morana AFB, which was a basic flying school (11:30) • Flew different planes and learned different maneuvers at Morana for a few months (12:00) • Advanced to Williams AFB in Phoenix, AZ, learning to fly new airplanes (13:00) • During these months of training, he always wanted to go out and fight (13:30) • Received too many demerits, and washed him out of the program a week before graduation (14:15) • Had a hearing before he was washed out, and his instructors came to his defense and he was reinstated (15:00) �• War • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Had to take all his check rides in three hours. If failed, he would be a glider pilot (17:00) Was made a pilot, but was also made to be an instructor in Basic flight school (17:15) Was very difficult to leave his training buddies to instruct (17:50) After instructor school, he was sent to Gardner Field, in California (18:40) Spent a year there (18:45) Good duty because he got to fly for half the day, then got the other half of the day off (19:20) Still wanted to fly fighter planes (19:50) Had to wait until he could volunteer to be assigned to a B-17 (21:20) Went to Montana to be trained for bombing runs and flying formation (22:05) War in Europe ended before he could get out of Montana (22:20) Flew bombers in to Kansas to be mothballed for the next few months (22:30) Was accepted in to B-29 school, lasting several months, in Hobbs, NM (22:50) Dropped the bomb on Japan before he could get out the program (23:15) Decided to use the GI Bill to go to Western Michigan University (24:00) Parents moved to Grand Haven, MI, which influenced his decision to go to Western (24:20) Majored in Accounting and minored in Mathematics in 1950 (24:45) Found it difficult to get a job after college, started a family in Kalamazoo (24:50) Stayed in the Air Force Reserves after he got out of the Air Force (25:20) Still got to do some flying in Canberra Bombers (25:40) Post Wartime • Was in the Reserves for a year and a half (26:15) • Continued flying through rental (26:30) • Had a friend that owned an airplane, so he would go flying with him (27:00) • Would fly wherever his company wanted to him to go (27:20) • Was, at one time, the youngest B-29 commander in the Air Force (27:45) • Received a job in accounting, retired in 1989 (28:30) • Keeps busy with several hobbies, including computers and woodworking (28:50) • Stopped flying around 60 years of age (29:00) • Took a trip to Europe, to Market Garden in eastern Belgium (30:25) • Saw a wall that was a mile long of air crew whose bodies were never found (30:55) • Realized how fortunate he was that he never had to face that (31:00) • Always wanted to fly a P-51, kids bought him a ride in one (31:15) � 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 BeukemaJ Title A name given to the resource Beukema, John T. (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beukema, John T. Description An account of the resource John Beukema was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 15th, 1924. He volunteered for the Army Air Corps during World War II, and was accepted as a pilot. After flight school, he was sent to be an instructor back at Basic flight school in Gardner Field, California for one year. He volunteered to be a B-17 pilot, but the war in Europe ended. He signed up to be a B-29 pilot, but the war in the Pacific ended, as well. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer) Spring Area District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.) 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. Air Corps World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-07-19 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 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text 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/bec1a1c1b98345da72f618b8e3e99e8d.jpg 9dc54280c2d0948e475049927c4798ee Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_K214-0035 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970-09-01 Title A name given to the resource Beulah Bait and Service, Michigan Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of Beulah Bait and Service, a tackle and service shop in the village of Beulah, located in Benzie County in northern Michigan. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Beulah (Mich.) Benzie County (Mich.) Bait fishing--Great Lakes (North America) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/fd0aed0fa6da58263a120bda0ad76d11.jpg a1e30678da8601bd06a435c315be1a10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_K214-0036 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1970-09-01 Title A name given to the resource Beulah Bait and Service, Michigan Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the side lawn of Beulah Bait and Service, a tackle and service shop in the village of Beulah, located in Benzie County in northern Michigan. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Beulah (Mich.) Benzie County (Mich.) Bait fishing--Great Lakes (North America) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1970s 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/4aa55c25539f0a981affcef45f8269ce.jpg 3aa95facba0e74d59305cbfbb7540283 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 BevisFredrick Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Bevis, Fredrick Description An account of the resource Fredrick Bevis, Biology 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/46bdd2bfe5d5c9440df789aa4d9863c4.pdf 39a4b6368be8816b21eb7dbc5c6fd84e PDF Text Text 21e jaargang 18 - 3 mei 1985 7 Jaap Frederiks Bevrijding langs een omweg De bevrijding van 5 mei 1945 werd niet binnen onze eigen grenzen maar in Duitsland bevochten. Na de verloren slag om Arnhem werd Nederland voor de geallieerden van secundair belang. Hoewel daarvoor de prijs van een hongerwinter moest worden betaald, bleef ons land daardoor een vernietigende veroveringsoorlog bespaard. Jaap Frederiks reconstrueert het militaire verloop van de laatste maanden van de oorlog. Voor de Nederlanders kwam er op 6 juni 1944 een keer in de oorlog. De geallieerden landden in Normandie en zouden ongetwijfeld snel naar Ned~rland oprukken. Voor generaal Eisenhower, de Amerikaanse opperbevelh_ebber van de 'Allied Expeditionary Forces', lag ons land echter wat bezijden de route. Hij wilde over een breed front primair het Duitse rijk in het hart aanvallen. Slechts de noordelijke vleugel van zijn strijdmacht, voornamelijk Brits en Canadese troepen onder generaal Montgomery, diende op weg naar het Ruhrgebied en Hamburg terloops Nederland te bevrijden. De opmars verliep boven verwachting voorspoedig: al op 25 augustus rolden zijn tanks door de straten van Parijs; op 3 september waren ze in Brussel en reeds de dag daarop viel de haven van Antwerpen onbeschadigd in Engelse handen. De bevrijding van Nederland moest voor de deur staan. Het land werd tenminste overspoeld door afgeladen Wehrmachtvrachtwagens met soldaten die in alter ijl Belgie de rug toekeerden. Alles wat Duitsgezind was, kreeg het op zijn zenuwen. NSB'ers pakten hun biezen, en op veel.plaatsen begon de bezetter al archieven en legervoorraden te vernietigen. Die stemming· liet het volk niet onberoerd. Op 5 september (dolle dinsdag) werden in Haarlem de vlaggen uitgestoken en in Amsterdam kwam het illegale blad De Baa11breker zelfs met een bevrijdingsnummer, waarin de namen van alle medewerkers stonden afgedrukt. Maar het grootste dee! van Ors. J. A. Th. Frederiks is docent geschiedenis. Nederland wachtte in september vergeefs op de bevrijding. Onder de indruk van de snelle vorderingen in Belgie, waren op het geallieerde hoofdkwartier de gemoederen ook verhit geraakt. Montgomery wist Eisenhower te winnen voor de gedachte om het zwaartepunt van de opmars naar zijn noordelijke sector te verleggen. Hij presenteerde een vermetel plan, waarin het Britse 2e leger, door luchtlandingstroepen ondersteund, een diepe bres in de Duitse verdediging zou slaan, om tangs de lijn Eindhoven-Nijmegen-Arnhem door te stoten naar Westfalen. Op deze manier hoopte hij met een verrassingsaanval het Ruhrgebied vanuit het noordwesten af te grendelen en te omsingelen. Het hele westelijke front werd voor deze 'operatic Market Garden' praktisch stilgelegd. Montgomery kreeg alle voorraden toegewezen. Al spoedig bleek dat de ineenstorting van de Duitse legers zwaar was overschat. Uit de ongeregeld teruggetrokken soldaten waren nieuwe eenheden gevormd en tangs de grote rivieren waren duizenden 'spitters' (ter plaatse gerecruteerde dwangarbeiders) ingezet om stellingen te bouwen. In oost-Brabant kwamen de Britten maar moeizaam vooruit: de tegenstand was groot en het bleek dat hun_ zware materieel buiten de gebaande wegen onherroepelijk vast kwam te zitten. Weken later dan was voorzien kon Nijmegen worden bereikt (26 september), maar de luchtlanding bij Arnhem was een brug te ver geweest. Door deze vastgelopen aanval was ·eind september een grillige frontlijn door zuid-Nederland komen te !open. Het uiterste zuiden van Limburg was bevrijd, maar Noord-Brabant bleef bezet gebied - behoudens de diepe corridor waarvan de uiterste punt iets boven Nijmegen lag; hier ontstond een soort niemandsland. Met het oog op een nieuwe aanval hadden de Duitsers op verscheidene plaatsen de rivierdijken doorgestoken. Uitgestrekte stukken van de Betuwe kwamen blank te staan. De meeste inwoners trokken weg naar het vrije Nijmegen; alleen de boer .zelf bleef meestal achter op zijn bedrijf. In de late herfst kon hij zowel Duitse als Engelse patrouilles zijn erf op zien komen. Geregeld waren er bloedige schermutselingen als ze toevallig op elkaar stuitten of wanneer de bezetter merkte dat burgers door de linies heen naar bevrijd ·gebied trachtten te 'crossen'. Nijmegen zelf groeide snel uit tot een' echte frontstad met tienduizenden militairen. De geallieerden waren met groot gejuich ontvan- gen, ondanks de grote verwoestingen die hun komst met zich mee had gebracht. Ze hielpen mee de ergste schade voor de winter te herstellen, en de gestadige aanvoer van voedsel maakte veel goed. Maar toch, zoveel vreemde soldaten zo ver van huis. Al op 5 oktober 1944 verscheen in De Gelderlander een hoofdartikel over 'De Nederlandsche Jonge Vrouw en de Nationale Eer', waarvan de strekking precies die was, die u zich daarvan voorstelt. Ultstel In heel het bevrijde gebied bleven militairen de dienst uitmaken. Iedereen moest zich in de eerste plaats richten naar de bevelen van de geallieerde bevelhebber. Maar in zijn spoor verschenen onmiddellijk ook Nederlandse officieren. Het Nederlandse kabinet in Londen had voor het bevrijde gebied een overgangsregering gevormd: het Militair Gezag �,.. ._ ..... d _· _. ,._ ......... ,._ ... . •• 1 I 21 e jaargang 18 - 3 mei 1985 BevrlJding langs_een omweg onder leiding van generaal Kruis. Dit nood- ~ bestuur kon in de korte tijd dat het bestond de < meest impopulaire maatregelen nemen, waarna de ministers ongecompromitteerd met een schone lei konden beginnen. Doch Nederland werd niet in enkele dagen tijds bevrijd en in het zuiden regeerde dit door niemand feitelijk gecontroleerde gezag vele maanden tang. Daarbij liet het zich weinig aan regels gelegen liggen bij de omgang met de burgerautoriteiten of de justitie. Velen die Kruis na de oorlog - terecht - een te groot eigenmachtig ' optreden verweten hebben, gaan er echter aan voorbij hoe chaotisch de toestand na het vertrek van de Duitsers was. Voor het nog bezette gebied waren in Londen eveneens maatregelen genomen. De georganiseerde verzetsgroepen werden samengebracht in de Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten (BS) onder leiding van prins Bernharc,l, en een college van Vertrouwensmannen werd benoemd om in het geheim de bevrijding bestuurlijk voor te bereiden. Het college kon nadenken over een proclamatie en de allernoodzakelijkste benoemingen. Boven de grote rivieren bleef de toestand zeer gespannen. Verzetsgroepen voerden de sabotage-acties op, maar de Duitse vergelding werd eveneens grimmiger. De represailles na een aanslag op enkele soldaten bij Putten vormen misschien het meest spectaculaire voorbeeld. Talrijke huizen werden opgeblazen en de mannelijke inwoners naar Duitse concentratiekampen weggevoerd. Op bescheidener sch_aal gingen echter in het hele land de executies door. Met spanning zagen de mensen uit naar het zuiden, wachtend tot een nieuwe aanval op Arnhem zou komen. Maar het geallieerde opperbevel had anders beslist. Montgomery had uit 'Market Garden' een lering getrokken die voor het oorlogsverloop in Nederland van grote betekenis was. Kort na de bevrijding deelde hij een verslaggever van Het Vrije Volk mee, 'dat de gebeurtenissen in Arnhem hem de overtuiging hadden gegeven dat er, indien hij het gehele gebied (west-Nederland) strijdend zou moeten veroveren, geen steen op ·de andere blijven zou ·. Inderdaad moeten we er niet aan denken wat er gebeurd zou zijn, als Arnhem wel was genomen en de honderdduizend Duitseis de vesting Holland van stad tot ·stad hadden verdedigd of de dijken hadden doorgestoten. Het westen zou de hongerwinter bespaard zij_n gebleven, maar tegen wat voor een prijs. Om Nederland voor deze ramp te behoeden en omdat het in het natte polderland met tanks toch moeilijk opereren was, besloot het geallieerde opperbevel om de bezetters in de Randstad niet aan te vallen, maar hun overgave · op een slagveld elders in Europa te bedingen. Oat gold voor de kwetsbare Randstad, maar evenzeer voor Denemarken, waarvan de verovering met al die eilanden ook een moeilijke zaak zou warden. Hoe hard het er in Holland aan toe had kunnen gaan, kregen de Zeeuwen in oktober 1944 te merken. Hier konden de g·e allieerden , de confrontatie n"iet uit de weg gaan. Op 3 september was triomfantelijk de verovering van Antwerpen gemeld, maar in de feestroes was over het hoofd gezien dat het gebruik van de haven stond of viel met het bezit van de Scheldemond. Aanvankelijk had dit gebied een !age prioriteit op het hoofdkwartier. De blik was op het oosten gericht en bovendien eiste Montgomery alle middelen voor de slag om Arnhem op. L .. ---- ---- ---- -- - 9 ·" ' . Montgomery en Patton _/ . havenstad goed bewust en waren vastbesloten de Scheide tot het uiterste t~ verdedigen. Daartoe waren ze uitstekend in staat. De Canadezen hadden langs de Kanaalkust het Duitse 15e leger voor zich uit gedreven dat, ruim honderdduizend man sterk, in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen vast kwam te zitten. Langs het kanaal" Brugge-Gent ging het in stelling en het bleek ongenaakbaar. Aan organisatorisch talent ontbrak het al evenmin: de bevelhebber generaal Von Zangen speelde het klaar om met, meest ter plaatse gevorderde, vaartuigen en onder voortdurende luchtaanvallen in tweeeneenhalve week tijds 86 000 manschappen, compleet inet zesduizend voertuigen en zeshonderd kanonnen, van Breskens ilaar Vlissingen te verschepen. Ongeveer veertienduizend man bleef achter in west Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. Zij' slaagden erin, toen de aanval kwam, om achter elke dijk of sloot een nieuwe zeer effectieve stelling op te werpen. Met vlammenwerpers en hevig mortiervuur moest het half ondergelopen polderland meter voor meter warden veroverd. Dicht onder de kust bij Cadzand kregen de bezetters dekking van de zware kustbatterijen. Er was bijna geen doorkomen aan. De balans van een week strijd, van 6 tot 13 oktober: 533 doden en gewonden en een terreinwinst van anderhalve kilometer. Maar de Scheide moest open, onverschillig de verliezen en verwoestingen. Pas op 3 november gaven de Duitsers zich hier over. Aan de overkant· van de Westerschelde was op Walcheren iets dergelijks te verwachten, maar hier werd' voor een andere tactiek gekozen. Op 3 oktober hoorden de inwoners van West-Kapelle de Engelse bommenwerpers naderen. Doelwit was de zeewering. Verkenningen hadden de geallieerden geleerd dat veel Duitse stellingen op het lage deel van het schiereiland lagen. Door nu zelf de hele zaak onder water te zetten, konden ze Scheide die vijandelijke ·versterkingen onbruikbaar Ten onrechte, bleek spocdig, want het gehele maken en het slagveld bijna decimeren. Het westelijke front dreigde vast te komen zitten was triest voor de bevolking, maar die zou bij bij gebrek aan brandstof en munitie. De hele felle gevechten minstens zqveel te lijden bevoorrading kwam nog steeds uit Norman- krijgen. die en deze aanvoerlijnen werden met de dag Alie Duitse troepen werden door het stijgen(anger. Het leger schreeuwde om een haven de water naar de smalle kuststrook gedreven. met een grote capaciteit, die zowel dicht bij Daar werden ze eerst op l november door Engeland als dicht bij het front lag. Eisenhow-. enkele slagschepen zwaar onder vuur genoer zag de bui gelukkig op het laatste men en vervolgens kwam er een landing van ogenblik hangen. Hij gebood Montgo·mery, commandotroepen. De operatie stond onder wiens gedachten meer bi_j de Rijn waren, Canadees bevel, maar er waren eenheden van uitdrukkelijk eerst alle aandacht op de Schei- . allerlei nationaliteiten bij betrokken: Britten, de te richten. Met enige tegenzin moest hij Fransen, Belgen, Nederlanders en zelfs Nozijn troepen in de Brahantse corridor west- ren. Sommige kustbatterijen verdedigden waarts dirigeren, richting Tilburg en Zuid- zich tot het laatst, en ook in Vlissingen kwam Beveland. Ook het bi_i Antwerpen liggende het tot felle straatgevechten, doch _de tegenCanadese leger kwam weer in beweging. stand, was niet in die mate als in Zeeuws. D.e. Quitsers ~~ar.en .,zjcb_dc; _h-<:;.ts!_t~~i~ Y~<J!l QC: _ _YJl.lllJJOereo. Na cen week was · d~ strijd I gestreden, en nadat de Scheide van de vele mijnen was ontdaan, kon al op 26 november het eerste militaire convooi Antwerpen binnenvaren. Naarde Rljn De slag om Arnhem en die om de Scheide hadden twee maanden het westelijk front beheerst. In oost-Frankrijk was weinig of niets gebeurd. De legers kregen bij tijd en wijle nauwelijks genoeg toegeleverd om hun posities te handhaven, laat staan dat ze grote initiatieven hadden kunnen ontplooien. Aan die schaarste kwam nu een eind. Eisenhower bepaalde dat de -Rijn het volgende .doe! was. Hij wilde geen wilde planneri meer zien· met· spectaculair geslagen bruggehoofde_n; eerst moest de bele linkeroever in handen zijn, voordat aan de overkarit kon warden gedacbt. Voor Nederland betekende dit, dater weinig aan de frontlijn zou veranderen. West-Brabant_was tijdens de strijd in Zeeland veroverd, en nu ging het offensief niet noord- maar oostwaarts. De geducbte Duitse Westwall (ook Sigfriedlinie genoemd) moest worden doorbroken en ~en uitloper daarvan· lag iets ten westen van de Limburgse Maas. In de -Peel en voor Venlo vonden hevige tankslagen plaats. Het is niet toevallig dat juist in Overloon bet oorlogsmuseum is gevestigd; de ter plaatse gestrande tanks zijn er nog te bezichtigen. Half december was bijna overal de Maas bereikt. Er kwam net een beetje scbot in de zaak, toen een nieuwe born barstte, die alle middelen aan bet westelijk front opeiste. Volkomen onverwachts ontketende het Duitse leger op 16 december een massale tegenaanval via de Ardennen. Het eerste doe I was Antwerpen. Op die manier werd een diepe wig tussen de verschillende geallieerde legers gedreven en tegelijkertijd kon, bij het begin van de winter, de bevoorrading onderbroken worden. De voorste Amerikaanse linies werden onder de voet gelopen. Alleen op enkele strategische punten konden ze zich handhaven. Generaal Patton moest van de ene op de andcre dag zijn opmars in het Saarland afbreken om het gat te dichten. Spoedig bleek dat de vijand over onvoldoende materieel en manschappen beschikte om het offensief over een langerc tijd vol te houden, maar toch zorgde het ervoor dat de Amerikanen half januari nog even ver waren als begin december. Hoewel, misschien is dit toch wat te negatief uitgedrukt, want ofschoon de terreinwinst bescheiden was, hadden ze wel de beste Duitse troepen die nog in West-Europa voor handen waren, vernietigende verliezen toegebracht. In Mord-Nederland hield iedereen zijn hart vast. Zo dichtbij waren de Canadezep, en toch · '. zo veraf.-£0 veraf bleven ze; want Eise~how- �-~ 21e jaargang 18 - 3 mei 1985 11 Ardennen-offensiet Arnerikaanse troepen nabij Malmedy Bevrijding langs een omweg er had geen enkele reden zijn plannen te provisorische IJsselstelling opgeworpen om pardon doodgeschoten. Hetzelfde lot trof de wijzigen: eerst naar de Rijn. Uitdrukkelijk de Veluwe, de toegang tot de vesting Holland, meeste gevangengenomen Georgiers zelf. Ze had hij zijn onderbevelhebbers geboden geen zo lang mogelijk te verdedigen, maar verder voelden dat al aankomen en vochten zich eigen acties aan de overzijde te ondernemen. trok hij zich weinig aan van de onzinnige daarom liever dood bij wanhopige pogingen Hij zag al aankomen dat Montgomery aanbevelen over tegenaanvallen die hij dag in dag enkele versterkte plaatsen in handen te houzienlijk minder tijd nodig _had om van Nijmeuit van het Fiihrerhauptquartier kreeg toegeden. Tegen de met opmerkelijk groot fan agen het Duitse Wesel te bereiken dan Patton stuurd. Hij wist dat de weg naar het noorden tisme vechtende Duitsers was geen kruid voor de lange weg naar Mainz. Montgomery, van het land openlag. Plaatselijke commangewassen. Ook de hulp van een tweehonwieris prestige- een flinke deuk had gekregen, danten boden soms nog harde tegenstand en derdtal plaatselijke verzetssti-ijders mocht nan1cnu het zekere voor bet onzekere. Hij,had de verw.oestingen waren dan dienovereenniet _l;>aten. Op 21 april moest bet laatste tweehonderdduizend man bij Nijmegen en ·komstig. Illustratief is dat Doetinchem al.opJ bolwerk .worden opgegeven: de vuurtoren. als eep wals rold~,!_leze troepenm~cht,richting · april'wef d·bevrij~,.maar •Doesburg pas· op<!~ Maar groepjes Georgiers en Duitsers bleven Kleef. Alles wat•hij op zijn WC?,g_tege_nkwam, -16e. nog jacht QP elkaar maken tot de Canadezen werd letterlij~ verpulverd: legers, steden•en Overigens'heten1de bcvrijders zich niet op,uiteindeiifk op 20 mei arriveerdc;n . Texel bossen. Een maanlandschap met diepe· bornhouden door zul\ce verzetshaarden., Het kende op ·5 niei geen bevrijdingsdag. Slechts kraters liet hij achter. Op 9-maart was hij bij zaak zo snelmogclijk naaralle·tioclc:en.van ;bet '250 opstandelingen overleefden de helse de.resten van Wesel. Het duurde tot de 23e land. door te .stoten, want elke·gevechtspauze strijd:. voor Mainz was bezet en hij zijn oude idee van gaf de Duitsers tijd voor hergroeperingen. een omsingeling van het Ruhrgebied kon Om belangrijke bruggen te veroxeren werden Hongersnood ..uitvoeren. op 12 en 13 april nog Franse en Belgische Voor de Canadezen'· in de derde week van ·Begin maa,rt was bij toeval e_e n brug bij paratroepen rieergelaten.- Vee l meqewerking - april de Veluwe op konden tr~k~e~, ·had een Remagen, iets ~en zuiden van Bonn, intact in kwam eveneens van de kant van het vefzef. Jn slag:om Arnhem op,het programma gestaan. Amerikaanse handen gevallen. Terec_h t de chaotische sit~atie. was het vaak rrio~elijk Alleen"ipsychologisch al stoi:Jd er veel op het m_eende de Duitse bevel~ebber generaal M9- _ dat verzets,lieden d~rde g~vechtslini_e s trokspel. De hele zriidelijke toegang tot de stad del. dat het zwaartepunt ·van bet geallieerde ·· ken en de gealli!:erden precies op cte •hoogte w~s door de verdedige!"s onder ·water gezet, offensief van d~( reeds geslagen bruggehoofd ·stelden van de beste verkeersverbindingen en het oosten - waar de. aanval •kwam - Z\\:'aar zou komen. Hij had 325 000 man in Sauerde locatie van Duitse stellingen. In Friesland versterkt. De burgerbevolking, die zich nog land verzameld om de aanval op bet Ruhrgetroffen de Canadezen zelfs Parijse tonelen goed kon herinneren wat straatgevechten bied af te wachten. Hij wachtte tevergeefs. aan; evenals in de Franse hoofdstad hadden waren, had de stad grotendeels verlaten . Zowel Montgomery. in het noorden als genede !eden van de Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten Blijkbaar waren de geallieerde commandanraal Simpson in het zuiden ·trokken met een steden als Sneek en Bolsward al in handen ten hiervan op de hoogte, want zonder enige boog om het industnegebied heen. Hun letoen de geallieerde tanks er aankwamen. schroom lieten ze een ongekend artilleriegers vormden een tang die zich op 1 april bij :ongevaarlijk waren deze acties niet. De bombardement op Arnhem neerkomen. De Paderborn slooi. Model restte slechts de Duitse soldaten stelden alles in het werk om Duitsers moesten letterlijk wezenloos geniet in handen van de verzetslieden te vallen, overgave. Ondertussen ging de geallieerde schoten worden. De opzet slaagde, want toen in de Canadezen hadden ze aanzienlijk meer hoofdmacht richting Leipzig. Op 25 april de Engelsen en Canadezen op 13 en 14 april vertrouwen. de stad binnentrokken, stuitten ze slechts hier werd het eerste contact met de Russen bier en daar op enig verzet. Ze kregen een gemaakt. Het Duitse rijk was in tweeen Bij zo'n plaatselijke poging om de macht over spookstad in handen: rokende puinhopen en gesplitst. leder van de geallieerde mogendhete nemen, ging bet op Texel helemaal mis. Op instortende huizen, mensen ontbraken. den kende zijn taak bij het opruimen van de het eiland lag een ·garnizoen van ongeveer Al v66r de val van Arnhem was generaa l laatste verzetshaarden. De Russen namen achthonderd Georgische militafren. Ze waren Berlijn voor hun rekening, de Engelsen rukBlaskowitz begonnen met de strategischc aan het oostfront krijgsge;angen. gemaakt, terugtrekking op de vesting Holland, die met ten op naar de Duitse Noordzeehavens en de min of meer geprest om in ·het Duitse leger Amerikanen concentreerden zich' vooral op de oude Grebbelinie uit 1940 samenviel. Op dienst te nemen,''cJoch voortdurend uitziend midden- en zuid-Duitsland. 1 I 9 april was bijna heel noord- en oost-Nenaar een 'ka"ns ertusse~uit te knijpen. Die derland bevrijd. De Randstad hield de adem gelegenheid leek op 6 april gekomen. Met zijn Verzetshaarden in voor wat ·volgen zou. Maar er volgde niets. achthonderden moesten ze bet opnemen teEn Nederland? In het spoor van Montgomery Kort voor Amersfoort kwam de opmars van gen goed vierhonde_rd Duitsers en dat in een waren Britse en Canadese legers bij Wesel de de geallieerden tot staan. Het bevel luidde: hun gunstig gezinde omgeving. Van begin af Rijo overgetrokken, om dfrect daarna af te geen aanval op west-Nederland. aan liep het echter mis. De beide kustbatterijbuigen naar J:wente en de Achterhoek. Het is Voor de mensen daar was het nauwelijks te en op de nooid,- en zuidpunt, die _samen bet tekenend voor de bescheiden plaats op Eibevatten. Het moest toch bekend zijn hoe hele eiland bestreken, bleven oncJanks versenhowers prioriteitenlijst, dat deze legers de groot de ellende was, dater een hongerwinter woede .aanvallen' stevig in Du_itse handen. Nederlandse grens pas op 29 maart overwas geweest, dat - nu de Randstad ook nog schreden; twee dagen erna had de hoofd~ .Evenmin-ko~ worden verhinderd dat_reeds de van oost-Nederland was afgesneden - er eerste dag uit Den Helder Duitse versterkinmacht het hele Ruhrgebied i i• omsingeld. helemaal niets meer te eten was. Op 7 april gen werden aangevoerd. Op 8 april waren dat Verwonderlijk is het natuurlij_k niet: alleen in had ir. Louwes, directeur-generaal voor de er al tegen de vierduizend en ,dat i,tantal werd Duitsland kon de beslissende slag geleverd voedselvoorziening, de situatie gekenschetst warden. · steeds grater. als de overgang van hongersnood naar honHeroverde delen van bet eiland werden letVoor de Duitse commandant in Nederland, gerdood. Vanuit de Binnenlandse Strijdterlijk huis voor huis uitgekamd; mensen die generaa l Blaskowitz, viel er weinig eer te krachten en het College van Vertrouwenservan werden verdacht hulp·aa~ de opstandehehalen aan de strijd. Hij had met dwangarmannen (het illegaal opgezette noodbestuur lingen te hehben verleend, werden zonder heiders op bet laatste ogenblik nog een dat kl aar stood om de macht over te ne men en ; as· --:- :: �-------~--~-~-~--------~--~-----------------~---------~ -~ --_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-; Ir -~ .' . 21 e jaargang 18 - 3 mei 1985 .,. Bevrljdlng langs een omweg . . . ,.,. -.~ . . ........ -· . {< ...,.. ... De Duitse bevelhebber in Nederland, generaal Blaskowitz (rechts in het midden) ondertekent in hotel De Wereld de capitu/atlepapieren ten overstaan van de Canadese generaal Foulkes 13 ~., ...... ., dat steeds.. openlijker aan de dag k_on treden) -i werd een drjngend beroep gedaan op rijks- ~ commissaris · Seyss-Inquart om 9e nood te ~. leriigen. Na overleg-met Blasko.wffz !_ooiide hij zich b~reid een officieuze Yt'.apenstilstand· met de geallieerdt;n te sluiten. Ge_dureilde die tijd zouden er dan geen executies of_,,vernielingen meer plaatsvinden en kon er voedsel en stee'nkool worden aangevoerd·. De vertrou- • ·wensmannen Neher en Van dcr Gaag kregen toestemming op 13_april door de linies been· naar Breda.te reizen, waar enige Nede~laildse ministers aanwezig waren. Hef·voors~el werd bier erg gunstig ontvangen. Het- ~esten WH dus nog van de h·ongerdood:te·redden, maar cian moest er we! heel snefworden gehandeld. :Elke;dai,' ja elk uur werd de toestand-~r_itie~ ker, .. .,. Toen kwam de kater. Bij de geallieerden vie! ~het:voorstel erg slecht: Pe stelregel was dat ~ met Duitsers uitsluitend over onvoorwaar~ delijke capitulaties we:i:o onderhandeld. Wa'·penstilstanden kwamen in dit draaiboek niet vM r. Premier Gerbrandy deed alles orri .Churchill aan het verstand te brengen dat ~tienduizenden mensenlevens op het spel stonden. Dagen gingen voorbij. Washingtcin ~ werd geraadpleegd, Moskou van het voorsf~l 1 op de hoogte gesteld en ond_ertussen gin gen ;in ;: L ______.__...,..._..-_ Holland de terechtstellingen door. Qe Prlns Be(!'hard in het bevrl/de Deventer ~liaarste werd steeds nijpender. De Duitser~ zelf voelden het einde eveneens na·deren en 'riuiarschalk schikte hen te ontvangen. Op zijn werden onberekenbaarder in hun reacties. vraag wat ze wilden, deden ze het verzoek om Qe discipline nam af en de onderdelen waren drie legers in het noordoosten van Duitsland nauwelijks meer door de legerleiding in de aan de Britten te mogen overgeven in plaats hand te houden. Eindelijk kwam het verlos- van aan de Russen, van wie ze na het sende bericht. Eisenhower had toegestemd in beestachtige optreden van de SS in Oosteen gesprek tussen Seyss-Inquart en zijn Europa weinig goeds te verwachten hadden. stafchef, generaal Bedell-Smith. Ze ont- Maar Montgomery peinsde er niet over. Ze moetten elkaar op,30 april 0in Achterveld bij moesten zich aan hun ·directe tegenstander Amersfoort. De voedselaanvoer was snel o~ergeven. Het enige waar hij zelf over,.wilde geregeld, maanoen Bedell-Smith een pog!ng praten was een slagveldcapitulatie van de waagde om de rijkscommissaris tot ca"pitulatie Duitse strijdkrachten in zijn sector van :-het te tiewegen, wefd dat ·resoluut verworpen. front. Als 1d~ar niet onmiddellijk t~ besloten Oat- was een zaak voor het Oberkommando werd, dreigde hij,zelfs geen vluchtelingen.uitder Wehrmacht; d1;1t kor:i alleen Berlijn-be- het oosten meer doorgang ,te verleil~n. Verslagen keerde de deJegatic terug naar slissen. Flensburg, waar Df>nitz zijn regeringstep"'"' trum had ingericht; Er was geen .keus. I>e". Cepltulatle · Eh in er.lijn viei cle beslissing. D~genlang volgende- Hag al was Von Friedeburg· weer vochten de Russen·;zich een weg aaar de tenig. H_ij: was gemachtigd toe te stem men in Fiihrerbuitker. Toen ,ze tot·op enkele•honder- de onvoorwaardelijke overgave,van de Duitse den meters waren genaderd, pleegde Hitler strijdlfrachten· ii! de noordwestelijke sector op_30 _april zelfmoord. De.verant~oordelijk- .van het front, inclusief het nog bezette deel heid over zijn totaal vernietigde Grootduitse van Nederland, Denemarken en Noorwegen. rijk droeg hij over aan admiraal Donitz. Deze Op 4 mei gaven de Duitse troepen in Nedermaririe-officier was ook voor de ·geallieerden land zich dus over. Wat op 5 mei in Wagenineen aanvaardbare gesprekspartner. Donitz gen gebeurde, was een bevestiging hiervan en had weinig keus. Hem kwam de twijfelachtige de feitelijke capitulatie ter plaatse. Daar eer toe de oorlog tot een goed einde te verscheen aan het eind van de middag in brengen en hij was realist genoeg om te Hotei De Were Id generaal Blaskowitz aan het beseffen dat 'goed' een spoedige capitulatie hoofd van de Duitse.delegatie; Seyss-Inquart betekende. was kort daarvoor per schip naar Flensburg Op 3 mei verscheen rond het middaguur een gevlucht. Ten overstaan van de Canadese Duitse militaire delegatie onder leiding van genera al f oulkes en onder aanwezigheid van admiraal Von Friedeburg bij"Montgomery op prins Bernhard tekende de Duitse bevelhebde Lilneburger Heide. Ze konden zich opber de capitulatiepapieren. Nederland was stellen onder de Britse vlag tot het de veld- vrij dank zij de overgave in de sector van 1 Montgomery, maar daarme~ was de oorlog nog niet voorhij. Na deze capitulatie was admiraal Von Friedeburg overgebracht naar het geallieerde hoofdkwartier in Reims. Hier waren alle papi~ren ·voor·. een volledige capitulatie van alle Duitse strijdkrachten al klaargemaakt, doch de admiraal bleek hiertoe geen instructies te ..liebben-ontvangen. Donitz werd telegrafi~ch:geraadpleegd. Hij zegde toe generaal Jodhtaad~.eims te sturen, maar toen deze op 6 niei- arriveerde beschikte hij evenmin over die macht~ging. Eisenhower zag in wat de ~uitse,legerl~iding van plan was. Ze wilde de ·definitieve overgave uitstellen om nog zoveel m9gelijk militairen in de gelegenheid te stellcn ·naar het westen te vluchten en zo uit fumden van de Russen·te blijven. De Amerikaanse generaal'had er·geen enkel belang bij hieraan meete werken en zich de ergernis van iijn boitdgenoten op de hals :te halen. Joell kreeg een halfuur,bedenktijd, metachter · de deur dezelfde stok·waarmee Montgomery twee dagen eerder al had gedreigd: werden de geallieerde eisen tot een onvoorwaardelijke capitulatie niet ingewilligd, dan zouden alle westelijke linies voor mensen uit bet oosten worden gesloten. Op 7 mei om half twee 's morgens kwam de telegrafische machtiging uit Flensburg binnen in Reims. Jodi kon de capitulatie tekenen, ingaande op 8 mei te middernacht. Deze plechtigheid werd op 8 mei in Berlijn nog eens herhaald. Uitdrukkelijk moest Duitsland ook buigen voor de Sovjetunie. Pas toen dit achter de rug was, werd de capitulatie officieel bekendgemaakt. Over nazi-Duitsland was het dock gevallen. [lJ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Termaat, Adriana B. (Schuurman) Termaat, Peter N. Description An account of the resource Collection contains genealogical, personal, and family papers and photographs documenting the lives and interests of Adriana and Peter Termaat. The bulk of the materials are related to family history and genealogical research carried out by the Termaats, including research notes and materials about places in the Netherlands that were significant to the Termaat and Schuurman families, such as the city of Alkmaar. Other materials in the collection are related to the Termaats' experiences on the eve of and during the Second World War, especially the German occupation of the Netherlands and the Termaats' participation in organized resistance to the Nazis. Also included are materials that document the family's post-war life in the United States, including their public efforts to recognize, commemorate, and honor people and events significant to World War II. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1869 - 2012 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection, RHC-144</a> Subject The topic of the resource Netherlands Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945 World War, 1939-1945 World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Dutch Dutch Americans Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Text Image Type The nature or genre of the resource application/pdf image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng nl Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-144_Termaat_NWS_1985-05-03-Intermediair-Liberation-by-a-detour Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Intermediair Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-05-03 Title A name given to the resource Bevrijding langs een omweg Description An account of the resource Article about the liberation of Nazi-occupied Netherlands at the end of World War II. In Dutch. Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 -- Underground movements -- Netherlands Netherlands -- History -- German occupation, 1940-1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/719">Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource nl Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4f567a0a54f271e282c95f8a8532f692.mp3 f019ca13b2b4c3779c3ac34e0cc9be50 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 Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> 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 Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-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 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Thanksgiving Day Scripture Text I Chronicles 29:9, 29:22, 9:7 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI 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 KII-01_RA-0-20001123 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2000-11-23 Title A name given to the resource Beyond Duty to Delight Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem 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 Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 23, 2000 entitled "Beyond Duty to Delight", on the occasion of Thanksgiving Day, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Chronicles 29:9, 29:22, 9:7. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives