837 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/94d8ac60f0bb89de165a14c60f853544.jpg 2833ed43c8aff79dfbf8ea6e9d790a73 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 RobinsonLora_Photo1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Robinson, Lora Description An account of the resource Lora Robinson, Director of Institutional Research Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College administrators Colleges and universities – 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/bf39b42565269e772daa3d2427ad8cb3.jpg ba2af99f6d238d12b6e82228ffd875d2 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 RobinsonLora_Photo2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Robinson, Lora Description An account of the resource Lora Robinson, Director of Institutional Research Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College administrators Colleges and universities – 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/4d0ab5d50365d55b8ac7f7cae4517e0f.mp4 c7bbeab42830b1b5ab11ca7e7b14e842 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b61c1e4f727018bb80943dd9be584a8b.pdf 53276e1bedc6b4b162a1166fc2cf26bc PDF Text Text Robinson, Michael Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Vietnam War Interviewee’s Name: Michael Robinson Length of Interview: (1:55:33) Interviewed by: James Smither Transcribed by: Chelsea Chandler Interviewer: “Okay, Mike, begin with some background on yourself, and to start with, where and when were you born?” I was born in Grand Haven, Michigan on September 17th, 1947 at North Ottawa Community Hospital. Interviewer: “Okay, and was your family living in Grand Haven or somewhere else?” They just moved to Grand Haven. They were—lived in Chicago until just before I moved, and then when they moved, it probably helped things along. And I was born. Interviewer: “All right. Now did you grow up in Grand Haven, or did you move around?” Until I was—about the sixth grade, and then we moved to Saginaw because my father got a better job. Interviewer: “Okay, and what kind of work was your father doing?” He was a salesman for Construction Aggregates, which is a stone and gravel company, and he ended up doing it over on the other side of the state. And I don’t remember the name of that. (1:02) Interviewer: “All right, and then did you finish high school?” Yes, I did. Interviewer: “And what year did you graduate?” ‘66. Interviewer: “Okay, and what did you do after you got out of high school?” Dodged the draft and went to Delta College for a year in Saginaw. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. At this point how much do you know about Vietnam?” �Robinson, Michael What’s sitting in front of you. I was on a boat, and they told me, “Hey. We’re going in the Army.” And I— Interviewer: “Well, no, but the point when you’re—Before—We’re still at the point in your story where you haven’t gone in the military yet, but you said you were dodging the draft and going to Delta College for a year. So, I mean—” Yes, I understand what you’re saying now. I had an older brother, Steve, that was in Vietnam in 1965, and he had gone through ROTC in the—for the Air Force. And he got orders to go over there, so when I was still in high school, he was over there. And he used to let us know what was going on a little bit. And he was so close to the fighting and all that. (2:05) Interviewer: “Okay, so your impression was that would be good to stay out of?” Yeah, it sure was. It was a very good impression to stay the heck—That’s why I tried to go to the—I was not a very good student, so I went to Delta College for a year. And it wasn’t good for me. Interviewer: “Okay, so basically you leave school, and once you leave school, you don’t have a draft deferment.” Correct. Interviewer: “All right, and then did you get a draft notice?” Yes, I did. Interviewer: “Okay, and what did you do once you got that notice?” I thought about it, and I said, “Jeez. Two years in the Army on the ground in Vietnam, or I could be four years Navy on a ship five miles off shore. I think I’m going in the Navy.” And, of course, that’s not what happened. Interviewer: “All right. Do you remember what time of year it was that you went in?” It was after—It was probably mid-summer or late summer or early fall or something like that. Interviewer: “Okay. All right, so it’s sort of after the spring term or whatever at the college, and you’re out, and…” And now they found out about it. They says, “Ah.” Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now when you went to sign up for the Navy, what kinds— What did the recruiter tell you you could expect, or…?” �Robinson, Michael Yeah, he says, “Make out a list of ten things you want to do in the Navy since you’re going in for four years.” And so—“You have to give at least ten.” So I started listing—And I love photography, so I said, “I want to be a Photographer’s Mate.” And so I listed that up front, and he said, “No, you’ve got to keep going until you get all ten of them filled out.” Well, the last thing I could come up with was a Gunner’s Mate. You know, what he did—Went, “Ah, you’re going to be a Gunner’s Mate.” So that’s how I became into weapons. Interviewer: “All right. Now did you go through a physical, or had you done that already before the draft, or…?” No, I—When I went in the Navy, they sent me to a physical. I did my boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois. Interviewer: “Okay. Now what did the boot camp consist of?” (4:09) Just normal drill, and first they knock you down to nothing and make you feel like dirt. And then they build you back up to be a military person. You know, that type of thing. Interviewer: “All right. Well, what kinds of things do they do to knock you down?” Made us—An awful lot of marching and physical—Lot of physical stuff and lot of training, schooling, and, of course, drills and that kind of stuff. Interviewer: “Okay. Was there stuff on just how to keep your uniform and your—” Yes, we had to learn—Well, I—Yes, that was solely part of it that I had already learned how to take care of myself and keep, you know, my clothes clean and all that. I had a very good mother, and she taught us how to—You do your own dishes, you do your own clothes, and all that stuff, so that helped me because I wasn’t starting from scratch like a lot of these people were doing. And it was easy for me to take care of myself. Interviewer: “All right. What kind of people were you training alongside? Do you have any sense of what their backgrounds were?” Yeah, there was two different styles. One was a—I want to say he was a New Yorker—city of New Yorker—and he’s a, you know, gang, cool, badass. You know, he knows toughness, and another one—The other one was a guy from Tennessee Hills. Real hillbilly. Literally a hillbilly, and he—He wasn’t going to know how to keep himself clean and stuff like that, and then the city guy—He was very hard on him, and he was going to teach the little Tennessee—Little guy. He’s a tiny guy. (6:02) He’s going to teach him a lesson. He’s going to take him into the—what we call the drying room where you wash your own clothes, and you hang them up and dry them in this drying out room. And he’s going to take him and going to kick his ass and make him clean up because we get demerited more. And he went in there, smacking his hand in his fist. He’s going to kick this little, Tennessee boy’s ass. Well, about less than three or four minutes later, the little, teeny, Tennessee guy came over and was hitting him in his face, and we all kind of �Robinson, Michael watched him walk away. And he—Nothing. Absolutely nothing. About ten minutes later, he, you know—The old, New York, tough, badass guy comes in all bloodied and beat up, and—But— Interviewer: “Well, did the guy from Tennessee learn to clean up?” No, he ended up getting out because they—They put him in a—what they called a mouse house. Was trying to get him to do that. He never learned, and he ended up getting out, you know. Interviewer: “All right. Now—And how long was the boot camp part do you think?” I really don’t know. I want to say at least three months or more. Something like that. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. I guess the Army was eight weeks fairly consistently by then, but the Navy could do things their own way.” Oh, no, maybe it was less because I don’t really remember for sure. Interviewer: “Well, it could have been twelve weeks.” It seemed like forever for me. Interviewer: “Yeah. All right. Now did you understand what they were doing at the time— this idea of breaking you down and building you up—or did you just figure that out later?” Oh, I kind of knew about that because I could say I had an older brother that was in the Air Force, and he went through ROTC in college. And he went through some of this, and then we kind of, you know—We would watch [?] and everything, so I kind of knew what they were doing. And I was always going to be the best I could be, so I didn’t get picked on. The more you—The more you didn’t abide by the rules, the more they made you. And so I kind of just said, “Hey. I think I’ll just do the right thing from the very beginning and kind of stay the hell out of everybody’s way.” (8:12) Interviewer: “Okay. Yeah, that seems to be a good approach. All right, so once you finish that, now what do they do with you?” I went to weapons school. It was a big—Big weapons like five-inch .54s and all that kind of— gyros, how to operate the—Do maintenance on the big ships. When they roll, the guns stay stable, and our job was to fix and repair all that kind of stuff. Interviewer: “Okay, and where were you doing the gunnery school?” In Great Lakes. Interviewer: “Okay, so you’re staying at Great Lakes. Now are you actually going out onto ships now, or is this still on shore?” �Robinson, Michael Just on shore. Yeah, we didn’t go on any ships until after we’re all done. Interviewer: “All right. Now are you really firing any of the guns, or were you just working with the gyros and the stabilization?” Yeah, that kind of stuff. We didn’t do any firing while we’re on there. They just teach us how to fix things. Interviewer: “Okay. Now while you’re there, do you get to go off the base at all?” Yes, we did. We did a little bit of partying. Yeah, and we tried to, you know, do the best we could to stay in one piece. Terrorizing the world. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Well, did you go into Chicago or just stay at near the base?” I had some relatives that lived in Chicago, so on weekends I got to go to their house. And so that was kind of a really big thing to have home cooking and sleep in a real bed and that kind of stuff. But most of it was on base, but every once in a while I’d get a weekend where I got to—And I’d even come home some weekends. I was still doing—Back to—I was back to Saginaw. Interviewer: “Okay, and now do you have a recollection of when it was that you finished the gunnery school? Was it still ‘67 at this point? Before Christmas, or…?” I really don’t know. No, I do not know exactly when it happened, but— Interviewer: “Do you remember where you spent Christmas in ‘67?” (10:13) I may have been able to go home. Interviewer: “It’s possible. Okay. All right, so after gunnery school, what’s the next step for you?” Well, they sent us out into the fleet, and I was on a ship that wasn’t even—It was in dry dock, and so I didn’t really get out in the sea when I was stationed to it. And then they quickly sent me on a different ship. It was an ocean-going minesweeper, and I was told once you get on those, you don’t get to get off. And I’m thinking, “Damn. That’s great because I don’t want to go to Vietnam.” Because, like I say, it was going on pretty good then, and so when I got orders for there, I was very, very happy. Interviewer: “All right. Where was that ship based?” I think it was Charleston, South Carolina. I’m not sure, but I think so. Interviewer: “Okay, and did you actually get to serve on that ship for a while?” �Robinson, Michael Yes, yes, and I was very happy. And I ended up being the ship’s diver because they pull probably almost a quarter mile to a—Maybe it is a mile. I don’t know. A very long line of cable. What they do is they—The minesweeper is made out of wood, so they send down the signals and find the mines. And then the cable comes along, and they’ve got cutters on them. They cut them loose, and then they pop up to the surface. We had twenty millimeter cannons on there and one single, and when they expose these tops—pop up to the surface—we would shoot them and blow them up. But they—This was all mock back then, and they would float a fifty-five gallon drum half full of diesel fuel. And you have to try and hit this with this cannon, which was almost impossible, but we… Interviewer: “So what does the diver do?” (12:04) Well, this is why—how I became—Divers are new commanding officer on board. Stopped. Well, the cable doesn’t. It’s still coming forward, and it wrapped around our screws. So we were out there for about three days. Dead water. We couldn’t even go—Getting them into the wake. We had—We got sideways, and we—Because we couldn’t turn on the screws or anything, so we had to have divers come out and cut the cables off the screws so we could get back in. And they says, “Oh, we’ve got to have somebody on board.” And I was a very good swimmer from Grand Haven. “Yeah, I’ll be—” You know. That was another—Don’t volunteer, okay? So that’s—I went to school for that and did some training basically. We never ran into that problem again, so I didn’t really—I went to a lot of training in the rivers. Interviewer: “And was this still near Charleston where you were doing that?” Yeah, I think so. Yeah, because we were in the river so filthy, dirty you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, and so I was—Well, we went down—We were supposed to go down and feel around the screws and see if there was anything around them. Well, it was kind of a weird feeling being pitch-black. And so I did it, but thank god we never came across that. Interviewer: “At least if you were out in open ocean, you might be able to see through water.” I was hoping that. Yeah. Interviewer: “All right. About how long did you wind up staying on the minesweeper?” Supposed to have been forever, and it wasn’t. But I think it was more like—I want to say maybe six months or so. I don’t really know, but I know my officer coming out there so happy. He said, “You’ve got new orders for Vietnam.” And I said, “Kiss my ass.” Interviewer: “All right, so I think we’re getting into 1968 now at this point if you’re there that amount of time.” (14:01) Yeah, latter part of—Yeah, yeah, ‘68. Early part of ‘68. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay, because you get to Vietnam at the end of ‘68, so okay. Now a lot of stuff was going on in ‘68. I mean, you had—I mean, the Tet Offensive went on early in the year, and then Johnson decides not to run. And then Martin Luther King gets assassinated, and eventually Bobby Kennedy gets assassinated. Did any of that stuff get noticed where you were?” I can’t remember right now, but I’m sure it did have some effect on our orders and stuff. But I can’t really remember a whole lot. Interviewer: “Okay. Yeah, but it’s just not something that stands out in your memory because you’re focusing on what you’re doing on the ship at that point.” Yeah, well, I was on the minesweeper. Something must have happened to ramp up the war. We didn’t know about this. I was a very low rank person that—I think things had gotten a little more heated, so when they had to ramp up more— Interviewer: “Okay. Well, I mean, I think some of it kind of is indicated by the nature of your story and what comes next. So you get orders. You’re going to go to Vietnam, but you don’t go straight to Vietnam.” No. Interviewer: “Where do you go next?” Coronado, California is where the West Coast Swift Boats was doing all their training. Well, we went there. There was ten crews of five apiece or six apiece—six people on each boat—and they’ve got ten of us groups like that. And then we all trained together, and we learned—The boat—Because it’s so small—Only fifty foot long. And you can go like this, and two guys can touch at the sides. It’s pretty narrow. That we had to learn everybody else’s job. (16:02) That’s why it took us so long because you had to learn the radars, the radios, the engines, the weapons system, helmsman, how to take care of stuff. And that’s why it took so long. Interviewer: “Okay, so how many months was that?” I want to say it was—Months. I want to say—Seems like it was like three months to me. I don’t remember. Interviewer: “Yeah, that’s quite likely. I mean, the right chronology. ” Yeah, because it was a long time, and then I was so happy. Because we had to also go through survival training where we had to learn how to survive if we got separated from the boat. Interviewer: “Okay, and what did that consist of?” That was pretty hell. We went up to would be [?] up in state of Washington, and the first part of the week—you’re there for a whole week—they don’t feed you. You only—Whatever you’ve �Robinson, Michael got to eat is what you forage, and they teach you how to dig—In low tide how to dig snails or clams or whatever the hell you dig, and I didn’t—And you always had to be doing—Like in a scenario where you’re—You’ve got to be careful, so you only got to go out there at night in low tide. And we would dig—If we got our bucket full—And it was probably about eight inches tall and about six inches in diameter. If we got that full for our group, which is like twelve, fourteen of us, then we could keep digging because they gave us a time period. And you can eat whatever you can get from then on, and, of course, I don’t like seafood, so—But I tried it because you get pretty hungry, and I couldn’t do it. You know, I—And they—That’s what they did, and then, after a while, they’d teach you how to do snares. How to catch rabbits and stuff like that, and so basically—And then, of course, they did how to—If you’re walking down a trail, how to get— You know, if you come up across a VC, how to shoot because you—Right there, all of a sudden, this big thing pops up. It’s supposed to be a VC jumped up in front of you, and you’re supposed to know what to do. (18:14) And you shoot the first one low, so you can see where it hit. And then you bring it up to the height of the target. So that you do boom, boom! Two quick shots, and you only get two shots. So you’ve got to hit it supposedly, and we did that. That was quite an experience, and then after that they—We learned how to do all that, and then they decided that, “Okay. You’ve got to go through a capture stage.” And they gave us a compass and a map and says, “You’ve got to go to Point A to Point B, and you’ve got so much time to do that. And there’s so many of you.” I don’t know how many it was—like maybe four or something like that—and you’re supposed to make that point. If you make it to that point and don’t get captured, then you went to the next point. And you keep—One thing, learn how to use a compass obviously, and that we did very well. In fact, I’m kind of a country boy living up in Grand Haven and stuff, and we lived on an old farm. And so we—I knew how to play in the woods, so to speak, and so I could spot movement. So I knew when to get the hell down and stop and freeze and all that, and so we made it all the way through. And most people didn’t. Most groups didn’t, and after you get all done, we say, “Well, we made it.” And they say, “Yeah. Come on. You’re camping.” They put us in concentration camps anyways just to give us—For the experience of being in a—In that scenario of being captured, and then they start doing a lot of things to you, trying to break you mentally. And, of course, they beat you up and propaganda, and one of the things that I—I have two things I have problems with: small spaces and drowning. (20:06) And that’s—Of course, that’s the thing they work on, of course. “Oh, you’re in the Navy. In Vietnam, there’s water, so…” And they would take you and put you in this box about maybe this wide and just wide enough for your shoulders but just long enough to where you had to—You know, on your hands and knees type thing, and then they’d push the top down until you’re down and right against your—Your face against the floor almost, and then they lock it. And they leave you there, and it really works on your mind. And I played golf in my head to keep me busy, and when I got out, I was a little bit—Probably a little bit screwed up, but I didn’t—They, of course—They’d say, “Who’s your commanding officer?” And they’d keep slapping you around a lot and trying to get you to give your—The name of your commanding officer, and I was so freaking scared I couldn’t remember his name anyway. And then they kept—They did that for a while and then put us in classes again—the propaganda classes—and if you didn’t pay attention, they grabbed a—Of course, I’m trying to always resist type of thing, and I was not being cooperative. He grabbed me by my hair and pulled me out of the room and put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger a couple of times. And I knew that they—God, they’re not going to kill us, so I kind of half-ass believed that they weren’t going to kill me. But you kind of get weird, and then they—That didn’t do it for them, so they put me in a—You know what a fifty-five gallon �Robinson, Michael drum is. You know how tall they are. (22:09) What they did is they welded them—A whole bunch of—Like four of them together so that you’ve got a big, long tube you’re in, and they set the end of the tube—One on the ground and one on a board, and then they shove you down there headfirst. And it’s full of water, and it’s just going over the edge. That way it’s staying flat or almost flat, and you’re standing up. And you can’t get up and high enough to get out of the water, and they wait until you—your last burst of air. And they bring you back down, haul you out, and, of course, you— Interviewer: “Okay. Now it seems like an awful lot of production for somebody who’s going to be an enlisted man on a Swift Boat in terms of—Why are they doing all of this stuff to you?” Because we’re going to be in the area where we’re going to get—Maybe get captured. Interviewer: “That’s possible.” Yeah, very possible. Yeah, and so that was one of their reasons for this was to see what we could take, and I think that was a separation point. Because when we got back from there, they said, “Well, a lot of people got—didn’t—I mean, we’ve got too many crews over there, so we’re going to send you all back to the fleet.” And I think that was when they were—The ones that didn’t make—Because they made us go into a concentration camp where they made you pick up boulders and move them to this pile, and then, “No. Move them back over here.” You know, and they broke you. They did everything they could to break you. They got a lot of people that did break, and they were up there on the walls acting like a chicken and everything. I mean, there were some people that really broke bad, and it was—I think that’s what they were doing. They’re weeding out the ones that couldn’t make it, and so when we got back down to…(24:06) Interviewer: “Coronado?” Yeah, Coronado. Thank you. Going crazy. And that’s when they told us we’re going to go back to the fleet, and I was so happy. And a lot of them did, and there was one more group left that was my group. Five or six guys. And I says, “Hey. Where’s our orders? You gave everybody else orders. Where the hell’s ours?” And he looked down in his office—I was about to go to the office to get my new orders, and he pulled out my papers and handed them to me. It’s the same ones, and he said, “You’ve got a week. Get your—Get everything in order.” And so I called my mom, and I says, “Hey. I’m going after all.” You know, and, boy, she was so goddamn mad at the Navy that—But then went out and got shit-faced drunk, and I was just not—Just about ready to turn twenty-one, so that was in September, and we went off base and got drunker than a skunk. And I ended up in jail somewhere. Interviewer: “All right. Now this is—Coronado’s by San Diego, right?” Yes. Interviewer: “Yeah. Okay, and in general how do the locals seem to view the sailors?” �Robinson, Michael Not very well, not very well. They didn’t like them, and probably—Because we were probably kind of rowdy, and I don’t blame them because we were stupid. But anyways, I got thrown in jail for I don’t know exactly what, but I know we were drinking because I—Yeah, and they couldn’t get out of me who I got my alcohol from, and I kept saying, “Just a minute.” And I’d throw up, and then they did it. Asked me again. I says, “Just a minute.” And they were probably thinking, “Okay. He ain’t going to talk,” and so they—That’s when they kept me overnight and sent me back the next day, and... Interviewer: “All right. So now how do they get you to Vietnam?” (26:01) They flew us after they gave us ten billion shots. You know, they filled our arms full of shots, so they walk you down a line with these guns that shoot into you. They’re not needles. They actually shoot a stream of medicine into you, and after I don’t know how many shots, then they put us on an airplane. And we got to California—Not California. To Hawaii, and they knocked us off the planes to get more shots. And that’s all I thought of Hawaii was get off the airport, go through a line, and get back on, and they shipped us off to Vietnam. Interviewer: “Okay, and where did you land in Vietnam?” I think Cam Ranh Bay. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. What was your first impression of Vietnam when you got there?” That was a stable part of the country with that being the Air Force base there and all that, so I’m just kind of like, “Wow.” You know. Not until the day—Flew us down to Cat Lo Coastal Division 13, and then it was getting a little tighter. And, like I say, I came on base, and I had my duffel bag and all this stuff. I handed it, and he’s, “Oh, come on, come on, come on.” They took me down to the pier, and that boat—The picture of the boat with a big rock in it. He says, “That’s your boat.” And, “Holy shit.” And, of course, I didn’t have to go on that one because it was pretty bad up. Interviewer: “So the boat that you were supposed to go on had just been shot up.” Yeah, he got knocked out the night before. Interviewer: “All right. Now are you joining an existing crew as the new guy, or what’s happening?” Yes, so one person—You know, we went over there as a crew, but they only allow one new guy on a boat at a time because they don’t know how you’re going to react to—Especially as the gunner’s mate, I couldn’t be on the main guns because they didn’t know if I would freeze on them, and so—And that was every—Everybody did the same thing. They did it to all of us. We all went on a different boat, and… �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “All right. Just describe a little bit what a Swift Boat is like. You said it’s fifty feet long, it’s pretty narrow at the beam, and what’s it for?” (28:14) It’s a river patrol boat. Further up north as you go—Because I was always down in the delta area, but up north—the DMZ—they actually patrolled the ocean a little bit, too. And that’s when the North Vietnamese didn’t have aircraft, and they could come over the ocean and knock out them. So they were in pretty bad shape, too, but we just ran the rivers. We didn’t go out in the ocean. The only time we ever went out on the ocean is when we did a one-day patrol, and I was supposed to guard the bases. It was a day off basically. You just tuck around the base, and we would go out to the ocean. And right there—That was, you know, in country in our place it was a pretty safe patrol to have. I can’t remember. I think it was Vũng Tàu. Interviewer: “Vũng Tàu, and, well, that would fit the description. Yeah.” Yeah, I think it was Vũng Tàu, and so we went out—You know, we went out on the beaches partying all the time, so it wasn’t really a patrol, even though we had to go back in behind them. But, I mean, that was all friendly. Interviewer: “Okay, but did you go into the ocean to get from the estuary or one river to another? Kind of in and out of the rivers and the delta?” Yes, every one of them. We would leave the Saigon Basin or whatever it was, and we would travel along the ocean just to get to our patrol river. Interviewer: “Right. Okay, and as a gunner’s mate, what’s your job?” I was fore gunner in the main defense and destruction. Both. We—I sat up high—real high—so I could really see what was going on, and I was the main defense and the main destruction. (30:06) Interviewer: “Okay, and what kind of weapon did you have?” I had—Beginning I just had two twelve—No two twelve. Two .50 caliber machine guns, and as I realized when we would do search and rescue missions—not rescue, but search—that my .50s could not—Were useless because I couldn’t get the guns down too far, so I ended up carrying an M16 behind me and M79 grenade launcher. And so when we pulled up alongside a sampan, I would take my M16 down, and they would—A lot of times they would pull me out of there completely and go down and do the search because I was useless up there with the big, big guns anyway. So they said, “Well, you do the search, and thanks a lot, buddy.” And so I did a lot of the climbing through the sampans and checking for stuff. Interviewer: “All right. What was your main base?” Cat Lo. Interviewer: “All right, and describe what that facility looked like.” �Robinson, Michael The big flotation of piers, and they had barracks there, commissaries, hospital type places, and a big, big warehouse for food because we would have to—When you go on patrol, if you went on a—like a—two and three-day patrols, we would get allotment to have food because we cooked our own foods on board while we were out. And so we had places like that and mess halls and places to drink. Interviewer: “Okay, and how much time would you actually spend at the base?” We would go on a one-day patrol. Then they have a day off. Then we’d go on a two-day patrol and have a day off. Then a three-day patrol and have a day off, and so… Interviewer: “All right, and what do you do during the day off?” A little bit of drinking. Sleeping. Oh, lord, a little bit of drinking. Quite a bit of drinking, sleeping, and have our own bed and all that kind of stuff, so it was kind of nice. You had your own locker, and you had, you know, barracks. It was kind of nice. It was very well—nice—I mean, showers, and that was nice because we didn’t use the showers on more of the boats. We had to just jump in the river, and so…(32:20) Interviewer: “All right. Let’s see. Now did you have to stay on the base?” No, it’s supposedly all friendly around the base, so a lot of people went out. And I know I—One of my favorite foods was—They made french fries using pure butter, and that tasted so good. And so—Of course, it’s like five bucks for a little packet of french fries, but they’d have little— Vietnamese would have a bunch of little stores and stuff to buy and get in trouble in. You know, women and things to buy and places to eat and—But at night we were all supposed to be back inside. Interviewer: “And were there ever problems with Viet Cong in the village?” Yeah, we—Normally, not individually, but one time we were all on base and I was sleeping on my rack, which the house—Or what do you call that? Barracks. Our barracks was long, and mine happened to be way up front by the showers—my bunk—and we heard a mortar leave a—Mortar round. You hear that boop that goes off, and, “Boom!” It hit pretty damn close. I said, “Jesus Christ, you idiots. You’re almost hitting us.” Well, it wasn’t us shooting. It was them shooting at us, and they hit our barrack for that—Our back end, and all the people back there were on patrols. (34:03) So nobody got hurt. The building got damaged, but nobody got hit. And the officer in charge of our base security—Yeah, I seen him in the bunkers and stuff like that and the sandbag area, and he says they— “We know where they’re coming from, and they’re right there. Can we shoot them?” And he says, “Oh, that’s all friendly over there.” And, “No. No, it’s not.” You know. “It’s not all friendly over there.” And we never—They never shot back. They weren’t allowed to, and we went out on—Got on the boats. The duty boat. We’d get on this boat and go behind that area, so—To try and cut them off, and we never did find the people that did it. And— But they never did that again, so, you know… �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay. Did they just fire a couple of rounds and leave, or…?” About six. Yeah, six mortars and left, I guess. I mean, because, I mean, we never found anything. Interviewer: “All right, but there weren’t cases of people going into the village and having trouble with the VC or things like that?” No, no, it—We—Supposedly all friendlies, but yeah. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now do you remember your first mission on a Swift Boat?” Yes, it was the very first Sea Lord Raid. Yeah, I was still fresh in country, and then they—We went up one of these rivers, and then we went off on this canal. And we went in. It’s pitch-black as night, and we chugged up there real slow. We have a radar that we can see where their nets were spaced across the river, so we could maneuver around them. And so—And I can’t see nothing because it’s pitch-black, but the guy in the helm could. And we went all the way up to where—I was going to show you that. Where the VC supposedly had some of our guys captured, and—So we’re supposed to go up, and there’s a T in the canal. (36:05) And we were supposed to go up there and go to that T, and then if nothing happened, we were supposed to turn around and come back out there. But we would get up there and nothing, of course, and the minute we started to turn around they hit us from everywhere. And I was on the—Because I was not out on the .50s, they put me on the bow with an M60 machine gun, and there’s so much light from them because you couldn’t see because there is no street lights or anything like that. So we—The only—Anything you could see was basically from the flash of the guns, and you’re shot at. Flashes of guns, and there was some big stuff that came in, but it went over our heads. And I just shot at everything I—It was—Whatever. And we turned around, and we ran our asses back out of there, I think. And I sat back, thinking, “Oh my god, we made it. Nobody got hit.” And officer says, “Reload. We’re going back in.” I said, “You’re out of your freaking mind.” You know, and an M60 machine gun—You take the handle, and you flip it this way. You can dump the barrel right off, block a new one on, and a nice, new barrel, and that’s—So that’s what I did. I put a new barrel on and reloaded, and we turned around and went back in at full water because they— When you’re out in the ocean—You know, if you get out to Lake Michigan, you can be twenty miles inland and still hear the power boats going, so they didn’t know exactly where we were. But they heard us, but they didn’t know where we were. They didn’t realize we were coming straight at them with exhaust going behind us, and they didn’t hear us coming. So they were out on their—Had campfires going and cooking fires going. They’re outside the bunkers, and they’re—Everybody’s sitting around, and we came in there and started just blasting away. (38:02) We got up to that T again, and we slammed on the brakes. Basically stopped, and, well, here they all was. About twenty feet in front of me was a VC in a sampan. Caught him dead right in the middle of the river, and, you know, it’s like, you know, “What am I going to—” Well, I’m—I leveled my, you know, M60 at him, and I killed him. And we—I don’t know what else we did. I mean, I know we—I did a lot more shooting because we got—We’re still getting shot at from all over, and I know a lot of the times—I don’t know if you see this in some of the movies of Afghanistan where they’re shooting like this, you know, and not aiming. They’re just—And I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of that because we had an awful lot of firepower, so they didn’t want to stand up and be brave because we could—Thing is, we could rip bunkers apart, �Robinson, Michael buildings apart, knock trees down with my—With the .50s, not with my M60, but—So they didn’t—They weren’t too accurate in their shooting, but they were shooting with—You could see the muzzle flashes, and you could hear some of the bullets go whizzing by. But I didn’t—We would just turn around and shot our way out and, “Ah, man. We made it. Second time.” You know, and so it was— Interviewer: “Now was your boat by itself on this mission?” No, we never go on raids—Sea Lord Raids—It’s at least two to three or four sometimes, and I don’t remember how—In our patrol areas themselves, we always have two, and then if we go on the raids, it’s probably three. Interviewer: “Okay. Now you’re using the term ‘Sea Lord’. What does that refer to?” That’s the type of raid that they gave a name to, and it was in the—Out—Go out, and we were going to go do some damage. We know where the VC are. We’re going to go in there and rip the place apart. Interviewer: “Okay. Now as far as you know, did you always encounter Viet Cong as opposed to North Vietnamese troops?” (40:03) No. Never. I have no idea. I just saw muzzle flashes, and that one poor guy in the sampan—I don’t think he was a North Vietnamese regular. I think he was just a regular guy. Was told to— “You shoot at the Americans, or you die. Or your daughter dies.” So... Interviewer: “Okay. Now what proportion of your missions were conducted at night?” I want to say that the heavy-duty ones—the Sea Lord Raids—were about fifty percent because a couple of times—There was a lot of times we did day raids, too. Interviewer: “All right. Now, I guess, you’ve got—You have a—You’ve written a memoir, which we can include actually in the file we’ve made for your interview here, and you talk about a variety of incidents. And another one—a different kind of incident—We talked about—You talked a little bit about going out in the ocean, and if you’re going out in the ocean in a small boat like this, could that be dangerous or at least unpleasant?” Not when you’re out there. Is this when you try to come into—during a monsoon season, coming into that—In the Saigon Basin? Because the waves start coming up the land, and then it gets all huge. They’re bigger than us, and we’re going in—We would back in because the waves were pushing us in, and so you get up to the top of the wave. And you had to power up it, so you didn’t get pushed all the way down to the ground in— back in the boat and get just buried into the ground. So we’d power up it, and as it went by us, we come this way. And then you would try to back up to go up the thing, so you don’t want to hit so hard at the—on the front of the wave. So we had to keep maneuvering forward and backwards and get—We kind of—You know, we had to—Of course, we could thank god we can lock it all up and close it all off, but— �Robinson, Michael So you wouldn’t get buried nose first or ass first into the ground, and we had some people that did. And it’s—That was very dangerous. (42:16) Interviewer: “And when you’re bringing the—Now is the base itself—Does it have a breakwater or something to protect you against the waves?” Yeah, you go around the—Where are base was—Because going up the river basin—That was one thing, but we—Our base is over to the side, and so there was no waves there at all. It’s just a river coming down. Interviewer: “Okay, but you had to get through the area that had the waves first.” Yeah, we had to get through that, and then when we got through that, we were home free basically. Interviewer: “All right. Now what different kinds of missions did you have over the course of your time there?” We had gun support missions, we had troop insertions, and Sea Lord Raids. Types—Things like that. The—We would—Troop insertions we would back them up. When we’d get like—They’d get them like six or eight big, huge sampans or whatever. You called the troops on us, and then load us with a bunch of troops. And we’d go in as shallow as we can, and they—Those boats would go on shallow water, so they would go in. And we would stay out there with our support. My 81 and my .50s and— Interviewer: “Okay. The 81. Explain what that is.” That’s the 81 mm mortar—single-shot—that—You can do couple things with that. One: You could drop the mortar down just like you see on the TV when they drop the mortar, and it goes, “Boop.” Then we also had a tracker system on ours, so if we wanted to kind of lower the angle to where we want to shoot it at something with a different type of rounds, that we could stand it up straight, cock the firing pin back, then drop it down in there. And it would seat, but it wouldn’t go off. So then we could aim it like a great, big shotgun, and we could do…(44:09) Interviewer: “Okay, so you could use direct fire with a mortar—” Oh, yeah. Oh my god, it was a—Definitely a—We only had to use that twice. I only remember using it twice, and it was so devastating that—We were in a bad firefight, and this one bank was just tearing us apart. And he only had an M—.50—One single .50 on his—Top of his mortar, but he had that mortar, too. 81. And I cannot shoot straight behind me, and we were getting hit pretty good. And he couldn’t—He wasn’t—His .50 calibers couldn’t hit everything all at once, so he just leveled that 81 and let that thing go. And the whole bank went, “Whoosh,” and there’s nothing. There was not a single sound after that. Interviewer: “Okay. This was an anti-personnel round or something?” �Robinson, Michael Yeah, it has a—Thousands of tiny, little darts in them. I have them in my hat there, and it shows you what they are. They’re little, black darts that—They’re packed in there, and it’s a 81 mm long round. And probably about that long since there’s thousands of rounds in there, and, of course, as soon as it leaves the mortar barrel, it spreads out like this. And— Interviewer: “Okay. Now is this called a flechette round or a beehive—” Yes, a flechette, I think. It might be called beehive round, too. I think the— Interviewer: “Yeah, but that same idea. A whole bunch of little flying things.” Yeah, it— Interviewer: “So—But a giant shotgun effect.” Yeah, basically. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now the troops that you were bringing in. Do you have—Did you form much of an impression of them or get to know any of them, or would you just see them once and that was it?” I didn’t get—The South Vietnamese I did not get a good impression with because they didn’t have the—They were not there for—They thought that they were fighting our war. (46:06) They really believed that, and, I mean, we were starting to turn our boats over to the South Vietnamese. We were going to—They knew we were going to go—The people that were supposed to go on our boats with us and be training with us. When they found out where we were going, they wouldn’t show up, and so we knew—“Oh, this is going to be something because they won’t even show up.” So it usually was a little bit more of a gunfight than a—That they—They knew. It’s probably their brothers or something, I’m thinking. I don’t know. Interviewer: “Okay, so you take South Vietnamese troops in.” Yeah. Interviewer: “Would you take American troops in as well?” We—Couple of times we took in some of our Marines and stuff like that. I want to say the— Interviewer: “The Navy Seals?” Seals. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, Navy Seals. We were going to go up this one canal that went back to—We know it was a very strong—Big stronghold of the VC, and we were supposed to go up there and tear them a new one. Whatever. And we got part way up there, and we knew this was there. That they had a—They put a barricade underwater about a foot and a half below the waterline, so we take—At slow speed, we take three feet of water. I mean, we have all our stuff—props and everything—hanging underneath, so we couldn’t go up there. And we had like �Robinson, Michael eight tubes almost the length of our boat of C4, and they packed it around that huge, monstrous barricade they had. And then we back off. I don’t know how far. We have a very, very long way, and they detonate it. And the water and everything flew about thirty, forty feet in the air. It was unbelievable, and after they cleared our way, we went in and did our thing. (48:01) And we also had a—We know where the VC were, and we know where the campsites were. And they’re way inland, and we sent some Marines—or Marines or Seals or whatever—inland to capture, I guess, some general. And so we ended up doing a—Running our bow up on the beach real tight, so we were really stable. Got these quick—Read coordinates to where we know we were going to be, and they knew where they were going to be. And we set up our mortars. You have to—It changed the distance that the mortar flies. You have a little—powder bags on the side of them that when you drop them down the mortar, they’d get so much push, and, of course, then the angle and all that stuff they figure out. And—So we were ready to support them, and they were going to go on and do this. Get this army’s general or whatever. And we were waiting I don’t know how many—it seems like forever—before they got on the radio and says, “We got him. We’re on our way out.” And you could hear that they were running, and they were on the radio. And so it’s, you know. Okay. And a little bit—Not too long later, he says, “We need support. Drop some rounds in on our positions right here.” And they told us where it was, and, of course, they were on the run. So once we dropped the rounds, they’re away, and they did that. And we could hear the gunfire. You know, they’re in a firefight, and you could be—Kept telling us that. They did that a couple of times, and then finally he says—He came on the radio very, very excited, and they said that—“We’re pinned down. They got us surrounded. Drop some mortars right on top of us.” “Right on top of you?” So we did, and nothing. (50:07) “Jesus Christ, we just killed them?” And it was like in between the other transmissions there were only like five minutes or so, and this was ten or fifteen minutes. And nothing, so we thought we killed them. And he came back on the radio. “Oh, yeah. We got them. We’re coming on out.” And, I mean, as calm as can be, and they came out. And we were saying, “Jesus Christ.” You know, and you’re smiling and laughing, and one of the guys reaches into his pockets. And he says, “Here,” and dropped it in one of our guys’s hands. It was part of our mortar. “Thanks,” he said. Interviewer: “Did they come out carrying—with a Vietnamese prisoner?” Yeah, I think so. I don’t remember. I just remember them coming up. They’re as happy as hell, and I’m assuming they had because they said, I mean, the whole time—They said they had him, they had him, you know, and they’re coming out with him. And then that last bit when they finally came out and said thanks. That’s all they said, you know, and it’s kind of bizarre. Interviewer: “All right. Now when you’re going up these—You get into the canals and the very narrow waterways. How hard was it to maneuver? What kinds of things did you have to do in there?” Yeah, they were always—When we got into the canals, they—We couldn’t turn around. We had to—If we were going to turn around, we had to ram the bow up on the beach and back off, ram the bow up on the beach and back off, ram the bow up on the beach—Did that until we got turned around because you—It was too—Obviously, the rivers are too narrow to even— Interviewer: “Okay. Would you do that under fire?” �Robinson, Michael Yes. The last one I was on we went up—It was supposed to be—It was going to be four of us, and we’re going to run up this one canal that we knew would belong to the VC. (52:12) And we were supposed to come in with four boats in a row—come in like a lickety-split—and the canal went in at an angle and then did a hard right about—I don’t know. Not very far in but less than a quarter of a mile. And go up there, and it was very, very narrow. And as we were going to go up there, the command boat was the last boat in line, and he was—He wanted to be the lead boat, and we were lead boat. So we had to stop. You take four great, big boats with two twelvecylinder diesel engines apiece and slam on the brakes and throttle back, and the noise it makes is unbelievable. And so we all stopped. The other three boats had to stop, and he went around us. And, of course, then we had to get back going again, and—Because I couldn’t—Canal went up and did a hard right. I could see in front of me, but I couldn’t shoot because of the boats. And I was watching the front boat, and it got to that corner. And the front boat just went, “Bam,” and laid right over on its side. I mean, hit it with something huge, and it laid right on its side. It popped back up and went around the corner, and I said, “Holy shit.” I couldn’t shoot. I could not shoot, I could not shoot, I could not shoot. And then the second one went around, and it’s getting all this smoke. And the fire is so much that I couldn’t see anything, and then the next boat. And when we got there, I just opened up. Didn’t even know where the hell I was shooting because it’s so smoky, and, all of a sudden, our boat goes, “Boom.” We got hit in the—in our port engine. It knocked us down out of the water, and, you know, you’re up at full board. You’re up on the plane, but it knocked us right down to where we just stalled. (54:06) And we went over on our side, and we’re shooting. They knocked out our engine, and so we’re trying to get it started. And we’re screaming on the radio, “Come back for us! We’re down! Come back for us! We’re down!” Well, at the same time, the lead boat was saying, “Turn around and get the hell out of here any way you can. I mean, we’re sinking.” And we thought they were coming back for us, and so we were kind of shooting all the time. And he’s cranking the engine, trying to get it started. Well, it started. Somehow it started. It had a bullet hole that big right through the goddamn thing, and it still started. So we said, “Hey. We’ll take the point,” because we thought we saw them coming back. So, “We got it. We’re okay.” And we didn’t get the transmission that says, “Get out of here any way you can,” so they left. So we went up there all by ourselves, and—“Jesus Christ. An awful lot of fire.” We didn’t know that until we got to a little straightaway and looked back. There’s nobody there. We’re all by ourselves, so I kind of reached down and grabbed the hull and what I only was saying and screaming—I says,“Get the—out of here because we—We’re all alone.” And so he just rammed the hell into it and went, “Bam,” right up on the beach. Then we had to do this to turn around because it was so narrow. Well, I’m—While he’s doing that, I look down, and I’ve got five rounds hanging from my guns. That’s all I had. I only had five rounds, and that’s five out of a thousand or so. So I had another belt down in the deck, but the way a clip loads, you know, you’ve got to have a male and a female type fitting. Then you put a bullet through there, and that’s what locks them together. Before I could hook into the newest set of belts, I had to get everything up, and I’m shaking so hard. And you hear all this gunfire, and, you know, it’s just—You know, I—You just hear it. I mean, I just kept hauling them up, and I’m shaking so hard. And I can’t lay them straight enough. (56:09) If you’re trying to lay them down—And I was trying to lay them down in there. I finally get it to— The blast went up there. Then I can hook into it. Then I had to do the other side, and all this time we’re doing this, trying to turn around. And about the time we got turned around, I got them both loaded. I got in those last five rounds. I look down, and there’s a bunker right there. I never saw �Robinson, Michael it going in, and, of course, I filled the slot. And I—As we went by—And I swung around, and, “Jesus Christ, there’s another one.” And that’s the way it was all the way out, and I shot two—I didn’t—You’re supposed to shoot your short rounds, so you don’t cook your barrels and get them all—And I didn’t. I was shooting at anything, and pretty soon near the end—Of the end of the—Where we got back—Going to go get back out—My rounds were coming out, and my gun’s going about ten, fifteen feet and hitting the water. And the cherry—The redness of the barrels were so cherry-red and totally worn out that I was just making noise, but I don’t know. I still—If you hear a .50 caliber machine gun coming at your direction, you—They probably kept their heads down a little bit, and we got back out. And we got around that corner, and our engine died. And all the shooting stopped, too, so I put my guns up like this. And the barrels were so hot they’re still going off. The gun’s still going, “Bam, bam. Bam, bam, bam,” because as soon as the round chambered, it cooked. We called it cooked off, and it kept going off. And I’m laying back. I say, “Holy—We made it.” And I look down. There’s holes in my gun tub. Where the fuck was I? Excuse me. And, you know, where could I have been? I must have been down getting ammo when they went through, and we got out. And then—Oh, we had—I forgot to say that we had a big TV crew from like NBC or ABC or CNN or whatever that came onboard, and they were going to film this thing. And we knew it was going to be bad because they were going to film it, and he got sick before we even left the dock. (58:24) And he was laying on the port engine cover, and because we got hit in that engine, we thought he got killed because he was just laying there. And then we had a choice to kick him off or throw him onto the starboard engine cover, and we ended up—thank god—We threw him on the starboard engine cover because he was still alive, and he said, “Is everybody all right?” And— Interviewer: “Okay. Now was he—Did he have like a TV camera or just a—” Yeah. Great, big— Interviewer: “Oh my goodness. Yeah, so what happened to that?” He never even got it out. We—He put it inside the boat itself in the inside, and before we even left the pier, he was so seasick he never got it out. Interviewer: “All right. Now do you suppose the unit commander decided to be the lead boat because he was going to be on television?” I’m not going to answer that. I would think it may have something to do with it. Interviewer: “All right. You were talking about encountering bunkers and so forth. Aside from a machine gun, what else could you use against a bunker?” Well, that was my main one when I—we get into that type of situation, but I know that we— When we did other raids, I carried an M79 grenade launcher, but we didn’t—I didn’t use that against bunkers because it’s—They’re not more safe. In other words, mostly rounds like that— They have to be about so many feet out the barrel before they’re armed, and so if you shoot at something too close, you can—The shrapnel can get you. Yeah. (1:00:01) �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay, so what would you shoot at with the M79?” I would knock out hutches and stuff. I could—A football field away at full bore I could drop a round from the M79 right in the doorway. Interviewer: “Okay. You’ve got a story in the memoir about using white phosphorus grenades.” Oh my god. Yeah, this was at—We had this new guy onboard. He was 6’2”, 3”. Big guy. And he had this blue beret on, and he was a real badass-looking dude. And we went in to destroy the— this village. It was all VC. That was the one where the—We moved up the barricade for us. We got to the village, and they were all gone. I don’t know why, and so we’re just going to burn it to the ground. And this white phosphorus grenade is very big and heavy, and he looked like a big, strong guy. And the kill radius of the white phosphorus is like thirty feet, so you had to be—You had to throw it—It had a long fuse—thank god—so you got time to throw it way out there and back off. Well, this guy—He pulled the grenade because he was just going to—We were going to burn up some hooches over there, and he pulled the pin on the grenade. And he wound back like he was going to throw it to the length of a football field, and he ended up getting—throwing it just like a girl. And it landed right beside our bow. I mean, that’s not past our bow but right beside our bow, and, of course, we backed out of there so damn fast. And, you know, two twelve-cylinder diesels going in full. We burst the whole boat. Just shaking, trying to jump to get out of there. We get out of there just in time when it went off. Interviewer: “What happened with him?” He said it was an accident, and he’s going to do another one. (1:02:01) And he went over to the other side. Did the same thing. Five feet. We had to back away, and he said, “Good. That was an accident.” Because—But he’s, you know, real tough guy, and he was going to go throw another one. I said, “No. No, you’re done. You’re not going to throw—ever throw another grenade. You aren’t going to throw it.” And he—Of course, he’s a lot bigger than I was, and he says he’s going to throw another grenade. I says, “No, you’re not.” And he stepped outside the—on the—by the door there to get—And that’s where—Right below my .50s, and there’s a guard, so I don’t shoot my own man. But that barrel was only about six inches above his head, and the tip was right over the top. So that was going to be pretty loud, and he stepped out there. And I shot a six round burst, and it knocked him right down. Knocked him right down, and he—Of course, he called me a bunch of names, and he went out to go to the other side. I just swung my .50s right over his head again, lowered as far as I could go, and opened the .50 calibers again. And he went down and didn’t come back up, and he didn’t throw a—Never threw another grenade, but I know when we got back, they took him off the boat. And we never saw him again. Now I don’t know if they—He went into a hospital because they—I’m sure it blew his eardrums out, and I didn’t know if he went home. All I know is he was gone, and nobody died. And that’s all I could think of is, “You’re going to kill us, and you ain’t going to.” Interviewer: “All right. You’ve got a couple other stories in your memoir about different kinds of characters, and one of them was a new officer who came to the boat.” �Robinson, Michael Yes. Yeah, he—We—Like I say, you don’t have a new person—Only one new person at a time because that way you don’t have any—Nobody freezing, and if they do freeze, you only have one person freeze. You don’t have the whole boat, and he was cockier than hell because he was an officer, you know. We were just enlisted people, and he was being very “I’m in charge” type of attitude. (1:04:08) And he tried to—He wasn’t going to stand any night duty, you know. He was going to sleep, but for our boat to function at night—Was—We usually had one guy on the helm and watching the radar, watching the—Anything around us, and then we had like a bank of three or four radios that we monitored all the bases close by. And so we had two people—You had to have two people all the time, and the rest were just—Slept on the boat somewhere, and mine was the starboard engine cover because it was nice and warm. And—But he would—And we really had a long discussion about him not standing watch, and plus, he wanted to paint our boat nice and pretty. And the whole thing is is when you have a boat that’s all shiny and new, that’s like throwing on a red flag. You know, everyone wants a piece of that new crew, so you don’t paint your boat. And he—We had a discussion about that, and he kept saying, “Well, you made us get the paint. We brought it onboard, and we aren’t going to use it.” And we pulled up alongside—You usually patrol a minimum of two boats in the same river at the same time, so you could back up, you know, and kind of support each other. And during—Sometime during the day, you would pull up alongside and have dinner together or some dang thing, and we pulled up alongside our sister boat. And we were talking. I says, “This character wants to paint our boat, and we’re not going to do it.” And he kind of like—“Yeah, probably not a good idea.” And he says, “Yes, you are,” and, well, we got into a big discussion about that. (1:06:02) And he—I’m getting my stories mixed up here, but anyways, we didn’t paint the boat. And we ended up getting into a position where we were boarding sampans to the—You know, check out for contraband and all that stuff, and we usually locked the boat up against their boat. And that’s when the—I no longer am any good because I can’t lower my .50s there, so they usually have me crawl out on the boats. And we were getting ready to do that, and the helmsman—He, you know, walked the boat right up to it, and then we tied them to us. And then he has a twelve gauge shotgun right by the helm where he pulls off, and he stands there and helps guard while we’re down there. And we pulled up alongside, and we didn’t even tie it up. And something happened. I don’t know what it was, but he was standing out at a very—Almost by the bow there, and the rest of us was just starting to get down. And then—And he hit the throttle, and two twelvecylinder diesels—That boat just leaps right out of the water, and you can’t be—I mean, you can’t stand up. You have to grab onto something. Well, the guy who was standing by the helmsman did this kind of thing trying to grab a hold of something. Well, he—The only thing that was hooked right there was a twelve gauge shotgun, and it was still loaded. And it went off, and the officer up front—He hit the deck, and he got hit. And we find out later—I’ve got to say it. This was a [?], and he got hit with one BB. He didn’t get hit with a whole shot, and—But we had medevac. I mean, he was screaming and hollering and all that stuff, and we went down to the mouth of the river and met a medevac ship. (1:08:01) And we were offloading him, and they kept yelling down at us, “You really did it! You really did it!” “Jesus Christ. Shut the hell up. We did nothing now.” “It’s you that shot him. You did it.” “Oh, Christ.” And, “We don’t know where that round came from.” We said, “It didn’t come from us, man. And, well, somewhere. It came from somewhere. We don’t know.” But he was only gone for three days or maybe less. I don’t know. I can’t remember, but he came back on the boat. “Damn it. He’s a good officer.” But we didn’t have to paint our boat, and he’s—He helped night watches. I mean, he ended up being the best officer we had. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay. How many officers did you have?” One officer onboard. Interviewer: “Yeah, but I mean over the course of your tour.” Oh, I had—I probably had three or four. I know I had at least three because I was on three different boats. But may have had another replacement—Well, he came onboard when I was on one, so at least four then that I had. And he was—Yeah. Interviewer: “Okay. How did you wind up switching from boat to boat? Did boats get damaged, or you just rotate, or...?” Rotate, rotate. They had a new gunner coming onboard, and they says, “Hey. We need you to cover this boat, so we can put him on all by himself.” Because you never want more than one guy at a time, and so we rotated. I was on at least three boats. I don’t remember too much about that. But I know I was on the 28 boat, the 37 boat, and I don’t know what the other one was. But I was on three different boats, and we would—When a new person would rotate in or somebody—Because we came in country at all different times, they would get shipped out, so then we’d get a new guy onboard. Interviewer: “All right. Okay. Now was there—Would the men who were in crews on different boats—If you’re all in the same barracks together, do you know each other, and…?” Yeah, because when we—Like I say, we always—When we were patrolling the same river, we pulled up and made dinner together and all that stuff, and so we knew each other pretty well. (1:10:07) Interviewer: “Okay, so you know more than just the crew of your own immediate boat. You know some of the other guys.” Absolutely, absolutely. We—Like you say, because we would patrol a river with boat 29 or something like that, and then later on we’d end up being on a different boat. We always shift off because we don’t have always the same boat we’re patrolling with, and we—So we had all different boats that we—But our barracks was always the same place, and when we did go back, we partied pretty hard together. Interviewer: “Okay. You’ve got a story in the memoir about, I guess, a new guy coming in at night and not being very happy.” Yeah, this—He was a radarman. I mean, I knew what he was, but he had gone out on base. We just came back, and I was—got to sleep in my own bunk for the first time in quite a while. And he was coming in off of partying at night off base, and he was a big, big guy. And I hear some guy cussing and swearing, and I hear pounding and screaming. And I get up, kind of look up �Robinson, Michael over my bunk, and here’s this great, big, monster guy with a guy hanging off each arm, trying to settle them down. And he’s punching lockers. He hits them so hard they go flying, and I’m thinking, “I’m not going to stop him. Those two big guys are hanging off his arms. I’m not going to stop him.” So I guess I look at my locker and think, “Ah, shit. I’m going to have to clean all this up.” And he was walking down and cussing because somebody—He got drunk and got his wallet stolen, and so he was kind of mad. But by the time he got to where my bunk was, I’m thinking, “Yeah, well, this is it.” His bunk was right across from mine, and he got him in bed. (1:12:00) And then, “Cool. My locker made it.” And the next day we got our new radarman. It was him, and holy shit, he ended up being the nicest, gentlest, loving, hardworking, doing—You know. I mean, he was awesome to have onboard, and we actually became—He was the only one I actually became friends with. We—I went to—He lived in Detroit. I went to his family’s when we got out. He came to my family’s when we got out, and... Interviewer: “All right. You have another story in here about working with a Coast Guard ship.” Yeah. Yeah, okay, that’s a good one. We were down in this one river. I don’t remember names, but right in the center of the big river was a great, big, huge island. And down one side of the island there’s a canal, and he wanted to—They wanted to get their Combat Action Ribbons. Is what they wanted to do. They want to go up there and get shot at. Well, they couldn’t even think about turning around, so they would have to back out. Because they thought they could go straight through, but it got too narrow. And I guess they got in—They got what they were looking for. They got into a firefight with the people on the island, and all they had was one .50 on the left side—or on port—and one was on the right side, you know. And then maybe an M60 here and there, but they had less firepower than we did. And they’re so high off the ground that they couldn’t shoot anything, you know. And so they just screamed at us, “Come back and help me! Help us! We need help!” And so we went on in there, of course, and we did take care of business and got them stopped. But we had to escort them out because they had to back out, and it took them forever because they, you know—In the great, big ship they’re in. Interviewer: “Okay, so what was that boat supposed to be doing?” (1:14:01) Out on the coast. He wasn’t supposed to be on the rivers. Interviewer: “Okay, so you’re looking for sampans, not looking for firefights.” He was looking for— Interviewer: “Well, he was looking for a fight that day.” Yeah, but we do—Our normal thing is patrol the area and looking for sampans and looking for trouble. You know, that type of thing, but he bit off more than he could chew. Interviewer: “Okay. Now are there a lot of islands in the rivers?” �Robinson, Michael Yes, quite a few islands in the rivers. We—One of the rivers that we—It’s probably the very last one in the chain that we normally patrolled, so we spent a lot of fuel getting down there. And so when we—First chance we got to cut in, we cut in just by that island, and we had to go the Army base, which is around the tip of the island. And we hadn’t even uncovered the guns. They said, “Well, we better get refueled to do our patrols then.” Because I think it was a three-day patrol, so we had to refuel before we could even start patrolling. So we were going around that tip, and we—A little bit too close, and we had them open up on us. And our guns are still even covered, and I said, “Holy shit.” You know, so we went straight away, and while we were going straight away, I uncovered my .50s and got them ready to go. And we spun the boat around and come back. I just chewed up the beach, you know, and we didn’t even get hit. And I don’t know what we did, but we never got shot at again. And we went and refueled, and we did that. That was quite an experience. Interviewer: “All right. Now aside from supporting ground troops, what else could you— are the mortars for? Or, at least, you have another story in there about using them, I guess, when you were just using up extra ammunition. ” Yeah, at the—Usually, when we have a long, open sea run, that, you know, salt in the air and all that stuff—You’ve got to—If you haven’t used your mortars in a while, then you don’t want to get salt in there and saltwater in the mortar box, so we sometimes empty it. (1:16:16) And then we say, “Hey. Where’s a good spot to shoot these rounds?” You know, and we—They gave us the coordinates to give us, and so we just sat there and emptied our mortar rounds in this one area. And, I guess—Because they say, “There’s a bunch of VC there. There’s a whole bunch of them.” We said, “Yeah. Okay. We’ll drop them in there.” We did, and about two days later, I guess, a VC Chi Hoi—Is that right? Turned himself in, and he says we hit them pretty bad. And so we did some damage there, and that was just getting rid of the old rounds. Interviewer: “All right. Okay. Do you have encounters with wildlife or livestock?” Yeah, well, livestock was only one thing, but wildlife—We went up in this one river where we— It was a pretty long ways. Where we were patrolling it was long, and at night you can hear our engines. And so we’d go out, and we’d turn around and come back. And we’d go out, turn around, and come back. And they’d listen to us, and we got far enough away. They’d quick go across the river and get—Before we could turn around and come after them, they were already on the other side by the time we got there, so we’re going to be real smart and dropped off two of our guys on this tiny, little island. And that was right where they were crossing, and so we told them, you know, “Let us know when they—” This was when we could first see them getting ready to go and all that stuff, so we went down. And they called back kind of excited—very excited—and so we ran back up there. And they didn’t catch anybody, but there’s, I guess, wild pigs on that island. (1:18:10) And they move around at night, and here these poor two guys with M16s and couple of grenades on them. And, you know, they didn’t—I mean, that’s all they had on them, and they called us up, like I say, on the radio. And, “Come and get us, come and get us, come and get us. We don’t know—” And they couldn’t—They didn’t know what the heck’s going on. They couldn’t see. It was pitch-black, so we get there. And here’s a poor—Guys were backed out of the river up to their waist, aiming their guns at the beach, and then they—And it’s just pigs who scared the hell out of them, and so we didn’t do that again. We didn’t—You’d �Robinson, Michael think we could learn, but pretty cocky Americans. And we were going to get them, but we didn’t really get them. And then we—Couple of times we almost caught—Just at dusk we would come down the river, and we’d come around a corner of an island. And we’d come around the other side, and there’s somebody crossing. And I remember you were going to try and stop him going full bore at them. They kept going. We had great, big speakers telling them, “Don’t lie. Stop.” And stop and all that stuff, and I ended up shooting some rounds in front of their bow, thinking that will stop them. All I know is there’s something coming, and it kept going. And I’d bring him in a little closer, and then he just kept right on going. And so there’s somebody onboard that they didn’t want us to catch, but we—I didn’t shoot him. I didn’t kill him. They made it all the way to the other side, and about the time we got there—the same time—And here’s the boat just jammed up into the brush, and nobody’s onboard. And so I just kind of did damage on the boat a little bit, but we never caught anybody. But...(1:20:03) Interviewer: “All right. There are some kind of standard sort of Vietnam stereotypes and things that come up, and I’ll kind of just ask your perspective on them. One of them has to do with race relations. I mean, was everybody on your boat white, or was there a mix of people in boats?” There was never any trouble there. I don’t know if there were—I don’t even remember. I know a lot of them are white. Most of them are white, but we were—You know, we were crew, and we were brothers. And I don’t remember a whole lot about that, so... Interviewer: “And it wasn’t—The base—I mean, there weren’t a lot of just base personnel or other people that you saw much of.” No. I heard—We heard an awful lot about—In the Army. The Army bases had a lot of problems, but, you know, it’s only six of us on the boat. So you’ve got to be—And, you know, you rely on those six people, and so we never—We had one person that—He came onboard our boat, and, you know, you hear about all this drugs all the time. Well, we didn’t have any of that, and we had this one gunner’s mate who came on our sister boat. And he smoked marijuana and stuff, and we got out into a pretty good firefight. And he didn’t do a very good job. He was higher than a kite, and when we got back, he never came back on the boat. And so we didn’t—I mean, we drank, but usually afterwards. But nothing to jeopardize our people. Interviewer: “Okay. Now you were in Vietnam for a full year. Did you get an R&R at some point?” I was supposed to. Yeah, and I told them, “You know, if I leave this place, I’m never coming back.” So I stayed right in my barracks. (1:22:00) There’s an in country R&R place right by us. I think it’s Vũng Tàu. Is that…? Yeah, and I didn’t even go there. I didn’t even go there. I mean that’s—We—You can—The people that—I mean, they did water skiing and swimming and all kinds of stuff on that base, but I said, “If I leave here, I am never coming back.” So I didn’t go anywhere. I mean, we got to go Australia, Japan, and all kinds of—I mean, people would come back saying, “Oh, man.” And I’m saying, “I wouldn’t come back.” You know, so no, I didn’t go. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “All right. Okay. Now I just want to see—Okay. You mention at a certain point you actually got up as far as Cambodia.” Yeah, that river where that big island is—They had a new PBR for—to go up to Cambodia, and they were stationed where we went and got, you know, fueled. And so we went up there and— To refuel, and we have big gas tanks. And the PBR that we’re going to escort up there had obviously smaller gas tanks, and so they were going to ride in our wake and save fuel. And I don’t know how this ever happened, but we got drinking quite a bit. And they were in our wake trying to, you know, save fuel and their bow slid off our wake and caught in the river and threw everybody overboard. It did an 180 degree—It threw—The only person that wasn’t—didn’t get thrown overboard by the PBR was the guy hanging onto the helm, and the rest of them did. We went back for them, and they went back. And we loaded them back up, and we all got sobered up pretty quick. Interviewer: “Was that an American crew, or was that Vietnamese?” No, American. No, we never did—They weren’t turning over the boats just then. It’s all American, and by the time we got to the Cambodian border where we escorted them to, everybody was sober and dry. And that’s the only— Interviewer: “Now were you on a branch of the Mekong River at that point do you think, or…?” (1:24:16) Oh, we were on one of the rivers. Yeah, I don’t remember which one. I can’t remember which— what the name of it is, but it went all the way up into Cambodia. Interviewer: “Okay. Was it a big river or fairly wide?” It started that way, and it kept getting, you know, smaller and smaller and smaller. And it got faster and deeper, and that was an unusual situation because a lot of times we’d get caught into a whirlpool. And the boat would just sit there, and you’d—You got—We were trying to go forward, and it wasn’t going forward. And so—But usually we could work our way out of it. You know, kind of overpower it. Interviewer: “Okay, but you were—If you’re drinking on that mission, was the expectation that that particular mission was not dangerous, and nobody was going to bother you?” I don’t know the answer to that. I think that’s what we figured it—They’re going up there with no guns on them, so we were escorting them. And it was just going right up the center of the river. We weren’t looking for— Interviewer: “Okay, and then did you bring that crew back with you?” No, no, they went up there, and that’s where their station was. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay, and, of course, you’re there basically in 1969, and the official Cambodian incursion doesn’t happen until 1970. But we’re operating there in ‘69.” Yeah, they were doing it long before I—we went in there. That’s for sure. We were there—Many years before us, and then I went up there. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now you mention at a certain point also working with Marines. Did you actually—I mean, Marines are known mostly for being up in the far northern part of south Vietnam.” (1:26:01) Well, I want to say the Marines. I never met the people, but I was—They were—We went out— Again, we didn’t have a Sea Lord Raid, so we were just going to—For the night we were going to anchor, and we usually go out in the deepest part and the widest part of the river and anchor. And I think we were too close to one bank, and we were anchored there. And I was sleeping on my favorite starboard engine. You don’t sleep inside because if you got hit with a rock or—A concussion would kill you or pretty mangle you. And so we were just anchored there, and we had one guy in the boat. I mean, one on the radar and one on the helm, and we’re basically anchored. And I’m laying there, and, all of a sudden, I hear gunfire. I hear AK-47s and M16s, and, of course, they’re so close together that I couldn’t tell—All I saw was muzzle flashes like this. I thought at first they’re coming at us, so I jumped up to my gun tub, lowered my .50, and was just going to open up on it. And the guy down on the helm banged my foot. He says, “Hold fire. Hold fire.” I said, “What the—What do you mean hold fire? You—” And in that second or two that I held fire I realized that the bullets were going this way—not coming out at us—and so I just—We just stood there. I just stood there and just ready to go any minute because we didn’t know what’s going on. And, obviously, we found out later that—I say the Marines because that’s what I said. I don’t really know for sure, but I—They—A patrol—let’s put it this way— ambushed a VC patrol. They’re going to ambush—They were out on the beach getting ready to set up and ambush us, and they ambushed them. And after the firefight was over with, you know, you’re sitting there. “Who won? What do we do?” And, finally, the—I keep saying Marines. They called us on the radio and says, “We got them.” And he says, “Okay. All right. I think we’re going now.” So we pulled away and got the hell out of there. (1:28:13) Interviewer: “Right. Odds are they were Army just because of where you were, but—” Probably, but I said Marines because—one thing—my—I have a Marine buddy that—We did a lot. He got blown up pretty bad over there, and we—And then we did do a lot of Special Forces people, and so I don’t know. Like I say, I was Navy. I didn’t know. Yeah, they all look alike to me. Interviewer: “All right, but yeah. All right. Now let’s see. The—At a certain point, you got a Navy commendation, and what particular action was that for?” First three months—That’s not for it. It’s for the middle three months. For six months, I mean, in the middle that—And that’s why—I don’t know what officer it was, but he was very—Kept a lot of good records and stuff, and I can’t—I mean, because I never knew—I mean, I’m just shooting, man, and he wrote me up for the number of sampans that I knocked down because I— �Robinson, Michael We’d go in through a place, and I just blow everything up. And bunkers, and we’d just blow them all up and everything. Interviewer: “So basically it was something for just kind of doing your job.” Yeah, exactly what that was, and it was a six-month period he must have been on my boat. And it was—I read it, and it scared me, you know. And the very first firefight I was in, you know, is not in there because it was the middle six months, so those firefights—They’re not in that book, and the last three months are not in. It’s the ones in-between, and those are the two ones that affected me the most. Is the first and the last. (1:30:14) And so that blew my mind when I read that because they put us up in a nice, big parade and—Trying to make it sound glorious. It was— It wasn’t too glorious to me. Interviewer: “All right. Now to think back at the time that you spent in Vietnam, are there other particular memories you want to bring into the story that you haven’t talked about yet?” I know we went to go on a raid that we were coming up the river, and we’re supposed to cut into this one canal. It was daytime, and it was going to be all VC camp back there. And we knew it was there, and they knew too that we were there. And coming up the river we’re coming up fast at full force, so they sound like we would go right on by. And what we did was make a hard left and then go into that canal. Well, soon as we made the hard left, I looked up, and here’s this cable hanging across about this high on me. And, of course, I was screaming down there to— “Stop, stop, stop!” And we came to a stop, and that thing was right up against the gun tub. And we didn’t—If we didn’t—If I wouldn’t have saw it, it would have chopped me right in half, and we didn’t know if it was booby-trapped. Were there claymore mines on both sides of us, so it wiped us all out or what? So once we got stopped, we cut the cable, and then we went up there. And it was all—I mean, people were just standing there with their—They didn’t have time to go anywhere, and so they’re just standing there with nothing in their hands or whatever. And we had a couple of—I don’t know if there were Vietnamese policeman or army regulars, but they lined—They were already lined up. (1:32:01) They made them line up a little straighter, I guess, and they were asking them—We knew it was VC, and they yelled, “No, no, no!” And then—And they killed them, and that’s when they showed us where all the guns were. And we hauled them off, and that was wow, you know. I don’t even know where we took them. I mean, it must have been an army base close by that we took them to or whatever because we picked the army guys or the policemen or whatever they were up close by within, you know, like five, six miles. And we went in there looking for trouble, and... Interviewer: “Okay. In the pictures that you’ve got, you’ve got a shot of what seems to be a kind of—What’s along the shore, but some kind of store or shop or something like that. Was that a Vietnamese operation, or was that on a base, or…?” Yeah. Well, it was a general—Yeah, it was a general civilian grocery store or boat rental or whatever it was. Just a little town, and that was supposed to be always friendly. And we ran into a couple of places that weren’t. I—Something to that effect—I don’t know if that was the picture �Robinson, Michael of whatever, but I’m always up on my gun tub. And somebody opened up on us, and we’re in town. So all I did was just lay a line of fire right over top of the town, and it stopped. And so… Interviewer: “And would you stop at any of these towns and get off, or would…?” The only time we got off is when we blew the heck out of that one company or whatever—I don’t know—and they told us that we wiped them right out. And, for some reason, we said, “Oh, let’s go take a look.” And we got off the—Couple of us got off the boat, and we walked into where they—Where we supposedly wiped everything out, and that was the stupidest thing you could possibly think of. But we did it. (1:34:11) Normally, you don’t get off. Some of the South Vietnamese that we stopped—I mean, we fuel, and we pick up people and do stuff like that. But we don’t normally—We would help them fish. We would—The poor, little Vietnamese boys down with these little throw nets. You throw it in a big circle, and it comes down. And you pull it up, and you get a little minnow or some damn thing inside there. We told them, “Back out of the way. Get out of the water. Get back on the shore.” And we would drop a concussion grenade over the side, and all the fish would float up. And, “Ah!” They’d come over there and grab all the fish because if the big ones—They couldn’t find them. This—That way they’d pull them right up to the top, so we did that a couple of times. Interviewer: “All right. Now did your duties change at all at the end of your tour?” I’m not sure what you mean by that. Interviewer: “Or did you stay off the—I mean, you talked about your last mission, and in the memoir it suggests that for a while they just kept you on shore or at the base.” Well, yeah, after the last mission where I—we got shot up really bad and my gun tub was full of holes—There’s a couple of times I’ve been—Where we were in some pretty bad firefights that I’d go into shock and just—I’d come off of—We came out of a patrol that—“Hey. We did all right.” I’d look around, and from where—my vantage point, I could see everybody’s fine. I’d say, “Hey. We’re all right.” And I climb down, and the guy in the other aft .50 come up and started shaking me. He started screaming at me, “You all right? You all right?” And I say, “Yeah. What the hell’s up, man?” And he says, “You should have seen the tracers going by your head.” So I crashed a little bit during that time, and—But—I mean, now you’ve got me going on this. (1:36:03) Another time we came out of a patrol, and we thought we come out smelling like a rose because we couldn’t—“Nothing’s hit? Nobody’s hit? Cool.” So we’re sweeping the old— The brass off the back, you know, into the river, and the guy who was—The aft gun guy who was cleaning up—And he looks over, and he looks at the back of our mortar box. And there’s five holes in it, and there’s no holes in the front. So—“I wonder where they went.” And so we very carefully unloaded the rounds and kept looking at them, and we found a—See, they’re in cardboard boxes, and the thing is there’s open bags of gunpowder for the projectile part of it. And so if you hit one of those, or—I mean, one 81 mm mortar would blow our boat to hell, and the whole mortar box full—We wouldn’t have been—They wouldn’t even find anything, and so we very gently found them. Very carefully and very gently lowered them over the side and thank god. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay. Now that time when your boat was—It was a recoilless rifle that went through the engine?” Yeah. Interviewer: “And then did that shell not explode? Did it just push right through the engine and out the other side?” I think it blew up inside the engine because we had a hole that big going in, and there was nothing coming out the back sides. I don’t know what—Because the engine covers were opened up this way, so we got out. And, I mean, they’re so tight together that I couldn’t—We—It didn’t hit the other boat—Other engine, so it had to get stopped inside there somehow. Interviewer: “Okay, but if it blew up, it would’ve—You probably couldn’t have started the engine.” I can’t answer that, buddy, because I tell you, Jim, I—There’s so many times that I don’t know how I’m still alive and here. I really don’t. I have no clue because as many times as I should not be here. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now you get now to the end of your tour. How do they get you back to the States?” (1:38:00) I flew back. I was off the boats for the last probably week or two because I was worth a shit because that was the time that they hit that mortar, and my gun tub was all blown to hell. I was useless, and you get—When you first come into country, you’re scared after your death, and you ain’t worth a damn. And then about halfway through, you say, “All right. I’m going to take as many of these bastards with me as I can.” So you—You’re getting a little bit cocky, and then after you get started near the end, you think, “Maybe I’ll make it after all.” And so you start getting a little bit nervous, and it gets worse and worse as you get closer. And so when it was time for me to go, they just— “Robinson, why don’t you take the last week or two off?” I don’t know, and I was just on base. I didn’t do anything, and then they flew me out. Interviewer: “All right. Okay, and where do you land in the States?” California. I want to say—I don’t know the—what— Interviewer: “Would it be San Francisco, or…?” Yeah, something—Must be something like that, but I don’t remember exactly. But all I remember—Coming off the plane, and there’s no barbed wire fences. And it was so cool, and we had such a tailwind that I got back—The next day I had a flight to go to Saginaw, Michigan, and we got back so early that I had enough time to get checked in and got on the plane a whole day early. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Okay. Now when you get back to the States, did you encounter any protesters in the airports or anything like that?” I was blessed in that way because I heard—We heard a lot about that, but on the—In San Diego where we flew in at I think that was a big enough place that they didn’t—And I wasn’t there very long. That I didn’t see anything. And then I flew into my hometown, and there was all kinds of people there. But they were for me, and my little brother—He was supposed to be—go to Vietnam, and I told you he got orders. And I was there, and he didn’t have to go. So he came home on leave the same day from the Army, and I flew in. (1:40:07) And I—The last—From Chicago to Saginaw I flew standby, and, of course, military standby is one thing, but then the veteran—The Vietnam veteran standby gets a little more, and so I bumped somebody. And this is my story in its own. I’m going to tell it the way I have it, and Richard says they don’t know for sure. But I bumped one person obviously, and I think he was supposed to be on that flight coming up from the army base down south somewhere. And he got bumped, and that was fine by me. By the time I got home, we have all the people waiting for me. I got drunker than a skunk again. We—Of course, I—My dad says after about an hour and a half—He says, “We’ve got to go back to the airport.” I—“What do you mean?” He says, “Rich is coming home.” So he’s a bigmouth, and he’s always smart-mouthing on shit. When he got off the plane and saw me— Because he was supposed to do that for me the next day. I wasn’t due back. He didn’t say a word. He couldn’t talk. It was so cool. “Hey, Rich. That’s the first time you ever shut up.” And we got kind of drunk out that night, but we were home for—I had thirty days leave. Plus, they gave me a little more time because whatever, and so we were home for thirty days together. And he went to Germany, and I went down to—I don’t know if it was Charleston, South Carolina and got on these same boats. On base only, so I didn’t have to go back out at all. Interviewer: “All right, and so how long did you spend down there in Charleston or whatever the last part of your—” It wasn’t a whole year I don’t think. I don’t know how long it was, but I remember that they wanted to do a bunch of maneuvers with, you know—“See, we’ve got to give them some practice.” And they’re supposed to go on these—When I went up to what would be island that the training we did in the woods and all that stuff, they wanted me to go in there and help them. (1:42:16) I says, “I’m not going—” You know, we’re going to—We’ve been shooting all blanks, and I said, “I’m not—I mean, you can’t shoot a .50 caliber machine gun or [?] at me.” You know, I was pretty bad, and I probably still am there. And I said, “I’m not doing that. You’re shure out of luck. I’ll take care of the boats.” And that’s what I did. Is I stayed home basically. Interviewer: “All right. Did they make any effort to encourage you to stay in the Navy?” Yes. Malta, south of Italy. The Maltese police were having a lot of problems with drug runners, and they wanted us to go over there and teach them on our—On my Swift boats how to, you know, search and—Search boats and all that stuff. And I was supposed to get a three months early out, and then they says, “No, we’re going to actually extend you.” And it didn’t go over too good with me, and I got kind of a little bit upset about it and told them where to go. And they says, “Well, if you can find somebody that can take your position on the boat, we’ll let you go.” �Robinson, Michael Well, I found a PBR guy, and I trained him on my boat. And then he took my place, and I got to come home. That was… Interviewer: “All right, so once you’ve gotten out of the Navy, now what do you do?” I guess I went into civilian life. I started—The guy I came home was just home on leave, and then somebody was installing carpet and linoleum in my parents’ house. And I was kind of laying on the floor watching him, and so he says, “Do something.” (1:44:07) And so I ended up doing—I went into floor covering for a while and countertops, and then I did all kinds of things like custom cabinet building. I did electric mower repair, and then I ended up writing manuals for machinery for—When the Ford and Chrysler and GM all have these great, big machines in the plants that assemble the engines, I wrote the step-by-step instructions how to operate them, maintenance, and the training on them, so I did that— Interviewer: “How did you wind up with that job?” Yeah, my little brother—the one I went in the Army with—He’s very good at writing this stuff, so he got into that. Well, I like photography, and I wanted to go in the service. That’s what I wanted to be, so I had taken that up after I got out just for playing. And he says, “Hey. I’ve got to go down to this one plant down in Indiana, and I’ve got to have pictures taken. Can you go with me?” And I wasn’t doing anything. I said, “Yeah, I’ll go with you.” And after I was there taking pictures for him and all this time, and he was so swamped at his regular job—This was another plant that—down there. He says, “You’ve got to write the manuals.” “The hell I am.” Because I don’t know how to write manuals, and he got me started. And I kept getting better at it because I always want to do the best I can possibly do. And I got pretty good at it, and the fact is he says, “You know, these manuals are pretty nice. Now you’ve got to teach it.” “I can’t talk in front of people.” And he says, “No, you’ve got to. You’ve got to teach.” So they ended up—And my sweet, little brother—He says, “Yeah, he’ll do it.” I says, “You what?” And I’m shaking like hell in front of everybody, but the only thing I figured out which helped me is I wrote the manuals. (1:46:01) I know every inch of those machines, and so when I got in front of all these people standing there looking at me, I’m like, “Yeah, what do you know?” And I started to tell them that if you have any problems with these manuals, and you have—“If there’s anything you find wrong, and it doesn’t explain it right, you let me know. I’ll kick the guy’s ass.” And then I—And they all—“Yeah, right, you will.” And I said, “Well, yeah, because I wrote them.” And then it came easier because they did have questions, and I could answer them. Well, I did that until cancer got me. Interviewer: “All right, and you have health issues that relate to Vietnam service as far as you know?” Yeah, I started out with mantle cell lymphoma, which is a blood cancer, and lymph nodes—Your lymph nodes try to clean your blood. Well, they swelled up huge, and I tried to get the Army— Not the Army. The military to do something about it, and they says, well, I have to get on a list to get on a list so I can get on the list to get in. And I couldn’t—You know, I’m watching this thing swell up almost—The side of my leg. And I finally went to a private doctor, and he did a biopsy. And he says, “Yep. You’ve got stage four mantle cell lymphoma cancer. You’ve got to �Robinson, Michael start chemo right now.” And I was paying for this for myself, and I says, “I can’t—I’ve got to make the military pay for this because I can’t afford that.” And so I got the paperwork from them, and I went to the VA. And they still—I couldn’t get in, and I slammed that down on their desk and told them what the hell I—What the story was, and they took me in the back room. And I got talking to a doctor, and he says, “Just a minute. I’ll be right back.” (1:48:01) And two, three days later, I was in the ER getting chemo, but I had to—It’s been years. They wouldn’t pay off my initial thing because they says, “Well, you could’ve come to us.” And I said, “You son of a bitches. I tried to come to you, and you wouldn’t—You know, you wouldn’t take me, and I didn’t—I don’t have time to play around.” And so I ended up having to pay for my own original, but they—From then on, they were absolutely fantastic for me, and then I did—I had—I ended up getting prostate cancer after that, and then I ended up having to have a bone marrow transplant. I did all kinds of things. Interviewer: “Now do you think you were exposed to Agent Orange?” Absolutely. I was sprayed with it at [?]. Yeah, we were on a support mission. We dropped off a bunch of troops, and we just run our bow up on the beach. And then we sit there with our 81 ready to go, and we wait and see if they need any help. They—We give them some help, and we’re sitting there. And it started to rain. I kind of look up. I says, “There isn’t a cloud in a billion miles.” You know, and it was the Agent Orange. We got sprayed with Agent Orange, so that was how I got zapped with that. Interviewer: “All right, and did you have some version of PTSD or something along those lines?” Yeah, yeah, quite a bit. I still do. Yeah, I don’t know if that will ever go away or not, but I still jump. And it was worse the first ten years. The first year I had to sleep with a gun, and then the next ten years I would—I’d cry myself to sleep because I was thinking of all the things I did. I killed a lot of people. I killed a lot of people, and I was so ashamed of what I did. (1:50:12) And it was—So I married a woman in ‘71 or ‘72—something like that—and she was a godsend to me. I mean, she helped me the best way she could, but she could stick around so long. And it just never went away, and so after twenty-four years, she had enough. And I put her through enough, so I let her go. And that was in ‘95, and—But pretty much not—It was pretty much nothing like it was at the beginning when she had to go through—I still have nightmares. If it wasn’t for these memoirs that I wrote, it still would have a hold on me. For the first time, I could feel it let go of me. I know what I did, and I know what really helped was the fact that my people—all my people on my boat—came home alive. My people came home, and that’s the only thing that saved my ass because I never looked at it that way because I just looked at what I did and the families I destroyed and the people I destroyed. And for the first time I understood that my people came home, and that was war. That was war, and people die in war. And it took a long time for people to get that through my thick skull, and my little brother was one of them. And Amy here that’s—She’s helped me talk through some of this stuff. It really—I understood that that was war, and I did my job. (1:52:08) And it—And nothing to be ashamed of, and so my people came home. You know, I was kind of proud of that, and that’s when I finally started to get out of this murder realm of cancer and stuff. �Robinson, Michael Interviewer: “Yeah. Now to look back at the time that you spent in the service, do you think you took anything positive out of it?” Oh god, that’s a good one. I know—I don’t know if I can answer that. I was very bitter for so many years, but… Interviewer: “Do you think you learned anything, or gained any kind of perspective, or…?” Yeah, well, that war is stupid. War is stupid, and the only people who get hurt are the little peons. The generals and the presidents and all that and not just our side. I’m talking both sides. They don’t fight the wars. They don’t get all thrown in the nitty-gritty. They don’t die. They just point their finger and say, “You go.” And that’s—I’m a little bitter in that sense. Is the fact that you don’t have a clue what you just told me to do. You don’t have a clue what it means to go over there and shoot these people and kill them. You know, they—Well, they’re—These poor guys that I was fighting were people just like me except on the other side. They were told, “You shoot those Americans, or I’ll kill your daughter.” You know. “Here’s a gun. You fight the Americans, and if you don’t, I’ll just kill your daughter.” And so what choice did they have? And so I have nothing against the Vietnamese people. I do have to do with the generals and those people. I will never be very happy with them because I—You’re not—They don’t have a clue, and what you’re doing right here—I hope to god that this helps people understand that it isn’t pretty. (1:54:16) It isn’t pretty. There’s no honor. You know, they tried to tell me I’m doing this for God and county. I wasn’t doing it for God. That’s for sure. I’m not killing these people, our people, my people for God, and I certainly didn’t think I was doing this for country. Big business. The weapons people, the Agent Orange people. Always making all this money off the wars. I wasn’t doing it for my country. I wasn’t doing it for—And my [?] fight. The six people. That’s what I was fighting for. To keep them alive. That’s—And get them—So they can come home. And for their families. Because that big radarman—Remember that? He was my buddy. He had a family with three kids then or four kids or something like that. They’re Italian, you know, so they have a lot of—And I was so glad that he got to come home to his kids. I was so proud of that, and, of course, we did it together. You know, all of us. Interviewer: “All right. Well, it makes for a pretty powerful story, and I appreciate your willingness to come and share it today. So thank you very much.” Thank you very much. (1:55:33) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27_RobinsonM2286V Title A name given to the resource Robinson, Michael (Interview transcript and video), 2018 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-11-12 Description An account of the resource Michael Robinson was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, in 1947. He graduated high school in 1966 and only attended college for a year before recieving his draft notice. So, Robinson decided to enlist into the Navy in which he trained as a gunner's mate and was assigned to a minesweeper based at Charleston, South Carolina, becoming the crew's designated diver repairman. He was then transferred to San Diego for training in Swift Boats before being deployed to Vietnam. In Vietnam, Robinson was assigned to a Swift Boat unit based at Cat Lo, conducting patrols, searches, raids, escorts, and fire support missions in the Saigon and Mekong River deltas during which he served primarily as a machine gunner. After his tour was over, he returned to Charleston to complete his enlistment. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Robinson, Michael W. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, RHC-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e218f46f4c29a0e281d1a98145fb3aad.m4v 31ef878c64ba2f75c6af55ed3dac293f https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/60e39d05f3fa54fdc257000177f215b6.pdf 07ad7809c34b587ad67ebe59e9e3cfe2 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans' History Project Theresa Robinson Post-Vietnam Cold War 55 minutes 47 seconds (00:00:39) Early Life -Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on September 20, 1955 at St. Mary's Hospital -Grew up in Grand Rapids -Father was the plant supervisor for Packaging Corporation of America -Served in World War Two as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army (00:01:32) Vietnam War & Racial Conflict -Watched the news a lot while growing up -It was a big deal when they did the draft lottery on the evening news -Randomly selected a birthday, and all men born on that day were drafted -Older brother enlisted in the Navy to avoid being sent to Vietnam as a draftee -Served as a corpsman in the United States -There was racial tension in Grand Rapids -Remembers curfews at 6 PM -Remembers the racial fighting happening in downtown Grand Rapids -Went to St. Alphonsus Catholic School and Catholic Central High School -Very few minority students, but she was exposed to poor and minority people -Had no problems with poor, or non-white people (00:05:14) Enlisting in the Navy -Graduated from high school at 17 years old -Started college with the intention of becoming a nurse -Decided that that wasn't for her -Worked at Meijer and didn't enjoy it -An older sister's friend came and stayed with Theresa's family for a little while -Talked about basic training in the Navy -Impressed Theresa and persuaded her to enlsit in the Navy -Went and talked to a Navy recruiter -Signed up to take a test to get into the Navy -Encouraged to go into electronics or another math oriented duty in the Navy -Wanted to be a personnelman so she could work with people -Sworn in in Detroit -18 years old when she enlisted in the Navy -Family didn't approve of her enlisting in the Navy -Father and older brother didn't want her to join -Father felt that women didn't belong in the military -Brother didn't think the military was worth joining -Enlisted in February 1974 (00:10:05) Basic Training -Went to Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida for basic training -Men and women trained together �-Reported to Detroit to go to Florida -Mother saw her off, but her father was too emotional to see her off -Excited to start her time in the Navy -Flew down to Orlando -Sat next to a girl from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan -Greeted by a stern Naval officer -Brought to a bus and waited for more recruits -Same officer boarded the bus and barked orders at the new recruits -Took her by surprise -Arrived at the base at night -Got up at 5:30 AM the next day -Assigned to a training company -30 to 40 women in each training company -Each company shared a barracks -Competed against the other training companies -Basic training lasted nine weeks -Passed her locker inspection without any difficulties -Catholic schools prepared her for discipline and taking orders -Understood the necessity of taking orders -Some women didn't understand why they needed to take orders -One woman washed out after two weeks because she found out that she was pregnant -She was in Training Company 3104 -Had to create a flag and write a marching song for the company -Last training company to be treated like women -Didn't run because it was considered to be improper for women to run -Some of the physical training was cancelled due to the heat -Only did part of the obstacle course -Did swimming tests -Some women were afraid of the water -Did calisthenics in a gym -Learned how to properly march -Stood watch in the barracks -Night before a physical competition a jealous company commander tore apart their bunks -Jealous that Theresa's company was performing so well -Had to get their bunks and lockers organized by 6 AM, the day of the competition -Spent part of each day in classes -Learned about the Uniform Code of Military Justice and took tests on it -Learned about Navy terminology -Taught Navy rank and protocol -Made sure to salute everyone during basic training -Learned how to behave as a sailor -The week before graduating from basic training they received liberty -Had to be back to base by midnight -Went to the fanciest restaurant that they could find and had a few cocktails �-Volunteered to be a squad leader -Encountered hostility from black female recruits because she was white and Polish -Received threats -Offered protection, but she declined -Hostility came as a shock to her -Thought racial conflicts ended in the 1960s -Saw a lot of sexism in the Navy (00:24:15) Personnel School -At the end of basic training she was sent to "A" School -Stayed at Naval Training Center Orlando for that -Made sure that her contract specified two things: -The length of her enlistment -She would become a personnelman -Allowed to come and go with more freedom -Had a room and shared it with only one other female sailor -Spent nights at the Enlisted Men's Club -Learned how to type up paperwork and the proper terms to use in that paperwork -Based on memorization, so it wasn't very difficult -At the end of "A" School you filled out a "dream sheet" (where you wanted to serve) -She wound up getting assigned to San Diego -Remembers one of her choices was Spain (00:27:12) Stationed at Naval Air Station Miramar -Sent to Naval Air Station, Miramar in San Diego, California -Assigned to the Personnel Office for VF-124, a fighter plane squadron -Note: She may have been in VF-121, not VF-124 -Pilots in the squadron trained with the F-14 fighter jet -Most elite fighter jet in the military at the time -Took care of enlisted men's records -Had only one computer in the Personnel Office and only one sailor knew how to use it -Used electric typewriters for paperwork -There were seven enlisted personnel and one officer in her office -She was the newest person in the office -There were only three women and the rest were men -Had some Filipinos working in the office -They all made Polish jokes directed at her -She finally retaliated and made a Filipino joke -Got in trouble and was reprimanded for the joke -Defended herself and called out the double standard -After that the workplace environment improved -Transferred to the Student Personnel Office -Better environment -Gave tours of the base for the new personnel and helped them with any problems -Loved doing that work (00:32:31) Sexism in the Navy Pt. 1 -Didn't have a car and had to walk from her barracks to the office in her dress uniform �-Men cat called, whistled, and yelled obscenities at her -Bought a car just so she didn't have to walk from her barracks to the office -Female sailors were sent to a dance just so they could dance with male sailors -Told to go have dinner with sailors on a New Zealand ship -Didn't behave any better than the American sailors -Ordered to supervise the cleaning of the office -One of the men refused to listen to her orders -Her boyfriend (future-husband) came in and intervened on her behalf -Boyfriend was commended and she was apologized to by the commander (00:36:45) Officers -Worked with a lot of pilots -Easy going and just wanted to fly -Had one officer that was an older man and a fair man -One Master Chief got in a lot of trouble for attacking her at the Enlisted Men's Club -He later apologized to her after he sobered up (00:38:17) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -Grew up a lot -Learned to stand her ground (00:38:28) Iranian Pilots -There were a lot of Iranian pilots at NAS Miramar when she was there -Didn't talk to the American pilots -Didn't talk to the American enlisted personnel -She asked her company commander why there were Iranian pilots on the base -They were being trained with the F-14 and being sold some of the F-14s -Weren't being sold any spare parts (00:39:47) Getting Married -Had been at NAS Miramar for about a half a year when she met her husband -Met him at the Enlisted Men's Club -He drove her to a convenience store on base to get a pack of cigarettes -He even went inside and bough them for her -Got married while they were both still on active duty (00:41:25) Sexism in the Navy Pt. 2 -Men and women lived in separate barracks -Even the women were divided based on sexuality -Straight women were on the second floor of the barracks -Lesbians were on the third floor of the barracks -Received a lot of attention from the male sailors -There were Marines on the base and one of the Marines paid a lot of attention to her -She agreed to go on a casual date and eventually had to fight her way out of his car -Marine officer learned about the incident and apologized to her -Offending Marine disappeared and was never seen again -After she got married most of the harassment faded away (00:45:37) Lost Pilots �-While at NAS Miramar two F-14s were lost in one week -Meant that four pilots were killed -The squadron mourned for two weeks -Planes had gone into a death spiral and the men ejected straight into the ground -Tragedy was made even worse because some of the men had families (00:46:35) End of Service -She signed up for a "2 by 6" enlistment -Two years of active duty -Two years of active reserve -Two years of inactive reserve -Discharged from active duty at NAS Miramar -Did her active reserve duty at NAS Miramar -Once a month on the base -Not liked by the active duty personnel because she was only active reserve -Married and pregnant at the time -Typed up her own discharge papers -Pregnant, which meant she would be discharged and never had to serve -Less than a year later her husband got out of the Navy (00:48:50) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -It was a great experience mixed with bad experiences -Learned to understand the importance of the military -Learned more about the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement -Felt that the protestors were attacking the wrong people -Should have gone after the politicians, not the soldiers -Didn't tell people she was a veteran until later in life -Feels that politicians should be protested, but soldiers should be supported (00:50:53) Veterans' Groups -Got involved with veterans' groups when she was in her late 40s, or early 50s -Got involved with the American Legion -Became the commander of American Legion Post 258 -Still involved with American Legion Post 459 -Commander of United Veterans Council of Kent County, Michigan -Wants to make sure that veterans get benefits and loved ones are recognized -Veterans and loved ones of veterans make sacrifices -Involved with the Kent County Veterans' Millage -Works in the Veterans' Services Office -Staffed by younger veterans -Feels that we owe it to veterans to help them (00:54:04) Civilian Life -Now works as a real estate agent -Has done that for 17 years -Had four children and raised them -Became a real estate agent after she got done raising her children -Even in the Navy she was encouraged to go into real estate � 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_RobinsonT1749V Title A name given to the resource Robinson, Theresa (Interview outline and video), 2015 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2015-04-23 Description An account of the resource Theresa Robinson was born on September 20, 1955 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She enlisted in the Navy in February 1974 and began basic training at Naval Training Center Orlando, Florida in March 1974. She received personnelman training at Naval Training Center Orlando and upon completion of that was assigned to Naval Air Station Miramar, California. She worked in the Personnel Office and the Student Personnel Office for VF-121 (an F-14 fighter squadron). She completed her active duty at NAS Miramar and voluntarily left the active reserves in either late 1976, or early 1977. Theresa was the commander of American Legion Post 258 and is still a member of American Legion Post 459. She is also the commander of the United Veterans Council of Kent County, Michigan and works in the Veterans' Services Office. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Robinson, Theresa Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Moving Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5006e5cea4daa16e1fc47ecf332cd2ea.mp4 d9e392a807df3ca0814a1fb59b65df85 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/6bc6b97fa8e58f6beffa8107a21852b4.pdf 0263c04107638a4c42e445c4a50cb162 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project John Roblin Disc One (1:05:40) (00:25) Background Information • • • • • John was born in Jackson, Michigan in 1924 He was in Michigan during the depression and his father worked for the Michigan Central Railroad Company His father had a job transfer to Chicago in 1931 John went to high school in Chicago and was part of the junior ROTC for four years; he had hoped to go to West Point when he graduated By the time he had graduated, he had already taken the ASTP and had reached the cadet rank of lieutenant colonel battalion commander [training unit rank, not regular army rank] (2:30) The Service • • • • On July 5th, 1944 John was called to join the Army, only weeks after he had graduated Prior to that, he had been paying much attention to the news of the war and they had been registering for the draft everywhere and in 1940 they had begun calling the National Guard Pearl Harbor had been a great surprise to John because he thought the war would be contained to Europe During his time in high school, many students had become concerned about the war and many were working part time to replace the older men that had left for Europe (5:00) Training • John had graduated in 1943 and shortly after was sent to Fort McClellan in Alabama for basic training • He had been surprised to see the discrimination against “afro-Americans” in the South; they could not even sit on the bus together • John spent 14 weeks in basic training where they worked on drilling, rifle marksmanship, working with bayonets, map reading, scouting, and patrolling • He was made active platoon sergeant, which kept him out of KP (10:25) Fargo, North Dakota �• John went to North Dakota Agricultural College for engineering courses • They had 18 months to cover 4 years of material • He got the chicken pox and had to go to the hospital for so long that he could not make up the time in the courses • So he went with some other who had got sick to the University of Iowa to restart their enrollment in the same type of classes • They eventually closed that ASTP because they needed soldiers in the winter of 1944 (12:15) Louisiana • He joined the 44th infantry division and was part of the 71st infantry regiment, Charlie Company • Later John was promoted to Private First Class • They trained in very marshy areas with lots of snakes (14:00) Camp Phillips, Kansas • They went through advanced training here and John made 2nd scout • He got some time on leave and visited Michigan • In July he was sent to Massachusetts to the port of embarkation, where they proceeded to the port of Boston to board troop ships (17:00) The convoy across the Atlantic in July • They traveled with escort carriers, cruisers, and lots of destroyers • They had to take a zig zag course to avoid submarines while the destroyers were dropping depth charges • They had to always wear life jackets and had to practice evacuation drills • No ships were attacked on their voyage • His worked on guard duty and was allowed four meals a day • He learned more about the Navy since he was aboard a Navy troop ship �(18:45) France • John was aboard the first Convoy to go directly to France • They went ashore on landing boats and they were given ammunition as they were leaving the ship • Then they got on trucks and drove to be put into hedgerows • The Company ahead of them was probing for mines, which took days • There were no Germans in the area, though there had been fighting nearby earlier in Normandy • There was much shell damage in the French countryside • There were many enemy and American vehicles damaged on the side of the road (21:30) The Frontlines • John had received orders to move to the front • They marched to a railroad crossing to board some box cars, going from Normandy to the outskirts of Paris • The French civilians were nice and they tried to buy soap and cigarettes from the American soldiers • Then ended up near Strasbourg where they took reserve positions • They fought against German troops, who had a lot of Polish conscripts with them • The Germans who wanted to surrender attempted to do so only at night or very early in the morning (25:45) • John and his men began to pull back to attack defensive positions during the night • They attempted to go back to Strasbourg and experienced heavy enemy fire • John had been leading the men because he was second scout �• They lost contact with the rest of the battalion because they were so far ahead • John got some shrapnel in his knee and his platoon leader was hit also; many of their men died • They were still in the middle of battle when a large patrol arrived and took them to a small village aid station and then to a hospital (30:50) The Hospital • They arrived around the time of Thanksgiving and there were many French men in the hospital also • John received a purple heart, which he sent home to his parents • The Battle of the Bulge had broke out and they were evacuated to make room for others • John went to a different French hospital for a very long time • He had to learn to walk again and he had a very bad limp • John was sent to Paris to be processed and was then sent to a ground force replacement pool • John was categorized as a “profile 4” so he could not be sent back to an infantry unit • He was offered a job as a supply clerk at a desk to process supply records (34:50) Paris • John received a day pass to Paris and local children directed him and the other men around the city • They went shopping and John thought the city was marvelous • He bought cartons of cigarettes to barter with the French; they paid $1 per carton, but in other areas of France they were able to sell them for $30 a carton • They stopped to drink coffee and eat donuts, bought wine and French bread (39:30) The Air Corps Assignment • John was sent to an Air Corps replacement pool in Paris • He was part of the 410th bomb group who were light attack bombers with A-20s and A26s �• John received another job as a supply clerk for the headquarters squadron • He helped them clean their Thompson sub-machine guns because no one else had been trained to do it • All the bombers were flying towards Germany (44:25) The End of the War • John was sent to a replacement pool again in Paris; he thought he would soon be sent to fight in the Pacific • John ended up in Germany as the 9th Air Corps service commander • He was promoted to corporal and assigned to target intelligence • They were disarming German targets such as jet air craft, flak scopes, specialty bombs and radar equipment which they sent to Ohio • Men who had received 80 points were being sent back to the US • John did not have enough points and became corporal senior clerk in Frankfurt (54:20) Rotation • John left his German marks and got on a train towards Belgium • There were barrels of beer on the train on which they traveled in for several days • They then took a ship towards New York and then went to New Jersey for processing • John took another train to Chicago and then went to Wisconsin • He decided that he wanted to go to Michigan State University, but was not able because he was not a Michigan resident • John moved to Manistee and registered to vote in 1946 to establish his Michigan residence • He got a job at the Century boat plant doing upholstery work • John started school at Michigan State University in engineering under the GI Bill Disc Two (1:00:02) (00:10) Engineering �• The engineering courses were very difficult, so John switched to business administration • He worked in an advanced ROTC program for two years for an extra $30 a month • John had already been receiving $85 a month under the GI Bill • In 1949 John was commissioned as second lieutenant (3:05) The Army Reserve • John with the Army Reserve once a week in Lansing, receiving an extra $60 a month • He graduated in 1950 and a week later the Korean War broke out • John had been trying to get a job, but the people that interviewed him were all worried about his commitment to the Reserves • John signed up for another three years of service and got a job making Army trucks (6:40) John Was Ordered to Report to Active Duty on 11/09/50 • He went to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri as part of the 6th armored division, 231st armored infantry battalion for basic training of company C • John helped provide basic training to young draftees working mostly on rifle marksmanship (9:45) Marriage • John applied for leave to get married to his wife, Rosemary, and he provided an apartment for her to stay in while he was on duty (10:30) Artillery Headquarters • John was assigned to artillery headquarters as an operations officer for the 231st • He also worked as an assistant for the Defense Counsel • Almost all the cases that went to trial were for men on AWOL; the majority of the men were found guilty and they were court martialed (14:50) John’s Promotion • John had served his two years as 2nd lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant on 6/15/51 • In July of 1951 John went to California for shipment across the Pacific �• Before leaving he had a 30 day break to visit his wife • He then went to the Travers Air Base for a chartered civilian transport to Japan • They refueled on Wake Island and Hawaii, where they were allowed to venture around • They landed in Tokyo and John was processed for infantry lieutenant leader • He spent time test firing on a rifle range with an M-2 Automatic Carbine • John boarded a ship towards Korea to join another replacement pool of the 24th infantry division • He was part of the 5th infantry regiment of the 24th heavy weapons company (24:20) Dog Company • John was assigned to Dog Company and they made a few attacks with direct enemy fire • John was transferred to Charlie Company and was part of the 1st battalion • They needed replacements because they only had 10 men of a 40 man platoon • John had to train the sergeant and all the other new replacements • In Korea they were always moving forward and the lines were static • They had been trying to straighten the line near the 28th parallel • The men always patrolled at night with about 10 men of a squadron, one Korean soldier for interpreting, and a scout dog (33:15) The Winter • They had to dig out a bunker for every squad and in front they had connecting trenches and fighting holes • They enemy would not attack in sub-zero temperatures and many of their weapons froze up • They received one hot meal a day • Every many was rationed one case of beer a month • The officers also received a bottle of whiskey a month (36:50) Japan �• John received leave to go to Japan during his wife’s birthday and he was excited that he would be able to call her • His company was assigned to the outpost line of resistance duty • They had to set up an ambush and open fired on the enemy • In Japan he was issued a new outfit and they took his gun while he was there • John went to Tokyo and the city was in good condition and much warmer than in Korea • They went to nice restaurants and stayed in a nice hotel (49:40) Back to Korea • John brought back 2 cases of whiskey to share with the other men • If anyone sold the whiskey for more than $5 a bottle, they would be court marshaled (52:40) Kojido • John’s whole regiment was sent to Kojido to guard POWs and relieve units of the 26th infantry division • They were on this island for 2 months and John also received another leave to go to Japan • They went back to eastern Korea to set up defensive positions • Korea was in the process of peace talks • In the summer of 1952 John received orders to go back to the US Disc Three (00:30:31) (00:10) POWs • John had been guarding Korean and Chinese POWs • The North Koreans were very difficult to work with but the Chinese were cooperative • The Koreans had just started a riot before John arrived • The rioters had stormed the gate and tried to break out; hundreds of rioters were wounded or dead (3:25) John is Relieved �• He was relieved from the 5th regimental combat team and sent back to Japan for redeployment to the US • The ship he traveled on was very different from what he traveled on during World War Two • The ship had clean sheets, movies to watch, and a buffet for snacks • John arrived in California and then received a 30 day leave to visit his wife in Manistee • After visiting his wife, John had to report to Fort Riley, Kansas (7:40) Army General School • John was assigned to team F in Officer Candidate School • He became an instructor at the school and trained men in map reading, scouting, and patrolling (9:30) Intelligence School • John started his classes in October and completed the program in one year • He began teaching again in intelligence and map reading • John’s wife enjoyed living in Kansas and he was thinking about trying to get a regular Army commission (16:15) The Korean War Ends • The Army was allowing officers to be released from active duty • His wife was pregnant and they wanted to go back to Manistee, Michigan • John was sent home and discharged on 9/30/53 • He took a civil service exam and became a liquor enforcement officer trainee • John then had an interview for a management position at a new hospital • He got the job and was in charge of the purchasing department • They then built a children’s hospital and John was the manager there, eventually becoming an administrative officer • John took a job as a finance officer in a new hospital and retired in 1983 �."<~~ A~ ··:-C""':-' :" ::.: :.:.:.-::-: .•.• !u . . ~ ~ ;;:, r .. -,.J , \i): I I I .1 � 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 RoblinJ Title A name given to the resource Roblin, John (Interview outline and video), 2007 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Roblin, John Description An account of the resource John Roblin joined the Army on July 5th, 1944 and was part of the first convoy to go directly to France during World War II. While in the service, John experienced a good deal of combat and eventually injured his leg. He spent a long time in a hospital learning to walk again. After John had recovered he was moved all over Europe within different regiments. After John served his time in Europe, he fought in the Korean War. He received many promotions during his time spent in the service. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2007-11-06 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/08f987cb968fd877fb7ef487874e0656.mp4 370acbcfb2cc63189c3ab6381d2efedc https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/47ccab2609663e42cdaa66807bcd9ecd.pdf d1c4e217a55fcd483bb4246c9f3c26e1 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project Dr. Larry Robson Vietnam War 44 minutes 41 seconds (00:00:37) Early Life -Born on June 27, 1937 in Almont, Michigan -Moved to Allegan, Michigan where his father owned a drug store -Went to Albion College, Michigan originally to play basketball -He later got involved in medicine -Went to medical school at the University of Michigan -Graduated from that in 1963 -After medical school he went on to surgical training -Graduated from that in 1968 -Went to Albion College from 1955 to 1959 -Went to the University of Michigan from 1959 to 1963 (00:01:34) Enlisting and Awareness of the Vietnam War -He understood at the time that medical students were expected to serve -Especially after 1965 when the Vietnam War escalated even further -He followed the news about the war very closely -Felt it was better to go into a specialty (like surgery) to avoid getting drafted -He got into a program known as the Berry Plan -This deferred doctors that were in residency for their specialty -Also allowed to pick your branch -Meant a two year commitment in the military -He picked the Navy to be his branch of service -He was married at the time -His wife was working as a teacher in Ypsilanti, Michigan -She supported the idea of him joining the Navy (00:04:24) Stationed in Texas -He graduated from surgeon training in June 1968 -He was sent to Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas shortly thereafter -There were two other surgeons there -It was a small base -He enjoyed being there -Five months later he was told that he was going to be sent to Vietnam to aid the Marines -During his time there he wasn’t given any naval training -Just expected to serve as a surgeon for the Navy -He entered the Navy as a lieutenant commander He had a surgery office and a hospital at his disposal -Taking care of sailors that were on the base -He was able to live on the base with his wife and two children (00:06:24) Training with the Marines -From Texas he was sent to Camp Pendleton, California for Marine training �-Training lasted three weeks -He was part of the Medical Service School -Similar to boot camp in terms of physical training and weapons training -Given training on how to treat trauma related to combat wounds -Getting indoctrinated into the Marines -Remembers doing the same things that Marines did -Physical training -Going into the field for maneuvers and ambush training -Learning how to shoot and maintain a rifle -Getting the same discipline training as a Marine -He was a major at the time, but still at the mercy of the drill sergeants -He trained with other doctors, nurses, and corpsmen -He responded well to the training -He just focused on emotionally and psychologically adjusting to the Marines -He saw the training as being practical -The drill sergeants didn’t bother him -He received training on the triage system -Learning how to categorize wounded and decide who will survive and who won’t -He also received training on the medical transport system (00:09:57) Deployment to Vietnam -Remembers going first to a camp in Okinawa, Japan waiting for a plane to take him to Da Nang -He arrived at Da Nang in the middle of the night -Remembers that the heat was overwhelming -He didn’t have anywhere to sleep -He was sent to a large building that didn’t have any available cots and no toilets -Had to sleep on the floor (00:11:05) Assignment to the 3rd Marines -He was assigned to the 3rd Marines Division -They were stationed in Quang Tri -Seven miles south of the demilitarized zone -He took a C-130 up to where they were stationed -He was stationed specifically at Quang Tri Combat Base -There were eight operating rooms and fifty physicians -They got rocketed every other night -He went to a noncommissioned officer to check in -From there he met with his commanding officer who was a plastic surgeon -After that he found an open cot and settled in -He was placed on a rotating call schedule (00:12:35) Living in the Quang Tri Combat Base -Most of the combat was happening at night which meant most of the work was at night -He treated both American and North Vietnamese soldiers -Recognized that the North Vietnamese were tough and dedicated soldiers -He lived in a “hooch” with three other medical personnel -It had a metal roof and half sides with screens -He hanged up mosquito netting because the mosquitos carried malaria -Kept his flak jacket, helmet, and boots at the foot of his bed �-They had bunkers to go to if they were rocketed -He never got used to the rocket attacks -Had to figure out how to know the difference between friendly and enemy artillery -Quang Tri still had a lot of civilians in it -They were mostly poor, peasant types -They would take care of the base’s trash -Only a few were allowed to come onto the base to work (00:15:23) Medical Work at Quang Tri -He performed surgery the first night that he was there -Remembers that gunshot wounds from the AK-47 and shrapnel wounds were horrific -Casualties were brought in by a helicopter then taken to a triage surgeon -Figuring out who should get treated first and who wasn’t going to make it -Recalls it being discouraging and sad work -Soldiers requiring neurosurgery were taken to a hospital ship for that -Corpsmen ran the rotation schedule -Had a number system that went from 1-8 -1 meant you were the first person on call -8 meant that you were the triage surgeon -It was a twenty four hour job -Most of the days were slow, it was only at night that things got bad -Finding the time to sleep wasn’t the problem, it was actually getting to sleep -The heat made sleep difficult -Most of the time just slept in the operating rooms because they were air conditioned (00:18:26) Changing Units -He developed a great admiration for the Marines -The 3rd Marine Division was eventually pulled out -In its place was the 101st Airborne Division (00:19:51) Working off the Base -Every Wednesday the general would come in and inform them of an upcoming operation -This was so that they were better prepared for an influx of casualties -He never went out to firebases -He wasn’t allowed to leave the base like that because he was a physician -Most physicians got killed because they left the base to explore -On Wednesdays they would go into the city of Quang Tri to a State Department hospital -It was run by the Navy -Its purpose was so that they could treat civilians -Remembers it being primitive, dirty, and crowded (00:22:40) Working in a Medical Battalion -Fifty percent of corpsmen were going to get wounded or killed while in Vietnam -Most of the corpsmen at Quang Tri had already been in the field -Even the ones that hadn’t been were still phenomenal at what they did rd -The 3 Medical Battalion was a separate unit (00:24:11) Morale, Drug, and Race Problems -Some of the Marines were dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder -Some got desperate enough to shoot themselves in the foot -If they weren’t sent back to the U.S. they would get angry and attempt to kill doctors �-He remembers having armed guards outside of his hooch -Nothing happened while he was there though -He didn’t see any drug problems first hand -Most of those cases were handled by the chaplains and psychologists -He worked with other races -There were a high number of black soldiers in the Marines -After Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated racial tensions flared -He was called names and harassed by bitter soldiers -He was afraid of getting attacked, but didn’t resent them for it -He heard about race based confrontations at the platoon level (00:28:24) Diseases -He took two drugs to prevent malaria -One was taken every day for six weeks -The other one was taken once on Sunday -The problem with that one was that it made you incredibly sick -Malaria was much more of a problem in the field -Tuberculosis and hepatitis were also major problems in Vietnam -He contracted both while he was over there -During the monsoon season mold was a major health concern (00:30:38) Communicating with Home -He would send cassette tapes that he recorded home to his wife -She would then record her own tapes and send them back to him -He didn’t get an R&R while he was in Vietnam -He would have had to pay to fly his wife out and it was too expensive -He was able to go to Yokosuka, Japan for a week to escort some wounded -He was able to call home once (00:31:21) Working on the Hospital Ship -There was a conflict between the ship doctors and the shore doctors -Command decided that the roles would be reversed for a short time to equalize the two -He thought being on a hospital ship would be a great assignment -It wound up being terrible because everything was closely monitored and regimented -He spent two weeks on the ship -By the end of the first week he was ready to get off of it (00:32:27) End of Tour and Working with 101st Airborne Division -He didn’t know the exact day that he was going home, but knew when his tour was ending -For the last couple months that he was there he worked with the 101st Airborne Division -The hospital continued to function the same way that it had when the Marines were there -There was a difference in terms of discipline though (Army was more relaxed) -His quarters were near the perimeter next to a machine gun nest -They were never probed by sappers during his time in Quang Tri -During his time in Vietnam he never went down to Saigon (00:35:00) Coming Home -He went to Da Nang and from there to Okinawa -In Okinawa he had to wait five days until he got a plane to go back to the U.S. -He was given two days’ notice before he was sent home �(00:36:01) Reflections on Service Pt. 1 -He formed some incredibly close bonds with people when he was in Vietnam -One man was a classmate from the University of Michigan -He wound up surviving the war and became a cardiologist -It was the first time in his life that his existence was largely unimportant to other people -If he lived or died it was all the same to the other military personnel -Remembers chaplains being important for morale (00:38:06) End of Service -He flew from Okinawa, to San Francisco, to Chicago, to Muskegon, Michigan -He was allowed a few weeks of leave home -He was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Hospital at Great Lakes Naval Station, Chicago, Illinois -Continued with surgery there -Spent six months there -Enjoyed being stationed there -Remembers that it was a large facility -While at Great Lakes he treated a large number of patients -His wife and children were allowed to live with him on base -It was a similar schedule to being a civilian doctor, but he was still treating war wounds -Now he was dealing with reconstructive work -There was an effort to get him to reenlist -He had already agreed to a fellowship at Ford Hospital in Detroit though -If he had stayed in he would have been promoted and given a pay raise -He didn’t want to stay in though, but still respected the Navy (00:41:57) Reflections on Service Pt. 2 -Don’t get into a war -His service taught him how to operate fast -Hopes that we don’t get into another large scale war like that again -He is still bothered by dreams -Avoids war movies and war novels so that they don’t trigger bad dreams -He has a huge respect for the military now � 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_RobsonL1702V Title A name given to the resource Robson, Larry (Interview outline and video), 2014 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2014-11-08 Description An account of the resource Dr. Larry Robson is a Vietnam War veteran who was born on June 27, 1937 in Almont, Michigan. He attended Albion College and the University of Michigan completing surgical training in 1968. He enlisted in the Navy in June 1968 to fulfill his commitment to the military. He was first stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas for five months until he received orders to go to Vietnam. He was trained at Camp Pendleton and was then deployed to Vietnam where he joined the 3rd Medical Battalion with the 3rd Marines Division at Quang Tri. He served as a surgeon for a year first with the Marines then with the Army when the 101st Airborne Division replaced the Marines. After Vietnam he was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital at Great Lakes Naval Station, Illinois for the last six months of his service. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Robson, Larry Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Navy United States. Marine Corps 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/5da2b7d08ef29ae62f15a9b6fda8ee6e.mp4 243309637396203599edfdad69a2ecd8 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5df7d63d8d09b23ac5391f7a001ac2f5.pdf eeb7d8fe4ca0bee4660893e27f3977a0 PDF Text Text Robson, Sally Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Vietnam War Interviewee’s Name: Sally Robson Length of Interview: (38:04) Interviewed by: James Smither and Janet Coryell Transcribed by: Chelsea Chandler Interviewer: “Okay, Sally, begin with a little bit of background on yourself. To start with, where and when were you born?” I was born in Muskegon, Michigan at Hackley Hospital. I graduated— Interviewer: “In what year?” I was born in 1937—January—and I graduated from high school there, went to Albion College, got my teaching degree— Interviewer: “Okay. Now you’re going very fast, so we’re going to roll things back a little bit here. Okay, so what was your family doing for a living when you were a kid?” My father owned a steel company in Muskegon, and we had—I had wonderful parents, and we went to the Methodist church there. And then we had a home on Lake Michigan that I spent six months out of the year in, and then lived in town six months out of the year. Interviewer: “Okay. Now in your—Now you’re a little kid during World War II, and I take it having a steel business during World War II was a good thing?” (1:06) Yes, it was. It was very good actually. Yes, it was. Interviewer: “Okay, and you’re really too young to remember sort of Depression per se or whatever.” No, I don’t remember that. Interviewer: “Now do you have any kind of memories of the war years?” My biggest memory is that—Was my mother and sister and I sitting at the radio and listening to news of World War—I was just little—and my mother with tears coming down her cheeks. And I remember feeling bad that my mother felt bad because I didn’t really understand what was going on. I had cousins on Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal and one that flew over Africa, and my father had cousins in the war. So it was a very sad time. It’s scary. Very scary. �Robson, Sally Interviewer: “Yeah. Now were you doing well enough that you weren’t really affected by rationing or things like that, or…?” I do remember buying war bonds. You know, going to school and buying war bonds, and I don’t remember rationing really. It maybe happened, but I don’t remember it. (2:09) Interviewer: “Okay. All right, so now—So, basically, now did you—So you go through the school system in Muskegon. So what year did you graduate?” I graduated in 1955. Interviewer: “Okay, and then—And you went to Albion after that.” Yes, yes. Interviewer: “All right, and then trained to be a teacher.” Right. Interviewer: “Okay. Why Albion?” Well, I didn’t really want to go to college at all because I wanted to stay home. But I was such a home person, and so—But my sister intervened and said to my parents, “You better make Sally go away to college because otherwise she’ll be here the rest of her life.” Interviewer: “This was your older sister? What was her name?” My older sister, Nancy, and she died a few years ago. She lived in Petoskey, and we were very close. But anyway, so I chose Albion just because it was a Methodist school. I’d heard about it through my church, and that’s really why I chose it. Interviewer: “And was Nancy in college herself?” Yes, she went to Hope College for a year and then graduated from Michigan. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now—Good. We’re interviewing you in part because you wound up being married to a doctor who served in the Vietnam War, and we’re getting— recording stories who went through—So at what point in your life do you meet your husband?” I met him really my freshman year at Albion, and we started dating our sophomore year and got pinned. And that was it. Interviewer: “Can you explain what ‘got pinned’ meant because a lot of people today will not know what that means?” �Robson, Sally Oh, that’s right. That—You wore a pin. Your husband’s fraternity pin. He was a Delta Tau Delta, and I was a Delta Gamma. And I was in a sorority, and so you got pinned, which meant that you were engaged to be engaged kind of thing. Interviewer: “Okay. Now did you get married after you finished school, or while you were still in school?” No, we got married after his freshman year in medical school. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now were you in the same class at Albion?” Yes, we were in the same class. Interviewer: “All right, so he starts medical school, and where does he go to medical school?” (4:15) Michigan. University of Michigan. Interviewer: “All right, and so what did you do then right after you graduated?” I taught school in Walled Lake, which is a town near Ann Arbor, and lived with two other girls there. And it was fun and wonderful, and— Interviewer: “So wait. This was before you got married?” Yes, a year before we got married. We didn’t get married because Larry wanted to make sure that he was secure and could get through his freshman year of medical school, which I always knew he could. But he was worried about that, so… Interviewer: “What did you teach?” I taught second grade. I loved it. It’s just—Loved it. Interviewer: “How big was the school?” My school? Interviewer: “Yeah, the one you were teaching in.” Oh, gosh, I don’t know. It had two second grades, I know, and lots of—You know, it was a great time really. I had a lot of fun. Interviewer: “All right, and so did you just teach for the one year, or did you stay around?” �Robson, Sally No, then when I—When we got married, I taught in Ypsilanti at an Erikson school, and there I met some wonderful friends. So then I taught then until Larry—Until we—Until—Through Larry’s first year of internship, which was here at Blodgett Hospital. Interviewer: “Okay, so how long did it take him to get through medical school?” Well, it was four years. Interviewer: “It was four years. Okay. All right, and then he had an internship and then a residency?” He had a year of internship, four years of general surgery residency, then he went in the service for two years, and then took a year of residency in vascular surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. (6:17) Interviewer: “Okay. Were you teaching all the time that he was doing that?” No, no, I didn’t teach after I had my son. Interviewer: “Oh, okay, and when was he born?” He was born in 1964. Interviewer: “Okay. All right. Now in the period there where, you know, you’re married and he’s going through his medical training and then the internship and the residency and so forth, did he know he was going to have to go in the service at some point?” Yes, he had signed on. He went to Detroit. He had to sign on for the—It’s called a Berry Plan, and so that guaranteed that he, you know, wouldn’t be drafted right away. That he could finish his residency in general surgery. But he knew then that he had to go into the Navy for two years. Interviewer: “Okay, and so what year did he actually go in?” Let’s see. That would have been what? Would have been in 1968, I believe. Yes. Interviewer: “Okay, so your son was four years old.” Yes, he was four, and my daughter was a year old. Interviewer: “And their names are…?” Bill and Becky. Interviewer: “Okay. All right, so as he’s going through his residency, the Vietnam War is heating up substantially.” �Robson, Sally Yes. Interviewer: “All right. Now had he chosen his branch of service already? Did he know—” Yes, he chose the Navy. Interviewer: “Why the Navy?” He said he liked the uniform. Interviewer: “And how did you feel about the uniforms?” Oh, well, they were fine. Of course, I wish he hadn’t gone at all. Interviewer: “Yeah. Okay. Now basically—So when—So you were already basically living in the Grand Rapids area at the point when he actually has to go off into the service, or…?” (8:13) No, no. No, no. We—He went into the service after his residency, and we were sent to Corpus Christi, Texas for his first year of Naval duty. And we lived there for seven months with our children, and then he was called to go to Vietnam. Interviewer: “Okay. Let’s go down to Corpus Christi now. You’ve got two kids. You’re going down there. What kind of setup did you have? Did you live on base? Off base?” No, they didn’t have officer housing at the time, so we bought a house, which wasn’t—Was nice at the time, but there were problems afterwards. I’ll just put it that way. Interviewer: “Yeah, well, you weren’t going to be staying there very long.” Well, we—No, just two years—we hoped—and we didn’t—When we moved there, they said, “Oh, you won’t be sent to Vietnam. Nobody from here has ever gone to Vietnam.” And then, of course, he got his orders, and I cried a lot. And you know. Interviewer: “Yeah. Now during those years before you went down there and you knew he was going in, were you paying much attention to the news and following what was happening?” Oh, yes. Oh, yes, we certainly were. It was a very scary time. Interviewer: “Okay. Did you yourself have any particular attitude of the war during that period?” I really felt—Because my parents—You know, we all talked about it a lot, and at the time we felt that our country was doing the right thing. You know, at the time. It’s easy to look back and say, “Well, we didn’t.” But at the time we felt it was the right thing to do. (10:06) �Robson, Sally Interviewer: “Right. Okay, so really the prospect of Larry going in—It’s just like, ‘Okay. It’s what he signed up for. It’s his duty. We’ll just do that.’” Right, right. Interviewer: “Okay, but in the meantime when you went down to Corpus Christi, then they’re starting to say, ‘Oh, don’t worry. You don’t have to go to Vietnam.’” Right. Interviewer: “Well, Vietnam had gotten pretty ugly by then, and we needed more doctors. Okay, so what was daily life like in Corpus Christi while you were there?” Well, I had my children. Larry worked on the base. I would take my children either to the—It was really hot. We moved there in July. It was really hot. So I took my children to either Padre Island—you know, the Gulf of Mexico—and we would picnic there and whatever. Or I would take them to the officers’ club. They had a pool there, and we would swim there. And we didn’t go out for dinner very much at all. My parents came to visit, Larry parents came to visit, and I cried when they left. I mean, I felt like I was at the end of the world. You know, you’re at the tip of Texas, you know. It’s, you know—I did not like my time in Texas at all. Larry did because he got to go hunting, and, you know, that was okay. Interviewer: “So you’re in your own house. Is there—Are there other military wives around you, or…?” There were a few streets over, and we did get together with people. And I was in an officers’ wives club thing, which was very nice, and that’s how I got to meet people. And that part was very nice. Interviewer: “Okay. Now when you got there, did you get to meet some of them right away?” Yes, I did, and that was so helpful because I didn’t—We didn’t know a soul, you know. Interviewer: “Yeah, and then did they—What kinds of advice or information did they give you?” (12:04) I don’t know. Of course, for me, it, you know—I had my kids, and that was wonderful. And Larry, as I say—He enjoyed his time there, and then we met a lot of doctors and their wives. And next door to us there was a lawyer and his wife who—He was drafted into the service. He wasn’t happy about that, and they were nice. But there was no one on my block that I could talk to. Interviewer: “But now your kids are how old now?” Bill was four and Becky one. They were little. �Robson, Sally Interviewer: “Right, so that’s really hard to move that far away from your folks, and—” Yeah, it was hard. Oh, it was awful. Interviewer: “Yeah, and there’s no school community to become part of because there’s too young at that point.” No, because he was too young. Interviewer: “Yeah. Okay. Did you have a church down there that you went to?” Yes, we did. We went to a Methodist church, so that was nice. Interviewer: “Yeah. Now did they provide much for you, or…?” Not really, no. Interviewer: “Okay. You just went there on Sundays. What kind of schedule was Larry working?” He worked every day, was on call every other weekend, on call at night. The first week we got there he had to stay on the base, and that was scary to me because I was all alone with my kids. And I didn’t like that at all, but that’s what you did, you know. Interviewer: “All right. Was the culture—the way of life—down there different from what you were used to?” Oh, it’s very different there, you know. People are different, I think, in Texas. You know, they’re, I think—It’s a generalization, but I think they’re a little phony. The people that lived on my block, and—But, you know, they were friendly people, too. I don’t know. Interviewer: “Yeah, but it really did not feel like home at that point.” (14:07) No, not a bit. No, not a bit. Interviewer: “All right. Now—So when Larry gets the call to go to Vietnam, and you—Now what do you do?” Well, I cried a lot, and then—Well, and then I was embarrassed to think that I had cried when we moved to Texas because I didn’t like it there. So then I felt terrible because it was so much worse what was happening. But then I moved back—Flew back here with my kids and went to my parents’ house in Muskegon, and they wanted me—I stayed with them. I lived with them with Bill and Becky and a dog for almost that year that he was gone. Interviewer: “What did you do with the house in Texas?” �Robson, Sally Oh, we sold—Well, we rented it, and then a year later, the people were going to buy it. And a flood happened. Or no, I mean a hurricane happened, and it leveled the house. So we lost a lot there. Yeah, that was kind of awful. Interviewer: “Yeah. No flood insurance coverage or anything like that for that kind of thing?” No, no, nothing, so yeah. That part wasn’t so good, but it happened. Interviewer: “Okay, so Larry heads out. Now what kind of contact or communication did you have with him once he was gone?” I only talked to him twice that year, and he called me once from a ship. And he called me once— He had gone to Japan to take an injured person there, and so he called me then. But we did make tapes, and I sent them every week. And then we wrote to each other every day, and so that was mainly our communication. Interviewer: “Did you know he was going to call, or did the phone ring and you picked it up and it was him?” I didn’t know. Yes, the phone just rang, and it was him. (16:05) Interviewer: “That must have been amazing.” Oh, it was, and then when you talked on the phone from Vietnam and the operator was there, she would break in if you were saying something—Like I said to Larry—He was on a ship, and I said, “Oh, I hear a typhoon is coming.” And the operator broke right in and said, “You’re not allowed to talk about that.” And then you’d talk, and you had to say, “Over.” You said something, and you said, “Over.” It was very odd. Interviewer: “Yeah, it was a radio communication set up kind of like using hand radio type. So it’s like you talk, and then they have to switch over so the other side can hear. Yeah.” Yes, yes. Yeah, it was weird. Interviewer: “Yeah, not ideal in a lot of ways.” No. Interviewer: “Okay. When you wrote to him, what kinds of things did you tell him?” I just told him about everything we were doing and, you know, who I saw. And the neat thing is is that Larry wrote Bill and Becky letters, and a couple Christmases ago, in their stockings I put �Robson, Sally those letters. And they loved that. I mean, that was very touching, and they got very emotional about it. But that was nice that I had those letters to give to them, so… Interviewer: “Right. Yeah. Now when he’s talking to you or writing to you, I guess—So when he’s talking to you, I guess, those two times on the phone, there’s somebody listening. But when he wrote, what kinds of things would he say?” He told me what was happening, and he, of course, did not like what was happening over there at all. Well, they were pretty awful. In fact, you know, they were upsetting, to say the least, and my sister would say, “He shouldn’t write about those things to you because they’re so awful.” But I was glad he could to express himself, you know. Those are very hard times. They were hard times, and so at least I had that. I had the nicest mailman who would come say, “Oh, here’s a letter for you.” You know, it was really nice, and it was wonderful that my parents had me live with them and my children and our dog. They couldn’t have been more wonderful. (18:10) Interviewer: “Was it hard—I mean, could you talk to anybody about the contents of the letters?” Well, my parents and my sister, and I had aunts that lived across the street. And they were wonderful, too. I had some marvelous support group with my parents and my aunts and my sister and her husband and Larry’s parents, too. I would go to their house every so often with the kids, and they were wonderful. Interviewer: “Did they live in Muskegon, too?” No, they lived in Alaiedon. That’s where Larry was born, and they lived in Alaiedon. So I would go there, and so it was—You know, that part was wonderful. Interviewer: “Okay. Now at this period—A lot is going on in ‘68 into ‘69 at home as well as in Vietnam. How aware were you of some of the whole anti-war movement going on?” Oh, I was very aware. I would go like to the bank or to the store, and they’d say, “Oh, you’re husband’s in Vietnam? Well, he’s going to be a changed person when he comes back. You won’t even recognize him. He’s a—He’ll just be awful.” And that was scary to me, of course, but, you know, because of our letters and our tapes, he sounded fine, you know. Interviewer: “Yeah. Well, that was one of the kind of stereotypes that was already starting to pop up by that time, you know, based on not always a whole lot of evidence or what happens to some people but not others. I mean, Larry was serving primarily on a hospital ship, right?” No, no, he was just on a ship for two weeks. He was on—He was right in Quang Tri on the base there. Interviewer: “Okay, so we do have an interview with him on file. I should have looked at that before, but, anyway, if you’re interested in this, yeah, you can watch her interview and �Robson, Sally his. Yeah, so he’s there, and that’s up. And that’s very far north part of South Vietnam, and there was a lot of fighting going on there. And so he’s seeing a lot of things go through there. All right. Okay. Now did people—Did you ever get any kind of trouble or negativity from people in the sense—Because on the one hand, they’re saying, ‘Oh, bad things can happen to him.’ But were they also negative just to people who were there at all?” (20:15) No, I didn’t get that. I did not get it then. Interviewer: “Now after he came back, did you encounter any of that?” Well, yeah, Larry did. He—When we moved back here—you know, that was a couple years later—a friend of ours asked Larry to speak to a youth group at—Downtown. At the Methodist church downtown. And he did, and people were very angry that they’d asked him. People at the church were angry that they’d asked him to speak. They did not like that at all. That probably was the only time that—You know, as I say, I’d run into people at the store or wherever before when he was in Vietnam, and they would tell me awful things about their politics or whatever. And that was scary to me, but I—That was what I ran into, but then Larry ran into this other thing at the church of all things. Interviewer: “Was he speaking about Vietnam?” Yes, he was, and they, of course, were very much against the war. And they just didn’t think that he should have been asked to talk there. Interviewer: “All right. You were also part of the time in which the women’s movement had really taken hold that came out of the anti-war movement. Did that have any impact on you that you can think of?” No, I don’t remember that at all. I really don’t. Interviewer: “I mean, I guess, do you remember sort of news about women’s liberation and all of that kind of stuff, or was that just out there somewhere?” Yes, it just didn’t affect me. Interviewer: “Yeah, I guess you’d already been a professional yourself by this time, and you were college-educated. And you were doing what you wanted to do, so might not have registered in quite the same way as with some of them.” Right. No, it didn’t. Interviewer: “Yeah. Okay. Now what about the civil rights movement? Now that’s the same era, too.” (22:05) That was when we were in college. No, when we were in Ann Arbor, and, you know, I remember watching it on TV and thinking how awful and whatever and thinking, “We should go �Robson, Sally and do something.” But we didn’t. You know, I mean, we thought about it, but—So that really didn’t—I mean, it affected me in a certain way, but I never went through with anything. Interviewer: “Okay. Now when Larry’s tour in Vietnam ends—and that would get you into ‘69—did he still have time left in the service?” He did. He had four months left in the service, so we were sent to—He was sent to the Naval base in North Chicago, and we lived there for four months. And our son was in kindergarten, so he left Muskegon and went to the—To a grade school in North Chicago. And… Interviewer: “Is that the Great Lakes training station?” Naval. Or—Yeah. I don’t think it’s there anymore. I don’t think— Interviewer: “Well, there’s something there, but not—But a lot of it has closed down. The Navy does a lot of its training now in San Diego, but yeah.” Right, right. Interviewer: “But yeah. But it was a big—At that time, it was a very big base, and there was a lot of training going on at its hospital and all the rest of that.” Oh, yes, yes. We would go and see the men. They would—It was in the spring, and they would sometimes take them outside. And I did take my children to a sailor graduation, hoping they’d remember it, but they didn’t. But—Of course. Also gave them their first train ride, which they don’t remember either, but… Interviewer: “Did you socialize there on the base?” Yes, yes. Then I— Interviewer: “So you were living in—on the base itself?” On the base there. Yes. Interviewer: “That must have been a little bit easier than Texas.” It was much easier, and yes, I met a lot more—And I became—I joined a doctors’ wives’ group there as well, and that was nice. We had friends from here that came to visit us while we were there, and our parents came. And so that was nice, and I was, of course, very thrilled that Larry was out of that horribleness, you know. (24:17) Interviewer: “Okay. What kind of effect did the experience seem to have on him? I mean, they’re warning you, ‘Oh, he’s going to be all different,’ and so forth.” �Robson, Sally He—You know, it didn’t seem like it bothered him. I mean, of course, it—Things troubled him terribly, but he didn’t show it. When he got off the plane, I remember, I gave him the keys to the car, and his hand was shaking. So he couldn’t put the key in the keyhole, but other than that, you know, for a long time, you know, he talked about it a little bit to me. But he didn’t really want to talk about it, which I think a lot of men don’t want to, and—But then when we—Then we moved from North Chicago to Detroit so that Larry took his vascular surgery residency there, and he— Then the Fourth of July came, and we went to a fireworks display. And that started nightmares. That was awful because when he was in Vietnam, they would send rockets up every thirty seconds or something. And that’s when his nightmares started. Interviewer: “How long did they last?” Well, you know, through the night, and then, you know, that was kind of it. But, you know, he doesn’t like to do fireworks because of that. Interviewer: “Yeah, but I mean was there sort of just a—Would he have—Was there a period in his life there where he would have nightmares regularly, or was it just kind of a— Triggered by that particular thing for that particular night?” Right, right, and he hasn’t had many of those. Just on the Fourth of July. (26:05) Interviewer: “You were sort of in a situation where you’d been kind of the boss of the family while he’s gone because even—although you’re living with your parents when you’re in North Chicago, to some extent—but was it difficult at all for you to—” No, I was thrilled to get—The minute he came home I forgot everything I knew. I mean, really, it was—Yeah, no, it wasn’t difficult at all. I suppose— Interviewer: “Happy to turn the responsibility back to him.” Yeah, that was wonderful. Now I probably shouldn’t say that, but it’s true. Interviewer: “If it’s true, it needs to be said. Okay, and then let’s see. So you had a—It was basically a year in Detroit for that residency?” Yes, a year. Interviewer: “Okay, and then did he have a job lined up after that?” Yes. Then we came back here, and he worked at Blodgett Hospital and St. Mary’s. He divided his practice into two places. Interviewer: “All right. Okay. Now when you’re back here, and you’re kind of settling in and meeting people—And there’s a whole generation of doctors who did military service in that era. A lot of them had various versions of the Berry plan, and then—And, I guess, the �Robson, Sally circle that you associated with or whatever—Were there other doctors who had done the same thing that Larry did?” Just one other, and he was a general surgeon. And they were friends of ours before, and they went to Germany. And so he had to stay in for three years. If you chose a place that was not under attack, you had to stay in for three years, so—But he—This other fellow was the only one that had to go to—We knew older doctors who had been in World War II, and their plight was much worse than ours because they would go for two to three years without ever hearing from anybody. And their wives didn’t hear from them. (28:16) Interviewer: “Well, they could still write. They just might have not have been very good at it, but yeah, because they were going in for the duration. And in Vietnam, things were on a calendar, so you did it that way. Okay, so I kind of asked that question in part because you—So you didn’t really have anybody else to kind of compare your stories with or experiences with. It was just sort of something that happened, and you went on.” Right. Interviewer: “Do you think that the experience changed his perspective at all either about the war itself or politics or just how he went about things?” I don’t think so really. I mean, he just knew that he had a job to do, and, you know, he’s not a politician by any means. He just—I mean, he took an oath to help people, and so that’s what he did. I mean, it kind of was as simple as that. Interviewer: “What about you? Did his experience and your experience together change your opinions about the war or politics or the world at large?” No, you know, what I—Truthfully, at the time we believed it was the right thing to do. Looking back now, obviously, it was not. It was—I mean, I worried about him terribly, you know. I was told that if anything happened to him, I would hear from the Red Cross, and—Before it was in the paper. But, you know, in a paper every other day it would say, “Quang Tri rocketed,” and that’s where Larry was. And that just scared me to death, and I must say when Larry had been gone about—to Vietnam, about four weeks later—You know, my mother was very proper, and we always ate at the table. (30:13) And she had breakfast, and we all went to breakfast. And I started just—I think I had a sort of mini breakdown, and so my mother put me to bed. And my children were rubbing—Patting me. And my mother called the doctor, and he came. And I don’t remember what he did now or anything, but I just stayed in bed like for that day. I just kind of couldn’t come to terms with it all because it was very frightening, you know, to have your husband in a war. And so I— Interviewer: “And Bill was only four when he went.” Four and then five when we lived— Interviewer: “Did he ask her, ‘Where’s Daddy?’ And—” �Robson, Sally Oh, yes, and then what’s interesting about that is that when we would send tapes, the first tape we sent—Bill loved to talk into the microphone, and so he did say, “Daddy, have you been shot yet?” Interviewer: “Oh, jeepers.” I know. I’ve got a tape. “Daddy, have you been shot yet? I hope you’re not shot.” And that—I didn’t realize he was thinking about that. That was helpful to me to talk to him about—You know, you could see the news every night on TV and see what was happening, and so we talked about that. You know, about how safe or whatever his father—And, see, I thought my husband had a gun with him. He didn’t. He turned it in. He didn’t want to be responsible for the gun, but I thought he did. And I—That made me feel better to think he was safer with a gun. Interviewer: “Okay. Now you’re talking about television news, so were you regularly watching a TV news through that whole period?” Yes, we did. Interviewer: “Okay, so you didn’t just tune out after a while and decide not to—” No. Interviewer: “But—And then your son would also see that going by, anyway, and it was there. Because I’m a little older than he was, but, I mean, that was something that had a very profound effect on me to the point where I didn’t want to watch the evening news.” (32:11) I can understand that. Interviewer: “Yeah, I was like eight or nine, but it was sort of—” You know, I don’t know if we watched it all the time, but I certainly remember sometimes that we did. And I’m sure it was scary, but Bill thought it was kind of—You know, he’s a little boy, and he thought it was kind of exciting. You know, I didn’t, but I wanted to know what was going on, too, you know. And Becky was too young to realize. She didn’t really even know her dad when—She was just two—barely two—when he came home. Interviewer: “How did she react?” Well, there’s a—You know, when she—When he was in Vietnam, she—We took my kids to the airport when he was flying away, and so she’d say—She could barely talk, and she’d say, “Daddy in ky.” You know, “in the sky”, and so when he came back, you know, she was fine but a little bit standoffish, you know, because she didn’t know who this man was. And, of course, Bill was thrilled to death to have him back. We have darling pictures of when he came back, you know. They’re really cute. �Robson, Sally Interviewer: “Okay. It’s different when soldiers come back today than it was when Larry came home.” Oh, yes. Yeah. Interviewer: “What do you think about that and how we treat veterans now compared to— ” Oh, well, I think how wonderful. You know, they get to Skype. They get to talk every day if they want to. I think it’s a wonderful thing and how lucky for them that they have all these new devices, you know, to help them. (34:03) Interviewer: “And then you also have the community itself. Is a lot more positive towards them.” Oh, yes, so much more. Yes. Interviewer: “Yeah, I mean, would it sort of—Would—You just dealt with people generally in the community. You know, Larry’s back, and he’s a doctor and this kind of thing. Does it sort of not come up that he was in the service or in Vietnam?” No, not very often. Not really. You know, I’d heard about people spitting on doctors and, you know, doing terrible things. That did not happen where we were, so that was a good thing. Interviewer: “Yeah. Now in the communities where you were living—whether it was Muskegon while he was gone or Grand Rapids afterward or in Texas or in Chicago or whatever—did you have a sense that people were generally supportive of people in the service, or…?” Well, I did because, you know, in Texas we were with military people, and in Chicago we were with military people. And they were—I actually loved that part because—and in Texas—I loved the aspect of people in the service who were so dedicated. I found that very impressive that all these people were so dedicated to working in the service and, you know, were behind anybody who was in the service. I really liked that aspect of meeting people like that. Interviewer: “Okay, and then if you’re in Muskegon or in Grand Rapids, is it more just indifference, or…?” I think it was. You know, people—I don’t think—Of course, Larry didn’t want to talk about it, you know, so people were very nice. I didn’t find it any different really. Interviewer: “Yeah, and these were not, you know, areas with big colleges in them or places that would be hotbeds of unrest or whatever.” No, no, no, not a bit. �Robson, Sally Interviewer: “Yeah, so you don’t have that part of that in the community in that way, so yeah. So, I guess, if you look back on the whole experience now of having your husband go off to war essentially and come back, how do you view that, or how do you think that affected you?” (36:14) Well, I just wish—and Larry would say this too—that there should never be another war. It’s horrifying. It’s horrible. It’s—I mean, I still can’t imagine what Larry went through. I mean, I can to a certain extent, but it was so awful. I mean, they would have what they—These body bags, you know. They would dump these, and then he also treated the North Koreans— Interviewer: “Or Vietnamese.” Or the Vietnamese, but also the—And they would, of course, want to kill you as much as look at you, I guess. That was a very awful experience. People will say, “Oh, didn’t you learn a lot?” And Larry said, “Yes, I learned you don’t go to war.” You know, and I—You know, I think that’s true. It only affects me in that I had someone that I loved be in a war that was horrific, but I’m very proud that he did it. He did what he was supposed to do, and he did it. And I’m proud of him for that. I really am. Interviewer: “All right, and do you think that you kind of grew or changed at all because you had to go through it on this end?” Well, I guess I hope I did. You know, I don’t know, but I think I did a bit. You know, I feel like I’m still the same person in most ways, so… Interviewer: “But you did have to take care of two kids by yourself with support from family, but still. That’s different.” Oh, I did. Yeah, but, you know—Yeah, but I—But it was—But, you know, I just loved it. I loved being with my kids, you know. That is not a hardship to me ever. No. Interviewer: “And they still talk to you.” Yes, they do. That’s the best part. Interviewer: “All right. Okay. Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us today.” Well, thank you. That was lovely. (38:04) � 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_RobsonS2295V Title A name given to the resource Robson, Sally (Interview transcript and video), 2019 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2019-02-15 Description An account of the resource Sally Robson was born in Muskegon, Michigan in 1937. She graduated from high school in 1955 and began studying to become a teacher at Albion College and taught second grade in Walled Lake, Michigan, after graduating. In 1969, her husband, Larry, enlisted into the Navy and moved his their family down to Texas during his Basic Training. When he was sent to Vietnam to work as a doctor at a base in Quang Tri, Robson and her children moved back to Muskegon and lived with her parents. After returning from Vietnam in 1969, Robson's reunited family moved to Chicago where Larry worked at the Great Lakes Naval Station before moving to Detroit where Larry started his vascular surgery residency. A year later, the family settled into Grand Rapids where Larry worked at both Blodgett Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Robson, Sally K. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Coryell, Janet (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, RHC-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e4711cf6a4992ac48e7252e805702f72.jpg ad6cf79bf4af4cd922c098c39a861328 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_LS00877 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-05-07 Title A name given to the resource Rock City, Tennessee Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of Robert Merrill and Audie Merrill standing with Flora (?) in front of Mushroom Rock in Rock City, Tennessee. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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 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/1a5d1b4ea46722f148713bd525868ba7.jpg 2d1c5df022bf53e4dd0816f5938422e2 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_LS00878 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-05-07 Title A name given to the resource Rock City, Tennessee Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of Audie Merrill, Flora (?) and Robert Merrill at Gnome's Overpass in Rock City, Tennesee. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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 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/0221dc421274eb17987651b5035df2af.jpg 6df0dd8a35b23d4a84cf69168be2600a 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_LS00879 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1940-05-07 Title A name given to the resource Rock City, Tennessee Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of Audie Merrill and another person stanidng on an overhead bridge in Rock City, Tennessee. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 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 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/33790cdf833d9e032772ef6339d05b77.jpg 3128cb9adafb1ed952117b19d180363f 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_LS00334 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1930-1941 Title A name given to the resource Rock glyphs Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of petroglyphs found in Parral, Mexico. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides Hidalgo del Parral (Mexico) Petroglyphs 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/40c22e6fa4439aecddfb51132badbeac.jpg 1cba1f0bced48b7db5566b18715f8a54 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_NE_54_1917_008 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1917-11-03 Title A name given to the resource Rock North Kaaterskill Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a tiered rock wall near Kaaterskill Falls, New York. Subject The topic of the resource Kaaterskill Falls (N.Y.) 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/d7f159f9bc772149c653ef1c5f165beb.pdf 2e3554de0ca536024d8ae79b39df19ff PDF Text Text Rock Solid – Soft Center Meditation for Marvin Bottema Text: Psalm 16: 8; Romans 8: 31, 35-39 Richard A. Rhem Spring Lake, Michigan March 2, 2013 Prepared text of the meditation I suspect, to the extent that you know Marv Bottema well, you will understand why I have entitled my meditation “Rock Solid – Soft Center.” Does that not describe him? Was he not solid as a rock – settled, secure, unmovable when it came to his trust, his values, his commitments? He was the rock solid center of his family and, throughout his life, responsible, dependable faithful. Of course, it was in his genes. Son of Gerrit and Johanna could be no less. But it was more than that; his life was deeply rooted in God, the God of the Psalmist, the God revealed in Jesus Christ. As always, I chose the Scripture lessons that were reflected in his life. They happen to be among my favorite passages as well, but they were chosen because they were lived out concretely in Marvin’s life. Psalm 16:8 – I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. The English translation misses the image of the Hebrew text which is, literally, “before my face” – I keep the Lord always before my face. What do you suppose the Psalmist is saying? God fully in his consciousness 24/7? Probably not. I don’t even know what that would be, what that would entail. This is poetry and don’t you suppose the poet is trying to bring to expression the fact that his whole being is shaped by his awareness at deep moments that, aware or not, he lives in a “God-shaped” reality? God is the source, ground and goal of all being. The poet believes that, trusts that. Paul on one occasion speaks of God in whom “we live and move and have our being.” God, the unspoken Presence, the backdrop, the foundation that gives us our being so that there is no secular and sacred. And we don’t have to signal in every situation, every conversation, that God fills our mind and heart. © Grand Valley State University   �Rock Solid – Soft Center Richard A. Rhem Page 2   In fact, I’m a bit allergic to those pious ones whose language is replete with God’s latest miracle in their lives. This was not my friend, Marvin. No, his deep-seated spiritual grounding did not need to be expressed; it was simply the constant center of his being. It informed the total experience of his life in labor and leisure, in the family or at Burger King. He got a head start; he chose his parents well. His traditioning, his spiritual formation, was deep; it started early. And, when it is deep and authentic, one never gets away from it. One doesn’t put it on like a Sunday suit (although Sunday suits are not put on so much either anymore!) I am perhaps belaboring the point but, as I too grow older and can see the end, I become acutely aware of the critical importance of early formation, being nurtured through a lifetime of worship in the community of God’s people. That was Marv’s story. A life of faith in family and church and community – in Sunday school, consistory, and keeping the spotlight on the church Bell Tower. He loved the church. He hung in there a long time. On day I was in Grand Haven and received a call on my cell phone. The Cross was coming down. Since I was close I drove over and parked at the edge of the parking lot as the bucket truck was getting into position. I thought of Marv whose scrapbooks were filled with local history of community and church. I called him – 842 2958 – one of the numbers in my mental file. In hardly any time his pickup drove up. He moved with more quickness than I had seen him move for some time. His camera at the ready, he documented the event – for him a cause for great sadness. In Marvin I saw how much so many had invested their lives in the church community. I saw how much he and so many cared. I felt his loss. This is just one vignette illustrative of the deep spiritual rootedness, commitment and devotion of this one whose life we celebrate today. I will think of him on Good Friday when I hear the cross will be placed again on the Bell Tower. He will be pleased – maybe even joining the angel choir for an anthem – Lift High the Cross! I have set the Lord always before me… Thus sang the poet; Marv’s life said an Amen to that. Rock solid he was, immersed as he was in a God-consciousness that needed not to be spoken about because it showed all over. And the story gets even better: He had a soft center. Was there anything he wouldn’t do for his children or grandchildren? Many the times I stopped by and one of you was borrowing or bringing back the pickup or the Pontiac. Or maybe buying a new washer and dryer for the farmhouse. And those are just a couple of © Grand Valley State University �Rock Solid – Soft Center Richard A. Rhem Page 3   instances I can remember, but it was a way of life. He never ceased caring, providing, aiding in any way he could because he was soft at the center – a pushover as it were – and that was no accident. By “Soft at the Center,” I mean there was Love at the Center. The Epistle lesson, Romans 8:31, 35-39, expresses beautifully exactly what we have been talking about from Psalm 16. For the Psalmist – The Lord always before my face – was described by St. Paul as the God who is “for us.” And further: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? And then he lists the possible assaults on our human condition and concludes, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And then one of the most beautiful acclamations from the apostle: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. Marvin was soft at the center for his whole universe was soft at the center. The center is Love; the last word is love. Love is the final reality – as the writer of the first letter of John affirmed – God is Love. And nothing will separate us from that love – nothing in life, nothing in death. With God always before one’s face, the God who is love, one grows rock solid in all life’s circumstances, while being soft at the center, emulating the God who keeps us in all life’s experience secure in Love Divine. One more thing: I must say to you – sons and daughters, grandchildren – you are a very beautiful family. When I would say to Marv, “You have wonderful kids,” he would say, “That was Thelma’s doing.” And I would suggest he was probably a little bit responsible as well. But my point is you have returned the love and care that you learned from your parents. It always warmed my heart to witness it. I will miss him and I will miss you. We have had some beautiful moments – around the kitchen table, on the deck, in the yard celebrating the sacraments of Baptism and The Lord’s Supper. You are a wonderful © Grand Valley State University �Rock Solid – Soft Center Richard A. Rhem Page 4   family. Stay close. Keep alive those meaningful traditions and celebrations we have shared. I have come to love you very much. And so we say farewell, good and faithful servant – Rock Solid/Soft Center. He has entered into light eternal, into the joy of the Lord, together again with all he loved and lost awhile. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. © Grand Valley State University � 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 Meditation for Marvin Bottema Scripture Text Psalm 16:8, Romans 8:31, 35-39 Location The location of the interview Spring Lake, Michigan 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-0-20130302 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2013-03-02 Title A name given to the resource Rock Solid - Soft Center 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 Text Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 2, 2013 entitled "Rock Solid - Soft Center", on the occasion of Meditation for Marvin Bottema, at Spring Lake, Michigan. Scripture references: Psalm 16:8, Romans 8:31, 35-39. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Community Faith Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f4381edb050d43dd0617fa454d1d48ad.mp4 a26998620d19f5a2e24aec0c02359141 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9bc8756a789699f6b8cdd9f7db6c516d.pdf 026971fca51360817e84e59bb1f6e34a PDF Text Text Frederick Rock (1:20:07) (00:09) Background Information • Frederick was born on November 27, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan • He was in his second year of college at the University of Detroit when he enlisted in the Air Force • Frederick wanted to fly planes and some of his friends were also joining (4:20) Training • He went to Chicago and then down to Texas • Frederick attended B-25 training school for a couple months • He trained with Tail Gunners • They went to Wichita, Kansas for more training • Frederick was then sent to Florida and assigned to be a Flight Engineer on the B-17 • He went home on a leave and was late getting back so they made him do KP all night and took away his Staff Sergeant stripes (16:16) Deployment • They were a replacement crew that was being sent to north Africa • It took them a couple of weeks to get to Oran, Africa and they stayed there for about a month • Frederick then flew to Foggia, Italy • There was 10 people in his crew and he was the Top Turret Gunner and Flight Engineer • They shared the air field with the British • He slept in a tent with 3 other people from his crew • They used airplane fuel for heat • The Air Force had civilians do the cooking and he thought it was good (24:40) Combat Missions • Depending on the weather sometimes they would fly 2 to 3 times a week �• The first third of the missions were rough • His first mission was to Vienna, Austria • Their missions lasted for 6 to 8.5 hours • They mostly flew at 26,500 feet • On his first mission they forgot to turn on the electronics for the bombs and so he had to go out on the catwalk and release them • On a mission to Ploesti Oil Field the #1 engine propeller mechanics were knocked out and they lost control for a little while • Frederick started his missions on July 7, 1944 and his last one was on January 17, 1945 • He did 35 missions, but some of the rough ones counted for 2 so he had 50 total • They had the same crew until towards the end of the missions when they got a new pilot and co-pilot • Their bombardier was killed on another plane • His plane was hit by 88mm shells, they went through the wing and the main fuel tank and then exploded above • His crew was in the 348th squadron of the 99th bomb group [probably the 97th, since the 99th was based in England] (36:55) Living Conditions • He could send and receive mail • When Frederick had some time on leave he and a friend went hunting on Mussolini’s private hunting grounds, but he didn’t shoot anything because he hit the clip release button instead of the safety • There was rain and snow mix so it wasn’t very cold • His crew was pretty positive and didn’t have much stress • They played cards a lot • He liked to target practice with his pistol (47:43) Return to the US �• Frederick landed in New York and had some time on leave so he went home to Middleville, Michigan for a couple weeks • He then went to a rehabilitation center in California for a couple weeks • Frederick got married in July, 1945 • He was about to go to flight training, but they cancelled the whole program • Frederick went to Camp Bryan in Texas for a month and then was discharged (51:10) Discharge • After being discharged he went back to Middleville • They got a trailer and moved to Detroit so Frederick could finish his engineering degree using the GI Bill • He then went to work at E.W. Bliss in Hastings, Michigan for 3.5 years • Frederick ran an engineering department at a die cast shop in Middleville for 6 years • He engineered with Chrysler for a year in Kokomo, Indiana • Frederick worked at Wolverine Die Cast in Warren, Michigan for 6 years • He then started a VW repair shop • Frederick says the military made him more mature � 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 RockF Title A name given to the resource Rock, Frederick (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rock, Frederick Description An account of the resource Frederick Rock was born on November 11, 1919 in Detroit, Michigan. He went to the University of Detroit for a few semesters and then joined the Army Air Corps. He was a staff sergeant and assigned to be a flight engineer on a B-17 Bomber. Frederick went to North Africa and then to Italy. He was a turret gunner and a flight engineer on a crew of 10 people in the 348th squadron of the 99th bomb group. He went on 35 missions but they counted some of the rough ones as double so he had a total of 50 missions. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Erichsen, Wallace J. (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army. Air Corps 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 2008-12-06 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d78fea6e8fa2ff9a965b8f0e3b79cb80.jpg 4ac0a779ba4bdcb8f2be1d40e725de79 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 Concert & Event Posters Subject The topic of the resource Posters Events Michigan Universities & colleges--Michigan Description An account of the resource Division of Student Services provides programs, services, and environments that enhance the personal, social, and intellectual growth of undergraduate and graduate students at the University. Events including concerts were managed by the office of Student Life. Posters for music, speakers, poetry readings and other campuswide events are included. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Division of Student Services Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/106">Student Services concerts, events, and posters files, (GV028-06)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-07-17 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 GV028-06 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1963 – 1981 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 GV028-06_truc2 Title A name given to the resource Rock'n'roll revival featuring Truc, April 27, 1973 Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State College Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities & colleges--Michigan Events Posters Description An account of the resource Rock'n'roll revival featuring Truc, in the Grand Valley State Colleges Louis Armstrong Theatre, April 27, 1973 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg 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> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/106">Student Services concerts, events, and posters files, (GV028-06)</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image 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/a3cdddf8f91bbab7b3e9d20057144c9b.jpg 4dd22a4476344e739450535e9b566b02 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_F203-0004 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 1965-05-08 Title A name given to the resource Rockaway Boardwalk, NY Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a woman pushing a baby stroller in the company of an older woman and man on the boardwalk of Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Rockaway (New York, N.Y.) Rockaway Beach (New York, N.Y.) Boardwalks Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9ae5d8f3bde14addd3d0126c3401ade3.jpg b2b66d65fce374c8041d4008cd8e718b 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_F198-0031 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 1965-05-08 Title A name given to the resource Rockaways' Playland, Rockaway Beach, NY Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a woman working at an amusement park ride at Rockaways' Playland along the boardwalk of Rockaway Beach, New York. In the background, a sign for "Faber's Skee Ball, Bing-o-Reno and Poker" is visible in the background. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Rockaway (New York, N.Y.) Rockaway Beach (New York, N.Y.) Rockaways' Playland (New York, N.Y.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/034a35d8ed77e0f1874b04c8ef255a9e.jpg 4ae627c5035b239dc28a4f1bc47b99e0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_043 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-08 Title A name given to the resource Rocks & Engines Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of rocky landscape and train in motion on railroad tracks. Two engines and two passenger cars, all connected, are visible to the right of the photograph. Subject The topic of the resource Railroads Locomotives 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/2709be41e7b43c14e10f42ceb9f641a3.jpg c632f5a310461aed8922a020210ffb7d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_044 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-08 Title A name given to the resource Rocks at Clyde Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of rocky landscape at Clyde. The front engine of a train is visible at the lower right edge of the photograph. Subject The topic of the resource Mountains Colorado 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/74be784dcd3a763e560d3eb5a61244bc.jpg 3526c1171b1358b83809f63987ad3072 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_NE_46_1916_010 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1916-08-20 Title A name given to the resource Rocks east of Bolton Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a mountainside with both tree-covered, rocky, and grass areas visible. A grass field is visible in the foreground. Subject The topic of the resource Bolton (Vt.) Moutnains 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/3f8b0fa0c6ab0dcb7784e7aea06ca99a.jpg d2d2deec4ba0d3fda9d89031ad934ca3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_047 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-08 Title A name given to the resource Rocks east of summit Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of rocks to the east of a summit. Railroad tracks can be seen through the rocky landscape. Subject The topic of the resource Bridges Railroads Mountains 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/ef4f35102a25b19d01eb7d789a053fc9.jpg 94ec6a0a550f0844e351eeb8a2106bdc Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_1_1909_033 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909-07-07 Title A name given to the resource Rocks Lake Rosseau Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of rocks along Lake Rosseau, Ontario. Subject The topic of the resource Ontario Rosseau, Lake (Ont.) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ec165663d476d82ff22c6988118db097.jpg ec6c4dd43fc866601849c9d77e0b91a9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_041 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-08 Title A name given to the resource Rocks Pt. Sublime train still Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of rocks at Point Sublime, taken by Robert Merrill from a stationary train. Subject The topic of the resource Railroads Bridges Colorado Mountains 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/6d4b1d59c613c71c60bf423ec7ca7dba.mp3 15db0f9e7c89624c29ec79fcbe7ef4dd 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 Eastertide II Series Easter People Scripture Text John 21: 15,19 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-0-19910407 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991-04-07 Title A name given to the resource Rocky II 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 April 7, 1991 entitled "Rocky II", as part of the series "Easter People", on the occasion of Eastertide II, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: John 21: 15,19. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives