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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
World War II: Europe
Ted Weatherhead
Length of interview 1:14:54
(0:00:10- 0:04:25) Pre-Enlistment
Ted was born in Columbus, Ohio on March 14th, 1923. (00:13- 00:19)
He lived in Columbus for a short time until moving to Cleveland, Ohio. (00:19- 00:22)
After living in Cleveland for a while he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. (00:29- 00:39)
He then moved to South Bend, Indiana and later moved to Lakewood, Ohio. (00:41- 00:49)
He graduated high school in Euclid, Ohio. (00:49- 00:55)
Ted moved around a lot due to his parents being divorced. His mother went to go job searching
and his father went to places not mentioned. (00:56- 01:07)
He stayed with his mother. (01:09- 01:10)
He had one older sister named Mary. Mary was sent to a private school while Ted stayed with
his mother. (01:17- 01:27)
He was a little above average student despite being frequently relocated. (01:32- 01:40)
He finished high school in 1941 where he was an active member of the National Honors Society
and many different sports such as: basketball, football, and track. (01:40- 01:57)
After graduation he went to Ohio University where he wanted to play basketball. He went there
for a short time until Pearl Harbor (02:02- 02:15)
Before Pearl Harbor, Ted knew little about the war in Europe. He was more interested in the
basketball world. (02:25- 02:32)
Ted learned about Pearl Harbor coming home from church over the radio. Every radio in his
dorm was playing the news full blast. (02:35- 02:54)
Upon hearing the news Ted, like most of the men in his dorm, wanted to go out and get the
Japanese. He went home and enlisted into the Army Air Corps. (02:58- 3:21)
The recruiter told him that he was going to have to wait for a little while so he stayed in school
until fall of 1942. (03:30- 04:05)
(0:04:25-0:19:00) Enlistment and Training
Ted was sent to the Classification Center in San Antonio, Texas. He was at the center for about
eight or nine weeks and was put through many different physical and mental tests. He wanted to
become a fighter pilot. From there they took him to pre-flight in San Antonio. (04:25- 05:55)
The main things that Ted learned in pre-flight consisted of the physics of flight, the theory of
flying, navigation training, and figuring weather patterns. (06:13-06:28)
He was in pre-flight for nine weeks. (06:47- 6:57)
He then went into primary flight, basic flight, and advanced flight. All of these lasted nine
weeks. (06:57- 07:03)
Primary flight training was in Uvalde, Texas. It was a very small facility with one hundred or
less planes. (07:26- 08:00)
He started off on a PT-19A. It was a low winged, single engine plane. (08:04- 08:14)
�During the primary flight training about fifty percent of the recruits would wash-out. The main
causes were flight nervousness and disagreements between training pilot and student. (08:5009:09)
Ted remembers his instructors as good people, not the best pilots but average, good people. They
were all civilian pilots but the flight check people were military. (09:19- 10:01)
After primary training Ted was moved to Waco, Texas for basic flight training where he flew a
BT-13A. This plane was a single engine plane with a five-hundred horsepower engine. This
allowed Ted to perform slow loops and other acrobatics. (10:25- 10:52)
He stayed with the same group of guys throughout training. (11:17- 11:19)
All of his flying was done during the day. He would fly cross-country, stop for lunch, and then
fly back. (11:48- 12:18)
Ted was in group 44A for his advanced flying training. (13:00- 13:03)
January 7th was his flight school gradutation. (13:04- 13:15)
He was put into a two engine plane against his wishes. He flew this plane for three to four weeks.
His next plane was a C-47 which he flew for three to four weeks. His next plane was a B-25.
(13:36- 14:12)
During his training, Ted had little time away from his studies because quizzes were common.
(15:18- 15:43)
He was not given any time off during his schooling. (16:51- 17:18)
Before being deployed Ted was given four weeks of vacation. He was sick for the first three.
(17:22- 17:36)
He and his group got their new C-47s in South Bend, Indiana and flew the southern route to
Europe. (17:36- 17:49)
(0:19:00-1:02:54) Active Duty
Pre D-Day Drop (19:00-29:19)
Ted was not given the usual nine week transition period due to an incident over Italy where our
Navy shot down nineteen C-47s filled with paratroopers. He was only given four and a half
weeks. (19:00-19:42)
Ted’s crew consisted of himself, a co-pilot, a radio operator, and a crew chief; though flying
over seas he was given a navigator. (19:45-19:59)
During his flight overseas German submarines would send out homing signals in order to lure
planes away from base and shot them down with anti-aircraft guns. So having a good navigator
was important. (20:18-20:30)
From the first base he went to Marrakech, Morocco in northern Africa where he stayed for about
a week. From there he went to Egypt and then to the base in Cottesmore, England. (21:0021:50)
His training at Cottesmore centered mainly on night flying. (22:40- 22:55)
To train the pilots for night flying they set up a night vision school in one of the gymnasiums.
Each night they would tests the pilots vision while dimming the lights. (24:05-24:36)
Ted and the other pilots were trained how to carry paratroopers and tow gliders. These gliders
would sometimes cause problems with the plane by not staying in the propwash and spreading
out. (24:40-26:00)
�Every day Ted would go through the routines, without the path of flight, which he would have to
do for his missions. They would have sessions to learn what to do in certain situations. (27:5128:21)
Ted was not told the path of flight until the night of the briefing. This was when he found out
that the routines that he had been doing were the exact opposite of what the mission was. (28:5629:19)
D-Day (29:19- 37:35)
Ted left the base at midnight with nineteen paratroopers of the 505th Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. (29:40-30:20)
After taking off the planes took twenty or so minutes to get into formation and took off to
Normandy. (31:27- 31:59)
To avoid detection from the Germans each plane had only three blue/purple lights on top of each
wing and three blue/purple lights on top of the plane. (32:26-32:50)
They flew northeast to south west over the Cotentin Peninsula. (33:49- 34:00)
The pilots knew to drop their paratroopers when the lead planes light turned from red to green.
(34:14- 34:25)
After dropping the paratroopers the pilots, flying low, went back to base. They flew low so then
they were faster than the anti-aircraft guns. (36:23-36:57)
They then went back to drop off the gliders, which was a lot tamer than the paratroopers. (36:5637:35)
After the Drop: Normandy Campaign (37:35-48:16)
After the drop, Ted did glider snatching. There would be two poles attached to the ground and
around the poles would be the nylon glider cord. The plane would come in, lower a hook, and
snatch the nylon cord. (37:30-39:04)
He also transported injured troops. He would bring a flight nurse and pick up about fourteen or
fifteen litter patients and take them to a hospital in England. Due to everywhere being closed in,
Ted had to land in Lands End in the southern end of England. (39:17- 41:08)
He also carried supplies such as: gasoline, ammunition, and food. He always had a load going
over. (41:57-42:05)
It took ten days or so after D-Day for the steel landing mats in France to be set up so Ted and the
other pilots could send supplies and transport wounded. (42:57-43:07)
Ted also pulled British gliders though he never went to a British sector in France. (43:15-43:46)
This pattern continued until the breakout of Normandy in early August. (44:00-44:20)
After the breakout Ted flew in many different parts of France and Belgium. As time grew on the
destinations became a great deal different. (44:36-44:51)
The most prevalent thing that planes would carry was gasoline though they also carried a lot of
food and ammunition. (45:16-45:24)
The C-47, according to Ted, was a marvelous airplane. It was hard to imagine a plane built more
safely. It landed better, it took off better, and it carried heavier loads. That plane rarely caused
you to have a forced landing. (46:20- 46:40)
Market Garden Operation (48:16-53:01)
While flying over the English channel to get to Holland Ted and his fellow pilots had an issue
�with Germans who got wind that they were coming. So they complained enough to get P-47 and
P-51 escorts who would rip the Germans to shreds. (48:24-48:59)
For the operation Ted carried paratroopers for a couple of trips, then gliders for a couple of trips,
and then more paratroopers. (49:24-49:30)
He carried the men from the 101st Airborne Division and one or two loads of British
paratroopers. (49:35-49:49)
After two or three jumps his plane encountered a lot of enemy fire but due to its sealed gas tanks
it was safe. No planes were lost due to loss of fuel. (50:46-51:06)
Supplies were dropped every jump by using para racks. After the paratroopers jumped the pilots
would release the para racks which were kept under the plane. (51:25- 51:45)
During one of the jumps a para rack filled with landmines got caught up on Ted’s plane. After a
few failed attempts at getting the landmine out from underneath the plane, the crew chief cut a
hole in the bottom of the plane and shot the lines off with a small machine gun. (51:46-53:01)
After the Market Garden Operation (53:01-58:42)
It wasn’t long after the Market Garden Operation that the war in Europe was over. (53:16-53:22)
During the Battle of the Bulge the weather was so rotten that he barely flew at all but when the
weather first got better the pilots dropped their para racks as quickly as possible in order to
reload more racks. (54:19-54:32)
On the days that he was not flying Ted was playing poker on base and watch for the weather.
(54:50-55:02)
After waiting for a month to get his four day pass Ted would go into London and went
sightseeing. (55:14-55:32)
Towards the end of the war his base was switched to a base in France. He was there for the last
three or four weeks. (56:51-56:56)
On May 3rd or 4th, before the German surrender, Ted was on a ship to get a new plane to go to
Japan. (56:59-57:09)
His base in France was lousy. They lived in tents and the toilets were terrible. Everyone wanted
to go back to England. (57:12-57:23)
Back in the States (58:42-1:02:54)
As soon as he got to the states he was transported to a base in Pope Field, North Carolina.
(58:45-58:51)
Before he got to the base Ted’s whole group spent about three or four weeks getting their teeth
fixed because the dental officer lived in Lester or Nottingham the whole time he was in Europe.
(58:54-59:15)
On the base he would deliver packages and mail across the United States. (59:16- 59:32)
He was in Richmond, Virginia delivering a package when the A-bomb hit. (1:00:07-1:00:27)
He flew a total of eight combat missions and two hundred and fifty supply missions. (1:00:471:01:04)
At the end of the war Ted thought he had enough flying for a while and chose to go back to
school. (1:01:43-1:02:32)
(1:02:54-1:14:54) After the Service
�Ted married his wife on the eighth of September, 1945. (1:02:55-1:03:01)
He went back to Ohio University even though his wife wanted him to go to the University of
Michigan. (1:03:15-1:03:23)
Ohio University was very good to its veterans. Their housing was flourished and living was
good. (1:04:07-1:04:19)
He graduated with an engineering degree with a specialty in industrial engineering. (1:04:211:04:31)
Due to the flooding of veterans wanting to get an education, Ohio University had to build new
buildings. (1:05:08-1:05:17)
His father-in-law got him a job in a sheet metal company. He worked for him for three or four
years and then he started working at his family’s company in Cleveland, Ohio. (1:06:091:06:32)
He was transferred to a little town called Antwerp, Ohio where they were building a new cement
plant that needed an engineer. So he started working at the cement plant. (1:06:33-1:06:54)
He worked at the plant for thirty years. (1:06:54-1:07:10)
Ted and his wife moved to the Grand Rapids area because eleven of their family went to Aquinas
and they wanted to be close to their family. (1:07:35-1:08:22)
Ted believes that his time in the service matured his thinking. (1:08:50-1:09:17)
He remembers the segregation on the base. How blacks had different eating places and
dormitories. This was strange for Ted since he was from Ohio. (1:10:30-1:11:39)
�
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
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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
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1914-
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<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
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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eng
Source
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<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.
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WeatherheadT1169V
Title
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Weatherhead, Edward "Ted" (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
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Weatherhead, Edward "Ted"
Description
An account of the resource
Ted Weatherhead was attending college at Ohio University when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps, but had to wait for some time before starting his training. After surviving the initial screening and tests at San Antonio, he made it successfully through pilot training, only to be assigned to fly transport planes rather than fighters. Assigned to a transportation squadron early in 1944, he flew his C-47 to North Africa and then to England, where he underwent an accelerating training program to prepare him to drop paratroopers into Normandy. Between June, 1944 and May, 1945, he flew eight combat missions as part of the D-Day and Market Garden operations, as well as over 250 supply missions.
Contributor
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Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army Air Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
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eng
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
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Moving Image
Text
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Veterans History Project (U.S.)
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2011-07-19
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<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
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application/pdf
video/mp4
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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PDF Text
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
World War II
Bruce Weaver
1:52:06
Introduction (02:15)
Bruce was born April 16, 1922 in Detroit, Michigan.
He went to school in Fowler, Michigan, which is in Clinton County. Bruce grew up there
and graduated from Fowler High School.
His father played a lot of cards downtown, and when Bruce’s mother passed away his
father did not do much with the family. The family operated the Fowler Gas Station.
As a boy, Bruce worked there pumping gas using the old style visible gas pumps. (04:23)
Bruce was about twelve or thirteen when his mother passed away. He was an only child
with one sister who died at birth.
His high school graduating class had about twelve or thirteen people.
He lived right in the village of Fowler, and during the summers he worked out in the
farms picking sugar beets. (06:16).
They used machines to pull them out of the ground and Bruce would come by and throw
the beets into the truck.
Military Life (07:37)
Bruce was drafted into the Army Air Corps on February 12, 1942.
For induction, he was sent to Fort Custer and remained there for about six months. This
was a supply point and he worked at keeping the fires going to keep the barracks warm.
(09:26)
Bruce was there with a couple hundred other men doing the same thing he was. They did
not have any uniforms, so they were issued a barracks bag and all of their uniforms.
He was sent to Weems, Utah for his basic training. About fifty of the men from Fort
Custer went with Bruce to Utah. They took a train until they reached Utah, then they
were loaded into trucks that brought them into Salt Lake City. (11:25)
They were met by a very prosperous man who brought them to the hotel and bought them
the best steak they ever had.
While in Weems, they did marching and spent time in the mud. Bruce pulled late duty
one time with three other men, and patrolled around the water reservoir. After they were
done, the sergeant came out and told them that they had done a good job but they had to
do another shift because he didn’t have any one to replace them. (13:14)
Weems was about 15-20 miles from Salt Lake City.
They had a man from Brooklyn, New York and he had never fired a rifle before.
Suddenly, bullets came from inside the barracks and the man was firing through the wall
on accident. No one was injured. (15:22)
Life at Fort Custer was like going to a basketball game. They all knew where it was and
they simply waited there for a full unit to form.
�
One of Bruce’s drill sergeants was named Frenchy. He really knew his business. Once,
they had a wall they had to climb over, and Bruce couldn’t get over it. Frenchy came
over and yelled at him and gave him ten seconds to get over the wall. He finally got over
it after great effort. (17:25)
One man that was his friend and that he served with at Weems was killed during a beach
landing. The landing barge was riddled with bullets from the Germans. His name was
John and he was the best soldier that Bruce ever knew. John’s wife called Bruce after the
war and told him that he had been killed.
One lesson that he learned while at Weems was that they couldn’t go after the Salt Lake
City girls, because they were Mormons. (19:34)
While at a casino, he started talking to a beautiful woman, and all of a sudden a man the
size of an ox-cart came up and said “Soldier, that’s my daughter, leave her alone.” And
he did.
Some soldiers were not allowed to enter the casino, but Bruce was.
Once at the casino, Bruce was approached by a woman about sixty years old, she bought
the men breakfast; she then asked if they went to church and knew the Lord. (22:50)
After church, they could smell the mutton being cooked at the mess hall. Instead of
going there and eating it, most men, including Bruce went to the PX and bought food
rather than eat the mutton. (23:41)
Bruce was at Weems for about eight months.
After the wall climbing incident, Bruce remembers that Frenchy came up to him and
asked if he was a draftee. He answered that he was, and Frenchy told him that all the
draftees had problems getting over the wall because they had been at home having their
mothers take care of them. (27:08)
One man named Jim bought cigarettes for everyone at the PX one day. Bruce told him
that he didn’t smoke and went in and bought some rolls instead. While there, they could
smell mutton stew being made at the mess hall and they both decided to eat at the PX
again. (29:23)
Coral Gables, Florida (29:42)
Coral Gables was an Air Corps base, and they were greeted by the lieutenant in charge
and he welcomed them to the base. He told them to leave the nurses alone.
Within twenty four hours, Bruce had gotten involved with a nurse from New Rochelle,
New York. She was a lieutenant and he was a corporal.
The nurses were well trained by Major Whitney. (31:31)
Bruce was put into the Post Office and worked as a postal clerk.
To get around the ban on dating the nurses, Bruce met her out in town. The nurse’s name
was Kay, and Major Whitney treated them both well. (33:46)
A stream went through the base, and it often had an alligator sitting there. One day, an
alligator was chasing a nurse and her boyfriend. Bruce saw it, so he jumped in a golf cart
and went after them. He came up on the alligator and picked up the nurse and her
boyfriend. (35:24)
They had a pool there at the base, and the enlisted men were not allowed to swim when
the nurses were.
Bruce checked for alligators in the pool before they went swimming. (39:42)
�
Bruce was sent to Coral Gables to take his hospital training because he was a medic. At
7am he had to be up at the hospital as the medic on duty.
He once went to the Nautilus Hotel in Miami Beach to train some new medics. (43:28)
They learned nicely, some of them were already trained at Coral Gables.
Bruce was lucky because all of his officers that he served with were real nice to work for.
(47:03)
One officer that he knew was very nice, and the man turned out to be a general and Bruce
never knew it because he didn’t wear his rank.
Overseas (49:31)
Bruce was then sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey and spent six weeks there.
While there, the only training he received was marching and drill. He later came back to
Fort Dix when he got out of the Army.
After leaving the United States, Bruce was sent to Scotland. There they received
wounded from Europe.
The flight nurses would take care of the wounded while they were being flown to the
hospital. Bruce was assigned to take care of the wounded while in the barracks. (52:06)
One of the men that he was watching hadn’t seen his brother in five or six years and he
found him there at the barracks.
Bruce also assigned flights home for the wounded soldiers going back to the states.
Most of the men who were wounded were sent home and Bruce always thought that was
very decent. (55:37)
Bruce was in Selkirk, Scotland which was in the southern part of the country. He was
there with about a dozen other soldiers.
While overseas, he never saw any combat, he was never wounded, and he was never a
prisoner of war. (57:40)
His stepbrother, Richard Barnes, was on a landing barge that went ashore in Europe;
everyone in the barge was killed except him. (59:34)
Bruce was never awarded any individual citations or medals.
He didn’t really have any family or friends back home, so he did not receive any letters
so he did not send any either. (1:01:25)
The food was good, lots of goulash dishes. Most people still went to the PX for food.
His unit was always well supplied. (1:03:20)
When the wounded would come in from Europe, they would stay in the barracks there for
three to four weeks at the most until they could find a flight home for them.
The wounded would come in on C-47’s. (1:05:22)
While in Scotland, they were not able to see any USO shows.
He was in Europe for about a month, and while there he saw Bob Hope.
Three of them went and performed the same duties of assisting the wounded to get home.
They assisted the flights going out. (1:07:54)
Bruce was in Scotland for over a year and was in France for his month in Europe.
He was never able to take leave or liberty. (1:09:05)
When he went to Poland, he was there for about two months after VE-Day. The Polish
women made the best meals for them. At that time, he wasn’t doing much. His C-47
�
crashed while flying over Poland because it ran out of gas. It was really more of a rough
landing in a field. (1:11:18)
Bruce was never able to take any photographs while in Europe.
He has high regards for his fellow soldiers that he served with; he never had to worry
about them not watching his back. (1:13:45)
After the War (1:15:12)
When he came back to the United States, he was able to fly. His brother however, had to
take a ship and he later said it was the worst trip he ever took.
Bruce’s flight home was onboard a flight of twelve wounded, he is not sure exactly when
he came home.
He was given his discharge at Fort Dix, New Jersey and was only there a week or two.
After that, he and another soldier went to New York City and toured around. He was
discharged on February 12, 1946. (1:17:17)
Thinking back on his time in Coral Gables, Florida, he was once approached by Major
Whitney and she asked if he was from Michigan, he said that he was. She then asked him
to take three black soldiers down to Miami, but told him to be careful because “They
don’t like the niggers down here”. She sent a man to protect them; he was a shore
patrolman with a rifle and bayonet. While down there some kids came up and started
yelling “Niggers! Niggers!” The patrolman with them stepped forward and lowered his
rifle and said, “Who wants it first?” and they ran away. (1:20:31)
After the war, he went back to his job at Oldsmobile. He had worked there for about a
year before he was drafted. The plant was in Lansing, Michigan. Bruce was the general
foreman in the crankshaft area and then to the axel plant. Later, he was sent to the new
plant north of town. (1:22:15)
His boss came up to him and asked him to pick eight men to take with him to go to the
new plant.
Bruce was once taken down to Buick to interview some new potential foremen. They
asked him why he was so successful, he told them to treat people the way they wanted to
be treated. (1:25:10)
He lived and worked in Lansing, and Bruce was married to a woman named Mary Lee.
(1:29:12)
She worked as a telephone operator but had to leave due to health concerns.
After the war, Bruce joined the VFW in Lansing, and he also joined the American Legion
Post 379. He wasn’t really active in the organizations. (1:31:20)
They never had any children, but he does have a step-daughter named Susie Faulker, who
did not get along with her mother. Today, she lives in Denver, Colorado and is a
successful artist. She just sold one painting for $5,000. (1:33:31)
In Bruce’s opinion, he feels that the military in general was okay. Going back to Fort
Custer, they were shipped out on the oldest train they had. The smoke from the engine
was so bad it went back into the cars. (1:35:29)
Bruce has never attended any reunions or kept in touch with anyone that he met while in
the service. (1:38:33)
�
He sent two girls through Grand Valley State University. Their mothers had helped
Bruce’s wife when she had trouble getting around. One of the girls is an English teacher
in Paris, France. (1:40:20)
Bruce’s wife passed away in 2003.
When Bruce was young, his grandparents helped get him through school, that’s why he
wanted to help these two girls with their college. (1:45:30)
�
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
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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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
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WeaverB1527V
Title
A name given to the resource
Weaver, Bruce (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weaver, Bruce
Description
An account of the resource
Bruce was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 16, 1922. He grew up in Fowler, Michigan and was drafted into the Army Air Corps on February 12, 1942. Bruce served as a medic. He was sent to Scotland during the war and helped coordinate flights home for wounded troops. He also spent some time in France and Poland. Bruce was discharged in 1946, and moved back home to Lansing where he continued his job at Oldsmobile.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Erichsen, Wallace (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army Air Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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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
2013-06-17
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
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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/111810ad9ce6ec5649cea231ed5cdff9.mp4
c5d709fde54dc338ca4c8b446088967a
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9703de570e2d52618bb3b3cb1a12ef99.pdf
c3dd00ab58939ee813b4d3fa0d3f7ac6
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Dale Weaver
(00:50:0)
(00:25) Introduction
(01:02) Family and childhood
•
Born in Detroit, MI on Oct. 30, 1959 Weaver grew up in Livonia, MI and
lived with his father, who had his own saw sharpening business, and his
mother, who was a homemaker.
•
Attended Walk Lake Western High where he was seriously involved with
football, baseball, some wrestling, and swimming of which he was state
champion swim-diver his senior year. Each day after school, he spent 2-3
hours practicing with the swim team. He excelled in the making of small
engines and mechanics.
(07:26) Pre-enlistment
•
Enlisted in the navy as a junior in high school. The navy delayed his
enlistment period until after he graduated from high school.
•
He had enlisted in the Navy by going down to the Service Center and signing
up in the delayed entry program so that his enlistment was delayed until after
graduation.
(08:09) Enlistment and Training
•
Went to Great Lakes Naval Training Center where he was chosen for recruit
training. Being the short and scrawny fellow that he was he was assigned to
carry the company flag. Graduated the camp with Company 215.
•
Upon completing recruit training, he underwent boot camp training of which
he did a lot of running, marching, and training with firearms. (09:09)
•
Weaver recounts a story regarding his gas chamber training. His superior
officer would send 10 people into a gas chamber and then fill the chambers
with tear gas and command them to take off their gas masks. The objective of
this was to get used to breathing in the tear-gas so that one would be prepared
for the experience if encountered.
�•
Was then sent to Lakers, New Jersey where he attended Aviation school for a
month and a half and underwent aviation training. While there, his job it was
to spot aircraft off the flight and hangar decks of aircraft carriers. (13:53)
•
After that he went to Philadelphia, PA where got additional firefight and
aircraft-type training before going to the ship.
(14:55) Norfolk, VA
•
Weaver talks about his four years serving aboard the USS Independence.
•
Gives a brief description of his work with V-1 division and how they were
responsible for the launching and recovery of airplanes on the flight deck. At
the time he had the Navy rank of an E-3.
•
In January, 1979 he made the first of two cruises which lasted 6 ½ months.
During this time, they stopped at various ports around Spain, Italy, and Africa.
While in port, he would go social-drinking with the guys at the local bars in
the areas he was stationed. (17:58)
•
Upon finishing their first cruise they were in a standby period of about a
month of which everyone took shore leave. (18:06)
(18:15) Portsmouth, VA
•
Upon returning to duty, Weaver and his company were dispatched to
Portsmouth, VA for 9 months while the ship underwent a complete over-hall.
•
Gives a brief description of how he met his wife, his married life, and then
tells of the tragic car accident in 1985 that befell his wife and two of his kids.
(19:03)
(20:47) Norfolk, VA
•
Upon completion of repairs on the USS Independence, Weaver and his
company return and go on their 2nd cruise which takes them around the
Caribbean. Their cruise was cut short, however, when they returned to
Norfolk. For a short time, Weaver mentions that he served aboard the USS
Independence while waiting to be transferred. After about a month, Weaver is
transferred to El Centro, California.
(22:23) Trip to El Centro, California
�•
Weaver gives a detailed account of his journey to California. On the way, he
stopped in Arkansas to visit his uncle and go fishing. (23:20) In Arizona, he
blew his motor and arranged for his car to get fixed while he boarded a bus
and journeyed the rest of the way. (25:10) Upon arriving in California, he
found out that he had been transferred to El Centro for his next assignment.
(21:20) El Centro, California
•
While stationed at the NAF base in El Centro, CA he got to know members
from the RAF and the Blue Angels because they trained every winter at his
base. He was assigned there to take care of the aircraft.
•
Weaver gives a brief description of jumping out of a RAF plane. In part it was
this experience which made him want to join the Navy Seals. Upon jumping
out of a RAF plane he made up his mind that he wanted to join the Navy
Seals. After sending his application in and a 6-month wait he found out that he
had been accepted.
•
Went to Pensacola, FL for SEAL training.
(27:10) Pensacola, FL
•
Gives a brief description of how he had to do a lot of swimming, jumping out
of helicopters and planes with parachutes, running, and physical fitness
exercises. (27:10)
•
Upon completing seal training he went to Little Creek, VA of where he and
his company did more training in-between assignments.
(28:40)TOP Secret assignments
•
He couldn’t disclose the details of his combat missions but he did elaborate on
where he went.
•
In 1983, he was involved with the hostage situation in the Beirut Airport. He
mentions helping the NIS with a drug bust in Panama. (29:46) Along with
this, he helped the British with something in the Falkland Islands.
•
Also mentions helping the Coast Guard with several search and rescue
operations.
•
Gives a brief description of his experience aboard a submarine of which they
would be dropped off in the ocean. They would then wait in their inflatable
boats for the submarine to come and pick them up. (31:24) He recounts that as
a Navy seal they never had to swim to shore because they had their inflatable
boats. (34:50)
�(35:41) Post-Service Experiences
• For a brief time of about two months he mentions working at a golf course
and getting paid to do yearly maintenance on golf carts. Upon getting laid off
from that job, he and a friend worked on replacing wiring in conduits. While
doing this one day, he gave some wiring a little tug and fell off his ladder
breaking his neck and back.
•
He describes the difficult times that he had being a quadriplegic and the 9
months of hard work and physical therapy of which upon completing he
regained the use of his arms. (38:15)
•
Since his injury, he was involved in wheelchair sports
•
Gives a brief description of his six-year history with the National Veteran’s
Wheelchair Games. While participating in track and field for six years; the
Wheelchair Games took him all over the U.S. They took him to Cleveland,
OH, Palm Beach, CA, and Minneapolis, MN.
•
Went to the Para-Olympics in Athens, Greece and Torino, Italy. In fall 2000,
he went to Athens where he won an individual bronze and team bronze while
on the archery team. (39:44) He also participated in the 2006 games in Torino
Italy where he was on the basketball team and took home a silver medal.
•
His health issues started around July 4, 2005 when he had a heart attack and
had to go to the hospital. By August 8 of the same year he had his open-heart
surgery. (43:40)
•
Afterwards, he was transferred to Ann Arbor V-9 for a short time before being
sent to the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans where he’s been for 2 months.
He briefly discussed his musical history in the service and remembers playing
at the Hoedown in Detroit, MI. Finally, he wraps up his discussion by
stressing that being in a wheelchair should never stop one from traveling the
world. (49:36)
�
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
WeaverD
Title
A name given to the resource
Weaver, Dale A. (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weaver, Dale A.
Description
An account of the resource
Dale Allen Weaver is a veteran and former E-6 who served in the U.S. Navy from 1976 to 1990. In this account, Weaver briefly discusses his pre-enlistment years, his basic training and other training in the U.S. Navy. Additionally, he discusses his service assignments around the U.S. and briefly discusses his secret missions as a Navey Seal in Panama, Beirut, and Lebanon. Finally, he discusses his athletic years with the Para-Olympics following his navy service.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Collins Sr., Charles E. (Interviewer)
Collins, Carol (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Navy
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-04-02
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/c452a6d88c2d5d9a1e2270402b0254fd.m4v
97983a86124f30b8017f635b11fdf549
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a75346eafe09e337e85f5f8e766cb4e4.pdf
f9170f70372fbbce34a5eccb9f818a09
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Peace-time service, 1982
David Weaver Sr.
Length: 57 Minutes
Pre-Enlistment
Born in Madrid, Spain; 1964 (0:57)
Farther was stationed at Torrejon Air force base (1:06)
His father served for 22 years, retiring in Muskegon as a recruiter (1:16)
His father retired in 1974 (1:24)
He is the youngest, so his father did not move around as much; his brothers and sister endured
more of that (1:31)
They stayed in Spain for about 18 months before moving to Michigan (1:42)
They moved to the southeast side of Grand Rapids, living on College Street and he went
Brookside Elementary School (1:59)
It was a very nice and suburban neighborhood, but they were one of the first African-American
families that moved there; it had not been integrated yet (2:18)
There was some tension and bullying, but he became involved in sports (2:38)
�In the Fourth Grade he promoted to the Sixth Grade team, which led to him being more accepted
(3:04)
He had support from the teachers, specifically, Jeanne Brederland, who saw that he was troubled
and took the initiative to take him to her farm, in Zeeland, Michigan (3:25)
Her son, also named David, was older, bigger, and tough, which gave Weaver someone to look
up to (3:35)
One thing that he learned from the weekend in the farm was the importance of hard work and
discipline (3:48)
He went to Ottawa Hills High school, where he was on the first team to win the citywide football
championship (4:04)
Enlistment
He joined the delayed enlistment program while in high school, so he joined the Air Force on
November 30 of 1982 (4:17)
At first he had wanted to go to college and got a partial scholarship to Fisk University, but he did
not have the money to finish school (4:43)
He decided to join the Marines (he liked the uniform), his father sat him down and asked him
what he was going to do after the military (5:20)
His father than pointed out that he came from a lineage of members of the Air Force, his father
and uncles had all served for twenty years and his brother and cousin had also served (5:22)
So Weaver decided to try to take the test for the Air Force, and he scored very well. He got into
base procurement and moved to George Air Force Base, in Victorville, California (5:49)
�His basic training was at Lackland in San Antonio, Texas (5:53)
Boot Camp
He performed with the veteran’s creative arts festival which is a way to for veterans to heal using
the arts (the year before the interview) (6:29)
He won awards for singing but the year before the interview he did a stand up routine about his
time at boot camp (6:64)
His drill instructor’s breath smelled bad, which was part of his routine (7:15)
Basic Training was the beginning of the process the make his thinking more like the military
(7:42)
They took all of the recruits’ clothes and replaced it with a military uniform (7:50)
Everything is government issued, he had been prepared because of the experiences of his brother
and father, so he had already buzz cut his hair, but then they “buzz cut” his buzz cut (8:11)
Important part was changing the mindset, including uniform military code of justice and the rank
system, but the most important was to respect the rank even if they did not respect the person
(8:48)
He was there for about six weeks; they counted the working days but not the weekend (9:07)
They learned how to shine shoes, through spit-shining shoes, which he had not heard of before
(9:43)
They did a mile run, and there was pushups and sit ups, their main goal was to control the weight
to keep their frames small. (10:01)
�Not as hard as the Army and Marines, but was still important for them to stay in shape (10:24)
He did not know what his specialization was going to be; after he took the test he was given a
multiple options (10:46)
He was not sure what procurement was at first but after it was explained to him he felt it was the
best option, because it was something that could be transitioned into something else in the
civilian world (11:03)
A procurement specialist bought goods and services for the base (11:14)
They bought everything the bases needed, from fuel to the patches for the uniform (11:33)
Training School
His secondary training is called training school, and he was trained at Lowry Air Force Base in
Denver, Colorado (11:45)
It was a classroom setting and he was trained by both military and civilian teachers because of
the amount of interfacing with the civilian world (12:03)
There were also civilians training there to take civilian jobs in the government that served a
similar procurement role (12:22)
He worked with the civilian workers who managed the computers that calculated the cost to
government, through computer cards (13:09)
The technical school was much less restricted than the boot camp, there was more free time and
he was able to go to church (14:11)
�In his spare time he played basketball and was involved in a choir, which was important to him
because singing helped him through the transition (14:37)
He was in tech school for 18 weeks (15:03)
He was given a dream sheet so he put bases in Southern California as his first three choices,
because he thought it would nice to live there (15:30)
George Air Force Base
He got his first choice, but it was not by the beach, but in a town called Victorville, in the middle
of the desert. (15:40)
Initially he was involved in the follow up section, finding out why supplies had not been
delivered or had to get more as needed (16:12)
He was one of the first Airmen Basic to be sent to the procurement office, most who worked
there were NCO who had trained in other departments then were added to procurement later
(16:48)
He really enjoyed the work (17:01)
A lot of the job was contacting the companies the orders were from; one thing he learned was
that the government got precedence in everything they were doing, to the point that they could
shut down the facility until the materials were made (17:39)
He did not do that while in the military but did later when working for Northrop-Grumman
when a company did not deliver their landing gear for the B-2 stealth bomber (18:22)
He “volunteered”; he was sent because he was new, to join the drill team that performed at
parades and funerals (19:08)
�He really enjoyed the experiences and felt that the drill team was exceptional (19:46)
They performed largely in California but also were in several nearby states, such as Arizona
(20:14)
The military wanted to train him in all aspects of procurement so he was transferred to supplies
buying (20:50)
They purchased everything from basic supplies to fuel, and this section was all military which
led it to feel different from the earlier job (21:34)
He had become an airman first class by this point but most of the people he worked with were
NCO’s (21:50)
Problems with the Military Justice System
He started to have problems in 1984 when he was sent to buy ground fuel, when found out that
the contract had not be secured by the Department of Defense (22:28)
This was particularly a problem because his base was contingency base which meant they were
to fly sorties as part of a simulated war (22:43)
The order had been coded improperly meaning that it was need now but he had no contract to
refer to and his section chief was on temporary duty meaning that he was not used to the job
(23:31)
He had to call the Department of Defense and was given the instructions for the situation,
however after the order had been filled out there were some discrepancies and some of the
documentation was missing (24:19)
�He had to get a letter confirming information from the company and then had to recover the
letter after the military threw it away (24:54)
After his supervisor returned, the supervisor said that Weaver was derelict in his duty and
Weaver was sent for non-judicial punishment (25:27)
He was blamed for problems with the paperwork that were outside of his control (26:39)
He challenged it, but had to put together his own legal case and defend himself. He was given
documentation that he needed to win the case, and he only got a letter reprimand rather than
being kicked out of the Air Force (28:03)
He was punished because the Air Force was unwilling to admit that they screwed up (28 34)
He was temporarily removed from the drill team, for 6 months, after which he was reinstated to
the drill team and he moved on to the services branch (29:29)
For a short time he manned all three desks at the services branch because the other soldiers went
on temporary duty (29:51)
He was able to create training for the requesting agency to make their documents more accurate
(30:31)
He was able to work with drill team, though he later requested to leave to give someone else the
experience, he worked on servicing full time (30:44)
He continued working service until 1986 when he left the military for to work at NorthropGrumman (30:58)
He had more issues with the military, mostly from the officer in charge of the section, possibly
because of racism (31:49)
�The officer began documents that would led to his expulsion, however these efforts were blocked
by the base Colonel who liked Weaver and felt he was doing a good job (33:10)
This meant that he was able to go to leadership school and was made Senior Airman, a junior
NCO rank, but the damage had been done and he decided to leave the military (34:10)
This was also partly decided because he wanted to join the ministry, and he had been licensed in
1985 (34:38)
He had been treated very badly by the Air Force in his trials, which led to him dealing with
PTSD. (36:13)
He was sent to the correctional custody, which was based off boot camp, he was forced to run
around the camp and then completely disrobe (37:13)
He had never had to do anything like this before. He had to strip in front the officers that filed
the complaint and read the manual of correctional custody (37:42)
He broke down during this and tried to quit, but he was able to call the Base Commander who
encouraged him to fight (38:17)
The Commander allowed him to put his underwear back on and he finished the document, and
the other prisoners said no one else had t go through out. (39:13)
That experience followed him, and his performance reviews began to suffer, he married and he
put himself more into biblical studies (40:13)
He had more problems because even though he had done exceptionally well, he was marked
down for the earlier problems (42:02)
�Post Military Career
When one of the NCO’s he worked with retired, he told Weaver that the NCO was going to work
for Northrop-Grumman and when Weaver left the service to call him, and Weaver would have a
job (42:58)
He was involved in the building of the B2 Bomber, however the vendor began to fall behind so
he had to take over so they could finish on time (43:40)
After 2 years he transferred to General Dynamics (43:50)
He worked there for about a year, while there he was he sang “The Greatest Love” by Whitney
Houston and received a standing ovation (44:38)
His superior suggest that he follow his music career, so Weaver did (44:43)
He had a long music career, where he was involved in christian music, theatre, and had balance
in his life (45:41)
He created the alter ego Prophet Ramone twenty years before the interview (45:44)
After he joined the Grumman he went to seminary school, where he learned that term,
“reverend” was not biblical, so he wanted a term that meant something similar (47:17)
He choose the term, “prophet”, because in the Old Testament it was used to mean someone who
spoke for God, not someone who saw the future. (47:17)
He picked Ramone because it was the Spanish version of his first name (48:46)
�He did not run his church, but he produced music. He released an album, and performed at the
Apollo Theater in New York City (48:15)
He wrote many different motivational and faith based texts, and worked in theater (48:56)
He was promoted from sales rep all the way to marketing director at the Milwaukee Repertory
Theater (49:48)
His PTSD continued to be a problem, though it went undiagnosed until 2011 (50:56)
At the time, he had divorced his wife, suffering from drug problems, and was homeless.
Someone told him he could get help from the VA (51:12)
He went to the VA and was able to get treatment for depression and drug abuse, and through
work with counselor realized that he had PTSD (52:05)
He did not realize that he could get PTSD from a noncombat situation (52:14)
He got help with his brain injury and his PTSD from the VA (52:28)
His brain injury was from a head on collision while he was on the basketball team in the military
(53:24)
He lived in New York for some time, but had become homeless again. His estranged daughter
sent him a message through Facebook, which led him to reconnect with his family (55:06)
He decided to return to help his family to because father was on full time oxygen (55:34
He received help from VA to get his Masters in Divinity in Grand Rapids (56:26)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
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<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_WeaverD1666V
Title
A name given to the resource
Weaver, David, Sr.(Interview outline and video), 2014
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2014-09-04
Description
An account of the resource
David Weaver Sr. was born in 1964 in Madrid, Spain, where his father was in the Air Force, and grew up in Michigan. He joined the Air Force in 1982 trained at Lackland and later Lowry Air Force Bases and became a procurement specialist. He served at George Air Force base working in the procurement department and serving on the base's drill team. Conflicts with some of his superiors led to a situation in which he was mistreated badly enough to lead to PTSD, and while he worked through those problems, he chose to leave the Air Force when his enlistment ended in 1986.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weaver, David, Sr.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. Air Force
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
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
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video/x-m4v
application/pdf
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5ab2a8b1b7f51fe728d22f6cc65061ff.mp4
faeb35555a71d04e53c94f211ce3883f
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a3134c020cd78092caf5be73806c3b97.pdf
99366bd36761b16127425e1189c3e38c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Shirley Weber
(00:52:53)
(00:20) Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Shirley was born December 11 1918 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
• His father worked for American Sign Company when Shirley was a child.
• Shirley did graduate from high school
• He joined the National Guard in 1938 because you could not find a job at that
time.
(2:00) Civilian Conservation Corps
• From the Guard he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps.
• Shirley said they paid about $2.00 more.
• They spent time in the UP cutting down jack pine trees and selling off brush.
They also replanted trees. He was there for 6 months.
(2:40) Kalamazoo, Michigan
• Shirley rejoined the Guard. He was involved in the Guard part-time. They were
trained on rifles and marching at Camp Grayling.
• (4:00) He says at Camp Grayling it was at least his regiment (126th Infantry) and
that the 125th Regiment (the other guard regiment from Michigan) might have
been there also.
• During maneuvers, they did carry weapons but they were scarce. He does
remember them having mortars also.
(5:00) Camp Beauregard, Louisiana-October 1940
• The Army sent his division here for training once the war broke out in Europe
• Shirley remembers that this camp was a WWI camp and there were swamps and
rivers around the camp.
• He says that Louisiana was warming in the summer than Michigan and that they
had different snakes. He remembers having to shake one out of his blanket one
morning.
• (7:25) Shirley was a Private First Class at this point.
• They were continuously getting new recruits to the camp.
• Once in awhile you were able to get 48 hour passes to go to town. Once a year
you could go home for a week.
• Once off base many of the guys would drink.
• (8:50) When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the men were really excited and were
told to pack and get ready. Then they were told to unpack and repack. They
didn’t know what was going to happen.
• They were receiving regular equipment at this time. They had all three rifles and
they were more accurate. He said they had M1’s. They had 60mm mortars and D
company had 80mm mortars.
• (10:40) The men would be out for a week or so training. It was almost like war
and that is the way the guys acted like. They learned a lot of fighting but the army
�didn’t have anything like the woods in New Guinea that they were to deal with in
real battle.
(12:00) Boston, Massachusetts
• Shirley’s company was sent to Boston on their way to Europe but the Normandy,
which they were to sail on, burned so they couldn’t go.
• MacArthur asked the men to go to Australia instead of Europe so they headed off
to California to ship out.
(13:00) Voyage to Brisbane, Australia
• Shirley remembers the trip over to Australia as being a good trip. He remembers
going through the Coral Sea about the same time that the battle was going on but
didn’t see anything. The men aboard were given lemon drops to aid in sea
sickness.
• The weather was good the whole way across
• The men would play jokes on people like cutting their hair as they past the date
line.
(14:30) Adelaide, Australia
• The town was a big town with a lot of churches. The people were very nice.
• This was during the winter but they would only get about an inch of snow.
• They were invited to dinner by local people once in a while.
(15:30) Brisbane, Australia
• They arrived there on a train. You arrived on the side unlike our trains.
• There were different gauges in each state, so they had to change trains at each
border.
• The men did maneuvers once they arrived.
• The Japanese were trying to get to Port Moresby. They were dropping bombs
attempting to scare them. The Australians lost many men here.
• The men were being trained to battle in jungle terrain by this point.
• (17:30) Shirley arrived at Camp Cable just outside of Brisbane. There were no
Australians teaching the men how to fight that Shirley could remember. The
Australians needed every man they had to fight in the war.
• The surroundings were not jungle terrain just trees.
(17:20) Port Moresby, New Guinea
• Shirley took a boat to Port Moresby. It was only twenty miles away. The
boarded a plane that flew over the Owen Stanley Mountains and landed at
Pongani. There were not many air strips; they landed basically in an open
meadow.
• Shirley went to Buna by walking over mountains. Some of the mountains were so
steep they would slide down them. They were given food but most was gone
before they arrived.
• It rained a lot while they were there. It didn’t hinder the journey there. They
were carrying their packs which weighed around 30 lbs. Some were carrying
heavy machine guns and mortars.
• (21:44) The entire division ran out of food five days before arriving at the camp.
• They ran into the enemy. There was a river with Buna on one side and Sanananda
on the other side. Shirley was on the Sanananda side.
�•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
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•
Once on the trail, they were sent in right away. They didn’t get to rest or eat
before they were sent out. They received rations afterwards which consisted of a
can of bully beef, a chocolate bar, and a handful of rice. These were Australian
rations not American rations. They ate this for two weeks.
(23:15) After this they received C rations. Shirley believes these were from WWI
since they were told to eat it but once you get down to the green stuff stop.
Once in the area of the Japanese it was all jungle and they had to patrol to find
where they were.
They dug slit trenches and never received a real meal, just bits of food here and
there. They were basically eating straight from a can.
(24:55) Shirley first realizes where the Japanese are and that they were out there
as soon as they started firing on the Americans. This happened 2 or 3 times that
he remembers. Mostly the fighting was during the day but there were few men
who were out at night.
Japanese soldiers were trying to get into their camps but were not succeeding.
Shirley said they had a sleep and holler system from camp to camp to prevent
such soldiers from breaching the camps.
There were men 3 or 4 miles down from the coast looking for Japanese soldiers
but not finding them.
(26:30) The Japanese were trying to get back to Buna but the Australians were
pushing them back. There were more companies than Shirley’s out there as he
remembers both sides of his men were other men fighting with them.
(27:35) The Australians linked up with the Americans in fighting. Shirley says
they were really good fighters too. He jokingly says they paid attention more to
orders than they did; they were stricter than the Americans seemed to be.
Shirley believes they were not more than 1500 yards from their front line. He
remembers hearing them chop wood at times.
(29:00) Toward the end, the captain asked the men to draw fire (get the enemy to
fire upon them) and Shirley did not want his men to go since there were only two
of them left in the squad and the other guys were new guys. Since the new guys
seemed scared, Shirley told the captain he would go. The captain said no because
he was a sergeant but Shirley said it was either him or the captain so they sent
Shirley. Shirley took the 8 or 9 hand grenades with him that they had left and set
them off and fired out at the enemy but nothing was returned. They then sent out
five men to patrol and only two made it back.
Many of the men were being stricken with malaria at this time and were given
tablets to help stop it. Shirley’s was so bad they sent him back to be treated for it.
Many of the men, including the Japanese, were stricken with jungle diseases.
(32:00) The Navy set up blockades to stop the Japanese from getting supplies.
Many starved to death while out there.
You would have to have 105 fever people before you could go back and see a
medic so many still fought on the front lines stricken with extreme cases of
malaria.
Shirley was eventually sent back to medics with 107.8 degree fever. To get him
out of there the natives carried him out to the planes and they were flown back to
�Australia to a hospital. Shirley remembers being in a daze at this time and wasn’t
sure what they did to him at the hospital.
• (33:45) The natives on New Guinea had large gardens and yams were their main
staple. One of the natives had a long stick of bamboo and stuffed particular
things from the ground into it including leaves and cooked it. When it was done
he would cut it open and eat it. Shirley ate some also. It had fish heads in it, eyes
and all.
• The natives helped out the soldiers by carrying out men. They were paid to do
this although not much.
• (36:30) Shirley received a Bronze Star for his mission to draw fire from the
enemy.
• Early 1945, Shirley was sent back to the states after being sick with malaria.
• (39:00) Shirley remembers a mission where they were traveling across the coast
in chest deep mud carrying their rifles over their head. They walked through the
mud for about 100 yards before setting in for the night. Shirley was woke in the
middle of the night and told they were moving out. The enemies were shooting
mortars at them but Shirley had been so sound asleep he didn’t even hear them.
(40:40) Saidor and Aitape
• Shirley remembers fighting here but you could not see much because of the
jungle.
• Provisions and food seemed to be more adequate as the fighting progressed. The
soldiers seemed to improve on fighting in the jungles.
• The division packed to go to the Philippines but because of Shirley’s malaria he
was not able to go ahead with the men.
(42:15) Shirley heads home
• At this point, Shirley heads home on a ship. He returned on a Liberty ship and
doesn’t remember eating too well there.
• He is sent to Chicago at this point. Shirley worked in the office at a prison camp
for Germans. He typed up their names and hours they spent working. Shirley
remembers them as good guys and many of the prisoners wished to stay here after
the war was over but were not allowed to do so. He didn’t get a chance to talk to
them much so didn’t know where they were captured or how they got here.
• (44:10) The prisoners were assigned duties such as fixing roads or paving roads.
(44:30) Shirley returned to New Guinea later in life
• A family member of Shirley’s took him back to New Guinea.
• Shirley visited schools and were given gifts by the children.
• He says all the kids knew about the war. They were all excited and wanted to
shake Shirley’s hand. They gave him a carved alligator that he donated to the
museum in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
• He noticed the differences such as people wore clothes now and they had roads.
• He also was able to meet a lady whose father carried supplies for the military
during the war.
(47:00) Home again
• Shirley returns home to find it hard to find a job.
• He eventually works for a paper company for about two years in the offices.
�Shirley went to school to become a barber and spent twenty-eight years on this
occupation.
• Shirley started painting houses for the next ten years.
(48:20) Affects of the military of Shirley’s life
• Shirley feels it was a great experience and that kid’s right out of school should do
some time in the military.
• He feels that it teaches young people to behave and changes them.
• While visiting New Guinea, Shirley met Japanese family members trying to find
grave sites of their relatives.
•
�Company
TROOP TRAIN ROSTER DFO
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�mE SOLDIERS WHO WIN mE BATTLES DO NOT MARCH IN TRIUMPH
Honoring and in Remembrance of
Members of
I COMPANY "C", 1261NFANTRY
I
32DMSION
I
World War n
I
I
I
I
I
Who Made The Supreme Sacrifice
Upon The Field of Battle
NAME
ABBY, RUSSELL
BARBER, AMOS J.
BINNS, JACK M.
BONA,ARmuR
COBB, WllLIAM R.
COFFMAN, CLARENCE
COUNTER, PETE M.
DEWITT, JAMES T.
DRAPER, MELVIN W.
EASTWOOD, HOWARD M.
FAUNCE, LEIGH c.
""~OLKERSMA, JORIS
GASELL, HAR~LD R.
GORDON, ROBERT W.
HAMMAKER, HAROLD
1llNMAM, CHARLES
JORDAN, WESLEY W.
KAAZ, ELMER.J.
KALIN, JOSEPH F. JR.
KEAN, JACK R.
KING, HASKELL D.
LAMBERT, CHARLES A.
LEE, FRANK H.
LEWIS, HERBERT L.
LINGENFELSER, JOSEPH E.
LOCHEY, JOSEPH
LOCKARD, EUGENE J.
McCAIN, FLOYD R.
McCLEARY, LYLE C.
McFARLAND, RAYMOND
RANK
ISfLt
PFC
CORP.
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PVT
T/SGT
PVT
S/SGT
PVT
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2ND LT.
SGT
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ISf LT.
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PFC
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PFC
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PVT
PVT
PVT
PVT
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S/SGT
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2 NDLT
PVT
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
DOW
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
DOW
KIA
DOW
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
DOW
KIA
�McGREW, ORVILLE F.
MELODY, RAYMOND A.
MEISLAHN, CHRISTIAN
NAHIMAS, HERMAN
ORDEWAY, GAYLORD S.
RINGLER, CECIL K.
RINGUS, CHARLES
RITCIllE, FERRAL E.
ROBERSON, JOHN G.
ROSS, ELBERT M.
SCHEERENBERG,DURKP.
SCHEIK, JOSEPH F.
SIXBURY, LOURENCE
STROUD, CHARLES F.
THOMPSON, JOSEPH
TOPEL, RICHARD L.
VANECK, MELVIN
VICKERS, GEORGE
PFC
PFC
PVT
PVT
PFC
PFC
PFC
PFC
PVT
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SGT
SGT
PVT
PVT
PFC
PVT
SGT
PVT
--------,---, ---,---------
DOW
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
KIA
DD
DOW
TRANSFERRED
BEACH, CARGILL H.
GRACE, ROBERT L.
lSTLT
lSTLT
KIA
KIA
----------------------------:-------------
POST WAR DEATHS
EMIG, CARL J.
SGT
ROSENBERGER, CARLTON
S/SGT
wAlKER, GLEN H.
MAJOR
- ,--
-------
------------ ------------
Corrections, Spelling, Rank, etc. --Additions, Deletions should be given to WOSG Vern
Trudell at Armory Without Delay
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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
WeberS
Title
A name given to the resource
Weber, Shirley (Interview outline, video, and papers), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weber, Shirley
Description
An account of the resource
Shirley Weber served in the 32nd Infantry (Red Arrow) Division during WWII in New Guinea. His company teamed up with the Australians fighting Japanese soldiers on the island. He spent time fighting in Buna, Saidor and Aitape battles. He received the Bronze Star for an operation to pull out fire from the Japanese hiding in the jungle. He contracted malaria on New Guinea, which eventually led to his being sent home, where we worked with German POWs at a camp in Chicago. Military papers appended to the interview outline.
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
2008-04-01
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/0771f8e665d2e474fc2a59749dbe0507.pdf
c78ae394cbefeaf231c1c0a2c3a6ddf8
PDF Text
Text
...,
PARTl
INTRODUCTION
A primary responsibility of the Webster Township Planning Commission is to prepare and adopt
a basic plan as a guide for the future development of the Township. (Township Planning
Commission Act, Act 168, P.A. 1959, as amended.) This General Plan is a fulfillment of that
responsibility and, it is hoped, will serve as well to promote a pleasant environment by providing
guidelines for rational land in the future.
The general plan is a strategy/policy type plan; that is, it describes the Planning Commission's
strategies regarding the future of the Township and the policies that are intended to implement
them. The strategies are aimed at the fundamental (or strategic) conditions that the Planning
Commission expects the Township to face in the foreseeable future.
Since the plan concentrates on strategies and policies, it follows that the plan is general in nature.
That is, the plan shows how the Township expects to respond to various issues. On the other
hand, the plan does not prescribe uses of specific parcels of land; it describes the intended uses of
general areas. The plan is not a picture or "blue print" of the Township at the year 2015 and
should not be interpreted in this fashion. Similarly, the plan does not state that a certain action
will be taken at a future time. To give the plan either of these two characteristics would require
that the Township make decisions today concerning future events, something that is impossible
to do successfully and, if attempted, gives a plan an unworkable rigidity.
The plan provides guidelines for making decisions or recommendations for individual parcels of
land, specific public improvements, and similar questions that might arise at various times in the
future. For example, the plan will provide the framework for Planning Commission
recommendations on rezoning petitions and subdivision plats, and for Planning Commission
decisions on site plans. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis at the time the questions
arise, and within the context of the plan. The plan will be amended if the analyses involved in
the decisions suggest that a change is appropriate.
The plan is based on the premise that the future is uncertain and cannot be predicted; that current
perception of future conditions will change. The major conditions affecting Webster Township
will change over time, and strategies and policies appropriate to respond to them will have to be
modified or replaced with new ones. The Planning Commission intends to periodically refine,
add to, or otherwise modify the plan as events unfold. Changes in the plan might be in the form
of restating, deleting, or adding to statements in the plan or they might be in the form of detailed
policies for specific conditions or areas of the Township. These changes might result from
analysis of a development proposal, a periodic review of the plan, or from a detailed study of a
condition or area. This approach to the general plan can be viewed as a series of successive
attempts to adapt the plan and the planning process to changing conditions.
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�In summary, the plan is an overall guide for decisions in the future. However, it must be
emphasized that continual use of the planning process and not the general plan by itself will
assure that the resulting decisions will be better than they would have been in the absence of the
planning process. ,
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�PART2
CONDITIONS FOR PLANNING
2.01
Introduction- Conditions in and around Webster Township affect the future of the
community. These conditions must be the focus of the general plan if the plan and the
planning process are to be effective in helping the Township achieve its objectives. The
following are the conditions that the Planning Commission finds, at this time, will be
most important to the Township in the foreseeable future. These conditions will likely
change over time and new conditions will arise. Amendment of the general plan will be
in order when these events occur.
2.02
Regional Setting of the Township - There are six basic conditions that currently
characterize the regional setting of Webster Township.
A. Webster Township is adjacent to three growth and development corridors: 1) to the west,
based on the Huron River and the lakes system; 2) to the south, in Scio Township, based
on the 1-94/Jackson Road corridor and the Huron River Valley; and 3) to the north, in
Livingston County, along the M-36 corridor. To date, the development pressures in these
corridors have continued to spill over into Webster Township.
B. The area to the east, in Northfield Township is experiencing continuous growth along
US- 23.
C. Neighboring communities, such as the Village of Dexter, City of Brighton and
unincorporated Whitmore Lake provide for the commercial needs of Webster Township,
with the City of Ann Arbor being the principle urban center for this area. As a result, the
Township has no settled community within its boundaries to serve as a nucleus .
D. There are no major highways in or abutting the Township. North Territorial Road is the
only continuous major road in the Township but is not a true regional artery; however, it
has attracted significant development pressure in the Township.
E. Webster Township has become a growth area in Washtenaw County with a 50% increase
in population during the past fifteen years.
F. Webster Township is 10-12 minutes from downtown Ann Arbor, yet has a rural
character: this has attracted many of the new residents.
2.03
Population Growth - Webster Township is experiencing an accelerating population
growth over the past few years. Webster Township had a population of 787 people in
1940, and 2760 in 1980, and 4,141 in 1995. The change in population from 1980 to 1995
represents a 50% increase. Building permits for new home construction are approaching
100 per year. Current SEMCOG projections show population increases to 5,792 in 2010.
If these projections are correct, the increase would be l 10%over the 30-year period.
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�The future population increase will not require a large amount of new residential land, if
the new housing units are located on smaller lots, such as one or two acre parcels. For
example, if 40 percent of the new units are located on one-acre lots, 40 percent on twoacre lots, and 20 percent on ten-acre lots, the total new residential land area required
would be approximately 4 square miles (4 sections). This estimate indicates two points:
1) that more than enough land is available (in the planning/zoning sense) in Webster
Township for additional residential growth; and 2) that the major issue is one of locating
that growth in the parts of the Township where residential use is the desired long-term
use.
2.04
Webster Township has long been a major agricultural production area in Southeast
Michigan since its organization as a township in the 1800's. Agriculture remained the
major economic activity in the township well into the post World War II period. In recent
years major changes have occurred in the local economy. Land values have increased
rapidly, especially in areas of large tracts of farmland. Large-scale farming has been a
declining industry in Washtenaw County and neighboring areas and, as a result, local
agricultural services have been going out of business. The old farms are being divided
into residential lots or are being sold for this eventual purpose. Residents are moving into
previously farmed areas, creating conflicts with existing farming operations. Few
successors are available to take over existing farms when the older farmers retire.
Overall market conditions locally, nationally, and internationally have not been good,
especially for family farmers. The neighboring urban centers, at one time major markets
for local farmers, are now attractive as employment centers for people who want to live
in the convenient "rural" area in Webster Township. As a result, large-scale family
agriculture as we know it today has, at best, a limited and problematic future in Webster
Township. Township policy is powerless to stop or significantly change these economic
trends. Some farming operations are likely to continue, especially as interim uses. It is the
intent of the Township to encourage this continuation of farming operations as areas
evolve to higher residential use. Some limited farming, special niche product agriculture
might even be more or less permanent. This type of agriculture can be encouraged.
However, the long-term trend is conversion of old farms into residential developments
over a long period of time. The policy issues before the Township are how to manage
this conversion so that waste of land in the process is minimized, how to minimize
conflicts between existing uses and new development, and how to retain some
vestiges of rural character that has been created by the existence of the older farms.
Privately owned central water and sanitary sewerage systems are not desirable because
they would permit urban development (residential densities greater than one dwelling
unit per acre) in an area that is rural in character, and where such densities would be
incompatible with existing natural features and existing agricultural operations. Even
more serious is the fact that the Township would have the ultimate responsibility for
operating and maintaining a private, central system, in the event the owner would fail to
do so.
2.05
Webster Township has had a distinctly rural character. This character was created
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•
�primarily by many family farms. As discussed in 2.04, the family farm is slowly
disappearing from the scene. Yet township residents want to retain a rural character in the
old farming areas.
1
2.06
Natural F eatures - Webster Township has extensive areas of natural features, consisting
primarily of woods, stream corridors, and wet soil areas. These areas are important for
their environmental value and for their contribution to the rural character of the
Township. Therefore, these features should be a principal determinant of land use
policy. These areas should be protected from unduly intensive human pressure by
regulating the types and densities of uses that are permitted in fragile areas. Preservation
of the continuity of stream corridors and related wooded and wet soil areas will be
especially important.
2.07
Public Facilities - As noted, public facilities and services in Webster Township are scaled
for a rural population and will continue to be rural in character in the foreseeable future.
HCMA, Washtenaw County and Webster Township provide local public recreation
facilities. Public schools located in neighboring communities provide ample capacity
school facilities to serve the future projected population of the Township. There will be a
need for increased fire fighting and police services. The Township Hall was replaced in
1996, on a much larger site; with provisions for housing two fire trucks. Additional space
may be necessary for expansion in the future,
2.08
Urban Development - Urban Development is not considered to be desirable in Webster
Township because of the current and future absence of public facilities and services
scaled to urban needs, the desire to preserve the existing and historical rural character of
the community, and other reasons already cited. Pressures for urban development, such
as residential densities higher than one dwelling per acre, should be concentrated near the
Village of Dexter, where the necessary public, commercial, and office facilities and
services are readily available.
Loch Alpine is considered, for the purposes of this plan, as an urban development
because the net residential density is more than one dwelling per acre (15,000 square feet
minimum lot size). Urban development pressure might occur around Loch Alpine in
Webster Township because of the availability, albeit limited, of central water and sanitary
sewer facilities.
2.09
Roads- The road system in Webster Township is a rural system. No road in the Township
is a Class A road; therefore, all roads are subject to spring weight restrictions and are
unsuited for heavy truck traffic (unless bonded). The Township has only one road of
regional significance-North Territorial Road. Most roads in the Township are
discontinuous; only North Territorial Road and Mast Road, in conjunction with
Strawberry Lake Road, are continuous across the Township. Most roads are unpaved only two roads (North Territorial and Mast/Strawberry Lake Roads) and segments of two
other roads (Huron River Drive, south of North Territorial Road, and Webster
Church/Joy Road (west of Webster Church Road) are paved. Less than onehalf of the Township's total boundary has a Township line road, and the
north boundary, common with Hamburg Township in Livingston County, has no
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�boundary line road at all, except for the east 1/4 mile (8 Mile Road). By engineering
standards, traffic counts indicate that no serious traffic problems exist an exception is
periodic high peak volumes on North Territorial Road. There are no major road
improvements planned for Webster Township in the near future. These factors, together
with the Township's location, suggest that vehicular traffic is becoming a planning
concern for the Township. With the exception of North Territorial Road, outside traffic
through the Township will not be a significant problem. Mast Road will continue to be
important as an access route to Dexter. Similarly, Webster Church and Joy Roads, west
of Webster Church Road, will continue to be important as an access route to Dexter, and
to Ann Arbor, via Zeeb Road and Jackson Road/1-94. Barker Road, together with
Webster Church, Valentine, and Merrill Roads as connecting roads, has potential to
provide the northeast part of the Township with access to the Whitmore Lake community
and the US-23 freeway.
2.10
Webster Township has a variety of historical features that are worthy of preservation. The
historical base of the Township consists of buildings and farms. Gordon Hall in the
southwest comer of the Township is of both architectural and historical significance. In
addition, the south central area of the Township is developing as an area to showcase the
history of the local area. Near the Webster Church Road and Farrell Road intersection
were existing historically significant structures; the Webster Historical Society has
moved three additional structures to this site: a blacksmith's shop, Podunk School, and
the former Township Hall. This historical area blends well with the character of the
adjacent rural and agricultural uses of this area.
2.11
Neighboring Land Use Policies - The land use policies and associated zoning regulations
of adjacent municipalities have a major impact on land use planning and regulation in
Webster Township. Scio Township, to the south, is perhaps most important in this
regard, since Scio Township's land use policies and existing zoning regulations permit
rural non-farm residences at lot sizes of 2 1/2 acres, Dexter Township permits rural
residential lots of 1 acre and Northfield Township permits rural residential lots on 5
acres.
2.12
Industrial development, which is considered to be urban development, has some potential
in the southwest comer of the Township and the Township is interested in expanding the
industrial area northeast to the existing Detroit Edison right of way.
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�PART3
PLANNING OBJECTIVES
The following are the objectives of Webster Township that affect land use planning. The order
of listing does not indicate or imply relative importance.
3.01
The rural character of the primary agricultural part of the township should be preserved.
3.02
The transition from a predominantly agricultural landscape to a primarily residential one
should be carefully managed to minimize loss of open, undivided land. Areas of
contiguous farmland, woodlots and open space should be encouraged. Farming should be
encouraged as an interim use at least, and where feasible, as a longer-term use of the
undivided open land that is retained.
3.03
The natural features of Webster Township - the wooded areas, steep slopes, wetlands and
marshes, stream and river corridors, and groundwater recharge areas should be preserved,
and should be protected from intrusion of incompatible uses, incompatible densities of
development, and pollutants. Preservation and protection of these features are important
to the ecological balance of the region and to the rural atmosphere of the Township.
3.04
Rural residential land should be conserved. Sprawl type development should be
discouraged and excessively large minimum lot sizes should not be required. Open land
should be conserved in the rural area.
3.05
The historical heritage of Webster Township should be recognized, enhanced, and
preserved. This heritage is valuable to both the Township and the larger region.
3.06
Municipal services to be provided by Webster Township should be limited in type and
scale to
those that are necessary and appropriate for an agricultural and rural
residential community.
3.07
The identity of Webster Township as a rural community should be strengthened.
3.08
Coordination of planning objectives and policies with adjacent municipalities and area
agencies should be continued and improved.
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�·-
PART4
PLANNING STRATEGY
The overall planning strategy of Webster Township consists of the following elements.
4.01
Family type farming and specialized farming will be permitted in the area, on farming
tracts and on the common open land in residential areas, both as interim and permanent
uses. Policies and regulations will be established to preserve the rural character in this
area.
4.02
Urban density residential development (a density that exceeds one dwelling unit per acre)
will be limited to areas adjacent to Loch Alpine, the Village of Dexter and the area near
the Northfield Township line north of North Territorial Road, provided facilities are
available. Additional development is not expected or provided for in Portage Base Lake
Water and Sewer Authority area since that is not its intended purpose.
4.03
SEMCOG's projected population growth is approximately 6,000 residents in Webster
Township by the year 2010, but with an increase of approximately 100 new dwelling
units per year but Township calculations based on actual registered voters far exceeds
this number.
4.04
Public water and sanitary sewer services will be provided only in the established sanitary
sewer service areas of Loch Alpine, Dexter, Portage-Base Lake and adjacent to
northwestern Northfield Township. Proposed developments that require central water or
sanitary sewer services will be required to locate in one of these three areas. Privately
owned, community water and sanitary sewer Systems (that serve two or more lots or
dwelling units) will not be permitted anywhere in Webster Township, in order to
maintain the rural character of the Township, and to protect the Township from potential
operating and maintenance responsibility of such systems. Police and fire protection
services will continue to be scaled to the needs of the community and must be reappraised as development takes place. The cooperative, contractual arrangements for
such services will be continued as may be appropriate.
4.05
Natural features will be protected by permitting only uses and densities that will be
compatible with the continuation of these features in their natural state. Natural features
such as streams, wetlands and wildlife corridors should be buffered from new
development. Acquisition oflands with these features is not contemplated as a principle
means of protection. In some situations, development density may be transferred from
sensitive areas to developable, less sensitive areas. Continuity of the ecological systems
will be kept intact, where possible. The intent of the Agricultural area is to retain the rural
character of area while protecting its existing natural features and agriculture.
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�4.06
The principal commercial services for Webster Township residents will continue to be
provided by commercial centers located outside the Township. Small convenience,
highway service and office centers will be permitted with the approval of the Planning
Commission, at the intersections of North Territorial Road and Huron River Drive, and at
North Territorial Road and Webster Church Road; and adjacent to the Village of Dexter,
at Joy Road, Huron River Drive and Mast Road.
4.07
The only existing industrial area in Webster Township is at the Joy Road and
Mast Road intersection. This industrial area should be expanded to the North to the
existing Detroit Edison power line.
4.08
A historical center has developed around the Webster Church Road and Farrell Road
intersection. Historic buildings that have been relocated to this site are a blacksmith
shop, Podunk School and the former Webster Township Hall. Preservation of individual
buildings in other parts of the Township, including but not limited to Gordon Hall, should
be encouraged.
4.09
The principal road system of the Township will continue to be Mast Road, from Dexter to
Strawberry Lake Road, then Strawberry Lake Road into Hamburg Township; Webster
Church Road, from North Territorial Road to Joy Road, and Joy Road to Zeeb Road and
the Scio Township line; and North Territorial Road across Webster Township. The
Washtenaw County Road Commission and the Webster Township Board have alluded to
the need for Joy Rd. as an alternative east-west route across the Township to help reduce
the traffic on North Territorial Rd. All other roads will be either secondary or local in
function. Public transportation will not be needed or provided for, because of the rural
character and low development density of the Township.
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�PARTS
POLICIES FOR THE AGRICULTURAL AREA
5.01
The agriculture area is delineated on Map 2.
5.02
The rural character of this area will be preserved by:
Concentrating houses in certain parts of development parcels, with undivided open space
on the remaining land;
Preserving woods, wetlands, stream corridors, and other natural features;
Preserving and augmenting, where necessary, trees, shrubbery, pasture or cropland along
roads in the area; and
Requiring additional setbacks along existing roads in which the preceding vegetation or
farm fields can be located.
5.03
Residences will be permitted on two acre and larger lots. Alternatively, in order to
preserve undivided open land, residences will be permitted at the rate of one dwelling
unit per two acres if the dwelling units are located in clusters on the smallest possible
lots, and the remaining land is retained as undivided open or agricultural land.
5.04
In clusters, the minimum residential lot area will be one and one half acre, unless a larger
area is required by Washtenaw County for a drain field permit, in which case the
minimum area required by the County would be the maximum area permitted for that lot.
This policy is designed to assure that each development parcel will have open, undivided
land.
5. 05
The part of a tract of land that is not used for residential lots and roads will be combined
into undivided open space. The open space should be located so that it will be
contiguous with existing or potential open space on neighboring parcels. The Township
intends, by this policy, to create a connected pattern of open land that will help give the
area its rural character. Where possible the open land should be adjacent to woods,
wetlands, and other natural features in order to expand the appearance of naturalness that
helps create rural character.
5.06
A property owners' association will be required in each residential development to own
and maintain the common open land. Conservation easements over the common open
land will be encouraged.
5.07
Cluster developments and subdivision plats will be subject to review by the Planning
Commission and by the Township Board. Review is essential to assuring that common
open land is located as called for in these policies, which in turn is essential to preserving
the rural character of the area.
5.08 Family type farming and specialized, non-livestock or poultry farming operations will be
encouraged to continue in the agriculture area. Such uses will be permitted on the
common open land that is reserved on each development tract and will be accorded all
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�rights under the Right to Farm law. These rights should be recognized in any residential
development in the area. Intensive livestock, poultry, or animal feeding operations, such
as hog hotels, will not be permitted without a special use permit because such uses would
be incompatible with neighboring residences and with the desired rural character of the
•
area.
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�PART6
RESIDENTIAL POLICIES IN AGRICULTURAL AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS
6.01
The plan designates three categories of agricultural and residential areas - agriculture,
rural residential, and urban residential.
6.02
Agricultural land is land that is in the designated agriculture area and in which singlefamily detached dwelling units are permitted on lots 2 acres and larger. Each lot in this
area should have its own well and septic tank/drain field systems.
6.03
Rural residential land is land that is intended for single-family detached dwelling units
on one acre or larger lots and is located outside the agricultural area in the parts of the
township in which one acre and larger lots is the established lot pattern.
6.04
Urban residential land is land that is intended for residential use and is located in or
adjacent to the sanitary sewer service areas of Loch Alpine Sanitary Authority, Village of
Dexter Water and Sewer Area or Northfield Township Sewer Service Area and not in the
Portage Base Lake Water and Sewer Authority area unless upgraded by the developer.
Dwellings in this category of use should be required to connect with water and sanitary
sewer lines; on-site facilities should not be permitted, except on a temporary basis
pending future connection. The minimum lot area should be similar to that required by
existing zoning in the adjacent lands in the service area. Mobile Home Park would be
expected to be in a sewer service area.
6.05
Single-family detached dwellings should be the only type dwelling unit permitted in rural
residential areas (excluding accessory dwellings), in order to preserve and promote the
rural character of Webster Township. Two family dwellings may also be permitted in an
area served by sanitary sewer and water service. In areas with sewer and water, each
dwelling should have a direct connection to the sanitary sewer and water systems.
6.06
Single-family detached dwellings should be permitted in the Loch Alpine service area,
both within and outside the platted subdivision, provided the average density of the
Webster Township part of the platted area (lot area per dwelling unit) is not exceeded.
6.07
Each lot outside the urban residential area should have its own well, septic tank, and
drain field, approved by the County Health Department. Wells and/or sanitary sewerage
systems that serve two or more dwelling units (not including accessory dwellings) will
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�not be permitted. The Loch Alpine service area is excluded from this policy if the
dwelling units in that service area are connected to the central water and sanitary sewer
systems.
•
6.08
Clustering is intended to preserve natural features, increase open space, and reduce
developmental costs. Clustering of dwelling units will be permitted in the designated
agriculture and rural residential areas if approved by Webster Township. Clustering is
the concentration and grouping of the dwelling units that are permitted on a parcel of
land, on one or more portions of that parcel, on lots that are smaller than the minimums
usually required, based on a site plan approved by the Township. The land saved from
development by the concentration of dwelling units and the reduction in lot sizes is to
remain in agricultural production, used for passive recreational uses, or as permanent
open space that is properly maintained as to not allow the dissemination of weed seed or
grow undesirable trees and plants. Clustering is not intended to permit an increase in the
number of dwelling units or intensity of development that would have been permitted by
zoning regulations in the absence of clustering.
6.09
In clustering arrangements in the designated rural and agriculture areas, a minimum lot
area should be required for each dwelling unit, to assure that sufficient land area will be
available to provide adequate separation between water wells and drain fields, and a
setting for each dwelling that is consistent with the rural character of the Township. A
well and septic tank/drain field, or other system approved by the County Health
Department should be provided for each dwelling unit in a cluster
6.10
The Township should permit clustering only in accordance with a site plan, in addition to
any plat that might be required, and only after approval.
6.11
The residential area in the Loch Alpine sanitary sewer service area, but outside the
platted area, should be developed at a density that is no greater than the average net
residential density (total area of residential lots divided by the number of residential lots)
in the portion of the platted subdivision that is located in Webster Township. Residential
development in this area should be planned in full recognition of the capacity limits of
the Loch Alpine wastewater treatment system.
6.12
In order that urban residential land can be developed, the Westridge Annexation
Agreement provides for the extension of the Dexter sanitary sewer and water service area
into the Township. This should occur before development commences, in order to assure
that all needed urban services would be available. These services will only be available
from the Village. The Village and Webster Township should coordinate their
development policies for this area, and the two municipalities should jointly review
development plans that are proposed for this area. Webster Township should be certain
that its interests in the neighboring areas would be protected.
6.13
In order to estimate the number of dwelling units that the plan intends for residential
development, the following areas should be subtracted from the gross area of the land
involved:
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�- existing and future rights of way or easement area for streets.
- one half of the area of a wetland.
6.14
Accessory dwelling units for blood relatives of the occupants of single-family dwellings,
such as elderly parents, etc., should be permitted in residential and agricultural areas. An
accessory dwelling could either be located within the principal residence or in a small,
separate structure.
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�PART7
COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL POLICIES
7.01
Commercial and Office Land Use Policies
A.
Commercial and office uses in Webster Township are expected to be oriented to
the traveling public, primarily people driving to and from the recreation areas in
and west of Webster Township, and to the day-to-day needs oflocal residents.
B.
Commercial and office uses should be located at intersections of principal streets.
Strip commercial development along streets should not be permitted.
C.
Commercial and office uses should be considered for the area immediately to
southwest of the intersection of North Territorial and Webster Church Roads, to
expand the existing commercial development. Commercial and/or office uses
might also be considered for one or more of the other quadrants, if the need for
the additional area can be established. Commercial and office uses should also be
considered north of the intersection of Huron River Drive and Mast Road, at the
north edge of the Village of Dexter, to expand the existing commercial area.
A commercial/office use area should be considered for the north comer of the
intersection of North Territorial Road and Huron River Drive, to serve traffic to
and from the recreation areas. The southeast quadrant of the intersection is not
suitable for commercial use because of the existing residences.
D.
The principal commercial and office services that will be required by the residents
of Webster Township will continue to be provided by the commercial and office
facilities in neighboring communities, such as the Village of Dexter, Pinckney
and Hamburg in Livingston County, Whitmore Lake, and the Ann Arbor urban
area. Because of the proximity, established nature, and size of these facilities, and
the relatively small expected population of Webster Township, similar facilities
are not expected to be needed in Webster Township.
E.
New commercial and office uses should be developed as small centers, with
common driveways and parking areas, in order to minimize the number of
driveway openings on the adjacent streets, and reduce the area required for
parking and vehicular circulation. Each center would likely have an area of at
least one to three acres.
F.
Drives and parking areas for commercial and office uses should be paved.
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�7.02
G.
Commercial and office sites should be landscaped and should be screened by
landscaping from adjacent residential and agricultural lands to physically separate
such uses, to reduce heat and glare from parking areas, to screen parking and
loading areas from view, to control noise, and to increase the attractiveness of
such sites. It is the intent of Webster Township that commercial and office sites
will not be wastelands of buildings and pavements. Their designs should be in
keeping with the existing and planned character of the surrounding area, and the
rural character of the Township.
H.
Existing commercial and office uses that are not located in designated commercial
areas should be permitted to continue, but their presence should not be the basis
of future commercial land use designations or zoning changes.
I.
Offices should be permitted in commercial areas. However, a separate zoning
district should be provided for offices, to permit offices at locations where
commercial uses would not be desirable.
Industrial Land Use Policies
A.
The existing industrial area should be expanded northward to the existing Detroit
Edison power lines.
B.
Small industrial uses that serve the local population and agricultural operations,
such as machine shops and vehicle and equipment repair services, should be
permitted. Such uses should be located in or adjacent to commercial or industrial
districts, and should be located on principal roads. It is assumed that such
industrial sites will be small (at least one to four acres) and few in number,
because needed industrial services are provided, for the most part, in the
communities around Webster Township.
C.
Industrial sites should be separated from existing and designated future residential
areas by landscaped buffer strips. Parking areas should be landscaped and
loading areas should be screened from view.
D.
In order to make industrial sites as compatible with neighboring properties and the
rural character of the Township as possible, outdoor storage of equipment,
materials, vehicles, waste products, and similar items, should not be permitted.
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�•.
PARTS
ROAD POLICIES
8.01
General Policies
A.
Roads should be designed, constructed, and maintained in accordance with the
following functional classification system.
1)
Major roads - These roads are intended to primarily serve regional traffic traffic that passes through Webster Township, and to connect various parts
of the Township with the freeway system. The right-of-way should be at
least 120 feet, and the surface should be paved.
2)
Intermediate roads - The primary function of these roads is to carry traffic
that is more local in nature than those using major roads. These roads
connect land use areas in the Township with the major road system and
with major land use areas that are outside the Township, such as the
Village of Dexter. Right-of-way should be 120 feet and the surface should
be paved.
3)
Minor roads - The primary function of these roads is to collect and
distribute traffic within the Township. The right-of-way should be 86 to
120 feet, and the surface should be paved.
4)
Local roads - The primary function of local roads is to provide access to
abutting properties. The right-of-way should be at least 66 feet, but a
wider right-of-way might be required to accommodate drainage, utilities,
and grading requirements. The surface may be gravel or pavement;
however, the surface should be paved in developed or developing
residential areas.
B.
Plans for new development should provide for extension ofroads into future
development areas, where such extension is determined by the Township to be
necessary for the continuity of the public road system, or to provide adequate
vehicular access to interior lands. Vehicular access should be a major
consideration in the design of roads and the division of land.
C.
Private roads are permitted in Webster Township; they must meet Washtenaw
County specifications as provided for in the Webster Township Road Ordinance.
This will assure adequate access by public and emergency vehicles. Land parcels
that do not abut public roads should be required to abut an approved private road
at the time such parcel is occupied.
D.
Residential areas should be interconnected by public roads. Residential
- 17 -
�developments that are separate from neighboring residential properties should be
encouraged to interconnect roads.
8.02
E.
Public roads should meet the standards and specifications of the Washtenaw
County Road Commission.
F.
The number of driveway openings on major roads should be minimized in order
to reduce the need for additional lanes and to improve the safety of traffic flow.
Specific Policies
A.
North Territorial Road - This road functions as a major road, in that it carries
regional traffic through Webster Township, and connects the Township with the
US23 freeway via the interchange 11/2 miles to the east. The right-of-way should
be expanded to 120 feet. Two driving lanes will be sufficient; however, turning
lanes might be needed at the intersections with Jennings, Webster Church, and
Mast Roads, and Huron River Drive.
B.
Mast Road - This road, together with Strawberry Lake Road to the northeast,
functions as an intermediate road in Webster Township. It provides access to the
Village of Dexter to the south, and is the principal vehicular connection between
Webster Township and Hamburg Township and Livingston County to the north.
The right-of-way should be expanded to 120 feet. Two driving lanes will be
sufficient; however, turning lanes might be needed at the inter-sections with North
Territorial Road and Huron River Drive/Joy Road. The latter intersection should
be reconstructed to properly channel traffic flow.
C.
Webster Church Road - This road, together with Joy Road southwest to Zeeb
Road, and Valentine, Merrill, and Barker Roads to the north and east, should be
developed as a minor road. This road provides access to the Ann Arbor area via
Zeeb Road for the southeast part of Webster Township, and to the Whitmore Lake
urban area and the US-23 interchanges to the east. The road will also provide
access to the future residential area in the northeast part of the Township. The
right-of-way should be expanded to 120 feet and the segment north of North
Territorial Road should be paved (two lanes). The segment of Valentine Road,
between Webster Church and Jennings Roads, should be developed as a minor
road, with a 120-foot right-of-way and a paved surface, to provide a connection
between the two roads.
D.
Jennings Road - This road should be developed as a minor road, to provide access
to the County park at Independence Lake from North Territorial Road. The rightof-way should be expanded to 120 feet and the surface should be paved (two
lanes).
- 18 -
�PART9
PUBLIC FACILITIES POLICIES
9.01
Public Utilities
A.
Public sanitary sewer and water services should be provided only in designated
service areas of Loch Alpine, the Village of Dexter, the Portage Base Lake Water
and Sewer Authority area and the northeast comer of Webster Township adjacent
to Northfield Township.
B.
Outside these four service areas, water and sewerage services should be provided
by on-site facilities. Each dwelling unit and non-residential development should
have its own on-site water supply and sewage treatment system that is approved
by the Washtenaw County Health Department. Private community systems
(water and sewage treatment systems that serve more than one dwelling unit or
non-residential use) shall not be permitted in Webster Township.
C.
New development located in the Loch Alpine and Dexter service areas should
connect to the central water and sanitary sewer systems. On-site facilities should
not be permitted in these areas.
D.
Densities of development within the Loch Alpine and Dexter service areas should
be consistent with the capacities of the water and sanitary sewer systems in those
areas. No major new development is envisioned in the Portage Base Lake Water
and Sewer Authority area.
E.
Storm Drainage
1)
On-site drainage facilities should be of adequate design and construction
to deliver surface water runoff to established drainage courses or other
acceptable outlets.
2)
Drainage courses should be designed to prevent sediments and pollutants
from surface runoff from entering watercourses, water bodies, marshes,
and groundwater aquifers.
3)
Drainage districts should be established as part of each development to
provide proper maintenance of drainage facilities.
4)
Open and natural drainage courses should be utilized where possible as
part of drainage systems. Developed open drainage courses should be
- 19 -
�constructed and landscaped so as to appear to be part of the natural
landscape.
F.
5) •
Storm water retention should be provided as part of each development, or
as part of area-wide drainage systems. Retention basins should be used to
control the volume, quality, and rate of storm water runoff, and to
recharge the ground-water supply. Retention basins should be designed to
hold at least a 100-year storm of a 12-hour duration.
6)
Storm water runoff from any development area should not exceed that
which existed under natural, undeveloped conditions, in terms of volume
and velocity.
7)
Natural water storage areas should be preserved in their natural form and
condition. Each storage area and its fringe area should be protected from
encroachment by development and the quality of runoff water that drains
into such areas should be properly maintained.
Cable Utilities - Electricity, telephone, and other lines should be placed
underground, except that transmission and major distribution lines may be placed
on towers or poles. Overhead lines should be permitted only after Township
approval of their alignment, effect on the appearance and character of the area,
and the effect on trees and other vegetation. Overhead lines and all easements or
rights-of-way should be located so as to avoid disruption or destruction of tree
stands, specimen trees, significant fencerows, and to avoid unwise division of
land parcels or land use areas. Surface equipment for underground lines, such as
transformers, should be placed as part of the landscape, and should be attractively
and effectively screened from view. Substations should be designed and
landscaped so as to fit the character of area in which located.
9.02
Fire and Police Protection - Fire and police protection within Webster Township will
have to increase to meet the needs of an expanding population base. Arrangements for
these services at this time are foreseen to be contractual with neighboring units of
government and the County.
9.03
A new Township Hall was constructed in 1996 on Webster Church Road near Farrell
Road; it should meet Webster Township's needs for the foreseeable future.
9.04
Public Schools - All public school children in Webster Township will continue to be
bussed to school facilities in the four districts that serve the Township. The majority of
the residential growth in the Township by the year 2010 is expected to be in the Dexter
school district. The school district will be building a new high school on Parker Road
near Shields Road next year and moving students around in other buildings to meet
anticipated space needs. Therefore, no public school sites are needed in Webster
Township during the next 20 years.
- 20 -
�9.05
Public Recreation- Webster Township has begun development ofrecreation areas such
as soccer fields and softball diamonds. The Township has adequate land on the existing
Township Hall site to accommodate the Township's recreational needs for the
foreseeable future. The County Park at Independence Lake will continue to function as a
regional, 'day-use park, but there are no plans at present to expand the land area of the
park, or to expand, in a major fashion, the facilities available in the park.
Hudson Mills Metropark is located partially in Webster Township. It will continue as a
regional, day-use park, with the Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) having
no plans for acquiring more land but has plans to add a bike and walking trail along the
west side of the Huron River.
- 21 -
�4
PART 10
NATURAL FEATURES POLICIES
10.01 General Policies
A
Natural features consist of river and stream corridors, wetlands (including wet and
organic soils), ground water recharge areas, flood plains, watersheds, woodlands,
and slopes (steep slope areas, in the range of 12-15% and over).
B.
The natural features described in the plan are intended only to illustrate the concept
of the open space or natural features systems and to indicate the general location of
such features in the Township. These areas are not intended to be specific for any
one site. The actual extent, location, and relationship to existing and proposed
development will be determined at the time of zoning or development review, when
detailed information will be available.
C.
The subject of natural features requires detailed study at future times. Policies in
this plan are highly generalized and are based on existing information that is readily
available, namely the Washtenaw County Soil Survey, USGS maps, aerial
photographs, and information available from the Washtenaw County Metropolitan
Planning Commission GIS.
D.
It is the intent of this plan to preserve the continuity of natural features in order to
protect the integrity of ecological systems.
F.
Streams, water bodies, and wetlands should be used as part of the storm drainage
systems. These features should be protected from disturbance by construction and
buffered from intrusion, pollutants and sediments that might be carried by runoff
from developing or developed areas.
F.
Natural features should be used to create buffers between different use areas or to
separate development areas from agricultural areas, where feasible.
G.
The following lands are not suitable for development: 1) lands which are not
developable in their natural state, such as flood plains and wetlands; 2) lands that
are essential to the continuity and preservation of natural features systems; and 3)
lands where development would result in environmental destruction of a larger
natural system or create hazards to the environment and to the public. Density
transfer, as in residential cluster development, might be used as a means of
preserving such lands. In some cases such lands may be used for development if
the natural systems involved can be maintained by alternate means or by
substitution or if the environmental problems created by development can be
- 22 -
�reduced to manageable and acceptable limits. Very low-density residential use may
be permitted as a reasonable use of the land if the general area involved is
designated on the plan for rural residential use.
10.02 Stream Corridors
A.
The width of a stream corridor will vary depending upon the configuration of the
stream course, the soil type of the adjacent lands, the nature of the filtration of
surface water into the ground, the types and amount of vegetative cover, and the
slope of land adjacent to the watercourse.
Detailed information should be
required at the time of development review in order to determine the nature and
extent of the stream corridor and the specific area that should be protected or
preserved.
B.
There should be no disturbance to the stream hydrology or alignment by
topographic alteration within the corridor unless such alteration will improve
existing conditions or remove a hazard or threat to the community. The filling or
removal of material, construction of buildings, culverts, bridges, or other
structures, removal of vegetative cover, and the location of wells, septic tanks and
drain fields within stream corridors, should be regulated and reviewed by
appropriate agencies.
C.
The stream corridor and the adjacent watershed constitute an ecological unit.
Protection of slopes, woodlands, and wetlands within the watershed and proper
management of land use and development are essential to maintaining the
quantity and quality of stream flow within the corridor. Consequently,
development projects should be reviewed in the context of not only the stream
corridor itself, but in relation to the corridor's watershed.
D.
Stream corridors should be preserved in their natural condition. Alteration of the
watercourse should require prior approval by applicable County and State
agencies.
Uses should be restricted to those which offer no danger of
topographical disturbances to the corridor, bio-chemical pollution, increased
runoff, sedimentation, thermal pollution, or stream channel alteration.
E.
The Huron River and Arms Creek, between its confluence with the Huron River
and the confluence of its southern and eastern tributaries, have been designated as
"County Scenic Rivers" under the Natural Rivers Act. Therefore, both streams
and their adjacent lands require special consideration. Specifically, uses within a
certain distance of the corridor should be limited to those that are compatible
with, and will not intrude upon, the scenic river character.
The location of
structures should be regulated in reference to the watercourses, and natural
vegetation along the stream banks should be preserved. State regulations will be
used to protect the two corridors.
- 23 -
�'
.
10.03Watersheds
A.
Erosion and sedimentation controls, and surface water runoff controls, are
essential to protect a stream corridor and its watershed. Adequate erosion control
measures should be applied to cover the period from the start of construction of a
project to stabilization of the site after completion of construction.
B.
Surface water runoff should not exceed that which occurs existing, undeveloped
conditions. This policy will prevent loading of streams receiving the runoff and
will help prevent term erosion from uncontrolled, high velocity discharges.
C.
10.04
Erosion control methods and drainage plans should recognize the soil types and
land slopes of the specific site.
Wetlands
A.
Wetlands consist of low areas with poor drainage and either permanent or
temporary standing water. They also include areas with a high water table and
organic soils. Wetlands should be protected in order to preserve water quality,
stabilize surface water runoff, and provide wildlife habitats. Where used as
water storage areas for developed areas, they should be protected from
pollutants and nutrients.
B.
Wetlands should be used as groundwater recharge areas and as areas to stabilize
runoff during periods of heavy precipitation.
C.
Current wetland information for the Township is highly generalized. Actual
boundaries and the significance of specific wetland areas should be determined
at the time of zoning or development review.
D.
Uses permitted in or adjacent to wetland areas should be compatible with the
purposes and functions of the wetland areas.
E.
Density transfer to developable land should be permitted provided the receiving
area can absorb the additional development without interfering with the
purposes and functions of the wetland areas.
F.
Three aspects of wetland protection should be recognized in reviewing proposed
developments within and in the vicinity of wetland areas, and in conducting
future studies to develop more detailed policies for wetland areas:
1)
The wetland area itself that is the area actually containing the surface
water.
2)
The adjacent fringe and twenty-five foot buffer area.
- 24 -
�•.
.
3)
The remainder of the watershed, which drains into the wetland area
beyond the fringe and buffer area.
10.05 Ground Water Recharge Areas
•
A are areas that collect and hold surface runoff and precipitation or percolation into the
underground water storage aquifers. They are vital elements in the hydrologic
cycle because they restore water levels in underground storage areas as well as
supply water to lakes, rivers and streams. Therefore, their rete tion is deemed
important to Webster Township and surrounding areas.
B.
The location, nature, and extent of recharge areas with respect to specific land
parcels will be identified during zoning development review.
C.
In order to maximize the potential of recharge areas to restore underground water
supplies, such areas should be preserved as open space where feasible, or uses
should be limited to a very low density use, so as to retain as much of the
permeable surface as
possible. Land grading should be controlled to retain the water holding
characteristics of the land.
Vegetation essential to the water holding
characteristics should be preserved, or where necessary, enhanced as part of a
development program. The balance and integrity of the hydrological system
should be maintained in any part of a proposed development.
D.
Recharge areas should be protected from pollution by prohibiting all uses, which
discharge problem wastes into the hydrologic cycle. Where rural residential uses
are permitted, the density should be kept low enough so that drain field discharges
will not adversely affect the quality of ground water. Storm water runoff from
developed areas should be controlled so as to minimize the percolation of
pollutants from surface runoff into the underground system. Uses which handle
polluting materials or produce polluting products that might enter the hydrologic
cycle through leaks or spills should not be permitted in or adjacent to recharge
areas.
E.
Areas which are rated by the Soil Conservation Service as having soils with a
water table at or near the surface should be protected as in Section B, because of
the ease with which pollutants can enter the underground water system in these
areas.
F.
Land use planning should recognize the sparse information available for ground
water recharge areas. This aspect of the development plan is only a beginning in
the process of developing policy for such areas, especially in terms of the location
of recharge areas and the types and density of uses permitted within or adjacent to
these areas. In general, protection of natural watercourses and wetlands, and
regulation of uses in areas with high water tables, will protect most of the
recharge areas.
- 25 -
�More information is needed, such as the types of aquifers, hazards to aquifers;
boundaries of recharge areas, and amounts and rates of infiltration necessary to
retain desired water yields. Since a large area is involved, and it extends well
•
beyond
Webster Township boundaries, County and regional studies and
cooperation will be need to effectively manage this problem. Therefore,
Township policy should permit reasonable uses ofland in such area, but generally
protect them until County or regional policies are established. In the meantime, it
is hoped that protection of open space areas and high water table soils will protect
most of the recharge areas of the Township.
10.06
Woodlands
A.
Woodlands should be preserved in order to protect water and soil quality, to
buffer air and noise pollution, to moderate local climate and storm hazards, to
preserve wildlife habitats, and to preserve aesthetic values and community
beauty that are characteristic of Webster Township. Development that is
permitted in and around wooded areas, or where significant specimens of
individual trees are involved, should be planned, constructed, and maintained so
that existing healthy trees and native vegetation are preserved to the maximum
feasible extent. The objective should be to preserve native trees rather than to
rely on removal and subsequent re-planting. The diversity of woodland areas
should be protected to ensure long-term stability.
B.
The location, species, and quality of individual trees or wooded areas should be
considered during zoning and development review to determine preservation
requirements.
C.
The type and density of uses permitted in and adjacent to wooded areas should
be compatible with the objective of preserving woodlands.
D.
Density transfer may be used to preserve wooded areas.
10.07 Slopes
A.
Slopes of 12 percent or greater should be protected in order to reduce erosion, to
maintain slope and soil stability, to control amounts and velocities of surface
water runoff, and to maintain the Township's aesthetic resources. Maintaining
the stability of the drainage system should be the primary objective in
consideration of topographic alteration.
B.
Slopes should be considered in terms of soil types as well as steepness. Steep
slope areas, and sloping areas with lesser degrees of slope where soil conditions
create serious erosion and stability problems, should be limited to lower density
development.
- 26 -
�C.
Development that is permitted on steep slopes should maintain or enhance the
natural contours, vegetation, and drainage patterns. Grading and site preparation
should be reduced to the minimum necessary. The existing landform should be
made a part of land use planning and design. The primary objective should be
preservation of the natural contours rather than alteration through mass grading.
D.
Slopes of more than 18 percent generally should not be developed. The natural
vegetation should remain intact to prevent erosion and slippage. Where
development is proposed for areas with such slopes, density should be
transferred to portions of the area where slopes and soil conditions are more
suitable for development.
E.
Slopes in the range of 12 to 18 percent, iflocated in an area designated for rural
development, could be developed with very low density residences provided the
minimum lot requirements are large enough to ensure minimal disturbance to
existing contours, soil stability, vegetation, and drainage patterns.
- 27 -
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Wyckoff Planning and Zoning Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Planning & Zoning Center (Lansing, Mich.) (Organization)
Wyckoff, Mark A.
Description
An account of the resource
Municipal master plans and zoning ordinances from across the state of Michigan, spanning from the 1960s to the early 2020s. The bulk of the collection was compiled by urban planner Mark Wyckoff over the course of his career as the founder and principal planner of the Planning and Zoning Center in Lansing, Michigan. Some additions have been made to the collection by municipalities since it was transferred to Grand Valley State University.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Michigan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1960/2023
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a>
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Comprehensive plan publications
Master plan reports
Zoning--Michigan
Zoning--Maps
Maps
Land use--planning
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Identifier
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RHC-240
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
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Webster-Twp_General-Plan_1990s
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Webster Township Planning Commission, Webster Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
circa 1996
Title
A name given to the resource
General Plan
Description
An account of the resource
The General Plan for Webster Township was prepared by the Webster Township Planning Commission circa 1996.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Master plan reports
Webster Township (Mich.)
Washtenaw County (Mich.)
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/870">Planning and Zoning Center Collection (RHC-240)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/">No Copyright - United States</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/feabff7363895782467cae7c21382335.pdf
429b7a8bdf2ef4325c0d051fba2b3d6a
PDF Text
Text
��
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Text
[Page 1]
Department of State
Washington, June 15th 1852
Nathan Sargent, Esqr.
Register of the Treasury
Sir:
I enclose, herewith, the second half of the Register of the American ship “St. Paul,”
transmitted to this Department by A.H.P. Edwards, Esqr. U.S. Consul at Manila.
I am Sir: respectfully,
Your obedient servant
Danl Webster
�[Cover]
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Civil War and Slavery Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Slavery--United States
African Americans
United States--Politics and government--19th century
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lemmen, Harvey E.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1804-1897
Rights
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
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image/jpg; application/pdf
Language
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eng
Type
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Image; Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1804-1897
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-44_NS1-15433
Title
A name given to the resource
Nathan Sargent from Daniel Webster, June 15, 1852
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1852-06-15
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852
Description
An account of the resource
Cover letter for registration of the American ship St. Paul from A.H.P. Edwards Esq., U.S. Counsel at Manila, by Daniel Webster to Nathan Sargent, Register of the Treasury.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sargent, Nathan, 1794-1875
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852
Clayton, John M. (John Middleton), 1796-1856
Whig Party (U.S.)
United States--Politics and government--19th century
United States--Officials and employees
United States. Department of State
Buffalo (N.Y.)
Lobos Islands (Venezuela)
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent papers, (RHC-44)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
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PDF Text
Text
Al Weener interviewed by Ken Kutzel
June 2, 2018
KK: And it's on. This is Ken Kutzel, and I am here today with Al Weener at the Old Schoolhouse in
Douglas, Michigan. Today is June 2nd, 2018. This oral history is being collected as part of the Stories
of Summer project, which is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities Common Heritage Program. So I'll thank you for talking with me today.
AL: I'm glad to be here.
KK: I’m interested to learn more about your family history and your experiences od summer in the
Saugatuck-Douglas area. Can you please tell me your full name and spell it?
AL: Allen, A L L E N, Jay, J A Y. Weener W E E N E R.
KK: OK. And you don't use any accents or anything.
No. No umlauts. You know, none of that.
KK: Tell me about where you grew up.
AL: I was I was born in Holland, Michigan, and Saugatuck was the place to go if you wanted to. The
first liberal area south of Holland. My Uncle Harry used to come down here deer hunting, which was
actually he just came down here to drink. He was a well-known businessman in Holland. His last
name was Plugamars. He owned many of, you know, quite a few buildings downtown.
AL: But anyway, Saugatuck, when I was finishing high school, I came to Saugatuck and I worked on a
fishing trawler with the Peetle brothers on a boat called the Chambers Brothers. Peetles also were
fishermen.
KK: And that's P E E L right?
AL: Yeah, right.Right. Some of them, they're still around. And so that was my introduction. Catching
alewives. Which brings back memories to some for sale, I think they went to Japan. Then after high
school, there's some cloudiness in my memory, but I was I helped build the stage and put on the pop
pop festivals and working for SRC as a temporary job. So that brings, you know, some of that.
KK: There was at Pottawattamie Beach, right?
AL: Right, yeah. And I was actually backstage during the kerfuffle, which there were. That's another
history. Part of, you know, part of Saugatuck. Let's see. What would you like to know?
KK: Well, you talk about if you want.
AL: Oh, okay.
�KK: Talk about that if you... If you want to talk about the... Well, the pop festival, I would have asked
you about it anyway.
AL: Oh, okay. Well, I was backstage. We helped build the stage. I was just 19 years old. And or 18, I
forget. And I was hanging around this, The Frost, which was... I think he was .... And the MC5 were
there and B.B. King, not B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Arthur Brown, Alice Cooper. MC5, that sort of
scene. You know the bunch.
KK: They're all in the poster.
AL: Yeah. Mama Lee Thorton never showed, and there was a big rush toward the stage, And I guess I
missed all the excitement. I mean, I was in the middle of it, but everything around the edges? Didn't
see it a thing.
KK: Yeah, they did that two years, right?
AL: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
KK: Okay, what are some of the most vivid memories from your childhood.
AL: Saugatuck? I had…
KK: Well, either, either place.
AL: Oh, I don't know. Let's see. Well, my dad always took us swimming in the area. So we're were, I
was kind of always around Lake Michigan. In fact, I've pretty much lived within 10 miles of the
lakeshore my entire life, so. Lake Michigan beaches.
KK: OK, tell me more about your family and your family history.
AL: My grandfather, Frank Weener, owned gas stations in Holland at one time and an oil company.
And on the north side. And, his house actually was moved from Ottawa Beach. His house on Van
Dyke Street, which is now gone, was a root beer stand that they moved from Ottawa Beach. He lived
there quite a long time.
KK: Oh, really?
AL: And my dad, their family home was right where the North Side Russel's is now. So that's where
they grew up on River Avenue.
KK: Oh, OK.
5:09
KK: Why did you first come to Saugatuck-Douglas? And of course, you mention, you know, a little bit
about it. But what made you come here?
�AL: Oh, I just thought it was an interesting little fishing town. And then by getting my feet wet, as it
were, out in the lake, learning, working with the trawlers for a while, then playing music with with the
locals. We had a band way back then with Pete Hungerford and many... Jack Wulkan. Dave Rafinauld
on Leo.... these guys are all dead. But I'm not.
KK: You're not.
AL: Jack is still living in Kalamazoo.
KK: Did you guys play in, like, the local bar?
AL: Oh, yeah. We played the Sand Bar and the Butler Blue Temple Woodshed Boathouse. Which bar
am I missing? That's just about all of them. [Laughs].
KK: Some of them are gone.
AL: Yeah. Woodshed's gone and Blue Tempo's gone.
KK: Well, you know, as long as you brought it up and, you know, would you tell me what you can
about the Blue Tempo?
AL: Well, we just were looking for any place to play and we were playing a lot of original music.
And Toad was had no problem with that. Som we would set up.
KK: And Toad was the owner?
AL: Yeah, Toad was the owner.
KK: Yeah.
AL: Toad Davis.
KK: Yeah, Davis.
AL: Yeah. And it was a long stairway down and we'd set up. We played there a couple times. It was
we didn't get a big crowd but a local crowd. I can remember some fathers weren't real happy that
their teenage daughters were at the Blue Tempo.
KK: You were. Were you playing more to the straight crowd or the gay crowd or straight?
AL: Oh, just the locals.
KK: Oh, yeah. Yeah, because. We know that that you know. That was a gay bar.
�AL: That was a gay is a gay bar at certain times. The notables played there. You know, great jazz
greats played. Yeah.
KK: So, who do you know of that that was-?
AL: Well, it seems like Dizzy Gillespie played there. I'm not sure. These are all hearsay because I never
talked to Toad about it. But, uh, you know that was a it was a fabulous little club. And I hope that
you've talked to Bill Steininger, because he could give you more.
KK: No, we haven't, but I will write that name down. So, tell the story, because I know you were
instrumental in acquiring a sign.
AL: Oh, yeah. And it caught on fire.
KK: Yes. I want to tell what you know about that.
AL: Well, it was a sad day when any institution catches on fire. And I don't remember how. I've just
hanging around, drove up and and saw that that roof had sagged and Toad was standing out front.
And we're both gonna go. Go. Boy, this is pretty rough. And I can't imagine what he felt like. But the
roof had sagged and it was still the fire was out. And I suppose there is yellow tape around it. But I
just asked him if I could have the sign and he said, I don't care. or something to that effect. So, I just
walked out on the roof and pulled it off with a hammer.
KK: OK.
AL: Far as I can remember.
KK: So, it was up on the roof.
AL: Yeah, it was on a roof. Yeah. And the roof had sagged down due to the fire. So it was dangerous.
But who cares?
KK: But we know you so. Oh, let's see. Can you share any particular memories about, you know, your
time here about living here and when, you know, things are moments that are especially memorable
to you?
AL: Oh, I was thinking of Sally Erlandson, who just passed away, and I believe she was instrumental in
having the gazebo built along the water Wicks Park and. And we used to play there. And when it was
actually when it was just. Instructed, we had an informal bunch of locals and we we painted it in just
to help out.
KK: Good!
AL: So, Sally was always interested in her and what we were doing.
�KK: Can you tell me about your friend Fred? Because I know he was sort of involved in the music
world here.
AL: Oh, Fred Glazier.
KK: Yeah.
AL: Oh, and he was.
KK: What can you tell me about Fred?
AL: Well, he was a freelance writer and he grew up next door to in Chicago area somewhere. Then he
was friends with a lot of the oh, man.
10:07
AL: This is this is a brain’s... Mike Bloomfield. So, we did an oral history of Mike Bloomfield. One of
his last works. And he'd collect art from.
KK: Where was it?
AL: I don't know, Chicago very well. But they had the area that everyone was a grand sort of
fleamarket. And anyway, he had a lot of art that was on the floors of his his closets kind of in disarray.
And before he passed away, I took it and I tried to sort it out and flatten it. And then. So I had a
bunch of his art. Anyway, he he was a he wrote for the commercial record as a stringer, I believe, an
elegant paper.
KK: Didn't he have a little magazine?
AL: I think he may have yeah. Yeah. I think all about music in the area. Oh, he may have tried and he
tried just about everything I've seen and everything, but working for a living. I don't recommend it at
all. Manual labor doesn't suit you.
KK: Well, that's true. Oh, were there any places or institutions that you know, are really important to
you here in Saugatuck-Douglas?
AL: Well, we used to play at Jocko's and Jack Wilkins still being a friend of mine. We'd kind of camp
out in the back yard and throw parties there.
KK: Where was Jocko's?
AL: It is now east of the Dune scooter rides on the rise of the hill. It was a Jocko Wilkin, Jack's father,
who owned that. So, yeah, he had a Lake Road Hotel Motel.
KK: Were those inside the cabin?
�AL: Yeah, those little cabins behind you.
KK: Oh, okay, yeah.
AL: Yeah. And then the restaurant was in front.
KK: Yeah.
AL: Yeah, I think they did a quick shot in the Road to Perdition back there.
KK: Yeah, that. OK. Any special places you like to eat in the past during that period?
AL: Oh, I was somewhat unkind to the local restauranteurs.
KK: How so?
AL: No I won't go into that. Oh, I mean, The Douglas Dinette was a popular spot. And then The
Redwood which is now... Donna Peel passed away.
KK: Yeah.
AL: The Ways- The Waypoint. That was the Redwood. Yeah. Way back then. Oh, I don't know. Let's
see The Elbow Room, which is now The Southerner.
KK: Yeah, The Southerner.
AL: Yeah. Yeah. I just think you know The Southerner. That was a great spot. And The Butler. My dad
always loved to go to The Butler when we're having a family get together.
KK: You never had any contact, really, with the School of Art, did you?
AL: Oh, yeah.
KK: Oh, you did? Tell me about that.
AL: Yeah, I worked there. Then my old girlfriend way back was a model out there and. And so I
actually have the stove. Well, I did a lot of work out there and I played out there for fundraiser's
many times. And actually before I gained my my present stature, I did that. [Laughs Loudly].
AL: She and I both did modeling out there.
KK: Yeah.
AL: And I met a lot of people on there and let Sally… Oh, they had The Pumphouse for many years.
KK: What were their names?
�AL: They lived in The Pumphouse. Which is now The Pumphouse. The Pumphouse Museum. Sally. I
forgot the last name. And there was a cottage.
KK: And it was…
AL: Yeah, that's how I got involved out there.
KK: Oh, OK.
AL: In part. So, let's see. I remembered strip volleyball games and stuff like that where I was wearing
a pair of shorts and some women would be festooned in scarves and other extraneous... [Both
Laugh] They had they knew the game.
KK: Let's see what else we have here.
AL: Shorey. Sally Shorey.
KK: Sally Shorey. Okay.
AL: Because I was living across in Saugatuck and helped remodel The Pumphouse. Way, way back.
15:00
KK: Yeah. And now, you know, you talked about you did work here and you did. What actually do
you do for work?
AL: Some people say not much, but back then… Well, I was a Mason tender. I was project supervisor,
which means that when they were out of town, I would try to direct traffic. So we toured the slate
roof off, patched that.
KK: That's at the at the Pumphouse.
AL: Yeah, The Pumphouse, which I think I gave you a few slates.
KK: Yeah.
AL: Yeah. Which I, yeah, fortunately still had a couple laying around. What were you asking me? Oh
the Pumphouse. Well, what I did for a living?
KK: What you did andAL: Yeah. Well I was. I was. Well, I painted a bunch of them for quite a while down here, but then
transitioned more into construction.
�KK: And you were involved a lot in New Richmond, weren't you?
AL: Oh, yeah. I bought The New Richmond Hotel from a friend of mine. He says, "Careful what you
wish for."
AL: I said, "You know, if I owned it, I would do this and that."
AL: And he said, "Well, I'll sell it to you on a land contract." And then so I did remodel that or we did
that for quite a few years. And then it caught on fire. Top floor burned out. Fixed that. And then used
it as a vacation rental some years successfully, some years less so. And that was the design syrett for
the park and raised a little bit of money. And I was on the fundraising committee for the bridge.
KK: Why don't you explain exactly what that meant? I mean, what were they doing with the bridge?
AL: Oh, at the time Kevin Ricoh was the Parks and Recreation Director for the Allegan County. They,
along with the road commission, Bill Nelson was the head of the road commission at the time,
were able to secure a federal grant to rebuild the bridge. Subject to not using the caveat was to not
have a use for vehicle traffic and to rebuild it being the oldest swing bridge in its act, in its original
location. So that bridge is capable of being turned with the crank. I think they spent $800,000
building that. That spans the Kalamazoo Kalamazoo River where New Richmond was, is.
KK: New Richmond is, was. Yeah. It was more of a town at one point, wasn't it?
AL: Oh, yeah. The train used to stop there five times a day. OK. And from what I understand, it was
an Indian trading post prior to that in the 1830s. There are hotels which I had the last, the last
structure. A lot of them burned down at the Great Fire, but... The mail used to come to New
Richmond. Go by stagecoach to Saugatuck and Holland, sometimes by water, but stagecoach to
Holland. And I had relatives living in the East Saugatuck. So, they may have come through Ellis Island
and gotten off the train in New Richmond. And, you know, by ox cart or snail... By snail. [Both laugh]
By snail or tortoise. Yeah. Sledge lived in East Saugatuck.
KK: What... Talk about downtown Saugatuck and or downtown Douglas back, you know, in in like the
70s, 60s, 70s. What do you remember about them?
AL: Well, The Over Ice Lumber was still in Douglas as well as there was a hardware store. It was
struggling at the time. My girlfriend and I painted The Dutcher Lodge way, way back when it was still
a Masonic Hall upstairs.
KK: And was it still being used as a hall?
AL: Yeah, it was kind of the end of the end of its tenure as a hall .And I remember there were huge
bees nests and even more warm weather came that would drip honey through the floor.
KK: I've been up there.
AL: Yeah?
�KK: Yeah, I did. There's still a stage up there.
20:01
AL: Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's still a stage. I don't know what they've done to it, but I remember
working for Virgil Lloyd was one of the one of the old timers who wanted it was part of the lodge.
Burin Van Osterberg another. He lived on the other side of the water on the other side of the river.
And his wife was Chuck Glummer's sister, she was crazy as a loon. [Chuckles] She was
institutionalized.
KK: Oh, really?
AL: He would take her out of the home, drive around on a regular basis. Her hair was never combed
and she never talked at all. Chuck Glummer was was... lived in Ganges, had the tractor repair.
KK: Oh.
AL: Which is that... Oh, there's the plumber house there.
KK: Yeah. Is it across the street from it?
AL: Right.
KK: Yeah.
AL: Yeah. OK. Yeah.Yeah. I've forgotten his wife's name. Chuck was lived in Ganges Township. And
they, they had a hedge your business and repaired crackers. I remember going in there and asking,
"What can I get for, you know, the tune up my engine for ten bucks?"
AL: And the mechanic opened the hood, looked at the engine, closed the hood and said, "That'll be
ten dollars."
KK: Oh, it sounds like it, you know.
AL: Yeah. You stay at the Texaco station where where they would carry a pistol when they're
pumping gas.
KK: Really?
AL: Yeah, the Brown, Browns owned, had that old, Al Brown. Jim Brown. There was Joe Brown. And
they were either township or county one with Joe Browns, County cop and, you know, nice.
KK: Was it right? Was that the one that was downtown or down near Bluestar-
�AL: By Bluestar. Now, it's a real estate.
KK: Yeah. Lighthouse, I think, Reality.
AL: Yeah. That was a Texaco Station. I know there was one over there. And, Al Brown was there, you
know, from the south. But very you know, once you get to know them well, you go in there and play
guitar for a couple of minutes at the gas station. I'm no guitar player, but enough to break the ice.
KK: Well, and then when you came down here, you spent more time in Saugatuck than in Douglas?
Or did it matter?
AL: Didn't matter. There were just one little town.
KK: Do you have any memory of the Greeson School of Art at the Footy of Center Street? There's a
little art school there.
AL: Down here?
KK: It was just in one building. Yeah.
AL: Oh, no.
KK: Yeah. I always ask that question because not too many people remember it.
AL: No, I remember Oxbow. Yeah. There was no I'm not aware of that one.
KK: Did you ever come down? You know, it would be would be up from... Yeah. Down from Holland
on the wintertime or what was it something guys in all that all year or was it just mostly summer?
AL: Oh well I would come down pretty much any time. Mostly summer jobs.
Oh, okay.
AL: But when we were painting houses we used to put in as a single ad in The Commercial Record
with the phone number. Not even a phone number. I mean, just an address. Post office box. And we
were living in New Richmond at the time, so I had a post office box in New Richmond. Somebody
would write me a letter, send it via post. I would get a letter from them, send a letter back. You know,
this is all is very slow. And then we would quite often get a painting job that way.
I didn't paint forever, but it seemed like it. Yeah.
KK: So that would be about what time? The 60s?
AL: Yeah, and early 70s.
KK: Early 70s.
�AL: Yeah.
KK: So, you were already living out in New Richmond.
AL: Yeah. And my girlfriend and I also live right downtown Saugatuck in the old Masonic Hall up
above in which is now kind of an atrium building the upper floors. Like upstairs from the- on Butler
Street from where Butler Pantry was. Yeah, right. Hey there. I think the Leland building was. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I did a bunch of work on the Leland building with the first- the initial remodel, my cousin
and I tore the north side of the building up and removed the brick and put beams in for windows
and also build a back stairway in there.
25:08
AL: Put bay windows on the front, which are now gone. Let's see, yeah, I hadn't thought of that for a
while. Yeah. So, what else you got? What what?
KK: You know, Iet's talk...
AL: Nice list.
KK: Well, this is for all kinds of different things, you know, here. This is one for your shenanigans.
How would you describe Saugatuck-Douglas, to somebody who had never been here before?
AL: When I first came, it was a little fishing town. You can still buy smoked fish in Saugatuck. You can
get smoked Chubb's. The Hungerford's had a boathouse on the river, which is no, you know, a
glorified cottage. They lived up on the hill. It was a very relaxed little town, very small.
KK: OK. And with the summer season was about how long?
AL: Three months. Yeah. You can set your watch by it.
KK: Yeah. In the summer, where was your favorite place to go?
AL: Well, I spent a lot of time on the sandbar or just houses. We played a big party at Tower Marine
and that's why I brought up Bill Dillerard, because the tower was still up at that point. And, I
remember there is a big house and it had a grand piano in it, and we threw a big party or they threw
a big party up there. And that may have may be because they were going to tear down the tower or
something like that. You'd have to ask Bill. But that's why Tower Marinas....
KK: Yeah.
AL: -has the name.
KK: That name.
AL: And of course, Tower Marine had a big boat shed and built river queens there.
�KK: What was your impression of the law enforcement in Saugatuck?
AL: Oh, I remember Lyle Jones. He was a chief of police who was pretty relaxed guy. Not at all what
we have today. We did.
KK: Right.
AL: We were we wrote songs about the locals. So, we do have... There was a song written with Lyle
Jones named in it.
KK: Oh, really?
AL: Yeah. Those are- "Called the Corner" Jack Wilken, I bet has a copy of it. Wow. And Dick Hoffman
was the mayor for a while. He was a cool guy. And Greg Hoffman, his brother, always rode a bike and
delivered papers. Another local.
KK: Do the Hollanders come down here a lot?
AL: To drink.
KK: Yeah, but did they admit it?
AL: Well, if they were, Saugatuck was the first place... Ottawa County was pretty much dry. So, the
Saugatuck was some place you could get away.
KK: You know, there were the. There was that racetrack here.
AL: Oh, yes.
KK: At the time. Well, what can you tell me about that?
AL: I worked for Al Masters, who owned Holiday Hill. Al and Fran and he and partner put on the jazz
festival there. And I worked for them for at least 10 years off and on. And I noticed in his basement
he had a bunch on reel-to-reel tapes. And after pestering him for a while, I was able to get those
tapes of the Jazz Festival 1961. And I brought him to a friend of mine in Grand Rapids who owned a
recording studio. And they were transferred into a digital medium. And they're probably copies in
this building somewhere.
KK: If I remember correctly, we do have them.
AL: I hope so.
KK: Mike Sweeney has been very, very involved.
AL: So, yeah, I gave them to Mike.
�KK: Yeah.
AL: And so, I had those transferred and that had Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck and many other
interesting Hollywood or Las Vegas senior stuff. Yeah. Hilarious. Four hours at least. And I remember
he lost a lot of money and recorded it had it had A West Michigan sound out of Muskegon recorded
for him, and he had no rights to do that. And so that's why they sat in his basement, because RCA or
the parent companies who had the recording rights for these artists wouldn't let him release or do
anything with the with the sound recording.
30:08
KK: Oh, that's interesting. Do you know, when they hit the rock festivals there. Talk to me or about
what was it like with all those people coming into town? As I've heard stories about it. Do you have
stories about it?
AL: I was backstage the whole time, so. Or right in the in the festival itself. I remember we were... not
inebriated, but my memories are somewhat, hazy. [Both chuckle] I was never in town because I was
right in the middle of middle of the action. Because I know there are stories about the traffic.
KK: And, yeah, them literally shutting the town down because nobody can get in or out.
AL: Yeah. I just... Well, being in the middle of it, I didn't need to go anywhere.
KK: That's okay.
AL: We'd go swimming at Pottawattamie Beach was like 50 cents. They had a big water slide or a
diving platform, which you couldn't do anymore.
KK: You know, you're involved in playing music. Now, why don't you talk about that?
AL: Oh, well, I'm not doing a whole lot, but occasionally I have the… I can play at Marrows in
Saugatuck. Hopefully that'll kick in and in June. Otherwise, we had a band called Planet Seven at the
time when we were still in our teens and. Yeah, well, that was with local local guys, some of which are
not no longer with us. Leo Vischer was the bass player for a little on. Drank himself to death. There
was other ones. Chuck Daly was another local. We also had a country band. Tom Edgecomb was
another notable, notable guitar player and songwriter.
AL: His father was Morgan Edgecomb, which the fireboat is named after, after Morgan. He was an
interesting guy who worked on larger vessels and was First Mate for Evel Knievel for a long time.
KK: Oh, was he?
AL: As well as... You know, He didn't talk about it either. He didn't talk about his clientele because
they, you know…. I think Tom said that he worked for the Kennedys. And, you know, and whoever
they also Tom is the only guy that I knew my age was. He had been in Cuba with his dad.
�KK: That's Tom Edgecomb.
AL: Yeah. He passed away 15 years ago.
KK: Wait, there was something I wanted to ask you. Tell us about your work with the fish.
AL: Oh, you know, the sturgeon. Yeah, we're we have an on again off again nonprofit organization
and we partner with we do a little bit to help to assist Fisheries and Wildlife DNR and then the Gun
Lake Tribe, the Gun Lake Tribe is now taken up most of the heavy lifting due to budget cuts,
governmental budget cuts. But the Kalamazoo River Sturgeon for Tomorrow is is we're trying to keep
the sturgeon in Kalamazoo River by using native stock. So there is a small fishing fish hatchery. They
called it streamside rearing facility on the north side of New Richmond at the county park. It's a
seasonal small trailer funded by Fisheries and Wildlife. Federal money.
KK: And so, what do what are they actually do there?
AL: They catch native stock in the Kalamazoo River, rear them to a size in a few months sometime.
They start with eggs or spawn. And by the time they let them go, they could be five to seven inches
long, and then they're able to escape predators. But a small and a juvenile sturgeon is covered with
kind of spiny, sharp plates and fins. So, once they get that big, they have a better chance of making
it. OK.
35:01
AL: And the largest sturgeon in the last couple decades, caught and released in the Kalamazoo, from
the Kalamazoo, was 6'9".
KK: Oh.
AL: And weighed in in excess of 200lbs.
KK: Wow, that's a big fish.
AL: A big fish. They've been here forever.
KK: Are there more and more of them now?
AL: They're still a remnant population in with a little help from or not doing any damage to the
habitat, I think they'll be here for a long time.
KK: Well, that's good.
AL: There's more, more habitat. Habitat enhancement funded by the Gun Lake Tribe and the DNR
just below the dam. The Allegan Dam on the Kalamazoo.
�KK: What are some of your hopes for the future, for, you know, for the area? What would you like to
see happen?
AL: Oh, I would like to see the small-town atmosphere. I'm not a Luddite, but I do appreciate good
architecture. So, Saugatuck could keep its quaint look by not building a lot of storage facilities to
store people's junk, which they should donate to charity and or, you know, just tacky architecture
and fast-food joints.
KK: That’s interesting. You know. What would you consider some of the nicer buildings?
AL: Oh, well. That the old.... let's see... Well, the let's see, the Episcopal Church is a really nice
building. Let's see, and some of the buildings downtown that the sandbars, a nice unrestored
building for the most part. Killwins, that's a pretty cool building. And some of the buildings along on
Butler Street were moved from Singapore. So, and I've worked for some houses in homes, private
homes that were moved up the ice from Singapore. So, back when we had real winters.
KK: Yeah, I know.
AL: Oh, that was real common.
KK: I know.
AL: Yeah. For months, kids pull them, pull them up with oxen or whatever.
KK: Yeah. Yeah. Assuming that somebody 50 years from now is going to be listening to this tape,
what do you want to say to him? Or her?
AL: To him or her, life is short. Anybody that will be there. Life was short, don't make the same
mistakes we did. Make some new ones. Be tolerant.
KK: OK. Anything else you want to add?
AL: No, just. It's… it's a pleasure that it's nice that we have a historical society.
KK: Okay. We will… [Recording ends in middle of sentence].
�
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
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Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1910s-2010s
Source
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Various
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<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Douglas (Mich.)
Michigan, Lake
Allegan County (Mich.)
Beaches
Sand dunes
Outdoor recreation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)
Format
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image/jpeg
application/pdf
Type
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Image
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
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
DC-07_SD-WeenerA_2018-06-02
Creator
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Weener, Al
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018-06-02
Title
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Al Weener (audio interview and transcript) 2018
Description
An account of the resource
Al Weener describes his connections to West Michigan as well as his time as a fisherman in Saugatuck
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Kutzel, Ken (interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Douglas (Mich.)
Outdoor recreation
Fishing
Fishermen
Gay bars
Allegan County (Mich.)
Oral history
Audio recordings
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Stories of Summer project, Kutsche Office of Local History. Grand Valley State University
Relation
A related resource
Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Sound
Text
Format
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audio/mp3
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/404147b502e5b5a6842a26b31511c45a.mp4
e85de1c2d57b8ca1a521f2cb13e7883f
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5b83014a6e0180b8552a0e80dc42a79e.pdf
b74059e6bd0b459be467233ee834f2b4
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: World War II
Interviewee: Fred Weidner
Length of Interview: 00:39:25
Background
Born on November 25, 1922 in Muskegon, Michigan.
His father was a metal pattern maker and his mother was home maker.
He would grow up in Muskegon until he was 18 [19] years old when he joined the
service.
His father had to switch his occupation from one city to another, but they still lived in the
same place.
He was an only child.
He would live with foster parents.
He would learn about Pearl Harbor from the newspapers. He knew about what was going
on in the world and he knew we would probably go to war soon, though not with Japan.
His foster father had come from Germany and he would serve in the Pacific so as to not
accidentally meet up with his family and friend while in combat.
He went through high school and joined the military in 1942.
He worked for a while before he joined the army, but would end up volunteering to join
the armed forces.
Since he wasn’t 20, he was able to pick the branch of service that he wanted to go into.
He tried to get into the Navy but did not pass their physical exam. Instead he would join
the Army.
For basic training he was sent to Camp Hahn, in California. That is near Riverside.
Training (4:30)
The camp itself was really nice.
It was a new base, with new barracks and things like that.
When they got there they would learn how to fire a rifle and did lots of marching and
drilling.
He would march 15 miles. Others with bad feet would quit, but he would go all the way.
He was in good shape at the time.
He would do his specialized training for anti-aircraft fire at Camp Hahn as well.
He was learning how to use and repair the weapons during his training. He learned out to
shoot the 30 caliber rifle, 50 caliber machine guns and the search light. He did not train
in the larger guns.
When he learned how to use the search light, they learned how to clean them and use
them. He ran the district electric control system, which was used to position the search
light.
�
He would practice using the search light at night. They would practice finding drones at
night. They were similar to the toy planes that people played with.
He would spend a year at Camp Hahn. When he finished he was a Corporal at the time.
He had been five times. He would get busted each time for insubordination for things
like talking out of turn.
After that he was sent to Florida and Georgia for training with the Air Corps.
Here he would be able to train with the search light for real planes.
He would be assigned to the 222nd Searchlight Battalion in Camp Hahn.
He would stay down there for about 6 months between Georgia and Florida.
While in training, he did not have much liberty to leave the base to do his own thing. But
there was plenty to do in the Camps, like an obstacle course and a gun range.
While he was there, Bob Hope came a number of times, especially while he was
overseas.
He would go home right before he went overseas, in 1943.
He was sent overseas in 1944, early in the year. He left from San Francisco on a Dutch
ship. The US would pay these ships to take the American soldiers over in there ship so
they wouldn’t be noticed on the ocean.
War in the Pacific (13:05)
The ship would sail by itself, and it would carry all the equipment as well as the soldiers
over.
The unit itself was at full strength, or 1000 people.
When they were traveling, the pistons went out on the ship and they sat idle for 3 days.
No one came to help, but they fixed it themselves.
He decided before he set sail that he would not let himself be captured. Instead he would
rather drown.
He landed in New Guinea, which is where he unloaded.
While they were there, they had to do some form of training; he chose boxing and
swimming. The training they were doing would help prepare them for the invasion of the
Philippines.
While he was there, he was given drugs to help fight diseases like malaria. He took
some, but not all of them. He would not catch any of the tropical diseases while he was
there.
He put a mosquito net around his bed and he kept himself dry. This would help a lot.
He would then go from Finschaefen to Aitape.
It was a nicer place than Finschaefen, a lot less muddy.
He saw Bob Hope when he was in New Guinea. He put on a good program. It was
funny sometimes and serious at other times.
They kept him fed fairly well.
While he was in New Guinea, he did not have any problems with the Japanese. Although
he had been trained in the search light, there was not a whole lot for him to do there.
From New Guinea, he went straight to Luzon. (21:00)
He and the others tried to take a ship to Luzon, and it took 7 tries before they could get
into Luzon. The enemy aircraft had kept them from coming in until then.
�
The enemy aircraft that he saw there were mostly bombers. Though on the way to the
Philippines, he did see Kamikaze planes. He also saw them hit some of the American
ships.
None of them tried to attack their ship.
He did finally land in Luzon. They would attack the Japanese in a place that was a
surprise for them and he would land in Luzon while witnessing some of the naval
bombardment that was going on.
He remembers while he was there, the Japanese had tried to blow up the landing strip.
They had dropped 23 bombs, but only 13 of them had gone off. They did not make very
good bombs.
He also remembered that they sent some bombers so close to their outfit that he could see
the eyeballs on the pilots. They got bombed day and night.
He would use his searchlights every air raid they had.
Once he landed, the airfield there was mostly used as an emergency landing airfield.
The Japanese had been chased away from the area that he stayed in.
He would also see the natives as well. They Philippians did not wear any shirts. They
went about their lives without the need to wear shirts. This however would make them a
target for the Japanese. If a native crawled in a Japanese foxhole, and the Japanese felt
that there was no shirt, it was too bad for them.
The Philippians and Aussies were wonderful Trojans of war. They would help to fight in
the resistance against the Japanese.
He also remembers that you had to have your initials on your socks, or the native girls
would take them.
He would stay in the same place for the time he spent in the war. (28:00)
When the war was over, he had an emergency furlough. His father had had a stroke back
home.
He would go to Manila on his way home.
He would also see a lot of the city. There were not a lot of people there. He and a buddy
had to carry their rifles around because there were Japanese snipers still in the city.
He was in Manila when the war was announced to be officially over.
While he was in the Philippines, he remembers his buddy’s dad died and his wife
divorced him. He would not be able to go home for his father’s funeral and would be
unable to defend himself in the divorce.
Post Duty (32:00)
He would be flown back to the United States in a transport plane.
When he got back to the US in November, he was discharged in January.
He would go to work right away when he went home. He got a job in cabinet work. He
would also work in a couple of other jobs.
His time in the service would greatly change his life. He was married when he went in,
which would cause enough problems for it to cause a divorce. He would rather not
remember that stuff.
His time in the service would teach him what was good for him and what was bad for
him.
�
When he was in the Philippines, their outfit never had a good commander.
He did have one good battalion commander, one who really understood the soldiers.
The platoon performed very well when they went into action.
He did not receive any awards. Those who would lead the invasions would receive a
bronze arrowhead, a campaign medal of some sort.
�
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
WeidnerF
Title
A name given to the resource
Weidner, Fred (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weidner, Fred
Description
An account of the resource
Fred Weidner served in the 222nd Searchlight Battalion in the Pacific in World War II. His unit was deployed to New Guinea in 1944, and then to the Philippines in early 1945, where he witnessed enemy bombing raids and kamikaze attacks.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
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
2010-03-03
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/2c090d45e29f06aa8914ab6b725ff766.mp4
d839fe45523ee19e86de239075a2bc69
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/19b527bc8efa0124ff5be9223f858573.pdf
5448c84e41927a96333c06bb0370870c
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project
Charles Weingate
(00:46:21)
(00:24) Pre-Enlistment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(00:30) Born in West Hazelton, PA
Father was a coal miner
Moved to Grand Rapids so father could work as a cabinet maker
Remembers hardships of Great Depression
Attended Union High School, Graduated in February, 1944
Drafted in November, 1944
Army Allowed him to graduate
(04:20) Training
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(04:35) Went to Fort Crowder, MO. Learned how to be in Signal Corps.
Given comprehension test on signals such as Morse Code, and a good score on
that got you into the Signal Corps.
Was initially going to be sent to Asia. Loaded all of the equipment on to the train,
and left. Got as far as Kansas before they got the information that they were going
to Europe. Train had to turn around and head to New York instead.
(09:10) Camp Crowder was location for Basic Training.
(13:15) Was trained as a Radio Operator in Specialist Training. Four hours in the
morning and four hours in the evening of practicing code.
(14:40) 2000 men were taken in at Pine Camp, NY from Camp Crowder, MO, in
June 1944. 200 were kept at the end of the program.
Every man in the outfit had to learn how to drive every type of vehicle that the
outfit used
(16:20) The purpose of the outfit was to make sound so as to make the enemy
think that there were more troops there than there were.
Learned everything about sound, for instance the difference between day and
night.
(17:10) Worked with wire-mag to create the sound. Sound was projected through
speaker in the turret of the M-10 tank destroyer.
(18:20) Worked with the equipment in New York before they are shipped out.
(19:20) Pine Camp was a location where they kept Italian POWs
Lieutenant was replaced right before they were shipped over seas.
�(21:50) Active Duty
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transported on the Ship “Blue Goose” to Naples, Italy. Encountered a storm.
Travelled in a convoy.
(26:00) Was transported to Pisa, and stayed in a house that held 200 men for
about a week.
(26:50) Were then sent to Upper Apennines. Their job was to take tanks into
mountains and make sounds so to make the Germans think that there were more
tanks there than there were.
(27:30) They had a battalion of British attached to them that used rubber tanks
and canvas to fake the Germans into attacking the fake tanks, rather than the real
tanks.
(27:55) They were trying to weaken the German lines an allow the Americans to
break through. They did this by tricking the Germans into thinking that there were
more troops and tanks there than there were.
They were fired upon on their first night.
(30:50) He was in a ¾ Ton truck. He was a radio operator for the platoon.
(32:25) After the Germans surrendered, they broke into the Po Valley, and
captured some German soldiers. Stayed in the valley for a couple weeks. Moved
then into the Southern Alps.
(33:50) Given orders to move to Rome and be shipped to Asia, but that was
cancelled after the war ended.
Was then given the choice of what to do at the end of the war. He chose to go to
the Air Force. He was shipped to Naples and helped catalogue and ship different
items. Was promoted twice, achieved Tech Sergeant.
(35:35) Then got enough points to be shipped home in June, 1946.
During time in Naples, was able to gain some photography equipment.
(38:30) Post-War
•
•
•
(38:30) Shipped to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin for discharge.
Proceeded home to Michigan
Got a job at a plating company after the war, then worked in die casting
�
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
WeingateC
Title
A name given to the resource
Weingate, Charles (Interview outline and video), 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weingate, Charles
Description
An account of the resource
Charles Weingate was born in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan as a child. He was drafted into the Army in 1944 before finishing high school, but was allowed to finish. He became a radio operator in the Signal Corps. His unit's objective was to create a source of sound to deceive the enemy into thinking that there were more Americans present than there were. He landed in Naples and operated throughout the Italian peninsula. He spent some time in Italy working for the Air Force after the war was over. He was sent home in 1946. After the war, he worked several jobs, most of which were in factories.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Byron Area Historic Museum (Byron Center, Mich.)
BCTV
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-12-13
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/fff4db0931b72f7532359498cdb682a4.m4v
72ed15cc84d8bda66515f1060fc06225
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/428f12781a3bd30360554b6dce3001a6.pdf
9d94cfc8650e7efc9c87ceb92ddb1a91
PDF Text
Text
ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW
ELMA WEISS
Women in Baseball
Born: Columbus, Ohio
Resides: Phoenix, Arizona
Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, August 7, 2010,
Detroit, MI at the All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion.
Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, January 4, 2011
Interviewer: “Now Elma, can you begin by giving us a little bit of background on
yourself?”
Yes, I was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1923 and we’ll skip the early years.
Interviewer: “I would like to ask a little bit about the early years. What did your
family do for a living in those days?”
Well, originally farmers, everybody was a farmer in that era and he was an electrician.
He had a lot of work with professional buildings. He wired hospitals and businesses and
part of the Ohio State University stadium because we lived in Columbus just a short
distance from the campus. 55:12
Interviewer: “Did you grow up in Columbus and go to school there?”
Yes, I grew up and went to school there and started at Ohio State University, and I
completed three years and then the war changed people’s lived dramatically, as you
know, and we had we had a shortage of teachers, but the rule at that time was, if you had
completed three years of college and you could get a principal to hire you, you could
teach school, so that’s what I did. After my third year I went to Port Clinton, Ohio, and
taught high school for a year and then I was supposed to go back and finish, but I went
back, but the urge, the desire to be patriotic again—instead of finishing my senior year I
joined the navy.
1
�Interviewer: “Why did you choose the navy as opposed to another branch of the
service?” 56:00
This is going to sound funny, but it was strictly because I didn’t like the khaki uniforms.
I liked the navy blue.
Interviewer: “You are not the first WAVE to tell us that. That they had better
uniforms.
Is that right?
Interviewer: “So you did that and once you signed up what—where did they send
you for training?”
For the navy, do you mean?
Interviewer: “Yes”
All of us went to New York at the time and we spent—I think it was four months or six
weeks, it was six weeks, in basic training and my major was in physical education, so I
had another three months in New York City and then eventually I ended up in Oakland,
California.
Interviewer: “While you were going through basic training and then more
specialized training, tell us a little bit about what that was like. In basic training,
what do they have the women do?” 56:56
Well, they were trying to get us familiar with navy terms and so forth, and we had to
learn that the floor was the deck and the stairs were ladders and so forth, so we spoke in
navy terms and we were taught to recognize and identify airplanes and ships and so forth.
Just so we could—we didn’t expect to get aboard a ship, and of course we didn’t, but we
knew all the navy lingo and that’s the way they wanted it.
2
�Interviewer: “Did they teach you discipline and all that kind of thing?”
Oh yes, we were under the same rules. I went home for Christmas at one time and we
were snowed in on the train coming back and in the navy they don’t care about a
snowstorm. What happens if you miss your ship? The war might hinge on you making
your ship, so we had to serve what they call “a captain’s mast” and you had to work
cleaning the decks or something of that nature. 57:54 They treated us like the young
men.
Interviewer: “Did they give you a lot of physical training and exercise?”
No, I already had that actually, at the university, but we did go through—they called it PT
and we did some exercises and swimming.
Interviewer: “What year was this when you joined the navy?”
It was in 1943, in 1943 I was still in school at that time, so we covered the summer and I
went in the fall of 1943 and served in 1944 and was discharged at the end of 1945.
Interviewer: ‘What did your physical education background—how did that affect
your assignment? You mentioned you had been majoring in that, so they had you
go to a particular kind of training and you stayed in New York for three or four
months and what were you doing at that time?”
Well, they called it Specialist I Training and I guess it’s what a drill sergeant would do
more or less and when I was a student I was a student company commander and I was in
charge of six sections of forty girls each. 59:05 I recall one day we mustered out in front
to go to breakfast and one—she was a specialist I guess, and she called out the window
that she overslept and I was standing down there and we were all standing at parade rest,
two hundred girls there, and she said, “can you get them to the mess hall?” I called the
3
�company and turned them around and marched them down the street and bleeped them to
the right and to the mess hall, and I was so proud of myself and I was so proud of myself
as a youngster doing that, really.
Interviewer: “Now, were most of the women training about the same age?”
I suppose they were, you had to be twenty-one to go in—well I was, let’s see—you had
to be twenty-one to go in the navy, which is one reason I didn’t go in earlier. I wasn’t
that old yet. 59:54
Interviewer: “Well, the men were going into the navy at seventeen and eighteen.”
But not the women
Interviewer: “Not the women, alright, so basically you’re training to train other
people.”
That’s pretty much the size of it, yeah. The S really stood for shore patrol for the men,
but we ended up being in charge of barracks.
Interviewer: “So, you go out to Oakland, California, now what was there?”
Well, the WAVE barracks were in the heart of town and what we had to do, we were
called “ship’s company” because we didn’t go, but every morning buses would come in,
and several hundred girls would get on the buses and they would be taken out to one of
the navy stations, but “ship’s company”, there were about twenty of us, stayed there and I
arranged recreation for them by buying books for the rec room I guess, and records and I
painted a badminton court and I managed a softball team and things of that nature for the
girls. 0:56
Interviewer: “All right, what do you think was the most interesting aspect of that
job?”
4
�Well, I enjoyed—I took leather craft the year before—see, when I’d gone out there I
couldn’t get in because I was a day late at the university, so I was out there and all I had
was about seventy five dollars and I came from Ohio of course, and didn’t have enough
money to go back home and didn’t know—I said, “don’t panic”, and I had training in
recreation, so I went down to the city recreation department to see if they would hire me
and they said, “well, you’re in luck because we’re just doing Civil Service training now
and you can take the test”, so I took the test the next day, as a matter of fact, and the rule
in Civil Service was that whoever got the top scores had to get the top jobs, so they had to
hire me. There was a woman who had taught at the Golden Gate Recreation Center down
there and she was much better and knew her job and they wanted to keep her too, so they
had to create a job for me. 1:58 I ended up working at playgrounds quite a bit for a year
until I was eligible to go to the university.
Interviewer: “That was after the naval service then?”
No, this was—let’s see, I’m getting mixed up on dates. It was after the naval service, but
before the baseball.
Interviewer: “All right, we were talking about the naval service itself and I asked
what was the most interesting part of that job.”
Well, I use to play a trumpet years ago and I recall one time we were raising the flag on
our post and several officers came out and I practiced raising the reveille in the morning
and took some pictures of that and that was kind of thrilling and exciting too because I
wasn’t a top trumpet player. I was kind of exciting with all the people standing around
saluting and watching the flag go us and here I was struggling with that bugle. 2:59 that
was interesting and then we had a softball team and the navy girls played the coast guard
5
�and marine women’s group and we sang in a chorus and we went out to San Quentin one
time just to sing for the prisoners, so there were recreation type of things you know.
Interviewer: “Did you feel like you were doing something useful for the war effort
or making a contribution?”
Well, I suppose so, I didn’t really think about the war in essence, I just did the job that I
was supposed to do and we were supposed to take care of the women. They trained me
in leather craft during my work in the recreation department there in the city of Oakland,
and I ended up teaching the craft to women in the Golden Gate Community Center. That
was fun because that was strictly afterwards, but I had learned that in the navy and that
was good because that was something they could really gain from. We made wallets and
belts and purses and things like that. 4:02
Interviewer: “So, you had kind of a direct connection between the naval career and
that work in the Civil Service that you did afterward. It all kind of fit together and
they all grew out of the training that you already had in college.”
You’re exactly right, the physical education and the actions there and the recreation
things that I did.
Interviewer: “All right, now we’re going to go back up a little bit, going back again
to being a kid, how did you start playing sports?”
Well, we lived near a playground and it was just about a block away, a city municipal
playground, and every summer when school was out we were at the playground. They
had fifteen softball diamonds there and every summer they had the industrial leagues and
church leagues and other leagues there and I used to go down there all the time and sell
pop for five cents to—carry a bucket with twelve bottles of coke and holler, “ice cold pop
6
�five cents”, and they would stop the ball game, and so I worked in the summer selling
pop to the ball players. 5:00 In the daytime when the diamonds weren’t used , we used
them and we played different, other playgrounds..
Interviewer: “Who is “we”, who were you playing with?”
Well, mostly local boys and girls that I knew and who were my age level. It was from
about the—well, I started doing that when I was in the first or second grade when I
started playing softball, but more in the ninth grade and on into high school.
Interviewer: “There were other girls beside you who were playing?”
Yes and we played other local playgrounds and eventually we played night ball for a shoe
company, J.K. Shoe Company, and we were hired to work at the shoe company because
we played softball, so every summer we did that and we had a pretty fair team.
Interviewer: “By this time you’re getting specifically women’s teams?”
Women’s softball teams 5:52
Interviewer: “So, you’re actually involved in that at that time. Then did you
continue to play when you went on to college?”
Yes, but not so much. You know in those days women were supposed to behave
differently and we were told not to play on a team that was coached by a man. That’s
what they told us at Ohio State, so we—but I loved softball so much that I thought what I
do in the summer is my own business as long as I make my grade in the winter, so I
played for local teams that were coached by men and then we went to state tournaments
and so forth, so we had pretty fair teams.
Interviewer: “Did you go out of state when you were playing softball or did you
stay in the state?”
7
�It was all state wide, but we went to state tournaments up around Elyria and Toledo and
Cleveland, up that way. 6:41
Interviewer: “How did you wind up signing with the All American Girls
Professional Baseball league?”
Well, I was out in California at the University of California Berkley working on my
master’s degree in 1948 and I was playing at the time with some softball players in
Alameda, California and they were quite famous because they were the world champions.
I knew two girls out there that had been picked to be members of the All American
League and they told me about it and they told me that Bill Allington was a scout and
coach and he was trying people out, so I got a hold of him and he tried me out and I was
an outfielder, so he hit a lot of fly balls to see if I could catch and checked my arm out to
see if I could throw and whether I could run and the next thing I knew I was in Peoria,
Illinois. I was sent there to play with the Red Wings.
Interviewer: “What year was that?”
That would be 1948 and that was a little bit difficult for me because, well, I was older
then, I was twenty five and many of the girls played ball when they were fifteen years
old, but it was a little different for me and I sort of suspected that maybe they were going
to make a chaperone out of me because I had the college credits and all of that, but I
played there and enjoyed it very, very much. 8:03
Interviewer: “Did they have you play all outfield positions?”
I was outfield and I could play any of them. The trouble is, the college wasn’t out until
June and they started their spring training in April and by the time I got there they had
finished their spring training and were well into the season, so I’d of had to be a pretty
8
�fair player in order to break into the line-up, so I did a lot of things, I pitched batting
practice, and participated and they taught me different things. The game was different
from softball, so it took me a while to learn, so one time at the end of that first season the
coach said, “you’re going to start tonight. You’re going to play right field and you’re
going to play the whole game”. Oh boy, I thought this was just great, so I played the
game and played well. I made a couple double plays, which I figured in catching the ball
and throwing the runner in off base. I thought, “Now I can show them what I can do”.
This proves, in those days professional ball was the same for the women as it was for the
men and it is a business. 9:08 I didn’t know it, but the next day I was shipped out to
Rockford, and he let me play the game because he knew I was going to be leaving the
next day, so it’s a business, you go wherever they want you.
Interviewer: “All right, when you got to Rockford did you get a chance to play any
more?”
Well, there were two weeks left in the season, so then I went home and worked there and
the next year instead of going back to Rockford they had me on the tour. They were
trying to popularize the league in the south and we played in Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas
and Louisiana, all the way down there for the season. Getting close to the end of the
season my back was hurting me quite a bit, so when I went home I just never went back
to the league. 9:51
Interviewer: “Because of the way you joined the league, coming in in mid-season
and kind of moving around a lot, and maybe also the fact that you were a little bit
older, did they tell you much in the way of what kind of rules you had to follow and
that kind of thing?”
9
�Well, they didn’t because they were well into their training, but I learned from the other
girls everything that I had to know and they had their rules, which we had to follow, as
you well know.
Interviewer: “So, you had to wear the skirts and so forth and all that kind of
thing.”
The nice thing about the league—the fact was they just accept all the girls. If you play
one day, one week, one month, one year or ten years, you’re part of the family more or
less. That is the thing that has been so good because over all these years we’ve all
maintained a relationship with each other and I think that’s a wonderful thing. I think we
did a lot really. 10:50 I was teaching school when Title IX came in and women just
didn’t do things in those days and I was in on a lot of this changing and I think it was
fascinating business. We didn’t know we were pioneers until the movie was made and
the cards were made and we didn’t know this.
Interviewer: “When they got to the point where they were making the movie were
you connected with that or did you participate?”
I was teaching school again and I couldn’t go. You know that’s—that was a good thing,
but it also kept me from doing other things.
Interviewer: “How long did you teach?”
As a whole now, I’ve taught over thirty years. I have a degree from Ohio State and from
the university in Berkeley, California and a doctorate from Arizona State University.
Interviewer: “And did you take the doctorate also in physical education?”
Yes
Interviewer: “And have you taught at the university level as well?”
10
�Yes, it was almost all—I finished my last twenty-five years at Phoenix College, which is
a two-year community college. 11:51
Interviewer: “Did you do coaching while you were there too?”
Yes, we had to coach and that was another thing, we had intramurals and we had sports
day, but women coaches were not paid, we just had to do these things, but we never got
paid, we just had straight teaching jobs. We got paid for teaching and we went through
all of that, we went through all the different sports and then Title IX came along and the
men gave us a lot of static because they thought they were going to lose some money.
That the women were going to get the scholarships and some of the money, so we had all
kinds of wars with the men’s departments. It was just true over all the universities at that
time and I think Title IX was—and thing like our league here being pioneers and all that,
I think they were some of the best things that ever happened for women in sports and to
live in that era was a very interesting thing for me. 12:47
Interviewer: “And you were really in a position to watch those changes.”
Yes, I saw all those, I was department chairman when the money came in and we hired
volleyball players, basketball players and I coached a softball team in college then.
Interviewer: “Let’s go back to the playing days. Tell us a little bit about life with
the traveling teams. How did that work?”
Well, when I was with Peoria, with the Red Wings, we had so many games away from
home and we were assigned by the chaperone, we had roommates in the hotels and we
were given per diem money. When we were at our home base we had a family that we
lived with and I guess maybe we were home about a week at a time and then we would
go off on the different trips, so that was interesting. The second year when I was
11
�traveling in the south and it was kind of rugged. 13:43 They had the two teams, we
traveled on one bus and I remember we had one more player than we had seats, so we
alternated and walked up and down the aisle. When it was time to stop somewhere they
had two rooms in a hotel and we all showered in those two rooms and we were off to a
game every night, but when you’re young you can do a lot of things.
Interviewer: “Because you were a little bit older, did you kind of fall into a little bit
of a chaperone role too?”
No, but after the end of my two years, they had never said this to me, but I kind of
suspected that might have been why they kept me on because I was not playing regularly.
As a matter of fact, I only played about seventeen games in those—if you take both of the
summers, the summers were only two months long because of teaching, and to play
seventeen games in four months was, I guess, all I could hope for, and that’s the reason I
suspected maybe they had another plan for me. 14:42
Interviewer: “Aside from that game toward the end of that first season when you
kind of got in there and played the whole game and made a couple double plays,
were there other games when you were out there playing, that stand out in your
memory?”
Well, I was out there practicing certainly as hard as the rest of them and learning all the
tricks and everything they were doing. I might have been called in for a pinch hitter or
something of that sort, but no, whether you were home or you were on the road, you had
to get there hours before the game started and of course I did the same routines all the
other girls did as though I was going into the game, but most of the games I spent on the
bench.
12
�Interviewer: “All right, who did you have managing you when you were going
around on the tour?”
Schrall, Leo Schrall that was his name, yeah, and we had a good team and there are some
very famous girls that played. 15:42 Now, Twila Shively, and we had—let’s see, who
were some of the others, these manes are—Terry Donahue, who was well known and
Kate Vonderau, who was a catcher. That one game I played before I was sent out, and
the reason I thought I was going to stay—I was playing out in the field and there was a
long low fly that I had to run and reach down to catch and I just saw the runner starting in
from third, so I just heaved it toward the catcher. We’re taught to bounce it in if you’re
coming from center field and one bounce if you’re coming from right field, but I just
heaved it and it got to the catcher on the fly and she tagged the runner coming in, so it
was a double out. I thought, “boy, I got it now”, and the next day I end up in Rockford,
so it’s a business. 16:30
Interviewer: “As you were traveling around, what kind of reception did you get
when you went to these little towns in the south?”
Oh, everybody just loved it and we had big crowds. The biggest crowd I every played
before in the baseball was ten thousand they were giving away—the girls all got a
suitcase and they were giving away an automobile, so when they had specialties and
things like that, the crowds were bigger. Everybody would stand outside the locker room
and wait for the girls to shower and then they would sign autographs, so it was exciting
and you begin to think you have some importance in this world.
Interviewer: “Were there any particular places that you went that kind of stand out
in your memory or do they all just run together?”
13
�No, they probably did at the time, but as I look back sixty years ago, I can’t remember
anything special except that it was just great. Of all the things I’ve done, the college
degrees and the teaching and getting married and having children and all of that, I recall
that the baseball was the thing that I remember the most and enjoyed the most of all the
things I’ve done in my life. 17:44 In eighty-seven years you do a lot of living.
Interviewer: “What is it about is it about the baseball, do you think, that makes it
particularly distinctive and makes it stand out?”
Made it stand out?
Interviewer: “Yes”
Probably—we played softball on the playground and I just knew since I was a kid—I
remember I use to play in the second grade, at recess we would play and at a high school
reunion one time a man said to me, “when you were in the second grade everyone wanted
you on their team”, because not too many girls played, just the boys, and they knew that I
could play some, so they enjoyed that and I enjoyed that also. I just always played
softball and we had some quite good teams in softball, we really did.
Interviewer: “What did you think of the “A League of Their Own” movie? What
was your impression of it?” 18:41
Well, I thought it was very good. Of course, it was an entertainment feature of course,
the parts with Tom Hanks and some of the other things. I don’t remember any girl that I
knew that had a husband who was killed in the war or anything of that sort because they
were still pretty young and there were not very many girls that had mates or anything at
that time, but you just get involved, you don’t have time to do anything else. It was fun
to go on the road because you would get up and have breakfast and you would go to a
14
�movie every afternoon or you would go shopping and then there would be practice and
then there would be the ball game. When you were home you had more things that you
could do and it just became like a sorority. We’re all sisters in the same thing, but we all
admired it. The pitchers did well, they usually made about a hundred and five dollars and
I made fifty-four dollars a week and that was my best salary, but that’s pretty good for
sitting on a bench. 19:47
Interviewer: “Do you think you changed much or grew much because of that
experience? Did that add something to your life or was it just a really good
experience?”
Well, I think so, it enlarged my field of acquaintances and you become quite close
because you’re definitely into it in depth. You don’t just play around like amateur ball.
Your money depended on it and you were competitive in other words and you wanted to
play. In softball, as amateurs, we use to play men’s teams and we got a kick out of trying
to beat the men’s teams, but in baseball you just wanted to make the team and play.
They had more players and of course they couldn’t put them all in and they had several
pitchers just like they have in ball today, so I enjoyed that. As a matter of fact, when I
married my husband was a professional ball player and he AAA ball for the Chicago
Cubs, so I continued liking baseball. 20:51
Interviewer: “As you were going through your career teaching and so forth after
you were out of the league, did you tell people that you played professional ball?”
No I didn’t, I just got busy teaching school and doing the things I had to do teaching
school because it was an era of my like that was over with just as the navy was, just as
the college was, and so forth. Actually it was the making of the movie that brought us all
15
�back to life again really. Before that we—it was it and it was over and it was done and
when I read through a lot of the biographies of the girls, they got different jobs, went on
doing their other jobs and the movie came out and all of a sudden we became pioneers.
Interviewer: “But you didn’t see yourselves as pioneers when you were doing it?”
Oh, no not at all, and in fact for the twenty-five years I was teaching after that until I
found out they had reunions every year and I started coming back. I didn’t know any
more about it, so I think that was a good thing, it makes you feel like you are part of a
sorority, part of a group and it was the relationships between the players, team work.
22:00
Interviewer: “That’s something that comes up very consistently when we talk to
people. It’s a hard thing to get people to talk about individuals sometimes because
everybody is the group.”
We pretty much liked everybody and everybody liked each other and we cooperated in
the things that we did and had a good time. Faye Dancer was on our team and she was
well known as liking life, but we didn’t do some of the things—well, you know a lot of
times they would do what—Faye liked to put Limburger cheese on the doorknobs so you
couldn’t turn the door and go in and playing pranks, but kids do that. Between fifteen
and twenty-five you’re still a kid and you’re not under your parents’ authority, so you do
what you have fun with. 22:49
Interviewer: “So, what have I left out? You have done a very good job and I
anticipated multiple questions in the process, so you were very helpful.
Thank you, thank you, I didn’t want to say too much and like I say, I wasn’t one of the
top players, but I was lucky to have lasted as long as I did and I had other conflicts with
16
�school and all of that, but over the years I think I accomplished more things than many
women did. That wasn’t our thing, women were supposed to stay home and cook and I
don’t like to cook. 23:00
17
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Interviews
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was started by Philip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, during World War II to fill the void left by the departure of most of the best male baseball players for military service. Players were recruited from across the country, and the league was successful enough to be able to continue on after the war. The league had teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and operated between 1943 and 1954. The 1954 season ended with only the Fort Wayne, South Bend, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Rockford teams remaining. The League gave over 600 women athletes the opportunity to play professional baseball. Many of the players went on to successful careers, and the league itself provided an important precedent for later efforts to promote women's sports.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-58)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sports for women
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives
Oral history
Baseball players--Minnesota
Baseball players--Indiana
Baseball players--Wisconsin
Baseball players--Michigan
Baseball players--Illinois
Baseball for women--United States
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401
Identifier
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RHC-58
Format
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video/mp4
application/pdf
Type
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Moving Image
Text
Language
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eng
Date
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2017-10-02
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
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
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RHC-58_EWeiss
Title
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Weiss, Elma (Interview transcript and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Weiss, Elma
Description
An account of the resource
Elma Weiss was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1923. She attended Ohio State University and then enlisted in the Navy in 1943. She served in Oakland, California during the war and subsequently attended the University of California and was playing in a softball league in the area when she was recruited for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. She played for parts of two seasons with the Peoria Redwings and Rockford Peaches, including a barnstorming tour of the south, and was a reserve outfielder. After her time in the league, she continued her education, received a doctorate and was a Professor of Physical Education at Phoenix College in Arizona.
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.)
Video recordings
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives
Baseball for women--United States
Baseball
Sports for women
World War, 1939-1945
Baseball players--Illinois
Women
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
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
2010-08-07
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/484">All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Collection, (RHC-55)</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/b645bf3abefd362470b628c9ec4b8db1.mp4
1e9a31585a94ebdb5ffa2e5378931293
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/401c74d5ba43e3e2548a627f801132ee.pdf
57c5c919dace38d57e60e25e36046f16
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veteran’s History Project
Vietnam War
Gene Welch Interview
Total Time: 57:54
Background
(00:12) Born in June of 1942 on a small farm in Pennsylvania
o Grew up here
o Midland, Pennsylvania
o His father was a welder, mother was a housewife but also did farm work
(00:55) Remembers working on the farm as a young boy
(1:05) Finished high school in June of 1960
o After graduating, looked for a job but knew the country was going into a
recession at the time
o In August of 1960, joined the Navy
o His father was in the Navy and felt that it was a better service for Mr. Welch,
because of his metal working background
Training
(2:25) Great Lakes Training Center north of Chicago for basic training
(3:23) Got out there by train
(3:50) Describes the first couple of days as a “flurry of activity”
(4:13) Got a physical here
(4:48) No draftees when he was here, said the army was the only group who drafted at
this time
(5:14) Says most of the guys were here to get some training for a job or to get away
from family
(5:47) Training consisted of getting up early, marching, learning how to use a rifle
o He knew how to use a rifle and a shotgun
o Did paper and bookwork as well
o Learned terminology later on
(6:35) Not a lot of emphasis on discipline, which was surprising
(7:20) Most of the guys who were training him were just a few years older
(8:00) Basic training was 9 weeks
o Decided that he wanted to go to a welding school in San Diego
(9:06) Took a train to San Diego
o Took about 4 days, very few stops
�
(9:29) The base was located on a hill
o The place he was at was a school for people who were going into jobs related to
mechanical things
o Machine and welding shops, etc.
(10:38) Arrived here in November in 1960 and noticed that people were sunbathing – he
really appreciating the weather
(11:20) 8-5 schedule
(11:40) He trained to be a welder/metalsmith
o Did a lot of sheet metal work
o Made ductwork for air conditioning, etc.
o Welding high pressure steam lines from the boilers and outside of the ship, etc.
o This was easy for Mr. Welch to learn
o There were guys from all over the country here
(14:20) In boot camp, about 10% of the recruits were black, 7-8% in the training school
o There were also people who had Italian, Greek, Mexican backgrounds, etc.
(15:31) This training school lasted about 12 weeks
o After completing this, he had a choice to go home for awhile
o Didn’t do this because he’d been home for two weeks after basic training
Overseas
(16:30) Met a girl whose father was on the USS Klondike – which was a repair ship
o This is the ship he went aboard
o The ship was about 800 feet long, 150 feet wide
Deep draft because of all the tools on board
There was a full carpenter shop
o Probably about the same size as a cruiser
o (18:13) About 600 men in the crew
(18:31) Thought they’d be in port for awhile doing repairs, but they headed out to the
Western Pacific two months later
o Headed for Japan
(19:40) Once he got on the ship, went directly to the welding shop
o Lived on the ship while they were in port
(20:41) On the way to Japan, they stopped in Honolulu
o Stayed here about 4-5 days to refuel and restock
o Got to go off the ship
o From San Diego to Japan it took over three weeks
(21:24) First stop in Japan was Sasebo
o At this time it was the largest American naval facility in Japan
�o
o
o
o
45 miles from Hiroshima
At this time, Japanese accepted Americans pretty well
Got to look around a bit
3 evenings off, had a curfew
If they stayed overnight, they had to give an address
o Interacted with natives a lot
o Had to stay in uniform at this time – had to get special permission to wear
civilian clothes
(25:16) They were organized in groups for certain jobs
(26:25) After Japan, they went to Hong Kong for a week
o This was like R&R
o Went into mainland China and wore civilian clothes
This was an area they weren’t supposed to go in – Kau Lung
(28:24) Went to the Philippines next; Subic Bay
o Here for a couple of months
o They stayed on the ship and sometimes went off base into the town
o There were lots of bars!
o They were here during election time and couldn’t leave the base for a few days
during the election
(30:10) While in the Philippines, they got warnings about how to behave around the
natives
o Some people were in trouble and got sent home for getting into fights
(31:12) Mr. Welch said that if he had a choice, he would have stayed long term at
Sasebo, Japan
o The natives there were not so aggressive as the Filipinos
o He liked the Filipino natives but said they could be hard to live with
(31:44) Came back to San Diego after the Philippines – total time about 6 months
o This was about 1962
(32:27) After getting back to the US, he got a job as a dishwasher, then a bartender, and
then got an apartment (was still in the Navy and doing these things on the side)
o Some of the barmaids wanted to be his roommates
o He got arrested for “running a house of ill repute” (not exactly the case)
o Two weeks later he got transfer papers to go to an oiler ship in Long Beach
(34:00) The civilian jobs were at night
o This was a common thing for people to do at this time
(35:18) Life on the oiler was much different than on the Klondike
o Oiler spends a lot more time at sea because their job is to refuel other ships
o Went back to Japan
�
o Filled up in San Pedro and refueled ships on the way over to Japan
A lot of this was practice
Constant training
(36:33) He was directly part of the refueling as well
(38:02) On the oiler ship, they never spent more than 4-5 days in port except for San
Diego
(38:11) Went from Japan to Taiwan, stayed there a few days, filled up with oil
o US had a contract with Taiwan to buy oil at this time
o Then they went to the coast of Vietnam
(39:07) October or November of 1962 was when they arrived at Vietnam
o They got shot at near the south shore of Vietnam
o Near the DMZ
(42:54) He was on the coast of Vietnam for no more than two days
o Refueled in Japan and went to the Philippines, then to Hong Kong
(43:35) Went to Hong Kong first, remembers that there were lots of women who
painted the ship for them
(44:31) Got orders to go to South China Sea and refuel Australian ships
o These were the roughest seas he’d ever seen
o Lost footing in the waves and at one point he was washed overboard – the rope
was too long
o Did lots of pitching and rolling
o This was towards the end of his tour
(47:20) Remembers having a cable break on the Chemung (oiler ship) and it took off a
guy’s leg
(47:58) Remembers getting offers to reenlist towards the end of his tour
o Got a small pay raise offer
o Considered going into underwater welding but he couldn’t do it because he had
a few fillings in his teeth
o Had two years in active reserves left
Home
(49:20) Got back to the US in late 1963
o Before this, they wanted to rebuild the Chemung, so they had it in dry-dock
o Mr. Welch participated in this
(50:49) Stationed at Long Beach and got out in July of 1964
o Had an apartment on shore after he was married
(51:50) Got a job in California doing metal work
�
o Stayed at this company for a few years and then took his Navy experience and
went to a refinery in Southern California for 22 years
(52:26) Lived in California until 1989
o A few years earlier, he had the idea to move because of political and economic
problems
o Moved to Bellingham, Washington for 11 years
o In 1999 they decided to move to Michigan, his wife’s family lived there
It was 2000 when they officially moved
(55:00) He says that his time in the Navy taught him a lot about discipline even though
they weren’t really strict about it
o Still had a sense of what was right and wrong, etc.
o How to be careful
o He said he’d do it over again
o Would recommend it to young people
�
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
WelchG1330V
Title
A name given to the resource
Welch, Eugene (Interview outline and video), 2011
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Welch, Eugene
Description
An account of the resource
Gene Welch was born near Midland, Pennsylvania in 1942. After graduating high school in 1960, he decided to join the Navy. Mr. Welch received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Academy, and then went to a training school in San Diego to specialize in welding and metal working. He worked on the repair ship USS Klondike and the oiler USS Chemung. He made cruises to Japan, The Philippines, and Hong Kong on both of them. After returning to the United States in 1963, he was stationed at Long Beach for another year while the Chemung was being overhauled.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Navy
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-10-17
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/467b2adca1102cc0fdf989bdde69cebe.pdf
33bc3666aeea4a92b5878fda7340c6b6
PDF Text
Text
�����
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Civil War and Slavery Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Slavery--United States
African Americans
United States--Politics and government--19th century
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lemmen, Harvey E.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1804-1897
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image; Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1804-1897
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-45_CWWelch
Title
A name given to the resource
Milton A. Welch to his mother, Sep. 24, 1860
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1860
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Welch, Milton A.
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 50th (1861-1865)
City Point (Hopewell, Va.)
Parishville (N.Y.)
Description
An account of the resource
A letter from Milton A. Welch to his mother describing the camp at City Point, Va. with the New York 50th Infantry Regiment and updating her on recent events.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e87f882fb0c8903ef4368194ada1b1a6.pdf
90705f91f0e8021cbaa5d8f8feaf9b3a
PDF Text
Text
��
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Civil War and Slavery Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Slavery--United States
African Americans
United States--Politics and government--19th century
Description
An account of the resource
A selection of correspondence, diaries, official documents, photographs related to the American Civil War and to the institution of slavery, collected by Harvey E. Lemmen. The collection includes a selection of documents from ten states related to the ownership of slaves and abolition, correspondence and documents of soldiers who fought in the war and from family members and officials, diaries and letters of individuals, and a collection of mailing envelopes decorated with patriotic imagery.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Lemmen, Harvey E.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472">Civil War and Slavery Collection (RHC-45)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/470">John Bennitt Diaries and Correspondence (RHC-43)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/471">Nathan Sargent Papers (RHC-44)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/478">Theodore Peticolas Diary (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/476">Civil War Patriotic Envelopes Collection (RHC-51)<br /></a><a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/479">Whitely Read Diary (RHC-52)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1804-1897
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpg; application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image; Text
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1804-1897
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-45_CW1-4364
Title
A name given to the resource
Letter from Gideon Welles to Commodore H. H. Bell
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1863-07-30
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
Subject
The topic of the resource
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Welles, Gideon, 1802-1878
United States. Navy
Bell, H. H.
Description
An account of the resource
Letter from Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, to Commadore H. H. Bell refusing to accept his resignation, July 30, 1863.
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/15138b6a72cf1c90b9404942bf5b043a.mp4
eb13bc324441ec39ec1538d5c2a3d56f
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5f13d447149d3f0182d9d1573bf98f44.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Gerald Wells
(18:10)
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Was in the service 1953-1955 (:07)
Born 11/11/1932 (0:14)
Lived with his father, his mother, and his elder brother. His brother was
ten years older. (0:18)
He lived on a small farm, he worked with the horses. (0:32)
His father was a farmer, his mother was a practical nurse. (0:42)
His father had been raised on a farm and decided to start his own farm
after losing his job for political reasons. (1:00)
His first car was a 1939 Plymouth convertible, it had two seats and a
rumble seat in the trunk. (1:17)
The car had no seatbelts. Seatbelts were not widespread until the 1960's.
(1:53)
He hung out at the Christian drugstore. The drugstore had a soda
fountain, ice cream, and sandwiches. His favorite treat was the lemon malt,
which cost ten to fifteen cents. (2:02)
He had an appendix operation in high school. (2:35)
His first job was a mason's tender for Barry Construction. He carried
bricks, mixed cement and mud, and ran errands. (2:55)
The job lasted a few months, in the summer. (3:07)
Doesn't recall his wages, but probably under a dollar an hour. (3:24)
WWII began when he was eleven. His brother served in WWII, and he lost
some cousins in the war as well. (3:49)
Everything was rationed, gas, tires, no cars were made. (4:00)
Meats, sugar, flour, all the groceries were rationed as well. (4:11)
Food was not a major problem for his family, due to the farm. Sugar, gas,
and other staples not produced by the farm were sometimes problematic.
(4:48)
He had four years of high school, and two years of college at MSU. He
majored in agricultural engineering. (5:00)
He was drafted into the army. He had been in the Navy for two years prior
to his Army service (5:27)
Applied to serve in the Navy when he was drafted, but did not meet their
requirements. He was able to meet the Army physical requirements,
noting they had different doctors. (5:47)
Drafted Feb 9th, 1953. (6:03)
Went to Georgia for two years, where was an instructor. (6:17)
Instructed troops on military code of ethics, and use of firearms. (6:31)
Forts Gordon and Seward. (6:57)
Went to the movies, bars, and chased girls in his free time. (7:06)
Did not have a steady girlfriend while in the Army. (7:13)
It was about fifty cents to go to the movies. (7:20)
Had “army chow” in the service, which they complained about often. Notes
that “it was good food, but the cooks ruined it most of the time.” (7:23)
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Frequent meal was chipped beef and gravy on toast. Tasted bad, but was
passable with enough salt and pepper. (7:57)
Was a good shot, enjoyed shooting the rifles. (8:21)
Integration was just starting while he was in Georgia. He did not
experience problems in his classes. (8:34)
Some problems related to race outside the classroom. (9:00)
He was not outranked by any African Americans. Since integration had
just begun, few had reached higher ranks. (9:14)
He was a military policeman as well. Almost all of the MPs were white.
(9:30)
The white men were not allowed to go into “black parts” of town. Black
MPs were sent to patrol that area. (9:38)
Misfires with rifles were rare, but occurred. (10:02)
No one was injured as a result of misfired. (10:10)
His classes were similar to high school classes today. (10:21)
Trained recruits with weapons to the best of their ability. Felt somewhat
sorry for the troops, as they were sent to active duty (10:44)
Had a teacher-student relationship with the recruits. (10:56)
Spent about six hours per day teaching. (11:10)
After the service, he used his accrued leave to visit his brother in New
York. Next he went home. (11:30)
His brother owned a paper box factory. (11:52)
He went back to work at Beecher's Food company, as the clean up man.
(11:56)
He was trained to be the “swing-man.” This meant he covered other
worker's shift if they were sick or otherwise unavailable. Sometimes this
result in working two consecutive shifts, which was exhausting. (12:45)
Enjoyed his work. Was paid perhaps $1.00/hour. Got married while
working. (12:45)
He and his wife made less than $4,000 per year combined. (13:03)
Bough his first car for $2,600 new. (13:19)
Re-adjusted to civilian life very easily. (13:34)
Has five daughters dispersed throughout the United States. Has five
grand-daughters, the youngest of which is a sophomore in high school.
(14:00)
Married 11/10/1955, a day before his birthday. Didn't want to forgot his
anniversary.(14:40)
Divorced 1958. (14:44)
Believes every young person should enlist for two years, it would do them
good. The military teaches people to be independent. (15:14)
Military taught him to obey rules, and to take care of himself. Going out of
the base required a pass, which meant he had to keep up on his chores.
(15:41)
Only regrets his divorce, which was the result of miscommunication.
Despite the divorce, he is still on good terms with his ex-wife. (16:32)
Believes the war in Iraq is a mess, but would serve again if he were
younger. (16:40)
A volunteer service leads to higher quality military. The drafted soldiers
�•
don't care as much.(17:08)
Military had a rigid hierarchy. (17:47)
�
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
WellsG
Title
A name given to the resource
Wells, Gerald A. (Interview outline and video) 2007
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wells, Gerald A.
Description
An account of the resource
Gerald served as an instructor in the Army from 1953 to 1955, despite failing his physical for the Navy. Gerald focuses mostly on his home life prior to and after enlistment. He also briefly recounts the complications of integration of the armed forces.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Greenwald, Tegan (Interviewer)
Lowell Area Historical Museum (Lowell, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Video recordings
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
United States. Army
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2007-05-30
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/c0b0ef8a3ba927671a46e89fdfe76a63.mp4
c72f282354b82541ed6f97f4001f13ec
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/19007b545353dd4e157612e64e98de09.pdf
15987f994f74829610f47472c414e874
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
John Wells
Korean War/French Indochina War
47 minutes 55 seconds
(00:00:39) Early Life
-Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930
-Family moved to Michigan after he was born
-Muskegon, Michigan in 1931
-Family lived there for five to six years
-Moved to Manistee, Michigan
-Father ran the Chamber of Commerce there
-Wound up in Grand Rapids, Michigan
-Father ran the West Michigan Tourist and Resort Association
-Went to high school in Manistee and Grand Rapids
-Graduated from Central High School in Grand Rapids in 1949
(00:02:02) Awareness of World War II
-Older brother was in the Michigan National Guard
-Part of the 126th Infantry Regiment out of Muskegon
-He was stationed in Louisiana and then joined the Army Air Corps
-Flew bombing raids on B-17 bombers
-Shot down twice over Germany
-Was a prisoner of war for a year and a half
-Brother came home after the war and went to college
(00:03:39) Army National Guard
-He was attending Grand Rapids Community College and serving in the Army National Guard
-Part of the Officer Candidate Program
-Specialized as a machine gunner in the National Guard
-Went to Camp Grayling for training
-Went for three summers
-Learned how to fire heavy weapons (machine guns and bazookas)
-Enjoyed the time spent at Camp Grayling
-Battalion and company commanders were WWII veterans
(00:05:53) Enlisting in the Air Force
-There was a possibility that National Guard units would be sent to fight in the Korean War
-Father had a lunch with Governor Williams
-Told that his (John’s) National Guard unit was next up to be sent to Korea
-Transferred into the Air Force
-Wanted better living conditions if he was going to be sent to Korea
-Joined the Air Force in February 1951
(00:07:10) Air Force Basic Training
-Sent to Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas for basic training
-Taught the basics of marching and close order drill
-Also had fire arm training with how to properly handle and fire a carbine rifle
�-There was a heavy emphasis on discipline in basic training
-Concept wasn’t foreign to him after serving in the National Guard
-Made basic training easier for him
-Stayed at Lackland AFB for about eight weeks
(00:08:40) University of Southern California School of Aeronautics
-Sent to USC School of Aeronautics for further Air Force training
-Enjoyed training there
-People were friendly
-Able to hitchhike into Los Angeles on the weekends
-Saw USO shows and given tours of Hollywood
-Taught the basic aircraft maintenance fundamentals
-Aviation electronics, engine repair and maintenance, how to check for problems
-Given a large amount of hands on training
-Had to take an engine apart, repair it, and put it back together
-Worked with propeller engines only, jet engines were still being introduced into the Air Force
-Course lasted fifteen weeks
-Got college credit
(00:10:34) Chanute Field, Illinois
-After UCS School of Aeronautics he was sent to Chanute Field, Illinois
-Given specialized training with the R350 engines used on the B-29 bomber
-Larger and more elaborate engines than what he had worked with in the past
-Training lasted nine weeks
-He was able to visit Chicago on three day leaves
-Also able to visit the University of Illinois and try to meet girls there
(00:11:30) George Air Force Base, California
-First deployment was to George Air Force Base north of Victorville, California
-Located in the Mojave Desert
-Stayed there for almost a year
-Worked as a crew chief on a B-26 light bomber
-Enjoyed the deployment
-Hitchhiked to Los Angeles
-Able to watch movies or see USO shows
-Base was about sixty miles away from the city
-Able to fly a lot during his time there
-Regularly flown to nearby bases to repair aircraft there
-Had to ride in the rear gunner position on the B-26
-Remembers flying over an atomic bomb factory
(00:14:39) Visiting Home
-Went home frequently while at Chanute
-A few other soldiers were from Grand Rapids so they would car pool together
-They would leave base on a Friday and get back to base on Sunday
-While in California he wasn’t able to visit home
(00:15:21) Tow Target Squadron
-While at George Air Force Base he largely ignored the Korean War
-Unaware of the situation there
-His unit was a Stateside squadron that wouldn’t be deployed
�-Pulled radar patrol missions in Canada to make sure the radar could pick up Soviet aircraft
-He was a part of the 4th Tow Target Squadron
-Worked as a crew chief
-Duty was to tow a target behind a B-26
-Target practice for the anti-aircraft batteries
(00:16:55) Deployment to Japan
-Three or four men from his squadron were selected every month for an overseas deployment
-Rotation system eventually got to him
-Spent Christmas 1952 on a troop transport headed for Japan
-Didn’t get seasick
-Weather wasn’t bad
-Sailed over with a couple thousand other soldiers
-Voyage to Japan took about two weeks
-Landed in Yokohama, Japan and kept at an Army holding base until he received his assignment
(00:19:05) Ashiya Air Force Base
-Sent by train to Ashiya Air Force Base, Kyushu, Japan
-Southernmost Major Island in Japan
-Fifty miles directly across from Pusan, Korea
-Assigned to the 816th “Packet Rats” Troop Carrier Squadron
-Used the C119 troop transport/cargo plane
-About twice the size of the C-47 troop transport used in WWII
-Used C119s to parachute supplies into Korea
-He worked as an engine technician repairing C119 engines
-He would get flown to Korea to repair engines there as well
(00:22:10) Downtime during Deployment to Japan/Korea
-Given three day passes while at Ashiya Air Force Base
-Base was close to a small fishing community
-Japanese were friendly
-There was a movie theatre on base
-Saw Bob Hope perform at the base a couple times
-In Korea only stayed on bases long enough to repair engines and then fly back
-Never got a chance to see any Korean villages that were nearby
(00:23:24) Deployment to Vietnam
-On a Sunday in May 1953 he received orders to report to base headquarters
-Reported to Colonel Casey along with two other soldiers
-Told they were being sent on a classified mission to Saigon, French Indochina (Vietnam)
-Given proper vaccinations and a haircut
-Flown to Saigon the same Sunday at 4 PM
-Stayed overnight in Saigon
-Woke up the next day to find the U.S. insignia had been replaced with a French one
-Flew up to Nha Trang on the coast of Vietnam
-Stayed in a French villa
-Served complimentary beer and food paid for by the French government
-From Nha Trang they were flown to Hanoi
-Shared the airport there with Air France and Pan Am
-Stayed in Hanoi for three weeks
�(00:26:27) Duties in Vietnam
-Assignment was to repair engines
-Also had to help with basic aircraft maintenance and functions
-Stationed there in the midst of the French Indochina War
-Could hear artillery being fired outside of Hanoi
-Saw maps that showed that Viet Minh forces were surrounding Hanoi
-Aircraft were dropping troops and supplies into Dien Bien Phu to build an air base there
-Surrounded by Viet Minh artillery
-High susceptible to crippling artillery strikes
-U.S. C119s were being used for supply missions to Dien Bien Phu
-Flown by contracted civilian American pilots
-Touch and go supply drops
-Area was too dangerous to actually landed, just dropped supplies and took off
-Moved out of Hanoi to avoid drawing attention from civilians
-Moved to Haiphong
-Also moved out of Hanoi because the supply chain was being destroyed by Viet Minh
-Fuel trains were regularly being blown up
(00:31:43) Conditions in Vietnam
-Operating in Haiphong was more secure
-Still took fire in the outlying areas around Hai Fong though
-In French airbases they were served cognac and wine for a very low price
-Rats were a common problem in Vietnam
-Vietnam was very hot
-Allowed to change into French military uniforms
-U.S. troops were being recognized and attacked by Viet Minh soldiers
(00:35:15) Leaving Vietnam
-Only stayed in Vietnam for about two months
-Dien Bien Phu did not fall while he was there
-Not told why they were being taken out of Vietnam so soon
-Later on told that it was due to keeping operations secret and for health reasons
-Very high rates of dysentery in Vietnam
-Flown back to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for a health examination
(00:36:25) Redeployment to Japan Pt. 1
-After Clark Air Base he was flown back to Ashiya Air Base in Japan
-Back in Japan he followed the French Indochina War very closely
-Wasn’t surprised when the French surrendered at Dien Bien Phu
-Area was too vulnerable to be sustained
(00:36:57) Relationship with French and Vietnamese
-Had a great amount of respect for the French Foreign Legion soldiers
-Had a good relationship with the French troops
-Remembers a colonial soldier from Senegal and had a good friendship with him
-French troops could always recognize the American troops at checkpoints because of accents
-Vietnamese civilians were very friendly towards Americans
-Vietnamese children wanted to practice their English with American troops
-No sign of animosity towards Americans
-Only ever interacted with Vietnamese civilians in the surrounding areas outside of bases
�(00:40:05) Redeployment to Japan Pt. 2
-After Korean War Armistice the focus shifted from Korea to Vietnam
-Large amount of supply missions were being flown from Japan to Vietnam
-Constantly repairing engines for the aircraft
-Never got used to, or enjoyed, Japanese food
-Didn’t really get off the base much during his second time in Japan
-Remembers that the nearby fishing town had an 11PM to 6AM curfew
(00:42:32) Hill Air Force Base
-Returned to the United States on a Navy transport
-Crossed under the San Francisco Bay Bridge
-Greeted by horn blasts and water jets in the harbor
-At the dock a band played “California Here I Come”
-Sent to Hill Air Force Base, Utah
-Stayed there for a year
-Got an early release to go back to college
-While at Hill AFB he was an engine technician (same job that he’d had before)
-Still worked with transport aircraft
-Job expanded to include bombers while he was in Utah
(00:44:39) Leaving the Air Force and Life after the Air Force
-Encouraged to extend his enlistment and stay in the Air Force by officers
-Got out in January 1955
-Went to school for optometry at the Illinois College of Optometry
-Visited the campus once during a trip from Chinook Field to Grand Rapids
-Later when he applied he was accepted in immediately
-In the fall 1955 he went to college
-After three years he graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry
-Returned to Grand Rapids, Michigan and started his own optometry practice
-Shared his office with President Ford’s younger brother, Jim Ford
(00:47:02) Reflections on Service
-Still respects the Air Force very much
-Had great officers that led him and extremely capable enlisted men he worked alongside
-Appreciated the responsibility that he had to take
�
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
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Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
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RHC-27
Language
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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
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WellsJ1590V
Title
A name given to the resource
Wells, John (Interview outline and video), 2014
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wells, John
Description
An account of the resource
John Wells was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930 and his family moved to Michigan in 1931, graduating from high school in 1949 in Grand Rapids. He then attended Grand Rapids Community College and served in the Michigan Army National Guard. After hearing rumors that his National Guard unit would be deployed to fight in the Korean War he decided to transfer to the Air Force in February 1951. He received training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas; University of Southern California School of Aeronautics, Santa Maria, California; and Chanute Field, Illinois. He was first stationed at George Air Force Base, California with the 4th Tow Target Squadron and then sent to Ashiya Air Force Base in Kyushu, Japan where he served with the 816th "Packet Rats" Troop Carrier Squadron flying supply and repair missions to Korea. From May to July of 1953 he served in Vietnam as an engine technician aiding the French air force at the time when they were building the base at Dien Bien Phu. He returned to Japan after his short stint in Vietnam, served a year at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, and left the Air Force in January 1955.
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
Video recordings
Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
United States. National Guard
United States. Air Force
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
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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
2014-04-03
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/f63334befa6fab25e9cbd84d8ee5a7f2.mp4
7ae7939612e0a61b58a6982fe638025e
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/b562aff167c1618dc2beb8556948a6e7.pdf
9494a071f8d99dcc823885be9990d188
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Name of War: Vietnam
Name of Interviewee: Steve Wendt
Length of Interview: 00:18:37
Background:
Steve served in the United States Navy from the Fall of 1968 to the Fall of 1972.
He attained a rank of E4 while he was in. He was an engine repairman.
He served in Vietnam from February of 1970 to February of 1971.
He was in the Brownwater Navy, which was Navy Gunboats.
Most of his time was spent in the Mekong Delta.
He would also run secret operations in Cambodia.
The main job while on those gunboats would be to set up ambushes to catch the Viet
Cong who tried crossing the rivers at night.
He was in the Navy for 4 years.
He got married while he was in the service, and his wife had come to live with him while
he served in New Hampshire.
He had 8 duty stations: Hawaii, Alaska, New Hampshire, Great Lakes, California, the
Panama Canal (3 times), Nova Scotia, Canada.
He joined the Navy after high school. He would have been drafted if he didn’t join.
He did not want to go to Vietnam, but since he was going anyway he signed up for the
Navy because he did not want to join the Army or the Navy.
His first opportunity that he heard about the boats, he volunteered to serve on them, and
they sent him off right away.
He has been married for 39 years and has 2 children.
His summer job, before he joined the Navy, was a watchman for Michigan Consolidated
Gas Company. When he came back from the Navy he worked at a Tool and Dye Shop.
He enlisted because he did not want to get drafted.
He chose the Navy because it seemed more exciting than the others.
While he served in combat, over in Vietnam, he had been in severe combat.
Active Duty (3:00)
One of the most memorable experiences of while he was serving was when he was in
Cambodia. One day, he and the others that he served with actually caught a Viet Cong.
He got a picture of him and he was in charge of him while the VC was on the boat.
His unit did suffer some casualties. One time, there were two casualties, when an Army
helicopter shot at them.
He was told that the reason he was there was to replace someone who had been blown up
by a rocket.
In his unit, there were not many casualties beyond that. (3:40)
�
He was afraid a couple of time while he was serving. Once they had set up a little spy
station over some rice paddies. Some guys were coming and they hid in the nearby
bushes, and they walked right by.
Most of the food they lived off of was C-rations. If you lucky enough to be on a base,
you would enjoy the hot food there. They would also throw grenades into the water and
knock fish out and eat them.
Most of time, because he and the others worked 12-14 hour nights, was spent sleeping. If
you weren’t asleep, you were getting the boat ready for the next mission.
For the first three weeks when he was there, he did not have any sort of form of
communication. But after that, the letters came frequently enough. He was a good letter
writer.
In the year that he was in Vietnam, he may have called home twice.
He doesn’t remember doing much for recreation. Sometimes he and the other guys
would go to the bar and talk, but there really wasn’t much to do there.
Most of his holidays were spent at home, he planned it that way. He did spent one
Christmas on guard duty at one of the bases he was at. He remembers being very lonely.
He met his wife before they got out of high school. Jeanie would go to college while he
served in the Navy. Just before he went to Vietnam, they got engaged. And when he got
home, they had a small window of time, so they got married. (7:30)
He doesn’t remember much of when he got out of the service, but he does remember
coming home from Vietnam. None of the soldiers came home in uniform because they
were afraid of the ridicule waiting for them when they got home. Instead, they traveled
in civilian clothing.
There were no parades or congratulations waiting for you. You just came home and that
was it.
He learned mechanical skills while he was in the service. He says that he can fix almost
anything, though he did not use those skills for most of his working life up until the last 5
or 6 years.
When the war ended, he and his family were living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He and
his wife had just bought a house and he remembers watching the news, which showed
people trying to escape the city before the communists got there.
After he got out of the service, he looked for work. He eventually ended up at a General
Motors company. They sent him to a supervisory school, and he was a supervisor on and
off, in different factories for about 30 years.
He has two very close friends. One was from high school, which had joined the Coast
Guard. He sees him regularly. He did have another friend he made while in the Navy.
And he would also have another friend who would marry his wife’s best friend.
His wartime career did not contribute to his working career until the last 5 or 6 years of
working.
He is a member of the American Legion, a veteran’s organization, but he does not attend
any meetings or clubs.
Although he has not gone to any reunions, he does receive a letter and has not seen one
available to go to yet. Otherwise he would like to go. (11:30)
�
Next is shown a showcase of all the medals and awards given to him while he was in the
service. If you were at a ceremony or something like that, you would wear the full
medal. If you were just out on duty, you would just wear the ribbon.
One was for good conduct, three or four were from the Vietnam Campaign, one is for a
special merit award for a secret Cambodia operation, one is for Navy Marksman.
There is also Vietnamese money in the case as well. This money has no value on the
world market.
You were not allowed to have real money while in Vietnam. Instead you would have to
use a special certificate.
One of his first missions was to help get a ship ready that would star in the movie Tora!
Tora! Tora! The ship had just been painted and he had helped prepare the ship.
In the early spring of 1971, America was given permission by Cambodia and Vietnam to
assist the Vietnamese who were told to go back to Vietnam from Cambodia. All the
refugees were told to leave, and the VC and the Communists were trying to kill them as
they went home.
His job was to patrol the rivers and help the Vietnamese people get home safely.
Other Memories (15:00)
While he was in Pearl Harbor one night, and one of his jobs was to give cable to Japanese
ship that no one knew was there. The Japanese ship came in under the cover of night and
they supplied them with cable and then left before anyone knew they had been there.
They figured that Americans would be upset seeing a Japanese ship there, so they had to
do it secretly.
While on his missions, he would also be through a hurricane, a typhoon in Alaska. He
would also be near the Elusion Islands, where the Russians would be everywhere around
their ship.
There would also be a day, a windy day, when he was working on a ship and one of the
officers was killed in an accident.
While he and his wife lived in New Hampshire, they took a vacation into the While
Mountains for a few weeks.
He volunteered for Vietnam, and he would not change his mind, and he would do it
again. He believes that the reasons we are there were good and he would do it again.
When he got home, his family was very supportive. But you did not come home looking
like a soldier. You had to be very worried about people attacking you because of your
involvement in the war. You came home quietly and went on to your next duty, whatever
that might be.
Most of the veterans from Vietnam will say that they are not appreciated and that they
should not have been there. But most of them are still proud to have served their country.
�
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
WendtS
Title
A name given to the resource
Wendt, Steven (Interview outline and video), 2010
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wendt, Steven
Description
An account of the resource
Steve Wendt served in the US Navy between 1968 and 1972. He did a tour in Vietnam as an engine mechanic working on river craft on the Mekong River. He went on numerous patrols and saw combat on a regular basis. His unit went into Cambodia on a number of occasions, and helped to escort Vietnamese refugees from Cambodia back into Vietnam.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Walsh, Mitchell (Interviewer)
Wendt, Jason (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Navy
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
2010-05-03
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/df4935447055f4119414c68ef1a6d551.mp4
e85880f7fae1e03861bc7ff370a3c734
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0d6e031797bed45fc0a48a2dd85ffe2f.pdf
8ef108addcb1b050105ffe784b1e5239
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Vietnam War Era
Gary Wermuth
(48:04)
Introduction (00:21)
Gary was born near Ithaca, Michigan. His family lived on a farm, and in 1961 he went to
Michigan State University.
He graduated from college in 1965 and in January 1966 he was drafted into the United
States Army.
Military Training (01:01)
Gary was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training.
After his basic, he then went to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He spent six weeks there,
and the top of the class were sent to Fort Gordon for communications school. Gary was
at Fort Gordon until June 1966.
147 were in his company, and 7 were sent to Fort Dix, the remainder were sent to Fort
Ord, California and deployed to Vietnam.
Germany (02:04)
Gary was one of the seven to go to Fort Dix and deployed to Germany. Once there, he
was assigned to the 6th Battalion, 10th Artillery, Headquarters Battery in Bamberg.
His unit had 175mm self propelled guns that had a range of about twenty miles.
Gary worked in the communications area, and they trained in Grafenwöhr which was 100
kilometers from Bamberg.
They went there six different times for training for one month at a time. Their job was to
conduct training on setting up the guns, communication tests, and surveying coordinates
for the gunners.
The first round they fired was to zero the gun, the second round was for effect and they
could hit an eight foot diameter target at twenty miles. (04:25)
Later, Gary was given a secret security clearance and sent messages and worked with
cryptic technology.
Gary spent 18 months in Germany and returned to the states in December 1967. Just
prior to his being discharged, they allowed him to go home for Christmas. After that he
was sent to Fort Ben Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana to be discharged. (06:25)
Civilian Life (06:40)
Once he was discharged, he went home and resumed his job at Massey Ferguson working
as a mechanical engineer.
The second year he was out he was required to report to the National Guard in Camp
Grayling, he did this for two summers. After the fourth summer, he was given his
official honorable discharge.
�Thinking Back (07:40)
Once a month, they had an alert drill that caused everyone to abandon the post and report
to a designated area. They would remain there from anywhere to a couple of hours to a
day or more.
When they returned they had to clean all their equipment and get things spit shined again.
Moving out to the designated area, they often ran over the Germans property and other
things with the big guns.
He got up at 6am and worked till 5pm.
Meals were good, and served in the mess hall.
They also had a PX where he could buy personal items, and he also bought a cuckooclock there and sent it home.
He never saw any live action, only training exercises.
Gary worked in the message center and would get many 10- 49’s, which were a transfer
request to Vietnam. Gary was happy where he was and never requested a transfer.
He went in as a private and was discharged as an E-5 Sergeant. (11:16)
His uniform has a 7th Army Patch on the shoulder (Seven Steps to Hell).
In basic training when he was training on the M-14, he was the highest shooter in the
training company with 78 out of 80 hits. Gary was given a medal and a special trophy for
this accomplishment.
Every one got a marksman medal, they had three different ranks: good, medium and
marksman.
When he was drafted, Gary was 22 years old.
He and his wife have been married since August 1968; they lived and worked in the
Detroit area.
The one experience that he learned the most from was working together as a team with
his fellow soldiers. When working with the 175mm guns, everyone had to have good
communication and teamwork.
It was not hard for him to readjust to civilian life once he got home. Since he was older
and had finished college, he fit right back in to society. Also, because he did not see any
combat, he did not have to worry about that sort of stress. (15:27)
His unit was on standby and ready to go to Vietnam if they were needed.
Since he was not infantry and the range that the guns could fire, he would have been
away from the action, but anything could happen.
Gary was able to write letters home, and was given free postage. He also bought a tape
recorder and made tapes and sent them home, and his family would do the same and send
them to him. They had no computers, but the tape worked well.
Germany was an ally at the time and was apart of NATO. Some of the locals liked the
military, and some were not as hospitable to them.
Gary and his wife went back to Bamberg two years ago and visited. It was the first time
he had been there since 1967. (19:21)
It looked pretty much the same, except maybe a little cleaner.
Bamberg was a small farming town with many private breweries that make beer and
wine.
�
Gary keeps in touch with one man that he served with; he currently lives in St. Louis,
Missouri.
When he was first inducted into the service, he was in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was then
bussed to basic training. (21:33)
When he went to Germany, he took a train to Fort Dix and was there for only three days
before he was flown over to Germany on a military transport plane.
In Germany, he was able to take leave and travel over Europe by train.
While there, he was given emergency leave to come home to the states because his father
had a heart attack.
The post was two miles from downtown Bamberg, so when the weather was nice they
would walk into town.
Gary was paid once a month. When he was drafted, he was paid $90 a month and when
he was discharged, he was making $250 a month. (23:45)
In Germany, he could go into town and get a big sandwich, fries and a one liter mug of
beer for $1.75.
His base also had an NCO club that had entertainment. They would also have softball
tournaments and picnics.
A battery was about 120 people. Total number of people on his base was about 1200 –
1500 people. (26:39)
The ranks of the Army go as such: private, private first class, private second class or
specialist 4, sergeant or specialist 5, staff sergeant and the highest sergeant is the master
sergeant. The officers have: second lieutenant, first lieutenant, major, colonel and
general. (28:20)
In basic training, they get you in shape. They did a lot of running and also bayonet
training, gas warfare training, night warfare, inspections, weapon assembly and cleaning.
After basic training everyone was given a special training school such as infantry or
motor transport. Gary was sent to communications. (30:28)
At Fort Jackson, they called it Pole City, and they learned how to climb telephone poles
and string telephone wire.
When Gary was sent to Fort Gordon, he learned about class A rotary and field
telephones.
Fort Dix was only a transfer base, but they still had KP and Guard Duties.
Guard duty was for two hour shifts starting at 6pm until 6am. (32:32)
Gary also took classes on photography and developing film.
He also did not learn to speak German while in country, because most of the people could
speak English.
When he was drafted, his family was concerned but he did not pay much attention to
Vietnam and what was going on.
At the time Gary was drafted, about 50 others were also drafted but he did not know them
because he was so much older than they were. Most of them were right out of high
school. (36:42)
Many of these men wanted to see some action so they transferred to Vietnam.
The weapons that he worked with in Germany were like a bulldozer with a cannon on the
front. (40:31)
Germany had many other American military posts in the area. (43:02)
�
Each post had a different mission, such as infantry posts and artillery posts. They also
had supply and ordinance posts.
The weather was similar to Michigan, except no snow. Winter would have lots of rain.
(46:38)
Gary would have served anywhere his country needed him to, but is thankful he was sent
to Germany instead of Vietnam.
�
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
WermuthG1526V
Title
A name given to the resource
Wermuth, Gary (Interview outline and video), 2013
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wermuth, Gary
Description
An account of the resource
Gary was born near Ithaca, Michigan and later attended Michigan State University. He graduated from college with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1965. Gary received his draft notice in January 1966 for the United States Army. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for basic training and later attended communications school at Fort Gordon. Gary was stationed in Germany for 18 months and served with the 6th Battalion, 10th Artillery, Headquarters Battery located in Bamberg.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jansma, Samantha (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army
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
2013-05-29
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/e366e5a74edc261197e67cce360e2e4b.mp4
b13c8b9c251d0ad05d313db08f962cc7
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/499fd23b1e83bed156386a6f1a175bf9.pdf
a6d2c6e591f0312e6a96d617926d7b9e
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Jake Werner
Length: 1:14:36
(00:55) Background Information
Jake was born on November 29, 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan
He went to Union High School and junior college in Grand Rapids
After going to college Jake had no money and could not find a job so he enlisted in the
Army in May of 1938
He enlisted for 3 years and was told that he would be going to Panama after training
(2:50) Panama
After training Jake was stationed at Fort Slocum in New York
The area had lots of rain and his uniform was always wet and faded
They were constantly marching around in the rain and it was miserable
Jake was then sent to Panama and found that he did not like this either
The base was completely overrun with drugs and Jake decided to buy his way out of the
service
(5:50) Reserves
After paying a large fee Jake was sent back to the US and put in a reserve unit
He did not have to go through training again and was working as a civilian
Jake began working in a hardware store, but was not making much money
He was called back to active duty in February of 1941, but had not been expecting that he
would fight in any war
(7:10) Armored Division
Jake was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois and began working with the Military Police
They worked on chasing, town traffic control, and watching gates
He was offered a chance to go to Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox in Kentucky
Jake went through officer training for 3 months and then became a 2nd lieutenant
He was a lieutenant in the Armored Division, which was relatively new at the time with
only 2 units
They began more training and were constantly running for about 3 months
Jake was part of the 10th graduating class, working with tanks and machine guns
Only about half of the men graduated and the others washed out
The division was growing; it started with 2 large armored regiments and then had 3 tank
battalions
�
Jake finally became Platoon leader of Company D, a light tank platoon of the 81st
Battalion
There were 79 tanks divided into 4 companies
(15:44) Europe
Jake left from Camp Miles Standish on a ship within a convoy of about 60 other ships
They traveled in a converted luxury liner with no heat, but the AC worked; they were
freezing the whole time with snow on the deck
They landed at Liverpool and began more intense training for when they would arrive in
France
Jake worked on preparing a camp for the 29th Infantry Division before they left for
France
It was in July when they began training in the Salisbury Plains and would soon be
moving South
(24:40) France
They crossed the Channel on July 22, 1944 and arrived days before their equipment
The area was covered with troops and they had to travel 80 miles to get their Division
together
Jake’s job was to form a task force with Companies A and B
He did not encounter any fire while traveling with his task force
They eventually ran into German infantry and “cleaned them out”
They continued traveling and looking for German infantry and tanks; all the tanks they
found were empty and abandoned
They were in Paris for 3 days getting the US tanks repaired
Jake and his men ran into some Germans on their way out of Paris
Wherever the towns were over ran with Germans, they could always tell because they
were like ghost towns, with no civilians or animals
(35:30) Germany
They traveled through Belgium, Luxembourg, and some British territory before arriving
in Germany
The group ran into many Germans that would try to hold them up; they would shoot at
the men for a while and then the Germans would eventually retreat
They then crossed the Siegfried line into the Ardennes area and the terrain was very
difficult to run their tanks through
They traveled North through the Hurtgen Forest and their infantry suffered a lot in this
area
There were only 28 men left of 185 and no officers; only 18 tanks left of 79
�
It was miserable and cold, the Battle of the Bulge was being fought in the South
They were eventually replaced by the 102nd Infantry Division
(44:50) Closing of War
Jake and his men were working with the 102nd and 84th Infantry Divisions and the 5th
Armored Division in Northern Germany
They could absolutely tell that the Germans were losing and took some time to celebrate
Thanksgiving in an abandoned factory
Many civilians were still convinced that the Germans would win
SS Troops were all very stubborn and would not cooperate while being interrogated
They made their way along the Elbe River and built bridges so the Infantry could cross
(54:10) Nordhausen
Jake and his men made their way a little south to Nordhausen where V-2 rockets were
being built
There was a large tunnel and 4 railroads that were all going into a factory within a
mountain
They were given the job to go out and find German engineers and their families so that
they could help shut down the factory
The area was eventually given control to the Russians, who seemed to be short on
supplies and took apart many German trucks and used the parts on their old beat down
vehicles
Jake said the Russians looked “like a bunch of gypsies”
(1:00:20) VE Day
Everyone was very happy on VE Day, but also annoyed with the problem of rounding up
German soldiers
2 weeks after VE Day Jake worked on Operation Tally Ho
They had to surround various towns, going door to door, and checking or Germans
soldiers and ammunition
He later was sent to Camp Lucky Strike in La Havre, France
Many of the men were hearing rumors that they might now be sent to fight in the Pacific
�
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
WernerJ0918V
Title
A name given to the resource
Werner, Jacob (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Werner, Jacob
Description
An account of the resource
Jacob Werner served in the Army in World War II. He initially joined the Army in 1938 and served in Panama, until he was put on reserve. He was then called up in 1943, and served in Europe. He was a medium tank commander in an infantry battalion in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Specifically, he served in the Hurtgen Forest and the Falaise Gap. He also served as a Special Services Officer in Germany after the war.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Hinojosa, Rachael (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
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2008-10-01
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/ad2a03603c7b54aed68ea6006e1c68ad.m4v
60dd2a917cbe443322087e95d354f5e3
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bcccc71bb3244fbbd36be006eeb1f46c.pdf
0f924a240b5d9d9cfcced00884029cf7
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Jake Werner
Length: 1:14:36
(00:55) Background Information
Jake was born on November 29, 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan
He went to Union High School and junior college in Grand Rapids
After going to college Jake had no money and could not find a job so he enlisted in the
Army in May of 1938
He enlisted for 3 years and was told that he would be going to Panama after training
(2:50) Panama
After training Jake was stationed at Fort Slocum in New York
The area had lots of rain and his uniform was always wet and faded
They were constantly marching around in the rain and it was miserable
Jake was then sent to Panama and found that he did not like this either
The base was completely overrun with drugs and Jake decided to buy his way out of the
service
(5:50) Reserves
After paying a large fee Jake was sent back to the US and put in a reserve unit
He did not have to go through training again and was working as a civilian
Jake began working in a hardware store, but was not making much money
He was called back to active duty in February of 1941, but had not been expecting that he
would fight in any war
(7:10) Armored Division
Jake was sent to Camp Grant, Illinois and began working with the Military Police
They worked on chasing, town traffic control, and watching gates
He was offered a chance to go to Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox in Kentucky
Jake went through officer training for 3 months and then became a 2nd lieutenant
He was a lieutenant in the Armored Division, which was relatively new at the time with
only 2 units
They began more training and were constantly running for about 3 months
Jake was part of the 10th graduating class, working with tanks and machine guns
Only about half of the men graduated and the others washed out
The division was growing; it started with 2 large armored regiments and then had 3 tank
battalions
�
Jake finally became Platoon leader of Company D, a light tank platoon of the 81st
Battalion
There were 79 tanks divided into 4 companies
(15:44) Europe
Jake left from Camp Miles Standish on a ship within a convoy of about 60 other ships
They traveled in a converted luxury liner with no heat, but the AC worked; they were
freezing the whole time with snow on the deck
They landed at Liverpool and began more intense training for when they would arrive in
France
Jake worked on preparing a camp for the 29th Infantry Division before they left for
France
It was in July when they began training in the Salisbury Plains and would soon be
moving South
(24:40) France
They crossed the Channel on July 22, 1944 and arrived days before their equipment
The area was covered with troops and they had to travel 80 miles to get their Division
together
Jake’s job was to form a task force with Companies A and B
He did not encounter any fire while traveling with his task force
They eventually ran into German infantry and “cleaned them out”
They continued traveling and looking for German infantry and tanks; all the tanks they
found were empty and abandoned
They were in Paris for 3 days getting the US tanks repaired
Jake and his men ran into some Germans on their way out of Paris
Wherever the towns were over ran with Germans, they could always tell because they
were like ghost towns, with no civilians or animals
(35:30) Germany
They traveled through Belgium, Luxembourg, and some British territory before arriving
in Germany
The group ran into many Germans that would try to hold them up; they would shoot at
the men for a while and then the Germans would eventually retreat
They then crossed the Siegfried line into the Ardennes area and the terrain was very
difficult to run their tanks through
They traveled North through the Hurtgen Forest and their infantry suffered a lot in this
area
There were only 28 men left of 185 and no officers; only 18 tanks left of 79
�
It was miserable and cold, the Battle of the Bulge was being fought in the South
They were eventually replaced by the 102nd Infantry Division
(44:50) Closing of War
Jake and his men were working with the 102nd and 84th Infantry Divisions and the 5th
Armored Division in Northern Germany
They could absolutely tell that the Germans were losing and took some time to celebrate
Thanksgiving in an abandoned factory
Many civilians were still convinced that the Germans would win
SS Troops were all very stubborn and would not cooperate while being interrogated
They made their way along the Elbe River and built bridges so the Infantry could cross
(54:10) Nordhausen
Jake and his men made their way a little south to Nordhausen where V-2 rockets were
being built
There was a large tunnel and 4 railroads that were all going into a factory within a
mountain
They were given the job to go out and find German engineers and their families so that
they could help shut down the factory
The area was eventually given control to the Russians, who seemed to be short on
supplies and took apart many German trucks and used the parts on their old beat down
vehicles
Jake said the Russians looked “like a bunch of gypsies”
(1:00:20) VE Day
Everyone was very happy on VE Day, but also annoyed with the problem of rounding up
German soldiers
2 weeks after VE Day Jake worked on Operation Tally Ho
They had to surround various towns, going door to door, and checking or Germans
soldiers and ammunition
He later was sent to Camp Lucky Strike in La Havre, France
Many of the men were hearing rumors that they might now be sent to fight in the Pacific
�
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
WernerJ
Title
A name given to the resource
Werner, Jake (Interview outline and video), 2008
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Werner, Jake
Description
An account of the resource
Jake Werner was born on November 29, 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and enlisted in the Army on May 1, 1938. After training Jake was sent to Panama and was not at all enjoying himself because of the drug problem in the area and decided to buy is way out of the service. He returned back the US and remained in a reserve unit until he was called to active duty in February of 1941. Jake went through Officer Candidate School and then helped form one of the first armored divisions, which were relatively new at the time. They were later sent to Britain for more training and then traveled through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany throughout the remainder of the war.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Hinogosa, Rachael (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
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
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
2008-06-01
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/b1b06d51ec8ac6988243efd927e188f7.mp4
2f7aa52c591cccbdf72d3d359d502c43
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a33c5cfef34c571d3b7991f85bcf13e1.pdf
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PDF Text
Text
GrandValleyStateUniversity
Veterans History Project
World War II
John Wessels
(1:03:17)
Background Information (00:25)
He was born in Grand RapidsMichigan, in 1924. (00:31)
John worked a paper route on the Northeast and Southeast Sides of Grand Rapids. (00:50)
He attended Central High school. He was set to graduate in 1942 but went into the Navy in
January of 1941 [1942?] at age 17. (1:08)
He was sent to DetroitMichigan, before being sent to basic training in Rhode Island. (1:52)
John was inspired to join the Navy due to his love of water. (3:00)
His parents were not upset about him joining the Navy. (3:47)
When arriving at basic he did not see many people from Grand Rapids. (5:16)
Training (6:30)
John liked the team attitude of basic training. (6:35)
There were some men who washed out of the service due to extreme homesickness. (8:10)
When asked where John wanted to serve, he selected submarines. He could not have this
position however, due to poor balance. (9:06)
He was trained as an aviation radioman. (9:40)
For radio school John was sent to Florida and Virginia. (11:03)
His training in total lasted approx. 1 year. (11:48)
Service (13:00)
John served on a PBY [Catalina-a seaplane used for long range patrols]. (13:02)
The first squadron assigned was BOB 208. (14:09)
A squadron consisted of approx. 15 aircraft each with a crew of 14 men. (14:23)
Because the missions were fairly long, the aircraft had a galley where the men made food and
had several bunks. (15:00)
After completed his training he spent 14 months in Key WestFlorida. Out of Key West the men
would fly to several areas within the Caribbean. During this time, the men were looking for
submarines. (16:00)
Service in the Pacific (17:10)
John was transferred from the 208th to the 26th he was then stationed in Hawaii. (17:15)
In the Pacific, John's unit was used for antisubmarine, anti-shipping, sea rescue, and
reconnaissance missions. When an enemy ship was located, sometimes the PBYs would bomb
the ship, but often it was simply reported to its location to a nearby U.S. vessel. (18:30)
The men also dropped the reconnaissance buoys. (20:14)
Using a buoy the men managed to locate a submarine. (23:53)
John and his crew often saw Kamikaze pilots. While on a ship, John saw them approach the ship
�
and realized there was nothing the men could do but get hit or watch other ships get hit by the
pilots. (25:37)
There were no weapons aboard the ship that John was on when he was attacked by Kamikaze
pilots. (29:31)
Every evening the men landed their PBY and went aboard ship. The aircraft floated and was
attached to a buoy. There were always 1 or 2 men left aboard the aircraft to insure it was
secured. (30:56)
John served near Okinawa and, after the end of the war, in TokyoBay. John’s squadron was the
first squadron to land in Tokyo Bay. (33:16)
He believes that his entire time in the military was a maturing experience. He very much valued
his Christian faith. (34:32)
Life in the Service (35:30)
John’s wife often wrote to him. He wrote back but he does not believe that she knew what
John’s service had entailed. (35:39)
His parents, as well as people from his church congregation, also wrote John. (36:45)
The men often played cards for entertainment. (38:00)
While on the ship, men would catch flounder and cook them. (40:16)
John served over 4 years (January of 1941-November of 1945). (40:41)
He was able to make and maintain very close friendships from the service. (41:38)
John has attended many reunions that were held across the entire U.S. (42:36)
Due to the need to have his appendix removed, John was sent on sick leave to Florida. (44:26)
While stationed and training in Hawaii the men were given some opportunity to explore but not
a lot. (45:09)
There were USO shows or people who came to see the troops. (46:12)
End of Service (48:30)
When the war ended the men eager to count up their points to ensure that they could go home.
(48:31)
John was discharged in Great Lakes Naval Base and was sent there via train form California.
(51:03)
John was also given a bus ride from Chicago to Grand Rapids. (51:59)
John completed high school after returning to the U.S. He started college but dropped out.
(54:56)
He attended many reunions across the country. (56:20)
Although John does not believe he was changed when he returned, his wife believes that he was
much more mature. (57:00)
His son also went into the Navy and served aboard an aircraft carrier. (59:45)
Their son was killed aboard the ship after a bomb accidently detonated aboard the ship.
(1:01:38)
�
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
WesselsJ1372V
Title
A name given to the resource
Wessels, John (Interview outline and video), 2012
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Wessels, John
Description
An account of the resource
John Wessels, born and in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1924, served in the U.S. Navy from January 1941 to November 1945 during World War II. After having completed his basic training, John was assigned to be an aviation radioman. His first deployment was to BOB 208, a unit of PBY seaplanes, in Florida and the Caribbean. Here, John looked for submarines. John was then transferred to the 208th of the 26th and flew in the Pacific, mainly performing reconnaissance. His unit started in Hawaii, served in several areas, including off Okinawa, and flew into Tokyo Bay at the end of the war.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Moore, Debra (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Navy
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2012-03-23
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/d330325a1e7b26e90d33c2a8c0b5db06.pdf
8de53d0a0cd7897988e7c5d688dc80f9
PDF Text
Text
Local Ground Rules
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allow faster players to pass. This is only
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bounds. Ball on 18 fairway driven on 10
fairway out of bounds. Drop another ball as
near as possible to place from which stroke
was played, with loss of distance only.
3. A ball in a hole made by burrowing
animals may be dropped back without
penalty.
4. When a ball is lost, the match behind
has the right to pass through immediately.
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finding the ball, resume play until the
match passing through is out of range.
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History
Description
An account of the resource
Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1910s-2010s
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Various
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Douglas (Mich.)
Michigan, Lake
Allegan County (Mich.)
Beaches
Sand dunes
Outdoor recreation
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project)
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
image/jpeg
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Image
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DC-07_SD-Walsh-J_0023
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
West Shore Golf Links
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1953-07-13
Title
A name given to the resource
West Shore Golf Links pamphlet and golf record
Description
An account of the resource
Printed pamphlet for West Shore Golf Links located in Douglas, Michigan, and known as "A Sporty 18 Hole Golf Course of Natural Beauty." The front of the pamplet has a description of West Shore Golf Links and their lodging, highlighting the location and types of rooms available. The "Local Ground Rules" are featured on the back page. The interior includes the scores and record of Bob Seils and Don Walsh from a golf game dated July 13, 1953.
Subject
The topic of the resource
Michigan
Douglas (Mich.)
Allegan County (Mich.)
Outdoor recreation
Golf
Pamphlets
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Digital file contributed by Jerri Walsh as part of the Stories of Summer project.
Relation
A related resource
Stories of Summer (project)
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/5c574ce1112ee8da8f23869d54d84208.mp4
52a09515db8916fb3f2145a3e972b4a8
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8aabc81fe020bdcad9a828037c1b8bfb.pdf
a7aa7d9d04330d690d1d884268d72d8f
PDF Text
Text
Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
World War II
Tom Westbrook
Total Time – (01:02:31)
Background
· He was born July 3, 1919 (00:38)
· He was born in Ionia, Michigan
Enlistment/Training – (00:49)
· He enlisted January 3, 1942 (00:52)
o He was twenty-two years old when he enlisted
· He enlisted because he believed it was the thing to do
o He was very unhappy with what the Japanese had done to Pearl Harbor
(01:14)
· For basic training, he was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi (01:36)
· In basic training he had to adjust to the new routine and discipline
o Once he had been through his basic training, he had to do two weeks of
KP (Kitchen Police) (02:19)
§ It was only for those that did not qualify for mechanic school
· The food was very good in basic training (02:53)
· The soldiers had to march back and forth to school
· Basic training had eleven phases of schooling
· There were 1,100 soldiers that graduated and 43 got sent overseas immediately
(04:22)
o They shipped in July of 1942
· The soldiers were in barracks during basic training
· He was one of the 43 selected to go overseas right away (04:54)
· He was sent to Angel Island near San Francisco, California (05:53)
o They waited here to get on board their ships
· The soldiers new they were en route to Australia (06:35)
· His ship would change course every nine minutes (07:19)
· He was on KP every other day that he was on the ship
· Most of the men got seasick (07:47)
· They first landed in Auckland, New Zealand and then went to Wellington, New
Zealand (08:15)
· The ship was the USS Mount Vernon (08:26)
�·
·
·
·
o He was on D deck
o His friend would get sick and he would take care of him
He was on the ship for 23 days (09:44)
There were roughly six thousand men on the ship (11:01)
o It was a luxury liner during peace time
In Australia, he was sent as a replacement
o They received 90 more days of infantry training because the Japanese
were pushing down on Australia (11:47)
His specialty was to be an air mechanic even though he received all of the
infantry equipment and training (12:01)
o He received his training in the latter part of July of 1942 (12:43)
Active Duty – (13:54)
· His unit was guard duty for a large base that was being evacuated due to a large
threat that the Japanese would attack Australia (14:03)
· From there, his unit left for Brisbane, Australia
· The American soldiers got along very well with the Australian soldiers (15:31)
· After Brisbane, he left for Townsville, Australia where he worked to overhaul
aircraft engines (16:12)
o He worked seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day
o He received an engine specialist rating (16:37)
o When he left Townsville he was offered Staff Sergeant position
· He wanted to leave Townsville because he wanted to see what his reaction to war
would be
· The soldiers would play cards and other activities to pass the time (18:36)
· He got on a Liberty ship and left Townsville
o The Liberty ships were primarily meant to transport goods
· The first base where he worked after Australia was on Finschhaefen, New Guinea
(20:07)
o They were in Finchhaven for six weeks
o It rained so much that the G.I. shoes would last only ten days
· The wildlife in New Guinea was beautiful but the mosquitoes were terrible
· They did not face any kind of combat in Finschhaefen (21:42)
· He was then sent to Hollandia (Jayapura) in the Dutch New Guinea (21:53)
· A lot of the soldiers came down with sicknesses
o He came down with Dengue fever (22:30)
· British New Guinea was his worst experience because of the rain and mosquitoes
· When he was living in tents, lizards and rats would crawl into their spaces (23:53)
· After leaving British New Guinea, he was sent to Morotai
· He was in Morotai working for six weeks before any missions had been done
(24:48)
· He was there to build a camp for a fuel base
· The first time he faced combat was when the Japanese bombed the fuel camp
�·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
o There was a Japanese base twelve miles away (27:46)
Because the Japanese and Americans were both trying to use Morotai, the
Americans were attacked 7-8 times each night (28:21)
o The Japanese never came during the day because the American antiaircraft was so good
o The Japanese would drop phosphorous bombs
It was close to 120 degrees in Morotai (31:03)
After Morotai, he went on an LST that met up with a convoy en route to Okinawa
(33:12)
In Okinawa he helped take care of transit aircraft
He worked primarily on C-47, B-25, P-47, or transport planes (37:37)
o The pilots often flew some of the planes very dangerously
There were times when planes could not make the trip back to the appropriate
base because of damage and they would stop where he was stationed
When casualties came back, the wounded or dead would get removed before he
worked on the plane (42:06)
Planes sometimes crashed on take-off (42:17)
With time off, soldiers would play cards and do other competitions
He had a fellow comrade who would go and fish when stationed on Morotai
(46:21)
o He used hand grenades to catch the fish (47:19)
He remembers hearing that the Atomic Bomb had been dropped while in Okinawa
After the Japanese surrender, he and ten went to an island off the coast of Japan
called Kanoya Kyushu (50:11)
The Japanese treated the Americans extremely well on Kanoya Kyushu because
they knew that the Americans had won the war (53:05)
o Of the 11 on Kanoya Kyushu, there were two radio operators, two
American born Japanese interpreters, and two crew chiefs
He received his discharge November 11, 1945 (55:18)
On Kanoya Kyushu he witnessed prisoners being returned that the Japanese had
held (57:13)
o It was hard for him to see
o They had been working in coal mines
o He remembers one marine that was six feet three inches tall that was down
to 130 pounds
§ He looked like a 70 year old man
§ A lot of the men were down to 150 or 160 pounds
o One man had club foot (58:06)
o It was evident that the Japanese had mistreated the soldiers
The soldiers were ready to fight in Japan if the Atomic Bomb had not been
dropped
o They believed that their chances of survival were small (59:46)
On his route home he flew over Hiroshima
o It was nearly a month after the bomb had been dropped (01:00:32)
�o He flew over on a C-46
o The soldiers were absolutely amazed that one bomb could create that
much devastation (01:01:27)
�
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
WestbrookT1319V
Title
A name given to the resource
Westbrook, Tom (Interview outline and video), 2006
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Westbrook, Tom
Description
An account of the resource
Tom Westbrook was born in 1919 in Ionia, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army after Pearl Harbor and trained as an aircraft mechanic at Keesler Field, Mississippi. Immediately after training, he was sent to Australia, where he worked at bases in Brisbane and Townsville, and volunteered for duty nearer the combat zones. He then went to Finschaefen and Hollandia, New Guinea, and then to Morotai, and from there to Okinawa and, after the war, to Japan.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Weber, Mark (Interviewer)
Lowell Area Historical Museum (Lowell, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army Air Corps
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2006-02-20
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
-
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Grand Valley State University
Veterans History Project Interview
Virgil Westdale
World War II
Total Time: 2:10:10
Childhood and Pre-Enlistment (0:00:40)
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His father was born in Japan, and immigrated to the United States because his
stepbrother gave him money to do so in 1906 when he was 16. He started in San
Francisco, California, moved to Denver, Colorado, then to Ohio after he married
Virgil’s mother, then on to Indiana.
Born in Millersburg, Indiana.
Family raised peppermint in Indiana.
His father then bought a farm in Michigan where they raised alfalfa.
There were 5 children in his family all together.
Finished high school.
Played football in high school.
Worked in trucking, and then attended Western Michigan College beginning in
1940 and Graduated after World War II in 1949.
Obtained his private pilot’s license in 1942.
Joined the War Training Service in 1942.
(0:28:40) Legally changed his name to “Westdale” from “Nishimura” in 1942.
Participated in air acrobatics in South Bend, Indiana as well.
(0:30:10) Participated in a aerial acrobatics tour around the United States
Lost his pilots license due to racial prejudice
(0:33:30) Taught ground school before he went into the service.
Training (0:35:06)
• Went to Romulus Field, Michigan to join the Air Corps.
• He got his license back in November 1941.
• His training was very intense. For instance, he took commercial and instrument
flying at the same time.
• He took commercial flying because he wanted to become an instructor, and this
required commercial flying.
• He was chosen to be a flight instructor after training.
Active Duty (0:39:58)
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He instructed for 3 or 4 months before he got a letter stating that he was being
transferred to the Army and that he would be given the rank of Private, which was
essentially a demotion.
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(0:42:29) He was placed in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted
entirely of Japanese-Americans.
(0:45:45) Had basic training with the unit and then went to Unit Training.
He learned to operate the M1, BAR, and Flamethrower.
Their unit ate a lot of rice. Many of the men in his unit were from Hawaii, until
the 100th Battalion unit split off.
(0:52:30) Right before he was shipped overseas, his sister wrote a letter to Eleanor
Roosevelt requesting that he be transferred to some pilot position. He then
received notice that he was being transferred to the Artillery Battalion attached to
the 442nd to fly the observation aircraft for the Battalion.
(0:54:40) He was then selected to be in the fire direction center, because it turned
out he could not be a pilot due to his rank.
(0:59:00) He was shipped over to Europe in 1944 on a Liberty ship with around
500 men. They were in a very large convoy.
(1:01:45) They landed in Brindisi, Italy, and moved to Anzio, and then to Naples.
(1:04:15) They move through Rome, where the group in front of them
encountered some resistance.
(1:06:35) Their unit first entered combat just after leaving Rome. He was usually
a stretch back from the line. His job was to work in the fire coordination center,
where they would receive and give coordinates for firing artillery.
They would usually shoot smoke shells into an area to gauge where a target was
in relation to wind.
(1:12:09) He was engaged in Italy and then were moved to Southern France,
landing in Marseilles, France.
(1:14:00) While still in Italy, he was involved in an assault on Hill 140 where his
artillery unit participated in a bombardment, which killed all of the 120 Germans
that were on the hill.
(1:22:10) They were moved to Southern France from Italy specifically for the
invasion of Germany.
The 100th Battalion had so many casualties they earned the nickname “The Purple
Heart Battalion.”
One of the main things that he noticed when he moved through France was that it
seemed to be a cleaner place than Italy.
(1:29:05) He remembers moving through France being very difficult.
(1:30:55) His unit fought to free a battalion of the 141st Regiment when they
became lost and cut off from the rest of the Army. It took them 4 days total to
break through, and it cost them 800 casualties.
(1:39:40) Right after they broke through and saved the 141st, they continued on
without a break.
He did get sick on one occasion with flu-like symptoms.
On one occasion while he was ill, a house he was staying in was hit by artillery
fire..
(1:48:10) Oftentimes, they would fire so fast that captured Germans would ask
where the automatic artillery was that they were using.
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(1:49:35) They were eventually brought back from the line, to the Nice area,
because of the losses they suffered rescuing the lost battalion. They stayed there
for the winter of 1944-1945.
(1:52:25) The unit was split in two at this point, with the artillery going into
Germany and the infantry going into Italy.
(1:52:45) He was sent to Worms, Germany where he crossed the Rhine on a
pontoon bridge.
(1:54:30) They fought through Germany however the fighting was more sporadic
than they had been previously used to. They encountered heavy fighting at times,
because the Germans saw this as their last stand.
(1:56:20) There was a moratorium on talking to German citizens over the age of
12, however he got to know a 9 year old girl, her mother, and her father, who was
a regular infantryman in the German Army.
He was hospitalized for some time, and he was supposed to be sent home, but he
didn’t want to, and left the hospital to return to the unit.
(1:59:19) His unit worked as part of the occupation force in Germany after
hostilities had ceased. His unit was also sent home without him, and he lost touch
with many of the people in his unit. He stayed on until late November 1945 after
his unit had left in late September 1945.
Post-War (2:08:40)
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Worked as a Chemical Engineer after the War, and he also worked at the TSA. He
is also working on an autobiography.
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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
WestdaleV
Title
A name given to the resource
Westdale, Virgil (Interview outline and video), 2009
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Westdale, Virgil
Description
An account of the resource
Virgil Westdale was born Virgil Nishimura in Millersburg, Indiana and served in World War II. He was trained as a pilot but because his father was Japanese he was demoted to an infantryman and placed in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted primarily of Japanese-Americans. He worked in the Fire Direction Center for his unit, and spent time in combat in Europe. His unit also worked in occupied Germany after combat.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James (Interviewer)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Michigan--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
United States. Army
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2009-05-28
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
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application/pdf
video/mp4
Publisher
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Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives