981 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ac8f1fc7d408bdcc10970170beed09cb.jpg a3001075a5076f5974f58e39a52cad4a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ThompsonRick Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Thompson, Rick Description An account of the resource Rick Thompson Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f0f787d2859939c98e5744b7ec9a3cc1.mp4 d17f303f07f722c49240cbf2f7ca1efe https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/65afb737400a9d4b9d7aaa57523db156.pdf bf51bc83b8cf833023993008abdb1a8e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War(s): World War II, Korean War Name of Interviewee: Darrell Thornley Length of Interview: (01:09:41) (00:12) Background Information Born in [Cato, OK] on February 21, 1925 (00:13) Father owned an ice plant, a trucking line, and a transfer and storage unit (00:23) Raised in Duvant, OK and stayed there until he was 16, then left for his sisters’ house to work (01:05) Family effected by Dust Bowl (01:51) Recalls hearing about Pearl Harbor (02:09) (02:41) Enlistment/Training Received draft notice to report to induction center to take his physical (02:46) Got in the wrong line and was sent into the army in Forts Hill, OK (02:55) Basic training held in Camp Roberts, CA (03:22) Caught pneumonia while training in a creek in 110 degree weather, spent 5 days in the hospital (04:06) Described rifle training, physical training, and 25 mile hikes (04:53) Was asked to stay to serve with the training cadre, but didn’t like the strict drill instructors and asked to be transferred (05:30) Served as an active squad leader at Camp Roberts (05:51) (06:17) Camp Calin, San Luis [Obispo], CA Transfered to the 97th division, which was training to go to Pacific (05:40) Joined Company A 386 at Camp Calin in San Luis, CA (06:16) Briefly describes his experience training here (06:48) Trained to make assault landings at [Camp Pendleton] Had never been on ocean before, didn’t enjoy it (07:02) Unit scheduled to go to the Pacific, but due to the Germans’ counterattack after the Battle of the Bulge, their orders changed and they were sent to Europe (07:16) Describes his experience traveling by troop train from California to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey (07:35) (08:45) Crossing the Rhine River Arrived in LeHavre, France and trucked to the front lines (09:31) Allies counterattacking, unit went right into the fight on the Rhine River in Cologne, Germany (09:42) Briefly describes leading companies as a scout during their first endeavor (10:23) Germans were retreating once the U.S. began advancing towards the Rhine River (12:00) Describes crossing the Rhine River while under fire (12:00) Recalls that the troops was prepared and functioned well together (12:55) �Campaign before reaching the Rhine took about three weeks because they had to wait for supplies (13:55) Germans were retreating once the U.S. began advancing towards the Rhine River (14:55) German forces must have been “scraping the bottom of the barrel,” German troops comprised mostly of very young men (15:12) Didn’t have much confrontation with German forces (15:55) Describes fortifications used (16:15) Describes experience crossing the Rhine River while under fire (17:06) (18:30)Germany Once across the Rhine River, advanced as far as possible until support arrived (18:30) Describes the radio technology available and its applications (18:46) Describes experience occupying Cologne, Germany before and after crossing the Rhine River (19:11) Entered Germany upstream (20:12) One complete division surrendered to them (20:55) Describes his experiences and duties as a scout for his unit (21:03) Describes casualties suffered (23:43) Advanced to Ruhr Valley, sent to Czechoslovakia (24:25) Truck overturned upon arrival on May 2, broken an arm and was taken to hospital (24:35) His unit did not encounter any prison camps while driving across Germany (25:19) Fractured his skull when the truck that was evacuating him turned over on bridge in England (26:26) (27:13) Rehabilitation Spent 7 months and 12 days in a hospital in England (27:13) Took a hospital boat out of England once he was able to travel and landed at Newport News, VA (27:19) Was transferred by train to a rehabilitation center in Okmulgee, OK (27:37) After a visit home during his 30 day leave, received orders to go to a rehabilitation center in Fort Sam Houston, TX (27:48) Primarily evacuated because his wrist had fused together while healing from the fracture, making it stiff and mostly unusable. (28:04) Describes how he spent his time during rehabilitation (28:32) Had earned enough points to qualify for discharge (29:22) Went home and tried to return to work, but his position had been filled and he re-enlisted (29:41) Received $300 bonus for re-enlisting (30:18) Sent to 20th Armored Division in Killeen, TX as Cadre (30:46) Didn’t enjoy Cadre, asked for reassignment �(31:08)(31:14) Italy Didn’t want to join the infantry, but couldn’t get away from it. [Changed MOSs to ammunition pioneer (a 505 at the time)] (31:23) Taught and used demolitions to construct areas for buildings, latrines, and flagpoles (31:41) Stationed near Udine (32:37) Went to Trieste (an international port) after the 88th division dissolved. Continued training with 351st Regiment (32:51) Describes Yugoslavia’s advance into Italy (33:31) Recalls that Trieste was beautiful and largely unaffected by the war (34:19) Recalls that the local Italians were nice to them (34:45) Based in Italy for three years (35:14) (35:28) Re-Enlistment, 1948 Re-enlisted and was assigned to a unit in Fort Sill, OK (35:28) Found that there was no opportunity for advancement, asked for transfer (35:44) After 6 months of waiting, he was transferred to a National Guard unit in Fort Bliss, TX in 1948 (35:52) Didn’t enjoy that, asked to be transferred in 1950. Assigned to ordinance unit in Japan for occupational duty (36:12) (36:34) Japan Landed in Yokohama, Japan by passenger ship (36:34) Troop went to Camp Drake to be sent to various units in June 1950 (36:45) Sent back to infantry at 24th Division headquarters via troop train (37:05) Was a platoon sergeant with a Combat Infantryman Badge at the time. Joined Company A, 19th infantry (37:41) (38:08) Service in Korea Stationed in Pusan, S. Korea in June of 1950 (38:08) Troops were issued ammunition, boarded Korean trucks, and moved forward (38:23) North Korean troops had overrun much of South Korea and were moving towards their troops. Received orders to slow the Koreans’ advance (38:54) Majority of his platoon were replacements, not infantrymen, and therefore had no battle experience (39:09) Describes first contact with enemy during advance to Taejon River in which their commanding general was captured. Retreated to Pusan Perimeter. (40:42) Recalls his impression of the North Koreans (41:25) Managed to hold onto their position despite the North Koreans’ strength and bravery (42:06) Describes the differences between their tactics and the North Koreans’ (42:15) Suffered many casualties due to inexperience. Their platoon [company?] was reduced from 167 men to 9 by July 14, including officers (43:03) Describes the weapons used by the North Koreans, and what they utilized in response (44:24) �Recalls that the weather was hot and that they weren’t prepared for it (45:24) Frequently combined entire companies to replace casualties (46:06) Remained at Pusan perimeter until General MacArthur broke landing at Inchon. Left once Koreans’ supplies had been cut off (46:27) Unit advanced and took Seoul (47:24) Unit then advanced on the end of North Korea. Reached Yalu River, but were confronted by Chinese troops before they could advance further (47:36) Unit withdrew quickly toward Seoul. Suffered from stomach ulcers at this time and was evacuated to Kobe, Japan for one day. Unit was attacked while he was being evacuated (48:46) Was asked if he was able to rejoin his unit. Describes briefly rejoining the fight after his three day evacuation (50:11) (52:52) Service after Evacuation Assigned to the 229th Ordinance Company, a base depot. Worked as the chief clerk of ammunition branch of Depot that was in control of the ammunition dumps in Japan (52:52) Joined 1st Cavalry Division which returned to Korea (54:16) Returned to the United States in 1952 and was assigned to a National Guard unit at Fort Bliss, TX. Didn’t enjoy that, volunteered to go back overseas. Joined 1st Cavalry Division, which returned to Korea (58:37) Describes what he thought of Japan at this time. (59:34) Left 229 Base Depot and went to another Depot in Kure. Stayed there until 1953 before returning to the United States (1:00:03) Received Bronze Star while in the IX Corps in 1954 (01:01:47) Joined 1st Ordinance of 906 Ammunition Company, stationed in Fort Knox, KY. Family joined him here. (01:03:11) Received orders to go to Saigon, Vietnam in 1958 as a part of a state department mission to recover equipment given to the French. (01:03:43) Three days before he was scheduled to return home, his hotel was bombed. Took cover behind a desk to protect himself. Witnessed his friend die in the blast (01:04:31) • Retired in 1966. � 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 ThornleyD Title A name given to the resource Thornley, Darrell (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thornley, Darrell Description An account of the resource Darrell Thornley was raised in Duvant, OK and was drafted into the army soon after hearing about Pearl Harbor. His extensive military career in World War II and the Korean War and beyond took him to France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Darrell held a variety of positions throughout his career, such as squad leader, scout, and Cadre leader. During his military career, he received the Combat Infantryman Badge and a Bronze Star Medal. 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 Korean War, 1950-1953--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 2009-05-14 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/d695a309eeceb5f2962e24c4b220d70a.jpg fc897b3166acb138b4b9c492fa59561f Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ThorpePatrick Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Thorpe, Patrick Description An account of the resource Patrick Thorpe, Professor of Biology Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/eceba65595bbaaa37f729c9ec9e4d476.mp4 5c6ffff10c3fd57c3609928cbf29b604 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8116086c9a3a417c8207ee983602d9d7.pdf 4c101de9a7ea3e74b4a9583943159cc3 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Arthur Thorsen 40:44 Background information (00:17)          He was Born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1923 (00:20) His father was a factory worker (00:30) His father had to change jobs during the 1930s, but his family stayed in Muskegon Michigan. (00:39) He did not finish high school and dropped out in the 11th grade. (1:03) At the age of 17 he joined the Navy. Due to his young age, this action did require his parent’s permission. (1:15) His parents were willing to let him enlist. (1:21) He enlisted in 1941 (1:27) He knew there was a war in Europe and figured he would be drafted. This encouraged him to join the Navy so he could pick his branch of service. (1:36) He chose the Navy because he didn’t want to be a soldier. (1:49) Basic training (2:00)       After enlisting he was sent to Great Lakes Naval Base in Chicago Illinois. (2:10) Here he was required to become accustomed to Navy discipline. (2:26) He also attended a service school in Detroit Michigan where he learned mechanical engineering. (2:36) When Pearl Harbor occurred in December of 1941 he was in Boston on the Kilauea, an ammunition ship. (3:00) The Kilauea was about the size of a victory ship. (3:45) While on this ship he worked in the engine room where he checked gauges and monitored the engines performance. (4:00) Service on the Philadelphia (early 1942) (5:00)      After Pearl Harbor in December of 1941 he was placed on the Philadelphia. (5:09) The Philadelphia was a light cruiser. (5:20) This ship would make runs from the East Coast to Scotland on convoy escort. (5:44) While in the North Atlantic he experienced rough seas. (6:00) The ships he escorted would travel in the far North Atlantic because German submarines were unable to operate in the conditions found there. (6:58) �      Some of the convoys he was escorting were lost. (7:28) He was concerned about encountering German surface ships(7:52) While in Scotland he was given shore time; there was little to do there. (8:22) The Philadelphia also ventured to the Moroccan coast in Africa in November of 1942. (9:18) The Philadelphia assisted in a landing. However during the landing he was below deck in the engine room and witnessed very little of it. (10:23) Sometime after the landing he arrived back in the states and was transferred to the , a destroyer. (10:50) Service aboard the destroyer Anthony (approx. early 1943) (10:50)          The destroyer was new and was launched from Bath, Maine. (11:00) There was a commissioning ceremony for the Anthony. (11:20) The first task for the Anthony was down in Guantanamo Bay. (11:40) While serving on the Anthony he encountered German submarines and depth charges were dropped on them. (12:07) His battle station was the number 2 engine room. (In the middle of the ship.) This was a very sturdy place. (13:02) When the ship encountered subs, the ship would change course. (14:45) After Guantanamo he went through the Panama Canal and to Honolulu. (15:11) He traveled with other destroyers in a convoy as well as with a carrier. (16:00) When he stopped in Pearl Harbor he was able to stop and go ashore. There he saw the Arizona in the harbor but other battle signs were mostly cleaned up. (16:56) Service in the Pacific aboard the Anthony (17:00)           Once he left Hawaii the Anthony traveled to the South Pacific. (approx 1943) (17:20) For a time he was stationed in Guadalcanal in 1944. (17:54) The destroyer was primarily an escort and conducted some shore bombardments. (18:28) He worked in the engine rooms in shifts. When not on ship he likes to get on deck where it was cooler and the sun was out. (19:11) While off duty, there was little entertainment available to the soldiers. At Guadalcanal however there was a small beach area the sailors could use. (19:56) Movies were played on the ships for sailors. (20:20) One of the paces he stopped was Guam but he was unable to get off the boat. (20:55) His ship was also sent to Iwo Jima in 1945. Here, the Anthony had a spotter plane that gave coordinates for the ship to shell. (21:20) While pulling out of Iwo Jima a Japanese artillery fired upon the destroyers but did not hit the Anthony. (21:52) He stayed at Iwo Jima for a long period. (22:50) �                   While off Okinawa in March [April?] of 1945 the Anthony was attacked by Kamikaze pilots. (23:08) In Okinawa, his destroyer was in charge of providing cover for other ships. (Picket Duty) (23:16) The USS Brain was struck by a Kamikaze Pilot while the Anthony was on picket duty. Though he could not see the attack he could hear it in the engine room. He originally thought that the Anthony had been hit. (24:30) There were 4-5 occasions where the Anthony had near miss Kamikazes. (25:50) He was unaware the USS Brain was hit until he had made his way out of the Engine room and made it up top deck. (26:17) He saw neither the casualties from nor the damage that was done to the USS Brain. However he was able to see bodied bags filled with navel man after the incident. (27:13) After Okinawa he was sent off to Sasebo (September 1945) where he was given a rifle and a bayonet as war souvenirs. (27:41) He went to Nagasaki in September of 1945. (28:42) He was able to see where the bomb struck in Nagasaki and he toured much of the destruction. The navy did not know how bad the radiation was to the men who were exposed to it. (28:55) He was based in Sasebo for a short time before Nagasaki (29:30) He believes that he and the men stayed on the ship in Sasebo unlike when touring Nagasaki. (30:00) He saw very little of the Japanese civilians. (30:11) After his stay in Nagasaki the ship returned to the U.S. in November of 1945. (30:29) While traveling back to the U.S. the ship hit rough seas that caused the ship to take on some water. (31:00) Unlike being one a large ship, everyone had known everyone else on his destroyer. (32:30) In general his own captain would look after him as well as the other sailors. (32:40) Because of the dimensions of the destroyer, one of the sailors on the ship was washed overboard. The man was recovered several days later. (34:35) The ship had 2 casualties. (35:52) He was discharged in late 1946. (37:12) Post naval life. (37:30)      He stayed in the Navy for an extended period because he thought it would be a good way to make more money. (37:30) He was encouraged to reenlist and was offered 1st Class ranking. (38:00) He tried to go to school, but was unable to attend due to inefficient intelligence. (38:28) He ultimately ended up working in a factory that made mechanical parts for a wide variety of parts from mechanisms for McDonalds to bomb bay doors. (38:38) He worked for this company for 33 years. (39:05) �Effects of Naval Service (39:10)   He believed it was a good experience. (29:20) He learned how to work with people and cope with hardship. (39:55) � 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 ThorsenA0828V Title A name given to the resource Thorsen, Arthur (Interview outline and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thorsen, Arthur Description An account of the resource Arthur Thorsen is a Muskegon, Michigan, native who enlisted in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor in 1941 at the age of seventeen. He worked mostly in the engine rooms of the ships he served on, initially an ammunition ship, and then the light cruiser Philadelphia in the Atlantic in 1942 and 1943 as it escorted convoys and supported the North African landings. He was then assigned to a new destroyer, the Anthony, which was sent to the Pacific in 1944. This ship also served as an escort and engaged in shore bombardments, notably at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was then based at Sasebo, Japan, after the end of the war. 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 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 2009-06-12 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/ac620a5c7458838907cdf2c4de25efa2.mp4 65bbdadab15fe252a907d1a461d01c47 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3f9c7fd9c34c5084e06cee08ba358552.pdf 8c174e21af3ec005d8999fbb401aecff PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Oral History Interview Veteran: Dave Thrasher Interviewed by James Smither Transcribed by Grace Balog Interviewer: We are talking today with Dave Thrasher of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the interviewer is James Smither of the Grand Valley State University Veteran’s History Project. Okay, Dave, start us off on some background on yourself, and to begin with, where and when were you born? Veteran: I was born on the 19th of May in 1953 in Detroit, Michigan. Interviewer: Okay, and did you grow up in Detroit, or did you move around? Veteran: We spent—I spent my first seven years in Detroit. When I was 3, my father passed away, and then at 7, my mom remarried and then we moved to Iron Mountain, Michigan, because that’s where he was from. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And we were up there until I was 10, because unlike what people think today, businesses were moving out of this country even back then. The only two businesses in that area were the foundry and the Ford plant and they both moved to Canada. So, my stepdad moved back to Detroit once he found a job. We relocated back there until I went in the service. Interviewer: Okay. And did you graduate from high school? Veteran: Yes, I graduated from Holy Redeemer High School in Detroit, Michigan. Interviewer: In what year? �Veteran: 1971. Interviewer: Okay. And then what did you do after you got out of high school? Veteran: I went to work at Cadillac Body Plant, Detroit, Michigan. Interviewer: Okay, now you’re doing this at a time when the Vietnam War is going on, and there’s a draft going on. How much attention were you paying to that? Veteran: I paid quite a bit because I had several cousins that were over there. I basically come from a military family. And—in fact, at that time I had 5 cousins that were actually in country. (00:02:08) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, I did pay a lot of attention. Interviewer: Alright. And did you consider at that point just going ahead and enlisting, or were you just going to take your chances and see what happened? Veteran: At that point, it was—I was kind of undecided. Having the military family background, you know, one side of me is thinking but I am also thinking, you know, I do have some relatives over there…Maybe I should wait. But, then when the last draft lottery had me going anyway, I sat down and thought about it and talked with my stepdad, and we figured that you know, if I am going in, I might as well do it myself so there’s—I can get something out of it. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Not just be a grunt for two years. Interviewer: Alright. So, when did you make that decision? �Veteran: I actually made that decision in November of ’72. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then I was still working at the factory at that time, and I started the process of going on a leave of absence. Then I spoke with all four service recruiters, and the Marine Corps recruiter was the most fair of the bunch. Interviewer: Okay, and what do you mean by that? Veteran: He didn’t try to sell a bill of goods like a used car salesman. He basically asked me a few questions, he asked me if, you know, if I had any family in the military. I told him yes. He didn’t ask specifics. And he pulled out information on the Marine Air Wing and the Marine groundside and had me go through it. He said if you have any questions, ask. And then, so I told him I would like to go in the Air Wing and he says the only thing I can do is I can guarantee you the Air Wing on the contract. What job you end up with is entirely up to you. You have to earn it. (00:04:07) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So that’s what did it. Interviewer: Alright. But you can go in knowing at that point that you’re not going to be a ground pounder at least. Veteran: Right. Interviewer: Okay, alright. So, you’ve signed up. Now, when do you actually start training? �Veteran: Well I actually took the oath in the Marine Corps Reserves on the 30th of April, 1973. That gave me time to get my family—home situation taken care of, my stuff in storage and all that. And I actually went to bootcamp on the 9th of July, 1973. Interviewer: Okay, and where did you go for that training? Veteran: Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot San Diego, California. Interviewer: Alright, now how did they get you out there? Veteran: They flew us from the Detroit Metro. We flew nonstop from Detroit to LA, and then there was a connecting flight from LA to San Diego. And then when we got off the plane, there’s a bus waiting for us that took us right to bootcamp. Interviewer: Okay, and what time of day did you show up? Veteran: I put my feet on those yellow footprints at what the military would say 0 dark 30 in the morning. It was like 3 in the morning. Interviewer: Okay, because that does seem to be a tradition that they have, to bring people in in the middle of the night. Veteran: Sometimes… Interviewer: Well, at least, it had been in the Vietnam era generally. Veteran: Right. Interviewer: Almost everyone I’ve talked to did. �Veteran: I think part of that, especially during Vietnam, was, I think, because it was so much anti…They wanted to avoid issues. Let’s get them in quietly and get things going so they don’t have to deal with all the outside influence. Interviewer: Alright, so what happens to you now? You arrive, the bus pulls into the depot, now what happens? Veteran: You get your first indoctrination to the drill instructor. When this Sergeant or Staff Sergeant, in some cases Corporal, comes on board and basically if you’ve ever seen movies like The D.I. or Tribe where they come on and start yelling, yes they do. And you’re on the yellow foot prints, and they do a head count and they make sure everybody showed up, that nobody disappeared. And then they take you to the barracks. That early in the morning, they just take you to the barracks. And then, come about 8 o’clock the next morning, everything starts. You get started fitting for your uniforms, you form up your platoon, because they have a starting number, then four platoons form into a series, and then you have three series. You have a first, second, and third series. And what they do is, it’s teaching you working together but it’s also teaching you competition because each platoon competes against each other. (00:06:50) Interviewer: Mhmm. Now, how much time do they spend just with the processing stuff? Veteran: It’s kind of an ongoing thing, because they start your physical training and they kind of mix it in in the early days, so you’re not just doing all one thing at a time. They’re trying to get you rounded into the military way of life. Interviewer: Okay. But there’s the head shaving and are there— Veteran: Oh, that’s all, that’s immediately that first morning. �Interviewer: Yep, okay. Now, did they have you take tests and things at this point? Veteran: Yes. And what they do is based on those tests is where they will place you when you leave bootcamp. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s groundside or Air Wing, the test will give them kind of a starting point. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and okay so, and then they’re getting you—they get you past all the hair cutting and uniforms and this kind of thing. What does the bootcamp then consist of? Veteran: Well, it consists of physical training. It consists of rifle qualifications because Marine policy: every Marine is a rifleman. Rifle qualifications, they teach you how to defend yourself. They have what’s called pugil sticks that’s teaching you how to use the rifle as a bayonet, with the bayonet on it. They teach that stuff because the first they’re going to tell you is: I am training you to come home. Marine Corps has always had this policy, as small as an organization as it is, we don’t want you dying for your country, let the enemy die for his. You come home. So, one of the theories was that drill instructors were so hard that you’d survive, or when you got in combat, you’d take it out on the enemy what the drill instructor did to you. But it was all designed to keep you as safe as possible. Get you through as much as they can, both physical and mental, to prepare you for what might happen. It may not happen, but they wanted to prepare you as much as they could. (00:09:01) Interviewer: Okay. And how did they go about instilling discipline? Veteran: Marching. If you messed up, then you did push-ups. Or, if it was a platoon thing, you might go out and do, instead of a 3-mile run, maybe it’s a 6-mile run. Something that—what they would do is if one person messed up, there were times they would punish the whole platoon. And �it wasn’t for you to gang up on the one guy, it was to maybe help him get better or maybe this guy needed—I mean, we started out as a platoon of 72, and at some point, at one point, we were down to only 60. Guys had either dropped out or things happened, some good, some not so good. Interviewer: Would some people get hurt, just in the process? Veteran: Yes, that does happen. It’s not as common as what like the news media would try and portray. I am not talking public broadcasting, but back then of course, there was more antimilitary. So, anytime anything happened, it would make it bigger news than what it probably was. But you also had the case, we had one guy in our platoon was the only one in the whole series pre-qual date, to go unqualified. And when he was confronted in front of the squad bay, he basically told the drill instructor that that’s not why God sent him, he sent him to join the Marine Corps to change their evil ways. And then, we never saw that guy again. We don’t know what it—but the drill instructor figured there’s definitely something not right up there, and they— that’s one of the things they’re trying to weed out. You know, you don’t want somebody that’s got problems like that. I mean, it could develop later on, but here this guy is starting this right away so. Whether he was admin discharged or whether maybe he was sent for some reviews and then maybe come to another unit later, I don’t know. They don’t really tell us those things. (00:11:11) Interviewer: Okay, now did you pick up anybody along the way who would maybe cause trouble early then get out— Veteran: Yeah, yeah we actually had a gentleman join our unit. He had gone UA. He had actually left the base in the middle of his training. He had actually gone back home and was living there. Had actually gotten married. And he sat down one day and realized, you know, one �of these days, they’re going to catch me, and then I’m going to be in jail. So, he talked to his wife, his parents, her parents, and decided to come back. So, after he came back, they reviewed the case. I mean, he came right back to the base and turned himself in. They reviewed the case, they interviewed him and he—and they let him finish bootcamp, and he joined the platoon I was in because that’s where we were training when he left. And from what I gathered, he spent another 15 years in the Marine Corps. (00:12:07) Interviewer: Alright. Now, how long did the bootcamp last? Veteran: Mine lasted 94 days, 10 hours, 20 minutes, and 30 seconds. We actually lasted a few days longer because during that time, it was hard to get recruits because of the anti-war movement. So, we actually spent an extra 4 days, and the rest of it was just basically from the time we landed on the yellow footprints to the time they put us on the bus to take us to the airport. Interviewer: Okay. How long did it take you to adjust to life in the military? Veteran: It did not take me as long as some others. But I did have family background from the military so it made it a little bit easier. Interviewer: Okay. And were you in good physical shape when you went in? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Okay. So, you could survive the physical training and… Veteran: Yes, the—especially the running part. Because part of the PFT test is you had to do a minimum of 3 pull-ups, 40 sit-ups, and you had to run the 3 miles in 28 minutes. The catch to that was, the Marine Corps was smart, they don’t want you doing the minimums. So, if you— �they did a point system. And if you did just the minimums, you didn’t pass. They wanted you to put out effort. They don’t want you just to get by. The running part wasn’t a problem because I ran track in high school. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and I guess during Vietnam, much of the time there was sort of an 8-week bootcamp, and then they would send people off to Camp Pendleton or whatever training they were doing. Now, yours lasted more like 90 days. So, what are they doing? Did you spend some time at Camp Pendleton as well? Veteran: Yes. One, that’s where the rifle range is. And two, that’s where they did some of the war games type things between the different platoons. One platoon would be the unit on defense, the other would be the aggressor and that’s what they would do, and then you’d go back to San Diego. (00:14:08) Interviewer: Okay. Now at this point were you training, you had people who were heading for the Air Wing as well as the Ground Wing, and you’re basically just all together at that point, all doing the same thing? Veteran: Correct. Interviewer: Okay. Now once you complete that training, what do they do with you next? Veteran: Well, once you’ve graduated, of course in quite a few of our cases, there was quite a few of us from the Detroit area, and the only flight going out that day was almost immediately after bootcamp. So, our gear was put on the buses at like 5 in the morning. And as soon as the graduation was over, we were put on the bus and home. You were given 10 days of leave before you report to your next duty station. So, the flight went from San Diego to Chicago, and once I �got to Chicago, I was finally able to let my folks know I was coming home. I actually beat them to the Detroit airport from Chicago. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then from there after the 10 days leave, you report to your next duty station. In my case, I had qualified high enough to go into the avionics field, aviation electronics. So, my next duty station would have been NAS Millington, Tennessee. Interviewer: Okay. And what did you do there? Veteran: There, I went through what they call AFAM and AMFA, that’s air frame fundamentals and began to learn the basics about airplanes. They don’t assume you know anything, they start you at the beginning. And then I went through basic electrician and electronics schools, and then I went through aviation electronics class A. Interviewer: Okay. And how long did these schools add up to? Veteran: I reported there the second week of October of ’73, and I left in May of ’74. Interviewer: Okay, so you got like a 7-months, or 6-7 months, okay, at that time. Now, what’s life like while you’re in these training schools? Veteran: One, the first couple weeks there, you’re on Cinderella liberty. It doesn’t matter if your school has started, or you’re waiting for the class to start, Cinderella liberty meant you had to be in by midnight. Literally, or you were in trouble. And basically, that was just to make sure—they kind of, you kind of got acclimated to the area. The other thing is, is you still had all this stuff to do in your barracks: the field days, the cleaning, the morning inspections and all that. So, most of the time you’re getting up about 5 in the morning, going to get breakfast, getting yourself ready. �If you’re somebody like me who has a thick beard, a lot of times I was shaving twice a day to get past—through the inspections in the morning, and then the class inspection at 1300. And then you would go to class. And then of course, during those school times, you don’t go like to the rifle range or anything like that, because they want you to get the education they’re paying you for—they’re paying for. Get you educated so they can get you out into the fleet. (00:17:05) Interviewer: Okay. And what kind of mix of people were you training alongside? Veteran: I don’t know, they were all green. One thing our drill instructor told us in bootcamp, he says you’re not white, you’re not black, you’re not orange, you’re not purple. You’re green, all Marines are green. We had people from all over. In fact, there were people from other countries, and the classes weren’t just Marines. There were also Navy. So, there were blue people too. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and did you get a sense of, you know, kind of just their backgrounds? Did you have people who had been to college or things like that? Or were they all pretty much young? Veteran: We had high school drop outs, we had college graduates, we had high school graduates, we had some that had had some college time. Then there was some that were like me, I graduated high school and worked in a factory for two years, and then there were people that had worked in offices. There was, it was definitely a mixture, (00:18:06) Interviewer: Okay. Now, was all of your training geared toward fixed-wing aircraft? Or was it adaptable for helicopters or…? Veteran: What it is is the schooling you go through in Memphis, whether it be, whether you’re going Navy or Marine, it was based—to get you all the basics, so that you could work either �way. And then once you got out into the fleet, Marine force or into the fleet Navy, there they would give you your basics schools for whichever type aircraft you ended up with. Interviewer: Okay. So, you’re spending this 6-months plus doing this, and you still really don’t know what you’re going to do or where you’re going to go? Veteran: Correct. Interviewer: Okay. Now, once you’ve been there in the schools for a while, I guess you could get beyond the Cinderella liberty stage, so you can go off base a little more and do more things. Did you spend much time off base? Veteran: Yes, I did. One thing I learned from my relatives that were in the service, and one thing I learned the first couple weeks there, I would hear these guys “oh, there’s nothing to do here” because Millington is kind of a little ways from Memphis, it’s kind of out in the country because it is an airfield, military airfield. And I would hear that and I’m like wait a minute. Memphis is down there. There is a history in that. So, every chance I got—in fact, third day in, I actually got 24-hour liberty. Third day, the third day we were there, they—we held formation and they brought us into the classroom, because we hadn’t started classes yet, and they asked for volunteers to go into town to the Baptist hospital to donate blood. Well, three of us did. After we did, they told us the duty vehicle is downstairs and you don’t have to be back until 8 o’clock the next morning. Then of course everybody wanted to volunteer, but it was too late. So, I took advantage any time I went, I could go into town. I went to Memphis a lot of times, just to see it. It was some place I had never been before. (00:20:02) Interviewer: Okay. I mean, did you go listen to music or…? �Veteran: Sometimes I’d go to the bar, just like anybody else, sometimes I’d go to listen to—I’d go to different bars because you’d get a different, you’d get the Memphis beat, you’d get country, you go to this bar and it’s rock and roll, this one over here was more the acid rock, there was a little bit of everything you could find down there. Interviewer: Okay, so you took advantage of that. Now, did you ever have your own car down there or did you just…? Veteran: No, I did not. Interviewer: You just used whatever transport was available. Veteran: Yep. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, now you—anything else about that experience in Millington that kind of stands out for you? Veteran: Not that I can think of, just it was an experience. You are getting an education and meet a lot of different people. We’ve—we met, like the story with the guy in bootcamp, we had some incidents down there of things like that. And I am thinking at that point, it’s like you’re already through bootcamp, how can this be any worse? But I didn’t understand it, but I think part of that was family background with military, I didn’t think it was that bad. Interviewer: Alright. So now what’s your first duty station? Veteran: My first, well what happened was— Interviewer: What did you do next? Veteran: Once we grad—completed schools, and of course everybody, like the class I was in, the class that the guys for hydraulics was in, we didn’t necessarily finish at the same time, so some �of the guys I had went to bootcamp with and some of the guys I was there in Memphis with, either had already left or were still there when I left. So, I left in May. I was actually on leave, went home, attended an uncle’s funeral, and then reported to Cherry Point Marine Corps Airbase, North Carolina for school, class assignments for what I was going to end up with. When I was there, the actual orders they had for me were for jets, but the orders were already overdue, so I couldn’t take them. So, I got to spend about 4 days there until new sets of orders came in. They called me in, and I was one of the rare ones that lucked out, they says “Well, we’ve got a set of orders you can have for the EA6 or a set of orders for the CH-46.” Well, I knew what an EA-6 was, but I had never heard of a 46. And they said it was a helicopter. That sounded more interesting so I took those. (00:22:26) Interviewer: You know the 46, that’s a helicopter they have used in Vietnam pretty much the whole way through. Veteran: Quite extensively. Interviewer: Yeah. Veteran: And so, then the orders were cut and I left Cherry Point to report to Marine Corps Air Station New River, helicopter, which is down by Camp Lejeune. Interviewer: Okay, so you’re in North Carolina. Okay, so now kind of describe what you do there? Veteran: When I, I reported into what they call TME-22, that’s training group. Once you’re there, then they assign you to different squadrons. And most of the time, you’d be assigned to the training squadron, it’s called HMT-204, and there you would train on the aircraft. Now when I first went in, basically if you were an avionics man or an aviation electrician, in the helicopter �community, you were basically—it was basically open. You could train on the 46, but according to the regulations, you could work on the 46, the 53, the Huey, the Cobra, the OV-10, the C-130, the C-117 aircraft. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: The helicopters and the three fixed-wing were prop, not jets. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: It was more of an open, because even though the 46 was so extensively used in Vietnam, helicopters were still kind of common, common ground. So, I joined that squadron for training. Upon complete—now that was in May of ’74, I completed that training in September. And I was reassigned back to that squadron, permanent personnel, so now I’ve done it. I’ve made it through all my schools, I am now in the fleet. (00:24:07) Interviewer: Alright. But you were assigned to a training squadron? Or is this…? Veteran: Yes. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Because even though it’s, primarily, training is for the crew chiefs, the pilots, that type of thing. Because when you first go to that training school, you don’t necessarily end up there. You could have ended up in—I could have ended up in one of the 53 outfits, because you have two groups there. You have Marine Aircraft Group 26 and you have Marine Aircraft Group 29, and they both have, basically they’re mirrors of each other, so if one group had to go off, you still had something there. �Interviewer: Mhmm. And in the mean-time though, you have the pilots and the air crew there, there is still training all the time. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: And you are maintaining the aircraft. Veteran: Correct. Interviewer: Okay. And so how long did you stay there? Veteran: I was actually…The one thing you kind of get used to, once you get in the fleet, sooner or later, you’re going to end up either on guard duty or mess duty, and that’s a 30-day detail. So, in Octo—I only joined the unit permanent in September. Of course, October, I went on guard duty. Third week I was on guard duty, I got called from the barracks to report to S-1. They handed me a set of orders for Kaneohe Marine Air Station, Hawaii. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, I took the month of November off. Took—they gave me 30 days leave, and then fly over there. So, went home, spent it with the family, and a little side not, I ran into somebody I had met in high school. We kind of went downtown together to kind of do the Christmas thing, like through J.L. Hudson’s, I don’t know if you’re familiar with them? Interviewer: Hudson’s was still there when I first moved to Michigan, yep. Veteran: Yeah, well they had that big store downtown where everything was on different floors, and all decorated for the holidays, especially now that they’re getting ready for the Christmas parade and all that. And the young lady I was with, we sat down for lunch and she was talking about—we had met in high school—and she was talking about how she had been on vacation in �Maine, visiting her aunt and uncle, and she—we hadn’t seen each other since high school, we get to talking together. And she thought, asked me if I knew any good place to go for vacation. So, I told her, “Why don’t you go to Hawaii.” And she asked me why and I told her this exactly, I said “Well, I’ll be there, that seems like a good reason.” She later became my wife, my better half. (00:26:34) Interviewer: Alright. Okay, so when you do go out to Hawaii, now are you basically a helicopter mechanic or…? Veteran: Yeah, helicopter aviation electronics. And when I got there, I was, because the squadron had a shortage of personnel because they just had a big turn over, I ended up in a 53 squadron, HMH-463. Interviewer: Okay, just—what’s the difference between the 46 and the 53? Veteran: 46 is a medium range, medium weight helicopter, it has the tandem rotors. CH-53 is a heavy-duty helicopter, it has 6, the alphas and deltas which I started on, had 6 main rotor blades, 4 tail blades, and it could carry an external load of about 20,000 pounds, and it could carry 33 combat troops inside. It was a lot bigger. A lot more powerful. Interviewer: Okay. Alright. But you were familiar with those from your training already? Veteran: Well, the electronics were a lot similar. Especially the electronic side with the radios, navigational, and all that. Electrical, you had to learn a little more, because the wiring systems and stuff was a little bit different. And they actually sent me back to school for that. So, I got to the squadron in December, 1974. Got there about the middle of the month. Had my first green Christmas there, which was really weird. Growing up in Michigan, Christmases were always �white. Here you are in Hawaii and it’s like 65 degrees out, you know, on the windward side of the island. (00:28:12) Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and then kind of—so you said they sent you to school, did you do your schooling there? Veteran: No, they sent me to—back then it was called Santa Ana Marine Corps Base in California. But, and then it was called Tustin, but now it’s closed down. But yeah, I went there for the school. They actually had schools at Tustin and El Toro. And I went through the school, and basically, it was electrician’s school. Because I already had the common av part down, but if I am going to be working, you got to be able to repair the wiring too. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, I had just finished school and got recalled back to the squadron. Interviewer: Okay, and so when was that? Veteran: That would have been in March, the first week of March in 1975. Interviewer: Okay. Things are starting to get pretty interesting in Southeast Asia by then. Veteran: Yes. That’s why I got recalled. In fact, guys that were on leave were all showing up back. And I reported back to my shop, and the first thing the NC of the shop did was say “don’t unpack.” Interviewer: So, now what happens to you? Veteran: At the end of the month, they put us on board the USS Hancock, which was on her way from San Diego, and we headed towards the Philippines. The only problem is, I had to call home and have my folks tell my girlfriend that, not to come out. I might not be here. And my mom �asked me where I was going. I said “Well, we got orders to the Philippines.” She, the first thing she asked me was, “Is that near Vietnam?” I said, “Nope.” I didn’t know how close it was really but I wasn’t going to say anything to her. We had hunches, but nobody knew for sure. So, they put us aboard the USS Hancock, an old World War 2 aircraft carrier. We left from Hawaii, we sailed to the Philippines. When we got to the Philippines, of course we got liberty for a couple days while the Navy offloaded. They offloaded all the jets. We had 16 CH-53s, and they added some 46s, some Hueys, some Cobras, from Okinawa, just for support. And from there, once we set sail, nobody knew nothing until all of a sudden, we got orders to Cambodia for Operation Eagle Pull. (00:30:36) Interviewer: Okay, and what was that? Veteran: The evacuation of Cambodia. Interviewer: Okay, and who was being evacuated? Veteran: Americans, Canadians, Australians, any Cambodians that were working with those forces. Interviewer: Okay. Now, so basically, how did that process work? What happened? Veteran: We basically—the helicopters launched, we flew in, had specific landing places, landed, picked up these people, and brought them out. And then the last ones of course, once we were down to the finals, the last would have been the embassy staff and the Marine embassy guards. Interviewer: Okay. Now, did you fly or did you stay on the ship? Veteran: I stayed on the ship. We had to keep them running. �Interviewer: Alright, now in that operation, did any of the helicopters get shot at or have any damage? Veteran: No. Actually, what was surprising was how concise that operation went. It was very smooth by military standards. We went in, we got the job done, and we pretty much left. Interviewer: How long did that take? Veteran: Just the one day. Interviewer: Okay. And did you, kind of, see the people getting off or…? Veteran: Not too much, because most of them were flown to, like, the command ship, the Blue Ridge, and other ships. None were brought to the carriers. That we were on, anyway. Interviewer: Okay. So, the helicopters could go and they could drop people off on other ships and then come back to your ship for servicing basically. Veteran: Oh yeah. Yes. (00:32:09) Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so that was sort of the first adventure. And that’s, was that still in March or are we in April? Veteran: We are in April. Interviewer: Okay, alright. Veteran: April 12th. Interviewer: And in April, now the North Vietnamese have begun their final offensive in the South Vietnam. So, after April 12th, now what do you do? �Veteran: Well, the ship got orders for liberty. We pulled into Singapore. Supposedly, according to the ship’s captain, we pulled in, it was supposed to be 10 days of liberty. Two and a half days later, things kind of went south in Vietnam. So they ordered the fleet up, so we had to—they had to recall people from liberty and get the—in fact, they actually had to—those that got left behind, Navy, Marines, and that, because they couldn’t wait, they had to get going by orders of the fleet admiral. What they did was they flew aircraft in to recover them and then they flew back out to the ships. Because it was kind of unexpected. Interviewer: Okay. So, it got—continue the story now. So, the ship heads back up to Vietnam? Veteran: Now we’re heading up towards the coast. It’s one of those situations, the rumors are flying like crazy. I mean, you’re hearing all kinds of stories, and most of us are just kind of like…Well, our gunny was pretty good about it, the NCIC of the shop, he basically says “Hey, you’re going to hear rumors galore. Just do your job and once we get official word, then we will make sure it gets passed to everybody.” And most of the guys just took it that way. Interviewer: Well, what kind of rumors were floating around? Veteran: Oh, there were…It’s hard to remember pretty much, but basically like “Oh, South Vietnam’s been attacked.” Or “Oh, we are having to arm the birds because this is no longer an evacuation. We are going back in.” Or, you know, there was all kinds of things. (00:34:13) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then there was some people saying “Oh, we are not even going there, we are going somewhere else.” Or something like that. I am kind of like “I’ll just wait until he tells me.” Because like I said, it wasn’t just Marines, the Navy had all kinds of stories. “Oh, we are going �back to the Philippines. You guys are going back to the Philippines and we are taking our jets back because we have to go.” Okay. I don’t remember all of the specifics anymore, because that was quite a while ago. Interviewer: Sure. Okay, and then how quickly does stuff start happening? Are you sending helicopters in right away or do you get a while? Veteran: No. No, the ambassador kept talking with the president. Kept saying “not yet” because things were starting to get—because he didn’t, he really didn’t want to end it. He wanted to continue to support the South Vietnamese people. I’ll give him that one. Finally, on the 30th of April, and we’ve been off the coast, President Ford made the command decision: launch the Marine helicopters. He did not have to have permission because, anybody who knows history knows the military was divided. The President of the United States controls the Marine Corps, Congress controls the Army and Navy, now plus the Air Force. And that was something started by our founding fathers, because they saw where someone had total control of the military, sooner or late it’s a dictatorship. And they didn’t want that. So, he can send in the Marines immediately before convening with Congress, so at least get the ball rolling. So, we got our orders at like 3 in the morning to get the aircraft ready for launch. And as soon as the sun come up, we started launching. By then, he had met with Congress, and now the Navy is also launching, and then you got the huge Air Force transports. We couldn’t use them for very long, though. Because shortly after we launched our first wave, we actually did come under some fire, because the North Vietnamese army was already at the international airport. That’s why in the movies and in the videos, you always see them landing in parking lots, on top of hotels, on top of the embassy, because we couldn’t use the airport. We had to do what we could as fast as we could. (00:36:36) �Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, we always thanked the President for not dilly dallying. Interviewer: Yep, okay. So, now I was going to say, is your duty essentially the same as it was for Cambodia? You’re on the ship? Veteran: I am actually on the flight deck. Me and one other avionics man. We have what they call a cruise box full of parts and equipment. And as the planes come in, they would announce “Avionics needed on spot 7.” We’d grab our tools, get over there, get it fixed, so it could launch. There’d be hydraulics men, metalsmiths, everything. Interviewer: Okay. And so now, did some of these helicopters come back with battle damage? Or were they… Veteran: There were a few that did have some bullet holes and that. Not very many but there was the occasional, I would say pot shots from the South—North Vietnamese army. Interviewer: Okay. Now, did they follow the same procedure as Cambodia? They would offload elsewhere, did they bring them back out? Veteran: No, they offloaded wherever they could because things really started happening so fast. In fact, we actually had Vietnamese pilots landing on our ship. They had never landed at sea before, so it got interesting. You know, they’re coming in in old 47s, and old Hueys that were left behind for them when we pulled out in ’73. And the only problem was, we had no room for them. So, after they would land, we would help them offload, and then we were pushing the planes out, those aircraft, out to the water to make room for ours. (00:38:07) �Interviewer: Alright. And what impression did you have of the people being evacuated? Did you see them at all? Veteran: I saw a lot of them, and a lot of them, as soon as they’d see you—because of course they were thanking all of the people for getting them out, because unlike Cambodia where the average, of course we didn’t know that at the time, but the average person wasn’t as effected as they were in Vietnam. So, a lot of these people, if they even associated with foreigners, they were possibly going to be executed. So, they were happy. They were glad. They were sad because they were leaving, because that’s their homes. But they were also looking at the other side, they were looking at both sides of the coin, basically. They didn’t want to leave home, but they knew if they stayed…who knows what might have happened to them. Interviewer: Okay. And was this basically a one-day operation? Veteran: It was basically about a 24-hour operation, but it was kind of hectic because we are flying in and, in fact, the captain of our ship—I overheard this conversation—he was being asked, they would keep seeing helicopters load. They would, when they would land, they would reload, restock. Well, they were also restocking with ammo because we all, we carried it. We didn’t know. But of course, we were under orders not to fire. And there were some news media on board some of the ships, and they actually questioned the captain of the ship and he told them, he says “Hey, those helicopters are designed to carry 33 combat troops. We are averaging about 100 Vietnamese people. We are having to throw stuff over the side to make room for these people. We are going to get as many people out as we can.” And then basically, that’s what was going on. On some of those aircraft, we did. We had over 100 Vietnamese men, women, and children on board. Because we were going to do our best to get as many that wanted out of there as they could have happen. (00:40:19) �Interviewer: Okay. And then once that 24-hours sort of concludes, what happens next? Veteran: Okay, now it’s in the middle of the night, we are starting to wrap things up. Come daylight, we are going to be heading out. That’s the orders. Though, we were having to wait because we still had one of the 46s in the air that was flying search and rescue missions, SAR, and they got a radio call from the embassy: the Marines were still there. So, we had to launch, do a hurry up launch to go get them. They kind of got, they were still doing the normal stuff of destroying documents and all that, and they kind of got missed. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: But we did get in, we did get them, and bring them back out. Interviewer: So, there is one last bunch there longer than they were supposed to be. But then, the North Vietnamese didn’t come in and…? Veteran: They were actually at the doors to the embassy when we landed. I don’t think they knew anybody was in there. And if they did, they hadn’t actually come in yet. But of course they were going to go through and tear it up and…that was their whole plan. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: I don’t know if they knew the Marines were still there or not but we didn’t wait, we got them out. Interviewer: Okay. Where do you go then from there? Veteran: From there, our ship first had orders, the captain of the ship first got orders ‘cause of Mayaguez (reference to the seizure of the cargo ship Mayaguez by the Khmer Rouge off the Cambodian coastline). The captain had to contact the fleet admiral. He says, “Ah, what do I do �with the almost 3000 Vietnamese refugees I’ve got on board?” So, they had to reassign that mission. So, we headed for the Philippines. Once in the Philippines, we offloaded all of the refugees. (00:42:08) Interviewer: Okay. And now, does—you stay with the fleet? Or do you go back to Hawaii? Veteran: Now, what they are going to do instead is they are going to send us back to Hawaii. So, they offloaded our aircraft off of the Hancock, and they put us onboard the USS Enterprise to go home, because she was on her way back to San Diego. The Hancock would be staying out there as part of the Pacific deployment. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, we get to ride the Enterprise back home. Interviewer: Okay, and what vintage was this version of the Enterprise? Veteran: This was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier. She was made in 1959, but she was still the queen of the fleet, believe me. Interviewer: Now, does that mean you have better quality accommodations or anything else? Veteran: Oh yes. A lot better. And it’s nothing against the Hancock, she was just older. She was—she served in World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam. CVA-19, and you figure we are up to like 79 now, so she was kind of old. Interviewer: Okay. And then you go back to Hawaii and you go back to your base and back to your regular squadron? �Veteran: Yes. Yes, in fact we did a fly off from the Enterprise because she wasn’t stopping in Hawaii, she wasn’t going to be stopping at Pearl, she was going straight home. They had been out at sea for almost a year. And these guys wanted to get home. So, we did a fly off. And when we landed, the base has this grade school. So, as we landed, and they put us in formation, the students from the grade school were there and they come out and each one put a lei around, the traditional Hawaiian greeting, each one of us that came back. So, that was kind of nice. And then, they had customs set up right there in the hanger, and then it was liberty. Interviewer: Okay. And then how long did you wind up staying in Hawaii? (00:44:05) Veteran: I was there from December of ’74 through December of ’77. Interviewer: Okay. Now, did your girlfriend ever get to come out and visit? Veteran: Yes, she finally come out in June of ’75. And at 10:30 in the morning, on the 27th of June, on top of Nuuanu Pali Lookout, I asked her to marry me. Interviewer: I guess that worked. Veteran: Well, she’s put up with me for 43, almost 43 years now. Interviewer: Okay. Now, then, did she stay out there with you or…? Veteran: No, she didn’t stay out, she went back home because of course to break the news to the families and get things ready. And I actually took leave in September of ’75, went back, and we got married there so the families. Interviewer: Okay. And then you just had a little bit more time left in Hawaii. Did she come back out at that point? �Veteran: Yes, she come back out. And then once I was promoted to Corporal, I was able to apply for a company tour, have my family with me. And that added the year. I would have left the island in ’76, but that added one more year because I had my family with me. So, I got—I stayed an extra year. Interviewer: Okay. Now, do you stay with the same unit or…? Veteran: Pretty much. Now, I did have to—I did go on a temporary duty to Okinawa for—from July of ’77 to November of ’77. There was a bunch of us. They were short of personnel. And one of the squadrons was being retired, so they kind of just pulled people. There was some of us that came from Hawaii, some of us came from Tustin Marine Corps Airbase there. Go over and help get those aircraft ready to retire. And during that time, we also had joined war games with a Philippines defense force that were down in the Philippines doing…Playing war games. (00:46:00) Interviewer: Okay. And what kind of impression did you have of Okinawa? Veteran: I actually liked it there. The first time I was there, it was, of course aside from the Philippines, I had never been anywhere but Canada my entire life. Growing up in Detroit, Canada was like a suburb. Because it was actually easier to get to Canada than it was to get to some of the suburbs. To me, I tried to, just like in Hawaii, I’d go traveling around the island. Go visiting. Okinawa, same thing. We were at Futenma, down at the southern part of the island. The whole island is like only 66 miles long. And you didn’t need to have a car or nothing. So, we’d— I’d walk all over the place, just to see it. Interviewer: And how did people there seem to view you, or treat the Americans? �Veteran: Most—when you got away from the actual base, because you always got, I don’t care what military base you go to where or what country’s military it is, around the base, it can be hit or miss. But you get out in the public, it’s a little different. It’s just like anywhere else. And I was surprised at how many could speak English better than a lot of Americans can. But I learned that Japanese, that’s required. Not only their own language—well, Okinawa is actually, was an independent nation at one time. But they do the same thing. They teach their people English because it is a more general language. So, a lot of them could speak it better than a lot of people I know today. And they were nice. And then later on, because I visited Okinawa 3 more times in my career, so I was there 4 times total. I later on learned, I had said earlier my father had passed away when I was young, I didn’t—I knew he was a Marine, but I didn’t know what he did. Well, I found out he fought on Guadalcanal at Okinawa. (00:48:04) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, that even made Okinawa a little—and I took the battlefield tour when I was there, one of the times. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, is there still stuff left in terms of defensive works or things like that? Veteran: Oh, yes. There—a lot of the underground compounds are still there. What they do is they’re caged off so you can see them, and you can still see the bullet holes in the walls, and then they would have maps in back, some of the original Japanese military maps and stuff that you could view. They had other areas, and then at the final part, it’s called the Peace Park where they cover some of the things that went on, how the Okinawans were treated by the Japanese, how they were treated afterwards and stuff like that. �Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and so you’re doing—you also were involved in joint exercises with the Filipinos. Did you work with any of them directly? Or were you just— Veteran: We did a little bit. There was always a Philippine military. Most of the time not on the bases, but they were nearby. I met a few of them. Not a lot because we were taking care of the helicopters, we didn’t see as many. They would be out in the field more. But we would deal with a few of them now and then. Interviewer: Okay. Now, the different units you served with, did you ever train Filipino personnel or have them in some of the training units or…? Veteran: No. No. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so have you basically decided at this point that you are going to stay in the Marines or…? Veteran: At that point, I did not. Because I was over in Okinawa, I was actually thinking about getting out. But I got back in November and of course in December, I am going to be transferring. And I still had 2 years left on my contract, because I had enlisted for 6. And we were talking about it, because it has been 4 years, and I talked with the wife. And at that point back home, Detroit, of course with the oil embargo, there was a lot of layoffs. Even my dad called and says even where he was working, and he worked for Guardian Glass, he said there’s not a lot of work back here. So, I talked with her. Our son was born in ’76 there in Hawaii. At that point, I decided to re-enlist, and I re-enlisted before I left, for another 4 years. And after that, yeah. It was pretty much obvious what was going to happen. (00:50:43) Interviewer: Alright. So, after Hawaii, now what is your next assignment? �Veteran: Actually, I got orders back to Marine Corps Air Station New River, back to HMT-204. Right back to where I started, which I thought was kind of funny. Now, I did spend quite a bit of time in North Carolina, but I was with different units. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I was with 204 for a short period of time, then I joined HMM-261 which is Medium Marine Helicopter squadron. And what happens is those squadrons are a part of the float system for the deployments. It’s a squadron, they will have 12 46s, and then we supply 453s and they supply Cobras and Hueys. And then you spend 6 months out at sea, on a float, med float. Now, the one thing that happened while I was in Hawaii, to regress a little bit, the Marine Corps went to specific MOS’s, so whatever squadron you were in at the time, that’s your MOS now. So, my MOS became 6323, which was com-nav technician on the 53s. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, that’s what I am going to be working on the rest of my career. Interviewer: Alright, so you no longer get to be the jack of all trades and work on all those different airplanes. Veteran: Right. They’re advance—the electronics are advancing to the point where it would actually cost the military, not just the Marine Corps, but the Navy and—the electronics are advancing so much that, what would happen is it would cost more to keep retraining then to just put them in a specific aircraft. (00:52:14) Interviewer: Okay. So, now you’ve got that. Did you go on these cruises then? �Veteran: I went on a med cruise. We left in September of 1979 and came back in February of 1980. Interviewer: Okay. What was that cruise like? Veteran: Basically, you cruised the Mediterranean with the Atlantic fleet. They have a carrier, attack group, and what they call a helicopter assault group. You spend 6 months, you do like, when we first got out there, we did a joint operation with the Greek and Turkish Armies, called Display Determination. Of course, the Cold War is going on back then. The Russian southern fleet is down there so you’re kind of showing the Russians that hey, we are still here, we are still keeping an eye on you, type thing. And then you spend the rest of the 6 months floating around the Mediterranean. Like, we pulled liberty in Greece. When you go into Naples, one time it was a liberty port, another time it’s a working port. We’d spend a couple weeks there. But that allows you to get the aircraft worked on. We did some war games in Sigonella, out—we spent some time out in the field in Sardinia. We also saw Spain. Got to spend Christmas in Palma de Mallorca, which is basically Spain’s version of Hawaii. Interviewer: Yeah. Okay. And when you go ashore, what kind of treatment or reception do you find in these places? Veteran: Pretty good. One night in Palma, after I had shore patrol one day, and then we were out one evening. We were sitting there drinking and some gentleman joined us, and we are drinking and it turned out they were from the Russian army that was on liberty there. And I made the mistake of trying to do my turn to buy. No, no, no. Basically grabbed my arm and says “No, no, no. We buy for Marines.” Most of the people, in every country I have been, if you get out and �treat them like you would normal people, don’t play the tourist or the typical party hardy military, they’re fine. (00:54:43) Interviewer: Okay. You did shore patrol. What does that duty consist of? Veteran: Basically, you’re on duty, usually it’s for one 24-hour period. And you’re basically kind of patrolling out there. A: You’re trying to keep the guys from getting in trouble. B: You’re just kind of watching them also. I mean, you’ve got both sides of the coin. You’ve got people that will try to take advantage of the military. You’ve got the military that’ll try to take advantage of a situation. And you just want to try and keep it calm. You’re not trying to get anybody in trouble, you’re just…Like, a lot of the bars and night clubs throughout, they’ll invite you in and buy you something to eat. Because when you are in there, everybody behaves, not just the military. And then when you go on to the next one, they’ll do the same thing. It’s not as bad as ‘course the movies always play it up a little more. Yes, we do have incidents but that’s what we are there for, to try and keep it calm. Interviewer: Right. Okay, a little broader question at this point. So, you—you’ve been in now for a fair number of years, you’ve come in in the mid ‘70s and you know, through the late ‘70s. Were there problems that you ever noticed with the things like drug use or alcoholism, or that kind of thing? (00:56:11) Veteran: I don’t know if it was and I didn’t pay so close attention. I mean, yeah we all partied hard but it seemed like we worked just as hard. There could have been but I’ll be honest, I didn’t pay as much attention. Or maybe instead of making a public issue out of it, they just handled it. I’m sure it was there. Interviewer: But it wasn’t something that ever kind of caught your attention. �Veteran: No, it was—no. Interviewer: Yeah. You know. And how would you characterize morale in the units you were with? Veteran: For the most part, the morale was pretty good. We did have one incident on our med cruise where a guy had a rough time, because as well as we were being treated by the locals, Americans was another story back then. And this gentleman, he was from a small town in New England. And he ran into people he had gone to school with their kids. And they treated him like dirt. He was an American Marine. He was treated better—we were treated better by the Russians there in Palma than he was treated by people from his hometown. And it was hard on him for a while, because he was younger than I was. I was 20 when I went in the service. And it hit him hard. But for the most part, we’d do our job. We’d go out on liberty. Come back, do our job. Interviewer: Alright. And how much contact do you have with home while you are out with the cruise? Veteran: Back then of course, you didn’t have the internet like you do, so it was mail. Now, my wife come up with a smart idea. Because the mail system, once you get out with that fleet, turtles go faster. So, she started numbering the letters, and then I started numbering them back. That way when letter 4 got there before letter 2…You’d here guys open a letter, “What do you mean you solved this problem? What problem?” Well here, she would put it in sequence so you could—so I would just put letter 4 away until letter 2 showed up. Or if I read letter 4, I’d say well, I’ll wait and find out what went on when letter 2 gets there. So, she was pretty good about that. And then every once in a while, when it was available, they would set up the radio on the ship where you could, they could call to a ham operator in the states, and then all you’d have to �pay for is the call from that ham operator’s house to your house. And you could talk on the radio. Of course, it was limited. And you had to do the over and out and all that. But that was kind of a joy thing to do every once in a while. (00:58:45) Interviewer: Okay. Alright, now did you have just the one med cruise or…? Veteran: One med cruise. Interviewer: And did you have cruises in the Caribbean or the Atlantic otherwise? Veteran: Well, the Caribbean was the evacuation of Cuba, 1980. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: We had got back in February. And next thing you know, we hadn’t, the squadron hadn’t broken up yet, it was still composite. They put us on board the USS Saipan with new LHAs and sent us down for the evacuation of Cuba. So, I guess you could call that a Caribbean cruise. Interviewer: Okay, now why was there an evacuation of Cuba? Veteran: Basically, a lot of the Cubans had finally pretty much had it. And they were leaving. And problems were that’s hurricane season. And these people were just leaving on rowboats, on rafts, on—and then of course, you had, and I am not going to say it’s any particular nationality, but you had the bloodsuckers. They were taking their yachts down and charging thousands of dollars to get people out. And we helped the Coast Guard with that too a little bit, confiscating— basically, it’s called piracy. (1:00:00) Interviewer: So, what’s—so, you’re calling it a evacuation, but it’s not like Cambodia or Vietnam where you are flying into the country to pick up people? Veteran: No. �Interviewer: Because the only American presence really in Cuba at that point is at Guantanamo, and we didn’t evacuate Guantanamo. But the Cubans—this is the era of the boat, Cuban boat people, large numbers of them all leaving and taking to the sea, and so you’re picking people up out of the water? Veteran: Yes. And in some cases, the boat was swamped, they’re all floating in the water. These are shark infested waters. We are getting them out as fast as we can. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: It was an interesting time. Interviewer: Would you bring them onto the ship or…? Veteran: We would bring them onto the ship, and then because it wasn’t that far, we would fly them over to the aircraft carriers because they had planes, they could actually take them into Miami and into the airport. So, they didn’t stay with us. That allowed us to continue down there a lot longer than we probably would have been able to. Interviewer: So, how long did you stay doing that? Veteran: We were only down there about a month. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, okay. And then did you go to sea for other things or just otherwise stay on the base? Veteran: Well, I pretty much stayed on the base after that. Now we are getting—that’s 1980. So, ’81, ’82 I am pretty much on the base. Well, I am working on the base. We actually lived downtown. I joined the volunteer fire department in my area. The one thing about North Carolina, there’s a lot of volunteer fire departments. Just in the county where we lived, Onslow �county, you had 23 fire departments and only 2 of them were paid. That was the base and the city of Jacksonville. The rest was all volunteers. And you’d meet all kinds of people. There were military that—one of the guys on one of our sister fire departments was the weather reporter for channel 12 news. I mean, everybody helped out. You took care of each other. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And I pretty much stayed there. Now, I left 261 in ’80. But instead of going back to 20—HM-204, I got reassigned to HMH-362. (1:02:11) Interviewer: Alright. And that, was that again a Medium Helicopter— Veteran: No, this was actually a full, heavy helicopter squadron. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And then, towards the end of the year, they came out with a program. The Marine Corps was getting the new CH-53 Echoes and they were looking for people to go for schooling on it. And I submitted my name. And when I went for the interview with the maintenance chief, he told me, “You probably won’t get this because you’ve only got one med cruise.” He said “they’re, you know…” But what happened was, it just so happened I was the only com-nav tech that applied. The rest were electricians. So, I got the school. So, I got to go to the Sikorsky factory in Connecticut for schooling on this new helicopter the Marine Corps was getting. Interviewer: Okay. And what really made this one any different from the earlier ones? Veteran: The A’s and B’s—the A’s and delta’s the Marine Corps had, you had 6 main rotor blades. And if you went from tip to tip, you’re talking about 76 feet. It could carry about 33 combat troops, and then if—in combat, a lot of times you had a crew of 5: you had the pilot, �copilot, you had the crew chief who was also the door gunner, you had the first mech who was also the window gunner on the other side. But one thing we learned from the guys in Vietnam is a lot of times when the helicopters would land, and the ramps would open to let the Marines out, the enemy would fire in. So, they put tripod mounts to put M-60s so when the ramp lowered, we could shoot out and hopefully nobody shot back. We didn’t want to know, we just something they—so you could have that extra person. Well, with the new helicopter, the Echo, the first thing it was it had inflate refueling capabilities. And instead of 6 main rotor blades, it had 7. And tip to tip, it was about 79 feet. Interviewer: Okay. (1:04:04) Veteran: Instead of 2 engines, it had 3. It could carry 55 combat troops, or it could basically lift its own weight: 30,000 pounds. External load. So, you’re getting this heavier duty. And the basic reason that the Navy and Marine Corps wanted it is that it could lift everything in the Navy, Marine Corps inventory. Ground or air. So, if a jet went down, we could got get it and get it back. Not have to leave it behind. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so how long did you spend in Connecticut? Veteran: Well, there was 2 separate classes. The first time was about 2 ½ to 3 months. Then we reported back to our squadrons. And then we went back up to help finish up because once—the second time we were up, we were only there a couple of months. But that was to get things wrapped up because those planes were going to start joining the fleet. And form the first squadron, which was HMH-464. Interviewer: Okay, and did you join that squadron? Veteran: Yes. We—and then we got the first of the air frames. �Interviewer: Alright. Okay, now where was that squadron going to be based? Veteran: It was based at MAG-29 Marine Corps Air Station in New River. Interviewer: Okay, so you’re still basically at home. Veteran: Yep, just now I am on the other side of the base. From one side of the base to the other, basically. Interviewer: Now, did that squadron go on a cruise or just stay where they were while you were there? Veteran: Pretty much it wouldn’t go anywhere. It didn’t have a full complement of aircraft. And part of it was a bunch of us ended up on what’s called the FOTNE—Fleet Operational Test and Evaluation. We were sent on what they called temporary additional duty orders to Quantico, Virginia, home of Marine helicopter squadron 1. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: On the green side. The white side would be the President’s side. What we were going to do is run this new helicopter through its paces. So, we did some flight training there in the Quantico area. And one of the things we had to do was take it up to Pax River to the Navy test center, fly it there so they could run some tests on it, including this guy who zaps lightning into the planes. It’s an actual electronic machine that was created and they would actually—they wouldn’t actually put the aircraft in the air, but they would do all the simulations, right there. They would put it up on jacks and raise the landing gear so it would simulate that the plane was flying, hit this electricity with it. Because that’s something that aircraft have to deal with in flying is lightning strikes. (1:06:35) �Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And then they would study the effect it had on the rotor blades, on the electronic equipment, on the fuel system, so they could come up with ways to protect it. And then from there, we flew it out to the west coast, did some mountain training with it. And then one of the things they did from—they flew it from Tustin, California to New River, North Carolina nonstop. First ever helicopter, nonstop, cross country flight. But this was all testing these systems out. Interviewer: Right, and of course this is one you can refuel in the air so that would be a good idea to test. Veteran: Correct, it just kept right on going. Interviewer: Okay, now how common was it for you to fly in these helicopters? Veteran: Once I had gotten trained enough, I ended up on avionics test stints. When planes would get fixed, sometimes they would require a test flight. So, then you would have an avionics man, a hydraulics man, a metalsmith would all fly on it just to watch those systems that were fixed to make sure everything is working. So, I got to fly quite a lot. And any chance I could, I’d fly on them. Interviewer: Alright. Okay, so now how long then do you stay with that new unit? Veteran: I stayed with 464 for a short period of time, then I was transferred to the HAMS-26. That was the—basically the command next step up from a squadron. You’re going into a—and what I would do is I was sent there as part of the group quality assurance, where we kind of overseen all the maintenance on all of the squadrons. Plus, we would get tech crews in. Like, �they were designing some new systems for the aircraft, and it was our—it was civilian crews, and it was our job to oversee what they were doing, make sure they didn’t mess anything up or if they had problems that we needed—we were kind of the go-betweens. And then we would look over the aircraft, make sure everything was ready to go before it got returned to the unit. (1:08:33) Interviewer: Okay. Now, have you been moving up in rank at all during these times or…? Veteran: Little by little. I am now a sergeant. In fact, while I was with HAMs, I got orders back to Hawaii. Now of course while we were in North Carolina, our daughter was born there at Camp Lejeune. So, I got orders back to Hawaii and back to 463. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And the one thing I liked about it, aside from the military thing, because I liked Hawaii. Even when you’re broke, you can always go to the beach and go swimming. I mean, there is always something to do. But my son was now old enough to see where he was born. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: That was kind of nice. And then the one thing we always did when we got orders like that, especially when the kids were gone, I didn’t take the rush out there. I took the maximum time they would allow. And we would tour the country. Kids would see things that they would talk about in school later on, you know. Or visit relatives and stuff like that. So, we wouldn’t rush it, we would make a vacation out of it but we’d—they’d learn too. You know, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, all of these places that they probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Interviewer: Sure. Okay, so when do you get to Hawaii this time? �Veteran: Let’s see, it was ’83. I am thinking right around September or October of ’83. Interviewer: Okay. And how long will that tour last? (1:10:00) Veteran: 3 years, because I had my family with me. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: It would be two years if you’re unaccompanied. I know that they have changed it since then. I don’t know what it is now. Interviewer: Okay. And now was this a fairly quiet period or…? Veteran: For the most part, yes. In fact, at that point, I had only spent a little bit of time in my MOS in avionics when I got reassigned to maintenance control. Maintenance control, just like QA and stuff like that, they would take different people from different shops. And what you would do in maintenance control, that’s just what it sounds like, you’re controlling the maintenance of the aircraft. You’re getting the information from the operations department “we need the helicopters configured for this for these operations.” Then you’re going with the shops to make sure they’re configured for whatever training. You’re making sure what they call downing discrepancies are taken care of and things like that. Keep the planes operational and safe. Interviewer: Okay. Do you go out with the fleet at all, or are you just entirely on the base? Veteran: Pretty much on the base. At one point, I was transferred to the medium helicopter squadron for a 6-month debt to Okinawa, which was common. And they would rotate people, and mine was in—my tour trip to Okinawa was in ’85.’Course, I stayed in maintenance control because once you are in, they kind of like to keep you. Well, part of it is that you have the �authority to sign a plane safe for flight. So, basically you are taking all of that information from all the work centers, the operations, and you’re saying that you have compiled it all, that you have compared it, you have talked with QA, the plane is safe to fly. You are signing that piece of paper, then that pilot and crew is going out there and flying it. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, you kind of—once you get in there, they kind of keep you there because they put some training into it. Interviewer: Alright. Okay, anything else that kind of stands out about that tour in Hawaii, that period? (1:12:01) Veteran: Well, when I went to Okinawa, I also—we also ended up aboard ship, down to the Philippines again. But that was just—and then, having to spend a couple days, just floating in the ocean, because we were caught between two hurricanes. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, we couldn’t go anywhere. Then going back to Okinawa. Also went up to Yokosuka air base. Interviewer: Japan. Veteran: Yes. Actually, we went to the Navy base. Spent some time there. But the bad luck was when we got there, the USS Midway pulled in and used up the Navy barracks so us with our 453s, we were forced to stay at a hotel in town. Interviewer: Gee, sorry about that. �Veteran: Yeah! That was kind of nice because you get to meet the people. Though, they did have a problem with the hotel design, and I always talk about this. Back then, they didn’t have the key cards, so you had to go get your key from the desk, and then to get to your elevators to get to your room, you had to go through the bar. Interviewer: Okay. A nice little trip. Veteran: Yeah. So, that was interesting. And then different—and then one of our officers found out we were going to be up there, so he managed to purchase a whole bunch of tickets to Tokyo Disneyland. So, a bunch of us went to Disneyland in Tokyo, which was very interesting. Interviewer: So, what did they have at Tokyo Disneyland? It just looked like a regular Disneyland? Veteran: Yeah. It wasn’t quite as big, because this was only its third year in existence, it had only been there 3 years. It was still growing. But it was kind of neat. It was—I had taken the kids to Disneyland when we transferred and a lot of it was the same. The only thing you kind of had to get used to was on the cars, the narrations were in Japanese, but all the characters, like in the haunted mansion, they’re speaking English. It could get a little confusing at times. But if you paid close attention, you could figure out what was going on. (1:14:22) Interviewer: Alright. Veteran: But other than that, it was enjoyable. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, and so when does that Hawaii tour end up? Veteran: That ended about September of ’86. Interviewer: ’86, okay. �Veteran: And then I got back orders back to New River. Now of course, here’s on the other side of the coin, now my daughter is old enough to see where she was born. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Of course, I don’t know if you are familiar with the term, but both of my kids are military brats. And in case anybody is curious, it means born, raised, and transferred in the service. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, we are back there. Now this time, I get there in ’80—towards the end of ’86, but it was only a 3-year tour this time. I joined 360—yeah, 362 I went back to. And we lived in a different part of town and I joined another volunteer fire unit. And then, in ’90, it was kind of uneventful. Went on a few little debts. No more—I did in ’88, once we got back there, I did go on a North Atlantic cruise. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Called Teamwork 88. Up around Norway and then for liberty, we got to go to Ireland for 4 days. So, that was nice. But that was only, that was a short thing, just a—basically, war games with the Norwegian, Swedish, Royal Marines, British Navy up in the North Atlantic. (1:16:02) Interviewer: Okay. Alright, now you get down toward 1990, now you’re getting to the point where Saddam Hussein decides that Kuwait should be the 21st province of Iraq and things get interesting again. �Veteran: Well, I was in North Carolina at the time, and I got orders to California this time. To Tustin Marine Corps Air Station helicopters. Now, this was in February of ’90 and the kids were in school so me and the wife talked about it and decided going to—now I am already to the point where I am on my last hitch, basically. But one thing we learned in the military, and it don’t matter what service, if you turned down orders, that’s an excuse for them to send you packing. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, I got orders. With the kids in school, we decided we are not going to pull the kids out of school because they would miss so much school, it would hurt them. So, her and the kids stayed in North Carolina and I headed out to California. Along the way, I kidnapped my wife’s grandmother. Well, I was traveling ahead and found out that my wife’s cousin lived in California and their grandmother was going to go out in a couple weeks to see them. Well, her cousin’s husband was going to leave on a Friday afternoon, drive all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, get a couple hours sleep and then drive back so he could be back to work on Monday and we are like, well, I am going anyway. So, we called them up to see if she could come out a couple weeks early and she rode with me. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: So, I get out to there and I check in the HMH-466, part of that squadron. Now, one of the first things that happened is just becoming part of it, and I actually ended up in maintenance control again. Like I said, once you are in, you’re pretty much stuck. They’re going to—it’s going to happen. You learn to accept it. And then after the kids were out of school, in July I went back and got the family. Took some leave, went back and got the family. Actually, that would have been June, because in July our unit got orders up to mount warfare training, so we took a �couple of helicopters up there to play in the mountains on the north side of Yosemite. So, now I am seeing some place else I had never seen before. (1:18:20) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And that’s one of the things I will be the first to admit, all the places I went, it was enjoyable. Except one, and we will get to that one later. The place was kind of enjoyable, but the whole reason we were there made it not so great. And then the other thing I recommend to people, when you are places, enjoy the local food, see. That’s like, regressing back a little bit to North Carolina, when—the first time I was there, we lived out in town. My next-door neighbor was a Jacksonville city police officer. And within a couple months, I knew more about the area than he did. I had been to the Battleship North Carolina, I had been to the Tryon Palace, which was the original government seat of the state of North Carolina. I got out and visited and did things, I didn’t just hang around the base or hang around the house. We would take the kids, we would go places. And I think that’s one of the big things. I think where a lot of guys get turned off of the military or women, both, I don’t want to pick on one or the other, they all they do is hang around the base and then after a while they get so frustrated, when there is so much to see out there. Interviewer: Alright. So, we are going to go back in here to your story. So, you go and do the mountain training, and then what happens next? Veteran: Well, while we are up in the mountain training, we got orders back to the base. Unit is pulling out. We are being deployed. This was a little different than going on a ship. We were taking 8 aircraft, and we were going to break them down. We are going to break them down so that they can be loaded into C5As. Once broken down, you can fit two and then you put crew on �top. We had our orders, we were going to Saudi Arabia. Now, my NCIC, considering I just got my family out there, put me on the last flight leaving. He said, “I will give you a little more time to spend with your family since you just got them.” So, I was on the last plane that left. We broke down our helicopter. It takes about 12-13 hours to get them completely broke down. You got to remove all the rotor blades, you got to remove one tail blade, an upward collision light, you got to fold the tail, you got to remove the gear box, you got to deflate the struts, you got to take the helicopter tires off and put jet tires on, you got to remove the fuel probe and all the electronic equipment too, and then they can actually be pushed into the C5As. (1:20:45) Interviewer: How long does it take to break one down? Veteran: About 12 hours. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Constant work. And it takes about 14 hours—it takes about 12 hours to put them together, and then you got to do a test flight, about 2-hour test flight, once you put them back together. Interviewer: Okay, now if you are flying in a C5A, it’s a big transport plane— Veteran: Right. Interviewer: What kind of accommodations does it have for passengers? Veteran: It has a whole upper area that is—seems like an airline. Interviewer: Okay, so it’s not like being in a C-130 or something like that? Veteran: No. I have flown in some of them too. �Interviewer: Okay. So again, it’s like 12-13 hours or whatever, a long flight out to Saudi Arabia. Veteran: Yeah, we flew from Tustin, California. Being how we were the last ones, we had to go straight through, where the others got to stop at the Air Force base outside of Philly. We flew straight through to Germany, and then once they got, once the embassies got clearance for us to fly over Egyptian airspace, then we went down and landed in—at Jebel International Airport, where our aircraft were offloading. We started putting them back together. Interviewer: Alright, so when did you actually get to Saudi Arabia? Veteran: Let’s see…It would have been August of 1990. Interviewer: Okay. Alright. And now once you are there, what happens? (1:22:02) Veteran: Well we were at—first off, we were in Jebel, which is the international airport. Brand new, hadn’t even opened yet. Now the U.S. military is using it, and met some very interesting Saudi personnel. Some of the Saudi Navy was there, so they were really helpful in helping us get kind of acclimated to the area. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And then we start putting our aircraft together and get them tested. And apparently, Saudis are some very nice people. We had been there about a week and one of the things we used to do was take tarps to cover the windscreens on the helicopters because that’s not glass, it’s a plexiglass composite material. And in that hot sun, they would warp. Interviewer: Okay. �Veteran: So, you cover them to protect them. Well the one—the Saudi crew that was sharing the area that we were at inside the hang—inside the terminal, asked us where they could get some of those so we gave them the information. And a couple nights later, we were invited over to one of their hangars. They had all these tarps spread out and they brought in dinner. They treated us to dinner, and then they had a whole refrigerated semi full of coke brought in because they were thankful, as far as they were concerned, us arriving so quick kept Saddam from invading. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: Now, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I wasn’t going to turn down food. It was delicious. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, now the official Gulf War per se doesn’t start until early 1991, so you got a period of months there, there’s a build-up of allied forces going on. Veteran: Right. And then our unit, once our aircraft were fully tested and built up, we were moved to Ras al Ghar, we were moved closer to the front. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, we could support the ground troops. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And the, anything else, heavy equipment, stuff like that. Interviewer: Okay. Aside from the heat, what other kinds of problems were there with trying to run a helicopter unit? (1:24:04) Veteran: The sand. Think of a sand blaster. What it would—you got this rotor head turning 20,000 rpm. So, we—rotor blades were an issue because when they are turning like that, �especially in the sand, it starts eating away at the paint and the material. So, we learned from the Israeli air force on tips to help with that problem. But I would say the biggest issue was the sand. Interviewer: Okay. And would that mess up other parts of the aircraft as well? Veteran: Yeah, it would. Interviewer: It would get into everything? Veteran: It would get into everything. And yes, it would be hard on the electronics, it would be hard on the air frame, it would be hard on just about every part of that aircraft. Interviewer: Okay. Now, while you are there this period of several months, I mean are you following news and trying to keep up on what’s happening or do you just do your job and ignore everything else? Veteran: We would hear occasionally—because once we got to Ras al Ghar, it wasn’t a whole lot of direct communication. Because, it was one of those things, in fact we had—a bunch of us had a t-shirt made and it showed the map of Saudi Arabia on it and it said “Somewhere, Somewhere Else.” You know, because you’re not allowed to say where you’re at. And we kind of made a joke about it but it was limited what we would get just because of that reason. Their thing was is if we had too much direct access, the enemy could figure out where we were. And you really don’t want them to know. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: And that was the primary thing, and for the most part, you know, we’re helping get the troops placed where they need to be placed, we’re doing our jobs. And basically, that was the primary. �Interviewer: Okay, so you’re moving Marine personnel and supplies to different places? Veteran: Right. The artillery, stuff like that. And then we continue our training too because you never want to stop. The more you train, the better. The more—so you keep flying anyway, keep the aircraft available because you never know what’s going to happen. We didn’t know. Today its nice, peaceful. Tomorrow, we might get the word. So, we are going to be ready. (1:26:18) Interviewer: Okay, now aside from meeting some of the Saudis, do you see any of the other coalition people there? Veteran: We saw some Australians, course we saw Israelis. They helped, they were real helpful with a lot of that stuff because they deal with the sand all the time and they use a lot of U.S. aircraft. Interviewer: Were there Israelis in Saudi Arabia? Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Wow, you don’t hear about that too often. Veteran: Not in a sense that they were a part of the coalition, but they were—because they were allies. They were there to help us get through that stuff because they had their side of the fence to really watch. Interviewer: Okay, because I guess that’s the period when Saddam is shooting Scud missiles at Israel as well as Saudi Arabia. Veteran: And just shooting them everywhere. Interviewer: Yep. �Veteran: Yeah, he wasn’t too particular. Of course, the Scud missile was not one of your most accurate. Once you launched it—you could aim it at, let’s say Riyadh, and it might hit 60 miles the other way. It was not a very accurate missile, so once they launched, everybody is put on alert because you don’t know where it might land. Interviewer: Now, did any of them land in any of the areas where you were? Veteran: We had a couple of close calls. The Patriot missiles took care of that. We got put on alert. Got woke up at 0’dark thirty in the morning to go get in our bunkers because there was one headed, and the Patriot missiles took care of them. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: None that actually hit but there were a few times. Interviewer: Okay. Now, how much sort of outside news are you getting while you are there? Communications any better than they were back in the Vietnam era or…? (1:28:00) Veteran: Oh yeah, they were a lot better because a lot more computerized. And the squadron was also trying to help. Like what they would do is they’d call up—get the wives and families—over to the squadron, the hangar, and they would do a videotape. So, you could say hi to everybody, and then they would send that to us. And then they would at times—of course, we couldn’t do like the family did and meet all at one time, we’d have to do it a little bit at a time because you’ve still got jobs to do. And then we would get to return—and then they would send it back. Mail was a little bit better. I won’t say a lot because the mail system when you are…But it was a little bit better. Of course, you’re in an area where you can get more news. We weren’t too far from Aramco, the international oil company that serviced the oil rigs for the Saudis. So, you had those people. They would come and visit and they would pass things on. And there was a little, �you know, of course you’re talking in the ‘90s, now you’ve got satellites are more prevalent so. But you didn’t have like tvs in every tent or nothing like that but it was a little more accessible. Interviewer: Right. So, you’re not watching CNN or— Veteran: No. Interviewer: Or that kind of thing. Veteran: No. He did. Saddam. That’s one of the reasons they didn’t want us broadcasting where we were or getting—because he’s paying attention on those. Interviewer: Mhmm. Yeah. Okay, now as we get closer to the operation starting, how much advance warning did you have that it was on? Veteran: Well, we kind of got a sneak peek. Our maintenance, our supply chief—material control chief—had gone up to Jubail, where our group headquarters was, to pick up some supplies and he heard something was in the wind. He didn’t hear any details but he did pick up. So, when he got back—so we started prepping. They, we got everybody up at 3 o’clock in the morning, set up crews. We were going to make sure we were ready. And if it didn’t happen, well, that’s alright. But it did happen. We got orders to launch. (1:30:11) Interviewer: Okay, so now what happens? Veteran: Well, we got our 8 aircraft ready to go and we launched them. Our sister squadron launched theirs and at that point, all we can do is sit and wait. Wait until they come back. Interviewer: So, how long would they be out? Veteran: Well that first day, they were gone most of the day. And then if you’ve ever seen war movies where they all—where you see guys sitting there counting planes when they would come �back? Well, that’s what we did when they started coming back. We are sitting there counting them as they fly by, to make sure we had 8 come back. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: We sent 8 out, we want 8 coming back. And we were lucky. For the most—we didn’t lose any aircraft at any given time. Interviewer: Okay. And did you learn anything about what they actually had done while they were out? Veteran: Yeah, we would hear about it, because of course they would have to go debrief and all of that. And of course, you would hear about it sooner or later. It would be different things going on. Part of it, which I won’t go into any details—I don’t know what’s considered anything—but part of it we’d be relocating the troops. Okay the troops are at this point, now they’re over here or the artillery was here, now we are moving it over here. You know, strategic placements. Interviewer: Mhmm. But they are not involved in any kind of combat assault sort of thing or…? Veteran: In a way, because we would fly the troops to the combat zone. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And then they would offload to go. To that extent, or we would take the artillery crew and their gun to a spot where they are going to start firing. So, our helicopters with their .50 cals are their initial defense when we first land. Hopefully—and one of the reasons you don’t want to keep the helicopters, because that would, as big as it is, it would give away a position sooner or later. So, you’d get them in and then get out. (1:32:09) �Interviewer: Yeah. Right. Veteran: So, they could do their job faster. Interviewer: Yeah. And I guess a lot of weapons have long enough range that that bad guy some distance away with machine guns or whatever could still target you, with missiles or whatever they’ve got. Veteran: Yeah. Interviewer: Okay. So, now the—how long does this sort of go on? I mean does it just…Because like the war, per se, the shooting war officially is only a few days. Veteran: Well, for the troops and that—ours went on quite longer because you had to move them, they had to move them to Kuwait so we had to support—keep them supplied. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: And then if any were—they had the helicopters to bring those that were injured, or wounded or whatever, out. Plus, you bring in fresh supplies, fresh troops. Our helicopter squadron was one of the first 53 squadrons there and most of the 53s, of all of the squadrons that were there, were some of the last to leave. Because of the versatility. Interviewer: Right. Because you are moving personnel and supplies around. Veteran: We could move personnel, we could move the cargo. We can recover a Humvee that’s broke down or been shot up. We can recover a downed jet. It’s so versatile, there’s more that it can do. So, it’s—so when you start sending the smaller helicopters back, you keep the bigger one because they can do their job plus his. Interviewer: Now, did you go into Kuwait at all yourself? �Veteran: No, I did not. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so how long then the does the squadron stay in Saudi Arabia? Veteran: We left in March of ’91. Interviewer: Okay. So, a couple months sort of after the action. Veteran: Yep. Yeah, right. Interviewer: Okay. And from there, is it back to California again? Veteran: Back to California to rebuild the aircraft. Then back…In all this time, I am still in maintenance control and sitting there and end up back in mountain warfare training with a couple aircraft for another stint. And then it was one more trip to Okinawa. And that’s when I took the battlefield tour, because I found out that my dad had fought there. It was a way to kind of connect, since I was so young when he passed. (1:34:29) Interviewer: Okay. And now with Okinawa, does your family stay back in California? Veteran: Yes. Yeah, because it is basically a 6-month debt. The aircraft stay there but they rotate the personnel. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: The basic policy was you go out for 6 months, you’re back for 12-18. And then you go out for another 6. Interviewer: Mhmm. Now, you’re getting towards the end of your enlistment though, so this trip is sort of your last. Is that your last one? Veteran: In fact, that—when I went to Okinawa, it wasn’t my last trip. �Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: When I went to Okinawa, while we were there, the Stars and Stripe, which is the military paper for the bases in the far east, had an article about General Schwarzkopf announcing his retirement. A week later the next paper comes out and here’s General Colin Powell announcing his retirement. I’m like “Hmmm.” What do they know that I don’t? That was my thought. I don’t know if it meant anything but…So, I went up and put in my retirement package because once you reach 13 months, you can put in. and then I kind of thought “yeah, I think it’s time to retire” because the S1 clerk was actually born two weeks after I went to bootcamp. So, now I am thinking “yeah maybe it is time to retire, this kid wasn’t even around when I started.” But it wasn’t quite to be. I still had one more trip. Got back from Okinawa and we went to Somalia in December of ’92. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Operation Restore Hope. Interviewer: Alright, so to go out there, are you going to be in a carrier or…? (1:36:06) Veteran: We were land-based. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: They did the same thing. We broke up aircraft, put them on C-5As, and we flew to Somalia. Interviewer: Okay. And what kind of facility or base did you have there? Veteran: Initially, we were at the port to get the aircraft built up. Eventually, we relocated out to the international airport, which really, aside from the buildings, didn’t really exist anymore with �everything that had gone on. But we were out there. We operated out of the international airport, or what was left of it. Interviewer: Okay, so what kind of facilities did you have there? Were you living in tents or…? Veteran: Yes. In fact, both in Desert Storm, Desert Shield in Somalia, above my tent flew the flag of the state of Michigan. It was presented to me by…My mom lived in Melvindale and the city councilman got it flown over the state capitol and then sent to me. So, I made sure to fly it. And I have pictures of it. Interviewer: Very good. Alright, and so what was going on…I mean, in Somalia, what are you seeing? What are you doing? Veteran: The first reason we were there was to help the Red Cross. The international Red Cross was having so much trouble getting aid to the people because of these warlords. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: They would hold them up for contraband. And by the time they would get in the country, they would have pretty much nothing left. So, our primary mission at first was to help the Red Cross do its job. And of course, when you’ve got Marine Cobra helicopters and Marine Humvees with machine guns, there wasn’t a whole lot of arguments from the warlords. We were able to start getting food out to the people. That was the main thing. I would, I don’t know if our job was to interfere with the warlords or that that was higher above my pay grade, I just took care of the aircraft. But I am sure there was other things we were supposed to do there but that was kind of obvious. The Red Cross needed that assistance. (1:38:06) �Interviewer: Okay. And were there people from other countries there? Veteran: Yes. In fact, on the other side of the airport was an Australian detachment. We used to trade our MRE meals. There was also a Sudanese…I am not sure, but they were to the south of us. In fact, they caught a couple of individuals trying to sneak in with weapons. So, they were kind of being a perimeter of security for all of us operating out of the airfield. I think it was—I don’t know, I am not 100% sure, but I think it was. And we met them a couple times. Met a couple others. Some Canadians. Interviewer: Okay. And were you there when the Black Hawk down incident took place or was that— Veteran: No, I wasn’t. We had already left by then. Interviewer: Okay. Alright, so while you were there was it relatively quiet? Or not a lot of shooting going on? Veteran: There was an occasional incident. When we first got there, there was an incident where a local tried to rush the main gate with an old World War 2 rifle. Of course, you’ve got Marines there on the main gate. But he did actually hit the tail of one of the C5s so they had to stop him. They figure he was either on drugs or something, to do something that silly. But for the most part, most of the issues were out. I mean, no matter where you go, there’s going to always be some. Interviewer: Mhmm. And was that physically the worst assignment you had? Or was Saudi Arabia worse or…? �Veteran: That was the worst assignment. Anywhere else that we went, even Saudi Arabia, I did spend some time where we would have basically liberty. And you could see a little bit. And there was the local food. Obviously, you’re not going to try and eat local food there because there was no…anything, you lived on your MREs. And I think because it was so close to my retirement. And the fact that here is this—this country was just shambles. You got all of these warlords, and all they are doing is basically fighting each other and fighting their own people for their power. They didn’t care about anything else. (1:40:28) Interviewer: Okay. So, getting out and visiting the country is not really an option there? Veteran: No. You’re not…That would have probably been your death warrant, personally. Personal opinion. Interviewer: Yeah. Okay, so when do you get out of Somalia then? Veteran: Got back in April of ’93. Interviewer: Okay. And then you retire? Veteran: July. Interviewer: Okay. So now you are sort of on the way out. Now, was this sort of standard for Marine Corps enlisted to serve 20 years if you’re going to be a career person? Or would people go longer than that? Veteran: It is kind of based on rank by DOD. Each rank—now, as a staff sergeant, 20 years is the max you are allowed. Interviewer: Okay. �Veteran: A gunny can go longer, which would…And then a master sergeant or first sergeant could go even longer. It’s not uncommon. A lot, especially if you spend it all in the fleet where you are gone a lot, like I was. It’s not uncommon. After 20 years, you’re kind of worn out. Interviewer: Right. Veteran: So, a lot of them would call it quits at that point. And then there’s others that some have stayed in only their 4 years, some have stayed in 8, some…Then one guy I knew, he was in for 15 years and called it quits. Each and—that’s an individual thing. Interviewer: Okay. Now, did you have prospects to go higher and get another promotion or did you…? Veteran: No, it— Interviewer: Or was that not really in line for you with what you were doing? Veteran: There was always the prospects, because you would go in front of the boards and they would review. I missed—I didn’t get it the first time. It—that happens. But again, the 20 years, I was kind of worn out. (1:42:08) Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: I’ll be honest about it. Interviewer: Alright. So, once you do get out, what do you do next? Veteran: Well, first off, coming back in April and then leaving in July, there wasn’t a lot of planning available. Interviewer: Right. �Veteran: But one—So, we were able to put our stuff out there in California in storage. Military put it in storage. And then we went cross country and ended up in Detroit, because that’s where my wife’s family and my mom were living. Kind of hit or miss. Now, luckily, of course you got out—had time once we got back. Now the job situation? There wasn’t a whole lot there. Not in the Detroit area. So, I was down in a Tennessee a couple times, because we thought about settling down there because most of my wife’s family is from Tennessee. Because that’s where she was born. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: But one day I am looking in the papers, and there was quite a few jobs up in this area so I though, “Well, I’ll give it a shot.” So, I come up here for a couple days. Stayed at what was the Holiday Inn on Ann street, it’s now an independent. And I kind of liked it. I had never been here before. But I thought you know what, I better bring the family up. See what they think before I make this decision because this is going to be—and they liked it. And we stayed. And we have been here ever since. Interviewer: Okay, so who did you work for? Veteran: For the first couple of months, I worked for Spartan Foods at their warehouse. I was a security guard. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: Then I went to work for Brinks. Armored car service. And I worked with them until I retired in 2015. Interviewer: Okay, so you didn’t go into anything aviation related or anything like that? �Veteran: No. I did work, I did eventually work my way up to their ATM manager, so I was dealing with electronics a lot. Interviewer: Okay. So, you worked up that way. Alright. And now to look back at your career in the service, I mean overall, what do you think you took out of that? Or how did that effect you? (1:44:07) Veteran: Well one of the big things, it gave me a perspective to look at both sides of a coin. You know, you go to these countries and you hear stories. Or even here in the states, you hear stories. But you only hear their side of the story. I kind of learned to see both sides of the coin. You know, you hear the person complaining about something and you hear the person that’s for that same thing that this person is against, but you kind of learn to be able to pull out the common denominators and see. Yeah, I understand what you’re saying, I understand what you are saying, but maybe we need to do this to make it work. And I think that was the biggest thing. And learning wherever you go, always visit and enjoy. You’ll be surprised how friendly people are. And I am not talking governments or tourist traps, I am talking get out. I think those are the two biggest things. Interviewer: Alright. Well, it makes for pretty good stories, so thanks for coming and sharing it today. Veteran: Yeah. You want to hear one good story, this is one that I have talked about a lot. Of course, we worked on the aircraft. They would have discrepancies. One of—a friend of mine, when they did the specializing, he ended up in the OV-10 squadron, observation squadron. And they had a pilot from a jet declare an emergency at the base we were at. Emergency landing. He was downing the airplane and he taxied over. I am not going to go into the whole story but �basically, when he wrote up the gripe and the avionics shop looked at it and they showed it to the maintenance officer, the pilot was in a little bit of hot water because he had written up that the radar altimeter on his jet would not work on inverted flight. (1:46:08) Interviewer: What does that mean? Veteran: The radar altimeter, it sends a radar signal from one antenna down to the ground to bounce up into another antenna to tell the jet how high off the ground he is. Inverted flight, he’s flying upside down. Interviewer: Okay. Veteran: We’re trying to find out what he planned to bounce that signal off of if he’s upside down. But that’s why the training. He—it wasn’t that he didn’t know what he was doing, it’s just he probably never paid attention before. And we had maintenance people that would make those kind of…You’d think “Well, that’s kind of dumb.” Well that’s why we train. Interviewer: Okay, so he really didn’t even know how his own system worked? So that if you are trying to bounce something off of the sky, maybe that doesn’t work so well. Veteran: Yeah. But that’s, there’s the reason we are training. And then the other thing I learned is don’t always assume or memorize. They actually taught us not to memorize things in the military, they taught us to use the manuals, use the books. He said the processes might not change. And one instructor spelled it out. He says “Okay, you got a rotor head. That rotor head holds 6 rotor blades. Each of those blades has 14 bolts, let’s say.” He said, “I am not going to give you exact numbers, I am just using this as an example. Now, let’s say according to the book, you have to torque each of those bolts a thousand foot-pounds, because its head is turning.” He says, “Okay, you memorize it. That’s how you do it every day, every day, every day. Now, a �year from now, the company that makes this aircraft realizes 1000 ain’t right. Maybe it’s supposed to be 2000, or maybe it’s supposed to be only 800, but you are still doing 1000. Now you are risking that crew and those troops’ lives. So, we were always taught to use books, to read, to pay attention. Not just to automatically do it. And I think those are the biggest things. Interviewer: Okay. Alright then. Thank you. Veteran: Thank you. This was interesting. (1:48:08) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27_ThrasherD2190V Title A name given to the resource Thrasher, David (Interview transcript and video), 2018 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-08-12 Description An account of the resource Dave Thrasher was born on May 19th, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan. Thrasher joined the Marine Corps in 1973 and attended boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot in San Diego, California, where trained in aviation electronics and worked on the Marine Corps helicopters. After his training, he was deployed to Cambodia for Operation Eagle Pull and remained off the coast of Vietnam to aid in the evacuation effort. Thrasher also participated in joint operation Display Determination as well as efforts to rescue people escaping Cuba and Teamwork 88 military exercise in Norway. He was stationed in Somalia for both Desert Storm and Desert Shield before returning to California in April, 1993, leaving the service, and settling in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thrasher, David Ross Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American United States. Marine Corps Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Veterans History Project collection, RHC-27 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401. Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/53dcaebf363bffd924792d0bbf83e949.jpg 575e983ac29781014fc9e4a44dc7c257 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 Temple B'nai Israel Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Temple B'nai Israel (Muskegon, Mich.) Description An account of the resource Collection of photographs, scrapbooks, programs, minutes, and other records of the Temple B'nai Israel in Muskegon, Michigan. The collection was created as part of the L'dor V'dor project directed by Dr. Marilyn Preston, and was supported by grants from the Kutsche Office of Local History and Michigan Humanities Council. Original materials were digitized by the University Libraries and returned to the synagogue. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital objects were contributed by Temple B'nai Israel as part of the L'dor V'dor project. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Jews--United States Muskegon (Mich.) Scrapbooks Synagogues Women--Societies and clubs Minutes (Records) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Preston, Marilyn Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Relation A related resource L'dor V'dor (project) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-08 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Text Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Circa 1920s-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-08_Leo_Rosen_and_Sam_Klayf_1946 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource B'nai Israel Temple Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1946 Title A name given to the resource Thre men in front of digging equipment Description An account of the resource Leo Rosen, Sam Klayf, and an unidentified man posing in front of digging equipment. Subject The topic of the resource Jews--United States Muskegon (Mich.) Portraits, Group Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file contributed by the B'nai Israel Temple as part of the L'dor V'dor project. Relation A related resource L'dor V'dor (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg 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/74d378f8576c1c36487c02a67d9ae802.jpg a43ea5f50954394b5b07cdaf779fe3c0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club Description An account of the resource Scrapbooks of newsclippings, photographs, postcards, and ephemera of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Photos were taken at regattas on Reeds Lake; the Grand River; Peoria, Illinois; and in Chicago of club members, and events. Historical articles, reports of regatta events, and articles featuring members Charles McQuewan and Jack Corbett are included. Programs include the First Grand Regatta on Great Salt Lake 1888, and Peoria Rowing Festival, and banquet and music programs and the GR Log, a publication of the Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club. Materials from the Central States Amater Rowing Association, and the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen are also included. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1980s to 1940s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks, (RHC-54)</a> Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Boats and boating Racing shells Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-54 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-54_Photographs-GRRC45 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource no date Title A name given to the resource Three Crewboats in Water Description An account of the resource Three distant crewboats and one spectator boat in water. Small object in foreground and cityline with trees in the background. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Rapids (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Boats and boating Racing shells Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/481">Grand Rapids Boat and Canoe Club scrapbooks (RHC-54)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/">No Known Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/7bb43f7d341126a3e1a489f9e20c0fa6.jpg 00f45a7e5cb0cf60f1c35d9ba43d3b1e https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/30c04dde727502dcb4b36949ada3d09e.jpg 1bf1a4fd6cbe7afaee9a8d8eb95b7bb2 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_0090 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Walsh, Jerri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-07-04 Title A name given to the resource Three gentlemen at Oval Beach Description An account of the resource Photograph of three young men at Oval Beach who appear very blurry due to the picture being out of focus. A lifeguard tower is in the background and the man in the middle is holding a camera. The handwriting on the back of the photograph reads: "Saugatuck. July 4th Weekend 1967. Dana, Vone, Maiotte [?], 'The Oval.'" Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Outdoor recreation Fourth of July 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e05c4692a6e2b869af2e988de01e4938.jpg bab68f323757cad3facac0a081b74126 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 U.S.S. Michigan Memorabilia Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy Ships--Great Lakes (North America) Battle cruisers Description An account of the resource The name U.S.S. Michigan has been shared by 3 vessels in the United States Navy. The first U.S.S. Michigan was the Navy's first iron-hulled warship (1843-1949). It was renamed the U.S.S. Wolverine in 1905 and decommissioned in 1912; the U.S.S. Michigan (Battleship BB-27) along with her sister ship U.S.S. South Carolina was the first “all-big-gun battleships designed and built for the U.S. Navy; the third and current U.S.S. Michigan SSBN 727 is a Trident-class missile submarine launched in 1980. This collection focuses on the U.S.S. Michigan (Battleship BB-27), but includes articles, images, and memorabilia of all three vessels utilizing the name of U.S.S. Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Beasecker, Robert (collector) Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/475">U.S.S. Michigan memorabilia collection (RHC-48)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-48 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1900-2002 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/475">U.S.S. Michigan memorabilia collection, RHC-48</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-48-USSM04 Title A name given to the resource Three Inch Gun Crew at practice on the U.S.S. Michigan Subject The topic of the resource Michigan (Battleship : BB27) Ships--Great Lakes (North America) United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Postcard of a three inch gun crew at practice onboard the U.S.S. Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/16d8bbe6e158b487b6648e5c451e507b.jpg c581f2ab1a2eae702873cb02d6e04d90 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_LS00093 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1918-1919 Title A name given to the resource Three modes of transport Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of two chinese farmers walking down a dirt path through the fields toward railroad tracks. The laborer on the left carries produce in two large baskets hanging from a pole balanced on his shoulder. The laborer on the right wears a conical hat and pushes a handcart laden with bundles of grass. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides China Farmers Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3007b93920d7edf70a01f5b7c6629cab.mp3 b9a7e868ba46ed8520b098cebca89671 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Reformation Sunday Pentecost XXIII Scripture Text I Corinthians 3:21-23 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19881030 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-10-30 Title A name given to the resource Three Perspectives on the Reformation of the Church Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 30, 1988 entitled "Three Perspectives on the Reformation of the Church", on the occasion of Reformation Sunday, Pentecost XXIII, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: I Corinthians 3:21-23. 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/571c51b5a44ec3f48b74ab5cd8459616.jpg 0e1c7b1f01a18841802060d4daa8e7d1 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a5839cc473a740346e9cbc5674473239.jpg c42965f5e20d422e856f6a66116866e4 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-Misc_Three-Rowboats Title A name given to the resource Three rowboats Description An account of the resource Black and white photo of three teams of rowboats. Each boat has several people in it, each with their own ore. In the front boat, a man sits on the helm, and in the back boat, there is someone standing. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Outdoor recreation Boats Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/e1d1f63d24fcfde3dd05adae4172c6c9.jpg 6ed4967f41648f1215f74afc48633b00 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource James Ochs collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ochs, James W. Description An account of the resource Collection includes a photo album of images taken by Ochs, 16 photos taken by the Army Signal Corps of the 26th Infantry Division, and document his tour of duty in France with the 26th Division, friends he acquired in France, and his leisure time activities Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1942/1945 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/482">James W. Ochs World War II collection (RHC-55)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 United States. Army France Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-55 Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-55_JWO016 Title A name given to the resource Three soldiers outside a message center Subject The topic of the resource World War, 1939-1945 United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military United States. Army. Signal Photo Company, 166th United States. Army. Infantry Division, 26th Soldiers Military life Photographs Description An account of the resource Three soldiers outside a message center at a US base, 1944. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Ochs, James W. United States. Army Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944 Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived James W. Ochs WWII collection, RHC-55 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant World War II Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/44d93efa3e7edf0d0d2725502e5ac4a7.jpg ca7b9ffb85fd6288f778a18ff8c41ed7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_Z036-0044a Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-09-01 Title A name given to the resource Three Wise Owls Machine, Salisbury Beach Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of a "Three Wise Owls" amusement park machine located at Salisbury Beach’s Amusement Center in Salisbury, Massachusetts. In the photograph, a sign is hanging above the machine that reads, "The Three Wise Owls Can Tell 1 Cent." Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Amusements--Massachusetts--Salisbury Salisbury (Mass.) Salisbury (Mass. : Town) Black-and-white photography Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1980s 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/17e0d68e908ec2d851afb0d26c457403.jpg 30a5ecdbbf502a44c0bd65804c4c2bb8 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_0097 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Walsh, Jerri Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1967-07-04 Title A name given to the resource Three young women sitting on a car at the beach Description An account of the resource Three young women sitting on the trunk of a car parked at Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan. Two women are wearing large sunglasses, while the woman with her hair in pigtails has hers perched on her forehead. They are smiling at the camera and the background is lined with trees. Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Outdoor recreation 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 Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9f35863b65e0ed76ca89964df2014a52.jpg 592ab1925c716d42c9899c4232e32519 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_LS00102 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1918-1919 Title A name given to the resource Throwing water in leather baskets on ropes Description An account of the resource Black and white lantern slide of five people standing in a line across a river bank passing baskets along a rope. A small structure of mud and reeds is visible in the background. Subject The topic of the resource Lantern slides China Farming Irrigation Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4d99676f86fd527d762ed686238fad6c.jpg 12e0e011c7c78948c507f92d80725265 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Robert H. Merrill photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1909/1950 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-222 Description An account of the resource Photographs, negatives, and lantern slides digitized from the papers of engineer and archaeologist Robert H. Merrill. A Grand Rapids native, Merrill held an accomplished career as a civil engineer. He founded the company Spooner & Merrill, which held offices in Grand Rapids and Chicago. From 1919-1921, Merrill lived in China, working as Assistant Principal Engineer on a reconstruction of the Grand Canal - the oldest and longest canal system in the world. Merrill became fascinated by archaeology, and among other projects, he traveled to the Uxmal Pyramids in Yucatan, Mexico, with a research expedition from Tulane University. Merrill's photo collection includes images of his travels and projects, friends and family. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Merrill_EastmanAlbum_2_1909-1911_89 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1911-08-14 Title A name given to the resource Thumb Paint Pots at Yellowstone Lake Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph of the West Thumb Paint Pots by Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park. Two women can be seen standing in the distance. Subject The topic of the resource Yellowstone National Park Wyoming Hot springs Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Robert H. Merrill papers (RHC-222) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Merrill, Robert H., 1881-1955 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/71bdd708547d5532cbd37e2d79b610ae.pdf 7041f14c27e3be86f706c224a84c1381 PDF Text Text Thursday April 2 by windoworks Yesterday Governor Whitmer extended the State of Emergency for Michigan for 4 more weeks. And last night Michigan’s positive coronavirus numbers jumped from 7500ish the day before to 9934 and deaths are at 337. Here in Kent County our numbers are beginning to increase: yesterday we had 119 confirmed cases and 2 deaths. Bear in mind that all numbers including the federal ones are only for those tested and only a small portion of the population is being tested. The CDC ave done a complete 180 on masks and are now thinking that everyone should be wearing a mask outside their home. CB and I obtained some lovely home made masks yesterday and today when CB left to walk Murphy Brown, I made him tie it around his neck, ready to pull over his nose and mouth if need be. I have read terrifying reports from doctors in ERs and I am beginning to feel besieged by a scary and unseen foe. On the other hand CB and I are eating amazing meals together and even making food that I would normally eat out, such as spare ribs and macaroni cheese for dinner last night. Our neighbor TJ has resumed the scraping down and preparing for painting of the south side of his house adjacent to ours. He was kept inside for a couple of days due to it raining. Yesterday he became like a candle for moths: over the course of the day various neighbors, friends and fellow tradespeople came to stand far below on our driveway and hold conversations with him. It became an acceptable meeting place with everyone doing their best to stand at least 6 feet away. It also provides a little light relief for me as I watch through the living room window. Also yesterday, my pharmacy delivered some drugs to my house. A very nice young man rang the doorbell and stood expectantly holding the bag waiting for me to open the door. What a quandary. After a moments hesitation, I gestured for him to just leave the bag on our doormat. CB brought the bag in later while wearing his gloves. Some days this house feels like a sanctuary and some days it feels like a prison. In Melbourne Australia, AB is exercising madly and preparing wonderful food for dinner with his housemate. Last night they made pasta from scratch. In Auckland New Zealand, ZL and his wife AW take daily walks and he sent me this photo: ��As he said, this is taking a Bear Hunt to a whole new level. I am really impressed. Do you have Bear Hunt photos to share? In Sydney Australia, OB did this: ��I can hear you saying What? He did what? He pulled himself up to a standing position. As ZL then said: he’ll be asking to borrow the car next. So, today’s flashback: ��This is a real blast from the past. From left to right: my brother AS, my sister MH, me and my father HJS. As I am wearing orthopedic boots I am assuming I am somewhere between 5 and 7 years old. I had to wear these boots because I was diagnosed with ‘weak ankles’. I don’t think thats an actual medical complaint. For the first couple of years, the boots had calipers fitted to just below my knee. These boots meant that once a year we drove to Invercargill (in NZ’s South Island) where I put my feet in an x-ray machine while the doctors looked to see if my weak ankles were improving. I don’t remember walking barefoot and I do remember having shoe envy. I do love shoes and have had to try to control myself from shoe impulse buying. Well the sun is shining and its a warmer day. Stay safe and well. Until tomorrow. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource COVID-19 Journals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Libraries Description An account of the resource This collection of journals and personal narratives was solicited from the GVSU community by archivists of the University Libraries during the events of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis the university closed suddenly, following federal and state guidelines of social distancing to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. The university closed its campuses on March 12, 2020, and quickly moved students out of campus housing. Faculty swiftly transitioned to fully-online teaching for the remainder of the Winter 2020 semester, and all campus events, including commencement, were cancelled. The purpose of the COVID-19 Journaling Project was to document the individual and personal experiences of GVSU’s students, staff, faculty, and the wider community during this time of international crisis. Some project participants were university student employees who were compensated for their journaling. Other participants were granted stipends or extra credit for submitting entries to the archives. Still others participated without any compensation or credit. The University Archives remains grateful to all who submitted journals, for helping us to understand the impact of this crisis on our community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Subject The topic of the resource Epidemics Grand Valley State University College students Personal narratives COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context COVID-19_2020-04-02_BenjaminPamela_PD-Day-22-Thursday-April-2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Benjamin, Pamela Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2020-04-02 Title A name given to the resource Thursday April 2 Description An account of the resource Daily journal entry of Pamela Benjamin, spouse of GVSU history professor, Craig Benjamin, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally self-published on WordPress. Subject The topic of the resource COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020 Epidemics Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids (Mich.) Personal narratives Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3c2c53f0a835efa1aa713c999f7a8dae.mp3 e64d962b2f04af21d063a46497e6ba96 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Passion Sunday Series Journeying With Jesus On the Road Less Traveled Scripture Text Isaiah 42:3, Mark 13:26, Matthew 6:10 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20020317 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002-03-17 Title A name given to the resource Thy Kingdom Come, Meaning... Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on March 17, 2002 entitled "Thy Kingdom Come, Meaning...", as part of the series "Journeying With Jesus On the Road Less Traveled", on the occasion of Passion Sunday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Isaiah 42:3, Mark 13:26, Matthew 6:10. 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/a972d14fa384cb2acf49ab2395c786a9.mp3 e1f523da6a21e05933d77a49fc4b795e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Maundy Thursday Scripture Text Ephesians 1:1-14, Luke 22:39-46 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-20030417 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2003-04-17 Title A name given to the resource Thy Will Be Done? Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on April 17, 2003 entitled "Thy Will Be Done?", on the occasion of Maundy Thursday, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ephesians 1:1-14, Luke 22:39-46. 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/433c3b785da4af03948ce4c4c4d9f0b2.mp4 6b3d29a0666c6a21090beef0446ab4af https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4f931bc577a8b47e3555819913bb513e.pdf fff8d7e8dcc57376bdf1be87f0ac320e PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans’ History Project James Tibbe World War II 53 minutes 58 seconds (00:00:04) Early Life -Born in Moddersville, Michigan in 1924 -His father was a farmer and a part time carpenter -He built six houses and part of a church in his lifetime -His mother died the day of, or the day after, he was born -He lived in Moddersville until he was three, or four -His father moved to the Holland-Zeeland area and then James moved there when he was five -When he was ten they moved to Falmouth, Michigan -He had a number of half siblings -His father remarried several times -His second wife had died when she was young -He had two older brothers and two sisters -Both sisters died when they were young -He spent his youth and adolescence in Falmouth -He attended school through the ninth grade (00:03:14) Civilian Conservation Corps -After the ninth grade he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) -In the CCC he was paid $30 each month and given room and board -The purpose was to plant trees, plant grass, or do basic construction projects -He was sent down to Camp Dodge Bloomer near Pontiac, Michigan -From there he was sent to Grand Haven to a CCC camp near there -The job there was to plant grass to stop erosion -Sand from the beach was starting to blow into the town and cause damage -He stayed with the CCC for about twelve, or fourteen, months (00:05:22) Start of the War and Enlisting -When the war began the CCC camps were shut down and he was discharged from it -He entered the service on August 19, 1942 -He chose to enlist rather than get drafted -He felt the need to join -He also wanted more of a choice in determining his direction in the military -The branch that he enlisted in was the Army Air Corps -He was sent to Kalamazoo to enlist and then to Fort Custer, Michigan for processing -At Fort Custer he received his uniform, vaccinations, and necessary medical exams (00:07:24) Training -He was sent to Shepherd Field, Texas for basic training -During basic training he was always kept busy -Did a lot of physical training, marching, and learning how to take commands -He adjusted well to Army life -Felt similar to the CCC at least in terms of the regimen and discipline �-Training lasted until late November 1942 -From Shepherd Field he was sent to Buckley Field, Colorado for Aircraft Armament School -In that school he was taught how to mount the .30 and .50 caliber machine gun on aircraft (00:10:10) Stationed at Wheeler Field -Near the end of the war he was stationed at Wheeler Field in Hawaii -His duty at Wheeler Field was to mount machine guns to bombers coming from the West Coast -They travelled to Hawaii without guns because it required less fuel -He served at Wheeler Field with six of the men that had been at Buckley Field -They were able to mount guns on five or six planes each day (00:12:23) Choosing the Army Air Corps and Downtime during Training -He had been fascinated with flying which is why he chose to go into the Army Air Corps -Prior to going to Aircraft Armament School he hadn’t had any experience with machinery -While he was at Buckley Field he was allowed to go off base to Denver on leave -The men would take a bus to the last trolley station and take the trolley into the city -There was sightseeing to do in and around Denver -He saw the Buffalo Bill grave near Denver -There were also USO Shows to see and Red Cross facilities to go to in Denver (00:14:40) Voyage to Hawaii -He was sent to Hawaii aboard the SS Lurline, a repurposed cruise ship -They sailed without an escort because they sailed fast enough to avoid submarines -Also able to change their course rapidly if needed -They would sail at 28 knots (~32mph) during the day and 32 knots (~36mph) at night -The ship had been stripped down to make it into a troop ship -This meant that he slept in a hammock and not in a cabin -The first night at sea was cold, but the weather was good the rest of the voyage -Only some men got seasick during the voyage to Hawaii -He didn’t though -It took four days to get to Hawaii (00:17:00) Stationed at Hickam Field -When he first arrived at Hawaii in 1943 he was stationed at Hickam Field -Situated in the Pearl Harbor area -When he was at Hickam Field he would load ammunition for the machine guns onto bombers (00:19:13) Stationed at Fiji -From Hickam Field he was sent to the island of Fiji -He stayed at Fiji for twelve (or fourteen) months -He flew to Fiji on a C-47 transport plane -They made three stops on the way to Fiji -First at Canton Island south of Hawaii -Then west to Christmas Island -Then to American Samoa and then finally to Fiji -He had to live in a tent for a while until pre-fabricated barracks were set up for them -During one hurricane the barracks were destroyed so they had to rebuild them -During the hurricane they stayed in a bunker designed to store aircraft during air raids -The storm lasted thirty six hours -When planes stopped at Fiji they would have to put wooden boards over the air intake vents -This was to stop birds from building nests in the air intake vents �-Otherwise the nests would clog the carburetors -His job was also to unload bombers and transport aircraft that landed at Fiji (00:24:10) Returning to Hawaii Pt. 1 -After being at Fiji he was sent back to Hickam Field -While he was at Hickam he saw wounded men unloaded from transport aircraft -They were unloaded with a forklift that had been turned into an elevator of sorts -Most of the men that were wounded had suffered debilitating injuries from the fighting (00:25:57) Living Conditions on Fiji -When on Fiji he also worked with Australians that were stationed there as well -They were good men, and good men to work with -Only resented them for the fact that they brought mutton to the base -He knew one Greek man who worked in the mess hall that was best cook they had -He had originally been on the flight line, but had suffered hearing damage -Before the day began he would go out and find pineapple and eggplant to add to meals -Electricity wasn’t available on the base except for extremely necessary things -There was only one generator on the base -However, at night they would hook a movie projector up to it and show movies -If the weather permitted USO Shows would be performed -He remembers seeing the Bob Hope Show (00:30:03) Returning to Hawaii Pt. 2 and Wheeler Field -He didn’t enjoy being at Hickam Field because of the military formality there -Fiji had been a more relaxed environment -From Hickam Field he was sent to Wheeler Field -He remembers there was a policy called a “recognition pass” for incoming aircraft -They had to circle the airfield to verify that they were friendly -If they didn’t check out they would be shot down -He remembers one B-25 bomber having to skip the recognition pass and land -It was because they were so low on fuel that they had to do that -Their engines lost power as they landed, which meant they coasted in -During his second time in Hawaii President Roosevelt visited to meet with General MacArthur -He got to seem them drive by in a jeep -Soldiers lined the road they were on to show troop strength as well as be a human shield -Wheeler Field was a far better assignment than Hickam Field -They were up in the mountains away from the formality that was present in Honolulu -They worked for six days each week and then had Thursdays off (00:33:02) Downtime in Hawaii -On his days off he would travel down to Honolulu -While he was in Hawaii he got a chance to see Waikiki Beach before it was developed -He got a chance to visit Pearl Harbor during each time he was stationed in Hawaii -The first time he saw it there were still prevalent signs of the attack in 1941 -Oil slicks, damaged ships and buildings -The second time he was there it had been cleaned up, but there was still damage (00:34:50) Awareness of the Progress of the War -When traveling in aircraft there was a radio onboard that wasn’t used for communication -He remembers traveling from one island to another and hearing about D-Day �(00:35:40) End of the War and End of Service -Before the war ended he was already stateside and was at Hamilton Field, California -He was essentially just on the base, not doing much -From Hamilton he was sent to Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base (now Travis Air Force Base) -Being stationed there consisted of further sitting around -He was in Union Station in Chicago when the war ended -He was returning home from being on leave -He remembers hearing President Truman announce on the radio that the war was over -He went to a bar and got a few bottles to take with him for the train ride back to base -It was a four day train ride back to Fairfield-Suisun -Once he got back to Fairfield-Suisun he was sent to Lowry Field, Colorado -He was discharged there in early December 1945 (00:39:18) Military Formality and Process -When he was at Fiji there was a colonel that had gone to West Point -He was acting as the commanding officer -This colonel ordered a soldier to pick up a piece of paper he saw on the ground -Soldier’s reply: “You saw it first, you pick it up” -On Fiji there was also an engineer officer who oversaw maintenance of planes and the runway -There was always a lot of rain on Fiji which would wash out the gravel runway -Rather than just use a dump truck to haul gravel he decided that the men should be used -They would gather gravel with shovels and fill in the runway by hand -Fiji and Wheeler Field were more relaxed than Hickam Field was -This was due to the fact that there were less high ranking military personnel -The food was also much better at Wheeler Field (00:42:16) Interactions with Civilians -When he was at Fiji he remembers the islanders putting on a war dance for them -When he was in Hawaii he got to see an authentic hula show -The Fiji islanders would do laundry for the Americans, provided that they were paid -The English brought in Indians to do work for them -This was because the islanders refused to work for the English -The Indians would make jewelry and sell it to the servicemen on the island -He bought a couple trinkets that he later gave to his wife (00:44:25) Life after the War -When he got out of the Army he joined the 52-20 Club in Michigan -Given $20 each week for fifty two weeks for having been in the military -In May 1946 he moved down to Grand Rapids, Michigan to look for work -He has lived in Grand Rapids ever since -His first job was with OAK & Strong Construction doing general labor for them -He went to diesel school in Chicago on the GI Bill -He went on to get a job with Michigan Tractor and stayed with them for thirty six years (00:46:04) Veteran Group Involvement and Being a WWII Veteran -He joined the American Legion -He has been a member for sixty four years -He has visited the World War Two Memorial in Washington D.C. -Feels that it is a good memorial -Feels that it had to be put up considering the sacrifice and the gravity of World War Two �-At the memorial people came up to him and asked him questions and to shake his hand -Basically to show their thanks for his serving (00:49:50) Reflections on Service -He can’t be sure of the impact that his service had on him -He feels that it probably helped to make him more mature though -He feels that everyone capable of service should attempt to do something for the country -It helped him become independent, develop people skills, and become a more self-reliant person (00:50:55) Rags the Dog -On Fiji there was the 70th Bombardment Squadron and it had a dog named “Rags” -He was named this because of being hairy and occasionally used a hand rag by the men -He would rotate between the barracks and sleep in a different one each night -He would also occasionally stow away on bombers when they flew to different islands -He would always come back to Fiji though � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27_TibbeJ0829V Title A name given to the resource Tibbe, James (Interview outline and video), 2010 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2010-03-18 Description An account of the resource James Tibbe is a World War Two veteran who was born in Moddersville, Michigan in 1924. After completing the ninth grade he left school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked around Michigan doing public works projects. On August 19, 1942 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and received training at Shepherd Field, Texas and at Buckley Field, Colorado to become an armorer for bombers. He was stationed at Wheeler Field, Hawaii at Fiji and at Hickam Field, Hawaii over the course of the war. Just before the end of the war he was sent back to the continental United States where he served at Hamilton Field, California, Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Base, and Lowry Field, Colorado. He was discharged in December 1945. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tibbe, James 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 World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Language A language of the resource eng Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/13caac7d44b2333995dacfdda20cbf15.mp4 ad43fb253f2474b3bd2edbeeb65534b6 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/837868841ef16729ecbdcdc00cd270aa.pdf 2d4d114f8c2eef8dfb9b09bcdbfbc82d PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of Interviewee: John Tibbe Name of War: World War II Length of Interview: (00:55:52) (00:10) Background Information • John was born in Grant, Michigan on March 10, 1921 • His father was a farmer and able to keep his farm during the Depression • John went to school through 8th grade and then began helping his family with the farm • He had been working on the farm when he heard about Pearl Harbor being attacked on his neighbor’s radio • John was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1942 (5:30) Training • John was sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan for induction and then to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for basic training • They stayed in tents and slept in cots, but overall John did well during training and got along with the drill sergeants • He trained with men from all over the country • Every day they started running in the morning; they had started at 5 miles per day and eventually made it to 38 miles per day • They went through weapons training with rifles, automatics, BARs, and machine guns • He was able to go to a USO show in New Orleans for Thanksgiving break • John was trained to be an anti-tank gunner when he went through advanced training at Camp Pickett in Virginia (17:35) Leaving the US • John was sent from Norfolk, Virginia through the Panama Canal into the Pacific on a ship from the Netherlands • Their were minorities from Dutch colonies on the ship and John felt they were all treated very badly, like slaves • They had two meals a day, were lucky enough to have nice weather, but had a long trip because of the zigzag course they had to take �(26:15) New Guinea • The area was very muddy, hot, rainy, an filled with lots of trees and kangaroos • John stayed at the 32nd Division’s base where he continued training and was assigned to a different regiment • There were many attacks by Japanese in pillboxes • The Americans had to gather up casualties and bury them • The jungle area was filled with bugs, turtles, snakes, crocodiles, and huge pythons • They all had to take medicine to prevent malaria, but John still got jungle rot • He only ran into a few Japanese soldiers while working in New Guinea (35:40) Morotai Invasion • They left New Guinea and landed on the island of Morotai • The camp was near an air strip and many civilians were out every day washing their clothes • They were told that the island was secure and that the fighting had ended before they arrived, but that was not the case • Many Japanese continued to come near their base to surrender and some stayed in the jungle • There were many Japanese POWs and the Americans felt it was wrong that they had to feed them so well • John did not see all the POWs as bad people, but as men that got pulled into the war, just like the Americans (50:10) Discharged • After being discharged John went back to Michigan and continued working on his family’s farm • He eventually got a job on another farm working a tractor, and then later began working for the Spartan Foundry • John later married and had 7 children � 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 TibbeJ Title A name given to the resource Tibbe, John (Interview outline and video), 2008 Description An account of the resource John Tibbe was born in Grant, Michigan on March 10, 1921. He went to school through the 8th grade and then began working on his family's farm until he was drafted into the Army in the fall of 1942. John went through basic training at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and then later went through Advanced Infantry Training at Camp Pickett in Virginia where he trained to be an anti-tank gunner. After training John was stationed in New Guinea and also the island of Morotai. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tibbe, John Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Veterans Video recordings 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 Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-12-04 Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8f26e402e57c0581840c18e7d89ee6f9.mp4 8b1f8b49e7e47ab792d000ac2e25b74b https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3632dcfeb4ca65ba3da499084c91c71f.pdf f95675eaf28762b64c2d94401125104b PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Name of War: Vietnam Interviewee: Richard Tibbe Length of Interview: 00:37:30 Background:  Richard was born in Grand Rapids, November 21st, 1945.  His father served in the Army in WWII when he was born and would return a year and a half after he was born. His mother lived at the north end of Grand Rapids with her parents. His father would work on a farm, in Grant, after he returned.  Richard went to MSU for one year. After that, he ran out of money, so he went to look for a job.  He found a job at GM and worked there for a while.  When it came time, he knew that he would either be drafted or he would have to enlist. He chose to enlist so he could choose where he wanted to go and hopefully get some college out of it.  He enlisted March of 1966. Training: (2:30)          He did not know much about the Army or what was going on in Vietnam. He was too young to care. After he signed up, he was sent to basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He then went on to engineering training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. His basic training lasted 12 weeks. It consisted mostly of marching, exercise, and lots of discipline. He had mostly draftees in his company. He had no trouble adjusting to military life. He thought he would, but he surprisingly did not. He found out quickly that if you do what your superiors say, they treat you well. But if you give them a hard time, they will give you one too. A lot of guys around him would have trouble adjusting. For those who did not listen, they would have to do KP, push-ups, running, or if they goofed off in class their superiors would throw stuff at them. Most of them would eventually get through the process. He picked going into the engineering because he was raised on a farm. He enjoyed working with tractors, motors, bull dozers and other things like that. Engineering Training: (5:40)  After basic, he was sent directly to Leonard Wood, for a 3 month course in engineering training. �         This stage of training was different from basic in the sense that there was more classroom experience and he did a lot more operation work on the equipment. The discipline was not quite as harsh either. The men he would attend training with at Leonard Wood would be a much different group than the one he trained with at basic. More of them were enlistees and they learned from basic what they needed to concerning discipline. Most of the guys there were pretty much the same age. Their routine consisted of getting up in the morning and making rounds across the grounds picking up cigarette butts, then some exercises and then they started their classes. After classes he would go out into the field and operate on the machinery. One of the big things he learned out was maintenance. After his training at Leonard Wood, he was assigned to a unit, the 93rd Engineering Battalion. He left for Fort Lewis, Washington and stayed there for about 9 months for the whole unit to organize and come together there. While there he did a lot of classroom stuff and makeshift projects. They did just about anything to make sure the men there stay occupied. Their job in Vietnam was supposed to work on mainly airport runways. Active Duty: (10:10)              They shipped out to Vietnam in January or February of 1967. As his unit was formed, he did learn more about Vietnam, but he said you never really know until you’re there. He had no expectation for what was going to happen when he got there. He just figured if it’s going to happen, then it’s going to happen. He went to Vietnam on a troop ship. The trip took 21 days and they made a stop at the Philippines for one day. While he stopped there he went to shore, but was not allowed off base. When he got to Vietnam, he landed in Vung Tau. When he got there he was awestruck by the poverty he saw. The poverty that the people there lived in what something that he had never seen. His unit was based originally at Long Binh. As a battalion they would create the camp and build it up from an open field. At that point they did have guard duty and they did see the enemy at night, though never during the day. They used infrared goggles to see the enemy at night, an early version of night vision. Unlike what many veterans remembered, it was pretty quiet. This was mostly likely due to the fact that he was exempt from guard duty because he was serving in another position. He would help the clerk out with some of his paperwork because he could type. It would not take long before they began building airplane runways out of dirt, although he would not participate in any of it as he was working in the clerk’s office. The native Vietnamese, most of them teens, would help them out by cleaning their huts and doing their laundry. Of course there was concern that they were spies gathering � information, but they were screened fairly heavily before being allowed to enter the camp. He would go to Saigon a number of times, as he had a friend stationed there. He would just go to another base, but he would see poverty and more poverty along the way. Promotion: (18:40)                 He would not remain with the 93rd battalion very long as he was offered a promotion. His new position would be stationed at the Brigade Headquarters in Bien Hoa. He would move 2 months after he arrived in Vietnam. Bien Hoa would be basically the same thing as Long Binh, but established for a longer period of time. It was the 20th Engineer Base Headquarters In that area, they base was very much on its own. He would be stationed there when the Tet Offensive began. The base would be hit a couple of times and they would have to take cover in the bunkers. It would be closest he got to any sort of action there. After the attack all he can remember is people digging holes for bodies for the Viet Cong. It was unreal for him. The fighting would last three or four nights on that particular base. They would suffer from mortar fire and rifle fire around the perimeter. Most of the attacks would occur at night, and none during the day. There was no contact at the time and no information about what was going on across Vietnam. As an officers’ clerk he would deal with many different ranks of people, the highest ever being a colonel. He would have to type up their performance review sheets and would handle the paper work being done for rating the different officers. Usually he would have to deal with military career men, nothing really below a captain. He would often go off base to Saigon with the chaplain. Infiltration and other sorts of action would not be a problem for him while he was at Bien Hoa. He also would not see anything of the South Vietnamese Army either, other than when he would make a trip to Saigon and he would see them there. They were never on the base at all. They would have movies and celebrity entertainment, USO shows for entertainment for the soldiers. Sebastian Cabot, the narrator of the Winne the Pooh stories, would be one of the guests who would visit while Richard was in Vietnam. Cabot did not do much for entertainment, but merely went around base and shook people’s hands and spoke with them. (24:25) Connie Francis would come in and put on a show. He remembers that she was kind of nasty. While he was there, the only action that was down that far was during the Tet Offensive. Otherwise the front lines were farther north. One time, a group of airborne men had come to the base for a couple of days and things got out of hand. Someone would eventually get shot. It was surprising because he did not expect his own to act like that. �      He remembers that it was really hot and very wet. There was a lot of rain. It would be bad at Long Binh when he had to trudge through mud, but it really wasn’t that bad at Bien Hoa. There was no air conditioning, but they did have big fans to help keep things circulating. He spent a total of a year of Vietnam. While he was there, they tried to get him to reenlist, but he had another year to go before his enlistment ended. Instead they focused more on other who were ready to leave. Some did end up staying for another tour, even without going home. At that point he was ready to go home, but he had another year left. Back to the United States: (29:00)    After his tour in Vietnam was finished he would come back to the United States and spend his last year at Fort Benning, Georgia, keeping his position as an officer records clerk. The overall atmosphere at Fort Benning was very carefree and fun. Since many of the men there were getting out, they really did not care and there was a lot less when it came to discipline. He had no thoughts of staying in the Army. Post Duty: (30:00)            He thought he would have an idea of what he was going to do when he got out, but he was wrong. He really enjoyed operating and thought he would go into construction, but he ended up going back to GM. He had only worked there for 3 months before he left. He took an apprenticeship in tool and die and he really like it. After he got back he noticed the attitude toward the war was very negative. He felt that way too, even when he was over there. He and others would talk about that a lot when he was over there. It was the general shared opinion of those behind the front lines. When he got home, he came back to his family. There was nothing spectacular. There were a lot of people who would ask questions about what it was like when he was over there. He did not like the anti-war protests. He thinks that they did not know what they were talking about. He likes what he sees now when he sees soldiers come back from Iraq. He’s heard stories of people seeing a man return in uniform and asking him questions, buying him lunch. He thinks that the treatment that soldiers get nowadays is truly amazing. (33:20) While he worked at GM he would check car parts. It was mostly hand work at first, until the years started going by and then machines started taking over. He worked at GM for 39 years. Looking back, he thinks that everyone should join the Army and see what it’s like. At the time he did not like it, but he certainly thinks there are good things that come out of it, like an appreciation for what you have and discipline. There was no problem with any racial issues in the unit that he served in. It was mostly whites and a few blacks. � He learned out to work with people from all different parts of life and he learned out to respond to their emotions and feelings. � 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 TibbeR Title A name given to the resource Tibbe, Richard (Interview outline and video), 2010 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tibbe, Richard Description An account of the resource Richard Tibbe enlisted in the Army in 1966. He trained as a combat engineer, and served in Vietnam 1967-68. He was given clerical jobs with engineer units based in Long Binh and Bien Hoa, outside of Saigon, and did not spend time in the field. The one time when he experienced and attack was at the start of the Tet Offensive, when he was at Bien Hoa. 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.) 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 2010-03-16 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/e634540e63d1ef61593f1da7a34462dd.mp4 1b1c39b59853d3c0f9be8c75b5e9de16 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/31c5a8dbab5facb96ae2a018b373ff0e.pdf f30c544eafde67bb025f6f36f320e528 PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Interview Frank Tichvon World War II Total Time: 22:52 Pre-War (00:33) • • Was born in Barry County, Michigan. Was drafted into the Army in October, 1941. Training (02:10) • • • • • Worked as a combat engineer. He was trained at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and as they were some of the first trained there he found it very difficult. Spent 13 weeks in basic training (03:41) Was then sent to Fort Robinson, Arizona, for maneuvers, and after Pearl Harbor was attacked they were shipped to Fort Ord, California. The journey to Fort Ord took them 6 days and 5 nights by train. Active Duty (04:15) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • While they were at Fort Ord they build fake machine gun nests in case of an invasion by the Japanese. They were then shipped to Canada where they built 305 miles of the Alcan Highway. They then built around 300 miles of trails to oil wells in Canada, but eventually that was abandoned. The total time he spent in Canada was around 18 months. (04:55) He was then sent to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to specialized training for 6 weeks and was then sent to Scotland and then on to England. While in England, he spent more time training. A lot of their training dealt with mines, specifically clearing the mines. They also spent time fixing potholes and building bridges. (06:45) They had some casualties, but they were generally from accidents during construction rather than live fire. (08:05)During the Battle of the Bulge, they became surrounded and were cut off from the rest of the Army. His unit earned 5 Bronze Stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. (09:30) He was part of the 45th and 35th Combat Engineers. They were often limited on supplies He had a good opinion of the officers in his battalion Post-Service (13:10) �• • He got out of the service in October, 1945. He had a couple of good friends from the service with whom he kept in contact with. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27_TichvonF Title A name given to the resource Tichvon, Frank (Interview outline and video), 200 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2004-12-07 Description An account of the resource Frank Tichvon was born in Barry County, Michigan, and served in World War II. Drafted in 1941, Tichvon served in the U.S. Army. He worked in Canada building the Alcan Highway and trails. He was later sent to England and then to the European continent, where he worked for a construction battalion whose job was to clear mines and construct bridges. He served in the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged in October, 1945. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tichvon, Frank Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Yanosik, Christine (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 United States. Army World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Language A language of the resource eng Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/x-m4v application/pdf