George Jager grew up in Michigan and was drafted in 1943 and trained in Florida to be a replacement infantryman. In April of 1944 he went to England on a converted troop ship. George received chemical warfare training and then landed on Omaha Beach…

Richard Jakubczak is from Grand Rapids Michigan and was born in May of 1946. After high school he worked at Lowell Engineering and as a farmer. He briefly attended Kendall School of Design, but dropped out in 1966 and he and his brother joined the…

Marvin Jalving enlisted in the Army Air Corps in July of 1943 and was discharged in October of 1945. He went to England late in 1944 and flew 23 missions in B-17s, most of which were in Germany taking out train yards and gasoline refineries. After…

A resident of Chicago’s Roger’s Park neighborhood, Mike James was the first leader of Rising Up Angry, a white, working-class group formed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that sought to organize residents of Lakeview/Uptown and offer a range of…

Jimmy Jamieson was born in Newport News, Virginia in 1946. He graduated high school in 1965 and began college classes. He was drafted in the Army in February of 1966 but was allowed to finish the semester before being sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky in…

Dwight Jamison was born in Big Rapids, Michigan on February 15, 1928. He served in the Michigan National Guard as a teenager and enlisted in the Army in 1946. He received his basic training at Camp Polk, Louisiana and after that was deployed to…

Edwin Jamros joined the US Coast Guard in 1940 because he knew the United States was going to war. After going to Ellis Island for basic training, he was assigned to the USS Joseph Dickman as an electrician's apprentice. While on the Dickman, he…

Donald Jandernoa served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He trained as a B-24 pilot and flew missions for the 15th Air Force, based in Italy, in the later stages of the war. He describes the training process and his combat experiences in…

Steve Janicki served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division, during WW II. His history includes some colorful accounts of his joining the guard and going through basic training (he was 16 at the time, and not even shaving yet). …

Notecard advertisement for Jann's Guesthouse Bed and Breakfast featuring their rates of stay, origin in 1879, and location adjacent to 'Round the Corner Ice Cream Shoppe. In the bottom right hand corner of the advertisement are the names "Bill and…

Donald Jansen was born in Holland, Michigan, on May 6, 1937. He graduated from Western Theological Seminary in June 1967, was ordained in September, and went on active duty at Fort Hamilton, New York, in October 1967. He was sent to Fort Bliss,…

John Janssen was born on April 30, 1922 in Wisconsin and moved to Michigan in 1928. He graduated from high school in 1940 and joined the Marine Corps on October 29, 1941. John went through basic training in South Carolina, where they spent a lot of…

Ray Janssen was born in Wisconsin in 1923 and then grew up on a farm in Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1942 and was drafted shortly after in 1943. Ray trained in terribly hot weather in Alabama for eight months and then trained in…

Charles Jarocki joined the United States Air Force in 1986 and was stationed in many different parts of the United States and Europe for eleven years. While in the Air Force, Charles received his Bachelors degree and his Masters degree in computer…

Ray Jedlowski was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1942 before his family moved to Michigan where he graduated high school in Dearborn in 1962. Jedlowski’s father was in the Navy during the Second World War and gave his son plenty of exposure to…

James Jefferson was born in New Jersey on July 13, 1924 and grew up in an integrated community. After high school James joined the Merchant Marines and was trained on Hoffman Island in New York Harbor. He enjoyed the training and did not feel…

Harry Jelsema was born to a farmer in Allegan, Michigan and served in the Army during World War II. He was drafted in 1944, and sent to basic training and after that to Europe, where he was a bazooka man. He fought in Northern France, Belgium, and…

Richard Jeltema was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in December 1927. He enlisted in the Navy during high school. Richard chose to go into the submarine service and was stationed in New London, Connecticut. He was assigned to a submarine in Pearl…

Journal of GVSU student Jodilyn Jenkins of her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marilyn Jenkins was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1934. She grew up in Grand Rapids and played baseball with family and friends, and played softball with the neighborhood kids. When the Grand Rapids Chicks arrived in 1945, she talked her way into…

Stuart Jennings was born during the beginning of the Depression in Michigan. He said that growing up through that taught him to share, to do things on his own and to treat people well. After graduation Stuart became a cadet in the Army Air Corps in…

One leaf from Vitae sanctorum patrum, Sive Vitas patrum by Hieronymus. Printed in Strassburg by the Printer of the “Antichristus” (Heinrich Eggestein) circa 1482. [GW M50968; ISTC ih00222000]

One leaf from Vitae sanctorum patrum, sive Vitas partum [Italian] Vite de sancti padri, by Hieronymous. Printed in Venice by Gabriele di Pietro not after 1474. Illustrated with red and blue rubricated initials. [GW M50938; ISTC ih00228300]

Ben Jerzyk born in 1945 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He was the oldest of eight other children and his father was a World War Two veteran. He attended college and trained as a physical therapist and was drafted into the Army in June 1967. He…