Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Dominic P. Sondy served in the U.S. Army with the 662nd Field Artillery from April 1943 to January 1946 during World War II. In this account, Sondy discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his combat experiences in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Coast Guard; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Louis Begin Jr. was born to Hungarian immigrants in Pennsylvania. His family then moved to Detroit, MI after his father lost his job. He enlisted in the Coast Guard after the attack at Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned to guard ships going in and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; Veterans; Video recordings
Harry "Bud" Baxter graduated high school near the beginning of WW II. He went to college at the University of Michigan for a year, but feeling that he would soon be drafted, he enlisted in the Army. During WW II he traveled with other men where...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Kevin Heine was born in Flint, Michigan on October 1, 1964. About 25% of his graduating class joined some form of the service in Osceota because it was an Air Force town and the economy was terrible in Michigan during the 80s. Kevin joined the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Naval Reserve; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Jay Huston was born in Erie Pennsylvania on August 25, 1925. He graduated in 1943 and then enlisted in the Navy to avoid being drafted into the Army. Jay went through basic training at Great Lakes in Chicago and went through advanced training...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American;
Norman Curtis served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. During his time in Vietnam, he worked at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon. His job was vehicle maintenance and recovery, which kept him for the most part on base but he did spend...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Women
Mildred Doyle was born in 1921 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and served in the Womens Airforce Service Pilots Corp. She became a pilot during college, and then was requested to serve in the WASP corp. She worked, after training, on Freeman Field in...
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
William A. Sikkel joined the Michigan National Guard before World War II and served in the army on active duty between 1940 and 1945 in the 126th Regiment, 32nd “Red Arrow” Division. He attended Officer Candidate School before the division...
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
George Smith was born in Coopersville, Michigan on April 28, 1922. George was drafted into the Army when he was 20 years old. He was assigned to the 105th Artillery and mostly trained in Georgia. George landed in France and moved into Germany...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army. Air Corps
Phillip Spoelstra was born in Wyoming, Michigan in 1923 and moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1939. He graduated high school in 1941 and joined the Air Corps in 1942. Phillip trained mostly in Oklahoma and became part of a bombers unit. He was...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Duane Koshork was born in Wisconsin in 1925 and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and did sheet metal training. After about 10 months of training in the US Duane went to Bombay, India on a troopship and then...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Freemasons; Veterans; Video recordings;
Glendle Callahan served in the Korean War in the United States Army from February 1951 to November 1952 in Alabama and Korea. In this interview, Callahan tells of the day he received his draft letter and why he volunteered to go to Korea after...
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. Navy
Robert Van Strien was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and graduated from Byron Center High School in 1945. After high school he and three of his friends joined the Navy. After basic training he was assigned to be a typist for a Commander aboard the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Charles Hammond was born in Columbus, Ohio on August 24, 1919 and was drafted in 1940. He trained at Fort McClellan in Alabama. He was assigned to the 4th Armored Division and served in France, Belgium, Germany and Czechoslovakia as a military...
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;
Ed Darling is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army from September 1944 to December 1946. In this account, Darling discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training in the U.S., and his active duty in Japan during the military...
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;
James Pond was born in Santa Ana, California in 1925. He became very bored with school during the war and dropped out when he was 17 to enlist in the Navy. James went through boot camp in Idaho and then went to signal school in Chicago. After...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Marine Corps; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American;
James Zegollari was born in 1960 in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan and served in the Marines during the Cold War. He was trained to operate and command the M-60 tank. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Twenty-Nine Palms, California...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Fred Breuninger was born on April 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Air Force during WWII. He had gone to Castle Lake Military Academy, and was put into a HQ company. Fred was sent to England with the 8th Air Force in the 446th bomb group that used...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Army; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;
Carl Ballard was born on October 16, 1932 in Kent County, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1951 and then enlisted in the Army. Carl trained in Kentucky and went through leadership school after basic. He was then sent to South Korea...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Army; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American;
George Bekkering was drafted into the Army after graduating high school in 1966. He served in the Vietnam War for one year, 1967-1968, as a light infantry soldier in the 198th Infantry Regiment, Americal Division. His division camp was based in...
