Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Elaine Kines was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1954. She graduated from high school in 1972, and continued on to become a college student and full time employee at the local Meijer warehouse. Unable to maintain her employment and schooling, she...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; United States. Air Force
Linda Crumback was one of the first women to go through the Air Force ROTC School. She would serve her country for 22 years, initially monitoring missile launches, and later working with computers and computer software. She served on bases in...
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. Air Force
Paul Lecours was born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1946 and decided to join the U.S. Air Force in 1966 because of concerns that he wouldn't be able to keep his deferment from the draft. Following basic training, Lecours briefly served at a...
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;
Bob Anderson was born in August 1948 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. While growing up, his father re-enlisted in the military, meaning Anderson and his family moved constantly, although Anderson’s father stayed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland long...
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. Naval Reserve. Women’s Reserve; Women
Mary Jean Brooks was in the WAVES during World War II. She trained at Smith College in communications. She worked in the Naval Department building in Washington, D.C., encoding and decoding messages sent to and from naval bases and ships. She...
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
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...
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;
John Frens is a World War II veteran who served out of the 792nd Bomb Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps from December, 1942 to 1945, and remained in the reserves until 1958. He served in the Army Air Corps as a B-29 navigator. His unit was...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American; United States. Air Force; United States. National Guard
Autumn DeRoo made the choice to join the Air Force at the age of 17 early in her high school career. Going into a technological field, dealing mainly with computers, Deroo was able to work at Cheyenne Mountain with NORAD and the U.S. Base Command...
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; Other veterans &...
This interview replaces the missing portion from his original interview in 2004, and primarily covers the period between the end of his first tour in Vietnam in late 1966 to the end of his second tour in 1968. During this period, Gillem was...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Army Air Corps; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Eugene Bleil was born in 1920 and grew up mostly on farms outside of the city. He was accepted to Eastern Michigan University, but dropped out after a semester, traveled with his brother looking for work, and wound up enlisting in the Army Air...
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; Video recordings
Robert Van Hammen enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1940, and served in the intelligence section of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until 1945. He trained with his unit in Louisiana, and then was shipped first to...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Robert Hammond was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 18, 1923. Robert enlisted in the Navy about one year after Pearl Harbor was attacked and went through basic training in Chicago. After basic training, Robert went to radio, gunnery and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings;
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; United States. Air Force
William Patrick was born in Maywood, California on April 9, 1931. William enlisted in the Air Force in August 1950 and went through basic training in Texas. He then went through preliminary air training school as well as advanced computer...
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. Air Force
Richard De Young was born on September 2, 1944 in Petoskey, Michigan. He volunteered for the Air Force because he had a cousin who was a brigadier general and De Young assumed that that fact would somehow benefit him. After basic training at...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Army; United States. Army Air Corps; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Julius Van Oss was drafted into the US Army in 1943 and initially assigned to the Army Air Corps. In training, he qualified for the ASTP program, which sent men to college to prepare them to become engineers, but the program was cancelled after he...
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
Michael Van Dreumel was born in 1943 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and lived there until he graduated from high school in 1961. He then went to California to train as a aircraft mechanic, after which he worked at several commercial airlines before...
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
Fred Fleischmann, born November 17th 1950 in Grand Rapids Michigan, served in U. S. Air Force from October 1972-August 1976 after the Vietnam War as an educational consultant. After completing his basic at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Fred...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; United States. Air Force; United States. National...
Mike Davis joined the Air Force in 1973 after completing the 4-year ROTC program in college. He served in Active Duty as a Pilot Instructor and later went into the Air National Guard during the Cold War. He retired from the Guard in 2000 but...
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
Bob Becker, born in Illinois in 1944, enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1966 during the Vietnam War. While training at Lackland Air Force Base, Bob was recruited on to the base softball team. He traveled often with the team playing in tournaments...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Dora Kilmer was born in Plymouth, England, in 1924. After high school, she worked for a gas company in the office and eventually worked as an air raid warden. As an air raid warden, she patrolled outside and assisted others in getting into the...
