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
Fred Burgess is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Navy from June 23, 1944 to May 16, 1946. During the course of the interview he discusses in great detail his pre-enlistment, enlistment/basic training experience, and active duty in the...
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
Albert Barker was born in 1925 in Stanton, Michigan. Albert grew up on a farm and was doing farm work when he was drafted into the Navy in 1943 and was then sent to Great Lakes, Illinois where he spent eight weeks in basic training. After his...
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. Marine Corps
Flate Staples was born on September 4, 1924 in Mississippi and moved to Michigan in 1931 because his mother had found a better job there. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in May of 1943 when he was 18 years old and went through boot camp in North...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; United States. Navy
Thomas Basarabski was born in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. In an effort to avoid the draft, he joined the Navy in 1968. He served in Alaska, the Philippines and California as an intercept reader, working on Soviet communications.
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. Marine Corps
Thomas Ambrose joined the Navy in 1948. He trained for the Medical Corps, and initially did hospital duty, but then transferred to the Marines and was sent to Korea to serve as a corpsman with a line company. His unit fought a series of...
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
Leonard Galloway was born on August 3, 1925 in Huron, South Dakota. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he was 17 years old because he did not want to be drafted and because he had always wanted to fly. Leonard went through basic training 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. Army
Philip Shook was drafted into the Army in 1964. He spent six months in Vietnam in a small base camp at Phuoc Vinh north of Saigon. His main duty as a soldier was to go out on search and destroy missions on helicopters. He was responsible for...
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;
David Good is a World War II veteran who served with in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. In this account, Good discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He discusses his work as an electronic technician aboard the USS Alaska at...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American; United...
Jeff DeLange served in the Army for a total of five years as an infantryman and toured in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2006 and 2009 where he conducted patrols and later helped with the turnover of operations to the Iraqis.
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
James McConnon was drafted into the Army in October of 1971 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky for 8 weeks. He then went through secondary advanced individual training at Fort Bliss, Texas where he worked with the Air Defense...
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
Harry Kutten was born in St. Louis in 1924 to Russian immigrant parents, and enlisted in the Navy while still in high school after he heard of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. He felt obligated to join the armed forces after this incident, and cited...
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;
Kenneth Kelly was born on a farm in Coopersville, MI in 1925. He enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and served in a construction battalion (Seabees) in the Pacific theater, primarily in the Admiralties and on Okinawa. He relates several of his...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Navy; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American;
Eric J. DyKgraaf is a recent Iraqi War veteran who served in the U.S. Navy as an E-5 from May 2000 to May 2005. In this account, DyKgraaf discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training, and active duty abroad. Among the interesting things...
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;
Jacob Lucas is a World War II veteran who served in the Seabees, a construction branch of the Navy, from December 1942 to 1945. In this account, Lucas discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training in the U.S. and his service time...
Universities & colleges--Michigan--Allendale; Universities & colleges--Michigan--Grand Rapids; Grand Valley State University; Grand Valley State College; College publications; Press releases
Press releases submitted by News & Information Services to news agencies concerning people, places, and events related to the University.
Universities & colleges--Michigan--Allendale; Grand Valley State University--Periodicals; College publications
Grand Valley Magazine is a quarterly publication for faculty, staff, students, and alumni published by the Grand Valley State University News & Information Services.
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
Dick Bailey was born in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the army at the age of nineteen during World War II. He spent the majority of his time deployed in the Pacific, working as an aircraft mechanic in the 13th Air Force. He went home to...
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; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
Paul Dunning served during the Korean War after being drafted into the Army. He served as a Field Wireman north of the 38th Parallel for eight months until the Armistice was signed, which he then served as a truck driver transporting Korean work...
