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; Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal...
Dennis Bassett was born in 1942 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school in 1960, Bassett decided he wanted a different direction for his life, so he enlisted in the Army. After completing both his basic and advanced training at...
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; Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal...
This interview session recaps the first part of Bassett's tour in Vietnam, and then covers the second half, when he was a brigade-level staff officer in the 9th Division. Bassett supervised long range reconnaissance patrols, organized and ran a...
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 ; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American
Michael Zulauf reported for duty to the United States Air Force Academy on July 1st 2004, just a month after graduating from high school in Muskegon, Michigan. In his interview, Zulauf offers a detailed description of his experiences as a student...
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
Paul Metevier enlisted in the Air Force in January, 1966. After basic training in San Antonia, he spent over a year at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida before being sent to Vietnam. He served his tour at Cam Ranh Bay, where he was assigned to the...
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
Richard Rasmussen, born in 1913, grew up on a farm outside of Greenville, Michigan. After finishing high school, he attended Olivet College and the University of Chicago Medical School on scholarships. After receiving his medical degree, he was...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Army; United States. Air Force; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Other...
Prior to beginning his fourth tour in Vietnam, Ron Kloet initially went through officers training with the Army intending to give him an assignment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Kloet, wanting something else, instead volunteered to serve in the...
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
Ted Weatherhead was attending college at Ohio University when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. He immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps, but had to wait for some time before starting his training. After surviving the initial screening and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Arnold De Loof grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War. After training, he was sent to Alaska and Korea, where he did supply work and eventually became a fireman.
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
Ben Harrison was born in Truman, Arkansas in 1926. After first attending Arkansas State College then the University of Mississippi, Harrison enlisted in the Army because he needed the money from the G.I. Bill to help finish his school. After...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Cecilia Schlepers is the daughter of two Dutch immigrants who lived under German occupation during the Second World War. She talks about what life was like for each of her parents during the war. Her father’s family worked on a farm and her...
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; Other veterans &...
Henry Diedering was a teenager in the Netherlands when the Germans took over in 1940. He describes life in his home town under occupation, and of his efforts to avoid being impressed as a forced laborer by the Germans when he turned 18. He made...
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
Donald Beachum served in the United States Navy during the World War II era. Growing up in Michigan, he graduated from high school in 1945 and joined the Navy right away to avoid being drafted into the Army. Because of a scarlet fever outbreak at...
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
Duane Endres was born on a farm in Michigan in 1924. He was drafted into the Navy 1945. Prior to this he received a deferment due to his work at Michigan State University. He remained on the home front during his service and was stationed in...
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
Fred Spaulding was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in April 1940. After high school, Spaulding waited a year before enlisting. Initially rejected by his first choice, the Marine Corps, Spaulding enlisted in the Army and went to Fort Knox, Kentucky...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Army; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; Vietnam War,...
Harry L. Fortier grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, and was drafted into the Army in 1972. He served primarily at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, loading and unloading helicopters, and did not have to go overseas. When he left the Army at the time when the...
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; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal...
Isabelino Vazquez was born and grew up in Puerto Rico and was drafted into the Army in 1951 at the age of nineteen years old. Once drafted, Vazquez went through training in Puerto Rico before deploying to Korea and fighting in the Korean War. 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
James Herrick volunteered for the Army in 1967. He trained as an electronics technician and spent much of his time away from combat, on the base at Cu Chi. He was there through most of 1968, including during the Tet Offensive, but his base...
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
Eugene Smith was drafted to the United States Army in the 1940’s. He was stationed in Calcutta, India for a total of 28 months. Although the American troops deployed to India at this time were intended to attack Axis supply lines coming from 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; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;...
Johnnie Myles, born in Natchez Mississippi in 1929, enlisted in the Army in 1946 at the age of seventeen. He qualified for training as a medic, and did both basic and medical training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. While he was there, the Army began...
