Steeve Buckridge was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He became a professor at Grand Valley State University several years ago. He is an Associate Professor of African and Caribbean History and Associate Faculty in African and African American Studies....
Civil rights--Michigan--History; Hispanic Americans--Personal narratives; Discrimination against Hispanic Americans
James Morton talks about his family’s experience immigrating to the United States during the big flight of Puerto Ricans of the 1950s. He also discusses his experiences with discrimination in both Queens, New York and West Michigan.
Robert Robson is a military veteran who was born and raised in Grand Rapids. He signed a contract with the navy in 1962 and spent 4 years in active duty and 2 years in the inactive reserves. He has a lot of memories from his time in the navy and...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
John Cary was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 2 October 1897.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; African-American soldiers; United States. Navy; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Lyn Lee served in the US Navy from 1972 to 1974. He was a crewman on the USS Navasota (A0-106), a large tanker. His ship served in the South China Sea, and supported ships cruising off the coast of Vietnam in the later stages of the war there.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American;...
Troy Girke was born in Allegan, Michigan in 1963 and enlisted in the United States Navy in 1983. Troy remained with the Navy for 20 years and traveled to Africa, Australia, Spain, France, Bahrain, UAE, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the...
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;
James Chamberlain enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and trained at Great Lakes Naval Academy in Chicago. James spent almost a year in the Philippines helping to build naval bases along the coasts of different islands. On his trip home in 1946, he...
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. Navy
Joshua Karr served in the US Navy from 2002-2006, during the war with Iraq. The first half of his enlistment would be spent in the Pacific on the USS Constellation, which was sent to the Persian Gulf when the Iraq War started. He worked primarily...
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. Air Force; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Douglas Broek grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1967 to stay ahead of the draft. After completing basic training in San Antonio, he spent about two years working as a clerk for a security unit at Loring Air Force Base...
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...
In July 1969, Ron Kloet returned to Vietnam for a third tour of duty. During this tour, he served as part of the intelligence section for the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Phuoc Long Province. While with the 1st Air Cav., Kloet took part 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
Alan Toms was born in Toronto, Canada in 1939. Because of his father’s occupation, Toms’ and his family moved several times while Toms was a child, eventually ending up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school, Toms attended...
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
After completing his tour in Vietnam with the Air Cavalry, Alan Toms returned to the United States, where he completed drill sergeant training before going to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. From Fort Campbell, Toms deployed for a second time to Germany,...
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
Larry Groothuis was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1943. He was drafted into the Army late in 1966. During basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he was selected to go to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for training as a teletype operator, and from there...
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. Army; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Uwe Meyer, Born in Germany in 1949, moved to Iowa as a child and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1969. After training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent to Vietnam. Upon arrival, he was assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 506h Infantry...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Marine Corps; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Ron Howell, born in Flint, Michigan in 1948 He enlisted in the Marine Corps and served from 1967 to 1969. Trained at San Diego as a radio operator, he was sent to Vietnam in June, 1968 and assigned to a headquarters unit in Da Nang. He later...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Navy; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Kay Maxson, born in Lowell Michigan in 1933, enlisted in the Naval Reserve in early 1951, and was called to active duty in January, 1952. Trained in fire and damage control, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany. After he joined the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; United States. Navy; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Gene Welch was born near Midland, Pennsylvania in 1942. After graduating high school
in 1960, he decided to join the Navy. Mr. Welch received his basic training at Great Lakes Naval
Academy, and then went to a training school in San Diego to...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American;...
Born in Sturgis, Michigan in 1942, Gabe Hudson joined the U.S. Army in 1967 following several years of college. After completing training as a photo interpreter, Hudson deployed to Vietnam served with 101st Airborne Division for fifteen months....
