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
Charles Aldrich was born in 1925 in Hastings, Michigan, and enlisted in the US Navy after Pearl Harbor at the age of 17. He trained for 5 weeks at Great Lakes, and then went to gunnery school in Little Creek, Virginia to train as an Armed Guard for...
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...
Bennitt, John, 1830-1892; United States. Army. Michigan Infantry Regiment, 19th (1862-1865)--Surgeons; Surgeons—Michigan--Diaries; United States—History--Civil War, 1861-1865—Medical care; United States--Army--Corps, 20th—Medical care;...
This diary is the second of three kept by physician John Bennitt of Centreville, Michigan describing his experience as a Civil War surgeon for the 19th Michigan Infantry Regiment. The second volume (Feb. 9, 1864-Jan. 13, 1865) continues the account...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Coast Guard;
Gerald Bradley was born in Madison, Michigan on April 22, 1922. He graduated from high school in 1938 and attempted to enlist in the Navy and Coast Guard. Gerald was rejected due to his eyesight, but eventually enlisted in the Army in 1943. ...
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
Bruce Brady was born in 1949 in Welch, West Virginia. His family was forced to relocate to North Carolina where he eventually graduated from high school in 1967. He was drafted on October 6, 1969 and was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and to...
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. 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; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Richard Cannon was born in Gary, Indiana in 1925. He was drafted after high school in July of 1943 as part of a group of black draftees from his neighborhood. Mr. Cannon was assigned to the Navy. After training at Great Lakes Naval Station, he was...
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
James Clark was born in September 1920 in a farmhouse in Wayne County, Michigan. Growing up, Clark had a difficult childhood, including a diagnosis of tuberculosis, moving to Arizona for treatment and back to Michigan, and his family losing their...
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
This interview provides a more complete account of Dr. Clark's experiences during the Battle of the Bulge than his original interview did. When the Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th, 1944, James Clark was serving as part of the medical...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; United States. Navy; Veterans
William Coan was in the Navy during the war in Vietnam from 1970- 1974. He traveled to Greece, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Italy, Cuba, St. Croix, and St. Thomas. He mentions that he may have received a better education and pay in the Air Force.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Randy Curry enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1962 when he was 17 years old. He served on a destroyer as a torpedo man. His ship sailed to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and Norway. He spent an extra 4 months in the service due to Vietnam and signed out...
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
Richard Drury was born in 1950 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He received his draft notice shortly after finishing high school in 1969. He did his Army basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and then advanced training for airborne at Fort Gordon, Georgia,...
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
Les Dykema was born in 1949 and few up in Hudsonville, Michigan. He tried college, but did not do well in his first year and in 1968 went ahead and enlisted in the Army and get some choice of assignment rather than wait to be drafted. In basic...
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
Don Eckman, of Lake Odessa, Michigan enlisted in the Army in March, 1944. He was in basic training in Florida at the time of D-Day, and shipped to Europe in the fall of 1944. He was assigned to the 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division, at Nancy,...
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
Jake Grit was drafted into the Army in 1943 and fought in World War II. He served in a rifle company in the 9th Division, which he joined as a replacement in September, 1944. He saw action in the Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, at the...
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; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army;
Felix Gullick spent most of his childhood on a farm in Kansas, and then moved to Muskegon, Michigan in 1939. He was drafted and served in the US Army between 1943 and 1946. He did his basic training in California, and spent about a year working on...
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
Jim Hallberg of Muskegon, Michigan, was drafted into the army in October of 1941 and assigned to the 34th Division as an infantryman. He was part of the group sent directly into the harbor at Algiers to seize the port in November, 1943, and was...
