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
Marion Graff, born in Ironwood Michigan in August of 1922, served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 in the Pacific during World War II. During his service, Marion was a Medical Corpsman aboard the U.S.S. West Virginia and provided anything from...
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. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Eugene King was drafted in 1943. He was trained as a military vehicle mechanic in addition to some training in explosives. King arrived in Le Havre, France, late in 1944 and was stationed initially at Camp Lucky Strike. While there, he was...
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
Ben Kleiman was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1918. He tried to enlist in the Army after Pearl Harbor, but was rejected due to poor eyesight. He was eventually drafted in 1943 and put on limited duty. He worked as a clerk at Camp Reynolds,...
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
Jeff Bowman was born in Muskegon, Michigan on May 27, 1954. He went to Christian schools in Muskegon and played basketball. Jeff graduated in 1972 and then enlisted in the Army. He had basic training in Fort Dicks and was stationed there for two...
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; Video recordings; United States. Army Air Corps; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Keith Cole, born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1924, served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942-1945 in England during World War II. After completing his training at Miami Beach, Keith was sent to England in 1943 where he was assigned to the 22nd...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy;
Raymond Zandstra was born in Grand Rapids. He served in the US Navy from July 14, 1959 to Sept. 28, 1962. He served in Sicily, and in the San Diego Helicopter Squadron One. Most of his duties revolved around helicopter maintenance and repair. ...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;
Jerry Von Holt served in the US Navy from 1947 to 1956. He served on ships and at bases across the Pacific, including Korea and Japan. He served on destroyers that patrolled Korean waters, but did not see combat. He also received firefighting...
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;
Robert Twa was born in Crystal Falls, Michigan in 1922 and served in the Army Air Corps in World War II. He was trained as a weather forecaster and served in California, Michigan, Greenland, Bermuda, Canada and Georgia. After the war, he worked for...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Fred Breuninger was born on April 22, 1922 and enlisted in the Air Force during WWII. He had gone to Castle Lake Military Academy, and was put into a HQ company. Fred was sent to England with the 8th Air Force in the 446th bomb group that used...
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;
Ray Gill is a World War II veteran who served with the U.S. Army from 1941 to May 1946. In this account, Gill discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He also discusses his active duty and how difficult the fighting was in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Guy Green is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army’s 8th Air Force from January 1943 to September 1945. In this account, Greene discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training, and also gives one a brief picture into the...
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;
Richard Hines was born in 1922 in Bradley, Michigan, and served in the Army during World War II. During his time in the service, he worked as a mortar man in the 324th Regiment, 44th Division, eventually commanding a mortar company. He was in...
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;
Don Bennett was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1925. He attended Albion College for one semester, then enlisted in the Navy, and became a submariner. He served on five patrols, one in the Kurile Islands, three near the Yellow Sea, and...
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;
Bernard Kraai was drafted into the US Army in 1944, and served in Europe with the 80th Division in late 1944 and 1945. His unit participated in the Battle of the Bulge and the advance into Germany. He was wounded twice, but rejoined his unit each...
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
Ernie Kaufman grew up in Lowell, Michigan, and was drafted into the army in 1946. He trained in Texas and Mississippi, and was then shipped to Guam. He did construction work on bases there, and then transferred to Air/Sea Rescue, where he worked...
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
Thomas McIntire enlisted in the US Army three days after his graduation from high school. He was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp, and later for truck mechanic school. The Army sent Thomas to Germany, where he worked in the motor pool on a...
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
Sherwin Nagelkirk was born in Zeeland, Michigan and lived with his grandparents growing up during the Depression while his father worked on their farm. Sherwin was drafted into the Army shortly after graduating from high school in 1951. He went...
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
Rex Greenawalt was born on October 5, 1947 In Plainwell, Michigan and graduated from high school in 1966. He was drafted into the Army in September of 1967 and went through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then infantry school at Fort...
