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; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
Craig Van Hout was born in 1949 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. After graduating from high school, he went to college for three semesters before dropping out, and received his draft notice soon afterward in January 1969. After finishing his basic training...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army. Air Corps; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Duane Neff served in the US Army Air Corps between 1943 and 1946. He served with an air warning unit that worked mostly with fighter squadrons in the Philippines. He discusses encounters with the Japanese and with Filipinos, and incidents that...
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; Other veterans &...
This interview replaces the missing portion from his original interview in 2004, and primarily covers the period between the end of his first tour in Vietnam in late 1966 to the end of his second tour in 1968. During this period, Gillem was...
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; Other veterans &...
Gerald Redwine was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1933. After graduating from high school in 1952, Redwine was attending Grand Rapids Junior College when a group of five of his friends suggested they join the military. After both the Air Force...
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 Edmondson was born in 1924 in Wheaton, Illinois, and grew up in nearby Glen Ellyn. After graduating from high school, Edmondson began attending Purdue University the following fall, which was where he heard about the Aviation Cadet Program,...
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
Colin Williams was born June 9, 1927 and decided to enlist into the Navy due to the expectation that men his age served their country and because his brothers had also served. He was sent to Great Lakes, Illinois for boot camp where he learned a...
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
Ted McCormick was born in Standish, Michigan and grew up in Flint, Michigan. He graduated from high school in 1968 and received his draft notice in 1969. He took basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and infantry training at Fort Polk, Louisiana....
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; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Video recordings
Erwin Veneklase served in the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division between 1939 and 1945. He enlisted in the National Guard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and trained with his unit in Louisiana before beign shipped first...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Robert Williams served in the U.S. Army and National Guard for nearly 50. He served during WW II in the 11th Armored Division and saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and in Germany and Austria, where they were ordered to halt and wait for Soviet...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives;
Willard Van Singel was drafted into the Army in 1941 and trained in Texas. He spent 3 years in Texas working as a battalion supply sergeant and also helped with administration and clerical work. Willard then served in the 83rd Infantry Division,...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
George Zysk served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Infantry Division on New Guinea and in the Philippines during WW II fighter. In the Philippines, he was on board a ship that was hit by a kamikaze. He speaks critically of Gen....
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Robert Pearson served as an artillery liaison pilot with the 4th Armored Division in WW II. He describes his reasons for enlisting prior to the start of the war, his training first in gliders and then in observation planes, and his service in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Rocco J. Farano (Rocky), of Troy, NY served in the 36th Infantry Division during the WW II from 1943-1946. He saw action in Sicily, Italy, and later served in France, Belgium and Germany. Most of the interview focuses on combat in Italy, where he...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives;
Donald Katt served with the 66th Infantry Division during WW II. He was drafted in 1943, trained mostly in Alabama, and went to Europe late in 1944. He served in France and Germany. Most of his comments are on training, working with French...
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
William A. Sikkel joined the Michigan National Guard before World War II and served in the army on active duty between 1940 and 1945 in the 126th Regiment, 32nd “Red Arrow” Division. He attended Officer Candidate School before the division...
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;
Kenneth Vander Molen is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army, first as an infantry replacement and then later in the regular army from August 1945 to December 1946. In this account, Vander Molen discusses his pre-enlistment,...
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;
Robert Christiansen was born on August 11, 1920 in Muskegon, Michigan. He joined the US Navy in 1944 and served in the Pacific on board the destroyers USS Ward and USS July. He served on convoy duty between New Guinea and the Philippines and in...
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;
Carl J. Strom is a WWII Veteran who served in the United States Army in France and Italy from July 1942 to May 1945. Strom was a platoon leader in ompany B, 141st Regiment, 36th Infantry Division and fought at the Rapido River crossing, Monte...
