Civil rights--Michigan--History; Discrimination against Indians of North America
Kristine Skippergosh is a junior at Grand Valley State University. She is of Native American descent and her father works for the city of Wyoming in Michigan. She discussed the difficulties her father faced regarding race in his early years, as...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; United States. Marine Corps; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; Veterans; Video recordings;
Daniel Conover enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school. Conover served in the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marines from 1981-1985. In the interview he talks about life in the Marine Corps, some memorable training including...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Marine Corps; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Robert Halle served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Robert and Bruce both served in Korea. Robert enlisted in the Marine Reserves at the age of seventeen, and was called to active duty during his junior year of high school. He trained...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Marine Corps; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Michael Burton was born in Detroit and enlisted in 1966 after finishing one year at Grand Valley State College. He spent 8 months in Hawaii as part of the 127th Marine Infantry Regiment, and for a short while was part of their bases tennis team. He...
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; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
Justin Marshall was born in in New Jersey and later moved to Michigan with his family where he finished high school. Marshall decided to enlist in the United States Army in during his last semester of college at Kettering University. In 2004, 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. National Guard
After returning from Vietnam in 1969, Ron Oakes married, earned a degree in electronics and traveled around the Midwest working. Eventually, he and his family moved back to Michigan, where Oakes joined the National Guard. As part of the Guard,...
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
Gary Quinn was born in Ludington, Michigan in 1945 and graduated from high school in Montague in 1963. He then went to medical school to be an x-ray technician and found a job working in Muskegon when he was done with school. 5 months after...
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. Navy
Lloyd Heibel enlisted in the Navy in 1948 at the age of 17. He trained as a gunner and served on the USS Midway and USS Shenandoah, operating in the Atlantic and Mediterranean at the time of the Korean War.
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. Navy
Burney Huizenga served in the Navy during the Korean War. His main job on the U.S.S. Missouri, the battleship he served on, was in the Main Propulsion Division where he dealt with running the engines of the ship. He served in the Navy for three...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans ; Video recordings; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives,...
Luc Nguyen’s father escaped from North Vietnam when he was a young man and following his service in the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN), became a farmer. Nguyen himself grew up on the farms where his father worked before attending the University of...
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. Coast Guard
Gord Youngquist served in the United States Coast Guard from 1977 to 1987. During this period Gord served in a wide variety of positions and locations from Cortez Florida, Sarasota Florida, Saint Petersburg Florida, as well as aboard an ice breaker...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings; United States. Air Force; Afghan War, 2001---Personal narratives, American;
Dale Kissinger was born in Gary, IN in 1948 and served in the Air Force between 1972 and 2002. He decided to join the Air Force upon completion of high school and attended training to become a helicopter pilot, and later trained in fixed wing...
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; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;
John Erickson is a Korean War veteran who served with the U.S. Army from November 1949 to 1953. Erickson discusses his training and service in Washington and Alaska before he was sent to Korea. He joined the 2nd Division on its advance from Pusan...
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; 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
Jerry Gore was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War in 1969. Having gone through Advanced Infantry Training, he served as a machine gunner and tunnel rat until he became too ill to fight. He states that he was in combat all the time, but...
