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. Marine Corps
James Abrams was born in Sparta, Michigan, in 1923, and eventually grew up in Montana. After moving to Grand Haven, Michigan, he joined the Marines after Pearl Harbor. After boot camp in San Diego, he was shipped to the Solomon Islands and joined...
Anna Fisk was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is an advocate and activist. She discusses growing up being lesbian in a Christian household.
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;
Bob Arntz was born in 1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from high school Bob worked in a factory for a while before enlisting in the Army in 1968. Bob went through basic training in February of 1968 at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After...
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
Dick Bailey was born in Pennsylvania and enlisted in the army at the age of nineteen during World War II. He spent the majority of his time deployed in the Pacific, working as an aircraft mechanic in the 13th Air Force. He went home to...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Coast Guard; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Louis Begin Jr. was born to Hungarian immigrants in Pennsylvania. His family then moved to Detroit, MI after his father lost his job. He enlisted in the Coast Guard after the attack at Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned to guard ships going in and...
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...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
Lowell Blomstrom was born on 22 March 1893 in Grand Rapids. His father was an inventor and pioneer in the automobile industry. In 1904 Carl Blomstrom introduced the Queen Automobile produced in Detroit by the Blomstrom Motor Company. Lowell...
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 Air Corps
Lloyd Blough was born in Michigan on August 25, 1915 and drafted into the Army in 1941 when he was 26 years old. He went through training at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan and was transferred to Virginia two weeks after Pearl Harbor was...
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
Orville Boerman was born in 1933 in Allegan County, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army in May of 1953. He trained as a mechanic and was sent to Germany where he served in a transportation company supporting an artillery unit, helping them move...
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
Willard Bosserman served in World War II as a mechanic in the Army. He was drafted in 1943 and worked in a maintenance company attached to the 87th Division, and then to the 66th Division. His company shipped to Europe in December, 1944, and took...
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;
Wilbur Bouwkamp served in the US Army between 1941 and 1945. After basic training, he was assigned to the 10 Armored Division, where he served on a recovery vehicle, a tank adapted to tow damaged tanks back to friendly lines where they could be...
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 Air Corps
Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Donald Brazones enlisted into the Army Air Corps at the age of 18 in retaliation to the Japanese’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Brazones trained to be a navigator and was sent to England to fly missions over Europe. On...
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
Daniel Broe was born in Allegan, Michigan in 1949, and grew up there and in Holland, Michigan. He went to work after high school, and was drafted into the Marine Corps in 1969. He did well enough in rifle training at Camp Pendleton to be put into...
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;
Ed Brooks served in the US Army between 1962 and 1964. He trained as a mechanic and worked in motor pools at bases in the US and in South Korea, where he served for a full year.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Steve Byers had been in the Navy for 20 years when he retired in 2000. He discusses the benefits of military life and some of the differences between military and civilian experiences and attitudes.
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
Cliff Carlon was born in 1921 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was drafted into the Army in 1942 and trained as a mechanic. He served with Company B of the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion in Europe, and later transferred to a reconnaissance unit. ...
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; Other veterans &...
David Cheeseman, of Martin, Michigan served in the Navy for 22 years, rising in ranks throughout his enlistment to become a Chief Officer. He enlisted in 1964, during the beginning of the Vietnam conflict. David trained as an aviation...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; United States. Navy; Aircraft carriers; Veterans; Video recordings;
Wade Cratsenberg is a Vietnam veteran who served in the United States Navy from November 1964 to November 1970 in California. In this interview, Cratsenberg discusses the behind-the-scene work done by the Navy during Vietnam. As part of the VR7 and...
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
Anthony Critchlow was born in Boise, Idaho in 1948. When he was nineteen years old he decided to enlist in November of 1967 as a cook in the military. He went to basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington for eight weeks before going to Fort Lee,...
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. Air Force
Darwin Cutler enlisted into the Air Force in September 1950 and trained as a Specialized Mechanic and sometimes operated as a Flight Engineer. His job was to work on aircraft engines and transportation during the Korean War. He was based in the...
