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. Marine Corps
Steve Dumond was born in 1986 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He joined the Marine Corps immediately after high school in 2005. After boot camp and infantry training, he completed two tours in Iraq, one in 2006 and the second from September 2007 through...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Air Force; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Kenneth Hicks served in the 8th Air Force as a B-17 pilot based in England in 1944-45. He provides extensive descriptions of the training process and his experience with bombing missions in the later stages of the war.
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
James VandenBosch, born in Ada, Michigan, enlisted in the Navy in 1966 and trained as a medical corpsman. After a cruise aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La in the Mediterranean, he trained for combat duty with the Marines at Camp Lejeune...
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
Joseph Krzeminski was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1919. His family suffered during the Depression, and he left high school and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936, serving two stints, and then joined the Army in 1940. After...
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
Mike Renner was born in Sigourney, Iowa. He enlisted in the Army in 1969 to stay ahead of the draft. After training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, he was sent for artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Sent to Vietnam in early 1970, he was assigned...
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
Steven Faine, born in Detroit in 1947, enlisted in the Army in 1967 to avoid being drafted and choose his specialization. He took basic training at Fort Knox and then went to Fort Sam Houston to train as a medic. From there, he got into a new...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Air Force; Veterans; Video recordings;
William Ewing enlisted in the Air Force Reserves before the beginning of WW II and remained in the Reserves until 1984. During WW II he flew the A-20 Avenger out of New Guinea and later the Philippines before returning home after completing his...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Veterans
Lawrence M. Gary is a WW II Veteran who served in the United States Army in both the European and Pacific Theaters. He was assigned to F Co 341st Infantry Regiment (86th "Blackhawk" Div.), spending the majority of his military service time in the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Veterans; Video recordings
Charles Ohanesian is a WW II veteran who served in the U.S. Army with the 2nd Armored Division from 1942 until being seriously wounded in 1944, arriving in North Africa after the German surrender there, and participating in the campaigns in Sicily...
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; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Video recordings
Erling Smestad enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1938 and served in the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until June of 1945. His unit trained in Louisiana and was shipped first to the East Coast and then back across the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Air Force; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American;
Al Lust was born in Ohio in 1950 and enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1971. Al served in Germany, Thailand, and Korea. While in Thailand, Al worked on flight missions against the Viet Cong. Al stated that he was mortared and shot at...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army;
Leo Pfaller served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956 in the 4th Armored Division. He had several duties in the Army including tank commander, guard and cook. He discusses his training, dealing with the draft, family life in the military,...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
George Anderson was born on February 5, 1931 in Coopersville, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy in 1951. He was sent to the Great Lakes training center in Chicago, and then transferred to Newport, Rhode Island, where he took torpedo training. 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; United States. Army. Medical Corps; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Derek Flack is a Vietnam veteran who served in the U.S. Marine Corps from July, 1966 to April, 1969. Flack provides detailed discussions of training in California and service in Vietnam during and after the Tet Offensive. Flack was wounded in...
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, American;
Robert Hammond was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 18, 1923. Robert enlisted in the Navy about one year after Pearl Harbor was attacked and went through basic training in Chicago. After basic training, Robert went to radio, gunnery and...
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;
Arthur Harnish served in the 347th Engineer Regiment between 1943 and 1945. He provides detailed descriptions of training and his service in Europe. He landed in Normandy shortly after D-Day and helped his unit rebuild bridges in France, Belgium...
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
Richard Gillard served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from June 1942 to September 1945 during World War II. In this account, Gillard discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and training and his combat experience abroad in North Africa and Italy....
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
William Vander Wall was born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1922. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was very anxious about joining the service and was accepted into the Army on April 1, 1942. William trained with a mortar squad in Tennessee and...
