Veterans -- United States
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During 1980’s annual meeting of the Last Squad Club, an organization of World War I veterans, Al Look reads the memorial service and former U.S. Representative Wayne Aspinall gives the keynote address. The club remembers deceased members and friends of the club. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Voice Recording
The thirty-one surviving members of The Last Squad Club, a group of World War I veterans established in 1937, meets in 1981. Different members, including Al Look and Glenn Berry, are recorded speaking. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History...
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Voice Recording
During the 1983 meeting of the Last Squad Club, a group of World War I veterans that began meeting in Grand Junction, Colorado in the 1930’s, member Al Look reads a eulogy for those veterans who have passed. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Voice Recording
Homer Colman talks about his family genealogy and his family’s history on the Western Slope of Colorado. He clarifies aspects of his earlier 1982 interview with the Mesa County Oral History Project, including his survival of near starvation conditions in Bataan, what he perceives as the failures of the US military’s War Plan Orange, his criticism of General Douglas MacArthur, the bombing of US military installations in the Philippines that followed...
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Voice Recording
Al Look presents a February 18, 1971 meeting of the surviving members of the Last Squad Club, an association of World War I servicemen founded during the Great Depression. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Voice Recording
During a ceremony at Grand Junction, Colorado’s V.A. Medical Center on National POW/MIA Recognition Day in 1983, military veterans and public officials commemorate US prisoners of war in Vietnam, and US service members missing in action in Vietnam. This recording is made available via signed release by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
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Voice Recording
Lieutenant Colonel John Bonforte talks about his enlistment in the US Army medical corps during World War I, and about his service in France, Germany, and Poland. His interview with David Sundal took place directly after the annual meeting of the Last Squad Club, which was an organization of World War I veterans in Mesa County. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums...
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Voice Recording
Allen Brink, a United States Marine who was one of the early volunteers to go to Vietnam, talks about his experiences in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1968. He expresses his disillusionment with the war, its purpose, and its methods. He speaks about his life after returning to the United States, his identification with veterans who protested the war (though he himself was not a protester), and his disagreement with protestors in the general public....
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Doug Westcott talks about his youth in Southern California, and about playing music and making records with a band called the Esquires. He describes the deep US Marine ties in his family that led, in part, to his enlistment in 1960. He recounts his experiences as a Radio Relay Electronics Technician in the 7th Communication Battalion. He remembers training in jungle warfare techniques in the Phillipines, becoming an expert, and teaching jungle warfare...
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Grace Traynor talks about her son Harold Baker Wood and his service as a Boatswain’s Mate aboard the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She discusses her son’s death during the attack and subsequent medals he received. She speaks about the enlistment of her sons in the armed forces during the Great Depression, when jobs were scarce, and about their lives in Grand Junction as young adults. The interview was conducted...
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Ira Caley talks about growing up on a farm near Grants Pass, Oregon and in the town of Springfield, Oregon. He speaks about the difficulty of his home life and joining the Marines at the age of seventeen. He recalls basic training, early rumblings about the Vietnam War in 1963, being assigned to the 1st Batallion, 11th Marines, training for jungle warfare in the Philippines, and landing in Vietnam as part of an invasion force in October 1965. He describes...
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Jack Williams, an automotive dealer and realtor from Grand Junction, Colorado, talks about his experiences in World War II’s Pacific Theater. He describes sitting on the deck of a destroyer in Pearl Harbor when the bombing began on December 7, 1941. He describes the aerial attack by Japanese forces, the mobilization of US Naval forces, and receiving credit for the downing of a Japanese plane. He discusses engaging with Japanese submarines in the...
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Mabel Cowden discusses her pioneer father, who owned a stagecoach line in Meeker and Rifle, Colorado, and her pioneer mother, who was active in the community and Methodist church affairs of Rifle. She goes into her education as a teacher and her teaching position in Harvey Gap. She talks about meeting her fiance, his service during World War I, and about the service of her brother, sons and grandsons in other wars. She also talks about raising a family...
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Melvin Feller talks about being stationed in the Philippines, where his US Army Air Corps unit slept on dikes in the rice paddies because they anticipated a Japanese attack in the two weeks prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He speaks about the Japanese attack on US bases in the Philippines the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He describes evacuating from the Philippines on a ship and being most probably the only surviving member of his company....
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Lloyd Bullington talks about his enlistment in the Army 18th Engineers just prior to US involvement in World War II, his recruitment into the then new 804 Engineers, and constructing a runway in Kauai at the time of Pearl Harbor. He discusses his experiences building runways in contested areas just behind the front lines in the Pacific Theater. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries...
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Voice Recording
Philip Griebel talks about his life as an educator and a coach at Fruita High School. He remembers the fire that burnt down the first Fruita Union High School in 1934. He describes teaching topics in science and math for 28 years. He speaks about his career as a basketball, football, and track coach, remembers school and community involvement in the games, and rivalries between Fruita and high schools in Delta, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Montrose,...
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Mike Taylor talks in brief about his childhood in Grand Junction, leaving high school early, and joining the Marines at the age of seventeen. He recalls his service as a rifleman in Vietnam with the Delta Company, First Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment. He speaks about being wounded in combat, his long convalescence at Fitzsimons Hospital in Denver, and his marriage at the hospital. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project,...
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Mrs. Rose Perry relates her son’s experience on the U.S.S. Helena, a Brooklyn-class light cruiser used by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater of World War II. The Helena was one of the cruisers attacked in Pearl Harbor, and was directly torpedoed by the Japanese. The Helena survived the attack and was assigned to assist in the Guadalcanal campaign. It helped to destroy several Japanese aircraft and battleships and contributed to American victories...
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William Hill talks about joining the US Air Force in 1967, his training as an Airborne Radio Repairman, his assignment with the Strategic Air Command, and his training in cryptography with a top secret clearance. He remembers being stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam War, where he repaired radios and went on frag runs at night with the 2nd Detachment of the 834th Air Division, dropping flares to aid US troops, and flying classified missions....
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John Andrew Sigmon describes lying about his age so that he could join the US Navy in 1931. He tells about life in the Navy and working on destroyers prior to World War II, and about transferring to submarine duty just prior to US involvement in World War II. He talks about being stationed in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and about receiving commendation for shooting down a Japanese plane on December 7, 1941. He describes submarine munitions,...
