Veterans History Project
The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. The oral histories collected here represent over fifteen years of effort from representatives of the Ypsilanti Rotary Club, Ypsilanti District Library, and Eastern Michigan University. All of these have been archived with the Library of Congress, and this is our attempt to put many of these Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, and Michigan oral histories in one place.
Mary-Margaret Brandt
"We were in Saddam's private hospital, it was in what's called the Certified Green Zone, a half mile from the Palace which is now the Embassy. And we were rocketed, or mortared, or some kind of incoming indirect fire...almost everyday. "
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William Campbell
"This baby [Canadian Naval Ensign] was flying on the ship during the Invasion of Normandy."
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Thomas Collier
"That was then, now is now. Forget about it. And think they really believe that."
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Toy Davison
"If you fall out and you can't keep going, you will be beat with a rifle butt. And if you don't get up and go, we'll shoot you wherever you're at."
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Ernie Harwell
"Wasn't much of a place, almost a little hen house but it was somewhere to live."
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William Henderson
"The Navy and the Air Force decided we have to something different here."
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Lawrence Hill
"We went into the surf, literally in the winter in Iceland, and the water is clear but it is like the surface of the moon."
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Alexander Jefferson
"We're bringing in young people everyday to learn the tradition, learn the history, and to carry on."
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Charles Kettles
"We went through some twenty-one helicopters that day, to one degree or another."
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