This collection of interviews details the lives and experiences of U.S. military veterans. The interviews were conducted during the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters by students in the HSTA 150: The Veteran’s Experience course at Missoula College under the supervision of instructor Elizabeth Barrs. The HSTA 150 course and oral history project were made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The interviewees discuss their motivation for joining the military, their training and combat experiences, and their transition to civilian life following their term of service. The original interviews are held as Oral History collection OH 472 at Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection includes 32 interviews.
-
Alex Butler Interview, November 13, 2020
Alex Butler
In this interview, Alex Butler shares that he was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After high school, he joined the Army and served on active duty from 2008 through 2014. Butler’s Military Occupational Specialty or MOS was Infantry. He attended basic training, ... Read More
-
Bill Gerlech Interview, November 1, 2020
Bill Gerlech
In this brief interview, Bill Gerlech shares that he was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He recalls enlisting in the Air Force on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Gerlech attended basic training in San Antonio, Texas, and he reflects on serving in the ... Read More
-
Christopher M. Mascari Interview, November 13, 2020
Christopher M. Mascari
In this interview, Christopher Mascari talks about being born and growing up in Terre Haute, Indiana. He discusses enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008, following his graduation from high school. Mascari recalls attending boot camp on Paris Island, South Carolina, and his service ... Read More
-
Daniel Sullivan Interview, November 24, 2019
Daniel Sullivan
Marine Corps Master Sergeant Daniel Sullivan describes his decision to join the Marine Corps, where he served 21 years, playing clarinet and other instruments in Marine Corps bands. Sullivan talks about auditioning to become a member of the band, the role of the band to ... Read More
-
David Francavilla Interview, October 10, 2020
David Francavilla
In this interview, David Francavilla discusses how his father, “Grandpa Tony,” served in World War II and Korea, and growing up and moving with his family to his father’s assignments. He mentions that his brother was killed while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in ... Read More
-
Harold G. Davis Interview, November 23, 2019
Harold G. Davis
Harold G. Davis details his experience in the U.S. Air Force starting with basic training at Lackland Air Force Base on January 8, 1954. Davis describes his time in active military duty in Eastern Asia the South Pacific, which included training runs in Okinawa, Japan, ... Read More
-
James D. Holmes Interview, September 2019
James D. Holmes
James D. Holmes describes serving in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955. He talks about why he joined the Navy, what basic training was like, and how his company was split between three groups of men from the southern United States and three groups ... Read More
-
James Duram Interview, April 16, 2021
James Duram
In this interview, James Duram reflects on his time serving in the U.S. Army and how he has always wanted to serve since he was a child. He discusses his peer-to-peer training working with the Israeli Defense Force. He talks about his time at the ... Read More
-
Jay T. Nelson Interview, November 3, 2019
Jay T. Nelson
Jay Nelson describes his time as an infantryman in the United States Army during the 1980s. He discusses basic training and advanced Individual training [AIT] at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was part of an experimental COHORT unit. Nelson talks about the unit’s posting in ... Read More
-
Joseph Wagner Interview, November 15, 2020
Joseph Wagner
In this interview, Joseph Wagner reflects on his eight years serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served four years of active duty and four years of reserves. Wagner reflects on his basic training experience. His military occupational specialty (MOS) was combat engineering, which involved ... Read More
-
Kathleen Creel Interview, November 25, 2019
Kathleen Creel
Kathleen Creel describes serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1980 to 1993. She talks about coming from a military family, which influenced her decision to join the Marines. Creel discusses the importance of basic training as well as the necessity of commanding officers and ... Read More
-
Keith Kleinheksel Interview, November 13, 2020
Keith Kleinheksel
Keith Kleinheksel describes his decision to join the U.S. Navy after high school and his Navy Enlisted Classification [NEC] as a fire controlman. He discusses his military service in both active duty and the reserves. Kleinheksel talks about the different deployments which he was sent ... Read More
-
Kenneth Richard Lewis, Sr. Interview, November 29, 2020
Kenneth Richard Lewis Sr.
In this interview, Kenneth Lewis reflects on his military service, including his time in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Although he served only one year in Vietnam, he served a total of 11 years of active duty with the Army and six years with the ... Read More
-
Levi Wagner Interview, October 30, 2020
Levi Wagner
In this interview, Levi Wagner talks about serving in the United States Army National Guard. Wagner discusses growing up in Helena and Townsend, Montana, and he relays experiences of some relatives who served in the military. Wagner talks about his basic training at Fort Benning, ... Read More
-
Marie Richards Interview, November 26, 2019
Marie Richards
Marie Richards describes her time in the U.S. Navy, starting with boot camp in Florida and ending with her retirement from active duty. Richards tells why she entered the military and discusses her boot camp experiences. She describes attending A School in San Diego after ... Read More
-
Nathan White Bemis Interview, November 16, 2019
Nathan White Bemis
Nathan Bemis describes his time serving in the U.S. Navy from 1960 to 1964, narrowly missing deployment to Vietnam. Bemis discusses how he came to be a gunner’s mate after originally joining the Navy in order to become a Seabee. He talks about what life ... Read More
-
Nathan White Bemis Interview, November 7, 2020
Nathan White Bemis
Nathan Bemis describes his early childhood and decision to enter the U.S. Navy, in which he served from 1960 to 1964. He talks about specializing as a gunner’s mate working on 8-inch guns aboard the USS Rochester and the USS Lexington aircraft carriers. Bemis discusses ... Read More
-
Nikolai Silvia Interview, November 6, 2020
Nikolai Silvia
Nikolai Silvia describes his experiences serving in the United States Army. He talks about doing tours in Iraq and Qatar and compares what it was like to be in each country. He describes the struggle to adjust to civilian life following his service and discusses ... Read More
-
Patrick Roy Toyne Interview, November 13, 2020
Patrick Roy Toyne
In this interview, Patrick Toyne shares that he was born in Billings, Montana, but he grew up in Hardin, Montana. Toyne enlisted in the Marine Corps in approximately 2016 and did his basic training in San Diego, California. He attended the School of Infantry, and ... Read More
-
Paul Bartos Interview, April 18, 2021
Paul Bartos
In this interview, Paul Bartos talks about his service in the U.S. Army. His rank was specialist, and his job specialty was in computer repair, though he really didn’t actually repair computers. He learned to drive different types of trucks in the military. He reflects ... Read More
-
Pelham Monte Turner Interview, November 6, 2020
Pelham Monte Turner
In this interview, Monte Turner discusses serving in the Air Force, starting with basic training in 1973. After basic training, he and other recruits from Montana would go on to Security Police training. Turner mentions that he and the other recruits wanted to be deployed ... Read More
-
Richard Ische Interview, November 25, 2019
Richard Ische
Richard Ische discusses his childhood on Minnesota farm and what motivated him to enlist in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He describes receiving his draft notice, reporting for boot camp in Memphis, Tennessee, then going to Moffett Field Naval Air Station, California, for a year for ... Read More
-
Robert Lewis Hummel Interview, November 14, 2020
Robert Lewis Hummel
Robert Hummel talks about his childhood and educational background in Washington state and Oregon. He then describes the 6 years he spent serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. He talks at length about his time serving in Alaska as part of a 15-person search and ... Read More
-
Roy Savage, Jr. Interview, October 4, 2020
Roy Savage Jr.
Roy Savage describes his experiences serving in the United States Navy as an operation specialist and ships rescue swimmer during the 1990s. He talks about his basic training in San Diego and how much he enjoyed it. Savage discusses being in the first battle group ... Read More
-
Scott Cohen Interview, November 15, 2020
Scott Cohen
Scott Cohen describes growing up in New York City and what prompted him to join the U.S. Navy in 1999. He discusses basic training at Great Lakes, Michigan, noting that it was the easiest part of his military career. Cohen talks about his military occupational ... Read More