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Vesta Fitzpatrick speaks about a railroad accident that occurred west of the town of New Castle, Colorado around 1900. She talks about her father, a Union Civil War veteran. She discusses poetry and short stories that she wrote about her youth. She remembers working in a rooming house in Uravan for workers from Oakridge, Tennessee during secretive mining for the first atomic bomb, and receiving a letter of appreciation for her work after the first...

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...

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,...

In a three-part interview conducted over three days, Luisa Landini describes her childhood in Montale, Italy and her life after immigrating to the United States. In part one, she talks about life in Italy, working on a farm and in the fields, and her immigration to the United States via ship at the age of twenty-two. She talks about coming to America to marry Pete Landini and her homesickness for Italy when she arrived. She speaks about the family’s...

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...

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.

Joe Williams talks about his life just before being drafted into service during the Vietnam War. He addresses his doubts about the purpose of the war, his misgivings about going to Vietnam as part of the US Army’s infantry, and his general disillusionment with the war. He remembers his impressions of the Vietnamese people. He speaks about general aspects of life in the US Army during war time. He remembers being assigned to the 1st Aviation Brigade,...

Thomas Moore talks about his childhood and education in Columbus, Ohio, and being drafted into the United States Army in 1968. He describes his tour of duty and experiences in Chu Lai, Vietnam, during the Vietnam War, with the 23rd Infantry Americal Division from 1969 to 1970. He recounts drug and alcohol use among American troops during the war. He remembers his difficulty reintegrating into American society when he returned from the war and talks...

Leonard Lewis recalls his upbringing in Gateway, Colorado. He remembers being drafted into the US Army, being stationed for nearly one and a half years at Fort Carson, and his eventual transfer to Vietnam in 1968 with replacement troops for the 9th Infantry Division in Ben Hoa. He describes patrolling the countryside with his reconnaissance unit and working as the radio operator to the forward observer. He talks about working with a mortar unit and...

Chester Crowley, who grew up in Western Colorado, talks about his experiences in the U.S. Army. He remembers the basic training that prepared him for the Korean War, and being assigned as a military intelligence analyst with the US Army’s First Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. He speaks about his contacts with the Vietnamese people, with allied Vietnamese units, and about fighting against the Vietcong. He gives his view of race relations...