Mac McSpadden aircraft carrier takeoff

The Forerunner Ministry presents 141 interviews as a tribute to individuals who served in the Armed Forces of the United States. The recollections are grouped into the following categories: World War II and the Korean War, Peacetime, Viet Nam, and the Gulf War. Dr. Rita Bryant Turner is a catalyst of this project. She and Tom Kelly recorded interviews with 33 veterans in 1998 but could not secure support for a church-wide project. Four years later when the Broadcast Ministry prepared a Veteran's Day video, Dr. Turner located and scheduled the veterans. Church personnel conducted the interviews needed, and then the project was turned over to volunteers. Darryle Dunks and Jennifer Dickson of the Forerunner Ministry provided the equipment and assistance to Leroy Baty, Leo Glover and Dr. Rita Bryant Turner, who video-taped military experiences related by veterans and veteran widows. Volunteers transcribed the interviews, including those taped by the church personnel. Private funds were used to finance professional editing. Edited by Paula S. Yost of Heirloom Memoirs, Yantis, Texas. Read what Paula, a journalist and historian, had to say about these touching stories in her project recap.
 
Acknowledgements
If you are a veteran and a member of Green Acres Baptist Church and would like to have your military experience recorded and transcribed for historical purposes, please contact Darryle Dunks,  darryle@mail.gabc.org
 
Our Veterans

LEGEND:
* - Deceased
n/a - Interview unavailable
W - World War II
K - Korea
V - Vietnam
P - Peace

Air Force ::28 Veterans

Appleby, Paul - W, Beaver, Homer B. * - W, Burch, Arthur * - W, Burgess, Gerald - W, Callon, Max * - W, Carson, Dale * - W, K, Daniel, A.L. - P, Doyle, Lonnie * - W, Gallagher, Pat - W, Ham, Coy - W, Hanna, Chad - W, Houser, Marion - P, Hughes, Buck * - W, Jennings, Rex * - W, Jones, Cliff * n/a - K, Judy, George W. - W, Lane, Richard - V, Lamberson, Jerry - P, Lantrip, Tommy - K, Lee, Charles - K, McCarter, Bill - W, Merriman, Gene - P, Orr, Alex - W, Rice, Buford * - P, Sammons, Martin - K, Suggs, Lewis - K, V, Walters, Ted - W, Wilcox, James - K, V

Air National Guard :: 1 Veteran
Wilson, Howard - K

Army :: 69 Veterans
Alexander, Jim - V, Anderson, Leroy * - W, Aronhalt, Glen - W, Barr, Grady - V, Baty, Lee Roy * - K, Beckley, Robert "Bob" - P, Bowen, Morris - P, Brooks, Kenneth * - W, Burkett, Marshall - W, Callon, Gerald - W, Calvert, Richard - K, Carey, Cleo * - W, Childs, John - V, Conser, Paul - V, Conroy, Bill * - W, Cranford, L. J. * - W, Crank, Hansel - K, Daniel, A.L. - W, P, Dougherty, Gary D.D.S. - K, Drury, J.R. - W, Duhon, Bob - K, Evans, Dick * - P, Fielding, Emory - K, Franks, Herbert - W, Glover, Leo - V, Green, G.W. * - W, Hairgrove, Bill - W, Hardy, Jack - W, Harrelson, Dale - V, Hayes, Jimmy - K, Haynes, Lemual - W, Higgenbotham, Sam - K, House, Theodore M. - W, K, Jacobs, Bob - W, Joplin, Ken - P, Jordan, Tom - K, V, King, Harvey - K, Kinsey, Robert "Bob" * - W, Lawhon, Emmett - W, Layne, Mary Lou - V, Marshall, Kenneth * - W, Merrell, James - W, Miller, Spencer - K, Morgan, Robie * - W, Ortega, Dennis - P, Paine, Bob * - W, Peck, Franklin * - W, Phillips, Ray - W, K, Pickens, Charles - K, Pinkerton, Jack * - W, Reed, Bennie - K, Robertson, Bill - W, Root, Glen - P, Rushing, Harold - W, Saunders, Rowland - P, Sinclair, Carroll - P, Smith, Al - P, Smith, Ned * - W, Steger, Judge William A. * n/a - W, Thompson, Bob - K, Trotter, Virbel - K, Turner, Austin P. * - W, Underwood, Glenn - P, Wade, Lawrence - W, Waters, C.J. * - W, West, Jim * n/a - W, White, H.G. - W, White, Rex - K, Wood, Woody - W, Young, Tommy - K

Army National Guard :: 1 Veteran
Loudamy, Clyde * - K

Army Reserve ::

2 Veterans
Grooms, Randall - P, McCollum, Charles - W

Marines :: 5 Veterans
Bailey, Harold - K, Caperton, Buel * - W, Freeman, James - W, Green, Ray - K, Wofford, Arnold - W

Merchant Marines :: 1 Veteran
Hendrix, Ralph* - W

Navy :: 40 Veterans
Akin, Charles - V, Allen, John - W, K, Burgess, Walter * - W, Dance, Ken - P, Dunn, Vernon - W, Fritcher, Joe * - W, Gill, James T. - K, Goad, William "Dick" - W, Gulledge, James R. "Jim" * n/a - W, Hahn, Dale - V, Hamilton, Sam - W, Harwell, Ed * - K, V, Hayes, Gene - W, Henderson, Paul - W, Hickson, Joe - P, Hill, Forrest - W, Hillier, Bud - W, Hood, Roy - W, Land, O.C. - W, Layton, Bob * - W, Lester, Ben - V, Lindgren, Conrad - K, Long, Paul * - W, Lynch, Doug * - K, Maner, Raymond - W, Maness, Curtis - K, McCollum, Charles E. * - V, McSpadden, Mac - W, Owens, Thomas - K, Phillips, Ray - K, Shirley, Don - V, Smith, Louis * - W, Smith, Perry - W, Stovall, Jim - W, Tiller, Wayne - V, Tipton, Bob * - W, Turner, Rudy - W, Waters, John - K, White, Paul - W, Woodin, Bob - W

Naval Reserve :: 4 Veterans
Getsee, Ken - P, Hill, Buddy - P, Merryman, Bob - K, Strother, Bill - W, K

In Memoriam
While this entire Veteran Project is a tribute to the men and women who so faithfully served our country, this particular section remembers those whose interviews are listed, but have gone home to the Lord.

Leroy Anderson • Army, WWII, d. July 08, 2006
Lee Roy Baty • Army, Korea, d. June 18, 2011
Homer Beaver • Air Force, WWII
Ken Brooks • Army, WWII, d. July 21, 2004
Arthur Burch • Air Force, WWII, d. September 16, 2006
Walter Burgess • Navy, WWII, d. April 27, 2005
Gerald Callon • Army, WWII, d. June 27, 2009
Max Callon • Air Force, WWII, d. August 26, 2008
Buel Caperton • Marines, WWII, d. September 8, 2003
Cleo Carey • Army, WWII, d. May 20, 2008
Dale Carson • Air Force, WWII, Korea, d. March 25, 2005
Atlas "Sparky" Chance, Jr. • Marines, WWII, d. July 29, 2008
Bill Conroy • Army, WWII, d. July 13, 2011
L.J. Cranford • Army, WWII, d. January 31, 2009
Noah Cromer • Air Force, d. July 27, 2008
Lonnie Doyle • Air Force, WWII, d. January 2, 2002
Dick Evans • Army, Peacetime, d. March 29, 2004
Joe Fritcher • Navy (Pearl Harbor), d. January 31, 2011
G.W. Green • Army, WWII, d. July 4, 2011
James R. "Jim" Gulledge • Navy, WWII, d. July 25, 2006
Ed Harwell • Navy, Korea, Vietnam, d. August 17, 2008
Ralph Hendrix • Merchant Marines, WWII, d. November 9, 2009
James "Buck" Hughes • Air Force, WWII, d. February 22, 2004
Homer Hurst • Navy, WWII, d. September 27, 2008
Rex Jennings • Army Air Corps, WWII, d. September 19, 2007
Cliff Jones • Air Force, Korea
C.J. "Check" Kesey • Army, WWII, d. August 4, 2008
Bob Kinsey • Army, WWII, d. April 19, 2003
Bob Layton • Navy, WWII, d. June 24, 2011
Paul Long • Navy, WWII, d. November 30, 2010
Clyde Loudamy • Army National Guard, Korea, d. September 12, 2010
Doug Lynch • Navy, Korea, d. December 25, 2003
Kenneth Marshall • Army, WWII, d. October 2, 2005
Charles E. McCollum • Navy, WWII, d. April 8, 2005
Robie Morgan • Army, WW II, d. September 24, 2004
Bobbye Paine • Army, WWII, d. July 19, 2010
Roy Parker • Air Force, d. June 30, 2008
Franklin Peck • Army, WW II, d. March 1, 2009
Ray Phillips • Navy WWII, Army Korea, d. January 2, 2008
Jack Pinkerton • Army WWII, d. October 24, 2009
George Pylant • Army, WW II, Korea, d. February 18, 2006
Buford Rice • Air Force, Peace Time, d. May 19, 2006
Louis Smith • Navy, WWII, d. August 27, 2005
Ned Smith • Army, WWII, d. November 6, 2010
Judge William A. Steger • Army, Air Force, WWII, d. June 4, 2006
Bob Tipton • Navy, WWII, d. December 23, 2003 
Austin Turner • Army, WWII, d. December 29, 1997
C.J. Waters • Army, WWII, d. November 20, 2005
Jim West • Army, WWII, d. June 2, 2006 
Cecil Williams • Army, WWII, d. December 30, 2005
K.J. Williams • Army, WWII (POW), d. June 21, 2011
Arnold Wofford • Marines, WWII, d. October 28, 2007