Oklahoma Military and Armed Forces

Al Langer

It was September 1, 1939 when the life of Al Langer drastically changed. The Germans invaded Poland and the persecution of the Jews soon began. Al’s family was on the …

Audrey Pullen

Audrey (Anderson) Pullen is the daughter of a man who literally carved out his niche of fame on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. From 1927 to 1941 the sculptor Gutzon …

Bob & Diane Borlase

Bob and Diane Borlase’s service to our nation and to our state came in the form of the US Navy, the US Coast Guard, and the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office. …

Catharine Kingsley

Catharine Kingsley grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she attended Oklahoma State University. She graduated in 1943 as a Language major. She mastered five of them: English, Spanish, French, German …

Charles Ward

Charles W. Ward is an award-winning architect who received the inspiration for his profession as a soldier in WWII while viewing the Reims Cathedral from a window in an attic. …

Clifton Taulbert

Clifton Taulbert was born in 1945 in Glen Allan, Mississippi, a small town in the Mississippi Delta. He graduated valedictorian from O’Bannon High School in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1963. He …

Denzil Garrison

Denzil “Denny” Garrison served Oklahoma as a state representative and senator from 1957 to 1974 and filled the role of Minority Leader in both houses. In his legislative service he …

Dr. Clarence G. Oliver

Clarence G. Oliver, Jr., Ed.D., Emeritus Professor and former Dean of the College of Education at Oral Roberts University and retired Superintendent of Schools for Broken Arrow Public Schools, has …

Eva Unterman

In the summer of 1939 there was a little girl living in Lodz, Poland who was looking forward to the first grade. It was while on the family summer vacation …

John F. Hausam

Then he stepped off the path. In his oral history, John F. Hausam talks about his military service in the Korean conflict and how he unwittingly avoided death by stepping …

Kenneth Renberg

Born Günter Renberg on November 30, 1920 to Anna and Herman Renberg in Delmenhorst, a city in Northwest Germany, he immigrated to the United States in June 1937, leaving behind …

Marina Metevelis

Marina Metevelis answered the call to defend the United States as one of the iconic bandanna-clad Rosie the Riveters. Marina was sixteen when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941—an event …

Mary Jo Guthrie

Mary Jo Guthrie loved her father—her “Pappa”—and her brothers, one being Woody Guthrie. Woody was ten years older than his sister, yet Mary Jo remembers how he would get down on …

Paul Andert

World War II veteran Paul J. Andert enlisted in the U.S.Army in 1940 at the age of 17. Paul served as an infantry platoon sergeant in the 41st Armored Infantry, …

Red Stevenson

Red Stevenson was born in southern Oklahoma where he spent his first few years in an orphanage during the great depression. Eventually he was adopted and moved to Bixby, Oklahoma. …

Rex Calvert

Tulsan Rex Calvert graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1942 and worked 10 months for Mid-Continent Petroleum. When he and some of his friends came out of a movie …

Robert Norman

On December 7, 1941, Petty Officer Robert (Bob) Norman was sitting on his bunk aboard the battle ship USS Nevada docked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when the Japanese launched their …

Shawnee Stewart

Milton Shawnee Stewart served in the Army Air Corp during World War II. He became a gunner on a B26 Bomber and was assigned to the 9th Air Force in …

Sherman Ray

Sherman Ray survived WWII Nazi death camp, Auschwitz, by sewing German uniforms. He was targeted by the Germans not once, but twice to be transported to the infamous Auschwitz. The …