Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Andy Staruch

WWII | K Company, 246th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division

He was among the last of his unit lined up to board the SS Leopoldville for the Channel crossing when the officer manning the gangplank stopped Andy Staruch and all the men behind him. The ship was full and that proved to be most fortunate for them. (8:38)
He had deployed very late in the war, but Andy Staruch did get to fire the mortar he was trained to use. The action kept German troops on the French Riviera from moving North to help in the Battle of the Bulge. (2:55)
His last duty in Europe was guarding a truck repair operation in Austria. Andy Staruch was responsible for going to Czechoslovakia with a pile of invasion scrip to bring back a load of safety glass. Finally released, he headed home to rejoin a successful business he had been in before the war. (6:10)
Andy Tsimpides

WWII | U.S. Army, 1st Cavalry Division

Mr. Tsimpides describes the challenges of landing in New Britain and fighting Japanese forces leading up to his career ending injury. (4:35)
Mr. Tsimpides describes being brutally wounded in combat, mistakenly declared dead, and the results that followed. (3:15)
Angela Beltz

Operation Desert Storm | 134th Quartermaster Detachment

Her father was an Irish cowboy and her mother was a member of the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota. Angela Beltz followed a long tradition of military service among native people by joining the National Guard while still in high school. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/) (3:05)
It was her first time on an airplane, and when she got to basic training, Angela Beltz was the youngest one there at seventeen. She was also small of stature, which made the drill instructor wonder if she had what it takes. She did. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/) (4:06)
Angela Beltz had her senior year in high school after taking basic training, which gave her a completely new perspective on things. Her National Guard unit was a water detachment, specializing in distribution in conflict areas. Many of the members of the North Dakota unit had grown up together. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/) (5:41)
It was a surprise when her National Guard unit was activated for Desert Storm. It gave Angela Beltz a new appreciation of the hands on training the water distribution detachment had received in the mountains of California. As she readied for deployment, she had to make a choice regarding her long hair. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/) (6:00)
It was a small detachment from the North Dakota National Guard that flew together with their vehicles to Saudi Arabia. Angela Beltz describes the scene as other units waited in the desert for their gear to arrive. Her unit had their own vehicles with them, which was a huge advantage. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/) (5:06)