Labrado, Ed. Interview transcript, November 17, 2025.
Ed Labrado
California State University San Marcos University Library
Jason Beyer
In copyright
English
Lacea, Jan Michael Letigio. Interview November 8th, 2024.
Jan Michael Letigio Lacea served in the Navy for eight years. He was frocked Petty Officer First Class HM1 (Hospital Corpsman First Class) before he left the service. Lacea described his service in the Philippines for Operation Enduring Freedom, and he reflected on his own identity as a Filipino American immigrant. He also recounted his return to civilian life, attending graduate school at CSU San Marcos, the support he received from the CSUSM Veterans’ Center, and the life lessons he learned from military service.
Oral history of Ed Labrado, November 17, 2025
Shaffer, David. Interview transcript, November 20, 2025.
US Air Force
Captain
Cold War
Consolidated Aircraft
B-24
B-32
Convair
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day
2nd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery Regiment
American Civil War
Prussian
British
American Revolution
German
American
cavalryman
Fort Bliss
Galloping Goose
Denver and Rio Grande Railroad
Denver University
San Diego State University
marine engine mechanic
Officers Training School
Second Lieutenant
air traffic controller
Keesler Air Force Base
TERPS
Terminal Instrument Procedures
forward airfield
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Six-Day War
Sinai Peninsula
Lajes Field
Strategic Air Command
General Curtis LeMay
Officer in Charge
Hahn Air Base
B-36
B-36 Peacemaker
A model B-36
engineer
little people
Lackland Air Force Base
officer trainee club
officers' club
FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
ATC
Navy
Tinker Air Force Base
BFS
Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung
Jimmy Stewart
World War II
First Lieutenant
1634B
AFSC
Air Force Specialty Code
1634A
airmen
sergeant
traveling
skiing
childhood
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base
B-52
McGuire Air Force Base
Colonel
50th Tactical Fighter Wing
Ramstein Air Base
Hitler Youth
military police
BMW
Afrika Korps
POW camp
Marshall Plan
R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Federal Republic of Germany
Bundeswehr
West German Army
F-100 Super Sabre
Ground-Controlled Approach
Tempelhofer Feld
Berlin Tegel Airport
C-130
Air France
Sud Aviation Caravelle
Stars and Stripes
ADIZ
Air Defense Identification Zone
US Army
Canadian Air Force
the Pentagon
Andrews Air Force Base
Philadelphia Airport
hippie
protest
family
community
draft dodgers
teaching credentials
high school teacher
G.I. Bill
pilot training
Veterans Affairs
ATP
airline transport pilot
private license
San Diego State College
Palomar Airport
friendship
F-4 Phantom
TACAN
Tactical Air Navigation
DME
Distance Measuring Equipment
German Air Force
MiG
Mikoyan
Sukhoi
Wild Weasel
F-105
radar
anti-aircraft
Robert McNamara
Lyndon Johnson
Cuthbert A. Pattillo
Fulda Gap
patriotism
Freemasonry
draft
Agent Orange
Captain David Shaffer served in Europe as an air traffic controller during the 1960s. Shaffer was raised in San Diego County where his father was an engineer for Convair. From a young age, Shaffer aspired to become a military pilot, a goal which his tall height prevented. As an air traffic controller, Shaffer spent most of his deployment in Portugal and West Germany during the Cold War. He designed forward airfields during the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, although the conflict was over before they could be used. After leaving military service, Shaffer taught high school industrial arts in North San Diego County. He used the G.I. Bill to gain his master’s degree from San Diego State College and his private pilot license. In this oral history interview, Shaffer tells stories from his military service and reflects on the importance of patriotism.
David Shaffer
Europe
Colorado Springs (Colo.)
Colorado
San Diego (Calif.)
California
South Cheyenne Canyon Road (Colo.)
Pikes Peak (Colo.)
Balboa Park
Texas
Philippines
Pennsylvania
Cortez (Colo.)
Shelter Island
Azores (Portugal)
Portugal
Hahn (Germany)
Germany
North San Diego County
San Antonio (Tex.)
Oklahoma City (Okla.)
Tucson (Ariz.)
Arizona
Mississippi
New Jersey
Israel
Middle East
Austria
Bavaria
Kastellaun (Germany)
Koblenz (Germany)
Hunsrück-Kaserne
Libya
North Africa
United States
Winston-Salem (N.C.)
North Carolina
Iowa
Vietnam
Berlin (Germany)
Frankfurt (Germany)
West Berlin
Frankfurt Rhine-Main (Germany)
East Germany
West Germany
Soviet Union
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany)
Kitzbühel (Austria)
Zweibrücken (Germany)
Moscow (Russia)
Munich (Germany)
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Ohio
New Zealand
Australia
France
Canada
Carlsbad (Calif.)
Fallbrook (Calif.)
Arkansas
Mount Rushmore
Yellowstone National Park
Oral history of David Shaffer, November 20, 2025
Forster, James Robert II. Photographs, Various dates.
Four photos related to the oral history of James Robert Forster II. Photograph #1 depicts Forster II at basic training Lackland Airforce Base in 1967. Photograph #2 depicts Forster II at tech school at Sheppard Air Force Base, WIchita Falls, Texas, 1968. Photograph #3 depicts a C-47 plane from flight squadron VC-470 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, 1969. Photograph #4 depicts Forster II at Osan Air Base, South Korea, 1969. Click on the thumbnails to view the full images in more detail.
Williams, Elmer Royce. Photographs, Various dates.
Five photos related to the oral history of Elmer Royce Williams. Photograph #1 depicts Williams dressed as an Aviation Cadet at an unknown location and unknown date. Photograph #2 depicts Williams posing with a P105 plane in Saipan, 1946. Photograph #3 depicts Camilla and Elmer Royce Williams on their wedding day in Clinton, Minnesota, June 1, 1947. Photograph #4 depicts Mark, Elmer Royce, Bruce, and Craig Williams having Christmas dinner, December 25, 1962. Photograph #5 depicts Commander Neilsen T.L., Camilla Williams, and Elmer Royce Williams at the arrival of VF-33 from Key West, U.S. Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, January 2, 1965. Click on the thumbnails to view the full images in more detail.
Carr, Jim. Interview, September 26, 2017
Barcoding
Distribution Services
California State University San Marcos
Fixed asset tracking
Sustainability
Jim Carr spent 23 years at California State University San Marcos working for the Distribution Services team and was instrumental in implementing the first barcoded inventory tracking system for the University. Jim discusses his time working for CSUSM as part of Distribution Services and how his education and background led to him this job.
San Marcos (Calif.)
Brodowsky, Glen. Interview June 14th, 2024.
California State University San Marcos. Administrative Building
California State University San Marcos. Faculty Senate
California State University San Marcos. Jewish Faculty and Staff Association
California State University San Marcos. Marketing Department
Cross-cultural marketing
Gonzalez, Alexander
Haynes, Karen S.
Intercultural marketing
Neufeldt, Ellen
California State University San Marcos--Faculty
Interview discusses Brodowsky’s career at CSUSM, starting with his journey into academia and his experience during the early years of the university, the campus, his work in development of policy and initiatives, as well as marketing, including the campus logo. Interview also discusses Brodowsky’s work in service at the university, his relationship with past university presidents, intercultural and cross-cultural marketing, his approach to teaching both at CSUSM and abroad at Brodowsky’s visiting professorships, the Jewish Faculty and Staff Association and the campus Jewish community, and his past year as Faculty Senate Chair.
Brodowsky, Glen
Visintainer, Sean
Aguilar, John. Interview transcript, May 21, 2013
Afghan War, 2001-2021
Iraq War, 2003-2011
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (U.S.)
United States. Marine Corps
United States. Marine Corps -- Recruiting and enlistment
Veterans -- Health aspects -- United States
Veterans -- United States
Veterans' spouses
John Aguilar, Jr. is a Marine Corps veteran who served from 2001-2005. In his interview, Aguilar recounts his motivations for enlisting with the Marine Corps and his experiences at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29 Palms, California. Aguilar also offers his thoughts and experiences regarding the trauma and changes wrought by combat deployments on veterans and their families, his work in information technology in the Marine Corps, and his perspective on the Iraq and Afghan wars, media manipulation, anti-Arab racism and societal glorification of and prejudice towards veterans. This interview was conducted as part of the CSUSM Veterans Voices project, a collaboration of the California State University San Marcos History Department and CSUSM Student Veterans Center (now the Epstein Family Veterans Center), from 2012-2013. Veterans Voices (originally called War at Home and Abroad) documents, preserves, and makes accessible the experiences of CSUSM's student veterans. This interview was conducted with a "self-interviewing" protocol, a process drawn from a technique known as Digital Storytelling, which invites the narrator to self-author the interview, telling their story from their perspective, in their own words, and in their own manner. Narrators were provided a list of topics and interview guidelines emphasizing that they could use all, some, or none of the topics as they fashioned their stories about military service and related experiences, thus allowing each narrator to decide what they deemed to be historically important.
John Aguilar, Jr.
Twentynine Palms (Calif.)