>> This is James Newberry,
and I'm here with Fay Edwards on Tuesday,
May 10th, 2016,
at the Sturgis Library at Kennesaw State University.
And Ms. Edwards, do you agree to this interview?
Yes. Thank you so much.
So can you tell me your full name?
>> Myrtle Fay Johnson Edwards. [LAUGHTER]
>> And when were you born?
>> February the 5th, 1923.
>And where were you born?
>> I think it was Hadden or West Virginia.
If not, in that little town that was close by.
>> Can you tell me about your family?
>> Well, I don't remember.
My dad he was killed in the coal mine.
And my mother she remarried when I was 10 or 11 and I
have two half brothers and one sister.
>> So what did you
know about your father's death in the coal mine?
>> Very little.
I suppose they just
figured I wasn't old enough to know or something.
And we just come back to my grandmother,
my mother's mother,
and that's where we stayed most of the time,
until my mother remarried again when I
was 11 or 12 somewhere in that area.
>> Did your mother work at all during that time?
>> She worked for a while in a dress factory,
but she was everybody's
made whenever they wanted to do something in the family.
They'd trust the family with her,
and they'd go on vacation.
And she worked in a dress factory for a while,
but mostly just helping out with the whole family.
>> Did you get roped into any of that work?
>> Yes. When I got older.
[LAUGHTER] And two,
I found a job in a restaurant,
because I was cooking at home and they knew.
So I got a job as a pie baker in a city restaurant.
I got out of that doing for everybody.
>> And that restaurant was in another town?
>> It was in a town just close by us,
and it was Milton in West Virginia.
>> So tell me how much money you made there.
>> Goodness, it wasn't much
because they give me a room and board.
So it was very little which I was glad to get it.
I got away from home and after my mother remarried,
I wasn't very happy there.
And just to get away, I was satisfied.
>> So tell me about the people
you met there working at that restaurant.
>> It was a small town Milton, West Virginia.
I met all of the business people because there was
just one big restaurant and
they done everything and they had meals,
and I ended up as being a pie baker there,
and some of them would order whole pies.
So that meant extra work for me.
>> What were the most popular pies?
>> Egg custard, they call it.
It was eggs and milk and flavoring.
And when you put it into the shell,
the crust was raw,
and this was just mixed up,
and it thickened while it was being baked.
And that was the most wanted pie,
and it took longer to bake than most of them.
>> I see. So you met the Klein family there?
>> Yes. I met Ms. Klein and
her husband worked in
some kind of a factory in Baltimore.
I don't remember just what.
>> And can you tell me what are your memories
of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941?
>> Not much. Just what I read in the paper and two,
I can truthfully say that I wasn't too interested in it.
And hearing people talk about it,
and as they were saying,
went in one, and out the other. [LAUGHTER]
>> So tell me about hearing of the job in Baltimore.
How did you hear about that?
>> One of the women that I was working with in Milton,
which was a small town,
she told me about it and she
evidently got intact with the woman in Baltimore,
and she called me.
And I moved there and I worked there,
and then from that I went in the Army.
>> So let's talk about your move to Baltimore.
Can you tell me what are
your memories of applying for that job?
>> I just went and
reported about the lady
had told me about it that worked there.
And that was about it.
And I guess they figured if she recommended me,
and I was okay.
>> Do you remember the name of the factory?
>> No, I sure don't.
>> So American Hammered Piston Ring.
>> I worked in it.
I thought you meant the restaurant I worked in.
>> I mean the name of the factory in Baltimore.
>> Well that is American Hammered Piston Ring.
We made piston rings the size of called a finger ring,
and for ships you could stand up in six foot.
>> So they varied inside.
And can you tell
me where the factory was located in Baltimore?
>> I forgot.
That was years and years ago.
>> And do you know what the building
looked like? Do you remember?
>> There wasn't much to it except the outside,
and it and it was all machinery inside.
Piston rings was the main thing,
but they made other things too in that building.
It was just a big building.
I didn't have much shape to it except it was big.
>> So tell me about a piston ring.
What is that going to be used for?
>> In the motors.
As far as I know, but they was all sizes.
I know that some of them went to companies who made
ships motors and some
of them was just like a finger ring.
And I remember if some of them was broken,
you couldn't use and some of the people
would show them off as a ring,
but they were broken and they should
have gone into the broken.
I guess they melted them over, I don't know.
>> To reuse them. So did
you go through a training period?
>> No. They hired me and then
they showed me how
to work with the machine that I worked with.
I got the rough rings they called them.
And then I put them through this machine and they went up
where they would roll and that way
they got all the roughness off of them.
And if any of them was bad or some couldn't be used,
well, they went into scraps and they were re-melted.
>> So what was the name of the machine you were using?
>> I don't know. It was
a big machine and had
two grinds stones where
the rings went through to smooth them.
But I don't remember the name.
It's so many years ago.
>> How did you control it?
>> They had a switch on,
two or three switches and each one was for
different size rings and
for what you wanted to do with them.
The main one was to,
I want to say shine them up
and really have them with no roughness on them.
And if any of them was cracked
or looked like they weren't right,
they went into scraps and it was re-melted.
>> So did you work alone or as part of a group?
>> I worked alone on
a machine and it was a factory and that
just one person worked on
one machine according to
what she did or how big the rings were.
>> So would someone bring you the ring to work on?
>> They come in wooden boxes.
And they was like this in the boxes like this.
And you would take four or five of them out at a time.
And when you finished with them if
any had a crack in it or a scratch in it,
they went in scraps.
>> Tell me what kind of uniform you wore.
>> You could wear anything you wanted to as long as
there wasn't any fancy things
that would be caught in a machine.
But a lot of us got uniforms that was made out of denim,
and there's very plain no buttons or anything
to be caught in a machine.
>> Was it a full body uniform or
was it a shirt and pants?
>> Full uniform.
No pants.
>> Did it have short sleeves or long sleeves?
>> Long sleeves and they
fastened with a button at the wrist.
Because a lot of the machines,
when he was working on them,
they would be like sparks fly out
and they didn't want you burnt.
You had to wear gloves and I
remember that the top of them was cotton,
but the palm was soft leather,
a gray looking leather that was rough leather.
>> Did you have a mask or something? Goggles?
>> No. We had to wear our hair covered.
>> How did you pull your hair back?
>> I usually wore it pretty long.
Comb the tail in the back and had it pull back.
>> So you pulled it back in a ponytail.
Did you put on a bandana or a snoot or something?
>> Yeah. They had the type of hood that you wore.
I worked on what to call a hatchet machine
and you had a certain thing you wore on your head
and a shirt uniform that you wore
because it was much heavier than a lot of the uniforms.
It was more like a bulging material.
>> I see. So can you describe
a typical day at work at the factory for me,
like when you arrive,
your breaks, your lunch, that sort of thing?
>> Well, it just had
a certain time to come in and you had
a certain time for lunch and to leave and
you didn't have no spare time
and you had so much time for lunch,
which was in minutes.
And when you entered that door,
you could expect to be busy until you went out it.
>> Well, when you came in,
did you have to sign in or show a badge?
>> We had badges that we had to wear on our clothes.
And most of us either you could wear
the uniform or you would denim dresses.
And that's what I worked in was denim dresses.
>> What kind of shoes did you wear?
>> Just plain Oxford's.
>> Did you have any breaks during the day?
>> You just had lunch break and that was it.
>> Was there a cafeteria?
>> I never seen one. As it were,
you tried to take your lunch.
>> What did you take for lunch?
>> Goodness. I didn't take
much because I don't like sandwiches.
[LAUGHTER]
>> I see. So did
you have much interaction with
other workers during the day?
>> Well, the ones that we work close
together with our machines was,
close together with that and that was just about it.
We all had the same break for lunch.
And we went to work at
the same time and we left at the same time.
So there was no time
and when you was working have any breaks with anybody.
>> They're mostly women or men working women.
>> Most women.
>> Were there any men working in the factory?
>> Yeah, there was men.
If something happened with the machine,
the men was the one that fixed it.
But mostly women at running machines.
>> What kind of interactions did you
have with the men workers?
>> I knew them by seeing them and that was it.
>> How did they treat you?
>> Well, I can't say there was
any action except just speaking to women.
And anything that they
had to ask you about the machine they did,
but otherwise, you just didn't have any.
You respect them as what they were.
And when they was working on your machine,
you just stayed out of their way.
>> Were there any black workers at the factory?
>> Very few. There were some, but very few.
>> What jobs did they do?
>> They run the machine the ones that was there,
the same as all of our state.
They was there to whatever you assigned to do.
And it was all piston rings, all sizes,
and there was copper and well,
several kinds of metal.
One kind of metal, when you run them,
it was like a black ash,
you showed up on you when you were you breathe it.
But the brass ones was the ones that you
really had to watch out for. They would cut you.
The cold stools, you would take tape and make things for
every finger when you want to do
those brass and copper because they would cut you.
>> So tell me about how much danger
there was in operating
these machines and working with these piston rings.
>> As far as I know, there wasn't too much
because they had men that checked the machines.
If anything was going wrong or you
felt that they weren't doing what they should do,
they had men that took care of
the machines and women just run them.
>> Was it hot in the factory?
>> Yes. Sometimes the metal was hot.
And two, when you come
out where you breathe all that dust from that black,
you'd have all black around you.
And it was dirty job to put it plain.
>> Not particularly glamorous.
>> Yeah.
>> Initially, you were operating one of these machines.
Did you get any promotions or advancements?
>> Yeah. The only one you knew was on your paycheck.
Ain't nobody told you.
You just knew when you got your check,
where you got a raise or not.
>> And how much money were you making?
>> I don't even remember.
>> How often would you get checks?
>> Once a week.
But, back then,
you didn't make much.
It wasn't like it is today.
You made very little,
but for women,
there wasn't that many women working there.
If you had a job in certain machine shops,
you was just lucky,
because it was mostly all men.
>> So did you make enough to get
by and pay for rooming and something?
>> I knew the family that I boarded with.
I met them in another southern town and in a restaurant.
And the lady,
she worked in a restaurant and I worked there too,
then when her husband got this job in Baltimore,
he moved the family there,
and they wanted me to move with them and I did.
And so I had a job in a factory there.
I quit working in a restaurant
and went to work in a factory.
>> And you lived with them?
So at the factory,
talking about promotions and making more money,
did you become what's called a line supervisor?
>> Well, I supervised when I was there about a year,
and I think it was
either four or five machines that
was in a section that I supervised in.
But I had to pass
the test they give you before you could be a supervisor.
If you'd worked there for a while,
you was given this test to see where
you was qualified to be a supervisor.
>> What kind of test?
>> It was what you do and with the job you have.
With the supervising the job that you had.
And that was size.
And whatever you had,
you had to cut them down a certain size.
And it's just all about what you had been doing.
You had to pass the test that they give you.
>> So when you became a line supervisor,
you said you were supervising
some workers, were they all women?
>> Mostly. It was during the war.
>> Did you supervise any men workers?
>> There were a few there that didn't pass
to be in the Army.
Most of them were nice and
some of them resented the women passing.
>> Tell me about that.
>> Well, they just
let you know that they didn't respect you.
And I got as bad as they was.
If they had any bad thing,
I marked it up against them.
So I felt if you can be naughty with me,
I can be with you.
[LAUGHTER]
>> So you said
they showed that they resented you. How did they show it?
>> If you had a problem,
if you went to one of them that was
supposed to be know what they were doing,
nine times out of 10,
they would say they don't know,
or what they'd tell you is wrong,
just because they didn't want women to do their job.
And pretty soon, the women didn't bother with them
and some of the men lost their job because
the women complained about them so much.
And they had been there and they was
supposed to help us if we had a problem, but they didn't.
And it ended up that they lost their job.
>> So some of the women
would complain to the management,
and then the management saw
that the men were reprimanded?
>> And they were,
and some of them was
pretty bad with the managers
when they went and talked to them,
and they just fired them on the spot.
>> So what age were these men?
>> They were at all ages,
because this was a big plant.
And a dirty plant,
you'd come out and where you
would breathe that black dust, you would.
[LAUGHTER] It was a dirty job.
>> Did it cover your uniform,
the dirty soot stuff?
>> And you had to change every day.
It was black.
>> What was your shift? What hours?
>> Well, they were eight eight hour shifts.
>> Was it morning to afternoon or was it nighttime?
>> They had 24 hours.
You worked eight hours.
And two, they was making
these rings that it was during the war,
and went to repair and
make tanks and trucks
and all of this stuff to do for the war.
So it was 24 hours.
>> So if you were operating one of those machines,
how many rings would you
work on in a day? Can you remember?
>> No, because you had
different things that you had to do.
They would be rough on
the outside and also in the inside.
And you had a machine
that you stand to ring up and running through
this way to have the outside of the ring smooth too.
And in the other machine went
inside like center and on the outside.
Sometimes they would be real rough,
and if you wore gloves,
they didn't wear long with that rough metal.
>> So did you enjoy your work?
>> Well, yes and no.
[LAUGHTER] After a while you get tired of the same thing.
And two, it was dirty work.
You'd come out and
all around your face would
be where you'd breathe that dust,
and it meant that you had to
change uniforms every day because you
was a black dust from that metal.
>> How did you get to and from work?
>> On a bus. There was buses that run.
I worked in Baltimore.
They was buses.
>> Were there any blackouts in Baltimore?
>> There was.
>> How often?
>> Goodness. I don't remember.
I know it would just be,
and you wouldn't expect it.
Sometimes it was just in the middle of the day,
they would shut everything down.
And then at night, a lot of times it would
be no lights at all.
And that was the bad part when
there's night when there's no lights,
because everything was dark.
>> So did you ever get a ration book?
>> Yeah.
>> You got one for yourself or for the household?
>> I got one for myself.
[NOISE] When I went to work,
you got a ration book your own.
But when I was living at home,
I got they just had the ration book family.
But when you're on your own,
you get the ration book.
>> What kind of [NOISE] things did you have to ration?
>> Just about everything.
>> Here's the ration book number 3.
So tell me about the card? What do you see on there?
>> That's where I was living in Baltimore,
755 West [inaudible] Street in Baltimore.
And I was boarding with a family by the name of Kleins.
And they were from Milton,
a little town that I was from.
>> So tell me,
did you have to
change the type of clothes you were
wearing because of rationing?
>> Not really. But,
you had certain things that you had to work in.
And you'd usually go
and wash up for you before you left from,
work because with a machine you used,
you breathe the black dust,
and you have all around.
And you had to wash
your hair every night when you got off from work,
because it would be from that dust in their machines.
>> Did you do anything for entertainment
or for fun at that time?
>> The time you put in
eight hours into one of the machines,
you was ready to go home,
[LAUGHTER] get a bath and go to bed.
>> So can you tell me at the factory,
were you part of a union?
>> No.
>> So there were no unions at the
[OVERLAPPING] So I think
you worked at that factory about two years?
>> I was there a long time.
>> And this was all during the war.
So do you remember hearing any of
President Roosevelt's speeches at that time?
>> I heard several people's speeches,
but I guess I heard his.
I don't know, but there was
a lot of people making speeches during that time.
>> And how did you get your news?
Did you keep up with the news?
>> Well, with a paper and radio.
And that's about it, I guess.
>> So I want to transition
and I know that you enlisted in the army.
So let's talk about that.
How did that come about?
>> Well, I heard a lot of talk about it,
and I saw a lot of those in the movies and two,
I was dissatisfied with my job in the defense plant.
It was an early job,
and we had several bosses that I didn't care for at all.
To me, they didn't know any more than I did.
And [LAUGHTER] yet they was always criticizing,
not only me,
but the women I leave had a hard time.
And I didn't even tell them that I
was leaving until the day before.
And I put in for the army,
and I was notified when I was would go with the army.
>> And where did you go to enlist?
>> In Baltimore.
This is the oldest daughter who are
the people I boarded with La Berna Klein.
>> And you went to
a recruiting station with La Berna Klein?
>> We went to the same recruiting station.
But I boarded with her family in Baltimore.
>> And at the recruiting station,
how did you enlist?
Tell me what was the process?
>> Well, you just filled out papers form.
You put down when you were born,
and where you had lived,
and your family and what you had done,
and work, and Just about your whole life history.
>> How did La Berna's parents feel about y'all enlisting?
>> They didn't like it at all.
>> What about that?
>> Well, they didn't want us to go in Army.
Her daddy had been in the army,
but her mother tried to tell him
that the women's army wasn't like the men's,
but he didn't want to believe it,
but their oldest daughter
and I enlisted at the same time.
And we kept together
though she stayed in estates and I went oversea.
>> So did you have any contact
with your mother and her family at this time?
>> I did.
But I just was fed up with the whole bit.
She had remarried.
My dad was killed in a coal mine,
and she remarried and of course,
I didn't like her husband.
And he had these children,
and I was a babysitter,
and I just got fed up.
>> So you felt free to
make your own decisions and do what you wanted.
Now, you said that you saw movies about the wax.
What did you see in those movies?
Why did it seem appealing?
>> Well, this things that
they was more or less on their own.
It it showed the things that they
done and way they dressed and everything.
So it appealed to me, and I thought,
"Well, if they can do it,
I can, too." [LAUGHTER]
>> So how long did you have before you had to report
to somewhere for an exam or something?
>> Probably about a month.
>> And where did you go? Where did you report?
>> In Baltimore, Maryland.
>> And where did you complete your physical exam?
>> There. And they
had a recruiting station there in Baltimore.
About all big cities had them,
where you could enlist.
And all the thing you needed,
they'd call you up and tell you when you had to report.
>> They'd give you a call on the phone?
>> And tell you when you could report for duty.
And that meant you had to go and
get your uniform and all this stuff.
And when they called you and
you got your uniform, that was it.
You was in the army.
There was no backing out or nothing.
So I enjoyed it,
and I had a rough time sometimes, but,
I got oversea and seems I never got to go otherwise.
>> Well, now, where did you report?
Where did you have to go to get your uniform?
>> In Baltimore, Maryland. [NOISE]
>> I was boarding with this family,
and working in a defense plant,
and that's where I went.
>> So you transferred to
Fort Oglethorpe, and that's in Georgia?
>> You're right.
>> So how did you get to Fort Oglethorpe?
>> By train.
>> And so you arrived at
Fort Oglethorpe and you went into basic training?
>> You're right.
>> Can you describe basic training for me?
>> Well, you live in the barracks,
a lot of people.
And basic training means you have learned all army.
You have the drilling and everything.
You dress for army dress,
and what you will be doing in the army.
And it's just [LAUGHTER]
a lot of stuff you're not used to.
But, after I got settled,
I liked it and I have been several years.
>> What sort of physical training did you have to do?
>> Physical training you would do,
you would have marching and
drilling different things and calisthenics.
Anything in exercise, you had it.
And there was no getting out of it.
You did it or else.
>> Did you have any rifle training?
>> No. We didn't have that.
>> So women in the army were not carrying rifles?
Did you work in the kitchen at all?
>> Just when I was assigned to KP.
>> What's KP?
>> Working in the kitchen,
washing dishes and mopping floors and all that stuff.
And usually the people
that's assigned to the kitchen don't have to do that.
They just do the cooking.
And KPs take care of the kitchen,
washing dishes and doing the floor and all this stuff.
But I just did office work most of the time.
But of course, I had to take my turn at KP.
>> So what do you see in the pictures there?
>> These is cook's uniforms.
>> What are the uniforms look like?
>> They're all white.
And you have to wear a net
over and then you have a white cap,
but you have to wear a net on your hair.
At any time you work in an Army kitchen,
you wore a net.
>> Did you like that kitchen duty?
>> No.
[LAUGHTER] That was a dumb question.
[LAUGHTER]
>> So did you have any shifts watching the barracks?
>> Let me look at this one more time.
This is cook's uniform,
and this is a class A,
and this is different uniforms.
[NOISE]
That's a winter uniform and that's the summer.
And that's working uniform.
>> And take a look at this photo. What is that?
>> That's a company picture of everybody in that company.
In Class A,
and that's me was right there.
>> Right in the center? And did
you make any close friends in that group?
>> You make friends that it even surprises
you the people that you're friends with really close.
But you meet people that you'll be friends
for life and some of them that
you can't stand to be around them.
[LAUGHTER] They probably feel the same about you.
>> And you have another photo.
Is that the same group?
>> Well, this is for the whole company.
And this is just for my company.
But this here is for the whole Oglethorpe.
>> So that's all the women
in the army at Fort Oglethorpe,
those are the ones in your company?
>> Yeah.
>> So the ones in your company, that's
a smaller group out of the larger?
>> This is all the company at the whole Oglethorpe group.
>> I see.
>> And this is for just a regular group.
>> So you said you did some office work? \.
>> Ooh, yeah.
>> What office work?
>> Anything you do in the office.
Answer mail, and you do typing of any kind.
And whatever you have to do,
and unless you're in
office all the time,
you don't know all that's been done.
But if you're assigned for a couple of days or something,
you have to do whatever they want you to do,
because somebody has been
sick or going home or something,
because everybody is not in at the same time.
>> Did you train other soldiers?
Tell me about that.
[LAUGHTER]
>> You get some that it's really comical.
They don't know their right foot from the left.
And two, you just crack up,
you have to turn your back on them.
And you just can't believe that there's
somebody that they don't
know their right foot and the left.
>> So you would train them in physical training?
And would that be like around the grounds or something?
>> Teach them how they're marching.
And have to salute and all that.
And I don't think some of them
ever learned how to salute.
[LAUGHTER] And to the right foot from the left.
You just wonder how they ever
got as far as they really did.
>> So did you have any interactions
with men who were in the army?
>> Well, just in the office work.
There'd be sometimes men in the
in the offices that you'd be in,
but they went their way and you went yours
and they had one company and we had our company.
>> So what time did you have to get up in the morning?
>> Regularly at eight o'clock.
That you had to be completely dressed.
And when they blow that whistle,
that means you fall out,
and you better be completely dressed.
And then you have retreat at five o'clock.
And that means you have to be there at 5:00,
and then you're dismissed.
But that don't mean you're finished,
because you have work to do.
You have all the cleaning to do,
and your uniform and the barracks and the restrooms.
Now, when you're assigned KP,
it means working in the kitchen.
And they don't give you much spare time, I tell you.
>> So What food did they serve in the mess hall?
>> They serve good food,
but it wasn't always like you used to.
But they can't say they don't serve you enough food,
but you cook a lot of food and it's not
going to be taste like you just cook for me,
or for a family.
>> Did you ever go off of base?
>> They give you time off.
On weekends, you can do things,
but sometimes you're assigned things to do.
But yet there's not all the time that you can be off.
But when you're off,
you can go wherever you
please as long as you're back on time.
If you get off base,
you have a certain time to be back
and you have to sign in when you get back.
And there's always a penalty if you don't make it.
>> What penalty?
>> They will serve you extra duty.
And you can get time like somebody gets a sentence.
They have to do certain things,
and they'll find something to make you do,
and you know not to do it
because the penalty can be bad for your record.
>> Did you ever go to any USO events?
>> We used to have them on base a lot.
And if you didn't have duty, you could go.
>> What events did they have?
>> Just regular tournament
that you would want to see too often.
It was just usually
the same thing over and over, and just about.
>> And can you tell me about seeing
the actress Lana Turner at Fort Oglethorpe?
>> I recall but it's been so long ago.
Keep Your Powder Dry.
>> What's Keep Your Powder Dry?
>> That's the name of the movie.
And these are the actresses, really,
and this is wax that was in the movie,
but not the main characters.
These are the main characters and this was in
just in the well,
they was in the background, I guess you'd call it.
>> So the main stars,
they they came down to Fort Oglethorpe to film?
And were you included in the movie?
>> Not in movie.
I was probably in one of these.
>> So they might have got a shot of
you in one of the companies.
[LAUGHTER] So I'll take that. Let's see.
So do you remember
how long you stayed at Fort Oglethorpe?
>> It's many years ago.
>> So maybe over a year or two?
>> Yeah.
>> And when did you leave?
Why did you leave? When did that come?
>> I don't even remember when I got out,
but I'd had several years in,
but I just decided
that I didn't want to stay in the army any longer,
and I went to work in a defence plant.
>> So you were sent to Fort Monroe?
>> In Virginia.
>> In Virginia. And what work did you do there?
>> I did office work.
Whatever come up, I was typing and
short at whatever come up. I did it.
>> And was this work secretive?
>> There was some of it.
And two, when I had a secret work or somebody had
come in walk in where I was in my desk,
I had to roll it down in a typewriter.
Or if I had it out,
I had to turn it over so nobody could see it.
I didn't like to work on it because
if somebody did see it and reported it,
he was in trouble.
>> And so did you have to ever destroy documents?
>> I used to. If you'd make a mistake in some,
we have certain amount
of time before we had to leave work.
And we'd go to this building where I
had a furnace in it and we'd just put
this in there and burn it and then
stir up the ashes because you'd be
surprised what can stay in
there read when you burn it if you don't stir it up.
>> So who told you you had to do that?
>> My boss.
>> Who was your boss?
>> Goodness. I had three or four.
I can't remember.
But they tell you,
confused typing something, you made a mistake.
You just didn't erase it and keep going.
You had to get rid of it.
And you had so much time before you got off from
work to go to
the main building and they had a furnace there.
And you take your trash can with your stuff in
it and pour it in there and
stirred it up till it was all burnt.
And you'd be surprised at how much you can
see on typing if you burn it and you don't stir it up.
>> So you said you didn't like that work?
>> I didn't like the secretive of
it because you'd be typing something
and somebody had come in at your desk and
you'd have to roll it under or get rid of it.
You couldn't let nobody see it if it's secret.
I worked from secret work.
>> So do you remember any of
the information in those documents?
>> Yeah.
>> Can you tell me?
>> No.
>> Why not?
>> They're secrets.
>> They haven't been declassified after all those years.
>> I don't know. Nobody told me that.
>> So what was your rank at this time?
>> Tech Sergeant.
>> Did you have an opportunity to become an officer?
>> Yeah. Several times.
I was asked to, but I didn't.
I like the girls that I was friends with.
Because I knew I wasn't going to stay in forever and I
preferred my friends to another rank.
>> How were you able to leave
Fort Monroe in that secretive work that you didn't like?
Did you choose to leave?
Did you get a transfer?
>> I got out of the army from there.
>> Well, first you went to Demoi and you did
some training there and
that was in preparation to go to Europe.
What training did you do
in preparation for going to Europe?
>> Well, they had different marching just different.
You would be in the states and oversea.
>> So you shipped out of New York.
Can you tell me about leaving New York Harbor?
>> I felt very bad.
I was upset because when you
leave the States and you
don't know whether you're coming back or not,
it gives you a funny feeling.
>> And you were in a winter uniform?
>> That's so they wouldn't know where we were going.
>> What do you mean?
>> They didn't want nobody to
know where we were shipping out to.
And we wore winter uniform.
And that's the only way we had to not letting them know.
If we'd have had on a summer uniform,
they would've had some idea of where we were going.
But in the winter uniform in the summer,
it don't exactly tell them where you're going.
>> So the army was worried about spies?
So the war was still going on at this time?
So there was a threat there is what you're saying.
Where were you posted in Europe?
Where did you work?
>> In Bremerhaven,
which was a Port City in Frankfurt a while.
And then I worked in Le Havre for
a while when shipment coming in and that was in Le Havre.
But in Bremerhaven, that
was permanent winter uniform and Frankfurt too.
But when we went to some other one,
well, what was that one?
>> Take a look at this photo.
It says, processing new arrivals.
>> Yeah. We're meeting this bus,
comes in with these people and that's
me processing new arrivals.
>> And that was in Germany.
And what did it mean to process new arrivals?
>> Well, you see,
they're all in civilian clothes,
and I'm the only one in uniform.
And you sign them
uniforms and they have to fill out papers,
where they live and when they're
born and all this stuff, for record.
But you meet the buses when they come in. And that's me.
>> So would they be coming from other places in Europe?
>> No. They'd enlist in the States.
>> And then they'd be coming over
there from the United States.
And then you'd get them a uniform
as they arrived in Germany?
>> Yeah, I would.
>> Were you doing the same work in Le Havre France?
So they're soldiers coming in through
Bremerhaven in Germany and through Le Havre France?
>> It was coming in both places,
but not at the same time.
>> So let's take a look at this photo.
It looks like you're in an office space.
What are you doing there?
>> I'm processing people who come in in top secret.
And if you notice,
you don't see nothing with the print shown.
Even though he was in uniform and he's first sergeant,
we didn't know what he was doing,
what his job was or anything.
And we would just turn our papers
over when we was talking to somebody.
So nobody could read their papers.
>> Where was this?
>> This was in Frankfurt, I think.
Because I was in France and Germany in the army.
And this is Ada Tucker here and I forget her name,
but Ada Tucker, we was real good friends.
And he come in but you
can see the papers was turned upside
down on the desk when somebody strange even though
he walked in there with his first sergeant.
>> And he's an African American?
>> Yeah. He's the first sergeant in American.
>> But you had interactions with black soldiers?
>> Yeah. In the Army, there's no difference.
>> And you remembered the name of these other people?
>> Ada Tucker and Edith Cartwright.
>> So when you were posted in Germany,
did you see destruction?
>> Yes. It was bad.
You could walk down the street and
like two or three stories building,
part of it would be gone.
You could see inside of where the wall had been
just I guess something that just tore the building up.
And there was some older people
that hadn't been down on the street for several years,
that staircase was just where was this bombed out.
And the people would
get up there in some way, they're friends,
but they was old and they
didn't take the chance of trying to come
down and they stayed up
in the third floor for years, I guess.
>> Because they were trapped?
>> They was afraid to come down,
that the stairway was unsafe.
>> What about the German people?
How did they react to the American soldiers?
>> Some of them was real nice and others weren't so nice.
So you just reacted the way they did to you.
If they was friendly to you,
you was to them,
and if they sarcastic,
you'd be sarcastic right back.
>> Can you tell me about the place you stayed in,
your living conditions in Lahar?
>> It was a tent and
the beds was I
don't know whether you've ever seen them or not.
They're like a wood frame that they fold
up and they have like a barracks bag.
Material is coarse green stuff.
And in the end of the two wing ends
they are cross like this to both ends.
And this part in here is
that green stuff like
a barracks bag and that's where you sleep.
And you can just fold them up.
>> Were you always in a tent
or did you have nicer places to stay?
>> No. We was in barracks for a while at the Germans
used and they wouldn't use them anymore and we used them.
And then we let was in tents too.
Just according to where we were at what we lived in.
>> Did you ever see or meet General George Patton?
>> Yeah.
>> Tell me about that.
>> He was a real nice guy.
He was real friendly and he respected the military.
You could tell that right off.
If you didn't have on a uniform,
he didn't have no use for you.
It was real plain.
>> Did you know his personal driver?
>> Jones? I sure did. I dated him.
>> Tell me how you met him.
>> At my office when the General Patton
had office within the same building I was
in and that's where I met him in building.
He was in the day room waiting
for orders for the General one to go.
And that's where I met him at.
>> How long did you date.
>> Two, three years.
>> Am I correct in asking,
did he propose to you?
>> Yeah. But I was ready to get married.
>> So for that longer time,
you dated the personal driver of General Patton?
So you got to see Patton,
I would think on many occasions?
>> Yeah.
>> And he always called me Sarge.
I don't know where he knew my name or not,
but he always called me Sarge.
>> So you had good interactions with him?
Did you know a lot of people said he was tough?
>> I guess he was when he needed to be,
but he wasn't with me.
>> Do you remember ever seeing any prisoners of war?
>> Yeah. At Ford Orthorp they had the place where
they had prisoners and they had
a metal fence up high and then where they kept them.
And I was never inside of one of the buildings,
but you could see them in two.
I have took stuff out of
the mess hole in my hand and when I passed by,
give it to some prisoner left against the wall.
>> Why did you do that?
>> What comes I felt sorry for him.
>> Did you talk to him?
>> He would say a few words and she
wasn't allowed to stand there and talk to him.
>> Did any of them ever present
any gifts to you bracelet?
>> Not a prisoner.
>> So can you tell me,
do you remember the end of the war?
>> I sure don't.
>> You don't remember any celebrations?
>> I don't even remember where I
was at when I ended the war,
where I was oversea or in the states.
>> So let's see.
Okay. Why did you return to the states?
>> It was time for me to re-enlist
or get out of the army.
>> Let's talk a little bit about these photos.
>> This is Edith Cartwright and I
can't even remember that other girl
is Cartwright and Cedarburg.
That's Edith art right and
that's San Cedarburg and that's me.
>> And where are you?
>> In Basis, Belgium.
>> Were you traveling?
>> We were probably there on leave.
>> Did you go a lot of places on leave?
>> Quite a few. When I had leave coming,
I always went to a different place.
>> So that was your opportunity to travel?
What was your favourite country?
>> France, I guess.
>> Here's another photo. What do you see here?
>> That's when I got the uniform, I guess.
>> Is that a postcard?
>> Yeah. It looks like it.
That was when I first got the uniform.
>> So you returned to
the United States and then you went to Japan.
And how did that come about?
>> Well, I married a sergeant
and he was shipped
to Japan and I went over there as a dependent.
>> So you were not assigned to go to Japan.
You went over as a dependent of your husband.
Where did you meet him?
>> I met him in the States.
He was from Columbus,
Georgia, and I met him in the States.
>> How did you meet him?
>> I don't remember.
Because I was living with a family that knew
his family and I
just met him and that all I can tell you.
>> Go ahead. She's getting confused about that.
She actually met him when she was traveling to Japan.
She was assigned to go to Japan.
And I think they met San Francisco and traveled back on
the ship to Japan and then they were both stationed.
She was in Yokohama.
He was in Tokyo and they
dated and eventually got married in Japan.
So she wasn't married to him when she
went to Japan. She met him on the way.
>> So Walt is saying
that you met your husband in San Francisco?
>> Probably. It was a long ago. [LAUGHTER]
>> And you were assigned to go to Japan in the Army?
>> Yeah.
>> And did you want to go?
>> I wanted to go any place that
they had sent me that I hadn't been.
>> Nice picture.
>> That's him.
>> And where was that?
>> It was here in the state somewhere. Japan?
>> In the ship.
>> In the ship. Belinda said that I forgot.
>> So that was on the ship.
So you met him on the way to Japan.
And you were going to be stationed in Yokohama?
And what were you going to do in Yokohama?
What were your duties there?
>> I just work.
>> Did you do office work?
>> Yeah.
>> And where was he stationed?
>> Tokyo.
>> And how often would you get to see him?
>> According to how much work you had to
do after duty hours.
And mostly two or three times
a week and not even counting on weekends.
>> What did you like about him?
>> He was just a nice guy and I don't know.
>> What was his name?
>> Charlie Edwards.
>> And in Japan,
what kind of place did you stay in?
What were your sleep living arrangements?
>> They was made out of plywood buildings and they
had a stove in the middle of the building
and they was the cots each side.
And I think it was 12 cots in there.
They had a square build and filled
with sand and the stoves didn't have any legs.
They just sit down in
that sand and it was being in the middle of the building.
That's the heat you had.
>> What kind of food did you eat?
>> Mostly rations.
>> And how would that be served to you?
>> They just give you box rations.
>> What was in it?
>> There was a little can of cheese.
Sometimes it was meat of some kind and
crackers and that's about it.
And instant coffee, there'll be some instant coffee.
But coffee, you've never had coffee until you drink
it about 15 ration cups.
>> Was it good or bad?
>> Bad. [LAUGHTER]
>> And did you have
any interactions with the Japanese people?
>> All of them that I met was nice.
>> How did they treat you?
>> Good. They never acted like they resented us at all.
>> This picture it says WAC parade in Tokyo?
>> Yeah. We had parades there
and this is us in the summer uniform.
>> Why did you have parades there?
>> That's that's just the army.
The army is going to parade
you regardless of where you're at.
>> And then it looks like you're a what is
called a bookend in this photo. What does that mean?
>> That they can be
made into a picture and they're put on
something like wood or metal
or something and you stand it up like a book.
>> Can I interrupt her?
>> Sure.
>> Her and another WAAC were
about the same size and build.
And they also had a couple of
men that were the same size and build
and they would put them on each end of the parade stands.
That's what I meant by bookends.
>> There's a general there on
the platform and they've chosen some soldiers,
including you to stand on
either side and it was referred to as a bookend.
Do you remember that day?
>> Yeah. We was always having parades.
And they always picked somebody that
was about the same size.
And this girl here and me were about the same size.
>> What was her name?
>> I don't remember. It's been so many years ago.
We weren't friends.
We were just in the same company.
>> Did you did you ever come up for a promotion in Japan?
And that you gave up to a male soldier?
>> Before I met mr, I did.
And this guy I knew had
a family and they didn't they didn't do it,
but I offered for him to
get the promotion and I wouldn't.
But they didn't do it that way.
They said you earned a promotion.
>> So they gave it to you. So when did you get married?
>> [LAUGHTER].
>> Did you get married in Japan?
>> Yeah. It is the Yokohama?
>> Yes. This is your certificate of marriage.
It says you were in Yokohama?
>> Yeah. That's where I was stationed.
>> Who married you? Who performed the wedding?
>> I guess this guy here Herbert Leggit.
>> Do you remember your wedding day?
>> Yeah.
>> Did you have anybody there other
than just yourself and your husband?
Did any of your fellow WACs come?
Did any of his fellow soldiers come?
>> No. It was just a very private wedding.
>> [inaudible] was your commanding officer.
>> Tenth of November 1949.
>> So your offician
the person who performed your wedding
was your commanding officer?
Yeah.
And that's because he was a pastor?
>> Yeah.
>> And that was in 1949.
So you had been in Japan all that time?
>> Yeah.
>> A couple of years. And did
you start your family there in Japan?
Did you have a child in Japan?
>> Yeah. That's her.
[LAUGHTER].
>> What's her name?
>> Linda Jean.
>> Now, hold up this photo for the camera.
So who's in that photo?
>> My husband and me and the baby.
Linda Jean.
>> And was that in Yokohama?
>> I think so.
>> What did it feel like to be starting
a family over in Japan?
>> I can't remember who we're coming back from Japan.
>> Oklahoma.
>> Where you were born in.
>> I was born there.
>> So you came back to
the States and you went to Oklahoma?
>> For two.
>> And that's because that's
your husband was still in the military,
you were still in the military.
>> But do you remember when you were discharged?
>> I was discharged at that time you
had been discharged from the military.
So your daughter Linda said,
at that time, you had to discharge when you got married?
>> In Japan.
>> So you were discharged in Japan?
So from then on, you were moving along
with your husband as he was moved from place to place.
Did you work at any time after that?
So did you work in the home?
>> In the home, but other
than to have a paying job, I didn't have.
>> How many children did you have?
>> Three.
>> And what are their names?
>> Linda Jean, Michael Charles and Walter Dean.
>> And did you live on military bases?
>> Part time. And then we lived in the closest town.
When we was in Oklahoma,
we lived on a base.
They had had just 2,
3 houses in Oklahoma.
And usually the armor base has quite a few houses,
but in Oklahoma, they didn't have.
>> It was a game reserve at Oklahoma. [inaudible]
>> A game reserve,
and that was in Oklahoma.
And your husband oversaw that game reserve?
>> Yeah.
>> What branch of service was he in?
>> Army.
>> He was also in the army.
>> What was he Linda?
>> He was in army.
>> I know he was Army,
but he was first serving in the company.
>> So did he spend his career in the army?
>> He was in the army for many years.
>> Thirty years.
>> Thirty years?
>> Thirty two.
>> Thirty two. So you retired in Columbus?
>> Best I can remember.
>> This is James Newberry and I'm still here.
So we're going to start back in Japan.
And I just want you to tell me a little bit.
You got married in 1949,
and when you got married, you were discharged.
And that's because at that time,
if you had children and you were in the army,
you couldn't remain in the army.
>> That's right.
>> So were you still posted in
Yokohama at this time, or Tokyo?
>> In Yokohama.
That's where I was at Yokohama,
and my husband was stationed in Tokyo.
>> Did you move to Tokyo after you married him?
>> I moved there. And I
got out of the army when I got married.
And then I lived in Tokyo.
>> And did you have a mad in the house?
>> Well, I could have had,
but the maid that you
had there was so different from what she was used to.
To me, it was better to not have one.
>> Did you cook your own meals?
>> Yeah.
>> And were you still getting
the sea rations from the army?
>> After you were married,
you have your own home.
You don't get them.
>> And where did you get your food?
>> They have a they had a commissary.
It wasn't a big one,
but you could buy stuff there,
and you could also buy from Japanese.
And that's where the fresh vegetables used to come from.
>> And you had one child, Linda.
Did you have a second child there?
>> No, I don't think so.
I just had Linda.
>> So your husband was transferred to Germany.
But you were pregnant again?
>> She stayed in Oklahoma because she was pregnant,
but the husband went to Germany.
>> So your husband went to Germany,
but you stayed in the United States because you were
pregnant? Is that right?
>> Yeah.
>> And where did you have your baby?
>> In Columbus, Georgia.
>> Phoenix City.
>> Phoenix City? That's where mom and papa lived.
My in laws,
part of them lived in Columbus
and part of them lived in Alabama.
[LAUGHTER]
>> So this was your husband's parents.
And you stayed with them while you were having the baby?
>> Yeah.
>> So did you
ever visit your mother back in West Virginia?
>> A few times but not many.
Everything seemed to change
after mama married my stepdad.
And we didn't have any problems,
but I didn't care for him.
>> So did you go to Europe
to be with your husband after your child was born?
>> I went.
>> Germany.
>> And where was your husband posted in Germany?
>> I don't remember.
>> So do you have grandchildren?
>> How many do I have, Linda?
>> You have six.
>> Six grandchildren.
Any great grandchildren?
>> Not so. You do? Well, who has them?
>> Four.
>> Pardon?
>> You have four great grandchildren.
>> Who has them?
>> Ashley has two,
and Shawn has two. So you have four.
>> Six grandchildren, four great grandchildren.
So I want to ask you, Ms. Edwards,
what does it mean to you to share
your World War 2 experience with me today?
Why is that important?
>> Well, it just bring back
good memories and brings back some bad ones.
[LAUGHTER] But, whatever I know it's
over and I don't have to live them again.
>> Do you feel proud?
>> Well, yes.
I guess I should,
that I went into
a country that was against us and I made it,
and I hope that I changed some of them,
because I got along good with them.
With some of the people that we
had as maids and house boys and different things.
And I treated them like I thought I should,
and I think they like me,
or at least they acted like they did.
And I just didn't
have any hard feelings toward them because,
I knew that they didn't make the decisions.
Like the Americans,
the only some people made the bad decisions
and everybody had to abide by them.
And it was the same way with the Germans.
>> So both in Germany and Japan,
you had mas and
other people that worked for you from that country?
Why did they need to work for you?
>> Well, they needed work and
they was in whatever country they was in.
And it helped me out too,
because I had the baby,
and two, with your first child, it's hard.
[LAUGHTER] And you learn with the first one.
But anyway, that's one of the reason that I had,
and they was good people.
They was no no part of the war.
And they just had to go along with what
the government said like America did.
>> So did your children learn Japanese and German?
>> They learned a little but not a lot.
>> So Ms. Edwards,
you were a part of
the first wave of women going into the military.
And how do you feel about that?
>> Well, I was real proud that I
was in the first group and that we won the more,
and I was just real proud of it.
>> So let's talk about
your husband's retirement from the military.
And where did he retire to?
>> In Columbus, Georgia.
>> So when he retired,
you all settled in Columbus?
>> Well, we did for a while,
but we didn't stay in Columbus long.
We moved to Oklahoma.
We lived in Oklahoma longer than any place we lived.
>> Where do you live today?
>> I live in Georgia,
right outside of Columbus.
>> You live in Neon?
>> No. What is the address, Linda?
>> [inaudible] You were in Columbus for 56 years.
>> After Oklahoma and
Fort Binding is right next to Columbus.
That's why they retired there.
>> Well, thank you, Ms. Edwards.
Is there anything you want to add here at the end?
>> No. I can't think of anything.
>> Well, thank you so much and we will stop there.