Waycott

Interview with Vera Waycott in her home in Portland, Oregon 1/20/07. Interviewer: Kathleen Ryan

KROK, we are rolling and we have sound. As I say, I may look over here every once in awhile to adjust and make sure things are going OK, but talk to me and it will pick you up just fine and dandy. I'm going to ask you this, and I ask everyone this, because it keeps my transcriptions organized and makes sure I have everything I need on the tapes. If could say your first and last name, as well as your maiden, the name you served in the military, and when you were in the WAVES.

VWYou want my maiden?

KRYour maiden name, yes. And your married name. Both.

VWOK, now?

KRYes, go ahead.

VWVera Goode Waycott.

KRAnd how do you spell Goode?

VWG-double-O-D-E.

KROK. And Vera, when did you, when did you serve?

VWI served from January of '44 until April of '45.

KRAnd you were in the WAVES?

VWI was in the WAVES, uh-huh.

KRLet's back up a little bit, before. Because I'd like to hear a little bit about before you joined the military. And we talked about this a bit -- you grew up outside of Chicago?

VWYes, uh-huh.

KRTell be about that.

VWIt was Frankfurt, Illinois, and we moved up to LaMonte. My folks, my dad was in the farming business. I grew up in the small town and went to school there. It was just an ordinary farming community.

KRDid you father have, did you have a farm? Did you live on a farm?

VWYes. First of all, he was, we were, he was renting. The reason he was renting was when he came to the United States, to Pennsylvania, DuBoise, he was a coal miner. And I have brothers and sisters that were born there. Then he moved to West Frankfurt and he went into coal mining again. But when the union, when John Leiws took over the unions, my dad couldn't read or write English but he could do the work. He was fired. They moved up to LaMonte and my, his brother, my one uncle was living there and they went into farming. That's where I grew up. I started school at Sacred Heart Grammar School. A three room school. I graduated in 1938 and went to high school and graduated in 1944.

KRDid, when you said he was fired was that during the Depression or before the Depression?

VWJust before the Depression started. WE had had our own home in West Frankfurt and they had to sell it. Didn't get much of anything for it. And then finally, after I don't know how many years, they were finally able to buy this one farm, but by that time I was getting out of school.

KRIt must have been really hard, going from -- because coal mining that's a fairly, that pays good money.

VWWell, not only that, but it was just something that most of them did. Immigrants, when they came over. He, he was a jack of all trades. He redid, he could fix his own tractor and things like that. He remodeled some of the homes we lived in. Like i said, he was a jack of all trades. I think I take after him. (laughs)

KRDo a little bit of everything, huh?

VWUh-huh.

KRSo you were farming. Was that what you kind of expected -- if the war had not happened, were you expecting to be a farmer's wife.

VWWell, no. I left home in 1940 -- after I graduated from high school, because I didn't, there was nothing to do around there. I worked at Cog Hill Golf Course in their 19th Hole refreshment stand for a couple of months. Then I stayed with some friends in Willow Springs and went to work for Argo Corn Products. I had put in an application for Johnson and Johnson and I was called there. I went to work for them, I think it was January of '43, or some time through there. I worked there until I joined the Navy.

KRDid you, I'm sorry, I got confused there. I thought you said you -- did you graduate from high school in '44 or was it in '42?

VWI graduated from high school in '42.

KROK. I got a little confused there. So by the time you graduated the war was already in full swing.

VWYes, uh-huh.

KRWhat was that like when you heard? Do you remember when you heard about Pearl Harbor?

VWYes, I think I was getting ready for school. And we had the radio on. And when the news came over, I think I went outside and told my dad or somebody out there that we were under attack. And then when I went to school everybody was talking about it.

KRWhat did you, did you kind of comprehend what that meant?

VWOh, yes, we were -- because I had two brothers and I think one of them was already in the service. I knew they were going to be called. Everybody had -- and then when they started in all their gas rationing and stuff like that. But you just took it in stride.

KRYes, it's definitely seems like it's very -- it's hard for someone now to imagine but there was a lot of sacrifice that went on.

VWOh, yes. That's I said, they don't realize nowadays what it was like. Because it wasn't only the war. Like I said, there was gas rationing. There was shoes, different things like that that you ordinary go out and buy but at that time you couldn't. Well, one thing we did have to worry, because we didn't have a car so the gas didn't bother us.

KRDid you have a tractor or anything like that?

VWYes, my dad had a tractor. But during the winter months and that they didn't use it or anything. We had horses and did a lot of the farmwork with the horses and plows and stuff like that.

KRI'm sure a lot of the shortages that people experienced, with food shortages, because you were on a farm not so much.

VWWe didn't have to worry because we always had a big vegetable garden my mother always had. She did a lot of canning and things like that. Big Lithuanian, she madea certain type of pickles, she made beets and things like that. We had a cellar and the potatoes and stuff like that. The onions, she would braid them and they'd hang from the rafters. WE had all that kind of stuff. The first frost, there was butchering time. So we always had stuff like that. We had cows and my mother had cheese. The people from Chicago, the Lithuanians, would come out from Chicago and buy the cheese and sour milk and cream and butter. So it still, as far as the food, we weren't, we didn't go hungry! (laughs)

KRHow many brothers and sisters did you have?

VWI had, well there was eight of us. I had three -- one, two three, four sisters and three brothers.

KRAnd did the boys, were they all -- where did you fall in the pecking order?

VWI was the fifth one.

KRThe fifth one.

VWI had two older sisters and two older brothers.

KRAnd did both of your older brothers enlist right away?

VWI think so. I think my one brother was already in the service when the war broke out. Then my younger brother, he was in the Korean War.

KRHe wasn't old enough to serve in World War II?

VWYes. And when I joined, I was the only one. I used to go to the Catholic school back there, St. Alphonse's, and I was the only girl out of the parish that was in the military. In fact there was only two of us in the whole town that was in the military.

KRSo this was something that wasn't done for girls in your town?

VWPardon?

KRThis was something girls in your town didn't do?

VWYeah, uh-uh. Like I said, I was in the Navy and I think that this other gal, Lillian, was in the Army, I'm not sure. They have a big thing downtown. The names and things like that.

KRWhy did you decide to join?

VWWell, I'm to do things different. I saw, I don't know if I saw the posters or even a recruiter came through the factory or something. I don't remember. The only reason I joined the Navy was I liked the uniforms.

KRTEll me about the uniform.

VWWell, it was the navy blue, serge or -- a regular suit, you know. You just looked good. I decided I wanted to go. I can't remember when I decided, but I went to the recruiting office, I wasn't quite 21. And so I had to have my dad, get the papers signed for me so I could go in. But I passed all the exams and everything so I took the IQ test and stuff like that. Then when I told, when my dad signed it come back and I would have to give where I was working two weeks notice. And so they told me to come back, have the papers signed and come back the third of January. And I went home and was talking about joining. My sister said, "Oh, you're just talking again. You're just trying to show off" or something like that. And my dad look at me and said, "It'd be good for you" (laughs). So he signed the papers. I went back and handed them in. I not only took my physical that day, and was sworn in! And I got on the phone and called my sister. I said, "Hello, you damn civilian." She said, "What?!" I said, "I leave for boot camp the 13th of January." She says, "You don't!" I says, "Yes, I do!" (laughs).

KRWas she jealous? Did she want to join?

VWWell, no. In fact, she had lived there most of her life and she was married and had a youngster. Like I said, to me I just couldn't see staying in that area. Like I said, it was something that I wanted, I'm always doing something odd (laughs).

KRWell, it's very -- I'm always curious about that because there were other options for women at that time. You could go, if you wanted to work, you could work in a factory, those sorts of things. So I'm always curious why the military, how that --

VWLike I said, joining the military changed my life completely, because that's where I met my future husband. And opened up a whole new world for me.

KRWhat do you mean?

VWWell, I was able to travel and see the different parts of the country. And it just, and meet different types of people and how people lived and everything. Like I said, when you lived, my mother and dad were Lithuanian. My mother could speak some English, but you're living in an ethnic environment. I don't know, I just wanted to get out and do something different! (laughs)

KRI'm sure you have a lot of people who have, simi -- it's kind of very closed at times, the ethnic communities.

VWYes, so, well it's like when I went to school. My sister was ahead of me. She graduated from high school when I started high school. I had these teachers throwing her up in my face. "Your sister did this, your sister did that." I had enough of that! Finally, I went to the principal. I told him, "I'm not my sister. I'm never going to be my sister. I am a person alone." So he must have put word out, because it was never thrown up again (laughs).

KRHow big was the town where you grew up?

VWPardon?

KRHow large was the town where you grew up?

VWOh, maybe 35-hundred or something like that.

KROh, tiny.

VWYes, it was small. It was, there was, they said it's seven hills and seven churches. Let's see, Lithuanian. St. Alphonse's, that was the German parish. St. Siro's was the Polish. In fact, the kids, they studied in Polish in everything. We had a Swedish church, St. Pat's was the Irish church and a couple of other ones. Like I said, it was a small community, At that time, a colored person couldn't be in town after sundown. Yeah!

KRIt was against the law?

VWWell, at that time I guess, before --

KROr was it just not done?

VWYeah, uh-huh. And there wasn't any colored people in town at all.

KRWow.

VWIn fact, I think we had one Mexican family in town that I went to school with. It was a close community and I couldn't see -- and my, when my three sisters lived there and my two brothers lived there. My oldest sister lived in Chicago, but I wasn't going to be stuck in that town (laughs).

KRWhat was it like when you moved to Chicago? You had visited before, right?

VWOh, yeah, uh-huh. Well, I didn't visit there very often, you know, growing up, because there wasn't any money to do different things. But my sister lived there in Clearing and so I stayed with her for awhile, but like I said, I wanted to get a job, be on my own. So I went to work for Johnson and Johnson gas mask division.

KRIt must have seemed, I mean, living there, coming from a very tiny town and moving to someplace like Chicago, it must have been a completely different world.

VWIt was, but like I said, I adjusted. Had some good friends taht took care of me (laughs). But work at Johnson and Johnson gas masks, it was the war time industry. Making canisters for, just for the, I was on the assembly line that put the canisters together for the gas masks that were sent to the different units. Army and Navy and things like that. But I figured I was doing something, but like I said, I wanted to do something more. I was hoping when I went into the service, that maybe I could get into pharmacy or parachute rigging. Because I liked to work with my hands. And it didn't work out that way (laughs).

KRYou enlisted and you got shipped out in January. So did you take a train to Hunter?

VWYes, there was a whole contingent, actually. I don't know, I think we had two cars of Navy gals that were going to the Bronx, New York, where we took boot camp.

KRAnd what was that like?

VWOh, that was something else! (laughs) It, well when we first went we had to get measured for our uniforms. We had to have a physical. Different things like that. And if you had, if you could stand up against the wall with your heels against the back and your butt up there. If you could stand against the wall like that for five minutes you didn't have to take P. And I didn't have to take PE. I became a section leader and marched the gals to the classes every morning and where we meant. Learned different things. I learned how to handle an automatic, 44 automatic pistol. And different things. It was interesting.

KRI'm sure -- a lot of the women I talked with had a hard time adjusting to living with other women, but if you --

VWSee, like I said, I lived, with my -- there were three of us that slept in a bed! (laughs). And different things like that, so -- there were, in the apartments, I think there were --the two rooms that we were in there were two bunk beds. And there were four in each room. There was only one bathroom though. You just adjusted. Like I said, when I was able to stretch out all by myself (laughs).

KRSeemed like a luxury.

VWUh-huh, yes.

KRHow did you become the section leader, the group leader?

VWYou know, I don't know how they -- whether maybe I was tall or something. I jsut can't remember how, why I was chosen. We had to assemble every morning. I can't remember what time it was. Seven o'clock or something like that. We had to get up at five o'clock and everything to get ready. Then we had to go outside the building, all of us assembled. Then we marched to the unit where all the classes were going and things like that.

KRDid you find the classes difficult?

VWNo, uh-uh. In fact, there were different, oh, let's see how -- they talked about the different Navy regs and things like that. It seems that we were on the go so much, I can't remember all the different things we did.

KRWhat was it like meeting people -- you met people from all over the country, right?

VWPardon?

KRYou met people from all over the country?

VWYes. Uh-huh.

KRWhat was that like, coming from the little teeny-tiny town.

VWIt was, like I said we talked about, you could talk to everybody. And everybody was so friendly, that was the thing. WE just, we all got along. This apartment building we lived in they had a rec room where you could go down, have a cigarette and talk. Have coffee.

KRWhat about your roommates. What were they like?

VWAll of us got along fine. I can't remember any of their names or anything like that, but everybody, like I said, with eight gals, there was no arguments about standing the mirror, combing your hair. You just had to take time and do it. Lot of time, someone took their shower and night and didn't have to bother taking it in the morning. WE just kind of worked things out.

KRAnd you were there in winter?

VWRight.

KRSo didn't have to deal with, some of the women talked about how awful, hot it was in summer, but you didn't have to deal with that in winter so it wasn't quite so -

VWYes.

KRAfter Hunter, where did you go?

VWWell, I guess when they were figuring it out -- they wanted to send me to Norman, Oklahoma. For, what, yeoman, secretarial work. I said, "No, thank you. I don't like to sit and type." So I got general duty. But before that, before everybody was leaving they had what they called regimental review. And I couldn't make my regimental review. My uniform wasn't ready (laughs).

KRSo you had been going -- but wasn't boot camp six weeks long?

VWYes.

KRAnd you hadn't had a uniform all that time?

VWNo, uh-uh. We had, they had, we got our short shirts and things like that. And I think our overcoats and our raincoats. We had our hats. But our regular uniform -- everybody else got it. Mine wasn't ready.

KRWhat happened?

VWWell, at that time, five foot nine. Nineteen inch waist. A long arms -- I'm long waisted. And the regular uniform, trying to to put the waist up there -- it just didn't.

KRSo it just wasn't finished.

VWIt wasn't finished.

KROh dear. So what were you using when you were marching and doing your exercises? What were you using while you were at Hunter?

VWWell, we were using our civilian. We kept our civilian clothes. Then after, after the regimental review, the gals were shipped out. I think I stayed there another two weeks or something.

KRWaiting for your uniform.

VWWaiting for my uniform. Then from there, I went, I was stationed at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Naval Air Station. It's outside of Providence. It's called "arrival and repair." The ships would come in, and if they had any work to be done, you know. I did some office work to begin with, but then I went, I was in the machine shop. I ran a metal lathe and a screw machine. I learned how to read a micro -- a mic and different things like that. We made different parts for a motor and things like that.

KRHow did you -- that seems like it would be very specific, very technical work. How did you get to do that without any speciality training?

VWPardon?

KRHow did you get to do that without any speciality training? 2737

VWWell, they, some of the guys came over and showed you how to set up the mic, how to read the machine, that sort of thing and I just fell into it.

KRWhat was that like? Did you like it?

VWOh, yes. And the only reason, I got transferred to the laundry is one of the chiefs asked me to go out with him. I said, "No thank you. In fact you're the last man I'd go out with." (laughs) The next thing I knew, I was in the laundry.

KROh, no!

VWBut there was something to the different, what do they call it. Not that you iron by hand, but --

KROh, the big presses?

VWThe presses. Everybody treated you nice. We3 had a couple of colored guys in there and it was real nice. There was no abuse between the sexes or anything like that.

KRAnd it was OK to be integrated with the colored men and the white women? There was no problem with that?

VWOh, yes. We were, uh-huh. I don't know, women, I mean the men when we worked together it was like I said. It was a good station. We had a rec room and a PX and a bowling alley. Which is where I spent a lot of time, in the bowling alley. That's where I met my husband. He worked in the A&R shop.

KRWhat does that mean?

VWArrival and repairing mechanic. He was a metalsmith. So, like I said, they had the PX and they had beer but it wasn't beer like it is now. It was two point beer or something like that. If you didn't want to eat in the rec hall, the mess hall, they had, you could buy a sandwich or something at the rec hall. They had a big auditorium. In fact, we happened to see Bob Hope and his entourage there.

KRHe performed for you?

VWPardon?

KRHe performed for your base.

VWYes. Jerry Colona and the Les Brown Orchestra. Something like that. Oh yes, he put on quite a show., It was over a couple of hours. Yes. And being stationed there if you had like a 72 you could leave the base. One weekend, I can't remember this gal's name, she was from Boston, so we went to Boston. Toured there. Another weekend we went to Groton in Connecticut, the naval station there. I got to see a lot of the country that I never would have been able to see if I had stayed in the Chicago area. Like I said, I met my husband. He was stationed there then he got shipped out to Norfolk, Virginia. He called one weekend and said, "Meet me in New York." And when he did we got married. February the 8th, 1945 (laughs).

KRLet's go back a bit. Tell me how you met him, meeting him at the base.

VWWell, this one gal, this Wanda Layman, I have her pictures. She'd come into the barrack and'd say, "This Clark, I'm going to shoot him! This Clark I'm going to kill him!" One night, there was a group of us that went to this place in Pawtucket called the Kingston in. This group of us went to get a drink. And, it was crowded and everything. I went to the bar and Clark was standing there. I had met him. I said, "Clark, we need some drinks. Can you get them for us?" And so he did, and from then on. We walked back to the base. It was only a mile or so back to the base, a mile and a half. And we started going together.

KRSo you started going out and you hit it off?

VWYes, yes.

KRTell me about some of your other friends in those pictures there. You showed me a number of women and you had their portraits. Who were these people?

VWThey were in our barracks when we were stationed at Quonset Point. Wanda was from Kentucky, I think. Betty was from California and Jen was from Minnesota. Everybody just mingled together and got, they were just very cordial. No problems at all.

KRDid you all share a room together?

VWYes, some of us were in the same rooms. I don't know how many were in the barracks. There were quite a few of us in the barracks.

KRHow were the barracks set up?

VWOh! Let's see, you entered there and there was kind of the office, the rec hall, rec room and then one two three four rooms, or five rooms. And each were bunk, two bunk beds I think in each room. And then the shower, the bathroom and showers and things there. Like I said, it was so long ago. I'm trying to picture this in my mind. It's kind of hard.

KRWell, especially if you haven't thought about it for awhile, it can be difficult.

VWYes, uh-huh.

KRSo you and your husband met. You went to New York. So did he propose to you there?

VWNo, he proposed to me before. That's why I said, the ring, he cut it down.

KRDid he do that before he went to Norfolk?

VWYes. I met him there in New York and he gave me this and my wedding ring. We were married by the justice of the peace. We didn't have to wait for the blood test for three days because we were military and we didn't have to.

KRSo you came back on base and you were married? What was the reaction of your friends?

VWIn fact, Wanda and a couple of the gals came to New York and came in, you know. Then everybody was nice and everything. Congratulating me and all of that. But then I got pregnant right away.

KRYes. How soon after did you find out you were pregnant.

VWLike a month and a half.

KRGeez. That's right away.

VWYes. My husband called and he met me in Providence and we took the train to Washington, DC and we got a tour there. I sat in Lincoln's lap. Like I said, when you're pregnant at that time, you couldn't stay in. That's when I got out. And I went to Norfolk, Virginia. And was living there with him. He got word that his father was killed. He was going back to California. To Roseville. I packed too. He flew and I took the train. Then he was found out he was on this special contingency, he was supposed to go to Japan. He was in Hawaii. He was in Hawaii when the war ended, but he was on his way to Japan.

KRAnd you were in California at this time?

VWMmm-hmm.

KRSo, again, seeing another completely different part of the country that you had never seen before.

VWYes, California. Roseville. And his mother, they had what they called a ranch there. It was just a small farm. Then she moved, we moved to Sacramento. I lived there for four years, four or five years -- 1949, 1950. Then we moved to Brownsville, Texas. My husband was a crop duster. Went to Brownsville, Texas. Pecos, Texas. Calexico, California. Back to Sacramento. That's when he got the word, he got his orders. He was recalled for the Korean War.

KRYou did all that between World War II and Korea.

VWMmm-hmm.

KRWow! With a little baby.

VWI had two! The oldest one was five years old and that one, Karl, was just a little over a year old.

KRBoth boys?

VWBoth boys.

KRThat must have been a handful! And moving?

VWLike I said, you took it in your stride. People were so much different then. They rave, these families here they were in their things. You took it in stride. YOu did the best you could. Friends helped you. I didn't drive a car at that time. Everybody was just -- like when I was growing up. We didn't have a car. Neighbors would stop by, "You need a ride to town? You need anything?" People were different in those days. The same way it was over there. You took it in your stride.

KRSo it's 1950 now, you're living, your husband has been recalled to Korea. Had he stayed in the military all this time?

VWNo. I wanted him to stay. I talked to him, aviation was his -- he got his pilot's license when he was 16 years old. In fact, when he was recalled he was in Mexicali, crop dusting there when his orders came through.

KRDid they use him as a pilot?

VWNo, he wasn't a pilot. He was going through pre-flight school when he had an appendix attach and had his appendix taken out and washed out. But still, flying was his life. He was recalled and stationed on the carrier Boxer. He was the only of the squadron that was recalled. Like I said, fate. But you just took it in your stride and everything. And he was almost, a little over a year or so outside of Korea.

KRDid you stay with his family in California?

VWWell, I stayed with his mother for awhile. We had friends living in Lake Elsinor, another pilot. I went down to Lake Elsinor and stayed with them until I found a house and I lived there until he was out. Then we moved to Blythe, California. Back to Lake Elsinor (laughs). And then down to Brawley. Then from Brawley, we lived there 1995? Yes, 1955 to '60. Then we moved to Petaluma and back to Brawley.

KRDid you have any more kids in this time period?

VWYes. The two girls, one was born, Kathy was born in '52, Claudia was born in '54 and my youngest son, the one who's having a birthday today, was born in '56. And so we had give children.

KRThat is a handful. That's a lot and moving all over the place.

VWUh-huh. And I lost my husband 26 years ago. Stress on the job.

KRDid he have a heart attack?

VWYes.

KRGee.

VWHe woke up that morning and said, "I've got some indigestion. Call Ted and make an appointment." The doctor we knew. I said, "Well, why don't you stay home?' He said that this job had to be done at the airport, that job had to be done. I said, "You know, this job is going to kill you yet." And he went, I called him and made the appointment. I called him and said Ted said to come in at a certain time. And he did. He brought, I guess he took and EKG and everything was fine. He gave he a certain medicine to take. He usually picked me up from work and we all went home and I fixed his lunch. Then he took a little nap and went back to work. And I waited for him to pick me up and he didn't come and he didn't come. We only lived about four blocks from where I was working at. I thought, "Oh, he got tied up at the damn airport again." And walked home and saw our Scout in the apartment building where we lived. I thought, "What the heck?" I walked in and he was on the floor. So.

KRHow old was he? You say this was 26 years ago?

VWYes. He was 56 years old.

KRGeez. that's young. Were, did you still have kids at home at this time?

VWI had one son living. My daughter lived in Roseburg. Another one lived in Spokane. I had a son, the two sons lived down there in the valley. After he passed away, my daughter -- I was working. I went back to work the week after he died and people said, "What are you doing?" I said, "What I am supposed to do? Sit home and look at four walls?" You know? This way I was busy and all. It helped. Then my daughter talked me into moving to Roseburg. I moved there. Well, it's the most unfriendly town I've ever lived in. People in the grocery stores, the clerks wouldn't talk to you. I lived in an apartment building, the neighbors wouldn't talk to you. People in church just ignored you. And I finally told my daughter, in fact she called one day shortly after I got up there. I had only been there three or four days. She said, "Mom, go to the vet and pick up my cat for me." And I did. When, I was waiting for them to bring the cat out, I said, "Doctor, do you need any help around here? I used to work for a vet." I says, "I worked for a vet for three years." She went and talked and the called and the doctor talked to me. And I told him that. He says, "Let's meet for lunch tomorrow." And they took me out the lunch and hired me! And so I worked and everything. The girls in there were nice. The people were just -- I mean, you walk in downtown Brawley, people say hi. You're standing in line, people are talking to you, the clerks are are talking to you. It's so different. I went and wrote a letter to this manager of the store where I was working, could I get my job back. I went back to Brawley and I worked at J and McDonald Department Store Company. I worked there from '81, then the closed that story down. But they had one in El Centro which was only 10 miles from Brawley, there was a McDonads there. So a couple of us girls transferred there. And then they closed that one down. It was a big, there were 46 stores altogether. It was a big conglomerate that owned them. Because they had grocery stores, their own bank. But some big company, some big conglomerate bought them out. A year after they bought them out, that company went bankrupt, so they closed a lot of places down. I had my, a sister who was living in Houston. I went down to visit her for Thanksgiving and she talked me into staying. I went back and put my furniture into storage and went back, was in Houston. Was there, I think it was February, I couldn't sit around doing nothing, even though she's around and all this. There was an ad in the paper for this one department store that they were looking for help. I told my sister, "I'm going to Belsey's, see if I can find a job." She said, "Oh, they won't hire you." (laughs) She was always negative,you know? I said, "I can always try." So I went, put in my application, talked to a manager, he says, "Can you come to work tomorrow?" (laughs) When I come back to my sister's she says, "Well? Did you get a job?" I says, "Yes. I go to work tomorrow." She says, "You're kidding!" I says, "I go to work tomorrow!"

KRWas this the same sister who doubted you before?

VWUh-huh. My older sister. And I worked there, February, March, April May. Then this big nursery, Cornelieus, this big place down there. They had three places. And they had this Christmas workshop. My sister said, "Why don't you go put a" because I did a lot of craft work then "why don't you go talk to them and see about that?" And I went and I got the job. I told them I had to give my other employee two weeks notice and I went to work for them. That was in July. And all we did was Christmas decorations, things like that.

KROh how fun.

VWYes. I said if it was still a full time job, I probably would have stayed there, but it was just seasonal. Then I, that was from July until December. Then I didn't do anything. My sisters were going to sell their house and move back to LaMonte. They said, "Are you going to move back with us?' I said, "Uh-uh. I'm going home!" (laughs) I'm going back to Brawley. Because I had lived there on and off for 30 years. So I went back to Brawley. Got a job right away. Then a friend of mine moved up here and she talked me into moving up here. My daughter was living in Tiller at the time. So I moved up here and I've been up here a little more than 19 years. This is the longest I've stayed in one spot! (laughs) But like I said, a lot of this had to do with joining the Navy and getting out. I have no regrets.

KRIt certainly gave you an opportunity -- you ended up all over the place.

VWLike I said, my one son, my oldest son spent three tours in Vietnam. My youngest son was in the Air Force, but he was only there for a year and a half or so. He wasn't capable of -- he got an honorable discharge. And my one son tried to join the Air Force but he's underweight and had a hernia. Well, when he was two years old he had polio. He was a pilot. He was also a crop duster.

KRWas he? Is he still alive?

VWYes. He hasn't done that now for years, because that's kind of what, they do it different now than before. He works for an outfit called Phoenix. He remodels, in fact he did my kitchen for me. Put the -- and then the steps out there, the little porch, he did that.

KRWhat about your daughters? What do they do?

VWMy one daughter, the old -- the one that lives in Medford now, she's an RN. She works for Rogue Valley Medical. And my oldest daughter, she lives in Seattle. She's a paralegal for this office group that handle all of Boeing's.

KRSo they both have professional careers?

VWYes.

KRWas that maybe, did you encourage your daughters differently than your mom encouraged you? Did your mom encourage you do go into profession work.

VWNo, uh-uh. That was, you worked, and you got married. My oldest daughter was very talented -- they all got brains. They take it from their father. She got a scholarship to, oh the university attached to Gonzaga, but at the time it was just women. Out of Spokane. And then my, Claudia, my other daughter, she graduated in January and she went to college down in the valley for a one semester thing. And she said, "I don't want to go to college, Mom." I said, "Well, you're going to have to do something. You're going to have to go to secretarial school. You're going to have to do this or do that. You have to have something to fall back on." So she went into dental assistant, dental training. She passed that and worked for a dentist for awhile. She -- I can't remember what she did. She was living with this guy and then they got married. And then divorced. Then she decided to go back. That's when I moved up there. She decided to go back to college and took a LVN and then the nursing course. She's been at Mercy now for over 20 years or so. Because my grandson is 19 years old.

KRSo for you -- do you think the Navy had any influence on you in encouraging you that way?

VWI think it did. Because you had to get out and do something to see the world. You can't just sit in one small area. Like encouraging them to go to school, get a career so they can do something. Depend upon, you don't have to sit in the corner someplace.

KRDid you ever think when you were in the military that you were doing something that was kind of trailblazing.

VWOh, I think so. It was showing people that you didn't have to stay in one place. That a woman has a right to do things. Because at that time, a lot of places they wouldn't hire women. These factories and things, they were just beginning to. And I think the military opened up quite a bit.

KRDid you think that then or are you thinking that now looking back?

VWWell, I think it was then. Now, I think there's too much for families, for women who have kids to -- now I didn't go to work out of the home until my youngest was in school. There I see the problems that started. Stay home and take care of the kids first and then go to work.

KRMmm-hmm. I know a lot of women now, or families, have a hard time balancing that.

VWUh-huh.

KRBecause who's going to take care?

VWWell, everybody wants a lot of things. They want this, they want that. You know, what do you need five cars for? Everybody in the family have a car? I guess that's because when I grew up we walked every place. The same way, like I says, a television? You don't need a television. I think computers are good, but they're just getting out of hand. If people aren't -- to sit there all day long and look at them, you know? It's alright to do things there, but all of this stuff that goes on out there it scares me, really (laughs). But no, like I said, I think, the military did help me.

KRIt sounds like you did things you wouldn't have done otherwise.

VWLike I said, even though I wasn't living in LaMonte at that time, still it was close, it was family. You can always go back there. And you always wanted to please your mother and your father. But this way, I said, if I did anything wrong, "What would your mother say?" You know, it was just one of those things.

KRBut she was OK with what you did?

VWOh, yes. Like my dad, "It'd be good for you!" (laughs)

KRIs there anything else you'd like to add, Vera?

VWNo, like I said I'm ok.

KRAlright. I'm going to go ahead and pause here.