Digital Commons Network^™

Anne Tenney, Interviewed By Elizabeth Bunten, Anne E. Howes Ferris Tenney

MF144 Women in the Military

Anne Tenney, interviewed by Elizabeth Bunten, May 7, 2003, in Castine, Maine. Smith, age 81, talks about her decision to join the Navy (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in World War II; her basic training experiences; being assigned to New York City; her anti-submarine work; marrying and leaving the service after her pregnancy; remarrying another WWII veteran as a widow; public perception of women in the Navy during the war; minorities in the military; and changes in the role of women in the military. Text: 6 pp. transcript. Recording: No recording.

Mary Jane Miller, Interviewed By Elizabeth Bunten, Mary Jane Chase Miller

MF144 Women in the Military

Mary Jane Miller, interviewed by Elizabeth Bunten, May 9, 2003. Miller, age 80, talks about her family; enlisting in the Navy (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in World War II; her family and friends’ reaction to her enlistment; her basic training experience; the relationship between male officers and female enlisted; her not going overseas during the war; whether she would do it all again; changes in opportunities for women in the military; leaving the Navy after the war; delivering a top secret message; and working under women officers. Text: 8 pp. transcript. Recording: No recording.

Marion Townsend, Interviewed By Phyllis Von Herrlich, Marion Adell Townsend

MF144 Women in the Military

Marion Townsend, interviewed by Phyllis von Herrlich, January 6, 2002. Townsend talks about joining the service in 1942; twenty-eight when she joined the Navy; Hunter College for boot camp training; lived in dorms; went to store keeper school; ordered supplies; was in for two years; trained with just women; didn’t get trained to shoot a gun; it was either get out or go to Japan; naval reserve for two years; type a certain WPM to pass store keeper school; went to Gates Business College; went to the University of Maine for a year then to Farmington; teaching for thirty-seven years; …

Sharon Blair, Interviewed By Caitlyn Barker, Part 1, Sharon Blair

MF144 Women in the Military

Sharon Blair, interviewed by Caitlyn Barker, December 4, 2001, at her home in Augusta, Maine. Blair talks about her aspirations of becoming a legal secretary; attending Thomas College; reasons for joining the Marine Corps in 1965; struggles of boot camp at Paris Island, South Carolina; treatment of women in boot camp; the developed bond between members of Marine Corps, and those of the military; life at the base at Cherry Point in North Carolina; working at the Cherry Point base while fellow Marines were deployed to Vietnam; segregation; lessons of the Marine Corps, and its impact on her life; being …

Sharon Blair, Interviewed By Caitlyn Barker, Part 2, Sharon Blair

MF144 Women in the Military

Sharon Blair, interviewed by Caitlyn Barker, December 4, 2001, at her home in Augusta, Maine. Blair talks about her aspirations of becoming a legal secretary; attending Thomas College; reasons for joining the Marine Corps in 1965; struggles of boot camp at Paris Island, South Carolina; treatment of women in boot camp; the developed bond between members of Marine Corps, and those of the military; life at the base at Cherry Point in North Carolina; working at the Cherry Point base while fellow Marines were deployed to Vietnam; segregation; lessons of the Marine Corps, and its impact on her life; being …

Deborah R. “Debbie” Kelley, Interviewed By Jennifer Laplante, Part 1, Deborah R. Kelley

MF144 Women in the Military

Deborah R. “Debbie” Kelley, interviewed by Jennifer LaPlante in Bangor, Maine, November 17, 2001. Kelley talks about being in the Maine Air National Guard for 12 years (at the time of interview); her basic training in Knoxville TN; attending navigational (NAV) school in Sacramento, CA. Text: 19 pp. partial transcript. Time: 01:02:40. Restrictions: None.

Listen:

Part 1: mfc_na3205_c2306_01
Part 2: mfc_na3205_c2306_02

Deborah R. “Debbie” Kelley, Interviewed By Jennifer Laplante, Part 2, Deborah R. Kelley

MF144 Women in the Military

Deborah R. “Debbie” Kelley, interviewed by Jennifer LaPlante in Bangor, Maine, November 17, 2001. Kelley talks about being in the Maine Air National Guard for 12 years (at the time of interview); her basic training in Knoxville TN; attending navigational (NAV) school in Sacramento, CA. Text: 19 pp. partial transcript. Time: 01:02:40. Restrictions: None.

Listen:

Part 1: mfc_na3205_c2306_01
Part 2: mfc_na3205_c2306_02