Veterans History Project, Female Narrators

Jean Wilcox WAVES' class.

Information updated Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Women in WWII/Veterans History Project

The Women in World War II/Veterans History Project chronicles the memories of women who served in various capacities during World War II. This project was conducted from 2003-2005. The collection includes 48 interviews and details the many ways women participated in support of America's involvement in this world wide conflict.

Interviews conducted for this project include the stories of women in the Navy, the Army, the Marines, and the Coast Guard. These women joined the military service to take over jobs typically held by men so that the military could send those men to the front lines. They worked in assistant roles, as officers for the Women's Army Corps, as code transcribers, as RADAR monitors, and in several other jobs. Click the following links to listen to clips from some of these interviews.

Keister_OH2212--Glenadene Keister served the WAVES from 1944-1946.
Powell_OH2211--Rosemary Powell was an officer for the Women's Army Corps.

Helen Thompson's Red Cross uniform.

Beyond those in military service, the collection also includes interviews with women who worked as nurses, in factories, with the Red Cross, and in various other ways on the U.S. homefront and overseas. Some Red Cross workers staffed events that welcomed soldiers and gave them social activities to participate in. Factory workers faced their own struggles with Union officials, factory foremen who disliked working with them, and sometimes dangerous working conditions. These women made many sacrifices to join in the work of keeping the country moving forward during the War. The nurses interviewed shared stories that illustrated the extremely important role these women played over the course of the War years. A few women stayed in the United States to work in civilian and military hospitals. Others served in the European and Pacific Theaters, caring for the sick and injured soldiers. Follow these links to hear clips from a couple of these narrators.

Messman_OH2269--Helene Messman was a front line nurse in the European Theater.
Drew_OH2113--Nancy Drew served as a Red Cross worker in Europe.
Tackitt_OH2262---Fama Tackitt worked in an aircraft factory.

"Mars," Mark, and "Tug" Hanami in the 1940s.

This project also records the remembrances of citizens living in the United States, Japan, Germany, England, Russia, and the Netherlands during World War II. These women described the impact the War had on the daily lives. In England, the Battle of Britain destroyed large sections of major cities and brought the constant presence of air raids, dogfights, and other signs of battle to the lives of British citizens. One narrator lived in the Netherlands and was a young girl during World War II. She was allowed into restricted areas by German guards because she claimed she was going to play with children living beyond the check point. She then used her time in the restricted zones to warn the people hiding Jewish refugees when those on the outside had received word of a coming raid. Those living in Japan and Germany had to adapt to the loss of the War and the accompanying occupation of their nations by the Allied forces. Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast were forced to relocate into detainment camps because of the fear of enemy spies and saboteurs. Another narrator described the post-War Russian world in her interview. Each of these narrators shared their perspectives of how the War changed their nations. To hear clips from these interviews click the links below.

Hanami_OH2046--"Mars" Hanami was one of the Japanese Americans relocated to Camp Minidoka, Idaho.
Koehler_OH2412--Pat Koehler lived as a civilian in the early years of the Battle of Britain and later joined the British Royal Air Force.

Barb Tallman's nursing class, 1940s.

The women interviewed for this project shared how World War II impacted their individual lives in very personal ways. They often expressed their desire to help win the War, and all of them sacrificed in a variety of ways to demonstrate their loyalty to their country. These important stories depict the various experiences of women engaged in the conflict of World War II, making for a more complete picture of the World War II era, by including women's myriad roles in the conflict.

Below you will find links to further information on each of these narrators. Summary indexes of each interview can be opened as either a Word file or PDF. Also, by clicking the narrator's last name, you can access an abstract detailing the subjects covered in the interviews, as well as pictures of several of the narrators.

The Idaho Oral History Center will continue as an official partner and archive of the VHP, so if you know of a veteran who may want to be interview, if you know of a person who may want to volunteer to help us, or if you know of a group that may want to hear our VHP pitch, click here to send us an email. Or you can call 208-334-3863. You can also contact us for more information about any of the women listed here.

To view the indexes listed under the narrator's name, you'll need Adobe Reader. If you don't have this program, click here for a free download.

To play audio clips, you'll need an audio player. If your computer does not have one already installed, click here for a free download of Windows Media Player 10.

OH	Last Name (Click for Abstract and/or Photos)	First Name	Subject 1	Subject 2	Subject 3	Index	Minutes	Length of Transcript
1885	Amis	Pat	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--European Theater	Nursing--History--20th Century	Word document PDF	70	0
2217	Bistline	Beverly	United States Naval Reserves	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	Pocatello (Idaho)	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	120	40
2221	Blickenstaff	Marilyn	U.S. Naval Reserves--Women's Reserves	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	zero	Word document PDF	30	0
2110	Butler	Tessa	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Netherlands	World War II, 1939-1945--Underground Movements--Netherlands	Netherlands--History--German occupation, 1940-1945	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	110	51
2063	Capellen	Edna	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Alabama	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Idaho	zero	Word document PDF	45	21
2113	Drew	Nancy	World War II, 1939-1945--War work--Red Cross	American Red Cross	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--European Theater	Word document PDF	100	43
2213	Fisk	Alma	Council (Idaho)	Fruitvale (Idaho)	Women--Idaho	Word document PDF	40	21
1502	Galloway	Lois (nee Brown)	Boise (Idaho)	World War II, 1939-1945--United States--Pers. Narratives	zero	Word document PDF	80	37
2062	Grahn	Elna	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	United States Army Women's Army Corps	zero	Word document PDF	70	28
2046	Hanami	"Mariko ""Mars"""	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	Japanese American Women	Japanese American families--Washington [State]	Word document PDF	65	25
1942	Harris	Marie O.	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	United States Army--Women	Nurses--United States	Word document PDF	50	0
1917	Hasegawa	Yeiko	Women in War--Japan	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Japan	zero	Word document PDF	45	0
1992	Hawley	Barbara	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	United States Naval Reserve Women's Reserve	zero	Word document PDF	40	9
1916	Hazen	Genovefa	Women and War--Germany	World War II, 1939-1945--Germany	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Germany	Word document PDF	30	0
1483	Henderson	Sue Wayne	Depressions--1929--US--Personal Narratives	Depressions--1929--Oklahoma--Personal Narratives	Agriculture--Great Plains	Word document PDF	25	0
2437	Higgins	Miriam	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--U.S		Fruitland (Idaho)	Word document PDF	0	0
2097	Holladay	Hulda	World War II--Women--United States	Kaiser Company--World War II	Women--Idaho	Word document PDF	75	31
2027	Horn	Beatrice	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	United States Army Women's Army Corps.	Women--Idaho--20th Century	Word document PDF	60	28
2218	Hubbard	Sarah	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation	San Diego (California)	Word document PDF	65	32
2220	Jacobs	Ruth	Nurses--Ohio	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--France	United States Army--Nurses	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	125	45
2256	Keeney	Jennette	United States Army Women's Army Corps	Japan--History--Allied Occupation, 1945-1952	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF #3 Word document #3 PDF	250	103
2212	Keister	Glenadene	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	United States Naval Reserves--Women's Reserves	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	130	50
2328	Klahr	Bonnie	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--Pacific Theater	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	230	86
2412	Koehler	Patricia (Pat)	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	Royal Air Force	World War II, 1939-1945--Battle of Britain	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF #3 Word document #3 PDF	280	135
2223	Marz	Clara	Nurses--California	World War II, 1939-1945--Hawaii	Boise (Idaho)	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	130	66
2102	McCutcheon	"Virginia ""Ginny"""	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	United States Naval Reserves Women's Reserves	Neighborhoods--Boise--Collister	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	160	73
1990	Miller	Faye M.	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	Women--Idaho--20th Century	Meridian (Idaho)	Word document PDF	55	29
2073	Minton	Elizabeth	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--California	J.R. Simplot Company	Word document PDF	90	32
2025	Payne	Anna Marie	Vietnam conflict, 1961-1975	Desert Storm, 1991	Army Nurse Corps (1966-1992)	Word document PDF	135	55
2103	Pickarts	Bernice Ann	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	United States Coast Guard Women's Reserves	Military Spouses	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	90	40
2211	Powell	Rosemary	Boise (Idaho)--20th Century	Boise (Idaho)--Social Life & Conditions	United States Army Women's Army Corps	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF #3 Word document #3 PDF	250	119
2061	Pratt	Grace	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	United States Marine Corps--Women--20th Century	Word document PDF	35	18
1947	Roby	Carole J.	Nursing--United States--Oregon	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	zero	Word document PDF	45	0
2258	Rohan	Alice M.	United States Army--Women's Army Corps	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	Lakota (North Dakota)	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	120	52
1994	Runkle	Irene	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	Nampa (Idaho)	zero	Word document PDF	60	30
2215	Schaffer	Inez	United States Army--Women's Army Corps	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Europe	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	125	54
2216	Schlegel	Alice	J.R. Simplot Company--Wolrd War II, 1939-1945	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	United States. Naval Reserves. Women's Reserves	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	120	49
1953	Sherman	Margaret	World War II, 1939-1945--European Theater	Korean War, 1950-1953	Vietnam Conflict, 1961-1975	Word document PDF	65	0
2273	Smith	Elaine	U.S. Navy Reserves--Women's Reserves	World War II--Women--United States	Women--Idaho	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	155	64
2262	Tackitt	Fama	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--War work--Women--California	Miles City (Montana)	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	140	68
1993	Tallman	Barb	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	United States Naval Reserves Women's Reserve	zero	Word document PDF	65	28
2026	Taylor	Patricia Ann	Vietnam conflict, 1961-1975	United States Navy--20th Century	zero	Word document PDF	50	27
2214	Thomson	Helen	American Red Cross--Oklahoma	Boise (Idaho)	Women--Idaho	Word document PDF	60	24
1965	Thomson, et. Al	Bernice	World War II, 1939-1945--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--Pacific Theater	zero	PDF Word document	50	0
2219	Trenkel	"Aranka ""Ronny"""	U.S. Army--Women Reserves	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--United States	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Pacific Theater	Word document PDF	60	22
2090	Wilcox	Imogene (Jean)	Rupert (History of)	WAVES	World War II, 1939-1945--Women	#1 Word document #1 PDF #2 Word document #2 PDF	140	53
2222	Woodbridge	Claire A.	World War II, 1939-1945--Women--Hawaii	World War II, 1939-1945--Aerial Operations, American	Women in Aeronautics--United States	Word document PDF	35	0
1974	Yaroshchuk	Olga	Women--Russia	World War II, 1939-1945--Russia	Cold War--Russia--History--Sources	Word document PDF	60	0