Naval War College (U.S.)

Oral history of Edith F. Full

Smith, Edith, 1924. Reminiscences of a WWII WAVE who served as a Yeoman at Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, RI., 1944-1945; Includes her growing up years in Woonsocket, RI.; High School graduation, 1941; Employment at Slatersville Finishing Co. in Payroll Department; Reaction to Pearl Harbor bombing; Enlisted in WAVES in 1944; Training and indoctrination at USNTS (WR) Hunter Col­ lege, Bronx, N .Y.; Member of singing platoon that appeared on Perry Como Show; Yeoman train­ing at Oklahoma A&M, Stillwater, Okla.; Assignment in Personnel Department at NAVTORSTA, Newport, R.I.; Recreation; Maniage, June 1945; V:J Day celebrations in Newport; Discharged, No­vember 1945; Impact of WAVES service on her life; Postwar employment; Ocean State WAVES Membership.

Schultz, Edna Hill, 1922-2006. Youth inSouth Portland, Maine; Worked in shipyard;joined U.S. Marine Corps (WR), 1944; Basic training at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Daily routine and classes; Clerk in the Schools Command, Camp Lejeune; Promoted to Corporal; Visit of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; V:J Day celebra­ tion; Discharged in May 1946; Significance of Marine Corps service; Member, Women Marines Association.

Hayes discusses his youth in St. Louis, MO, his US Naval Academy education, assignment to USS Maryland at Pearl Harbor, HI, attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, flight training, assignment to Attu, Alaska where he was involved in bombing the Northern Kurile Islands and then Okinawa, courtship of his wife, helicopter training at Patuxet River, MD, Military Assistance, Jakarta, Indonesia, Korean War, Naval War College student and staff, NROTC at Holy Cross College, Retirement career and travel.

Hayes was born in St. Louis in St. Louis, MI in 1918. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1940 and served in the Navy for thirty years, retiring in 1970. Part of the WWII Navy Veterans Oral History Project.

Thiele, Edward H., RADM, USCG 1905-1981. National Guard Company C, One hundred and Twenty First Engineers, 1922-1924; USCG Academy, 1927; Cummings, Shaw; Assistant Engineer Officer, Mendota, 1929-1930; Instructor, Academy, 1930-1933; Engineer Officer, USS Hunt, 1933-1934; Engineering Officer, Chelan, 1934-1936; Chief, International Combustion Engine and Small Boat Section, and Chief, Re­ search and Development Division, CGHQ. 1936-1940; 1937 visited foreign countries in connec­ tion with construction of icebreakers; Office of the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding, New York, supervised the design and construction of icebreakers Mackinaw, Wind, Raritan, 1937- 1944;XO, Westwind, 1944; CO, USS Gen. D. E. Aultman, USS Wakefield, 1946; District Engineer, Third District, New York, 1946; Chief, Machinery Section, Naval Engineering Division, CGHQ; CG Safety Director, HQ, 1948; B.E., 1949; Chief, Administrative Management Division, CGHQ, 1949; Senior CG and Marine Detail Officer Europe, London, England, 1949-1953; Staff, Com­ mander in Chief, Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, 1949-1953; Staff, CO, Fifth District, Norfolk, Va., 1953-1956; Chief, Merchant Marine Safety Division, 1956; Chief of Staff, 1957; CO, Ninth District, Cleveland, Ohio, 1957-1958; Engineer in Chief of the CG, 1951; Re­ tired,1961.

Youth in Warwick, R.I.; Father's influence led to hisjoining the Navy; Reaction to attack at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941;Joined the Navy in 1942; Comments on rationing and patrio­ tism; Boot Camp, U.S. Naval Training Station, Newport, R.I.; Assigned to USS Gatling; Shake­ down cruise; Pacific Theater and the invasion of the Marshall Islands and Guam; Friendly fire; Major island invasions, including the Palaus, the Philippines, Leyte Gulf, Formosa, Saigon, To­ kyo, Okinawa, IwoJima, and Hong Kong raids; Attack on USS Princeton and rescue of survivors; Escorted USS Birmingham to Ulithi; Typhoon, December 1944; Shipboard work, food, religious services, general quarters, mail call, and recreation; Destroyed a kamikaze plane; Return to the United States; San Francisco, Calif. and Boston, Mass.; V:J Day, Boston, Mass.; Assignment to Camp Dealey, Guam as Master of Arms; Contracted TB; Radioman, USS Bushnell; Hospitalized in California; Discharged, September 1947; Returned to Warwick, R.I.; Employment with Addressograph Multigraph; Retired in 1987; Significance of naval service. Part of Naval WWII Veterans Project.

Ferrance discusses his career as an electrician's mate in the U.S. Navy from 1942-1965. He comments on his service in various destroyers, at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, his promotion to master chief and selection as chief of the year, and his role at the Destroyer School in Newport, RI, his last assignment before retirement. Part of WWII Veterans Project.

O'Connor, Eileen, 1922-2001. Reminiscences of an enlisted WAVE who served in WWII. Focus is on early years in James­ town, R.I.; Graduated from Rogers High School, attended Newport Secretarial School; Joined WAVES inJuly 1943;Basic training at Hunter College, N.Y.; Advanced training at Yeoman School, Stillwater, Okla.; Daily routine; Classes; Regimental reviews; Recreation; Assigned to BuPers, Washington, Washington, D.C.;Barracks at Arlington Farms; Temporary assignment to Secretary of the Navy's office; Interview with Mildred McAfee, WAVES Director; Yeoman Detailer, Chap­ lains Division; Story of Chaplain O'Callaghan; Chief Yeoman, Chief of Navy Chaplains; Social life; Recreation; Promoted to Chief; Lifelong friendships; Positive experience and benefits of WAVES service; Discharge from WAVES; Postwar employment at NWC Logistics and Classified Library.

Ferguson discusses his naval service from 1936 to 1943, including WWII battles of Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal where his ship was sunk and he was rescued. He comments on his training, cruises, and his billet as a deck hand and in fire control as well as his reasons for joining the Navy during the Great Depression.