Sgt Lillian Bloomberg Oral History Side A

title:

Sgt Lillian Bloomberg Oral History Side A

creator:

Bloomberg, Lillian (1914 January 21 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC) | Air Force Reserve

description:

Side 1 of 2. Lillian Bloomberg was born on January 21, 1914 in New York City. She spent most of her childhood in New York City, then moved with her parents to Miami Beach, Florida, where a teacher who didn’t like her joining in the middle of the term flunked her. After failing that class, Bloomberg dropped out of high school. She and her family returned to the Bronx, and Bloomberg began working first at a laundry nearby, then at 20th Century Fox doing film inventory in the shipping room. In 1943, Bloomberg decided to enlist in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), which her father was enthusiastic about. She got on a train at Penn Station and went to basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. After finishing basic training, Bloomberg was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, which she was very unhappy about because she wanted to work in the flight control tower helping with flight plans. One day, she went to the PX on break and talked with a first sergeant who was upset he wasn’t sent overseas with his unit, airing out their grievances to each other. Later, she got a call from this man to report to a Major, who asks her about why she wanted that position and any previous qualifications she had. He then assigned her to work in the control tower, where she was the only WAC. After being there for almost a year, she was sent to Fort De Moines, Iowa for training to go overseas. After that training, she was sent with about 300 WACs to Le Havre, France. Bloomberg and three other WACs she bunked with on the ship (and who she remained in contact with for decades) to France all chose to go together to a satellite that had been newly established outside of Paris, where they were attached to military intelligence. She was then sent to Frankfurt, Germany with that same group of WACs she was close to. She sprained her shoulder while in Frankfurt and was sent back to the United States through Fort Dix, New Jersey where she was discharged through in 1946. When discharged, she had the rank of Sergeant. She then returned to her job at 20th Century Fox, and continued working in film and television from there. When her mother got sick, she and her brother moved her from New York down to Florida, and Bloomberg moved there after she retired at 62. After her retirement, she volunteered for decades at the Veteran’s Clinic in Oakland Park. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Pedemonte, Monica

date:

2004-07-15

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

086; 2004.086

source:

VHP | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

009530

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-46 | 1948-51

rights:

Unrestricted