Cpl Glenda Ruth Eachus-Sandgren Oral History

title:

Cpl Glenda Ruth Eachus-Sandgren Oral History

creator:

Eachus-Sandgren, Glenda Ruth (1921 November 6 - 2010 February 19)

subject:

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) | Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

This is the original, unedited interview audio. Glenda Ruth Eachus-Sandgren was born on November 6, 1921 in Morley, Missouri, the fourth of six children. She and her family moved around a lot while she was growing up because her father was a railroad station agent. She graduated from Cape Girardeau High School in 1939, and began working at the railroad as a typist. She ended up leaving this job because she didn’t like the work, and moved to Genevieve, Missouri to work at the electric company. She decided to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) after seeing how many possible jobs they had that sounded better than typing. Her parents were against it, but she was old enough to enlist without their permission and went to basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa in August 1943. After finishing basic, she was sent to radio school in Newark, New Jersey, which she found quite difficult. Her first assignment was at Fort Tyndall, Florida, where she volunteered to work in the control tower recording landings and take-offs. She was then sent to two different airfields in Mississippi, but one was closed down and the other had no facilities for WACs, so the Army eventually moved her to McDill Air Field in Tampa, Florida. This was a much larger airbase than she was used to, and she was responsible for two runways at once, which she did not enjoy. She was then sent to an air control tower in Gulfport, Mississippi, which she enjoyed much more. While there, she was given the designation of Army Air Communications Specialist, and worked there until she was demobilized in December 1945. She initially worked in a factory, which she hated, and wanted to go to college but didn’t know what to study. She did eventually enroll in a Presbyterian college in Arkansas in 1947 then transferred to Southwestern Missouri College to be closer to home. She mostly took classes she enjoyed without worrying about her end goal, but had to leave six months before getting her degree to take care of her sick mother. She worked for two years in Washington, DC at the Pentagon since President Harry Truman wanted to hire Missourians to work there. She then returned to Missouri when President Eisenhower was elected, and eventually landed a civil service job at the Records Center in St. Louis. When she was discharged, Eachus-Sandgren had reached the rank of corporal, and for her service she was awarded an Army Good Conduct Medal, Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. She passed away in February 2010. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Bellafaire, Judy

date:

2003-04-24

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

260; 2003.260

source:

GI Bill | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

027094

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-45

rights:

Unrestricted