Tech 5 Norma Dare Lefler Oral History Side A

title:

Tech 5 Norma Dare Lefler Oral History Side A

creator:

Lefler, Norma Dare (Nolley) (1925 June 7 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

Side 1 of 2. Norma Dare Lefler (formerly Nolley) was born on June 7, 1925 in Thorpe, West Virginia. When she first finished school she wanted to be a nurse but instead went to work at a munitions plant, which she didn’t enjoy. She enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in Baltimore, Maryland in November 1944 and went to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for basic training. Although the first week was tough, she enjoyed basic overall. After completing basic training, she was sent to Fort Des Moines, Iowa for Motor Vehicle Training, and in both places she was put in charge of groups of enlistees. She had to learn how to drive all different types of personnel carriers, how to drive in the dark, and how to recognize different car problems. After finishing her advanced training, she was stationed in Washington, DC where her job was to drive officers wherever they needed to go, including the Pentagon, Walter Reed Medical Center, Quantico, Arlington Cemetery, and Fort Belvoir. This job meant she drove around many major military figures, including General Graham and an Inspector General. When she wasn’t driving, she was in the library or the garage. After World War II ended she wanted to stay in the Army, but was discharged in August 1946. She took care of her dad who was in poor health, and used the GI Bill to go to business school, working in a payroll office afterwards. She married her husband in August 1948, and he was a childhood friend who had been in the Navy for six years by then. He stayed in after the war, so she moved around with him as he was stationed in different cities in the US and abroad. He stayed in the Navy for 30 years and worked in a government printing office after leaving. They had three children together, who enjoyed growing up as Navy kids. When she was discharged Lefler had reached the rank of technician 5th grade, answering to the title 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. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Driver, Wanda

date:

2006-11-09

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

555; 2007.555

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

393243

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-46

rights:

Unrestricted