Cpl Ethel M. Rose Oral History Side A

title:

Cpl Ethel M. Rose Oral History Side A

creator:

Rose, Ethel (Nace) (1924 March 26 - )

subject:

Marine Corps Women's Reserve

description:

Side 1 of 2. This is the original, unedited interview audio. Ethel Rose (formerly Nace) was born on March 26, 1924 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as the second of four children: two brothers and one sister. Her father was a veteran of World War I and a railroad engineer. She graduated high school in 1941 and went to night school in preparation for a laboratory job at the local steel mill. Both of her brothers were in the service in World War II, and she enlisted when she turned 20, joining the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in 1944. Her mother was glad she wouldn’t be breathing in lab fumes, and her father was proud to have a third child in the service. She was sent to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for basic training, then Norman, Oklahoma as an aviation machinist. From Norman, she was transferred to El Toro, California. She was glad to be an aviation machinist, glad not to be working in an office. She and her platoon were also proud they could troubleshoot engines faster than male platoons. When the war ended, she was assigned to “mothball” the planes and was not demobilized until December 1946. After the war, she attended Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under the GI Bill where she majored in chemistry and minored in math. She went on to Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and earned a master’s degree in chemistry, but got married to an Army veteran/chemistry professor before continuing with her PhD. She had their first child in 1952 and eventually had 3 more. After their first child she worked in a hospital laboratory, but after having more children she instead worked part time translating French and German papers to English since it allowed her to stay home and raise their children. When she left the service Rose had reached the rank of corporal, and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Bellafaire, Judy

date:

2003-05-01

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

805; 2003.805

source:

VHP | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

463701

coverage:

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

rights:

Unrestricted