Y3C Darlene Ione Ford Oral History

title:

Y3C Darlene Ione Ford Oral History

creator:

Ford, Darlene Ione (McGahuey) (1921 April 6 - )

subject:

Coast Guard SPARs

description:

This is the original, unedited interview audio. Darlene I. Ford (formerly McGahuey) was born on April 6, 1921 in Lamoni, Iowa. When she finished high school she knew her family couldn’t afford to send her to college, so she taught for $50 a month and went to summer school at the University of Northern Iowa studying geography. Her second summer at the university, she met her future husband. After her second summer, she got a job as a secretary at the doctor’s office of a munitions factory. She was stuck working the night shift in this position when her job was frozen, so she chose to join the military as the only way to escape that shift. Although her parents were appalled she joined the Coast Guard SPARs, she was old enough that she didn’t need parental permission. She went to basic training at the Biltmore Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida for one month, then to yeoman training for three more months. Her first assignment after training was at the US Coast Guard Supply Depot in Brooklyn, New York. She remained in this position from 1943 until her discharge in 1945. There, she filled out claims slips for items went missing somewhere from the manufacturer to its arrival with the Coast Guard. She got married in 1945, and because of her husband’s early discharge date she was able to leave the service faster than other women. She and her husband returned to Cedar Falls, Iowa where her husband finished his bachelor’s degree at the University of Norther Iowa. They moved to Chicago, Illinois so her husband could get a master’s and PhD at the University of Chicago. Ford worked as a secretary at the university, because although they both had GI benefits, they wouldn’t have had the money to survive if one of them wasn’t working. He hen got a job at the University of Miami, and she finished her bachelor’s in business administration. Her husband then got a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, and she got her master’s degree in economics at Temple University. She taught at a local high school while her husband taught at the university. When she left the service, Ford had reached the rank of yeoman 3rd class, 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:

2003-04-22

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

310; 2003.310

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

031022

coverage:

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

rights:

Unrestricted