Linden Norine Anderson Oral History Tape 1, Side A

title:

Linden Norine Anderson Oral History Tape 1, Side A

creator:

Anderson, Linden Norine (1908 January 24 - 2008 April 26)

subject:

American Red Cross

description:

Tape 1 of 2, side 1 of 2. Linden Norine Anderson was born on January 24, 1908 in Manor, Texas. When she was young, her family moved to Round Rock, Texas, where she attended public schools until high school when she attended a small, Swedish private school. After finishing high school, she went to junior college and began to teach in Pflugerville, Texas, taking summer classes at University of Texas until she got her degree in 1941. After World War II began, she applied for a Civil Service job and worked as a file clerk. At work one day, Linden saw a woman she used to teach in a Red Cross uniform, so she looked into what working with the Red Cross would include and applied. Her qualifications lined up with being a recreation worker in military hospitals, went to training at American University in Washington, DC, then went to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey to be shipped out to Oxford, England. There, she worked in a 2000-bed hospital and the Red Cross women would play games, have dances, and throw other events with patients, as well as writing letters for those who couldn’t. She was there for about 19 months, until World War II ended, and returned to the states. She initially went back to teaching but didn’t enjoy it as she used to, so she went to her sister in California and got a job as a file clerk again. A few weeks after getting this job, however, she got a letter from the Red Cross calling her to the field office. She was sent to Seattle and shipped out to Korea in 1946, where she stayed for some years. She then returned home and was sent to Japan in 1950, and in 1951 was sent to Korea again after the Korean War broke out. There, she worked at the 121st Evacuation Hospital, so they only really had enough time to evaluate patients and provide them with comfort articles before they were sent out to Japan. After that, she spent the next two decades working in cities around Japan, Libya, Germany, and Korea. Between trips to each of these places, she worked in different bases around the United States and retired while at the Naval Station in Corpus Christie, Texas in 1972. She has lived in Texas ever since to be near her family. She doesn’t regret any of her choices in life and feels it has been absolutely full of fun and more adventure than if she had remained a teacher instead of joining the Red Cross. She was in the Red Cross from 1953 to 1972, and served stateside and overseas during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War. She passed away on April 26, 2008. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Weigand, Cindy

date:

2002-04-27

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

025.01; 2003.025

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

172309

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | Korean War (1950-53) | 1943-73

rights:

Unrestricted