COL Janet Y. Horton, USA Ret. Oral History

title:

COL Janet Y. Horton, USA Ret. Oral History

creator:

Horton, Janet Kay (Yarlott) (1951 August 11 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC) | Army

description:

Janet K. Horton (formerly Yarlott) was born on August 11, 1951 in Greenville, Michigan, and grew up in Ankeny, Iowa. Growing up, she was incredibly small and shy and it made school a massive struggle for her, so she took two months to study the bible and a Christian Scientist textbook every morning and night which helped her get past her anxiety. She graduated from Ankeny High School in 1969 and went to a local school for two years before transferring to Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. She initially wanted to study mathematics to become a teacher, but she ended up majoring in religion by the time she graduated. She went to Boston University for seminary, and too this day is not sure how her fees were waived to attend. She finished her seminary courses in 1976 and immediately joined the Army, starting basic training in July of that year at Fort Hamilton and Fort Wadsworth, New York. At the time, there had only been four women Army chaplains before her and two other women went through training together. She got a lot of pushback when working to get an assignment. Most chaplains were hesitant or unwilling to sponsor her in the first place, and there were several commanders that accepted her initially but turned her away from their unit when they found out she was a woman. Eventually, she ended up with an infantry task force at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and they kept her on despite not actually having chaplain authorization. She was at Fort Sill for around two and a half years before her overseas tour with the 2nd infantry division north of Seoul, South Korea near the DMZ. She continued to be challenged by the male chaplains, who she says would intentionally give women 7 or 8 battalions to cover rather than the 1 or 2 a male chaplain would be assigned. After a year in Korea, she went to an advanced Chaplain course and was stationed at Fort Ord, California. She was stationed at the Pentagon when it was attacked on 9/11. At first, she and the other two chaplains weren’t being allowed in with the medical teams, but she convinced he security team to let them through to pray with casualties. Several coincidences in the weeks leading up to the attack, including the chaplains’ office moving from where the Pentagon was hit to elsewhere due to needed repairs and repeated delays to move back in and her dentist appointment originally on August 11 being put off for a month, getting her out of the Pentagon that morning. After the attack, she was stationed in Albania as the fifth corps chaplain. She also often provided advice on public relations and ways to counter propaganda without alienating Iraqi people in the process. Horton left the service in 2004 having reached the rank of colonel, and for her service she was awarded a Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with an oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with 6 oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, Army Achievement Medal with an oak leaf cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Scott, Kate M.

date:

2004-05-05

type:

Moving Image

format:

VHS

identifier:

450; 2004.450

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

552962

coverage:

1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 1976-2004

rights:

Unrestricted