A2C Jacquelyn M. Anderson Oral History Side B

title:

A2C Jacquelyn M. Anderson Oral History Side B

creator:

Anderson, Jacquelyn "Tommy" (Tomasik)

subject:

Air Force

description:

Side 2 of 2. Jacquelyn “Tommy” Anderson (formerly Tomasik) grew up in Holyoke, Massachusetts with her stepfather, mother, and half-brother. Jacquelyn graduated high school with few opportunities available to her. Following the advice of an army recruiter that came daily to the dry cleaners she worked at, Jacquelyn enlisted into the Air Force in 1951. Part of the reason she chose the Air Force was because her brother had initially planned to but joined the Coast Guard instead, so she thought her mother would like if she joined the Air Force. She also wanted to go to college but knew her family couldn’t afford it, so joining the Air Force would help her get there. Jacquelyn was sent to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for basic training. At training Jacquelyn witnessed segregation, learned to work as a unit with the other women, and ultimately failed the OCS exams. At the end of the eight weeks of basic training, Jacquelyn was given the rank of Airman Third Class and sent to the Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado. From there Jacquelyn was given the responsibility of maintaining personnel records and database processing, just as computers were being introduced. After finishing tech school, she was sent to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. There, Jacquelyn met Eldin Anderson, who was also enlisted in the Air Force. Eldin had an interesting military career himself: at age 19 he jumped with the 101st Airborne on D-Day and was taken as a prisoner of war in Germany. Jacquelyn and Eldin were married in uniform in December of 1952. After their honeymoon, Eldin was sent to England to work in the intelligence corps for two years. Six months after her husband left, Jacquelyn was able to get a compassionate transfer to the Third Air Force headquarters in South Ruislip, England. In England Jacquelyn was promoted to Airman Second Class. As the only female enlisted in the Air Force at South Ruislip, Jacquelyn faced challenges from the lack of protocol made for women in the service. She also struggled with the stereotypes attached to enlisted women. In January 1954, Jacquelyn found out she was pregnant and was honorably discharged. Three years later Jacquelyn was employed once again, this time as a civilian on an Air Force Base. Jacquelyn continued to work her way through the ranks of the data-processing company, eventually becoming the first female division chief. For her service, Anderson was awarded the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, and Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Binker, Mary Jo

date:

2001-01-23

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

023; 2001.023

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

003673

coverage:

Korean War (1950-1953) | 1951-54

rights:

Unrestricted