S1C Rosemary Zelia Miley Oral History Side A

title:

S1C Rosemary Zelia Miley Oral History Side A

creator:

Miley, Rosemary Zelia (1922 August 30 - )

subject:

Navy WAVES

description:

Side 1 of 2. Rosemary Zelia Miley was born on August 30, 1922 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She grew up with her parents, a younger brother, and a younger sister. She graduated from Sheboygan Falls High School in 1940 and went to the College of St. Catherine for a year before joining the war effort. She worked at a defense plant for a year but didn’t enjoy the politicking of the factory, so she enlisted in the Navy WAVES in January 1943. She went to Hunter College for basic training and was stationed in the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. Although she was told she would drive ambulances, she ended up working in the base post office readdressing mail. She wanted to run boats and work out of the boathouse since she grew up going on boats, so she requested to be reassigned. She had to take courses on seamanship first, which she had to complete while still carrying out her regular duties. She eventually did pass all the necessary exams and got the rank of seaman 1st class, which she was never promoted from despite her record over the rest of her service. She was then assigned to the boathouse at the Naval Air Station in San Diego, where she was incredibly busy ferrying people between five different stations. Other women were brought in to train at the boathouse like she had about six months after she was stationed there. She remembers most men did not treat them women well, including officers who would just ignore servicewomen and men who would make rude and dismissive comments to them. In late 1944, she was told that she would neve be promoted as a seaman, and she could either transfer to linen duties in the barracks or get out of the service. She chose the latter, receiving her discharge in October 1944. When she left the service, there were only six other women working in the same position as she had at the boathouse. She worked in theater for a few years before studying in Europe to become an independent interior designer. When she left the service Miley had reached the rank of seaman 1st class, and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Greeley, Elizabeth

date:

1990-06-22

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

645; 1999.645

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

062803

coverage:

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

rights:

Unrestricted