LTJG Ellen Marie Dombroski Oral History Tape 1, Side A

title:

LTJG Ellen Marie Dombroski Oral History Tape 1, Side A

creator:

Dombroski, Ellen (McSweeney) (1914 February 7 - )

subject:

Navy WAVES

description:

Tape 1 of 2, side 1 of 2. Ellen Dombroski was born in Somerville, Massachusetts on February 7, 1914. Her father was a metallurgist and a musician, and her mother had been a housekeeper before getting married. She grew up going to local parochial schools, graduating from high school in 1931 and enrolling in Boston University to study physical education. She graduated from college in 1935 and returned to Somerville to teach physical education at the local high school, which she did for seven years. In 1937, another physical education teacher invited her to join the Women’s Defense Corps in Boston, and she ended up in the motor group. This meant she learned to change tires and do simple maintenance, and did convoy driving in practice situations. After submarines had bee spotted off the Boston Harbor, she and a friend of hers got permission to start a group in Somerville in 1942. She stayed with the group when the United States joined World War II but thought about enlisting as she saw students leaving because she wanted her family to be represented. She took he physical exam and was told to lose ten pounds and return in a month, which she did, becoming a member of the Navy WAVES in February 1943. She went to basic training at Smith College in Massachusetts in April of that year. After finishing basic, she was stationed at Corpus Christi, Texas. Between wool uniforms and cotton rather than nylon stockings, she and the other WAVES struggled with the heat. After just over a week in Corpus Christi, she and three other WAVES were sent to the Naval Air Station in Dallas. She was assigned to the education department, giving and correcting grades for enlisted men for 6 or 7 months before being assigned to a unit headed by a civilian woman. This woman didn’t think there should be WAVES and all the work could be done better by civilians, so she would not let Dombroski do much of anything. Eventually, she asked to transfer, and the next day reported to the flight office. She and 14 other enlisted women managed records and schedules for the office. She met her husband one day on the base. The officer who lived on the base were rather hostile to the WAVES, avoiding speaking with them and walking through their barracks for no reason. Her future husband was the captain’s secretary, and he stood up to the men who treated the WAVES poorly at meals, which helped bring the harassment to an end. She was discharged in January 1946, and she and her husband married that May. He remained in the Navy and they had six children. She began working at Bishop Ireton High School when her oldest was a senior, and became a librarian there. She also got a library science degree. She then worked at another school for 13 years until she retired. When she had been discharged, Dombroski had reached the rank of lieutenant junior grade, 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:

Binker, Mary Jo

date:

2003-01-15

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

244.01; 2003.244

source:

CLIR -Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

025259

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-46

rights:

Unrestricted