CWO2 Carmen Lucas, USMC Ret. Oral History Side A

title:

CWO2 Carmen Lucas, USMC Ret. Oral History Side A

creator:

Lucas, Carmen (1935 August 21 - )

subject:

Marine Corps

description:

Side 1 of 2. Carmen Lucas was born in San Diego, California on August 21, 1935. She is part Native American as her father was one of the last Kwaaymii Indians of the Laguna Mountains. She grew up in Pacific Beach and Mount Laguna, and she graduated from La Hoya High School in 1954. She remembers Pearl Harbor and the changes that occurred in her community, like camouflage, air raid drills, and rationing. She had an older sister, older brother, and twin. Her brother joined the Navy during the Korean War, and after Carmen graduated high school, she and her twin sister joined the Marine Corps in November 1954. They joined in Los Angeles, California and went to Parris Island, South Carolina on a train that took 4 days. She and her sister would get in trouble sometimes at basic training because they would laugh at seeing each other going through recruit training. After boot camp, she was transferred back to San Diego, California to work in subsistence supply where she learned about food inspection and forklift operation. She and her twin sister stayed at this station for three years, and in 1957 Lucas reenlisted and went to Marine Corps Air Space in El Toro, California. A few months after Carmen moved to El Toro, her sister got married and left the Marine Corps. In 1958, she went to Parris Island as a junior and senior drill instructor, a job she greatly enjoyed doing for her two-year assignment. She returned to recruit command at San Diego to do subsistence supply in 1960. For about a month that same year she went to recruitment school at Parris Island and when she finished, she was stationed in Hartford, Connecticut as a recruiter. There she was promoted to sergeant and got married. In 1964 she went back to El Toro as the subsistence accounting clerk. In 1967 she was one of the first women transferred to Iwakuni, Japan as the Vietnam War was just getting into full swing. When the women arrived, the Marines in Iwakuni didn’t know what to do with them, so she requested and was given the job of noncommissioned officer in charge of the issue commissary. Her staff was primarily local Japanese people, and she was very impressed by them. They were clean and did not waste food. They were also warm, and she was exposed to a lot of their culture. She stayed in Japan for 18 months, and in that time she visited Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Da Nang. It was one of her favorite stations, both in terms of her general experiences and being proud of her work there. Returning to the United States in 1968, she applied for the Warrant Officer Program and spent a year as a Senior Drill Instructor at Parris Island. She was promoted to Warrant Officer and transferred to Barstow, California in 1969, assigned to consumable supplies. She stayed there until 1971 when she went to 29 Palms to be closer to her father so she could help him as he got older. She retired in 1974 and went to the College of the Desert, specializing in art history and general education. When she left the service Lucas had reached the rank of chief warrant officer 2. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Wilson, Eleanor M.

date:

2005-06-09

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

583; 2006.583

source:

MCHC | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

110637

coverage:

Vietnam War (1964-1975) | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1954-74

rights:

Unrestricted