1LT Edith J. Sloan Oral History, Side A

title:

1LT Edith J. Sloan Oral History, Side A

creator:

Sloan, Edith J. (1914 March 9 - )

subject:

Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) | Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

Side 1 of 2. This is the original, unedited interview audio. Edith J. Sloan was born on March 9, 1914 in New York City, New York. She has a long family history of Navy service, dating back to the Revolutionary War. In the early stages of World War II, she was a member of the American Women’s Voluntary Services, driving military personnel and entertainers around New York City in her own car. They also learned first aid, map reading, air raid precautions, and how to drive ambulances for local hospitals. When the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps first began, they went to the AWVS to recruit women, and Sloan was one of nine women who joined. Given her family history of Navy service, she applied for the WAVES too, but they did not like that she didn’t have a high school diploma. She was sworn into the Army in September 1942 and went to basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Although she was recruited as a driver, her paperwork was misplaced and she was instead sent to secretarial school briefly before being correctly sent to motor school around a week late. While she was in motor school, applications for Officers Candidate School opened to the ranks, and she decided to apply. She realized soon after, however, that she wasn’t actually greatly interested in OCS, so she went with her outfit to their station in Washington, DC instead. She drove a mail truck around anti-aircraft barriers in the Washington area. Her family pushed her to go to OCS, so she returned to Fort Des Moines to attend and graduated in June 1943. She wasn’t sent out until September, because the WAAC transitioned to the Women’s Army Corps in the summer of 1943. She was assigned to the Sioux Falls Army Air Training Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where washed out pilots would train as mechanics and radio operators. She spent 21 months there in payroll and service records. In June 1945, Sioux Falls became a transfer point from Europe to the Pacific, and she remained in Training Command in this transition. She shipped off to the Philippines soon after, and was en route to the Philippines as the war in the Pacific was coming to a close. She was assigned to the Far East Air Force and lived in Fort McKinley, which was south of Manila. She doesn’t remember the exact position she worked in, but they essentially worked as the connecting point between the Signal Corps and the General Staff, recording and passing on messages between the two. She returned to the United States when she had enough points for discharge, receiving it in March 1946. She went to college using he GI Bill, attending Radcliffe College and graduating with honors in 1950. She also got a masters degree in religious education at New York University in 1957. When she left the service Sloan had reached the rank of 1st lieutenant, and for her service she was awarded a Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Philippine Independence Ribbon. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Brown, Caroline Lowe

date:

1988-01-28

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

854; 1988.854

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

087014

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-46

rights:

Unrestricted