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A2C Joyce L. Lester Oral History
Joyce Lester was born in Dacula, Georgia in 1933 as the oldest of 5 children. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a career Army non-commissioned officer. She was raised on Sullivan's Island where her father was stationed at Ft. Moultrie. Joyce was in the first grade when WWII broke out. Joyce graduated high school and worked full time at a local Savannah radio station WSAV when she joined the Air Force in October of 1952. After basic training Joyce went to radio school for her technical training where she studied basic electronics in St. Louis. After finishing radio school she was sent to Andrews AFB in 1953.
Publication date: 22 February 2021
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title:
A2C Joyce L. Lester Oral History
creator:
Lester, Joyce L. (Blackstock) (1934 April 13 -
subject:
Air Force
description:
Joyce Lester (Blackstock) was born in Dacula, Georgia in 1933 as the oldest of 5 children. Her mother was a housewife and her father was a career Army non-commissioned officer. She was raised on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina where her father was stationed at Fort Moultrie. Joyce was in first grade when World War II broke out. Joyce graduated high school and worked full time at a local Savannah, Georgia radio station WSAV when she joined the Air Force in October of 1952. After basic training Joyce went to radio school for her technical training where she studied basic electronics in St. Louis, Missouri. After finishing radio school, she was sent to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland in 1953. At Andrews AFB, Joyce's squadron was unique: they were paired with a male squadron (the 2045th) rather than another female one. She says this didn't bring any sort of advantage, but that both squadrons did function as equals. She continued working at receivers at Andrews, leaving the service in April 1955 because a "goof-off" got promoted ahead of her while promotions were frozen. She then applied to work in federal civil service, getting a job with the Census Bureau as an electronics technician, a position she held until August 1957 when her husband was sent to Hawaii. In 1965 she divorced her first husband, and years later she returned to school at Georgia State, where she received a Bachelors degree in accounting and an MBA in management. She has since settled in Marietta, Georgia. She has been awarded the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Korean Service Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.
publisher:
Military Women's Memorial Foundation
contributor:
Binker, Mary Jo
date:
2001-09-18
type:
Audio
format:
Cassette
identifier:
563; 2001.563
source:
OHP
language:
English
relation:
364988
coverage:
Korean War (1950-1953) | 1952-1955
rights:
Unrestricted