Cpl Ingrid Marie Duran Oral History

title:

Cpl Ingrid Marie Duran Oral History

creator:

Duran, Ingrid Marie (1966 January 13 - )

subject:

Marine Corps

description:

Ingrid Duran was born on January 13, 1966 in Los Angeles, California. Both of her parents were involved in Chicano activism in California in the sixties, so cultural pride was instilled within her at a young age. Duran moved to Wichita, Kansas after the divorce of her parents which was a massive culture shock for her and helped to shape her own cultural identity and sense of pride. Duran went to high school in Kansas and the Dominican Republic, graduating from Wichita East High School in 1983. Although she went to college in Arizona and Kansas for two and a half years, she decided to join the Marine Corps in January 1986 on the buddy system to find a sense of direction and help pay for college. She completed basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, then to Twentynine Palms, California for communications school to become a com center operator. When she graduated with honors, she was able to choose her first service, which was to be Okinawa, Japan. It was here where she was first exposed to the gay community in the Marines in the time before Don't Ask Don't Tell and she began to come to terms with her own sexuality. From there, she moved to Norfolk, Virginia where she ended her service in December 1989 at the start of the Gulf War. She is currently the CEO and President of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), which provides training and leadership opportunities to young adults to learn more about careers in legislation. Duran speaks to her experiences with fraternization in the Marines, pushing the limits of her mind and body during basic, and the struggle of navigating the institutional-wide doubt of ability for gay soldiers versus straight. When she left the service in 1989, Duran had reached the rank of corporal, and for her service she was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal. A partial transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Scott, Kate M.

date:

2003-10-29

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

257; 2003.257

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

171785

coverage:

1980s | 1986-89

rights:

Unrestricted