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Sgt Bettie P. Lerdall Oral History
Publication date: 31 July 2024
File metadata
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title:
Sgt Bettie P. Lerdall Oral History
creator:
Lerdall, Bettie "Prudie" (Pruden) (1923 July 21 - )
subject:
Marine Corps Women's Reserve | Marine Corps
description:
Bettie “Prudie” Lerdall (formerly Pruden) was born on July 21, 1923 in Alameda, California. She graduated from Alameda High School in 1941 and went to college for a year afterwards before working for a railroad company. She enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in July 1943 and reported for duty in September 1943. She went to basic training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and stayed there for NCO training. Her assignment following training was still at Camp Lejeune as a platoon leader for incoming women going through training. She was discharged in December 1945, and went back to college at the University of California: Berkeley. She worked as a bookkeeper in payroll before rejoining the Marines in the active reserves at Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, which she was in from 1947 through 1949. She helped recruit for foreign service with the State Department and was assigned to Washington, DC. She also went overseas to Karachi, Pakistan as well as Paris and Rome. She met her husband, who was in an Air Force attaché, in this time, and they married after eight months. They returned to the United States and her husband left the Air Force, but joined again soon after. She joined him as he was stationed abroad, at one point going with him to Cairo, Egypt and having to evacuate on a Navy ship. He retired from the Air Force in 1970, and they settled in Arizona. When she left the service Lerdall had reached the rank of sergeant, 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:
Wilson, Eleanor M.
date:
2005-04-20
type:
Audio
format:
Cassette
identifier:
561; 2005.561
source:
MCHC | CLIR - Recordings at Risk
language:
English
relation:
053840
coverage:
World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-45 | 1947-49
rights:
Unrestricted