MAJ Doris Sisson Latta, USA Ret. Oral History Part 1

title:

MAJ Doris Sisson Latta, USA Ret. Oral History Part 1

creator:

Latta, Doris Jean (Sisson) (1919 June 23 - )

subject:

Navy WAVES | Army

description:

Part 1 of 2. Doris J. Latta (formerly Sisson) was born on June 23, 1919 in Quito, Mississippi. She went to college and was teaching in Schuler, Mississippi for two years when she saw a small article trying to recruit women to serve in the Navy. After leaving from the first recruiter she saw without enlisting, she taught in September of 1942 before going to a different recruiter and enlisting in the Navy WAVES through them. She went through basic training and clerical training at the Stillwater, Oklahoma Training Center, but when they heard how loud her voice could get, they put her in recruit training. She stayed in Stillwater for a few years before going to Hawaii as a part of the first group of enlisted women sent there. New jobs opened to women while she was stationed at pearl Harbor, so she became a recreation specialist, which involved planning dances and parties for men on ships returning from the Pacific. After the war ended, all but three women from her unit chose to be discharged and return to the United States. In 1946, she was stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard in Pennsylvania. When the WAVES became part of the regular Navy, she was assigned to the recruiting office at Great Lakes, Illinois. She went to a school in San Diego, California to see the first coed class of recruits and decide where women would go after finishing basic training. She returned to Great Lakes and moved to physical exercise training instead of recruitment. She was then assigned to Bainbridge, Maryland and continued training new enlisted personnel. While there she considered transferring to the Army, and decided to do so after her friend had done the same. She was released from the Navy and joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1952, going straight to Fort Lee, Virginia for officers training. Her first Army assignment was company commander of a holding company, meaning one made up of women waiting for their next assignment or discharge. She was then assigned to a recruiting company in Louisville, Kentucky. She then did her overseas tour of duty, first as a Dependents School Officer in Paris, France and then as a Company Commander in Heidelberg, Germany and a recreation specialist in Munich, Germany. She then returned to the United States to work in recruit training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. She remained in this position for three years until her retirement in 1962. After her retirement, she met up with her soon-to-be husband who she had met while stationed at Stillwater, Oklahoma and they married in 1963. He had initially proposed over the phone seven years earlier when she was on her way to Europe. They moved to St. Louis, Missouri and she worked as a physical education instructor for three different colleges. After a few years doing that, she became a counselor and continued working for another 25 years until retiring in 1988. She wishes she had retired earlier, since her husband was already in poor health by the time she did. When she left the Navy Latta had reached the rank of chief petty officer, and when she left the Army she had reached the rank of major. For her service, she was awarded an American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, and Asian Pacific Ribbon. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Vernau, Tori

date:

2006-08-26

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

1138.01; 2006.1138

source:

American Legion Post 404 | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

052701

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | Korean War (1950-1953) | 1942-52 | 1952-62

rights:

Unrestricted