Sgt Bertha Epstein Gelfer Oral History

title:

Sgt Bertha Epstein Gelfer Oral History

creator:

Gelfer, Bertha "Birdie" (Epstein) (1914 March 11 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

Bertha “Birdie” Gelfer (formerly Epstein) was born on March 11, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York. She was a stenographer and secretary at a publishing company while still going to public school, which she finished early. Her mother enrolled her in business school at 14, which is how she ended up with that job. The economic crash of 1929 forced her out of this job, however, and she began working as a beautician. She was still doing this when the war broke out, and one day her brother who had enlisted came to visit her and asked why she hadn’t enlisted too. At first, she wanted to make sure her parents weren’t alone, since both of her brothers were married and out of the house. After talking with a friend of her brother’s who was in the military, she decided to join to Women’s Army Corps. As a WAC, she was apart of the 4th Air Force, which is also what her brother was apart of. One day, while they wee both stationed in California, her brother was on a teaching flight that crashed and killed all ten people on board. She was on duty that night when she got a phone call from her parents, asking her to check if it was really him, and it was. She was in the service for three years, stationed in Los Angeles, California with the 4th Air Force the whole time. When she was discharged in 1945, she returned home and found work as the secretary to the vice president of a nearby bank, seemingly because she wore her uniform into the right couple of places. She wasn’t in this position for long, however, because one day her future husband walked in, they met, they saw each other three more times, and married twenty-two days after their meeting. She got pregnant soon after and had to leave her job at the bank. While in the service, after reaching the rank of sergeant she went 27 months without receiving another promotion, and later found out it was because she was a woman. The highest rank Gelfer reached was sergeant, and for her service she was awarded a Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Tareen, Sarah

date:

2008-02-12

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

1129; 2008.1129

source:

Connelly School of the Holy Child | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

033511

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1942-45

rights:

Unrestricted