1LT Willye W. Brockway Oral History

title:

1LT Willye W. Brockway Oral History

creator:

Brockway, Willye (White)

subject:

Marine Corps Women's Reserve

description:

Willye Brockway (born White) was born on April 4, 1919 in Seattle, Washington. She had two older brothers who were both officers in the Navy, so there was a minor household argument when she enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in July 1943. She went to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina for basic training, then was sent to Officers’ Candidate School in October 1943. After completing OCS, she was assigned to the Marine Corps Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. While there, she heard there was a post open in the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia and requested a transfer there, which she was granted. She was the first woman Marine sent to that station to prepare it for the arrival of 100 more women Marines. Her Commanding Officer at this station had told Headquarters he would never allow a woman on the post, so he was shocked when she arrived with the name “Willye White,” expecting that she would be a man. While he treated her poorly and attempted to embarrass her, others were more welcoming. While he wasn’t too involved in preparing the barracks, which she could do somewhat easily with the help of the Navy since they’d already set up for the arrival of WAVES, he was incredibly hard on the women once they arrived. One day, he called in Willye to berate her and insult the women on the station after seeing one of the servicewomen holding hands with one of his men. She argued with him and his opinions on women, and was relieved from duty for it. She immediately called HQMC, Colonel Streeter said she’d handle it from there, and two days later her CO refused to apologize but put her back on duty. She helped set up a program through which servicewomen could help families whose husbands were about to be shipped out, looking after their kids or house so the married couple could spend quality time together before they left for the Pacific. She remained at this station until her discharge in January 1946 and returned to Washington state, where she still lived as of this interview. When she left the service Willye had reached the rank of 1st lieutenant, and for her service she was awarded an American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Donworth, Carey

date:

1994-07-26

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

074; 1994.074

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

304201

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1943-46

rights:

Restricted