LTC Katherine S. Ward, USA Oral History

title:

LTC Katherine S. Ward, USA Oral History

creator:

Ward, Katherine Smith (1952 July 24 - )

subject:

Army

description:

Katherine S. Ward (formerly Smith) was born on July 24, 1953 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was an infantry officer in the Army, so her family moved around the United States and abroad as she was growing up, graduating from Highland Forest High School when they were in West Point, New York. She attended Middlebury College in Vermont, and although she hoped to go into the Peace Corps for some adventure after graduating, her father also convinced her to apply for an Army commission as a backup plan. After her Peace Corps application got tied up, she ended up going through with the Army commission in 1975 instead. She went to a series of schools for a year, learning how to be an officer in the Signal Corps. After training, she was stationed in Korea for her first overseas duty. Although she initially wanted to go to Alaska next, they were so cold in Korea that she opted for Fort Lewis, Washington instead. She met her future husband, an infantry officer, there and was lucky enough to be stationed at Fort Lewis at the same time as her sister, Carolyn S. Graves, who was a platoon leader in the maintenance battalion down the road. From there, she was stationed in Germany for five years, Washington, DC for another three, and back to Germany in 1990, soon before Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield. She was with the 1st Armored Division there and was told there was an even chance they’d be deployed for combat or peacekeeping. She was most worried about all four family members being in the same combat zone at once. She unloaded at the same port as her sister, so they were able to share a Christmas Eve dinner that year. Although some scuds were fired near where she was stationed in Saudi Arabia, none were close enough to hurt anyone in or cause damage to the area around her unit. After returning home from Desert Shield, she was given the role of Liaison Officer for her division to the Redeployment Cell, which was in charge of coordinating flights and other travel methods for all the returning troops. She was on the last flight for her division, returning to Germany and meeting up with her husband in Nuremberg. Her husband was selected for the Army War College, so they returned to the United States and she spent a year at Carlisle before being assigned to the Pentagon, which is where she was stationed at the time of the interview, and she planned on retiring upon finishing her third year there. When she left the service Ward had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, and for her service she was awarded a Bronze Star Medal, Liberation of Kuwait (Emirate of Kuwait) Medal, and Liberation of Kuwait (Saudi Arabia) Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Atkinson, Martha E.

date:

1994-10

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

974; 1994.974

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

201815

coverage:

1975-interview

rights:

Unrestricted