1st Lt Elizabeth D. Haynes Oral History

title:

1st Lt Elizabeth D. Haynes Oral History

creator:

Haynes, Elizabeth "Libby" Middleton (Daggit) (1927 June 8 - )

subject:

Cadet Nurse Corps | Air Force

description:

Elizabeth “Libby” M. Haynes (formerly Daggit) was born on June 8, 1927 in Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated from high school in 1944 and although she was interested in aviation, her family didn’t have the money to send her to college, so she went into the Cadet Nurse Corps right after graduation. She was assigned to Stewart Circle Hospital in Richmond, Virginia for training, staying there until December 1945. Although they were meant to go into the Army or Navy Nurse Corps, the program was shut down when World War II ended. They were given the option to stay in nursing school and pay their own way, or resign. She didn’t love nursing, so she went home and enrolled in George Washington University. She graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1950, taking night classes while working full-time as a clerk typist in DC. Upon finishing her degree she applied for Officer Candidate School in the Air Force, was accepted in March 1951, and was commissioned in September 1951. She spent six months at Lackland Air Force Base at the weather station, and another six months at Andrews Air Force Base at Headquarters Air Weather Service before going to weather school at MIT in September 1952. After a year there, she was assigned to the 8th Weather Squadron in Torbay, Newfoundland as a weather forecaster. She met her future husband there, and they were engaged after going on only four dates together. She was interested in flying since she was a child, taking flight lessons in Richmond while she was a Cadet Nurse and getting her private pilot’s license in 1945. She continued flying afterwards, getting her own plane that had been surplus from World War II in 1953 and only selling it when she became pregnant. She married her husband in 1954 and had their first child in 1955, receiving an honorable discharge when she found out about her pregnancy. She remained at home until the youngest of their four children turned 14, working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) until her retirement in 1988. When she was discharged Haynes had reached the rank of 1st lieutenant, and for her service she was awarded a National Defense Service Medal. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Driver, Wanda

date:

2005-01-06

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

412; 2005.412

source:

Greensprings Collection | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

040208

coverage:

Korean War (1950-1953) | 1951-55

rights:

Unrestricted