Marjorie Putnam Monkhouse Oral History

title:

Marjorie Putnam Monkhouse Oral History

creator:

Monkhouse, Marjorie Putnam "Putty" (Linder) (1921 March 7 - )

subject:

American Red Cross

description:

Marjorie “Putty” Monkhouse (formerly Linder) was born on March 7, 1921 in New York City, New York. She grew up with her parents and older sister in Staten Island, where her family was very civically engaged. They went to a local “Country Day School” from first through twelfth grade and were very active in extracurriculars. After high school, she attended Connecticut College and majored in sociology and economics, graduating in 1942. At first she wanted to go to graduate school but felt it wouldn’t be right to do so during the war, so she worked at the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, DC decoding sensitive materials. When she finished college she immediately went to sign up for the Red Cross since her father had served with them in World War I, but women had to be over 25 to join. In 1944 the age requirement was lowered, so she immediately signed up for overseas service. She went to a four-week training at American University in DC, then to an Army base to work at a service club until there was a ship to take them to Europe. They shipped out from Newport News, Virginia in February 1945. She was assigned to the Mediterranean theater and went on a troop ship to Naples, Italy before heading to the Red Cross headquarters in Florence. After a week in Florence, she was assigned to the First Armored Division while they were in a town south of Rome. They moved daily, eventually ending up near the Austria-Italy border. After six months in Italy she was transferred to Germany, where she first served in a Red Cross unit in Lindenbourg that serviced military vehicles moving between Wiesbaden and Frankfort. After the war ended Clubmobile operations were closed down, and she was transferred to a stationary unit north of Frankfort to help operate a club on base. After another six months, she was transferred to a different base near Stuttgart doing the same thing. In 1947 she elected to stay in Europe, serving at a base service club in Nuremberg for a year before returning to the States in December 1948. A transcript of this interview is available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Preti, Elizabeth

date:

1989-10-16

type:

Audio

format:

Cassette

identifier:

621; 1989.621

source:

NSCD | CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

541794

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-48

rights:

Unrestricted