Interview of Rose M. Stornant on her service as a legal secretary in the Women's Army Corps during WWII Elsie Hornbacher: This is July 11th, 1984. Rose Stornant is recording her experiences with the women, Women’s Army Corps. Um. Rose lives at 323 North Walnut, apartment 501, Lansing, MI 48933. Her telephone number, the area code is 517, the number is 372-1715. If there are any questions concerning this interview, Rose can be, um, located by telephone or by letter at the number or the address. [0:48] Uh, Rose, uh, what did you do prior to enlistment? Rose Stornant: I was a legal secretary in the Attorney General’s Office in Lansing, Michigan, in the collection division, and when I went into service – when we landed in California and the WAC officer came running out, “Is there a legal secretary present?” I kept my mouth shut ‘cause I wanted something different. I had visions of patching the boys up overseas, so [laughter] the other girl was – one – uh, there a little Jewish girl there that spoke right up; oh, she would be interested in that, but guess who got the assignment? Rose Stornant got the assignment, so I was a legal secretary right from the very beginning. Elsie Hornbacher: [1:30] Rose, what date was this? Rose Stornant: I went into service in, uh, February of 1943. Elsie Hornbacher: 1943. Rose Stornant: Right, and then after army, uh, basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, which was a month or six weeks, I don’t remember now; I believe four weeks. From there I went to Army [Ad 1:49] School in Russellville, Arkansas, and from there I was assigned to Lemoore Army Air Field in California. Elsie Hornbacher: [1:56] Where were these schools? Were they in established colleges or, uh…? Rose Stornant: Yes, uh, the one – the Army [Ad 2:02] School was at, uh, Russellville State College. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It was a really a lovely place and, uh, from there I went – got my first assignment at s-, Lemoore Army Air Field, and I was assigned as the – with courts and boards, a legal secretary, and I was reporting g-, not general courts, the special courts. Elsie Hornbacher: [2:23] Who taught these courses? Rose Stornant: Who taught’m? Elsie Hornbacher: [2:26] Regular college professors or the army? Rose Stornant: There was, there was no course in this. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But I was a legal secretary, so they just, uh, assumed that I could do it, which I did. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. I see. Rose Stornant: The funny part of it was, uh, the, uh, officer – the head of the judge advocate’s office asked me how fast I could type. M-, I, I believe I told him 75 words a minute. And he’s, ‘Well, we’ll see how fast you can type.’ And he didn’t know beans about, you know, how fast a stenographer could type. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: But, uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [3:04] How did he judge it? [laughter] Rose Stornant: [laughter] Beats me. Anyway, they were satisfied. Uh, there was a, uh, a G.I., uh, doing, uh, this job at the time, and he wanted to get into the fight. ‘Course, this was the purpose of the WACs, to relieve, uh, men at the desk for, you know, combat. This was our purpose, and when they saw us coming overseas, they didn’t like it. Not the armchair commandos. But, uh, Harry [inaudible 3:32] was his name and a nice guy. And one time, we had a terrible, uh, case on the base, a rape case, and they had pretrial hearings and Harry took part and I took part, and after the, uh – when we were transcribing our notes, when Harry was stuck on something – I, I could tra-, I could, uh, transcribe his notes and, and, uh, vice versa, so we were a – quite a bit’a help to each other. We – fortunately he learned the same type of shorthand because not everybody writes the same type, you know. But let’s get to overseas; this is what this is about, isn’t it? Elsie Hornbacher: Yes. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Well, then, uh, from c-, [laughing] California I was, uh, sent overseas. Elsie Hornbacher: [4:16] Where? Rose Stornant: Uh, we l-, we landed at Firth of Clyde in Scotland. Elsie Hornbacher: [4:22] In Scotland? What year was this now? Nineteen…? Rose Stornant: Fourty-four. In March… Elsie Hornbacher: Nineteen… Rose Stornant: …of ’44. Elsie Hornbacher: March. A whole year before the war ended. Rose Stornant: Yes, I was a year in California… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …and, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: Now you’re in Scotland. Rose Stornant: Right. And, uh, h-, uh, h-, here’s something. Guess what w-, was waiting for us on the other side? A Scottish band with the skirts and all playin’ their bagpipes, and they took us right to the train and then we went through, uh, Scotland by train and on – all the way down, we got the V sign from the Scottish people. It was really quite a nice ride, and, uh, we went to – Taunton, England was our first… Elsie Hornbacher: [5:03] Taunton? Rose Stornant: Taunton, England… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …was my first assignment. Elsie Hornbacher: T-O-N-T-O-N. Rose Stornant: T-A-U-N-T-O-N, right. Elsie Hornbacher: T-A-U-N. Rose Stornant: T-O-N. And, uh, uh, this was a lovely, uh, manor out in the country where we worked, and they had fireplaces in each room, you know, and they don’t have central heating in England. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know that. And it’s really cold there in England. Elsie Hornbacher: I avoided going there in the winter for that reason. Rose Stornant: [laughter] And, so, uh, and, uh, there was a lovely pathway, you know, going up to the castle. We used to call it the castle. Elsie Hornbacher: [5:39] But it was cold. Rose Stornant: Well, yes, it depends. I, I forget the time of year… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …that we went. Well, it was in March or April. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: By that time… Rose Stornant: …of course we had gone to the staging area first in Scotland. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And boy, when they played the Star-Spangled Banner at the parade that we were in there, well, there wasn’t a dry eye on that, uh, field. [At this point 6:00] you really get patriotic when you’re away from home. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] That’s for sure! That flag means a lot too. Rose Stornant: Oh boy. I’m telling you. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Well, anyway, after that we, uh, we went to Taunton and again, I was assigned to courts and boards but there were no court hearings there. But this, uh, Major, uh, Timothy… Elsie Hornbacher: [6:18] Rose, before you go on though, what were your living conditions like? Did you have a bedroom of your own? Rose Stornant: Are you kidding? We lived in Nissen huts. Elsie Hornbacher: [6:26] Oh, you lived in huts. Rose Stornant: We lived in Nissen huts with… Elsie Hornbacher: Nissen. [6:29] What’s a Nissen hut? Rose Stornant: Well, it’s a round hut, you know, the metal – the gray metal round hut. Elsie Hornbacher: [6:35] Oh, you didn’t live in this, uh, castle you [inaudible 6:37] Rose Stornant: Oh, no. We worked there. Elsie Hornbacher: You worked there. Alright. Rose Stornant: We worked there. And that was just down the – up the road a piece. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. I see. Rose Stornant: So, uh, no, we lived in Nissen huts, and there were – oh golly, there must have been about 20 in a hut. There were, uh, rows of beds on, on both sides, and they had these potbelly stoves in the middle; one or two. And, uh. No, that was… Elsie Hornbacher: [6:57] No bathrooms? Rose Stornant: Oh, we had out-, we had bathrooms separate from there. Elsie Hornbacher: [7:01] Outside? Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: [7:02] Temporary? Rose Stornant: Well, I, I don’t remember whether they were temporary. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Okay. Rose Stornant: [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: They could have stayed there for a long period of time alright. Rose Stornant: Uh, now wait a minute. I think they were, uh, they weren’t, uh, you know… Elsie Hornbacher: [7:16] They hadn’t been established before you came? Rose Stornant: I think they had been, yes. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, you had – they had [inaudible 7:20] Rose Stornant: A-, and in, uh, in sorta square buildings. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. And, uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [7:25] D-, did ya have hot water in there? Rose Stornant: Uh, huh, I don’t remember. I don’t remember. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Um. Elsie Hornbacher: That was an inconvenience many people put up with overseas. Rose Stornant: I know that we had a lot of cold water. I do recall that, but, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: [7:39] Where you [cool 7:39]? Rose Stornant: Another thing, another thing, uh, we – they had these Lyster bags, you know, hanging outside that you were supposed to drink water out of because the water was supposed to be contaminated. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Well, I never, never drank out of that water. I drank the contaminated water all the time I was in England… Elsie Hornbacher: [7:55] And you didn’t get [inaudible 7:55]. Rose Stornant: …and there were terrible stories going around, you know, about finding dead rats in the wells and stuff. [laughing] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughing] Rose Stornant: But those – that Lyster bag water was just like rotten eggs. It was terrible. Elsie Hornbacher: Yeah, we had to use it in Tokyo, too, for 2 years after. Rose Stornant: It was terrible, wasn’t it? Elsie Hornbacher: Uh-huh. Rose Stornant: Anyhow… Elsie Hornbacher: It wasn’t that bad. Not in Tokyo. Rose Stornant: It wasn’t? Elsie Hornbacher: Uh-uh. No. Rose Stornant: Well, they probably… Elsie Hornbacher: Purified it better. Rose Stornant: Yeah. [laughter] Well anyway, uh, the Major, uh, dictated letters on, uh, oh how, how, uh, a soldier should act in the Service. I mean, these were the kind of letters that I got in Taunton. Then while I was in Taunton, my youngest brother was on his way overseas. I knew this. I knew that he was on his way overseas before I got back to, to my base in – see, I had gone to L.A. to visit with Vick ‘cause I knew he was going overseas. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And when I came back to Lemoore, my friend had signed me up for overseas, and I got over there before Vick did. And so when he – when I heard from him that, you know, he was landing at such a place, so I wrote and told him how to get in touch with me, to call the Red Cross, you know. And, uh, so when I – one night when I was, uh, dressing to go into town, which was a couple miles away, my friend is on CQ and she comes running, ‘Rose, Rose, Vick is on the phone!’ So I go running down the cobble path in my stocking feet [laughter] to – and she, uh, she acted just like she knew him, you know, from way back and, uh, so it was something. So Vick – uh, we weren’t in Taunton very long, just a couple months, and we were s-, transferred to Salzburg. Elsie Hornbacher: [9:29] Oh, you mean you were in the same area with your brother for a couple’a months? Rose Stornant: No, no. No. No. He was in mi-, in the Midlands. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, I see. Rose Stornant: And, uh, he had come down to visit me, tsk, i-, i-, after we had, uh, moved to Salisbury. I – and I notified him where I could be reached and, uh, he and a friend of his who was on the same crew with him, [Coder 9:52] his name was, came visiting and they went out to the base which is a couple miles away from town, and my friend and I had gone into town for the first time and – having a great time looking over this British hamlet, you know. This was Salisbury, England. It was a lovely place and, uh, we ended up at the Red Cross. This is a great big place. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh, when we went in, on the, on the main floor was this big dance going on where the G.I.s were dancing with the British gals, and, uh, we didn’t bother going in there and then we went downstairs into this great big room with tables and then at one end, they had Coke machines! We spotted that Coke machine and we made a beeline for it because we had never seen – we hadn’t had – seen Coca-Cola since we left the States… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …and, uh, Vick and [Coder 10:40] were sitting at a table down there. They had been out to the base and of course I wasn’t there, so they went back to the Red Cross, and they had talked to the Red Cross girl and they saw us coming in and so he sent his friend up to the, uh, counter to give us the ole one-two. They had tea and crumpets up there, you know, and, uh, so this cute fella comes up and he [says, “Hey there, Core pets,” 10:59] and uh, same as my brother. ‘So, what, what outfit are you in,’ you know, and he tells me the next number to Vick’s, and he gives me the ole one-two about being from Lansing, Michigan, and in – while I was picking out some crumpets, he, he wises up my friend. Uh, Vick is there, so she was wise to him. So, this is this great big room and we’re walking across it w-, carrying these crumpets that we had picked out and, and Vick of course had stooped down so I wouldn’t see him and as I approached, he straightened out and I just let out a scream when I saw him! Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: And the Red Cross gal upstairs wondered what the fight was about, then she realized it must’a been me meeting my brother. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: My friend, uh, [Zeek 11:38] I dubbed her in the Service, will never forget that. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: She just, uh – when we get together, why, we go over all these things. But I’m telling you, this is my baby brother, and, uh, it was really something. But I got together with him… Elsie Hornbacher: It means a lot overseas. Rose Stornant: Oh, it sure does. He was flying with the 8th Air Corps. He was the engineer of their crew. Elsie Hornbacher: Rose, you’re from a large family. [12:00] How many of your brothers, uh… Rose Stornant: There were three of my brothers in the Service. Elsie Hornbacher: [12:03] In the Service? Rose Stornant: I have five brothers. Elsie Hornbacher: Wow. And three in the Service? Rose Stornant: Four of us were in and the law of averages was against us, but we all came back. The Lord was good to us. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, wonderful. [12:13] Were they – uh, what other areas…? Rose Stornant: They were in the air corps; all three of them. Um. My brother Tony was, uh, never got overseas. He was stationed in the States and he was a flying instructor, and he almost got sent to the same base where I was in Lemoore… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …but, um, uh, he just missed it. Anyway, he never got overseas and at the time the war ended, he was in fighter training. He was so itching to get into the fight, but I just thank the Lord that he never got in… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …because the law of averages was really against us. Anyway, Sam was with the air transport command, and he was stationed in Cairo, Egypt. And Vick, uh, the youngest boy that I met in England, was, uh, flying with the 8th Air Corps and they were bombing missions over Germany, and I really sweated that kid out, but I could go to the phone and p-, a-, and call him, you know. And when I first heard that he was there, I didn’t have the nerve to go to the phone and call him. The Major kept tellin’ me, “Why don’t you go to the phone and call him? Why don’t you go and call him?” So, my friend [Zeek 13:15] goes to the phone and calls [laughter] him. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Oh, that was great! Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Anyway, uh, uh, when he… Elsie Hornbacher: [13:22] Could you do this at all times or just at certain periods of times? Rose Stornant: No, I could do it at any time… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …but I don’t know whether Vick could on the other end. But he was, uh, he was stationed in the Midlands, and he came… Elsie Hornbacher: [13:36] Where are the Midlands? Rose Stornant: This is in Shakespeare country. That’s in the middle of England. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, I see. Rose Stornant: I never got to, uh, Stratford-on-Avon, but Vick did. But I went up to see him at, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …and I forget the name of the place now. Tsk. Anyway, while I was, uh, visiting him at his base, I stayed with a Red Cross girl there. She had extra room. And the funny part was in October where they were havin’ a Halloween party and the next morning the boys were scheduled for a deep penetration, a DP they called it, into Germany on a mission, and as I lay in bed, I heard the planes revving up and revving up. They never took off! Pretty soon, the Red Cross girl knocks on the door. Your brother’s out here. They had scrubbed the mission, so Vick and, uh [Coder 14:20] were [laughter] outside. Elsie Hornbacher: [14:21] By scrubbing, you mean canceled [inaudible 14:23]. Rose Stornant: They had canceled the mission, yes. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Right, but the, the term is scrubbing [isn’t it? 14:27] Rose Stornant: Yes. And then, uh, Vick said that they were scheduled for a, uh, slow timing job. This is a skeleton crew going up with a plane to, uh, to break in a new motor on the plane. So, I went up with’m on this, and it was really s-, quite an experience. Uh. We flew all over England. You could see right straight down and, uh, England has a beautiful countryside. Neatly tailored, you know. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Anyway, um, uh, Vick gives me a flying suit to put on, and I put on this flying suit and of course, it had a slit from here to here, you know… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …but I had G.I. underwear on, so it didn’t make any difference but the – uh, one of the young officers was shocked to see me in that and – but I, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in anything else climbing u-, climbing up on that truck to go out to the plane and then climbing up on that plane. It was quite a climb! Elsie Hornbacher: Back in those days, uh, [laughter] uh, women wore dresses at all times, didn’t they? Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Yeah, yeah. Rose Stornant: Anyhow, uh, Vick would, uh, show me all the spots on the plane and, uh, he tried to get me to sit in the, uh, turret – the belly turret. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: I says nothing doing. [laughter] This is the, the bubble that hangs below the plane. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So we had Johnny [Hinkley 15:41] from Detroit who was the turret gunner get into it and he, he’s curled up with that gun, then Vick closes the door on him and locks him in! And that poor kid is in that, uh, just hanging down from the plane, you know. If something happened, it’d just be too bad. So then we go to the tail gunner’s seat and he says, “Go ahead. Sit in it.” The seat is going up and down like this and they called the tail gunner Jeeters, [laughter], so you can understand why they called him Jeeters. He’s a nervous wreck. That, that tail, uh, spot was just, hm, bumbling up and down all the time. Well then when we came down, Vick had me go on one side, he went on the other side, and he sh-, showed me what to do to lower the v-, wheel on that side while he lowered it on the other side. It was quite a, an experience. And too, I had gotten into the, uh, the nose of the plane, too, and I just don’t remember the – and we forgot to [tune 16:33] in s-, uh, s-, uh, Axis Sally. We used – the boys used to hear Axis a lot and we forgot to [tune 16:40] her in. I would’ve liked to have heard that. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But that was quite an experience. So then, uh, I had planned to get together with Vick for Christmas, and I had, uh, been transferred… Elsie Hornbacher: [16:54] Is this ’44? Christmas of ’44? Rose Stornant: This is ’44, but in November of ’44, I was sent over to France, but v-, D-Day, th-, s-, n-, oh, I missed D-Day. D-Day in, uh, Salisbury, England. You know, uh, recently when they had all these things on TV about D-Day and about… Elsie Hornbacher: Yes. Rose Stornant: …the paratroopers, we saw those gliders going by in droves loaded with paratroopers, and we knew where they were heading. We had met some of the boys in town. Elsie Hornbacher: [17:22] Oh, this is in June, isn’t it, of ’45? Rose Stornant: Yes, this is June of ’44. Elsie Hornbacher: ’44? Rose Stornant: Right. Elsie Hornbacher: Okay. Rose Stornant: D-Day is ’44. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, yes. Hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [17:32] And you were in France then? Rose Stornant: No, I was in England. I was in Salisbury, England. See, some of our girls were sent down, uh, to the, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: Let me get these dates straight. [17:41] D-Day was ’44. Rose Stornant: Absolutely. June 6th, 1944. Elsie Hornbacher: June 6th, 1944, and, uh, you were in, uh… Rose Stornant: Salisbury, England. Elsie Hornbacher: [17:52] On D-Day? Rose Stornant: Right. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Okay. Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: [17:55] But when did you go to France? Rose Stornant: In November. Elsie Hornbacher: November. Oh, that’s after D-Day. Rose Stornant: Right. Elsie Hornbacher: Okay. Rose Stornant: You see, uh, w-, uh, the WACs didn’t get, uh, set up over there… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …until – well, tsk, in the meantime, while, while we were stationed there, one of the girls that was stationed with us in California was secretary to the general in Europe, and she stopped to see us gals. She arranged for the General to, uh, request us by TWX, tsk, for certain jobs, so this is how I got to Paris. I flew over. Tsk. I didn’t – [laughter] and my friend [Zeek 18:28], she went over on a boat and really roughed it on Omaha beach in tents like the boys did, and, uh, and another friend, uh, from New York went down to Plymouth. Elsie Hornbacher: [18:40] Were your, uh, restrictions, uh, changed, uh, drastically after D-Day? Rose Stornant: Well, not in England. Elsie Hornbacher: Not in England. Rose Stornant: No, because – uh, I did, uh, get to, uh, London with my brother Vick when he came to see me. We went back to London together… Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: …and we had our picture taken together in a studio in London. Elsie Hornbacher: [19:00] But you were sort of free – uh… Rose Stornant: Oh yes. Elsie Hornbacher: …didn’t you have, uh, orders to keep, uh, in the WACs? Rose Stornant: In England? Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Well, I think that there was a bed check time. Elsie Hornbacher: [19:10] There were restrictions for [base] [inaudible 19:11]. Rose Stornant: I think there was a bed check time. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But th-, w-, uh, we lived out in the, uh, countryside, you know. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: We had to go into town if you wanted to do anything. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: But, uh, when I… Elsie Hornbacher: [19:21] The restrictions, uh… Rose Stornant: There weren’t really any restrictions in England… Elsie Hornbacher: Uh-huh. Th-, the… Rose Stornant: …to speak of. There was bed check time. Elsie Hornbacher: …more confining to you. Rose Stornant: No, no. There was bed check time, of course… Elsie Hornbacher: [I know 19:30]. Rose Stornant: …but, uh, in France there were no restrictions either. We were in a fancy hotel in France. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh goodness. Rose Stornant: [inaudible 19:37]. Elsie Hornbacher: But let’s go back to England now. [19:39] Um, uh, how did D-Day affect the people? You’re in England at D-Day. Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: [19:46] How – uh, what was your reaction when, uh, D-Day came? Rose Stornant: Well, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: [19:52] And e-, uh, the people of England’s reaction. Rose Stornant: Well, I don’t know because we weren’t that close with them. We were out in the country, you see. Elsie Hornbacher: Out in the country. I see. Rose Stornant: And we never really got close to anybody in England. Of all the closest I ever got to anybody in England was at a, a pub… Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: …you know. And th-, there were, uh, ladies serving behind the bar in these pubs. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: We had never seen that before. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Of course, now we have that in this country. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But, um, no, and, and I met this, uh, RAF boy there, a little, little guy, and he was cute but you know there were, uh, uh, G.I.s in that place and they [laughter] were givin’ him the ole one-two. [laughter] So what did this, this little meek boy do? He grabs me and he kisses me soundly [laughter] in front of these G.I.s. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] [20:37] But then, uh, D-Day was nothing, uh… Rose Stornant: No, it was nothing, uh, spectacular in, in England. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: Because i-, i-, the troops were going over from England. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Down on – uh, at Plymouth and, and on the – uh, at the – on the shorelines where they were crossing the, uh, Channel, that was where all the action was. Now, one of my friends was down there at Plymouth and, uh, she said that all the boys had their heads shaven, you know, before going across ‘cause they never knew when they’d get a haircut again. But, um, anyway, one – uh, when, uh, this Vinny, this Italian boy that was with the paratroopers, when they came back from the D-Day mission, we met the boys in town and he c-, they cried on our shoulders telling w-, the terrible things they had seen. Apparently, he was not a paratrooper; musta been a mechanic ‘cause he came back. Tsk. And, uh, h-, they saw some of their boys get their heads chopped off by their own propellers; something like this! So, when they came back, they gave them – they gave all of them a bottle of whiskey, you know, to forget their woes. Well, these boys just cried on our shoulders about these things that they had seen. Elsie Hornbacher: I can understand. Rose Stornant: He was just a kid, really… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …and I don’t know what ever happened to that boy. I mean, we just saw them, uh, twice. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Well anyway, this friend, uh, had the General request me by TWX for the, uh, judge advocate in Paris and when I got over there, we landed – our plane landed at Le Bourget where Lindbergh landed. And we s-, on the way into – from Le Bourget to Paris, we saw German tanks, you know, on the roadside that had been, uh, put out. We saw quite a bit of destruction, but, uh, then when I get – when we get into Paris, I forget now just where we were, where they had landed us, but anyway, this one girl that was stationed in California with me spotted me and took me under her wing, and she took me to the, uh, uh, adjutant general’s office and I s-, told her I was just supposed to be going to the judge advocate’s office, but this man didn’t pay any attention to us. Is this still running? Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Yeah. Didn’t pay any attention. He assigned me to, uh, statistics, would you believe? Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: I was in statistics exactly three days while in the meantime, my friend was working for the General and, uh, I had gone to up see her, uh, and had met the g-, I – uh, the General wasn’t in, but he came in while I was there and I met him and, uh, of course this is getting ahead of my story. I’ll go back to when I first – these, uh, statistics were a bunch of, uh, uh, young, uh, young men. I can – I can’t think now. Well, the head of the department was a good-looking man with red hair, beautiful red hair, tsk, and he called me in for an interview the minute I got there and, uh, he was asking me all k-, I, uh, never have smoked a cigarette up to this point. He offered me a cigarette, and I took it. [laughter] [throat clearing] And so I’d watch him and every time he’d take a puff, I’d take a puff. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Anyhow, the girls nearly bit my head off when I went over with only one carton of cigarettes ‘cause I could’a brought two over. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh, I, I just didn’t think about. You know, I wasn’t smoking then. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And I didn’t start until one of the g-, one, one of my roommates just kept bugging me, ‘Oh, come on, Rose. Hell.’ ‘Come on, Rose. Hell.’ Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So, I finally started, but I could take it or leave it, you know, then. Anyhow, this – uh, I forget this man’s name who was the head of, uh, statistics, but he was, uh, comparing their operation with DuPont and oh, you know, putting on a big [folderol 24:19] for me. And then, uh, he said – I was in there a good, long time. He said to me, “When you hear two buzzes, that means you’re to come in here for dictation.” So, I get back to my desk and buzz, buzz. I says, “Was that two buzzes?” And he said, “Yeah.” Oh, I gotta go get d-, uh, take dictation. I grabbed my book and I went in, and his desk was [crowded 24:37] so that I couldn’t put my book on his desk, so I put the book on my knee, and he was reading a form letter and going like a bat outta hell. I said, ‘Wow, you old so-and-so, I’ll show you,’ you know. [laughter] I was very careful with that, and I, uh, was very careful that I didn’t make a mistake because it had to be perfect, and I come to the end of the page and, uh, of course overseas, you turn the page over and you wrote on the back to preserve – to conserve paper. So, I said to myself, ‘Now, shall I use another page or shall I do it on the back?’ Well, I better do it on the back, so I did. And I’m not nearly through and he comes to the door and looks at me, and I’m perfectly calm, cool, and collected and I says, “I’ll be through with this in a minute.” And, uh, so he goes back and I’m through and I take, take, take it back. I made sure that it was perfect so he couldn’t find anything wrong with it, so he comes back and tells me that I should have used a, another page for the second page instead of doing it on the back. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] [throat clearing] Rose Stornant: Well, anyway, I was there, I was there exactly three days. This young Lieutenant Hill who I was secretary to was really a nice guy, and, uh, I had gone down to the, uh, general’s office to visit with Trudy and I said to the General after I met him, I said, “Do you mind if go home? I’ve got nothing to do.” He said, “No! If you’ve got nothing to do, you go home.” So, I went back and I was tellin’ these young, these young lads that the General said I could go home. [laughter] [You could’ve finished it. 26:06] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] [throat clearing] Rose Stornant: [laughter] So, I went home and the General had a staff meeting and, uh, he says to the judge advocate, “How do you like your new secretary?” He says, “New secretary? I haven’t got a new secretary.” Well then the, then the fur started to fly. [laughter] Well, the next day I was in the judge advocate’s office. [laughter] I’m telling you. So, but I t-, I reported courts martial in Paris, the – uh, j-, special courts. The general courts were, uh – I sat in on a general court once in California with, with [Harry 26:40]. Elsie Hornbacher: [26:40] What’s the difference between a special court and a general court? Rose Stornant: There is a big difference. Uh. In a special court, you don’t have to get it verbatim. Tsk. Uh, you – when you transcribe your notes, you put down, uh, that such-and-such was said. You don’t have to put it verbatim. But you, you type – you write verbatim as much as possible, see. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But in a general court, you have a board of officers – uh, well, you do in a, you do in a, in a special court too. You have a board of officers. It’s the colonel – Colonel [Maple 27:12], oh he was such a nice guy. And then there were other officers in the – I, I forget and I think there were about five on the special court, but in the general court there is a, uh, tsk, a court officer. I forget whether they – what they called him. He was m-, more or less of a, a law officer, you know. Tsk, and, uh, at one hearing in California, I sat in with Harry [inaudible 27:35] and, uh, at one point I just put my pen down and he said, “[inaudible 27:39] keep writing! Keep writing!” [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: So, I started writing again. [laughter] But you know, uh, i-, i-, it was people talking, uh, uh, you know, a lot. You didn’t know who was saying what. Anyhow, uh, in, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: [27:55] And this is still in Paris? Rose Stornant: No, that was in, uh – I w-, I just went back to California for that one, uh, general court that I sat in, but I never took a general court in Paris. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It was also the special courts and the, and the, uh, the summary courts didn’t require a hearing. I used to type up the, the orders for them and, uh. Whoa. Elsie Hornbacher: [28:19] What were some of the nature of these trials? Rose Stornant: Well the, uh, the summary courts, uh, were mostly AWOLs. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. Rose Stornant: AWOLs. Now, uh, on the, uh special… Elsie Hornbacher: Away without leave. Rose Stornant: Yes. Actions without leave. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And the, the special courts – I had two cases that really stand out that were quite funny. One case, uh, was – uh, one of the girls in our office – we were just two girls. Tsk. I was one and then Peg [inaudible 28:42], who was a Scottish girl, and, uh, she, she was an American citizen. Her folks had come on to, uh, to this country years before, and she, uh, of course, was interested in going to Scotland, so she was on the boat crossing the Channel to Scotland and here’s this G.I. impersonating a Colonel on the boat and, and Peg had to, uh, be a witness in this trial. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: It was really funny! [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: And, and, uh, the, uh, when the Major read the, the, uh, you know, the hearing – the court hearing, he sat in his room and he, ‘Ha, ha, ha. Peggy! Come in here!’ [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Oh, I’m telling you. Uh, this, uh, uh, fake Colonel approached Peggy, and I don’t remember now what when on, but it was really funny because Peggy was a real quiet girl, you know, and [laughter] that was one case. And the other case was, uh, against a, uh, a member of the U.S. Army Band who was drunk on duty and fell off his chair during a performance. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Well, this one – this fellow used to bug me. We used to go into the Red Cross, you know, a lot and he’d always be there, and he’d, he’d, he’d bug us about we didn’t do anything in, in the Service and what were we doing and stuff like this, see. And, uh, so, he’s b-, on trial and I’m taking the hearing, [laughter] so you can imagine, uh, I guess he knew what I did in the Service then. Anyway, he had a General come in and testify for him and it, it happened – the story goes that he had a headache and he went into a French bar and told the guy that he had a headache and the guy gave him some anisette for his headache – this is a whiskey. And, uh, he got, uh, he got cracked on the anisette… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …so he falls off his chair [laughter] in the performance. [laughter] So… Elsie Hornbacher: [30:33] Do you remember what, uh, uh… Rose Stornant: Huh? Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, i-, w-, uh, was any punishment made out to him? Rose Stornant: He was acquitted. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, he was acquitted. Rose Stornant: He was acquitted because the – of his years of service. He was in the, the army 15 years and, uh, he had good, uh, a good record and of course the General came in to, uh, testify for him. He was acquitted but just the same, I got a bang out of that because this guy used to just [laughter] turn me off, you know? Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: He used to just bug me at the Red Cross… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …about the WACs not being any good and stuff. Elsie Hornbacher: [31:05] Now you’re still in, uh… Rose Stornant: Paris. Elsie Hornbacher: …Paris. [inaudible 31:08] Rose Stornant: Yes, and, uh, [sniffing] during the… Elsie Hornbacher: After the war… Rose Stornant: No, this is during the war. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, you’re – a, oh, this is before D-Day. Rose Stornant: Oh, this is during the war. No, this is after D-Day. We went over to Paris. Elsie Hornbacher: After D-Day. Oh, right. But, uh, it’s after the war in Europe. Rose Stornant: Tsk. No, ma’am. This is when we got into the war in Europe. Elsie Hornbacher: Okay. Rose Stornant: We were – uh, uh, the war was going on when I got there… Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: …but, uh, uh, Paris didn’t, uh, get any, uh, bombing or anything although we had, uh, uh, blackouts, which were brownouts in Paris. I mean, you could [laughter], you could really see. But, uh, during the Battle of the Bulge, it was a very scary period. Elsie Hornbacher: [31:49] Uh. Uh, Rose, uh, I guess I’m a little confused, uh, uh, with, uh, D-Day and V-E Day. Rose Stornant: Well, D-Day was June 4th, 1944, in England and that was when the boys crossed the Channel to – for the invasion of France. Elsie Hornbacher: Okay. Rose Stornant: Now, V-E – uh, uh, we haven’t come to V-E Day yet. Elsie Hornbacher: Okay. Rose Stornant: During the Battle of the Bulge, as I was saying before, it was a scary period and there was a curfew on in Paris. A 9:00 curfew and everybody had to be off the streets because there was a report that Germans were walking around in our uniforms. Well, they caught up with a few. In fact, I saw one in the headquarters – in our headquarters one day. He was just a kid. Looked just like one of our boys, one of our American boys, and they had caught up with him. Elsie Hornbacher: [inaudible 32:44] What did they do to that German boy who was walking around in an American uniform? Rose Stornant: I really don’t know – I, I imagine he was taken prisoner. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. [32:51] Prisoner of war then? Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Yeah. Anyway, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: [32:56] He wasn’t harmful, was he? Rose Stornant: He didn’t look harmful at all, no. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: Uh-uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Just, just tryin’ to get away from it all. Rose Stornant: [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: You can’t blame him. Rose Stornant: He was probably glad to be caught up with, you know. [laughter] The poor kid. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Anyhow, um. Th-, there were a few occasions that were quite memorable in Paris. Uh, Bastille Day was one, you know. They had parades and they – uh, it was really something. Had dancing in the streets at night. It was quite, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: [33:25] It was in July of ’44. Rose Stornant: Yeah. July 14th of ’44. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: On Bastille Day. That was – it was a gala day in Paris. We went to the Place de la Bastille– that’s all it is now, just a place, you know, it’s a, a big center with a square – a big square with a monument in it. There’s no prison there anymore, of course. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh, gosh we walked back from there w-, back to our area and that must have been miles and miles and I don’t think I ever went back to the b-, to Bastille after that. I remember that night we danced in the streets. Elsie Hornbacher: [33:54] Is this outside of Paris? Rose Stornant: No, this is in Paris. Elsie Hornbacher: [33:57] In – uh, right in the, uh, h-, heart of Paris? Rose Stornant: Well, I was near the heart of Paris, but, uh, the Bastille was a ways out. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: You see, I was near the Arc de Triomphe. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: My, my hotel was this gorgeous hotel. It, uh, it had a glass elevator with wrought iron. It was just beautiful. Anyhow, uh, we were on the first floor, which is the second floor there, and we had the suite on a corner. [It’s really] [inaudible 34:23] Elsie Hornbacher: [34:24] Private bath and all? Rose Stornant: Oh yes! Oh yes! Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, wonderful. You were living it up in Paris. Rose Stornant: Oh, we were! I’m telling you. Elsie Hornbacher: [34:31] And no sign of war there? Rose Stornant: Not really. Elsie Hornbacher: Not really. Rose Stornant: Uh-uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [34:35] This is ’44? Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: No, this is now in early ’45. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, early ’45. Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Uh, in ’44 when I went to London with Vick, w-, n-, there was some buzz about going overhead and make a beeline for the, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: Shelters? Rose Stornant: …shelters. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But, uh, the, the British, you know, they just walk along like it was an everyday occurrence and when I d-, got off the train when I went to, uh, London one other time – we were transferred there for a few days, and we got off the train and we heard boom! And I asked this, uh, Limey we called’m, what was that? He says, “V2.” That was the second, uh, what did they call those, missiles… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …that the Germans were sending over. You didn’t hear them approach. You did the V1s, but the V2s, you didn’t hear them until they landed and that landed quite close to the railroad [laughter] station ‘cause we heard it. Elsie Hornbacher: [35:31] Did they do a great deal of damage when they hit? Rose Stornant: Well the do ordinarily. Of course, I didn’t see where they hit. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: We were at the station getting back to Paris and, and, uh, Bastille Day. Remember, we were dancing in the streets. And we went to the – uh, the Eiffel Tower had a, uh, WAC/G.I. club on the second – on the first landing, and it was quite a – you could look all over Paris and that from there. It was open, of course, and, uh they served champagne and they – I think it sold for about twenty bucks a bottle. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But the G.I.s forked over twenty bucks for it. And they had dancing up there. It was really something. Uh. So… Elsie Hornbacher: [36:16] Rose, what was your, uh, rank in the army? You were a WAC? Rose Stornant: I was a, uh – yes, I was a WAC, and I ended up as a, uh, [T Sergeant 36:24] – as a technician 4th class. Elsie Hornbacher: Technician 4th class. Rose Stornant: Yes, they call it, uh, buck sergeant. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: According to the TO, the table of organization, I should’a been a master sergeant, but I never pushed for promotion, you know. I don’t care. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: And a-, and at one time, they were giving direct commissions, and the Major called me in and wanted to know if I was interested and I said, “No, I’d rather, I’d rather not.” [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. [36:52] Do you happen to remember your wages overseas? Rose Stornant: Oh, it was very minimal. I think it was only around $40 a month. Elsie Hornbacher: Forty a month. [36:58] Uh, this was all clear. All expenses were taken care of except your, um…? Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. And I used to send it home… Elsie Hornbacher: Pleasure. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …I, I think I just kept maybe five bucks. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And I sent it home and my sister banked it for me. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: [inaudible 37:15] Elsie Hornbacher: Back in those days… Rose Stornant: The salary was very minimal. Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, $40 a week would’ve been normal salary in the States. Rose Stornant: In those days? Elsie Hornbacher: Yes. Uh-huh. I remember in 1943… Rose Stornant: Well, I, I think I was getting $155 a month in the AG’s office when I left to go overseas. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. ‘Course you had no living expenses, so everything was clear. Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: [37:36] Your clothing furnished or did you… Rose Stornant: Oh yes. Elsie Hornbacher: …have to pay for that? Rose Stornant: Oh no. Officers had to b-, buy their own clothes, but not, uh, enlisted personnel. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Uh. Elsie Hornbacher: [37:47] And you don’t remember much about Christmas of ’44 over there then at all? Rose Stornant: No, it’s just that they had, uh, a special dinner for us. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. But it was… Rose Stornant: I’ve got the menu someplace yet. Elsie Hornbacher: [37:55] More of the same? They had a Christmas tree up somewhere? Rose Stornant: I think so. I don’t re-, recall now. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: But they must have had. Elsie Hornbacher: [38:02] And it was nothing special. Rose Stornant: No, just a special, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: Dinner. Rose Stornant: …dinner. I think we had turkey and the trimmings. Elsie Hornbacher: [38:08] You ate well. Rose Stornant: Yes, and, uh, overseas, if you didn’t eat everything on your plate, it was a court-martial offense and sometimes your eyes were bigger than your stomach, you know. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And I learned to eat – uh, clear everything on my plate. To this day, I clear everything on my plate. I only take a little bit. Elsie Hornbacher: Um. Rose Stornant: Because people were starving all around us. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: In fact, uh, one day I saw a well-dressed old lady rummaging through, uh, uh, garbage right on the Champs-Élysées. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It was pathetic. And boy, the, the way they drive over there. You get honk, honk, honk all the way up the street to tell you they’re coming, you know? Elsie Hornbacher: [38:50] Were there quite a few cars in, uh, France? Rose Stornant: Oh, in – not – no, really. Elsie Hornbacher: [38:53] In Paris? Rose Stornant: I’m th-, I’m thinking of after the war, ‘cause I went over after the war. Elsie Hornbacher: [38:57] But during the war, there weren’t many, were there? Rose Stornant: No, and those that, uh, were, were propelled by gas and some-, and I saw one pedaling their car [laughter]. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] [39:07] Did they have charcoal burners over there? Rose Stornant: Yeah. Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, they did. Like they did in Japan. Uh-huh. [laughter] Rose Stornant: Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: Well, you know, I understand that some of the, um, uh, French people buried their cars so they would be safe after the war. Rose Stornant: Oh really? Elsie Hornbacher: Oh [inaudible 39:21]. Rose Stornant: I never heard that. Elsie Hornbacher: Uh-huh. Rose Stornant: No, I never heard that. Elsie Hornbacher: I, uh, hadn’t heard it either until someone up in, uh… Rose Stornant: Hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, my hometown b-, uh, st-, I mean had a very - bought a very expensive car… Rose Stornant: Well, I don’t blame them, do you? [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: …buried it, and, uh, tried to claim insurance on it [laughter]… Rose Stornant: [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: …and [laughter] his brother – brother-in-law squealed on him. [laughter] Rose Stornant: Oh my goodness. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: And then, uh, later I heard that, uh, they did this in Europe in order to safeguard the… Rose Stornant: W-, I wouldn’t be surprised. Elsie Hornbacher: …cars until after the war. Rose Stornant: I wouldn’t be surprised. Elsie Hornbacher: Until after the war. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Yeah. That’s really funny, isn’t it? [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: Oh, gosh. I’ve lost my train of thought. Elsie Hornbacher: Well, now you’re in, uh, 1944… Rose Stornant: ’45. We’re in ’45. Elsie Hornbacher: …’45 now, uh, alright. Rose Stornant: And now let’s get to, uh – well one time, they had a big parade in Paris. It must have been on Bastille Day. Elsie Hornbacher: Well that would’ve been in July of ’44. Rose Stornant: Yeah. July 14th. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: I can’t, I can’t remember whether that was the occasion or not, but you know that the, uh, Parisians, they all rushed down from the wee, uh, hours of the morning to the Champs-Élysées t-, uh, to get their places. They’re carrying chairs and ladders and whatnot to get their places to see the parade and… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …really, the parades are s-, uh, something to see there. They’d have African troops, uh, marching and everything. Elsie Hornbacher: Hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh, so when, uh, V-E Day comes, this is really the occasion. Three-day celebration. I’m telling you. Well, on this other – the other parade, we couldn’t get across the Champs-Élysées. We had to take a Metro, an underground, to get across to the office. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: Hm. Rose Stornant: And only just a few blocks away, which we ordinarily would walk, see. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But anyway, our hote-, -tel was right near the Arc… Elsie Hornbacher: [40:59] S-, streets were so crowded you couldn’t get across, was that it? Rose Stornant: On a parade day, yes. Elsie Hornbacher: On a parade day. Hm. Rose Stornant: So, on the – on V-E Day, there was really celebration in Paris, three days of it. Three solid days and gosh, I think we had gone to the Place de la Bastille and had climbed on the back’a cars and were – we’re just creeping along, you know, the Champs-Élysées when we got there and course the French were, uh, very agreeable to having us climb on their cars, you know. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And it was really something. And there was dancing in the streets and, uh, I’ll never forget this, uh, one Russian soldier coming down and, uh, standing up in a jeep just like he’d won the war all by himself. I’ll never forget that sight. He was coming down the Champs-Élysées. [laughter] Anyway, that was really a time of celebration. Well, we had gone to see some of the boys that, uh, were in hospitals that had been prisoners and had come, you know. We were dancing in the streets for them, too. Then I was there on V-J Day. That wasn’t a big, uh, celebration day for anybody around Paris like V-E Day was, but of course the G.I.s and the WACs were. And, uh, we had this favorite place, La [inaudible 42:14] and they used to serve La [inaudible 42:17] cocktails and these boys that we had met had been stationed in Germany. They were on their way to England to, to visit some people that they had met there, but they never got to England. They spent it in France with us all [laughter] week. We had a great time [with the boys 42:32]. But, uh, then they had come back to Paris on V-J Day, and I get a telephone call from this friend and – telling me that he’s at La [inaudible 42:42] and he says, “Come on down.” I said, “Nothing doing.” [laughter] So he comes up and – to get me. He walks right into my room, you know. I said, “[inaudible 42:50], what are you doing?” You know? [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: So, then we walked back to – this is near the – when I went back to, to France in 1961, do you think I could find that place? I thought it was near the, uh, the opera. The opera? And it was, I guess, around the corner and down the street a ways, I found out later from a friend of mine who was with me there. But then, uh, comes – this is August, the V-G Day – V-J Day is in August, August 14th, and I can’t remember anything spectacular happening after that. Oh, yes! I went to Reims on pass and – to meet this friend who was stationed at, uh, Camp Philip Morris. The camps were named after cigarettes, and it was about 30 miles away. So, I went out there by bus and they, they drove me back to Reims, it was Reims, to Reims in a jeep. Thirty miles in open air, you know. I got to Paris and I had lost my voice from riding in that jeep. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: I ended up in the American hospital there only because I had, uh, had a cramp in my side the night before and they thought it was appendicitis; that’s why I landed in the hospital. But they had put me over in a – they had this great big, uh, oh, what do you call this stuff that steams? You know, to steam your…? Elsie Hornbacher: A vaporizer? Rose Stornant: Vaporizer, yeah. A great big thing. Th-, they put a towel over your head and you were to breathe that in deeply… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …for 20 minutes at a time, three times a day. Do you know the next day I got my voice back? Elsie Hornbacher: That would be good. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It was really funny. Yeah. Yeah. Well anyway, then comes time – everybody’s – the k-, point system comes out and everybody’s anxious to get home. We didn’t expect to get home for another year, you know. Tsk. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And so, the point system comes out and, uh, so we’re anxious to get home. I had 40-some points, 43 I guess. I don’t remember what we had – I had. Anyhow, uh, my brother Sam was in Egypt, and I had, hadn’t seen him yet. I had gotten together with my brother Tony in Muskogee, Oklahoma, when I was in the States and with Vick in L.A. and also in England. But Sam – uh, so Sam was planning to come to Paris, and I knew this. And here we had our orders to go home. You know that we both left Paris the same day. He came the last week I was in Paris… Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. Rose Stornant: …and we both left Paris the same day. He went back to Cairo, and I came home. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: But, uh, we had a great time that weekend. We, we were walking down, uh, near the, uh, oh what is that place? W-, we were walking on the Rue de la Paix, uh, where they had this Red Cross place where we usually ended up. We were walking down the street and here’s a, a kid who lived down the corners, uh, from us in Lansing. He says, “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Stornant, would it?” [laughter] It’s a small world. Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Oh, it’s great seeing people overseas. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It’s a small world. Bob, uh, Phillips. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And so, uh, he, uh, he came with us and so they took me home and then the boys went out that night. They went to the Club [Lido 45:51], which I had heard about, and I had never been there. And, uh, of course, they had, uh, girls walking around in G-strings waiting on table and they’d sit on the boy’s laps and things like this. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: We’d heard about it. And the boys didn’t want, want me to go. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] But you had [laughter] [heard what was going on 46:09]. Rose Stornant: Well, I had, I had never been there, but I had been to the, uh, Club [inaudible 46:12]… Elsie Hornbacher: Oh yes. Rose Stornant: …where they had all these, uh, gals walkin’ around in G-strings, but they had a beautiful act in this – they had this one girl that was dressed up in this old-fashioned outfit with a big picture hat, and she was s-, swinging from the ceiling and it was just beautiful. And, uh, we had gone, uh, up there with, uh, two of the boys who had come in from the front lines, you know, and they looked so pathetic when they first come in. We meet’m at the Red Cross, and they go in, they’d shower and you clean up, and so we go out with’m. We took’m to the Club [inaudible 46:44], and we were sitting in the balcony and those poor boys were embarrassed to death. They’d look and they’d see these naked girls. They’d look back and we, we didn’t pay any attention, see, but they were embarrassed to tears! Well then when Sam came to Paris, I took the boys there, and, uh, well, uh, Bob was dancing with me. Some, uh, lieutenant, 2nd Louie, goes up to my brother Sam, who was a Master Sergeant, and he says what do you mean bringing an American girl in here? Sam says, “That American girl happens to be my sister, and I’ll take her any damn place I please.” [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: He didn’t tell me this ‘til after we came home. [laughter] [inaudible 47:22] That was pretty cute. [laughter] Anyway, Sam was flying with the – uh, they were flying supplies. Elsie Hornbacher: [47:29] And what month is this in ’45? Rose Stornant: This is in November of ’45 just before I came home. Elsie Hornbacher: November of ’45. Rose Stornant: I had left… Elsie Hornbacher: Just – p-, well didn’t you – weren’t you in Nuremburg? Rose Stornant: Oh no. I’d never gotten to Germany. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. For some reason or other I thought you were at the, uh, war, uh… Rose Stornant: No. Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, trials in… Oh. Rose Stornant: No. I wanted to get over there. One of my r-, uh, roommates was stationed in Germany. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. [47:50] Then how long were you overseas altogether? Rose Stornant: About 19 months. Elsie Hornbacher: Nineteen months. Rose Stornant: I was in Paris a whole year. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. [47:56] Were you homesick during any of that, uh, time? Rose Stornant: Never. Elsie Hornbacher: Never homesick. Rose Stornant: Never. Elsie Hornbacher: There was always enough action in the army. Rose Stornant: Well, and then the – and the girls were like family. Elsie Hornbacher: Yes. Uh, that is true. Rose Stornant: And they still are! I’ve gotten together with’m. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Gosh. W-, uh, uh, for a while there, I was going to, to New York every year, and four of us would get together and we’d pick right up where we left off. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: I’m planning to go again this, uh, fall. I gotta contact one of the girls. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Anyhow, uh, it was really – I mean, it’s an experience that is the most vivid part of my life. Elsie Hornbacher: Right. Rose Stornant: I would, I would have done it right over – all over again. Elsie Hornbacher: Yes, I think I would, too. Mm-hm. I’m so glad I traveled… Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, at the time when… Rose Stornant: Yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: …I had the energy to see… Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …everything and do everything… Rose Stornant: Then I had the, had the opportunity to go to [inaudible 48:37]. Elsie Hornbacher: …and learn. Rose Stornant: I had the opportunity to go on the Riviera, too, on pass after V-E Day. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So we were down there for a week. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, but then you did leave from, uh, a w-, uh, Paris to come back to the United States. [48:49] Now, what did you do when you came home, Rose? Rose Stornant: Well, I couldn’t stand Lansing… Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: …so I – one of my, uh, roommates w-, uh, in Paris lived in St. Louis, Missouri, and she came up to visit with me and I went back as far as Chicago with her, and I went to see another WAC friend that I was stationed with in Oglethorpe; it was a dear friend. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And, uh, so I stayed with her for a week, and I was gonna look for a job in Chicago. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Well, I sure [laughing] didn’t – I didn’t go lookin’ for a job ‘til the last day of the week, so I go to the [inaudible 49:21] personnel agency and the, uh, personnel gal is on vacation, so one of the attorneys – but they, they had sent me to this attorney’s office, Scott [Liebenschwartz 29:29] and, uh, so this young attorney interviewed me, and he says to me, “Well, do you think you could handle the work?” I said, “Sure!” He says, “Well, come to work tomorrow.” I said, “I can’t! I gotta go home and get my clothes!” [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: So, so they let me come home and I went back a week later a-, and I worked in Chicago for three months. But, uh, about that time, I was getting – uh, feeling kinda guilty because here I am a girl and I take off. My mother’s not feeling well and the three boys are home, and I’m the girl and I take off, so I decided I’d better come home. Elsie Hornbacher: [50:00] You always had a very close Italian family anyway. [inaudible 50:02] relationship. Rose Stornant: Oh, right, yes. Oh yes. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Before we went overseas, we were all home together at one time… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …and that was really something. I was gonna go – before going to – overseas, I was gonna go visit my brother Tony in Oklahoma instead of coming home, but I get a wire from Tony that he’s on his way home. So then I go home, and I knew that Vick was on his way home ‘cause he’s scheduled to go overseas and Sam was stationed at Romulus, so he got home, uh, practically every weekend. So, we were all home together, and it was really a great day. My mother never forgot it, and she’d always – you see, when she was expecting Vick and Tony gets home first, she thinks it’s Vick! And so they hug him all up and my father says, “That’s not Vick. It’s Tony!” Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: So they h-, got to hug him all over again. The boys looked that much alike. I mean, they’re about the same size. I can’t say that they really resembled each other that much, but in those days, in their young days, you know, they looked quite similar and it was really funny. And, uh, so the next day Vick arrives, and he comes in and says to my m-, he whistles to my mother, he says, “Hi!” She thinks it’s Tony walking in. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [51:02] Why did you dislike Lansing? Was it because there wasn’t enough action here or you couldn’t find anyone to communicate with, uh, who knew the things you knew? Rose Stornant: Well, I don’t know what it was, but I just couldn’t stand it. Uh. Elsie Hornbacher: You were restless. Rose Stornant: Yes. And, uh, so I just – uh, when I got to Chicago, I looked for another job and I was only there three months. I was walkin’ that State Street traffic every day, uh, just eating, sleeping, and working. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And that was it. So, I decided to come back home. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. I think when I came back I found that, uh, uh, no one understood, uh, th-, the things I said. Rose Stornant: Oh. Elsie Hornbacher: Or they thought I was putting on airs or… Rose Stornant: Oh, really? Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, something of the sort so consequently, I was sitting back and listening and picking the repertoire that they had. Rose Stornant: Well, I was nursing a broken heart at the time, too. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. Rose Stornant: It took me a long time to get over that. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: It took me about 6 months to get over that. But, um, tsk, uh, [laughter] it was really funny. You know, Michigan is one of the few states that, uh, gave us six months to come back to our old jobs… Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, yes. Rose Stornant: …and most states only gave you three months… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …so it was five months, so I wrote our, our personnel man that I wanted to come back to work so I just came back to my old job. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. [52:06] You were happy then. Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: I mean, I had gotten over Monty, so… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …that was it. If I… Elsie Hornbacher: [52:12] May I ask you how old you were when you went overseas, roughly? Rose Stornant: Well I was only – I was 27 when I went into service. Elsie Hornbacher: I see. I see. Rose Stornant: And I was 30 when I came out. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So, I was 28 when I went over. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Wonderful years of one’s life. Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: I was about the same age when I went to Tokyo. Rose Stornant: Really? Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Really, I think when you’re older, it’s better. Elsie Hornbacher: I think so too. Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: Uh, I mean we were mature enough to gather information to really blend it into our personalities… Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …and into our, you know, intellectual background… Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …and so forth and, uh, uh, stable enough to see that we kept out of [laughter]… Rose Stornant: That’s it. I mean… Elsie Hornbacher: …difficulties. Rose Stornant: …I mean, uh, that was what they always warned us about. It was really funny, you know, the girls – the French gals would always… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …approach the guys th-, you know, about, uh, sleeping with’m. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Voulez, uh, uh, oh, how, how was it they say it? Oh. Voulez-vous coucher avec moi. That was it. Elsie Hornbacher: It is. [laughter] Rose Stornant: You want to sleep with me? Elsie Hornbacher: [laughter] Rose Stornant: [laughter] And, uh, [laughter] and of course we didn’t. Uh, well one time we were out in the country. Uh, I, I guess we’d gone to this hospital to see the boys. We were walking back in the dark, and then this French fella is following us and, and, uh, shouting at us, you know, and we, we hopped a ride on a half-track, you know, one of these great big things like a trank-, tank? Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: These boys came along and gave us a ride. It was really funny. We get into Paris and they let us off on a corner. You should’a seen the French all rush around to that [laughter]… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …that half-track. But it was really something. Elsie Hornbacher: I felt that there was a, um, feeling of security overseas. Uh, for example, I never had anything, uh, stolen. Rose Stornant: Neither did I. Elsie Hornbacher: Uh, I felt as long as I conducted myself properly, I was treated in the same… Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …way. Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: Tsk, uh… Rose Stornant: Course you weren’t, uh, uh… Elsie Hornbacher: I wasn’t over there during the war. Rose Stornant: …you weren’t confined at all. Elsie Hornbacher: That’s right. I, uh, w-, we were not confined in any way, shape, or form. Uh-uh. But I mean… Rose Stornant: You went over after the war? Elsie Hornbacher: Yes. Rose Stornant: What, what year did you go over? Elsie Hornbacher: I went over in ’49. Rose Stornant: Oh! That’s a long time after. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Right. Four years. Mm-hm. But there was still quite a bit of [rumble 54:15] in Japan. Rose Stornant: I can imagine. Elsie Hornbacher: We used a Lyster bag then. Rose Stornant: Oh my. Elsie Hornbacher: And, uh, we lived in a hotel. Our living was, uh, quite different probably than it was during wartime. We had no fears, and the Japanese… Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. Elsie Hornbacher: …were extremely subservient to us. Rose Stornant: Well, they would’ve been after the war after their defeat. Elsie Hornbacher: But it was – uh, uh, the interesting part is meeting so many people from all over the world and listening to all different viewpoints… Rose Stornant: Mm-hm. Elsie Hornbacher: …uh, seeing all different, uh, places in the world, uh, recognizing how other people live. It was a great experience. Rose Stornant: Yeah, I remember one time in the elevator in, in Paris – I don’t remember where – just where I was, but, uh, these Frenchmen were saying among themselves – w-, were wondering what I was, what army I belonged to. So, I said to them, “Je suis américaine,” and they were very pleased that I spoke to them in their own language. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [55:08] Did you learn much French? Rose Stornant: Well, I was really getting into it. Madame [inaudible 55:11] lived next door to us in the hotel, and, uh, she was an American citizen. She had gone over to, to France during WWI. She was 18 and she married a Frenchman over there and stayed there. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So, she came over and offered her services to the Americans. So, she had a French class, and she thought that I would be one that would really, you know, go out, uh, learning it, but, uh, I was giving it the Italian twist for a long time, you know. Elsie Hornbacher: [55:37] Did you speak Italian at one time, Rose? Rose Stornant: Oh yeah. I can speak it, uh, elementary. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. Rose Stornant: Sicily Island. Elsie Hornbacher: You probably aren’t a [inaudible 55:43] Italiano. Rose Stornant: [inaudible 55:45] Rosie. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Yeah. Rose Stornant: But d-, when I went over the Italy, you know, this, uh, Italian boy says, “You don’t speak Italian. You speak Sicilian.” [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [55:53] You speak what? Rose Stornant: Sicilian. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. Rose Stornant: Sicilian. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh, Sicilian. Rose Stornant: It’s a difference. You know, there’s a difference in every province. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh yes, I understand. Rose Stornant: In Rome – I couldn’t understand a word in Rome. Elsie Hornbacher: Hm. Rose Stornant: Every province has its own dialect. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh. Rose Stornant: Just like the South here. Elsie Hornbacher: [56:07] From Italian to French, uh, would be quite easy. Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: Yeah. Yeah, but I was givin’ it the Italian twist a lot. [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: [56:13] Alright, you’re back home. Is there any, uh, uh… Rose Stornant: Well, um. Elsie Hornbacher: …any else you’d like to tell us? Rose Stornant: Back home? Not really. I, I did go back to – I visited with my niece down in, uh, southern Illinois, and Major [Avery 56:27] who I worked with in Paris… Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: …is, uh, near there, so I wrote him and told him I was going down there and I’d like to visit with him if it was alright with them. Oh, he was thrilled to death. He said his wife wanted to – was anxious to meet me and stuff… Elsie Hornbacher: Good. Rose Stornant: …and that they would meet me at the airport and all this. So, when I got down to – Nina is my niece, uh, the, uh, flight arrangement had been changed. Now it was getting into St. Louis as a later time, so I called the Major to tell him and, uh, he calls back in a little while and he says, “Well, instead of you going, uh, uh, all the way to…,” – um, I forget that – you have to ride an hour to get – catch a plane down there. [inaudible 57:05] Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: I forgot, uh, now where it is in Illinois. Anyway, in Lincoln’s home town. What is it? Elsie Hornbacher: Uh, Springfield, Illinois. Rose Stornant: Springfield, yeah! Springfield. “Instead of going all the way to Springfield and then going – uh, coming all the way out here from, uh, St. Louis,” he says, “why don’t you meet us halfway at (such a place)?” He s-, and, and I said, “Just a minute, Major, I’ll let you talk to somebody who knows what you’re talkin’ about.” So, I put my niece on. She’s, ‘Oh yes! I know where that is!’ [laughter] Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And she said she never – I never told her that he was in Troy, Missouri, ‘cause it was quite close. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: So, they drove me down there and, and, and the Major and his wife picked me up down there. [laughter] It was fun. Elsie Hornbacher: How wonderful. You still have contacts, then… Rose Stornant: Oh yes. Elsie Hornbacher: …[inaudible 57:43] personnel. Rose Stornant: I, I – we still correspond. I mean at, at Christmastime. Elsie Hornbacher: Mm-hm. Rose Stornant: And when I went overseas in ’61, I wrote the Major and he was thrilled to death. He wrote me a nice long letter ‘cause he and his wife were planning to go over and he wanted to know different things. Did I see this, did I see that and stuff. Elsie Hornbacher: Hm. Rose Stornant: But, uh. No, I still hear from him at Christmas. Elsie Hornbacher: Oh wonderful. Rose Stornant: Hm. Elsie Hornbacher: [58:02] Well, is that all then, Rose? Rose Stornant: I think so. I think that’s enough, don’t you? Elsie Hornbacher: Alright. That’s fine. Rose Stornant: [laughter] /ad