Interview of Hildegarde Abbott on her service in the U.S. Signal Corps During WWI Interviewer: We’ll see if I can do this. I’m Chairman of the, uh, Oral History Project in the Women’s Overseas Service League. I’m here in Milwaukee on this slightly overcast day, the 13 of May, 1983 to help the unit celebrate their 60 anniversary. But first, this morning, we’re gonna get the story of one of their members, uh, uh, Hilda Abbot, who is about 86 years old and… Hildegarde Abbott: That’s right. Interviewer: And who served in World War I as a, uh, Hello Girl. The Hello women were women that were specially recruited to go over to France and work on the telephone switchboards. Uh, according to Hilda, they had about, uh, she had about a two weeks training in a special school in, um… Hildegarde Abbott: San Francisco. Interviewer: In San Francisco. And, uh, after her training, then she was sent overseas. Go ahead. Hildegarde Abbott: Okay. Interviewer: [00:58] Hilda, uh, that, what was the [inaudible 01:00] of service called that you were asked to serve in? Hildegarde Abbott: Um, our address was the U.S. Signal Corps and, uh, we were subject to, uh, the [throat clearing] rules and regulations that the, um, Signal Corps set up for us. Um, the Signal Corps, uh, had, uh, taken hotels in various cities of France where the action was. Interviewer: Stop. Hildegarde Abbott: And, um, they, they had, uh, sent for, uh, hostesses… Interviewer: [Inaudible 02:00] ways. Hildegarde Abbott: To, um, see that we were comfortable and that we, uh, got in on time. [laughter] Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: Um, our first, uh, hostess was Elizabeth Fox, who had been Dean of Women at the University of Oregon and she was young and, uh, very [inaudible 02:41]. She [laughter], we all, uh, were very glad to have her there. And she made a home for us and, uh, this was Tours. And, we had, they had, the Signal Corps had taken over a small hotel and, uh, [throat clearing] I was there six months. And during that time, uh, it was home. Uh, we had, um, people walking in, uh, boys, homesick boys would come in and sit down and play the piano and make themselves at home. Interviewer: [03:37] This was in the hotel? Hildegarde Abbott: In the hotel. There was, so glad to see American girls. Interviewer: [03:45] This was in Paris? Hildegarde Abbott: Yeah. Well, uh, each, um, hotel [throat clearing] they took over, uh, had a YWCA hostess and, uh, those I met were fun and, uh, very good with, with girls and, uh, made us [inaudible 04:20] at, uh, adhere to the rules of the house. Um… Interviewer: [04:34] How long were there? Hildegarde Abbott: Also, I was in Tours six months and, um, [throat clearing], um, the, um, second Aviation Instruction Center of the United States was located in Tours and all of these young men, uh, uh, gave dances and had us up for dinner and, uh, uh, also we had them and, um, oh my God. Interviewer: That’s okay. Don’t, don’t feel tense about it, just like… Six months of Tours and I went to Brest. Hildegarde Abbott: We girls, uh, very often made candy and took it to the hospitals because, uh, the, uh, French people didn’t have any sugar. And, uh, those boys appreciated it. There were French boys and American boys in the hospital and we wrote letters home for the American boys and, um, did all the things that the nurses didn’t have time to do. And, uh, took flowers over there and, um, just sat and talked to them on our days off, which, uh, were not, uh, often enough really. [laughter] Interviewer: [06:30] Did you work a certain number of hours a week? Hildegarde Abbott: We worked eight, eight hours a day and, uh, had one day off a week. And, uh, that was usually the day that we saved for the hospital. Interviewer: I, I would leave it on. [06:49] When you, uh, worked at the, uh, switchboard, did you have some interesting experiences? Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Yes we did. Uh, when I worked the switch, switchboard, we were told, uh, not to discuss anything we heard on the, uh, on, uh, on the telephone. We were at, um, at the headquarters of the Service of Supplies so, uh, we always knew when the, there was a good push coming, uh, because the, uh, [throat clearing], uh, we’d, uh, have to call the, um, munit, from munitions and, uh, for, um, doctors and hospitals and, uh, railroads and, oh, we, uh, did, they did all of the planning from Tours. The heads of all those departments were stationed there. Interviewer: We’d forgotten to talk about what, don’t turn it off, leave it on. We’d forgotten to talk about what the qualifications were for you to go over there, about you speaking French. Hildegarde Abbott: Oh. And the, the reason we, uh, we American girls were over there was that the, uh, [throat clearing], uh, French telephones were, uh, not up to the American telephones. So the Americans put in their own system and, uh, there were times when we had to deal with the French operators to get out of the way places. And, uh, so the boys who were [laughter] running the telephones [inaudible 09:09] up to it and, um, the... We also were asked to [throat clearing] interpret, uh, um, when, um, an officer was, uh, going to speak to a, a Frenchman and wasn’t sure of whether the Frenchman spoke English or not because he didn’t speak French. And, [laughter] so they’d call ahead of time and ask us to stay on the line. Interviewer: [10:03] Do you have it on? [10:04] Is it on? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: Yes. Go ahead. That’s close enough. [10:14] Did you ever have any problems. [10:17] I mean, uh, did you, you know, have arguments with the operator? Hildegarde Abbott: Well, we were also told, [laughter] uh, to report anything unusual. So one day, I, uh, [throat clearing] listened in to a conversation, which went something like this: Two, three, four, five, seven, six, eight and so on and, uh, I, uh, assumed it was a code and that I had better notify the, the, um... Interviewer: Headquarters. Hildegarde Abbott: The headquarters. So later, I saw the man who took the call and he says it was somebody [laughter] giving out, uh, it was the railroad transportation office giving out the numbers of the cars. But, uh, for a while, I felt very pleased that [laughter] I’d been instrumental in catching a spy. [laughter] Interviewer: [11:35] What, um, how much were you paid? [11:37] Do you remember anything about your pay? Hildegarde Abbott: Six – $60 a month and, uh… Interviewer: [11:47] Did that include your food, your meals? Hildegarde Abbott: That in, included our meals… Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: And I think that those, that was the only expense that we had to pay for. We would, there, very little for meals because there were so many men and they all wanted to, to take us out for dinner. And we always went in pairs. We, um, my roommate and I, uh, never went anywhere without the other one. So, uh, it made it very comfortable because we didn’t know these boys and, uh, the reason we, uh, got to know them was, uh, two Boston women had opened a, an officer’s club in home, in Tours. It, uh, it was a large house and lovely garden and, uh, [throat clearing] there was dancing there every night. And, uh, these miss, I can’t think, um, the, they, women chaperoned us. [laughter] Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: It sounds silly in, in this day and age but, [laughter] in those days; we were pretty well chaperoned, even at, at home. So, [laughter] and it worked out very well because, uh, they were, uh, very alert to, uh, see that everybody had a good time and that we met all of the officers and, uh, the, they made it very comfortable for us. And… Interviewer: [14:22] What kind of uniform were you wearing at that time? Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, we had, um, blue serge suits, dark blue with the, um, Signal Corps… Interviewer: Insignia. Hildegarde Abbott: Insignia on the collars and we wore white blouses under it. Interviewer: [14:45] Did you have any rank, uh, you know? Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, yes. We had a chief operator of each, uh, each city where we were stationed had its own chief operator and, uh, she was the boss of the office. Interviewer: [15:04] And what kind of an insignia was that then that you wore to indicate your rank? Hildegarde Abbott: Uh… Interviewer: [15:11] Stripes or… Hildegarde Abbott: No. The stripes came for, uh, years of service or… Interviewer: Oh. Hildegarde Abbott: Every six months you got a stripe for service. And, uh, oh yes, there was the, uh, chief operator had an emblem with a telephone on it. Interviewer: Hm. [15:40] Could this been, have been included in the ranks of officers or enlisted? Hildegarde Abbott: Officers. Interviewer: Officers. Hildegarde Abbott: I don’t know. [laughter] I’m not sure about that. Uh… Interviewer: [16:00] Were you given pretty good care? [16:01] Did you have good medical care? Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, well, uh, I don’t know. Uh, we’re, we’re a pretty healthy group and, um, but from my own experience, I had an attack of flu at the time when it was so prevalent and so deadly. And I was unconscious for two days in the hotel and, uh, my roommate kept trying to get a doctor but, uh, the boys all had it too and were in, in the hospital. In fact, they were lay, later when we were stationed in Brest, the boats would come in laden with, um, stretchers and the boys were taken to the hospital, which was next to our quarters. And, uh, uh, some of them, uh, died on the way, a good many of them and that, that was gruesome but, uh, the, they didn’t, hadn’t expected, uh, so much sickness. And, um, there, there just wasn’t enough doctors. Interviewer: [17:47] Did any of the women die, uh… Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: From it? They didn’t. Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: [17:50] You’re a pretty hearty group? Hildegarde Abbott: In fact, uh, I’m the only one who, uh… Interviewer: Had it. Hildegarde Abbott: Who, uh, was unconscious. Interviewer: Oh. Hildegarde Abbott: I guess some of them had a slight [bit 18:06]. In fact, uh, my roommate and I slept in the same bed, a big double bed and she never got it. [laughter] Interviewer: Well that’s good. Hildegarde Abbott: So, well, all I can tell you about, uh, Tours is it’s a delightful place to be and on our days off after we had been to the hospital, we’d, um, take a, a little lunch and, uh, go off on, on the river and, uh, use, uh, big rain capes for sails and we’d sail down until we found a nice grassy slope with a tree and, uh, we’d go out under the tree and have our lunch and usually, uh, um, we’d have somebody who wanted to read something to us. We’d have, uh, people who wanted to paint and these were men and women and, uh, really a, really relaxed on our days off. Interviewer: [19:42] You rented these boats, did you? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: Boats... Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: [19:45] And they were sailboats? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Mm-hm. Interviewer: [19:50] Did you have any trouble getting food? Hildegarde Abbott: No, uh… Interviewer: [Inaudible 19:55] eat American food. Hildegarde Abbott: They, uh, well, if we wanted to and if we knew in time, uh, we’d take something from our kitchen, uh, whatever we were having for dessert that day, for instance. And the boys, uh, would get sandwiches probably at, at their camp. We had, always had too much food. Interviewer: [20:28] Did you, uh, were you ever close to the frontlines there in France? Hildegarde Abbott: No. But, uh, we did have offices near the, the frontline up in Somme. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: And, uh, [throat clearing] they, well, could hear the guns and so on and then in Paris, when Big Bertha was, uh, shooting at Paris, uh, the Signal Corps girls who were stationed there, uh, went, uh, to work every morning with their suitcases packed and, uh, behind them at the switchboard ready to evacuate any minute. But they, they never had to. The other girls up near the line did eventually evacuate because, uh, things were getting too hot. Interviewer: [21:40] But there was no sign of, of evidence of the war in Tours or in Brest? Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: [21:46] Destruction? Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: No. Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: [21:50] Where were you when the armistice was signed? Hildegarde Abbott: Huh. [laughter] I was in Brest, yup. [laughter] Uh, we knew ahead of time that it was going to be signed and that’s one, one of the things that we couldn’t talk about. We never mentioned it even to each other. We were terribly discrete. Well, they had a false armistice and, uh, we, we went through that that way and then when the armistice was actually signed, uh, we were still on our guard and [laughter] couldn’t tell, uh, there were other things… Interviewer: [22:51] Did you participate in, in the excitement, I mean in the celebration? Hildegarde Abbott: Oh, oh yes. We went out [laughter] that evening and, uh, everybody was, uh, forming circles and, and getting us in, inside the circle and saying that we’d have to kiss every one of them… Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, before they’d let us out. However, we didn’t and as, so they did the kissing and… Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, my mother, uh, was with the, uh, Rockefeller Institute and she arrived in Paris the day of the armistice and she was just overcome. She had been, uh, born in Paris and grew up there so it, it was a double thrill. But, uh, I didn’t even know that she had, uh, come over. Interviewer: [24:13] Was there, uh, much difficulty in getting letters through? [24:16] Did you have trouble corresponding with your family? Hildegarde Abbott: No. No. They went right, uh, they were, what do they call it? Interviewer: Censored. Hildegarde Abbott: Censored but, uh, they, they all went through. Interviewer: [24:32] Had you been told that you couldn’t write certain things or where you were? Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, no, uh… Interviewer: [24:41] They knew you were in Tours? Hildegarde Abbott: No. They knew I was in Tours but the girls who were in the other places, um, more strategic places, uh, were not allowed to say, tell where they were. Interviewer: [24:58] How many of the telephone operators were there? [25:00] Do you remember or did you know? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. I, I used to know. [25:07] How do you turn it over? Interviewer: Okay. Turned on. Hildegarde Abbott: I think were about 240. It sounds dead. Okay. Interviewer: [coughing] 25:25] Um, what did you do after the, uh, armistice was signed? Hildegarde Abbott: Um, well, [throat clearing] of course, uh, the offices were closing for the Americans and, um, there was lots of, uh, work to be done... Interviewer: [Coughing] Hildegarde Abbott: To get things cleared out. The, um, uh, Railroad Transportation, uh, Department was very busy and, uh, then, um, I was stationed in Brest and, um, [throat clearing] they were busy there, uh, getting boats to take the boys home. And, uh… Interviewer: Just not so close. Hildegarde Abbott: Oh. The, um… Interviewer: [26:28] Were you still with the Signal Corps then? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. I was, uh, with the Signal Corps and, um, [throat clearing] when I left Brest, when we were through there, uh, I went to Paris and, um, the Peace Commissioner had headquarters at the Hotel Crillon and, uh, [throat clearing] they, uh, had had a big switchboard there, uh, manned by the Signal Corps girls and they, [throat clearing] uh, uh, took over the, uh, the work of the, uh, Peace Commissioner and that was very interesting. When we had time to listen in because, uh, uh, they were, uh, in, uh, telephone correspondence with the, uh, not Fontainebleau. [27:39] What’s it… Interviewer: Turn it on. Hildegarde Abbott: With the Peace Commissioner [in Versailles 27:47]. It doesn’t sound… Interviewer: Yup. It’s going. Hildegarde Abbott: Okay. And, [throat clearing] so, uh, it was, [laughter] our, our first experience with anything, uh, like a, uh, television set, we… [laughter] Interviewer: [laughter] Hildegarde Abbott: Had everything described to the people at the [Crillon 28:18] who were meeting there, uh, um, espec-, especially the reporters and, uh, it, it made us feel that we were right there too. Interviewer: [28:37] How long did you stay with the Peace Commission? Hildegarde Abbott: Until they left. Interviewer: [28:42] And what was when? Hildegarde Abbott: I couldn’t tell you. Interviewer: [28:44] What was it, uh, in 1920? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: Of January, 1920, you said you came back. Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, that, that would be it. Interviewer: [28:57] What did you do after you came back to the United, or did you leave… [29:01] Let me ask you this before, you mentioned a little while ago that you met your husband in France, can you tell me about that? Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Well, that, my, uh, uh, a friend from California looked me up in Brest and, uh, uh, he was on his way home and he, uh, wanted me to have dinner with’m and I, I said, uh, that my, my mother was with me. She had come to spend Christmas with me and he said, fine, I’ll get an extra man. And, uh, it turned out that the extra man was the man I married. [laughter] And he left the next day. They both, both men went home and I didn’t come along for, for about four months later. So… Interviewer: [30:19] When you got back to the United States, did you marry the man? This is where you say, not right away. Hildegarde Abbott: Not right away. [laughter] Interviewer: [30:28] What did you do? Hildegarde Abbott: I went back to college because, um, I thought I should finish, which I did and, uh, then I went to New York and, uh, had a job there and was with, uh, living in a settlement house and doing volunteer work there besides being secretary to, uh, Dr. Haven Emerson, whom uh, had been in Tours at the time I was there. But I had never met him. [laughter] Interviewer: [31:17] What was he doing? [31:8] Was he… Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, he was, uh, uh, with, um, at Columbia College and, um… Interviewer: So doctor… Hildegarde Abbott: Uh, Dr. Emerson, uh, was, uh, in public health at, uh, Columbia University and he, uh, went all, well, all over the United States really giving lectures on public health. And I was [along 32:02] with him…. Interviewer: [32:02] How long did you work for him? Hildegarde Abbott: Um, I was, uh, with him about eight months and then, uh, I went home to be married. Interviewer: Oh, good. [32:19] And did you have any children in this marriage? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. I had a boy and a girl. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: And my boy was in the next war. Fortunately, he, uh, wasn’t sent over so he was here. Interviewer: [32:41] And you have grandchildren? Hildegarde Abbott: And I have seven grandchildren. [laughter] Interviewer: Oh that’s great. [32:47] Do you get a chance to see them at all? Hildegarde Abbott: Oh yes. They come and visit me. I have three live in Ohio and they come up and see me at least once a year. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: And then the, my daughter’s four children are, um, not far away. They’re about 40 miles away and they come in and I go out there so we, we’re in close touch. Interviewer: You live in a lovely, uh, condominium here, uh, with it looking out over the Lake Michigan. Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. [33:38] Isn’t it pretty? Interviewer: [33:39] How long have you [been 33:40] here? Hildegarde Abbott: Fifteen years. Interviewer: Fifteen years. Hildegarde Abbott: Mm-hm. Interviewer: How about that. Hildegarde Abbott: Yeah. Interviewer: I think that’s great. Hildegarde Abbott: And I, I love it. Interviewer: [33:46] Do you drive your own car? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: [33:49] Although you’re not housebound are you? Hildegarde Abbott: Not at all. Interviewer: You go wherever you want to. Hildegarde Abbott: Yeah. Interviewer: [33:53] Have you had a chance to go back to France at all? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Uh, mother, uh, and, uh, oh, my son, when he graduated from college, um, went to France and got a job as an English teacher in Nimes. And, uh, at the, uh, [inaudible 34:23] school in Nimes. So, uh, mother and I thought we’d go over and, um, uh, take’m around, uh, as, uh, when school closed, which we did. And, uh, we did a, a lot in, in Paris and then went to, uh, Italy and then came home. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Interviewer: Now I know that, uh WOSL had a convention in, uh, Paris. [35:13] Were you, uh, in the organization then? Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: You weren’t. Hildegarde Abbott: No. Interviewer: That was too bad ‘cause you could’ve really shown’m around, couldn’t you. [35:20] When did you come in to Women’s Overseas Service League, do you remember? Hildegarde Abbott: Um, no I don’t. Uh, [throat clearing] I’ll tell you, um, I was in this… [35:36] Are we off? Interviewer: Hold on. Hildegarde Abbott: Let’s…. Interviewer: [35:43] Hilda, you mentioned that you had some interesting experiences in the places which you lived, uh, what was the story about the, the hotel that had been converted to a bawdy house? Hildegarde Abbott: Oh that. [laughter] We had a sentinel stationed at the door all night, every, every night and, uh, we got to know’m pretty well and, and, uh, [laughter] uh, just expected to see’m there, thought nothing of it. But one night, I woke up and there was a, a big all, altercation going on outside of my window, down at the front door. And it was, [laughter] it seems that the house we were living in had been a bawdy house and that’s why we were so well taken care of with the sentry. And the sentry, uh, wouldn’t let the man in, this Frenchman in and the Frenchman didn’t speak English and they, [laughter] the sentry didn’t speak French. [laughter] And they were out there arguing. It seemed to me for hours [laughter] but he never did get in. [laughter] Interviewer: [37:14] Uh, was your, um, I, in this picture that I’m seeing here, your mother is in the picture and yet it’s titled at the top of it, uh, Women’s, uh Overseas League. [37:28] Um, that was the beginning of the Overseas Service League, was it? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: And all these women in this picture are all in uniform. Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: [37:36] Uh, what, what were the uniforms? Hildegarde Abbott: Oh, everything. Red Cross, um… Interviewer: Signal Corps. Hildegarde Abbott: [37:44] What are the blue, well Signal Corps, of course, and, uh, the, uh, [throat clearing]… Interviewer: Sal… Hildegarde Abbott: [37:54] Oh, who was…. Interviewer: [37:56] Salvation Army? Hildegarde Abbott: No. I’ll turn it off a second. Interviewer: Uh… Hildegarde Abbott: And the YWCA, uh, they not only sent entertainers over but our hostesses, uh, that I mentioned before, uh, were, uh, YWCA… Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: People. Interviewer: Okay. [38:27] This is the Red Cross? Hildegarde Abbott: Um, [throat clearing] my mother went over with the Red Cross. Uh, she had been, um, she had had a shop in San Francisco, uh, a volunteer thing, uh, to sell, um, articles made by the French soldiers in the hospitals and, where there were some orphans and so on. And, uh, she, uh, was a Frenchwoman and, of course, uh, welcomed the chance to go to France. And, um, so the Red Cross sent her over and, uh, [throat clearing] when, when she, uh, got to England, um, the, uh, Rockefeller Institute, uh, asked her to, uh, uh, head a, an organization to, uh, eliminate… [laughter] Interviewer: I’m thinking it seems really funny or they get talking about something… Hildegarde Abbott: Tuberculosis. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Hildegarde Abbott: And [there was 40:07] children there. They were having a, a terrible epidemic of it. So, uh, she was put at the head of a, uh, traveling show. [laughter] They had a big truck and they carried their own, uh, movies and, uh, had speakers and, uh, they had, uh, a doctor and they had, uh, two women who were writers and, uh, good speakers and, uh, my mother headed it. She, uh, had to go and make arrangements in, uh, these small towns to have a hall where they could meet and to meet the mayor and, uh, all the, um, city officials, uh, who, uh, cooperated, uh, in the effort to, uh, get a crowd there. Interviewer: [41:33] Now this was before we had the inoculation for TB, wasn’t it? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: [41:38] So this was just health care? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Mm-hm. To teach them to sleep with their windows open for one thing and, uh, also that they established, uh, the Rockefeller Institute established milk stations so that, uh, uh, they would get free milk for their children. Interviewer: [42:07] This was the aftermath of World War I in France, wasn’t it? Hildegarde Abbott: I think it was. Interviewer: Sure. Hildegarde Abbott: So she went all, all over with this thing. They had two trucks, as a matter-of-fact but, uh, [laughter] ‘cause they all rode, rode in the trucks accepting, uh, mother very often took a train to get there early and, uh, make arrangements. She’d get, get there a day, a day early having written a week earlier so she did all of that. Interviewer: I don’t remember reading anything about this. I mean there, again, America was helping. Hildegarde Abbott: Well, it had nothing to do with the war. Interviewer: No. No. Hildegarde Abbott: But, uh… Interviewer: [43:04] But this did make her eligible for Women’s Overseas Service League, didn’t it? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Mm-hm. Interviewer: [43:09] So she must’ve been in one of the early units in, uh, San Francisco? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Mm-hm. She was, uh, uh, registered as a Red Cross worker. Interviewer: [43:22] She came back to, uh, Milwaukee with you, then she joined the Milwaukee Unit? Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Mm-hm. And that was very nice. Everybody spoiled [me 43:35]. Interviewer: Yeah. The two of you could shares [inaudible 43:38]? Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Yes. Interviewer: Well, that’s great. I mean, I’m sure that from the conversations that we’ve had between interviews here, um, there have been so many things you’ve told me that should, should be on this tape. Hildegarde Abbott: [laughter] Interviewer: But, I, uh, I, I know that I’ve taken a lot of your time now and, uh, we really have only done not even a, well, yes, we’ve done, we’ve got pretty close to a, to, three quarters of a tape. Hildegarde Abbott: Yeah. Interviewer: Uh, and I…. Hildegarde Abbott: Well, I…. Interviewer: Do appreciate your time. Hildegarde Abbott: I think we’ve hit the high spots. Interviewer: I think we hit’m. I think we have. And I want to thank you very much, Hilda, for the time you’ve given us as this is really important. Hildegarde Abbott: Well, I’m so glad to do it but I’m sorry it didn’t come 20 minutes, 20 years earlier. Interviewer: One thing that, um, um, you have not mentioned and that is that in April, the 30 of April, in 1980, the army finally came to its senses and did give you a, made an award to you that made you an actual veteran. Uh, so if you had needed it or do need it, you should have the veteran’s benefits. Uh, unfortunately, all of the many, uh, women who served with you, uh, at least a great many of those people are now gone, many of them are in nursing homes or being cared for and, uh, it’s just too bad that it took so long for the army to, uh, remember… I notice in these remarks that were made here that it said, uh, that, uh, it was something like 60 years between the time of your service and the time that they finally, uh, did, um, grant you the, uh, title of having, of being a veteran. And, uh, I think that it’s great that, that at least they did finally give you, um… Hildegarde Abbott: Yes. Interviewer: The credit that you well deserve. Thank you. /lj