INTERVIEW OF RUTH WEISBERG ON HER SERVICE IN THE WOMEN'S ARMY AUXILIARY CORPS DURING WWII


Ruth Weisberg:	I joined the WAAC in 1943 in February. At that time, I was working for the British Ministry of War Transport in New York in Communications. At that time, it was the W-A-A-C, and I, uh, went from a comfortable apartment in Greenwich Village to a tent on the beach in Daytona Beach, um, for basic training, and it definitely was an experience. Um, from Daytona Beach, um, I went to, uh, Fort Des Moines for OCS. And, uh, in May of 1943, went to Ruston, Louisiana, and then back to Fort Des Moines and then on secret orders to, uh, Daytona Beach again and with [Tay 1:25] Miller, another second lieutenant, uh, selected a small detachment, uh, to, uh, take overseas. We, uh, [Tay 1:50] and I, uh, went to the Pentagon for, um, orientation, uh, in communications in August 1943. The Pentagon wasn’t really finished at that time, and, uh, there weren't any maps either. But it was interesting. And from there, um, [we picked up 2:18] our detachment again at New York Port of Embarkation. And, um, along with the – half of the 101st Airborne Division, um, embarked on the, um, eh, HMS [Inaudible 2:42], a, uh, a British liner, which had, uh, come back from, uh, the Mediterranean with, uh, minor damage. Uh, this was, um, one of the more unusual voyages of World War II. 

	Uh, we took 45 days from New York to Liverpool, uh, having – and, uh, we had been sabotaged and ended up in, uh, St. John’s, Newfoundland. Then, um, uh, our [channel 3:24] pilot, uh, misjudged some of the rocks, and we spent some time – more time in St. John’s, Newfoundland. And, finally, we transferred to, um, the, um, uh, USS, uh, John Ericsson, which had at one time been the, um, first, uh, [inaudible 3:51]. And on that, we, uh, finally got to England where, uh, [Tay 3:59] and I, uh, [took 4:00] our detachment and reported to the Office of the Military Attache at the American Embassy in London. This was a – definitely not a boring, uh, [throat clearing] assignment. It was very demanding, but as I look back on the history of the time, I realize that our little detachment handled some of the most critical, uh, communications traffic of World War II. And I feel very proud of it. We did not have any, uh, major, uh, disasters in security. We were, uh, we belonged to MIS in, uh, in Washington, DC, not to, uh, the EPO. We were very secluded in our work, uh, always behind locked doors and, therefore, did not, uh, get acquainted with, uh, very many of the, uh, uh, women in London at that time. It was, uh, interesting to, um, watch the, the British, uh, service women, uh, doing similar work and, uh, talking with them at times and comparing notes. 

	I never minded wearing the uniform. I was quite proud of it. Of course, we di have that little hassle about whether you take your hat off or leave it on, and, um, do you stand up or sit down when a, uh, senior officer, uh, approaches. Uh, and, um, there were little, uh, little things like that that always made life interesting. Um, in January of 1944, I married, uh, an officer in the 101st Airborne Division. We were married in uniform, and, um, I guess I, I, I've never felt, uh, too sad about, uh, not having a real wedding gown. Uh, I guess perhaps it was a little strange, but, um, it never bothered me. Uh, in, um, July of 1945, uh, I was separated from the service and, uh, became a, um, dependent army wife. Uh, and my husband remained on active duty for another 17 years. I guess, uh, some people would wonder why a woman would, uh, walk across the street and raise her right hand to take a job that paid $21 a day once a month. But, uh, I ended up making $140 a month before I got out. It has been a great pleasure to, uh, know the other, uh, servicewomen, uh, who have, uh, retired or been separated from the service and, uh, become acquainted with them. I think that this was a great opportunity for me, and I hope that other women felt the same way. I would certainly recommend, uh, military service for anyone who was, uh, truly interested in it. Goodnight. 


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