CDR:  I came home one day and told my mom that there were signs all over, like Uncle Sam needs you. And I said, ‘Would you let me go?’ Because, in the Hispanic home, a young girl did not leave home. But, she says, ‘Do you want to be like me at age 22 with four kids?’ I said, ‘No.’ Then she says, ‘Ah well, then get the heck out of here.’

So, I signed up and we were put in a…what is the word?…convoy? to Hawaii. And we were the only ship with women. They assigned me to the sheet metal department and it was like on-the-job training. I didn’t know what a wrench was, nothing. 

The airplanes that were coming in were all torn up. And they needed for you to crawl into the plane. You could see blood all over and the smell was horrible. I just couldn’t stand it. And I went and told my supervisor, ‘I can’t do it.’ And I will never forget that he told me, ‘You take a deep breath and get back in there and you just do that job.’ And I did.

The minute the war was over, they said, ‘Thank you, bye. Now, go back home.’  And I said, ‘The hell with that.’ You know, I already got a taste of what it’s like to be an independent woman. 

But, after we came back, I met my husband and he was such a good man and I thought, ‘Man, this is gonna be a boring ride.’ You know? [Laughs] But, we were married 52 years.

He was a very strong Navy man. And, I remember, one day, we were talking about where we were gonna go when we die. And, at the Cemetery here, the man’s name is in the front of the cross and their wife’s name is in the back. So, I said, ‘If you want to go there, you go. But, I’m not, ‘cause I’m not gonna be in the back of nobody’s cross.  I did as much as you guys did. You guys had a uniform on and a gun. But, who fixed that gun for you?’ 

And so, he has his own name and I’ll have my own name.