Oral History Program Blanche Wesley Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 27 October 2017 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Blanche Wesley Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 27 October 2017 Copyright © 2018 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description The World War II "All Out for Uncle Sam" oral history project contains interviews from veterans of the war, wives of soldiers, as well as individuals who were present during the war years. The interviews became the compelling background stories for the "All Out for Uncle Sam" exhibit. The project received funding from Utah Division of State History, Utah Humanities Council and Weber County RAMP. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Wesley, Blanche, an oral history by Lorrie Rands, 27 October 2017, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Blanche Wesley circa 1940s Blanche Wesley in Naves circa 1940s Blanche Wesley circa 1940s Blanche and Henry Harding 1944 Blanche Wesley 27 October 2017 1 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Blanche Wesley, conducted on October 27, 2017 in her home in Brigham City, Utah, by Lorrie Rands. Blanche discusses her life and her memories involving World War II. Alyssa Chaffee, the video technician, Mattice Moser, and Blanche’s daughter, Connie, are also present during this interview. LR: It is October 27, 2017. We are in the home of Blanche Wesley in Brigham City, Utah. We are talking with her about her life and memories of World War II, for the World War II in Northern Utah Project at Weber State University. My name is Lorrie Rands conducting the interview. Alyssa Chaffee is with us as well as Mattice Moser and Blanche’s daughter Connie. Thank you Blanche for your willingness to sit and talk. I greatly appreciate it. Let’s start with when and where you were born. BW: I was born in Afton Wyoming 24 September 1921. LR: Did you grow up in Auburn? BW: Well, I was born in Afton, but my grandmother lived there so my mother stayed there and had me in Afton. But I’m from Auburn. LR: Where is Auburn? BW: Well, in Star Valley. BW: It’s over Northwest of Afton. LR: Did your dad own a farm? BW: Well, we had a ranch up in Tygee, Idaho, which was just up over the border from Auburn. In the summer he’d take us up there and stay all summer while he did the hay and what have it. 2 LR: Did you have any brothers and sisters? BW: My mother had eleven. I’m right in the middle. There’s twins below me. There was three boys and the rest girls. LR: I feel sorry for the boys. You’d stay in the summer on the ranch in Idaho and then come back to Auburn in the winter. What would you do in Auburn during the winter? BW: Well, we’d have to go to school of course. To go to school, we’d have to walk through a meadow, and there’s a lot of snow up there in those days. One day, I was carrying a lunch bucket and my hands froze and I turned around just bawling and went home. My dad was there then, and he soaked it in slush so it would be okay. LR: We think we have it hard. BW: When you’d cross the street from my place there was what we’d call a stye. You’d have to walk up some steps and down the other side. That’s where we’d have to get over before we started for school through the meadow. LR: So how far was it to your school? BW: Just a block. Eventually, during the winter, walking on top of that would make it a crust that we could walk on top and it was wide enough that we wouldn’t sink in the snow. LR: What would your father do in the winter time? BW: He sheared sheep. He’d go all over like vernal and clear over into Arizona and Montana shearing sheep. LR: What were your parents’ names? 3 BW: My father’s name was Hyrum Stefanus Roos. My mother was Alice May Roos. LR: Were they both from the Wyoming area? BW: Yes. LR: What are some of your memories of growing up during the depression? BW: Well we didn’t know it was a depression. In Auburn, we didn’t have any electricity, no water, no indoor toilet. We’d have to go outside all of the time. For light, we had lanterns and coal oil lights. The stove was wood stove. On one side there was a deep thing that you could heat water. It wasn’t fun back then. Later, my father moved us to Afton. I was the oldest one and me and the ones under me that went to Afton. So we had a home there in Afton till he passed away. LR: About how old were you when you moved to Afton? BW: I was about fourteen. LR: Okay, so you would have almost been in high school? BW: I was in high school. LR: Where did you go to high school? BW: It was in Afton. That was the only one in the valley. LR: Afton High School? BW: Star Valley High School. C: Her mother also passed away the day before she turned seven. LR: Okay. Did your father ever remarry? BW: No. LR: So he raised you. BW: Ya, he did. 4 LR: Wow. C: Eleven of them. BW: Well the older ones, they were older and they had their own jobs. LR: They helped out? BW: Yes. C: Then her dad passed away when she was seventeen. LR: Wow. So if you’re in the middle, and your dad passes away, who helped? BW: Okay, my older sisters were all married and they took all of the kids under me to their homes. There was a big hotel, Valleon Hotel, it had a ballroom and they let me work there. Then me and another woman shared a room at the hotel. I stayed there until I went to Utah. LR: Did you end up graduating high school? BW: Oh ya, I took shorthanded typing and I won a trip and me and another girl took shorthand typing and went to Utah. LR: Okay, and this was while you were in high school? BW: Yes. LR: Okay, so the trip was just to come here to Utah? BW: Yes. LR: What did you do? BW: Well, we had to have one night away, but it wasn’t very impressive because I don’t remember too much about it. LR: When did you actually move to Utah? BW: I did when World War II started. 5 LR: Okay. So let’s go back just for a minute. What are your memories of Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941? BW: I remember that we were still in Star Valley. Me and the twins, who were younger than me, we decided to go to Utah to work there. They had barracks there for people to stay in by Ogden Arsenal. They did away with all that now. But they hired a lot of people through there. The twins and I stayed there. Then we decided to go and join the navy. They took me, but they wouldn’t take the twins because they were too young. I was signed up so I had to go. I had to go through Cokeville, Wyoming because I was from Star Valley. Then I had to go on the train back to the Bronx, New York. There was other people around there that joined the navy too. We went to our barracks together to Bronx New York and they showed us where to go. We managed to go on buses or something—I don’t know. C: Why did they send you to New York? BW: Well, that was where the basic training was, and we were there for six weeks I believe. We got to go into New York two times. We went clear to the top of the Empire State building. So that was quite an experience to look down. LR: Oh, I’m sure. What were some of the things you were doing in basic training? Do you remember? BW: Oh, marching a lot. We had to share bedrooms and bunks, but it was just teaching us different things that goes on in the military. LR: Okay, was it similar to what the men were doing in basic training? Or was it different? 6 BW: Well, we weren’t close to them. The waves were by themselves in the barracks where we stayed. I marched. We did a lot of marching. LR: Were they teaching you anything specific besides marching? Were they training you how to do certain things? BW: I can’t remember, but they must have done. They sent me to a school after basic training. Maybe they told us all about the military, I imagine. I wanted to be a secretary so they sent me to Cedar Falls, Iowa to a college there. I was there for six weeks. Then we got to choose where we wanted to go after that for a job. In the west, they didn’t have any around this area. So, I took Seattle. I stayed in Seattle for the rest of my career. LR: Why Seattle? BW: Well, it was better than back east. I didn’t want to stay back there. I wanted to go west. LR: I’m curious, being a small town girl, what was it like going to New York City and being in that huge place? BW: Well, it wasn’t that big then. LR: But, in comparison though to what you were used to. BW: When I say Bronx New York they say, “Oh, that’s slum area.” But it wasn’t then. It was a nice city. LR: That’s interesting. BW: I only got to go in there twice anyway. LR: Okay… 7 C: She also told me that they would not let the waves go into any type of combat, or send them overseas. LR: Right, they were all state side. BW: The reason they have the waves is so you could relieve a sailor for duty. When we got to Seattle, the thirteenth naval headquarters that I went to, the girl that was on the job then, I relieved her boyfriend for service. She got so mad at me. She was so much in love. LR: I can imagine. How old were you when you enlisted, when you signed up to be a wave? BW: I think I was twenty-one. LR: Why did you decide to join the waves? BW: I don’t know. Me and the twins just got together and decided we wanted to do it. They took me but they wouldn’t take them. LR: How old were the twins? BW: They were four years younger than me. LR: Okay, that might have something to do with it. So going back to Seattle, what were some of your duties? BW: Well, I was secretary. LR: For the 13th naval headquarters? BW: 13th Naval headquarters. That was right close to the beach. I worked for a lieutenant in his personnel office. It was an interesting job. LR: How so? BW: Well, just learning about people. You got to see a lot and do a lot. 8 LR: What are some of your favorite memories of doing that? BW: He’d send me down to the beach, and of course, I got to go around and meet other people. The personnel office didn’t bore me. LR: You said that there were a lot of interesting people that you were interacting with in the personnel office, is there one person in particular that stands out to you? BW: Ya, the lieutenant that was over me. LR: What about him? BW: Well, he was just always kind and I don’t think he was married. He never propositioned me or anything, it was just the interesting things that he would say. LR: Do you remember what some of your duties were? Were you just taking notes or memos? BW: Writing letters because I took shorthand. You never hear about short handed typing. LR: No, you don’t. BW: Then it was those old typewriters. Finally, I got an electric one. LR: Those are nice in comparison. How long were you in Seattle? You said for the duration? BW: I got out after the war, and I met my husband. LR: Talk about that, meeting your husband. BW: Well, they have a ballroom up there called the Trianon Ballroom. So, me and a bunch of the waves went over there to a dance. We’d have to catch a bus to go. So, this sailor came up to me and wanted to dance and so I started and I said, “Oh another drunken sailor.” He didn’t know how to dance. I finally got him going 9 a little bit. So anyway, then he wanted to carry me home. I thought, “You’re going to have heck of a time carrying me home.” C: He’s from Texas. That was their saying, “Going to carry you home,” which meant walk her home. BW: So later he showed up on our barracks, because he knew where I was. We just starting going together and we fell in love. LR: So when did you get married? C: September 2, 1944. LR: He was in the navy as well? BW: Yes. LR: Was he stationed stateside? BW: Well he was on a ship when he came in there, he was on a sub chaser. Then after, I think he pretended to be sick or something. So they kept him there to see how sick he was, and then he had to take some big aircraft carrier around the United States to New York. C: The Enterprise. I read that the other day when I was going through a bunch of stuff. LR: Oh cool. He was on the Enterprise. C: He was a cook, a ships cook. LR: Well that’s really cool. BW: He ended up in New York, and then he came back to Seattle and they discharged him. I was in Star Valley then so then he came to Star Valley where I was. 10 LR: So your husband’s name was? BW: Henry Harding. LR: Was he discharged from New York? BW: No, he went to New York because he had to have more time, that’s why they made him take the ship, because the war was over with. Then he came to Seattle to be discharged. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s what they did. C: Just so he had enough time. LR: So he left Seattle and then came to Star Valley. BW: We stayed there for a week or so, and thought, “Nah.” So we decided to go to Utah. LR: So where did you get married? BW: In Bremerton, Washington. LR: So, you got married while you were still in Seattle? BW: Yes, and we lived there. LR: Were you able to live together? BW: Yes. LR: Well that’s nice. BW: We could get an apartment in Seattle. I’d go to where I worked and he went to where he worked. So we were there until after the war. LR: Right, so you’re both discharged and you’re in Wyoming and you decide to come to Utah, was there a job waiting here for you guys? BW: No. LR: It was, “let’s just move.” 11 BW: Well, I finally got pregnant around then, so I had to stay home. But he got a job with Utah Power. They were hiring people so he was lucky and got on with them. LR: Right. Where did you live? BW: We lived in Ogden. LR: Okay, do you remember where? BW: Oh it was 36th street. LR: 36th street is good enough. How long did you guys stay in Ogden? C: After 36th they went to the Terrace. LR: Oh okay, Washington Terrace. C: Then they moved to Sunset. That was after my sister was born so they were in Ogden for a long time. LR: Okay. So you lived in Sunset in Davis County? BW: Yes. LR: Oh okay. Then you ended up having three children. What are their names? BW: Well, she’s Connie Sue Wesley, and Terry Wayne Wesley, and Deborah Ruth Wesley. LR: So you had all girls? BW: No, the middle one was a boy. C: Terry was a boy. AC: I’m curious, were his parents able to come to your wedding? BW: Not to the wedding. They didn’t have money, number one, and they were clear from Texas and they were older. We didn’t even think about it, and they couldn’t have done it anyway. 12 C: Texans are a different breed. I’ll put it that way. LR: Yes they are. I agree with you on that. C: My grandfather was a southern Baptist preacher. My mother is LDS. So, grandma wasn’t overly fond of them either. LR: Okay. C: I think my grandmother was here two or three times. We would go to Texas about every three or four years. My grandfather died probably when he was in his fifties I think, and grandma wasn’t very nice. LR: Got ya. So, was your husband a southern Baptist? BW: To start with. He didn’t ever go to it, but he did go to ours, because I was kind of active then. I’m LDS. LR: Right, I can understand that. I know this is going to sound a little strange, but I’m curious. You said it was just something that you wanted to do when you joined the waves, but did you feel this pull like you needed to do something because of the war? BW: Well, the twins and I we joined just to be doing something, because there was nothing that pushed us to go. We decided to join because we were both working in that section of the Arsenal. LR: Oh so you were working at the Arsenal. BW: Well, it wasn’t called the Arsenal then. It was some other thing before. LR: What did you do there do you remember? BW: I was always a secretary. C: She retired from Hill Air Force base. 13 LR: You worked at Hill Air Force Base? BW: Well, I did until I retired when I was fifty-five. LR: So when you were living in Ogden you worked at Hill Air Force Base? BW: I did. I had a good job. I worked for the top civilian at Hill Air Force Base. Of course, the colonel was over it too. I had a good job there. LR: During the war there was a lot of rationing and bond drives and things like that. Did they ever affect you? BW: No, not especially because I had the good things I guess. LR: In Seattle, working in the waves, did you still have to use the ration books, or was everything issued to you through the waves? BW: When I was living on the base everything was furnished. We lived in quarters. LR: I’ve seen these little ration cards for the military so they could go off base and buy things. Did you ever have to use those? BW: We never had any of those. LR: Do you have any questions? C: No, I’ve heard some stuff that I hadn’t heard before, because she never really shared all of that. I remember that we were living in Sunset and Dad put his uniform on one time. I don’t know whatever happened to hers. I don’t know if it was Halloween or why he decided to dress up in his uniform, but that’s my precious memory. LR: Oh ya, I can only imagine. I’m going to ask my final question, and I’ve been asking all of the individuals we’ve interviewed. How do you think your experiences during World War II affected and shaped the rest of your life? 14 BW: Well, just remembrances, it didn’t affect me bodily wise. C: Well, career wise it did, right? Because what she did when she was a wave, it carried her on through her whole career. LR: So it gave her a career. C: Ya, the secretary stuff. She wasn’t a secretary when she retired, she was what they call an item manager. Where you buy parts for the planes. LR: That’s really cool. C: But, for most of her career she was a secretary. What she did in the service developed her whole career. LR: That’s really cool though. I find it telling too that you continued to work. BW: Oh ya. I had to work. I worked after I had kids. I guess we needed the money too. LR: That’s not a complaint. I think it’s really cool that you did continue to work. BW: Well, I enjoyed it. I had good babysitters that they would take my kids. So I felt relieved then. C: I’m a second generation Hill Field retiree so. LR: Alright. Well, let me ask you this [To Connie]. How has learning about your parents’ experiences during the war—How has that influenced your life? C: Well, I went to breakfast with her a couple of times with the veterans. They’re just such a neat group of guys. She’s the only woman that’s ever there, and I’m so proud of her that she was there. She was a part of that. I see her and dad get married while they’re both in the service and they’re in their uniforms and that’s just my favorite picture. My lieutenant colonel niece, followed in Granny’s footsteps. She is granny to all the grandkids, because Grandma sounded too old 15 so, “call me Granny,” and the fact that she lost her parents at such a young age. Those eleven kids are closer than any family I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s the oldest one now. There’s five left still. But to see what her and dad went through. Things were so different from when I was growing up, because you didn’t lock your house, you didn’t have to. Mother used to play jacks with me and hopscotch. Dad, because he was a cook in the Navy, when she retired she told him, “Okay, every other day you’re cooking,” because he knew how. LR: Did your husband teach you to cook or did you already know how to cook? BW: Oh, enough to get by. He was a good cook. C: Yes, he was. BW: But, I made him do it every other day. When he wasn’t working. I didn’t do that at first. C: But at Thanksgiving Dad always had to make this dressing. LR: You didn’t like that dressing? C: To this day, I don’t eat bread dressing. It had to have the heart, and the gizzard, and the liver. Thank goodness for Stovetop. MM: I actually have a question. So when you were growing up on your ranch. Did you think that when you were a grown up that you would have a farm of some kind? Or did you think you were going to move away and do something else? C: She’s asking, “Did you ever think you were going to stay there and do that for the rest of your life?” BW: Oh no. No. 16 MM: So did you have any ideas of what you wanted to be before you got into the Navy? BW: No, I had always wanted to be a secretary, because I learned how to shorthand type and that’s what was needed then. C: She did go to beauty school though for a while. BW: Well, because I could go and the funds that they gave us to go to school, so I took the beauty school. There’s a place on 25th street just off of Washington Boulevard, right there on the corner. That’s where the school was. One day a lady came in there and I shampooed her hair and it was just dirty black. I just thought, that’s enough of that. So, I quit the beauty school. I stayed home. LR: Alright well let’s go ahead and turn it off. Thank you again for your time today, I appreciate it.