Reid, Audrey Oral History

Reid_Audrey_10312002 (Better Audio Copy)

Audrey Reid grew up in Anoka, about 30 miles south of Minneapolis. Her parents moved to Minnesota from the East Coast in 1929. Her Father was the general manager at an ammunition plant and her mother was a homemaker. Both her and her sister were adopted. She went to St. Ann’s Convent for grade school and to St Anthony for High School in Minneapolis. She graduated in 1949. She remembers buying war bonds in World War II and packing car packages for men and women. Her Father also served as an air raid warden and they rationed shoes and sugar. She had studied music in high school, but she didn’t want to teach and instead did sales work in the department stores. She also spent some time working at a state mental hospital. In 1951, when a cousin was in town, they decided to enlist. She went to Ft. Lee and was at the headquarters of the 204th Area Service Unit Training Center. She wanted to be a nurse, but was assigned to be a clerical worker. She was sent to typist school at the 101st Airborne Camp at Fort Breckinridge, KY. She was there for 3 to 4 months. She then went to the Chicago Quartermaster Depot with the Sixth Army Headquarters. She stayed in Chicago for 7 to 8 months. She was eventually called back to Ft. Lee. She volunteered for overseas duty and was sent to Okinawa in 1952. Once in Okinawa, they went to Suikuran where she was in 8117th Army Unit and served as secretary to the head nurse. She remembers that it was hot, there were a lot of bugs, that they slept 3 bunk beds high and there was a shower sign up sheet. She also sang in a band with the NCO club. She recounts a sexual assault by an Air Force member that occurred when she was heading to Kyoto. She suffered great anxiety over this and did not feel like she could talk about it. She attended a special school in Kyoto that offered courses in radio drama, singing, dancing, and putting on shows. She and the fellow students went to Korea where they entertained troops. She left Okinawa as her three year period of enlistment ended with the rank of Corporal. She suffered from joint and feet problems and had trouble finding work when she got home. She eventually worked as a nurse aide. She married in 1953 to a WWII medic (who would eventually commit suicide) and had a son in 1955. She had another child in 1957 and 1961 and stayed home to care for them. She attended college classes part time, but did not graduate. She helped co-found the Women Army Veterans of Minnesota in the 1970s.