Jeanette Birchett, Jason Theriot, Hewitt Theriot:

-Birchett was in training at the Charity Hospital in Lafayette when they heard of the news of Pearl Harbor
-Decided to join 3 ½ years later as she wasn’t old enough yet to go into the service
-A friend Irene Comeaux wanted Birchett to go with her into the service when they turned 20
-May of 1944 when she did turn 20, the superintendent of the hospital did not want them to go as they were needed more at home than at service
-Threatened to freeze their jobs (deferment)
-Eventually they were allowed to go and went to Hunter College in New York for basic training
-Went in as pharmacists’ mates; stayed there for 6 weeks
-Then went on to St. Alban’s Hospital in Long Island for indoctrination for 2 months
-Birchett’s orders were to Corpus Christi, Texas as Comeaux’s went to Georgia
-On the main base at Corpus Christi there was a large hospital (main base) where Birchett stayed for a few days
-Sent on to Rod Field, a smaller air base off Corpus
-Worked in the lab and ran the pharmacy; also took care of other WAVES when they got sick in the dispensary

-Uniforms were given out at basic training
-They had a blue smock or a “sears suckers” uniform when working at the hospital
-Then a navy blue dress and a white dress with caps for elsewhere

Basic Training (6:53)
-Basic training for 6 weeks
-It was hard to Birchett as she couldn’t march; had boot camp training more or less
-Had to get up early; woman drill sergeant
-They put her in the back row as she couldn’t march
-She lived on the 9th floor with no elevators
-Went in as an enlisted woman; was a pharmacy’s mate, never an officer
-Paid about $50 a month
-Did everything the navy way

At Corpus Christi (12:50)
-Stayed at Corpus till the end of the war
-Lived in barracks; had a bunkmate
-They had 3 sections; worked on call all day, that night had duty, second day off by 4:30 and the third day was the off day
-Birchett was in charge of all the lab work; blood work, checking diseases, giving medication, etc.
-Anything serious was sent to the main hospital, lab work or injured men
-The main base, Corpus, had smaller bases around them called P fields; Birchett was at Rod Field

-For fun they watched the latest movies that were not even out in regular theaters yet; new one every night
-Had dances some nights; it was like a family

D-Day (23: 30)
-Birchett was in the commissary getting coffee in the morning; everyone was excited about what was happening
-Then they started doing the paper work for discharging; one needed so many points to be able to get out and go home
-Took about a week before people began going home; had to go to the main base in Corpus to get discharged or check to see if you were able to
-Never really thought about whether the U.S. could lose the war; weren’t told much about the war anyway, they were too busy and so young

Talking (28:58)
-What Birchett did after being discharged
-Men she dated (and her husband)
-What WAVES stood for (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)
-Books of Louisianans in WWII (New Iberians)
-Other WAVES she knew
-Women that worked in the service for the navy and the army; navy women were trained to take the places of men that had went off to war
-How she enjoyed working in the service

Funny stories (40:20)
-Living in the barracks in basic training and in Corpus
-Things they did in Corpus
-How she believes she swallowed a pen once

Coming Back after the War (43:30)
-It was an exciting time when everyone was coming back
-Discharged in June 1945 (after V-E Day)
-Civilians knew more about the war than those in the service; all the news was always late to those in the service
-Letters were all censored

Talking (47:16)
-About Jason Theriot’s work
-People they know

End of Birchett’s interview (53:05)

(Parts of another interview of Ned Badeaux afterwards)

Transcription:

Jeanette Judice Birchett
Born: May 4th 1924
WAVE
Interview conducted on August 6, 2001

I was working at Charity Hospital in Lafayette on Pearl Harbor Day. I remember I was training. I was working in the lab and I heard the news come through. I decide to join three and half years later. You see I wasn't old enough then. I had a good friend, and she wanted me to go with her. Her name was Irene Comeaux. I said I wasn't old enough, "but if you wait till I turn 20 I'll go with ya."
So in May of '44 I turned twenty, so she says, "OK let's go." But the superintendent at the hospital did not want us to go. They were going to freeze us on our jobs (Deferment). They said we were needed more here, at the hospital than in the service. But she really wanted to go, so we talked our super into letting us go. Which is funny because I ended up taking care of her. She was a good friend and she was lonesome when we got to New York.

We signed up and went into the service as pharmacists' mates 3rd class. From Lafayette we boarded a train and went all the way to New York. We took our basic training in New York at Hunter College. We stayed there 6 weeks. From there we were sent to indoctrination at St. Albans's Hospital in Long Island. We stayed there for 2 months, and then I got my orders to go to Corpus Christi. She went to Georgia.

There was a large hospital there on the main base. I stayed there for a few days, and then they sent me to a smaller air base called Rod Field. I worked in the lab, I ran the pharmacy, and also when one of the WAVES was sick I had to stay in the dispensary with her.

The cloths fit pretty well. We had a uniform like a blue smock, for when you worked, in the hospital. Then we had "sears suckers" uniform, and we had dress navy and the dress white uniform, with the cap. I don't know what happened to all my uniforms. I don't have them. I just didn't keep them. When I got out I didn't figure that I would live this long to be interviewed!

Basic was ruff for me because I couldn't march. We had to get up early. They put me on the last row cause I couldn't march. I never forget that, they called me "judice". They always called you by your last name. I lived on the 9th floor and we had no elevators. Up and down those stairs all day, we stayed in good shape. We learned discipline, the navy way. Everything had to be done the navy way.
I got paid about $50 a month.

In Corpus, I had a bunkmate. We had sections, three sections; we worked shifts. I took care of all the lab work. I checked the blood work, and anything serious, and would send it to the main hospital. I took care of the medication for the airman. I did the lab work for diseases. There were a lot of venereal diseases and I would give medication to treat those things. I did blood work for malaria and others and we tried to treat all that.

We mostly took care of the airman, who were training at our particular "P- field." We had marines that worked as guards there and of coarse we had sailors who were stationed at the base there. So we took care of them too.

I fell out of the bunk one night. One time I was running late for work, and I was running with a pen in my mouth and I sneezed; I thought I swallowed that pen. I went and had x-rays, but they never could find that pen. I could have sworn that I swallowed it.

We kept busy; we had dances and watched movies. We got to see all the new movies before they came out. It was like a big family. There was something to do every night. Everybody knew each other.
We didn't think about the war. We were so young and so busy. I didn't think about being invaded from the West Coast or from the Gulf. We really didn't know what was happening over seas, I think they didn't want us to know. They didn't want anybody to panic.

I remember a really bad hurricane that hit Corpus Christi. I was up stairs in my barracks sleeping and they said for all the WAVES to go to one wing. Most of these girls had never been in a hurricane before, but I had, and I wasn't scared. It came right through the naval base.

They told us that Corpus was the farthest overseas that we would get in the Navy. See our jobs were to take over for the men who had to leave the states, that's what the WAVE were trained for. So when I was ordered to Corpus I was replacing a male pharmacist mate who was sent overseas.

Everybody was needed no matter what you did. My family wasn't in favor of me volunteering, but I'm glad I did. I really enjoy my time in the service. I learned a lot.

Some time after V-E Day (June '45), they began to discharge people. We had to have so many points to get discharged. I came home for a month. I had a sister who lived in Houston, and I went to work there as a technician for a pediatrician and that's where I met my husband.

We moved here (New Iberia) about 5 years later. I worked at Dautrive's Hospital for a while. And then I volunteered; I worked for Dr. Flore. I was married for 53 years.