Therese Boutte, Jason Theriot, Hewitt Theriot, unnamed woman:

-Boutte enlisted in 1942; she was working at a telephone office and was not being paid much
-Was about 21 years old and single; joined the Army services to get a change
-Sent to Des Moines, Iowa for training, went by train; did basic training there (marching and calestintics)
-After training was sent to San Antonio, Texas for schooling in cryptography; they weren't allowed to talk about what they were doing
-Was probably chosen because of her background in telephones

Schooling in San Antonio (5:50)
-Decoded and coded messages; followed a little book, a codebook guide
-An armed guard would come in to take and give messages to them
-They were in little cubbyholes and they were always locked in
-The messages would come in all garbled, they'd decode it and type it up and the guard would come to take it

-Was in the service for 3 years
-Stationed at Kelly Field in San Antonio
-Came home on leave a few times
-Took a trolley into base everyday

Others from the area in service (10:50)
-Boutte signed up for service with another girl from New Iberia, Jenny; she was sent to California
-Talking about men they interviewed and how no one in their families had heard these stories

Photos (16:10)
-Looking at pictures, during or after the war
-Boutte on the air force base

Life on the Base (17:27)
-Worked every day, sometimes at night even
-Lived in barracks; washed their own clothes
-Quite a bit of people on the base
-Few movie theaters on base; no nightclubs on base
-Some girls would go into Mexico on the weekends: Boutte never went as in the mornings they had calestintics
-Food was basic enough

Yard Workers coming in (19:38)
-Introductions
-Families they know or related too
-Cutting down a tree; yard work

Picking Up on Base Life (22:10)
-Might have got off on the weekends
-Took buses into San Antonio from the base
-Received letters from home sometimes

-At one point Boutte was supposed to go overseas and was sent back to Des Moines for training but the war ended
-Only made it to a Corporal but should have gotten a Sergeant
-Eventually was discharged and sent home; doesn't remember how she was discharged

Talking of others (29:30)
-Women in the service that they interviewed
-How some knew what was happening in the war and others that had no news of advancements of the war
-Other woman talking about her memories of the war; President's speeches and rations
-Talking about yard working and Boutte's workers

Transcription:

Therese Boutte
Born: April 30, 1916
Loreauville, LA
WAC-Communications

I was working at the telephone office here and they weren't paying too much, so I decided to enlist in 1942. I was 21-years old and I needed a change. I went to the recruit station here and joined the Army with my friend Jenny (What is her last name?).

I was sent to Des Moines, Iowa for basic training and Jenny was sent to California. I went by train. They'd wake us up early every morning and we'd have to do calesthenics and march.

After basic I was sent to Kelly Field in San Antonio for schooling in cryptography. But I can't talk about that. It was supposed to be very secret. I guess I was chosen for that because of my experience with telephones. I worked in the office coding and decoding messages. We used a codebook as a guide.

I worked in a little cubbyhole for an office and an armed guard could come and pick up and deliver the messages for us. The message would come in scrambled and we would have to decode it, type it up, and send it off. I don't remember much about all it; that was over 50-years ago.

I was supposed to go overseas to Europe, so they sent me back to Des Moines, Iowa for more training. Then the war ended in Europe so I was discharged and they sent me home soon after.